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The 2012 Ouachita River Everstart Championship

 The 2012 Ouachita River Everstart Championship

I really suck at tournament fishing sometimes.  My buddy Casey Martin, finished 5th place, running the same pattern, in fact, we stayed in the same hotel room for the event, and he whacked ’em to make it all four days and I went home a kook, again, at the Everstart Championship.   The Ouachita River is like 70 miles of main river, and another 70 miles of other tributary creeks and rivers and bayous and backwaters galore.   There were no less than 25% jon boat in this event.  Guys came prepared for stump jumping and fishing in the extreme backwaters.   I did not.  I came to fish my game, and found a pretty decent pattern on the first day of practice, drop shotting 4.5″ Roboworms in Bold Bluegill in the mouths of pockets/backwaters, just off the main river channel.  In fact, there were fish in the main river channel, on any point or rock pile and in the laydowned trees.  Now, you have to understand that catching 5-7 keeper 12 inch fish right now is pretty much whacking them.  It took 6 pounds per day to get paid.  I caught 5 pounds per day.   I had a good gameplan, and Casey just did what Casey does and it speaks volumes to his fishing versus mine.  My practice became San Diego style worm fishing.  However, it was a popular pattern, as many guys stayed close and fished around the weigh-in/release area and did well.  I had the right idea, but what I will let Casey tell you for sure is that he found the better quality fish AND got them to eat.  Umbrella rig for sure and Casey had a trick one, and the Boing topwater lure on Day 2 with a solid 3-4 pound fish that escalated him to 8 pounds per day, which he for sure was in the drivers seat, just because cutting to 20 and the 10 boats (in days 3 and 4 consecutively), he would have much freer reign on the mouths of creeks and pockets and his prime choice point/mouth which was at the intersection of D’Arbonne and the main river channel.    Duh.   Ask anyone about the Ouchita River and D’Arbonne is the most popular creek/bayou and it’s big and gnarly and is like 45 miles with 5 MPH zones and an abundance of stumps, logs and bayou.  It’s where some fish got caught, but this tournament wasn’t dominated by back bayou water necessarily.  Some main river played in bigtime, but understand, you have giant cypress trees and oaks and black or really dirty coffee with cream style water.  Heck, this where the Duck Commanders live.  Monroe, LA you were great, but man, you guys got some tough fishing around there.   Especially when it comes to boat handling and navigation.  Rivers are not generally what I like to see after the name of a body of water. I’m a lake guy, but as the White River, where I live and watch daily, I’m learning.

Casey fishing another Top 10 Cut at the FLW Everstart in May 2012 on Guntersville. Casey ‘slipped up’ this day, when low 20s pound bags suck. Justin Lucas had 30+. Sickness.

 

Great job Casey Martin, and the BETTER news is Casey just signed up for the 2013 FLW Tour as a Boater!!!  Casey will update his blog about his tournament and he can fill in the gaps and day 3 & 4. I’m such a loser, I didn’t even hang around for Days 3&4 which I almost always do. I am a little lost and did sit still easily lately, but anyway… I am so stoked, pumped and definitely jealous that Casey and many others are fishing the Tour in 2013.  It’s a great schedule and with only 6 tournaments for some guys and Casey is one.  Fewer tournaments is less risk for some of us (me included), and the lakes are lakes I feel like I know pretty well (save Grand Lake), and Casey too. I’m just sick to not have my deposits in.  Casey knows how to fish tournaments, and is just on fuego.   He has fished the FLW Tour the last few years as a Co-Angler, which means, the non boater who gets partnered with the Pro for the day.  Casey has won like $150K from the back of the boat, and does really well at the Everstart and BFL Levels as a boater, so it’s not like he can’t or doesn’t fish from the front of the boat well, he was just wise to take the education that fishing as a Co-Angler affords, and took that to off the chart levels, so this is a natural progression.  Casey is up for the challenge and I know he will do really well.     I am just so lost at times with where I’m at, and so addicted to tournament fishing, yet even more addicted to throwing bigbaits, and I love the blogging, but I’m just struggling financially and in no position to fish the FLW Tour in 2013, even though I’d like to.  I asked Bill Taylor if he’d take 3 deposits (vs. the required 6) and a handshake, he just laughed.  I have to laugh too.  I’m crazy to be flirting with the FLW Tour. I’m just hoping to fish the Everstart on Okeechobee in early January, win the damn thing, and go from there!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH.  How is that for an addict?

 

There is a direct relationship between the amount of photos and videos I shoot and how well I’m fishing. I took very very very few pictures, and zero video. I figured I could catch 5-6 pounds per day and did. Bold Bluegill is color of Robo Worm I highly recommend. Throw it in 4.5 or 6 or 7 inch and in the dirty Ouachita River, it was catching them really well. One of the staple drop shot worms and colors for me.

