Matt Fly

You think?

Mark Zona is host of BASS Center on ESPN and good friend to KVD. They both live in Michigan. Zona comes with off the wall remarcks. He's not selling any products so to speak, He's got some Zany remarks. He's different, and as you can see, has access to some of the industries best known personalities. We saw him fish with Greg Hackney a few week out. They acted like to buddies just fishing, which probably isn't far from the truth. He seems to be liked by most.

Zona and KVD team up to take on Ray Scott and Shaw Grisby on Ray Scotts private 50 acre lake in a two day tourney. This out to be great show. Great article. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?id=3201349 Hookem

Theres a difference in what a Susan B Anthony looks like and and old Paper one dollar. Funny thing about the two, they have similar things in common but arent close to the same thing except in value. Kinda like the waters that are located throughout the US. Some waters don't require all that craftsmanship, thus you don't need to spend a bundle on a bait that isn't pretty. Smells bad, well what baits smells good? LOL Bait sniffing experts!!!! Afterall, when the water is stained and Bass aren't feeding primarilly on sight, who cares if a bait don't have scratches or does. In Cali, most of those lakes are deep and clear, gin clear. Common sense tells us that Premium baits are needed to better your odds. Common sense also tells me in Texas, that I don't need 40.oo baits or 300.oo baits to get the job done when bass don't see the bait. Thats not saying that in Spring, that Matts bait isn't the better choice in clear shallow waters. Not that I'd use a swim bait on a bed when a bass will hit almost anything at that time of the year any way. California fishermen are lucky, ya'll don't have alot of lakes that are filled with the timber and other obsticles that make landing double digits more difficult. Yall have deep swimming pools with open water, no hardly any obstacles to land a fish from. Most swimbaits in Cali have belly treble hooks. Those are nice, but hang up alot in our waters, and well, some of us don't like to ruin our fishing hole by dropping a lure retreiver down there. Kinda ruins the big bass theories of being stealthy. If you are rich, which I guess you guys are, ya'll can loose quit a few of those baits fightig fish in our waters and not feel it in the pocket. CAll us cheap and brokebacks if you like, but at least we know why its not a big deal to throw lesser baits. I have no doubts that a Storms Wildeye Swimbait wouldn't be a wise choice in the majority of waters in Cali. Elite Pro goes out on Fork one after noon, Kelly Jordan, Puts 9 STorm Wildeye Swimbait fish in the boat totalling over 100 pounds on 9 fish. 4 day total for BASS is 122 on 20 bass. If there was no slot on Fork, that record could easily go down on Fork and turn around, be broken again in Cali or Florida, who knows. Theres a ton of pros who have had success with them. I guess that makes them cheap and broke also. LOL and they are the ones on tour. LOL!!! That just like you don't need to spend 500.oo on a rod to catch a trophy bass either. Seen plenty caught of zebcos growing up. I guess nobody but us cheap and broke people ever used a Zebco either. Just my opinion

Solman, First off, Welcome to the Forum. The guys have a trip planned to Lake Gunterville at the end of March. You might check into that get together if Cabin fever motivates you a little early this year. Welcome to the Forum. By the way, if you make it to Bull Shoals, lake Fork Tx isn't much further to fish one of the best fisheries in TEXAS. Hookem Matt

Welcome back. Glad to see things are okay. Stratos makes a nice boat. Have you set in new PB's in her yet? Pic's please. Hookem Matt

Actually, they are not retards. I have seen this picture before. We call them Aggies in Texas!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Hookem

As you can see by the newer products that comes out ever year in the areas of weight. just like the ban on lead with migratory birds, don't know when, but someday, there will be ban on use of lead in fishing products as well. Its coming. Most of us older fellows have grown up around lead paints and such most of our lives. When I joined the navy, we still had ships in the late 70's that weren't asbestos free, and lead was just coming up on the horizon at that time.

