I went fishing with Jerry Kropff on Grand Lake in northeaster Oklahoma while up visiting family for the holidays. On the way there the truck said 12 degrees, but it did warm up to the high 30's later in the day. Jerry was very kind to have the bait already caught and ready to go fishing when I got there.
Jerry spent some time graphing a few locations and finally decided an area with a steep drop off into a channel looked good. It wasn't long and we had the first fish....then we missed about 14 bites in a row. We tried rigging the shad different ways and downsizing hooks, but still had trouble. The bite was just not aggressive the day of the cold front. We fished a total of 3 spots and caught 26 blues, most in the 4-8 pound range. I did catch a 16 pounder to end the day. It was great fishing with Jerry and learning from one of the greatest catfisherman. I look forward to the next adventure. Thanks Jerry
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Ray Roberts 12-18-10
Took the Hughes crew out this morning for blues. Started out fishing a drop off from 38 to 72 ft of water. We caught most of the fish on the shallower part of the drop, but they moved deeper as the morning progressed. MG had the hot corner of the boat to start the day.
Then the guys got in on the action.
Water temp was 50-52 and most of the fish were caught between 50 and 72ft of water. They kept 15 good fish under 10 pounds, released around a dozen in the teens and a 20 pounder.
On the way in we decided to try for some sand bass and ended up catching about 90 in an hour. Many of them were good magnum sized fish. We all had on different styles of slabs and chartruese flies from Flies-by-Night. We caught the fish in 40-44ft of water betwen 2 and 3 in the afternoon. It was a blast guys, looking forward to the next trip.
Since the fish are deep this time of year you must burp the fish if you are going to release them to live another day. This is especially true when we are chasing the big blues. Typically, we have used a piece of 1/2 pvc for this, but last weekend I had to burp some smaller fish because my clients did not want to keep more fish than for dinner. If a piece of pvc was put down a 4 pound fish the fish would be damaged and bleed. The purpose of doing this is to relieve their air bladder that becomes bloated and enlarged when brought from deep water. If they are not burped the fish cannot go down and will eventually die. So...I looked around the garage and found some hard plastic tubing about the diameter of a pinky finger. I tried it today on all sizes of fish and it worked great. I just cut a 2 foot piece.
Water temp was 50-52 and most of the fish were caught between 50 and 72ft of water. They kept 15 good fish under 10 pounds, released around a dozen in the teens and a 20 pounder.
On the way in we decided to try for some sand bass and ended up catching about 90 in an hour. Many of them were good magnum sized fish. We all had on different styles of slabs and chartruese flies from Flies-by-Night. We caught the fish in 40-44ft of water betwen 2 and 3 in the afternoon. It was a blast guys, looking forward to the next trip.
Since the fish are deep this time of year you must burp the fish if you are going to release them to live another day. This is especially true when we are chasing the big blues. Typically, we have used a piece of 1/2 pvc for this, but last weekend I had to burp some smaller fish because my clients did not want to keep more fish than for dinner. If a piece of pvc was put down a 4 pound fish the fish would be damaged and bleed. The purpose of doing this is to relieve their air bladder that becomes bloated and enlarged when brought from deep water. If they are not burped the fish cannot go down and will eventually die. So...I looked around the garage and found some hard plastic tubing about the diameter of a pinky finger. I tried it today on all sizes of fish and it worked great. I just cut a 2 foot piece.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Ray Roberts 12-11-10
Today I had first guests Steve and family out for blue catfishing. We decided to head out at 6am because the wind was suppose to chance from the south to north and blow in the 30's by mid morning. As soon as we got to our first spot to graph the area bam strong north wind. Oh well, we were already out there and the crew was willing to make the best of the day. They wanted to catch some eaters and also chase a trophy, so we threw out some jugs to start the day. Then we anchored up on an area I marked some good fish on a drop off from 34 to 58 ft of water. About 5 minutes after getting all the poles out the back pole goes down and Steve reels down on it. He boats a personal best 10 pounder....however that fish managed to run up and tangle 3 rods, so we had tangled line everywhere. We threw a different pole out off the drop where the 10 came from and down it goes again...and again...and again. This was not helping get the other rods untangled catching these fish, but it was fun :) The bite was quick for about 45 minutes and then just stopped. We decided to check the jugs since we were getting some good rollers as the wind picked up. I think we only had one jug that didn't have a good fish on it. I had put the jugs out on a gradual point starting at 15 ft and ending in 42ft. As we moved up the slope to shallower water the fish were getting smaller and then wham in 28 ft of water we had a 29 pound blue on. The guys got a kick out of seeing that fish. We put it in the live well to get energy back and then she was released for another day. It took a team effort to pull the jugs and fish in with the wind.
