Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures

New Weather App Sets the Bar for All Others

2011-09-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

The outdoors changes all the time just like the world of technology. As anglers and hunters search for anything to make them better in their chosen hobby some move to technology to find ways to improve. Professional Angler, Chris Jackson is right there with them. While fihsing at an event in New York and faced with a choice to stay in an area or move to an area closer to the check in and safety due to some clouds rolling in. It was at that time it hit Chris. He told his co-angler, "we need a weather app that works on smart phones to let us know when its going to get bad." Well after making the run back and weighing his fish he made a phone call. " I called my close friend and meteorologist, Brad Huffins back in Alabama.". I told him I knew he worked closely with Weather Call, a home based weather aleart system that would call you in the event of severe weather, and wanted to make it mobile. I also asked him about adding a lightning detector to the service as well. After we talked a few hours the ball started rolling. It was only about a month later Brad called Chris and said "I think we have it.". Brad sent Chris a site to test and after over a solid year or more of testing both on the road traveling to events and on the water fishing it was tweeked and prefected.

On the 28th of September Chris released a new app for any smart phone called "chrisjacksonfishing.com Mobile Weather Alert". This new app for the phones can save you not only on the water but also on the road as well as at home. It's easy to use and one of the most important things affordable for everyone to have at only $17.95 a year, YES thats a YEAR.

This app is one of the coolest things I have ever had on my phone. I can travel to a tournament log on and set it in the seat. It goes off if I am traveling into bad weather and lets me know I need to either change my route or prepare to get wet. On the water "IT ROCKS", he says. I can be fishing and no worry about a cloud coming over the top of a mountian and bring nasty weather with it. I know if its coming long before I see the cloud and can adjust what I am doing. "It has saved me on more than one tour event or guide trip, because getting a co-angler or client on a guide trip struck by lightning is just bad for business", Chris says while joking.

AS Chris walked us through how to get started I noticed how easy it was to get the app and how much this thing really does. Once you go to his website www.chrisjacksonfishing.com, click on the link at the top of the page and it takes you to the page. It explains what options you have you get the app and load it to your phone by following the steps on the page. Then all you have to do is click the icon on your homescreen, set your location and go about your day. If Lightning strikes within 6 miles of your reported location your sent a phone call, text, and/or email letting you know. If another strike doesnt happen in the next 15 mins your sent another text telling you it's safe to return to what you were doing. The same with severe weather, tornado's, and flash floods within a mile of your location.

While getting updates on lightning and severe weather is the main reason to have this app, Chris points out something else he uses it for. " You can go to the page, load it and get some awesome options.". "I can hit the detailed weather tab and get up to date weather forcast as well and an up to date"real time" radar for the area I am in" says Jackson. This is awesome while on trips but really great on the water. I can see the direction winds are shifting which might make me move to a better location for catching fish. So it's a win/win anyway you look at it.

Enev though this app was created with anglers and hunters in mind it's not just for them. Everyone should have it if you ever go outside. I used it at an outdoor concert once and knew to go ahead and head toward cover when lightning was in the area. By the time everyone else "saw" the lightning I had the best seat in the house because I beat them to it knowing it was coming about 10 mins before they did. So even if you dont hunt of fish this is an app for you as well. To get more information about the app be sure to go to www.chrisjacksonfishing.com and keep you and your family safe in the outdoors. Remember when severe weather strikes seconds count and can mean the difference between life and death.

Day 1 PAA Event-Table Rock Lake

2011-06-23T15:11:00.001-07:00

Well where do I start? My practice was ok but nothing great with only 2 1/2 days to pick apart a lake I've never seen. Table Rock is an awesome lake with some great numbers in it. I fished both main patterns in practice and on day 1 I did exactly the same thing. I made the long run this monring with almost certianty I would have a limit on the first stop. I got there and a local was right on top of it. After I pulled in about 200 yards from the point I wanted to fish he turned his boat at me and to be honest I could have moved closer but know how I hate when someone does that to me. Now if it was me and I see a guy fishing a big event I give them the water on Guntersville, I have lots of places like most locals. That wasnt going to happen so I stay away and left there without a fish.

On my 2nd stop I started with the topwater bite and had 4 fish only one keeper that jumped off at the boat. I then moved a little deeper and slowed down. Typically when your catching short fish if you move a little deeper you can find the bigger bite. The jig and dropshot gave me 19 short fish on 27 cast. Knowing how spots and smallmouth group by size I left it. I made several other stops without a bite and made the choice to go shallow and flip, which had given my my biggest fish in practice. First place I hit I tossed in and missed the bite. Made the 2nd pitch into the tree and WHAM!! She hit it and took off running. Now for those that dont know, when they do that there is more with them. When I set the hook it wrapped around a huge brushpile. I could see the fish so I pinned it to the tree and trolled into the brush. While doing that saw 3-4 more fish, all great fish trying to take the bait away from the fish I had. I laid down on the deck and stuck my arm into the water and grabbed the fish. As I was trying to get my hand in it's mouth I felt something funny and then felt like I was hit with a small hammer. I then saw the water snake that just bite me.LOL I got the fish but it was just shy of the 15 inch limit. The snake swam off before I could kill it.hahaha. Shortly after(about 5 mins) my habd started to swell and yep got sick as a dog.

I regained my composure and got my head back right then went back to flipping. I then had 4 more solid fish wrap me up as I was setting the hook and just couldnt get the bites I needed in the boat. I changed back to the deeper bite due to the boat traffic beating up my water that was shallow. I learned that typically this will shut off fish in shallow water. Yes I learned it the hard way at Lay Lake in Birmingham, Al..

Long story short My deeper bite gave me a ton of fish(45-48 total) but not one single keeper fish. I did have 3 that were very close but and even hit the line if turned the right way but I dont weigh fish if I have to flip or fan them. Also learned that the hard way on Guntersville when it cost me 3 grand for having a short fish that shrunk in the livewell after both me and my co-angler saw it was over the line when I caught it.

All in all just a bad day for me on the water as far as keeper fish go but Friday is another day. I was kinda down about it until I was reminded last year at Lay Lake during the Regionals I started day 2 in 100th place. I moved up to 12th by the end of day 2 and made Nationals so dont ever count me out.lol Im going to repeat that event and fish new water and swing for the fence. Friday will either be really good or really bad. hahaha Either way I am going to enjoy the things I am blessed with and the chance to compete against some of the BEST anglers in the industry. Thanks to everyone for the support and we will hit it hard again in the monring. ROCK ON!!!!!

God Bless

Phil.4:13

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Lake Chickamauga Event

2011-03-28T15:41:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the was my first tournament event of the year on Lake Chickamauga. After only seeing the lake once before but having a good finish there last year I was ready to get to Tenn and see if I could keep the streak rolling. I rolled into town on Wed moring and as soon as we pulled up noticed the water was way down from last year. After the rains I would have expected the water to be higher if anything but plans were changing as I was ideling around looking at the sonar.

I made the run to one of my best areas from last year and after making a few adjustments my buddy boated his biggest fish ever on a Jackall Muscle 15+ in Chart/Purple color. I was fan casting a point sitting in about 18 feet of water looking for fishin that were ready to move up for the spawn. I boated one fish in the 4 pound class and had several more bites I shook off. We moved around in the area tossing several baits and getting a few strikes. I put a Lake Fork Ring Fry on a small C-Rig and boated another solid keeper. We changed areas looking for some clear water but that was just not going to happen with high winds and pending storms rolling in. We made the move back to the ramp with a productive day one practice and got dry.

On day 2 of practice we wanted to build on what I had seen from the previous day. I hit main lake points where water got very shallow but would drop fast into deeper water. We still boated fish on the Muscle Deep 15+ and also the Jackall TN70 in a Red Craw color. One key was to make sure you worked the bait on the bottom very slow. We hit several areas and boated fish on all but one place. Most of the fish looked to be just coming up so I was very happy with the bite and what I found.

Day 3 of practice was only a halfday due to needing to get everything ready and the meeting that afternoon. We mainly rode and looked alot and I laid a track for my main run I was planning. On the night of the meeting it did nothing but get colder and pending thunderstorms were looking like they were going to move in and stay. That night we got pounded with rains and wind and were heading to the ramp in a down pour. I was hoping they would blow out of the area fast to be honest. I really needed the sun to be out to make my bite stable.

On the monring of the tournament I was sitting on the boat watching weatherreports and radar. We got held due to some nasty lightning but after that storm moved through we were off. I made the 20 min run North of the ramp to my first stop. I really didnt have anything before 9 am but wanted to make sure I got that area so I stayed on it. I boated my first fish on the Jackall TN70 in about an hour. Once I had that bite I noticed it was very sluggish and the bite was very light, unlike the bites I had during the week. I worked the area another hour until I saw my Co-Angler swing on a fish and miss right at the boat. I moved the boat out a little more and the next cast hit another fish and put it in the boat. I had slowed way down fishing the Jackall Cover Craw on light line trying to "coax" a bite. The rains were still pounding us but I was now running against the clock. This is the one time most tournament anglers have issues. I had 2 more areas that produced well in practice and wanted to hit them but had said in my mind I wouldnt leave this place without a limit. Well I always go with my gut and when it said to leave I left with only 2 keepers in the livewell.

On stop #2 I sat the boat down and within 5 mins of setting up boated my 3rd keeper fish. I noticed the water level had changed and also got a little dirty. I still worked the area the way I did in practice and boated 4 more non-keeper fish. I then moved out to the first break(where the better fish should have moved to) and started slowing way down. I was fishing a Jackall 4.8 Flick SHake rigged on a Dropshot and 6 lb line. I hooked a huge fish I saw on the sonar and he came up once. When he took the last dive we pulled me back in the brush and ended up breaking off. This is something that you just have to know will happen when you downsize. I had this happen one more time before time just ran out and I had to go back to the ramp. I did boat several more fish but none that were legal.

I ended the day with 3 fish that went 8.84 and gained some points torward the Regional event. Missing the first event I really need a good finish at Ft Loudon coming up. I want to say a special thanks to everyone that came out to see us and all the well wishes and support from our fans on Facebook. Also a huge thanks to our Sponsors, Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Hookerz Tackle, ReserveFishing.com, The Professor, Elite Series Products, Wired2FIsh, Gemini Sports Marketing, Topwater Clothing, Bass Pro SHops, and Gator Grip. Without these guys we couldnt be doing any of this. Looking forward to getting back at it soon and hope to see you on the water. ROCK ON!!!

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Lake Guntersville Weekly Report

2011-03-21T15:50:00.001-07:00

This week has been slammed with trips but fishing has gotten better each day but one. Water levels were up and down all week starting about 3 feet over summer pool, dropping to 3 below winter pool, and back to normal pool for the time of year by the end of the week. This along with water temps moving alot made fishing just about the most unpredictable I have seen it in some time. One day we would flat smoke em' and the next had to fight for every bite. All in all a great week weather wise with water temps getting more stable each day.

We had solid keeper fish on every trip and a limit but fish didnt seem to be "bunched up" like they should be. One fish would be green and appeare to have been in the grass awhile and the next was white as a ghost, meaning it just moved up. The best baits for trips this week was the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in shad colors, the Jackall Flick Shake, Jackall Soul Shad, and a Pure Poison Jig in Black. The fish moved all week but we found the best fishing from the State Park launch going North to the BB Comer bridge. I didnt travel much past the bridge because of the hundreds of boats up north. I did see the best pattern seemed to be fishing flats with close by deep breaks on them. I would start on the deep side in the morning then work my way onto the flats as the sun made the water temps go up. The best water temps have been from 58-64 degrees. If you find that water you will find active fish. If the water drops below that mark it makes the bite alot slower and you need to fish accordingly.

I will be on the water 2 days this week then off to a tournament in Tenn until Sunday. Hope everyone has a great and safe week on the lake and please remember to treat other boaters as you would like to be treated. I saw alot of things happen this weekend. Remeber 2 wrongs dont make a right. Also I heard of some tackle being stolen at the Waterfront Ramp while a boat was tied up. I know there are a ton of us "locals" that leave our stuff on the deck to run grab a cheeseburger but stop. If you see some strange people hanging out on boat ramps call the Police. Several ramps are having problems again this year.

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Lake Guntersville Weekly Report

2011-03-10T21:52:00.001-08:00

The last week on Guntersville has been one strange week of events. As many remember last week was just awesome with the weather getting the water temps right on track for the spawn to start and fish were starting to move up fast. There were event several areas I saw bedding fish and 66 degree water. We started catching better numbers and size was going up each day.

Well That was not the case this week. Storms rolled in and two huge cold fronts slammed us and the lake paid the price. Water temps fell almost 14-16 degrees almost over night in some areas and water levels shot up well over 2 feet in a day. Lots of stain in areas that normally dont have stained water and tons of debris floating in the lake has made it just plaiin dangerous to be out there.

My trips this week started off very rocky to say the least. Monday I fished with some great guys from up north looking to find some tournament fish. I spent most of the day looking for a better size bite and didnt even go to areas that I knew were holding smaller fish. The bigger bite just never came. We did catch some fish but clients wanted to cover alot of water so we never sat in one spot and worked it hard after a bite or two. Tuesday I fished with two awesome anglers from Birmingham that I met at Bass Pro Shops. The monring we met at Waterfront I all but begged them not to take the trip. With pending heavy rains and a poor bite on Monday I just didnt feel they would have a good time. Boy was I wrong. We started slow but after putting a few fish in the boat we decided to learn some new tactics. I moved to a section I knew there were some smaller fish but would build their confidence in the new tactic. We were not there less than 5 mins before the first fish was boated. We worked the area hard with the Jackall Flick Shake boating fish after fish and ended the day in the cold pouring rain with 14 solid fish and one almost 7 pounds.

I made the dession to change my date on the Wed trip due to so much floating in the water and I just thought it was too dangerous to be on the water. My Thursday trip was a local angler that had his brother in town and wanted to see him catch some fish. Well they ate today! After telling them it was going to be a tough bite we stopped on the first place and they both had a small limit in just about as many cast. We fished the Jackall Flick Shake on the Wacky Jig head for a few more hours boating several more limits. They then wanted to hit some bigger fish so we changed up the baits and started fishing Lake Fork Live Magic Shad swimbaits. Both boated a few more fish with a little better size but the Flick Shake was the numbers bait without a doubt.

All in all a good week with some awesome clients and we are getting ready for another great week of trips next week. I wil be off the water this weekend working an appearance at the Bass Pro Shops in Leeds, Al on Sat and Sunday but back on the water on Monday to start another round. Hope everyone has a great weekend and if your not on the lake be sure to stop by and see all the huge sales at BPS. This is the last weekend of the Spring Classic. If your fishing please be safe and keep your eyes open. Lots of things floating on the water and just under the surface. Dont be in a hurry and enjoy the day out on the lake. ROCK ON!!

2011-01-31T19:30:00.001-08:00

Well the last day of Jan gave us alot of fog and misting rain all day. I started out on the lower end of the lake fishing creek channels near the river and went the first 3 hours without a single bite. After making alot of moves and covering a ton of water I found a section or two that produced. I fished mainly 6-12 feet of water with better results on steep drops. The Jackall Soul Shad and TN70 were the best baits I found to produce.

I then loaded the boat and moved further up river putting in at Waterfront Tackle. I fished the afternoon up river having about the same luck. I fished and made a ton of cast but once you found a fish they were not alone. Ended the day on a good note with a solid 7 pounder and saw 3 following it when I put it in the boat. The afternoon baits were the same but I did have 3 on the I-Shad rigged on the I-Motion head. The fog was getting worse as I was coming in so I would think it will be just as bad in the morning. If you get out there go slow and pay close attn to other boats, they might not beable to see you.

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that came out last weekend to Bass Pro Shops for the boat show. We had a great time and I met some awesome people. The fish in the tank were nice to me and liked just about everything I tossed in the tank. I will be on the water everyday until I leave for the Bassmaster Classic then back the following weekend at Bass Pro Shops until the end of their Spring Fishing CLassic.

Lake Guntersville Report 1-16-2011

2011-01-16T19:30:00.001-08:00

The last week or so of snow and ice seemed to slow the fishing down a little today for me. I hit the water working the same pattern I have been fishing but had to change things up a little. I moved further out on the points to a little deeper water and had to slow the baits down alot. I put the boat in more of the current and let the bait sit for around 12 seconds before moving it. Once I slowed down I started getting more bites and better fish. I fished the Jackalll Squad Minnow(Tenn Shad) on Lake Fork FH Pro 12 lb test. Once casting into about 6 feet of water I noticed the bites came right at the boat in about 9 -10 feet of water. I moved the boat further out and found I would get bigger fish. Once I worked an area and boated a few fish I then would re-work the area with a Lake Fork Craw Tube and got several more bites.

The big key is staying in the area and trusting you ability. If you didn't give up on an area too soon and worked every inch of it you would find where the fish were positioned and could put a good solid day together. Start working the typical winter pattern and then adjust and tweek it. Once I slowed down a little everything came into place. I am back at it again in the morning and the rest of the week. Hope everyone had a great weekend and looking forward to an awesome week. Stay safe and see you on the water.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Preparing For the Cold Weather

2011-01-11T19:52:00.001-08:00

As I guide and fulltime angler we don't get the chance to stay indoors when the weather takes a turn for the worse. I have been asked by hundreds of anglers when the weather turns cold, “how do you stand it?" Well I am not as knowledgeable as some of our Northern anglers that spend hours on the water in cold conditions but here is some of the things I have found to make the trip as comfortable as you can when the temperature falls fast.

When I first started fishing fulltime I had no idea what I signed up for. My first winter as a guide I was faced with going on the water to take trips when most people would be sitting at home watching fishing on TV. Over the years I have owned just about everything you can put on that says it's warm and weather proof and spent countless dollars to finally find something to make it better. Over this time I have learned two of the most important words in staying warm, WIND PROOF!

While alot of anglers, like me when I first started out, are looking to not spend alot of cash on gear they will only use 3 or so months out of the year this is the one time you can't be cheap and also stay warm. Now don't get me wrong you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to stay warm but a $20 rain suit is not going to do the job. The items I am going to talk about are not sponsors and the things I wear every day, not saying the brand is better than anything else on the market but it's what I use daily and have found to be the best for me.

Let's start with layers. This is one of the most important parts of gear. Always wear layers when you are fishing cold temps. This way you can shed one if the sun comes out, your tactics require you to be moving alot (making your body temperature go up), or things just get heated up. The fastest way to get cold is to overheat and start to sweat. I start with a pair of Under Armor-Cold Gear base layer pants. These are very thin but hold heat in while wicking sweat from your body. Next I put on a pair of Under Armor-Cold Gear jogging pants (loose fit). Next I use a pair of pants I learned about while I was a Police Officer in Birmingham. Blauer Tactical makes a killer liner for Police Motor Scouts and Mounted Patrol Officers. They are totally wind proof on the inside and "slick" on the outside allowing your outer pants to move over them and not bind. I then top that off with snow pants. Which are made by Northern Face. My upper layer is a cheap sweat shirt that I cut the neck out of and fits loose. I put a Under Armor Tight Cold Weather base layer top on. This will wick the sweat from the first shirt I put on but also keep the heat in. I then top that off with my favorite hoodie. The one I wear is sold by Wired2Fish. The reason I love it is because it is almost wind proof holds in heat and is thin, leaving my arms free to move. Under Armor makes some great thin hoodies as well. The key is wind resistant and very thin allowing you to move freely and be comfortable.

If the weather is just nasty I top all of the things I talked about off with an Iditarod snow jumpsuit, made by Northern Face. If it’s not below 30 degrees I will not wear this because it is made for sub-zero temps. I will switch to my Bass Pro Shops 100 mph rain suit. Both are waterproof, windproof, and thin.

Now for some outerwear I use all the time. I will wear something on my head always. Gill and Under Armor make great beanies that will hold in heat, wick sweat, and are wind proof. This is very important when fishing because your ears will get pounded with winds and you don't in most cases have to wear a hood which limits vision and moving. Shoes are also very important. If they are calling for rain I wear a pair of ankle high boots made by Muck. These are very comfortable and have non-slip soles. They are also waterproof and wind proof. If they are not calling for the wet stuff I will wear Birkenstocks or Merrell shoes. Gloves are the one thing I have had the hardest time finding. Trying to find gloves that are windproof, water proof and thin enough to tie on lures without having to take them off. So far the best I have found are Bass Pro Shops 100 mph gloves and Under Armor football gloves. I have tried the winter style golf gloves but they just don’t hold up for me. I can wear a hole in a set of gloves in about a month from casting and retrieving lures all day. So far Under Armor and BPS gloves are the only thing I can find that will last. I also use a pair of Motorcycle style gloves to drive in. They are thicker but allow you to feel controls and not get cold at all from the wind. I also use a mask made by Save Phace for driving. I prefer this over a helmet for two reasons. One, a full-face helmet kills my neck while driving long runs because of the way you have to sit in the boat and two; if you come out of a boat you can break your neck when you hit the water. The Save Phase mask works great, has a good line of sight from it, and if something bad happens it will tear away when you hit the water. Not to mention you can get them custom painted and they look awesome.

I hope this helps you out in getting ready to fish in cold weather and save you some of the "wasted" money I have sent through over the years trying to find the right stuff. As I stated before though this is only the things I have found to use and stay warm and comfortable all day on the water. If you stay comfortable on the water you will stay longer and that will increase your chances of boating the fish of a lifetime. Best of luck and see you on the water.

Dropshot 101

2011-01-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

I have been asked several times after events how I seemed to catch fish when everything else seemed to "shut down" on the lake. Now granted I might not have had the biggest limit of the day but when fishing multi-day events catching a limit each day means staying in the race. Well I am about to let you guys in on one of the best tactics I use to catch a limit and stay in the game, dropshotting.

One of the biggest mistakes most anglers make is thinking a dropshot is only for clear, deep, open water. I have fished it in water in less than 3 feet deep all the way to water as deep as 65 feet. One other thing some anglers think is its only a light line tactic using small baits. While this is mostly true, I have used a dropshot type rig with 50 pound braid and 6 inch swimbaits. In this article I am going to let you guys in on a few tactics, equipment, and conditions I have used a dropshot and put fish in the boat when weather systems, fishing pressure, and other things that "kill" a bite seem to hurt alot of anglers.

First off let’s make sure you understand the right equipment for the job. If you’re going to fish clear deep water with a dropshot you need to make sure you have a very good understanding of what your sonar is telling you when you see things on the screen. Now, it does help to have the new "high dollar" units on your boat but it can be done right even with the older black/white screen sonar’s. I do use a big screen unit on the front deck to help me but it's just that a bigger screen and helps a little with detail and these "old eyes" don’t have to strain as much to see it. I feel knowing how to read your sonar is the biggest thing to being successful with the dropshot in deeper water. If you only have $500-$1000 to spend on new stuff for the season don't waste in on the new rods if the ones you have worked, upgrade your sonar. The cash you will win during the year will buy you new rods and reels.

Once you know how to read the electronics you need the right equipment in your hands for the job. When fishing deeper clear water and the fishing pressure is tough get a solid, very sensitive 6'6"-7'0" rod with alot of tip. I personally use a 6'8" Jackall Poison Power Inch Wacky Rod. This rod has a great feel, fits my hands well, and the tip puts an action on the bait that almost begs a fish to eat it. Also having the softer tip helps get a solid hook set and keep the fish on with lighter line in deeper water. One of the biggest mistakes I made when first fishing this tactic was a rod that was too stiff. That caused alot of line breaking and loosing fish. Also if you can use a light reel. This will help with fatigue in your hands and arm if fishing it all day. The line I use is anything from 4-10 pound Lake Fork Fluorocarbon line. I never use anything more than 10 in deep, clear, open water. On Lake Erie I was downsizing to 4 pound line to get more bites off a rock pile in 58 feet of water. Another thing I learned while fishing this up north was from a good friend and great angler, Brian McCarter of Nemesis Bait Company, you don’t need little tiny hooks to catch fish. I had a big problem loosing big smallmouth when they would jump on the dropshot. Brian told me to change to a bigger hook and I cut loosing fish by 80% atleast. I never saw a difference in the amount of bites I would get by upgrading either. I now use 1/0 or 2/0 EWG hooks that are very sharp not the little tiny dropshot hooks you see in the store. Now there are times I will use that tiny hook but it’s not very often.

One of the questions I get almost everyday about a dropshot is the knot I use. I show it on video but I will try to explain it here. Take your line and double it leaving as much as you want for your leader, let’s say 3 feet. Pull out 3 feet of extra and double your line to tie a Palomar knot. Once you have your line then with the hook point facing up take the loop and go from the underside up thru the hook eye. Tie your knot and secure it. Once you have that take the 3 feet of tag line you have left over and place the end from the top of the hook eye down. You then "roll" the knot into the hook eye (this will also help protect it). Now here is the tricky part, depending on the type of structure your fishing either tie an overhand knot in the end and slip on a dropshot weight or use my other trick. That is if you’re fishing stuff like grass or just hard bottoms, I use a bullet style sinker. Take a weight like the Lake Fork Tungsten bullet and slide it up the line letting it go free. Then take an old swivel and tie it on the end. That will keep the weight on but will allow the weight to slide. This will help alot in preventing line twist. Trust me this works well but if your fishing rocks it does get stuck alot.

As far as baits go for deep, clear water stuff I use mainly small stuff. This is something that is very regional though. If I am fishing Southern lakes (Guntersville, Logan Martin, Smith) I will use alot of baits that look like shad or small bottom feeding worms. Baits like the Jackall Crosstail Shad, Flick Shake (4.8), Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in 3.5 or hand pour small worms (3-4 inch). I also will nose hook them depending on cover I am fishing. If I’m in heavy grass I will sometimes Texas rig and skin hook the bait to make it more weedless. If I am fishing northern area lakes I use baits like Craws, Goby, and shad type baits. Some of my best baits up North are baits like the Jackall Crosstail Shad, Nemesis Goby hand pour, Lake Fork 3.5 Live Magic Slug and Zipper hand pour worms.

As for fishing lakes with more cover(grass, rocks, wood, ect) I will sometimes upgrade my equipment. For example I have used a 7'6" heavy Jackall Delta Spec rod with 50 pound braid and a 5/0 EWG hook to catch big spawning Largemouth from trees in Lake Fork. I have also used the same set up with a huge 1oz. weight and a 6 inch Live Magic Shad swimbait to punch matted grass in Fla lakes and Guntersville. One of the first times I ever used a dropshot was in an event on Lake West Point. I had found several bedding fish in practice and on day one of the event boated 3 of them. On day 2 of the event I went to one I need to catch to make the cut and found she was being pounded on by another angler. To be honest I knew I had to have a fish of that size to make it and when he was pulling off the area I asked if he was fishing a bedding fish. He told me he was but she wouldn’t bite and he wasn’t coming back, I could have it. I really think he thought the fish wasn't catchable. Well I went into the fish and soon saw he had set his boat up all wrong to throw at it right. I set up and after 45 mins of nothing I was at a loss. I then tied on my first dropshot, I used a 7'0" med action worm rod and 12 pound test and used old split weighs for a sinker. I placed them about 8 inches below the hook and used a hand pour worm on a 3/0 hook. The bait hit the water a few feet past the bed and as I slowly pulled it into the bed it lasted about 2 seconds. I boated the fish and ended up not only making the cit but making the top ten and later winning the event. The reason I am telling this is to show you to think out of the box and use what each situation calls for. Good friend and touring Pro, Mark Pack of Lake Fork Trophy Lures, taught me the shallow water dropshot with braid. He is one of the best guides on Lake Fork and boated a huge 54+ pound sack using the same tactic with a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in trees that were submerged.

After you practice some of these and get confidence in using a dropshot it will be a "go-to" tactic for any years to come. I will warn you though; this tactic is very additive when you catch fish on it. Always remember this is only a way to catch fish not the only way to catch them. Use this as a tool, become good at it, and you too will be bringing fish to the scales when alot of other anglers are not. If you have any questions or would like to see these tactics in action give us a call and we will get you on the water to master it. Remember take a kid fishing, have a good time, practice CPR (Catch, Photo, and Release) and stay safe. See you on the water.

God Bless,
Capt. Chris Jackson
Fins-N-Grins
Freshwater Adventures

Lake Guntersville Fishing Report

2011-01-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

This is a report for the first two days of the year for us on the water. Rodney and I both have been going crazy to fish and the weather to break just a little. I fished on the 3rd in the mid lake section finding most of the better bites in open water on humps. The lake was stained after the rains with most areas near the main river channel being more stained. The lower end of the lake is a little clearer but also a few degrees cooler. Water temps between 38-42 depending on time of day and where you are fishing. I found my better bites on the humps with small strains of green grass on top of them and near points. Fish seemed to be in the 10-12 foot range and moving very sluggish. Most would just load up on the bait and not alot of fight to them at all. Jackall Squad Minnows were the ticket for me all day on the 3rd in a shad color.

On the 4th Rodney and I made the choice to split the river in half a little and he fished up and I fished the lower end. I hit areas with hard bottoms/rock with deeper water very close by. As stated before the water was a little cleaner on the lower end which made the temps a couple of degrees higher when the sun hit it all day. By the afternoon I was looking at areas with 43 degrees. I fished mainly Jackall Squad Minnows(Tenn Shad), Bling 55 Crankbait(Chrome Shad) and Flick Shake(Green Pumpkin) rigged on a Wacky Jig Head(3/32) Had a good solid day boating 16 fish for the day and best 5 going 18 and change on the Cull-M-Rite scale.

Rodney fished with a buddy on the mid to upper end of the lake fishing jerkbaits and crankbaits all day. He is saying the jerkbait was the better bite and boated more solid fish but the crankbait was good for numbers. Most of his fish came off main lake breaks near the ledges where current was moving. The boated some solid numbers and had a best 5 of around 18 pounds and change. The weather should get more stable in the next few weeks and things are starting to get fired up. I would say the next 4 weeks will play a huge part in how the fish will move for the pre-spawn and stage up. Hope everyone is having a good start to the 2011 season and looking forward to a great year. Stay safe and take care of our lakes. See you on the water

Jackall Soul Shad Review

2011-01-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Well as the year of 2010 comes to a close Jackall Lures is still pressing forward and the "newest" bait to hit the line up in the US market is one I have been waiting on for sometime. The Jackall Soul Shad is one of the hottest new baits on the market. So hot in fact they are being sold out as fast as they hit the shelf, according to Tackle Warehouse reps when I try to place an order. Being they were hard to get I went to my "standby" Japan dealer and found a few.

