fishblitzer

Look up the auburn bass team on Facebook or find an email to get in touch with them. That's a good fishing school and college fishing is well worth it. I'm across the state from auburn and fish in our college club and have never enjoyed a sport as much as I have college fishing. You'll have experiences that'll last a lifetime, I promise. You'll gain friends, connections in the fishing industry, and if you do well enough you can make a name for yourself early on. Not only that but you'll learn vast amounts of knowledge and get a lot of time on the water! I am writing so much because I didn't join our club until I was a junior because I was worried I wasn't good enough. I regret that a lot because I'm graduating this semester and hate I can't fish any more. It is a blast! Good luck and I hope your able to get a hold of them!

Gerald swindle because he is from my neck of the woods, a great teacher, and is an entertainer. Second choice would be with iaconelli because he has always been a role model for me and my fishing. His motto "never give up" is something I say to myself while grinding it out in a tough tournaments. He is a hell of a fisherman, a good teacher and entertainer. Only reason he is my second choice is because he fishes a lot of smaller, finesse stuff and that is not my cup of tea.

My PB fish is a crazy story. Fishing a ledge with a black/blue jig and I hook into a big bass! I fight him for a little bit and get him to the boat finally! I reach down to lip him and he thrashed and popped off the jig. He had a bucket mouth so I knew he was a big un. I sat down and took a few minutes to gather myself as well as drink some water. About 5 minutes later I go back to fishing the same ledge, with the boat in the same position. I cast my jig out, let it sink, engage my reel, and my line is swimming off to the right quickly. I set the hook, and can tell right away it's another big fish, get him to the boat, lip him, and get him in the boat! It was the same fish I had hooked and lost not 5 minutes before. He had the trailer claw in his gullet and a hole from where the jig had tore out of his lip the first time. He ended up being 6.5 pounds. Probably the craziest fishing story I have because I have never heard of anyone catching a big bass after getting it to the boat and losing it, much less on the very next cast. Edit: Just read a few posts above this and apparently I'm not the only one!

I also fish around a lot of weedy banks. I will let you in on a well kept secret that I found by experimenting with different things. I'm sure it had been done before but I have never seen it. Take a bobber stopper, what you use to stop your weight sliding up and down, put it on your line.Now put the smallest bullet weight you can, but make sure you can still cast it well.Then a 3/0 EWG hook. Now peg the sinker so that your hook can still freely move but the weight doesn't slide up or down.Stick a grub(my favorite is a Zoom fat albert) or worm with lots of thump in the tail and just swim it like a crankbait or spinnerbait. The small bullet weight acts as a nose, cuts through and deflects grass, and doesn't snag or pull because it is so light. The tail of the worm gives off thump like a baitfish swimming through the weeds. I've swam this setup through some nasty grass and never had a problem! Throw it out and reel it in, and hold on because this set up gets SMASHED!

Thanks for the advice, that would definitely explain the missing craws! The next time out when I feel a thump thump I will reel down, wait for the thump and tug and then set the hook. That should fix my problem! I am also going to downsize to a smaller chigger chunk.

Your both forgetting that after the hooksets I would pull my jig up with no claws left on the trailer. I didn't miss a fish the first day, that is what leaves me to believe it wasn't user error but to each their own! I'm not ruling it out, but I think between me and my co-angler one of us would have connected if indeed they were taking the whole jig. We didn't have any problems the first day

It was a rage tail lobster cut in half and we were targeting spotted bass.

Of course not!

Sorry for not clarifying, it was the same spot the second day. The fish were on a ledge between 20-30ft and we had a strong wind so I used a 3/4oz to get down deep and feel the bottom. I will try a smaller profile next time I run into this problem, thanks everyone for your help! It makes all the sense in the world now! The ledge we were on was stacked, and I mean stacked, with fish. The side imaging picked up around 30 or more when we left it after the second day. I've never seem anything like it!

Apologize for leaving that detail out. The first day was cloudy with light winds, and the second(when they weren't taking it) was sunny with strong winds.

Hey everyone, I was able to spend some time on the water this weekend. I had a great day out on Saturday and caught around 25 bass on a 3/4 oz. jig. They were hammering it and even had one or two swallow it. The next day was a different story. The jig bite was still full on, but the bass were grabbing the trailer claws and not taking the entire jig. I missed close to 15 and boated maybe 4. I know they were biting the trailer claws because I would get a hit, set the hook, and reel up to a clawless trailer. I even had one hang on until it was half way to the boat and then it let go. From my understanding this means they were less aggressive that day, but is there anything I can do to get them to take it when they are less aggressive? Should I downsize? Just looking for some pointers so next time I am not stumped in this situation. Not sure if it matters but the jig was a Strike King DB structure jig with a rage tail lobster on as a trailer. I was already cutting the trailers in half to downsize my presentation but it didn't help. Water was muddy and water temp was 56-58 degrees. Sunny skies and lots of wind. Thanks, Fishblitzer

