Ouachita Fun Zone!!

FrogTape booth at the Fun Zone

Well my Ouachita Tournament wasn’t a big success but the FrogTape® booth at the Fun Zone was.  This was the first Fun Zone we worked this year and the response from the fans was awesome. 

 

The FrogTape boat was one of the biggest  hits with the kids.  They loved the Frogs.  Adults loved it too but of course they were more inquisitive.  It was great getting to spread the word about the best painter’s tape out there, FrogTape®.  I actually got to talk to several folks who had already used FrogTape®.   The best thing is that I haven’t met a person yet that has tried it and not loved it.   FrogTape® is one product that does exactly what it says it does. “Keeps Paint Out. Keeps Lines Sharp.™” 

FrogTape demo

We will be doing  the Fun Zone at lake Guntersville in AL.  If you are in the area stop by and see us.  If you have tried FrogTape® tell us about it.  Go to FrogTape.com and tell us about your experience.

Ouachita day 3, What to do?

Day 2 was much better for me. Unfortunately my weight was the same but I caught more fish. I continued to beat the banks today.  I actually had my limit by 11 this morning. That made me feel pretty good.  I decided after getting my limit I needed to run the banks looking for that big fish.  I have one small area that has some really good fish swimming around. I fished it twice today and it never paid off for me.  My co-angler caught a 5 pounder off of it. That hurt a little, that fish would have given me  14 pounds and moved me way up the board.  Right now I’m sitting in 64 and have a serious decision to make.  Do I try to catch limit or do I go for the big bag. I am pretty sure I need at least 10 pounds tomorrow to make a check. 

A lot of the guys struggled today. It seems the shallow bight is going away or getting really tough.  The  leaders are catching their fish deep and have found schools of fish. Most are using swim baits to get that bite.  I might try to go deep some tomorrow and see if I can get a few.  It’s just not that easy to find that sweet spot out there.  The biggest thing for me is I’ve got to have 10 pounds, which right now isn’t easy.  I know where 20 plus pounds of fish are, but getting them to bite is the problem. These Bass are sitting in shallow bushes and around bream beds.  I’m going to try to hit these areas first thing in the morning and hope their hungry.

Keep your fingers crossed for me and say a little prayer for me.

Ouachita Day 1

Day 1 on Ouachita started off with an hour and half fog delay.  So instead of getting to start at 6:30 we blasted off at 8.  Needless to say my plans got changed quite a bit.   I was able to start the day off with a 3 pounder.  After that my day was pretty slow.  I basically went looking for the big ones.  I did find some, just getting them to bite was the problem.  At 12 I went into a place and found some HAWGS.  I caught one 5 pounder and lost 2.  A school of about 25 came up schooling and I just couldn’t get them to bite.  I definitely had my chances.  I missed three big ones that would have put me in the top 5.  I did manage to weigh in 3 for 9.2 pounds.  With the three I lost I should have had around 17.  There’s always tomorrow.  I just hope I can put them in the boat.  

18 pounds is leading after day one and from what I am hearing they are coming deep.  I think the guys are deep cranking but thats hearsay.  I do know one guy in the top 5 caught all his fish on a top water early.  I don’t think I will be doing any deep cranking  but I do have a few top waters tied on. 

Sorry if  I sound I a little frustrated, honestly I am.  As an angler it’s very tough when you just miss fish. When you have them hooked and they just come off its hard  to swallow.  It seems this year I have kinda been plagued by that problem.  Thats where the mental game comes into play. You really just have to make yourself move on and not dwell on the past. Sometimes that’s a hard thing to do. Especially when it keeps you from getting a 10,000 dollar check.  But you have to move on and not let it eat at you.   I will be trying to put today behind me and follow my own advice.  I’m still in striking distance and tomorrow will be a  better day.

Check back tomorrow and see how things go.

Good First Day On Ouachita

Great way to end the day

My morning  started off  by catching a few good ones right off.  I found this really neat little spot that seems to be holding some fish.  I caught a limit there in just  a few minutes. The best part is I didn’t fish it hard either.  I really think I could have worked that area and caught some more.  After that I just ran looking for more areas like that but never found any. I did manage to find a few more places this afternoon that produced a few good fish.  All in all I had a productive day.  I’m  happy for my first day on Ouachita. 