While placing the order I noticed that the Japan market has 2 sizes one is the 58SP and the other is the 68SP. The 68SP is the size being sold in the US. I placed the order but the 68SP was out so I only got the 58SP in L Wakasagi. That color is close to a Super Shad color in the US with some very good looking flash to it. Also one of my favorite colors from Japan. One thing about Jackall is they have some of the best colors in the market and every single one of them catch fish.
Once I got the bait, which is just a little smaller than the US model(the US size being just about the same size as a Shad Rap SR7), I hit the water to test it. Being the water temps in the south were dropping and the winter pattern was becoming stronger everyday I knew this was the perfect time to see what this bait was made of. I first rigged it on a Jackall Master Stroke casting rod with a Daiwa Steez reel and Lake Fork FHPro 12 pound test. I found the fish to be sluggish but they hit the bait well, with most almost swallowing the bait. I worked the bait with a slow/fast retrieve making the bait slowdown then make a fast "darting" motion to trigger the strike. Although they say this bait is a suspending bait anglers need to remember water temps make the bait sink or float. When I tested this in the tub I found the Soul Shad floats in water temps above 52 degrees and sinks(slowly) with temps below 44, give or take a couple of degrees either way.

Now one of the main reasons I am glad they are bringing the bait to the US market is it replaces my need for the time proven Shad Rap. Now dont get me wrong the Shad Rap is a great bait but it has one weakness that every angler I know dislikes. You can't cast it well in windy conditions! Well in true Jackall form they have made this bait cast in most any condition well and gave the angler another tool for their "toolbox". The "magnetic weight moving system" they placed in the Bling55 was also placed in this bait and you can cast it forever, reguardless of winds. This system also aids in an angler being more accurate in bait placement with less effort.

I really wanted to try the bait on several lakes so I moved from Lake Guntersville to Lake Wilson. Lake Wilson is also on the Tennesse River system but more known for it's great Smallmouth fishing. Well That was what I was going after. I hit Wilson at a perfect time and fished it with a little different set up. I changed to a Jackall Power Inch Wacky spinning rod and a Daiwa Steez reel and Lake Fork Flourohybrid 7 pound line. I also fished the bait with another tactic, working it more like a jerkbait. One thing I loved was it can be fished several ways and one really cool thing about this one is it will reach far deeper in the water than most jerkbaits on the market. After boating close to 20 Smallmouth in the day one great fish decided she wanted my Soul Shad more than I did and after about 3 head high jumps near a dock made a run and broke me off on a metal pole by the dock. This explains why there isnt a picture of the bait in the article like most reviews I have done in the past.

I have already put my name on the list for more of the Soul Shad baits in several colors and feel very comfortable saying this bait is going to produce some solid finished in tournaments this comming season. If you have any qustions about the bait, colors, or tactics to fish it feel free to contact me or check them out on the Jackall website at www.jackall-lures.com . There is also a great video on Kota's website as well of him fishing the bait. You can find it at www.ninjatacklebox.com

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Jackall Lures Never Stops!!

2010-10-28T17:19:00.001-07:00

Jackall Lures Never Stops
That’s right just when you think one of the premier bait companies in both Japan and the US has reached the top, they raise the bar again. Jackall has released the 2011 product line and added even more baits to the great line they already have. In this article I will discuss some of the new baits and how I have fished them and found success on several lakes throughout the US.
Let’s start with the one bait I have been begging the guys at Jackall to bring over, the Bling55. This is one of the best flat sided crankbaits I have ever seen. I got a few from a Japan website about a year ago but they are hard to find for sale to the US market until now. There is no difference between the Japan version and the US version except some colors. The bait is made of the same plastic they make the other crankbaits from but this has a little different weighing system for casting. The system takes a small magnetic weigh that slides in a chamber when the bait is thrown. After the bait hits the water the magnet then re-attaches to the other weigh in the belly near the nose of the bait making it one of the truest running baits on the market. They also went out of the normal bill system they use and made the bill of the Bling55 from Fiberglass. This makes the bait cut through the water better and gives it a quicker/tighter action. When I got to fish the bait I found the Magnetic System they use is exactly what other companies have missed out on. I could throw this bait a mile even in 20+ mph winds. For the size of the bait this was one of the most incredible things I noticed. I fished the bait on a Jackall Poison “Master Stroke” rod with a Daiwa Steez reel and Lake Fork Fluorocarbon lines ranging from 10-20 pound test. I found the bait does dive a little deeper on the lighter line as one would think but the heavy line doesn’t hamper the action of the bait like most I have seen in the past. The paint on the bait is some of the best I’ve seen on a flat sided crankbait without having a custom job. After boating more than 40 fish in a single day the bait was scratched up but not “trashed” like many others I have fished before. I know this bait is going to be a “go-to” lure for many years on my boat.
One of the new baits I have fished is a version of the soft bait called the I-Shad that they brought out a few months ago. The new hard plastic version, called the seira minnow 80S, is fished just like its soft counterpart. One thing that makes this one a little different is the open mouth area of the bait. This lets water come into the mouth of the bait and pass through the gill section just like a real fish. I noticed if you twitch the bait or move it faster this sometimes makes a small bubble action as the bait swims. It also helps make the bait more stable and swim more realistic. One thing everyone needs to remember is this bait is fished with the I-Motion tactic and it’s not going to have much feel or action but the bait does work well. We fished this bait mostly on Clarks Hill Lake where there are huge schools of blue herring. We fished a Japan version that almost matched the color exactly and I think in the US its called Sparkle SS Shad. We boated numbers of fish on the bait swimming it below schools of the Herring and it worked very well.
The last bait I wanted to talk about is the Ammonite Shad. Now I have not used the US version of this bait yet but was told by the guys at Jackall it is exactly the same as the Japan version. All I can say about this soft swimbait is it ROCKS! The bait can be fished several ways with several tactics making it one of the most versatile swimbaits I have ever used. I found testing the bait in the pool that it has a tone of action and the body moves a lot making it perfect as a trailer on a swim jig and to fish in stained water. The tail also rotates 360 degrees when it is swimming moving a lot of water and causing a better vibration. The plastic is softer than most swimbaits making it more realistic but still tough enough to catch a good number of fish before you need to break out the glue. When I fished the bait I used a Jackall Poison “ Rushburn” rod rigged with a high speed Daiwa Steez reel and Lake Fork 20 pound Flourohybrid line. I fished it both solo (just rigging it to a 4/0 Owner swimbait hook) and with a ¼ oz swim jig. Both worked well and caught huge numbers of fish in both clear and stained water. I also fished it over heavy grass with the Jackall Poison “Delta Spec “ rod and 32 pound Lake Fork Flourohybrid line with a 1/2oz swim jig and neither the line size nor the rod action had an effect of the baits action. If you are looking for some big bites this is a bait you want to make sure you have in the boat.
In the next blog I will be talking about the last two new baits they have opened up to the US market, the Sole Shad 68 SP and the Swimming Ninja G90. Both of these baits are awesome as well and I’m sure every angler with a passion for catching more and bigger fish will standing in line to be the first to get them in tackle stores across the US.

Kota's American Dream Tournament-Lake Wheeler

2010-10-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

I had the chance last weekend to fish the Kota's American Dream Tournament and what a blast it was. Kota and his crew did a great job on the event and worked very hard to make sure everyone had a ball. I really didnt get alot of practice before the event due to working some other shows out of town. I spent about 4 hours one day up river with little to show for it. I fished on the lower end about 3 hours with not alot for my efforts that day either. So I made the choice to just go fun fishing and have a good time.

On the first day of the event me and partner Paul Ponder ran all the way down and fished bluff walls with topwater baits and the NEW Jackall Bling 55 crankbait. I boated 3 fish fast on the bling and Paul had another solid keeper on a spinnerbait. We moved to another area looking for that last keeper and some bigger fish but time just ran out for us. We had a huge number of "junk fish" and shorts but headed to the weigh in without a limit. Once at the scales we saw every boat in the field had fish and had about the same day we did.

On the start of day 2 Paul and I wanted to move up so we made the choice to swing for the fence and look for bigger bites all day. Well we made the run back down river and stayed in an area we lost some bigger bites at on day 1. We pounded the area with just about every bait we had in the boat and had nothing to show for the efforts. We then moved further up river boating a few fish on a Zipper Worm hand pour rigged on a dropshot and a jig head. We jumped around alot catching a few more fish on a Lake Fork Lures Spoon off drops in about 10 feet of water. Time just didnt give us any help and we had to run to the scales about the time we found a small pattern to build on.

Once at the weigh-in we again saw alot of boats with fish and several locals had smoked em'. The winning pattern was fishing bluff walls down river from the launch with a crankbait and an SK Popper topwater bait. Most all the fish we found were following shad and it was more a right place/right time type of bite. Most every angler told us they fished crankbaits in 6-10 feet of water in coves and the mouths of creek channels.

Special thanks to Kota and his wife for putting together such a great event, the City of Decatur for hosting the tournament, David Haygood of American Bass Anglers and his team for the great job at weigh-in, Regal Marine for the great boats to look at, and all the other sponsors that hellped make this a huge success. I am looking forward to fishing this event for many years to come.

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Bassmaster Lay Lake Regional

2010-10-18T08:47:00.001-07:00

Well making it to Regionals was a long road fishing all new waters all season in one division and 4 new lakes in the other division. I ended up making it to Regional in both divisions being 16th in points in the Tenn Central and 31st is the Tenn East. I was excited to hit some "home waters" at Lay Lake just south of Birmingham, Alabama. Although I have not been on that water in about 2 years I atleast knew where I was going and places that had produced in the past this time of year.

Well, it was nothing like I remembered but I had 2 weeks to fish and find areas that would produce. Practice was not great but I did find a few things that I thought would help get me in the top 50 cut and make the National Championship. I fished everything from the Logan Martin Dam all the way down to the Lay Dam finding 3 patterns that would get keeper fish in the boat. One was a solid spinnerbait pattern on sea walls. The key was to hit a wall that had deep water near it and run the walls as fast as I could. If I didnt get a bite go to the next one. The 2nd pattern was flipping grass. I fished this on the lower end of the lake flipping grass lines with a Lake Fork tube in Green Pumpkin with the tail dipped in JJ's Magic red dye. This pattern was great for a bigger bite but not consistant with weather conditions. The 3rd was my favorite, fishing a topwater River2Sea frog on scum mats. I had 2 places I could boat a solid 4-5 pound fish but weather also made this pattern inconsistant.

On day one of the event the weather/high winds was going to kill the two bigger bites I had found. I made the choice to hit the walls and throw a spinnerbait all day. On my first stop I put 3 fish in the boat in about 20 cast covering a 1/2 mile of water. I made several passes then moved. I then got my limit on the 2nd stop but knew the small fish I had would not get the job done at all. My co-angler boated his limit on the 3rd stop and had a 4 lb kicker. I ended up culling only a couple of fish but not much of an upgrade at all. I ended day one with 5.19 and in 100th place which was 2.5 pounds out of the top 50. Needless to say I was not happy. After a good "pep" talk with my wife that night I got my mind in the right again and was ready for day 2.

On day two I hit the water with one thing in mind, catching 12+ pounds and making the cut. I got a call from my good friend Mike before I put the boat in the water and he got me all worked up to go catch em. I owe him a ton for getting everything pointed in the right direction. After a long fog delay and tournament director Randy Sullivan letting us go around 8 am I knew I had a shot. Alot of anglers were on a good topwater bite but the late start was in my favor. I ran to my first stop and my co-anlger had one small fish in the boat. The 2nd stop produced a 3 pound spot on the first cast for me on a Spinnerbait. I then put 3 more keepers in the boat. The bite slowed so I left it going to an area I knew had solid fish in it and if they would bite could move me up alot. Once I sat down I tied on a Jackall TN60 Lipless crankbait in a shad pattern and started chunking. It was like a dream, I boated my 5th fish that went 2.5 pounds and was on a high. I then culled every fish I had except the 3 pound fish I started with. as the bite woould slow down I switched between the TN60 and the NEW Jackall I-Shad in the 3.8 size. I swam it in timber around 10 feet of water on the first break. The key was hitting the timber and catching the fish as they suspended near it. I did dip the tail of the I-Shad in JJ's Magic Red Garlic Dye and feel this made the bite alot stronger. My co-angler fished a bait the same way and had alot fewer strikes than I did.

With only an hour to go I had to make the choice to stay in that area or make a short run to the frog fish I had found in practice to try and get a bigger bite and go for the win. Well, while I was thinking I could almost here my Dad talking to me, saying "never leave fish bitting to find other fish". That is just what I did. I sat in the same area and both me and my co-anlger ended up culling 3 more times with doubles on the last 3 cast before we had to make the run back to the ramp.

Once back we saw alot of anglers that had done well on day one were not happy and struggled most of the day. I was getting more excited that I might have pulled one out and made the cut. Once at the scales I was hoping Randy was going to tell me I was inside the cut. I was floored when he told me I was the new leader with 14.04 lbs and a total of 19.23. This was forsure the comback of the year for me. Well I was bumped off the hot seat, but kinda had a feeling that wouldnt last long anyway. I ended up in 12th place and well inside the top 50 cut to make the National Chmpionship on Lake Guntersville.

I want to send out a special thanks to all of our sponsors that have been such a great foundation of support throughout the season. Federated Auto Parts, Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Trophy Tackle, Bluewater LED, Daiwa, Gator Grip, One Creative Services, JJ's Magic Dipping Dye, Owner Hooks, Topwater Clothing, Gemini Sports Marketing, Wired2Fish, Frazier Marine Group, WAAY 31 Broadcasting, Bass Pro Shops, and American Bass Anglers. Without thier awesome support this year could not have been what it is. I also want to say a HUGE thank you to God, my family, and all our fans. Without your support I would never have taken the chance and started "living the dream".

BWS-Old Hickory Lake Event

2010-09-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well what I can say about Old Hickory Lake...... Well let's start with it kicks my butt every time I go there so I knew the last BWS event was not going to be easy. After a long trip on the road and coming from one of the hardest events I have fished in years on the Detroit River (Lake Erie and St.Clair) I was looking forward to getting back south. Little did I know what I was asking for. I had one day to pre-fish, well more like 6 hours, but knew I could atleast put a small limit together. After getting to the lake I found out this event was going to be alot harder than I thought.
I hit the water at daybreak after a short nap in the truck at the ramp(thanks to the security at Blackjack cove) working some areas I had fished in the past event. I thought if those fish were still there, great but if not I atleast had a starting point on where to adjust on the water. When I pulled up on the first stop I noticed the shad were so thick it looked like you could walk across them. Now don't get me wrong, I love to find bait fish but there is such a thing as too many. I have found in alot of tournaments that if you have too many it kills the bite. Reason being it is hard to compete with Mother Nature.
After finding the deeper bite was not going to work for me I moved to shallow water and started fishing my strong points. I hit grass lines and areas just inside the mouths of creeks right off the main channel finding some keeper fish but nothing huge at all. After making some calls to good friend and local Radio host of Southern Bass Radio, Scott Morris I found I was on the right track. After making a few small adjustments I still found nothing huge but had a little more confidence in my areas.
On day one I drew a good guy that was from the area. We hit a couple of topwater spots fast I had boated a few keepers on first thing then moved to one of my better places when the sun got up. We stayed in that area catching tons of fish but all were smaller except one my co-angler boated on a spook type bait. We saw numbers of bigger fish eating shad but never got them to commit to the baits. Day one ended with my first zero in a tournament day in a long time. Needless to say I was not thinking very right at dinner. I needed to atleast boat one solid keeper to make the top 20 and make it to Regionals at Lay Lake in Birmingham.
On day two I drew out with a guy that didn’t fair much better than I did on day one so I went for the fence. I told him we were going to fish two areas all day on the south end of the lake and that's exactly what we did. On stop one(a small rock pile in Drakes Creek) I started busting all the 13.5 inch fish I wanted on just about everything I tossed at them. My co-angler got schooled in dropshots and Jackall Flick Shake tactics. I boated atleast 30 fish with not one keeper and he had no bites at all. I then moved to the second stop. Within one pass my co-angler boated a solid 2.5 lb keeper on a small crankbait(not sure of the brand). After seeing that I felt a little better and got a second wind. I tossed several baits at them with nothing but shorts to show for it. With time running out I just stopped and cleared my head. I changed the playlist on my IPod and tied on one of my big fish baits, a Jackall Ammonite Shad. I rigged it on a heavy Lake Fork Swimbait hook and went to stroking in under shad on the break line. It only took about 8 cast to put a 2 lb keeper in the boat. This was the last bite I got that would keep before time ran out to make the run back.
Once back at the dock I could already see several boats loading so I knew I atleast past a few others with that one keeper fish. After taking our catch to the scales saw I was in 16 for the year and made the top 20 as I wanted to at the start of the season(I did miss the first event so I made it in 4). To give everyone an idea of just how strange the lake was the angler that won only had one fish on day one and a massive 17+ lbs on day two to win the event. All his fish were caught on deep structure. Congrats to him and a great comeback.
Also I would like to say congratulations to Chad Hall for a great two day event and top 5 finish(he is strong on that lake with this being his 2nd check on it this year) and my roommate Robert Taylor for getting his first check ever on the Co-Angler side. He worked hard all year and waited to the last event to get one.LOL We are done with the regular season now in that Division and it's time to turn up the heat as we go to Lay Lake just south of Birmingham for the regional event. I look for Chad to be a heavy favorite there but I will give him a run for his money.LOL The big picture is making the top 50 there. Once you make the cut you are invited to the BWS Nationals held on Lake Guntersville. The gloves come off at that event and the winner heads to the biggest stage in Bass fishing, The Bassmaster Classic.
Thanks to all of our sponsors, supporters, and most of all our fans for the great support and well wishes. Looking forward to seeing everyone at regionals in Oct.

Guntersville Report 8-31

2010-09-02T17:59:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 86
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Well after 2 months on the road fishing tournaments from Tenn to New York I made it back to Guntersville. Rodney has had several trips that were very productive and the frog bite has been getting stronger everyday. I hit the water Monday with a halfday trip with a father and son learning some of the lake. We started kinda slow with several bites but nothing boated on shallow grass lines. We then moved to deeper water and teaching them how to use some tactics I learned fishing the Detroit River. They both had some fish but nothing huge. After that bite died we found some schooling fish. We stayed on them the rest of the trip with several solid fish on a Jackall Mikey swimbait and the Bowstick.

After the trip was done I went back out to look around and the flippping bite was ok but not what I expected. I also tossed a rat over matted grass with several blow ups but nothing bigger than 4 lbs..

The schooling fish are alot of fun but the better size seems to come from flipping mats and throwing frogs. Im looking forward to being home all of Sept and staying on Guntersville for awhile. Thanks to everyoe for the calls and support and looking forward to seeing everyone back on "the Big G". Hope everyone has a great and safe Holiday weekend.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Guntersville Report 9-2-10

2010-09-02T17:57:00.003-07:00

Date Fished: 9/2/2010
Water Temperature: 88
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Got out this afternoon solo looking for some fish and just fun fishing. Had a solid afternoon with the Jackall Mask Frog over "soupy" type grass lines and the River2Sea frog(both white) on the mats. Most of the better fish are moving around and where I found them on Monday have moved further back in the grass pockets off the river. I did ok on some bigger schools of fish with the Jackall Mikey and new I-Shad(shad colors). The weather is getting better for the rat bite in the coming weeks and the fall pattern is starting to get stronger. Hope everyone is ready for an awesome weekend on the water. Best of luck to the anglers fishing events. See you on the water

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Lake Champlain- Northern Open

2010-08-24T09:22:00.001-07:00

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I headed back north to Plattsburg, Ny for one of the best Northern Open events all year. Last year I found some awesome fishing in the New York arm of the lake but missed a check because of getting caught up with catching smallmouth. This year I knew I would have to make super long runs and brave the harsh waves if I wanted to win. Well thats exactly what I did.

After the 24 hour drive I wanted to get on the lake and find a back up plan first. I met a great guy that makes crankbaits on the Vermont side of Champlain. He wanted to see how we southern boys fish for smallmouth so we put him on the boat and went fishing. After getting used to catching several Northern Pike that are everywhere on the lake we found some big smallmouth. I wanted to use the smallmouth patternas a back up if the weather got nasty and made the long run to Ti impossiable. I put a pattern together within 2 days I thought was good for a solid 12-15 lb bite but knew it would not be what won the event.

The smallmouth I found were solid keeper fish with a few good 4-5 lb fish in the mix. I was fishing the dropshot with a Jackall Super Pintail in Goby color in 15-25 feet of water. I also found fish on several openwater humps. I used the new Jackall I-Shad in the 4.8 size on a C-Rig to get these bites.

On the first official day of practice my buddy, Will Peet and I hit the highway headed to Ti. Once we got there we started at the ramp finding largemouth in just about every cove in the area. The fish in Ti are everywhere it's a matter of finding the right fish more than finding fish there. I did have to slowdown alot to get the better bites. in the morning I fished two baits, the Jackall I-Shad, rigged weightless and worked over grass and the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad. After the morning bite was done I slowed waaayyyy down and worked a Jackall 6.8 Flick Shake rigged on a weightless hook wacky style. The key was letting the bait fall all the way down into the grass and let it sit. The fish would eat the bait on a slack line so bites were very hard to see. I only lost one fish in the tournament so that shows when they took the bait they wanted it.

On day one I had a great co-angler and we made the run to Ti in an hour and a half. Once there we went ahead and got gas then started fishing(the run was 76 miles oneway). I had a limit in less than an hour and started to upgrade. My co-angler Josh got 2 solid bites and was on his way to number 3 when we just ran out of time(we only had 4 hours to fish). We made the run back making a stop in 2 places trying to get his 3rd fish near the ramp. I ended the day in the middle of the pack but knew I needed more sun for the bite I was on to be productive like it was in practice.

On day 2 I drew a good angler that was in 6th place on the co side. The weather was going to be better but as with most events the reports were wrong! It sprinkled rain all day and winds were just plain nasty. I had my limit and my co-angler had his with some better fish but I just ran out of time. Something told me to head back earlier than on day one and I was glad I did. Once hitting the main area called "the narrows" I hit 6-9 footers coming from the south. I had to ride the waves in a zig-zag pattern. The ride back took almost 4 hours with us taking 3 waves into the boat and having to stop to let the water drain out of the boat before we could go on.

Once we got back my co-angler was in the lead and I ended up 95th. Still not bad for my 2nd time there but not where I should have been. It was a great event and congrats to Dave Wolak for a great win. Special thanks to all of our Sponsors for thier support

Detroit River- Bass Northern Open

2010-08-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

The "Motor City" was the site of the 2nd event on the BASS Northern Open Tour. What an awesome city with some of the BEST people I have had the pleasure of meeting while on the road. I was hosted by a great family(Jeri and Jessica Toner) in the city of Royal Oak not far from Lake St.Clair, which is where I had planned on fishing when the event started. For those that dont know, Jeri is the National Sales and MArketing Director for Zipper Worm Company. I use a ton of their hand pour baits on drop shots and we are working on doing a line of colors that I came up with that are sure to be a huge hit in the future. I was there a few days before the cut off so I was able to carry a couple of great guys fishing that I had met while on the trip.

I had met a guy here on Facebook named Brian McCarter. He is the owner of Nemesis Bait Company and makes some killer Goby baits. We got out on the water so he could show me some of the baits and kinda how to navigate the lake. This lake is like nothing I had ever seen in my years of fishing on the road. Water as far as you could see and most of the time not seeing land at all. Brian was a master of working a dropshot and I can say makes one of the best hand poured Goby baits I have ever seen and trust me I have seen alot of them during this trip(be sure to check out his baits at www.nemesisbaits.com)

I was totally lost when it came to finding fish on this body of water. This was honestly the first time I have seen a lake and had no clue where to start. There were no breaks, points, humps, or other things we southern anglers look for when on new water. I knew very quick I had a lot to learn in a short period of time if I planned on even catching a fish to take to the scales much less cashing a check. I had caught some awesome smallmouth so far but had no clue why the fish were there or what they were holding on.

One thing I can say to readers is if you plan on going to Lake St. Clair make sure to have all of your USCG equiptment in the boat and learn how to drive in big waves. What we see in the south as huge storms on the lake is normal there and when your in 3-4 footers and cant see land it's not a very comforting feeling. What's bad is when you get back to the ramp and talking with locals and they remind you it was a calm day and you should see it when it gets nasty. Which I did get to see a few times while there.

After several days on the water the event started with Official practice. I had spent most of my time on St. Clair so I made the choice to go to Erie and stay in the River for the rest of practice. Lake Erie is a BEAST of a body of water and running that lake(and I use the term lake very loose, more like small ocean) can eat a boat in a matter of seconds. I made the run to an Island that alot of anglers talk about and once there(only took 3 hours to get to it) I had a limit of about 17 lbs.. Only problem was it took me 4 hours to catch it and in the event that would put me an hour late getting back to weigh in. This was a problem for about 9 anglers in the event later.

I took 2 days of practice and stayed in the Detroit river section. This was alot better on the boat, the pocket book(fuel cost), and my brain(after being beat to death for a week by waves) but the fish there were not going to get me a check. I did have a chance to master drifting in some heavy currents running anywhere from 2-4 mph all the time. This is why the anglers up north say nothing fights like a smallmouth. These fish swim all day in current and are STRONG for their size.

On day 1 of the tournament, Chris Bowes, the Tournament Director let everyone know the "no wake" areas(none of which were posted) were and started blast off. I made the run to St. Clair then up 24 miles into the lake(total of 42 miles) to my first stop. I started with a Jackall Muscle 15+ in shad pattern. I noticed the fish were less active due to the cloud cover so I swithed to the Crosstail Shad in Ayu. I was catching cookie cutter smallmouth and switched baits alot keeping the bite going. Most fish were on the Jackall but I did have several on a special color I had poured by Zipper Worms and then swtiched again to the Goby bait that Brian had poured me. In fact thats the bait my co-angler had his limit on.

After I decided that the fish wouldnt get any bigger I moved out to an area I found that was holding big fish but stil no clue why. I stood on the Minn Kota and worked the area hard with the crankbait and Lake Fork Swimbait. I ended up loosing 3 fish that are still waking me up at night with nightmares. Those of you that know me know I rarely loose a fish. Well I am also rarely fishing in 4 footers and that was the only reason I can think of why I lost them. Trying to stand on the deck was not easy and it was just a plain bad late hook set on my part. This is where lack of local experiance comes into play. Like I said I learned a lot on this trip. I ran out of time knowing with rising winds and waves it would take longer to get back. The lake was ok(after all the practice here and Champlain) but the River, well thats a monster of it's own. The best way to describe it is like driving a boat in a washing machine. Waves come from all 4 directions and there is nothing you can do to avoid it. After getting back I was sitting in the middle of the field again and knew I would have to go for broke on day two to make the cut.

On day 2 I told my co-angler we were going for big fish after he had his limit(he still had a shot at the cut). I went to my limit spot and it took a little longer to get his but once we got it we moved out. I still only had 3 fish but knew if I boated 3 solid bites I had a shot. Well the old term I am famous for fishing came into play"go big or go home". The local weather was wrong again and the east wind was plain nasty. I worked 3 areas hard and only had one more bite but not the one I needed. We then had to make the run back. I stopped at our limit spot but never got another bite in the 30 mins or so I had to go. We moved back to the ramp and I was not happy with my preformance but learned a ton ready to get to the next event.

After the weigh in was done the locals put a beating on all of us who tour the country fishing and I think all but 6 of the top 30 were from the area. Congrats to all of the top 30 and the winner for a great event and a huge thank you to the City of Detroit for the welcome.

Although this event was not the most ideal conditions or outcome I have to thank a lot of people that made it wonderful. First and formost to Jeri Toner and her Daughter Jessica for putting up with me for almost 2 weeks and showing me all of the sights, Brian McCarter for the great Goby baits and teaching me how to navigate the lake, Dave and Rob for showing me alot about that style of fishing, and Zipper Worm Company for getting me some baits I really needed fast.

Lastly a HUGE thanks to our sponsors, Federated Auto Parts, Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Tackle, Bluewater LED, Gator Grip, Gemini Sports Marketing, Wired2Fish and American Bass Anglers. Also a special thanks to God, my wife Beth and my family. If it was not for them I would never have the chance to live the dream and continue to travel the country meeting new fans, friends, and learning and to all my friends and fans. You have truely been an inspritation and your support and comments keep me going even in the hard times. Thanks again and see everyone at the next event.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville July 4th weekend.

2010-07-06T21:10:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 90
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Had a great weekend with the family on the water just playing, watching fireworks, swimming, and doing a little fishing. The last two days got back at it working on tactics and some new baits with the time off getting ready for upcoming events on some new waters.

Monday had a great time working on some tactics and flat busted some topwater fish on some baits I was testing. Had several solid limits before the heat got up fishing over grass lines in 3-8 feet of water. After the heat started to work it's way into the mid-80's the deeper bite started and once you found them you could boat anywhere from 3 to 10 in that area.

Tuesday I got out a little later working on some deeper tactics and baits. I found a few schools of active fish in the 25-35 feet range but the REAL excitement came when I was testing a new dropshot bait. I had found a school of fish in about 50 feet of water on the sonar and decided to test the bait on them. After dropping it down and about 3 mins of working the bait near the school I saw the first fish eat it. To be honest it pulled alot like a strong spot(which is what I thought it would be when I saw them) but all of a sudden it came to the top like a rocket and when it cleared the water I saw it was a "bronzeback"! That's right a smallmouth. After putting the first one in the boat I got right back down there and started to put the smackdown on em'. Ended up boating 17 before the bite just died. I have fished this lake from one dam to the other from the age of 5 and now about to celebrate my 39th birthday in a few weeks and have only boated 3-5 smallmouth in these waters to date.

