Florida is different-what do you think?

I read lots of crappie articles and have found that none of them align with florida fishing. Its a different situation out here. Here is what I have found out about florida lakes

Docks- most of the time docks are in water no deeper than 2 feet

Creek channels- natural florida lakes have no creek channels

Flooded timber- very very rare

humps- no humps most florida lakes are flat muck

Points- other than shallow vegetation there are no points

Brush piles- for some reason no one if florida uses brush piles

structure- the natural lakes in florida have no structure, the bottom is flat muck for far as you can see

summer fishing- for some reason no one in florida fishes for crappie during the summer.

Put this together and you get a tough situation where the crappie are very ghoselike. You can never predict where they are going to be.

It seems to me that fishing in florida is harder to figure out than other places


Any comments?

thanks

It takes a little while to learn a particular lake. When you do, the crappie fishing is pretty easy and very good. I catch nice crappie year round. That is why I stick with only two lakes, I have them figured out.

I totally agree with Glen.Learn a lake and stick to that.ELECTRONICS ALSO learn to read them and don't be afraid to spend $$$$$$.

Rousseau,Rodman to a degree,Talquin first come to mind with flooded timber. Rousseau and me dont get along too good ever since the chain saw crowd got to the stumps years back.Rousseau is my number 1 headache,but they sure have the bass

Summer fishing.Nobody fishes for spec's in the summer? Because its hot and the bugs come out is why most people dont fish at night in the summer.
And I like it like that,because thats when the night fishing starts for me and many other people.Sorry I totally disagree with this one.
Also spec's just dont taste the same in the hot summer that they do in the cooler months but that just may be me,but I eat them right on, this is what might turn some folks off.

Docks 2 ft deep?...I have to disagree with you especially during a normal rain fall year

Brush piles? who needs them with the vegetation we have?...certain vegetation has a certain type bottom that it grows in....certain fish and bait fish like certain types of vegetation and bottoms...learn vegetation and what type bottom it grows in and half the battle is won.
(vegetation example: shrimp live in hydrilla which ='s spec's love shrimp and hydrilla both)
The state does put in brush piles and does maintain them on certain lakes and in many lakes its probably against the law to put in random brush piles.In the past in the Harris chain, people put in brush piles in all over the place,Im sure there may be others but laws change so I dont know about today


Bottoms? as little as a 2ft hump can be a differance maker, they are there but the people who found them found them the hard way, and they keep their lips pretty tight and I for one dont blame them.After all we have to do a little of the work ourselfs

Yeah our lakes may be dull to some people but I wouldnt trade them for anywhere else and Ive been here 67 yrs and have fished salt & fresh all over this state all my life.Our lakes must not be that bad......after all we are invaded every year by out of state fisherman who must think they are pretty good too :)

JMO..no flame intended

Fishing for florida crappie is great because it seems to me that its real simular to spring fishing in some ga lakes with fla all year round...Trolling for staging fish no structure no pattern just just open water fish..I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule...Fished orange/lochloosa 1st fla crappie tourn. last year and saw simularities you describe...I also developed a passion for fla crappie fishing

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Originally Posted by slimecoat

Brush piles- for some reason no one if florida uses brush piles

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On some waters it is illegal to put trash, garbage, ect. into the water.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slimecoat

summer fishing- for some reason no one in florida fishes for crappie during the summer.

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The flesh of Specks tend to be mushy and not as firm as in the colder months. The Specks also tend to school and bite better in the colder months.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slimecoat

It seems to me that fishing in florida is harder to figure out than other places

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Speck fishing in Florida is just different maybe than elsewhere. I don't think I would say that its harder but possibly. Specks still can be predictable once a particular body of water has been learned.

I lived in the Tampa area for 10 years. I fished several lakes from Lake Harris to Lake Kissimee to Lake Okeechobee. Although these lake may have differed to what I grew up on in GA, I had decent success on most of them. I did not fish very much during the summer because of the heat and the bugs, day or night. Early winter to mid Spring was about the extent to the crappie fishing I did, then I would turn to bass until the days got too hot to be out there. The fishing "may" have been a little different than what I was used to, but not any "harder"..I mainly fish Talquin now and it has it all...Brush piles, deep water, flooded timber, stumps...you name it.

I recall years ago (1967) my sister and her husband had a cabin on Lake Talquin and I stopped by to visit.
The lake had been emptied to let the bottom dry out, and as I recall there were acres and acres of stumps out there, plus dog fennels and many other sorts of vegetation growing (been down awhile).
Just thought I'd share that :)

As far as the fish being mushy in the. Put them in ice water while you are putting your gear away and then fillet them. Comes off very neat and nice fillets just like up north in the winter.

Hey, just thought I would throw in a couple of coppers here. I have fished all over the states, and although not as easy as a few other states, Florida remains right up there on the list of my favorite crappie fishing areas. As was said, electronics are the key to staging, open water, fish. Also it may take a while, but while heading from one spot to another, slow down a bit and study your electronics as you go. Notice where there is a rise or drop. I have done this and had great success when the fish are not in the pads. My favorite part of fishing down here for crappis is the pads though. Love dipping 'em. Either using a jig or minner, it is really exciting cuz you never know. Most of the time it is a speck, but sometimes....you will latch onto a really nice bass or get your drag tested with a bowfin (mudfish) about 8 lbs or so. Just my thoughts on the matter, but I really do like it here.