May 27th Cedar Lake

So if you are catching fish real good on a Lake do you go back. OF COURSE !! you never know if the Fat Girls will get picky. So Jack Harper decided he would go back again. Since we didn't have to hold back any with no tourney very soon. We got an early start to try some top water and that bite wasn't very productive. We began trying to duplicate the pattern from 2 days before and had some luck. Jack and I were able to catch 5 fish that hit the X-Tool scale at 22lbs 6 oz. with 60-70 fish caught all day. These fish again were caught on Slong's Fishing Lures Jigs, crank baits and Carolina rigs using Powell Rods Max and Endurance Series.

Cedar back on FIRE !!

Went back to Cedar Lake on May 24th, and of course the bite was on again, 2 days after tourney. GO FIGURE !!. I was able to catch 6 over 18in for a 5 fish total of 21 lbs 14 oz. and again I was by myself. and did take pics. I did do something this day I was throwing a crank bait on 1 new spot and caught a 5lb 1oz and a 3lb 13 oz on the same crank bait at the same time. I have caught doubles before, but they are usually little fish. Another great day on CEDAR !

A day to remember

   I tried to get about 5-6 different people to go to Cedar Lake with me on Monday May 16th, 2011. I had the most incredible day of fishing I have had by myself. I was able to catch 10 Bass over 18in in length. I weighed them on a X-tools scales. My 5 biggest Bass weighed 25 lbs 10oz. my 10 biggest weighed 45 lbs 2oz. These scales are not certified, but have been real close with weighing fish with the FLW Outdoors scales on several occasions. I did take pics of 9 of the fish and put them in a small album.
   Jack Harper and I went back to Cedar on May 19th, to check a couple of places. We were able to catch about 2-3 good over 18in fish, but didn't beat up on those places because of an upcoming tourney.
   I had a team tourney with my Cedar Lake Partner Darrell Calhoun on May 22. of course the fish didn't co- operate and we didn't adjust to the little move the fish may and only weighed in 6.43lbs. in The Ultimate Bass Fishing Challenge Fishing Circuit. I was using Powell Rods Max and Endurance series rods to throw crank baits, Carolina rigs and Slong's Fishing Lures jigs.

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May 14th BFL Kenlake Marina

Practice for this tourney went pretty good with my buddy Joel. For the tourney with threat of strong winds, I knew it could be tough for me. The wind blew pretty stout out of the north for some good 6-8 ft waves, maybe even bigger at times. I put 1 keeper in the boat for some good points. I did lose 2 more keepers, got a little excited on 1 and horsed it to the net a little. Not a good thing to do. I do sit currently 23rd in the points and do have a break until September from the BFLs. My partner joel and I will be fishing some team events on KY Lake. I may even throw in a couple on Cedar Lake.

Enough rain already !!

What in the world are people going to do. There is so much water around here that I have been looking for Noah and his Ark just anytime. Roads are closing, people are having to move out of there homes. Just was told that Golconda ,IL will be closing the flood gates. This means no way in or out of that town. There is a road south , but i believe the water is over that 1 too. So let's just hope and pray that this doesn't last too long.

I did get a little fishing in this weekend fished a 2 day club tourney on Cedar Lake. I didn't have much luck with the large mouth. But did have a good time. There was some good fish caught.The only Big Fish I caught was this 31.25 inch 16lb 6oz Striper.(weighed it on a X-Tool scale) I actually snagged the beast with a crankbait on 12lb flourocarbon line using a Powell Max series 703 cb glass rod. Fought it for what seemed like forever but probably only 4-5 minutes. Of course it got wrapped up in the trolling motor, then my outboard. I chased it around my jon boat about 3 times before we both got to tired to fight anymore. I finally got the net over its head and put it in the boat.

April's Fishing

   Let's do a little catching up,  fished a LBL Div. BFL on April 16th. I drew a man from Ohio, a Retired Army Major and Vietnam Vet. It was a real honor to fish with him. For those of you who don't know, I am a Army/Desert Storm Vet. He told me he is 72 years old, and for 6 months during the war he was blind and completely paralyzed. He had jumped out of a helicopter into a hot landing zone. When his squad hit the ground they landed in a un-marked mine field. He was the only survivor. A true HERO !! I did catch 2 fish this day for some good points. It moved me up to 25th place in the standings. The wind did howl from the SSW with gust up to 30-35 mph.  CONGRATS TO MY BUDDY AND FISHING PARTNER JOEL TROVILLION on his 1st place BFL finish with 18lbs 3oz.