After picking up the jugs, we fished about 6 different areas marking great fish, but the bite just got lighter and lighter as the day wore on. At the end we were catching fish that we didn't even know where on there. We'd go to leave and have a few fish on. The guys were troopers catching a mess of fish in adverse conditions today. We all had a great time with good conversation. The guys learned how to tie knots, different rigs, graph reading, baiting hooks, patterns etc. Look forward to the next trip guys. Thanks I'll post the pics when they send them to me. It was too difficult to use more than one camera today in the wind.
Most of the fish were caught in 44-68ft of water. Very different from 2 weeks ago when they were in 2-15 ft of water. This cold front has moved the bait out in the deeper water.
After picking up the jugs, we fished about 6 different areas marking great fish, but the bite just got lighter and lighter as the day wore on. At the end we were catching fish that we didn't even know where on there. We'd go to leave and have a few fish on. The guys were troopers catching a mess of fish in adverse conditions today. We all had a great time with good conversation. The guys learned how to tie knots, different rigs, graph reading, baiting hooks, patterns etc. Look forward to the next trip guys. Thanks I'll post the pics when they send them to me. It was too difficult to use more than one camera today in the wind.
Most of the fish were caught in 44-68ft of water. Very different from 2 weeks ago when they were in 2-15 ft of water. This cold front has moved the bait out in the deeper water.
Galveston 12-3-10
Todd and I went to Galveston for the annual PE convention and decided to try out luck fishing off a pier. Neither one of us have ever fished from the shore in saltwater, but thought we'd give it a try. We bought some frozen shrimp from Academy(mistatke), but it would just crumble off the hook. A guy next to us told me where a place down the row sold shrimp for fishing so I went and bought a few pounds. Instantly, after throwing in the fresh shrimp it was fish on. We had a good relaxing time fishing for a couple hours then it was time to get cleaned up for a nice seafood dinner. We probably caught around 40 fish.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Ray Roberts 11-27-10
Decided to take Larry and John today to do some scouting for new areas on Ray Roberts. It took way to long to catch bait this morning in an area of the lake I had never been to, but after about 80 throws we had enough to fish. One was a 17inch gizzard....more on that later.
Marked a few fish on a deep channel and got set up. Threw most of the poles out in the channel and a few up on the flat. A few minutes later John got the first blue of the day on the shallow flat. Rebaited threw it out and bam Larry got this one of the shallow flat. Baited up and down it goes again. We decided to move out in the shallow flat, but after moving we didn't get another bite in the area.
We decided to try another area where two creeks join with a shallow flat nearby.....nada.
Decided to go with the shallow bite and fish a windblown point with the creek nearby. I decided to put the head of that 17 inch Gizzard on a pole and throw it off the end of the point just as it tapers off before heading into the creek. John and Larry asked what in the world we were fishing for that could eat a bait that size. We sat there for about 10 minutes and the pole with the head on it goes down. Larry reels down on it and has a 17 pounder work him over. Judging by the bait size and fight of that fish I would have thought it to be at least a 30 pounder. Larry was all smiles. We decided to call it a day and get home to our families. Had a great time guys and found a few more areas to fish. Good times!