Tomorrow? Well, I’m just going fishing again. I am heading to a different area of the lake to see what happens.

Day two on Loudoun

Man what a day. I bet I caught 30 today. That makes for a fun day, just frustrating when you can’t catch a keeper.  I am sitting in 92 place with 13 pounds.  I need another 14 to 15 pounds tomorrow to get into check range.  So my game plan is to flip and pitch tomorrow. I have 5 rods rigged up. Two with a jig and 3 with a texas rig.  I guess you could say I’m going for broke.  I have nothing to lose so might as well go for a big bag.

Looks like I will be heading home tomorrow after the weigh in. There is a local tournament on Lake Hickory so I’m going to fish it with my girlfriend.  It ought to be fun.

Day 3 Promoting FrogTape

Today I covered  a lot of water.  My idea was to go and look for bedding bass and it was a pretty fun day.  I actually did more advertising for FrogTape® than catching fish, which is not a bad thing.  Ft Loudoun and Tellico is a booming lake and has a lot of construction going on.  When you’re looking for bedding fish you  are constantly running right along the banks and it’s easy for people to talk to you. I had two different contractors approach me today.  Of course I had to stop and give them the scoop on FrogTape. They were pretty excited about it, no touch ups will save them time and money.  I also ran into a paint company repainting a huge dock.  Talk about the perfect opportunity.  Glad I had a roll of FrogTape in the boat.  These guys were super happy.  They were still using the old Blue tape. I’m pretty sure they are going GREEN now.   It’s amazing how many people on a Monday asked me  what FrogTape was.  It was a great day to promote the Frog.

Fishing on day three was ok. I did find one bank that had some good fish  on the beds. The only bad thing is that there are a dozen other people who found them as well. I looked for the majority of the day and I just couldn’t find any good ones.  I love bed fishing and I consider myself pretty good at it.  Usually I can find them if they are there, but this week with the water being dirty and all the pollen its been tough.  Personally, I don’t see bed fishing being the winning pattern here. I do think one or two a day may boost your creel but doing it 4 days I don’t think so. 

My rods are rigged up and I HATE to say it but I’ve got 2 shaky heads tied on.  UGHHHH!!!   Its going to rain on our off day so things might change up, but for now I’m going with the Carolina rig, shaky head, and a few other little tricks.

Peanuts, Peanuts, Peanuts!!!

Today catching them wasn’t the problem.  The problem is getting a keeper.  I have talked to a half a dozen other anglers and it seems we are all in the same situation.  Where are the big ones?  Well right now I’m just not sure.   At one point today I had 14 rods on the deck of the boat.  So I guess you could say I threw everything but the  kitchen sink.  I’ve fished points to the back of the creeks as far as you can go, from 20 feet to 6 inches.   All you can catch is little ones.  

So shouldn’t they be bedding?   Well I looked a lot today and they’re not laying everywhere.  It’s pretty tough to find a keeper on the bed. The water is pretty dirty so that makes it tough to see them.   I’m sure they are somewhere and that’s the plan for tomorrow.

The results of the day would have been 4 keepers and a 4 pounder.  Not a bad limit but man it was a grind and nothing but junk fishing.    Check back tomorrow to see if I found them.

Norman Recap

4th place finish on Norman. 
I have to say that I am very happy with that.  Last year on Norman I finished 35th and just felt I should have done better.  This was a little revenge and determination all in one.   It was a pretty cool tournament having myself, Bryan Thrift and Andy Montgomery all in the top 5.  We are all friends and grew up fishing against each other.  It made for a fun last day. 

During this tournament I caught all my fish in two baits, a jig and a shad rap.  The first two days all my fish came off a jig.   I targeted shallow docks in the morning and then ran deeper docks in the afternoon.  The key was getting that bigger largemouth bite.  The last day we  had a really cold morning and the water-cooled a little so I threw a Shad Rap. I targeted rocks the last day.  After a cold night those rocks hold heat and the fish are less affected by  the water temp. dropping.  I had a  limit by 8:30 but just never could get that big bite.  It  was a fun tournament though.  I fished my strengths and I think that was the difference.  I’m learning to just go with my gut and fish the way I know how. Sometimes in these tournaments you hear all this dock talk and you lose sight of what you should be doing.  If I had one great tip to give you guys out there it would be this:   don’t get wrapped up in what everybody else is doing, fish your strengths and use your one knowledge.  Trust me when I say you will fish better.  

