Monday, July 16, 2012

Kankakee River ABA Results

The Kankakee river was another new stretch of water that I had the first opportunity to fish on Sunday...and man was it just as tough as the last few tournaments!  Warm water, dirty water, a ton of boat traffic, and hardly any current.

A total of 36 anglers showed up at 4 AM, and there was a lot of talk of the low weights being brought in the last few tournaments.  Limits of 5 fish were few and far between so getting a few fish today would put you in good contention for a payout.  I drew boat number 17 which was an awesome Nitro boat that belonged to a guy named Curt....a 5 year veteran of the ABA.  It was a pleasure fishing with him and got to learn quite a bit about the river after picking his brain most of the day.  We wanted to fish this one area first thing in the morning...but since we were boat 17 the cut was already loaded with boats by the time we got there.  So instead we flew to his next spot which looked like it could hold some decent fish.  A deeper 17 foot channel lined with lily pads, tons of brush and lay downs on the opposing shoreline...and there were shad and fry jumping everywhere!  We tried frogs, topwater poppers, swim jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, c-rigs, dropshot....you name it, we threw it...big ol' nada!  Just could not believe it...a prime spot with a ton of food and the fish were just not willing to bite.  We were marking fish, but just couldn't figure out what they wanted to key in on.  After burning about 3 and a half hours there we made a run up to a submerged weed flat that was a money spot for a previous tournament.  We saw a few bass scatter and threw frogs and topwater for awhile...still nothing.

After looking at the clock it was close to 10:30...weigh in was 1:30 and we had no fish in the boat.  We went to the next spot up against a couple of barges and submerged trees.  I took out the dropshot while my boater fished a shakey head.  He finally got a bite and pulled in a small 5" bass.  It wasn't big enough to keep...but it was a good sign of active fish.  Fry were all over the place and there were plenty of gar following them.  With the day we were having...I was tempted to tangle with one of them!  But I stuck it out and continued with a dropshot.  I switched from a small senko to a finesse worm that I recently learned of from a fellow club member...its turning out to be one of my favorite drop shot baits.   I took a few more casts at the submerged tree and finally had a bite myself...a small 7" bass.  Still nothing in the livewell.  We stayed there for a bit more but couldn't get anything else to commit after several missed strikes and breakoffs on the submerged tree.

We continued to the other side and fished one final point before we trekked back towards the boat ramp.  My boater got a few bites on the shakey head and missed a couple...I immediately tied on one too but didn't get any bites.  That is one technique I will really have to start devoting more time to...it can definitely get you some bites when you are hurting for some!  After still having zero in the boat it was about 12 pm and we made the run back towards the ramp and that first spot that we decided to not hit this morning.  HOLY CRAP was it a blessing he had a handle on his boat to hold onto...the boat traffic was a mine field in and of itself with all the party boats and jet skiers not paying attention going down the middle of the river.  I guarantee that Nitro got air at least 3 or 4 times!   It was nerve wracking, but man was it nice to run around in the boat for a bit after baking out in the sun for the last 7 hours.

We pulled up to the last cut with about a hour left...as soon as we came up to the spot we saw 4 boats trying to still fill their livewells.  It was the last chance we had, so we moved in anyway with the heavy boat traffic and worked a shady section halfway down the cut.  My boater and I started throwing spinnerbaits....with the lily pads and thin grass all around mixed in with that perfectly stained water...spinnerbaits were all that came to mind.  Now when I mean perfectly stained water...I mean this water just had the right mix of tinge in the water to where you could see a bright colored spinnerbait perfectly about a foot and a half down from the surface.  White and chartreuse was all I had available...so I went with it.  After about a dozen casts, my boater switched back to his topwater popper and was hitting the hardest to reach spots underneath the brush piles.  I had to give this guy a ton of credit with how he was dissecting every inch of water with a spinning setup...that popper would have been hung up in a second if I did that!  