Took the boat out this Saturday because it was the first time in weeks that it has not been raining down here in central Alabama. I mainly fish rivers here in Bama. I fish the river a lot, and most of the time have good success. I launched at sunrise and spent the entire day on the water. Here were my conditions: Water Temp 63-64 degrees Water was stained Water was a little high A little wind A lot of sun I fished slews, I fished rocks, I fished grass, I fished channels, I fished bridges, I fished creek mouths, I fished cypress tree roots, I fished docks, and I fished main river laydowns. Through out the day I threw everything imaginable at them. From a jig, to a deep diving crankbait, to a Carolina rig. Finally, around 3pm I got onto a pattern! Only took 8 hours! They were hitting finesse spinnerbaits fished slow over wood. I only threw the spinnerbait because it was the last thing left in my boat that I had not thrown. Why on earth did it work? With there not being much wind and having blue bird skies this goes against everything I was taught and have read on when to fish a spinnerbait. Can someone please enlighten me because I am beyond confused on why this worked Thanks, Fishblitzer

You released a fish so that someone else can have that same joy in the future when they catch it. Think of it as giving someone a bit of happiness. That is how I look at releasing a big fish.

Is a heavy weight better to keep it on the bottom? I would not suggest anything larger than 1/4 ounce for your weight. Depending on where you are a heavier weight will kick more muck up from the bottom. Since drop shot is finesse, in most cases, this is not a good thing. What's a good distance from the weight? I only rig my worm 1ft- 1 1/2 foot from the weight. If it needs to be any longer than that I will use a different presentation. Can I fish ANY soft plastics or should I stick with worms? I would highly recommend roboworms for drop shot fishing. Also, if you want a craw profile check our missile baits craw for dropshotting. You want your plastic, in most cases, to float or be buoyant enough to sit horizontal. I ask that last question because a lot of my Missouri/Ozark success is due to YUM Craws first and Senkos second (typically T-rigged). What size hook is appropriate? I use a 2/0 circle hook and would not use any other type. With a circle hook you can just reel down to the fish and it will set itself. Any other type of hook and you have to set the hook, which equals less hook ups. Have you had better luck weedless rigging the hook or simply hooking it in the head? I don't know if weedless is possible, however, nose hooking through the head is the only way to rig a drop shot bait. The less hook in the plastic, the more movement in your plastic. Is there anything against rigging two hooks? For fun fishing, I have heard of people using jigs or shakeyheads as the weight but I believe it is against the rules of most tournaments.

Going bass fishing while down on a family trip to Florida in the early part of January. I'll be fishing Lake Kissimmee and I am not real sure how to approach finding the bass or what lures to start with. I'll have my boat so I won't be bank fishing. I am not from Florida and I hear the fishing is a lot different down there. I've read that the water is muddy and there is a ton of grass. I usually try to fish a chatterbait or spinnerbait around grass and muddy water(which is rare). I'll also fish a jig if I can get away with it and if it is too matted I throw a frog or weedless topwater. How do you all think these techniques would work on Kissimmee? I know it is hard to predict what the fish will be doing but I am just looking for a starting place for the lure selection, I can adapt as I need to based on the conditions. Do the bass start to bed there that early? Thanks, Fishblitzer

Hey Dtree and congratulations on joining the club! I am also a co-angler in a bass club and here are just a few things which I feel would have helped me out when I first started. First, always offer to pay half gas on the boat and truck. Beleive it or not most of the boaters in my club always tell me not to worry about it, but it is the thought that counts. Second, only make suggestions on fishing if you and your angler are friends or know each other well. Some will take it the wrong way if you suggest something different than they are doing. Third, always be respectful, on time, and ask if there is anything you can do to help. I joined my club being a complete new guy to tournament fishing but I had always watched it on TV. Now, the boaters fight over me to be on their boat. It is not that I am a great angler or better than the other co-anglers, it is because I help out and do my best to be a good partner. When my angler hooks into a fish I drop my pole and sprint to the net. It's the little things like that which make a big impact on how your angler views you. And here is a very informative website that I use for tips/advice. Bassresource is a great source of info and is updated. This one is not as active but it holds some great advice, make sure to look around! http://fishingtheback.com/ Oh yes, one last thing... Pay attention to what and how your angler is fishing and adjust accordingly. You can not only learn a lot from them, chances are they are on the water more than you, but you can also adjust to what the fish are hitting. If your angler is fishing a crankbait that dives 6 feet and he is whacking them, don't be hardheaded and keep throwing a jig. Tie on a crankbait or something as close to, but not matching his, as possible. ​

