JR Howard

In

I get asked a lot about fishing for big fish or giant fish. How do I look for big fish? How do I find big fish? What lures are best for big fish? Since I am sitting around watching the wind blow today I thought I would write down a few thoughts. These are my own thoughts/theories of my experience of chasing big bass. Of course they are geared towards consistently putting big fish (lets say 7-8+lb fish) in the boat. Lots of folks have caught that one big miracle fish but many are not consistent at it. I personally try to work on being consistent at finding 7-12lb fish on my home lake OH Ivie. Mental Game: The #1 part of trophy bass fishing for me is being mentally prepared. Lots of people want to fish for big fish but are never prepared when they arrive at the lake. I see a lot guys desire for fishing for giant fish wane after an hour or so of not getting a bite. When you start wondering whether you should go shallower, change baits, go get bites, etc is usually when that big fish will bite and you are not ready. Those bites don't come often and when they do you better be on top of your game or a giant fish will make you look silly. Trying to fish for big fish is a different mindset than tournament fishing/prefishing. You are not trying to put stringers together you are trying to consistently catch the biggest fish in your area. Have Realistic Expectations: Having realistic expectations about your trip will help your mental game. Be realistic about what is possible on your lake. A 6 lber may be a giant on your lake so don't be disappointed if you aren't catching 10lbers under every bush. Many people go their whole lives and never break the 8 or 10lb mark. Chasing your goal should be the fun part and not a beat down when you have unrealistic expectations. You should have expectations in line with the body of water you are fishing. I remember a trip back when I was guiding on Amistad. I had two guys from Houston that were down to fish with me after all the BASS TV publicity. We had a great day in opinion. One guy had a 8lb 2oz fish that was a new PB and the other guy had a 9lb 4oz fish (He had a 10-2 PB in Mexico) and we had about 40-50 fish total. A lot of those fish were 3-5lbers. When we were idling back into the Air Force marina the guy that caught the 9 called his buddy and told him it was just a so-so daywe didn't catch anything over 10lbs. Being Prepared (Equipment): Having your equipment (reels, rods, line) in top shape is another major requirement. I have had folks hook into big fish only to have their reel anti reverse not working properly etc. I have had guys tell me that it has been doing that lately. Don't take faulty equipment when fishing for giant fish. The other thing I hear a lot is my line isn't too good or I've got a nick in my line but it should be good for a few more fish. I have never figured out the logic in those statements. If you are going to put in the time make sure your tools are in top shape. Keep your equipment on your boat working so you can maximize your time on the water. We all know a snoopy pole is not the best outfit for giant fish. Match your tackle with your biggest fish in your lake and your presentation. Locating Giant Fish (Equipment): Electronics are huge for me in locating giant fish. I spend a lot of time staring at sonar looking for bait and bass. Learn to read your sonar and you will be able to eliminate a lot of water. Another major tool is GPS mapping. I sit at home a lot and spend a lot of time looking at my navionics on my phone marking potential big fish areas. Once I have an idea where the fish are holding I can find identical areas on my maps to check with sonar and side imaging. Locating Giant Fish (Patterns and Areas): I am a big offshore fisherman and believe that in most deep water lakes like I fish the biggest majority of the giant fish relate to deep water. Whether that is a creek channel or river channel, etc. A lot of these fish move up into feeding flats adjacent to deeper water and then retreat back to the relative safety of deep water. Another thing to remember is a lot of the large bait that these giant fish are eating stay offshore as well. Once you find big bait offshore the giant bass will not be far behind. They may not be there the day you find them but you can go back in a day or two and find them. I have marked big bait (perch, shad) with no bass and go back a day or two later and find the bass loaded up in those areas. Depth changes close to feeding flats are always a good area to start looking for giant fish. We all know of someone that has caught a giant fish on a 4 worm or tube. That is all some people fish with so that is what they catch them on. Consistently for me I catch the best average fish when I am matching my baits and size of baits with what the giant fish are consistently eating. That usually means big jigs, big LFT Flutter Spoons, and big plastics. Those big fish use the same energy to eat a 3 perch as they do a 6 perch. Match your baits with what your fish are eating. For me on Ivie a lot of our big fish are eating bait in that 4-6 range. Catching Giant Fish: To me this is the easiest part. Notice I didn't say easy I said easiest. If you have all of the above down and you have found them normally you can catch them if they are active. I try to concentrate on active fish. Just because you found them doesn't mean you are going to catch them or that they are active when you are there. I have gone back to the same areas 3 or 4 times in a day and finally caught them active and am able to catch them. The first couple of times I may not have even gotten a bite. When you have your electronics down (sonar, gps) you should be able to keep your baits in the productive areas and not waste time with casts either up to shallow or too deep. Landing Giant Fish: Part of this can go back to your mental game. Be prepared to work a big fish to the boat. I have had guys hook onto big fish and I will tell them to back off their drag and they will spin their magnetic brake knob around. Just not in it mentally. This is normal for folks not normally fighting big fish. Just something to think about ahead of time. Know what you're fishing and look for ways to get those big fish into open water. A lot of fish we have been catching lately you have to get them off the bottom and out of the wood/rock pretty quick but once you get them up you can back off your drag and work them in. Caring For Your Fish: Have your camera easily accessible where you don't have to keep the fish out of water for long periods. I normally put fish in the livewell with the pumps on manual while we get ready for a pic. Have a needle in your boat in case fizzing is needed. Learn to fizz before you get on the water. Get your pics taken and get the fish back ASAP for you to catch another time. Hope some of these tips might help someone. I'm sure I left quite a bit out but it's a start. If you have a good tip of your own post it up on here. We can all learn something. Capt JR Howard