Well, we continued on and we came up to one of my club members that was moving out of the cut.  He had two in the boat, which got me a little frustrated since I had nothing...but there was still some time left.  My boater continued with the popper on the right side while I fished with the spinnerbait off to the left.  I saw a nice lay down with a limb sticking up just under the water.  I tossed the spinnerbait in and slow rolled it past the limb....nothing.  I threw it in again...and as I was bringing it back I could only think of one thing...run the spinnerbait into the limb.  I have seen KVD and other fishing phenoms always talking about crashing their baits into cover...so what the hell, lets go for it.  It was like something out of a fishing show what happened next...I redirected the spinnerbait to run right into the limb, and as soon as it deflected off the limb...WHAM!  My rod doubled over as I set the hook and my boater dove for the net.  After a couple of good splashes we got her in the net...holy cow was I stoked!  My legs were shaking and I was just on cloud nine with what just happened.  It was textbook...nothing in that event could have went any more perfectly!  With a fish in the boat we fished the rest of the cut pretty hard.  I felt terrible at the same time for my boater since he didn't have a fish in the boat...and to make matters worse he finally got one to blow up on his popper and he lost it under the pads before he even got it to the boat.  

Here was where we were fishing....man it looked like frogging heaven!



With only a few minutes left we packed it up and ran to the launch.  Again, a lot of people either zeroed or had 1 or two fish.  Only a few people had a limit with the most weight coming in at 8.35 lbs for five fish from Mr. Dave Schultz.  I was just guessing in my head...but I had a feeling my fish was pretty darn close to 4 lbs.  I brought it up to the weigh in and immediately people were looking into my bag to see what I had.  I pulled out the fish to weigh her in and immediately people stopped to see what the weight was....3.94 lbs!  It was just shy of putting me again in the top 6 but I finally claimed big bass honors for the first time!  It has evaded me twice this year...but now I can finally say I caught the biggest bass of the tournament.  My one fish was still good enough to get me 8th place out of 36 anglers...and our club claimed first, fifth, and sixth place in the money.  In our club though I came in fifth place in points.

A picture of Dave getting awarded first place....


Below is a picture of my fish which was caught on white/chartreuse Strike King spinnerbait...


And big bass = a nice chunk of cash...


It wasn't a stellar performance, and having a limit in a tournament still hasn't happened yet...but I would take the feeling of having big bass of the tournament any day.  It was a great ending and I learned quite a bit....big thanks go out to my boater Curt! But man was I wiped out after...anyone fishing in the near future, make sure you have a ton of liquids with you so you keep hydrated.  This hot weather is a terror!

Thank you for reading and I will be back on the water down at Clinton Lake for the last regular season ABA tournament.  Last I checked I was sitting in 5th in the ABA...and I am now holding 6th place in my club with one tournament left in September on the Mississippi.  Let's keep the momentum going!!!

Fluke
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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Cal-Sag Reservoir ABA Tournament

Well, this one will be short and sweet.  Had my first experience out at the Cal-Sag reservoir and to my surprise I didn't do too bad.  For those of you who haven't been there before, its actually a pretty cool place.  The water is a little sketch to say the least...but it was an interesting place to fish.  Basically all of competitors could fish two areas, the river or Lake Calumet.  The river is predominantly largemouth bass and Lake Calumet was mostly smallmouth.  From the previous tournament there that I didn't compete in...the key seemed to be finding as many largemouth as possible.  Unfortunately there were no limits to be had, and the field was lucky to walk away with what little fish that were caught.  Below is a picture of the lock we had to go through in order to make it between the river and Lake Calumet...first time I have ever done that!


Over the course of the 8 hour tournament I only managed a few bites, but luckily I made all but one of them count.  The first being a small 12" smallmouth I snagged on a crankbait earlier in the morning, and the last was a 2.1 lb largemouth caught on a frog in the last hour of the tournament.  I tried dropshotting quite a bit and flipping a jig...but fish were few and far between.  My first boater got into a huge drum which was fun to watch him battle.  The fish weighed over 10 lbs!


