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
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
2010 RECAP
Well.. I kinda missed out on my blog in 2010.. This summer was really busy! Here is just a little recap and some pictures of 2010...Enjoy!
As you can see from my previous post, Sayers was pretty good early on.. A week after my last post, I had a tournament there and only landed one keeper bass. She went 3.76lbs. The next weekend was my first (and only) Fisher's of Men Tournament at Raystown Lake. Dave Kindleberger and I found a spot that I used to fish a lot in the summertime and worked it with a jerkbait. We ended up catching 4 quality keepers and tried hard to get that last keeper in the boat. We caught tons of small bass (and lake trout) but we just could not get that last keeper in the boat. I ended up with 2 nice smallmouth and Dave landed 2 nice Largemouth to give us a 6th place finish.
After that, I didnt fish any other tournaments except for a tough one at East Brady.. I caught 2 fish all day and none of them were keepers. I got to experience a new section of the Allegeny River so that was pretty cool but it was just a tough tournament.
So let me talk a little bit about my summer. Mary Beth and I went on many fishing trips. Before this year, she had only caught a couple fish and none of those were very substantial.. So I introduced her and showed her some new techniques and she is really getting good! I think i found a new buddy for all of the buddy tournaments. She landed her first White Crappie, Blue Gill, Perch, Carp, Bullhead Catfish, and Largemouth Bass this summer. With each fish caught, I became more and more proud of her!
She and I share the love of the outdoors together as we went on my hiking, biking, and fishing trips this summer... oh. and BASEBALL.. We went to a total of 8 different major and minor league stadiums to see some quality baseball this year. Hopefully this year will bring the same fun and excitement.
SO.. when it became time for me to propose. I figured there would be no other way than on the boat at Raystown..on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10) the perfect day.. We found a nice cove to get away from the chop of the big lake (she gets seasick sometimes haha) and I got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me..
Needless to say, this last few months have been filled with wedding planning for July 30, 2011. We have a lot to look forward to (especially the wedding and our honeymoon to ALASKA!) She wants to join the bass club so she can fish all of the tournaments with me this summer. So I bought her a new fishing rod (a pflueger lady endevour.) Her first baitcaster.
So needless to say I've been busy. I promise to blog this whole year and fill you guys in on what is working and what isn't.. Catch ya later!!
I'll post a video as soon as I make one.
As you can see from my previous post, Sayers was pretty good early on.. A week after my last post, I had a tournament there and only landed one keeper bass. She went 3.76lbs. The next weekend was my first (and only) Fisher's of Men Tournament at Raystown Lake. Dave Kindleberger and I found a spot that I used to fish a lot in the summertime and worked it with a jerkbait. We ended up catching 4 quality keepers and tried hard to get that last keeper in the boat. We caught tons of small bass (and lake trout) but we just could not get that last keeper in the boat. I ended up with 2 nice smallmouth and Dave landed 2 nice Largemouth to give us a 6th place finish.After that, I didnt fish any other tournaments except for a tough one at East Brady.. I caught 2 fish all day and none of them were keepers. I got to experience a new section of the Allegeny River so that was pretty cool but it was just a tough tournament.
So let me talk a little bit about my summer. Mary Beth and I went on many fishing trips. Before this year, she had only caught a couple fish and none of those were very substantial.. So I introduced her and showed her some new techniques and she is really getting good! I think i found a new buddy for all of the buddy tournaments. She landed her first White Crappie, Blue Gill, Perch, Carp, Bullhead Catfish, and Largemouth Bass this summer. With each fish caught, I became more and more proud of her!
She and I share the love of the outdoors together as we went on my hiking, biking, and fishing trips this summer... oh. and BASEBALL.. We went to a total of 8 different major and minor league stadiums to see some quality baseball this year. Hopefully this year will bring the same fun and excitement.
SO.. when it became time for me to propose. I figured there would be no other way than on the boat at Raystown..on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10) the perfect day.. We found a nice cove to get away from the chop of the big lake (she gets seasick sometimes haha) and I got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me..
Needless to say, this last few months have been filled with wedding planning for July 30, 2011. We have a lot to look forward to (especially the wedding and our honeymoon to ALASKA!) She wants to join the bass club so she can fish all of the tournaments with me this summer. So I bought her a new fishing rod (a pflueger lady endevour.) Her first baitcaster.
So needless to say I've been busy. I promise to blog this whole year and fill you guys in on what is working and what isn't.. Catch ya later!!
I'll post a video as soon as I make one.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
First Fishing Trip of 2010!
I have been waiting for months to post a new blog about fishing... Well here it is!
My girlfriend and I took a trip to Sayers Dam in Howard, PA today (March 19, 2010).. I was itching to get out on the boat and blow some cobwebs out of it from sitting in the garage all winter. I also have a tournament there next weekend so i wanted to try and find a pattern.. if you refer back to an old post i made on here last March you will see that i did the exact same thing and the results today were just as good..
The lake is almost completely full as opposed to last year or even last week when it was almost completely drained.. The fish we caught today were along the banks slow rolling a crank bait... junebug senkos also worked... I got 3 bass today with my largest being a 3.5lb laregmouth... my girlfriend caught her first largemouth bass as well as a bunch of crappies too!
My girlfriend and I took a trip to Sayers Dam in Howard, PA today (March 19, 2010).. I was itching to get out on the boat and blow some cobwebs out of it from sitting in the garage all winter. I also have a tournament there next weekend so i wanted to try and find a pattern.. if you refer back to an old post i made on here last March you will see that i did the exact same thing and the results today were just as good..
