Last night was event number three for the FAB Tour season. John Haynes and I had prefished last week for a few hours and felt we had a pretty good plan in place to go out and catch a decent bag. We were looking for 12-14 pounds to win the three hour tournament.

As the second boat out, we drove straight to weed flat adjacent to deep water that had produced for us in practice. The weeds were sparse in most places but had a few thick clumps scattered along the edge before it dropped into deeper water. The thicker clumps were our targets and they paid off immediately with five fish in nine or ten casts alowing us to start culling within a half hour of take off. The biggest fish came off a 6" ring worm rigged on a light jig head. John started out throwing a texas rigged creature bait but eventually switched to a flick shake worm. The slower fall seemed to make a difference. 

After the bite slowed on the weed clumps, we moved up into some reeds which often produce on clearwater. Nothing was going on there so we made a move to some slop that we had planed to finish the night on and hopefully upgrade by throwing a frog and some bigger senkos. The frog bite wasnt as good as it was in practice. John had two blow ups but wasnt able to get the hook in either fish. I threw a Tiki Bamboo stick into the holes around the edges and was able to upgrade a couple of our 15" fish with 16" fish.  Not as good of upgrades as we had hoped for but at least the water produced for us.

We ended up bringing 10.9 to the scale. Landing us in second place and earning us a check of $114. A bag of 13.8 took first place. Our big fish weighed in at 2.9 pounds. Just a little shy of the 3.3 fish that took the big bass pot.

It was a good night on the water. Next week is North South Center. We hope to prefish this weekend and do well again out there. Make sure you check back to see how we do.

        

Saturday and Sunday were events two and three for the Gopher Bassmasters season. I managed to draw another boater both days and ended up acting as the non boater for the weekend. I was a little stressed as I looked at all my gear neatly organized in my boat and tried to figure out what to bring with me and what to leave behind. I picked out 6 or 7 rods and a bag of soft plastics and headed for the lake.

Saturday we fished Koronis. I got a good draw fishing with Wayne Lindgren. Wayne had spent a few days prefishing for the tournament and had some good water to go to. He also has a boat that is capable of getting into places other guys might not be able to get to. We started out the day running up a river channel that dumps into the lake. The river dumps out of Rice lake and we spent the majority of our time fishing that lake. The water was very high and very dirty. Many of the docks were under a few inches of water. The first place we tried we found fish schooling and chasing bait. it only took a couple casts and Wayne landed a fish in the 12-13 inch range. He didn't even look at it before tossing it back in the drink. I thought for a second and then commented that I kind of thought that fish was legal. He told me that it wasn't worth the hassle of putting it in the live well because he planned to catch much better fish than that. A few casts later I landed a 12 inch fish, barely a keeper. Wayne told me again that I shouldn't bother. I reluctantly took his advice and tossed the fish back. I then told Wayne of the tournament we fished together last summer where I had done just the same thing and ended the day with only 4 fish. He just laughed.

The schooling fish seemed to be all small so pretty quickly we ran to another spot. As we came down from plane, Wayne started to fill the live wells with water. A confident move that many anglers wont do out of fear of jinxing themselves.
 
The spot was the entrance into a smaller bay. there was a little current flowing through the channel and cattails lined much of the shore. We dropped the trolling motor and started to head towards the channel and threw out a cast. Wayne was instantly hooked into a solid 2 pound large mouth. I cast off the other side of the boat and was greeted by an exact replica of his. Within a few minutes we were in a full on feeding frenzy bite. It was the kind of thing fisherman dream of. We both filled our limits in a matter of 10 or 12 casts and started to cull. If you threw 2 cast in a row with out a bite, something was wrong and we got upset.  We had to flip most of the 2 and 3 pound fish into the boat because the other guy was either too busy fighting a fish or down in the boat taking one off, culling, retying etc. and couldn't help with a net. Wayne was kind enough one time to flip a 2.5 pounder into the side of my head while I was putting a cull tag on one of the fish I had just caught. The wind was off shore so every time we doubled up on fish, we would drift away from the spot and could get straightened out before using the trolling motor to ease back in for the next cast. The bite did eventually slow down but we were able to continue to catch fish by moving and flipping to cover. Wayne was throwing a Senko and I was throwing a Wave Tiki-Bamboo Stick. After a little over an hour, we moved to a row of docks looking for a kicker fish. I managed to upgrade once or twice pitching a hand tied black and blue jig.

