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Just got home from the Sebring and Avon area in south central Florida. Went there to catch a bunch of bluegill, red ear, and crappies for the freezer. The weather was great for visiting and awful for fishing. Strong East winds and a falling barometer did us in. I caught no bluegill or red ear and only a few nice crappie. Last 2 days we changed plans and decided to try bass fishing with shiners.
We went to a lake that was down in a depression in an orange grove called Lake Arthrob. Great looking lake with shallow areas and deep water to fish. Got the crappie fishing started and no takers for a while. Moved around a lot trying to get on some fish out of the winds. We finally went to a wind blown shallow cove that had cover and submerged grass. I set out my 14 foot crappie pole with a minnow on it. Nothing was happening and I started to rig up a shiner fishing rig when I noticed my 14 foot pole going across the lake. It floated like a cork. Pulled the anchors and started after my rod. Caught up with it and there was not a crappie on it at all, it was a very large bass. It quickly snapped it two and it swam into the hydrilla and hung up. I tried to pull it out by hand but the line finally broke and ended the crappie fishing. It was now just a bass fishing trip. The fishing was poor on artificial lures but good on shiners. Fishing in 2 to five feet of water produced bass from 2 pounds to 6 plus pounds. I lost one at the boat that was much larger. In those two days we caught over 20 bass on the shiners. We also had to deal with trash fish wanting those shiners. We caught gar, bowfin, and chain pickerel, and catfish.
I was hearing what I thought was giant bull frogs croaking in the tall grass and the other cover that was like floating in the very shallow water. Well they were not frogs at all. Seems alligators were making these sounds. Some of them as long as 10 or 11 feet. You don’t see them until you are very near them. Kind of spooky to someone who has never seen one in the wild. Lots of lakes to fish there. Most all lakes are public and have good ramps. They can be found on the net and all the towns have bait shops for info and area maps to the lakes. Some of them are huge also. A big fishing boat would be needed on them. I have a few pics to share.

Can a moderator roll my pictures to the correct orientation please?
Thanks, Don.

Nice fish Don, looks like it was a lot of fun! I love the color on those black water bass.
I used to fish around Lake Panasoffkee between Ocala and Orlando when I was a kid and loved fishing alligator alley under I-75 watching big bowfin torpedo my sluggo when it hit the shallow water.