Brian_Reeves

Am I the only guy that uses a 1 time use waterproof Kodak $9.99 special? Something tells me I'm behind on the times. It's not the bait monkey...what monkey is it???

I've tossed, broke, beat, and snapped rods and nets when losing a fish that could either put me in the money, win the tournament, or break my own PB. I've tossed top-dawg jr's at people that were trying to use their boat to run me out of my speck or redfishing holes...and I've hit a few of them too. Ouch. I've jumped in the water after a fish or a bait and I've gotten so excited that I jumped on the front seat and ended up in the water on accident. I like Ike because he reminds me of me I guess. Don't forget though. KVD threw a rod in the water on TV as well and then retrieved it with a lipless...but it's KVD...can't knock him for that.

My only prayer: Please don't let anything happen to my little girls, my boy, or my wife while I'm here in Iraq. If anyone in my family has to suffer, then let it be me because I'm the only one that ain't worth having around. Amen.

After a rain is usually tough and will usually pile fish up deep in structure (if the rain was bad and with a frontal movement). I reach for soft plastics and jigs and do a little dead sticking and shaking on days like that. Of course, don't neglect your lipless cranks and spinnerbaits if the water is muddy.

Read his book. He pretty much says that. He is really passionate about the sport and the fits as well as the hooting and hollering is all part of his game because it's part of him. He will look for cameras and spectators to try to put on some sort of special show for them. If he breakdanced when he caught a 2 pounder and there was no cameras around, he might be worried about himself. Yeah, it's all a show, but I think that most of it is genuine excitement. If I could compete for that kind of money, I'd be stoked too. You never know what the other guys have until the weigh in.

With search baits, I'm using the bait to generate reaction strikes as well as get a feel for the terrain ahead of my boat or in places where I can't get my boat. If I find a stump with my crankbait, then I am going to re-think my approach. The shorelines I'm searching are pre-determined from past experience or just trying to figure out the bass. That's what I'm searching for. Once I find prime structure, I usually switch to a carolina rig or a jig to work it over really good before I move on. Most of my "big" fish have come from this tactic. Both of those are over 8lbs, which isn't bad for a lake unaccustomed to producing monsters...even in the heart of Texas.

I don't know how many times I've heard and repeated the following: "Ike is the Happy Gilmore of Fishing." His attitude, background, and colorful personality is much more appealing to a larger crowd of spectators, anglers, and apparently sponsors. He does a ton of work off the water to help bring up ideas of change that may help the sport and does his best to be an active part of the fan's BASS experience. He has his temper tantrums...which all anglers do. Some have thrown rods in the water and some have threatened to board another's boat for a brawl over a half acre of water. It just so happens that Ike's 'antics' are focused on because he is not liked by many traditionalists in the sport and his antics are generally unique, one of a kind, and a really...out of line. I think it is mostly the traditionalists and old timers that bring it up. God forbid a New Jersey break dancer with tatoos get Angler of the Year and Bassmaster Champ. Too late Ike is one of my favorite pros because he is loud, outspoken, dedicated and passionate about the sport. He loves his job and loves his fans. He makes sure all the kids that want his autograph get it and he does his best to help Federation and weekend anglers improve their skills. Without the -few- incidents that he's had over the span of his carreer, he's exactly what is needed in the sport to help it grow. And now that he has his personal stuff straightened out, I expect a better year from him than last year. IMHO, he's one of the best in the league.

5 inch senko that is rigged wacky style and weightless. The wacky rigging will give it a really erratic action in the current and it's weightless rigging will allow it to suspend or slowly fall (depending on how strong the current is.) Make sure your bait passes area where the current is broken by terrain, rocks, laydowns, grass...whatever. This might get you a larger bite. If the water is clear use either green pumpkin or watermelonseed and if it's stained use either white or chartruse. If it's muddy, use something else entirely.

http://www.ispikeit.com/shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2&subcat=14&cat=Blade+Dip Spike-It yourself

Your best bet is to find an outboard shop that can really do a good job of matching a prop to your engine that will fit your needs. A 200 should be able to go faster, depending on how old/new it is and whether or not you have a jackplate. A buddy of mine had a 18ft Nitro (late 90's) with a 150Mercury on it and it went about 63mph just to give you a reference. His engine was almost brand new though. If your engine is an 89, then it might just be suffering from a loss of horsepower due to buildup. Might wanna get something to clean it out. But yeah...get it checked out by a pro if you're able to.

