Masshole Mike

Someone didn't prioritize. i know right, i thought that was pretty inconsiderate of my sister-in-law, too! you'd think she could have at least planned her graduation for AFTER the spawn, instead of DURING it! ;D

there's actually an article in the may issue of bassmaster magazine that goes over the whole technique of shallow-water dropshotting. i'd type it out word for word for you but.... well, i'm just not that nice of a guy, haha. there's a sidebar in the article entitled "shallow water tackle for drop shotting" that lays out what one of the contributors to the article uses. he actually uses a 7' medium-fast casting rod with a high speed reel instead of light spinning tackle. some tactics they suggest are throwing a standard dropshot rig around shallow grass lines and dock pilings because bass "are not used to seeing a bait off the bottom in these areas." another tactic is to pitch the dropshot to thick vegetation after a cold front. the article states that bass will suspend under thick mats of grass and vegetation and that instead of pitching a soft plastic that will just momentarily pass through the strike zone, throw the dropshot and the worm will float right in the strike zone. just a few suggestions from the article, hope those help!

cj showed me a killer double-fluke rig down in g'ville one day. there were about 10 boats in this shallow cove and we were right in the middle of them when we noticed schoolies were chasing baitfish right up to the surface. we didn't see a single other boat catching that afternoon but as soon as cj tied this rig on he started hammerin em. i wasn't as succesful but still managed a 5lb channel cat on the rig. just add a swivel to your line like you would for a dropshot rig but instead of a weight tie on another fluke. i like the leaders to the flukes to be different lengths, just to add a little distance between them in the water. texas rig the flukes on a EWG hook, and if you want you can add a small splitshot weight to the shank of the hook towards the head of the fluke to give it a different wiggle on the fall. work it like a jerkbait, two quick jerks on a slack line and then let it fall for a couple seconds.

i really like my excalibur XR50, but for the money nothing beats a bill lewis rat-l-trap.

awesome hawg man! definitely mount-worthy.

Posting these pics up for Georgiabassfisherman. He went out with his cousin the other day and landed these pigs on some rods I had sold to him back in March. I guess there must have been some G'ville mojo that rubbed off on those rods before I sent them out, just take a look at the pics! and some more photos he had sent me...

we didn't have any electronics that day. he does have a fishfinder for the boat but i guess it doesn't work, so we just went to the spots we know usually hold fish, and once we got on a decent pattern we just stayed with it and managed to pull a few out. next time you head up let me know, i'll show you a few spots to hit so hopefully you can land a few good ones.

i once had a girlfriend get mad because i wouldn't take her fishing. the only reason she wanted to go was because i was spending more time fishing than i was with her. so i alleviated the problem by going fishing even more. true story.

SON OF A _______!!!! my sister in law is d**n lucky she only graduates college once. i got to sit in a giant auditorium all day sunday instead of bangin out 3lb+ smallies with paul. SWEEEEEEET.... paul, any possibility of hookin up friday for an outing? i've got all day off and would kill to hit the water with you.

i've had good luck throwing GYCB Kreatures and DT_H grubs skirt-up on a 4/0 weighted hook. i let it fall on a slack line and then just slowly bounce it along the bottom like a tube. *edit* that's some good advice about threading the hook head through before tying it on, i hadn't even thought of that. i usually just leave the hook tied on and change baits, and the weight bores out the head of the bait and the bait moves around on the hook shank more than it should. i'm going to start using your method though. that makes so much more sense....

all... warm and tingly inside :-?

i've got the pitchin' stik and so far it's been a great rod. i use it for throwing jigs and heavier soft plastics with a revo sx lefty. i haven't been able to use it all that much yet but i've been impressed so far. it's light but has a good backbone and a fast tip, just like every other fenwick i own. one thing i like about the elite tech is the exposed blank on the underside of the reel seat, it makes bite detection much easier and translates bottom structure right to your fingertips moreso than a cork or plastic reel seat. i know it's not the rod you're asking about but it is an elite tech so i figured i'd throw in my .02 cents. if you're not dead set on getting an elite tech, check out the hmx line of fenwick rods. my other casting setup is a 7' hmx with a revo s. the hmx's generally run under $100 and are excellent rods.

or how about.... just don't get married! ;D suckers, all of you! 8-)

welcome home buddy! now get out there and slay em, and we wanna see pics!

i'm pretty sure you're right ronnie, cabela's has exclusive rights to carry the ultra soft. at least that's what i've heard.

glad to hear you're ok brian. i absolutely hate snakes. i wouldn't have been able to pick it up to bring it to the hospital, they creep me out way too much.

holy crap, that thing's a pig! nice fish!