I ended the day with 15.5 pounds. Wayne ended up with 14.7 pounds. We finished number one and two on the day. We had a great day to say the least and it was a good win for me coming off a disappointing showing on Alexander the week earlier.

Sunday we fished Green. Green is a big lake at over 5,000 acres of gin clear water. It is known for having monster smallmouths in it and rumor was that they were still on the beds. A 40+ boat tournament fished it the day before so no one was real sure how the fish were going to be situated. 40 boats and 80 anglers can cover some water and beat up fish sitting out on the beds. I was paired with Ryan for the day and we were the last boat out. We ran all the way across the lake to a large flat with scattered rocks and boulders. At first the bite was slow. I managed a small keeper on a popper to get us started. As the sun got higher we were able to start seeing the targets we needed to hit. Many of the larger rocks and boulders had fish bedded up next to them. It often took several cast but the fish would bite and we started to put them in the boat. My next few fish came on a 6" Robo worm rigged on a shakey head. I later changed to a drop shot with a Gulp minnow on it and managed a little better hook up ratio. Ryan was throwing a drop shot that had worked for him in practice. Once we both had a limit we started trading off running the trolling motor every time the man running the motor caught a fish. We just cruised the flat casting to rocks, occasionally stopping to work a fish for a few minutes before moving on. We pretty much caught fish all day this way. I have never caught fish off beds before and it was fun. The wind was blowing moderately hard which made seeing the fish difficult, but when you could, it was exciting to watch them circle around and hit your bait.

Ryan came in with 13.9. Good enough for the win. I ended the day with 12.4 pounds, landing me in 4th. We had another great day on the water.

Two good showings helped my standings for the year. After our Wisconsin tournaments I was sitting in 18th place. I moved up to 5th place with half the season to go now. Hopefully I can take this momentum into the July tournaments and maintain my ranking. I hope to get a few pictures form the weekend. If I do I will post them later.

        

I found this great video of a roboworm rigged on a dropshot. It always helps to be able to visualize your bait in the water. This should really help with that.
I started using Robo Worms for the first time last year. They have since become a real go to bait for me. The 4.5 inch like the one shown here was responsible for taking many smallmouth for me last week. The 6 and 7 inch work great on a shakey head. Enjoy!

        

This past week I fished pretty much 7 days straight. If that sounds rough it kind of was. My hands are torn to shreds my nose is a little sunburned and my left side has a silver dollar sized bruise from setting the hook with my jig rod but I wouldn't rather be doing anything else.

Monday last week I headed up north with my parents to pre fish for the tournament taking place Friday and Saturday. Dad would fish the three practice days with me and grandma was going to watch the baby (Thanks Grandma!). The weather was nice Monday and the fish were turned on. My very first cast, the one you lob out while you are setting your depth finder the way you want it and adjusting your pedestal seat, produced a nice 18.25" smallmouth. He came off a 1/4 ounce football head jig with my own hand tied skirt and hand poured claw trailer. There is nothing better than catching a big fish on tackle you have made yourself. The rest of the day we found fish deep and shallow the sun was out for the most part and the wind wasn't too bad. That really changed over the next two days however.
Tuesday the bite had slowed but we still managed to catch fish deep including a 19.5 inch smallie pictured below. She came on a drop shot using a 4" Robo worm in 20 feet of water. We hit the WPT button and moved on to find similar water. Wed it turned really bad. water temps had dropped back to the upper 50's and the wind and rain were pouring it on. We ended up only fishing about 2 hours before we got off the water. The lightning is what really forced us off along with many of the other guys that were out trying to get a little practice in.
Thursday was an off limits day so my dad and I headed to a little no name lake near where we were staying to straighten the lines on my spinning rods and just spend a little time in the boat not getting blown around. Of course it was calm and sunny that morning. After a couple hours of not catching anything, we headed into Little Falls and played tourist. There is lots to see and do in this central Minnesota town including Charles Lindbergh's Childhood home and a fishing museum loaded with old fishing paraphernalia.