The lake is almost completely full as opposed to last year or even last week when it was almost completely drained.. The fish we caught today were along the banks slow rolling a crank bait... junebug senkos also worked... I got 3 bass today with my largest being a 3.5lb laregmouth... my girlfriend caught her first largemouth bass as well as a bunch of crappies too!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail
I have been hoping to find a partner for the 2010 Fishers of Men season and finally, I did! I will be fishing with Dave Kindleberger this summer at the 5 Pennsylvania events! The schedule for these are as follows:
Raystown 04-03-2010
Lake Erie 06-19-2010
Shenango 07-10-2010
Kinzua Dam 08-21-2010
Sayers Dam 09-11-2010
I am really looking forward to fishing these tournaments! Erie is going to be awesome... Hopefully we can win some money this summer and qualify to fish at the Regional event this year. Dave has competed in this for a few years now and has done very well! He is a really good shakeyhead and senko fisherman so if the bite is on, him and I should pound them this summer. I will be sure to keep everyone updated on how we do... it sure is gonna be a fun summer!
Raystown 04-03-2010
Lake Erie 06-19-2010
Shenango 07-10-2010
Kinzua Dam 08-21-2010
Sayers Dam 09-11-2010
I am really looking forward to fishing these tournaments! Erie is going to be awesome... Hopefully we can win some money this summer and qualify to fish at the Regional event this year. Dave has competed in this for a few years now and has done very well! He is a really good shakeyhead and senko fisherman so if the bite is on, him and I should pound them this summer. I will be sure to keep everyone updated on how we do... it sure is gonna be a fun summer!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Update 12/20/2009
So I haven't blogged much lately. Getting my doctorate degree in physical therapy has made my life pretty hectic, to say the least. This post is probably going to be decently long, but I plan to update on some end of the year stuff.
SO the tournament season ended at Curwensville Lake where i finished in 5th place again.. Pretty much every tourney i fished in this year i got a top 5 which i was very happy with considering it was my first full year of tournament fishing. I didnt practice for the Cville tourney and I weighed in 2 fish for 3.5lbs. I found them on a green pumkin/purple flake lizard and a sweet beaver on a shakey head jig. Ive never used a beaver on a shakey jig before but i think i may have found one of my favorite baits!
I ended up finishing in 8th place in my club.. If i would've fished in all of the tournaments like most other guys in the club, there is no doubt in my mind i would've been contending for the title. I was the highest finishing rookie this year so that was one of my goals that I accomplished.
Our tournament director for our club is stepping down and asked me if i would take over as our clubs tournament director. I am probably going to take this position because I want to be more involved in the club and will hopefully allow me to move up in the totem pole.
I have big plans for this summer. I am planning on fishing in all of my club's tournaments and my ultimate goal is to fish in the Fishers of Men tournament trail. I am hoping on fishing with someone right now but he usually fishes with his gf who just had a baby so if she cant fish with him, then i'm all set for next year!
This offseason is going to be a time of fighting off the bait monkey! With all of my spare time I am constantly on different forums reading about different rods, reels, baits, and techniques. I would like to have 2 more rigs for the coming year. My first rig is one i know i will have which is a Revo Premier (santa is bringing it) paired with a Powell Max 704c. This will be my new jig rod! I am so pumped because Powell rods are some of the best on the market. I would also like a new spinning outfit.. I am thinking a 6'6 MH spinning rod or shorter that i will use for skipping (docks, trees, etc.)
Since the lakes are now froze over, I have been cleaning up my gear and counting it to see what i need and dont need for next year. I counted all of my bags of soft plastics and i realize that I have way too much (you can never have too much though, right?) 150+ bags of plastics is a lot. haha. Here are some pics of my gear. Just goes to show you i've spent way too much money this year!
Check back later for my blog post about my trip to erie for steelhead!
SO the tournament season ended at Curwensville Lake where i finished in 5th place again.. Pretty much every tourney i fished in this year i got a top 5 which i was very happy with considering it was my first full year of tournament fishing. I didnt practice for the Cville tourney and I weighed in 2 fish for 3.5lbs. I found them on a green pumkin/purple flake lizard and a sweet beaver on a shakey head jig. Ive never used a beaver on a shakey jig before but i think i may have found one of my favorite baits!
I ended up finishing in 8th place in my club.. If i would've fished in all of the tournaments like most other guys in the club, there is no doubt in my mind i would've been contending for the title. I was the highest finishing rookie this year so that was one of my goals that I accomplished.
Our tournament director for our club is stepping down and asked me if i would take over as our clubs tournament director. I am probably going to take this position because I want to be more involved in the club and will hopefully allow me to move up in the totem pole.
I have big plans for this summer. I am planning on fishing in all of my club's tournaments and my ultimate goal is to fish in the Fishers of Men tournament trail. I am hoping on fishing with someone right now but he usually fishes with his gf who just had a baby so if she cant fish with him, then i'm all set for next year!
This offseason is going to be a time of fighting off the bait monkey! With all of my spare time I am constantly on different forums reading about different rods, reels, baits, and techniques. I would like to have 2 more rigs for the coming year. My first rig is one i know i will have which is a Revo Premier (santa is bringing it) paired with a Powell Max 704c. This will be my new jig rod! I am so pumped because Powell rods are some of the best on the market. I would also like a new spinning outfit.. I am thinking a 6'6 MH spinning rod or shorter that i will use for skipping (docks, trees, etc.)
Since the lakes are now froze over, I have been cleaning up my gear and counting it to see what i need and dont need for next year. I counted all of my bags of soft plastics and i realize that I have way too much (you can never have too much though, right?) 150+ bags of plastics is a lot. haha. Here are some pics of my gear. Just goes to show you i've spent way too much money this year!
Check back later for my blog post about my trip to erie for steelhead!
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