Even though they were not huge fish they were all keepers and a blast to catch. Hope everyone had a great Holiday weekend and looking forward to a great week. I will be on the water the rest of this week and Monday and Tuesday of next then I'm off the water on the road at tournaments the rest of the month. Rodney will be taking care of all our trips but I know i'm leaving clients in great hands. Be sure to give us a call if you would like to book a trip and learn some awesome new tactics. See you on the water.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

FINS -N- GRINS FRESHWATER ADVENTURES

Lake Guntersville

2010-07-03T13:28:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 90
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

After being on the road fishing other lakes for upcoming events and also fishing a few tournaments out of the state I finally got back to Guntersville. Man did I miss this place!! I first started out fishing some new tactics I have been working on and they worked fairly well. Im excited about some of the new baits that are going to be released at ICast in a few weeks.

Fishing on Guntersville right now is hit and miss but when you hit you hit BIG! I fished several miles of the ledges on my first day back and found several places that were holding fish in water ranging from 25-40 feet of water. Most fish were solid keepers with a few bigger fish thrown in the mix.

On the 2nd day back out I spent the day flipping shallow grass in some areas that have been solid in the past. FInding productive grass that doesnt have 30 boats on it is not easy but when you do its worth the wait. We had another solid day with fish coming off several baits in water ranging from 3-9 feet.

I hope everyone has a great Holiday on the water. Please stay safe and remember what the holiday is all about, our freedom! Remember our troops, and thier families as well as those that have given so much to so we can enjoy our freedom.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

FINS -N- GRINS FRESHWATER ADVENTURES

Jackall I-Shad Review

2010-06-11T15:19:00.001-07:00

I have fished the I-Shad for a few weeks but just recieved the US version this week. There is really no change from the Japan to US version other than some colors and the bait is the same. Once getting the box I was like a kid on Christmas with a new toy.

I first used the bait the way it was made to be fished in Japan. This is using light tackle and line. I rigged the bait on the 1/16 I-Motion Jighead the tied it to Lake Fork Flourohybrid 8 lb. line. I also used the Jackalll Power Inch Wacky rod with a Daiwa Steez spinning reel. The one thing I think alot of anglers will have to get used to is the feeling of no action. This bait is meant to be VERY subtle and trigger strikes and it does just that. I started off fishing the bait on shallow grass lines working the bait along the edges. It took about 30 mins before my first bite but it was worth the wait. The strike was strong and the fish crushed the bait. After boating the first fish I was "hooked" on it. One thing anglers need to remember when fishing it with this set up is don't rush the fish or the bait and let your equiptment do the work for you.

After fishing the bait several hours the way it is intended I just had to start playing with it. I rigged it on a baitcaster with 14 lb Lake Fork Flourohybrid on a Jackall Master Stroke rod and Daiwa Steez 7.1 reel. I like the faster reel to get alot of slack line back fast when working the bait. I tossed the bait onto wood cover and worked it weightless(nose hooked on a Owner Widegap Dropshot hook). After the cast I let the bait sink a few seconds and work it with a "twitching action" I then let the bait fall at the end of the laydown and got hammered. I decided to try that on the grass lines with the same results. I began to work it on top of the grass then every 10 feet or so I would just stop the bait and let it fall. Almost every fish hit the bait on the fall.

After working the bait and seeing how well it caught fish on bigger line I moved out to some deeper water and worked it on a few other rigs. I found the Dropshot rig worked awesome and the less you made the bait move the better it worked I used the 4.8 and 3.8 sizes for that. I then hit some super deep water and worked it on a C-Rig using the 4.8 and 5.8 size. The bait still caught fish and preformed well on the bigger line.

Although this bait can be fished a number of ways and catches fish everyway you can fish it I did find my biggest number of fish were caught fishing the bait the way it was intended. I know this bait will help alot of people boat more fish and will be a great addition to anyones tackle box. The number one thing to remember is fish the bait and give it a chance to catch fish. I see alot of anglers try a new bait and after about 15 mins they put it down. I tell my clients all the time when fishing a new tactic, work the bait and it will work for you. This bait is one of the best finesse tactics I have seen since the Jackall Flick Shake.

Lake Guntersville Report (6-10-10)

2010-06-10T18:42:00.003-07:00

Date Fished: 6/10/2010
Water Temperature: 86
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Headed out today for a fun fishing trip solo. This is the first trip on Guntersville after being gone to the Federated 300 race in Nashville. I started out on the same pattern I was fishing before I left but had to adjust some. Found most of the fish had moved up a little and started catching the better numbers on a Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbait. The fish I found were near creek channels on the 4-7 foot break. Hope everyone had a great day and looking forward to an awesome weekend on the lake. Also if your on FB be sure to check us out there for some great giveaways and information on upcoming events. You can also follow us on Twitter for on-water reports(Fins_N_Grins) See you on the water.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Guntersville Report

2010-05-27T18:40:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 83
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

This is a report for Sat, Sunday, an Monday.

I fished the Fishing for a Cure event out of Goose Pond Sat. and they had a great tournament. Alot of anglers showed thier support and that was awesome. We fished the upper mid lake section of the lake all day. With thei event being a 3 fish tournament and most of the anglers I knew that were in it I felt like it would take atleast 16-18 lbs to have a chance. My partner for the day Rodney Treadaway and I headed to some deeper stuff I fish and went hog hunting. We boated fish most all day with Jackall Swimming Ninja swimbaits, Jackall Craws and Lake Fork Live Magic Shads(5.5) in natural colors. My big fish and also big fish for the event(7.00) was boated at 7:15 on the Live Magic Shad. We ended the event with 15.04 taking 4th place and big fish. Huge congrats to all the winners and other contestants for a great job and thank you for being a part of a great charity.

On Sunday got out with a good friend for some fun fishing. The morning bite was awesome and we had a blast teaching him to catch fish on the swimbait. Again we hit deeper areas for the better fish but did find some solid keepers in shallow grass. The afternoon was not as good to us with both numbers and size dropping but still a good day on the lake.

Monday had a trip with a great angler from NC. He wanted to learn the dropshot and swimbait so we hit some section of deeper water I have been fishing. Size was lacking a little but he boated fish the entire trip with a solid 4 lb adv. for the size. All in all a great weekend and wonderful start to the week.

Hope everyone has had a great week so far and looking forward to some awesome weather. Be sure to also check us out on Facebook(Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures) and also twitter(Fins_N_Grins) for on water updates while on trips and some other cool stuff we are doing. See you on the water.

God Bless

Phil4:13

FINS -N- GRINS FRESHWATER ADVENTURES

Guntersville report 05-25-10

2010-05-27T18:39:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 82
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Got out today as part of a Corp. trip with an awesome guy from Bham.. He said he would rather go looking for a big fish than catch numbers and wanted to also learn a swimbait. Well we hit an area I have been doing well on a swimbait and after about 10 mins he boated his first. He then smacked a few more then wanted to hit a deeper bite. We made the move and hit some of my deeper spots. After missing a couple he got the hang of it and boated a couple of solid fish. We made a move with 10 mins before time to be back and on the last stop boated 2 more in 5 mins.. A great end to a short trip with a great guy. Hope everyone had a wonderful day and looking forward to a good holiday weekend. See you on the water.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

FINS -N- GRINS FRESHWATER ADVENTURES

Guntersville 5-26-10

2010-05-27T18:38:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 83
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Headed out this afternoon to do some looking with fishing partner Rodney while we both had a day off from trips. We fished the same patterns we both have been on the past few weeks but in areas neither of us have touched in a few years. We ended up running from the storms that blew in but had a great day before they hit. Only on the water about 4 hours hitting a place catching a fish and moving. Best five went 21+ lbs and we both found a way to "tweek" the bite a little and shook off several bigger bites. Looking forward to the trips we have lined up in the coming weeks. Hope everyone is having a great week.

Best baits for the day were Jigs(natural colors), Lake Fork Swimbaits(shad colors) and Jackall Swimming Ninja(also shad color). Key today was fishing slower and "feeding" the fish the bait after they hit it the first time.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

FINS -N- GRINS FRESHWATER ADVENTURES

Lake Guntersville 5-27-10

2010-05-27T18:37:00.001-07:00

Water Temperature: 84
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet

Headed out as part of a fullday multi-boat trip going from Waterfront. I got to fish with two great guys from Miss.. We started on topwater and to be honest the morning bite left alot to be desired today. We ended up going to swimbaits and started catching fish after we worked on the feel of the bite. They boat ended up doing ok on baits and learning some new tactics. After they were happy with the numbers I made the move to some bigger fish. We hit the deep water and they both culled everything they had in the morning the rest of the day., Best fish are coming on structure in 25-40 feet of water. Had both clients fishing dropshots, and swimbaits but also had a few suspended fish off Jackall Muscle 15+ cranks in shad colors.

Hope everyone has a great Holiday weekend and stays safe. Please remember to be kind to other anglers and boats and drink lots of water. The heat is just nasty right now and doesnt take long to dehydrate. Also have rain gear ready to use, last two days have had some nasty little storms pop up in the heat of the afternoon on some areas of the lake. Stay weather aware.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville FIshing Report(4-26/5-1)

2010-05-02T18:06:00.001-07:00

The last week of fishing has been kinda funny between "pop-up" storms, fronts, and high winds fishing has been solid but size has been up and down. We started off the week after returning from Center Hill expecting the fishing to be good and it was. My trips this week have seen some awesome numbers and as the week grew on the size got better as well. Most of the best numbers are being seen still in pockets and in the shallow waters. Our best baits for the solid 15-18 pound bags have been Lake Fork Green Pumpkin Lizards and Jackall 6.8 Flick Shake worms in any color you want to use.

During the week I moved alot looking for the bigger bite and by the end of the week I found it. While the Shad Spawn is only days from kicking off, the ledge bite is getting hot. One key is finding green grass in 8-12 feet of water near shell beds. I got the chance to do some searching and found some grass on this pattern working well with Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbaits(shad colors) and two types of swimbaits. Both the Jackall Swimming Ninja(hitch) and Lake Fork Live Magic Shad(shad) are boating some great fish but the bite is slow as the day wears on.

The Jig bite is also picking up for us on the ledges and mouths of creek channels. I first position my boat on the down river side of the structure and work the bait with the current. After the bite seems to slow down(about a bite every 30-45 min.) I re-position the boat and fish the area again working into the mouth of the channel and dropping off into deeper water. This is also working with swimbaits but the jig seems to get the less aggressive fish.

As far as an outlook for the up coming week the weather will play a factor in the fishing. Brad Huffins of WAAY 31 says the weather will be nothing short of awesome this coming week with lows in the mid 60's and highs in the 80's all week. This should do nothing but more fish moving to the ledge and the topwater bite could get stronger as the week wears on. Ledges are going to be better all week as well as the creek channels where they meet the main river channel. With the big rains up north the TVA "should" be running water hard so finding stumps on the ledges will also be important, as this give some of those tired big fish a place to hide from heavy currents as they feed throughout the day to re-gain some mojo from the spawn.

Also hit the ledges first thing in the morning as well as open water humps looking for shad. I would suggest throwing a spinnerbait with the boat positioned in deeper water and throwing into the shallows. White seems to be the color that has worked best in years past. If you see shad following your bait your in the right area. After working the area solid and catching a few fish switch it up and use a swimbait and then a crankbait to catch a few more. Once the shad spawn starts fishing will be crazy every morning on this pattern for atleast 2 weeks. Once the sun gets up(around 8-9 am) that bite dies and the fish seem to shut down. Even though you should have 20+ pounds by this time you can still work the areas with the jig, spoon, or craw baits and get a few more bites.

Hope this report helps you guys/gals out in the following trips and you get out and enjoy this great weather and resource we have. Please remember to get a few pictures and get those fish back in the water so another angler can have the chance to catch the fsih of a lifetime. Thank you to everyone for thier continued support and please remember to support our sponsors. If it wasnt for them we couldnt be living this awesome dream. ROCK ON!!!

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Center Hill Event

2010-04-28T07:21:00.001-07:00

Well when asked about Center Hill during my practice last week I was not real sure what to reply. When I arrived I was expecting a body of water along the lines of Clarks Hill or Smith Lake. Those are big water deep, clear, and rocky. Well This lake is deep, clear and rocky but nothing like any other lake I had fished before. The lake level being down about 30 feet didnt help matters much but I can see where this lake could produce some great fish. I was starting out my pre-fish like any other tournament pre-fish I do about a month prior to the event pulling up pictures, maps and reports. Well there is some pictures of the lake and one good map but I had trouble finding any up to date or past reports. This made things alot harder to get a plan together.This is one reason I wanted to write this report. I hope it helps anyone that is headed to the lake.

I arrived on Wednesday at day break to start my first day of on water pre fishing. I decided to put in at the tournament ramp, Ragland Bottom. Make sure you have some dollars for the launch fee which is $4.00. The parking is not the best put very secure. Once in the water I noticed the lake is alot more deep and clear than I expected. I then noticed that south is not down river. If you want to go down torward the dam on this lake you have to go north. Ofcourse I went south before knowing this. If the water was up this lake would have some awesome structure to fish and lots of places for fish to hide. With it being down the only thing I noticed that would hold fish is a change in the type of bottom. I started looking for this change on the banks. Once I located places where there were two types of rock or a section of red clay on the bank I would stop and graph it to see if the lake bottom had the same type as the banks. In most every case I found it did. I also noticed the water temps were ranging from 65-72 degrees. During day one I did alot more riding and looking than fishing but found some things that I would fish later in practice. This is something I always do when on new water. Getting to know areas of the lake and the type of structure around it will help later on putting a solid pattern together.

On day two of practice I got the boat in the water and started to fish. I first went down river and stopped at a section of the lake that the river channel turned in close to the bank. I held the boat in 45 feet of water and started with a C-Rig and Watermelon Top Dog Lizard. Once finding the banks on this lake drop from dry to the core of the earth(just kidding) with no "stair step" type of break while working the rig. I then knew I was in trouble. I did find a fish on the point I found and that was what I needed. I then looked on my Navionics chip and found another point like that one and headed that way. Once there made 3 cast to the bank and boated another solid keeper fish. I then moved again and duplicated the smae pattern for 5 more fish in the same type areas. Things were coming together as planned but I still knew it was going to be a hard event. After picking up my buddy Robert that was fishing the co-angler side, I went looking for spawning fish and a secondary pattern. I found one fish on bed upriver in about 10 feet of water and duplicated the pattern I found down river that morning.

On day three we went looking for some more areas and a better pattern. Well the same thing I found worked everywhere I stopped shaking off bites on most stops. I did go to back to check on the one "bedding fish" I found and she was gone already. Just my luck my "kicker" fish was off bed or being weighed in at the tournament that was going on that day. We put the boat on the trailer and went to get ready for the partner pairing. Once there we found out the event was not going to happen on Saturday due to some really bad weather headed our way. To be honest I really wanted to fish but the tournament director made the right decision for the safety of the anglers. I have to take my hat off to him for that and he is one of the best in the business.

Saturday we spent the day hanging out and doing a few business calls and stopped at the local tackle stores trying to spread the word about some of my sponsors in the industry. Also had to have my boat fixed at the host dealer. Just a note but if you have a chance drop by a dealer and grab a spare switch for your trim. If it goes out while at an event it will cost you alot more than the price of the switch.

Sunday We checked out and launched the boat. I made the decision to stay close to the ramp areas I had found in practice and hope to stay out of the wind as much as I could. On the first stop the winds were stable and ok. I boated one fish quick on a spinnerbait(white 1/4 oz) waking it just under the surface. The fish was short but was hope of more fish to come. I worked the pocket in 30 feet of water with the blade without another bite and started back at the mouth of the pocket with the C-Rig and dropshot. As the winds got worse the C-Rig was all I could feel or get to the bottom. We both boated a couple of short fish and my co-angler lost one that we think would have measured. I then put one in the boat that was small but a start. We worked the area for another hour without another bite before moving.

I then made the choice to move around to the other areas I found. Most every area was getting slammed with high winds but we fished it as best as we could. Boat position was extreamly hard to control. I fished several areas with only a couple more missed bites and short fish before moving further down river. Once I moved to a section that the wind was only blowing around 20 I broke out the 6.8 Jackall Flick Shake and Wacky Jig Head. Many of you know that is my go to bait when I have to boat some fish. Only problem was I am used to fishing the bait near some type of structure and there was none. Well I just tossed the bait out and let it fall down the rock until it hit the bottom. I missed the first bite I got then boated another keeper. I fished the area about another hour without a bite so decided to move again closer to the ramp.

On the run back we saw a boater with motor problems. We tried to give him a jump without any luck. We then put his co-angler in the boat with us as well as a great smallbouth he had and took him to the ramp. After dropping him off we hit an area I found in practice while looking for an emergency plan. Both my co angler and I fished it hard but boated nothing before time ran out. After weigh-in I ended up in 34th place with my 2 fish and some points to make my goal of making regionals at Lay Lake.

I want to give a huge thanks to John Glenn of American Bass Anglers for helping me out while at the event and the guys and gals at Time Out Sports Grill for asking us to hang out with them. We had an awesome appearance there with a great crowd. The next event in this Division is going to be on Old Hickory Lake in June. Looking forward to seeing some more new water and a better finish.

Lake Guntersvillle 4-16-10

2010-04-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Got out today on a trip with a great guy from Birmingham. His wife took advantage of the Christmas Gift Cards we sold and today was his trip. We had a blast with him boating fish all day. He had one over 5, pushing 6 and 19 keepers. We lost a total of 3 solid fish and one he said was bigger than the big fish he had. Also missed atleast 7 other bites that just didnt hook up.

We fished the mid-lake area while targeting open water humps and weed lines in 8 feet of water. We also had several fish in some shallow water with the boat positioned in 4 feet or less and throwing to dirt. Lake Fork "Top Dog" Lizards in Watermelon were the ticket for both numbers and size today. We rigged them on a Jackall Master Stroke rod with 20 lb Lake Fork Flourohybrid line and a 3/16 Lake Fork Tungsten weight. We also had a couple of fish on the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad and a few on the Jackall Craw.

All in all a great time on the water and lots of fish throughout the day to keep it interesting. Looking forward to a great weekend and next week is going to be just as good weather wise. We want to wish everyone fishing an event this weekend a great tournament and please be safe. There are alot of boats on the water right now. Also watch out for some stuff floating. We saw several ig logs in the water that would sure mess up a day of fishing if you hit it with the big motor. Stay safe and see you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Fishing Lake Guntersville in the Spring

2010-04-13T15:50:00.001-07:00

AHHHH, Lake Guntersville in April. Trees are blooming, birds are singing, and traffic on the lake. You know the fish are eating when you pull up to the ramp(any ramp on the lake) on a Wed morning and the parking lot looks like Walmart on Christmas eve. Well the fish are eating and the bigger fish are up in the shallows adding more fish to the lake everyday. During this time of year there really is not a bad place to fish on the lake if you know what to look for and how to fish it. This is one reason I am writing this article. Im going to give you a little insight on whats going on and the tactics I have been using to have some awesome days on the water.

First let's start with the pattern. In years past the spawn was coming to a close this time of year but the lake is about 3-5 weeks behind making it fish alot different that before. Grass is coming up but only in a few places. There are huge numbers coming off flats with hard bottoms near steep drops. I have had clients that have had close to 100 fish days in the last month but the size was not as great as the past. In the last week or so the size is picking upwith alot of bigger females moving up everyday to take thier place on the beds. We boated several in the last few trips that had already laid out and were ready to start thier move back to the ledges. If an angler was coming down here look for these flats and just start fishing. You will catch fish on most of them. Alot of smaller fish but there are bigger fish mixed in the groups. Also the sight fishing is picking up but the pollen is making it hard to see some fish unless your really good at sight fishing. FOr some pre-spawn fish hit the drops near the flats. One thing that will help is if you find a pocket that has a muddy bottom move. Everything I am catching is on a hard surface.

There are several baits that are working great for me right now. I am using the Jackall Cover Craw(green Pumpkin), Lake Fork Top Dog and Hyper Lizard, as well as the Jackall Giron, and Lake FOrk Live Magic Shad. Thise baits are getting the bigger bites with the plastics gaining huge numbers and a few bigger fish. One bait that I am flat smoke'n fish on is the Jackall Flick Shake or the Lake Fork Live Wack'n Worm rigged on a Jackall Wacky Jighead in 3/32. I am using that bait on a Jackall Power Inch Wacky Rod with Daiwa Steez and Lake Fork Flourohybrid Line. The Other PLastics I am using a Jackall Master Stroke Rod with Daiwa Reel Steez 7.1 reel and Lake Fork Flourohybrid 26 lb line. On the swimbaits I use the Jackall Delta Spec rod with the Daiwa Zillion Reel(4.3) and 32 lb Flourohybrid line.

If sight fishing is your thing this is the time to do it. Move to supper skinny water on flats and just go looking. Once you find a bed holding a fish then back off and start working it. I am having my best luck with the Flick Shake or Wack'n worm to catch most of the bed fish. PLEASE rememeber if you are going sight fish do everything you can to return the fish to the bed after a picture and get her back in the water ASAP. The less stress the better.

I want to thank all of our fans and those who have been a huge support to our efforts. We are having some great trips and the tournament season is going strong. We are only a few more events away from making the big goal. It is because you all of you that we are able to keep going and moving forward. WE will ALL be at the TOP together in no time flat. ROCK ON!!!

ABA-BWS Tournament on Lake Chickamuaga

2010-04-12T22:12:00.001-07:00

Well going to a lake I have never seen is one of my favorite things to do in the tournament series. I was not disappointed when I arrived on last Wed. in Dayton, Tn at all. Although the water was down about 6 feet and alot of the things I had found while watching maps and photos were dry dirt I still felt my mental game was "spot on". I launched the Federated Auto Parts Triton at the event ramp and started riding the waters. Fisrt place I pulled into I went as far back as I could thinking with water temps in the high 60's there should be fish in the dirt. Well I was right, first cast to a stump I spotted yielded a solid keeper fish. I then shook off 3 more bites on the same type of structure. Knowing what I know now and have learned by alot of mistakes I moved to other pockets with the same look as the first. I found fish in several of them and found things that would work reguardless of the wind direction. After riding about 40 miles of the lake and it's creeks I was feeling good about my event but knew it was a pattern that could fall apart fast.

On day two of practice I decided to look for a solid secondary pattern just in case. When I walked out of the Holiday Inn I was greeted with driving rain and high winds. After putting in the water made the choice to check the water in the areas I found on Wed.. Well as expected they were very muddy and getting worse by the hour. Needless to say day two went very bad and suddenly I found my mental game gone. Not one keeper fish or bite all day with the only thing I found to be gone due to weather.

Day three, after a long talk with a couple of people I can always count on to raise my mental state back up I hit the water on the lower end of the lake. I did that knowing from alot of lakes I have traveled to in the past the lower end tends to be deeper and have clear water. I had my link and good friend, Chris Abbott put me in at the ramp and take my truck to the lower end of the lake to save some gas but at the same time lay a track on the GPS to the lower end. It was nice to have someone there that could do that. Once I picked him up I moved to an open water hump very close looking for some "release fish". Well about the third cast got a bite and set the hook on an 8 lb fish! I marked it and left. Second stop was another hump and yielded another solid 4 lb fish. I looked at the Navionics chip map I had and found several humps that looked just like the first two I hit. Each one gave me a solid keeper fish. I found humps that I knew would be protected from any winds and located near large spawning flats. I was so "stoked" by the end of the day I couldnt wait to start the event.

On tournament day I was, as always, one of the first on the ramp and in the water 2 hours before check in. My Co-Angler, Kevin Rose, showed up carrying some breakfast and his gear. He knew the best way to start the day was bringing me food.LOL I told him we had a long run and after talking and getting to know each other a little we lined up for blast off. Being boat 40 was ok but once we went through check in and blast off and hit the river we hit the fog. There were several times I had to sit down off the pad to see the front of the boat. This is not a good thing when your looking at a 30+ min ride to your first stop. We made it to our stop only to find I had found a great spot. Atleast I knew it was due to the 4 boats sitting on it when I got there. I made my way into the hump and watched a boat that was sitting on the sweet spot smoke a limit in about 15 mins.. I just kept fishing and before long had my first keeper. I then put another one in the boat as did Kevin. I then had a solid fish on that just came off right at the boat. I shook off the bad karma and kept plugging along. We made a move to my next hump to get two more short fish. The winds kinda got up so I moved acroos the river to some Islands I had found had humps off the points. I hit the first one and had my limit in less than an hour. Kevin also boated a HUGE 5+ smallmouth and his largest "brown fish" to date. We were both stoked about his catch and I got to fish solo for a sec while he calmed back down. I then culled twice and had a couple of short fish in the stop.

After about another hour I made the run to some spawning areas in search of one 5 lb bite. Once I got there I found the nights north winds had beat the pocket up and the water was just nasty. I did what I could to see some fish and just blind casted to several waypoints I had marked only to find smaller buck bass on the beds. I then made the move back to my first stop to fish the last 30 mins of my day. The big fish I had on Friday was still there somewhere and I needed it. Kevin and I put another fish in the boat his was short and mine didnt cull anything I had then time was up. I made the run back toward the ramp getting there just in time for my check in.

Once at the scales Kevin found himself in the top 5 with 2 fish that went 8.78 and I had a good limit(for a non-local) at 11.53. I knew I needed one good fish to be in a better position but once all was said and done gained alot of places in the points race(from 85th to 42nd) and only 8 points from the top 40 that will go to regionals. I still have 3 more events to go so I'm on the pace I like and feel regionals is a very reachable goal.

My best baits for the event were the Jackall Cover Craw(Green Pumpkin) and Lake Fork Top Dog Lizard. I fished both on Jackall Posion Rods(Master Stroke and Rushburn) with Daiwa Steez reels. I also used Lake Fork Flourohybid 20lb line and Lake Fork weights. I want to thank God for giving me the chance to live out my dreams, My Family and fans for all the support and well wishes, Tom Helton for all his input, Betty Stahl for the loan of the Navionics Chip(which was a huge help on getting me around the lake as well as putting together a game plan) and my Sponsors with whom I couldnt be doing this without thier support. Please be sure to support those who support us. Looking forward to another great event next week for the Central Division on Lake Center Hill. See you on the water.

BWS-East Tenn. Division on Lake Guntersville

2010-02-28T18:55:00.001-08:00

After the Bassmasters Classic on Lay Lake Last weekend I came home to pre-fish for the Bassmasters Weekend Series by American Bass Anglers on Lake Guntersville. The weather left alot to be desired but in tournament Bass fishing anglers have no choice to to get out there and make things happen. Our forcast for the week was brutal calling for high winds and snow on atleast one day of practice with the end of the week having a full moon and more high winds. Temps started off everyday in the mid to upper 20's with highs only reaching mid 40's by the weekend.

On Monday I started off pre-fishing like I would any other lake I have been on before, checking places I knew fish should be and hitting areas I have had done well in on past trips. I found fish in the mid-lake area on creek channels working into large spawning flats to me the most productive pattern. The best baits for me seemed to be the Jackall TN70 lipless crankbait and Greenpumpkin Jig. I did notice the bite was strong and fish seemed to hit the baits aggressive on every place I had found.

On Tuesday I hit the lake fishing the lower section looking to duplicate the bite from Monday and build on what I had found. I fished several steep drops with the jig and only had two bites for the day. The Lipless crankbait was seeming to be the most consistant bite on the lower end with most of my fish coming on it. I had several solid keepers and was feeling good about the pattern.

Wed. I hit the water to find snow and blowing winds. I stayed on the lower end again wanting to get some idea of how the weather would effect the fish I had found the day before and it did. The areas I fished seemed to be very slow and crushed my confidence to make the run down river to those areas. The few bites I got all day were very light and fish just seemed to be loading up on the bait and not striking near as hard as the other days. I knew the weather would effect the bite and high winds would blast the areas I needed to fish with a jig making boat position hard to deal with when fishing with a co-angler.

Last Thursday I made the choice to run up river and see if the bite was any better. I also wanted to fish areas I had not seen(which is hard to do being I grew up fishing here). I moved above the Hwy 35 bridge looking for places I knew would not get alot of boat presure and had steep drops. I found a submerged pond in a cut that was surrounded by spawning flats and lots of wood cover. The edge of the pond had alot of green grass(which was key to holding fish). I fished the jig with very few bites but the Lippless crankbait was producing several 4+ pound fish. I also noticed it was more protected from high winds which were going to blow on tournament day. I had alot of confidence in that area and made the decission this was going to be the first stop of the tournament.

Friday I fished the mid-lake area again looking for some type of back up plan in case the area didnt pan out that I had found on Thrusday. I found 3 areass that held solid keeper fish and knew I could get atleast 15-18 pounds from all 3 of them. I felt confident I could get a limit and knew with 2 or more good bites to go along with it I had a shot at a top 5 finish.

On the morning of the event we had to wait to launch due to the ramp having a sheet of ice on it and it delayed the 6 am. blast off an hour. My co-angler and I made the run upriver to my first stop finding the water temps had dropped a few degrees but we were alone as far as boats go. We fished about an hour before I put the first keeper in the boat. A few cast later he landed a keeper fish and we were both on the board. about an hour later I got slammed and had a solid fish miss the bait. 2 cast later I lost a solid fish due to line breaking from the cold temps and being frozen and brittle. After about another hour I noticed my front sonar shut off. Those of you that fish know theis means I have a charging problem. I cranked the motor to find the voltage regulator was not charging the cranking battery and my tournament was about to get alot harder than I planned. during this time my co-angler boated a solid 6+ pound fish. I made the choice to stay in that area a little longer but knew I couldnt stay long having to run the livewells and now couldnt go to the mid-lake areas I had my most consistant bite. I could have made it to those areas but knew that there was no way to have enough cranking power to get back to the ramp for check in. If you have a chance at making some points and your co-angler has a chance at a check with his fish it was too big a risk to take to make a run and not be sure I could get back. I made the choice to run closer to the ramp and fish there in case I had to use the trolling motor to get back to check in.
I ended up only boating one more fish on after getting near the ramp on the TN70 and him and I missing only a couple of more bites. This put him and I both with 2 fish at weigh in time. He ended up in the top 15 and I got some points to go to the next event. In tournament fishing when you are fishing the entire series every point is important to make it to the goal of getting to Nationals.
There were alot of solid anglers in the event and over 30 boats without a fish and only 23 limits brought to the scales out of 127 boats.
It was a great job by the anglers that finished well and now looking forward to the getting the boat fixed and my next event coming up. Hope everyone had a great weekend and stays warm. The coming week I will be home working on guide trips and getting ready for next weekends appearances at Bass Pro Shops. Thanks to everyone for all the support and well wishes. See you on the water

Non-Motivated Angler Makes for a Long Day on the Water.....

