Fisheries Management on a small scale August 16, 2007
Not only do I give people tips and tactics on fishing, but I also help pond owners in managing the fisheries of their impoundments. I always enjoy helping my friend Trey out, he has a pond that has grown since the first time I visited it.
Trey’s pond had a typical problem that older ponds with earthen dams face, seeps. Seeps form when sand lens allow water to pass through what was once a sound clay core, but years of roots, crawfish, beavers all take their tolls.
 When he first got the property that had the pond, he asked me to assess the fisheries. The pond was typical of most in the area, too many bass, not enough bait fish. We tried to correct this by adding bream fry, and that did show some promise, but when I assessed the stability of the dam, a plan arose to make the fisheries even better. Trey clear cut all of the trees behind the toe of the old dam and had a new dam placed about 300 feet downstream, then cut the old dam making a 10 acre pond out of what was a 4 acre pond. After adding more bream and channel catfish to the ecosystem, Trey had given his primary predator fish room to grow.
You can see by the picture, I rarely go up to look at the pond without throwing a rod and reel in the truck, and this 2 lb. fish was taken from the bank with Sébile’s new sized 72 millimeter Splasher ®. This bait was thrown 3 times before this fish was caught. Another was lost when I made the boneheaded mistake of quickly reeling with my new Shimano Curado at 7.0:1 ratio.
Our assessment today was to identify some trees that needed to be removed near the toe of the new dam, take some grass samples for analysis and of course, catch the fish you see on this story <grinz>.
If you are lucky enough to have the land to place an impoundment on your property or an existing pond, do make sure to check with your local State Biologist and Natural Resources agents to ensure permits required are prepared, and stocking rates are correct.
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Summertime Topwater Bites July 25, 2007
As stated in a previous article, it’s hot out there, so the topwater bite that I crave is gone by 8:00 in the morning when the fish start trying to find their shade. I’ve taken to short morning trips from 5:30 to 8:00. Now if I have overcast to help me out, my bite may be there ‘til upwards of 10:00 so I take advantage of that as weather allows.
I like this kind of fishing, the other morning before the radio show I was able to squeeze in an hour of fishing. The drawbacks……humidity. I was sweating at 5:30 in the morning and it wasn’t but 74 degrees out, but my activity made me sweat, and the humidity wouldn’t let it evaporate.
This time of the year, I’m finding that the fish are not responding as well to the dog-walking Ghost Walker I was using earlier in the summer to slay them. I’ve moved over to a popping style topwater, also made by Sébile called the Splasher. Now this thing gives me that slower presentation that the fish are looking for, with the benefit of a large torpedo looking profile that big bass like. When I get bit with this bait it’s gonna be a fish I could bring to any tournament scale without embarrassment.
The Splasher throws water up to 5 feet in front of the bait when you pop it and makes enough commotion to really bring in those early morning opportunistic feeders. I’ve been throwing it for the last week and a half and it hasn’t let me down yet. This bad boy casts a mile too, which is best for the large stump laden flat I’m fishing. It never fails, pull this bait over a large stump, reel fish to boat, cast again, repeat steps 1 through 3.
Take the time to try out the slow popping style of late summer topwater bites in your area, I’m sure you’ll have a blast.
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Mr. Jeffery Seymour June 22, 2007
 This is Mr. Jeffery Seymour, a gentleman new to tournament angling, but after this night's result I imagine Jeffery will be fishing many more. Jeffery caught this 6 lb. 6 oz. bass at Paul B. Johnson State water park. Great Catch!!!!
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Dog Days June 18, 2007
Hot….So hot and humid that it burns when you breath. This is June. We aren’t supposed to be 105 in the shade until late July. On days like these, it’s hard to motivate one’s self to get out on a lake with the sun beating down. That leads to a summer pattern all it’s own……..Night fishing.
 I’ve night fished most of my angling career. However, every year I go out, it is harder for me to adjust my night vision. I have a friend, Jackie, that I swear is 38% bat or something. He can see on a New Moon night like it’s lunch time. Jackie, hands down kills me at night fishing, but I still enjoy going. No jet skis, no ski boats, the lakes talk to you at night. Hearing that splash in shallow water that you know is the tattle tell sign of a largemouth ripping through baitfish.
This time of year, even tournament directors figure this out and start holding night tournaments on Paul B. Johnson State Park and Flint Creek Reservoir. Yes night fishing sure beats baking out in the heat of the day.