   On April 23rd, my partner Joel and I fished the 23rd Jet A Marina Classic on Ky Lake out of Ky Dam Marina. There was 312 boats in the field. Joel and I were able to catch 20lbs 14oz, good enough for 4th place and $1250. We caught our fish on crankbaits using POWELL Endurance and Max Series rods.

 

Vacation is Over !!

I took a little time off from work in the end of March to fish a couple of FLW Outdoors events. The first was a LBL Div. BFL on March 26th, in which I drew a boater partner that i have fished with last year. And again had a good time fishing with Mike McAtee. I was able to catch a couple of keepers for some good points that has moved me into the top 40 in standings so far towards qualifying for the regional. We went to Lake Barkley to fish this event. The event took off out of the Ky Dam Marina. We concentrated mostly on main lake points. I would like to again say " Congrats!!" to my buddy Duke Jenkel for winning this event. Oh and "thanks again Duke !!" for the Steak dinner.(rode rules did apply)
I also fished the 2nd stop of the FLW Everstart series on Ky Lake on March 31, April 1st & 2nd at Moors Marina. My 1st day partner I drew FLW Pro Roy Hawk a great person and angler. We ran to Barkley Lake and also concentrated mostly on main lake points. I did manage to catch 3 solid keepers for 7lbs 13oz that put me in 24th place after day 1.
Day 2, I drew Brian Hensley from Michigan. Brian was another incredible draw. Brian told me he wasn't on much of a pattern, but did his best to try and get us on some fish. We concentrated mostly on secondary points on Barkley Lake and I did manage to catch 1 keeper for 2lbs 6 oz for a 2 day total of 10lbs 3 oz and good enough for 36th place and $476. I mostly threw crankbaits, but also threw Slong's fishing lures jigs and spinnerbaits to catch fish during these tournaments. I was using Powell Rods Max Series and Endurance Series Rods. "Congrats" to Harold Buchmeier on his 20th place finish in the Everstart.



6lb 8oz caught in practice for Everstart

  

Let's catch up a little...

Since my last Blog, I have been on Ky Lake and Little Grassey. Little Grassey has been a tough lake for me in the past and the last couple of trips were not any better. Just couldn't put anything together .
 Did get to go to Ky Lake this week and ended up deciding to fish the Murray Kentucky Rotary Charity Bass Fishing Tournament. My partner Joel and I ended up finishing 4th place with 21lb 7oz.

The Tournaments have started for 2011

The first Bfl for the LBL div was on March 5th. I did get to do some pre-fishing with my buddy Joel before the tourney. We had pretty good  practice days and did manage to figure a pattern out for the tourney. The day of the BFL, I drew a boater partner from Indiana. He had just gotten his boat back from the factory the day before and hadn't got a lot of practice in. With the wind changing directions from the south to the north and the rain and wind gusts, the waves got to be around 6-8 ft. tall. My Boater didn,t have any electronics working on the front of his boat, only the trolling motor. I did manage to catch 1 keeper and get some points to start the year. I finished 61st out of 122 co-anglers.  I was throwing jerkbaits and crankbaits on Powell Rods Max series 703 cb glass and 703 c rods

Cedar Lake 2/16/11

FINALLY, after about 5 weeks of not getting on the water, I made it out today. Jack Harper and I went to Cedar Lake. With mostly clear skies, SSW winds up to 20 mph and water temps around 39 degrees, the Fat Girls eluded us. Jack did catch a 4lb 14 oz fat girl and we were able to boat about 9 other slot/under fish for the day. I did figure out how to catch fish on an old school Smithwick Rogue and playing with some suspend strips/dots.

More H2O

Diamondback Snakeskin





Deer Skull Camo



more H2O Imaging






Imagine Country Havoc Camo



 These are pictures of 2 of the older Shimano Curado Reels that I just got back from H2O Imaging.