 

Casey staked out the BEST mouth of a creek.  The most major creek with the most history in it, he choose that one to focus on (I decided the ones upriver were less pressured and could be milked better), and what was key to him was it had better fish on it.  And not only that, Casey had better tricks up his sleeve than most to catch them.  He found an angle he could throw a prototype Picasso A-Rig called the ‘bait ball’ and he told me he had like 18 fish the Day 1 of the event fishing the exact same cast (uphill) with his umbrella rig that features tiny blades and a much smaller profile than most u rigs you see.    That is how Casey caught 8 pounds the first day, and followed it up with 8 pounds on the second day.  Guess what he caught the big fish on Day 2?  A Boing Topwater bait.  This is a new walking bait with a cool ball on wire noise maker rattle inside that gives it a strange ‘boing’ sound, but clearly the fish ate it.  He caught one 3 pounds on it.  The bait was thick all over the Ouchita River. I mean, you find and see bait everywhere.   And occassionally fish would push the balls to the surface and could be caught.  I caught fish on the Picasso School E Rig with 3″ Big Hammers (silver phantom), and J-Will Swimbait heads in 1/8 Ounce in the tournament.   But my fish were squeakers. In fact, I didn’t have 5 fish on Day 2 either, so that really hurt, but ultimately one more fish I was on wouldn’t have helped.  I needed high 12 pounds, like 12-10 to get paid. I had 10-2 for the event, and never caught one over 2 pounds in the practice or tournament, and lots of swimbaits got thrown.  No swimbait bite to speak of, besides the U Rig.  No backwater fish for most, but some did find good sacks.  Is Brandon Medlock sick or what?  Guy broke down on Day 1, comes back on Day 2 with 14 pounds and is like Top 5 and then sticks 15 on Day 3 before struggling on Day 4….but dang, a 14 or 15 pound sack for 2 days in a row, you gotta be bad to find that on the Ouachita River I saw!  Some guys found some backwater fish, but the main river was a player for sure.  Lots of guys cashed checks fishing within site or around the bend or two from the weigh in. I fished there myself some too.   You will have to read Casey’s blog post to get the full scoop on his tournament.  I yo-yo’d Red Eye Shads, fished umbrella rigs, and drop shotted the mouths of creeks mostly, but had a few good channel swings, clay points, and banks that seemed to be holding fish.    The problem of course was many guys found the same fish, because the backwater were sucking and the main river became the clear choice, so it wasn’t easy friendly fishing all the time out there.   You had to defend spots and try to manage water best you could.  The wind was either blowing the wrong way for me, or not at all for my red eye shad bite. I had 2 sneaky spots I felt I could load up and get some good keepers, but they never panned out.   Anyway, congrats to Casey and boo to Matt.  Is it time to go to Florida yet?  MP

Bubble Gum Bone Fire

The 7″ Bubble Gum Bone Fire

Triple Trout Bundle

$79.95

***SOLD OUT***

$79.95

  • Rigged with Owner ST-36 Stinger Treble Hooks and Owner Hyper Wire Split Rings
  • Includes Spare Package of 2 Tails

I really appreciate Scott Whitmer.   I appreciate all the guys I work with, but Scott has really come thru for me as far as being a business partner.  Our relationship is simple and effective.  I caught two nice Triple Trout fish this week, one was a bass and one was a brown trout.    I am finding Scott’s baits to be excellent tools, the world over.  7″ Triple Trouts, as far as size, is a great compromise of size, swim, and buoyancy for a lot of tournament and trophy hunting.  It’s the ‘one size fits all’ for me, one that I tend to always have tied on, when I’m not on a trout fed big fish hunt (10″ Triple Trout in that case), especially when it comes to mixing tournament and swimbaits.  This is a good size bait for somewhere like Beaver Lake, where 15 pounds is a good sack, meaning, there are 3 pounders in there, and for sure 3s eat the 7″ Triple Trout up.    But will catch 2 pounders and might get you a 4 or 5 pounder on a lake like Beaver.

Bigbaits are like ‘trick plays’ in football sometimes.  At the right moment in time, under the right scenario, you can do something out of left field….for example, throwing a rat bait, around wood, or rocks, or shadelines on a crystal clear reservoir is a trick most anglers East of Arizona,  probably weren’t super aware of, and was something Southern Trout Eaters shed some light on.   That is a trick play, situational awareness (as Bill Siemental would say, which is a term I agree with him) come into play here, and of course, the depth and breadth of the anglers experience and ability to dig into a bag of tricks to pull something out.  Think of the offensive/defensive/special teams coordinators in the SEC creating trick plays each week, and the access to information and video to study the other teams, and how trick plays can burn you and how they can be just the right touch at the right moment.   Most times, it’s about the fundamentals (blocking and tackling), but at times, it can be about taking risk and making precision attacks at perfect moments in time to change the game.