Now, keep in mind, Jackie’s the pro at this stuff, but here’s my list of things to make sure of for a fun trip:
1. Amber Romance Skin Lotion from Victoria’s Secret…….Now I know what your thinking, and no, it’s not a secret fish attractant, it’s a Mosquito Repellant. It doesn’t smell like Deet but it really keeps em off of ya. Yes, it has it’s drawbacks, like your fishing partner may call you Alice all night, but you won’t be scratching skeeter bites while your trying to sleep the next morning and that’s what counts for me!
2. A hands free flash light. I have a head set, but these days you can get a LED clip on light for your ball cap that really makes line tying and fish releasing easier than the pitch black night.
3. Buzzer baits, Jitterbugs, and Ghost Walkers – these are my topwater baits of choice at night. Buzzer Baits irritated the bass into biting, Jitterbugs draw the fish to them and the Ghost Walker hypnotizes the fish into biting. Subsurface baits include a Gambler Ace for dead sticking around piers and Gambler Sweebo worms Texas Rigged Worms.
I find starting at about 10 and fishing until 2 works great for a full moon pattern. It’s cooler quieter and I generally own the water I’m on at that time of night. Just remember your boating safety, and don’t try to run on plane in those lighting conditions. Nothing is that big of a hurry when night fishing, relax and enjoy a safe trip to and from the lake.
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Family Fun May 27, 2007
Whenever my wife says I don’t take her to exotic places, I ask her, how many other husbands will take their brides at 60 plus miles an hour across the Gulf of Mexico’s Mississippi Sound in a bass boat? She gives me the standard pfft and goes on about her business. Always wanting my lovely bride to experience something new and adventurous, Memorial Day Weekend was going to be something. We had planned to again go to the islands to camp out, but 3 – 5 foot seas didn’t look safe in the bass boat so I suggested we canoe down Black Creek and camp on a sand bar. Little did I know, what lay ahead.
Now I have taken this trip numerous times as a younger man……a younger man, with my man friends, all we needed was some beer and a sleeping bag. The load an older man has to pack in a canoe to handle a family is somewhat more expansive, and doesn’t include the beer. Tents, were considered a luxury when I was younger, we would take it if we had one around, but ceiling fans for the tent, air mattresses, and pillows? Did you know that pillows are needed on a family camping trip? Silly me, when I was younger all, I needed was a rolled up a towel to put my head on.
 Did I mention that this trip, had myself, my wife, my youngest daughter Rebecca, and my son Ryan, as well as our great friend Kristy, her daughter Taylor, and her mother Becky along for the trip……..Do the deductive logic thing……..I’ll wait. Yes, I was the only man on this trip, and an older man, than back in the day. Truth be told I just brought the women because I couldn’t figure out how to pitch the tent, and I refuse to read directions.
 The way the canoeing went, was I lead, so all could see where to maneuver their canoes. And I waited, which I didn’t mind because it gave me a chance to throw a Secret Weapon at the spotted bass……I waited a lot and my big butt had me pulling over more than the other canoes had to, I guess I was just more efficient at it. As the day started turning to afternoon, the search for a “good” sand bar came to be paramount to set up camp. Of course any sand bar would do for me, a soap stone bank would be fine for me, but the women looked like they were considering purchase of real estate when it came to picking out a camping location. Once finally settled, god bless their hearts, my bride and Kristy had us set up for camp while I gathered wood for a camp fire.
Having scoured the sandbar and impending woods for firewood I determined we had enough for perhaps 2 hours worth of camp fire when my lovely bride (and I still love ya honey) suggested I get some dried wood off a drift pile across the creek. Well, this idea had merit, but I knew it would be risky. That was confirmed when I had a load of wood in the canoe, but fell out when pulling on another stuck piece of prime fire wood. Probably the most humorous part of the trip and my wife didn’t dare snap a picture of me in the river, for fear of making me madder. I managed to get back across to the sand bar with dry firewood but an extremely wet cell phone. Did you know that unlike a Key FOB for your vehicle, a cell phone will not work when it’s been submerged in a creek?????
 Let the campfire begin, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows then listening to the kiddos arguing over which marshmallow is theirs is a dream for all fathers. Now my lovely bride had set up our tent with a great queen sized air mattress and one slightly wet sleeping bag. The problem with camping on a sand bar is sand, a 5 year old boy can track roughly a 30 gallon drum of sand into a tent with him as he goes in and out. This makes the sleeping experience kind of like sleeping on coarse sand paper. The next morning had me scrounging for a Diet Dew to get going then pushing to break camp, repack and make the rest of the float to the landing.
