It’s May

[Micanopy]

Fished 630-900 today. BASS Masters tournament going on I think. They didn’t really bother me. The floating weed clumps were a different matter. Clearing lines the entire time. Swam four crank baits and six jigs. One small fish was all I got. Made a bad choice in going there. Oh well they say to limit our consumption levels anyways.

[Micanopy]

Went to a different lake this morning. I managed a dozen medium to small fish. was being carefully watched by some of the residents.



There were four of these large sized lizards kind of relaxing on the surface. I got really close to one before they dove down.

Found this guy attached to one of my jigs.



Not sure why, but the fishing seems to have slowed down.

[DockShootinJack]

Decent sized gator

[Micanopy]

Well I was up way too early today, bored to tears, decided to fiddle with my junk some.




Regular jig head that I slid a blade assembly over the hook tip and up to the head. Secured it with a few wraps but didn’t need to. Added some bulk for a body and a little twitch for a tail. One of my favorite color patterns- pink head, white body, yellow tail. My locals will take a swipe at it as it goes by.

We are in the Summer pattern round here and have been for some time. I had a very small crappie try to eat a crank bait that was about his same size. Both sets of trebles told me he was serious. The rod kind of bent some. Maybe a little. I saw it jump and that was how I knew he was aboard.

Been reconfiguring my rod layout again. Seems every time out I see new possibilities. So now I have down each side, front to rear, a 16 footer with a 1/16th ounce jig, then an 11 footer with a 1/16th ounce jig, then a ten footer with a 1/8th ounce jig with a bell sinker about three feet ahead to get it to dive deep. I like swimming a deep jig not too far away from the boat and have managed some very nice fish doing so. Out the back I have two rods with 1/16th ounce jigs and two with crank baits.

I made some hardcore directional changes last trip out and everything worked out fine save this one time when I made a recast right after a change in course. A couple of fish made the lines snag a little but other than that everything rides along just fine. I still have lots of room in the back corner areas of the boat to land my fish. They come in at an angle and I direct them to the corners and lift. I also been practicing with the net so when I hook Crap-Zilla I don’t have a sad tale of woe to share. I have lost a few really nice fish right alongside the boat and it isn’t much fun.

One of the jigs that has been doing very well for me is the purple Joker with chartreuse tail on a bright yellow Tickle Me Elmo head. Seems to nab bigger fish for some reason.

We had horrible winds for a month but now everything seems to have calmed down. Last two trips the water was like glass. Not sure if that had something to do with my poor showing, but it allowed me to see all sorts of things. Saw shad schools idling along just under the surface. Saw schools of minnows patrolling about. Of course gar sleeping in the sunshine and awakening just as the boat gets too close.

I see where those what troll crank baits do so at a pretty good clip. I swim mine at a speed that is best for my jigs. I might try to go faster to see what happens.

[DockShootinJack]

That glass like water makes it easier to spot those big lizzards y'all have down there

[Micanopy]

Any body of water….any body……has gators. It’s Florida. The dragons are impressive in many ways and considering them dumb is folly.

I start in office tomorrow morning. Wish me luck please.

[DockShootinJack]

Good luck on the new position. I grew up not far from the Mobile River Delta. Gators were a constant. Fishing Lake Guntersville was the first time I had saw an otter or a muskrat in the wild. To many gators down in South Alabama to have any of those critters

[Micanopy]

We have lots of otters round these here parts. Saw a pair of really big ones with a nest up under some tree roots along the bank of the river. They are beautiful swimmers and have a mouth full of nasty sharp teeth. I suppose gators get some, but imagine most taunt the gators.

Turtles are prime for gators. I have seen them getting taken and it’s chomp chomp then swallow and gone. Fish and birds and wild animals that venture to the shoreline. Gators are universalists and can eat anything they find, live or dead. Being able to eat just about anything has it’s advantages when it comes to survival.

We see them all the time, but the ones that we see best are a problem. Of course there are idiots that think feeding them is acceptable. Quick learners, suddenly they come begging for handouts. Any gator that seems friendly is a nuisance gator. The ones that are shy get to live long lives.

I was on a creek off of the St Johns River one fine day when we got to a small section that was chock full of gators. Looked like an alligator farm to me. All along the banks were hundreds of gators, and that many more swimming around. Yup it was mating season and the females were searching out prime bull gators. One looked to be over 12 feet. Most were 8 feet. All I could think was what would happen if the boat sank.

At the alligator farm in St Augustine, they had a man playing a tuba. He would blow a certain deep note and the bull gators would respond. They can quake their backs and that makes the water dance. The vibrations come from a deep growl like roar. He would blow the tuba, and twenty bulls would reply. I made a guttural growl but my wife said I lacked the fortitude to match. Obviously she was incorrect. The tune of the note was off just slightly. That was all.

If you visit this area go to the alligator farm. There they have a zip-line going out over the ponds. Nothing like seeing those lizards being tormented by good meat floating just out of reach. There is a movie called Faces of Death. In it someone was visiting an alligator farm, and had a video camera recording alligators. Then suddenly the camera pans skyward and we see a skydiver. Well he was just overhead and he started to scream and kick his legs wildly. People were screaming Oh My God. Then he splashed down landed into one of the ponds and was ripped into pieces within seconds. Shredded.