2010-02-02T17:54:00.001-08:00

I started the day out this morning not looking forward to getting on the water. It was just one of those days that it was just hard to get moving and once I hit the outside temps it was even harder to make myself go to the water. Well after a bite of breakfast I launched the boat and ran south to look to duplicate the pattern I had been on for the last few trips.
The pattern seemed to hold up but it did start slow. I found some fish hitting the bait like they did on Monday so I decided to slow way down and fish them a little different than with the TN70. I tied on a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in the 4.5 size and rigged it on a 1/8 swimbait hook. I would let the bait fall into the grass lines then rip it from the bottom. After several cast I found they seemed to hit it harder and hold on to the bait alot better.
I ended up fishing the Magic Shad on the rest of my stops boating fish in all but two of them working grass lines in water from 1-4 feet. I did notice the water seemed to be getting cleared up more on the lower end that on the north and mid section of the lake. I think that also helps the bite because it tends to heat up a little faster when the sun gets out good. The size for me could stand to pick up though with my best five only pushing around 20 lbs and anyone that knows this lake knows that wont tip the scales this time of year in a tournament. Well back at it in the morning and hope everyone has a great "humpday". See you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Hard Fishing and Great Company on Guntersville

2010-02-01T20:53:00.001-08:00

Well, the title sums it up fairly well. What seemed to start out as a great last min. trip on Guntersville with an awesome guy, Kyron Jones ended up with the fish not being very commited to the program. Kyron has helped me in the past at some appearances at Bass Pro Shops while doing tank demo's and we made the choice last night to get him out on the water in search or a big Guntersville Bass. Well, we started off launching at Waterfront and after looking at some cloud cover made the choice to run north from the ramp. Upon reaching our first stop and seeing the water to be about 3 degrees colded and 4 shades darker than the last time I was in the creek a few days ago I knew I was in trouble. I had explained to him I really needed the sun to pick up the better bite was sure we would have some fish reguardless.
We started off tossing Jackall TN70 Lipless cranks in the shallow grass lines. While fishing I was telling him how the bite had been very suttle and make sure to know exactly what his bait was doing at all times. It wasnt long before a fish smacked his bait pulled the rod and then came unhooked. He then knew what I meant about the bite being light. I ended up picking up a rod and using several different colors and sizes to see if it would help make the fish commit better to the bait. I then had a fish slap at the bait and ended up foul hooking it in the back. After getting the fish to the boat and letting him go back to his winter retreat Kyron missed another solid fish that was right at the boat and pulling drag. He was doing everything right and working the fish then it was just like the fish disappeared and the line went slack.
I made the dession to make a move further up river to an area I had boated a few fish in past trips. After working the area kinda fast I crossed the creek channel to another area and hooked up again on a solid keeper fish but still not what I was looking for. After a few more mins. Kyron had one fish knock slack in the line but when he set the hook nothing was there. We then were running out of daylight during the short 4 hour trip and moved again. The 4th area we fish produced one nasty backlash, some new line and no fish. We moved back to the area we had started and showed the most promise. Ended up with a couple of more fish several misses and some great leasons on the Lowrance set up/reading the graph and GPS. I even missed a fish on a Jackall Flick Shake, which those of you that have fished with me know that is a very rare thing to happen.LOL
All in all a good trip where lots of great fellowship and instruction prevailed over the fishing. Somedays are always better than others and there are somedays you just can't make them eat the bait good enough to get them in the boat. Water temps were 46-49 degrees with a light wind and very stained water. The current was moving so fast on the main lake it almost seemed like someone forgot to put the plug back in the Dam but water levels are still high. Hope everyone has a great week and stay safe.

God Bless
Phil'4:13

The Weather is Cold but The Lake is HOT!!

2010-01-30T10:48:00.001-08:00

After an awesome trip to Lake Kissimmee in Fla for NEW Sponsor Federated Auto Parts and American Bass Anglers I returned to cold temps and even colder water. after a day of rest and spending time with Beth I hit the lake to stay on top of the fishing here. Well I got out with good friend and client Paul Ponder of Albertville. We hit the lake at about noon after the temps got up a little outside. We started out looking for a reaction bite to locate some type of pattern.
We put in at Waterfront and worked our way up river. As we rode the main lake the first thing I noticed was the lake was way up and way muddy. There were entire trees floating and running was dangerous. I decided to start off on creek channels and work from there looking for a bite. I have always been a strong believer that things happen for a reason and what happened next just enforced that. While teaching Paul a couple of things I let the boat just float with the current and winds. Once the leason was over we just stood up and started casting. I was working the trolling motor back to our original stopping point and on his 5th cast he stroked a solid 4 pound fish. I stopped the trolling motor and let him work the area a little more. He put another one in the boat in the next few cast and the pattern was formed. To be honest I would not have started at that location at all and the fish were way away from where they should have been according to past fishing logs I have.
Paul worked the Jackall TN70 in Chart. Shad in less than 2 feet of water on old grass lines boating several more fish and a limit in the first hour. He was wanting to learn more about working a pattern so we sat down and I showed him how to find places on the lake that would hold fish like we were catching. Well he wanted me to prove it so I had him pick a place on the map that looked like what we were fishing and we went there. Within 10 mins he was boating fish of the same size and building confidence in his ability to find a pattern and locate fish on the lake. It was like watching a kid open presents on Christmas morning seeing the smile on his face when he put it all together and was building confidence on his new found ability. We ended the day with a solid limit of about 22 lbs. and alot learned on tactics.
Water temps were between 48-50 degrees and the only bait that produced was the TN70 in Chart Shad and Red Craw. Every fish boated was caught on older grass lines where some green grass stalks were still present in less than 2 feet of water.

The following day I headed out on the lower end of the lake fishing alone and working on some tactics. The day was alot different as far as weather with very little sun out compared to the day before. I changed colors of the TN70 to the Gold/Black due to the lack of sun and worked the same pattern as the day prior. The fish seemed to be just a little further because of the lack of sun to heat up the shallow water. I found the same pattern to be working but just a little deeper on the first outside line from 6-8 feet of water. The fish seemed to be hitting the bait a little more slugish and water temps were just a tad lower in the mid 40's. After catching a limit on the TN70 I decided to change the size of the bait to the Dozer and the color to a Chart. Shad. I found the fish liked the bigger profile of the bait but I did get less bites. The quality of the fish was better. I upgraded my limit on every fish and ended the day with a solid 26 lb bag. One thing I noticed is the fish are in the same areas but if the weather changes an angler must change with it. The fish dont move far from day to day so if you have an area where you were catching fish dont give up on them if they dont bite as soon as you get there. Pay close attn to weather patterns and adjust as needed to catch the same fish.
I hope this helps anglers out a little when fishing and helps turn a day of fishing in the cold one of the best days on the water they could ever dream of. Be sure to remember some of the biggest fish in the lake are caught during Jan., Feb., and March. So stay with it, stay confident in your skills, and dont let the weather get to you and you should have a great chance at the fish of a lifetime. Good luck and be safe on the water. See you on the lake!!

God Bless
Phil.4:13

January 2010-First Day of a New Year, Lake Guntersville Style

2010-01-01T22:17:00.001-08:00

Well the weather was cold but the fishing was HOT! I got out today to bring in the New Year with a bang and that is just what happened. The colder nights and high skies have moved the better fish to most of the wintertime "haunts" and they arrived hungry. For those that have fished with me in the past already know I would rather take a beating than fish a Jerkbait as slow as you have to fish it this time of year until the fish are on it hard. Well after several trips in the last few weeks of catching a few Jerkbait fish I went out today to see just how well they were eating it and committed to fishing it for at least half the day.
The day started kind of slow but when the sun reached the tops of the trees the bite got strong and was awesome to say the least. I Started with the Jackall Squirrel in Tenn. Shad. I worked the outside of main creek channels near deeper drops with the boat positioned in 12-15 feet of water. I was fishing the outside grass lines and found a solid 18 lb limit in the first 2 hours. After getting a solid bite I moved up to the Squad Minnow in the 120 size hoping to upgrade. The bite never slowed down and the pattern was holding up on all of the first 5 areas. I changed several colors and it never seemed to hurt the bite at all. One main key, yes the secret I found was once you pulled the bait down you had to let it sit for at least 12 seconds then remove the slack from the line and twitch it once. One key was DO NOT move the bait more than 4-6 inches and let it sit for another 12-15 seconds. This made the numbers drop a little but the size picked up greatly. I upgraded every fish I had caught prior to changing the size of baits I was looking at a solid 25+ pounds.
Once satisfied that I could put up coming clients on solid numbers and size on the Jerkbait I had to change baits and play with my newest weapon in my arsenal, The Jackall Delta Spec Rod. I tied on several baits starting with the Jig (Black and Blue) and changing to see what baits worked well on the rod. I went about 2 hours without a bite on several baits and only a few smaller fish on a couple. I then changed to the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie). I loved the way the rod preformed for casting the bait and it felt good with me being able to feel everything the bait was doing on the retrieve. I then had a solid 7 pound fish on the rod and its performance was everything I expected from the Jackall Rod. I boated several more fish on the same pattern just worked a little deeper (15-20 feet) than the jerkbait.
After finishing the day with a solid 28 pound limit I was pleased to see how the bite was getting stronger and the fish seem to have settled down some and moved into a pattern unlike past trips where it was a fish here and there.
The best baits on the swimbait pattern were the Jackall Swimming Ninja (Hitch), the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie) and the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (5.5 in the Magic Shad color). I ended up with the best fish off the Live Magic Shad worked with a slow swimming motion then letting it fall into the grass edge. Most fish hit the bait on the fall near the bottom or just as I pulled it off the bottom and the end of the fall. Best advice is to not fish too fast and trust your area and bait. Some of the bites were very light so if it feels different set the hook.
I hope this helps some of our fans catch the fish of a lifetime and makes your cold winter days on the water a little better. If you want to see these tactics or some other little tricks we have to catch fish on winter patterns drop us a line and we will get you set up for a great fishing trip. Thanks again to everyone for their support and looking forward to seeing you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 12-17-09

2009-12-17T19:18:00.001-08:00

Got out today with Paul looking for some fish in areas I haven't fished for awhile. We moved upriver from the Waterfront ramp working ledges and looking for some deep fish. We found that the current was blasting like it has been for the last two weeks so we made the dession to move off the ledges to the backside of the channels and fish current breaks. We hit several fish on Jackall Squad Minnows(Table Rock Shad) and had several strikes on the Jackall Swimming ninja swimbait. We then started working the Giron(black crappie) on the grass lines working it a little slower. Paul ened up with another few fish on that bait before the day was done.
We ended up with a solid limit and several missed fish so all in all a good day on the water for this time of year. Hope the water slows down a little and starts to clear up on the main river. I really feel the bite will just be awesome if those conditions work in our favor for a few days. Best advice for anyone looking for more numbers than size is still in the backs of creeks and places the water is clearer. The bigger bites seem to be on the ourside grass lines and they want the bait slow to say the least.
Hope everyone has a great weekend planned and I will be back at it in the morning. Be sure to stay aware when running the lake. We saw several big logs floating just under the surface. That could make a slow day fishing turn into a real bad trip. Be safe and see you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville report

2009-12-16T18:00:00.001-08:00

Saying that last weeks cold days and high murky waters made fishing tough would be an understatment but fishing got alot better in the last two days. We headed out in search of some clear water the last two trips and it was alot easier to find than in the past few trips. We keyed in on grass areas in 2-6 feet of water with steep drops close by. In the mornings we found the fish to be outside the grass lines on the edge of the drops sitting tight to underwater structure. The Jackall Flick SHake rigged on the Wacky Jighead(3/32) was the ticket for bites until the temps started to rise. If you get just an hour of sunlight through the clouds the fish seem to fire up. As the water reaches high 40's to low 50's we hit the shallower sections near the drops with Jackall Squad Minnows(shad colors) and TN70(Chart Shad). Those baits have produced several fish over the 5 pound range but each day it has taken us working the baits on different patterns to get the bites. The more solid fish seem to be more active as the day gets longer but bites are light. Several fish we boated we never felt the bite until starting to jerk the bait. The longer you pause the bait the better off you will be. I was holding the bait atleast 12-18 seconds before giving it just one slight pop/jerk. One key I noticed is dont over jerk the bait. I saw the bait getting pulled more than jerked and they never got bit. Make sure when you jerk it you try not to let the bait move more than 4-6 inches. Keeping the bait in the strike zone is key this time of year.

We did find a few fish on the causeways while fishing the Jackall Craw(green pumpkin) rigged on a texas rig with a Lake Fork Tungsten 1/4 weight. The key to that bite was the slower the better. I would toss the bait out and let it soak before moving it about 2-4 inches at a time. This bait has taken several solid fish worked this way on this pattern. This along with the other pattern is sure to put a solid limit on the boat as long as you stay aleart and work the baits slow. I hope this helps everyone out a little and gets you pointed in the right direction. Feel free to make comments if you have any pointers or qustions. Thanks for everyones continued support and looking forward to seeing you on the water soon.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Jackall Raises The Bar on Finesse Baits, Again

2009-12-14T19:27:00.001-08:00

Jackall Lures has been known for its awesome power fishing baits when they broke into the market with their finesse type baits. Soft plastic baits like the Flick Shake and Crosstail Shad showed the US market just how high the bar could be raised in the finesse fishing market. Just when everyone thinks they have shown all their cards they bring out something new for anglers to learn and beat the competition with, the Super Pintail.

The Super Pintail was introduced to the market as an awesome new dropshot type bait and while testing it I found it is just that. I also found it could be just as awesome when fished several other ways. This article is going to touch on just a few of these ways along with the equipment we found it to work at its best for each situation.

The first way we fished the bait was the traditional dropshot rig. We started rigging the bait on Lake Fork Flourohybrid 10 pound line with a small Owner dropshot hook. We fished the bait on the Jackall Power Inch Wacky rod with a Daiwa Steez reel. This combo allowed us to fish the bait both fast and slow and detect even the slightest bite. We found the bait worked well with the traditional nose hook rigging but worked just as well rigged on the small Owner SOS hook and made weedless like the Texas rig style. The bait also held up very well after boating several fish over the 2 pound range. We found it held up better than most hand poured of the same type.

One of the other ways we found the bait worked in producing bites was on a small jighead. I had my clients use this style when we had problems catching schooling fish that were chasing bait that were just about the same size as the Pintail. We rigged the bait on the same set up using a 1/4 oz screw lock type jighead. I had the clients work the bait like a small twitch bait then as it reached the larger numbers of schooling fish on the surface drop the bait and let it fall to the bottom. It seldom made it to the bottom without a bite. Once the fish had stopped coming to the surface we worked the same area letting the bait get to the bottom and I had them work it with a slight hopping action while shaking the bait. This also seemed to catch some bigger fish in the school. When fishing this type of situation rigging the bait weightless will also work well for a slower presentation. We used an Owner #2 SOS hook for that style.

One other way we found the bait to work well on was rigged on bladed baits like Spinnerbaits and surface baits. This type of rig worked best on the Jackall Master Stroke rod topped with a Daiwa Steez reel and Lake Fork Flourohybrid in the 26 pound class. This line has the same dia. as about 17 pound in most other brands. I used the bait on the surface/buzzbait first and found it worked well and had an increase in hooking fish when rigged as a trailer. I would just run the Super Pintail nose first up the hook and let the point of the hook come out in the back of the bait. We found alot of fish that would short strike the bait never missed when rigged with the Pintail. I believe the Pintail caused the fish to target the bait more than just the noise made from the blades on the surface because of the life-like action and appearance. We also found the same results when placed on the Spinnerbait as a trailer as well.

One thing we found during the testing process of this bait is Jackall has certainly raised the bar again and made an awesome versatile bait that works in a number of situations and conditions. We feel confident any angler that uses these will feel the same way. Be sure to let us know some of the other ways you guys find to use the bait. If you would like to see these tactics in action feel free to give us a call at Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures and get your adventure started

High Stained Water Along with Falling Water Temps Making Things Tough

2009-12-13T22:56:00.001-08:00

With the weather North Alabama has had in the last two weeks things got kind of rough for me and clients. Most of the time if the water gets up on Guntersville and other lakes and the water temps start to drop fast anglers can make a few adjustments and still catch some big fish. When you toss heavy stained water in the mix it makes things alot harder. You have to slow down due to the temperatures falling but when there is alot of stain those baits we use when things get tough have to hit the fish on the nose due to them not being able to see it. Well I made sure to tell clients it was going to be hard and weather was just nasty. Everyone client wanted to hit the water and watch me scramble all day. They were not disappointed at all. We hit the water each day working Jackall TN70 lipless crankbaits in shad colors and did boat a few aggressive fish in a couple of areas. The better bite with better fish seemed to be in areas I found some clearer water in pockets on the Jackall Smash Minnow in Ayu color. One thing I noticed over the last 5-8 trips is each day the bait had to sit longer. By this weekend clients had to let the bait sit around 12-15 seconds twitch the bait once and let it sit again. Working the bait on this time is very slow and even tested my patients but was productive. I did fish some causeway areas and found several good fish on them on the lower end of the lake but those fish seem to need sun for the bite to be better.

Most of the better fish are in shallower water ranging from 1-5 feet with the smaller fish still hanging with the shad in pockets feeding as the shad start to die off. We found some numbers in a couple of pockets that would still topwater baits like the SK Grande' and Bonnie. We also hit a solid numbers day twice on the new Jackall Super Pintail. I will have an article on this awesome little bait in a day or so. We fished the bait, which is designed as a primary dropshot bait, on a small jighead. I would have clients swim the bait a little and twitch it into schooling fish then let the bait fall on slack line. We were amazed at the numbers we boated and the bait saved several trips for me in the last couple of weeks when fishing got tougher.

Hope everyone has had a great week and staying warm. I will be back at it on Guntersville a few days this week before taking a trip or two to the Coosa River for some famous Spotted Bass. One thing to remember is be sure to watch the water when running. With the high water there is alot of stuff floating on the river just under the surface. Also the water temps are falling fast and seem to be ranging from 46-50 in most areas of the lake. I carry some extra clothes in the boat just in case of someone falling into the water. I would suggest this to everyone that is fishing in a boat or on the bank. This time of year we seem to always hear of someone loosing their life due to drowning. Please be safe and let someone know the areas you plan on fishing in case of an emergency. Thank you for your continued support and see you on the water.

I still have a few Christmas Gift Cards at the discount rate. If anyone is interested in getting one please let me know as soon as you can so we will have time to get them ready and sent out. Contact us on the Facebook Fan Page or by e-mail at finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com for more information.

Lake Guntersville 11-20-09

2009-11-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Got back out today wanting to continue the pattern I found working get onewell on Thursday. Well hit some areas like I did Thursday with the same outlook and places I had not fished in a long time. Well the pattern held up and I ended up having one of the best days on the water than I've had in the late fall in years.
I started hitting grass lines off steep drops near mian lake water and creek channels. I started off fishing the Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbait along the lines catching a solid 18 lb limit in the first hour. I then worked several areas that looked the same culling a few fish along the way. I then moved out just a little deeper and found where the bigger fish were. I changed baits to the Jackall Swimming Ninja(both Tenn shad and Hitch colors) and it was the ticket for the bigger bite. I ended up putting the boat in about 15 feet of water and flat smoked em' on the Ninja. The bite got better as the day went on and clouds began to move in a little.
I ended up the day fishing the Ninja in several areas that had the same type drops and a five fish limit that pushed 29 lbs. on the Cull-M-Rite scales. I did get fewer bites on the Ninja that the keeper bites on the crankbait but it's well worth the wait between bites when you hook one. Hope everyone has a great weekend and looking forward to the holiday. Be sure to remember our discount gift certificates are on sale and going fast. I extended the number we were selling this year to give everyone a chance to get in on the bargin. These are good for trips the entire 2010 season. See you on the water and thanks to everyone for your support.

Lake Guntersville 11-19-09

2009-11-19T21:44:00.003-08:00

Today got out kinda late and did something a little new. Had long time friend and client fishing with me and he wanted to test me today. He had asked me what area of the lake I had not fished in awhile and I told him about a creek I had not been in but once or twice all year. He said that was where he wanted to fish and see how I can just put the boat in and find fish in the short 3-4 hours we had before dark.
Well we put the boat in the water and I tied on 4 baits. A Jackall Muscle 10+(shad color), a Flick Shake on a Wacky jig head(Bluegill), a White Spinnerbait, and a Lake Fork Magic Shad. I looked at the map on the GPS found an area I thought they would be near on the pattern and went fishing. Well started working a long point near the mouth of a creek channel and after explaining why I picked that spot set the hook on a solid keeper. I stayed on the trolliing motor and after another 10 mins set the hook on another keeper fish. I tied him on the same color crankbait and about 3 cast later he set the hook on his first keeper. A few cast later another keeper about the same size as the others. We then made a move to duplicate the pattern and only had one on the 2nd stop but it was short. After checking out the map again moved to another area with only about 45 mins left to fish. Sat the boat down and nothing on the crankbait. I picked up the Flick SHake and SMACK! boated 3 more on 3 cast(I love that bait.haha). We noticed some fish coming up after shad that looked to be a little bigger so I pulled out "Kermit"(thats a hollow body frog) and let him work it over some grass patches. About 10 mins of daylight left he set the hook on a better fish and put her in the boat. IN the time we had on water I have not seen much at all we had a great day. Boated a solid limit and he said one of the best learning trips he had been on to date. Another great time on the water with a great guy. See you on the water!
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 11-18-09

2009-11-18T16:40:00.001-08:00

Headed out for a short time today after the cold fronts hit and the temps fell like a rock. I was expecting the fishing to be like it has been in the last few days but it was far from it. I had been following some fish that were alot slower to eat but bigger out of pockets during the last few days as they moved to deeper cover and main points near the mouths or creek channels. Well those fish like in days past were still moving and seem to have made the move to the main lake. I ended up finding sereral groups of fish in 10-18 feet of water and out on ledges and some bigger structure. My better numbers came off Jackall Crosstail Shad(ayu and Green Pumpkin) and Jackall Muscle 15+ crankbaits. The better fish were a bit more sluggish to coax into eating but they were well worth the wait. The Jackall Craw and Swimming Ninja were the baits of choice and boated several really good fish. Best five today would have gone around 26-27 lbs. with one solid kicker fish.
Best advice I could give is if an angler is looking for numbers stay on creek channels and in pockets and move shallow as the day gets longer and water temps warm up. If you want bigger fish don't bother getting out until 10 or so and stay on deep drops and near main lake areas and open water humps. These areas are producing great size but it's hero or zero type fishing. Best of luck to everyone and I will be back at it in the morning. Also thank you for the support and the awesome response on the Christmas Gift Cards. They are going fast so if someone is interested you need to have Santa give us a call. See you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Christmas Gift Certificates are ON SALE now

2009-11-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

Just letting everyone know our Christmas Gift Cards are now on sale again this year. There has been an outstanding response as in years past and we have added more to try and accomidate everyone that wants one before they are gone. These trips are sold at a discounted rate and good for use anytime during 2010. We are offering 4,6, and 8 hour trips at the discounted rate as well as something new. Due to alot of demand we opened up our tournament pre-fish trips at the discount as well. These are in very limited number and trips need to be sch. ahead of time to insure we only have one client in a certian tournament event, which is our policy. The certificate must be purchased by Dec 24th to ge tthe discounted rate but to be honest they never last that long. Our regular clients grab alot of them up. Be sure and contact us if your interested and we wil get you taken care of. These make awesome gifts for that angler that has everything and also keeps you from having to drive all over town shopping. Be sure to contact us for more information and we will get everyone lined up. Thanks to all of our WAAY 31 fans for thier continued support.
Capt. Chris Jackson
205-706-2425
finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com

Fishing Frontal Conditions

2009-11-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

When out and about as well aas on the water I believe I hear one qustion more often than any other. That qustion is "how do you deal with weather fronts?" Well to be honest I could get into the scince of it but would rather discuss the tactics and how to approach them. I have however found that fronts tend to effect shallow water, grass type, lakes more than deeper clear lakes. Now don't get me wrong I think it effects all bodies of water but just from my experiance the grass lakes more.
One way I feel I or other guides have a slight advantage on the water over anglers that just fish once or twice a month is we deal with fronts all the time and have to fish during them under extream presure to produce fish day in and day out. If you look at alot of the tour pros you will find before they were full time on tour most were either fulltime or parttime guides. This prepared them to fish under nasty conditions and weather fronts.
There is really 2 ways to produce bites under bad weather fronts and conditions. The first way, and my favorite, is fishing a reaction strike. The best way to do this picking out a couple of baits, getting them ready on the deck, getting in areas the fish should be according to patterns, and fishing hard. I like to tie on baits like the Jackall Muscle 7+, 10+, 15+ or MC series depending on the depth I'm fishing, a bait like a spinnerbait or swim jig, and a topwater bait(only if the water temps are above 50 or so degrees). Now sometimes I will put several "go-to" colors on the deck of each bait so I can switch them fast.
I then get in the areas I have fished in better conditions and have boated fish and fish them fast, makeing several cast to each target before moving to another target area. I then re-fish the area with a couple of other baits to see if I can get the fish to react to the baits or colors. One thing that is very important while doing this is watch everything around you for clues of where fish might have moved and know what your bait is doing every second. If you get a strike or catch a fish remember where the bait was and what it was doing when the fish hit. This is very important to remember so you can duplicate this in the area as well as other areas. SO if you were ripping a crankbait out of grass at a fast pace and the fish hit just as you stopped the bait in the grass you can re-create that action on your other cast and catch a few more fish. I have also found if you are fishing a lake that is deeper or fishing structure type things like lay downs or stumps, the fish tend to be real close to cover during fronts. I always try to hit things when fishing during fronts. If your fishing stumps and the fish hit just as your bait slammed into it then remember what side of the stump it was on and you can pin point areas that will be non-productive and pass them by while saving some time.
The second way I fish during fronts is very productive and if you have found fish in an area while reaction fishing you can re-work the same areas with this tactic and sometimes get a few more bites. This way of fishing is very SLOWWWWW! I choose baits like Lake Fork 10" worms, the Hyperfreak series of plastics, big jigs, or spinnerbaits fished on the bottom. Now I also do one thing that takes some time and practice to get the hang of but I will fish a deeper crankbait when fishing grass lakes and finesse it like a worm. The biggest key to this slow tactic is tossing the bait out and let it soak. I might move it an inch or two at a time and let is sit as long as 3-5 mins between moving it. This is very hard for alot of anglers to do when they dont have confidence in it or the area they are in but very effective.
If you get on the water and conditions change try one of these tactics and see if they don't work for you. I can almost assure you anyone can turn a bad day on the water to a day to remember. There is nothing better than going back to the ramp on a day that was tough on other anglers knowing you put some fish in the boat when others couldn't. If you want to see these tactics used in person besure to give us a call and we can set up a trip to show you how well they work.

Jackall Swimbait Information

2009-11-11T01:54:00.000-08:00

I have recieved several e-mails asking about the Jackall swimbait models and other equiptment to use them. So here is a small review of each bait, tactics they are used for, and things you need to know to get you started.

First one of the most popular baits in the Jackall line up is the Giron. Now this bait may not be the number one seller as far as stats go( I don't know those numbers) but I see more anglers buy and fall in love with it at more shows than most any other hard swimbait on the market. First thing is you need to fish it on a good solid rod with a Mod/fast tip on it. I use either the Jackall Rushburn(6'11") rod or the Daiwa 7'4" swimbait rod. Rod choice depends on how deep I am fihsing the bait. I use a slower gear reel like the Daiwa Zillion cranking reel and Lake Fork FlouroHybrid 26 or 32 lb line. In the spring I fish this bait a couple of ways but most often swimming it over grass beds where fish are starting to get ready to spawn. The key to this bait is fish it very slow and don't over work it. One other way this bait is awesome is "bed fishing". When I find a bass on bed I cast it well past the bed and work the bait up to it slow. Once it is near the bed stop it and let it fall. The bait will sit on the hooks and not fall over. If this doesn't key the big female to strike then pull it back in and place a very small spot of lead tape on the underside if the nose. This will cause the bait to nose over and look to be feeding on the bottom when it is stopped. Then repeat the steps before and let it sit in the bed. I have only seen one fish not strike it in this manner. One other way to fish it is topwater. Toss the bait out hold the rod tip up and wake the bait back to the boat. I also sometimes, twitch it as I work it back to the boat. It will trigger alot of strikes when other baits won't.

Another hot bait bait is the Jackall Mikey. This bait comes in 3 sizes and several colors. I have boated fish on every color they make and every size. The Jr. size is great and will boat alot of fish from 2 lbs to fish well above 7 lbs. I work the bait on the same rods except on the Jr I use a Jackall Master Stroke rod. It has a little faster tip and makes it easier to cast. I like to fish it over grass and laydowns working it like a wake bait or just under the surface. The Sr version is nothing short of awesome for bigger fish. YOu will get alot less bites but if you are looking for a huge fish this is the bait to have. I have boated several fish in the 9-11 lb range on this bait in the last 2 years.

One bait that doesn't get alot of attention but is most likely my favorite is the Dagored. This bait is a jointed bait with a small prop on the back. It is used for topwater as a wake type bait and has won me alot of money over the years on waters all over the country. I have boated huge largemouth and spots on the bait but also had great numbers of smallmouth on it. This bait was the main reason I became a part of Jackall several years ago. When I first started buying them you couldnt get them in the US. I ordered them from an on-line tackle company(that I should own stock in by now.LOL) in Japan. WHen I first met Kota he asked me if I knew of Jackall baits? I opened up my box and showed him one section full of Dagored baits. He laughed and asked how I got them and the rest was history.

Finally the latest in the Jackall Hard Swimbait line is the Sride. This bait is one of the most versital swimbaits I have ever fished. I use a longer rod like the Daiwa Steez 7'4" swimbait rod to fish it. YOu can fish this bait deep and slow roll it and one level or you can fish it like a jerkbait. The jerking action will trigger strikes when most baits will not. on one snap of the wrist the bait will "shoot" up and in one direction, the next pull it will dive and move 4 feet in the other direction. This bait looks just like a fish chasing shad or if you let it fall some after a few pulls it looks like one that is struggling to stay alive. One other way to fish it is on topwater in the same way. Work it like a "Spook"type bait and it will produce great fish as well.