The Bubble Gum Bone Fire Triple Trout is wild and loud.  It’s a trick bait, and trick baits make for great trick plays, but shoot, I’ve shown you my bubble gum bass Triple Trout is a fundamental color I’m using, so don’t think bubble gum is just trick plays, it’s a staple go-to color too.  This color could be a staple for someone who hunts spotted bass, smallmouth, or largemouth.  Scott knows I like bubble gum and bone colors with my ‘non-trout’ tournament approaches, so he just made up these baits, and sent me some to test and fish and provide as part of our SSB Customs offerings.

Pink on top, bone on bottom, flames on the side.

 

 

 

 

Cross Over Fishing for Brown Trout

 

Fishing for trophy brown trout on the White River in Cotter, Arkansas, is making me a better swimbait fisherman. There are new challenges of current, water fluctuation, baits, rigging, and access. This fish went 29.5 Inches and ate a 3 Dot Olive 10″ Triple Trout at the base of a shoal.

 

I haul a lot of water, with swimbaits, hunting trophy brown trout….but it’s all about learning. I’m still rigging my modified jon boat into a better river boat. I’m still learning the river, how to control the boat, and what angles the fish seem to prefer. The bait selection is easy: Huddleston and Triple Trout for the most part. Duh.

 

Above the Narrows, White River, Arkansas

 

The quiver of boats you need in the Ozarks. I love my Ranger Boat, but goddam I’m tired of burning fuel. Drift boats are awesome, and Honda 4 Strokes, are incredibly efficient.

 

River fishing, current, and the orientation of the fish makes casting angles and how you line and position yourself up so much different than I’d do in lakes, but it’s still very similar.

 

It’s safe to say Simms Fishing Products rock, and fit perfectly into the ‘cross over’ conversation. Love their products, their company and style.

 

Not lots of room to work with up on the deck, but shoot, room enough. Love how jon boats fish, and just love getting on the river and having access. Forgot to put the spare trailer tire in the truck, I don’t usually bring spare tires in the boat!

 

Fishing with 2 Fly Fisherman this day, out of a drift boat, you have to understand how different they fish. You have 3 people in a small boat. You have shuttles to run so you have a truck at the end of your drift, and maybe a trailer too. You need someone to row, and 2 guys to fish and you rotate. I can cast 4 X further than these guys, so I am rarely at a disadvantage, even from the back of the boat.

 

You don’t grip a brown trout by the jaw. Their mouth and teeth could probably eat a tin can. Trout fisherman are super careful about fish care and handling fish. These big White River brown trout are healthy and hearty, and this one was released unharmed.

 

The Trophy Brown Trout in the White River are eating the stocked rainbow trout. The browns are wild fish, and savvy fly fishermen are using streamers to get big browns. For a guy like me, swimbaits and bigbaits are a no brainer.

 

BigBaits, Simms Fishing Products, Drift Boats and a slowed down pace of fishing. This isn’t tournament fishing. This is trophy hunting, and brown trout are an excellent cross over opportunity. The White River in Arkansas is accessible to most of the MidWest and South very easily.

Sebile Spin Shad Deep Cold Suspended Crossover Swimbait Fishing

The Sebile Spin Shad:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEfBWBdJXHA]

 

The Sebile Spin Shad is worthy of sharing.  I took some film of this bait to supplement the FLW Outdoors article that Pete Robbins published called “Heavy Metal Jigging” available for you at the digital Bass Fishing eMagazine that FLW produces online, Nov/Dec 2012 Issue.   After filming the bait and messing with it, I knew this bait was something swimbait guys and tournament guys alike might dig too.  It’s getting winter time, and clearly spoons, blade baits, head spins, single top hook swimbaits all get bit in the winter/cold months.   So, when I saw this bait, I realized it was a wonderful balance and compromise of various schools of fishing baits/techniques, and that’s what makes this thing legit.  Not to mention, you have some pretty ‘big’ sizes available, so you can fish big or small, get deep, get around/thru suspended fish, get a down the line straight grind/swim out of the bait, and yo-yo and vertical fish really well.

Drop bait, swimbait, spoon, head spin, switchblade swim jig, melded together.

