Matt Fly

None taken. Hookem Matt

Come on Marcia. I may have to load up and go down there tonight. Not that far away for me to drive. Shreeveport is about 2.5 hrs away. I saw the ladies for brief moment last year at Lewisville, bad timing on BASS' part because that same weekend, the Colonial, PGA was going on, and the Memorial day Majors for the BASS boys also in FT Worth that weekend. Bad timing with all that was going on that weekend. Matt

ASK Mr Martens that same question. How many times has he been Bridesmaid at the Classic? Matt

The boys/bears game should be very good indicator for Dallas. Chicago has only lost at home 3 times in 2 years at home, so it don't matter how bad Rex is playing at home, they just win. Chicago is favored by 3 at home. On the Skins/ boys game. Anytime an NFC East team plays, you never know how it will turn out. Throw out the intanibles cause their has never been a love hate relationship in the east, its hate hate. TRoy and the boys were 0-15 until the last game of the year with the Skins, and Dallas won that one in Washington. That sums it up. Hookem Matt

I'm not a hater. I was hoping that Tamu would keep on moving in the rankings to make the big XII look stronger. Miami owned them last night. Tough loss. What that game did last night is send a message to other Big XII schools, it said TAMU is suseptable to the Pass and Kansas is already licking their chops this year. Matt

Yee Haw!!!! I never had such a welcome for being one guys partner!!!!! LOL, Just kidding, Tommy, is this a grand child or are you gonna be a Poppa again? Congrats either way. Matt

I never get into those threads. I do tell what lures and such, I say that I use Falcons as my primary rods, but rarely do I go to that section unless i want info. When I want info, not direspecting anyone, I ask the guys who I have confidence in. I don't blow anyone off, I just don't put much salt into others words. I have respect for the Rolos, Catt' , Raul, Randal, Triton Mike, and others, didn't mean to leave some one out, there are lots of guys whom I respect their opinion. I also look at guys like Russ(LBH). If I want some info on spinning rods and reels, Russ would be one who I would listen. And he is an example and not the only one out there, but I have fished with him, seen a sample of his tackle, and know that his forte his spinning tackle, not saying he's not adaquate with a baitcaster. I also look at LBH's area he lives. His waters are alot different than mine, so I look to the guys who have similar waters in the south for info. I use what gives me confidence, I can afford, and suits my style of fishing. I don't want a rod just to say I have a $400 rod and I own none either. Also, I get enjoyment in seeing the 50k bass boat, mega dollar rods, and reels only to catch a few dinks, and me with my low to mid range tackle doing much better. MONEY DON"T BUY YOU A BITE!!!!!!! Matt

You guys know I preach know thy Shad, if you can track the annual movements of your source of bait, you will be successful in finding bass year around. Very good points posted. I would agree with all. I would like to point out that juvenile bass can and will school on and off throughout the summer. There are times in the fall, that all statements mentioned are found to be true statements. Shad migrate to the shallows late evening, and leave the shallows early morning unless low light conditions are maintained during the spring thru early fall, once the temps drop, shad will migrate to the back of creeks for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is: there are more plankton blooms in the creeks than in the main lake areas in the fall. The sun has moved futher from our region, thus the sun doesn't penatrate the warmth needed to cause the micro-organism to bloom, Bass eat shad, shad eat planktons, its the food chain in the simplest form. Remember, the larger a bass gets, the lazier it becomes, thats not saying they won't school, they just don't burn the calories when they do school. They are more apt to wait in the creek channel bends and such and wait for the shad to come to them. Matt Matt

third, Don't sweat it, we can always fall back on the standard reply. WE OWN OU!!!! WE are still ahead in the all time series by about 18 games. I don't see any pressure coming from UT thus far, and OU may not need to throw it with the speed they have in the backfield. I just hope that OU looked good because they haven't played an true tests thus far. On the same note, neither has UT. I don't think TCU is as good since they lost some key players. Key injuries have taken there toll on TCU early. Matt

Sure glad I didn't let Texas Pride sucker me in on any bet on Texas thus far. IN short, I really didn't know what kind of team to expect Texas to have this season. To be exact, even though we had 2 all american defensive backs last year, we got torched by everyone, so not knowing what kind of secondary or for that matter, the rest of the defense also, I stayed on the DL. The black shirts haven't been as dominate as they used to be when Osborne coached them. You guys have some offense, but can't stop speed or offenses that spread field. Matt

I was very impressed with Floridas win last week. I would have taken Florida, I just didn't think they would handle the riskkids Vols so easily. Have no fear, Texas plays OU 10/6 and I can take my medicine like a man. Got a feeling OU thinks their coming to a track meet, trouble is, Texas doesn't have the speed to match them while on defense. Don't worry, I got bandaids for the bleeding. Matt

I will take them out of the package and scratch them up on the asphalt brand new. So yes, the more they looked "injured" , the beter I like them. Matt

Surveyor, Welcome to the forum. We have alot of guys on here that are from Florida. I like a good fishing story, keep them coming. Matt

Great Pictures 4B, Don't be shy, taking someone elses money to buy your toys is way better than using your own. By the way, that how teams compliment each other, by trying different patterns untill one unlocks the puzzle for both to jump on. Or getting the net. lol Team work is still team work. Matt