We floated for another 3 hours with the break we took for lunch pulled up to our landing and waited on Black Creek Canoe Rental to pick us up. Laughing about the gaffs and smiling about the good times, it’s a trip I highly suggest to get you closer to those that share the house with you.
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Schoolies May 22, 2007
Man for fish to swim in a school they sure get dumb. Steve and I went to the lake yesterday morning, and were on the points and drop off patterns that normally pay off post spawn here in South Mississippi. We had 3 fish in the boat when Steve first noticed fish breaking water in the center of a cove.
We had stumbled onto a large ball of shad that were being ripped by some schooling fish. The Carolina Rigs went back into the rod box and the top water rods came out. Armed with Sebile Ghost Walkers we proceeded working the baits just in front of the active feeders we were seeing. Now I know most bass fishermen would be more likely to wear a tutu rather than throwing a top water bait in 18 feet of water on a bluebird sky day, but if that’s what the fish are telling ya, you gotta listen.
The lake we were fishing in has threadfin shad and threadfins tend to school or ball up together. Hungry post spawn fish know it’s an easy slow movable feast and typically band up from 4 to 20 fish and work over these Great Balls of Shad. Did I mention I sing when I fish, and Great Balls of Shad is my parody of Jerry Lee Lewis’ classic? I digress. Anyway, it seems that some years are better than others for the shad population and this year was a stellar spawn for them I guess. There were many different balls and the trick is not to try to chase the action. I like to see where two balls are fairly close together, troll the boat between them and throw from either side of the boat at the most active water.
Most schoolies tend to be about the same year class, so sizes are roughly the same. This technique has helped me in numerous tournaments. Go grab you five measurable schoolies, then break off to find culling fish.
Oh, the final count at the end of our two and a half hour trip was 14 bass that were selectively harvested, lightly battered and fried last night with onions, hush puppies and fries!
You shake my rod and you stretch my line.
Too many schoolies sure are fine.
You call the fish up like you’re holding a sign
Goodness Gracious Great Balls O Shad!
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Planning and Scheming May 17, 2007
I was told, by a friend, that I needed to put a new article on the website at least once a week, so here we go. Not much to talk about when I’m at work, but I have been planning the Summer Miami trip so I thought I might fill you in on an affordable way to find yourself in an exotic fishing trip.
The butterfly peacock bass is the species that will make me hook up my bass boat and pull it some 950 miles to fish for three days. Most people don’t have the addiction to these fish like I though, so the affordable route is to fly in and call Capt. Frank Carbone at Hawghunter Guide Service. Frank has been guiding in urban Miami area for Peacocks for 13 years, and he’s the man most responsible for my addiction to these awesome looking and fighting fish.
Basically you have two options here:
1. Hook up the boat and haul it to Miami, find a lodge that can accommodate you and your boat, then battle traffic to find a boat ramp in a Major urban area.
2. Contact Capt. Frank Carbone through http://www.hawghunterguideservice.com and let him make arrangements for you at a hotel, pick you up, take you fishing to where he knows the fish are.
I am taking the first option and figuring the trip is going to cost me $2000, so I have two friends going with me to share expenses. Now you need to keep in mind, that I’ve fished these canals with Capt. Frank several times, and I feel I will be able to get on fish alone, but for most, the guide is the way to go.
Captain Frank offers affordable packages with a few choices in accommodations. Theses packages start a $595 per person, and include 3 nights at a hotel and 3 days of fishing. If you mention to Frank that you heard about him on this website, or from the Radio show, he gives you a magic 10% discount. This is a much more affordable route than going to Brazil, but if you’re into that Frank guides two trips a year down there, as well.
In any event, you can be sure that I will post results of the trip here. Now, I’m off to go get some Largemouth!
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For fun and food, chase Flat Fish! April 30, 2007
“Well,” I said to Warren as we were making the end of our first milk run on the Stumpy Lake, “I don’t think the Bass are tearing it up this morning, but man do you smell those bream beds?” He suggested that we go get some crickets as both of our freezers were low on fish. We loaded up the Bass Cat and off to Lake Serene Grocery we went.
Nowhere but South Mississippi could they get it right……Lake Serene Grocery is where you can get Groceries, Breakfast or Lunch, Gas, Butane, and Live Bait. We picked up some hooks, and 100 crickets split between two cricket cages, ran by the house and picked up the ultra lights.