 

 

Think about an 8 foot rod, 7:1 reel, 50# braid and a mono or floro leader, and how much water (both covering water, and covering water column) you can haul thru here.   With long rods you simply can pump your bait in big drawn out yo-yos, and raise it higher, sink it deeper, and get more fall and inflection with the longer rod, and then comes control.  You can control a heavy slab spoon really well, the but Spin Shad has the rear blade that spins and levels the bait out and balances it and makes it orient correctly, so you can correctly slow roll at huge depths and know as its swimming along fine.  It cannot be fished wrong, up or down, or anything in between.  You can cover huge masses of water column with this style.   The Fish Head Spin is a killer bait, you need to be throwing it, often, around suspended fish, Alabama Rig fish, or where fish are on bait.   So, this bait takes the Head Spin in other directions and is a more heavy and down the line swimmer, because of the rear blade and weight/profile of the body, it doesn’t blow out or tend to require a really delicate and controlled swim like the Head Spin at times can require.  The Head Spin you can sorta loose contact/connection with that bait easily, especially if yo-yoing gets into play, and it doesn’t have the vertical fishability either.  Now, I love me some Head Spin, just pointing out it’s weakness is a powerful down the line swim and the Spin Shad is exactly that, and steadfast swimmer that has the right things to fish deep, steep and on the drop all while maintaining a spinnerbait blade that just doesn’t foul and works.   Think about deep water, rough water/conditions, ledges where you need to snatch and excite the school of fish, making jerky actions and covering water quickly.

Check out the colors, sizes, and purchase the Sebile Spin Shads HERE.

 

 

The Four Rates of Fall and the 8″ Huddleston Deluxe Rainbow Trout

 

What is the difference between the four rates of fall available in the 8″ Rainbow Trout Huddleston Deluxe swimbait?   How do you tell a ROF 12 vs a ROF 16, especially if there is no marking on the tail?  How do you tell the ROF 5 vs. ROF 0 in your tackle box?    The answer is below:

There is a wealth of information in this photo. Notice the subtle differences between the ROFs as far as lead and harness material is considered. There is very little actual weight difference between the Huddleston ROFs. The difference is in the gut of the Hudd, where by adding more or less ballasting, you have a faster or slower Rate of Fall (and Rate of Stall).

 

ROF 12 vs ROF 16

Both the ROF 12 and ROF 16 have a top hook, so you might have a top hook 8″ Huddleston in your hand and not know which ROF it is.  Ken no longer paints the ROF on the tail, so, how do you tell the difference?  You have to ‘feel’ for it.  You literally take your finger and feel the underside belly trying to feel for the extra bulb or extra weight in the belly.  You can feel the additional bulb of lead on the ROF 16, by poking your finger into the Hudd, as if you are a doctor playing prostate examiner!   You can feel the ROF 12 has a shorter keel on the harness, and doesn’t have the ‘bulb’ that the ROF 16 does.

You need to feel the underside of your Hudd, between the belly ring and anal fins, and you’ll start to notice the difference in the internal ballasting (ie, the big bulb of extra lead on the ROF 16). That is how you tell the different top hook ROFs.

 

Feel in this area, to determine if there is an extra bulb of lead on the harness, and that will tell you if you have a ROF 16 or ROF 12. The ROF 16 has more lead, the extra bulb you can feel, push on the Hudd just above the anal fins, and you’ll feel it.

 

ROF 5 vs. ROF 0

Both the ROF 5 and ROF 0 come out of the package without a top hook and again, it can be confusing, which bait are you holding in your hand?  The ROF 5 has a definite keel that can be felt between the belly ring and the anal fins.  There is something hard there that gives the underside ballast area some mass and bulk.  With the ROF 0, you can just feel a notch, and have way more soft squishy plastic in the ballast zone, than you do with the ROF 5.  Bottom line, you have to learn to feel the difference in your Huddlestons by doing a poke check with your fingers in the area between the belly ring and the anal fins to feel the harness.

You need to learn to feel the underside of your ROF 5s and ROF 0s to get a feel for the difference, and discern one from the other in your tackle box.

 

 

Same deal, feel the area just behind the belly ring on the underside of the Huddleston to determine if the bait you are holding is a ROF 5 or ROF 0, when you don’t have a top hook. The ROF 0 has a definite notch you can feel, and is mostly squishy and soft plastic in the gut area. The ROF 5, pictured above, is solid and hard for approx 2 inches behind the belly ring.

 

 

Bigbaits in the Ozarks Presentation for Rod&Reel Club, Mountain Home, AR

BigBaits in the Ozarks Presentation

I’m going to be giving a presentation at Rod & Reel Club of Mountain Home, AR this Thurdsay, November 8th at 7pm.  I’m going to be focusing the presentation on bigbait fishing, and tying into the Ozarks and sharing pictures, videos, baits, and just hopefully educating some guys on bigbait fishing who have never been exposed to it all.  Consider yourself invited, if somehow you are near Mountain Home or have any interest to travel and visit.  Meeting starts at 7 pm and is at the Redeemer Lutheran Church Family Life Center, 312 West North Street, Mountain Home, AR.

MP