2011 is going to be a great year for me in fishing (and in life.. I'm getting married in July!!) So what better than to organize my gear while the ice is still thick on the lakes. I also found some great deals in the offseason that benefited me as well.
Here is some of the new things that I bought:
-Okuma Trio High Speed Spinning Reel
-Abu Garcia Vengeance 7'0 ML Spinning Rod
-Abu Garcia REVO 7.0:1 LH
-St. Croix Premier 6'6MH Casting rod
-NOCS (Solarbat) 1001 Sunglasses
-Berkely HAVOC baits
I bought the Okuma reel and Vengeance rod to use for dropshotting this year. I haven't thrown a drop shot this year so it is going to be a learning experience for me. I figure if i want to do well on Lake Erie then I better get used to fishing it!
*** I will post reviews on these equipment whenever I get out on the boat and use them!***
Now, the past couple years, I have had problems on my small bassboat on storage and organization. I used to keep 2 huge tackleboxes in the middle of my boat. One had all of my hard baits and the other tackle was packed full with soft plastics. This winter I was reading on some forums and I think I found some tricks that will maximize my organization. Here are some things that I have done:
- Buying Sterilite plastic shoe box containers and seperating my soft plastics that way. (I will post pics when I get home.)
- Keeping all of my hooks and sinkers in their original packaging (At the end of the year, my plano box was a rusty mess from all of the corrosion on the hooks and sinkers.
- Cleaning out my storage compartments in my boat and keeping only neccesary equipment in there.
- Creating a storage space underneath of my drivers consol to store my life vests.
- Rigging up a Golden Rule holder and front light holder on the lid of one of my storage compartments.
So I have been busy this offseason. I will post some pictures whenever I get a chance.
Hope for the thaw!!
Peace out
Jimmy
Showing posts with label bass fishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bass fishing. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Foster J. Sayers Dam- Howard, PA May 5, 2009
So I took the boat out yesterday. Todd and I got up early and headed out to Howard around 6am. We stopped at Rich's Bait Shop and got some ice and a couple packs of rubber lizards.. We were finally able to launch at the Howard Launch instead of the winter launch which was good because the winter launch sucks. The lake was still a little low but it only needs to rise about 4 or 5 feet more.
After firing up the 40hp Merc we drove over to the right side of the lake and fished the bank directly across from the winter launch around the railroad tracks. I had a few bites there and ended up landing a 13 inch small mouth. After a little while we drove over to the other side of the lake and fished the artificial structure. I had another few small bites but couldn't set the hook on anything.
We then drove up to the old road bed where old route 220 runs into the lake. On his first cast with his perch imitation jerk bait, Todd pulled out a 14.5 inch largemouth that was really pigged up.
On his next cast he caught a nice crappie on the same jerkbait. We trolled over and fished the brush right next to the road bed and I ended up hooking up with 4 more largemouths with this being my biggest one... 16.5 inches.
We then drove upstream to the area by upper greens run and had a couple bites but nothing landed. In all it was a decent day.
Date fished: Cinco de Mayo, 2009
Time fished: 7:15am-1pm
Successful Bait used: Kinami Flash and Jerkbait
Water Temp: 57-59 degrees.
Air Temp: 56 degrees
Weather conditions: overcast and fairly calm. maybe a 5mph wind at times.
Fish caught were between 830 and 11am
Catch ya later!
After firing up the 40hp Merc we drove over to the right side of the lake and fished the bank directly across from the winter launch around the railroad tracks. I had a few bites there and ended up landing a 13 inch small mouth. After a little while we drove over to the other side of the lake and fished the artificial structure. I had another few small bites but couldn't set the hook on anything.
We then drove up to the old road bed where old route 220 runs into the lake. On his first cast with his perch imitation jerk bait, Todd pulled out a 14.5 inch largemouth that was really pigged up.
On his next cast he caught a nice crappie on the same jerkbait. We trolled over and fished the brush right next to the road bed and I ended up hooking up with 4 more largemouths with this being my biggest one... 16.5 inches.We then drove upstream to the area by upper greens run and had a couple bites but nothing landed. In all it was a decent day.
Date fished: Cinco de Mayo, 2009
Time fished: 7:15am-1pm
Successful Bait used: Kinami Flash and Jerkbait
Water Temp: 57-59 degrees.
Air Temp: 56 degrees
Weather conditions: overcast and fairly calm. maybe a 5mph wind at times.
Fish caught were between 830 and 11am
Catch ya later!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Curwensville Lake, May 3rd, 2009
Alright so after a long morning of trout fishing, Jeremy and I decided to take his boat out to Curwensville Lake for a spin to get the cobwebs out and to catch some pre spawning bass!
We arrived at the lake around 3pm or so. First thing we did was go directly across to the breast of the dam and fished some of the riprap. I was throwin a jerk bait while Jeremy was throwin a crank bait. He ended up hookin a 14inch Largemouth after only a couple casts. We then trolled the whole way around the right side of the lake and back to the docking area.
