Rattletrap Ramblings

What can I say, fishing is a tough game to figure out. I fished the Bassmaster Weekend Series on the Harris Chain and squeaked out a check with 12 pounds.

In 2 days of practice, I caught one fish and had no clue what to do going into the tournament. The water temperature was in the high 50’s on the main lake but in the 60’s in a canal I checked out.  I found a 3 pounder on bed the last few hours of practice and figured I’ll go there and pick that joker off so I don’t get a big fat zero.

I go to that fish first thing in the morning and it wasn’t there. I look around the corner and there’s a 6 pounder on bed with a buck. I told my co angler Dana Foster that it won’t take long to pick these fish off and after 5-10 minutes they were in the livewell.

Dana was a great fishing partner and we had a good time just being out on the water. He caught a fish on a trick worm with a 1/16 ounce Spiderhead worm hook made by a company called Slider so I asked him if I could get one. I tied one on and caught a nice 4 pounder a few casts later.

The tournament director forgot to get exemptions so I already had a fish over 22″ and the other fish were gonna take quite a bit of time to coax so we did some running and gunning. We hit 2 spots and told my co angler that either you or I are going to catch a fish in one of these spots as we idled out of the canal we were fishing. Well, my co angler pulls in a nice 3 pounder with a rattletrap and I got nothing.

I think I could’ve gotten one of those other ones I was looking at to bite but it could’ve taken a few hours. I may not have gotten them at all. There’s always some second guessing about these things but all in all it was a fun day on the lake.

One of the cool things about fishing these tournaments is that you meet so many cool people that’s as crazy about bass as you are and it was like being out on the water with a friend just enjoying a day on the lake.

I just don’t get it. I have a good practice and do bad in a tournament. I have a bad practice and do good in a tournament. It shouldn’t be this and I gotta figure out how to make the two correlate.

First of all, I have to say watching the Classic being a trap contest made watching it that much more disheartening that I missed making that event by .22 of a pound. I don’t think I would’ve zero’d and it would’ve played into my strength as an angler. I keep telling myself things happen for a reason, but who knows.

I just got back from the Big O with another disappointing tournament at the FLW All American. I guess I’m on one of those bad runs.  It’s one of those when you start questioning whether or not you’re cut out for this line of work. That’s twice now that I got my butt kicked by the Big O. I had another great practice in warm weather and the weather ruined my spots. I failed to make the adjustment when I needed to.

I could’ve caught 20 pounds without even trying in practice, but couldn’t fish those areas during the tournament because of the winds. It was gusting 26 mph the first day and all my spots had 3 foot rollers with white caps in 2 feet of water. I tried fishing those spots anyway and the battery died on my trolling motor battery by 11 am from fighting those winds.

The wind were still howling at the beginning of day 2 but died down to nothing by about noon. I stayed with my spots but only managed a 3 pounder.

In retrospect, I should’ve found spots that were going to be out of the wind but it’s hard enough finding fish much less trying to find them in places that’ll be out of the wind in a couple of days.

On the way back home, I decided to test out my theory. I was driving by Harney Canal on the way home and checked out an area that’s been protected by the North winds that were blowing during the tournament. I had a hunch to go there during the tournament but never made it over there.

Well, I caught 10 pounds in an hour with 3 fish punching matt in that area. I know what to do and didn’t adjust. Maybe I just got lucky and caught these fish but I think there’s a pattern there.

I should’ve gotten out of the wind and abandoned my best areas but it’s awful hard to do when you saw so many big fish at the end of your line in practice. When the wind finally died down, I could still see the big fish in my best areas just cruising but they wouldn’t bite.

I guess I need to start factoring in the forecasted wind during practice but the weather man isn’t always right. Perhaps a day or two before the tournament is the best time to start factoring in wind and temperature.

I’ll have to put this theory to the test this weekend. I have a Bassmaster Weekend Series event on Harris this weekend so we’ll see if this is the way to go.

I’m currently down here in Clewiston practicing for the FLW All American on the Big O and practice has been phenomenal. The weather’s been warm and fish are moving shallow in droves.

I’ve had practice like this before and I could’ve caught over 20 pounds without even trying too hard today. The only problem is that the temperature is supposed to drop and the wind’s supposed to change directions the day of the tournament.

I hope my fish hold up through the change. We’ll see.

I’m already in over a grand and better at least break even after all this work. I’ve got a game plan and it better work out or I’m gonna be really disappointed.

I’ll report back shortly hopefully with good news.

I honestly can’t wait until I can get my hands on the soon to be released Kistler Z Bone. These rods will be offered in a ST model which utilizes an IM (intermediate modulus) blank and in a LE model with a HM (high modulus) blank both built by the legendary Gary Loomis at his newly formed North Fork Composites blank factory. Each Z Bone will be custom built to order and will also offer the option of adding the Fuji Micro K Guides which promises to solve the problem of the line wrapping around the guides as you commonly see with braided line.

