Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Germaine Marine - New Sponsor
I am happy to announce my new partnership with Germaine Marine. I have been doing business with this company since they opened their new location through my personal business, and they not only sell some top of the line boats, but their fiberglass shop is absolutely incredible and also have some of the best sprayed-in bed liners available. Also, if all things go right, there might be something new and exciting coming soon.
Monday, December 7, 2015
MBC Seniors - Nov. 14th - Bartlett Lake
Well with a new outlook on fishing it was time for my first tournament of the year. My stepdad and I decided to run the Seniors circuit again this year after he has missed the last two seasons due to health issues. The water was falling and already extremely low as they would be closing the ramp after the weekend. I was able to pre-fish the week prior but those spots were 6-8 feet shallower than they were so it was a whole new game. We decided to stick to our strengths and with the high winds early we were going to throw reaction to start and plastics as the wind laid down.
We made a short run to start and caught a few shorts on a crankbait and knew we needed some size so we made a run into the river. The river didn;t last long as the water was stained, extremely cold and shallow. We hit some mid-lake areas near the islands and picked up a few keepers on Carolina-rigs. We made a few more runs to fight the wind and ended up in an area I prefished and have done well in the past. It produced a few hits but nothing worth keeping. As we kept moving we located a feeding area and proceeded to fill our limit and cull rather quickly. We needed some size and the spot kept reloading and we were culling ounces. As it slowed down we moved out a little deeper which produced our biggest fish. We finished the day in the area but never got the bigger bites we needed.
We weighed a small limit for 7.99lbs and ended up 35th out of 55. We made a few mistakes but it was a confidence building tournament and we will take what we learned and go from there.
We made a short run to start and caught a few shorts on a crankbait and knew we needed some size so we made a run into the river. The river didn;t last long as the water was stained, extremely cold and shallow. We hit some mid-lake areas near the islands and picked up a few keepers on Carolina-rigs. We made a few more runs to fight the wind and ended up in an area I prefished and have done well in the past. It produced a few hits but nothing worth keeping. As we kept moving we located a feeding area and proceeded to fill our limit and cull rather quickly. We needed some size and the spot kept reloading and we were culling ounces. As it slowed down we moved out a little deeper which produced our biggest fish. We finished the day in the area but never got the bigger bites we needed.
We weighed a small limit for 7.99lbs and ended up 35th out of 55. We made a few mistakes but it was a confidence building tournament and we will take what we learned and go from there.
Remembering Why I Love Fishing
With all the stresses, costs, and other things that goes along with tournament fishing you can lose sight of why you got into it in the first place. This last year I got to that same point, I lost the focus of enjoying my time out on the water. I took the summer off and decided to take trips to the lake and just FISH. I took some friends with me at times, while others I went by myself and learned new techniques and studied my graphs and went out and enjoyed the outdoors. I needed a complete reset and I think it really helped. I went out fishing more and learned some things in the process.
This year I cut out of the tournament series I was running that have done for years. It was so I could focus on another with my step-dad who got me into the tournament fishing in the first place. He is coming back from a few surgeries so just getting him back onto the water and catching fish was a main concern and focus this year before the series championship in May. I will still do other tournaments in other circuits but not because I am forced to, but instead because I want to. I am planning on getting back into it heavy again but I am working myself back into it. I don't want to lose sight of what is important again, the enjoyment of fishing.
This year I cut out of the tournament series I was running that have done for years. It was so I could focus on another with my step-dad who got me into the tournament fishing in the first place. He is coming back from a few surgeries so just getting him back onto the water and catching fish was a main concern and focus this year before the series championship in May. I will still do other tournaments in other circuits but not because I am forced to, but instead because I want to. I am planning on getting back into it heavy again but I am working myself back into it. I don't want to lose sight of what is important again, the enjoyment of fishing.