Marked a few fish on a deep channel and got set up. Threw most of the poles out in the channel and a few up on the flat. A few minutes later John got the first blue of the day on the shallow flat. Rebaited threw it out and bam Larry got this one of the shallow flat. Baited up and down it goes again. We decided to move out in the shallow flat, but after moving we didn't get another bite in the area.
We decided to try another area where two creeks join with a shallow flat nearby.....nada.
Decided to go with the shallow bite and fish a windblown point with the creek nearby. I decided to put the head of that 17 inch Gizzard on a pole and throw it off the end of the point just as it tapers off before heading into the creek. John and Larry asked what in the world we were fishing for that could eat a bait that size. We sat there for about 10 minutes and the pole with the head on it goes down. Larry reels down on it and has a 17 pounder work him over. Judging by the bait size and fight of that fish I would have thought it to be at least a 30 pounder. Larry was all smiles. We decided to call it a day and get home to our families. Had a great time guys and found a few more areas to fish. Good times!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Ray Roberts 11-22-10
Took James and his father to Ray Roberts this morning. Last time James went on a trip with me it was an electrifying experience and we had to run for cover. Luckily, this time we had clear skies and a 10-15mph wind. The water temp was around 58 today and the sand bass were biting light with many gill slaps. They didn't want it deadsticked, but also didn't want it moving much. More of a slow up and down making the slab spiral instead of flutter. The birds helped a little early, but they quickly gave it up and took a rest. The bite was consistent, but not on fire this morning. If I remember correctly, James caught 6 fish snagged in the back. We decided anyone can hook them in the mouth, but it takes great skill to snag them in the back.
James and his father also wanted to catch a few blues for the fun of it.
We had a blast this morning and I look forward to having these two again.
We had a blast this morning and I look forward to having these two again.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Ray Roberts 11-13-10
Todd and I went to Ray Roberts this morning to try some new techniques and locations for blues. Got to the lake to find the area we were going to fish had some serious white caps and rollers. So, we decided to stay out of the wind a little and fish areas I was more familiar with. First spot, we marked good fish, but after 20 minutes no takers. Decided to get out in the wind and look at some other areas. Next stop was covered with bait and active fish around. The screen had bait balls getting busted with sand bass and catfish suspended around it picking of shad getting busted up by the sand bass. We put out rods for cats and tossed some slabs for sand bass. Caught about a dozen of each in quick fashion and left to check other areas.
Arrived at our next area to graph and found same scenario with bait, sand bass, and blues so we fished for both catching both. Largest blue was still only 11 pounds, so we moved out to 60+ feet of water and caught a good blue, but then nothing. The birds started working a hundred yards from us, so we headed over to catch some sand bass and that we did. The wind even changed direction from the NW to the SW and that didn't stop the action. Tim Wike from ReelinRayRoberts showed up with clients and they looked like they were having a blast too.
Total we probably had in the 80 range for sand bass and around 40 catfish for the day. A beautiful day on Lake Ray Roberts!
Arrived at our next area to graph and found same scenario with bait, sand bass, and blues so we fished for both catching both. Largest blue was still only 11 pounds, so we moved out to 60+ feet of water and caught a good blue, but then nothing. The birds started working a hundred yards from us, so we headed over to catch some sand bass and that we did. The wind even changed direction from the NW to the SW and that didn't stop the action. Tim Wike from ReelinRayRoberts showed up with clients and they looked like they were having a blast too.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Ray Roberts 11-6-10
Took Frank and Johnny to Ray Roberts this afternoon on mixed white bass/catfish trip. With this recent cold front the water temp was down to 64.6 and the fish were working humps/drop offs and points from 18-35ft. Some birds would point you in the right direction, but were not a consistent helper today. Electronics were the key. I can't say enough about the game change experience of having and learning how to use side image. Today the white bass wanted the slab on a much slower raise and drop. Some bites felt like a little tick on the line and some others hammered it. All fish were caught on Ol'Uglies and yarn flies. Johnny tried his new white and gold slab, I had on white and silver and Frank had on white and chartruese. All produced well.