These rods should be available for order around Q2 of 2010 and I can’t wait to get my hands on one. I love the new LE handle kit with EVA grips and the weighting system that lets you balance the rod to your liking. Kistler rods are already light and sensitive and can’t imagine how much better the Z Bone will be.

Ever heard the saying, the classics never go out of style? The Smithwick Devil’s Horse and the Cotton Cordell Boy Howdy are two lures that have been around forever and still catches fish today. Just about every serious bass fisherman owns a few and they’re outright deadly around lakes in central Florida especially with some hydrilla around.

Both the Devil’s Horse and Boy Howdy have been around since the 1950’s and look nearly identical at first glance, but there are some stark differences.

The Devil’s Horse is a wooden bait while the Boy Howdy is made of plastic. Some argue that wood baits have a subtle action that can’t be duplicated and others argue that it’s nonsense. Some like the added durability and castability of plastic lures over wood.

The two baits also differ in that the Devil’s Horse sits level on the water while the Boy Howdy sits more at an angle with the tail end sitting slightly further down in the water column. It’s just like the difference between a Zara Spook and a Sammy. Some argue that the lure must sit level while others say you miss less fish with the tail end slightly further down. Personally, I miss topwater fish all the time so I can’t tell the difference. What I can say is that topwater lures with the tail end slightly down has more of a finesse action.

I know tons of people who swears by the Horse, while others claim the same thing about the Boy Howdy. I can’t decide which is better and take the safe route and always have both in the boat. I might have a slight preference for the Boy Howdy when it’s dead still calm, but both baits catch fish anytime anywhere.

My favorite color for the Horse is chrome with black back and orange belly and gold and black for the Boy Howdy.

Having said that, both the Horse and Boy Howdy comes with awful hooks that has to be replaced. You also need to add a split ring to the Horse. My favorite hooks for these baits is a #4 Owner Stinger.

The beauty of these baits is that you get some crazy visual strikes and there’s virtually no bad way to fish them. I like to throw them on my 6′9″ medium heavy Kistler Helium LTA on 17 lb Gamma Copolymer.

I like to fish these baits slow. It’s supposed to imitate an injured minnow, so I like to make it look like it’s hobbling around… not moving all over the place like something lively. I’ll cast it out and give a slight twitch when it lands. I’ll wait for all the rings in the water to disappear before I give it another couple twitches. I’ve had days when I’d have to let it sit there for about 20-30 seconds. Most of the strikes will occur when you try to move the bait after it’s been sittin a while. I believe most people work the bait too fast, but that’s just me. Like I said, these baits are idiot proof.

I like to throw it in small open pockets of kissimmee grass and around hydrilla. Once you start getting bit on these baits, it’s hard to do anything else it’s so much fun.

Both baits have withstood the tests of time and will continue to catch fish for many years to come. I believe this battle ends in a stand still cause they’re both fish catching machines.

Maybe I am living in the right place. I’ve got the Harris Chain which offers some of the best flippin water around the corner, the Kissimmee Chain which is the quintessential grass lake, and the Butler Chain which offers deep clear water where fish like to eat on ledges.

Sometimes you see things in your day to day that make you wonder. I noticed this Hojin St. sign driving back from Mt. Plymouth last night. What are the chances of a Hojin St. being where you live. I’ve never run into anyone with the same name around here much less seen a street with the same name.

It’s a peculiar world.

If you read my last post, you’d know I was pretty excited about the Xtreme Tournament on the Harris Chain yesterday. I had numerous 8 pounders locked on bed and an area where I caught 20+ pounds on Friday shaking most of the fish off. I mean the ones I hooked were huge with the smallest being 3 pounds.

I was so excited, I had to get a few drinks in me so I could fall asleep with delusions of grandeur.

Saturday rolled around and everything changed.

I went to my bedding area first and the bedding fish were in a different mood. What was once a lock turned into a struggle of wills. They would pick up my worm and take it out of the bed on Friday, but on Saturday they’d spook off as soon as I clicked my reel.

After about an hour of this, my partner and I went to Griffin where we caught all those fish the day before and there were 3 foot rollers on top of a spot that only had 2 feet of water.  The fish were still biting although you could barely stand in the boat and we had about 9 pounds before we decided to head back and if it wasn’t for my Kistler rods, I would’ve never known I had a fish.

We decide to go to the bedding fish again but they were still spooky and never caught any of the big ones we were looking at. It’s one of those cases where the fish won, but they better watch out. I only wonder what could’ve been if there wasn’t 40 mph winds and a drop in water temperature by 2 degrees. I guess that’s why they call it fishing.