People keep asking about the spawn.  I think we missed it by about a week.  We are suppose to get up into the 80’s by the end of this week.  The full moon is tonight, so I’m pretty sure this weekend will be bed fishing time.   I think spring is here.  Finally!!!!

I have to say thanks to ShurTape the makers of FrogTape®.  They gave me a lot of support this past week.  If you folks out there have not tried FrogTape and you’re painting,  you need to try it.  Walmart and Lowes have it. It’s only $5 to $8 dollars a roll and trust me its worth it. I used it last year remodeling my house and we never had to touch up a line. ITS THE BEST PAINTER’S TAPE OUT THERE.

Well I will be heading to FT Loudoun/Tellico this week to practice so Stay Tuned I will be blogging at the end of the week.

Lake Norman is HOT!

This past weekend Lake Norman held the Annual Jim Ledbetter Cancer Tournament, and they caught em. It took 19+ pounds to win and 14 pounds just to break into the top 15.  We are suppose to have pretty stable weather this week so my guess is they will be biting pretty well when practice starts.  Not sure if this will be a site fishing tourney like in the past, but I’m sure they will be on the beds somewhere.  The water has been stained for almost 2 months now, but you will be able to find any clarity of water.   I have to say this will be one of those tournaments of ounces. I truly believe that there will be a lot of 12 pound bags.  The big thing at Norman is being able to get on that bigger bite. You need a big fish every day to make the difference. 
I have had a lot of calls wanting to know what to expect. I think they will be shallow, how shallow I’m not sure. It is March and it’s time for them to start thinking about bedding.   My guess is thats it’s not far off.  We are suppose to have some 70 degree weather this week so watch out.   I will be blogging during practice so I will keep you posted on that.   I know lake Norman and there will still be fish out deep.  Guys will be able to catch them just about any way they want to.  It really should be a good tourney for catching fish.  I think there could be a 20 pound bag weighted in this year. It’s out there, this year has already produced several fish  pushing that 8 pound mark.  So, who knows Norman might surprise everybody.

Execution is Key!!

Just like in every sport if you don’t do the fundamentals your not going to be successful. In baseball you have to hit, catch, and throw.  Golfing you have to be able to hit your woods, irons and sink the put.  Fishing is just the same.  You have to be able to make your decisions on where the fish are, make the right bait selection, make good accurate casts, and then be able to close the deal with a good hook set and putting them in the boat.  Today I did all those but one.   The putting them in the boat part.  As an angler it’s very frustrating to be able to put all the pieces together and then not be able to close the deal.  Today I wanted  to fish several areas.  I went to the first caught a 2.5 pounder right off the bat.  Went to the second, my co-angler jumped off a 3 pounder and I missed a good fish on a dock, (my first strike).  Then I decided to run up the river where  the big bags came from yesterday. When we got up there the water was rolling. All the rain we got over night had the current way to strong for my liking.  I did stay up there  about an hour and it just didn’t feel right.  The sun had come out and it was getting hot, so I knew the fish should be moving up shallow. I make a decision to go to an area that I had caught a few big ones at in practice.  Immediately swing and a miss. I pull off a 4 pounder.  Went down the bank, Strike Three,  another 4 pounder.  At this point I knew those two would haunt me.  But at the same time I new if I just stayed at it I could catch more.  I worked that area for almost two hours.  I ended up catching a 6 pounder and another 2 pounder.   I ended up with three fish for 10-10.  If I could have just landed the other two  I would have had a 19 pound bag.  That would have put me in check range.  So now my backs to the wall with only one day left.  Another day to Execute and do the fundamentals.  I know I can catch 20 pounds doing what I’m doing, I just have to believe. 

Those of you out there that think fishing isnt mental I encourage you to keep reading my blogs.  Each tournament I’m going to blog and show you the highs and lows of each day.  Giving you the insight to what we feel and experience on and off the water. 

Now its off to sleep, dreaming of the two that got away,   Get the NET!!