smallfry, Truth be said, most ideas that come from California have come from Japan on most occassions. In Japan, bassing waters are highly pressured. The fish have seen everything and the waters are as in Cali, ginn clear. very similar. Because of the pressure, life like lures are what they design. And they don't have the numbers of lakes we have here in the US. California waters are very clear, so, even though a bass maynot be able to count the arrays on an anal fin, the life like lures will get you bit faster than some other brands. Hookem

Fishing with your DAD will live inside your head and heart for years to come. Way to go!!!!! Pics please!! Matt

Hartwell is public lake. Legally, they can't deny access to any public ramp. Matter of fact, they like having spectators on the water for overhead shots, the more the merry. Just have some consideration for the guys trying to put on a show for the public!!!

Curious question, if theres no point in throwing small swim bait, why do they make them for???? Also, someone commented on small price to pay for throwing a bait like that in world record waters. If we order one in Texas, doe the price go down or does the world record waters come with it? LOL Found that funny.

Gonna give a chatterbait a shot with a swimbait as the trailer. Seem to me, the cat is out of the bag since Stren on Falcon this year.

I don't hate or dislike over weight people. I do think laziness and poor parenting have complicated the issues. I also will say my parents didn't have Cable, internet or video games to deal with. As kids, we came home and played outside, that would be playing and not sitting, which burned calories. The percentage of fat kids in my school back in the 60-70's was alot less than todays kids. Cause kids were active, we had to, we didn't have coach potatoe games. Face it, if you stick out like a sore thumb, your gonna draw attention. Like a kid with spiked hair, or purple hair, or dressed all black, nails, hair and makeup. Skinny as a twig or fat, if you are different, you'll be talked about. Small percentage of fat people would have valid reason for being fat. And if you think I'm insensitive, well, I didn't ask them to try to squeeze into those 8's when they are a size 16. Most over weight people can do something about there conditions if they wanted to. And its okay to pay money and go to comedy club to see some comic use weight or his mama weight has punch lines, but not okay in open society as Americans. Soda tax, what a joke!!!!! Instead of medical use, why not use the money for trainers, problem with that is, they same people don't want to put that kind of effort into being healthy. Its called a lazyiness.

I would hope that everyone fishs because its fun to begin with. If it isn't fun, why are you doing it? If you don't like your job, you gotta be miserable!!!!

Ya'll can say what you want about Storm Swimbaits. I have caught enough to know that they work as good as most expensive baits, thus i dont' have to pay for what people call craftsmanship. I don't have to worry about trying to get that bait back either. So time isn't spent worring about a 40.00 bait, and you don't have to feel bad for throwing that kind of money away. As for them not working in Cali, maybe true, clearer waters for the most part, but to claim they dont work because they are cheaply made. Poor answer. I have a girlfriend entering her second year of bassing. Over 50 strom swimbait fish in 2007. Call them crap if ya'll wish, I saw enough pros throwing them, and they make a living fishing. So who are you gonna believe, guys who use to them to cash checks or............................ I said that there are enough pros throwing what ya'll call cheap. And I didn't say they don't throw other brands either. Seen too many shown on all the shows to say they are crap. Proof is in the pudding, and Storms may be cheap but i'll place this wager. For all of ya'll who say they just fall on their side. Come on down, 2 to 1 odds per bait, 10 dollars a bait to test. I'm gonna clean your pockets, Storms work as well as most other swims with swimming action. I'll even buy them straight off the shelf to test. I'm gonna clean your pockets with remarks like that. Again proof is in the pudding. I have never taken one bait tossed it out and have it swim back on its side unless you work the bait too fast. Operator error!!! I have never judged a bait in the box, I at least get them wet..... if you can afford to spend that kind of money on the crafted ones, you can't go wrong there either. I have seen some pretty baits, Mattslook very nice. STorms i can fish at any depth out of the package, and you can't say that about all swims or half. No special rigging techniques. The Storm wildeyes also don't have that treble hook, which is good when you fish TExas timber filled lakes or lakes that have lots of vegitation which most Cali lakes don't have to contend with. Hookem