Unfortunately for the third time in a row this year, my boater had boat problems.  I am starting to think that I bring bad luck to my boaters...so if you see me at any ABA's in the future...pray you don't draw me. lol.  So we ended up calling the tournament director and he allowed me to hop on another boat and we found Mike Pena, who I have fished with before, in one of the cuts on Lake Calumet.  I hopped on with him and we fished together the remainder of the day.

I was one of few that weighed in 2 fish and my 3.02 lbs worth of fish was enough to get me 6th place.  They only paid out to 5th place this time, so I was just out of the money this time. That didn't matter though, because I was more concerned about making up lost ground in my club and I ended up in 4th place out of all of our club members.   After getting the overall tournament point totals a few days ago, I am currently in 7th place in our bass club.  Luckily we can drop one bad tournament out of our point totals so if I take that into account I barely squeak by into 6th place.   The top 6 anglers of the club qualify for the 6 man team for the state tournament next year.  So if I can keep this good streak going I might have a chance to make the cut.  I have alot of good anglers though to beat before that happens, but I am really happy that I have shown what I can do so far this year.  Alot of the credit though goes to my boaters and having them help me along the way.  If there's one thing that I can really stress about joining a bass club...you learn a ton in a really short amount of time from others.  That alone has been worth the experience!

Until next time guys, I hope to continue sending you guys good news!  For those that have followed my blog and are still thinking about joining a bass club next year...do it!

Tight Lines,

Fluke
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Friday, June 8, 2012

The 3700 Bass Kit

Many pond fishermen always find themselves bringing way too much tackle with them when they only wind up using 2-3 baits at the most during an outing.  After the last few months I have tested quite a few lures in my local ponds and want to share with you a set of lures that will all fit into one 3700 Plano box and should consistently get you bit when heading out to your local area of water.  The reason why this set of lures is so effective is because they are not trivial...they are all straight forward, and with a little bit of practice any skill level fisherman can learn how to use them.


Hooks:
(1) pack of 3/0 EWG hooks
(1) pack of 1/0 EWG hooks

Weights:
(1) pack of 1/8 oz bullet weights
(1) pack of 1/4 oz bullet weights

Plastics:
(1) pack of Watermelonseed ZOOM Super Flukes
(1) pack of Green Pumpkin Berkley Chigger Craws
(1) pack of 5" Green Pumpkin Yamamoto Senkos
(1) pack of 5" Black/Blue Yamamoto Senkos

Topwater:
(1) Heddon Tiny Torpedo in Baby Bass
(1) Heddon Super Spook in Black Shiner
(1) Booyah Buzz Blade 1/2 oz Buzzbait in Chartreuse/White
(1) Kopper Live Target Frog in Brown/Black

Spinnerbait:
(1) 3/8 oz Revenge Spinnerbait in Shad Pattern (Single Colorado or Double Willow)
(1) 3/8 oz Booyah Spinnerbait in Chartreuse/White (Willow/Colorado)

Jigs:
(1) 1/4 oz Strike King swim jig in Bluegill with ZOOM Fat Albert double tail grub or Big Hammer 3" swim tail in Wacker
(1) 3/8 oz Strike King football jig in Green Pumpkin Craw or PB&J with Net Bait Paca Craw trailer in green pumkin

Crankbaits:
(1) 1/2 oz Strike King Red Eye Shad in Bluegill or Gold/Black
(1) Bass Pro Shops Egg in Texas Shad or XXX Shad
(1) Spro Little John in Nasty Shad or Chrome Olive
(1) Rapala Shallow Shad Rap (SSR07) in Black/Silver

Most of the baits mentioned are budget baits and can be purchased locally or online.  All of these baits have worked for me at one point in time or another and I guarantee if you can learn how to use all of these baits you will have a more rewarding time out on the water.

Tight lines and have a safe weekend!