Yep same guy

Please shoot me a PM if you do. Thanks

Ill be on Amistad Sat, Sun, and Mon.

Check out the Xcite baits chunks and you wont look back. They are all I use on my jigs anymore. Stay on good with great action and colors. Also very resonably priced.

Almost five years total. I was on Amistad and then got married and moved up here to Ivie where my wife lived and worked this past year.

1. Rockcrawler Jig W Xcite Chunk Trailer Awesome combo with several 10+ fish in my boat 2. Lake Fork Tackle Flutter Spoons Excellent spoons for giant fish 3. Norman DD22 Not much more can be said...great bait year round

Hello all, My name is JR Howard and I am a fulltime guide on Lake OH Ivie in West Central Texas. Let me know if you have any questions on fishing Ivie or fishing questions in general. I will also be posting fishing reports in the Central Reports section. Some big fish pics on the one I just posted. Everyone have a great Christmas and New Year.

The warm weather between these fronts has made for pretty good fishing on Ivie. Still catching good size. I havent been fishing for numbers so not sure what a good numbers day is. Quality is good though. Rockcrawler football jigs w Xcite Chunk Trailers, Xcalibur lipless baits, and Lake Fork Tackle spoons doing most of the damage. Get just outside the feeding flats in 15-25 ft. The closer to the river channel and deep water the better. When you find them there are more than one. Water temps are starting about 50 and getting up to 54 (on warm days) by the time I get off the water. Find bait close to the river channel and the bass arent far behind. Have a great new year and as always if you are headed to Ivie give me a shout and I will get you some updated fishing info. Thanks, JR Here are a few pics of bass we have been able to catch in the past month. 12.12 lbs 12/22/2010 10lb 2 oz 10.84 Lbs 10lb 6oz 11lb 1oz 12.72 Lbs

Yeah, we had a lot of sunfish on beds around and in the hydrilla when this pic was taken. They were killing this chart/blue bait and if you looked at the sunfish while on beds they were very brightly colored. JR

This bass nailed this xcite 5" swimbait...thought it was a cool pic the swimbait fans might like. JR

You will get a popularity vote here on your poll... If you think it is a runaway with anglers on the elites over the FLW you are mistaken. Elites are getting more exposure with sponsors is the main reason many have not quickly switched over to FLW. FLW pays more money for tourneys but isnt as "high profile" as the elites for sponsors. I would have to say it is a toss up as far as the quality of fisherman go. FLW are fishing against 200. JR

