Brian_Reeves

kuddos to roadwarrior on that reply. Deep cranking is something that is just not that productive for me. The only times I use them is on points during the summertime. I like coming across the points or coming up them. Going shallow to deep has never gotten me anything. Usually in deep water I like crashing or swimming 1/2-3/4oz jigs

Ever thought of using a 10-12ft long old fashioned jigging pole with no reel? Using one of these may seem ancient, but it will allow you to put your lures where you want them quietly and with pin point accuracy. They aren't made for casting (most don't even have reels) but I bet you won't lose many lures with 80lb braided line. Might be worth giving a shot. You could use weightless soft plastics, t-rigs, and jigs really easily. I've even used a floating rapala by pulling the lure to the rod-tip then forcing it through the brush. Set it down gently and give it whatever action you can. It works. It's ugly and old, but it does work.

On the water, I try to keep 3 types of recording medium with me. One is the good ole pen and paper. The second is a mini-tape recorder. The third is a camera. If the fishing is slow or I need to be sure I cover a very specific spectrum of data, then I'll turn to the pen and paper. Here's my list in the order I cover them. Location (grid), Time, Weather (temp, wind, sun), Time, Water Clarity, Depth, Current direction, Structure, Bottem composition, Lure(s) used, Color(s) used, Fish caught. If I'm using the tape recorder, I'll generally try to cover them as best as I can. This is usually under tournament conditions, so I try to keep it simple and fast. Date, Location, time, structure, fish, lure, and color. Leaving out details sucks, but I definately cover those because they immediately apply. I sometimes use the recorder to remember exactly where I caught each fish, that way I can re-fish those areas better if the situations dictate. The camera is a new addition to the tools. haven't gotten to use it yet (haven't even bought it yet) but I'll be getting a digital cam to take pics of fish, graph info, and areas so I can use visual references as well.

One of the biggest things that makes tournament fishing so stressful is pressure. You have your expectations and no one fishing tournaments that don't think they will win. If you lack the composure and confidence, well...luck will only get you so far. Start making it a goal to build stringers. Set your goal at 5 fish minimum per trip in a given time limit. Start practicing culling. If it takes 20 minutes to find out which fish is smallest, then you just lost 20 minutes to catch bigger fish. One of the most important things in tournaments is to start off by landing 5 keeper fish. Once you get those 5 in the boat, really start putting in the effort to upgrade the quality of each of those fish. If you're catching them on a small spinnerbait, try switching to a crankbait that has a little bit more aggressive action. if you're nailing them on a dropshot, switch to a carolina rig. Try to put together a bigger pattern than you already have. Research, research, research!!! Without a good map and reliable electronics, you're starting off with a huge disadvantage. When you get a boat, learn how to find structure on a map then find it. To practice, dedicate entire days to using heavy bottem baits, like jigs, just to define the structure that you've found. What I mean by defining is learn what kind of grass is down there. is the bottem muddy, rocky, or sandy? Find any timber or big rocks or anything that will hold fish. Comb the area with more intent of learning it rather than fishing it. This is where a good GPS and marker bouyies come into play. Find your cover and structure, drop a bouy, then plot it on the GPS. Finding sweet spots on the structure quickly will save you a tremendous amount of time. TIME IS EVERYTHING! My last bit of advice is WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!!! Plot your point on GPS, write down what you found there. What type of grass, how deep, current direction/speed, clarity of the water, if there is timber or not, what the bottem is made out of...every detail that you think is important. Keep the notes of your areas in a waterproof binder. Organize your data by location, then sub-organize it by date or weather conditions. Keep the data coming in...even on tournaments. Carry a recorder so you can talk your notes then write them later. The more you compile, the better your research and decision making will become. Compiling data will allow you to identify possible or likely patterns before you leave the house. If you're right, then you're on the fish faster than most of the rest of the field, giving you the advantage. (Also, keep data from different lakes in a seperate binder)

I've always found that gar is best if you never let the meat get on ice. Seems gummy if you put it in the freezer.

A boat full of medium sized bass will put you in the money more often than one big one. I like the constant action because I know what I'm doing is working and if it stops working, I get to put the puzzle back together again. I find fishing enjoyable because it's constanly a puzzle. that and I get to collect squishy and shiney things with points on them

yes. This is my second tour. For 2nd timers, they are giving us 28 free days of leave. What that means is it is not counted against our 'vacation time,' which is limited to how many years you serve. I have 65 days saved up and 28 free days...so yeah....LOTS of fishing...I mean freakin lots

I wear a light weight cotton t-shirt to tournaments I'll get something better when I get a sponsor or two.

