Monthly Archive for February, 2010
Thursday I had the day off classes and I was fortunate to get out on Thomas Hill with local angler Tony Lain. It was a great day to be on the water. We had air temps in the mid to upper 30′s with not a whole lot of wind with plenty of sunshine.
When we put the boat in we found water temps in the hot water arm to be 51 to 52 degrees. We were able to put a couple of bass in the boat fairly early into the day. The fish were keying in on shallow wood on points and hitting our jigs flipped in the bushes in 1 to 2 feet of water.
We spent some of the day running down the lake to put some hours on a new Suzuki motor. The water on the mainlake was pretty cold when you got away from the hot water arm. It was as cold as 37 degrees.
At the end of the day we made the trip up the hot water ditch and Tony caught a better largemouth on a jig and I caught a couple of small hybrids on Smack Tackle’s Flitterbait in the Gizzard Gray pattern. The water up the ditch was 57 degrees but it was a little muddier than usual. They were running a lot of water and the current was pretty quick. I was surprised that in heading up the ditch we couldn’t hook up with some bigger hybrids.
The past couple of years that I’ve gotten out on Thomas Hill those 3 to 4lb hybrids would be up in the canal and you could just murder them. Seems like the hybrids were either not there or were really inactive. There were a couple of boats out on the lake and I don’t think we saw anyone else catch a fish all day.
While the fishing wasn’t on fire at least I got to throw a couple of new AiRRUS rods, test out a couple of new baits, and get some fishing in before I leave for the FLW National Guard College Fishing tournament on Bull Shoals which is now only two weeks away.
Here’s a couple of tips that will save you some money and keep you out on the water!
Buy in Bulk
When it comes to purchasing baits it is best to buy those that you know you will use the most in bulk. This goes for fishing line as well. You can save a lot of money over the course of the year if you get everything that you think you are going to need before you get to the water. Most of us have our favorite baits and colors because it is what works for us. Spend some time shopping around and you can get some good deals. It’s not fun having to look for something you need when you only have so much time to get the sleep you need so that you can perform to the best of your ability the next day on the water.
Fix It Up
Often skirts on jigs, spinnerbaits, and our buzzbaits can get mangled after a days worth of fishing. One way that you can save a lot of money on these baits is to invest in a skirt making tool like the Naked Bait Company Skirt Expander. The Skirt Expander allows me to build my skirts to my exact specifications a lot cheaper than buying replacement skirts. I’m a lot more confident when I’m fishing a skirt design that I have confidence in than something I find on the shelf that isn’t exactly what I want. The skirt expander also makes it really easy to make slight modifications to stock skirts as well to get an edge. The Skirt Expander is a great investment. I’ve had one for three years now and who knows how many skirts I’ve made with it, probably over a thousand, and it keeps on ticking.
Skip the Convenience Stores and Fast Food
It’s really easy to get a drink or something to snack on when you make the stop to pump some gas on your way to the lake. At these convenience stores you end up spending a lot more for these items than if you make the run to the grocery store the night before you head out. If you spend as much time on the road as I do these little stops can really add up to a lot of money. Make sure you pick up a case of water, a loaf of bread, and some peanut butter and jelly and you’ll be good to go. If you want to add a little variety take some fruit with you in a cooler. Dodging fast food will keep you energized and feeling good.
Invest In Quality
When it comes to making purchases on tackle be sure to invest in quality products whether it be your rods,reels, line,or baits.
When it comes to purchasing rods make sure that you get the best that you can afford. AiRRUS rods has an excellent rod that is right at the $100 dollar mark. It’s the Co-Matrix 457. I fished this rod extremely hard last year in almost all of my tournaments and it did not let me down. I am very hard on equipment because to me it’s nothing but a tool to get the fish in the boat. I frequently boat flipped 4 and 5 pound bass with this rod and it never broke. The cork handle on the rod didn’t show signs of wear and the guides held up to a years worth of abuse of braided line. The value in these rods is incredible because they are well made and they don’t break the bank.
For reels make sure that you get the best that you can afford as well. I’ve had really good luck with the Abu Garcia Revos. Some of them I’ve had for over 4 years now and they still cast and retrieve my baits like the day that I bought them. I’ve thrown some reels that were on the cheap and only got a couple of months of use out of them because I broke the drags, the bearings, one reel I broke the reel seat off.
When it comes to baits make sure that you invest in quality. One of the places that you first start to see break down in lesser baits is the components that they are made with. A lot of baits out there don’t come with the best hooks and they need to be replaced and their paint finishes wear off quickly making them less productive. One of the worst things you can have in a jig is a hook that can’t stand up to abuse. Omega Custom Tackle uses quality components in all their baits. Omega’s baits have quality hooks, skirts, and finishes on the heads. They are also made in the USA.
Map Study
Doing some planing at home on the computer can give you an idea of where to start before you get to the lake. You will know what areas you want to take a look at. You won’t waste time running to areas that don’t have what you are looking for and you will save a lot of gas money. One of the best ways to save money when you go prefishing for a tournament is to trailer your boat to different parts of the lake that you plan on checking out. Let’s face it our tow vehicles get a lot better gas millage than our boats outboards.
There’s an old saying about us when it comes to buying fishing tackle. “Baits are meant to hook fishermen, not fish.” There’s also certain baits that just work so good you can’t keep the paint on them. Whether it’s a chartreuse & black crankbait with a design that only works in clear water, or a jerkbait that’s been choked down a fish’s throat one too many times, I’ve started to experiment with a new way to fix the problem of good lures that are the wrong color, and good lures that are missing paint from errant casts and battles with largemouth.
I spent a little time this winter pulling lures out of my boxes that had never been thrown and would never be thrown. After the dust cleared and I had sold some of them off, I hung onto a couple old jerkbaits, cranks, and topwaters that still had life in em’. After asking around, talking to a couple pros, and spending countless hours starting at pictures of painted baits online, I shipped 4 lures to BB-Lures and 4 lures to Baitwerks.
Rogue painted by www.BaitWerks.com
# 7 Shad Rap by www.BaitWerks.com
What I received in return was amazing…almost too pretty to throw. The first batch I got back from Dwain Batey at BaitWerks.com included 2 old rogues and 2 chartreuse shad raps that somehow found their way into my collection. Following a recommendation from Clark Reehm, I opted to get all four of them painted in Dwain’s ‘Melorite’ pattern. After changing out the stock hooks in favor of a premium, fish sticking set of EWG trebles, these baits were ready for late-winter action. But…the only time I’ve been on the water since they’ve been tied on was at La Cygne Reservoir in East-Central Kansas. With the hot water discharging from the power plant the 58 degree water was a little warm for a jerkbait or tight-wobbling balsa crankbait to be effective. Last Sunday we ended up catching them pitching jigs and plastics to bushes with icicles hanging off of them…1ft of water in the middle of winter!
Kentucky Bluegill pattern by BB-Lures
A Norman DD22, Lucky Craft Gunfish, BDS, and Pointer 100DD got shipped to Bill Barton at BB-Lures. From looking at his pics on Facebook I could tell he paints a nasty bluegill pattern, but I opted for his threadfin and gizzard shad patterns. A deep diving crankbait, topwater, and squarebill won’t see any duty this time of year, but you had better believe the jerkbait pictured here is going to see a few fish this winter!
LC Pointer 100DD and LC Gunfish by BB-Lures
Both of these guys can be found and easily contacted on Facebook or on their own websites…got a pointer that’s the wrong color or a topwater that’s chewed up? I highly suggest you give them a try!
