Brian_Reeves

Yeah, this happened here on Ft. Hood. I didn't take a picture of the stupid thing because the hospital wouldn't let me take it home. Once they got their grimey hands on it, they wouldn't give it back to me As far as how the battle went down...I was making my way back to the truck. This lake is kinda rocky with a bunch of trees, and I wasn't paying attention. Apparently this guy was having a bad day and tried to bite my leg off. I was holding my rod with the rod butt planting down every few steps, ya know? First reaction was to use the rod like a spear and pop him over the head. I only hit him twice, but that was enough. Daiwas are strong. I think that he was pretty much dead (or comatose) after those two hits, but I made absolutely sure with a size 11R combat boot. If I go bank fishing again, I'm going to bring an actual hiking stick that I have at the house. It's made of hickory and is about 6ft long. Normally I let nature go about it's way, but when that is unavoidable, a good ole hickory stick will even the odds. I would bring a gun but the gun laws on a military installation really suck.

lol. Yeah, I'd go for it. Snake is actually pretty decent. My wife would MURDER me if I brought a snake into or anywhere near the house. Oh my god you should have seen the hospital receptionist at the front desk. I walked in with a 3 to 3.5ft rattlesnake with an imploded head. I'm holding it by the tail and I walk in with a field dressing on my calf. I look at her and say "where do I go for this?" It was the first time I didn't have to wait in line in the emergency room ;D

I counted 7 on the first try. I'm an idiot.

Yeah, it got the good ole rod butt to the head until it was a pulp treatment. At the time it was out of anger, then I remembered that it's good to kill the snake and bring it in with you for positive ID. No doubt what it was though. It rattled AFTER it bit me. Stupid snake. It didn't have to be that way.

Yeah, I ran into a pretty bad problem a few hours ago. I wasn't going to write about it, but then I thought the better of it. I was bankfishing and ran into a problem that sucks for any bank fisherman. An eastern diamondback rattler. It took a hit at me and broke through my jeans and socks, but didn't break skin that bad. I went to the hospital and they ran tests, but no venom was injected. The good news is that snake won't be bothering anyone else. I killed it with my jig rod and brought it to the hospital with me. Just look out while y'all are out there on a lake. Snakes will gravitate towards water because...well it's water for one and there is an abundance of food there. Those suckers will fall out of trees, hide on banks, and post up around rocks. I admire all of nature (except mosquitos) but snakes suck when they ruin a fishing trip. Be careful guys. Getting snakebit really sucks...even when you don't get venom-ized.

That actually really ticks me off. They defiled sacred ground >

You really can't blame them for wanting to advertise here. 15,000 members and all. But I mean come on...no is no. Is there any legal way to take their money and accidently mistype their website addresses and forget to check your email?? ;D

I'm with a lot of others. Ike is my favorite pro. I bought the book while I was in Iraq (had my wife send it to me) and I bet I've read it 4 times. It's just a great read and it really shows you a lot about the guy. When I won my first bass fishing tournament, I found out that I act exactly like him when I bag a 5lb or better bass. I'd say that, because of his energy and techniques, he'd be the guy I'd want to go fishing with, hands down. Glenn, you have done an awesome job with these exclusive interviews. All of them have been helpful and all of them were conducted professionally. Thanks man.

Yeah summertime is unique. You get to look for certain things, rather than looking for the fish themselves. That's just the nature of the beast. Here is what I look for. 1. Oxygenated water. Basically cooler water will be more oxygenated. If you find some moving water, shadey areas, areas with good vegetation, or a place where fresh water moves into a pond or lake, you've just potentially found fish. You'll have to break those areas down and figure them out, but oxygenated water is where you'll find the most bait activity and bass. 2. I hate it when the sun is in my eyes. I hate, hate, hate being uncomfortably hot (Iraq type hot). So do bass. Summertime is bangin' for docks and laydowns. I try to hit anything that produces shade. During the heat of the day, bass will often position themselves in the shade because it's cooler, they are better camouflaged, and they can't look up and see prey if the sun is beating down on the water. Just like you can't look up and see a baseball if the sun is in your eyes. If you can find some nice, dark shade on a creek channel or point, you just found fish 90% of the time. Ain't that easy?? 3. Forage. Sometimes you have to chase minnows. Yeah, I hate it to because the little jerks move around, but sometimes it has to be done. Why? Schoolers. NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING is like chasing shad when a school of violent and competitive 2-4lb bass are ganging up on them. This can happen topwater or subsurface. Usually I can find this type of action around underwater humps, depressions, or points out in the open in like 30-80ft of water. I've nailed tons of bass with heavy jigs when I've found these schoolers. They are hard to find and follow, but they are there...often in the morning or evening. 4. Current. Current brings cooler water, forage, and oxygen into a lake. Bass don't like sitting in the current. If you can identify where there are current breaks on your favorite submerged creek channel or river, then you can locate bass. These fish are easy to target. Soft plastic stickbaits drifting with the current can be deadly on river bass. Jigs or spinnerbaits around creek channel ledges or points can fill a livewell in no time. Summertime is a blast for fishing. One of my favorite. Now that spawn is over here, it's slipping into my best time of year. Game on!

Gators are generally not interested in eating anything near their own size. I've never had a problem with any gators with the exception of getting too close to nests (on the bank). If a gator gets too close, just crack the water with the paddle or pop it on the head. It'll leave you alone. They generally won't bother anything nearly as big as a full sized adult on a kayak except in defense. Now about that NuCanoe. I can't seem to find a pricing anywhere for them. How much does their 12ft angler boat go for roughly? I'm trying to shop around for the best prices/quality.

