Finally

I drove 230 miles to the Ocala Fl area to fish with my friend Wayne Kilgo. My 1st crappie trip in almost a year. We hitt he canals on Lake Griffin in Fruitland Park Fl and in 2 days of fishing we caught over 100 crappie keeping the largest 42. It is a different kind of fishing than i am used to No docks so i had to learn Florida style fishing. He caught all his on pink and white 1/32 oz using a 10 foot pole. I fumbled thru everything in my box and caught a few on some but mostly........ blue and white. My old stand by. A few right by the shore but mostly in the middle of the channel. It felt good to get to ish again. 460 miles round trip was a bit much, but well worth it. Thx wayne for putting me up and putting up with me.

Its 230 miles from Tool to Florida? It seemed further .

Nice going Eric, any pic's? What kinda size does those floridans carry. What was the water temp there? Good to hear from ya its been a while.

1st I cant figure how to change profile.I am in Ft Myers area SW Florida.
Cliff. Water was in lo 50 s there. Most fish we caught were smallish. Deepest part of the lake is in the 10 ft range. Most of the fishermen troll the river mouth and catch the bigger fish but downthere a 1 lb crappie is big. No size limit in Florida and some keep 8 inch fish. Miss you also.I need to hitch a ride and learn something from you when i et back .Hopefully this year. I am tired of golfing and not crappie fishing

Glad you got to go do some fishing Eric, sounds like you had fun. To edit your profile, go to my stuff & hit edit profile. When are you gonna come visit us at C.C.?

Thx Kevin.Sure hope it is soon. I have to go to chicago in May and may take the long way back via Tx.If i do i will give you a shout. Those new crappie hotels you made look great. I used a long rod in Florida and still prefer my 4'6" dock shooter for all kinds of fishing.Take care and say hi to all for me.

Neat to see this thread. I grew up in that area (Gainesville) & caught a lot of specks like that around Dead Lake/St. John's River. Were the "porcupines" out there? We used to call the guys that trolled for speckled perch that. They'd have a pontoon boat with no less than 15-20 lines in the water...rods sticking up everywhere!! Thanks for the jog down memory lane!!

yep. They say they catch the bigger ones doing that spider rigging. Looks boring to me and you might get a sore neck looking at all those rods. I like the hunt of jig fishing. You cant beat the weather here tho.80 BUT I still want to be back in
Tx

Well get back here and you can catch some real crappie again. When i was in orlando for a year the ones we caught there were on the small side as well, but i caught mine by bank by a bridge that went over the lake, it was a toll road but you could walk under it. Im sure when you get back there wil plenty plenty of people that will be willing to go fishing with you including me buddy
Take care
Mark

Hi Eric, I'm in Sarasota, Fl now.

Looks like there should be some Crappie fishing at Sebring or Okeechobee. Lot closer than Griffin.

Plastics or the ones I gave you?

Eric, hurry and get on back here, Jackie & I
have exceeded our credit limit on coffee at
the Huddle house, ha ha Hope to see you soon,
Happy Fishing Jerry R.

We have Trafford and Okeechobee but my sandbass buddy from Hubard winters in Fruitland park and went to see him as much ( well almost) as fishing. Miss seeing you ,Faith and the girls. Take care and hope to be seeing you and the others in a bit

I did not get a bite on yours or any other hair jig. All on plastic jig bodies, both hollow and solid body. Pink and white was the best color combo. Wayne caught 3 to my one. Jerry, keep Jackie in check til i get back.

Eric,

Nice to see your friend's name on here. I haven't heard that name in a while. I use to teach at Hubbard, so I know the Kilgo's. Very nice folks...

Small world. Wayne and Jac treat everyone so great. And our other friends Doyle Holman and Max walker are of the same cut. Great folks. I'll tell Wayne I heard from you.

Eric,
Almost ready to move into the new house, (Paradise Bay)... I believe you know where that is.... Back seat open when you get back.... Matthew

I;m sho nuf hopeing you have two back seats open
then matthew, One for Eric & one for me, ha ha
jerry R.

THx Matthew.I will sure take you up on that generous offer when I get back. You could not have picked a better area to be in. I am sure you know the docks i regularly fish. Good luck with the new house. If you see any houses for rent in that area please let me know. Eric

Well glad you got in some fishing and when you get back our way sounds like you will have plenty rides but if I'm on CC you are sure welcome to ride with me.

THx Charles.Appreciate all the offers. Imight have to take you'se guys up on them til I get my new to me rig.

cant go wrong with the Eric Jig hope all is well bud, lets go fish and hit the golf course when ya get back this way.

Marc

Marc, are there any crappie left in white rock creek or have you , Rudy, Mark and Jesse cauth all of them? SAy hi to Cecil .Neches should be close to getting hot too. Take care and will see you soon, hopefully

I know Rudy put a hurt'n on them and sure Jesse did as well I fished @ w/r a few times this fall/winter but mainly fished in another creek that produced well this year just waiting on the temps to creap up a little more and hope we don't get to much more rain till the spawn starts.

Good to see post

Marc