Felix77

Hey everyone, I'm relatively new to posting on this site although I have a learned a ton for you already in the past year. I fish for the Albany Area Bassmasters as a co-angler. When I am not tournament fishing I am hiking one of a few lakes in the area fishing from shore or lugging my canoe out for some time on the water. Hoping to share my tips/ideas with all of you from time to time. It's the least I can do for helping me through my cabin fever. LOL

Green Power Pro. I have tried all 3 (Yellow Hi-Vis, Red and Moss Green) Yellow with a fluoro leader caught me fish but the yellow faded and it's not as hi-vis as I thought. I went through that line wicked fast to keep the bright yellow. Red was hard to see and tried it before the yellow for visibility. Green I can use with or without a leader. The moss blends in well around here. Will never change again.

Winter bites! I find that this site helps me deal with cabin fever. I also do the following ... 1 - Study new techniques. Learn all you can about a technique, see how your equipment stocks up against it and make a shopping list. My focus thus far has been on the drop shot and crankbaiting. :-) 2 - Read (and reread) about seasonal patterns. Books, DVD's (not reading I know) and magazines help keep your thoughts about fish locations fresh. 3 - Sort your tackle - I'm primarily a co-angler so I am revisiting my tournament bag to see how I can get more in there. Reorganize things so they are more accessible. Example Buy 2 Plano 3601's and replace them for one 3600. This get's more terminal tackle in there. You can never have enough. 4 - Clean your gear - Oil and lube reels. If you don't know learn how (videos on this site). 5 - Reply to posts. Helps to know you are not alone. Good luck

I do the same. I use 10lb Braid with a 8lb Fluoro leader. The leader is about the length of the rod. The key is in the presentation. You need to remember that braid has no stretch and Fluoro is a little more forgiving but not as much as mono. That means that every twitch needs to be even more subtle than you think or else you are jerking the weight around too much. I cast out, let it sink on a semi-slack line and then give it the most subtle of twitches. If no bite I may hop it into a new position and repeat the subtle twitches. Hope that helps. Good luck.

This was my first year as a co-angler. I fished about 5 tournaments and learned some valuable lessons which might help someone else. 1 - BOBA's (Back of Boat Anglers) need to be versatile. Even if you talk to your boater things change the day of the tournament. You need to have a little bit of everything in your tacklebox just in case. There is a fine line here too so be careful not to overwhelm yourself with choices. Fish things you have confidence in. 2 - Fish your fish. When you get to your spot make your own assessment about the conditions, depth etc. Fish what you think will catch fish in those conditions. Be persistent. 3 - Observe your boater. If your boater is killing them on a particular lure then it's ok to adjust to that lure and catch some behind them. In most cases however it may be a complimentary lure which may help you catch fish better. Example: Boater killing them on a Texas Rigged Craw. Follow up with a more "finesse" style texas riged senko, trick work , or finesse worm. 4 - Ike's "Never give up". I fished one tournament which started in 20 degree weather in the AM. We knew the bite was going to be tough. I ended up with only 2 bites for the day. My boater caught at least 6 - 8 keepers that day. I was frustrated and disappointed that I couldn't fill my limit and was really hard on myself about it. Well ... I get to the weigh in and place 6th with my 2 fish. Several boaters came in with no fish. It's truly all relative.