Absolutely. It's just like Tuna fishing, the guy throwing the dart (harpoon) is just as important as the guy holding the rod. A team is a team. That first pic is awesome, did they make that for you? Wondering how they set the focus....very cool effect. Russ-that's a filter that is applied post process. You can find a similar one on Google Picasa. Picasa is great, FREE software. It was great to meet you when you were in Cali. Maybe next time! Longfishography, Welcome to the forum. Matt

For years, I bought the standard issue Bill Lewis trap cause they worked. They still do, but I think by using the Vibe in same areas as traps, you can put more fish into the boat. I even still throw the hot spots with success. I got schooled on the vibe by a buddy. We swapped it up and i schooled him. I do think on certain lakes that see more pressure than others, they do condition to the noise, so a switch every now and then can't hurt. The Vibe was a good buy for me, it worked well in the winter months. Matt

This is a good time of the year for white/albino flukes for schoolies. Matt

That would be hail to the skins!!!! DC!!!! Sure glad theres only two of you for me to smack around. Does this season seem like retro 90's? I mean Green Bay, Dallas, San Fran, and Washington are all undefeated at 2-0. Saints, Falcons, and other 0-2 like days of old. I was very impressed with Campbells play last night. He was looking off defenders, making multiple reads, standing in the pocket and taking hits while accurately delivering the ball. I would also rather have a ball over thrown than falling short. He will make that throw more often than not. Strong arm, led a team to 13-0 that came from the SEC. Best looking QB in Washington in along time. CAn run when needed also. With all that being said, i'll keep smack talk down for a while. Nice victory!!!!! Matt

I'll ask this question later in the season if the Tide continues to roll. What recruits, if any of Nick's could possibley make them 3-0 at this time? Can we say that certain coaches get more out of what other coaches had? Nick does have a National title from the SEC already. If this is an indication of what kind of program Nick is going to build, the SEC just got stronger, then again, when one rises, someone usually falls. I was very impressed with Bama's passing game. Both teams defense gave up points. Wasn't impressed there. And I thought that would be the first sign of a turn around. Defense!@!!!!!!! Hookem Matt

You should be able to look at the bills of the baits and tell without any marks. Fat bills create wide wobbles, good for late spring thru summer, water is not as clear in those months normally and vibration is the ticket. Thin bills are for tight wobble, and good from fall to early spring when water can be the clearest of the year and bass are feeding primarily from sight. The longer the bill, the deeper it dives in relation to where you tie to. So simply compare a few different sizes of bills to the depth range and you will be able to identify on sight. a bill that is 1/2 inch long isn't going to dive 10ft, more like 0-2ft. Hope that helps. Matt

Field and Stream has nice fall article on the float and fly that just came out. Jigman, nice looking jigs!!!!! I wished I had some talent like some of you guys. I bet that has to be one big rush to catch a nice fish on something you created. matt

First off, what lake did this happen on? This will tell us what state wildlife laws are in place. What else does tournament fishing do for us. It gives authorities some ideas of sizes of bass being caught, rate of catch, numbers of licensed fishermen fishing said lake. In short, it provides the state with useful info without having to spend resources and time on the water doing creel surveys. Local clubs are sometimes just that, good ole boys having fun. If dangerous conditions exist because of someone breaking the laws, then you simply report them to the authorities and let them catch them doing so. Or you could mention it to the TD, he may put the word out to be safer. I know that trails with good turn outs, and not pro side, has strict launching policy. 5:30am sounds fishy to me, most tournaments I fish only launch at safe light. AS for waves beating the shores, the wind does the same thing. As for the safety of the fish, the guys who earned their degrees so they could make correct creel assessments on various lakes. IE......they would change the limits on various lakes if they thought it was necessary. As the law stands right now on most lakes across the US, I think we could all legally keep what we wanted as in the days of old and then where would we be? By the way, its not just tournament guys who are irresponsible on the water. Matt

The Tide rolls in close one, looked like it was blow out to start with at 21-0 in first quarter. What is your assessment thus far with the Tides play Catt? Got them senkos in the mail? Hookem Matt

I fish a few lakes that are timber filled, and I have started to change my trebles to a less quality hook. Big bass are holding to the bends in the creeks right now, and those bends are loaded with lay downs and stumps. I lost numerous spoons deep this year already due to quality hooks. By going cheaper, I can now muscle my spoon out of 30 ft of water . I even drag a spoon right down the middle of a road bed that produces on bottom. For the most part, I fish them totally vertical. I do try to set the boat up to drift, and will not use the trolling motor if I can get away with it. I haven't lost any fish due to trebles being bent. Spooning is a lost art that can load a boat. Matt

I like darker worms on cloudy day, specially with some stain in the water, junebug is nice color to start with. Also, with cooler nights starting in Tx, bass are moving daily to follow the shad. I recommend throwing some cranks in shad colors or chrome with black back, spinnerbaits, and topwaters for search baits. Once you catch a few in an area, slow down and work it thoroughly with plastics. We have bass in the backs of some creeks following the shad, the shad are moving in and out along the channels and with low light conditions, they are up in the grasses. Hookem Matt