flippincrazy

Sounds good. I fish Ceaser's, Cj, Indian, Grand Lake, Buckeye, Alum, East Fork, Rocky Fork, Ohio River, Erie, ect. as well as different farm ponds and creeks (got a dynamite smallie creek close by). We'll have to stay in touch and hook uo this spring. Caleb

I fished some last year and I'm fishing them this year, I'm with Catchem' Bassmasters. OBFN seems to be, for the most part, a good bunch of people. Caleb

its fun, just keep it fun, local club is probably the way to go

Strike King, I live in Fairborn and work in Dayton. Where do you normally fish? Caleb

Ceaser's Creek. Its only an hour or so north from cinncy. Probably the best in Ohio. Do a search you'll find a good bit of info on it. There are guides on it also, one being Tom Dietz, he's one of the best muskie tourney anglers in the world. Tom is also the manager at the Gander Mountain in Huber Hieghts, Ohio and they a huge selection of muskie stuff and will put you on what is working at ceasers. Caleb

Bass pro XPS extreme. $99, on sale for $59-69

Sorry, thats horrible. Best of luck to you and sounds like you'll have the oppurtunity again as long as you keep fishing. Caleb PS If school is the only thing keeping you from going, maybe a talk with the dean could help change the minds of those teachers, after all if it was a school sport they would be excused.

Bud, Thanks for the heads up. Navigating Kentucky Lake is what I'm must nervous of. I know it can go from 20 feet to half a foot just inches outside the channel markers and not every spot is marked with channel markers. Also it can get nasty rough in a hurry. I'm just going to take my time the four days of prefishing and try to learn the water I'll be fishing. Hopefully everyone in the tournament will have a safe trip, I remember last year there was a nasty accident that sent a boater to the ICU, but I think he ended up making a full recovery. Thanks agian for the heads up. Caleb

Nice looking rod. I only hope I can build one half that good. I'm going to start rod building after this tournament season is over. That rod looks awesome paried with that reel.

I thought it would be like that. Fished it last year as a co-angler and had the same thing, would catch 10 fish a day, but only one keeper. Im just gonna go down there and try to find some kind of pattern that is somewhat stable.

So I accomplished my goal this year as a boater in the Buckeye BFL. Being my first year as a boater my goal was to stay in the top 40 and qualify for the regional. After a 32nd finish this weekend on the river I locked my spot finishing 23rd overall for the year. I fell good for doing this well in my first year, but believe I should have done better, its just a confidence thing with me thi year. Anyways I'm leaving for Kentucky/Barkley on friday or saturday to see if I can find some fish. I know kentucky isn't the best this time of year, but I'm excited about my oppurtunity to prove my self on a big lake. I'm figuring 13-14 pounds a day will win or atleat qualify for the all american. I'll keep you guys and girls posted during practice and the tournament. Wish me luck, I hope I represent Bass Resource well. Caleb P.S. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep at all before this tournament. ;D

check out ohiobassfederationnation.com

I don't know if different types of craws have different colors during molting, but up here in ohio biger craws turn bright blue when they molt and still have very soft shells. I had some I caught and kept in a fish tank and it was amazing to see. When they molt their claws were electric blue, so I use saphire blue trailers a lot. Just my .02 Caleb

strike king red eye, and my favorite is the strike king diamond traps (its just a confidence thing with this bait)

Set up sounds okay. Good hard hookset. And like Tokyo said horse the fish. Get them to the boat fast and don't let them turn at all. Sharpen hooks often.

I love chatterbaits. The hooks do need sharpened very often, like all hooks should be. The design of the bait and the heavy head gives the bass a lot of leverage to throw the hook. What line/rod are you using? I think chatterbaits have the best action, but gambler swimblades have amazing hooks and you won't loss many fish on them.

Summer can be tuff, but fall is quickly approaching, baitfish are starting move up here and the bass are following. Topwaters and flukes are providing for lots of intertaining strikes and hookups. Remember as fall aproaches FOLLOW the baitfish.

Leeches and softcraws! Tubes if you can't do the live bait thing.

I agree that BASS is missing out on some good fishing, but I also think they'll be out west evetually. I don't know if I was them how many new divisions I would want to open in one year. If they had a west division this year too they would have had two new divisions to schedule and staff between there elite events. Also the more divisions you have the harder it is to convince some people to fish them too because of qualifying issues. If there was 4 divisions there would be only one person from each going to the classic and a couple to the elites, this really cuts down your possibility of making it, one bad tournament people start dropping out. Also would the west be hard to schedule, its so big guys could still be driving forever even if they lived out west. Lastly, this is tournament trail that gives you chance to qualify for the Elites the best of the best, no one said it would be easy, if you live out west and your dream is to fish the elites then do it, sacrafices have to be made. With that said I hope there is a west division soon, but all you seem to hear about is how BASS screws people over. Also I started this thread to see who was fishing or thinking about fishing the Opens so we could help each other out. Caleb

five bass limit, I know. It happened to me on the St. Johns River event this past January. Kinda sucks! Caleb

Rooster Tail

thats cool riverfisher. the champlain tournament should be a good one, with some rough water

Good Luck!

I completely understand, I kinda felt like a fish out of water the first one I fished, but if you plan on tourney fishing that step is gonna come sooner or later. Confidence is the hardest part of fishing IMO. It's a while away so just keep your options open. Caleb

Ups, I'm fishing them as a co this year. To date haven't done well, but three hundred dollars is not bad. I've been paried with a big named flw guy and a former elite series pro. To hire them for a day would cost a lot more than 300. Now I did get front boated like no one could imagine, but I learned a lot. Most guys are more than willing to share info, I think fishing these as a co is a must if tournament fishing is something you desire to do for a while, this being even more true now that the elites don't have co-anglers. Stay in touch if you decide to fish it, if fish the northerns i'll be up there the whole week before. Caleb