Dalton Tam

Thanks man I appreciate the information.

I was just wondering as to what company makes the keel strip on all the professional boats I see? It isn't the thick rubber material I keep seeing when I look up keel gaurds. It is more like a sticker that has a hard outer coating like sand paper. I'm interested in getting one because my boat keel is beginning to look rather rough. Thanks, Dalton

Most all colleges now have Fishing Teams especially in FL. I am just starting at Louisiana Tech University and am joining the team here. You can contact the school's sports admin. and they can most likely tell you how to get involved. I'm not sure how other colleges do it but here, you must qualify to fish national tournaments. Once you qualify in your own college, you will be able to travel and fish against other colleges in your region. You have to pay everything out of pocket at first but you save all receipt of gas and rooming and the college reimburses the money to all athletes. So basically you get to travel and fish some of the greatest lakes in the nation for free. The only thing you would have to pay for would be food.

If the fish had already blown her eggs out for the year wouldn't she still have an empty egg sack left behind? and also the loose belly skin that the taxidermist said he could usually take and make the fish look like it has a full belly, would this be a determining factor?

Yea the foam mount placed inside the fish was 17.5 inches. The head and tail fin of the fish adds the extra length.

Fanatic, I caught this thing right out of open bayou back in April. Bryan Mabou's old digital scales read 6 lbs 3 oz. I'm not sure If I beleieve that. But the fish really is quite skinny. If this fish could have had some girth I maybe could have set some kind of Saline Lake record ha.

corrections on that.... the mount used for this fish was 17.5 inches and the mount or the 8.5 was 16 inches. This actual fish is almost 24 inches long

This passed April I fished a tournament and caught a fish that supposedly weighed 6lbs 3oz. based on a cheap set of scales. It was a "jelly jar" tournament. I decided to get it mounted since I had never gotten one mounted before. I've turned back several fish that were larger and kicked myself in the but for it. But the main reason I decided to mount this fish was because it seemed to have blown its eggs out because it was so skinny, I decided it wouldn't hurt to get HER mounted. My taxidermist claims that the fish is a MALE fish because it had no egg sack and its belly was tight where as most females have loose skin around the belly where the taxidermist can tamper with and make the fish look a little bit more "girthy". I just wanted to know your opinion on this. BTW the fish was 17.5 inches long. My Taxidermist has an 8.5 lb. fish in his shop that is only 16.5 inches long. Here is a photo. I put a 2 liter bottle aside the fish so that you can tell the size.

Thanks everyone for the support. I'm headed to Lake Dardanelle this weekend to begin prefishing. The highschool world finals are July 21st through 23rd. I've been researching and talking to people. Hoping to go up there and come back with a trophy. Thanks to All, Dalton

Is there anyone else ever gone through a phase in life where everything is just moving so fast that they lose their drive or passion for tournament fishing? I know I love fishing and aspire to be great at the sport but here lately it seems that everything with college and work and finances that I just can't even think about fishing like I used to. I just want a change of pace. I wish life would just slow down so that I could regain my drive to have greatness. Just wondering if their is anyone out there that has faced this phase in life and how they overcame adversity.

thanks I'm going to take it out and install a new one the way you stated. Then I'm going to take the one I have on it and move it to my trolling motor.

I have a 91 model skeeter SS90. I just used an adhesive that dries into a rubber form. Not sure of the name.

