mrbassky

An old camper works well if you want something cheap. You can use it to stay warm and keep everything you need stored safely. And you can pullout the awning to have a portable covered weigh in area.

Great suggestion Daniel but I would go with Chuck Woolery over Chuck Norris.

Let them get a tournament when its freezing out and few guys are catching anything. Who wants to pay up to sit in the boat and freeze their butt off watching some one not catch anything. There are days I choose not to go fishing because it would be no fun and I love fishing as much as anybody. I heard pros say certain tournaments werent fun. I wouldnt be suprised if they are begging people to sign up for some tournaments.

The way I look at it is you want the tournament scenario the same as it would be any other day. And most days we have a buddy in the boat with the net.

Other than Big tours doing away with co-anglers now the Federation is restricting them. The Kentucky Bass Federation (FLW affiliated) went to new rules for non-boaters. Now they cannot throw past the line in the middle and have no say on the water fished. COME ON!!!! That was it for me I will never fish another KBF tournament. I understand if your fishing with KVD he knows what hes doing but instead your fishing with Jim Bob from another club 2 counties over who may not know jack. I know I fished with several boaters who didnt in my day. No disrespect but would you boaters want to ride along and have no say? I dont know if other federations are going to this format but you are making non-boater results all luck of the draw. I dont care who you are you cant do good fishing dead water. Like the saying goes I would rather be fishing the right spot with wrong bait than the wrong spot with the right bait. I just think another step in a trend to take rights away from non-boaters and give more to boaters. It may be a matter of time till non-boaters have no say at the smallest tournaments. And the KBF is pretty small.

I am interested in possibly joining a club around the Winchester area this year. I would go as far as Richmond south, Lexington west, Morehead east. I am a nonboater but have been fishing tournaments for 12years. I am already in a club in my hometown in Grayson that has been around for 20+ years but I live in Winchester and may join a local club to meet new friends and get a chance to learn some of the local lakes. If you know of any clubs let me know and if possible what is the format (draw, buddy), fees, and what lakes do they typically fish. And if anybody is interested in joining the club I already belong to let me know. We are called Happy Hookers Bass Club -you have to get voted in which is simple -yearly fees are like $60 plus you need to join FLW (for insurance purposes) -around 9 tournaments-all are draw except 3 away tournaments -each tournament is $20 person-non-boater pays boaters part (instead of paying for gas) -individual pts no boater non-boater divisions -non-boater gets boat control %50 day (never an issue real friendly atmosphere) -top 3 tournaments pts decide Angler of Year, plaque given at December banquet and Big Bass plaque as well -top 4 in pts get no annual dues next year -we fish Ohio River, Yatesville, Cave Run, Grayson for local tournaments -monthly meetings decide date and tournament location and pairings -Boaters can fish alone if drawn with another boater (must pay $20 entry) Its a long running club +20yrs maybe 30 yrs but not big usually 4-5 boats per tournament. Not everyone fishes every tournament but 8-12 is usually how many fish each tournament. You wont get rich but its a good chance to meet new friends. And its cheap and great if you dont own a boat like me. Again contact me if your interested or if you know about one around Winchester.

Pretty simple slow to medium retrieve. Fish them where you would a spinnerbait but most important thing is clearer water. At least 3 ft unless you are really shallow. Rigging is simple if its open water rig with the treble hook and if its not rig weedless. Use a long heavy rod like you would with any other big plastic bait. I have caught some 3lb class fish with them but I havent used them alot either. I prefer small hard swimbait with lots of trebles. For what its worth the weedless hook that comes with the bait stinks. Its sharp but your bait will last longer if you can get some big screw in type weedless hooks but they can be hard to find. Good luck

I tried it some but with no luck. But I have had some good catches on chatterbaits. Best day was 15 fish over 15in in 7hrs with the best 5 going 19+.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but no one can cheat at any of the upper tier tournaments anymore. There is always an observer or non-boater on board with the boater. Not counting cameras. You could cheat at a smaller level tournament but any tournament sponsors would care about would have an observer. Not unless you set it in the 80s or something. And I live in Winchester, Kentucky and the only strip clubs I have ever seen are in big cities not small towns. I would go bootlegging beer or selling pot over Porn much more realistic and colorful nobody will side with the stripclub/porn guy, people might side with bootlegger trying to make a living. The best stories are the ones where you arent sure who the bad guy is. : And what kinda name is Booger Hollow???? With all the things that are out there in your story I dont think I would worry about how he cheats.

Do any of you have some of these books and which ones. I have the first two books and they are newer original books and I love them. However many of the books in this series are not original and infact are just copies of other books printed in the past. Some are obvious Big Bass Zone and Knowing Bass but I know several others are ripoffs of other books mostly old books printed in the 80s called something like the Hunting and Fishing Library. These have been reprinted several times and are way out of date. So the question is does anyone have any books in this series and know some that are not ripoffs of old books. And also is the Big Bass Zone version the same as the actual BBZ book. And is the Day on the Lake edition original or are the chapters articles that appear in Bassmaster magazine. Any help would appreciated I have a large book collection and I dont want to spend $20 on a book I have or a book that is a reprint of an old book. Bass fishing books get outdated alot and I have bought some dissapointing ones.

