jhoffman

Beyond my firsts which were not exciting I got into it deep. I was fishing nation, traveling all over and not doing well. My big eye opener was on Chautauqua when I ran into a guy at the ramp after a hard day of practice. I could at best get away with 1-2 days max practice. The guy had been there for 2 WEEKS and my light bulb lit. The dedication to time is insane what it takes to stay competitive against guys like that. Sold my Skeeter, shouldve never sold my aluminum. Looking for my next one that will prob be the boat I own till I die, it will be another aluminum, this time with a jet. You can have the marry-go-round at the lakes. I do like to fish lunkers, if I hit a couple of those a year Im good. I have no interest in standing in the wide open 100 degree sun for 8 hours.

Yeah his concern in the situation wasnt very high. As mellow as he is on TV is exactly how he is in life. He would pick the trolling motor up and drop it OVER a log and just power that boat up over the log. Those guys beat the living hell out of boats, anyone that buys one after theyre done is insane.

even tactical left California

I fished the Ike Foundation Charity Tournament and drew Ott on the Delaware River the same year he won the classic. We took second place. The way that dude can cast and the places he put that full size nitro were just jaw dropping. He had me so far up a creek I was convinced we would beach at any second on an outgoing tide.

My kid is a phenomenal drummer. He started playing a full kit in second grade. Has a full ludwig setup with zildjian symbols. I can play guitar and played bass but I am very rusty. He played a live 12 song set in the middle of town during an event in 4th grade! Now hes playing in school band and doesnt sit down at his kit unless the drum instructor is here. However, hes also now playing the bells as required by the percussion section. The big problem is hes so good for his age even when he doesnt play that much hes not rusty so hes cocky. I really hope he learns to LOVE it more than just do it cause he can. If so, he will be awesome.

Down slightly from the inflatable dam. I'm pretty sure the warm water discharge is gone which is what made it magic. I havent been there in 20 years.

Did you ever fish the power plant in Sunbury when it was active in winter? That place was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE

Made this video a few years ago, soon as I find another boat ill be making more.

Most circuits, you cant allow the coangler to take the front deck under any circumstances other than emergency and they must not fish doing so. If you do, you both can be DQ'd . Ive never had a bad coangler, but I try to ensure they have a good day. I have had times where boat issues got us both a zero and Ive had times the coangler just WRECKS fish behind me.

I think my state nation events were $150 as a boater if memory serves and $300 on a two day

Everyone starts somewhere! My first boat was a 1979 Terry 14', tiller steering. I replaced the transom and decked it. Second boat was a 1992 Tracker with a 40hp, started out with a 25 that gave me problems left and right. Finally I got a glass boat this spring. That boat you have can go ANYWHERE. When it hits bottom you just keep on going without grinding your teeth together. The simplicity of the older aluminums cannot be discounted. The only bad part about an older boat is parts for motors start to become obsolete. Youll find some guy making a carb screw that chose to make them from titanium because the manufacturer quit offering it and now he wants $125 for a $3 part.

The conditions were absolutely horrible. I caught my fish on a white swim jig and one kicker on a dbomb. Didnt matter anyhow, never had my new boat need to run conditions like that. Ended up killing the battery, missed the weigh in and got DQ'd . Id love to see that place again in good weather. Pretty far drive from my house and that traffic is horrible with a full size towing a boat.

I made a seasonal top ten in FLW in 2015 and a seasonal top ten in BASS in 2016(tacklewarehouse league). This year I am not doing great, the guys who should be doing well havent performed well. It is what it is.

I think I wouldve been on the same page. The smallmouth do move up sooner to spawn but in the right water clarity they will spawn 10' too no problem. Sounds to me as if youre about a week or two behind us in temps. The largemouths here for the most part are still carrying eggs. Most of them dont have any signs of beat up tails. I caught my two nice fish saturday on a tree on a jig and on the main lake in 8' on a spinnerbait. Some smaller lakes have beds but the bigger ones we arent really seeing those yet. Im getting a shell shock this weekend as my second event is on the potomac which is ahead of here. Im surprised you didnt fish a chatterbait?

How long did you stay to decide the fish were small? Heck, I was weeding through crappies saturday to hook bass on a road bed with a drop shot. I couldve prob went to a bigger bait to do that too but they were chewing. After I hooked about ten crappies I hooked the first bass. I think I wouldve pulled out onto the first break line from where you were and tried that. If I didnt get on big fish I wouldve been right back in it. What were your water conditions? Really need more information here. Ill tell you, ive left winning fish in downtime and it cost me money.

Made a significant upgrade in the last year. First was the tundra to pull it, then i added a new tzx190, leftover 2015, HPDI 150. It has 2 HDS5 Gen2 in it plus an HDS9 Gen3 with totalscan. Its unreal having this new setup, took a long time to get here.

Dont you worry buddy, we will find them I would think we are way past the rig working effectively. The big question is will the herring show up?

Why dont the have it on the mega bag fisheries. Its supposed to be the biggest baddest event all year. Have it on somewhere world class where you need to catch 25lbs a day to win.

Bingo, I left the club I was in because the club BS is just that BS. Im fishing tournaments to fish. I have zero desire to ever join another club.

FLW better get with it or theyre going to not have much left for Elites. Guys are using it as a stepping stone to Bass because you dont have to qualify. Thats fine if thats what they wanna be, but own it. Come out and say thats your intentions, make your entry fees more realisitic. You cant continually cut the payouts while increasing the fees and expect to retain guys. Look at how many have left in the last few years from FLW to Bass. I can think of two forest wood cup champs at minimum!

Youre really swinging for the fence entering the Bass Open. Do you have a boat? I think you should take some steps in between first. Maybe Bass Nation, BFL, Costa...

Deer and turkeys, actually starting to share my deer knowledge and people are beginning to seek me out which is odd. Ive got a property visit tomorrow where the owner wants me to figure out the usage, stand locations, bedding locations and where they should put in habitat work. Ive got another in two weeks different county. Considering writing a book in the near future on being an outdoorsman. Ive done it my entire life, many different parts of it. Being an outdoorsman became popular in the last ten years but a lot of people dont know where to begin.

I got into them like that earlier this year on a Kastmaster. Only thing I had that was close to the right size after one was barfed on my deck by a white bass.

Second year in a row I came in the tw league top 10. Last year, FLW, finished 5th place. This year, 9th place in BASS. Combined total over $3300 in free gear won. Ive been so close to taste the victory its insane. Maybe 3rd will be the charm and Ill get the boat? Regardless, I am BEYOND thrilled. Got the email this morning.

Quite a few years ago an FLW college tournament was held on my home lake. The winning team used a 3" senko on a ball head jig and fished "the pond" which sees very few anglers and they put together some solid limits of smallmouth on a lake mostly known for largemouth.