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4th and O

Boot&Vortex Tails, weedless and not, braided line and 5 good bites a day, is that too much to ask for?

This is my 4th year on Okeechobee.  The lake is fishing WAY differently than in years past.  The lake is choked out.  The vegetation so thick in most areas, you simply cannot get to a lot of areas that we used to fish.  The fish are more main lake/outside edge of the grass line, where they’ve never really been when I’ve bee here.   What that means is new locations, and new ways to catch them.  You can actually fish hanging trebles and non-weedless baits, but with the water falling, weedless is better than not most times.  Still, new lake to me, fishing pretty old school I imagine, lots of flipping and punching going on, and just light pitching.   But unless you know where the big ones are, that is a brutal way to go about Okeechobee, and the zillions of miles of shoreline grass, mats, and edges.

Guys are going to smash them. I mean, 25-30 pound sacks.  Flipping and punching.  I’m not doing either. I’m going with the swimmers.  I have a small-medium-large approach, and let me be clear, I’m fishing the Everstart and FLW Tour Event, so this is the first of two events I’ll be fishing, so I’ve got reason to not fully disclose everything, until after the Tour Event (Feb 12th).  I’ve had some big days on the grass swimmers.  I’m fishing new baits, new water, new techniques and taking my bigbait approach to the grass, and some days, it works.  However, the last 2 days of practice have sucked.  I haven’t been catching them quite like I want to be at all.  They aren’t eating the bigbaits right now for some reason.  They sorta bump it and I’m talking 5-7 bites on a GOOD day, more like 1-2 bites some days.    This isn’t the Okeechobee where you catch 20-40 fish no problem.   I could come in with 1 or 2 fish tomorrow, but I’ve made up my mind to fish my game, fish my strengths and sorta let this be a test run for the Tour Open.

Braided line, bigbaits, and 8 foot rods can be killer.  Okeechobee can give and Okeechobee can take.  This place flip flops from whipping my butt and stoking me out.  Tomorrow, I’m boat 12, which wasn’t what I wanted, but whatever, first flight, early weigh in, gotta go for it.  I know I’m around some quality fish, and God willing, I get 5 bites in the boat.    Have a long day on Friday, and our weather has been pretty much gorgeous, but again, the lake is different.  In year’s past, I’d be putting 75-100 fish in the boat per day with 80 degree air temps.  It’s just not that way, despite the good weather.   The flippers and punchers are going to get ’em, but only a handful are going to get the big ones.  Too many guys are struggling and scratching.  I’m way better at focusing on 5 bites with a swimmer in my hand than punching a Beaver with the rest of the world.  You want to talk about overwhelming, try tackling Okeechobee with a flipping rod.    So thick and choked this year too.

Wish me luck, I’m going to need it.   Gonna take all my powers and skills to get 5 fish in the boat tomorrow. I’m not fishing for 2 pounders and fishing the safe and conservative route. I’ve never had fish eating the baits I’m throwing, leading up to a tournament and I gotta go for it.  This could be a big disaster for this Everstart, but even so, I’m considering this a sort of dress rehearsal for the Tour Event.   I just don’t feel like compromising and playing it conservative.  I’m tired of fishing every game but my own.  I’ve had as many as 12-15 bites and 25 pounds easy on my better days.   The weather has been warming things up and I expect boys to catch ’em, just not everyone is going to have 20+ pounds. I guess it will take 12 pounds per day to get a check. I think I can get 12 pounds in 2-3 of the right bites per day.   No bed fish going, but that too might change come Tour time.    Anywho, gonna try and have some fun, fish my strengths and my game, and if Day 1 doesn’t pan out, even more reason on Day 2 to go back and do it all over because I’m not gonna get 30 pounds fishing texas rigged trick worms, which is a good bait right now!

 

Trout Eaters of Winter

Here is an attempt to post an article that was recently published by Bass Angler Magazine (BAM), in their Q1 2012 Winter Edition.   Bass Angler Magazine is kicking butt with really good articles that are full of excellent content.   The articles are contributed by anglers who range from KVD and Elite/Tour Super Stars, to the AAA level guy like me, to women, amateurs, co-anglers, and regional and technique specialists.  Refreshing reading material, not overly edited and polished, but that’s what makes it real and the content genuine.   BAM comes out 4 times year, a subscription is $7.95 and available via Tackle Warehouse by clicking here.