River2Sea USA - New Sponsor
I am proud to announce my new partnership with River2Sea USA. I have been throwing their swimbaits for the last few years along with some of their topwater baits and have had a great amount of success. They make great products and I am looking forward to what the year will bring with them.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Mercury Racing Bravo I XS - 2015 Edition
I had been looking for a prop to that would handle my boat in all conditions, summer heat, heavy load, full or empty tanks, etc. and still keep my holeshot and performance. I had been running a Mercury 25P Fury 3-Blade and it has performed very well especially during the winter on my Ranger Z520 and Mercury 250 Pro XS. As the heat started hitting here I noticed that the boat was getting a little sluggish out of the hole especially loaded at the higher elevations we finish the season at. Normally I would just drop to a lower pitch Fury but after a few suggestions I called and talked to Scott at Mercury Racing Propellers as ordered in a 25P Bravo I XS - 2015 Edition, which comes with 8 adjustable PVS holes to adjust the holeshot exactly how each boat needs it.
All I can say is wow, I took the boat out the first time just to run it by myself and it screamed to 71+ before I had to get out of it. The holeshot was insane at around 2-2.5 seconds and the low and mid-range was quick. The next trip out I loaded it with a tournament load and had partner join and went up an extra 600ft in elevation and the boat once again ripped out of the hole and topped out at 69.9 on the first run. I could handle the boat with one finger driving it and knew could make adjustments to it.
I recently just took it out and think I have it dialed in. I tried it two times with a decent load and in the heat and 89 degree water the boat jumps out of the hole like it has 4-wheel drive and blisters to 70mph quicker than my Fury does to 60mph. This prop is truly a beast and exactly what I was looking for. It may not top out quite as high as the Fury 1-2.5mph slower but it seriously out performs it in every other way. Thank you again Mercury Racing for bringing this prop out, I am loving it more and more each day.
2015 Edition Bravo I XS - Mercury Racing Pro Finished Propeller
All I can say is wow, I took the boat out the first time just to run it by myself and it screamed to 71+ before I had to get out of it. The holeshot was insane at around 2-2.5 seconds and the low and mid-range was quick. The next trip out I loaded it with a tournament load and had partner join and went up an extra 600ft in elevation and the boat once again ripped out of the hole and topped out at 69.9 on the first run. I could handle the boat with one finger driving it and knew could make adjustments to it.
I recently just took it out and think I have it dialed in. I tried it two times with a decent load and in the heat and 89 degree water the boat jumps out of the hole like it has 4-wheel drive and blisters to 70mph quicker than my Fury does to 60mph. This prop is truly a beast and exactly what I was looking for. It may not top out quite as high as the Fury 1-2.5mph slower but it seriously out performs it in every other way. Thank you again Mercury Racing for bringing this prop out, I am loving it more and more each day.
2015 Edition Bravo I XS - Mercury Racing Pro Finished Propeller
Friday, August 7, 2015
ABA Teams - January 31st 2015 - Bartlett Lake
I am not sure how i missed posting this one but here it is. It was a last minute decision to go, and turned out to be a great decision. My friend had been on a great bite and we were fishing the same areas the last few weeks and he called me needing a boater. It was late but decided to go and already knew the game plan.
The morning started with some rain and the forecast was to have rain throughout most of the day, thankfully it turned out to be a gorgeous day with just rain in the morning. It was a race to the first area since it had been producing the wins and top weights the last few weeks. The boat was running absolutely perfect and fast, we passed a few boats and got to the area right where we wanted to be on. Within 2 casts we already had a fish and the limit came fairly quickly. We were throwing jigs and carolina-rigs and they were crushing them. We knew the structure and angles we needed and proceeded to catch them while other anglers struggled and left. We figured we would be fighting boats all day and turned out most guys left and we had the area to ourselves almost the entire day. We had to catch close to 40 fish but were sitting on 10lbs with about an hour to go. We switched up angles slightly and that was the ticket as we culled up to just under 13lbs. We made the run back but since we didn't have a kicker we weren't sure if we could pull out the win. Even as they were announcing the weights we knew it was close and not sure of the outcome. We ended up edging out second by close to half a pound and took home the hard earned win.
It had been a while since had won one, so this one made the hard work even better. I learned a ton from my partner in this tournament and took that knowledge into the rest of the season and was able to consistently catch fish the rest of the year. Already looking forward to the 2016 season.