My grandfather gave his depth finder to me a while back and told me that it was too hightech for him. It is a humminbird depth finder. I installed it myself and mounted the transducer in the hull of the boat. For a few weeks it worked just fine. One day while fishing it just quit reading the correct depth. It will read the correct depth and show contour when I first turn it on and then it just bounces between 1-2 ft and doesn't show anything. I was wondering if anyone has had this problem before and/or knows how to fix it. Thanks, Dalton

Does anyone know any information on Dardanelle? Does anyone know anyone that guides on Dardanelle or fishes it on a regular basis? Looking to get on some good fish up that way. Thanks, Dalton

Looks like he could be from the Louisiana bayous judging from that picture. lol He must be a good guy! ha

I just found out that I will be tagging along with Porter Tremble, a local outdoors film maker. I'm going to be joining his film crew as they go to each Bassmaster Weekend series event this summer. I will be making $300 per weekend regardless of a one day or two day tournament. We will leave early friday mornings and come back late Saturday nights into Sunday Mornings. We will cover five divisions. Oklahoma, Arkansas, East Texas, SE Texas, and Louisiana. I'm so pumped! I turned down a $1,000 per week job for this. I'll be working my normal shift work at the store during the week and then off to have fun on the weekends so I should be making between 450 and 500, good enough for me, and I'm doing something I love. The way I see it is, I can always go back into construction to make the money for a summer job but this opportunity may only come once and could open doors for something else. Then greatest part is that they contacted me on facebook because they saw my picture of Michael Iaconelli and I with all the Bassresource equipment I was carrying and thought I was some sort of videographer for Bassmaster lol ha! When I told them I was not, they hesitated, but a couple weeks later contacted me again and said they had another opening and said I was perfect for the job. I have been trully blessed.

Great job. Would only be better if you were in a tournament.

I've been thinking very hard on this for the last few days. Why is it that when we are just fishing for fun, that we catch more and better fish than when we are fishing in a tournament? I also catch more and better fish everytime I fish alone. Why is it that when I am fishing in a tournament and I am nervous or upset, I do not catch the quantity or quality that I am looking for? I fished a tournament this passed weekend that I missed atleast 5 fish right off the bat that morning that would have given me 15 lbs or better. After the morning bite was over, I swapped to a crankbait and began trying catch fish but could not get bit. It took me just sitting down and relaxing for a few minutes to just realize that I would have to relax to get back in "the zone". Once I did, I caught one good fish, a 6.3 lber, that gave me the win and big bass. I feel horrible that I missed those fish but I realized that the only reason I caught the big one was because I realized that calming down was necessary to catch another fish. Now, I have a theory. Feel free to comment your opinions about this. I believe that when we are nervous or upset, we do not fish our bait at just the right way to get those strikes we want. Or the fish can actually tell that something is wrong because we are fishing too fast or not twitching or popping correctly. I believe confidence lies in being calm and serene. What are your opinions?

Yea I guess so. He sure rubbed it in my face too. Sometimes I do my own thing but I gotta remember that he's the one that taught me everything I know.

I had a highschool tournament this morning and had a very rough day. I was getting some BIG hits on a black and yellow spro frog early but could not get them to the boat. My dad told me to use braid on that frog or I would miss them. I guess he was right. I missed one about 4-5 lbs this morning. She come to the top and shook my frog. I hooked two or three more fish anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lbs and lost them all. I finally swapped to braid but the morning bit was over and the fish weren't hitting topwater any longer. I missed a 3lb and 2lb fish on a KVD caffeine shad. I had caught only 4 1-2lb fish and I was feeling the sickness in my stomach. Nevertheless, I never gave up and right at the end of the day, caught this nice 6.3 lb bass on a Zoom watermelon candy red lizard on a tree bordering a creek channel. I did win the tournament with only 10 lbs even but wish that I wouldn't have missed those big fish this morning. I would have liked to have had about a 20 lb sack to show off but all in all, had a nice day fishing and atleast the lord gave me this big mama to show off.

wish we had some small mouth fishing around here

I'd save it and use it for launch fees. It costs me $4 to launch every time. When you fish as much as I do, that will add up.

I would love to get on some big smallmouth!

Texas Rigged Jig? please explain more. Are you using an additional weight to the jig that is already tied on?

I'd throw a reaction Innovations tube. "June Bug Red" or Watermelon with a chart. tail. with a 3/8 oz. pegged weight