Fluke
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Monday, June 4, 2012

Vermilion Lake Results

Had another good weekend with the club at Vermilion Lake, the fishing wasn't spectacular but some fish were caught.  The lake was just starting to come out of cold front conditions on Saturday with the air temps in the high 60's and the water temperature on the north end of the lake sitting at around 64 degrees.  Water was stained but I had no issues with that.  A little rain mixed in as well so conditions were not consistent for practice which made it a little harder to get a pattern going.  Seemed like most of the active fish were towards the mouth of the river at the north end and a little ways farther up into the river itself.  A lot of short fish were caught, but no 15" keepers that we were looking for.  Had a nice bonus crappie inhale a Berkley Chigger Craw that was 12"...my boater Scott Sheets had one as well that smoked his spinnerbait.  I was really surprised though that we couldn't get a a decent bite going with all of the shad around...unfortunately that cold front played a big factor.

Sunday morning was nicer with temperatures in the mid to high 70's with blue bird skies.  Water temperatures held about the same from Saturday. Would have probably helped out more if we had some cloud cover, but the high pressure day was all we had to work with.  The water was a little muddier than Saturday from the river, so loud and bright baits were what I was focusing in on.  Had most of my fish come on a Revenge 3/8 oz double willow spinnerbait with a shad color skirt.  The size of the willows and color of the skirt matched the bait fish really well but all of the bass caught were too short.  We went to the mouth of the lake where a lot of lilly pads were and chucked around a frog for a good part of the day, but they were just not cooperating.  A few members had luck with frogs yesterday with Mike Pena hooking up with a 5.5 lb bass, but unfortunately topwater wasn't working for them either.  I finally settled on mixing things up between a spinnerbait and a jig.  We were out by some of the lilly pads at the north end that was mixed in with a lot of lay downs and stumps.  I tied on a 1/2 oz black/blue rattle back jig with a zoom super chunk in saphire blue.  Took about a dozen or so casts until I flipped next to a pretty big stump and got my first decent bite of the day.  I didn't realize I had one on at first until my line started darting away from the stump.  Tried to set the hook as soon as I saw what was happening but it was too late and I missed the fish.  I can almost guarantee it was a keeper with it being able to hold up a 1/2 oz jig  and swim away with it.  Oh well, just had to keep trying.  

Without having any more luck we headed up farther into the river.  We worked a lot of shoreline and we finally started getting bit on one stretch.  Scott caught a couple shorts on a brown jig he had so I switched to a similar color.  I had one of my custom California Reservoir living rubber jigs in the "Rusty Craw" color, so I tied that on.  I also put on a Net Bait Paca Chunk in Alabama Craw which had a bright orange and green pumpkin color to it. The water wasn't as stained as the main lake so the color combo was pretty visible in the water.  We worked the shore over pretty well and we both were pitching right into the wood and little islands of grass. I threw the jig right into a little pocket and sure enough the line started taking off again...luckily I reacted quicker this time and set the hook.  Finally had a keeper in the boat!  Caught a few more shorts, but couldn't come up with any more by weigh in time at 2 o'clock

My keeper ended up weighing only 1.72 lbs but was good enough to get me 8th place in the tournament.  The rest of the field pretty much fared the same with one keeper a piece, Chris with 2 keepers, and a few others with no keepers.  Pretty much boiled down to whose keeper had the most weight.  Chris Gaertner stole the show with a massive female that he picked up further down the shoreline that Scott and I were working. He also took 1st place with his two keepers.  We knew he had a good one because we saw him put it in the boat but didn't realize how big it was until we saw it at the weigh in.  The fish tipped the scales at 5.70 lbs which claims big bass bragging rights for the year so far.


Ryan Boswell ended up in second place with one keeper that also weighed a good amount at 4.5 lbs.  Mike Pena took third then with his 1 keeper along with everyone else down the line.

I can't say that I am frustrated that I only showed up with one keeper because the rest of the field did pretty much the same.  The changing conditions and cold front really put the pressure on all of us.  To think though if I wouldn't have missed that first jig fish I might have been in the top three...but that is the breaks with tournament fishing and I was lucky to have at least the one. We'll get 'em next time!

If any of you get the chance to head down to Vermillion do it!  Pretty neat little lake with a good mix of structure and different types of water to get some good practice in on.

Special thanks to FSA Custom Rods...the flippin stick he built for me helped me catch my only keeper.  Crazy sensitive blank and a really well built rod!  If you want one built just like mine shoot Ed an email at...

