Randall

I don't use a rear hook at all. Just one big number 1 or 2 hook on the front will land more big fish.

It varies from fish to fish. I usually just swim it slow and steady but I will also wake it or fish it like a jig. Deadsticking it on beds works also.

The warmest water on Varner has been the key to finding the bigger fish on the beds but it's not the NW corner. Its just been areas with the most shallow water with no wind since we have had water temps skyrocket from near 90 degree weather for a couple days over the weekend. Water jumped into the 70s from the fifties in one week and big fish were everywhere water was 70 or better in the afternoons. I just watch my temp guage rather than just look in one section of the lake. At Varner the east section of the lake usually warms up first since it has a lot of shallow stained weedy water.

I throw mine on a 7ft heavy action rod with 40lb braid. Just cast and swim it back or fish it like a jig bouncing it along the bottom.

And here is a big swimbait fish I caught today.

Here is a swimbait fish from Friday.

Here is a photo of a swimbait fish from last Wednesday.

Second day I fished with Doghouse. We had five fish that weighed over 22lbs which was enough to win. We also had big fish for the tournament with a fish just under eight pounds caught on a Mattlures Bluegill. Once again we fished a pollen covered cove with the swimbait that another team left to us after giving up on it since they couldn't see the fish. Our fish for day two are in this photo.

The big fish are starting to move onto beds and stage to go on beds in shallow water at Varner. Today I was in a very small pocket and was anchored on five big fish over eight pounds in one small area. Its just incredible to ride around the lake and look at all the big fish that live in the lake when they are up shallow. I have had some really good days over the past few days throwing swimbaits and sight fishing with plastics. Swimbaits have produced the biggest fish with Mattlures Bluegill being the best bait to catch them and to get the smaller fish aggravated into striking other baits when they don't get the bluegill all the way in their mouths. Saturday I fished the first day a team tournament at Lake Varner without a partner since Doghouse had to work. :'( I had the lead after the first day with over eighteen pounds of fish. All the fish I weighed in were caught on the Mattlures Bluegill. Alot of teams had a hard time finding shallow bedding fish because of the pollen that had gathered on the surface in most of the spawning areas but I was swimming the Bluegill in these areas to help locate and catch the fish since I couldn't see them very well. This photo is my day one catch. I had five fish all about the same size as the ones in the photo.

I usually carry three to five rods for myself and my clients will bring (preferred) or I will provide three rods per a person. All that is needed to fish Lake Varner 99% of the time is three rods which are spooled with 8lb, 12lb, and 15lbor 17lb line. I have a 50 quart cooler (my tackle box) full of different baits incase they are needed and suggest my clients bring just the things that I think we will need for the trip which is usually just four or five different types of baits at the most. My boat is electric powered and 16 feet so I pack as light as I can and ask my clients to do the same when I take out two clients.

Went fishing today at Varner looking for a fish I saw yesterday getting ready to get on a bed way over ten pounds that I thought was at least 13lbs. Instead I found this fish floating that was 15lbs 1oz when the scale was still. We also had a good day fishing catching our best fish weighing eight pounds on a swimbait with our best five estimated between 28-30 lbs. I hated to find this big fish dead but it gives me confidence that other 15 lbers and over are in the lake since this is the second 15lb floater found in less than a year.

I used one Senko77 had and wasn't really impressed with it. It was more like a big shallow crankbait than a swimbait. I am glad I tried his first before buying one. Saved me $20.

I use braid on swimbaits because I feel it helps me move the bait in the mouth of a big fish after it clamps down on it to set the hook and bring the fish straight to the boat when hooked so it can't throw the bait. If I am bed fishing though I use Fluro more often than braid. The thing I see most people doing that keeps them from getting strikes on swimbaits is reeling them too fast. I like to reel mine as slow as possible with the tail still kicking. To slow it down even more sometimes I fish Matt's BG like a jig on the bottom by just raising my rod tip to pull it up off the bottom and letting it fall back on tight line in deeper water.

I use a a 1/8 ball head jig with an oversized black nickel hook like a Spotsticker or shakey head. I insert the ball part of the head into where the hook will later come out of the tube and then use a lighter to melt the plastic back around the hook. Just be careful not to catch the bait on fire or get burned. I have also used jigheads with a teardrop shape head wich fit a little better into the head of the bait but I kind of like the way a round head makes the head a little fatter.

My brother lives just south of Memphis and brought his family to Atlanta to visit for a couple of days. We hadn't had time to fish together in years after fishing every chance we got when we were kids. We went to Varner and caught a bunch of fish and talked about all the good times we had fishing when we were kids. One of those days I will remember for a long time. We did get one big fish, a couple of three pounders as well as around ten one to two pounders all on dropshot rigs and splitshot rigs with trickworms and flukes.

No tournament but alot of trailers in the parking lot. I went out also two days ago for a couple hours in the afternoon with Doghouse and his dad. All our fish Thursday afternoon came on moving baits running and gunning with the motors on high. Our best two fish in this photo hit jerkbaits. We also caught fish on spinnerbaits. Some days they want power fishing baits and others like today you have to keep it in front of them for a long time to get strikes. Some days they bite in a foot of water and others it 15-20 feet of water.

I use them during the spawn alot. The paddle tail fat minnow is a great swimbait for swimming around bedding areas when they will not hit anything else. I usually slide a 1/8 oz jighead inside.

Here is a view inside the mouth of the fish where you can see the spot where Senko77's jig hook was.

I went fishing with Chris today (Saturday) and he got a new PB 9lber on a jighead and worm out of a deep brushpile. I have been after this same fish for a couple days since Ryan (Senko77) lost it last weekend at a tournament. Tell me where a ten pounder lives and I will fish for it until I catch it. Fish should have weighed more this time of year but I am guessing it hadn't been eating until today since it still had a big sore spot where Ryan's jig had been. It came out of the same brushpile Ryan hooked it out of. Chris also lost another real good fish just a few minutes before he hooked this one. We ended the day with some where between 10-15 fish all caught on trickworms except one that hit a chatterbait. Ryan, Chris says thanks for leaving him this fish. ;D

The kickin' minnow sinks. I like the way the six inch bait is weighted but on the ten inch I take out the belly weight and melt the plastic back with a piece of plastic worm where the weight was when fishing water less then ten feet deep. That's the way we caught the glacier fish. ;D I usually just cast and bring it back as slow as I can with it still kickin'. There are times when a jerk or change in speed can trigger a strike though.

It 's now my favorite swimbait. It imitates big gizzard shad better than any other swimbait I have tried. I have already caught a 12.6lb LM and a bunch of five to seven pound bass on it. We caught the big fish in this photo on the ten inch version last Wednesday. We also lost a fish much bigger than these that looked to be eight to ten pounds the same day.

Nice boat Chris. After you beat your PB you caught last time at Varner with every fish we are going to catch Saturday you will be back. ;D Just not as often. Big fish are addictive.

I told you it was good before Saturday. Its crazy what a bad cold front in March can do to the fishing. See how fat some of our fish are. They were eating non stop for at least a week.

Here is Doghouse with another nice fish. It was fun while it lasted. Can't wait for later this week when the water starts to warm back up. ;D

Here is a friend I showed around the lake a few days before the tournament. He and his dad ended up beating us by about a pound in the tournament.