Salmo Chubby Darter Review - Salmo Lures
“It is hard to believe a lure that has only been sold for six years can become a classic, but the Chubby Darter has become a “must have” among ice fisherman. The unique action of the Chubby Darter is primarily for vertical fishing where the bait quivers and darts as the angler pulls upward on the rod tip. Trout, perch, crappie, walleye and pike all fall for the Chubby Darter.“
Our Review: We like ‘em. (especially the perch color) Many anglers don’t like to fish vertical over deep water, but they are really missing out. Use your electronics to find some deep water structure where fish are located, then drop this lure down to the bottom and start jigging it up and then let it fall. Repeat the process until you’ve reached your limit. A good lure for catching crappie, especially slab crappie, perch, white bass, yellow bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, pike and trout.
Resources:
Florida’s Top Striped Bass Waters For 2009
Just doing a quick recap of Florida’s top striped bass waters for 2009 according to the FWC. Striped bass are a very popular fish to catch in Florida, however, they are often overlooked because of all of the excellent saltwater fishing opportunities to go along with all of the largemouth bass fishing in Florida.
Apalachicola River / Lake Seminole - The state record striped bass, sunshine bass and white bass were all caught in the Apalachicola River / Lake Seminole water system. That says a lot for the fishing in these waters. Striped bass in the 20 pound range are very common and sunshine bass in the 7 to 10 pound range are also common. Striped bass over 40 pounds are possible here.
Lake Talquin / Ochlockonee River - Striped bass and white bass thrive in these waters. There is a heavy stocking program of striped bass. 10 to 20 fish per acre are stocked here annually and that has resulted in quality striped bass in the 10 to 20 pound range being common. 30 pound fish are not as common, but they do exist in these waters. The white bass can hold their own as well in this water system with 3 to 5 pound fish being fairly common.
The St. John’s River is known for its excellent largemouth bass fishing, but the striped bass fishing is very good as well. 8 to 12 pound striped bass are common because of an aggressive stocking program, although the monster striped bass over 20 pounds are pretty rare.
Blackwater and Yellow Rivers - These rivers are located northeast of Pensacola and they are stocked annually with striped bass and this stocking schedule has helped to produce a fishery where 10 to 20 pound striped bass are common and fish up to 30 pounds are possible.
Choctawhatchee River - This river is located northwest of Panama City and it has been stocked with striped bass and sunshine bass. The fishing is very good for striped bass and sunshine bass, but the FWC didn’t say anything about the sizes of the fish in this river.
The Escambia River is located north of Pensacola, Florida. The stocking schedule is annual with striped bass and sunshine bass alternating every year. The striped bass aren’t monsters here like some of the other places that have been featured, however, fish in the 10 to 12 pound range are fairly common in the Escambia River.
St. Mary’s / Nassau Rivers - Located north of Jacksonville, Florida, this river system is stocked with striped bass, but most of the population consists of fish that are naturally reproducing and from fish migrating into these rivers from the St. John’s River.
Eagle Lake is located northeast of Lake City, Florida. This area is actually a fish management area that features a 200 acre lake that is actually a phosphate pit. It is heavily stocked with 50 to 100 sunshine bass per acre. There are tons of fish in this lake and these sunshine bass reach the 5 to 7 pound range in just 2 years because of the good population of bait fish in the lake.
Edward Medard Lake is located east of Brandon, Florida and it is a 700 acre phosphate pit lake that has a good population of sunshine bass. There are 100 sunshine bass stocked per acre every year. Those numbers are kind of ridiculous. If you want to catch some fish, there are plenty of fish in this lake.
Osborne - Ida Chain of Lakes - This water system consists of Lake Osborne and Lake Ida as well as 3 other small lakes called Clarke, Pine and Catherine. There are good numbers of sunshine bass in these lakes, but they run a little small with many fish in the 1 to 3 pound range.
For more detailed information on the top striped bass waters of Florida, take a look at the FWC website. http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_sites_topstriper.htm