i have a friend that just can not understand spending over $30 on a combo for fishing. he has an ugly stik combo he got at walmart that he uses for everything. on the other side, i've got 5 fenwick rods, ranging in price from $60-$200, and 5 reels (a president, a supreme, a revo s, a revo sx, and a shimano sahara) ranging in price from $40-$160. now, i fish a LOT more than my friend does, between 3 and 5 times a week, but even still he can't see how i can spend so much money on rods. i try to explain to him the various reasons but he just doesn't want to listen. the other day i brought another friend fishing with me, a friend that hasn't bass fished since he was about 10. he just bought a $30 shakespeare combo at walmart and spooled it with 8lb yo-zuri hybrid. he kept complaining that he was getting twists in his line, and that the line sucks and this and that. i told him it most likely wasn't the line, but the reel causing the line twist. i handed him my eagle gt/pflueger president combo and told him to fish that for a little while. he took one cast and started dragging the trick stick across the bottom, and immediately said "wow..... i can't believe how much more you can feel with this rod!". "EXACTLY!" i said. then i handed him my hmg av/supreme combo and had him throw the same trick stick. "man, you can feel even more with this one. like, every weed and rock and stick the worm touches, you can feel it through the rod." that right there said to me that my other friend just doesn't care to listen, because after one cast with a decent rod and reel i had a newbie detecting subtleties along the bottom of a lake he'd never fished before. that's what i feel is the difference between a cheap setup and a decent setup. if you're like my one friend and an ugly stik will do it for you, then by all means, fish an ugly stik. i'll stick with my fenwicks though. 8-)

i flew airtran to atlanta for the g'ville trip. i had a bazuka pro tube extended long enough that my 7' rod would fit and there was still enough room to stuff a bunch of bags of worms at the bottom (had to have been close to 8' long i'd say...). no one said a word on the way down. i got a few odd stares and questions about the contents from the baggage personnel, but that was it. on the way home the tube was extended just long enough that my rods would fit and that was all. so it was shorter than it was on the way down. when i got to the airport in atlanta for my return flight they informed me the tube was too long and that there was a charge. i explained i wasn't charged on the way down but it was either pay the fee or my rods stay in atlanta. $140 later and i was on my way (that included an oversized charge for the rod tube, an oversized charge for my checked bag, and also an overweight charge for my checked bag. nice, huh?!) i would definitely check with your airline ahead of time, explain to them the situation and ask what the best option for you would be. i agree, if you can ship them directly to your hotel, do so. you'll save yourself a lot of aggravation and money. i ended up calling airtran about being charged, and the most they would offer me was a $50 voucher off my next flight. i said thanks but no thanks, if they're going to charge me to fly my rods wherever i go, they're not getting my business. i'll find someone that doesn't charge and go through them.

i've only used powerpro on spinning tackle, and suffix on casting tackle, but i liked the suffix much more than the powerpro. powerpro seems stiff to me when you first spool it up, and seems to take a 'breaking in' period before it really loosens up. suffix was super limp and cast great right out of the box. but like i said, i've used only the suffix on baitcasters, not the powerpro, so my opinion is somewhat skewed. though after using the suffix, i don't think i'll go back to powerpro on any of my reels.

i know exactly what you mean, but with this one... i knew she was a biggun from the second i set the hook on her. i was dragging the tube along a rocky bottom off a point and felt her hit it, and as i set the hook i followed my line into the water and all i could see was this big white belly turn on it's side and then take off for deeper water. she came up right behind the boat and that was my first good look at her, but just from seeing that flash of white when she rolled after the hookset i knew she was gonna be a PB for me. when i got her in the boat the other two guys kept saying "that thing's gotta be a 6lber, it's gotta be!" but when i put her on the scale she definitely read 4.00 steady. they were surprised she wasn't bigger, i was surprised she was SO BIG! i'm just hoping i get a chance to top her this coming weekend, boy that'd be nice! 8-)

got a couple bids goin on ebay right now, along with an adidas track suit and a furry leopard print pimp hat. let's cross our fingers, am i right?! ;D i'm heading back out to the same spot today with a couple buddies. temps since sunday have been a little warmer and it's been sunny the last two days so i'm hoping they'll still be hitting the top of that embankment, or be cruising around the shallows of the point. i'm going to drag a jig up the same rocks and see if i can get bit on that, if not it's back to the trusty stickbait. i was thinking of bumping a crankbait off the rocks, too. i've got a couple plans of attack to really get this place nailed down. it's a feeder pond to a larger reservoir so there are no gas motors allowed, only car toppers with electric, so i'm hoping to put some time in on the water with my canoe this year, too. i only got to hit it from a boat once last year and it was brief, so this year i hope to learn the layout a lot better. that pond is where i caught my previous LM PB, which was easily a 5+, so there are some decent sized fish in there. and they're gonna get it. they're gonna get it, and they don't even know it. and I'M gonna give it to em....

dwight my man, that 7+ is an absolutely gorgeous smallie. congrats on landing a real beaut!

awesome story kent! it's always nice to find a hidden honey hole, but it's even nicer to yank a monster out of one. 8-)