The last bait in the line is a "Soft" swimbait called the Swimming Ninja. This bait has recieved alot of press in the last year. I fish it on the bigger rod due to it's weight but the action is best on lighter line or briad. Learn to count it down and while holding the rod tip down slowly reel the bait back to the boat. every now and then vary the speeds and let the bait fall as well. This has triggered several bites in an area that has slowed after a few fish. This bait has some of the one of the best actions I have seen in this weight and size with hooks made into it.

I hope this kinda helps get you started in the swimbaits from Jackall and feel free to ask qustions or send comments of what you have experianced while fishing these baits. Biggest thing to remember is this type of fishing is for bigger bites so numbers may drop some but the size is well worth it. Many of my clients tell me after fishing swimbaits the main reason they have not boated fish on them was they had not fished them long enough. Just stick with it and they will produce and your confidence will in this tactic will grow. See you on the water
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Fishing 11-05/10-09 Report

2009-11-11T01:09:00.001-08:00

Well sorry the reports took awhile but really not much has changed. The bite did get more solid and I found some "rat fish"(for those of you not around Guntersville, thats fish caught on a hollow body frog/rat over matted grass). I was happy to find a ton of fish in the 4-7 lb range up river and bite was very solid on Thursday. I checked them on Friday before a tournament on the 7th and they were still there and eating.
Sat. I fish a club event and with the group of guys that were there told my fishing partner for the day it would take atleast 20 lbs to even think about a check but more like a 25+lb bag to win. I made a very long run up to the area only stopping one place on the way to the fish in the mat. after smoking through the area without a bite moved to the mats. I told my partner we would either win or lose there, which has been my attitude on tournament fishing the last 3 years. We busted 3 keeper fish almost as soon as we stopped and things were looking good. Now this is the stupid part of my thinking, I knew it would take atleast 20 lbs so 3 pound fish would do me no good. With that being said and not fising for any points I never even put the fish in the live well. Keepers here are about 3 lb fish. He and I tossed back about 9 3 lb fish and never got a better bite. We never left(which was a mistake on my part) but I made the dession.
Anyway after time ran out we made the run back near the launch to finish up on a community spot with a big swimbait. Without a bite there we tossed it on the trailer. Well after talking to a few guys and tell them we tossed back 16-17 lbs because we knew it was no good anyway. they said "man none of the guys did good today. Now most of these guys bad days are 20 lb bags so I didnt think a thing about it. Well after the weigh in was over and we were putting up rods a guy walked up and said he couldnt believe we tossed back fish. I asked why and he told us we would have won it. Winning weight was 13 and change. Yes, I know we were stupid but the caliber of the anglers we were against we knew 3 lb fish were no good. Guess we live and learn.LOL
On Sunday went with a buddy in his ride due to mine having a few issues and it was tough. We had several bites on the frog but the better bite was still just keepers on the Flick Shake and Live Magic Shad. Monday was just an awesome day. The Lake Fork Magic Shad and Hyperfreak were the ticket off drops and docks. Best five was every bit of 27 lbs.. The fish ate all day with the better fish coming in the later day. ON Tuesday it was a great bite but nasty weather. I think I even saw ducks looking for cover and frogs with straws in thier mouth to keep from drowning.LOL Boat stayed full of water most of the day but the fish ate as good as Monday.
I am thinking to start off Wed very slow, being it will be windy with a huge post front smacking the fish iin the head. Guess we will see what the day holds. I want to thank all of you for the kind words and support to not only my family but also the site. We could not do this without you guys/gals. If you have a story or fishing report let me know and I will post it here. Thanks agian and see you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 11-03/05-09

2009-11-11T01:08:00.003-08:00

The temps are getting stable and the water temps are getting back to normal for this time of year. The week so far has been up and down as far as catching fish but two days of the report I was fishing areas I have not fished in years and working on some new stuff. Today I got out looking at some open water stuff and trying alot of baits in the same areas. I fished one roadbed that gave me my biggest fish on a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad that was fished on a C-Rig. The winds made me have to add some heavy weight to get the feel for bottom. I did get some bites on the Flick Shake but they were very hard to detect and not as big a fish.
The crankbait bite is getting better on the open water areas off deeper drops. I have been fishing the Jackall Muscle 15+ crankbait running the bait into structure on the drops. Most of the hits have been solid keepers and I think only 2 short fish on this tactic. One thing is to fish that bite you have to have the mind set you are only going to get a few bites all day but they are the good bites people look for.
I will be on Guntersville the rest of the week working on some things then hope to spend the weekend getting ready to fish the "Wounded Warriors" event for the Semper Fi Task Force. They do a great thing beinging over 60 wounded MArines and thier families to North Alabama for alot of awesome events and to show our thanks for everything they do. We will be doing this fising event on Lake Wheeler and it is always a blast!

Guntersville 10-30-09 Report

2009-11-11T01:07:00.003-08:00

Well while looking at the weather last night they said high winds anthey were not kidding! I put the boat in the water in the mid-lake section and wanted to fish some open stuff in the nasty wind for one reason, practice making fish bite in bad conditions. The morning started off kinda slow with water temps still in the low 60's and the water levels at about normal for this time of year. I also noticed the current was smoke'n. I hit some high spots on the mid section with several colors of JAckall Muscle 15+ cranks with Firetiger being the best and Chart/Purple pulling a close 2nd. I then noticed the bite got lighter as the day got longer. I switched gears a little and started working a 1oz spinnerbait(white/chart) off the edges of the humps. I fished it a little strange though, I would toss the bait out then after it hit the bottom slow roll it while picking up the rod tip. After the rod reached about 11 o'clock I would drop the tip and kill the bait. The would knock slack in the line everytime they hit it. As the winds got worse and the water conditions went with it and became stained on the shallow tops I made a move.
While fishing the blade I got to thinking about the days I spent on Lake Champlain and how I learned to fish plastics in the wind there. Well I didnt really care about the bite but wanted to practice more than anything and gaining feel in the winds so I hit the deeper ledges and sections of submerged grass I had found while riding the other day. I knew the shallow bite would be off due to the water color so I thought about how the winds didnt effect the deeper water. I moved to the grass sections(which are still super green and still growing) and pulled out the small jigs and dropshot. I would position the boat on the flat so I could drift, tossed out a drift sock to slow everything down and did the ol' "Yankee drag". Yes I made that term up from hearing about draging tubes up north with this tactic.LOL Well my gut paid off bigtime. I would make a pass catching about 2-4 fish every time then crank up go back to the top and start again. Ended up with great numbers on both baits on 4 different sections of grass before calling it a day.
Guess my best 5 would have been a solid sack of about 23 lbs give or take. For the conditions I was very glad to have that and it was not expected. I did learn one thing from today that I learned at Lake Champlain. This bite is funny and if you dont do it much you will loose alot of fish until you get tuned into the hang of it. That being said if you are going to try this expect to loose some before you get good at it and once you get the feel do it about twice a week reguardless if you plan on catching fish or not to stay on top of it.
Hope everyone is going to have a great and safe Halloween weekend and remember to dress warm. They are calling for some cold days ahead. See you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Fall on Lake Wheeler(Upper Section)

2009-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

Fall is in the air and Lake Wheeler is getting ready to turn loose.Fall on Wheeler is one of my favorite times to fish the lake. There are millions of bait fish in every pocket on the lake and an angler that can adjust and ready weather patterns can "smoke em'"! Here is some of the things I look for on the lake and the baits I will always have on the deck when heading to this great lake.

To start there are several places to start on Lake Wheeler. If an angler wants to fish more of a river system type fishing then putting in at Ditto Landing is the best ramp to start. I like to use this ramp when fishing up river to save alot of time and gas. WHen you come out of the ramp you will find it's a short run to the Guntersville Dam and some awesome "drift" fishing. Anglers can pull up to the Dam tail race and drift back down with heavy weights on the bottom. Almost every pass is a sure bet for a fight. Now it might be Stripbass, Smallmouth, Drum, Catfish, or Largemouth but it's a blast none the less. When fishing high on the lake I prefer to target two types of Bass. The Largemouth and Spotted Bass are both abundant on this end but fished completly different. The largemouth, being the biggest most of the time are found in just about every small pocket and creek on the water. I look for wood more than anything to fish them. There are several types of baits I key on when searching for a pattern. I like to start off with a War Eagle Spinnerbait in either white or white/chart. with number 5-7 blades. I use this rigged on a fast 7.1 Daiwa Steez reel with a Jackall Master Stroke rod. I get in some of the bigger creeks and hit the bank. Put your trolling motor at a mid speed and start tossing the bait as close to cover as you can. I love to find laydowns and small areas where the bank is lined with stumps. I notice during high sun or presure the fish stick very tight to cover. Once you find fish in a section notice where it is in the creek(ie. in a bend to right or left, shallow side, more or less sun). This pattern will hold up throughout the entire creek area. This way you can fish areas harder and only work productive water.

Once you find the fish on the blade then you can pick an area clean by slowing down and working the area hard. I like to do this by rigging a small black/blue jig with a green pumpkin Jackall craw on a Jackall Delta Spec Flipping rod. I also like to use a Daiwa 6.3 Steez reel with Lake Fork Flourohybrid 39lb line. I slow the boat down and look for the shade side of each part of cover I can find. Sometimes you might have to hit the smae spot a couple of times to trigger a strike but the work will pay off. I find this tactic gets alot of the less aggressive fish and an angler can upgrade his limit by pounds instead of ounces.

For anglers that like alot of bites fishing for the Spotted Bass is the most productive. Now don't get me wrong alot of Spotted Bass on this lake are huge, with some pushing the 5lb mark. I like to fish for these on almost any rocky main lake point where current is present. I have found current plays a big roll in how the fish are positioned and how aggressive they are. If there is current you can position your boat on the down river side of a point and make long cast above the break. Then just let the bait come back to the boat while bouncing it off the rocks. I like to do this with either a "shakyhead" and small worm or with a dropshot. On the drop shot I use either a small(3.5) Lake Fork Live Magic Shad or Jackall Crosstail Shad. When looking for fewer but bigger bites I move to either the Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbait, jig or a Carolina rig. On the C-rig I like to beef up the bait to something like a Lake Fork Topdog Lizard in Green Pumpkin. One thing I have found that helps is drop a little of the tail in some garlic dye. This helps the fish hold on to the bait a little better in some cases. Another way to find the Spotted Bass is on docks. I love to flip docks with a Jackall Flick Shake worm rigged on a Wacky Jighead. This bait will catch fish anywhere and they can't stand this bait when it falls near them. Just find the shade lines and get the bait as far back in them as you can. An angler can also get a little extra when bonus when a largemouth hides from the sun as well.

This is just a couple fo ways I fish the upper end of Lake Wheeler. For additional tips and to see these tactics used give us a call at Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures to set up a trip. I will be posting tactics on fishing the mid and lower end of Lake Wheeler in the coming weeks. Be sure to check back with us everyday. Thank you for your continued support and good fishing.

Capt. Chris Jackson
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Frog/Rat Fishing 101

2009-09-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

After my trip to Lake Champlain I learned this is not a tactic just used in the Southern states but also on lakes up North. Frog fishing(aka "Rat fishing") is something I learned to do years ago and love it. I get tons of clients from all over the US coming to Guntersville to learn this tactic and some of the tricks we use here. I thought I would pass them along to our readers and hope this will help anglers out in getting better hook up's as well as some tricks to over come those presured fish.
First thing I notice is alot of anglers that don't do this often don't really know the terms. When I am talking "frog fishing" I am talking about using a topwater soft plastic from like a Lake Fork Frok or Jackall Mask and swimming it over topped out grass or areas where the grass is matted but also covered with very little water(kind of a sloppy look). The other fishing is "Rat fishing" this term is used by those "old school" anglers that fish soft hollow body frogs over fully topped out mats.
When talking frog type fishing make sure you have the right equiptment for the job. I like to use a heavy rod with an extra fast tip to cast the bait a long way without a weight. This bait is awesome for working areas where grass is topped out in spots and "buzzbaits" will not work. To be honest the Lake Fork frog has almost replaced the buzzbait in my boat. I like to use Lake Fork FH Flourohybrid line in 32 lb test. Now if the grass is really thick under the surface I use braid in atleast 50 lb test. The braid will assist you in cutting the grass after a hook set. I like to make long cast as not to get too close to the areas I want to fish. One reason for this is alot of these fish tend to be just under the surface of the water and they get alot of presure. After making the cast just bring the bait back to the boat with a steady pace. Sometimes you will want to "pop" your rod tip up and make the bait splash a little. This will trigger strikes and bring fish from a distance. Also after a pop I sometimes let the bait fall just under the surface for a second. This will also trigger some high presured fish to bite when they are following it but will not commit to it. The biggest thing I can say is dont be affraid to work the bait and make it do alot of things until you get the fish to tell you what they want.
When an angler encounters more of a matted area the frog works but the ol' "rat style" fishing works alot better. I like to use a strong rod like a Jackall Delta Spec or Daiwa 7'4" swimbait rod. Both of these rods work well and have alot of backbone to pull those big fish out of some of the nasty mats. I top it with a Daiwa 6.3:1 reel. One thing to remember is always use braid line. I use atleast 65 lb braid but have been known to use 80. I do this for one reason. Alot of fish tend to "stack up" in the grass and if you have to go in and get them from the grass you will spook the rest of the school and not get another bite from that area. The areas are sometimes very small(sometimes smaller than 10 feet) so this is important when fishing tournaments. I have worked miles of grass for hours without a bite then hit one "spot" that will produce 25+ pounds in 5 cast. I use several types of hollow frogs when picking my baits. I love the River 2 sea baits but have had alot of luck on the Spro baits as well. I have also seen color is not that big of a deal but sometimes it will change the way the fish will hold the bait. I tend to stick to about 3 colors Green, Black, and White. When looking at a bait also don't just look at the bottom of the bait. I like them to be the same color on top as on bottom. I do this because more often than not the frog will flip over while you work it.
There are alot of little tricks I use to stay ahead of other anglers. I always have some rattles in my bait and that's not a big secret. The kind I use might be though. Sometimes I use jig rattles(like the ones you see on the bands). I cut one of the bands off and use the small band to thread it over the hook and let it dangle under the bait like legs. I do this on both hooks. Also trim the rubber legs on the bait some. This will make a fish keying on the legs to hit the hooks more often. I also use glass worm rattles and place them inside the body of the frog. This makes a bait loud and easy to track on the mats. Now for some old school stuff, my dad used small bells. He would tie a bell(like the ones you can find in the arts/craft section of a store) on the front of the frog. He said this made alot of fish attack the bait from a distance.
If you find that you are getting bites in an area but the fish are not taking the bait I make several changes. First I change the color of the frog. If that doesn't work then down size the bait. This is one thing I have seen make alot of difference in how many fish eat the bait. I have also worked an area catching fish then switch to the smaller bait to get a couple of more stikes in the same area. The other thing I like to use is always have a follow bait on the deck of the boat ready. If a fish hits the bait and you hold it in that spot shaking it and it will not return to hit it again follow it with another bait. I like to use something like a Jackall Cover Craw or the new Sasuteki craw. I rig these Texas style with a pegged heavy Tungsten weight. If I miss a fish of have one just "slap" at the bait I reel it in fast and follow it by tossing the creature bait in the hole the fish made.. Just toss the bait in and let it fall to the bottom. alot of times it will not make it to the bottom.
I hope this gives anglers a little more insight on fishing topwater mats and helps give you an edge the next time your on the water. If you want to see these tactics used and a few more tricks I use on the water be sure to give us a call. We will be more than happy to get you on the water and show you these in action. See you on the water. FISH ON!!!!

Lake Guntersville(8-26-09)

2009-08-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

The lake has had some heavy winds in the last week or so and that has made the large grass mats hard to fish on the main lake. They are still fishable just hard to fish with topwater frogs. The fish are still under the mats and aggressive but have a hard time getting through the mat to eat the bait. After a few blow-ups I went to the Jackall craw and started flipping the same areas. This produced numerous fish in the 4-6 pound range. The fish are just below the mats so you better be ready to set the hook as soon as it breaks through.

On the other hand the numbers bite for schooling fish is just crazy right now. This is a great time to load up those young anglers and get them on the water. You can pull to just about any openwater hump or creek channel and see loads of bait fish. Once you find these bait fish use some type of blade bait like a small spinnerbait and just go to town. Now these fish are not very big but alot of fun. For a bigger bite in the schools you can use a swimbait like the Netbait BK Swimmer. I like to work this bait one of two ways, first I slow swim it below the bait fish, if that does not work then I work it faster up to the surface then let the bait fall. The bait does not make it to the bottom often.

I will be back out on the water on trips the rest of the week so the updates will be better as the week goes on. Right now target ledges and creek channels with big swimbaits, jigs, and Flick Shake worms. These baits were the most productive so far this week. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Champlain-Day 2 BASS Open

2009-08-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

As many of you know that fish big events drawing a early number on day one hurts on day two. I started the day boat number 179 of 181 with a blast off about an hour after the first flight. This is not a bad thing though, I had about 2 hours longer to fish than the first flight. The second day weather was nothing like the first day. The winds were smoking out of the south at daybreak and it was gong to be a long ride to my first spot. After rolling through the check in line me and my co-anlger made a start to our spot. Over an hour later we made it to find it was getting blasted with hard winds.

I stuck with the plan and we started with the drop shot. Today is starting alot slower than the day before. I had to work for every bite and got and to my dismay lost 3 more fish before my limit was in the boat. My co-angler put his limit in the boat and was working on culling as I got my limit but with the conditions I made a move. I moved to another section on the reef I had found in deeper water and started to cull but only by ounces. I then moved to another grass line further south not getting a sniff at my baits. With only 2 hours left I made the run back to my first stop on a gut feeling I had. This was a good thing but not for me. My co-angler boated a huge 5 lb smallmouth to cull his only 2 lb fish in the box. I did move up a little but the lost fish were still haunting me.

With about an hour and a half to run back I made the run to the ramp. I pushed the boat hard to get back and was closer to the ramp with more time so I hit an area I found in practice to finish up. We both boated another limit of fish but neither of us culled up. We then made the short run to the ramp and made it in with only 4 mins to spare. My co-angler had a great bag with 15+lbs and made a huge move from down in the 100's on day one to the top 50 for a check. I moved up some but the fish I lost cost me the cut and a check.

I was happy for both my co-anlgers making a check and doing well and also happy I had traveled over 1400 miles from home to a lake I had never seen and had a limit each day. I learned a ton about Smallmouth fishing and how they do it up north. There is a huge difference between fishing up there and in the south. The day two baits were the Lake Fork swimbait and Jackall Crosstail shad again. My co-angler also had a couple of fish on a jerkbait(not sure on the brand).

All in all a great trip and a huge THANK YOU goes out to all my sponsors without them I could never be able to do this. Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Frazier Marine Group and Daiwa. Also a huge thanks goes to the Peet family(Don, Will, Eric, and Mandy) there is no ammount of words that I could ever say to give back the things they have done for me and my family. My Mom, Dad, and Wife Beth for all the support and pushing me to become a better angler each day. The last thank you goes to the one that deserves it most and without I could never be living this dream, our Lord and savior. I also want to thank everyone of my fans and followers for the support and well wishes. Together we will make it to the Elites and together we will celebrate the big win. FISH ON!!!

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Champlain- BASS Open Day 1

2009-08-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well today was the day of the first day of the BASS Northern Open on Lake Champlain. Time to put the practice to use and get things started on the right track of the 3 day event. I ended up drawing boat number 3 at the meeting so I had to get up and ready to be in the water at 4:30. For those of you that know me I always like to be one of the first boats in the water to allow for time to relax and take care of any problems that might come up. Well, I didn't know this until later but it was a good thing I did that. My co-angler was placing his buddy in the water and they ended up getting into a mess of traffic at the ramp. This would not be a problem except it left me without a co-angler and I missed my number and flight out of the launch waiting on him. I just shook it off and after he arrived made the run to the area I found in practice.

Once there I sat the boat down with only a couple fo other guys near me. Things were starting a little slow but I knew not to panic. I stuck the first fish and it was pulling hard! After it did not make a jump knew it had to be a Pike. After getting it to the boat saw the teeth and got my bait back. My co-angler hooked up two in the time I was getting the fish in and un-hooked. He boated his on a drop shot. After not seeing the sun come out from the cloud cover I changed to the drop shot and had a limit in the boat in less than an hour. My co-angler did the same. We both worked the area hard and both upgraded a couple of times. I had 3 fish over 4 come off at the boat and one break my line in the grass. This is just the price you pay for fishing light line in heavy cover. I found in practice I had to fish the light stuff to get the better bites so I took the risk. Little did I know how much those fish would "haunt" me in the next few days.

After we both upgraded a couple of times I made the run back south to get closer to the ramp. This was both a good and bad thing. When I moved back into open water it was nothing short of nasty. We were in 4-5 footers for over an hour working out way south. I had parts coming loose on the boat and after spearing several waves almost lost my front sonar. I stopped one point above the launch site with an hour to go before check in. We fished there until we had about 45 to get back. We then made the run the rest of the way back and ended up getting back sooner than I expected. I ended my day with 25 mins to spare but was not the only one to do this.

I got my fish out and after hitting the scales had 12.1 to show for my efforts. To be honest I knew I was only a few pounds shy of where I wanted to be and those fish I lost cost me that but I was still proud to have a limit on a lake 1400 miles from home. My co-angler ended his day with a solid sack of 12.7 pounds and both of us were still in the hunt for day two.

I boated all but one of my fish on the Jackall Crosstail shad(Ayu color) rigged on a drop shot. The other bait was the Lake Fork Magic Shad I used alot in practice. The thing that I feel made the drop shot more productive was the sun. When we fished in practice the sun was out each day except one. One the first day of the tournament the sun only came out for about a half an hour, which was when I caught the fish on the swimbait. My co-angler being from the north, knew this already and started out with the drop shot and never put it down. He was also fishing the Crosstail shad as well.

Bass Northern Open-Lake Champlain Practice

2009-08-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well the 2nd of 3 events on the BASS Northern Open Trail was held last week at Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, Ny.. I made the trip in one 23 hour drive getting to our rental house on Sat. afternoon. After getting things put away I hit the water to start looking for areas and learn my way around the lake.

I found this lake to be the biggest lake I have ever encountered(at 217,000 acres of water)so I made the dession to find an area and devote my time to learning that section as much as I could. I hit the upper section of the "New York Arm". I found a section on the map that had several reef areas on it and hit that the first day. From reading reports in the past I would be fishing for Smallmouth Bass this far north. I wanted to cover water fast to learn about the area so I picked up the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad and started working the grass. After about an hour I found several bites and one good fish. I then worked the area with a drop shot a little deeper boating several better fish on the Jackall Crosstail Shad.

On day two of practice I went back to that area and hit other sections on the reef. I also hit some other reef areas in the 10 or so miles of the arm. I found the pattern to be working well and my good friend from Chicago, Will Peet had a couple of solid bites there as well. Will is fishing his first Bassmasters Open at the young age of 16 and I could not be more proud of him. He has come along way from the young angler I met several years ago. We made the choice to find other sections and do some more scanning with the sonar. We found several other grass lines in 12-30 feet of water to check on the next few days.

One the 3rd day of practice I moved into the Vermont section of the lake and found the pattern I was fishing to be holding up there as well. We found several areas there but none holding fish that had the size that the New York section had. One thing was for sure I knew I was fishing the right baits and colors. I burnned through alot of Magic Shad and Crosstail shad baits. I wanted to try some other baits but found that bite to be too strong to change up. I then made the choice to move back to the New York section and pick it apart even more. I spent the rest of the day looking at the sonar and marking areas with fish.

Day 4 of practice I made the run from the ramp in Plattsburgh to see just how long it would take to get there in bad water. We put the boat in the water and after rounding the point at the ramp hit flat water. I burned up the lake making the run to the area in 21 minutes. I fished the areas I had marked on the sonar and found several deeper places that produced solid fish. The winds got up as we fished and the water became almost too rough to fish. Being the conditions were different that when I had hit the reef in other days of practice I wanted to check and see if that had an effect. I went to one section I had marked and caught fish and after 3 cast put one in the boat. I knew then that the fish would hold there in atleast several types of conditions. The run was good for me to time coming back and to give you an idea, what took me 21 minutes in good water took 2 hours to run back in 4 footers. This was something I needed to know forsure. To explain a little, finding fish on Lake Champlain is not that hard. Getting to them and back to the ramp during a tournament on time is where the hard part comes in. I have seen a ton of anglers in my research that have had great sacks of fish only to be late or not make it back at all. This was something that I did not want to happen to me in my first Northern event.

On the last day of practice I made the run to the Inland Sea area and looked at some grass lines and drops I found on the map. I found several places that looked good but also saw a ton of boats as well. I wish I had more time to fish this area but that is a down fall to only getting a few days to practice. I know there are some areas in there that would be great and produce alot of fish but without having time to pick them apart I was not willing to "gamble" on them.

I got all my baits in line and loaded the boat ready for battle. I want to thank all of my sponsors for thier help in this event and the Peet family for doing all they did for me, without them I would not even be fishing this event. I also need to say a huge thank you to Curt from Jackall Lures and Tracy from Lake Fork Trophy Lures for getting me the baits I needed in such a hurry and making my stress level go down. You guys are the BEST! Be sure to check out the rest of my tournament blog coming up in the next few days.

Importance of Logs and Fishing

2009-08-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

You know after years of being a Police Officer and then making Detective one thing I learned was "if it's not on paper, it did not happen." I took this to my fishing career and started making logs of every fishing trip. When I started I found I had tons of information that was just plain useless and some things I needed to add until I finally got it right and found what worked best for me. Now I'm not saying this is a perfect log but you can take this information and subtract or add to it to make a log that fits you the best.

First thing I started keeping up with was weather. Now that doesn't mean to just put sunny or cloudy on the log. I break it down into sections. I list each type of conditions under the weather section. Things like Barometric pressures(and if it is falling or rising as the day goes on), wind(both speed and direction throughout the day), cloud cover(or lack there of), sunny/rainy periods, and outside temps at the start and finish of the day.

Next I list water conditions. I list starting and finishing surface temps. numerous anglers pay attention to water temps but I take it one step further. I use not only my temp gauge on my boat but also one I picked up at a store in the cooking section. Most every person that cooks meat in a stove has one but I wouldn't suggest taking the one out of the kitchen, the person in charge of cooking might get a little upset. Once you place it in the water drop it down about 6 feet or so and you will get the "real" water temp. You will be surprised what the difference is between it and the surface temp. I also list water levels and if current is being pulled and pushed. What I mean by "pulled and Pushed" is if the water you are fishing has a dam on both ends. Check the times of running water on both ends. Sometimes dams will run water on the top end and not be pulling on the bottom. This is very key on some situations and tactics used to fish deeper water. Also always check the water levels at the start and end of the day. You can do this by calling the lower dam or just look at the pier when you launch and take out you boat. Anglers also want to pay close attention to the water color. Make sure to watch this in every area you go to and note any changes throughout the day. I have seen the water stained in one section of the lake and not at another or an area clear up as the day goes on. Last one thing that is over looked way to often, boat traffic. This can make an area non-productive fast especially shallow water fish.

Next I look at conditions when myself or a client hook a fish. I make a note of this and attach it to the picture of the fish along with the depth the fish was at when hooked. I also note what the bait was doing(ie.sitting still, moving, being pulled in and rate of speed). This can be VERY important when working the area days later with other conditions. To put this in simple terms if you find you are catching fish in an area when the clouds are heavy and presure is falling with a faster retrieve or "hopping" a bait on the bottom. Then you return to the same area when the sun is out on a high pressure day try slowing the bait down or keeping it on the bottom. This can sometimes get bites in the area that most anglers would just say the fish are there because of the conditions. EVERY TIME a fish is hooked on my boat I note each condition in the log on the picture. Once you do this for awhile you will start to see patterns form and you can hit areas at certain times during tournaments so you don't waste time on a spot that will not produce when the conditions don't match.`

The last thing in the log for the trip is one thing that seems obvious but often over looked. The baits you use during the day. I write down what works as well as what did not. The best way to keep up with the baits used during a day is don't put them back when you change them. Just toss them in the floor of the boat, put them in a tray, or in a box. This will not only help you keep track of what you use but also keep you tackle organized after you have time to place it in the right boxes at the end of the day and not be rushed. If I'm fishing soft plastics I always toss them in the floor. Main reason is I never want to litter the water with used plastics that take years to dissolve but I also to keep up with what color is working best. If I look down and see that there are 20 junebug worms in the floor and only 5 green pumpkin then chances are green pumpkin was not very productive that day. If a bite slows down in an area I either change the type of bait with the same color, the size of the exact same bait, or vary the color just a bit(ie change from plain junebug to junebug/red flake) to see if I can get a few more bites in the area before giving up on that spot.

I know from experience keeping logs are not easy and numbers of people do it for a month or so but if you stick to it you will be able to look back to years worth of information and see solid patterns for every condition and time of year before ever putting your boat in the water. This is a huge thing for anglers that don't get much time on the water and want to make the best of the time they have. Now like I said in the start of this article it's not the only way to make up a log but feel free to use all this information and build on it to fit your needs. With the age of computers you can use hundreds of programs loaded on your computer and build on them the way I did. I now can punch in conditions or times of year into my laptop and find areas of the lake to start out and build from for every trip. This information is time consuming but once you start it is easy and invaluable.

Guntersville Fishing Last Week of July

2009-08-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the best years I have seen on Lake Guntersville in a long time and even the slower days have been very productive. The "schooling" fish are up on top and feeding like it's the fall. I have had a mixed bag of clients in the last few trips with some wanting size and some looking for numbers and both have left the docks happy. The numbers bite has been doing well on several baits like the Jackall MC60SR, Mikey Jr., Mask Frog and Lake Fork Live Magic Shad. I did notice the better fish in the schools have come off the Jackall Dagored and Bowstick but fewer bites. Most of the bigger schools have been found on main grass lines all over the lake but the biggest areas of fish and most consistant bites from areas in the mid-lake area.