As the title says, is there a point in which too much grass becomes harmful to bass and stunts/limits their growth? I fish/manage a 4 to 5 year old, 12 acre lake in Alabama. This summer the grass has consumed the lake. We normally can keep it contained and under control but nothing work this year. I know what hydrilla and milfoil are and it is neither of those. I plan on posting pictures later in the week in this same thread. Currently about 60-70% of the lake is choked off from grass, with only the deepest parts not being covered. However, the deepest parts still have it on the bottom but it has not reached the surface yet. The grass is so thick that it starts from the bottom, reaches the surface, and creates thick mats. A boat with a trolling motor cannot make it through the mats. Even with a push pole I struggle to push my boat through. The grass mats reach as far as 60 feet from the bank. Every night and morning the grass emits some sort of oil or gas into the water, it looks as if it is a clear oil slick across the surface. I am concerned because we have put lots of time, effort, and money into the lake to get it to where it is today. Copper sulfate has been suggested but we cannot afford the amount needed to push back the grass. I feel as though the bass are not able to feed like they should because the grass gives baitfish and crayfish so much cover. Last year the biggest bass weighed in was 6 pounds 10 ounces and that is only 4 years after being stocked. However, no one has registered a fish larger than 3 pounds this year and the lake has been fished much heavier. I sometimes catch a glimpse of small bass jumping 2-3 feet out of the water after dragonflies and mosquitos which has me thinking they may be starving. Any input, tips, or advice is appreciated! -Fishblitzer

Go with the Duckett series rods and pick the size/action you want. I can work a fluke with mine, and then tie on a drop shot or shakey head and feel everything the weight hits. Great all around rod for lighter lure/weight use!

It's a bass eat bass world out there

My plan is to fish a spinnerbait/chatterbait early and switch to a shakey head when the sun rises and then alternate in a crankbait here and there. I'm trying to stay as simple as possible but still catch a lot of fish in the process. Word is they have stayed pretty deep this summer, which is my weak point. The only chart. crank I have is a Chart body/Blue back Rapala I picked up a few weeks ago. Am I wrong in thinking I have to downsize my worms/jigs for spotted bass? I usually fish a 10 inch worm when I worm fish.

To some of the previous posters, you must care about young ones fishing or the state departments will not be able to operate because they won't have enough money to do so. Without people buying fishing licenses they do not get the $ they need. I think that the biggest problem is that fishing is getting so expensive. I have fished for most of my life and after college I will most likely lost my interest because there is nowhere to fish without a boat, and I can't afford a boat. Fishing is too expensive. With the popularity gained by BASS, prices have gone up. That is just my view on it. I've only been really into fishing for 6-7 years so you old timers can maybe prove me wrong. I fished a tournament a couple months ago where in order to be competitive you had to run 50+ miles to another lake. This knocked out 80% of the tournament field which had older engines and didn't get the MPG needed to make the round trip. My point being, if you want to be competitive you do have to have the expensive boats and technology once you get to a certain level. The top 10 finishers made the run to the other lake and the other 130 did not. Another reason is the degradation of society and the instant gratification that young people must have in order to have an interest in something. You can go through and watch a movie from every year for the past 20 years and watch the difference. Movies today are much more fast paced, have to be action packed, and quick in order to make lots of $ at the big screen. This applies to fishing and outdoors as well. Hunting and fishing both take time, patience, and learned skills in order to be good at. Time and patience is something nobody these days care about. I think for the most part the same applies to hunting as fishing. Most people have the mentality "If I can buy it in a store why waste my time hunting or fishing for it." and that goes back to society. Nobody wants to put in the time to go out and actually harvest their food, which brings a certain gratification with it in my opinion. Also, most parents use TV's, video games, or other forms of entertainment as a type of baby sitting tactic now-a-days. When I grew up my dad took us fishing, hunting, or four-wheeler riding to entertain us. Parents are less and less involved with their children, I blame this as a direct cause for the degradation of society. Without good parenting, you will not have good kids.

My biggest problem is not having a boat, so I can't spend as much time on the water as I would like.

What's the best tactic/lures for targeting these bass in the heat of the summer? I'll be fishing for them from dusk to dawn. I've heard they are the best fighting fish in freshwater and I want to try my luck with them. I mostly fish for LMB but am gonna go out of my way to target spots. I'll be fishing the Black Warrior river in Alabama.

As the title reads, is there ever a time when the Zoom Super Fluke doesn't produce? It seems like no matter where I go, what time of year, or the water clarity, I can catch a limit on a weightless fluke. Now given, these aren't monster bass but they are base none the less. Does anyone know of or have you experienced a time when a Fluke didn't catch fish? For this upcoming season I have been debating on fishing the Zoom Super Fluke and a Shakey Head almost exclusively. The shakey head will always put a limit in the boat, not many will argue with that. And for 6 years now the Zoom Super Fluke has done the same. Just catching a limit does not win tournaments, but it gets you started. After the limit is caught I would obviously switch my lure selection to target larger fish. What do you guys think of this strategy?

Not sure on the pricing of them yet and I have not tried them but I know the claws were modeled to be like the boot tail of a swimbait. It is what Chris Lane used to win an elite series tournament earlier this year.