Fishing on Amistad continues to be good. There are fish relating to all depths right now and can be caught on a lot of baits. Numbers are coming on spinnerbaits (with some wind), drop shot finesse worms, tx rigged wat/chart lizards, topwater frogs and buzzbats in anywhere from 1ft-25ft. Stay in the areas that have grass. Bigger fish are still coming on swimbaits, jigs, and magnum flukes. Here is a young angler (Sterling) we should all watch for coming up through the junior angler tourneys. He can cast an open face reel, detect bites, and set the hook better than most grown ups. If any of you guys are looking for a young angler for a junior prostaff I would highly recommend Sterling.Here is a photo with a nice fish he caught (all on his own) on a tx rigged 10" this weekend.

To add to your post...on the large shadilicous (strike king) swimbaits i go ahead and cut out about a 4" slit in the belly with scissors and its a lot easier on hooksets. JR

Even thought the 3:16 is weighted you can put a tungsten bullet weight basically like a txrig and get it down deep without loosing action. I do this a lot on Amistad. JR

I like the rage tail baits and catch lots of fish on them...they are just real expensive...$1 per bait is hard to swallow when you catch as many fish as we do in a day. I figured up the other day and on a full day trip I tore up over $50 of SK baits. I hope after the intitial hype that the prices come down some. JR

I fish trick worms on drop shots, shakey heads, and c-rigs.

The last few days on Amistad we have had some nice fishing days. The wind has been cooperating and the fish are biting. Tx rigged 10-12" worms, xcite baits swimbaits, frogs, buzzbaits, and drop shot finesse worms have been the best bets. Stay near the grass with the grass close to deep drops producing the best fish. There are also fish on the deep drop ledges if you want to get away from the grass. Got to fish with a father and two sons (6&9 yr olds) duo on Sunday that was a lot of fun. I had a very large bass (10+lbs) on a xcite baits swimbait yesterday...broke my rod on the hookset then tried to handline her in and ended up breaking the line. Could see her down in a tree but couldnt get her out. Had to watch her swim away after breaking the line. Here are a couple Amistad bass photos... Father and son strike early on a nice topwater fish (bad lighting on this photo for some reason). The 9 year old caught this 5lb Amistad bass on a Pop-R and got it in all on his own...He did a great job!!! Little brother got to get in on the action as well... Teddy from Anglers Tackle shop with an almost 6lb Amistad Bass...Doesnt he look excited!!!! And a couple more 5 pounders... If you have any questios about Amistad or Falcon give me a shout. I'd be happy to help.

I have caught fish 10" long on 10" worms. They can get it all in their mouth and there is no need for a trailer hook. JR

But they do have a fancy package!!!!

I throw a 10.5" trick worm on a crig all the time on Amistad and Falcon made by xcite baits (xcitebaits.com). Works great and you can keep cutting the top off when it gets tore up and keep fishing it (just a little shorter each time!). JR

Dont get me wrong...I have the Strike Kings in my boat and do use them....just seems like the paint process or whatever the outside coating is on the SK baits is a little stiff. A good way to test actions on these type baits is to hold the bait by the nose and let the tail droop down. The more they sag down usually the better the action....NOW...that can go too far and get too soft to a point where they tear up very easy. I think xcite baits has found a great medium between durability and action. These soft swimbaits are a big expense for us guides that use a lot of them. On hot fishing days on Amistad you can tear up $50-$60 worth of baits real quick. Keeps me up at night glueing them back together!!! JR

My new favorite swimbait company is xcite baits (xcitebaits.com). Great baits , good prices, and made in the USA. I am a strike king fan but these baits have better action in my opinion. I have had over 1000+ bass caught out of my boat this spring on these swimbaits so I have tested them very well! JR

If you want cheaper look at the 11" sneaky snakes by luckestrike. Usually about $2 a bag. JR