FourSeasonAngler@gmail.com

Until the next tourney, tight lines!


Fluke
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Fishing Etiquette for the Non-Boater

As long as I can remember, fishing trips with my Dad have always instilled in me a set of unsung rules that every fisherman should abide by.  The setting and type of fishing may change slightly from day to day, but the basics should always be followed to create mutual respect between yourself and others you may come in contact with.  This doesn't just include a friendly wave as you pass by another fisherman...or moving to a different spot if your favorite spot is already taken...there is a lot more to it when fishing competitively.

Competitive fishing from the back of the boat is not something to take lightly.  In most instances, like in my case, you will get paired randomly with a new boater each tournament.  Other competitions are team based tournaments where you fish with the same guy every time, but again etiquette is not exactly treated the same in both instances.  

First and foremost, when you get paired up with a boater at the beginning of the tournament ALWAYS get ground rules squared away before you even hit the water.  Let him know how much equipment you are bringing and never put anything into their boat until they tell you where you can put it.  Treat their things as your own! Find out what their fishing game plan is beforehand so you can leave any gear at the dock that you won't be needing.  It is not the non-boaters privilege to dictate where and how you will be fishing for the day in most instances, so just be cautious of this before you take off.  But in the same respect, let him know what you found during practice because it will help both of you solidify a game plan before you even leave the launch. After you get all of your equipment and a game plan set then it is time to get the boat in the water ready for launch!

If you have never backed up a boat before...you need to learn!  Learning to back up a boat and park a boat and trailer is one of the biggest things that you can do to help out your boater.  I had no idea how to back up a boat the correct way the first tournament I was in, so find a buddy that you know that can back up a boat or kindly ask the boater to get you close to the water so you can back in the rest of the way.  Don't be shy to tell your boater if you don't know how to do it...and if they know you have a hard time with it...some will actually allow you to take the driver's seat and guide you so you do learn.  Trial by fire is sometimes the best way to learn in a pinch.  When pulling the trailer away from the boat always wait until your boater gives you a go ahead signal...the last thing you would ever want to do is take off too soon and damage their boat.  If you aren't comfortable parking a boat and trailer always park in a farther spot away from others...and always take wide turns when swinging in a trailer!  A lot of this is probably not new to most of you...but you would be surprised how many people just can't figure it out.

^^^ Great how-to video to get you started ^^^

When you finally park the trailer and truck, always follow the boater's request as to where to put the keys.  Some leave it behind the flap of the gas tank, and some might want to have them back on the boat....irregardless DO NOT lose them!  You wouldn't believe the stories I have heard of non-boaters forgetting they had the keys...went down to mess with their tackle box and had the keys fall out of their pocket and into the water...DOH!  So always give them back to the boater or put them in a safe compartment...so at least if the boater drops them in the water it doesn't come back on you.  

After getting in the boat take some time before the launch to spark up some conversation.  It will make the day a lot more enjoyable if you can establish some common ground with your boater, and it might even allow you the opportunity to eventually have more free reign of their boat.  Once you come up to your first fishing spot there are some things that you need to abide by and be aware of to keep the peace at first between you and your boater.

1) Never put a line in the water until your boater puts his line in the water.
2) If you are flipping or fishing perpendicular to the shore you should not cast any further then the center of the boat.  If you are paralleling the shore with a crankbait or spinnerbait you should never cast in front of the boaters last cast.
3) Never fish off the front of the boat unless the boater invites you to the front of the boat...same goes for working the trolling motor.
4) If a boater misses a hook set on a fish abide by rule 2...
5) If you get hung up or snagged it isn't the responsibility of the boater to get you unstuck, but 9 times out of 10 they will give you a chance to get your bait back...but don't expect them to drop everything that they are doing and do it right away.
6) If a fish is hooked and a net is on the boat, always be prepared to net the fish for your boater...the courtesy should be reciprocated then back to you if you catch a fish.
7) Make sure all of your gear and tackle remains out of the aisle and is put away before the boater even sits down at the steering wheel so you can leave quickly from a spot to go elsewhere
8) Realize the fact that the boater is not your fishing guide, they are not required to put you on fish...you need to learn to adapt and fish the most effective way according to how they position their boat.