Once again, a perfect practice turned into a meager day of fishing come tournament time. I can’t think of any adjustments that I could’ve made to salvage the day so I’m dumbfounded at the moment.

Everyone that did well in the tournament focused on bedding fish and it took over 25 pounds to win. I guess I should’ve gone to some other bedding areas to see if those fish would bite. The only problem was there were 6 foot rollers I’d have to battle to get there and that didn’t seem like a good idea at the time.

Oh yeah, did I mention a boat capsized during the tournament? I don’t know if I would’ve capsized but it would’ve been a bumpy ride.

I went out to pre fish for the Xtreme Tournament on Harris today and it was on like Donkey Kong today. I caught over 20 pounds by 10 am and saw some giant fish locked on beds. I get so excited when I throw something onto a bed and they start lighting up. Those puppies are locked on and some of them are huge.

I probably shook of most of the fish that bit but hooked a few to see what size they were and the smallest I saw today was 2.5 to 3 pounds. It’s usually not this good on the Harris Chain but I hope it’ll hold out for another 12 hours. If it does, I’m worried about the 22″ rule since the Xtreme doesn’t give exemptions.

I couldn’t have asked for a better day of practice and now it’s time to bring it. I’m gonna have a tough time sleeping with images of the giants sitting on bed I saw today rolling around in my head.

I’ve been using this knot with mono for my spinnerbaits for years. I guess this knot is good for braid as well according to this episode of Knot Wars. Instead of doing 8 twists in the Berkley Braid Knot, I’ve been doing 4 twists with mono for my spinnerbaits. It’s been one of my favorite knots and will have to experiment with braid in the near future.

OK, I’ve just fished 4 days in a row and I still feel like I want to go again today with it raining outside. If that doesn’t sound like a fish junkie then I don’t know what is. Reality is it’s time to make the donuts so I can afford to go again.

I fished the BWS and the ABA 150 out of Camp Mack this weekend and almost won enough money to break even on the entry fees but factor in gas, food, and lodging and you’re in the hole.

I practiced Thursday and Friday and should’ve been looking for beds the majority of the time. The winner of the BWS tournament had 35 pounds and caught two 9’s off a bed somewhere in the south end of Lake Kissimmee. I sure wish I knew where.

I myself concentrated on 3 areas for the tournament which included Seven Palms, Overstreet, and the School Bus area. They all had bedding fish but it was so windy during practice days that I mostly threw a search bait in practice and during the tournament. Lake Kissimmee is fishing so good right now that you can literally catch 50 fish in any descent area of the lake. Most of the time that’s a good thing, but most of the fish will be small. That’s what I did during the BWS tournament, caught lots of small fish which started getting aggravating after 11 o’clock. I should’ve just started looking for beds at that point, but I just kept on chunking for a whopping 6 or 7 pounds.

I believe the thing to do is find one of those areas in the shallows and then find a protected cove or protected pocket where the wind’s not hammering it and look for bedding fish. Almost everyone that made a check fished around bedding fish and caught a fish off a bed.

My next tournament will be the Xtreme on the Harris Chain and I am gonna spend an entire day just looking for beds. As long as a cold front doesn’t come in, then they will be there because it’s dang close to a full moon and the water temps will be in the mid to high sixties.

I fished the ABA 150 tournament on Sunday and made a little adjustment. My partner and I got a limit by 9 o’clock at my spot on Overstreet and started looking and found a bed with a 3 pounder and a 9.5 pounder.

By the time 11 o’clock rolled around, we decided to run to Seven Palms to look for bedding fish. I turn the key on my engine and it wouldn’t start. It turns out my partner kept the livewell on constant to make sure the big fish survived and it killed my battery.

We troll over to the dock at the Overstreet ramp and borrow jumper cables, a battery, and all sorts of wrenches for a few hours of adventure. We try to jump cranking battery off my trolling motor battery but it was too run down to give enough juice to start. We then switch the trolling motor battery and the cranking battery and it was still too low to start. Finally, someone actually had a spare battery that had plenty of juice, so we switched back the trolling motor battery and the cranking battery and jumped it again. Thank God it finally started. By that time we had a dozen people watching the big fiasco and we had to show them the 9.5 pounder they helped us save.

By the time we were up and running again, it was close to 1 o’clock and we decided to just go to the School Bus area where it was close enough to get towed in by another competitor if my boat wouldn’t start again. We catch a few small fish there and never did see anything on bed.

My boat did start again and we weigh in for just shy of 19 pounds and a $500 second place check.

I guess the moral of the story is to just replace your battery every 2 years and to spend a lot of time looking beds instead of fishing during tournaments around the spawn. It’s also dang hard to win a one day tournament during the spawn cause no amount of weight is safe.