After catching a good mess of whites and about an hour left we decided to try for some blue cats. Frank had never fished for them and was eager to see a pull down. We started out drifting a ridge with one old green shirt, a large stick, and a tree caught. Not really what we were after, so we headed to a point they have been good on the past couple Novembers to graph it and see what was there. On a drop from 12 to 20 ft I spotted a pack of 4 catfish. We anchored up above them and tossed the baits back towards them. It wasn't 5 minutes and the back pole went down. Frank was busy casting out catching whites and didn't see it, so I reeled down on it and handed him the pole. A solid in the box. This continued and Frank managed to put four fish between 6 and 9 pounds in the box and one teenager to be released for another day. With the sun setting on a beautiful fall day and great fishing we decided to head in and clean our catch.
After catching a good mess of whites and about an hour left we decided to try for some blue cats. Frank had never fished for them and was eager to see a pull down. We started out drifting a ridge with one old green shirt, a large stick, and a tree caught. Not really what we were after, so we headed to a point they have been good on the past couple Novembers to graph it and see what was there. On a drop from 12 to 20 ft I spotted a pack of 4 catfish. We anchored up above them and tossed the baits back towards them. It wasn't 5 minutes and the back pole went down. Frank was busy casting out catching whites and didn't see it, so I reeled down on it and handed him the pole. A solid in the box. This continued and Frank managed to put four fish between 6 and 9 pounds in the box and one teenager to be released for another day. With the sun setting on a beautiful fall day and great fishing we decided to head in and clean our catch.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Grapevine 10-15-10
Took John and his crew of 7 out for a quick morning trip on the Vine this morning. Started out a little before sunrise with the preacher getting cold. He knew something was wrong when he stepped out of his truck and all the "wiser men" had on pants and coats....he had shorts and a fleece on. The guys had a good time with him all morning!
This was the first trip in a while that Roe didn't bring his lucky girlfriend and I don't think we'll let him on the boat without her anymore because the bite was SLOW today. We found fish every stop we made, but they were scattered fish on a no wind, blue bird day making the bites few and far between.
Tip of the day: Burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause, burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause etc.
The fish did not want the typical up down of slabbing or hopped back from a cast. We ended up finding the pattern and caught fish, but just not what this crew is use too. We all had a great time and lots of ribbin' going on this morning. John was confused on the Vine and was wondering why the sun was rising in the West :) This group usually fishes at EM with me, but it's turning over right now.
John was joking about taking a pic for the blog so I took this when with a dink double :) In his right hand is another one the same size as the one on the fly!
Had a great time guys and look forward to our trips in March. Roe, bring Whitney so she can fill the cooler for you guys.
This was the first trip in a while that Roe didn't bring his lucky girlfriend and I don't think we'll let him on the boat without her anymore because the bite was SLOW today. We found fish every stop we made, but they were scattered fish on a no wind, blue bird day making the bites few and far between.
Tip of the day: Burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause, burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause etc.
The fish did not want the typical up down of slabbing or hopped back from a cast. We ended up finding the pattern and caught fish, but just not what this crew is use too. We all had a great time and lots of ribbin' going on this morning. John was confused on the Vine and was wondering why the sun was rising in the West :) This group usually fishes at EM with me, but it's turning over right now.
John was joking about taking a pic for the blog so I took this when with a dink double :) In his right hand is another one the same size as the one on the fly!