Some boaters are different then others so you just have to feel them out, but the rules above are always a necessary starting point.  Don't be shy to ask questions on what he is using or how to do what he is doing if he is catching fish...most guys are more than happy to teach you a thing or two.  If your boater though constantly positions you poorly let him know about it, you have just as much right to get a clear shot of water as they do even though they are running the show.  The main thing though as a non-boater is to learn, once you get a few tournaments under your belt these types of things will become routine...so soak in as much as you can!

At the end of the day it is always good practice to have the the non-boater go and get the boat and trailer.  After you get everything settled in the parking lot always offer to help clean up the boat and wipe it down...especially cleaning up your own mess.  You really don't realize how much extra time it takes to take care of a boat, so a little help on your part can go a long way.  Always talk about your day afterwards and re-cap what you did right or wrong...it always helps to keep yourself informed for next time.

The last thing you always want to do is give your boater some money.  The minimum amount of money should always be half of the gas used up during the tournament...but I usually give them a couple extra bucks in case we burned up oil or used any of his lures or ate any of his food.  Always make the effort to give them at least that...some guys won't take your money but it is better to offer it instead of not at all.

Being respectful of your boater will only do good things for you. Word travels fast in those small groups of fishermen so the last thing you need is to be pegged as an a**hole...it will save you a lot of grief in the long run.

That's all I got so if you want to read more on the topic and some other pointers to keep in mind here is where I found most of my information beforehand...

Thanks for reading, and tight lines!

Fluke
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Monday, May 7, 2012

Clinton Lake: ABA Tournament #2

Last week I got a call from one of the club members of my bass club that wanted to head down to the Clinton Lake ABA tournament on Sunday.  Couldn't pass up an opportunity to get my feet wet on another new lake so we planned on leaving early Sunday morning to head down Clinton, IL.  What is nice about Clinton Lake is that it is very similar to Lake Shelbyville as far as cover, water depth, and lake contours go.  The only added twist to this was that Clinton Lake is a cooling lake.  So water temperatures are always higher than other local lakes and ponds especially during the cooler months of the year.  I had no idea about water clarity and water temperature so it was kind of crap shoot what to expect.  Knowing that this body of water was similar to Shelbyville I went to Bass Pro the night before to stock up on a few things.  The first being some deeper running crankbaits.  I wanted these to be on hand because I had a suspicion that the bass were already moving into a post spawn pattern.  I knew the week prior from other sources that fish were on beds already...and considering it was a cooling lake the water temperature would probably accelerate this process and push them into post spawn relatively quickly.  From what I understand in most cases after the spawn bass retreat to deeper water off of the shallow bedding areas to recuperate.  So deep diving crankbaits as well as weighted texas rigged plastics and big spinnerbaits would probably produce the most.

I have a couple 7' crankbait rods that are great for shallow-medium divers but in order to get the full effect of a deeper diving crankbait I decided to pick up a longer crankbait rod in order to get more casting distance.  I had a Shimano Compre deep diving crankbait rod previously, but it was way too tip heavy and awkward for what I needed...so I sold it and now needed to find a new one.  I decided to pick up a 7' 6" MH Boyd Duckett Crankbait rod.  I took a chance on some of the Ducketts last year and really liked how light and durable they were...but I really couldn't find any application that they really shined on.  This ended up not being the case with the crankbait rod.  I ended up throwing that  setup 70% of the day and it worked out perfect!