Page 1, Trout Eaters of Winter, Bass Angler Magazine, Q1 2012

 

Trout Eater of Winter, Page 2, Bass Angler Magazine, Q1 2012

 

Trout Eaters of Winter, Page 3, Bass Angler Magazine, Q1 2012

 

Trout Eaters of Winter, Page 4, Bass Angler Magazine, Q1 2012

 

Bass Angler Magazine, Cover Shot, Q1 2012

The 3:16 Mission Fish v2.0 Prototype

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfBLj-5r8kE]

Mickey sent me a couple prototypes of his new Mission Fish, the v2.0 Mission Fish.  This is just a prototype, and I haven’t had near the time or experience with the bait to come up with any final conclusions.  Mickey let me know he’s definitely still working on the bait, and this is just a prototype, but you can see where this bait is going.   Here is what I can tell you about the new Mission Fish:

  • FATTER
  • Rounder
  • Bulkier
  • Better swimming version (the Rising Son Tail gives the bait added swim, thump, rock & roll of the head and body, and just livens up the overall swim).   This version still fishes Texas Rig style, can be pitched, flipped, snatched, and dropped, but the Rising Son tail makes you want to keep it moving.
  • More Weedless:  Improved split belly design, step-up reinforced rubber where the hook goes thru the bait, making the bait a bit more durable and fishable in the thick stuff.
  • Better Hook-ups:  Okay, stop what you are doing, and invest $6.50 in a pack of 8/0 Owner Beast Hooks, and retrofit you old Mission Fishes (6-7-8″ Mission Fish for the 8/0 Beast Hook) and remove the CPS (Centering Pin Spring)–very easy to do.  I believe this hook, with the hook point way above the line tie, in a better jig hook setup and the overall size, bite, gap and reach back of the 8/0 Beast is going to significant improve hook-up ratios.  Its so far a better hook and system than the G Folks and their Mag Gap 5/0 bent out at 45 degrees.   Please help me test this out, but I believe this 8/0 Beast Hook will make a huge impact on old and new Mission Fishes.   It’s like a perfect worm hook setup for a big magnum bigbait.  Check out the 10/0 Beast for your old 9″ Mission Fishes!    Save your CPS.  Don’t throw them away or cut them off.   They are good for other rigs and rigging.

I’m in tournament practice and preparation mode on Okeechobee at the moment, so I don’t want to say too much about too much anyway. I just wanted to share the prototype, and provide a view of what the next generation of Mission Fish will look like and where Mickey is headed with it.  I have a lot of fishing yet to be done with the Mission Fish, both new and old versions, but believe me the Owner Beast Hook + PowerPro will be part of both approaches.   I’m not fishing for a world record or heavy teen fish. I’m looking for 4-7 pounders and I’m looking at the the tournament potential of the Mission Fish.   It’s just a really unique bait in that it swims, flips and pitches, and can be texas rigged outside and sorta snatched and ripped and just has a lot of versatility, sort of like a swim jig does.  A bigbait version of the swimjig.

This story is to be continued. Way too much yet to fish and explore with this bait before we say anything further.  No clue what Mickey has in store for the general release of this new version.   We might still be months away before he’s ready for a release. I’m going to keep fishing and taking notes and trying to progress and document what I do.   Stay tuned.

2nd Generation of the Mission Fish
Fatter, Rounder, Bulkier and a better swimmer a la Rising Son Tail. Matched with the 8/0 Owner Beast Hook, this is going to get bit and hook the fish. Approach with 65# braid, and stout moderate fast medium action swimbait rods and whatever reel you've got. Weighs approx. 2 ounces. Texas, Flip, Drop, Snatch, or just grind it along.

Rate of Stall: A Discussion

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAufr4YVk8I]

If I wanted to tell you that a Rate of Fall 5  (ROF 5) Huddleston Deluxe Trout is sometimes better than a ROF 12 or ROF 16 Huddleston Deluxe Trout, I would explain it two ways.  One has to do with the Rate of Fall and how slow sinking the ROF 5 is, compared to the other two.   The other measurement I’d like to provide you is it’s Rate of Stall score, meaning something I can ‘score’ the bait on and speak to the East and West travel of the bait (not just the North and South, as in Rate of Fall).   You can creep the ROF 5 along, and it still maintains its parallel to the surface posture, but moves toward you much much slower than doing the same thing with the ROF 16.  The ROF 16 wants to sink out and forces you to reel faster to get the bait planing toward you, which speeds up how fast it comes at you, the subtle difference between the time a ROF 16 vs a ROF 5 in terms of how slow you can reel each bait and fish it properly is a based in an understanding of Rate of Stall, at least, that’s what I’m calling it for now!  When fish are on points or offshore it requires a slower and more thorough presentation, and at times, the ROF 5 8″ Huddleston is the better choice (amongst the 8″ Huddleston Deluxe family of trout baits)  for 2 reasons:  Rate of Fall (ROF) and Rate of Stall (ROS).  ROS is not just a Huddleston thing, in fact, understanding ROS within the swim of the Huddleston conversation is an ‘advanced’ conversation.   Floating baits best help visualize Rate of Stall, a la the Nezumaa Rat, as you’ll see in the video clip.

