Anglers Choice Open House

Anglers Choice in Spindale is having their annual Open House February 1st and 2nd. Denny Brauer will be there both days, along with Angela Mayo, and on Saturday Hank Parker will joining them. He will end the event with his testimony and a word from the Bible, beginning at 2:30. Free hot dogs and casting contests for the kids. If you are free, it will be a great event to attend.

Fishing in Cold Weather

Over the years I have been asked many times how I stay warm when fishing in cold weather. Hopefully this video will give you an idea of what I do. Maybe you will get an idea or two from this video...check it out.

Norman

Fished Norman today...heavy cloud cover with a fine mist to light drizzle most of the day. I concentrated on fishing a crank bait on the main lake and in main lake pockets. I also spent time looking for shallower rocky places off the bank. I actually found one of those but I found it with the big motor, not the graph. Good thing I was idling or it would have been bad. Couple of dings in the skeg was the result but it was bound to happen sooner or later. I do think I can catch one there though now that I know where it is. Fished daylight to 2:30 and called it quits before the heavier rain arrived. Probably heading back next week...going to make a change in location and modify some of my tactics. I am not fishing a tournament there for several weeks and a lot will change between now and then.

GoPro

Is this thing working?
Well it wasn't but I thought it was. Ended up taking over 13K pics today with no video. Obviously I need to review how to operate the GoPro again.

Painting Crankbaits....At School

As a multi-district Career Center, Swofford serves 4 high schools, each of which has a fishing team. When the Auto Body instructor and I were discussing the fine airbrush skills the students work on from time to time it occurred to me that what better practice for them than to work on painting crankbaits. It will both help them in the class and provide a skill that will be useful for them as they continue to fish competitively. I contacted most all lure companies that make hard baits asking for cull baits for our students to practice with and the only company to agree was Livingston Lures (https://www.livingstonlures.com). Here is a pic of their first efforts. I appreciate Livingston investing  culled blanks in young fishermen, and if anyone has contacts for other companies who might be willing to donate as well, please let me know.

Small Addition to Storage Area

A short video showing an idea for a small addition to the front deck middle storage area.

Lake Hartwell Report

Fished Hartwell again today. Had a great day as far as bites and numbers go but the size was not there. I did lose a big fish that hit a jig on a deep rock but never saw it. Got it about half way up from 25 feet deep and it just pulled loose.
Most of the fish today came on a square bill - main lake and creeks, dirty water and clear. No real pattern other than rock had to be present. However, they are not on every spot by any means.
Hope everyone caught them today if you were able to go...probably hitting Norman next week.

Cull-Buddy Video

A quick look at the Cull-Buddy I installed under the livewell lid earlier this afternoon. The clips are ARDENT SMARTCLIPS and they attach to the standard metal clips.

Trick Step Video

Just a quick video of the Trick Step addition to my Ranger Z519. Without a doubt the best addition to a boat I have ever made. 15 minute install and worth every penny.

Lake Hartwell Tournament

Fished the tournament at Hartwell today. We caught plenty of fish but never could get the right size. Caught fish on jig, crank bait, and soft plastic. Most were in 4-10 feet of water. Water conditions are really unusual right now. Usually Hartwell would be 7-10 feet low right now and the temps from the mid-40's to low 50s, depending on where you are. When the water is low it really bunches the fish up and they are easier to locate. Added to that is the water is as high as 56 in areas I have seen it in the mid-30s in January. I think the fish are confused (well at least I am) and they have plenty of water to roam around in right now.
Will start practicing at Norman next week for the first BFL tournament. I will share some info as that process gets underway. Hope everyone had a great Saturday and I am looking forward to church in the morning and then lunch at the Green Tomato in Greenville.

Save the Date - Anglers Choice Open House

SAVE THE DATES!!!

Lowrance HDS Preview

Here are a couple of videos from my Lowrance HDS 3. I can only upload 100mg videos so these have been trimmed to allow posting. Looking at utilizing YouTube to link longer videos so everything I am recording can be accessed. Special thanks to Andy, Gene, and Austin at Anglers Choice for getting my electronics set up as well as helping me with the endless questions I have had regarding the units.

Quick video of what rip rap looks like on the Lowrance HDS using side scan.

Here is another short video showing sidescan and downscan in deep water looking at an old bridge.