Fishing the bottem and fishing for suspended fish are targeted the same way for me. I'll get around them with a jig, t-rig, or carolina rig...depending on the area. I don't worry about fish that aren't close to cover or that I cannot target as they are often a waste of time anyway. I carry 2-3 poles, since I fish out of a canoe. I wish I could use more, but simplicitiy is golden. Now I'm not shorting myself on a good and wide variety of tackle...just fewer poles. I break down a bank line or an area where I know there is underwater structure. I take a quick note of whether it is grassy, full of timber or brush, rocky, or has steep banklines etc. Depending on what I come up with dictates my lures as far as what kind of lure/rig, what colors and weights and all that jazz. That is for my saturation lures (carolina rig, texas rig, jig, drop shot, trick stick, fluke...anything I wanna keep in the strike zone for a long time). These are almost always dark, natural colors. I'll also use this first anylasis to pick out my coverage lures...crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits etc. These lures are always somekind of horizontally retrieved, subsurface lure that I can cover water in between heavy cover or structure. I also work the outer edges of cover and structure with these lures. These lures will almost always be white or "sunfish" colored because that's my preference. As far as my 3rd pole...I make the decision to have a topwater on it when I'm on the water. If the decision is no, I'll almost ALWAYS have either a fluke, fat ika, trick stick, or * on it. Reason for that is obvious. These lures ROCK!

By the way, according to the author, it shoots at 300mph, which could probably put a hole through a wall.

Check this out http://www.duke.edu/~jwc13/tennisball.html

Kayaks rock. Canoes are great. I have a 15ft canoe now only because I wanted to make sure I could take a friend of mine fishing, but my next bass boat is this.... http://www.oceankayak.com/kayaks/angler_editions/prowler_big_game.html The reason is because I can stand up on this thing and flip/pitch. It's hard to do that sitting in my canoe. I'm terrified to stand up in my boat. A kayak is more stable as long as it's a sit on top. I fished from one for the first time this weekend and I was beyond impressed. I've fished canoes, jon boats, and kayaks now and I can honestly say that kayak fishing is a whole new experience...and a fun one at that. I'd say go for it. I am as soon as I have an extra grand to drop into the boat that I want.

I like fishing with a buddy. It passes time when the fish aren't biting and it helps establish a pattern. I just enjoy spending time with friends or family in the water.

In all seriousness, my wife came from a family who lives on a lake. The lake is their backyard (yes I'm jealous) She was already pre-conditioned to the fishing concepts and ideas because of her dad. So it doesn't surprise, shock, or bother her when I take off on Saturday mornings or a few afternoons after work. Now that I'm leaving the Army and have no risk of getting re-deployed, a lot of these bass fishing trips are about to turn into weekend redfishing from kayaks trips.

I think that's actually a much better approach than the mass sponsorships (if you want to call them that) that some companies do for FLW and ABA anglers. I'd rather work with a company that wants to hear my ideas and comments. Granted, I'm not a tournament fisherman right now and might not be for some time, but I'd still like to work with lure manufacturers. I talk to a few people here and there, but I don't expect anything in return. Maybe if I win a few big tournaments one day, then I'll go knocking on doors, but right now, it's just about the sport for me. I think it would do well for many people that are seeking sponsorships to get to know the company, it's employees, and its products. My bottemline, if I ever get that involved, is that I WILL NOT SUPPORT A PRODUCT THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE IN!!! El Grande, you're philosophy fits right into that. Good deal

My truck gets 25mph and my canoe uses ZERO. Gas prices have affected my fishing boat plans though. It went from 20ft Skeeter, to 17ft Xpress, to the canoe that I settled for. I'm upgrading soon though to a 13ft kayak with a depthfinder and GPS complete with a home made livewell. Here is the company's link (minus a few upgrades I'm planning on when I get it) http://www.malibukayaks.com/kayak_x13.asp

Whatever you do, don't tell her that there are plenty of fish in the ocean ;D

Raising gas prices are influenced by worldwide demand...especially since China is going automotive. Another key factor in our 'expensive gas' is the decline of the dollar as a powerful form of currency. Want cheaper gas prices? No matter what action is taken, it won't occur unless the economy is fixed and the power of the dollar is restored. I'm on board with the need for American drilling and American refineries. Buying sweet and light costs much more money than buying crude. Abolising the 22cent gas tax that the federal and state governments have in place would do a lot to help consumers, but hurt the government. What really needs to happen in the long run is advances in bio-fuel or a breakthru in hydro-electric or solar engines. Only real problem now is cost and practicality. I haven't seen a "hybrid" or a hydro car yet that can pull a boat ;D

I had one in my package that was tougher than the others. I took my pocket knife to it and slimmed it down some. Big-0's way is better, but the good ole tuning knife works every time on every lure ;D

Prison shouldn't be a free ride. I have a cousin who prefers jail to work because he is lazy. No bills, no work, free food, free shelter. He says its like retiring to a rough neighborhood. I bet he wouldn't like it if he had to groom pets and wear pink. Or work a hog farm...that will rehabilitate the worst of society. ;D

Ahh ok. Cool then. Suspence is always a good thing lol. Kinda like topwater fishing

New pics should be coming up soon huh? I'm getting excited lol

First I do shoulder, chest, and upper back stretches. Second I lock my oars into my oar locks. Lean into it and start rowing. My engine works fine