slimshad

Forgot the tournament scales and I was the tournament director. Oops. We weighed with a handheld and it worked out. Had some mad anglers tho. I won the tournement too. Ouch...

Don't get caught up in the "color" war. Stick to the color of the forage in your area. Hech I have narrowed it down to Green Pupmkin lol If I need color I use dip or a dye marker. Good luck, the bait monkey gets us all at one point.

I am only 40 years old but have fished tournaments since I was 16. The past two years my body has start to hurt after a long tournament. I installed a recessed trolling motor tray and that has helped a great deal. My back doesn't hurt like it did. I hope you get that last AOY!

Guess I will go buy 20 bags of the colors I like this weekend. Better website and marketing means higher prices in my opinion. Hope not tho.

What is a "pro" fisherman anyway. I have made $1000's of dollars fishing tournaments. I have a few sponsors. I do not consider myself a "pro" fisherman though. Others will answer your question, I just want to know what is a "pro"

We base our points from 70 points for the most weight down. You get 0 if you don't weigh a fish. With a blank I will be out unless the top three other guys blank. We have four more tournaments and there is still an outside chance, but VERY slim. We had some really bad weather and conditions early this year and only a few guys survived. Out of 50 members there are only 3 left that hasn't blanked or could not make it to a tournament. We fished the Ohio river when it was chocolate milk color and running like a sick kids nose. I managed to catch some fish in that one, but not a perfect day on the biggest lake in Indiana yesterday. I guess I have to go with what I tell me little boy, you can't win them all.

They have Long nose gar in the tanks at Bass Pro with other species. I don't see any of them shaking and pointing...

Well I was in the running for AOY and I did the unthinkable. I blanked a tournament that I won last year. I fished from memory and didn't fish the moment. I stayed with a lure when it wasn't working. I am beating myself up pretty bad. I am going to use this thread to tell myself it's ok. All morning I have talked to myself and now I will talk to you guys lol. If anything use it to learn what not to do. I said fished from memory. That can work but don't stay with it if they are not biting. The old putting all your eggs in one basket thing. I thought all morning long that with the rain and clouds, I should be throwing a buzzbait. I threw it like 10 times and put it down. Staring at it while I went to my deep water pattern. End of the day the winners had 28lbs and caught them early on topwater. Go with your instincts and don't force something that isn't working. Oh well I guess its called fishing not catching.

We had DNR take them to an Eagle nest/resting area. This was at Patoka lake Indiana a few years back.

No, No Too much time away from home. I don't see how a guy with a family can do it. I think I could handle the fishing part, but the time spent doing it would do me in. I will stick to the small local derbys.

I keep all my power bait stuff in its original packages. It seems like it has its own "flavor". Other than that i put everything else in a Plano boxes. I put them by styles Beavers, senkos, craws, creatures, etc. I have a special box that is used the most. It is my Green Pumpkin box. It has all the different styles but all in that color. I have one other exception. I use Jackell flick shake worms for shakey heads. They all go in a wallet style bag. I had some melt in a box once. The power bait bags also go in a wallet style bag. It seems to work for me. I never seem to run out, even if a bait is really hot on a given day. Most Plano boxes will hold two or three packs of each style in one compartment. I am alil OCD so I have to have things seperated and neatly put away......

I use a screw in tungsten weight. Alot of guys use a bobber stop. I have even used tooth picks through a lead weight. When I say pegged I just mean peg the texas rig weight down on the bait so it doesnt slide up.

I just upgrade my hooks on rattle baits and crankbaits. Don't do much else. Well I use dye or markers on soft plastic too.

I started a facebook page for the Charlestown Anglers, feel free to "like" it, and I was wondering if anyone else has tried to promote via the web. I feel that it was an easy way to check AOY points and tournament results without purchasing a true website.

I got some off ebay some how and I did some pool testing. Compared them with the sweet beaver and D bomb. I must say they are pretty awesome. I still don't know how I managed to get some off ebay. They were in a plastic ziplok bag. 20 watermelon red flake, 10 green pumpkin and 8 that look like california 420. I got them all for $10. They are the real deal too. Weird but happy to get them. I just placed an order on TW for several bags. Says 6/4 on the back order. I plan to peg a 3/16 or 1/4 tunggsten weight on them. Maybe a 5/16 around grass. My plan anyway. let you guys know after this weekend, I plan on throwing them alot.

I like to go as slow as possible while staying on top. then work it faster if the fish wants it that way.

Club meeting tonight and we vote on our next location. The tourny is this weekend too. Short turnaround. Only guys with days off or a forgiving job will be able to prefish or look at the location early. I am thinking about topwater and maybe a crankbait on the weed edges. My mind is turning like a top today...

I eat everyday, my dog eats everyday, Most animals eat everyday, etc. I think Bass eat everyday also. Might not be when your on the water but I would still think they would eat everyday. Just my opinion tho. No facts to back it up. I don't talk to them alot. I yell at them on the weekends tho!

I have found that when I am catching alot of short fish, that I am floating above the big ones. I had a loop in my reel and started to dig it out, my bait fell below the boat. I caught a 4 pounder. We started to back off the bank and now we have won several tournaments. Hope no one in my club is reading this. lol I was always leary about fishing 20+ foot deep. Not now. We will try the bank first then move out. Good luck!

Man they really smashed them on the twins yesterday. I have one complaint tho. On the FLW website it shows the leader holding his two biggest bass. I can tell the biggest one is dead as door nail. I wonder what they do with dead bass? I mean it would look bad to release a dead 7 pounder in the lake right?

If you hold the fish in your hands, it is a caught fish. Worrying about a bed fish or tournament rules are crazy. If you are fishing and catch a fish, I say good for you. Write the whole deal in your log and it will be remebered forever.

Man I guess if he was doing it all the time... I don't think this is bigtime cheating. He isn't putting fish in a basket. Our club you get a one pound penalty and loose that fish. Measuring fish has always been iffy in my book. I have been a tourny director for 5 years and I have had to p!ss some people off. I touch the lip with a closed mouth and fan the tail. If it touches, it touches. If it don't you get the penalty. I have brought some really close ones too. I always have someone else measure at the weigh in. We also give one courtesy check before you go all in.

You walk into Bass Pro and there is NO yellow rods?? I went to the Bassmasters Classic and they had a whole new line up of yellow and black rods. Lighter and a bit more expensive. Thet said they would be in the $150 range. I have been looking for them and nothing.

Hijacking alil here, but I am pretty sure all/most B A S S tournaments have an exceptions. You can get exceptions through the state. For instance, they can keep 12" fish at alot of lakes in Florida...

Thats two big ones that have surfaced this year. Some big money in these tournaments. Bad thing is some of the cheating is in club tournaments. Is it really worth it? Really?