Miabucman

Congrats! That is awesome. I lucked out and was in the DTL Top 100 for Harris Chain. All of my other picks have been the opposite of what should have been picked! Good luck on the next one.

Yikes. I have hooked myself a couple of times but luckily it wasn't in the rear end. I have an older boat and I also messed by not checking the kill switch closely. It was pulled just enough down that it wouldn't start but looked like it was up. After the hour long trolling motor trip to the ramp, my wife was not a happy camper once I found the problem>

Man, got my butt kicked on both tourneys. The only saving grace was the DTL for Harris. Top 100 for Harris. Now to sharpen up those darts for the Classic.

I have found that it is a lot less stressful as I get older. I try to learn what worked and what didn't work. I tend to get a little more amped up during a tournament but I try to remember patience is a virtue.

I am feeling your pain down here in Ames. I think that I am find a reason to go out to the lake place and stare at my boat and fishing gear. For some reason, this winter has hit harder and made me think about heading back to the south in the near future. On the bright side, I will be in the Keys in a couple of weeks for some offshore fishing. Spring needs to hurry up and get here. Hopefully we will get a bit of quick melting snow and spread out rain in the spring.

Something similar happened to me twice. I was trout fishing in Alaska and I was catching! On the far side of this little lake was a momma duck with six ducklings following her. I look back to where I was casting and I hear a commotion and the group was hauling towards the shoreline. Just before they got to the shoreline, a bald eagle snatched a duckling and headed to a tree. Pretty awesome sight when it went from ghostly calm to chaos. The other time when I was fishing offshore of the Keys. We were trolling for dolphin (mahi mahi) when a cormorant was soaring above a pod of baitfish. I guess the skirted ballyhoo looked good and the cormorant swooped down and slammed into the water. Drag started screaming off of the reel and we had to maneuver back and reel the bird in. After catching the bird with a towel, we had to carefully negotiate the attacking bird to remove the hook and release. We would always see them flying but I couldn't believe how big those types of birds are when up close.

Thank you for sharing.

This is a big deal in the Keys. Before moving around on the Army and settling in the Midwest, I fished offshore tournaments in the Keys area. My buddy was a charter boat Captain and bananas were a serious No-Go. Not saying it is correct or not but it was explained to me that the potassium makes you sea sick easier. The extra potassium combined with the rolling waves equals disaster.

Congrats!

Take a look at the Southwest ramp. It is just North of the Bridge, on the west side. Disclaimer--I haven't used it in a couple of years. Cherry Glen is a nightmare and I avoid that one unless I want to see people taking 20 minutes to get a jet ski on a trailer. I have avoided Saylorville due to the amount of traffic and being a solo boater myself. Big Creek is not too bad but the amount of people have made it more difficult also. If you are up for a little more driving, check out Rock Creek Lake or Hawthorne, to the East. Hawthorne has been on fire after they did the "remodel". The Pine Lake Twins (Upper and Lower) are smaller but have good size bass. Brushy Creek Lake is one of the top producers in the state.

Thanks. Just put two in my cart now. I have been fishing mostly plastics and spinners the last couple of years and wanted to branch out and focus on other techniques. The Rainshadow rod is just a pleasure to use. Just need to make it through the work week and be back at em Sat morning.

Congrats!

Headed out early Sunday morning for some alone time at our lake cabin. Boat fired up on the first try and the lake was quiet. All of the jet skiers, wake boat skiers/surfers and pontoon boat mafia were still asleep. After getting to my area, I started working some laydowns with a buzzbait but no takers. I switched to my new (new to me) custom Rainshadow crankbait rod and the action heated up. After releasing several decent LMB, I trolled over a bit closer to some riprap and BAM. After the hookset, I was confused. There was weight on the end of the line but it didn't feel like a bass. Well, it turned out it was two! A LMB and a SMB. I continued down the riprap and the catching continued. The last bass of the day was a feisty one pounder and wanted to pay me back, I guess. Not sure how it all went down but I was trying to release him and this pound of fury slipped out of my hand. The trail hook buried itself into my knuckle and the bass was still on the lead hook and bouncing around like he had four cans of Red Bull. Here I am, pleading with this hellcat to stay still, trying to find my pliers, and trying to keep the boat out of the rocks. After a few minutes, I got the aquatic version of Mike Tyson off of the hook and released. Then the pondering stage begins. What the heck am I supposed to do? I am in the middle of nowhere and it is still early. Now the quiet is deafening. Being a somewhat new property owner, my options were limited. I call two of the guys that I know and voicemails. I begin thinking that waking the wife up might not be that bad of an option when my phone rings! The marina owner (and pro fisherman) asks what's up and I tell him the short version and ask for help. He told me to grab some braid line and meet him at the marina. After making the long drive back to my place, docking the boat (I really need to fix the lift), and driving to the marina, the rest was easy. Snipping the split ring was the biggest pain (no pun intended) but the actual removal went smoothly. Many thanks to good people. Greg and his wife are awesome. After bandaging up, I headed back to the house to clean up and enjoy the sunshine and a cold brew at noon. BTW, I am now known as Captain Hook to my wife and kids.

Very true. Thanks to everyone for making this a great site. I enjoy learning from all and it makes the winter go by quicker when I can live vicariously through others that are still catching!

I just bought a Nasci 2500 and love it. I spent a little more on the rod (custom Rainshadow) but the reel is awesome.

Wow, nice fish!

Looks like a good candidate for a replica. I think that they charge by the inch, correct?

Congrats on the first tourney! Great attitude and I am glad that you caught fish. It is always nice to weight on fish. Hopefully the weather is nicer next time!

Yes, I have insurance on my boat. It seems that the lakes are getting more crowded every year and I want to make sure that I am covered for anything. Also, I have to show proof of insurance during a tournament. My boat is super old but the cost is not that bad to have it covered.

I think that there is a time and place for both techniques. I have a bad habit of going to the side of "Wow, that sounded like a 155mm round hit the water." Usually happens when I am trying to be silent!

Congrats. Weekend was super nice, but rain and snow tonight?

I am not doing too bad for once. We will see how tomorrow goes. Mosely Martin Rivet Whitaker Gleason kicking myself for not going with Christie and Atkins in Groups B and E.

Great advice. Looking forward to finally getting out myself.

Awesome experience.

White/Chart for spinnerbait and just starting out with a chatterbait.