“Kneelin’ & Reelin’” is the old part. “Long Lining” or “Strolling” is the new part. We’ll get to the controversy later.
By now I’m sure you’ve heard something about the new…make a long cast, freespool your reel, jump on the trolling motor (or gas motor), and rip off as much line as you can…then start reelin’ technique. Kneeling and Reeling is a crankers trick to get a little more depth out of a long cast. Just google it if you’re too young to remember when Paul Elias showed us how to do it years ago. This is different.
Now to the Controversy part: the best bass fishermen in the world are very skilled and some are better at certain techniques than others. Dean is the frog master. Biffle gets it done with a flippin’ stick, and A Mart comes to mind as one of the best when it comes to finesse. There are a few guys that crank ‘em up rom the depths like a champ…David Fritts, for instance. Mark Davis and don’t forget KVD, too. There was a lot of grumbling about the Alabama Rig a few months ago, and B.A.S.S banned it on the Elite Series.
Now we’ve got “strolling”. Continue reading ‘Something Old, Something New, and Another Freakin’ Controversy’
April in March and March in April. That is how I would describe this spring. Many of the fish at Beaver had already spawned before the FLW event kicked off. The water had just fell 5 ft. and the temperatures had cooled way down during practice. I tried a lot of different things during practice since most of the fish were not on the beds. I fished up the river for largemouth the first practice day and caught about 25 fish, but only 2 or 3 were keepers, one of which was 4 pounds. The second day I fished around Prairie Creek doing the usual shaky head finesse stuff and caught a limit around 8 lbs. The last day I fished the mid lake area again and checked the river but had the worst practice day yet. I wasn’t on a certain thing real strong and looking back I think I probably spread myself to thin during practice not committing to one type of fishing.
Day 1I fished the mid lake area and decided I was going to try to look for spawners in new water, but I never found any and ended up catching a few spots while I was looking for 4-14 lb.
Day 2I knew my only way to make a comeback was to go up the river and catch a big bag power fishing for largemouth. I went up there and within a few minutes caught one a little over 2 lbs shallow cranking and between me and my co angler we probably caught about 25 fish throughout the day, but only one more kept and that was it, 2 for 3-0 lb. Up the river it was a timing deal. You needed to be on the right stretches at the right time during the day and I think my timing was off.
Looking back I believe I should have spent more time in practiced up the river trying to learn it better instead of only one day. Shallow muddy water is what I am comfortable doing. It’s good to always fish you strengths in a tournament situation. It is a learning process and I will take this and learn from it. Next tourney is Potomac in two weeks. I’m looking forward to it because it should be a power fishing deal.
…….Keep an eye out for my brother, Brandon, this week at the Bassmaster event on Douglas. He is in 12th place after day 1.
Beaver Lake is a constant for the FLW Tour. They have been going there for as long as I could remember watching and participating in FLW events. I haven’t been there since 2006; back then I did okay, but felt that the Ozark lakes are pretty similar in general topography and an angler ends up utilizing many of the same fishing strategies. Two things about Beaver Lake that differ are that is is heavily pressured and the fish are generally smaller. Table Rock and Bull Shoals are massive bodies of water and receive much less pressure. That being said, replenishment any distance from the ramp is an issue and fish just under the legal size limit (15″ for smallmouth/largemouth & 12″ for spots) becomes the predominant struggle most anglers face.
Coupled with the normal Beaver lake struggles I faced a sinus and ear infection that conveniently coincided with the onset of practice and lasted throughout the tournament…..and made for a lackluster overall feeling with high winds during practice and the tournament. I finished middle of the pack, not really happy about it and still feel crappy. Continue reading ‘O’Neill’s Head Down and the Beaver Lake Zig Zag’
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with some of the best fishermen in the world. Let me tell ya…these guys are good. But you knew that. That’s not why we’re here.
Not only can they get it done on the water, but they are pretty frickin’ cool off the pond too. They all have a few things in common: the best equipment (in their opinion) that they can get; a sh&# ton of time on the water; and mental toughness. (See Between the Ears for further detail).
The one thing that I have seen that no one really talks about is…well…how excited these looney tunes get when they catch a fish. Any fish. Anything that swims. Anything that doesn’t swim, for that matter. They effin’ love it!
Remember the excitement you felt as a kid on Christmas morning? Or better yet, watching your own kids on Christmas morning? That’s the closest thing I can compare it to. You would think after fishing all over the country, every day, all day, week after week, a fish would be a fish to these guys. But that’s not the case.
I was on a recent media trip and got to spend some boat time with Aaron Martens and Britt Myers, and we caught a ton of fish. Literally, a ton. Continue reading ‘Attitude is Everything’