Friday I fished with a member of my bass club Chong Vang. The wind was brutal and made it tough to fish the mid lake structure. We both caught limits but we did have to work for them. I hit many of the spots I had found in practice and was able to pull two good smallies into the boat (2 pounds plus) off a mid lake hump. One took a grub the other a dropshot and Robo Worm. Large mouth filled out my other three fish for a total weight of 9.94. That put me in twelfth place after day one just .01 from the eleventh place angler. Everyone caught limits and the weights were all close. One big fish on the second day could mean a trip to Lake St Claire. 

As it turned out I didn't get that one big fish I needed. I had a limit the second day in under two hours but was never able to upgrade by more than a few ounces. I finished in 18th place with 18.6 pounds for two days. the cut for St Claire was at 19.5 and it took 22.5 for the win. All in all I had a good time fishing the tournament. I felt it was run pretty well and look forward to fishing with the TBF again next year. I really look forward to fishing Alexander again. It is a great lake with big Smallies, Largemouth and Muskies. Below are a few shots from the past week.

                    
  

        

I will be heading out tomorrow morning for the week to prefish for and compete in the TBF state tournament on Alexander south west of brainerd. I wont be able to post any updates from up there since I am staying at a cabin with out internet access. I will make sure I let you all know how it goes as soon as I get back.
I do anticipate the tournament going well. I have been on the lake a couple times before and the fishing can be outstanding. The lake has both Largemouth and Smallmouth in it along with plenty of structure that should hold fish. We will see tomorrow how far the spawn has progressed. Other lakes I have been on so far this year do not seem to have warmed to a point were fish are done spawning. Maybe I will be marking a few "Big Mamas" on beds with the GPS and going back to them.

You can check out my entire tournament schedule on the tournament page of my site.

Welcome to a new subscriber this past week!

        

Last night was the first event of the FAB Tour season. We were out on Sylvia & Twin lakes by South haven. Conditions were not ideal as a cold front moved in. 80 degrees over the weekend changed to 59 on the truck thermometer when we put the boat in the water. Water temps were at 63-64, up slightly from practice. We started on some deep water docks that had fish in practice. Since it was overcast I wasnt real confident the fish would be there but figured we could try and if nothing happened we could move out to the break from there. That plan paid off pretty well. With in 45 minutes we had 2 small fish in the live well and a better fish (over 2 pounds) sitting alone in the other live well. The better fish came off a point in about 18 feet of water. I was throwing a drop shot with a watermelon red Zoom Meathead worm on it. After catching a few smaller fish we tried to replicate the pattern in a couple other spots. All we could come up with was small fish.
We headed to a flat that sits in 6-8 feet of water and has scattered weeds on it. It also had held fish in practice. Dave started throwing a white swim jig and reeling it back steady over the weed tops. He caught three or four fish on consecutive casts before I finally dropped my drop shot and picked up a grub. We drifted over the flat and put two more small fish in the box to round out our limit. We then headed back to deep water points hoping to cull a couple 12.5 inchers we had with a kicker fish. Then it got slow. We could get the occasional small fish but nothing that would help us. We tried moving back up to see if the fish had moved up to feed, still nothing. With about 15 minutes to spare I managed a 13.5” fish on the drop shot to cull one of our small guys. With 3 minutes to spare Dave pulled in another 13.5” on a mojo rigged ring fry. We were satisfied with our night out but not real confident in how it was going to hold up.
We ended up with 6.51 pounds and a dead fish for 6.26. Only good enough for 4^th place. 10 pounds even won the night. 2.9 pounds won big fish.

