8 LB Channel Catfish @ Mullet Lake Park

A very warm evening last night, with temperatures in the mid to lower 70's overnight. We started fishing around 11pm and really didn't get any good bites throughout the night. I started out with a piece of cut mullet and a cut shiner, but eventually rebaited both lines with just cut mullet. Finially around 2am I had a good bite down on the far right side. Fish on! I reeled in a nice 8 LB Channel Catfish. The crazy part is the hook wasn't even set in the mouth. Once we had it secured with the fish grips, I proceeded to dehook it but as I'm checking out the line, the hook with the bait still intact came right out.

I decided to keep this one, so when I got home I removed the huge steaks of meat off and put them in the fridge for lunch the next day. I cooked the fish in my frydaddy and it turned out fantastic. The trimmed fillets were coated with Great Value brand Italian bread crumbs before being dunked in my frydaddy. On a few pieces, I added creole seasoning which added a spicey kick. Yummy!

Bass & Bluegill at Bear Pond - A Mimic Minnow Review

First I want to write a quick review of the Mimic Minnow Silver Shiner. This small 1/8 oz lure arrived this week and has been deadly on bass at Colonial Grand Apts in Lake Mary. I've been catching about 2-3 bass everytime I go there on the Mimic Minnow. A total of 7 bass on this one lure, and it's still in good shape. The biggest bass was 1 LB 2 OZ.

Bear Pond, Seminole State Forest. I've been there twice this week. The first trip was with my grandparents and my son Cody on Wednesday afternoon. We arrived around 3:30pm. Using live large shiners, we tried catching some largemouth bass. We almost had a couple smallies but they both popped off when we got them up to the water surface. We did catch a bunch of bluegill using trout worms on a size 10 hook. I did bring home 5 handsized gills to eat, which were very good fried with cornmeal, flour, and egg.
On Friday morning I arrived at Bear Pond again with Kyle and Zack around 10:30am. I caught 2 largemouth bass this time after only 3 live shiners. I also caught a ton of bluegill using worms and hotdog, released the small ones and kept 7 good sized gills for eating.

The problem with Bear Pond now is an alligator has become interested when people are around. It actually swims up close to where we're fishing now. My guess is others have been feeding it so now it looks forward to people fishing. I wish others would pay more attention to the sign that says "please don't feed or molest the alligator" but of course you have those people that have no common sense and/or don't care. If I ever witness someone feeding or teasing the gator I'm going to report them to FWC and hope they get busted while they're out there. The more this gator gets used to people, the more dangerous it will be to fish there.

Personal Best - Channel Catfish 14 LB 6 OZ!

Another monster pulled out of the water at Mullet Lake Park river bank. Last night I fought a monster Channel Catfish that put up more fight than anything I've experienced before. At around 11:25PM, the fish hooked itself on my line. Feeling it tug my line I tried to reel in but it was still pulling my drag out. I let it shake and splash around, then tightened the drag to gain ground on it. I got it about 15 feet from the bank, stopped to turn on my headlight so I could see but then my fish veered to the left. I had it in a bad position and needed to turn it back around towards me. It finially cooperated with this idea and thats when Zack jumped down to snap it's jaw with my Team Catfish Floating Fish-Grip. This yellow Fish-Grip has been a true asset for my tackle bag, it snaps on their jaws and won't let go until you do. It weighs only 4oz and even has a hole on the handle for my Berkley Fish Scale. Doesn't get any easier than this for securing a fish and weighing it. This catfish is my personal best, weighing at 14 LB 6 OZ. Though I'm going to go ahead and round up to 15 LB and claim my first Big Catch certificate. =)

Last night the moon was 98% full, the day before a complete full moon. Night temperature was about 68 degrees. The water levels were much better too since it rained a few days ago. The bait was frozen cut mullet. I fished with a 6/0 and 8/0 octopus circle hook, catching the big one on the 6/0 hook.

Mullet / Shrimp @ South Causeway N.S.B.

Last night I got to the South Causeway around 11:30pm. I would've got there earlier if it wasn't for the stupid I-4 construction near Deltona shutting down 2 lanes of traffic, forcing everyone to merge into a single lane. The night temps were warm, probably in the 70's all evening.

During the first hour, the shrimp were running pretty good near the lights. I caught about 10 shrimp for the bait bucket. After that, the shrimp were gone and the mullet were putting me to work. You could see the water boiling as the school of mullet were running circles around the pier. I added about 40 mullet in the bait bucket by the end of the night. Only problem was I got my castnet snagged on the barnacles again, tearing a one foot hole in it. Even with the damaged castnet, I was still able to catch a few more mullet. Now I'm debating on whether to repair the castnet or just buy a new one and keep the ripped net as a spare. Like I said, it still catches fish but may lose a couple in the process. So 40 mullet and about 10 shrimp were brought home and bagged for the freezer.

Bass Fishing in May - Bass Pro Shops Order

Well, I haven't been catfishing much since it is mating season for gators. Plus our favorite catfish hotspot on the river bank at Mullet Lake Park may be a potentially ideal location for gators to nest and lay eggs, since we have to walk through the tall grass and brush just to get to the bankside. So our main focus lately has been bass fishing, mostly in residential ponds and lakes. The Colonial Grand Apartments has been a good bass spot, I've caught a fish everytime there usually. Small ones, about a pound each. The Berkley 7" Power Worms in Red Shad are bringing them in. Kyle has been working the pond near Lake Loch Leven in Mount Dora with the Culprit 7.5" Red Shad worms.

