tfisherman

I like BPS for fishing, but I can tell you their search engine SUCKS!!!!! I typed in the exact name of a product one day and it wouldn't come up so I called the 800 number. The lady asked what the catalog number was and I told her I didn't have one on me, she spent 15 minutes thumbing through old catalogs until she found what I was talking about. She gave me the number and it came up, the funny thing is that the name of the product was exactly what I had typed in?? I asked her about that and she said she didn't know why it did that. I told her it's happened a lot and she said you know people tell me that all the time! I asked why they wouldn't take the time to make a better search engine it's the life blood on the on-line business and she was like OH WELL you gonn'a place you're order or what?! So needless to say Cabela's got my business that day!!! >

F150fishinNC...No disrespect to the other guys but I grew up miles away from Belews and won some tourneys there so maybe I can help? First to help the other guys you didn't mention that Belews is a hot water discharge lake that stays warm year round, so yes you can bank fish all year long. I moved to Buggs island and now I live in Lynchburg so it's been a few years since I've fished it so I can't tell you the current pattern but I can give you some pointers I used back in the day. I helped another guy finish 2nd in a tourney a year ago telling him to fish green! I mean like a chartreuse green, zoom Chart. Pepper 6" worm works great! I also had good luck with a Sand zoom worm. If you fish crankbaits Fire Tiger is a great color when fishing shallow we used a Speed shad. When the lake first opened a gold rattle trap was a killer then fizzed out. I have caught some fish on it so try bringing that classic back. I have caught several nice fish on a gold/black jerkbait, they will come up a good distance to grab it! My favorite there use to be a silver/black Pop-R! Won a lot of money on that bait there. When they still had grass the fish would sit in inches of water right on the bank we'd kill them. But I heard everyone found out and killed that pattern as well. Small single bladed spinner baits have caught me some big bass and floating worms as well.I was always able to pick up a couple bass every tourney fishing the boat landing docks! We went out of Humphreys ridge one tourney and let all the other boats clear out. When they left we caught 2 keppers on the same docks we walked on minutes earlier! If you look you can see the bass swimming around them all the time. I hope some of these tips can help you, I'll let you put together the rest! I'm sure people are using all types of patterns just try to employ some of these baits in to your fishing and it should help you catch more bass. My dad has caught a 12lb and a 10lb bass out of there so we have a little knowledge of the lake

I was at that classic and the "meet the pro's" before hand. I saw him along with all the other pro's, never talked to him that would have been a good memory! I was 17 and eat'n up with fishing bass tourneys and becoming a pro when he died. I cried when the local news reported the plane crash, he represented all Pro wanna be's. What was funny is that they always bring in the winner last it's obvious who the winner is! They brought Brian in before Biffle and we were like awww man! Then when Biffle weight in he came up ounces short and everyone was like wwwhat!Yeahhh! It was unreal!! Everyone gives Fritts a hard time not being able to win on his home water with crankin being the #1 pattern there in the summer time. But the leaders were all flipp'n and I can contest to that pattern when the water is normal or a little high. We killed the fish the week of the 4th fishing the river area there years ago!

Lucky Craft pointer DD's go deeper, 6-7ft

I use Xcalibur lures and I like Gold/black and sometimes silver/black. That Table Rock color is a good color. It was a killer at one time on Table Rock...Duh and also on a lake I fish as well!

Actually, I caught the world record bass! But... I foul hooked it so I threw it back, I'm that honest!! Yeah, I caught it showed it to only my friends and then called my lawyer who doesn't bass fish but told me it'd be in my best interest to release the fish so I listened to him. Where did I catch it? Well, I caught it in this small obscure lake that no ones ever heard of. It's a great lake! Me and my friends have all caught several bass that have been close to the record before but I guess I got lucky? Well, I did pay I guy a $Grand$ to let me fish it...he wasn't available for comment though. :-? : :-/ :-[ :'( >

I like the Xcalibur baits so I'd have to go with their XS4 and this year going to use the XT3 some as well. I like gold and black this has always been a go to color for me anywhere

I never use a rattle I personally can't stand them! Especially the older models when the rattles got in the way of the hooks and were gaudy. I think almost every jig being fished out there has a rattle so seperate yourself a little. A rattle in a jig to me is like the pro's saying they squirt fish scent on the jig every other cast...pointless you might catch one fish extra a day, but the same could be said for not using one to? As far as a crawdad "clicking" if he does I'm sure the jig rattles 100X louder so where's the comparison :-? That's why I use to love the Stanley jigs cheap and NO rattle!

For me it was all started with the Pop-R! You wouldn't believe the action the 80's models have the 90's+ don't! My dad had some in his box and the ones I brought didn't compare. I'd say I'm a Zell Pop man now because I think Zell is the top water king hands down. It's a improved version of the Pop-R. I never liked the chug bug. I remember when it first came out they were using it during a Buggs Island tourney and I saw one on a Pro's rod. I brought a couple and didn't like the action compared to a Pop-R. Aspook has it's place and the bigs one like it, but pound for pound I use a buzzbait and a Pop-R.