When they are good ones and I got some line out there, I'm always pointing out when you see that line shooting out from the boat. SHE'S COMING UP FOR AN AIRSHOW!!! Hookem

What do you do when you encounter overcast days? maybe if you tell us your normal approach, we'll be able to help you better. I know that when the water is warmer, you are more apt to have a top water bite on over cast days. Bass aren't as tight to cover on over cast days. Some bass may even roam on overcast days depending on seasons. So search baits on over cast days may help put fish in the boat on days like that. Just a few, hookem Matt

If you know baitfish, you'll always know where bass are. There is only one time in the year that a food source is not key. When they are trying to spawn. The rest of the year, knowing what the primary food source in the food chain is doing and knowing what they do, were they go during the day and night. Hookem and good luck!

A bass will travel as far as needed to get the job done, and if the same place that shes was hatched is no longer undre water, she will simply find another suitable place to do her business. In 1997, I witnessed the Sabine River Authority giving out replicas to people who caught double digit bass and registered them. 2 of those fish was tagged and caught twice that year. The two fish have came from 15-20 miles down lake. Catt can give the actual miles they travelled. Both bass was released mid lakes by the Tx/LA bridge that goes to Many on hwy 6. The first fish was caught in six mile creek the first time, and was caugh again a few weeks later a mile from original place where caught., The second was Housen Bay and it was almost home in that short time frame during spawn and was caught a second time that year. Those fish travelled by boat, and was released when measurements was taken. They swam double digits to get back to their home waters. By the way, during their travels back down lake, they both managed to gain weight, considerable weight when you look at the energy used to go back that far. Interesting story. So if Salmon and other species will make the annual run, I don't see why bass would be different. Lots of fish make the migration runs.

Most of the stuff I bought that was a suggestion was for specific use in certain places that has worked on other waters as well. Those were just baits and colors. Rarely will I invest a c note or more based on recommendation. I will if I have had my hands on it before, tried it out first. Would you go buy a 1200.oo graph with out seeing it perform?

I have posted a list on Brady's EX receivers, they weren't has beens, he has had good receivers and a TE all those years. Thats just absurd that he hasn't had any talent. Troy Brown , Terry Glenn, Stalworth, Deion Branch, Ernest Givens, David Patten, and the list goes on. Had Ben Coates for awhile at TE. He's had targets. Always has a back out of the backfield as well. Pats have treated WR's like they do defensive backs up until this year. Most of the time, the Pats don't want to pay them, so they move on. I consider that comment way off base, and not much consideration went into that statement considering they don't pay them to stay and from the list posted, he's had more talent than most teams.

As for Tom Brady being a great QB, that is a work inprogress. Troy Aikman won three Titles, and I don't consider him great outside the Cowboys organization. He was very good team QB, and without him, we don't win those 3 tittles. Say what you want about Tom. He has been undercenter for 3 titles thus far, set some records along the way. I find the Overhyped comments way off track. Alls the guy has done is win. How you over hype the best winning percentage of a playoff QB with 3 titles is purely media driven, but deservedly so. I guess to best way to illustrate what winning does to one or a team, look no further. Winning alot has a way of making you unpopular amoung other sports fans!!!! Just look at the way Brady and the Cowboys are preceived. Winning alot does that!! LOL What else could it be? Just my opinion! Hookem

Packers Sent Packing!!!!!!!!

A slump means alot of things to different people. There are some guys who guide and a slump may mean loosing a customer, or not getting a repeat customer. Then you have various levels of pros, some don't have to count their change and others who look for change! lol Trying to make it on tour. Since most of the time, there is no pressure to perform or find fish, a slump simply means some or alot of days gone unfruitfull, to wit: not many fish to show for your efforts. On those days, I simply go after another species willing to cooperate, wether its white, stripers, or crappie. Catch a mess or two and you forget the bass aren't cooperating. Gives you a renewed ability to catch fish, the very same reason you thought or felt you were in a slump, Unless you are like Fish Chris or Randall, then your slump may be a temporary lapse in not catching a DD often enough.