Had a great time guys and look forward to our trips in March. Roe, bring Whitney so she can fill the cooler for you guys.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Grapevine 10-9-10
Took out Nick and his father Constentine for his 50th birthday. We wanted to go to EM, but the lake is turning over and the fishing stinks. We headed out towards Meadowmere and marked fish, but only had a few dinks after an hour of fishing. Decided to go try some humps that I had caught fish on this time 2 years ago. Graphed about 6 areas before I found a good school on the side image. Tossed the marker out, told the guys to fish on one side of the marker and it was FISH ON! Managed to catch a dozen quickly so I called Omar from Luck of the Irish to tell him we were on fish. He came and marked fish on a hump about 75 yards away. It was no time and his customers were wearing them out too. Our bite slowed and theirs heated up. Then we started catching again and theirs slowed down. The fish were just moving from one hump to the other. We managed to keep moving marking fish using side image, catch 20 or so and they'd vanish and we'd hunt them down again. We caught a good mess of fish and had a great time. These guys are originally from the Ukraine and it was fun listening to them. Had a great time guys.
Hanging with SandJohnny 10-2-10
Johnny and Terry had caught some bait for the winter a couple days before, so Johnny and I head out to catch some gizzards and working on my transducer placement. Threw the net for several hours filling up an ice chest three-quarters up with only 4-8 inch gizzards. That was a good workout.
Decided to mess with my transducer trying to get the perfect side image on the HB 1197. Thanks Johnny, it is perfect now! Amazing picture now!
Ben's Bachelor Party 9-25-10
Headed to Oklahom to see my buddy Ben for his bachelor party at Lake Keystone. We had some good grilled steaks, potatoe, and a killer key lime pie. After stuffing our bellies we headed below the dam for some evening fishing with friends. Some of the other guys threw spinners for whatever would bite and Ben and I baited up with shad for catfish. The guys caught some 4-6inch crappie and sand bass while Ben and I patiently waited having some good conversation. We continued waiting....Ben finally got a good bite and hook up. Not a big one, but it was a fish.
A cold front hit just after Ben caught the fish and shut down the bite, but we stayed just for the fun of it. We weren't really paying attention when Ben got another bite. It fought pretty good and then started running straight at us. I told Ben to just keep cranking and see if you can drag him up on the bank before he turns....it jumped about 3 feet from us onto the bank. Nothing like a long nose gar with teeth jumping at you to get the blood pumping! We all had a good laugh. 
Shortly after this, we decided to call it an evening. Had a great time with a great group of guys and I'm glad Ben caught something on his night. Good times
Bass Pro Championship - Wheeler/Wilson Lakes
Steve Nelson and I made the adventure to fish the Bass Pro Championship on Wilson and Wheeler Lakes in Alabama. We prefished and caught bait for 3 days. In prefishing we decided to focus on Wheeler Lake because on the final day of competition everyone has to fish Wheeler.
Practice at Wheeler - Steve and I looked at the map on the graph and marked areas we thought would hold fish on the entire lake. You never really know how big a lake is until you get on it and let me tell you Wheeler is a a very, VERY long lake. We would go to a spot, mark it, and then if it had something worth fishing we would fish it. FYI, the lower half of the lake was holding all the bait and fish that we found. The first day of practice we ran my 50 gallon tank dry about 10 miles from the boat ramp. I did find out that when my gauge is on half....it's really not half but more of a quarter or less. We totaled it up and we ran the boat about 90 miles that day. Sure am glad we decided not to head farther north than we did.
The second day of practice we decided to stay on the lower half since that is where we found all the bait and fish. Let's just say we found one spot that we caught fish on and that was it! Not at all what we expected from a lake known for it's blue catfish population.
Day 3 of practice we made the decision to try our luck at Wilson since we had fished it the following year in the Cabelas Classic. We started out fishing several areas Steve thought would hold fish....nada. Fished other areas that looked great and showed fish....nada. So now we are really not feeling good about this tournament, but decided to head to different area and try drifting/toodlywhooing/spider rigging etc. Fifteen minutes into fishing like this on a deep flat and my pole gets a small tap. Waited and tap again, then the rod tip bent 2 inches down and just sat there.....another inch and I reeled down on that sucker and it was a 34 pounder. Another ten minutes goes by and one slams Steve's pole and twists the rod holder around the rail....42 pounder. Okay, now we are on to something! We caught a total that would have been 109 for our 5 fish and decided to spend the rest of the day catching bait getting ready for Day 1 of the tournament.
