Nitro Z-9 Series-Worth a Look
Welcome back-Your continued support is appreciated. Enjoy your fishing day!!
Nitro Z-9 Performance!!
Performance- and feature-packed, the NITRO® Z-9 is a tournament-level bass boat. It’s fast. It delivers quick holeshots, agile cornering, higher top speeds and the driest, most comfortable ride found in any bass boat available today.The Z-9 is equiped with wide decks, leading-edge electronics and a low profile that puts anglers closer to the action. Plus, it’s loaded with tournament-level electronics, rod storage and livewells so you always have everything you need. And it all comes packaged with a Mercury® outboard, MotorGuide® trolling motor and custom-matched trailer with GalvaShield® protection.
How to deal with Fishing Pressure
Many of us live and fish in residential areas and our only time to spend fishing is on the weekends. Unfortunately we are in the same boat as all the other weekend boaters and fishermen as well as wave runners, skiers etc. Fortunately the first couple of hours you only have to deal with other fisherman, then at about 9:00 or 10:00 the pleasure boaters and wave runners get started into full swing.
Nothing is more aggravating than someone on a wave runner not paying any attention to where they are going and the next thing you know they are running straight at you turning away leaving a wall of water in your face, or showing up at your favorite fishing spot only to find another boater landing a fish as you pull up.
A few things that I do to deal with pressures from other fisherman or boaters is pretty simple. Continue Reading >>
How to Fish a Lipless Crankbait-Rattle Trap
My first experience with a lipless crankbait ie. Rattle Trap was fishing one of my fist bass tournaments. It was on lake Okeechobee in South Florida. We were coming off a cold front and the fishing was difficult to say the least. While lake Okeechobee was not known for crankbait fishing, when used properly a lipless crankbait can be deadly.
We were fishing an open field surrounded by exposed grass and cover. On the bottom there was very small grass (shrimp grass) growing about 2-3 inches off of the bottom. I started out fishing a plastic worm and my partner was fishing a rattle trap. It was a slow day. I managed to catch a small limit while my partner continued catching fish consistently throughout the day. Neither one of us caught a large stringer, it was a challenging day. My partner fishing the rattletrap out fished me by about 3 to 1. I managed to borrow the same rattle trap from my partner. I only caught one fish on the bait and went back to fishing my favorite stand by, the plastic worm.
After the tournament I went out and purchased several rattletrap’s and they have become my go to bait over the last several years.
Here are a few benefits of a lipless crankbait: Continue Reading >>
Fishing Knots
How to Tie a Fishing Knot
That is probably the number one question I get asked by kids I take fishing and adults new to the fishing sport. Since I have been fishing for so long it just comes as second nature to me and probably you.
What about different fishing situations, what knot to use then. Do you want more action from a top water bait? Do you want a good knot for big game fishing. How do you tie a loop knot? There are many applications when many different types of knots may be required.
I have researched several sites on the Internet to try to find an easy method for learning different types of knots and found a great site to illustrate and explain most of the common knots which should cover all the bases. This site also provides a Fishing Knot Card which I have found to be invaluable.
The Pro-Knot Fishing Knot Card and the Fisherman’s Ultimate Knot Guide (very reasonably priced). The cards are water proof cards with diagrams of various knots as well as detailed instructions and illustrations, it is a great tool for all kinds of knots, best of all they float. I personally have three cards, 1 in my boat, 1 in my tackel box and 1 in my truck. While I do not use the card on every outing I am surprised how often I actually pull out the card just as a simple reminder of that one knot I just don’t remember exactly how to tie.
Things to remember when tying a fishing knot
- Keep the line moist
- Insure the knot is snug
- Insure there are no abrasions from tying the knot once complete
- Cut the tag end of the knot as close as possible to the knot, not so close it unravels the knot.
- Re-tie after every fish
Check out pro Knot Website and get a few cards. you will be surprised how often you use them.
Click Here
Enjoy your fishing day!!