So I'm running out of worms and had a couple BassProShop gift cards to use. I placed an order yesterday and this is what I got for about $20 shipped...

Berkley PowerBait Power Worms 7" - Blue Fleck (10 pack)



Culprit Worm 7.5" - Red Shad (18 pack)



Zoom Super Fluke 5 1/4" - White Ice (10 pack)



Zoom Super Fluke 5 1/4" - Baby Bass (10 pack)



Mimic Minnow 1/8oz - Silver Shiner (2 pack)

Colonial Grand at Town Park in Lake Mary

Today I learned that there was an 8 lb bass caught in an apartment complex in Lake Mary. At Colonial Grand At Town Park, there are two ponds to fish. We fished the south pond first, getting a few bites. I tried my Super Spook Jr for some topwater action and got a bite but nothing. Didn't catch anything so we walked to the north pond. Fished there for about 25-30 minutes and I caught a nice little bass, about 1 LB. I was using a Zoom Fluke in White Ice. Kyle almost had a fish too, but it got away close to the shoreline. Kyle was using the 5" Yamasenko worms in Green Pumpkin/Black Flake, which are very productive in small ponds.

Slow Fishing @ Mullet Lake Park

The weather has been hot and we haven't seen any rain in awhile, which has had an impact on the water levels. The water levels in the St Johns river are way down this week compared to a few weeks ago when we were putting the smackdown on catfish. Last night the moon was only about 10% and the temperatures were in the mid to lower 60's. It was pretty chilly and very foggy over the water surface as the night went on.

We fished the Mullet Lake river bank again and only came out with a small channel catfish that Kyle caught in the picture below. The bite action was very light, in fact the river has almost shutdown the last couple trips out there. Hopefully it will pickup soon.

My 12 LB Channel Catfish! Hell Yeah!

Last night at the Mullet Lake Park river bank, I was joined by Kyle and Zack for some catfishing. We had a late start though, getting first lines in the water around 12:15am. I figured as long as I catch something, who cares. The moon was still about 85% full and temperatures were in the lower 70's/upper 60's again.

I caught the only three fish of the night using cut mullet bait. The first catch was a 4 lb 14 oz Channel Catfish, then awhile later I caught a small gar. Then it was 3:00AM when I was taken for a drag racing ride. I saw the bite, picked up my rod and felt something on the other end. I whipped my rod back to make sure the hook was set and started reeling in a monster. I knew this one was big and it had alot of fight in it, actually pulling my main reel drag which was set pretty tight. I got it up to the bank where Kyle lipped it with the yellow fish grips. The hook line had to be cut since it was set really deep, plus we didn't want to risk killing the fish by damaging any organs. Next came the scale, and I was so anxious to see how much it weighed. It was right at 12 LB! By far my personal best fish of any kind. =)

Night Recap:
4 LB 14 OZ Channel Catfish
small Florida Gar
12 LB Channel Catfish

Here's some pics of my 12 LB Channel Catfish ...

Personal Best Channel Catfish - Full Moon Fishing Report

Last night was one of the most productive and exhilerating nights fishing. It was a full moon while we fished Mullet Lake Park river bank. The night temperatures were in the lower 70's / upper 60's. It was my buddy Kyle and myself putting the smackdown on some Channel Cats and Florida Gar. Between the two of us, we landed 5 fish for a total of 25 LB! Everything was caught on some cut mullet for bait, and 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hooks. Kyle caught the first fish and it was his first big Channel Catfish. The night started grim for me though, reeling and losing 3 fish one after another. Then my luck changed, and the next 4 fish I made no mistake. My first landing was a personal best Channel Catfish. But while I was taking pictures my other Okuma baitfeeder began to sing and it was a big Florida Gar. It was awesome :)

The tally for me was:
Channel Catfish @ 7 lb 5 oz
Florida Gar @ 4 lb 8 oz
Florida Gar @ 3 lb 4 oz
Florida Gar @ 4 lb 4 oz



Kyle's catch:
Channel Catfish @ 5 lb 8 oz

Spider Crab and baby Squid @ North Causeway NSB

Last night was a disappointing fishing trip to NSB to say the least. I started at South Causeway, attempting to castnet some mullet and shrimp for bait. The mullet can be seen but not as many as last time. I got about 3 or 4 mullet and some small Atlantic Croakers. As for shrimp, I couldn't see any at all on topwater so no shrimp last night. The current was very strong also, making careful placement and retrieve of my castnet important to avoid another barnacle snag accident.

Eventually it was about midnight so I switched it up to the North Causeway pier. Again, no shrimp but I threw my castnet a few times and caught some Ballyhoo's, a couple mullet and get this, in one cast I got 3 baby squids! They were only 1.5" long but it was cool watching them ink when I put them in my bait bucket. My only catch of the night was a Common Spider Crab shown below. This brief video shows him crawling around the pier before I threw it back in the water.