The morning started with some rain and the forecast was to have rain throughout most of the day, thankfully it turned out to be a gorgeous day with just rain in the morning. It was a race to the first area since it had been producing the wins and top weights the last few weeks. The boat was running absolutely perfect and fast, we passed a few boats and got to the area right where we wanted to be on. Within 2 casts we already had a fish and the limit came fairly quickly. We were throwing jigs and carolina-rigs and they were crushing them. We knew the structure and angles we needed and proceeded to catch them while other anglers struggled and left. We figured we would be fighting boats all day and turned out most guys left and we had the area to ourselves almost the entire day. We had to catch close to 40 fish but were sitting on 10lbs with about an hour to go. We switched up angles slightly and that was the ticket as we culled up to just under 13lbs. We made the run back but since we didn't have a kicker we weren't sure if we could pull out the win. Even as they were announcing the weights we knew it was close and not sure of the outcome. We ended up edging out second by close to half a pound and took home the hard earned win.
It had been a while since had won one, so this one made the hard work even better. I learned a ton from my partner in this tournament and took that knowledge into the rest of the season and was able to consistently catch fish the rest of the year. Already looking forward to the 2016 season.
Monday, July 13, 2015
MBC Seniors Championship - May 30th & 31st - Apache Lake
Well it was that time, championship weekend. with the tournament we had a few weeks prior my partner and I had high hopes the bite would stay similar and we would just need the size to come back. The weather changed to a week of serious heat so we were hoping the steep bite would be even better.
We launched out boat 20 and headed to the same area we had started on and within a few minutes we had our first keeper. We also had a few big fish follow and bump a swimbait but just not connect. With a few fish in the well we ran our other patterns and areas but the bite just wasnt the same. We caught a few small keepers and had our limit and ended our day where we started which produced a few more bites and a cull or two. We ended our day with a limit of 10.47lbs and needed a big second day, which we knew was possible.
Day 2 we ran to the same area as the previous day and once again had a fish in the boat within a few casts and then finally got another to eat a swimbait, which unfortunately was only a 3.38lb largemouth. After fishing down the same bank and having 10 or so fish follow the swimbait but not eat it we decided to run our steep & deep pattern. We fished throughout the day and our steep drop off bite was gone. We caught a few unders which just made it more frustrating knowing how hard it was in the 100+ heat. We once again finished where we started and caught another keep. We finished the day with 3 fish for 7.53lbs and ended up in 22nd place with a total of 18.00lbs.
Looking back I missed the keys to unlocking the correct pattern. The area we caught the majority of our fish in practice was on the steep cliff walls and points but with the heat the fish left those areas and buried themselves in the deep grass. The area we caught most of our keepers and missed a few bites had good drop offs and deep grass. I failed to connect the dots until it was too late and it cost us a chance at the championship. It is a lesson learned, these Florida strain laregemouth like the grass more than the previous breed we fished for and will be a main focus from now on. I also remembered what it was like to sleep at the Ranger Suite, was a first in a long while.
We launched out boat 20 and headed to the same area we had started on and within a few minutes we had our first keeper. We also had a few big fish follow and bump a swimbait but just not connect. With a few fish in the well we ran our other patterns and areas but the bite just wasnt the same. We caught a few small keepers and had our limit and ended our day where we started which produced a few more bites and a cull or two. We ended our day with a limit of 10.47lbs and needed a big second day, which we knew was possible.
Day 2 we ran to the same area as the previous day and once again had a fish in the boat within a few casts and then finally got another to eat a swimbait, which unfortunately was only a 3.38lb largemouth. After fishing down the same bank and having 10 or so fish follow the swimbait but not eat it we decided to run our steep & deep pattern. We fished throughout the day and our steep drop off bite was gone. We caught a few unders which just made it more frustrating knowing how hard it was in the 100+ heat. We once again finished where we started and caught another keep. We finished the day with 3 fish for 7.53lbs and ended up in 22nd place with a total of 18.00lbs.
Looking back I missed the keys to unlocking the correct pattern. The area we caught the majority of our fish in practice was on the steep cliff walls and points but with the heat the fish left those areas and buried themselves in the deep grass. The area we caught most of our keepers and missed a few bites had good drop offs and deep grass. I failed to connect the dots until it was too late and it cost us a chance at the championship. It is a lesson learned, these Florida strain laregemouth like the grass more than the previous breed we fished for and will be a main focus from now on. I also remembered what it was like to sleep at the Ranger Suite, was a first in a long while.
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