I haven't had much time to research the how-to stuff. I'd like to get a few books because I'm an idiot and pictures help lol I have settled on a jig mold, hook, and fiberguard and am looking for skirt colors, skirt tying steps, and things of that nature. I'll be able to figure it out completely when I get home next month. 40 days of leave sure will be nice lol

I've been in the market for a spider grub upgrade for a time. I'm going to try putting together a mold when I get home. Basically a spider grub with the paca craw style pinchers instead of grub tails. I think that would be the ULTIMATE jig trailer. The soft plastic skirt would have to be bought seperately and attached, but think about it. It would beef up jigs, the soft plastic adds a little flash that skirts don't, and you have great trailer pinchers. not to mention the bait itself is bulky, so it would do great on 1/4-1/2oz jigs as far as helping fall rates and whatnot.

I'm looking to start building a collection of preferrably books to use in the future. I'm VERY picky with my lures and tackle and so far I haven't found anything that hits the grand slam quite like I want it. Munkin, if you could just PM the title of the book, I'll go on amazon and get it. Usually I like to draw in books, make references, and do a lot of research based off of stuff I read, so I really don't feel like borrowing is best I'd hate to lose to a bad habit and draw something in your book lol. I'll check barlows again. I know I wasn't really pleased with what I've seen from other sites, maybe that one has what I'm looking for. As for hooks, still debating a few things. Vertical or horizontal ties, what bends in the hook, and trailer keeper system. A bunch to consider still, but I have an idea of what I want. I'm going with a ball jighead because it covers the most bases and I can make it do anything I want it to do. Thanks for the input and if you could get me some titles, greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

Here's something I was thinking of today while I was pulling guard out here in the sandbox. I think that one of the problems that people have with successful and consistant fishing is that they associate their style with a lure or a type of lure instead of looking at the entire picture. A lot of people spend time and money on tackle and lures that don't really play to their strengths or won't work them effectively because they don't fit their style. That can be a good thing if you're trying to attack your weaknesses. But if you don't really know "how you fish" then you really won't be able to adjust quickly to new techniques. I'll use myself as an example. I'm an aggressive angler that prefers power techniques normally applied to "finesse baits." I guess you can call that power/finesse. That's what I call it anyway. For example, most people will barely hop jigs around. I am constantly swimming mine or moving them through the water column quickly, preferring to pitch and flip a bank line rather than really work one piece of structure. I work my jigs hard on the fall and then run them back to the boat a few inches over the bottem. A typical "cast" while jig fishing will usually take me no longer than 20-30 seconds, depending on the conditions. By using this style, I'm focusing more on reaction strikes than anything else. I really don't like to switch to more traditional uses, but I can. I'm just not as good at it simply because I like to do everything quickly. With dropshots, I'll use them more like a carolina rig or work them aggressively when fishing them vertically. While probably not -as- effective as the usual approach, I do land fish and this helps me use the rig and fits into my style. Some people like more passive approaches or prefer traditional finesse to traditional power. (finesse being small baits moved deliberatly and power being fast and big most of the time) I tend to do everything aggresively. Identifying that allows me the ability to adjust things off of the water. If I want to work crankbaits or traps slowly, I'll only spool about half of the line my reel can hold. This will force me to slow down my retrieve. If I'm deadsticking lures because of a front, I'll bring my IPOD with me. Things like that help me focus on being less aggressive and usually help me put together a better catch at the end of the day. What are your styles?

Hey guys. Y'all are in the know and I have no idea where to really start looking without wasting good ole hard earned money, so I'm looking for books and/or videos on tacklemaking. Specifically, I'm looking into pouring my own jigs and tying skirts. I'm also interested in possibly starting to build a few custom rods for myself, so any recommended books or videos would be a big help. Also, where is a place where I can find GOOD molds for ball head jigs that I can put EWG Gammie or Owner hooks? And where in the bleep do you find hydrosilk in the standard jig colors? I did a search and only found them in traditional spinnerbait colors and bright colors, not the browns, greens, blacks, and blues that I'd need? Last question, where do you buy hooks for jigs? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks tons!

