ABA CAST CHAMP 2006

For clear water, I like the chartreuse shad Booyah Pond Magic 1/8th oz. buzzbait without a trailer hook. I like this buzzbait because it's small, always more effective for me than a larger buzzbait in clear water, and it works well for all three major species of bass. Note: fish it on bigger line like 14 lb. test and you can reel it super slow across the top (works much better than fishing this lure very fast. I think the fish like the easiest meal.). For murkier water, I like a larger profile buzzbait, something with a big blade or multiple blades and a trailer hook so that the bait can go slow and so that the fish can locate it with ease in that dark water. Pretty much any brand will do the job so long as it has the aforementioned qualities.

I like the Powerbait 6" pumpkin/chartreuse lizard rigged texas style, with a 1/4oz. weight or weightless, especially in the shallow areas like the backs of coves or where the new vegetation emerges in the spring time, crawling the lure along with some short slow hops.

I fish a lot on Kentucky Lake, which doesn't have much cover, mostly just rocks. Throughout the year, I throw tubes and other soft plastics using small weights, mostly 3/16th oz. weights. I have been using a 7' MH Team Daiwa-V baitcasting rod teamed with an Abu Garcia 4601 C3 reel and 14 lb. test Trilene XL. The rod is very sensitive, and the reel and line have plenty of strength to pull up the big ones, but the reel gets backlashes a good bit of the time due to the distance the light lure needs to travel. My question to any tubing aficionados out there is, what type of rod (brand/length/action/spinning/casting), reel (brand/model), and line (lb.test/mono/flouro/copolymer) would you recommend for making long casts with extremely light lures. Also, for the rod part of the question, how sensitive is this rod in comparison to other rods that you have used for the same type of application? Thanks everyone!

If you're fast enough, you can throw back with the same lure and most of the time get the fish to hit again. I say this because in the time that I sit one rod down, pick up another, make a lot of noise in the boat, and make the cast, that the fish will be long gone. Other times, if the fish are missing the buzzbait, then I'll throw a skinny topwater like a Rapala Skitterpop or Storm Chug bug that moves a little slower and has a lot more hooks, or maybe even my Sammy knockoff.

Fat Ikas and Senkos are probably good choices for the smallies here during April...I haven't really used those lures very much during that time period, but from prespawn all the way through the fall, tubes, grubs, and texas rigged trick worms trick most of my smallmouth. The tequila sunrise Mizmo Bad Boys are a good choice for the spawning and post spawn smallmouth. My most successful tubes though are the bluegill color Cabin Creek Salty Critter Gitter tube and the leach color Gitzit Incorporated Fat Gitzit tube. For grubs, nothing IMO beats bumble bee color (black/yellow swirl), and either black or bumble bee trick worms. Good luck! Here's the website I use for water temperatures and fishing reports from the major guides on the lake. There's not much on here right now since most people haven't been out fishing, but check it often and eventually, once the water warms up a little more, the guides will start talking about the bass fishing: http://www.explorekentuckylake.com/lakesarea/fishing/reports.htm

Rules are rules. There is always a chance that even a seemingly healthy bass in the livewell could die without warning, even if the boat owner considers himself/herself the master of keeping fish alive. Also, I've not fished with a club yet that does not have a dead fish weight deduction penalty. So, you could petition it to the club directors board about your dilemma, but I'll bet there are many anglers out there who feel the way you do. Maybe you could start your own club, with a live fish weigh in only. Others may follow. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Yes, definitely Abu 4600 series reels. They're cheap, cast well, and IMO are one of the toughest reels out on the market.

If the lake is large enough, then we wear some waders since the water is cool and wade the backs of the bays. Topwaters, shallow cranks/rattle baits, spinnerbaits, and weightless plastics work really well doing this. Make really long casts though since most of the fish right around you will have probably been spooked though.

Shad Rap Silver Buddy Any crappie tube or grub Live crayfish fished on the bottom w/ a split shot rig

Which color works the best in cold, clear water for you guys?

It really depends on what mood the fish are in as to how you ought to retrieve the lure, but usually a steady medium retrieve will produce fish. Also change Chatterbait weight according to the water depth, which would be heavier baits ( 1/2oz. ) in deeper water and lighter baits ( 1/4oz. or 3/8oz. ) in shallower water.

Panther Martin spinners, the ones without the bucktail. They're basically the same as the Blue Fox spinners. My favorite color for the smallies is yellow with red dots.

Have you triede Owner hooks? Haven't tried the Owners with them because I'm stuck on the VMC hooks since they have a deep bend between the eye and the hook shank instead of the straight-to-shank design like 90% of the hooks out there, but I'll pick up a bag of them and see how they work. From your experience with these lures, what size do you use for most of the lizards and worms that 3x has? Aba- 3/0 or 4/0 Also, 2 ways to keep the bait from sliding down, toothpick through the bait, eye and out the other side, trim toothpick and of course, super glue at the tip. The pickerel bite here is crazy in the spring, we use the flukes (zero's?) w/ a toothpick and 1 bait can hold up to numerous pickerel. Also, The 3X craw trailer is the only one I use. Thanks Hooker, I'll definitely give the toothpick through the bait & eye a try. Sounds like a way to get rid of some of my 3x bags and my frustrations.

11 lbs. 2 oz. on an earthworm colored unweighted Luck-E-Strike trick worm (the ones you can get at Wally World )

I am 24 years old and a student. Like many others, I've felt the pressure to acquire sponsors but have not pursued any as my studies have become more important to me at this time than fishing. I realize that competing at a national level, such as BASS or FLW, that the fees for the events can be quite high, and there is just not enough time or money during the week to work a regular 40 hour job, travel 1 or more days to an event, practice, and do well in a competition. That, perhaps, is a reason why many anglers from the younger generations feel as though sponsorship is an absolute necessity. Also, I've noticed the hard work ethic of professional anglers. The stories of how they came to be professionals are not always puppy dogs, unicorns and four-leaf clovers. They've all worked very hard in the past and that hard work has proven to be economically viable for them. Some of us want to be the best, and we can be, but we're going to have to take the ride. Some of us will get there faster than others, and some of will get there less scathed than others, but if we work just as hard as the professionals to get where we want, then we will. Someone will notice.

Have you triede Owner hooks? Haven't tried the Owners with them because I'm stuck on the VMC hooks since they have a deep bend between the eye and the hook shank instead of the straight-to-shank design like 90% of the hooks out there, but I'll pick up a bag of them and see how they work. From your experience with these lures, what size do you use for most of the lizards and worms that 3x has?

Stew, the 3x baits work pretty good and I've got a bunch of bags of them, but I don't use them often because it seems like I have to keep pushing the head of the bait up over the eye of the hook after every cast, even if I use super glue to anchor it (which doesn't seem to stick the bait to anything but my fingers). So how do you keep the lure from sliding down the hook after hiding the eye in the head?

Thanks T-Rig. I heard from another member with some friends on the DaMiki pro staff that Damiki might be selling them in the U.S. soon. Let me know what you find though.

I went to Spain last summer and bought a few DaMiki Sheri jerkbaits. Broke off the best ones at Kentucky Lake. I've looked online at the DaMiki website and sent them messages, but they have yet to respond. There are websites in Spain, France and Russia that sell DaMiki lures, but they don't ship to the United States, and I have been otherwise unsuccessful in locating any DaMiki lures in the United States. Can anyone assist me in finding a dealer of these lures???