The deep bite has been hit and miss but when it's on it's been ON! One thing I noticed that made a huge impact on the deeper bite was the sun. We fished one area in more than 25 feet of water with no bites in an hour the returned when the sun had been up for two hours and hit one big fish after another fishing the same baits as we did before the sun hit it. The main reason I did this was to show the client first hand that, just because they don't bite at one time doesn't mean they have moved but that deeper fish tend to need a certian weather patterns to trigger bites and feeding at certian times of the year. To be honest it's not hard to find out these things or the things it takes to make an area productive. Just simply pay notice the conditions when you get on a good area and fish there when conditions change. This does take alot of time on the water but once you can find the conditions that tend to "fire" fish up in an area then move to another area like it and check those well. You will find that there are special times you can load the boat and when the weather is not on your side for that area don't bother going to it. Spend time on an area you have found the bite to be strong for that weather. This is why it is VERY important to keep logs of every fishing trip(good and bad).

I will be doing a blog later this week talking about what I have found to be important in keeping logs and why those things have helped me in being able to just hit areas that the most productive for that pattern and save alot of time on running and spend more time fishing. Be sure before you head out you can check the weather on any lake in the state at www.waaytobetterfishing.com or also look on that site for on-water updates from my Twitter account (Fins_N_Grins)while my clients and I are out looking for that trophy Guntersville "toad". Be safe and see you on the water!

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Report for the Week

2009-07-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

This week has been great and weather for the most part keeping the fish in the areas and eating. I have had several trips this week and clients wanting several types of trips. Some wanting numbers, some wanting to learn new tactics, and some looking for that "fish of a lifetime". Being a guide on Lake Guntersville, I am blessed to be able to deliver a chance to all of this.

My numbers trips have been nothing short of happy with the schoolers eating like it's the fall. We found schools of Spotted Bass, Largemouth, and Stripe in several areas. The Spotted Bass are deeper but coming in huge numbers with an angler being able to catch 30+ and never move the boat as fast as you can get the bait back to them. The Largemouth and Stripe are on the ledges and there are some solid keeper fish mixed in but for the most part alot of smaller fish. On the Spotted Bass, we have boated them this week on a couple of baits. The best being the Jackall Crosstail shad and Flick Shake on a drop shot. I rig this bait on a light 10lb Lake Fork FlouroHybrid line and look for schools of fish in about 20-40 feet of water. Once you find the school then drop the baits down on them(just above the school) and watch it on the sonar. When you see the fish move to the bait on the sonar, set the hook. You really dont have to watch them eat the bait but it's fun and anglers don't miss near as many fish. The Wacky Jig Head rigged with the 5.8 and 6.8 Flick Shake is working well also. The schooling Largemouth have been coming off just about anything you can toss out in them. We have used Jackall Muscle 7+ and 10+ crankbaits in light colors, and SK Grande' topwater baits. The bigger fish have come on the Dagored and Bowstick. You will get less bites but the size is alot better.

As far as the bigger fish bite anglers need to look for deeper drops and hidden grass. The bigger fish are still shallow as well but the deeper fish get alot less presure. I like several tactics for fishing deeper fish. My first choice and what has been the most effective for catching the 6+lb fish has been the Jackall Swimming Ninja and Sride. I have noticed fish will hit the bait before the eat it so keep ing the bait moving after a strike is key. Once I could get clients to do this instead of jerking the bait when hit they flat slammed it and swallowed the bait. One key to know when to set the hook is after the bite keep moving the bait until the rod loads and you feel the fish swimming off with it. Also something that might help is make sure you have a good strong rod. I use the Jackall Rushburn for my light swimbaits and the Daiwa Steez 7'4" extra heavy swimbait rod for the bigger baits. I have seen clients try to fish them on a smaller rod and they just dont have the backbone to set the hook good on deep fish.

Also on the deeper fish we have had some great luck with the Jackall Muscle 15+ and a 3/4 or 1oz football head jig. When the fishing slows or the barametric presure gets high and makes the fishing slower this is the "go-to" baits. I like to hit deeper drops off main river ledges and humps with green grass on them. I have clients take the baits and toss them out, letting them drop to the bottom. Once they are on the bottom one key is not to take the baits up again. Slowlywork the bait and never raise it more than a couple of inches at a time. I have had to let the bait sit for 30-45 seconds before moving it but the fish are eating it. Make sure you use a good trailer on the bait like a Netbait Paca Chunk Sr. that will contrast on the color jig you choose. I like the Black/Blue with a Green Pumpkin trailer. As far as the Muscle 15+ goes I fish it two ways. One, making long cast and cranking the bait as fast as you can. If it hits the bottom don't slow down. I have seen alot of anglers slow when the bait hits the bottom but to get a reaction strike you need to bang it as hard as you can off the structure. The second way is for fish that are pulled off the ledges or humps. Alot of anglers say these are the hardest fish in the lake to catch and I would have to agree to some point but, if you can learn to catch them you can have a great day when others are not. I like to take the bait and after putting the boat in the right position work the bait with the current running it parallel to the drop. I would have to say the biggest mistake I see is most anglers don't trust something new and just plain don't fish it long enough to build confidence in it. If you will fish the baits and trust your sonar to know they are there you will catch fish more often than not.

Hope everyone has had a great week and if you would like to see these tactics in action feel free to contact us and we will get you set up for a trip. Have a great weekend and be sure to check out www.waaytobetterfishing.com for up to date weather on the area lakes as well as a new section which allows you to see my Twitter feeds while on the water and on trips. Also if you are a follower of my Twitter(Fins_N_Grins) and my blog(www.finsngrinsfishing.blogspot.com) you can win lots of prizes each week. See you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Fishing

2009-07-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

This week has had some up's and down's as far as size and numbers go for us but clients have been happy. I had two guys from Fla. at the start of the week looking for numbers. Well it was a great trip for the two days with both of them boating fish and both catching a couple of solid fish as well. We did have a few"one that got away" stories but had a great few days with them. The other two fullday trips have had better size fish with lower numbers but as many of you know, I prefer bigger fish anyway. Each of those trips have had five fish limits over 22lbs for thier efforts and sweat in the heat. I have also started topwater trips this past week and they have been awesome. With the Willow fly hatch in full swing and the full moon afternoon topwater has rocked!

The best baits for the morning and afternoon have been the Jackall SK Grande', War Eagle spinnerbaits(waking it over shallow grass), and Buzzbaits. The better size fish have been boated on Jackall Dagored, Lake Fork Live Magic Shad swimbaits, and Mikey. Best fish have been moving up on the shallow grass flats feeding hard and during the day the smaller fish come in if your looking for numbers. Once the sun is out and the heat starts the fishing slows unless the current is running. If you look for ledges off the main river position your boat at a 45 degree angle and fish toward the upriver direction making the bait follow the current. Fish seem to be working right off the drops and flat attacking the baits as they come off the first drop. Jackall Swimming Ninja swimbaits, Muscle 15+, and 3/4oz spinnerbaits are catching the more aggressive fish and getting the best reaction bites. After working an area you find fish in be sure to drop 3/4 jigs and worms to "bat clean up" and you will boat a few more fish. If the current is not running fish the same areas just position your boat on the shallow side of the ledges and work soft plastics from deeper drops up the ledge. The biggest key is making sure you keep the bait in contact with the bottom and move it SLOW! I need to repeat this MOVE IT SLOW!(just kidding) but one of the biggest mistakes I have seen in the last few years on ledge fishing is clients that fish a bait too fast when the bite gets harder.
I feel like the bites are getting stronger on the ledges but anglers need to know when you are fishing for those Lake Guntersville"Toads" you need to be patient and fish hard. Once you find them work the area hard and you can have a great time. Be sure to let me know if you would like to see something done on a certian tactic or bait and I will either get it done or interview someone that is an expert on it. We are always looking for ideas for future articles. Also be sure to check out www.waaytobetterfishing.com for all the up to date weather, articles, video, and on water fishing reports. Let us know what you think and if there is something there that you think would make the site better. Good fishing and see you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Report

2009-07-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Fishing the last few trips have been alot slower than in the past few weeks making me make some changes. We were catching fish in water from 1-5 feet in the morning deep in pockets then moving to faster drops as the sun got up. Well either alot of people read the blog of found the same fish I have.LOL Most every stop I have hit the last few trips have had atleast 5 boats on them anytime I wanted to fish them. After finding new areas with solid numbers in them with-in a day or so they were getting pounded as well. Finding green grass on Guntersville is like finding hidden treasure in Russia. When you do find it there will be fish in it and if it's deeper grass they will be big! Just don't hit it long or you will have boats all over you in no time flat.
The AM bite this week has been grim at best over shallow grass with the normal baits, like the buzzbait, SK Grande', and swim frogs. The better fish are still shallow in the morning and we have boated the best numbers on the Jackall Dagored, Mikey Jr., and Sride. After the sun gets up on the area your fishing just move to the first drop and toos a swimbait or flip a plastic. This has allowed us to work an area about two more hours before making a run to deeper water.
I have fished alot of the lower end of the lake the last few trips(at clients request) and the humps are working well along with creek channels. The muscle beds are producing great fish in the 15-25 foot range with the Swimming Ninja and Muscle 15+ doing the best. When hitting the lower end be sure to look at your maps and find areas with creek channels near flats. Alot of times the drops will have muscle beds on them and this is where the better fish are feeding.
On the mid-lake areas the bite is great but fishing presure wins over on alot of areas that are easy to find. Look for areas that have deeper grass coming up in water around 12-20 feet deep. Alot of anglers are over looking these and the fish are there. While the daytime bite is a bite slower working an area hard will produce some solid bags. Baits like the Swimming Ninja, Muscle 15+(in shad colors), Lake Fork Big worms rigged on 3/8 or 1/2oz Tungsten weights texas style and Omega 3/4oz football jigs in green pumpkin and black and blue.
The last few days have had alot of high weather presure systems sitting on top of the lake making the bite slower and alot of anglers thinking the bite was dead. Well in some areas fish tend not to feed during high presure but for me that just means you have to work harder. When fronts like these move in I hit the same areas working them with reaction type baits. Now anyone that has ever fished with me knows what that means, cranking grass! I like to use a Jackall MC60MR or Muscle 10+ fishing it extreamly slow in shallow grass. I know from research that when fronts like these hit fish "nose up" on docks and grass and go into a shut down mode. The best way to fish these baits is to keep in infront of the fish as long as you can to force them to eat it. This takes alot of practice and alot of trips I have seen clients get alot of confidence after I talk them through working the bait correctly in the grass. Once they get the feel they are amazed on how easy it is to do and how productive it can be on harder days.
I will be working on some new stuff for the blog in the coming week and getting ready for some other events. If anyone has anything they would like to read about or knows of anything that would help other anglers I will be happy to post it just send me an e-mail and we will get working on it. On other updates, I got a call from Bryant on his Dad and he is doing alot better. His store is also doing well and being the ONLY Jackall dealer in Guntersville getting alot of attention. Be sure to drop by Lake's Edge Tackle located on Highway 69 across from Guntersville Boat Mart service center and check it out. He is also wroking a tournament on Sunday's from the Store. They are launching from Browns creek and fishing from safe light until 12:00 or 1:00. It is a great event and drawing more anglers each weekend. Be sure to contact him to sign up and get a low boat number.

Guntersville Report

2009-06-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the blog being late but between sponsor obligations, helping out the new tackle store(Lake's Edge Tackle, in Guntersville) and trips I have just been slammed. Fishing has been everything but boring the last week. I have had some up's and down's but for the most part it's been great. Trips have had alot of happy clients with several of them boating the best fish they have ever caught and more than 50% boating either thier best numbers or heaviest 5 fish limit.

The morning bite has been better hitting the shallows(less than 6 feet of water) near creek channels. I have had clients tossing several topwater baits from Jackall, like the Bowstick, Cherry 0 footer, Mikey Jr., Sk Grande', and the Dagored. The beeter numbers are coming from the Sk Grande' and Mikey Jr. with the better size hitting the Bowstick and Dagored. All the topwater baits have been in several colors in shad patterns. I also found the Buzzbait and waking a War Eagle Spinnerbait have boated a couple of fish after the bite seemed to die a little later in the morning.

The mid-day bite has been slower but very productive for bigger fish. The bigger fish are a little deeper on the ledges and if the sun is out and winds are light the bite is strongest. Alot of clients have boated thier first swimbait fish on the Jackall Swimming Ninja and River 2 Sea baits in natural colors. The big worm bite is always a good numbers bet but I have found the size drops a little. Now don't get me wrong you can catch some solid fish in the 5+ range on the Lake Fork and Netbait worms but you will also bust alot of keepers as well. The Omega Jig has done well also in the 1oz and 3/4 sizes with a Netbait Paca Chunk Sr trailer. Best colors have been Green Pumpkin and one I tie that has a Junebug look to it. The Jackall Muscle 15+ has been the most solid bait on the deeper bite and ledges for us in the last week and to be honest my go-to bait.

Over the weekend I played some while off on the lower end boating some huge spots and several solid largemouth fishing real deep. I boated my first ever Flick Shake fish in water deeper than 35 feet on a submerged tree I found on the sonar. I sat on it and dropped the Wacky Jig Head(1/8oz) down and watched the fish come to the bait. That was nothing short of awesome. On the screen it was right at the 45 foot mark. I then boated a couple of other fish on a drop shot and Crosstail shad. With that being said don't be affraid to go outside of the box this year and do somethings you would not normally do on Guntersville.

The fishing today(Monday) started the week slow for me with a couple of great guys but the fishing was just off. As the day went on I pulled the trip out but nothing like I was wanting to do as far as numbers. I dropped the guys off and hit the water the rest of the day finding some fish still deep but still seemed kinda off. I talked to a couple of buddies that I trade info with and it was slow for all of them today so I didnt feel so bad at the end of the day. I will be back at it in the morning hitting the water bright and early. I hope the bite turns around some and the better fish are hungry.

On another note be sure to drop by Lake's Edge Tackle and check out the new Jackall products. He is the ONLY tackle dealer in Guntersville or even near Guntersville to carry Jackall. If you mention this blog and are a follower on both my Twitter and Blog site you get an extra 10% off. Just ask for Bryant when you get ready to check out. Also please keep Bryant and his family in your prayers. His father, has been put into the hospital on Sunday and in ICU. We know he is a strong man and will make a full recovery but this is still a tough thing for him and the family. Thanks for checking the blog and feel free to contact me at finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com for any suggestions for future articles or information on trips. Hope you all have a great week and great fishing. See ou on the water!!

Fish Care Tips in the Heat

2009-06-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of the worst times of the year to fish tournament for both anglers and fish. I have seen alot of anglers not drink enough water and get weak or worse, dehydrate to near heat stroke levels. I always have my clients start drinking water right out of the gate at the ramp. Alot don't understand if you get thirsty it's already too late. I try to drink atleast one or two bottles of water an hour during an event. Now I do have to admit I am not big on drinking cold water. I like to drink it fast between runs to save time. To do this I keep my water in the dry box and when I get one out I just add a couple of cubes of ice from the cooler to it and shake it up. This cools it enough but not so much you get a headache when drinking it fast.

I also like to ask my clients to make sure to have a good breakfast before the trip. As many of you know I have had some skin issues and cancer running in my family on both sides. I learned from a doctor that eating alot of tomatoes and other things with Lycopene in them helps your bodies natural ability to prevent sunburns. That being said I eat them all the time. I also like to get the small Cherry Tomatoes and put them in a bag in the cooler. They make a great fast snack. I try to also to eat one Banana a day(but never on a boat because you NEVER have one on a boat). It helps keep your muscles from cramping up when fishing hard in the heat.

As far as fish care during this heat it's not hard at all. If you are just fun fishing when you get the fish in the boat try to avoid getting it on the carpet first thing. This causes the slime coat to rub off which protects fish from disease. Many people know the carpet does this due to it being rough but it also does this from heat. Think about fishing without shoes on and how hot your feet get after awhile. Also if you catch a fish that you need to measure, dip your board in the water before placing the fish on it. This metal also holds heat as well as cold and can cause injury to the fish as well.

One thing is to always make sure in the summer months to have additive for your livewell water and change it often. I like to time it by about two hours after the first fish in placed in the well I dain about half the water and refill it with fresh and add some additive to it. Also in the summer months I drop in a hand full of ice to cool the water. I am not big on using bottles of frozen water for one reason. If you have several large fish in one well and run any distance that hard bottle of water will simply beat them to death in that small area. I worry enough about beating them up on the walls of the well as it is so I don't like to add something else to the mix with it. Studies show if you keep the water within 5 degrees of the natural water temps(keeping in mind you caught them deeper than most temp sensors) they will be fine. A good rule of thumb I use is if I am fishing an area that is producing fish in 12-15 feet of water and the surface temp reads 85 then I would think the water they were holding at would be around 70 +or- 5 degrees. Now I am not saying this is exact in all cases due to every lake being different but it's just a general rule I go by.

On the last part and one thing I see huge numbers of anglers that are guilty of is at the scales. They take care of those fish all day treating them with "kit gloves" only to either toss them into a bag with very little regaurd to slime coats or while in the line a the scales set the bag on the ground(mainly hot pavement in most cases at alot of boat ramps). I look at it like this, if the ground is too hot for you to walk barefoot on it without burning you feet then set the bag down. If not set it on your feet. I was standing in a line once and a guy told me that. I was curious if it really amde that big of a difference so later I filled a bag with water and put a temp gauge in it. The water temps in the bag raised 9 degrees in less than 4 mins. on the hot pavement. Leason learned on my part.

I hope this kinda helps some anglers on keeping themself and thier fish healthy during the hot summer months. Like I stated before this is not a perfect way but just the way I have used that works. If anyone has any other ideas they would like to add let me know. One thing I learned years ago is you can never learn too much. Thanks for checking out the articles and be sure to check back often for updates. I also use Twitter for on water updates so sign up there as a follower or Check out www.waaytobetterfishing.com for on water updates in the lower right hand side of the main screen. Have a great summer and see you on the water.

Lake Guntersville Report/Deep Water Fishing

2009-06-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today I got out with great friend and former co-worker from Birmingham Police Department, Lt. Mike Ashworth. This was not really a guide trip but more a catch up and go fishing so I fished as well. We started out on the ledge because the mission of the day was to get Mike a big Guntersville Largemouth. Well The morning bite was just not there with only 2 hits and one fish boated on a War Eagle Spinnerbait(White). I decided to make the move to a guide stop I knew he would atleast catch a fish on. Well as soon as we pulled in they did not disappoint me with us boating several solid keeper fish and also a couple of shorts. Topwater was better today than it has been in the last few days but they wanted the bait moving faster than normal.

After getting the "skunk" out of the boat I moved to a roadbed that held several bigger fish the last few times I fished it. Well they were there as well. I boated two back to back flipping into deeper grass with a 1/2oz Lake Fork Tungsten weight rigged on Jackall Cover Craw. I know that is not the way it was made to be fished but the bait is so soft and the scent is so strong I have found the fish hold it longer and give you some time to get a solid hook set. Mike missed a couple but he has not flipped much so we chalked it up for a learning experience.

We then moved to some deeper fish hitting a creek channel off the main river. About halfway up the channel we got a a school of fish and boated good numbers everytime the wind blew. All of those fish we on the Lake Fork 10" worm and 11" Netbait C-Mac. After beating those fish up fairly well we moved to the ledges and boated a couple of other fish. We moved firther down river to a place I had some huge fish on during a trip this week. Well they did not get the memo that we were coming and just did not bite for us. We did catch a couple of the Jackall Muscle 15+ and Mike had a toad of a spotted bass. I must say he is one of the few people I have had on my boat in the last few years that tossed the deep crankbait the entire time without ever taking a break. We ended up running out of time with him having a long drive home and me needing to make an appointment in the late afternoon so we called it a day.

I would say this weekends tournament are going to pack the lake with the TOC(Coaches Tournament), BAIT, ABBT, and several other events all going on at the same time. I wish everyone a great tournament and lots of luck. Remember to have lots of water on the boat and lots of ice for your fish during this heat. Fish care should be the most important thing this time of year in tournaments. See you on the water.

Jackall Hits Lake Guntersville!!

2009-06-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Thats right, Jackall Lures now has the one and only dealer on Lake Guntersville. Lake's Edge Tackle is currently the ONLY Jackall dealer and has just stocked his first shipment. I was in the store today and owner Bryant Pinyan was excited to show off his new "wall". While looking I noticed he has an assortment of Jackall products ranging from topwater lures like the Bowstick, Dagored, and SK Grande' to the plastics line like the Flick Shake in two sizes and the NEW Cover Craw. He told me he already has a line of people ready to buy the first order and looking forward to placing a new order by the first of next week. While he is new to the tackle business he says he wanted to carry baits that other local stores in the area did not sell and Jackall was at the top of the list.
"I don't have all the Jackall baits in stock yet but if they want it I can have it here soon and will carry it in stock from that point on," he says. While talking to Curt Arakawa of Jackall Lures he let me know real quick how excited he was Jackall would have a store on Lake Guntersville. "I get alot of calls and e-mails asking if there is a dealer near there and while we have several close and alot of internet resources we did not have a place that anglers could go right then and get the baits they needed," and we are glad that willl not be a problem any longer.
Many of you know I am an avid Jackall fan and use every bait they sell on both the US and Japan markets. I am looking forward to alot more Jackall products to be coming soon to the US.
They have some of the best baits in the industry and the things they are getting ready to bring over in the future is nothing short of awesome. I want to welcome Mr. Pinyan and Lake's Edge Tackle to Lake Guntersville and be sure to stop by and say hello. Also if you mention this article during your next visit and have a purchase of $20.00 or more you get an extra 10% off at the check out. Good luck to all and see you on the water.

Weekend On Guntersville

2009-06-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was nothing short of AWESOME! First I got to fish the club tournament with Dixieland Bassmasters with my wife Beth. This would be her first tournament this year due to her being out for the summer break. Well you could not tell she had not been much. We started on some topwater fish I had been catching on guide trips the last few weeks in the mid lake area. She boated fish from the first cast and had a limit in the first 15 mins of the stop on the Jackall SK Grande'(Tenn Shad color). We then made a move to an area to work on bigger fish. With the sun not coming out like in days before the deeper fish I had would just not help us so we made the run back to the mid section. We boated fish on several stops and had more than 50 fish for the day total. We never got the bigger bite before time ran out so only had 18.92 on my scales. After getting back to the weigh-in I saw several guys that were over the 20lb mark and knew we were not in the money. Being that I had not fished but one event with them this year and a long way out of the points we made the dession not to mess anyones points up and tossed ours back. We had a great day on the water fishing and spending some time together in the boatand the day was mostly about that anyway. I do have to say the traffic on the water was the worst I have seen it in sometime. I can't believe how some people act when they are fishing a tournament. Now don't get me wrong not all anglers are guilty of this but we had boats come in on top of us all day in several areas. One boat that was at our first stop was a good 400 yards from us fishing the other side of the pocket(with thier back to us) after Beth boated her second fish they turned and came in on us so close he was casting to the fish we were catching and even had one of the fish he caught splash water on our boat after he hooked it. We stayed on the waypiont and never moved. Later in the day I had a pair of guys troll in so close I could step in his boat and even set the hook on a fish under his trolling motor. I asked him if he could pull his motor up to avoid the fish wrapping up in the shaft. We just could not believe the way some people acted on the water that day. The point to this "rant" is please be considerate of other anglers on the water and give them some space. I heard one person say at the ramp he was given more room by Jet Skiers and Ski boats than fisherman(which to the norm never happens) and I had to agree.

On Sunday I fished a small local "wildcat"(5-11AM)tournament with a few guys from Lake's Edge Tackle out of Spring Creek. The best part of this day was my fishing partner named Will Peet. For those of you who do not know Will, he is a client I started fishing with when he was 12 and now he is 16. He and his father and brother came down from the "windy city" to fish with me a couple of days and being it was his Birthday trip I had him fish with me in his first tournament. I was amazed at how far this young man has come from the first time we have fished together to present. Will has not only grown in years but his skill levels of angling. I told him the tournament was his to win and I was doing nothing but give advise and drive the boat for him(although I did net some fish for him). We made a long run up river to the same place Beth and I had fished the day before and they were still there. Will had a 5 fish limit in less than 10 mins on the SK Grande'. I told him we needed to get a bigger bite so we moved a little deeper but only sized up by ounces on each fish. He had a couple of fish on the Jackall Muscle 10+ off the ledge that helped out but we never got the bigger fish to hook up. Once back to the ramp we found out it was only a 3 fish event but were allowed to cull at the ramp. Will put HIS fish on the scales and had just under 8lbs good for a 3rd place finish. He executed extreamly well the entire event and only lost one fish. I think he learned alot and had a great time as well. Congrats to him on his first tournament and thanks to all the guys for letting us fish with them.

On Monday I fished with Will again and his younger brother Eric on a trip out of Waterfront. We fished ledges and worked on some new tactics he had not used getting him ready for the BASS Open on Lake Champlain in Aug.. He is fishing this event as a co-angler so we worked on some things to do from the back of the boat and how to adjust to what his boaters would be doing. Monday was a little harder on us as far as fishing goes but we did manage several solid limits before he had to get on a plane to go home. I had a blast fishing with them both and can't explain how nice it is to have them come down to visit. This family is a true blessing to both Beth and I. Eric, which has a strong future at NASA, had a good time on this trip and beat his brother by a fish or two. It was fun to see them "rag" each other but at the same time support each others efforts all day. I can just hope when Beth and I have children they are half as good as these boys are.

One Tuesday I fished with 3 guys from Birmingham that have fished with me before. I had set the bar kinda high back in March with both of them catching numbers and big fish on the last trip so I had a little presure on me from the start. We hit some topwater areas with a couple of smaller fish to show for our efforts but not what I was looking for. We then moved up river looking for a bigger bite. They fished hard and boated several solid fish along with great numbers for the conditions we had. On the last stop of the day(just like our last trip in March) they hit the "mother load". We pulled to a ledge and within 30 mins one client had his best 5 fish limit to date pushing 29 lbs on a Jackall Muscle 15+ crankbait(and that was with a 3lb fish he could not cull). His buddy Steve got his 2nd biggest fish ever on the same bait as well. I had so much fun watching them I held the trip over 2 hours to watch them catch some more.

The rest of the week seems to be lining up well with a trip on Thursday with an old friend and co-worker from Birmingham Police Department and a great return client from Tenn on Friday. Rodney and I are fishing a tournament on Guntersville both Sat and Sunday of the weekend. I just hope the fish stay in the same mind set for the rest of the week. The baits that have worked will in the last few trips have been the Jackall Mucsle 10 and 15+ crankbaits, SK Grande' and Dagored for topwater, and Lake Fork 10" worms. All baits fished over grass lines from 4-35 feet of water. I hope everyone has a great week and looking forward to this awesome weather. Remeber to take a kid fishing.

Lake Guntersville Report 6-8-09

2009-06-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Date Fished: 6/8/2009Water Temperature: 81Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater
Had two trips today. The first trip was a morning trip. We fished the lower end of the lake(at his request) starting the day with topwater. The Jackall Bowstick had the best size but the SK Grande' seemed to put the numbers in the boat. We had a great time catching fish on topwater the entire trip.
The PM trip was fishing deeper water. We put in at Waterfront around 3pm and had a blast. We fished the mid lake area starting with flipping baits. After talking him into working the baits and flipping he started hooking up and ended the day liking to flip.LOL We baited fish on all of the 4 stops we made. We moved out to deeper water(around 30 feet) and after a few misses boated several really nice fish. There really was not a magic bait on the trip. We had fish on Paca Craw's, Lake Fork 10" worms, Swimming Ninja swimbaits, and 3/4oz spinnerbaits. The lake is better than I have seen it in years as far as numbers go and fish are starting to group up by size as well.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and looking forward to an awesome week. Also don't forget the Sonar/GPS class held in Guntersville this Thursday night. E-mail me if you need information. See you on the water.

Week In Review

2009-06-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Fishing this past week on Guntersville has been nothing short of HOT! With not only the weather but the fishing being great anglers are packing boat ramps everyday last week looking for the prized Guntersville Largemouth. The fishing has been some of the best I've seen in years on Guntersville and oddly enough, the lake has made some changes. The areas I have fished for years on the ledges has suffered from high winds and rain and the grass is either not there or extreamly short. Most areas have no grass at all but fish are still there.
If you ride around you can tell where the grass is for sure. There will be tons of boats sitting on top of each other. This weekend on the point of Pine Island I would venture to say I saw atleast 40 boats at any given time on that one small acre grass patch. Personally I prefer not to fish that close to other anglers so I have had to change some tactics. To be honest I am glad because it has made me think outside of the box and fish baits and areas I would not fish this time of year and made me learn alot.
We have been catching huge numbers of keeper fish on several baits like the War Eagle spinnerbait, Lake Fork Live Magic Shad, Netbait swimbaits, and Lake Fork big worms. Most of the best colors seem to be Green Pumpkin, Junebug, and Watermelon. On the spinnerbaits and swimbaits just stick with natural colors and you will have a great time. The better fish have been on deeper drops and ledges. I got to catch my first ever "deepwater" swimbait fish this week with a Jackall Ninja in water deeper than 20 feet. That was awesome to say the least. The best baits for the bigger fish have been the Omega 3/4 oz jig with Netbait trailer, bigger worms, and swimbaits. I have had a couple of fish on the spinnerbait but most are coming on the jig and swimbaits.
There has also been some exciting stuff going on in Guntersville that is sure to have anglers happpy. This coming week we have Wilson Frazier, of Frazier Marine Group, coming down to conduct a Sonar/GPS class at Wintzell's off Highway 431. The class will be from 7-9 on Thursday June the 11th. The cost for it is $50.00. If you have never seen one of his classes you should not miss it. You will learn more in two hours about your sonar and GPS than you could get from the book in weeks. This really cuts the "learning curve" in half.
Also this week was the first week of a the new tackle shop in Guntersville being open, Lake's Edge Tackle. He is still getting everything up and going but already has a full selection of several products. I would say he has the best selection of Netbait in Guntersville. After talking to Byrant(the owner) he has said there will be alot of big things to come in the next few weeks. They are planning a huge Grand Opening which he says will have great deals on all kinds of tackle, a fishing tournament, as well as great discounts on some products. It has not been confirmed yet but sources say he will also being carrying some baits no other tackle store in the area will have. He also wanted anglers to know he will be open everyday and if they dont have an item your looking for they can get it fast. Be sure to drop by and welcome him to the industry.
Later on this week I will be posting part 2 on my crankbait article as well as more fishing reports. Be sure to check back daily. We also are excited to announce together with WAAY 31 TV we are able to to up-to-min. fishing reports on the WAAY TO BETTER FISHING site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) I have a link to my twitter account which allows me to send information on trips and tournaments while on the water each day. I update these several times a day on the lake. So if your headed out or on the water and want to know how the fish are biting or what baits are working you can check it out as I post. Be sure to visit the site as well for current weather information for every lake in the State. Also we will be doing a drawing each week. For those of you that go to the WAAY site and follow twitter, I will post sometime during each week to e-mail me a code. The first one to send the mail will get a halfday guide trip or other great discounts on products.
I hope everyone is likes the new sites and blogs. Be sure to e-mail me anything you would like to see or changes you think would make them better. Untill then good fishing and see you on the water.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Report

2009-06-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Lake Guntersville in on fire right now and better than I have seen it in several years. We have had trips the last few days and the bite is like the weather, HOT!! In the mornings the topwater bite has gotten better all week and just seems to be getting better each trip. We have had good numbers on the Jackall SK Grande' and 0 Footer D Cherry but the bigger fish are still on the Bowstick. All baits in shad colors.