In the meantime though, we did some serious lip ripping! We found the bite like we usually do at Curwensville Lake and we stuck to it the whole time. We were throwin 4in Flashes and boy were we catching them. I was fishing from the back of his boat and I hooked up with 3 nice largemouth. The biggest catch of the day was this beast. ~18in and ~2.5-3lbs.
We hit all of the structure and steep dropoffs that we could. Jeremy ended up catching 7 or 8 nice ones from the front of the boat with this being his biggest one. (15 inch, 2lb largemouth.)
In all we had a pretty productive day on the lake.. We caught roughly a dozen fish in about 5 hours. the bite was good from abour 4 until 630 then it really slowed down. The fish weren't hitting topwaters yet, but they couldnt resist the purple flash! It was windy at times but for the most part all of the fish we caught were when it was fairly calm. There weren't many boats on the lake either.... The girl at PJ Bresslers Bait Shop said that the bite was pretty good for perch and panfish... we asked her about the bass bite and she said that she hasn't heard of many people bass fishing there yet this year....
Hope that report helps.. If anyone has any questions after reading this email me at jtm5058@psu.edu
Catch ya later!
We arrived at the lake around 3pm or so. First thing we did was go directly across to the breast of the dam and fished some of the riprap. I was throwin a jerk bait while Jeremy was throwin a crank bait. He ended up hookin a 14inch Largemouth after only a couple casts. We then trolled the whole way around the right side of the lake and back to the docking area.
In the meantime though, we did some serious lip ripping! We found the bite like we usually do at Curwensville Lake and we stuck to it the whole time. We were throwin 4in Flashes and boy were we catching them. I was fishing from the back of his boat and I hooked up with 3 nice largemouth. The biggest catch of the day was this beast. ~18in and ~2.5-3lbs.
We hit all of the structure and steep dropoffs that we could. Jeremy ended up catching 7 or 8 nice ones from the front of the boat with this being his biggest one. (15 inch, 2lb largemouth.)
In all we had a pretty productive day on the lake.. We caught roughly a dozen fish in about 5 hours. the bite was good from abour 4 until 630 then it really slowed down. The fish weren't hitting topwaters yet, but they couldnt resist the purple flash! It was windy at times but for the most part all of the fish we caught were when it was fairly calm. There weren't many boats on the lake either.... The girl at PJ Bresslers Bait Shop said that the bite was pretty good for perch and panfish... we asked her about the bass bite and she said that she hasn't heard of many people bass fishing there yet this year....
Hope that report helps.. If anyone has any questions after reading this email me at jtm5058@psu.edu
Catch ya later!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
FLW College Fishing update 3/29/2008
Hey all!
We just had a Penn State Bass Fishing meeting on March 26th and talked about the upcoming tournaments. Our club will be fishing in the FLW college bass series starting this summer. Only 1 team per school can fish if 40 different schools sign up but the odds of that happening in the Northern Division arent very good. The first tourney in scheduled for June in the Potomac River. My partner Jeremy Lake and I are on the waiting list to get into that tournament. However, we are the number 1 team going to fish at 1000 Islands in New York. That tournament is scheduled for Sunday July 18th!
What is cool about these tourneys is that we get to fish with a pro who didnt make the final cut in the FLW Stren Series Tournament being held the day prior to our sunday tourney. We get to ride in their boat and they drive us around. We control the trolling motor and pick where we want to fish.
I am really looking forward to this because it gives Jeremy and I some big time exposure and with a win or even a top 5 finish in these tournaments we win money for our club and our school! Hopefully these tourneys could help me find a sponsorship as well!
Well I just figured I would fill everyone in about one of the many tourneys i will be fishing this summer
Tight Lines!
We just had a Penn State Bass Fishing meeting on March 26th and talked about the upcoming tournaments. Our club will be fishing in the FLW college bass series starting this summer. Only 1 team per school can fish if 40 different schools sign up but the odds of that happening in the Northern Division arent very good. The first tourney in scheduled for June in the Potomac River. My partner Jeremy Lake and I are on the waiting list to get into that tournament. However, we are the number 1 team going to fish at 1000 Islands in New York. That tournament is scheduled for Sunday July 18th!
What is cool about these tourneys is that we get to fish with a pro who didnt make the final cut in the FLW Stren Series Tournament being held the day prior to our sunday tourney. We get to ride in their boat and they drive us around. We control the trolling motor and pick where we want to fish.
I am really looking forward to this because it gives Jeremy and I some big time exposure and with a win or even a top 5 finish in these tournaments we win money for our club and our school! Hopefully these tourneys could help me find a sponsorship as well!
Well I just figured I would fill everyone in about one of the many tourneys i will be fishing this summer
Tight Lines!
Foster J. Sayers Dam- Howard, PA March 28, 2009
Woo! Today was the first day in 2009 that I was able to finally take my Procraft out on the lake! I woke up at 6am and got the boat ready and hooked up to the GMC Sierra. My buddy, Todd Dobo, arrived at my house and we were on our way.
We got to the lake, Foster J. Sayers Dam in Howard, PA, and quickly unloaded my boat into the water. I must say that both Todd and I did some serious tackle upgrading over the winter season while ice occupied most of the lakes in the area. I was pumped to use my new Abu Garcia Revo STX on my Berkley pro series rod.
