Another Big One

Date Fished: 02/22/05 Water Temperature: ? Water Clarity: Clear

Met out at Clem's but the place was insanely packed. Saw a kid pull in a monster Black Drum around 40 inches. Decided to head over to Marker 37 and fish. There was a lot less people fishing and no one was catching anything. Everyone was fishing with dead shrimp but the Drum were after Sea Lice. Had some monster hits and missed a couple of fish. Levar hooked into another giant, 40 inches, and landed it fairly quickly. Everyone on the pier was pretty annoyed because they had been fishing for hours and catching nothing but hard heads. We released the fish back into the water and tried for about another hour but no more big ones, decided to call it a night.

Sam Rayburn- Jasper, Texas

Date Fished: 02/20/05 Water Temperature: 55 Water Clarity: 1ft

Just finished the Bassmaster Series-Sam Rayburn- Jasper, Texas

The weather report said thunderstorms, but it was actually turned out to be a good day. A little windy about 5-10mph with a little overcast and the sun peeking through every now and then. I limited with 3 fish as a non boater and my partner caught 2 using carolina rigged wacky worm. 14 days til the next tournament and I expect the fish will be in some phase of spawning on Toledo Bend by then. Right now on Sam Rayburn, the fish were moving back and forth between winter and spring behaviors, even during the same day.

Joe Pool Lake, Texas

Date Fished: 04/15/05 Water Temperature: 53-55 Water Clarity: 1ft

Went to the pool again and it was a very nice day but did not catch any thing. I haven't been able to find the fish during these periods Jan-March-just read last years report and you will understand. Once again I am very glad I got to go and glad to be alive and able to enjoy such a nice day on the water.

Joe Pool Lake, Texas

Date Fished: 04/14/05 Water Temperature: 53 Water Clarity: Murky

Nothing like fishing for Valentines. I started around 10:00am and fished old spots, but non produced. I tried a new area I had read and got a nice keeper using a grub, but no other bites after that. I am going to try new areas tomorrow and hopefully I will have more time and be able to post some pictures.

Great Weather, Good Fishing Part 2

Date Fished: 02/13/05 Water Temperature: 65 Water Clarity: Clean and Clear

The weather was even better 2/13, it was clear and sunny and not a hint of wind blowing from any direction. Me, Melissa and Weston had to drive all the way to Cos Way to get bait because everyone and their mother was out fishing and all the bait was gone early... The shrimp we got from Cos-Way was weak as hell, small shrimp with soft shells and an asshole working in the area where you get your bait. We tried fishing the pile-ons under the Oso Bay turnaround but quickly realized that nothing was hitting so we headed back to Oso Bay where we had fished the day before. The spot we had the day before was taken so we had to go a little farther down to get a spot. Fished bottom, popping cork and free-line but kept getting perch bites as soon as the shrimp hit the water. Just as the sun was going down the hits started getting a lot harder and noticed shrimp were being cut in half. Missed a couple of good hits but landed a 17 inch trout just as it was getting dark and only had three shrimp left. At least I caught a keeper and the weather was so nice I would have been happy either way... Can't beat a day like that.

Nice Weather, Good Fishing...

Date Fished: 02/12/05 Water Temperature:65 Water Clarity: Clean and Clear

Got a chance to get out into some beautiful South Texas weather and do some wade fishing. The weather was nice on Saturday but we had a lot of wind blowing so we headed over to Oso Bay over the bridge past CC A&M. The wind was still blowing strong but was to our backs. Me, Levar and Johnathen waded out while Weston fished from shore. I was getting a lot of good strikes fishing on the bottom with a 1/4 ounce egg weight but only picking up small trout. Johnathen was trying a popping cork and having no luck so Levar decided to free-line a shrimp. Free lining was the key and once we all switched we ended up with 7 keeper trout 15 1/2 to 18 1/2 inches. Levar also had a huge run on his pole but lost whatever it was. We fished until we couldn't see anymore and then left to try to find live bait at the L-Heads to no avail. Decided to call it a night.

BASSMASTER UNIVERSITY 2

David Fritts- Talked about fishing flats and how the key to any structure is that there is a point/ambush point. They are located where the deepest point hits the most shallow one.

Talked about Crankbaits:
Great lure to find how deep the fish are. A crankbait with a small tail will produce more fish. Tune your crankbait. Learn the movement of a crankbait--(use a pool). Casting distance determines how deep your bait will go.

Three Techniques:
1. Pausing
2. Stop & Go
3. Angle

Downfall of a crankbait is that it is only good for a certain period of time on your retrieve.

Gerald Swindle- Talked about Jig fishing.
Colors:
1. Black/ Blue
2. Brown

Rattles only if water is very very murky. Train yourself to feel and set the hook because the bite are mostly not felt. The power of the hookset is the snap and is key to fishing. When swimming a jig you should always see your lure.
Don't touch your bait/ don't ever gas your boat before you go fishing.

Shaw Grigsby- Talked about Carolina rigs- Graphite rod and the longest rod you can find. --Use superline-- Your weight should be 1oz for deep 3 1/4oz for shallow 1/2oz for hydrilla.

Best lures:
1.Lizard
2.French Fry
3.Soft Jerkbait

Color:
1.Green Pumkin
2.Watermelon
3.Chartuese Pepper

Retrieve:
1.Drag
2.Fast

BASSMASTER UNIVERSITY 1

Arlington, Tx
Today was packed with fishing lessons from some of the greats:

Zell Rowand- Talked about in-line buzzbaits and top water lures. Poppers, Darters and prop baits. He made it very interesting showing us how to modify lures to work and act differently. Mostly talked about Redfin / Bomber A / Balsawood for hydrilla / Rebel Minnow / Devil Horse / Wood chopper and how to make the perfect kids lure.

Woo Davis- Talked about plastic lures and how they should all be fished with a spinning rod/reel. Learned to always manually close my handle after I cast to insure no line twisting. Painting Sinkers/ Use Palomar Knot / 6" worms or less and add jacks juice or sent to your plastic lure. Talked about floating worms: you should use Pink / White / Yellow with a J-bend hook. Hooks size is important.

Kevin Van Dam-Talked about spinnerbaits:
Color: Yellow/ Spawn ; Dirty Water use Chartuese and in Clear Water use White. Clearer the water the smaller profile your bait should be. Learned to roll cast. Multiblade only in stained water. Smaller spinner like a rocket shad or thruster tail(late summer/ early fall) It is never to cold in TEXAS for a Spinnerbait. Fish swim faster than you can reel so there is nothing wrong with reeling fast. Casting accuracy is key! Depth Zone for this lure is 5' to 8' feet with 2ft clarity.

Talked about Jerkbaits:
More drawing power than any other bait- use at edges of cover and all year long. Work it by popping and barley turn the reel. Use F-carbon line and only use suspending bait when it's cold. Floating jerk bait gets more strikes. Use red hooks, sticky weight and Berkley cross lock hook snap. Color: (Sunny day -metallic),(Cloudy Day- Painted) , and (Stained water -Chartuese)

Corpus Christi, Texas

Date Fished: 02/05/05 Water Temperature: 0 Water Clarity: 1

Lowtide: Went to Corpus Christi Bay this morning after hearing good reports there and didn't get a bite on live shrimp or dead. I then went to Fish Pass and didn't see any fisherman so we came home and took a rest. Around 12:00pm I went humble channel and fished off Cos Way pier for a few hours and after no bites moved to mudd bridge. Again nothing. Later that evening went to pier 37 and tried, but nothing.