Catch and Grease

Just got done with a tournament and man I got whooped! Ended up only catching two keepers... Got a handful of good bites flipping but I just couldn't hook up. My two fish probably went 2-3lbs and the winner was around 10 something. Its kinda a shame because I've caught a lot of good fish leading up to this tourney but it all fell apart on the one day that counted! That's banks lake for you though, just when you think your onto something everything changes, but oh well it was a blast and a great experience. Got to talk to friends and even got some free tackle! Now I'm ready for another tournament!

I like to target them some days, its a blast catching them on small lures and light line!

Im curious what do you mean by close quarters? I fish a lake with tons of Cyprus trees so I'm constantly dodging branches and Spanish moss but I still use a 6 and a half to seven foot long rod for everything.

I use JJ's magic and I believe it helps some days and the fact you can add colors to your baits is great.

Just because they slaughtered the colts and would have won anyways doesn't make it okay, this isn't the first time and won't be the last and the more they get away with it the more they will try to break the rules.

If you have an academy nearby or are willing to order one the H20 Express Ethos rods they have are great rods for only 60 bucks.

No, the fish will not stop eating and commit suicide by starvation if the fishing pressure gets high.

I've caught some good fish on the purple 12" Mann's jelly worm!

I bought one of those rage blade chatterbaits the other day, I fished it a little with no success but those things are cool. I love the thumping vibration it makes! And if you put a beaver bait or craw on it vertically it has crazy good action, the only complaint I have is its hard to keep it down, it usually comes up to just below the surface

Fish a dropshot right on top of the bed!

Wow great fish! Sounds like you have a lot of healthy fisheries around you, good job!

Me and my Granpa went out to pre-fish for an upcoming tournament and we both caught good bass, mine was a little over 4 and his was a little under. He caught his on a fluke and I caught mine flipping a rage bug! (First time using a rage bug). After getting skunked three days in a row this brings my confidence back lol

At A lot of ponds and small lakes I fish this is the only way I've ever been able to catch fish on a frog... Just cast it on the bank and drag it off like a real frog would, sometimes they get it before it even hits the water...

Wow great fish! Sounds like you really enjoyed the trip!

Chris Cagle - Anywhere But Here:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/plastic-lures-hook.html This works really good.

I fish a lake with low visibility and I definitely catch fish on senkos but I don't throw them nearly as much as trickworms, ribbon-tails, etc.

I say pike....

They are keying in on small baitfish I believe, a high pressure front with bluebird skies/little wind came through and it killed the bite. The water is more clear than normal in this lake but that normally improves the fishing. I tried fishing flukes, small minnow jerk baits, grubs, bluegill swimbaits, and all sorts of stuff since I knew they were keying in on minnows and probably feeding on some bream too but I just couldn't buy a bite so I went and flipped matted grass for awhile since I figured if I did happen to get one to bite it could be a hawg. Everyone was having trouble, some people caught some small bass on trick worms but I couldn't. The front should move through and I have high hopes that it will get better by the tournament. This lakes tournaments are won with bags between 7-12 pounds usually...

Make that three days in a row lol

What would you use those for?

Haha and the worst part is as I'm loading the boat up a guy pulls up with like 8 keepers in his live well... So I just knew he had to be using live bait, so I asked him and he said he caught them all on a BLACK TRICK WORM! hahaha

Last weekend I was killing it and now this weekend I've been skunked two days In a row, and next week I'm fishing a tournament on this lake! There goes my confidence lol! Ive been fishing since 6:30 till now and haven't got a nibble... I've tried everything almost everywhere.... I have been flipping the majority of the day but I tried a drop shot, squarebill, swim jig, flukes, etc etc... The crazy thing is I could see bass busting the surface every now and then but I just could not get them to bite, well at least I can say I tried! Days like these let you know just how little you know about bass fishing!

If you have an academy near you go pick up their house brand tournament choice scale, the one I bought it pretty accurate (5lb bag of sugar in a Walmart bag was 5lb 1oz). I think its around 15$ and its digital.