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Humble pie!

1/30/2019

6 Comments

Of all the professional sports I’d like to think fishing has to be the most humbling of them all. No matter who you are, you’ve been there. Winds from the west, barometer hasn’t moved for 3 days, water temps aren’t bad, and you couldn’t catch a fish without a cast net. It definitely happens a lot more than the fisherman likes for everyone to believe. If you are a guide the odds of seeing those days goes up at least ten fold. In the last five seasons I have had five of those days where conditions were perfect, and I had piles of fish on the electronics but no matter what I put in their face it got snubbed, like the weird kid in school. Now on the opposite side of the spectrum we have those bluebird days when the barometer dances all over and we overcome against all the odds and theories, only to limit out early. Who doesn't just get giddy on those lovely days when the wind blows from every direction or in other words mother nature makes you her b****. No matter where you put in, there are swells only to be matched by the great oceans. All factors that the average pro athlete very rarely has to overcome in the world of pro sports. Yes anyone that makes a living on the water in my opinion should be considered a pro athlete, Tournaments or guiding it is truly a grind on the body and brain. Tournaments are a whole different animal than guiding, and the mentality required to be successful is a work in progress for myself on the tournament scene. Hats off to all the great anglers that have found success on the pro series tournament trail, it takes a lot more than luck for that success to occur. One of the common ingredients to all of the most consistent pro anglers these days are electronics. Yes, I know you can catch fish without those fancy fish finders, There was a time when my shoulders and wrist would let me make 2000 or more blind cast a day where there might or might not be a fish. However those days are over for me and I truly don't think I could ever go back now. Knowing those marks on my fish finder are fish , well it gives me a much greater sense of dedication to the presentation of my bait and saves me so many blind cast. Its well worth that hard earned dollar that I had to save, for what seemed like a eternity. Only to find by the time I can afford it there is already something newer and greater than what I just bought. Just more humble pie to deal with, Who could possibly hope to keep up with technology? Definitely not the weekend angler whose livelihood doesn't depend on catching, Even now my equipment is two generations behind the latest and greatest but is so effective I can not justify the thousands of dollars needed to compete with the Jones's and their latest and greatest technology. Although I do wish they would jump on board with a full sponsorship. It sure would help in my quest to grow the sport and help educate my future clients, wink, wink. I am fortunate enough and very humbled by some of the industry's top companies that choose to sponsor my service and believe in my abilities as much as I believe in there products help me be more successful swinging those big crappie in the boat. With that being said, I'd like to wind this up with a great big thank you to ACCcrappiestix, Piscifun reels, Slime Line, Perotti Built rod holders, Pro Built jigs, ATX lures, and Muddy Water baits. Looking forward to a much less windy 2019 tournament trail and a great season guiding the best clients on the planet, and may I suggest to never regret eating that humble pie, it’ll just make you a greater angler in the end.

6 Comments

Stop, look, and listen to the Crappie

11/11/2018

0 Comments

Presentation, presentation, presentation. When , where and how do I decide? Which technique will be the most productive today when I get on the water. Vertical jig or drop shot(personal favorites) flipping the slip cork, casting(my least favorite),spider rigging, long lining. The answer to which technique will I use comes from not only the been there done that last season knowledge but the most modern tools of the trade. My Humminbird electronics are most definitely the window into the underwater world. A technological innovation that has leveled the tournament fields. Allowing the amateur to compete with the best of the best on lakes they may have never fished. Cartography that lets us break down a lake in hours instead of prefishing for a week before a tournament. Without these modern fish finders my success rate would not be as consistent and that’s what your looking for in a guided experience. Consistent catching is what brings my customers back . Today’s presentation will be vertical jig or drop shotting a minnow because we just drove over a stump on a shallow to deep transition area that was loaded with fish, based on all the bright white electronic blips I just seen on my finders that was surrounding the stump. Tomorrow the wind will change and the bait will get pushed from this area and those fish will leave that stump to follow their favorite meal and may be suspended and relating to nothing but open water bait clouds. It’s now time to get out the 16’ ACC trolling poles turn on the Humminbird 360 and follow the baitfish. Tomorrow my clients specify they would like to fish this clear water lake that they just keep hearing about. The fish are tightly schooled in open water and the boat can’t get close enough with trolling poles without spooking them in every direction. Time to stay back and cast to them. Just recently I had a group of new anglers so we started off slip corking a minnow over brush piles and even though I could clearly see hundreds of fish on my units, they simply were not getting bit. So I grabbed my favorite 11’ rear reel seat pole and a single 1/8oz jig with a ATX wicked shad(orange/chartreuse) and dropped it in the same spot right beside the corks and minnows that weren’t being touched and Pow there was a thump that I could feel all the way up my arm. These fish turned their nose up to a minnow but simply destroyed a artificial bait. Within a hour we had a two person limit. Bait is definitely a trial and error situation some days.
The last couple days of wind and the water temperature are absolutely the most important factors that dictates where I start looking for fish but my electronics tell me what they are doing which helps me decide what technique I will use to catch them. Regardless if it’s Rend lake, Carlyle lake, Lake of Egypt, or Kincaid or I’m in Mississippi my electronics will not lie and I will be prepared to use whatever technique needed at all times. I also should thank ACC rods for having all the weapons necessary for each technique that allows me to be so versatile.

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Humble pie!

Stop, look, and listen to the Crappie

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