I'd like to spend more time with my dad on the water and show him some new lakes and tactics. I hope to spend a lot more time on the water this year as well!

There's always aggressive fish so go find them!! That's my plan of attack 24/7 You're not always going to win a FLW fishing shallow but you'd be surprised what you will catch year round shallow.

Great baits!! Pair them up with a American Rodsmith fiberglass "Fritts" crank'n rod and you can't go wrong

I'm a big Pop-R man been fishing them since the early 90's when did the soft come out??

I find it funny how you're talking about the slug-o in the past tense when I never thought they went out of style?? I guess it's all about location and confidence! I love the 4" and alewife is my favorite color. I was a big zoom fan and tried the fluke just didn't like the action compared to the slug-o. I will admit when I first used them I was a big fan of the 6" and caught a lot of fish but now they just seem so big and gaudy. Back in the early 90's I would rig them texas style and use the shake ...pause method and would slay the fish. My friend introduced me to the senko but have yet to see him catch a fish on them??? I do like the Fat Ika for soft jerk'n though. Brought some Yum Dingers see how they do.

I know my dad has or may still have the lake record bass for Belews lake NC his is 12lbs+ It was certified by the game warden I won't believe anyone else unless they do the same! A lot of tourney cheating going on at that lake. I caught a huge Gar at Buggs Island it's back fin was wider than my head and it was 5ft+ long at least. All we could do was hold it beside the boat I wasn't about to ruin the carpet in my dad's bass boat. I caught it on a Rattlin' Rogue. It looked like the huge ones caught up north. I wanted to take it in for weight but we really had no way without sliming the boat to death and loading it on the back of the truck. My dad finally said I could but I just let it go it wasn't worth the trouble it would have caused me dad. I have seen citations for Gars and the one I caught would have eaten those citations. I don't know what the state record is but it was for sure the lake.

We sometimes eat smaller bass (2lbs) but not as much as we use to, now it's probably crappie for the table instead. At this stage in my life a Lg mouth 10+ and a sm mouth 6+ would go on my wall anything else released ASAP! I hope I'm not offending anybody by saying this but it kills me to see people keeping 4+lb bass for eating > I was talking to a guy from out of state years ago at the dock and he told me he had the weekend of his life 4lb'r after 4lb'r and a couple over 6lbs. At first I was like yeah right until he started pulling them out of the live well. I shook his hand but was still confused until he said he was putting them in the cooler and taking back to his home state to cook them up!! I thought what a waste and a terrible loss for the population of bass that spring. I don't know if he caught them legally but he could have won a ton of money fishing a tourney that weekend. I can't believe a man that pays that much for a bass boat can still see a 4+lb bass as food let alone a whole cooler full??

I don't know how it is anywhere else but the lakes I fish in Va the females are full of eggs starting in Jan. I've caught them in 40 degree water full of eggs! They're not spawning but I guess mother nature is taking her coarse?

Well here in the south we actually have a summer so we decided to flood our farm land so we could have us a good swim'n hole, and come to find out there's fish in them there rivers! : Sorry, for natural lakes go from one side of the bowl to the other side of the bowl until you find the fish

warm and dirty!! Kind'a like coffee Remember there's always at least 2 sides to every lake the fresh water (river) side and the dam side. They both fish completely different!!! The dam side usually is clear and deeper and the fresh water side shallower and more stained. Again they fish different and are effected different by cold fronts, rain, and warm ups. What's working on one side of the lake probably isn't on the other.

In the defense of Shaw Grigsby He is a super nice guy and a religious man! I met him once in greensboro NC and he talked to me like his best friend for a long time.He finally told me he had to go he was going to be late for his flight and as he was walking away another guy stopped him and he still took the time to answer the guys question that showed a lot of love for the fans. He also told me he only promotes tackle he'd really buy himself.When he was starting out he had to buy his own tackle and after he made it big the same companies decided to sponser him. I know that sounds cheesey but I believe him he'd have no reason to lie! Know yes I don't care for his show but I don't think it's in the same league as Billy dance and Roland Martin

If your fishing the lake for the first time don't get rapped up in whether or not you're fishing a "community hole". I know obvious stuff gets beat to death, but there's also a reason it's a community hole, it holds fish!! I've caught many a big fish from holes I know everyone fishes. It's also nearly impossible to fish a lake and not fish behind someone regardless of how deep you fish.

Find the warm creeks and fish shallow cranks all the way back to the warm water. Hit the points with cranks and try a spinnerbait some to.

I use to use Stanley jigs, they were .99 cents But like everything all jigs went through the roof and it's hard to find a cheap jig... Thanks Denny!! I use Booyah and Bitsy Bug only because they're the cheapest, and they work great!

Zoom Chunk on jigs Nothing on spinnerbaits Zoom chunks a gift from God....I hated jigs just because of that stupid pork trailer!!! Now I fish then all the time

I was catching a ton of fish at Buggs Island in Jan when the water was in the low 40's on Rapala Shad Raps which have a very tight wiggle. That's our go to bait in the winter/early spring Most crankbaits have a wider wobble so go figure...I'm sure they're used year round? I think it may have more to do with water clarity, wider in stained water tighter in clear.