Clear- Tap water Slightly stained-sweet tea Stained- weak black coffee Muddy- Chocolate milk

I'm with Catt on this one. "Big Bass baits" only work in Big Bass Locations. Areas that you should be looking for are usually located in deeper water, but not always. Prime contestants are points that swing into river channels, grasslines, holes in the grassbeds, humps, dropoffs, and roadbeds. These are areas that I usually start thinking "5lbs or biggber baby!" Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not. I'm not as experienced in the big fish game as say, FishChris or Catt, both of which have probably caught my weight in lunker bass, but I'm working on it ;D

I use a Rat-L-Trap. A few minutes of bouncing that on the bottem and you're guarenteed to find something ;D

Well due to the deployment, I had a 6month break from fishing until leave, which was in april. I haven't seen a pole, lure, or any other tackle since then, so another six months there. Yeah...I feel you're pain...and I'm not talking about any surgeries. Unless they are back, lung, or TBI related. Might have a few nasty appointments when I get back to the states...all which will raise my pension when I get out next august I'm dying to get back on the water. I'll be getting back late in the year, so it will be a crappy time to try to get back onto the patterns. I'll be sticking to smaller lakes until the spawn. Once the spawn (and tax returns hit) I'll be going back to the big lakes...stillhouse, belton, fork, amistad, and choke canyon until I get out. Yeah...I'm excited

when it comes to tournaments, I am VERY competitive and I have to fight to make sure my mouth doesn't get the best of me. Off the water, I try to be helpful but on the water, I struggle to mind my manners. It is a form of gambling...very much like poker. There are a lot of variables that are out of control. Weather, temps, people participating, currents, fish mood...all of that. When I find myself on the fish and someone moves into my turf, I'm tempted to toss a crankbait at someone's head. I've only done that once, and that's because they got mad and fired up their engine and made as much racket as possible. They started it ;D Sportsmanship in fishing is like in any other sport. There are people in football that are the nicest dudes you'll ever meet on or off the field. Then there are the Terrel Owens. I think that when you decide to step into the tournament world, you're opening yourself up to see the ugly side of a lot of people. Money is involved...and that always brings out the worst in some. I fight it, and I fight it hard and usually with success. I do my best to be the grown up in any confrontation on the water.

2005 Colorado z71 4x4 with the 5 cylinder. Has no problem pulling 17ft aluminum boats or 17ft fiberglass. Havn'et tried any bigger than that.

I tend to hit both with impunity. I fish points all year, but love the chance to get up into coves or creeks. I like swimming white jigs with action trailers and then killing them in the middle of shad schools. I also like to use poppers when there is a topwater strike. Spinnerbaits are sometimes a sure bet too. if matching the hatch doesn't work, try being the "oddball in the pack." If the shad are silver/black, then try chartruse. If they are green, throw something white. Sometimes being different is a good thing.

Why LBH.... you taught me how to catch fish on a jig lol. I remember seeing your swimming jig video a year or two back and being awestruck that the darned things actually catch fish. A few emails later, and you had me on my first jig fish. Now people PM me for jig advice lol. So yeah, thanks for introducing me to the one lure that has become my confidence bait and tournament killer lol

Ummm.....fish???

I'm an E-4 Infantryman (11B1O) in the Army. Primary job is rifleman, but I also work as a Bradley Gunner, M240B Machine Gunner, Breachman (aka door kicker), and occasionally a driver...though I REALLY hate driving. I'm behind on my promotions because of an injury last tour. My lungs are burnt up from a chemical fire in the bradley while I was driving. That's the main reason I hate driving. Nothing like being in the middle of an inferno. Because of that injury, I have a rough time running now...thus making it hard for me to get promoted. The Army loves their runners > Doesn't matter much though. I've got 3 great kids, a beautiful wife, and one heck of a tacklebox. What more could a man want? Oh yeah...I'm getting a dog too.

I'm hoping that I can get the time off, have a boat, and have the $$ to be able to attend, regardless of where it's at. I get out of the Army next August and will be moving to Lake Caney and Lake Darbonne in Louisiana...two top notch fisheries in Louisiana. I'll be scouting those out hard and heavy for any future trips if interest ever peaks Unlike the jokes going around, I wouldn't mind someone pitching a tent in my backyard or crashing on my couch. Only rule is BYOB (and that doesn't stand for bring your own baits) ;D

I'm with y'all. Finesse fishing is more of a presentation than a lure/tackle size. Deadsticking soft plastics does NOT qualify as power fishing, regardless of their size. I work finesse jigs through the water column with the speed of a trap....which is not finesse. Of course, there are times for small baits and light tackle, but 90% of the time, I'm calling finesse a type of presentation and a retrive speed...not size. To me, power fishing is the speed in which you are covering water and how aggressively you're doing it. Pitching a jig along a bankline, rolling spinnerbaits, and dragging c-rigs are powerfishing staples in my aresonal. I'll use shakey heads, heavy drop shots in thick vegetation, and creep my jigs as finesse tactics. Rarely do I downsize unless I can't buy a bite on my usual stuff.