Right now, I use a Zoom finesse worm or occasionally a full sized trick worm. I use a spinning reel with a 6'6 medium rod with a fast tip. The limber rod and soft tip increases sensitivity and makes the shaking part a little easier. I use 6-8lb berkly vanish flourocarbon line for all finesse fishing. Only problem is it doesn't have much muscle for heavier cover...but I only use a shakey head when in a tough spot. Not one of my favorite techniques.

Don't get too worked up over it. Stay calm and try to think your way through it. Stick with your baits, don't let your confidence fall, and react to the changing conditions on the lake. If you backlash on your first cast or cast a Lucky Craft into the top of a tree and can't get it back...don't let that set the tone for the tournament. Treat it like baseball or football. One bad play doesn't make the game.

Yeah watching the weather is important. If your graphite rod starts humming, throw it as far as you can into the lake, fire up the boat, and run. Lightning is about to hit your rod.

I'm not a big bass fisherman really. I'm a tournament guy. I'd rather get a boatload of 3 and 4lb fish instead of one 10lb bass. It's just rare that a monster bass wins a tournament. Now once I have a good limit sitting around 15-20lbs, I'm looking for a bigger bite by throwing larger jigs, crankbaits, and soon adding swimbaits to my ammunition. Throughout a normal fishing day, I'm looking for fish between 3-8lbs by throwing jigs and searchbaits. More often than not (like most tourney guys) I'm pulling out more 1 and 2 pound fish than anything else. Hopefully that will change and I can rake in that $$$. I'd love to catch a monster bass though and when I get my own boat, I'm going to be spending some serious time on offshore structure with large baits trying to do just that. I'm also planning on saving up some dinero and heading down to Old Mexico for some of that hot tamale action. There are more reasons that just personal satisfaction though. For one, I need pictures like that to promote myself and my affiliates/sponsors and I need to catch fish like that for the experience when I have to turn to a big bite during a tournament. Right now, I'm pretty consistant of pulling fish out of highland reservoirs as well as natural, swampy lakes...but those fish are tournament fish...not wall-hanging lunkers.

The first thing I'm going to throw in the rain is a popper and a buzzbait on the wind blown side of the lake. If that doesn't work, then a large, gold, single -Colorado Blade- white and chartruse 3/8oz spinnerbait waked just under the surface. If that fails, then move to a shallow crankbait, like the Mann's Baby 1-. If that fails, Jigs and Carolina Rigs to salvage the day.

yeah WCCT makes some good looking ones. www.westcoastcustomtackle.com

I've been looking for a 17 or 18ft Predator for a long time...I don't think anyone makes them anymore. The Predators are like your rig. They had good front and rear flipping decks, great storage, and were sharp looking boats. I'm going to settle for either a Ranger, Skeeter, or Triton 17 footer with a 115

Does that 75 have a jack plate and is the transom raised? Also, is your prop designed for maximum hole shot, accelleration, or top speed? You might be able to get that lil merc to push you around a good bit faster. My stepdad is running an Xpress 16ft johnboat with a 50hp Merc on it and he gets high forties low fifties in it. Insane huh?? (Tunnel hull, transom raised 8 inches, 10in jackplate, speed prop, and a bunch of other crap)

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/iaconelli_panic_box.html That is Ike's box. I have one of my own...sort of. Here is the stuff in it: 1: Finesse worms for shakey jigs 2: 4" U-tail worms for swimming worm jigs 3: 3" grubs and small jigheads 4: 3.5 and 4" spider grubs and nuckleball jigheads 5: 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8oz hair jigs in various colors 6: 4" stick worms What is in your panic box or what do you reach for when the going gets tough??

