A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Inconsistant

Well, I've been out fishing the last 3 weekends and the results have not exactly been stellar.  The spring fever tournament on the Shenandoah was a total bus for me this year.  Rick and I had high hopes that we could better our 2nd place finish from a year ago, but we weren't even in the neighborhood.  We had a small limit the first day, but lost 2 fish due to a discrepancy in measuring boards.  In reality though, when tournament fishing, if you have fish you have to measure, you have missed the bite.  The goal is to catch 5 fish that you don't even have to think about measuring.  Anyway our miscue on day 1 completely shot any chance we had, so we decided to forego the second day.
The next morning, Dodie and I hit the local, mainly so I could lick my wounds from the Shenandoah.  We only had 4 hours to fish, but holy smokes did we wreck 'em.  Our 5 best topped the scales at 19 lbs. 5 oz., 9 oz. better than our tournament record on this lake.  In the mix was a 5lb. 8oz. largemouth that Dodie caught, a 21 inch citation smallmouth that I caught.
Last weekend was the VAO tournament doubled up with the Fish for the Cure series on the Potomac.  Sure did have high hopes for this one, but again, got bit by the small fish bug.  Caught a load of fish, but could only manage 2 keepers.  The lone bright spot of the day was the 10 lb. 3 oz. snakehead I caught (new boat record).    I thought it would be a shoe in for the snakehead side pot, but someone weighed in a 13+ just ahead of us.

Won't be on the water for a few weeks now, due to work and Apple Blossom coming up.  I need the time to regroup and hang with Shannon and Cali.

March 24, Potomac River

It's only April and I'm already getting behind on this page. Dodie and I fished the Sportsman Marine Open on the Potomac on March 24. From all the reports, the river has been on fire this spring, with 20 lb. sacks being the norm. This was our first trip down this year and we had a blast, catching almost 40 bass between us. The tournament was a little different, as it was an 8 fish limit instead of 5. Our best 8 came in at just under 25 lbs. Guess what, a 3 lb average will get you absolutely nothing right now on the Potomac. It took 36+ to win and 31 lbs. to get a check! Still a very fun day, fishing against the best river anglers that VA and MD have to offer. Dodie handled business today, catching our big bass (5.5 lbs) and edging me out on number of bass also. Oh, and he also now has the boat record for biggest catfish, a 30+ lb.

March 19, Smallmouth Citation

Went to Lake Holiday on Monday, 3/19 with the intention of testing out my new Stay N Charge unit and marking stuff on my gps that will be submerged when the water level is returned to normal. Of course, I did manage about 3 hours worth of fishing. The Stay N Charge performed just as it is supposed to, I am very happy with it so far. The big test for the unit will be this weekend on the Potomac in the Sportsman Marine Open Tournament. I marked about 60 waypoints on my gps during a complete lap around the lake. Stumps, rock piles, trees, and roadbeds which will all be underwater when the dam and spillway repairs are complete. The small amount of fishing I got to do was very informative and rewarding. Informative in the fact that the 4 largemouth I caught were all ghostly white, just now starting to move to shallower water. I thought they would have been further along than this with all the warm weather. Now for the rewarding part: All my fishing buddies know that I have never caught a citation smallmouth (over 20 inches or over 5lbs. in VA). I have had 3 close friends land citation smallies from the back of my boat on this lake, but I never have. I have lost count of how many 19-19.75 inchers I have caught, but the 20 inch mark has eluded me.....NOT THIS DAY! This day provided me with a 21 incher, my first citation! The fish wasn't very heavy, only 4 lbs. 1 oz., but very long and healthy looking. After a couple quick pics, I released the fish back to the lake.

Mad Bass Custom Baits

I would like to thank Mad Bass Custom Baits owner Bob Akers and good friend Corey Carter for inviting me to join the Pro Staff for 2012. I am looking forward to a great season with a new bait company to go along with Dobyns Rods. Mad Bass offers finesse specific hand poured plastics as well as the "Shakin' Mad Jig", a bladed swim jig. Please check them out at www.madbassbaits.com or simply click the link on the logo at the bottom of the page.

I'll be on the good ole Shenandoah this weekend, fishing an open tournament with friend Rick Brannon. It's been a good 10 years since I have fished this stretch of river, so I'm very excited about it.