Off Road Angler

Well just when I thought I’d figured out the bass in south Florida we wind up in Orlando. Leanne and I love it here but the fishing patterns are a bit different than in Fort Lauderdale.

There are fewer canals and more small lakes……..most of which have little structure and resemble big bowls of water. There is lots of grass here though just like down south and as they say “if you find the grass you find the bass”. I’m not so sure that is true when there is grass everywhere.

In any case, the bass here seem pretty aggressive and I’ve had the most success with crankbaits, spinnerbaits and swimbaits…….much different than Texas where dead sticking a fluke usually wins the tournament.

Caught this beauty in our backyard one evening after coming home from work after 6pm…….actually was flipping a black/blue jig around a drain and THUMP……love that feeling.

Well I must say I am so very blessed……forgiveness of my sins by my Lord and Saviour Jesus, marriage to my best friend Leanne, freedom in my country, opportunities to grow, job to do everyday, wheelchair and even a van to use……..fishing in my backyard is just over the top…….why has God blessed me so……..I DON’T KNOW.

What I do know is that I don’t deserve any of this……..none of us do deserve the blessings, grace and mercy God offers us…….but we can show our appreciation of them by accepting and enjoying the gifts He gives and telling others who gave them to us.

We’ll we’ve relocated the Joni and Friends Florida office and our home to Orlando…….got here the end of April. Before we left though we had the opportunity to go to a private horse farm with 5 small lakes on it.

After being treated to an awesome lunch that day, we fished with our friends…….from 3pm to 5pm we caught virtually nothing…….only a few small bass and a bluegill. Then a little after 5pm the fish turned on and we had the best fishing day we’ve ever had in Florida. I caught around 6-7 bass between 3 and 5 pounds and Leanne caught a whopper 8 pounder! I had been catching mine on a soft jefk bait and then top water frog and suggest Leanne change from her deadsticking fluke method to catch more fish……….boy was I wrong just a few minutes later Wham……the 8 pounder.

Moral of the story…….we’ll I’m not sure on the big fish but overall prayer, patience and persistence followed by perserverance really pay off!