Day 1 Tournament:
Head to our area on Wilson that is producing and wait for time to fish. Poles in and 5 minutes into it Steve's pole slams down to the water, Steve reels down and the reel handle shaft snaps off! I quickly take the handle off the rod next to it and slide it on the other one, but it was too late. We just looked at each other in disbelief.....and.....the rod I took the handle off of went down! Put the handle back on it and managed to get a 8 pounder in the boat. Not what we were looking for, but get's us on the board. Fill up the 100 gallon live well and catch a couple others in the 5-9 pound range to have 3 unders. Now we really need to catch our overs to get our numbers up there.
We decided to go fish a couple different areas and scratched out 42 pounds on the first day to finish the day around 32nd place. Not where we want to be, but still in the running to make the cut for the top 25.
Day 2 Tournament:
Made a decision that would make or break us and fish Wheeler instead of Wilson. We didn't do well there in practice, but did find several promising areas and we didn't feel like the area on Wilson was going to get us to the top 25. Started out the morning on a did depth drop off and put about 30 pounds in the boat by 7:30, but the bite stopped so we moved down the along the dropoff about 200 yards. We continued to catch fish and get our weight up. Later in the morning we decided to go to another flat across from the ridge and finished out the day there. We were nervous at the weigh in, all we needed to do was get in the top 25 to fish the final day. On the final day everyone's score goes back to zero, so we have a chance to win it all if we can get to the final day. We weighed in 101.8 pounds on Day 2 to bring our two day total to 149 pounds......we made it to 21st place and would be fishing the final day!
Day 3 Tournament
Started out fishing a lower lake deep hump and get getting small bites, but nothing in the boat. Moved to a deep ridge.....nothing! It's now ten o'clock and we started feeling the crunch time setting in. Decided to make the 45 minute boat ride to the dropoff we fished the day before but knew with the wind we had today it would be tough to anchor. This dropoff is nothing but really slick rock and not much to grab on. We tried to hold, but couldn't with 3 anchors. Decided to fish an adjacent dropoff and got an anchor to hold. The wind picked up more and started drifting us a little. One of my poles tightens up and I think its the boat drifting....nope hung. Pulled on it and pulled on it, but it wouldn't break...come's loose and has an 8 pounder on it. Guess we are finally on the board.
Made a move to a flat and set there for about 20 minutes without a bite. Decided to move and Steve pulled the front anchor up while I reeled poles in....back rod slams to the water! Steve hauls in a 32 pounder. Get the hook out and the pole next to it slams down 26 pounder! Okay, we decided to reanchor and try this again.
Waited for 30 minutes no bites. Started pulling rods in and a pole slams down, 19 pounder. All these fish came on Steve's rods that were in one particular area. We decided the fish were traveling that spot and we'd move a little closer.
Anchored up and caught another 5 pounder to get us a limit. Decided to wait it out until time to go in to see if we could get a big one. My front pole slams down and the drag starts singing! Fish on! Get it in the net to measure....34.75 inches long :( We already had our two over 34 inches that were bigger, so we had to let it go. Caught one more small fish and had to head in.
We were the last boat in line and it seemed like an eternity. We weighed in 101 pounds and got 16th in the nation this year. Steve and I had a blast, learned a ton, and were only a couple of pounds from a top 10 finish. Looking forward to next year.
Below are the pics from Day 2 of practice at Wilson.
Practice at Wheeler - Steve and I looked at the map on the graph and marked areas we thought would hold fish on the entire lake. You never really know how big a lake is until you get on it and let me tell you Wheeler is a a very, VERY long lake. We would go to a spot, mark it, and then if it had something worth fishing we would fish it. FYI, the lower half of the lake was holding all the bait and fish that we found. The first day of practice we ran my 50 gallon tank dry about 10 miles from the boat ramp. I did find out that when my gauge is on half....it's really not half but more of a quarter or less. We totaled it up and we ran the boat about 90 miles that day. Sure am glad we decided not to head farther north than we did.