The above video clip is an attempt to present the idea of Rate of Stall, and is the beginning to what will be a multiple part online discussion. We touched on Rate of Stall in Southern Trout Eaters, and I talked about how I learned how to alter my MS Slammer retrieve from a straight wind, to a more walk the dog, start and stop–more stalled retrieve based on what I’d learned from fishing the Nezumaa Rat.  I was able to keep my MS Slammer around the shade lines and steep faces of the Ozark Lakes, and that was where the fish were, and what it took to draw the strikes.      I’ve asked Rob McComas (who is featured in Southern Trout Eaters) who is a MS Slammer specialist and Matt Allen from Tacticalbassin.com to provide some feedback and prepare a video response to Rate of Stall.  I watched a video clip of Matt talking about the Lunker Punker and talking about fishing it over points, and I knew he would understand Rate of Stall and what I’m proposing here, so I reached out to get Matt’s perspective on the theme of Rate of Stall.  I’m hoping having an online discussion where multiple people can provide video responses can be done in an orderly and effective fashion and provides a refreshed medium to have online fishing discussions.    So, here is my part, just proposing Rate of Stall as a form of measurement and a rating or scaling system we might consider in talking about our baits.  The “East and West” if you consider Rate of Fall to be “North and South”.   I’m on Okeechobee right now, testing out Rate of Stall as it relates to fishing softbaits like the 3:16 Bluegill and neutrally buoyant and floating hardbaits like the 22nd Century Bluegill, rat baits, and MS Slammers in the grass, keyword:  “grass”.  I have other additions to Rate of Stall already underway, and I’m anxious to hear what Matt and Rob have to say about it, and we go from there.  Check back here, for updates and the various responses.  I have my fingers crossed, this online discussion format, with varying responses being stacked chronologically and playing off each other, will fly.   We shall see.  Please comment below, if you have some input on Rate of Stall.

nezumaa rat rate of stall
The Nezumaa Rat helped me grasp something I knew, but couldn't fully explain. Talking to Rob McComas, hearing what Matt Allen said about the Lunker Punker in one of his TacticalBassin.com videos, my experience with ROF 5 vs ROF 12 or 16, and grass fishing has lead me to: Rate of Stall. . Oh the grass fishing, probably nowhere more important is Rate of Stall and understanding it in bait selection, line (braid and its neutral buoyancy adds Rate of Stall for example), the vortex of the tail (boot vs. wedge vs. modified wedge), or the buoyancy (floating vs. slow sink vs. neutral) properties of various hard and softbaits. But Rate of Stall, I argue is a missing dimension in talking about the swim of most of the baits we fish. You've got to be able to talk about the East and West and track a bait as it swims or can be stalled, toward the boat (not just the sink rate, or North and South, as in Rate of Fall). The Net Net Net of this conversation is picking the right baits for the right situations and also applying the right retrieves, and/or a combination thereof. Ryan Thoni catching a small one, and the Nezumaa Rat shifting into high-low gear.

The Amazing 50/50 Formula

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

Please excuse the extra cheeseball performance in the above video clip.  This is seriously a good tip to make yourself up a bunch of cleaning solution to clean your sunglasses, fish finders, etc.   I couldn’t keep a serious face when I was trying to put together the square and normal version of the video, so I went with the “Sham-Wow” style.

Here are the secret ingredients to the Amazing Magic 50/50 Formula:

  • 50% White Distilled Vinegar
  • 50% Distilled Water
  • Spray Bottle
  • Micro Towel

It’s not just swimbait fishing here folks,  we clean, we wax, we polish and we shine.  We pride ourselves in providing solutions to the visually impaired, and are applying for a government grant!   Exactly one out of one person (me) that we interviewed said the Amazing Magic 50/50 Formula was safe, effective and chicks dig the vinegar smell.    We scored it a 9.4567  (would have been 9.4572 but the spray bottle wasn’t as ergonomically friendly as we’d preferred, but still a good spray bottle)!!!!!!!!

The Amazing 50/50 Formula cleans, shines, waxes, finishes, puts your boat on the trailer, cooks you dinner, and if you call in the next 20 minutes .... hahahahahaha.

The Steve Jobs Effect

Steve Jobs Biography
When you read about Steve Jobs' life, you realize you should be taking notes because there are so many subtle business lessons woven into his life's story. Apple and Steve Jobs are to be studied, whether or not you have an Android phone or run a Windows laptop. The brand, the products and contributions to the world are second to none, and they (Steve for sure) broke all the rules to get there.