I've been seeing a lot of posts on here about cheaper baits found on clearance sales, wal-mart racks, and second hand e-bay stuff. Just thought I'd throw out my opinion on a thread instead of hijacking someone else's for this discussion. There are tons of knockoffs and bargains in the fishing world. Cheap line, hooks, sinkers, jigheads, plastics, cranks, and spinners are everywhere. Some of them are good deals and some of them are a waste of your money. I've been through a lot of "bargains" since I have 3 kids and am married at a pretty young age (24). Needless to say, I have to find some good deals and multi-purpose things for me to have the necessary componants to fish. Here's some of the things I've found: Riverside Soft Plastics (wal-mart bottem shelf .99cents a bag plastics)- These soft plastics are surprisingly good. They make good smaller baits that are based on YUM designs (and actually have the YUM scent in them) The baits, as far as I can tell, are made for finesse and small fish applications. I like their 4" curley tail worms for jig&swims, since I often lose this type of bait due to the exposed hook and light line I swim them on. I actually catch fish on this rig quite often...surprisingly enough on a cheap jighead, also from wal-mart. FLW Jigs&Trailers- I've found that the fiberguard always either comes too stiff or not stiff enough. The skirts and fiberguard -need- to be trimmed on every single jig because they are way too long. I don't like the hooks...not sure what they are but they rusted on me > The jig trailers aren't too bad, but are a little on the thick side, sacrificing action on the fall. They are also pretty long and can cause a few short strikes by fish. On the good side, the jigs are cheap (meaning they can be your sacrifical lambs when needed). Wal-Mart Spinnerbaits- Honestly, they aren't that bad. I change the blades on them since you can get blades for -cheap- online. I also do things to buff up the skirt. All in all...to make it a consistant fish catcher, you probably end up spending a grand total of 20 cents less than a quality spinnerbait. These, like FLW jigs, are good sacrificial lambs though. Chunk them into impossible cover and see what happens. Renegade Hard plastics (Cranks and jerks)- They aren't bad at all. most need tuning right out of the box, but have decent fish catching abilities once that problem is corrected. I change the hooks out of them to gammies or owner trebels in the same sizes...sometimes in red. All in all, not a bad buy. Terminal Tackle (Hooks, rods, reels, line, and sinkers) I strongly recommend buying QUALITY items in all of these categories. With hooks, always be sure your package says Owner, Gamakastu (spelling??), or Mustad. You can't go wrong with those 3. Eagle Claw Laser Sharps aren't bad, but I prefer the aforementioned 3. Rods and reels- You can get a Tournament Quantum 6'6 MH rod and reel combo for around 60 bucks at Wal-Mart. These are GOOD combos and will handle just about any abuse you can think of on the water. I highly recommend these and this combo is about the best you can get at a 'cheap' price. Line- Silver Thread Copolymer is a good substitution for Flourocarbon and Braided. It's a good halfway point between the two in stretch, abrasion resistance, and sensitivity. It also comes at half the price. This is what I use, along with Spider Wire Stealth and Berkley Vanish (for finesse) Hopefully this helps take some of the guesswork out of your bargain shopping.

I did that and didn't realize it until I was out on the water. ;D

Because I'm too far away from the Gulf to fish for redfish...

If you want more weight, rattle, and to change it's wobble, then sure. If you don't, then your best bet is to either buy a louder crankbait or leave the one you got alone. Some people do this, but I find it best to just leave well enough alone.

I get the jitters until I get in the boat and out on the water. All the way to the lake I'm excited and anxious...running color and weight formulas through my head, reading notes about the day before during practice, and thinking of the best/shortest routes for my milk runs. As soon as I am on the water....zen like calm. I barely talk, I don't stop watching my line, and my mind is computing 100000000 things at once. It works.

You should work on trying to develop something unique to the market like Ike did with his Stone jig, Matt did with his beautiful swimbait lineup, Bill Lewis with the rat-l-trap, or like Yamamoto did with his senko. Research would be fun (you get to fish with stuff you built). It might only take you a day to come up with an idea to refine or improve current baits and a few weeks to put all the pieces together, but that new idea might be the next Jelly Worm. You never know. Just don't make the next waking worm/kicktail lure ok Things you could consider to improve on and test are: Jig head styles and weights Soft plastic densities and flavors/scents Spinnerbait head styles and blade shapes Skirt colors for jigs and spinnerbaits In-line buzzbait designs (I LOVE THESE BAITS) Something else to consider is your soft plastic lineup. Everyone and their mother sells the same thing. I'd go with the following lineup: Finesse worm Drop shot worm Senko worm Horny toad Spider Grub Fat Ika U-tail worm Auger tail worm beaver brush hog baby brush hog Chunk jig trailer Action jig trailer Baby Craw Craw 3", 5", and 7" Sassy Shad type swimbait All that stuff will take $$ to buy, but would make a heck of a lineup. Jumping in headfirst would be a mistake and a waste of a loan. Get your molds one by one and start developing your soft plastic formula (what works for you or test different densities in different types of water). With your jigs, research your jighead styles for the types of jigs you want to make and market. If you would like, I can help you with this. Testing each style of jighead in each type of environment is somewhat of a hobby of mine. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits will take a little bit of tweaking, but finding the right blades (or creating your own) is essential. Oversized blades will be detrimental to the fishability of the spinnerbaits. Undersized ones will just plain suck. You'll have to find the right blend. I'll help you in any way that I can when I get back from Iraq. I'm not even sure if I will have the internet when I go back in a few weeks due to us relocating. But when I get back, I'll be willing to test product, offer opinions, and help with research and development. LOL sounds like I'm asking you to sponsor me. ;D Haven't even opened the business yet and you're already getting pro-staff offers. What is this industry coming to??? ;D