 We launched in another of the chain of lakes called Lake Serene and went to an area we thought would produce bream and man, were we right! My Fishgillz glasses promptly showed me why too. It was that familiar honeycomb pattern in a sandy/gravel bottom. We were on the beds. Warren landed the first fish, and it was a beautiful bluegill. Warren opted to tight line for bream with his cricket, rigging a spit shot weight approximately 8 inches above his hook, then working it slowly with his reel handle until he felt the fish. He finally asked me for a set of the Fishgillz that were letting me see every potholed bed in the cluster that we were fishing. He was seeing the ones by the boat, but not the deeper beds. When he put on the glasses he started really hauling them in!
 It wasn’t long before I was setting the hook with my Challenger Ultra Light and landing a beauty myself. The Challenger rod was 4’10” long and the 4lb test reel I was using complemented it’s action. I believe if they made a 10 lb. bream, nobody would bass fish. These little flat fish fight like mad, and when you couple that with the action of ultra light gear it really is a rush. The way the bream flash and turn from side to side, try to out manuever the angler is something to behold. Warren managed to snap this shot of me when I was sticking it to a nice Bluegill. Man you gotta love those ultra light rods for the fight you get when that nice bluegill strikes.
 We sat on the beds for about an hour and a half laughing, drinking diet cokes and eating deer jerky made by a buddy of Warren's and catching fish after fish that all looked like hands. Deciding to leave some for seed, we left the honey hole for another day, but at the end of this one, we had 63 nice bream to restock our freezers! The only way I could top that off was to take Dad the next day, and that was exactly what I did. Dad and I followed up with a 62 fish day, and I spent the better part of the afternoon, flushing out the bream smell from the livewell. When you're looking for a great fight, and fish to stock in the freezer, don't ignore the fiesty flat fish of fresh water!
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What a Day April 22, 2007
Well, what a day! I woke up an hour before my alarm was set to go off, which means I got to wait on pins and needles for a partner that I didn't want to wake up with a cell phone call. Nevermind that when he got to the house, he said he woke up at 04:00 too, and was waiting till it was time to come over. The boat was hooked up, we were off to Lake Eddins, a one hour and 15 minute road trip.
When we launched the day was promising other than the bluebird skys and the unusually stained water of a super green tint. Yes, we had a good algae bloom going on the lake, and realized that it had been fertilized about 2 days prior to our trip.
 Determined to salvage the day, we threw everything but the box at the fish to no avail. I told Ray I was going to catch a fish if I had to irritate it into striking and started to throw my Secret Weapon Lures Buzzer Bait, but instead closed the tip of my Challenger TGX Series spinner bait rod in the rod box breaking one of my favorite sticks. I did swap over to a Challenger TGX Cranking Stick to throw the bait and it yielded two of the three fish caught. A typical Lake Eddins fish weighing about 2 and a half to 3 lbs. After fishing for about 5 hours we determined that the day had given up all of the fish we were going to get in the acidic water and our stomaches were letting us know it was time to eat.
We did manage to load without incident. However, we only made it 11 miles down Interstate 59 when I saw the tread coming off my left trailer tire in my side view mirror. This only get's better folks <grinning>........
We jacked up the trailer loosened the lug nuts then realized we didn't have a 3/4" wrench to remove the spare from it's carrier. Walking up and down a rest area, waking several truckers, we finally found one willing to share some tools. Then we noted that not only was the nut and bolt holding the spare tight........it was frozen up! Taking my Lowrance Screen Cleaner rag, I dipped it in the 2 cycle oil reservoir on the boat then ran to the front to coat the exposed threads of the bolt. Eureka!!! We got the spare free, installed, lowered the jack........My spare was LOW!
Typically when you are driving 35 miles per hour with hazards lights flashing on an interstate, you really irritate drivers. Well apparantly it was a typical day! I think I was called something I didn't know could exist, but my sensiblility prevents me from repeating it here.
Yeap, all things said it was a helluva day, but it still beats the best day I have ever had trying to earn a living. Smile when things go wrong, you are blessed to have those things to go wrong!
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What happens to Situational Awareness? April 18, 2007
I fished a tournament one day and was amazed at a total lack of situational awareness. The tournament was held at a lake where most of the angler’s frequented. They knew the area, and have no doubt launched and loaded there without incident for some time, but when it was tournament morning I witnessed a comedy of errors…….