Sylvia & Twin are fun lakes to fish. The water is crystal clear and there are lots of fish. I wouldn’t recommend it if you are lunker hunting as big fish are harder to come by. A sign at the ramp says the lakes are being considered for special regulations next year. All bass 20 inches or less immediate release and a five fish panfish limit. If you like to keep fish, or would like to hold a small tournament, you may want to get out there this summer before the regs change.

        

I recently did an interview with John Haynes for a podcast for Fishing in the Midwest. The interview is also available on iTunes for those of you who would like to subscribe to the series. In the interview we talked about finesse fishing. I also bring up the drop shot. I received some inquiries for more details on the drop shot so I thought I would post this internet article I found on how to tie the drop shot.

Drop Shot Rigging

By Dennis States

Once in a while a new technique of fishing comes along that is so easy and so successful that it gains great popularity in a very short time. The drop shot, or down shot rig, has become one of those techniques.
   While I was at the Texas Fishing and Outdoor Show in Mesquite representing Pure Fishing, I did a number of seminars on the bass tub. It didn't take me long to figure out that this technique was one of the spectator's main interests. The bass in the tank also had a big interest in the drop shot rig.
   From past experiences I knew these bass-tub bass could be very finicky about hitting a bait for the first day or two of the show. So, I went right to the drop shot rig. It was a big success with both the audience and the bass. This way of fishing is not necessarily one of the best ways of becoming the next state record holder, but what it can accomplish is five good bites on those tournament days when there isn't a much of a bite to be had on the whole lake. In other words when fishing is tough.
   The best knot that I have found to use on the down shot rig is the old standby Palomar knot. After several years of working with my guide customers on their knot tying skills, I have found that the palomar knot is the simplest and quickest knot to tie correctly for most all applications.
   Figure 1 shows the starting loop for a Palomar knot. Be sure to make the loop long enough so that the tag end of your finished knot is long enough to attach the Owner down shot sinker 12 to 36 inches down from the hook. Notice how the loop is started from the inside shank of the hook. This keeps the hook facing up- right when you're finished.
   Figure 2 shows a simple overhand knot, creating a loop larger than the bait you are tying on. Notice the angle of the eye on this hook. This is a special new creation from Owner Hooks. It is designed to give the hook more horizontal lift.
   Figure 3 shows passing the loop down over the hook. It's important to hold the eye of the hook with your thumb and finger and very carefully pull the slack out of the knot. You can help the line tighten on the eye by wetting the line and "feeling" the line into place.
   Figure 4 shows the final step for tying the hook on. Take the end of the tag line and go back up the line and run it down through the eye of the hook. This again has to be done from the inside of the shank. This will help support the hook so it will stand out at a 90-degree angle from the line.
   Figure 5 shows the completed rig using the Owner down shot offset hook. This is a weedless way of fishing the down shot rig. For most weedy lakes and for shallow-water casting, I recommend this way of rigging. Notice the cone shaped weight on the end of the line. This is another new design from Owner Hooks. This is not a regular casting sinker. It has a line receiving eye that makes it easy to attach and to change weight size as needed. The bell bottom is extra large so it drags harder than a regular weight, allowing you to use a lighter weight and still keep in touch with your bait. These weights are new on the market so you may have to ask your favorite tackle shop to order them.
   Figure 6 shows the original drop shot rig using a straight shank hook. This nose-hooked system works well in open water. You can add as many hooks as you can handle. If you are fishing it straight down like I do on Lake Fork during late fall and early winter, it becomes a fish-catching technique, but not just for bass. I have caught bass, catfish, crappie and brim all in the same spot.
   I recommend all first-time users to practice the tying of this rig at home. If it is not set up correctly you are not likely to get the results that you want.
   You might want to make a copy of the knot tying instructions for on-the-water reference.
   As far as line requirements go, a light low visibility line is recommended. How light is up to the individual and by the body of water you are fishing. To me 12-pound test is light, 10-pound is real light. For my standard drop shot rig I use 14-pound Berkley Vanish. It has a hard finish that helps to hold the hook at the correct angle, and it has extremely low visibility.
   If you are doing a lot of casting with a drop shot rig you might want to put a small swivel about 12 to 18 inches above your hook. If you experience a lot of line twisting in the first hour or two, that is a real good indication that you are fishing it too fast. You should spend more time "shaking" this rig with your rod tip than retrieving it. Keep in mind that the intent of this technique was a light-line, controlled depth and finesse presentation by keeping the bait in the same place for an extended period of time.
   As far as what baits work the best, that is like a lot of other fishing techniques. Whatever you have the most confidence in is going to work the best for you. Just remember to keep it small so that a light shaking action or current will keep it moving.

