A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Use this area to post freshwater fishing reports from the area lakes and rivers. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
I was fortunate to have the lucky number at the NFGFC Christmas Party and walk away with a new Pflueger Echelon bait caster. Until yesterday, I hadn't had an opportunity to try it out except for the back yard. I already knew that it was gonna produce some distance that I hadn't been able to achieve before and was excited about trying it for real. I had access to a small body of water that I knew had some bass so I headed out about 1pm yesterday. With all the cold weather since the first of the year I was figuring the fish would be pretty slow but I just wanted to try out my outfit. When I reached the water, I took a minute to determine where the sun had been for the longest so far and started on that stretch of the bank. I had tied on a black and sliver skitter walk with a red throat...yea it was topwater but I wanted to see how my rig would cast and retrieve because I felt that it would see more top water than anything else. Third cast... right at the end of the cast... strike ... and this fellow came thrash'n to the bank. (apologize for the pictures they were taken with tracfone)
This gave me a completely new attitude I started paying less attention to how the new reel was doing and started fish'n!! I was completely surprised that topwater had produced a strike but continued. Several times I took the skitterwalk off and put on a suspended mirror lure but they didn't like it. I tried a jig with a soft plastic and still no joy. I put the skitterwalk back on and it produced again. In fact, I had 7 topwater strikes and was able to hook up with 3 fish. I saw several follow but they didn't hit it. There were a few milling around the shore almost like they wanted to look for a bed...but that sure seems awful early...but then what the heck do I know. If I hadn't had it in my mind to try topwater, I'd probably have never considered put'n on the skitterwalk. Any way it was a great afternoon...no wind... fish'n the bank like I use to do as a kid ... just me and the dog... had the place to my self. Only stayed a couple of hours, and had fish last night for super
Last edited by Sir reel on January 19th, 2010, 4:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
"Good Judgement" comes from experience, ... and a lot of that..... results from "Bad Judgement".
I fish topwater year round for Bass and do pretty good I just slow things down a bit during the winter looks like some danged good eatin ta me
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”
Good afternoon DixieReb.
The raffle just provided me with the new Pflueger . The rod (berkly) was one that I had standing in the corner with a shimano catala 200 on it. Took the shimano off and put the Pflueger in it's place. The rod is a bit lighter than I'd like, but the color matched almost perfect...and ya know how important it is ta make a good fashion statement
"Good Judgement" comes from experience, ... and a lot of that..... results from "Bad Judgement".
I started paying less attention to how the new reel was doing and started fish'n!! I was completely surprised that topwater had produced a strike but continued. Several times I took the skitterwalk off and put on a suspended mirror lure but they didn't like it. I tried a jig with a soft plastic and still no joy. I put the skitterwalk back on and it produced again. In fact, I had 7 topwater strikes and was able to hook up with 3 fish. I saw several follow but they didn't hit it. There were a few milling around the shore almost like they wanted to look for a bed...but that sure seems awful early...but then what the heck do I know. If I hadn't had it in my mind to try topwater, I'd probably have never considered put'n on the skitterwalk. Any way it was a great afternoon...no wind... fish'n the bank like I use to do as a kid ... just me and the dog... had the place to my self. 
Only stayed a couple of hours, and had fish last night for super 
looks like some danged good eatin ta me 