After the heat gets up some along with the sun we are hitting the points and main river areas with Lake Fork big worms, Live Magic shads, and Muscle 10+ crankbaits. Our better numbers are on the Flick Shake worms in Green Pumpkin, Bluegill, and Watermelon candy.

I had one trip Monday that was nothing short of awesome. I had a husband/wife couple on the boat that were just a blast to fish with. Both of them fished some but never like I had them fishing. Our 1st stop was kinda slow with them missing a couple of fish between the two of them. We then moved to an area I had found the day before and they were stacked. We boated a fish on the first few cast and never left the rest of the trip. That's right we fished one area for 7 hours solid. We lost count of the numbers and all but a couple were keepers and bigger. They were both Flick Shake believers after that day. I would have to say it was one of the best trips all year and I was proud to see them catch all those fish. Chris had his best fish ever(over 6lbs.) and they both were ready to go again when the trip was done. I was glad to have them let me be a part of thier day.

Also don't forget the Sonar/GPS class in Guntersville on June 11th at Wintzell's off Highway 431 South. The class is being taught by Wilson Frazier and cost $50.00. Be sure to give me a call or send me a mail if your interested in coming due to limited seating. There is also a NEW tackle store in Guntersville, Lakes Edge Tackle. I have been by there several times and it looks better everytime I go in. He has a huge selection of Netbait and will be stocking alot of "hard to get" baits in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to having such a great place so close. Be sure to stop by and say hello. Also, keep checking the blog or WAAY site for some upcomming news on discounts and specials comming your way.

Crankbait Basics Part 1

2009-05-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

As a guide on Lake Guntersville and being known for fishing crankabits in the grass I thought I would give a little advice on what I know about crankbaits. As most anglers have done, I have stood in the isle of alot of tackle stores looking at thousands of styles, colors, and types of crankabits wondering "which one should I get?" Well I wanted to write an article that might help save alot of time and money for anglers just getting started fishing one of the best baits on the water.

First lets start with the styles of baits. There are two main styles of crankbaits, wood and plastic. Both of these are great and do alot of the same things but at the same time each have thier own application. One of the main things that make these two types seperate is the ROR or Rate of Rise. This is dealing with the bouyancy of the bait. I make this a huge factor in choosing a bait for a specific lake or condition. The wood or Balsa bait most of the time have a faster ROR than plastic baits. The biggest downfall with alot of wood type baits are they are lighter and less weighted making them harder to cast in windy conditions. One other thing alot of anglers will notice is the cost. Most of the better Balsa crankbaits come with a cost. I have several of these baits that cost up to $100.00 per bait but are well worth every penny. Most of the better baits run around $25.00-$50.00.

When looking at plastic crankbaits there are tons of brands and choices. The prices also vary alot. I have seen baits that range from $5.00 up to $50.00. Now don't think a $5.00 bait does not catch fish because they will. I get alot of calls asking what the biggest thing is between the high dollar baits vs. the lower end. Well to me what makes a crankbait is the components. I look at the hooks, swivels, weighting system inside the bait, and paint. This to me make a crankbait good, or bad. If I was forced to say there was one thing that made me choose one over another it would be the weight system inside the bait. This controls the way it cast, the way it tracks in the water, reacts when hitting cover, and makes casting more accurate. I have found baits like the Jackall Muscle and MC series have everything I look for in a crankabit. You can pull one out of the box and use it without making any changes to it.

One other huge thing on baits is the bills on the front. Now everyone knows short bills run shallow and long ones run deep but one factor in the bill style is the angle they are placed at. The angle makes the bait dive faster or slower than others. Also the type of material the bill is make out of makes a difference in the way it dives. I have found "circut board type bills tend to dive sharper than thicker plastics. Also this type bill tends not to break as often when slammed against structure. Now don't get me wrong, plastic bills work well and hold up when fished hard into rocks, this is another thing that sets the higher priced baits over cheaper versions is the type of plastic used in the bill.

In part 2 I will discuss the next major thing in buying the right crankbait, color selection, size and shapes. I hope this will help anglers get started on choosing a crankbait. Thanks to all of you for your comments and be sure to check out the WAAY 31 TV site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) for upcoming events and articles. Also we have on water updates from tournaments and guide trips on our Twitter account there. Be sure to check it out and sign up as a follower.

Rain on Guntersville Doesn't Slowdown the Fishing

2009-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Today I got to fish with a great guy looking to learn more about the lake, tactics, and also learn about some of the Jackall products. He has just opened at new tackle store on Lake Guntersville right off Highway 69 by Browns Creek called Lakes Edge Tackle. We hit the water this morning at daybreak fishing ledges looking for some "shad spawn" fish. We had one or two but nothing like we were looking for. We then made a move to hit some openwater humps and teach my client some tactics on cranking grass. I first let him use his crankbait to let him compare his to the Jackall Mucsle 10+. After a bit without a bite I tied on the Mucsle and right away he saw why I like them so much. He had several fish on the bait and the numbers got better as the day went on. We fished pockets as well as main lake humps with grass from 3 feet to 15 feet. Although we did not have any big fish we had several solid keepers and the numbers were good. I did have a 16 inch Crappie on a crankbait as well. Have to say one of the biggest I have had all year.

I also had some good numbers on the Jackall Wacky Jig Head and Flick Shake worm. It was one of the best days weather wise on the lake today with light winds. Only thing was we ran from rain most of the trip but he left excited about the new tactics and baits as well learning some areas he had never seen in the years he has fished the lake. Be sure to drop by Lakes Edge Tackle Off Hwy 69 and say hello. He is just getting things in and will soon have alot of baits and other boating items in stock. Hope everyone has a great week and looking forward to the topwater bite to start up strong soon.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Smith and Guntersville Lake Holiday Weekend

2009-05-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well wanting to work on my deeper water fishing I decided to take off to Smith lake for a couple of days and do some fishing in the "Blue Sea". Knowing I was headed to one of the biggest recreation lakes in the state I was expecting alot of boat traffic. Well it did have it's times but the rain helped keep them in and the fishing good.

The first day I spent about half a day shooting some areas with sonar and looking for some deeper fish. After marking alot of stuff I pulled out the rods and 4-8lb line and went fishing. We started out on a small hump that showed a creek channel runing through it. Beth had never fished a drop shot beofre so it took a little time and missed fish to get the hang of the hook set. She caught on fast and before long was smoking em' putting them in the boat as fast as she could drop it back down. We had a great first day fishing several deep humps in nothing less than 45 feet of water. All fish were boated on Jackall Flick Shake Worms and Crosstail Shad in natural colors.

For day two we hit some more humps and deep structure. We got kinda "cocky" and went even deeper on day two fishing areas with 60+ feet of water. We did not have as much luck and broke off a couple of fish that did not seem to be bass. We went back to the Ryan's creek area and hit some points in about 3- feet of water and pockets with run in creeks. We fished those areas with Muscle 10 and 15 crankbaits and Wacky jig heads. We had a great time but cut it short with the storms and lightning seeming to hang around. One of the best trips to Smith in a long time.

I hit Guntersville on Monday with the boat traffic being just nasty. Weather wise it was a great day with only a few "pop up" storms during the trip. We fished several swimbaits (both hard and soft) as well as Lake Fork 10 inch worms and Muscle 10 crankbaits. The bite was good but not as good as it has been in the last few weeks. We boated solid fish and a couple of really good fish but the numbers were a little less than I was expecting.

Water temps are still in the low 70's but the grass seems to be getting better with clearing water and sun. I just hope the chemicals they put into Roseberry Creek to kill the grass did not hit the current and make it out to the main lake areas. We had a great Holiday weekend on the water and I got to spend it fishing with one of my favorite fishing partners, Beth. I have some open dates coming up in June and one the had to move his date this week if anyone is looking to get out and fish the grass. Also if you mention this article I will give 25.00 off a halfday trip and 50.00 off a fullday trip discount. Hope everyone had a great weekend and please remember the reason for it. Support our troops

Guntersville Fishing 05-21-09

2009-05-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hit the water today working on the swimbait and spinnerbait bite I have been on the past week. Well the morning bite is picking up on the ledges on the main river and humps. We even had a topwater bite today getting some keepers. As the day went on the bite got harder to get but we did get some fish in the boat during that time. While the mornings are good for the shad spawn the late afternoons are awesome for topwater and swimbaits.
Best baits have been the Jackall Swimming Ninja, Spinnerbaits made by War Eagle, Rattle Head, and Tru-Tungsten in shad colors, and Muscle 7 and 10+ crankbaits also shad colors. As far as the topwater. We have had good numbers on the buzzbait, Jackall Dagored, and Bowstick with the Bowstick boating the better fish.
We wanted to wish everyone a great Holiday weekend and be sure to check your safety equiptment on your rigs before hitting the water. Officers will be out in full force this weekend and keeping us all safe and sound. Also as a note the GPS/Sonar class is getting alot of interest so if your wanting to get in the class be sure to contact us to get your seat. The class will be held on June 11th at Wintzell's in Guntersville from 7-9. Thanks again for all the support and see you on the water.

God Bless

Phil4:13

Guntersville Fishing Report 5-20-09

2009-05-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought the fishing was not doing so well and the winds were making the bite bad they up and made me look bad. I had told my client for today last night on the phone that the bite was tougher than in days past and even recommended he move his trip to later in the week. Well we started out fishing steep drops near green grass and in the first 30 mins. had 5 solid fish in the boat on a War Eagle spinnerbait. We worked the areas hard putting several other fish in the boat and one that went 5.7 on the scales. We then ran to several other areas with the same pattern that also produced the same results. It was kinda funny when he looked at me and said " so you call this slow?" I just smiled and said yes.(kidding ofcourse). The bite did slow up some after about 11:00 and we had to fight for ever bite we got until about 4 PM. We switched to big Lake Fork worms and he ended up catching several more fish and a couple over the 5lb mark with one over 6.

It was a great day despite the hard winds and high pressure. We ended up catching fish on the Spinnerbait, Jackall Swimbait, Muscle 10 crankbait, and Lake Fork worm. All in all I ended the day with one happy client from Texas and a good day on the water. I hope everyone is gearing up for a great Holiday weekend and looking forward to the winds dropping off soon. See you on the water.

God Bless

Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 05-19

2009-05-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well they say good things must come to an end. This statement holds true in fishing also and it was proven today. Now don't get me wrong we had a great time and to standards a good day but the fishing that has been nothing short of awesome the last two weeks has slowed. With the high winds, water getting muddy, and cold front followed by a nasty high presure the fishing suffered some. This morning the bite was better on the ledges with winds down some. After they got up we moved to a couple of other places and had solid keeper fish but nothing over 5lbs.. After that I dropped them off at Waterfront and ran the boat some to put some time on the new motor.
On the PM trip I was part of the group that worked a corp. outing. I had two super nice people that had never fished before in freshwater. After some casting lessons we got started but the winds made it tough to get the baits out far enough for them to get bit. I then ran to a protected cove where we boated a couple of fish but nothing to really get excited about. We only had about 3 hours total to fish and they seemed to have a good time seeing some of what Alabama is all about.
All in all a good day on the water with some great people on both trips. Best baits still seem to be the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad, Jackall Muscle 10 and 7 and both War Eagle and Rattle Head spinnerbaits. Today the Jackall crankbaits boated the better numbers. I have one more trip Wed then the rest of the week open due to a canceled trip. I also have a couple of days left the rest of the month as well as June if anyone is interested in a trip. Hope everyone is having a great week and looking forward to a wonderful Holiday weekend. See you on the water.

Oh, one other thing, I have had a great response to the Sonar/GPS class coming up on June 11th in the last few days. The seating is going to be limited so if anyone is interested give me a call or e-mail and we will get your seat reserved. Thanks again for everyone's support and thoughts.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Report 5-18-09

2009-05-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well we knew the good times had to end sometime. This weekend was great with trips having good solid numbers and the size was not bad at all. Today was nothing like the last two weeks have been . Rain has not hurt the fishing much just made it not very comfortable. The winds today, on the other hand, killed my bite. We started the morning halfday trip on the ledge where he and his wife boated several solid keepers. Then the winds just got to be too much and drove us to protected coves. We fished the lower end of the lake at thier request and as many anglers that fish the lower end know there are not alot of places to hide where the bite is strong this time of year. We did end up catching several more fish before the trip was over but not was I was hoping for. They were pleased and learned alot on making adjustments during the day. We started out with both War Eagle and Rattle Head spinnerbaits then I wanted to teach them both the swimbait so they switched to the Jackall Swimming Ninja and Sride. Those baits boated the bigger fish of the day on creek channels. After moving to coves they had several fish on the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad fishing it in "skinny" water but the size was not really there. All in all a good trip with some great people.

I will be back at it again in the morning for 2 halfday trips so it should be a fun day on the lake again with great sunny weather and the winds moving out. On a side note, Wilson Frazier has worked out a date for another GREAT Sonar/GPS class. The date is June 11th and will be held at one of the best places to eat in Guntersville, Wintzell's located on Highway 431. Class will begin at 7pm and go until around 9pm. Cost for it will be $50.00 per person. If anyone is interested please contact me at 205-706-2425 or e-mail at finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com This will be a limited class so be sure to get on the list to attend early. Also it does not matter what unit gps/sonar you run you will learn how to use it and what you are looking at when it is on the screen. Looking forward to seeing everyone there. See you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Guntersville 5-15-09

2009-05-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well today I had 2 halfday trips. This morning I met with Dr. Kane Fulton and his buddy Mark. Kane's wife had got him a certificate for a halfday trip for a gift. Mark had never caught a fish before(any kind) and Kane is just starting to learn Bass fishing. Well today was nothing short of GREAT. We pulled up to a spot I found some fish in after a trip on Thursday and well in the first 30 mins. had put 10 in the boat. Kane had 3 in a row before Mark got his first bite. Mark held his own and soon began to turn up the heat boating several fish. I had them using Rattle Head Spinnerbaits because the bite is kinda hard to feel and get a good hook set on the swimbait for someone just starting. We sat in one spot and flat "smoked em'" on the blade until the bite slowed down. Kane was thinking about a move when "smack" his rod bowed up and he pulled. The rod then pulled back.LOL He boated his largest fish to date at just over 6lbs.. After that the bite did slow down with only boating a few more fish in one other spot. Best baits for them was the Spinnerbait in white. I had one on a swimbait but only made about 10 cast the whole trip. It was great to be a part of thier day and see both of them catch fish. I forsure enjoyed being the person to help Mark catch his first fish ever. I think his best fish was between 3.5 and 4 lbs. Not a bad start but now they are both stoked about the next trip.

After dropping them off I changed ramps at the clients request fishing the lower end of the lake. Well they are eating there as well. We fished open water humps and at his request I fished as well. We threw nothing but Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbaits, Jackall Swimming Ninja Swimbaits, Giron, and Lake Fork Live Magic Shads. We did fish a little deeper humps and some creek drops. Once we found them they were stacked up. My client had his best 5 fish limit of 27 lbs and also his biggest fish ever at 8.10lbs. He is know a believer in the swimbait.LOL In total we had 38 fish in the boat all keepers with most of them being right at or just under 4lbs.

Alll in all a great day on the lake with some great clients. It is days like this make me glad I guide here.LOL Hope everyone has a great weekend and good tournaments. I will be at Goose Pond later working for Frazier Marine Group at the Big Bass Splash sign in and then tonight at the Sonar/GPS class at the Hampton Inn in Guntersville. Be sure to drop by and say hello. Thanks for all the support and well wishes.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 5-14-09

2009-05-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Water Temperature: 74Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
Well it is nothing short of a "slug fest" on Guntersville right now. I think this is the best I have seen this lake in years as far as size and numbers go. Most of the time when you can catch alot of numbers they are shorts or just barely keepers. Now everything is a keeper or better and the numbers are awesome. Had another 40+ day today with only 3 short fish. Most of the fish are iin the same areas just grouped up and eating. One thing we noticed is they are not grouped in size yet. One cast you bust two or three keeper fish then catch a 5 or 6 lb fish on the next cast. Best baits have been Jackall Muscle 10 and 7 in shad colors and Lake Fork Swimbaits in both the 4.5 and 5.5 sizes. The morning bite is getting stronger on topwater with the 0 footer cherry doing the most damage and the Rattle Head spinnerbait pulling a close 2nd. Once you find them they are stacked up so the guys fishing the McDonalds event this weekend should flat smack them.
Also Wilson Frazier is doing a Sonar/GPS class at the Hampton Inn in Guntersville this weekend on both Friday and Sat night from 7-9. The cost is $50.00 per class if anyone is interested. If you have never attended one of his classes your missing out. He will cut the learning curve in half and get you in tune with your sonar and gps as well as someways to "tweak" your units to get the most out of them. E-mail me for details. This event is being put on by the guys at Guntersville Boat Mart off hwy 69.
I still have some open dates in May and June so be sure to give us a call for a trip. Hope everyone has a great weekend and thank you for all the support.
God Bless
Phil.4:13
FINS -N- GRINS FRESHWATER ADVENTURES

Guntersville Events and Fishing

2009-05-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Lake Guntersville is "off the hook" right now with fish being caught from one end of the lake to the other. In the last week of trips we have "smoked em'" with clients catching huge numbers and some great weights. The fewest number of bass being boated is 40 this week on fullday trips. As of now the shad spawn is getting good and spinnerbaits are the way to go in the moning. As the day progresses We are throwiing Jackall Swimming Ninja and Lake Fork Swimbaits on the pockets and ledges. Jackall Muscle 10+ cranks are doing well in the grass. Best thing to target is shell beds off the main river and look for the tallest/greenest grass you can find.

The McDonalds "Big Bass Splash" will be coming into town this week and the lake is going to be packed with anglers from all over the Southeast. This event is like no other tournament on the lake. Anglers will be able to weigh in one fish every hour for two days. During this weekend on Friday and Sat night there is also a special treat. Wilson Frazier AKA: "The Professor" will be in town doing classes at the Hampton Inn in Guntersville. This event is presented by Guntersville Boat Mart located on Highway 69. If you have never attended one of Wilson's classes it is worth every penny. He will be covering everything from how to set up your sonar/gps to how to know exactly what your looking at in the water and adjust your fishing. His GPS class is also one that is hard to beat. While on the water with him he taught me how mark a waypoint then return to that exact point from the same angle. He placed a ballon in 35 feet of water raised only 6 feet off the bottom and had me mark the ballon while looking at it on the front sonar. We then drove around and fished for a couple of hours and he had me drive back to the ballon. When I used his tactics I pulled up to the "area" and when I placed the trolling motor in the water and the transducer "kicked in" I saw the ballon. Anyone can find a rock pile or larger structure on the bottom but to be able to locate a 6 inch ballon without having to drive around the area and look for it was amazing. This is a must have for anyone that fishes tournaments.

His classes will be held at the Hampton Inn on the 15th and 16th of this month from 7-9. There is limited seating and cost is only $50.00. Feel free to contact me at finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com for further information or for seating.

Be sure to check out the blog in the up coming days for more fishing reports and some new articles on fishing swimbaits. Also on the lower right section of the WAAYTOBETERFISHING site be sure to follow me on twitter for up to date reports while on the water. I do these more than anything else while on trips and tournaments. If you have not heard about the WAAY 31 TV site just go to http://www.waaytobetterfishing.com/ This site is great and getting better every week. It has up to the minute weather reports for lakes all over the State of Alabama, fishing reports, articles on new products and tactics, as well as the blog. Also please be sure to add any comments on anything on the site. If there is something you would like to see there let us know or if you would like a bait tested or have any qustions about a certian tactic

Lake Guntersville 5-7-09

2009-05-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well hit the water the last few days and the bite is getting better and better each day. With a day today of lots of sun and no high winds and rain we flat "smoked em'"! I had my client throwing big Lake Fork worms in several colors and we were catching some ok numbers and size. We then made a move to a place I catch them alot this time of year and started using Lake Fork Live Magic Shad swimbaits and Spinnerbaits. That was the baits to have tied on for sure. We both had several limits and size was solid with only a few fish just under 15 inches. The shad spawn is getting hotter and hotter and only going to pick up in the next few days.
The BASS Elite Series is also on Guntersville this week and today was the first day of the tournament. Well they did as well as we did with the leader Todd Faircloth busting a 31.00 lb back of LAke Guntersville bass. All the guys did well and everyone in the field can catch that one or two fish that can totally change the totals. I think it took 20+ pounds just to be near the top 50 anglers. Friday should be a true "slug fest" on Guntersville. I will be able to attend the weigh in Friday so be sure to check back on the WAAY 31 site for Twitter updates. I am also working on a blog for tactics on the shad spawn. Be sure to check it out as well.

Lake Guntersville 5-4/5-5-09

2009-05-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

The last two days on Guntersville have been great. The cooler temps and winds getting lighter during the day have made the mid-day bite better and today with the sun coming out, and staying out, the bite was awesome. I have fished mainly open water humps in the 4-6 foot range with the better fish coming off the top of the humps. The shad spawn is getting cranked up but I have still not found it in full swing. I took out after the morning bite was over this morning and moved down river. I fished the lower end of the lake having alot better luck on size. The biggest key is green grass being on the humps. I fished several baits today with the better fish coming off the Jackall 6.8 Flick Shake rigged on the Wacky Jig head. I also had numbers on the Lake Fork Lizard. Both baits in Green Punpkin. It was good to be back on Guntersville and I can't wait for the Shad spawn to start.
I will be working on an article for fishing the shad spawn later in the week so be sure to follow and keep up to date on the site. Thanks to everyone for thier continued support and We are gearing up for a great summer in North Alabama.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

BASS Southern Open-Lake Wheeler

2009-05-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well the BASS rolled into the City of Decatur this past week to bring the Southern Open to Lake Wheeler. What an awesome city and lake. We started official practice on Monday April, 27th. The water was a little stained but not too bad from the weather we had been getting but the bite was great. I did like I do in most tournaments and broke the lake down into 3 sections. I fished the mid lake area the first day. This body of water runs east to west so with the winds being forcasted to come from the South-Southwest throughout the tournament I started on the North banks working protected pockets. I found a number of fish in the backs of pockets and saw even more moving in and out all day while working my way down to the mouths of both the Elk River and Spring Creek. Once I made it to the Elk River I moved across the channel to Spring and started working the same pattern back East on the South bank. By the end of the day I was on a for sure pattern that I felt would produce a solid 12-15 lbs a day.
On day two of practice I drove down to the lower end of the lake and put in at First Creek. Well I found where most of the field was. I fished several pockets in the area and and it was apparent that area would be a total battle for a place to fish and sharing water with numbers of boats. I moved out to the main river area to some submerged structure I had done well on in the past and had 2 fish over 3 lbs in a matter of 5 cast, I left it fast and was still very confident. I made the decision to pull out and move to the Elk River area before I made an appearance for Jackall at one of the best tackle stores in North Alabama, West End Outdoors. Well plans were changed as I was idling back to the ramp in a no wake zone. I ended up with the motor stopping and would not run in gear. I trimmed the motor up to find someone had left some trot lines unmarked and found my prop. I then jumped on the trolling motor and started the LONG troll back to the ramp. I was un-sure if it had damaged the seals in the prop shaft so to play it safe I trolled back to the ramp instead of just cutting the line and running back. When I was almost back to the ramp a person finally noticed I had problems and pulled me the rest of the way. I never got his name but a huge THANK YOU goes out to him. Once on the ramp I removed the lines from the prop shaft and got on the phone. It was getting close to time for dealerships to close but I got lucky and got an answer at D&D Marine. They were walking out the door but once I explained my situation they agreed to hold the doors and help me out. I can't thank those guys enough for getting me in and working on my motor.
The next day and last practice day before the tournament I went to the Spring Creek area to stay until I had to leave for the meeting. I made several passes working the same patterns and boating several fish as well as "shaking off" several more. My partner for the day, Dennis Hollis, from Memphis, Tenn. also had a good time boating several fish. We let the area with a good back up plan and I felt I was ready for the tournament to start. Once at the pre-tournament meeting I was boat number 49 with a great partner that had never fished an Open before. We got our plan together and he was as "stoked" as I was to get started.
First day of competition the winds were blowing from the north east and not seeming to want to laydown. We hit my first pocket boating a couple of fish. Not wanting to burn the area so I could come back to it on day two we moved. I hit several pockets boating a limit but noticed every place I had caught fish or had bites in practice that were over 2-3 lbs were now producing 1-1 1/2 lb fish. I made the decision to move to my back up plan but it was too little too late. We ended running out of time and the winds made it impossible to work several areas the way I needed to to better my catch. I ended the day with almost a 7 lb total but by weight only about 3lbs out of the top 30 cut. I was down over the fish moving but still felt I was in the game if I could work the areas out and find the fish that had moved out. I went back to the hotel and hit the maps to find the areas fish would move to after they came of the beds. Once making a plan I was feeling better about day two.
On day two I drew a super guy from Fla. that started fishing the Opens this year but had a bad tournament on the Harris Chain. He was in the hunt so it was not only important for me to catch fish but I also wanted him to make the cut as well. I had told him my bite was strong but the bigger fish had moved so a limit would not be a problem. We started on the ledge before the winds came in to work on the bigger bite. Well within the first few cast we both had a solid fish in the boat and I found my hunch was right, the fish had moved in the last 48 hours. We then left that area after catching a couple of other fish and started hitting the secondary points. I boated a couple of other fish getting my limit. With my co-angler not having but two fish I made the move to get him a limit to insure he made the top 30 cut. He boated one more fish and missed a couple of others. We then made the choice to go back to the ledge and hunt for the bigger bite. It was the right choice. I upgraded little by little and he ended up with a 6+ pound toad in the livewell to put him in the toward the top of the top 30.
Once at the weigh in and at the scales I found out I need the fish he caught to make the cut but I was proud he had it and made his first cut. I ended with just over 16 lbs total for the event and out of the top 30 by around 5 lbs. Although the weights were not great I was only one solid bite a day from a great tournament. That is just part of the game but the way I look at it both my co-anglers made a check and I had a limit each day so it was not a bad event on my part. I just made the decision to move a little too late. I only had two fish lost the entire tournament so that might have made a difference but like I told reporters, if it is meant to be it will and if not there is nothing you can do to change that.
I want to make sure to say congratulations to the winners on both sides with great catches. Chris Payne flat "smoked em'" wire to wire with a total of 45+ lbs for the event to take the win. He is a great angler and hats off to him for a great job. Also congrats to some of our local angler's on both sides for a great tournament as well.
The baits that seemed to work well for me this tournament we the Jackall Flick Shake worm in Green Pumpkin rigged on the Wacky Jighead. I fished this bait in areas near spawning flats and pockets in around 2-6 feet of water. It was rigged on a Daiwa Steez spinning rod with a Steez reel and Lake Fork FH 7lb test line. I also fished a Lake Fork Lizard and Craw Tube near Buck Brush in both Green pumpkin and Killer Craw colors. I had this bait on a Daiwa Steez 7-6 flipping stick with a 7.1 Steez reel and 65 lb braid. On day two I fished the mentioned baits but also added the Jackall Muscle 7 and 10+ in shad colors for my better bites. In all over 20 limits were boated during the week on these baits.
I really need to take a minute to thank all of my supporters and sponsors. Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, WAAY 31 TV, Gator Grip, Daiwa, Red Bull, The Boat House, West End Outdoors and Triton. Most of all I have to thank God for the chance to follow my dreams, my family for always being there and keeping my head up even when things are not going as planned and one huge special thank you goes out to the Peet Family, Don, Mandi, Will, and Eric. They are the reason I was even able to fish this event. They are GREAT friends and Beth and I are truly blessed to have them in our lives. Thanks again for all the support and lets get this next week started.
Be sure to check out the site and blog everyday for up to date information on tactics and tackle. As well as some new video we are working on this week. The WAAY 31 site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) is up and running and will improve everyday. Be sure to click follow on the lower right hand section to keep up with whats going on during events. I post to my tweeter account about 20 times a day. Have a great week and lets go fishing.