The second day of practice we decided to stay on the lower half since that is where we found all the bait and fish. Let's just say we found one spot that we caught fish on and that was it! Not at all what we expected from a lake known for it's blue catfish population.
Day 3 of practice we made the decision to try our luck at Wilson since we had fished it the following year in the Cabelas Classic. We started out fishing several areas Steve thought would hold fish....nada. Fished other areas that looked great and showed fish....nada. So now we are really not feeling good about this tournament, but decided to head to different area and try drifting/toodlywhooing/spider rigging etc. Fifteen minutes into fishing like this on a deep flat and my pole gets a small tap. Waited and tap again, then the rod tip bent 2 inches down and just sat there.....another inch and I reeled down on that sucker and it was a 34 pounder. Another ten minutes goes by and one slams Steve's pole and twists the rod holder around the rail....42 pounder. Okay, now we are on to something! We caught a total that would have been 109 for our 5 fish and decided to spend the rest of the day catching bait getting ready for Day 1 of the tournament.
Day 1 Tournament:
Head to our area on Wilson that is producing and wait for time to fish. Poles in and 5 minutes into it Steve's pole slams down to the water, Steve reels down and the reel handle shaft snaps off! I quickly take the handle off the rod next to it and slide it on the other one, but it was too late. We just looked at each other in disbelief.....and.....the rod I took the handle off of went down! Put the handle back on it and managed to get a 8 pounder in the boat. Not what we were looking for, but get's us on the board. Fill up the 100 gallon live well and catch a couple others in the 5-9 pound range to have 3 unders. Now we really need to catch our overs to get our numbers up there.
We decided to go fish a couple different areas and scratched out 42 pounds on the first day to finish the day around 32nd place. Not where we want to be, but still in the running to make the cut for the top 25.
Day 2 Tournament:
Made a decision that would make or break us and fish Wheeler instead of Wilson. We didn't do well there in practice, but did find several promising areas and we didn't feel like the area on Wilson was going to get us to the top 25. Started out the morning on a did depth drop off and put about 30 pounds in the boat by 7:30, but the bite stopped so we moved down the along the dropoff about 200 yards. We continued to catch fish and get our weight up. Later in the morning we decided to go to another flat across from the ridge and finished out the day there. We were nervous at the weigh in, all we needed to do was get in the top 25 to fish the final day. On the final day everyone's score goes back to zero, so we have a chance to win it all if we can get to the final day. We weighed in 101.8 pounds on Day 2 to bring our two day total to 149 pounds......we made it to 21st place and would be fishing the final day!
Day 3 Tournament
Started out fishing a lower lake deep hump and get getting small bites, but nothing in the boat. Moved to a deep ridge.....nothing! It's now ten o'clock and we started feeling the crunch time setting in. Decided to make the 45 minute boat ride to the dropoff we fished the day before but knew with the wind we had today it would be tough to anchor. This dropoff is nothing but really slick rock and not much to grab on. We tried to hold, but couldn't with 3 anchors. Decided to fish an adjacent dropoff and got an anchor to hold. The wind picked up more and started drifting us a little. One of my poles tightens up and I think its the boat drifting....nope hung. Pulled on it and pulled on it, but it wouldn't break...come's loose and has an 8 pounder on it. Guess we are finally on the board.
Made a move to a flat and set there for about 20 minutes without a bite. Decided to move and Steve pulled the front anchor up while I reeled poles in....back rod slams to the water! Steve hauls in a 32 pounder. Get the hook out and the pole next to it slams down 26 pounder! Okay, we decided to reanchor and try this again.
Waited for 30 minutes no bites. Started pulling rods in and a pole slams down, 19 pounder. All these fish came on Steve's rods that were in one particular area. We decided the fish were traveling that spot and we'd move a little closer.