H2O Hickory Camo



More H2O Imaging

                                                                                

H2O Predator Camo



 The Predator Camo is on a Shimano Castaic that I will be using on a Powell Rods Max 766 Heavy Flippin Stick. This rod is 7' 6" long and 6 power.And the Carbon Fiber is on an Abu Garcia Revo S that I will be using on a Powell Rods Endurance Series 775 Med-Heavy Flippin Stick. This rod is 7' 7" long and 5 power. I will have a few more reels that will be getting done by H2O Imaging.







H2O Carbon Fiber pattern



Ky Lake 1/6/11

Joel and I took our first trip to Ky Lake for 2011. We decided on the way down that we would scout out some more spots in a area of the Lake that we have fished the most. We didn't catch alot of fish only  2 keepers and a few shorties, but 1 of them was an 8lber caught by Joel. This fish was 21 inches long, probably the fattest 21 inch fish I have ever saw. It was a blue bird day to start with clouds moving in. A wind of about 15-20 WNW. Water temp in the mid 40s. We used Powell Rods Max series 703c and 703cb glass rods with 8lb to 12 lb Fluorocarbon line to throw our jerk baits.

Joel's 8lber

2010 in the books, 2011 fishing has begun..

I usually get out on New Year's Day and go fishing. It was something I started doing about 5 years ago, but this year I worked a double shift on New Year's Eve and had to be back at work at 3pm on New Year's Day. I have had the last few days off and did manage to get some fishing in.
  On Jan. 2, 11. My Cedar Lake partner and I fished The Ultimate Bass Fishing Challenge, Cedar Lake Winter Div. tourney. We chose to stay in the northern end of the Lake and fish the "gin clear" water. We were only able to catch  3 under fish and a couple of  slot fish. The water temp was around 38-39 degrees, with blue bird skies and north wind.
  Jan 3, 11. I took a little trip to Little Grassey Lake to try my luck. My luck wasn't with me. Blue bird skies, a south wind and 39 degree water temps, and water clarity at least 6-7 ft. I spent approx 4 hours fishing points, weedlines and lay-downs without a bite. I never do have much luck on this lake this early in the year. Especially with blue bird skies.
  Jan 4, 11. Jack Harper and I went to Cedar Lake for are 1st trip together for the New Year. We started in the Southern part of the Lake and were able to boat 3 slot fish and 2 shorties. The water down in the Southern part of Cedar has more of a green tint to it and visibility is aprrox. 2-3 ft. Water temp was 38-39 degrees,with blue bird skies and a north wind.
  Jan 5th, 11. I went back to Cedar Lake to try a little different things with my jerk bait fishing. I have always heard of people weighting their jerk baits. So today, I took my suspend strips out of the package and worked with different baits. I tried many different lengths of  the strips on everything from a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 to a Megabass 110. I am going to have to get some of the dots, it will be easier to remember how many dots, rather than how long the strip was. Still not to sure about the weighted jerk bait, goin to have to work with it alot more to get my confidence with that technique. I did only catch 1 short fish today in my 4 hour trip. It was finally cloudy today, water temp still in the 38-39 range and there is a bunch of shad dying out and the birds are enjoying the buffet. I am throwing these baits on Powell Rods Max 703 & 703cb glass rods with 12lb & 8 lb flourocarbom line
  I have 1 more day off this week, my buddy Joel and I are taking a trip to Kentucky Lake to see what we can catch.

H2O Imaging on a REVO S

H2O imaging has putting a type of protective film on bows, weapons and vehicle parts since 2006. I contacted Jon Bray, the owner of H2O Imaging to see what he could do with my reel that had gotten a little scratched up. Being a Co-angler can take its toll on your equipment moving it from boat to truck to boat etc. I asked Jon if the side plates on the reel was to small for him to do. Jon told me that he had done wedding rings and even ear rings. So, I took the Revo apart, I mean I broke it completely down and gave the side plates to H2O. While they had those I clean the reel and even sanded down the frame and sprayed it Black. I checked with Steve, a friend of mine who has been in the auto body business for over 20 years. He said that the Krylon Fusion spray paint that you can buy at Wal-Mart would work as good as any for what I was doing. If you would like to check H2O Imaging you can go to their website at http://www.h2oimaging.com/. I have sent a couple more reels for them to redo. So check back for photos