We kicked off the 2017-2018 Bass Fishing Season today, October 3, on Tsala Apopka (Hernando Pool).  We caught 13 bass in unusually tough conditions due to high winds.  All fish, as usual, were returned to the water as we practice "catch and release" bass fishing.

Gene was joined by son-in-law Todd.  The largest bass, caught by Gene, was 5.5 pounds.  Enjoy a few pictures of our day fishing with Captain Keith Austin.

Spring Hill Fishing Club Trip of May 9, 2017

One of our 12 fish landed today was a lunker bass at 9 pound 3 ounces.  Here is the story.

Son-in-law Todd joined me on Lake Rousseau with Captain Keith Austin. 

First, it was a beautiful day on the lake.  Lots of bird life and a good number of alligators were present.

 What does it take to get a 9 pound bass into the boat?  A team effort.  I am on the camera while Captain Keith assists Todd.

Foliage was already abundant for early March.

 

Indeed, they have to spray to keep the green stuff from clogging up the lake.  They use these air boats to accomplish the task.

Great trip on a great lake!

Spring Hill Fishing Club Bass Trip of 2-27-2017

We finished our four trip winter bass season with another nice catch of fish.  We fished two trips in January and two trips in February in search of a 10 pound bass.  No such luck, but we did well.

We averaged 12 bass per trip.  Largest bass was 8.5 pounds for Randy, and 7.5 pounds for Gene and Chuck.  There were lots of six pounders, even more 5 pounders, and many, many over 4 pounds.

A big thanks to Captain Keith Austin for keeping us on the bass, regardless of the weather conditions.  Temperatures changed as much as 30 degrees during the last trip.  He navigated the many stump fields of Lake Rousseau and kept us out of trouble.

Action:

We learned a lot about free-lining large shiners over the winter and we look forward to a summer trip or two.

Bass Fishing at Lake Rousseau on January 30 2017

The weather conditions were against us as we came out of a cold front.  Clear skies and wind were a challenge.

The bass were holding off the spawning areas in the stump fields and in six to eight feet of water. 

Birds Eye View

Randy caught the big one today at 7 pounds 9 ounces.  We boated 10 nice bass between 3.5 and 7.75 pounds.  Two got away from us on the way to the boat, and one was large.  Here are a few pictures of Gene, Randy, and Captain Keith Austin.

 

On January 23rd we kicked off the 2017 bass fishing season.  It was a tough day on the water because of the high winds.  Captain Keith Austin kept us on the Lake Rousseau bass.

Wild shiners, free lined, led us to 12 nice bass between 3 pounds and 7.5 pounds.  The average weight was over four pounds.

Chuck Widlowski caught the big bass at 7.5 pounds.  As for me, I was happy with a 6.5 pounder.  Here are some pictures of us with some of our fish.

To get a feel for the wind conditions, here is a short video.

Captain Keith Austin could have called off this trip but he was confident he could find the fish.  He had a busy day on the trolling motor in those windy conditions.