After talking to the lady at Jim's Bait Shop and getting the scoop on how the fish were biting, we were suprised that not many people have been bass fishing on Sayers yet this year... Her fish report was that the perch and crappies were biting pretty good. We laughed and joked that it was a good thing we brought our crappie rigs just in case.
It turned out that we wouldn't need them as the bass were hiting just fine. After motoring across the lake we set up on a rocky point where we figured the fish would be pretty shallow this time of year and the big females would be pretty agressive.
NOTE: Earlier in the week I consulted Scott Laukhuff, if you don't know him, you should! He is a Berkley Pro Staffer and is an advisor for us on the Penn State Bass FIshing team. Did I mention he has his own television show? Check him out at centresportsman.com ! Scott gave me some useful information as he is a resident of Howard and does some frequent fishing on the lake. He told me that he has been out on the lake a few times this year and has had some luck. He recommended using a wiggle wart crank bait in the shallow stuff while cranking as slow as possible.
After only about 10 casts I hooked into my first fish of the day. I was using a bright colored crank bait that dives to a maximum depth of about 1 foot. It was a decent first largemouth bass of the year at about 14 inches long. It was my first catch on my new REVO STX and surely not the last! about ten minutes later I hooked into my second bass of the day. It was a 13 inch largemouth and the second bass a pulled off of that point.
After fishing the heck out of that point we trolled up the the lake throwin our crank baits. Todd ended up switching his color as he was throwing a brown colored crayfish crank. He ended up switching to a bright green rebel crankbait. Boy was that a good decision because after a few casts he hooked into freakin toad! after fighting the fish for a little bit he finally landed his personal best fish, a 18 inch 3.5lb smallie. After pumpin some water into the live well and stickin that big ol pig in there he hooked another big bass on his next cast! It ended up being about a 15 inch largemouth. Pretty nice for the first coupe fish of the year Todd!
We trolled up a little bit further and i ended up hooking a pig. It was a big female smallmouth that was 18 inches and 3lbs. By now it was around 9 oclock and it started getting really windy and overcast. we didnt catch another fish the rest of the time and by noon we were off the water.
In all it was a really good first day of the year. I got to use my new REVO STX and got to blow some dust off of the Procraft. Dobo is definatly hooked too and im sure we will be spending alot time this summer out on the lake.
TIGHT LINES!
Useful Information
Location: Foster J. Sayers Dam Howard, PA
Date: March 28th 2009
Air/ Water Temp: 51`air/49` water
Weather: early morning was calm and partly sunny, 9:30 am-noon was windy and overcast. Fish were hooked between 8 and 9:15am.
Total number of Bass caught: 5 ( 3 Largemouth, 2 big Smallies)
Successful arsenal used: Storm Wiggle Wart and Rebel cranks. Both cranks were predominantly chartuese and dive from 0-2ft.
Weapons Used: I used a REVO STX on a Berkley Pro Series rod and a Abu Garcia Cardinal on an Ugly Stick. Todd used a Stratus reel on a Shakespeare spinning rod
all rods and reels were equipped with Suffix monofilament.
Depth of water fished: anywere between 1 and 4 feet of water. Most bass were caught along the banks, 2 of mine were caught halfway to the boat.
First Post
Hey I'm a little new to this blogging thing.. I am going to try and keep this as updated as possible to help me out and to help others out as well.. I am an avid hunter and fisherman and i try to spend all of my free time in the woods or out on my boat.
I guess i can start with a little bit about myself.... I am 21 years old and a senior at Penn State. I am finishing up in my degree in Kinesiology- Movement Science. Upon graduation (May 16, 2009. I will be attending Slippery Rock University to get my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. I start in Fall 2009 and will be a DPT by summer 2012.
I have been fishing since I could walk and have been hunting with my Dad, Jim, Since I was 10 years old. I have killed my share of Buck and Doe in my hunting career. I have been lucky enough to get at least 1 deer every year that I have hunted, and i believe this is a great accomplishment for hunting in Central Pennsylvania (WMU's 2E and 4D.) I have shot 2 wallhangers in my life and my dad has shot 4 (i will post pictures of these soon.)
I love to BASS fish, but i have trout fished for much much longer. I am a member of the Penn State Bass Fishing Team and am going to compete in multiple tournaments this summer.
I guess i can start with a little bit about myself.... I am 21 years old and a senior at Penn State. I am finishing up in my degree in Kinesiology- Movement Science. Upon graduation (May 16, 2009. I will be attending Slippery Rock University to get my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. I start in Fall 2009 and will be a DPT by summer 2012.
I have been fishing since I could walk and have been hunting with my Dad, Jim, Since I was 10 years old. I have killed my share of Buck and Doe in my hunting career. I have been lucky enough to get at least 1 deer every year that I have hunted, and i believe this is a great accomplishment for hunting in Central Pennsylvania (WMU's 2E and 4D.) I have shot 2 wallhangers in my life and my dad has shot 4 (i will post pictures of these soon.)
I love to BASS fish, but i have trout fished for much much longer. I am a member of the Penn State Bass Fishing Team and am going to compete in multiple tournaments this summer.
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