Watch out for that tree !

Watch out for that tree--or why I had to buy a new cell phone.

On Mondays, I fish with my pal Steve at his secret pond.

We fish from a pontoon boat that has no seats, railing or much of anything else.

The only motor is a high thrust electric trolling motor mounted on the bow. 

Recently, the motor control has been acting up.

Today, one of the other guys fishing on the boat got his lure caught in a tree out in the middle of the pond.  (The water in the pond is still high from all the rain.)

So as we were going over to the tree to free the lure, the high thrust motor got stuck in full speed ahead, and wouldn’t stop or steer.

Since I was closest to the front of the boat, and the motor, I bent over to unplug the motor control plug. 

When that had no effect, I reached to unplug one of the dual batteries.

Just as we hit the tree.  You can imagine what happened next. 

I was head over heels off the front of the boat.  Smacked the tree, and went under water.

Which brings us back to the mention of why I had to buy a new cell phone.

Point of view

Went out fishing again today with my pal Shelly.
We caught lots of small bass, and a couple of nicer ones.  Again, all on spinner baits.
Here's my largest one.

And here's Shelly's largest of the day.

This is a good example of the importance of photo composition.
Even though my fish looks as big as Shelly's,
Shelly's fish weighed 6 lbs.
Mine weighed 3 lbs.

Hobie Pro Angler

I have spent a lot of time fishing.  I think I've fished in every kind of boat there is.  That would include inflatable dinghy's, canoes, kayaks, aluminum jon boats, center consoles, flats boats, glitter bass boats, and off-shore sport fisherman.  (I've even fished from sailboats.)

You may have noticed that I have a link on my blog's home page to Hobie kayaks and our local Hobie dealer, Sailboats Inc .  I have had a Hobie Kona kayak for several years.  It's a nice, stable tandem kayak that is great for two people, and can also be set up as a single by putting one seat in the middle position.  I've fished from that kayak quite a bit , and added the usual milk crate etc to make it more fishing friendly.

Recently, I had a chance to obtain a Hobie Pro Angler 12 from Charlie and Eileen at Sailboats Inc.  Even though I've only been able to get out in it a couple of times, I can already tell that this boat is the real deal.  It is powered by Hobie's mirage drive, which is not only easier than paddling, but it also leaves your hands fee for fishing.  It is stable enough for me to stand up and fish, and it's already tricked out with all the cool fishing stuff-- rod holders, hatches with retracting tackle box storage areas, a spot for an anchor trolly system, and more.  I even installed a Lowrance fishfinder in the built-in transducer mount.  One of the most impressive features of the Pro Angler is the seat.  Of all the boats I've fished from, this one has the most comfortable seat ever.  It is totally adjustable, and even includes lumbar support.   It's like sitting in a Barcalounger while you're fishing.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I really like this boat.

Stay tuned for some "fishcam" photos and videos coming soon on the new Pro Angler.

Back in the cloud belt

Leaving Florida and coming back to Indiana in March has never seemed like a good idea to me.  This year confirmed my thoughts.  But now it's April, and my month-long hibernation is over.

I had an opportunity to fish in Steve's secret pond last week.  Afterwards, I said I thought I had caught at least 20 bass.  I got some doubtful looks, so yesterday, I counted the number of bass I caught.  We fished from 1:00 until 4:30.  My final count was 37 bass.  Most of the bass were between one and two pounds.  No real biggies, but tons of fun.  All were caught on a spinner bait.

One of the other guys who is lucky enough to get invited to the secret pond is Shelly.  He also has a "secret" pond.  The pond is not really secret, but it has limited access.  Shelly invited me to join him on his lake last week for some fishing.

Shelly caught a nice 8 pound hybrid striper.

I caught a nice 4 pound largemouth.

Red Fish

Fishing in Florida this year has been fantastic.  I caught red fish almost every day.  Here's some of the highlights.........................The total number of red fish caught (and released) was 81

 

I also made some videos that are posted on You Tube.  Here are the links.

Red fish 2-13-13

Red fish 1-20-13

Red fish 1-22-13

Red Hoot

Redfish are exceptionally strong fish.  Catching one is a hoot!

Florida

January, 2013
I'm staying on a small trawler in a marina near Placida, Florida.  I chose this area for one reason--because I wanted to catch some redfish.  I was in the Florida Keys the last two winters, and the fishing there is great, but there were no redfish as far south as Islamorada.  I'd spent some time around Charlotte Harbor several years ago, and  remember the fun of catching redfish.
It didn't take too long to figure out that I'd come to the right place.