SHHHHHHHH! Scroungers suck, they don't work! I watched a show with A.Martens who makes the scrounger I am sure you know. He said the key is to make bottom contact or contact some type of hard structure (bridge pillings). I havent thrown them much but he describes them as something like how you would fish a sworming hornet. I now have a small sworming hornet head and scrounger box. Have you found the secret with them??? pm me... :-X

war eagle are the best but you cant change the skirts followed by several other who are similar strike king (their better quality ones), piccasso (hard to find), and Buckeye lures (again hard to find). I am not crazy about Booyahs they are OK but they rust easy and are not the best quality similar to cheaper strike king stuff.

I heard alot of bad comments on the lures but also a few good ones in some forums. I was thinking of buying a Bluegill and bass candy this winter. The thing I notice about alot of swimbait guys is they are big supporters of the local small companies and dislike bigger companies who copy baits and it makes it hard to tell what is the truth and what is biased. I just want to know if anyone has tried any of the reaction strike hard swimbaits and what they think I know they are not perfect most manufactured swimbaits are not. But are they worth trying??

Yeah drive to Gunterville. Its not far.

My favorite march lure for finding fish is a rattletrap actually a royal shad (#1 color on guntersville) cordell spot either 3/4oz or 1/2oz. I also throw a 1-minus, spinnerbait, buzzbait, frog and crankbaits. I caught my biggest fish in march on a frog in matted grass in the back of a pocket. If there is a cold front fish any matted grass you can find there isnt alot in march but fish stack up under it use a frog or flip it. If its not cold cover water with a lippless crankbait and find em then throw whatever works best. Search bassmasters tournament results they had a couple march tournaments a couple years ago. Lippless crankbaits and jigs won it. One winner was Zell Rowland he fished Seabold creek which is between the dam and midlake area. He flipped docks with a jig and fished a lippless crankbait as well. The leader the first 3 days was E.Evers he fished Rosemary creek or something like that its that or a similar name its real close to goosepond colony on the map. Its a small creek right off the main lake. He fished a red lipless crankbait as well. Another top finished I cant his name he was Japanese Kiro something he fished Pine Island which is really a big hump out on the main lake not far below South Souty creek. He fished a deep diving crankbait about 10 ft deep on the main channel. He ripped his bait out of the grass and looked for underwater points in the grass. Dont ask how much random fishing info is in my head. The point is that there are several ways to fish the lake but the biggest fish will be closer to the mainlake. It should be noted the top finishers sometimes struggle the next year on this lake at the same time. Guntersville is more of a spot lake than pattern lake. Certain spots get hot one year and produce and go cold the next year. I have seen the grass grow think in a spot one year and be short in a spot the next year. In the spring especially year before last the area towards the main lake didnt have alot of grass in the spring when I was there and everybody fished the midlake area. The year before the top finishers were more towards the dam. If I could give one peace of advice it would be cover water and look for a couple key spots you can milk. Good luck hope this helps

I have taken several trips in march and if a Kentucky boy can catch them you can. If you were fun fishing I would say go in the creeks likey Dry Creek but in a tournament if you want to do good fish the main lake. Ask anyone there the big stringers are on the main lake. Not that you cant catch big fish in the creeks I have but if there is a tournament in March usually 9 of the top 10 guys are fishing the main lake. Look for spawning areas off the main lake and look for grass flats in front of them but any structure could have fish on it in march. I dont know where you are putting in but closer to the dam fishes deeper than the mid lake are around N.Souty creek. So depth could be 1-15 probably no deeper than 15 ft.

They work but they havent hit the mainstream yet or people are not saying anything if they are doing good on them. I tried some they are very weedless nothing is perfect but these are very weedless. Another problem is the hooks are terible they have tiny gaps and lose lots of fish and you cant change them out it would defeat the purpose. The big question I have is if are there enough applications out there for them. If the grass is that thick will a crankbaits action really help. I think at best they will situational underground lures. And they are expensive and the little weedguards on the hooks dont last forever.

Go real cheap with the bandits 100s they work great and less than $4 sometimes. Bomber square As also work.

I think the key is having a big frog. I tried them on smaller frogs and had problems went to a Manns hardnose frog and the hooks fit fine. Maybe just use them on your bigger frogs. Big advantage is that they allow you work a frog fast and not roll over so if your fishing slow you dont need them anyway.

Suspending jerkbaits and floating jerkbaits are a different beast altogether. I firmly believe if you have clear enough water you can catch fish on one depending on water clarity most of the time. Water clarity is key then its a matter of finding the right action and depth.

The chatterbait is my go to bait is certain situations. On my annual fishing trip to Alabama me and my cousin catch 10 or more keepers every day over 15 in on a chatterbait. Hold onto your chatterbaits and fish them when you are on a spinnerbait or swim jig bite. As far as overatted I think its a matter of where you are. I notice most of the selections are picked in places where the conditions are not the best for the lure. Water clarity is a big factor and most of the choices are water clarity related. Jerkbaits, Swimbaits, and several other lures picked require clearer water to work. I can honestly I never had much sucess on a suspending jerkbait because our lakes get muddy in the winter drawdown when the water is cold. Another pick was a rattle trap by someone in California. If you dont fish flatter lowland lakes a rattle trap usually isnt nearly as effective. Lippless cranks excel in flat grassy lakes and you dont fish any then dont use them. Point is most baits are limited by conditions and locations if you only fish one type of lake then you dont need every type of lure there is.