I have seen other videos of them playing with people. One had a pair of game wardens on a boat responding to a call of a nuisance gator. Lady on the bank had her video camera and was heard telling them the gator was as big as she had ever seen and was after people. Well the warden was bold, proud and definitely overconfident. He spied the gator on shore and threw a rope lasso over it’s head. As he drew it tight, the gator responded and in the drink that man went. The water was splashing as the gator was rolling the man around like a child with a toy. His partner was trying to get a shot at the thing, but couldn’t. The warden was dead. Fight lasted about ten seconds. Maybe.

I once caught a small gator on a fishing lure. Two feet maybe. I was amazed at the strength that thing had. I was ahold with both hands and he could wiggle and writhe his body at will. Weird stuff. Their muscles are not designed for endurance, rather short bursts of speed. I ended up putting the gator in my buddy’s kitchen, and we drank beer while we waited for his wife to discover it. Man was she mad.

The biggest gator I ever saw up close lived in a culvert pipe under South Congress Avenue in West Palm Beach. Six lanes of road worth of culvert pipe. Anything that came swimming up that canal was going to have to get by him, inside a contained area, and that meant only little bitty things were going to get it done. I never saw him on the bank sunning, just his head. You can look at the distance from snout to eyes and guess at leangths, but I’m not very good at it. Let’s just say nobody was going to go exploring up in that pipe.

Gator meat is pretty good. If you ever buy any get tail meat. Two ways to fix it, either you cook it low and slow or slice it into small pieces and deep fry it. Deep fry is my favorite way but not many restaurants offer it other ways. It is expensive to buy but makes for a nifty snack at a party. I fried up some for my recent birthday party, along with a whole pig of course.

The pig we did inside what is called a China Box. It is basically a plywood box with a sheet metal top that you lay charcoal upon. This heats the box and cooks the pig. The box has exacting directions printed on the side. The reason why we like our pigs this way as it actually flushes out most of the grease. Nice grease free meat, where as other methods leave your pig greasy tasting. Easy to do and it only takes about three hours for a nice sized pig. I bought a 60 pounder for my cook and it seemed to be as large as the box would contain. You spathcock him is why he fills the box. Makes cracklings, too.

Boss called me up yesterday after a long hard cook. Said no need to cook tomorrow as I start in the office instead. I was very happy to hear that as the heat is killer right now. Last three days I was standing on top of asphalt, in the bright Sun, slaving over hot ovens and burners. So hot and the work is hard and physically demanding. I held up better than I thought I would have but still it drains you. Saps your strength. I ran a meat slicer shaving off thin pieces of what is called pork collar. We smoked them and then I sliced meat. You push and pull about a hundred times per piece and I did thirty of them. I think thirty as I kind of lost count from wiping my face off.

My boss did try to make things as nice as possible. He stuck up one of those foldable tents for me to hide under, and he got me a fan, but still it was hot baby. Hard work in 94 degree temps. This morning my shoulders are aching.

The meal yesterday was sliced pork collar, mac & cheese, chicken, rolls, and baked beans. I dumped 30 one gallon cans of beans into two pots. We do double pots where a smaller pot is within a larger one. Beans in the smaller pot and water in the larger. Boiling the water heats the beans without burning them. I also got involved with the chicken. Hundreds of chicken halves. Hundreds of them. The University of Florida had a party for some of the staff.

I wandered inside the building and looked about trying to cool down. It was a carpenters thing where they fixed things and made things and such. In the corner was a large stand up freezer, and it was chocked full of ice cream. Boxes and boxes of Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches. Pretty good, too.

Well now I am on a Monday-Friday schedule. Nights and weekends and holidays off. I didn’t mind the cooks where I started in the morning so much, but those that had me start my day at 1:oo pm were horrible. Be alright if I were still a kid, but now life is about getting into bed at a decent hour. I’m gonna miss being off on Mondays as I had the lakes all to myself. Now it will be about avoiding boat ramp incidents and such as I mix it up with the huddled masses and such. The great unwashed. The ugly people.

It was kind of nice having a day away from the wife as well. Just me and what i wanted to do. Speaking of her, tonight she is going to go to a trampoline place. Her co-workers have her doing lots of odd activities. Two weeks ago it was pole dancing lessons for her and the gals. She sent me some videos of her doing pole dancing swings and such. Told me it is considered to be a great exercise activity. I laughed at that but sure enough she and the others were sore all over. I think they are crazy and if she breaks her neck on one of those things tonight I’ll skin her.

The dog has been doing good. He is on the low fat diet food that costs a fortune. The vet said he has issues digesting fats and that was what was making him so sick. $3,000+ worth of sick. The boy put a strain on my finances but everyone kind of expected me to pay none the less. Save the dog. Save him at all cost. Well it is nice having him underfoot. He is sleeping at my feet right now. Comes out to greet me when I get home. I think the boy likes me.

Well off I go wish me luck.

[BobC]

[QUOTE=Micanopy;4262667]Any body of water….any body……has gators. It’s Florida. The dragons are impressive in many ways and considering them dumb is folly.

I start in office tomorrow morning. Wish me luck please.[/QUOTE
Best wishes on the new job!
Bob

[Micanopy]

Thanks…..it was nice. I am being given access to all sorts of things. I think it is gonna work out for me.