basspro48

I throw them anywhere a buzzbait would be applicable, and many places you would never dare throw a conventional buzzer like matted grass and other thick cover. My favorite is a Stanley Bull Ribbit which I rig on a 4/0 screw-lock hook and sling it on a 7' Heavy action Kistler casting rod and 50lb Stren super braid. But remember one thing when throwin a frog, when a fish blows up on it wait. Don't try to set it as soon as you see it (which is what you are naturally going to do but you have to practice and train your nerves) wait until the fish has the whole bait and you can feel the weight. Then slam the rod back.

Sounds like a dang good day

Yeh that's why I figured she was bigger than 7, but I guess not

Nawice fish man. Gotta love bed fishing

After baseball practice this morning I decided to drive over to one of my favorite ponds and see if the fish were moving up to spawn yet, and wow they were spawnin alright... After I caught the first 10 fish (all dinks but still fish) I called my dad and told him to come up there. After he arrived we really started to slay em, I think the final count was 60 or so fish between the two of us. The highlight was an absolute hawg that I found on a bed by some old tree roots. There were 4 fish hovering around this particular bed, all of them looked to be over 3lbs with one monster in there. I pitched in there with a slightly modified sweet beaver and caught a 3lb male, the next pitch I caught another small male. But finally after an hour and a half of switching up baits and colors she swallowed my watermelon/red senko. I set the hook hard and prayed my 12lb seaguar and MH Loomis could hold, and they did. I brought her up to the bank and thought man she could go 8 or 8.5lbs. But my scale only read 7 flat. Thought she was bigger but still a hawg. My dad's biggun, 4.2lbs

thanks man, what boat were you in?

Edit: Wanna clear this up in my original post. When I first saw Brian's bag (winner of the tournament) I was sure there was no way he had the weight the scales read. But after talkin to some people later I didn't see his 4+lb pig he had anchoring his weight. So just wanna clear this up and say there was no controversy and my apologies to Brian. I just hope ya don't beat as bad at states

Yo there was deff no 12lb bag in that tournament. The winner had 9 somethin and I got second with 7.57lbs.

I was that 7.57

We launched out of Holly Grove Creek Marina and check your pm's

Left the house at 3:30 this morning for a state Qualifier tournament on Lake Gaston and man was I pumped the whole way down. I had some good spots that I knew would hold fish, and they did but they weren't exactly the size I was looking for. I caught my limit very early (4 fish limit) fishing docks and bulkheads with weightless senkos and trickworms and proceeded to cull fish out for the rest of the day. I think I caught 15 or 20 fish but no kicker, so I ended up with 4 fish for about 8lbs. I wasn't expecting to be in contention but to my surprise I was leading after the first 30 or so guys weighed in. However, I was "beaten" by a guy who had who supposedly had a 10lb sack of fish. I say "beaten" because there was a lot of controversy regarding the actual weight of his fish and I am very displeased with the ruling at this point... My bag Me and my dad

As was stated above, color selection depends mostly on water color. But you can never go wrong with black/blue or a green pumpkin/craw color. PB&J is also a good choice.

daaam you really put the hurtin on em man!!!

Naw I never did get the chance to fish Wellington or Loxahatchee.

Yeah I figured cuz you got that ball player look goin lol. I used to play football but I just stick to baseball now.

Brand choice is more of a confidence thing for me, for example, I have a lot of confidence in ZOOM plastics which is why my boat is loaded down with 'em. However I have little confidence in YUM plastics, therefore I edon't own many plastics by YUM. And color choice is all about conditions and location. I try to keep it pretty basic but sometimes those crazy "out there" colors will work better than anything else.

thats a dang nice fish right there! What did you get her on? and what part of the lake was it? If you don't mind me asking

them are some nice fish right there. you play ball?