The first mishap I saw took place at registration. The registration was taking place at a community building and the parking lot was somewhat crowded. To alleviate this, there were tournament officials directing us as to where to park and allowing drive through traffic in the lot. Call it tournament excitement or lack of night vision, but an angler drove his truck right through a drainage ditch. The force of the truck hitting the other side of the ditch bent his front bumper and broke off the vanity plate before the driver managed to stop, precariously across the ditch. Surely I thought, this man is going to get out of his vehicle to inspect the situation, but he opted to drive on through……..with boat in tow. After causing significant damage to the transom of his boat and his trailer, I could only think…….what was he thinking?
I watched people at the launch, stopping just at the water’s edge, to prepare for launch, when we had been in line for 20 minutes. I watched one man bail like a madman before realizing, he couldn’t sink any further, he was on bottom after launching without a plug.
The question I pose here is what happens to situational awareness when we are feverishly preparing for a tournament? I know excitement takes it’s toll on us, but a little pre planning goes a long way to keep us on track.
The game plan has to be put together sometimes days before a tournament. Is the boat fueled, have the trailer bearings been lubed, are the lights working, is tire pressure sufficient? All of these are crucial safety issues. The morning of the tournament is not the time to be changing line, tying on, or listening to chatter. All of that should have been done the night before. When launching, the trailer straps should have been removed, the plug installed, and the transom saver removed while waiting in the launch line, not at the water’s edge.
I promise, if you plan ahead it makes the day go so much better, and let’s you focus on what you need to………. “Was that a hit?”
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Secrets Revealed April 15, 2007
It was a simple enough of a question, “What’s new in the fishing world?” The truth is I hear it a lot. People wanting to know where the hot spots are, what lures are enticing the fish, and what products I’ve come across at shows. When my friend Jack asked me, I knew exactly what he was doing though. He was seeing if I had stumbled onto a bait company he wanted to keep all to himself. Unfortunately for Jack, I beat him to this one.
The company is Sebile and what’s new is the most radical design change I’ve seen in a topwater dog walking bait. The Ghost Walker’s sleek wavy design rides it’s head higher out of the water and the walk that the lure creates is more like a speed skater’s cadence when pushing across ice. Another unique characteristic of this bait, is if you get the possessed series the lure is translucent and loaded with mineral oil and glitter. This gives the appearance of scales coming off a shad, but also creates motion during the pause in your working the bait. When the lure sits, the oil, settles out and the glitter is still flashing. The hooks on all Sebile baits are owners, and that saves me from having to change hooks, as I do with all other lures. Patrick Sebile is really onto something with his new designs.
I was at the Bassmaster Classic in Birmingham when I came across this new product line and spent some time at the Sebile booth talking with Dave Maynard of “Fishing Across America”. When I received the lure I went to the pier to field test it and it casts like a rocket because the mineral oil loads up at the bottom of the lure on the cast. Some of that physics stuff I never thought I’d use when I was in High School. I cast the lure five times that morning, missed one fish, through back and caught it, and two others. My fifth cast yielded no fish, but the alarm on my watch went off, I had a meeting to get to. I was hooked more than the three fish that were caught and released.
Dave told me if I liked them in freshwater, I’d love them in saltwater when speckled trout and red fishing, and he was right. The saltwater lures they make come with those same sharp owner hooks and the action of the Koolie Minnow and Flat Shad really put the speckled trout in the boat.
So, I’m sorry Jack. I had to get my hands on what you hoped would be a secret weapon first, and not only that I told all of these readers about it! What I’m really sorry about is the website where you can find these lures is www.sebileUSA.com . Having stirred up that hornets nest I’ll end this article as I giggle all the way to my fishing trip this morning in the Louisiana Marsh.
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The 2007 Bassmaster Classic March 2, 2007
A Classic WeekendThe 2007 Bassmaster Classic was a great weekend. I arrived in Birmingham on Friday, to help Doug Hannon promote his new reel, the WaveCast, and met a bunch of great people. Saturday morning, I co-hosted "Outdoors this Week" with Alex Langer. We had Roland Martin telling us of past classics he fished, and making predictions about this Classic. After the show, Alex and I ate breakfast with a who's who of bass fishing. Then I was off to help Doug again. That morning, Ray, Matt, and his other brother Matt, and Steve all showed up, and I did a little more sight seeing around the expo. We made the weigh in that day, and was not pleased when the G Man was DQed when being waved through by an angler, but the field of spectators called in a complaint. That night I saw Gerald as I was leaving the resteraunt, he was still pretty disappointed, as was I. Sunday came and my legs felt like they had been beat with Ball Bats for 3 days after standing on the concrete floor all day. I had a blast and look forward to next years Classic!
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