Week in Review

2009-04-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well this last week has been very busy and full of excitement. Trips on Lake Guntersville have been nothing short of Awesome on Monday and Tuesday with my clients catching huge numbers. The best bait has been the Jackall Flick Shake and Lake Fork Lizard. On Wed I headed to Lake Wheeler for a couple of days of practice. Practice went ok but I spent alot of time riding and looking at my sonar and less time fishing. One thing I have found is it looks like the bite is going to be ok but fish are moving all day and it is not going to be easy to stay with them. I did find a couple of areas that will hold fish on a morning pattern but things can change fast there. Thursday I tore a hole in my seat working the boat under some trees in a creek looking for a pond. I did find the pond and found fish in it way up river. When I got in there I saw a fellow Crappie fishing. He pulled up to me and said, how in the world did you get in here? I told him I pushed up the creek and he said well you found a great place and noone else willl come here. I asked him why and he told me he had lived there for 30 years and never had seen a boat in it other than his. He also added it was a pond he has on his farm and he never let anyone fish it but being I came in from the river and worked that hard to get in he would let me. I need to ask the tournament director if it will be legal being it is a private pond but accessible from tournament waters.
Friday I was back on Guntersville getting ready for the tournament this weekend. Well practice was ok and we found some spawning fish. The tournament was the worst fininsh so far this year for me just being in the top 15 but we had alot of fun. We have close to 75 fish in the boat but nothing over 4 lbs. We ended up getting our butt kicked at the scales but had a great time. Sat night I had an appearance at a tackle shop and it was awesome. I got to meet some great people and talked alot of fishing. The WAAY 31 commercials started this week and man is it weird to see me on TV. I went to the store last night and was asked about the new site atleast 15 times. The new site is going to be huge and will be changing everyday for the better. We have it up but also working on it make new changes so be sure to go everyday to look at it. I also am doing some video work for it as well and that is going to be off the hook. You can check it out at www.waaytobetterfishing.com Also let me know your thoughts on the site and things you would like to see happen to it. We will take all suggestions and work on getting them up. Thanks again and be sure to check out the blog all next week. I will be updating it from Lake Wheeler during the BASS Open.

Lake Guntersville 04-14-09

2009-04-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today I fished with some great return guys from Tenn.. They had a tough trip the last time so I worked hard to get them back on them. Well I did my job well!!LOL They started the day slow but as the day got longer their arms took a beating. Those guys had one of the best days for both numbers and size on Guntersville that I have seen in a long time. It was a blast watching them catch so many fish and the size was nothing short of awesome. I decided to do something I don't do on most trips after they boated a good many fish and I started working on my Flick Shake fishing practicing for Wheeler by fishing it on Guntersville. Well, it works! I have fished the baits on Guntersville before but never on light line and spinning gear. Well I boated several good fish and several solid keepers in the grass with the line. If ever there was a true test of how well the Lake Fork line held up this was it. One major thing I did other than seeing the line held up well was gain confidence that I could use it in cover and trust it during a tournament. This is a major thing for me to be able to use such light line in nasty cover and know if I work the fish to the boat and not rush things they will make it to the livewell and scales. All in all I accomplished things today both on the trip as well as my mental state going into one of the biggest tournaments of my career. I will be back at it in the morning continuing to build on what I have going and getting better each day.

Rods and Reels for sell

2009-04-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well aftger switching sponsors I have now got my G-Loomis rods and some Daiwa Exceller reels up for grabs. The list is below drop me an e-mail if you or anyone you know would be interested in them. Thanks.

G-Loomis rods:
1-spinnerbait rod
1-Mossyback worm rod
1-Mossyback C-rig rod
1-GL3 rod(great for just about everybait in the boat)
1-7'6" Cranking rod

All these rods have a lifetime warr and are going for 200.00 each(retail from 245.00-350.00)

I have 8 Daiwa Exceller baitcaster reels bought new last June. These retail for about 100.00 per reel I am selling them for 50.00 per.

If interested call or e-mail me and we will get them on the way to you. Thanks
205-706-2425 or finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com

ABBT Tournament Update/Result

2009-04-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well as many of you know I had the ABBT on Lake Logan Martin this past weekend. Being only 1 point out of Angler of the Year I needed a good tournament. I went down to Birmingham on Thursday to start my pre-fishing. Being that I knew the lake already I just needed a couple of days to pattern the fish so a long practice was not needed.
After getting there on Thursday morning at day break I launched the boat with good friend and fellow angler Doug Nichols. We started the day looking for a top water bite tossing the Jackall Bowstick in some areas that have been great this time of year. We had nothing even look at the bait. I then picked up the Spinnerbait and had 2 fish in two cast. The key was burning it just under the surface. For those who do not fish for spotted bass much they like baits moving fast. We left that area and headed up river looking for more fish. We fished several old brush piles with jigs and Jackall Flick Shake worms. All of our stops seemed to produce fish with us not catching more than two fish in an area and boating over 50 fish for the day. At the end of Thursday I was "stoked" and ready for the tournament.
On Friday they were calling for heavy rain, hail, high winds, and bad t-storms. I almost did not fish due to the weather but knowing how fish move and change and learning through the years of tournament bass fishing to always have a "plan B" I hit the water. I fished down river from the launch site all day on the same patterns I had found and spent the last half looking for "bedding fish" Well I found the bite seemed to be more stable on the lower end and several bigger fish on beds in pockets. The winds got real bad with 4-5 footers on the main lake areas and white caps in most every pocket I went in. I made the choice to get off the water and head to cover. Well it was the right move, it started raining and hail before I got the cover on the boat but was on the ramp. I got a call that real bad weather had hit home and alot of people had homes destroyed and major property damage. Please pray for these folks and keep them in your thoughts during their hard times. I made a call home to find out everything was ok there and let Beth know where alot of clothes I had were to donate to the people in need. My best friend/fishing partner Rodney was at work(Scottsboro Fire Department) when the storms hit and I knew he would not be at the tournament. Hats off to those guys for everything they did.
Well on to tournament day. We launched the boat out of Lakeside Park(better known as the City park/rec center). I ran to a place that had produced several solid 2-3 pound fish on a submerged bridge. I started tossing the topwater and spinnerbaits first. I have to be honest I am not sure why, I had not had a topwater bite both days of practice.LOL I thought about that after about 10 mins. and picked up the flick shake and wacky jig head. It was the bait to have. I boated a limit in about 30 mins.. After getting a solid 10lb limit I stuck to my plans and made the run down river for bigger fish. I wanted to fish the areas I had bedding fish after the sun came out so I could see them at a greater distance and not "spook" them. I upgraded several times and after not seeing the sun all day went ahead to the bedding fish.
On the way to them I had a thought to stop at one more place on the way. As many of my readers that have fished with me I always go with my gut. I made the stop and on the first cast had a fish on that was a solid 5lb spot. Well you can't weigh them in if they are not in the boat but it was not meant to be. I worked the area hard switching to the 6.8 Flick Shake in green pumpkin for a bigger bite. I worked the bait on a spawning flat casting into about 3 feet of water. I felt a solid thump and set the hook. After a long fish I boated the 5.56 Largemouth to cull way up and give me at least 13+ pounds. I had a couple of other fish culling up by ounces and one more solid fish that helped a little. I made the move to the bedding fish to find a super nice guy and his wife that I had seen fishing the day before fishing toward the area. I pulled up to him and told him I had seen 2 bedding fish in the pocket and asked if he would mind me fishing it. He said no and let me go in front of him. I moved in the area and saw the water had turned muddy from the rains. Well I marked the beds in practice so I just started casting to them. Boating only one and upgrading some. I fished another bedding fish until I just ran out of time and had to leave her without hooking her.
I ended up having 2nd place big fish and 4th place over all. The winners had a great sack of fish(all Largemouth) tat 19+ lbs and the rest of us in the top 5 all had 15lbs. I had 15.46 total and was happy for the results. All in all a great day on the water and solid tournament. I will never be satisfied with my results even if I win but, we had a great event and looking forward to the rest of the year. So far the worst finish I have had in a tournament has been 7th so I hope to keep up the pace with the next one at Lake Wheeler for the BASS Southern Open.
I want to take a moment to thank all of my sponsors and the people that support our efforts in the fishing industry. Without them I would not be here or have this chance to "live the dream"!

Needing Input??

2009-04-08T22:13:00.001-07:00

We have the go for the WAAY 31 TVsite(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) . Be sure to visit it everyday for up to date info on the fishing reports and also alot of new product reviews. I need some imput though. What would everyone want to see on the site. We are going to be doing video shots of tactics and some things I do to "get an edge" during tournaments as well as other helpful hints to be better than other anglers. If you have any qustions of things you would like to see on the site let me know so we can get it and I can pass the ideas on to the right people to get it done. If there is anything you guys know of you would like me to do an article on or write about drop me a line and I will get to work on it ASAP. This site is going to be awesome and with your help and input we will lead the way for others and that's the WAAY we like it.

Practice over the weekend

2009-04-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was very busy for me and the crew at Fins-N-Grins. Rodney had some trips and a tournament while I was at Logan Martin and Guntersville both. On Sat. I was headed to Logan Martin to practice for the up coming tournament. I already am very confident I am on a great morning bite but, still having some trouble on getting good bites after about 8 AM so I was leaving a little later to look for a daytime bite. Well before I could leave, a longtime client, Harold Downey called me and wanted a last minute trip to Guntersville. Well I was all for it so I put off Logan Martin for a day. I got to carry one of his close friends on his first bass trip. Micheal and his son were two awesome people to fish with. I had them both casting a baitcaster in less than 5 mins.. We started the day very slow with only one fish in the boat on a Jackall TN70(red craw). On our last stop we hit the jack pot. They both started "smoke'n em' on the TN70 in both red craw and brown craw. We ended the day with a 15 fish total and two drum to boot. Both caught thier Bass ever and had a great time. I think that is one of the best things about being a guide. I got to be a part of a life moment between father and son and it was a blast to get that young man additcted to Bass fishing.
On Sunday I got my trip to Logan Martin. I started the day looking for some bedding fish up river and found several that are up and ready for the full moon on the 9th. They should be good, solid kicker fish and locked on the bed the weekend of my event. I then worked down river looking for some dock fish. Well the lack of sun made it a slow bite on the docks but I did shake a couple off and bult some confidence that I could get a couple of fish in the area. I'll tell you what I was doing after the tournament.LOL
On the way home I just could not take passing the boat ramp with daylight left on Guntersville. I put in on the lower end by my house and hit areas in Alred Islands. I found some fish, while not big, but alot of fun on topwater and the flick shake worm. The numbers were nothing short of awesome and I had a ball catching the first topwater fish of the year on the big g. Best baits for today on Guntersville were the flick shake and Jackall SK Pop Grande'(shad color).
I will be working trips on Guntersville for the next 3 days then going between Lake Wheeler and Logan Martin getting ready for both the BASS Open at Wheeler and the event I have at Logan Martin. Hope everyone has had a great weekend and stays warm this week. The tmps are going to fall fast this week and we will be back at winter temps by Wed.

Week in review

2009-04-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well this week on the water has been full of up's and downs. We have had trips that just smoked fish and trips that I did everything buy drop explosives in the lake to catch a fish. The winds and temps have been the main killer of the bite and the TVA playing with water levels has kept the fish moving back and forth. Our best baits have been Jackall Stride and Swimming Ninja swimbaits, TN70's in red craw and chrome/blue, and Cover Craws in cola color.
Rodney(my fishing/business partner and best friend)has been out everyday as well. He has reported great catches of Crappie all week except Wed.. They have been catching solid numbers but the size has been just plain awesome. They has one trip that there were 18+ fish over 2lbs.. He will be fishing a tournament on Guntersville Sat for a charity that helps Children's Hospital in Birmingham. I am headed out to Logan Martin for an event.
Hope everyone has had a great week and be sure to check out the blog daily. I will be working hard to keep up the post and keep everyone on top of the latest news and products. Have a great weekend and looking forward to adding more on Sat afternoon.

Weather get worse but fishing heating up

2009-03-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Well the weather on Guntersville is not great but the fish have not got the memo.LOL We have hit them hard this week with big fish moving up all day long. I have also been fishing Wheeler. The fish there are on the same track and they seem to be right on time. As many anglers from here know the BASS Elite are on Wheeler now and will start thier first day of compition on Thursday. From what I have seen they will smoke em'! We fished everything near from the flats to the Lower Dam and the fish are eating. I thing the Elite guys will catch them best in shallow water using plastics and reaction bite type baits but the bigger fish will come from the guy that can find areas that will "cut off fish" as they move up to spawn. These fish will be coming up each day and that angler will be able to stick out a 25+lb bag everyday without a problem. Best colors there have been everything in Junebug and green pumpkin as well as the guys that go "outside the box" and use deep crankbaits and swimbaits. The swimbait was the bait that produced the bigger fish for us. The numbers dropped when using the Stride and Swimming Ninja but the size was alot better. It will come down to the guy that tosses it all on the line and not looking for numbers and points but only fishing to win. The "bronze backs" are also eating well and we saw a guy haul in a 20+ bag of them on several trips there in the last few days. Those fish are deeper but still easy to find in the creek channels. Good Luck to all those guys fishing and looking forward to some exciting weigh-in action in the coming days.

I will be doing updates on the tournament as well as some new products coming from both Jackall and Daiwa. Be sure to also check back during the week for some really big news. If the deal goes though it will be the biggest thing to hit the fishing world in North Alabama in years. I will let the cat out of the bag in a couple of days. Thanks again to everyones support and comments. Have a great Wed.

First "interview" type article- Featured in the American Bass Anglers Mag

2009-03-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Alot of people have known I was working on this article and wanted to see it. Problem is some dont get ABA book so I wanted to list it below. Hope you enjoy, it's the first one I have done which involved interviews.

Team that fishes together
Stays together
By Chris Jackson
Fishing together in order to stay together? That’s right the team of Damon Abernethy and Tonya Mayberry, who have been dating for almost 2 years now, not only fish together but they work together as well. This fishing duo has just hit the ABA Couples tour and is hard to beat. When they are not on the water, they are working in the same field. Though the both work for the State, they are in different agencies with similar goals and interests. Tonya works for the Aquatic Assessment Division for the State of Alabama, investigating water quality and biological indicators for the waters of the state. Damon, as the Fisheries Development Coordinator, also works for the State of Alabama in DCNR's Fisheries Development. Both Damon and Tonya have dedicated their life to improving our sport of fishing, by not only working to educate other people about fish and their behaviors but also by continuing to learn everyday how fishing impacts one of the best resources the state has to offer. Alabama fisheries are definitely better for their efforts. Tonya has been fishing most of her life and seems to be very passionate about both her career and her love of competitive bass fishing. She said that she began fishing with Damon after they met at an Alabama Fisheries Association (AFA) meeting two years ago and they have been together ever sense. When she asked him to get into the couples trail with her, it was only the beginning. He won’t be fishing alone anytime soon. But when you have a partner as good as Mayberry, would you want to? Though they are not married, as many other couples that fish the trail, they are just as strong of a team. They both agree they can read each other and both have different strong points that make them a hard team to beat.
They showed off their abilities when fishing their first ABA couples’ tournament together. They finished 3rd during the Lake Martin event of the ABA Couples Trail Alabama Central District. Getting a check your first time out is a feat most anglers cannot achieve. It is hard to figure who is the better angler as they tend to disagree on this point. They each give each other credit with the honor. When it comes to tournament fishing, both agree it is a team effort and not just one member catching fish. Damon admits she does a lot more than just pulling her fair share of fish in the boat. He says she also knows and understands fish behavior. She puts that knowledge to work when they are fishing tournaments together as she adapts to the always changing water conditions. Damon also adds, “She is one of the most patient anglers I have ever seen.” With both being employed by the state in the Fisheries Division they both study fish and their behavior which definitely helps them both adjust when things change on the water.
Tonya on the other hand likes to give a lot of the credit to her partner for not only his fishing abilities but also for getting her into competitive bass fishing. During an interview she says that Damon is the back bone of their team and helps keep her head n the game while on the water. Tonya had been fishing her entire life, including trips to Alaska, but it took Damon to take it from a hobby to an obsession. Damon grew up in North-West Alabama and when it comes to fishing, Damon is no slouch himself. He is a long time fisherman and tournament angler, fishing several other trails in his area along with the ABA Couples Trail and AFT. In tournaments, he is known for fishing for 5 quality bites as opposed to fishing for numbers. And like most true big tournament anglers, the jig and crank bait are two of his favorite weapons of choice. His favorite fishing partner is obvious.
While speaking with her I found Tonya to be a very humble angler, a trait a lot of good anglers have and need in order to be competitive. She recalled a time when she and Damon started fishing together. At the time, she let him do most of the work when it came to launching the boat and getting it back on the trailer. On one trip while Damon was putting the boat on the trailer, a gentleman asked her, “Can’t you back a trailer?” and she said laughingly, “Yes, but he never asked me too”. Damon states that she is now in charge of all the tow vehicle duties for the team.
While Damon may catch a lot of keepers, she is not afraid to add that he can “handle a net with the best of them” when she gets in a groove and starts catching more fish than him. Tonya says when they fish together, whether in a tournament or just fishing for fun, they always seem to have a competition in the boat. She added jokingly that when they are fishing together and he catches the last fish that he is ready to go home, knowing he would be the winner. This sometimes leads to them fishing long hours until someone concedes. When asked about her bass fishing strengths, she said that when all else fails she will go to the Shaky Head and worm. She states that it is her confidence bait and she knows she can slow down enough to always coax a fish in the boat. When asked, Damon says “Dewberry” (Tonya’s nick name in the fishing world) is one of the best partners he has ever had. When asked why, he told me she was always eager to learn new stuff and gets better every time they go out. During the interview he stated Tonya is one of the most focused anglers he has ever seen. He adds the first time they fished together he was very impressed by not only how much she knew but how much she wanted to learn. It is hard to tell who the better angler is as they will both argue that is their partner. I guess it is true. The couple that fishes together will stay together. Wow, what the ABA couples tour can accomplish

"Trapping Grass"--Lake Guntersville Style

2009-03-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

While working the Birmingham Boat Show at the Marks Outdoors booth I was approached by several people who ask the age old question “how do I catch fish in the late winter/early spring on Guntersville?” So After talking with Mark we decided to put it in writing and give everyone a couple of the tricks to catching that once in a lifetime fish on Guntersville during this time.
Fishing late winter/early spring on Guntersville is a true test of an angler’s endurance and ability. Between braving the cold fronts and high winds it can wear even the best anglers patients thin and cause them to go home without even a sniff from a fish, but for those that know they are in the right area and using the right equipment they can go home with the thought of them hooking that dream fish we all search for. When fishing with clients I see more times than not they don’t have the equipment they need for the style of fishing they are going to need to do to help them catch that “BIG G Toad” So lets start by getting the right stuff for the job.
I like to make sure that people understand it is not just the lure they will be throwing but what they are tossing it with. I like the NEW Jackall Rushburn for this bait a lot. With this rod you can throw everything from a ½ oz to a 1oz. lipless crankbait till the line runs out. With this 6’11” rod you can toss the bait a mile but it has tons of backbone needed to load up and pull those big fish from the grass. I top the rod of with a Daiwa high speed Zillion reel and Daiwa Samurai 40lb.braid which helps cut the grass as you rip the bait through it. As the fish get weary due to high pressure and I need to slow the bait down some I switch to the new Lake Fork Flourohybrid line in 26lb test. On the same equipment and have found it will allow me to get a few more bites from the same area.
Now that we have the right equipment let’s talk about baits and presentation. I use two types of lipless crankbaits here on Guntersville that have worked great. First I will start with the Jackall TN/70 in either the Aurora black or Craw Fish (red) which have an awesome rattle/sound chamber in them. If that doesn’t seem to be getting results then I switch to the Jackall “Mask VIB70” which does not have a rattle built in, I use either the Ghost Minnow or the Black Chartreuse colors.
As far as how to fish them the first thing is to be in the right area on the right grass. If you have read the last article I did on finding the right grass that will come into play now. I move to an area where I can keep the boat in about 6-9 feet of water and toss the bait up onto the grass flats and work it across small ditches that run thru the flats. The first presentation I use is “ripping it”, which is throwing the bait as far as you can then “burn it” back to the boat as fast as you can turn the handle on the reel. When the bait hits the grass and it starts to load up jerk the rod hard like you were setting the hook, this is where the braid line comes in handy; it will cut through the grass like a weedeater and help free your bait faster. If I know the fish are in the area and they don’t seen to want what I am doing I then switch to the Fluorocarbon line and slow it down using a “yo-yo” type retrieve. Just tossing the bait out and letting it fall into the grass with the rod tip at about 7 o’clock then with one smooth motion pull the bait up till the rod reaches about 10 to 11 o’clock and stop. Once the bait starts to fall again reel down back to the starting position and repeat this back to the boat. I will work an area like this using both baits I mentioned and if there are no takers then move to another area. Keep in mind that Guntersville is a huge impoundment where the upper end of the lake will be completely different from the lower end so don’t give up on the lake entirely if you are not getting bit, just move up or down and I feel sure if you use these techniques you will find what you’re searching for. Also if you would like to see first hand how we trap on Guntersville give us a call and we can set up a date for you to fish with us and let us show you to that fish of a lifetime.

Capt. Chris Jackson
Fins-N-Grins
Freshwater Adventures
205-706-2425
www.finsngrinsfishing.com

"Flick Shakin"- The New Style of Finesse Fishing

2009-03-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

You got it folks, Flick Shakin. This is the newest craze in light line, light lure finesse fishing. What this means is, those of you that stick with the ol' jig head and small worm better pay attention. There is a new style in town and it is putting up some huge tournament numbers. The style is called "Flick Shakin". The term comes from one of the leading Japanese lure companies in the industry Jackall. They have developed a new style finesse worm that is just awesome. They come is two sizes and several colors but, the biggest thing is the Tungsten head you use with it called the "Wacky Jig Head". It has a 90-degree line tie that makes it almost impossible to hang up. It comes in either the 1/16 or the 3/32 head and used for rigging the bait "wacky style". They have also even accommodated the grass fisherman as well with the "Weedless Wacky Jig head". This neat little head will not only work as well as the other jig head but will come through the grass like it wasn't there. It sports the same Tungsten compound head as it counterpart but is also equipped with a weed guard to keep it from snagging. One thing I like most about this model is, it has a huge hook custom made for Jackall by Owner that is not only bigger but stronger than the light wire head and also comes in 1/16, 3/32, as well as the new 1/8 size. In this article I will not only give you a couple of ways to use this new bait but, also the right equipment to use it with.

First let's get you started with the right equipment for the job. I like to use either the G-Loomis GLX or IMX spinning rod rigged with the Daiwa Steez reel. I use either 10-12 lb Hi-Seas fluorocarbon line. If I am fishing heavy cover, like Lake Guntersville or big stump and root systems I use a G-Loomis "Mossyback" worm rod with a Daiwa Zillion reel and Hi-Seas 15 lb fluorocarbon line. Personally I like the heavy stuff better but, sometimes the bite just gets tuff and you have to downsize a little to get the bites.

Let's talk about how to fish the bait. There really is several ways this bait has been effective for me while using it. First is the way it was intended to be used. Wacky Style, the reason I say it was intended to be used this way is well, it was designed for it. If you look at the bait you can see the bait was made in a curve design, which gives it a squirming action that far surpasses other baits with this technique. It is made to be rigged with a "Wacky Jig Head" and placed in the center of the worm. I use this bait when I find it hard to get a bite from either docks or brush piles that I have already fished or that I know have had a lot of pressure on them. Tossing the bait out and letting it sink a little then twitch the bait a couple of times then let it fall again. Most bites will occur on the fall so it is important you watch your line.

The second way I use this bait is with the ever famous "Shaky Head". I rig it on a Davis HBT long shank jig head in either a 3/16 or 1/4 size and rig it Texas style. This works great when the bass are locked on to cover due to high air or fishing pressure. You can let the bait fall into the cover, such as a brush pile, and then just work it out of it. Where this worm will give you an advantage is the live fish scent Jackall has placed into the bait and the curve gives it a wild action when shaking it on the bottom.

The third way of working this bait I found out by accident and necessity. Those of you, who know me, know I am not much on "drop shots". Well while fishing an event this past year on Lake Martin I had a couple of fish I could see but could not get to bite anything I threw at them. I still had some time left before weigh-in so I pulled out a bait caster with some 12 lb Hi-Seas Fluorocarbon on it and tied a drop shot rig. Now it was not the way most of you tie this rig seeing as how I never do it I had none of the right things to rig it. I used a Owner 1/0 EWG hook, tied a regular Palomar knot and ran the tag end back thru the line tie. I then marked off about a foot or so and tied a couple of over hand knots to hold a couple of split shots on the end. I tossed out the bait to a brush pile, shook it for a minute or so and boated a 6.75lb largemouth to move me from 13th to 5th and take big fish for the tournament. So I guess me going outside the box was not all bad. The one thing that was cool about that day was I had fished that same brush pile for about 30 minutes with a couple of other baits and could not get the fish to bite. I truly believe the bait was what made the difference between me getting a check and not.

If you get a chance to use this bait try these techniques and I am sure you will put more fish in the boat. If you want to see these techniques in action and a couple of other things I have learned fishing these baits be sure to give us a call at Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures and we will get you hooked up. God Bless and Great fishing.

Capt. Chris Jackson
"Fins-N-Grins"
Freshwater Adventures
205-706-2425 www.finsngrinsfishing.com

Jackall Stride(Hard) Swimbait review

2009-03-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Thats right anglers, Jackall, the maker of one of the best crankbaits in the industry has stepped up in 2009 with a swimbait. To be honest this is not really a new bait they designed. They have had it on the market in Japan for awhile but it is new to the US market. I had ordered several from Japan about a year and a half ago and fished them alot in tournaments and while fun fishing for bigger fish. The US bait is not any different than the Japan version except some colors. They are only on the market in the US in limited numbers and dealers but well worth the $30.00 price tag.
I have fished the bait in just about every situation over the last year and it has preformed well. I have to say as far as hard swimbaits go it is one of the most versital baits I have seen. When I first got it and took it out of the box I did not like the way it swam in the water. The bait seemed to not have any action at all. I then had to speed up the retrieve and that made a huge difference. At first, I would swim the bait like the Giron, which has to be fished very slow to work, this bait likes it a little faster making it fish a little faster and cover water faster. I also fished it with a "jerking" motion and this is one of my favorite ways to fish it. After making a long cast, which is not hard at all with this bait, let it fall for a couple of seconds. Then jerk the bait with the rod tip in a downward motion. This will make the bait jump clean out of the water. The next time you jerk the bait it will dive. I think I can best describe the action like working a spook underwater. Fish love this action when they are feeding/schooling. One other thing I found to be good on this bait is swimming it back to the boat then twitch it and let it sit. The bait does sink slow but when you twitch it it will turn around and face backwards. I placed the bait in a tank after a demo and had fish follow the bait all the way back without taking it(mainly because I had been slamming them for about 45 mins). I tossed it back out and when they were following it back I stopped it then twitched it and when it turned on the fish(facing it) they killed it. I think this is a good way to trigger a bite when it gets tough.
As far as being duriable, the bait is like every other Jackall bait. They last and the paint work is awesome. I have boated over 115 fish(at the time of this article) and you can tell it has caught fish but it still looks good. I feel sure if you try this bait you will love it. Biggest thing I see many clients do is they dont want to fish it long enough. Alot of anglers, myself included, tend not to fish a new bait they have never seen long enough to build any confidence in it. I hope this helps some anglers understand how to fish the bait and if you want to see it in action give me a call. The swimbait bite is just getting started on Lake Guntersville and only going to get better.

Jackall Swimming Ninja Swimbait Review

2009-03-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well after along time of testing and re-testing they are on the US market and ready for sale. As many of you know I have always been known for using baits from Japan and having a couple of clients pick them up for me there when they go on business trips to save shipping cost.LOL Well the US version is about the same as the one I have been using but without one hook on the top(I think that might change though). When fishing this bait I have found it has exactly the right action most avid swimbait anglers look for. While at the Classic this year I was talking to some guys from Swimbait Nation in Ca.. They showed me just how much I did not know on swimbaits and I took the education to heart.LOL Several of the guys showed me some small tricks to change a bait they have found to work well. After showing them the Swimming Ninja they were impressed to say the least. One guy said "I would not change a thing". Trust me coming from those guys that is saying something. Only issue I have had with the bait is the paint coming off but its a give a take kinda issue. The bait will still catch fish either way and the paint holds up until about the 7th or 8th fish. The most important thing I have found that makes the bait stand out is the rear hook in the bait. It pop right out when the fish hit the bait and flex like the front hook. This has saved me loosing several fish when they jump and get in the grass. Another good thing about the bait is the way it falls. Alot of swimbait I have tested in the past have had some type of action when the fall which looks good to most anglers but really is not life-like. When you stop the Ninja it falls nose first and the tail has no action at all just like a fish falling. When you pick up the rod tip the bait returns right to the swimming action and the tail goes crazy, also like a fish that is trying to run after being hit by another fish and stunned.
All in all I can say this bait is well worth the price tag and will catch great fish. I have already put several awesome fish on the bait and it's not even post spawn yet. One hint I have for you anglers out there is after the baits hooks tear out several times they tend not to stay in the plastic. I carry them home or plug in a hot glue gun in the boat and without glue, let the tip heat up and just melt the plastic back together. This is very effective for making the bait last alot longer and better than using glue. I hope everyone has a great fishing trip and if you get one of these baits be sure to have a camera in the boat.LOL

Pre-Fsihing updates

2009-03-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have been hitting the water everyday pre-fishing several lakes in the area. The BASS Southern Open is headed to Lake Wheeler in a couple of weeks and wanted to do everything I could to stay on top of the fish there. Problem is alot of awesome anglers will be flooding the lake in a week for the BASS Elite Series. I have the fish on 3 patterns there so I think atleast one will hold up for my event there.
I am also fishing the Alabama Bass Buddy Trail this year with best friend and business partner Rodney Evens. We have an event coming up on Logan Martin in April so I hit the Coosa River looking around on the 26th and 27th. Fishing there is "off the hook" for lack of better words. I had fish in everything from 20 feet of water to water so shallow if the wind blew they would be dry.LOL In the last two days caught atleast 50 fish all keepers on about 5 baits. Better fish were coming off Jackall Swimming Ninja Swimbaits and the NEW Jackall Stride. These baits are setting the bar for the swimbait industry. I will have a better write up on them after I get to test them just a little longer in some other situations.
As far as Lake Guntersville goes the fishing is better than I have seen it in several years as far as big fish go. We have not had a trip this month that clients have not put atleast one fish over 6lbs in the boat. The numbers bite is still good on soft plasitcs like the Lake Fork Lizard and ring fry. The better fish are moving up everyday and most are being caught on Swimming Ninja's, Jackall Dozers, and Lake Fork Live Magic Shads.
I hope everyone has had a great week and looking forward to a wonderful weekend. Be sure to check back on my blog. I will be updating it every chance I get. There will be product updates/reviews, fishing reports, and also tour results as we get them. See you on the water and take a kid fishing