I got in at 5:30 am Sunday from my 900 somethin mile drive home and I've been busy with baseball but here's my belated report. Got to the gate of my Grandpa's ranch at around 10 am last saturday morning. Just in time to wait around for the rain to stop, which took about 2 days. After the monsoon me and my dad finally got out to the canals and tore em up on frogs. Little bucks were in extremely shallow water and were nailing stanley ribbits buzzed by shoreline grass. But the topwater bite eventually died so I whipped out a 3/8oz double willow war eagle spinnerbait and they were hitting on that pretty good for a couple days there. I actually lost the biggest bass I have ever hooked on it, it was 10-11lbs easy and crushed my spinnerbait by some shallow grass but she managed to throw the dam hook on her second jump > I'm still ticked about that. lol. But I kept chuckin and by the end of the week we must have caught a couple hundred fish between the 2 of us just fishing in the Canals in and around wellington and the Lake Osborne/John Prince Park area. But disappointingly we did not catch as many 4+lb fish as last year, everything over 5lbs either got off or broke off or something just went wrong...But here's a few decent fish Oh and the most fish were caught on c-rigged trick worms and texas-rigged junebug ribbontail worms with the bigger fish coming on a Lucky Craft G-Splash, RI Sweet beaver flipped in heavy grass mats, and a Lucky Craft LV500 in Ghost minnow.

Alright, are there any horsepower restrictions or any other things I should know before launching? Westpalmdude, I've tried for 2 years to get access to that dam place. But after seeing some of the fish they been haulin outta there, I'm not takin no for an answer this year. lol

Getting ready for my week long trip to my grandpa'a ranch down in West Palm in the Wellington area and I am looking for some suggestions on places to fish. I've fished most of the canals in the area and the Osborne Lake chain and they are all very productive but I'm looking for some new water. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Depends on the type of vegetation, if we are talking thick matted grass then I will go in with my 7' Heavy action flippin stick, 50lb braid, and texas rigged sweet beaver or ZOOM speed craw and flip and pitch. For submerged grass beds then I will go with a heavy 3/4oz jig to get down through weeds, a senko for a slower fall, and a 1/2oz rat-l-trap to burn across the top of the grass. A suspending jerkbait like an LC Pointer 100 twitched right over top of the grass has also been a very effective technique for me during the colder months.

The only brand name jig I use is War Eagle, the rest I make myself.

My favorite year round baits for the big tidal rivers are an LC Pointer 100 in chart/shad, Spro lil John in rootbeer/chart, Green pumpkin ZOOM finesse worm on a drop shot, and my homemade finesse jigs in PB&J. A 3" tube texas rigged with a light weight is probably the best smallmouth bait for smaller rivers and creeks ever made. It drives em nuts, but small hair jigs and senkos have also done well for me.

Same with me, no matter where I am or what the conditions I will always have a jig tied on. I have a simple system that I use to determine my presentation based on the season... Winter- Deep cover, depending on water temp and location look for any type of cover located on or near changes in bottom contour. Mainlake points are a good place to start looking. Idle around and find the creek channel on your graph, from there look for places where it swings close to a point or brushpile. Then back off and fish it from every angle very slowly, remember the fish are lethargic so make multiple casts to the same spot. Early Spring/Pre spawn- Look for transition areas, spots where the fish might stop for a while on there way from deep water to spawning areas. Places like ledges where the water drops off near a shoal or spawning cove. Fish these areas slowly and thoroughly, then you can move shallow and look for fish moving up and cruising the flats. Spring/Spawn- We all know the drill here, very shallow clear water=big females. I prefer a small 1/4oz white jig when bed fishing Post Spawn- I usually go back to the same transition areas I fished in the pre-spawn to find the big females that have moved off the beds. Just locate the drop or ledge and fish it slowly with big bulky jig. Summer- Same deal as winter, but I fish it much much faster and more aggressive. Fall- I don't use the jig as much in the fall and when I do it's usually just to bail me out of a bad situation. I just go straight to the back of a creek and start throwin it to every piece of wood I can find.