        

Went out yesterday with a fishing buddy and enjoyed the beginning of the summer season. It was warm and sunny almost all day. Water was still a little cold (58) when we launched but, it warmed into the low 60s as the day progressed. Fishing was slow at first but we figured them out eventually and had a great day. We had set a goal of 15 pound of Largemouths and 15 pounds of Smallies. We didn't quite make our goal but came darn close.

Largemouth totals were anchored by three fish over 3 pounds and a couple 2 pounders for 14 pounds.
The Smallmouth total was probably between 11 to 12 pounds with two fish over 3 pounds anchoring the bag.

You have to love the fun that takes place when a big fish hits a bait that wasn't meant to land him. That was the case with a nice muskie that hit a texas rigged soft plastic and proceeded to make several runs after seeing the boat. He also managed to get tangled in the trolling motor during one of those runs but with a little team work and a couple attempts we managed to get him in the boat.
Here are a few pics of the day.



All and all a nice mixed bag for a day on the water.

Sport

        

I went out last night around 5:00 to get a few hours of fishing in on a lake just west of the metro. Conditions were great. Sunshine, warm and gentle winds. The water was clear with 8 foot or more of visibility. Perfect for looking at fish and trying to catch them. Water temps have finally started to come up. Most of the lake was hovering around 60-61 degrees.

Small fish were roaming the shallows near the launch as we pulled away from the dock. I had never been on the lake but it was rumored to be good. After looking at the map we decided to start on a shallow flat on the south end of the lake and look around. More small fish were cruising the shallows. We caught several 10" fish on a ring fry rigged weightless and a jig. While casting to a dock in 3 feet of water, we were shocked to see a loon come firing out of the shallows chasing a school of fish. He stopped as he drove his bill into the soft bottom just feet from the boat. He popped to the surface with his catch displayed for a moment and then tilted his head back and swallowed the small bass. Then he proudly swam off as to say "thats how you catch em boys".

After retrieving my lure from the dock (I got a little distracted during the commotion) we moved a little further out and tried some weeds in 6-7 feet of water. Weed growth is still behind schedule and finding thicker weeds seems to help bunch up the fish. I made a long cast to a shiny spot I could see a long way off. Within a few moments I was hooked into a little better fish. He was a 14" buck, most likely sitting on a bed.

Another boat was working our way so we fired the big motor and moved to a row of docks adjacent to deep water. I switched to a grub and started swimming it around the docks. It was working well but not the quality of fish I was looking for. My partner continued to wear them out on his jig, but also smaller fish.

We worked around the lake and hit several more spots before the sun went down. We never found the big ones but managed to land a fish on almost everything we threw. Our largest fish was right around 15". A football of a fish that looked to me to be ready to spawn. As we pulled the boat out of the water 7 or 8 boats were measuring fish. It was a small multi species tournament. The biggest fish brought in was a 17" bass. The majority of the bass brought in were between 12" and 14". 
I will be back on the lake next week. Hopefully we can find a few more of the big females.

        

I was in the boat the other day getting ready for a day on the lake. Like many fisherman I keep a few basic tools laying around in the bottom of my boat for quick and easy access. I was disappointed to find my needle nose pliers used for hook removal completely rusted up. I had to grab the handles with both hands and yank to get the jaws open. I went to the work bench and looked for some trusty WD30. It was no where to be found. I did have some rubbing alcohol there so I figured I would give that a try. It worked like a charm! Alcohol is a great solvent and in a matter of moments the rust was dissolved and cleaned out of the hinge. Good as new.

Looking to clean up some tools in you tackle box this season, give this tip a try.