Immediately in the morning my boater, Matt Bennett, and I started shaking down some rip rap (shore with multiple types of cover) near one of the main brides.  I tried plastics...didn't work, I tried a spinnerbait...nada, and I tried a crankbait...ended up losing it.  What to do now???  The water temperature was around the 72 degree mark and the water clarity was about 1.5-2 feet (similar to Shelbyville) and had a green tinge to it.  My boater didn't get a bite at our first spot either so we moved.  It took a few spots until we finally started getting into them by one of the other boat launches.  There was a rocky ledge next to the launch so we started working that first.  Most ledges on Clinton and Shelbyville have really steep drop offs...transitioning from 5 to 15-20 feet relatively quickly.   I picked out one of my Strike King 5XD crankbaits (diving depth of 15') and threw it close to shore.  A couple turns of the handle and I could already feel my bait come in contact with the rock on the bottom...exactly what I wanted!  I had to be careful not to continue cranking after the crankbait dug into the bottom because I could easily get snagged on rocks and other debris.  I would pause as soon as I hit bottom, raised the rod tip up to get it out of the rocks and put my rod tip back down and use the rod tip to pull the crankbait along.  As soon as I would hit rock, I would pause every time...then reel in the slack and use my rod tip to pull the crankbait forward again.  It took about three casts and BAM first fish nailed it on the pause!  It was a nice fat largemouth...but after throwing him on to the bump board he was just a hair under 16".  For this Lake, like many others, there are different slot limits.  Clinton lake allowed you to keep 3 fish at a minimum of 16"...so anything smaller had to be thrown back.  

It was a good sign to finally land a fish so I primarily fished the crankbait the rest of the day.  I tried throwing plastics and spinnerbaits for awhile but it was pointless considering that the bass were no longer on beds and the carp in the lake were spawning on the shore and muddying up most of the water.  A few spots later around 10:30 we got onto a small point.  I threw the 5XD crankbait a couple times and finally got bit again after banging against the rocky bottom.  I felt the "bump, bump" of a fish...I paused a short 1 count to allow the fish to inhale the crankbait and I set the hook on him pretty hard.  Next thing I know my first 3+ pound keeper comes sky rocketing out of the water! Luckily that Duckett rod had a lot of play to it and it kept those trebles pinned well inside it's mouth.  First keeper was in the boat!

We continued to build upon this pattern and my boater eventually switched to a deep diving crankbait like I was doing.   We caught a decent amount of short fish but it seemed like every area we would pull up to we would only catch 2-3 fish and then the action would go dead.  We pulled into a cove around 12 and my boater got his first 16" keeper of the day in a little pocket with a green pumpkin creature bait.

It was about 1:30 and we only had an hour and a half to come up with some more fish.  After asking around it seemed like most of the people in our tournament only had 1 keeper in the boat.  We still had a chance but we needed to find at least one more keeper a piece to still be in the game.  We pulled up to a steep shoreline that had a bunch of lay downs in the water.  We worked the area over well and we only had another 20-30 feet of shoreline before we were going to move again.  I threw my crankbait right up along side of one of the lay downs next to the shore...a few turns of the handle and I paused the bait.  I went to go turn the handle again and I just felt a weight on the end of the line.  I thought I got snagged again because I had lost several crankbaits to rock and wood during the day.  Then I saw the tip of my rod bend...I had a fish!  I set it hard and she took off straight towards the boat.  I reeled in fast as she darted towards me and then she dove down quickly as my pole doubled over.  I got her to finally swing up towards the surface...she was a TOAD!  Then I saw how she was hooked and she barely had two of the back treble hooks in her mouth...CRAP!  My boater dropped everything and got the net.  A couple more good runs and we finally got her in the net.  I just stood there in disbelief after seeing how big the fish was...legs were shaking, hands were shaking...holy cow!  I thought my first fish was decent but after putting this pig in the livewell I was afraid she was going to eat my other one.

Unfortunately right after I caught my last fish we had a dead battery on the boat and had to improvise to get the motor cranked over.  We counted our blessings after finally getting the motor started and decided just to head in early to the weigh in since it was getting close to 3 o'clock.