Rigged for a Tournament

I mentioned last night I would be posting a pic of how I am rigged for the tournament tomorrow. Traveling light and plan to throw a jig most of the day trying to get a big bite. I feel like my partner will catch plenty of fish and I am concentrating on a kicker. Will sprinkle in a crankbait and spinnerbait occasionally. You might notice there is tape on the handles of 4 of the rods. I use white tape to indicate medium action, green for medium heavy, and yellow for heavy. The cork handle rods have no tape but they are the only cork handled rods I have and they are for jigs only. It makes it much simpler when looking at 25 rods with most being identical to locate the action you are looking for for a particular purpose. The rods with tape are all Daiwa, the jig rods are Loomis rods.

Discount for Ranger Boat Owners

Ran across this on the Ranger Owners Group Forum. This link will allow new Ranger owners to sign up for a discount on all purchases from Bass Pro and Cabelas. https://boat.basspro.com/VIP

 

Tournament Practice at Hartwell

Spent the day at Hartwell today. I spent the first 3 hours fishing deep rock and cranking a square bill on rocky points. I caught a limit on the square bill with the biggest about 3 pounds. I think we can catch quite a few on a crank bait Saturday but I don't know if we would have the quality we would need. I did get two jig bites (bent hook so not sure of size) on deeper rock and my gut tells me that is the way to get the bigger bites.

After 3 hours I spent the rest of the day in the backs of creeks flipping a jig and throwing a spinnerbait. Water temp. was 56 (amazing for January!) but I never got a bite. I never saw any bait or any fish moving. There is a one mile stretch of our best water that I never touched. Hopefully we will do well there and have the things I found today to fall back on if we need a fish.

I could not be happier with how my boat did in the shallower water. I say shallower because the flats I fished were deeper than I have seen them in some time. However, I was very happy with how the boat performed and I never had any issues with access. This is a topic I will revisit several times as we get into spring and summer.

Spending tomorrow getting things ready and I will report on our tournament this weekend. I will post a pic tomorrow of what I am taking - I plan to travel light.

Hartwell Tournament Practice

Well I finally have a plan for where I am going tomorrow. I have decided to go to Hartwell and see if I can find any fish shallow in the backs of creeks. The lake has been up all year with all the rain and with the warmer temps of late there is chance there will be some shallow fish in the backs in dingy water on wood or rock. Andy Greene of Anglers Choice has a CATT tournament there Saturday and needs a fill-in partner. If he is able to work things out to go, I plan to fish with him so tomorrow will be a practice day. Going to concentrate almost totally on flipping a jig (with a bent hook so I don't catch one we might need Saturday) in shallow cover. I will be using the jig I started making in the late 80s and have had so much success with over the years. I believe the bulky profile of the square rubber makes a big difference in colder water. A big meal moved slowly should appeal to a lethargic bass in colder water. I will report back tomorrow night on how the day went.

I am also looking forward to seeing how my boat does in skinny water. I have fished these backs for years and know where my 461 would go based on water level. Tomorrow is a big test for my boat from my perspective. It is really important for my style of fishing that I am able to get the boat into  the areas I plan to fish tomorrow. I am also very curious to see how the Ultrex does in the shallow water. One trick I have used for years with a Motorguide was to pull up the motor about half way and  place a small piece of wood on the bracket and then let the motor back down on top of the wood. This keeps me from going too fast (and making too much noise) because the motor will come up off the wood. I am looking forward to seeing how the Ultrex works with this trick.

Water Levels at Mountain Island

I went to Mountain Island today for a few hours. The lake is extremely high and the current is unreal. Below are a couple of pics of one dock that shows how high the lake is.

Heading back out tomorrow...not sure where yet but going somewhere!

Striper Fishing and Observations

I have been striper fishing the past week at Lake Murray. I have spent a lot of time both fishing and learning my Lowrance electronics. The side scan and down scan continues to amaze me as I see exactly what I have been fishing deep over the years. I am also spending a lot of time looking for rock and brush off the bank for the future. I have a video made but it is too large to upload so I am learning how to upload it to YouTube and will link it at that time.

Striper fishing has been hit or miss for me. The sunny days when I normally would not catch them I have done well and the cloudy days have been a struggle. I have not caught any big ones but have had  a blast catching the non keepers. One thing about the Mercury 4 Stroke. I have been amazed at how little fuel this engine uses. If you ever go chase the birds when striper fishing then you know how much gas you can run out in a day. 18 gallons has been tops so far, usually 12-14 gallons. Just another reason to select a new Mercury!