Bait saves the day on this warmwater bass voyage

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - I didn't think much about it, until the bite turned off like a light switch.

I usually do quite well on the lakes and ponds here in southeast Florida. The same holds true for the bassing on the myriad canals that wind through the residential retreats where boats are tied to a shore-pipe dug into the ground in the back of homes.

I told myself I might have to switch to live bait to get some decent action. That, of course, brought wild shiners to mind.

The "retail cost" of south Florida live bait fishing is enough to send a shiver up and down the backs of many back home.

One of the popular live bait methods for huge Florida bass is to use wild shiners. I'm not talking about those runt-size shiners we use in Illinois, but jumbo shiners that invite a big bass to inhale it, gulp it down and head for Alabama.

Down here, the cost of these short-life swimmers runs from $10 and upward. I've heard of some who brag they sell wild shiners for $20 a dozen. Cost is the main reason I'd rather use a spinner bait, 10-inch plastic worm, a Little Action Mac Magnum worm (8 inches), a jumbo topwater weedless frog or a big buzzbait.

Still, it's the wild shiner that has the best chance at tempting a world-record fish into a world-class battle. And there are scores of shiner-netters who bring their cash crop to the bait dealers and tackle shops. One just has to find healthy-looking golden shiners that swim like mad once the bait shop person sticks a net into the tank to get a few.

Once the bass bite slowed to a mere memory of the great action I had on that spot the day before, I gave in and adjusted my strategy to live bait again (wild shiners).

I didn't have my battery-operating aerator, nor my sparkling clean Plano minnow bucket with me, so I bought a Styrofoam bucket and a small bag of ice to keep my investment chilled and ready to greet the world.

I found myself back in that familiar fishing spot, a canal near the Palm Beach International Airport.

My late friend Roger Pulkka and I went nuts one day some years back nailing bass on surface lures on this canal. We also cranked poppers extremely fast over the brush and weed cover to avoid the jumbo garfish gobbling everything swimming close by.

On another outing with Roger we dedicated an entire morning to just catching garfish and other rough species.

Anyway, during this latest solo trip I used a large slip-float and a jumbo wild golden shiner, and gingerly stood on the bank of this canal. I had to be extremely careful of fire ants embedded in the grass of the sloping bank. Those ants can deliver a painful bite and kill a day of fishing.

Because of some painful back issues, the slanted shoreline wasn't the most comfortable fishing platform for me.

Here's the gear setup I used that day. My Shimano Stradic-1000 was spooled with 10-pound Suffix. The reel was attached to a Grandt Payara Series Rod. I also used a fluorocarbon leader and a big circle hook.

After about a half-hour, the float started to dance around and then disappeared beneath the surface. I waited a good 30 seconds before I closed the bail on the reel. I reeled in the slack, tightened all the line and set the hook. The digital scale read 3 pounds, 4 ounces. I released the fish and tied on a fresh shiner. The float barely had time to straighten itself in the water when it disappeared.

I assumed this was a bigger fish, so I didn't wait. I closed the bail and set the hook.

OK, so 6½ pounds of Florida largemouth bass isn't what the locals here brag about, but it's good enough for me to store in my memory bank. I went on to catch four others, all about the same size as that last one.

If there's a next time I won't be so thrifty. No, I'll happily spend a few bucks in order to experience the right ROI - return on my investment.

Local fishing update:

Even though we expect the heat to return any time now, fishing on inland lakes has revived itself.

• Fox Chain walleye action much better in the channel mouth emptying into Petite Lake. Channel catfish action has been excellent right off the dock at the C.J. Smith Resort. Largemouth bass activity greatly improved on Lake Catherine and Channel Lake. The bluegill bite on Pistakee Lake has been constant.

• Deep Lake bass and panfish very steady.

• Bangs Lake in Wauconda has been giving up very nice largemouth on outside weed edges.

• Lake Michigan: The salmon and rainbow trout bite is improved out of Waukegan. Capt. Bob Jenkins with Challenger Charters (630-688-3604) reports the coho bite is on again as well as big lake trout.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.