Anchored up and caught another 5 pounder to get us a limit. Decided to wait it out until time to go in to see if we could get a big one. My front pole slams down and the drag starts singing! Fish on! Get it in the net to measure....34.75 inches long :( We already had our two over 34 inches that were bigger, so we had to let it go. Caught one more small fish and had to head in.
We were the last boat in line and it seemed like an eternity. We weighed in 101 pounds and got 16th in the nation this year. Steve and I had a blast, learned a ton, and were only a couple of pounds from a top 10 finish. Looking forward to next year.
Below are the pics from Day 2 of practice at Wilson.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Eagle Mountain 8-14-10
Took Lance and Brad's families out this morning to do some catching. It didn't take long to get into some action. The fish were in the same pattern as yesterday on a ledge in 20-25 ft of water. Today they never did school up. The wind and boat traffic kept them down, but not from biting. This little guy caught his first fish today and many more! Love those moments and smiles!
This little guy brought his pole with him and it lit up when you reel it! It was a riot watching him catch fish on old Mr. Toy Story pole.
It was a great time fishing with this group and look forward to many more as they grow up.
This little guy brought his pole with him and it lit up when you reel it! It was a riot watching him catch fish on old Mr. Toy Story pole.
Eagle Mountain 8-13-10
Took Dave out with some of his buddies earlier this spring and he decided to bring his family along and leave his buddies at work this time. Sorry Dwight and Sam, you missed some great fishing! Caught all the fish in one general area on a drop off in 22-25 ft of water. Caught a few on topwater, but most were caught on Ol'Ugly and a fly...well except Dave who couldn't resist his perch/trout rod and a Little Cleo he brought along. He tried it in the spring, but the first big sand bass snapped him off and he didn't have another Little Cleo, so today he came prepared with new line and 5 Little Cleo's. Had a great time and the boy was the sneaky double man today. He was silent and I'd turn around to see a double coming in the boat numerous times. Water temp is up in the low 90's and the shad are getting bigger.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Eagle Mountain 8-9-10
Today's trip was a teaching trip with Clay on techniques, patterns, locations, presentations, knot tying, graph/map reading, cast net throwing, etc. We started out the morning learning how to catch bait and keep it alive. Once he got the hang of throwing the net we headed out to learn how to slab, work a school, read a graph and go over patterns for sand bass. We caught 30-40 while going over everything and headed out once the boat show started running their engines into the schools scattering them out. Next we focused on seasonal locations, techniques, and graph reading. Once we went over everything for sand bass we switched gears and went for summertime channel cat. Caught a nice male channel in 2ft of water and moved on to other patterns. After going over channel cat we went over the seasonal patterns and techniques for blue cat. Still never found the blues, but we weren't really focusing on catching them today. It was a learning trip and I think Clay's mind and note pad are full for now. Had a good time and look forward to seeing him on the water displaying what he learned. Thanks Clay
Eagle Mountain 8-8-10
Took first time guests, Jason, Bree, Sarah, and Hector out for a Bree's birthday this morning. We got started a little later today, but started catching fish at first drop at 7am. They flat wore out the sandies and got to see how one boat, "pontoon man", can mess the fishing up for everyone. Luckily, we were able to find other fish that would cooperate today. After the boat show left the fish scattered, but they weren't ready to call it a day, so we took out the HellPets and caught another 30-40 fish. Once the sun got up and really cooking we finished off the day with a little tubing fun. I do believe they had a blast and were ready for a nap after wearing their arms out catching and then tubing! Good times with good people. Thanks and Happy Birthday
Eagle Mountain 8-7-10
First time guest, Brett, came from Houston to fish for schooling sand bass. He grew up fishing Texoma before it had stripers, chasing summertime sandies. We got started early slabbing some on a ledge that I marked fishing on before the sun got up. Once the sun broke the horizon they started out on top. Brett brought a double jig rig that he use to use and caught them on that. We also caught them on Pop R's and slabs. All fish caught on the flats and drop offs. Temps were in the high 80's and 91 when I headed in.
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