I weighed my big bass...she tipped the scales at 5.32 lbs and with my other fish I had a total of 8.74 lbs...just could not believe it!  My boater weighed his one fish for a total of 2.52 lbs.  Most of the field weighed in 0 or 1 fish for an average of 2-3 lbs...even had an 18" smallmouth weighed in that was 2.56 lbs.  A few people besides myself had 2 fish and averaged 5-5.5 lbs.  I thought I had big bass until my boater's friend came in with a huge female...5.75 lbs which was enough to get him big bass of the day and 3rd place!  Mike Pappas, another ABA regular, came in with the only limit...we knew he had a good sack of fish when he showed up. He weighed in a little more than 13 lbs...caught all of them on a Zara Spook early in the morning.  My weight was good enough to put me right behind him in second place.  If that other short fish I caught would have went I probably would have had around 11.2 lbs...still not enough though to get first.

Just could not get it to sink in....a fourth place finish last week and a second place finish this week...just unbelievable.  Lucky streaks like this are rare, but I am going to work hard to try and keep the momentum going if I can.  My boaters played a huge role in my success the last couple weeks and I am really thankful for all of their help!!!

Here is a picture of the two fish that I weighed in...just amazing the size difference between the 3 and 5 pounder!


I had my 7' 6" Duckett cranking rod paired up with one of my new Daiwa Zillions (6.3 gear ratio)...the setup  worked out just how I wanted it to!  The three colors that produced for me were all of the gizzard shad colors that Strike King makes.  The blue gizzard shad produced the most for me and mimicked the bait fish in the lake the best.  Another lure that caught a couple fish also were the Rapala DT10's in Disco Shad.  The Strike King colors can be seen below.  Just as a side note...I lost 6 crankbaits during the day.  I know most people get leery after losing one lure but you have to remember that running crankbaits into different types of cover is what will get you bit more often than not.


Just another awesome day out on the water.  It was rough waking up at 1:10 in the morning to get down to the lake by 5:30...but it was well worth it!  If any of you have the opportunity to fish an ABA tournament, do it!  A ton of great guys in that bunch and you will get to learn a lot from other people.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Fluke
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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Need Some Prayers...

In the last few months my cousin, Matthew Mammosser, has had to face one of the most difficult things any human being has had to endure...cancer.  Back in January of this year he was rushed to the hospital due to flu like symptoms only to find out that he had a mass between the two hemispheres of his brain.  Since then he has had several surgeries to remove the tumor as well as complications with blood clots and infections thereafter.  He has gone through several chemo treatments already so he is heading in the right path to fight this disease head on.  It wasn't until today that I found out that his doctors found more tumors.  I am still in the dark as to the severity of them...but I am hopeful that he still has a long road ahead of him to recovery.

Matt is only 18 years old, but he has made his mark in our community and has made a ton of friends along the way.  He was born deaf but has had a hearing implant for most of his life so he is as normal as any 18 year old can be.  He is currently going to Joliet Catholic Academy highschool and is one of the best defensive players on their football team.  He was able to help them get all the way to the State finals last year but unfortunately came up short.  Next year will be his senior year and the coach of the team already has placed him as the Captain of the Defensive Line.  On top of this he has been competing in weight lifting meets and hopes to one day hold the squatting and benching record for JCA.

It is amazing to me how far this kid has gone from a scrawny freshmen to a 6'2" 245 lb junior.  He has worked his butt off to get where he is at now to only be fighting for his life.  All he wants to do is be on the field next year but unfortunately he has a long road ahead of him to fight this.

I am asking all of my readers and followers to pray for my cousin and our family as he goes through this rough time.  You really don't realize how difficult a situation like this can be until it hits this close to home.  He is too young to have this happen to him and I hope that God is definitely looking out for us as we speak.

I am really lucky that I have the opportunity to live my life in the path that I chose for myself, I just hope and pray that he is given that same opportunity too.  Life has a funny way of smacking you back into reality...but I have faith that things will work the way they are supposed to.

If any of you would like to help my cousin's family there is a link on top of my blog that says "Please Support my Cousin Matthew!"...this will take you to a website that his friends and parents of JCA have put together to raise money for Matthew's surgeries and care.  You can also purchase a T-shirt that has the JCA logo on it and my cousin's football jersey number on the back.  It also will give you updates as to how he is progressing.

Thank you in advance to anyone that sends prayers our way...it is what keeps us glued together and hopeful in this time of need for him...

Fluke
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