Hire a Guide-It’s Ok
Maybe it is our ego. Maybe us veteran bass anglers just know more than any other bass angler. Maybe we are embarrassed to admit that there might be someone else that knows more than we do, especially on our own lake that we have been fishing for 20 years. Maybe you are an occasion fisherman that just can’t see paying a guide to go fishing. I’m not sure what the reason is but more often than not we just don’t think about hiring a guide once we become an established bass fisherman. Why not??
Me first experience with a guide was in one of my first draw tournaments. The bass tournament was on lake Okeechobee, in Florida. It was a national tournament, all of the famous tournament pro’s were there along Continue Reading >>
Army Apologizes for “John Doe” Letter
While this site is primarily about fishing, I have to comment on a recent news article I received. The Army actually sent letters to inform survivors about private organizations that offer gifts, programs, and other assistance to families that have lost soldiers in Iraq and other countries where they were deployed for the war on terrorism.
The letter was sent from the U.S. Army Human Resources Commands Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Center, which, by the way apparently issued an apology. The letter was to be a personal letter from Army Chief of Staff General George W Casey, Jr.
Instead of being addressed to the family or survivor the letters were clearly addressed to “John Doe”.
I do realize in this day in age that you can not merely sit down and hand write a letter to each individual after all there were 7,000 letters sent out, but at a minimum you would think these letters could have been inspected more carefully. The Army has inspectors inspecting inspectors inspecting other inspectors. How could this happened?
What a slap in the face for our veterns and protectors of our Country. If these Men and Women are decent enough to protect our rights so we can sit here and play on our computers, the least we could do is show some respect and get their name correct.
I don’t think an apology is enough to the individuals which received these letters.
Find Out More Here.
Take Your Dog Fishing
Yummy!!
Dogs are truly man’s best friend. I have a bulldog which has to go everywhere I go. My boat is parked at a boat dock in my back yard and George (my Bulldog) constantly lays around in the boat while it is parked at the dock. A few months back George was laying in the boat as usual and I decided to go fishing. I had never taken him out before. After loading my gear into the boat it was time to get George out and go fishing. This task was not as simple as it may seem. Regardless of everything I tried including a dozen treats, he was just not getting out of the boat. So as not to waste anymore time I decided to take him with me. Continue Reading >>
Fishing the Spawn-Advanced
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3dIm6lteF8
In Fishing the Spawn series parts 1 thru 3 we discussed the technical aspects of the spawn, where to find bedding bass and how to catch spawning fish. This Article will discuss advanced catching techniques for spawning and bedding bass.
I am assuming by now you have a basic understanding of the process and may have even found and tried to catch some bedding bass. Here are some techniques for catching those finicky bedding fish which just
As I mentioned before it is important to maintain Continue Reading >>
10 Highly Effective Mindsets for Tournament Fishing
1. Stay focused, whether it is watching your line, casting, or landing a fish, keep focused on the task at hand.
2. Keep your eyes and ears open, look for feeding fish, feeding birds, a fish wake, any minor change in condition or water depth.
3. Don’t ever panic, if things are not working out don’t panic, make educated decisions.
4. Always have an alternate plan.
5. Plan your day, be agile enough to make an educated change. Most football teams script their first 10 plays.
6. Have confidence in what you are doing and the area you are fishing.
7. Be able to adapt to your surroundings and changing conditions.
8. Take a break. I know we all like to keep fishing from start to finish. If things are not going well, take a break assess your situation and plan an alternate attack.
9. Don’t waste any time. There is a difference between taking a break to step back and re-assess your situation. and wasting time. Don’t just fish in some area you are not confident in to merely pass the time until the end of the tournament.
10. Try to salvage the day. Do you have spot where you can rely on to catch even just one fish. May be the difference for the end of year point stadings or being in the money.
Tournament Strategies-Preperation the Mike Iaconelli Way
Bass Tournament Preparation
The best way for me to coach myself for an important tournament is to prepare myself for a tournament. Preparation has always been one of my strong points. By using a two-step preparation method I have developed, I enter new bodies of water and tournaments with extreme confidence. My two-step preparation method is as follows:
At Home Research + On The Water Fine Tuning = Sweet Spots
I. The first part to this method is what I call ?at home research.? Continue Reading >>
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