Okay, now I’m really going to annoy some people.  A book review?   A bass fisherman doing a book review?  First he does a DVD, and now we are talking about books?  The horror!!!  No this isn’t a book review, but let me put my Steve Jobs in action:  BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT.   I give this book an A+.  Great read, very insightful and I found myself laughing out loud reading it.  You have to put yourself in my shoes and take my appreciation for this book with a grain of salt.  Steve and Apple are familiar and resonate with me because the stories and tales in the book remind me so much of my former career, the folks I went to college and high school with, my brother, his wife, and his friends who live in and around the Silicon Valley who are all Standford grads, and the life lessons I’ve become aware of at 34. I have a personal connection to much of what I read about, have been to many of the places mentioned, been part of classic hardware/software/open vs. closed source/ sales vs. techy conversations in my former career, so this book strikes a chord to my soul.

Here is the Steve Jobs Biography I’m referring to:  The Steve Jobs Biography by Walter Isaacson

Our Southern Trout Eaters DVD was filmed mostly on a Sony Handycam Camcorder in Standard Definition.  The film was edited on a MacBook Pro using iMovie.   Southern Trout Eaters, to me, is a perfect example of the genius of Steve Jobs.  Making technology usable, and keeping things simple.    A fisherman can create a DVD out of the back of his truck with Steve’s technology.   Besides usability and simplicity, the brand and what is ‘imputed’ by Apple are incredible.  Amazing marketing, amazing design, amazing products coupled with a culture and style that are so Californian.     There are a lot of subtle business lessons woven into this book that I found awesome.  There are no rules in business.  You add the Internet and social networks, and we are literally in the wild west again when it comes many things business.   Steve was willing to “Think Different”, and did, and as that campaign points out, “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, often are the ones who do.”   Swimbait fishing, southernswimbait.com, the Southern Trout Eaters DVD, and my ongoing work are in lots of ways an attempt to think different, fish different, and not align myself with things in the sport that I clearly see as “complete shit”, to quote Steve.

Here are the quotes and points that really resonated with me,  from the book:

  • “Simplification is the ultimate sophistication”  (borrowed from Leonardo DaVinci, but what an excellent quote)
  • “He believed that great harvests came from arid sources, pleasure from restraint,” she noted.  “He knew equations that most people didn’t know:  Things led to their opposites.”
  • Jobs told Egan, as he had a few other friends, about his premonition that he would not live a long life.  That was why he was driven and impatient, he confided.  “He felt a sense of urgency about all he wanted to get done,” Egan later said.
  • Her boss, tried to get her to stay at Goldman, but instead she decided the work was unedifying.  “You could be really successful,” she said, “but you’re just contributing to capital formation.”
  • Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
  • So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
  • Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?
  • The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive, and you’ve cast your lot with the destructive people

My former career selling software with eEye Digital Security taught me some valuable business lessons, but it was the lessons where technology intersected human nature I found most profound.  For example,  eEye Digital Security lost 100s of enterprise accounts back in the early 2000s to Foundstone (which was soon after acquired by McAfee).   The number one reason we lost so many deals to the big boy enterprise clients was because Foundstone had a simple “stop light” on their dashboard where all the information, all the data from all the stuff both our respective tools did rolled up into an aggregate score.  Green = good or secure, Yellow = Caution, you have some security risks that need to be addressed, Red = Alert, major holes and security breaches happening.    We basically vomited up all this information and could tell a customer that a printer on the 3rd floor of their building was running HP-UX that had a known vulnerability, had this IP address,  and all this machine info,  but to the executive, to the enterprise level accounts, they just want to know, hey, are we good bad happy or sad at a very very high level?  Net this stuff out for me.  So what if our printer has a flaw?  What is the worse thing that happens if our HP-UX printer has this flaw exploited by the ‘bad guys’?  How likely is that to happen?  Things our engineers and executives failed to recognize—the business impact of the flaws, not just ability to find the flaws.   I had a prospective client from a very large insurance company in Cleveland ask my team, “So, what does this all mean?”  My engineers and executives couldn’t answer and I knew we were done.    eEye Digital Security has gone on to become a major player at the enterprise account level (ie DoD Wide Contract, how is that for enterprise class comeback?), but those early years were painful, because we had a shot at being a 100-500 million dollar company, going public, and all of us retiring early.   That was not our path though, our path took me and my career  to Atlanta in January 2005.  I caught my first Southern Trout Eater on an 8″ Rainbow Trout Huddleston in March 2005, and that’s where all this started.

Steve Jobs, I appreciate your life’s story and your work.  I’m not sure if I would be on your “A” List or on the list of complete shit, but I sure have been inspired reading your biography.   I want to do incredible things.  I want to do things in fishing, different than how they are being done.  I want my legacy to be what I’ve created and contributed, not what I’ve consumed.   I said it online in a Facebook post recently, I’d like to be an ‘aloha’ version of Steve, less a tyrant, less an asshole, but on the same wavelength of focus and drive to do things in a space that I know and love, and am willing to ‘break the rules’ of traditional fishing (including talking about things like books and music) to get there.