The_Mad_Fisherman

What's your take on the Humminbird SI units? I want a 997c SI unit, but I really can't afford it. I only have about $1100 to spend. So I was looking into the 987c SI, which has the same size screen. Does anyone know anything about these units? Is the 987c SI any good. I really can't see the difference between the two, but tell me what you know. THANKS!!!

THanks everyone. I just bought like 4 pack of them. Now, I'm ready to go fishing and try them out.

Hi, I live on Kentucky Lake, known for its ability to produce huge limits of both largemouth and smallmouth. Its mostly a clear lake. Usually clarity of 3ft sometimes up to 8 ft. This weekend, I went in pursuit of smallmouth, but came up with only largemouth. A friend of mine, fished brush piles with "grubs". Grubs? I'm not really sure exactly what that is. I hear it all the time, but I've searched the internet to buy some, and can't find them. He said that the fish were tight in the brush piles, and they had to get hung up, shake the brush, and run the fish out of it in order to get them to bite. Where do I start looking for places to fish for smallmouth? And where I can I get some of these grubs? How do I fish them? I've seen lots of big smallmouth come out of this lake, with the biggest stringer i've seen beening nearly 30 lbs. So I know they are there, but where? Thanks -Wil

Thanks. I'm working hard, to make it the best I can, and be the best representation of me that I can get. Thanks again. Any suggestions? I know that I need to write a paragraph at the end, explaining why I would be a better than someone else to represent a sponsors company, but I hate writing about myself. I find it difficult because I feel like I'm boasting. Anyways thanks.

Wilton Houchens whouchens14@apmail.apsu.edu Mission: To promote all potential sponsors through tournaments, and seminars and any other forms of media to the best of my ability; to increase my knowledge of Bass Fishing through tournaments and seminars; to share my knowledge to others, particularly youth; to promote and encourage youth fishing through education of fishing ethics, sportsmanship, fishing techniques, and conservation of our natural resources; to fulfill all responsibilities I owe to my community, my state, and my society to help maintain natural fishing resources. Objective: To fish in the BASS or FLW Pro Circuit Education: Austin Peay State University Bachelor of Arts in Music, May 2011 Piano Performance Hopkinsville High School, May 2007 Hopkinsville, KY GPA 3.98 Employment History: -Current Employment: Full-time student at Austin Peay State University (Freshman) Piano Instructor Accompanist for APSU Choir Wedding Pianist Semi - Concert Pianist Full Time Pianist - Hillcrest Baptist Church (Hopkinsville, KY) Part Time Intern - Assistant Music Coordinator Hillcrest Baptist Church -Former Employment: 4 years mowing House Sitting KBF Observer Piano Instructor and Accompanist in a Major Creative Arts Center -Fishing Organizations Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society (B.A.S.S.): 2001 - Present FLW Outdoors: 2005 Present Kentucky Bass Federation (KBF): 2005 Present Kentucky Bass Federation Nation (KBFN): - 2006 Present -Fishing Accomplishments: Founder of Western KY Jr. Bassmasters (under 18 years of age) Youth Advisor of Western KY Jr. Bassmasters Angler of the Year for Western KY Jr. Bassmasters: 2005, 2006, 2007 Jr. KBF State Champion: 2006 2007 National Guard Jr. World Championship Qualifier -Tournament Fishing Past 2004: Adult Club Tournament Opens 2005: President of Western Kentucky Jr. Bassmaster Chapter 2005: 5th Place in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Rough River 2005: 2nd Place in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Cave Run 2005: 4th Place in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Barkley Lake 2005: Big Fish Finish in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Barkley Lake 2005: 3rd Place Angler Of the Year ~ State of Kentucky 2006: President of Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2006: 5th Place Angler of the Year ~ State of Kentucky 2006: 2nd Place in State Championship at Rough River Lake 2007: 1st place Kuttawa Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 4th place Kuttawa State Qualifier 2007: 1st place Barkley State Park Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 1st place Double Creek Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 3rd place Kuttawa State Qualifier 2007: 1st place Barren River Lake Qualifier - State Park 2007: 1st place Dam Marina Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 1st place Rough River Lake Qualifier 2007: 1st place Poplar Creek Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 1st place Mineral Mounds Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 1st place Kuttawa Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2007: 3rd place Barren River- State Championship 2007: 2nd place Southern Division Lake Hamilton Nation Guard Jr. World Championship (NGJWC) sponsored by FLW & the National Guard - Planned Tournament Circuits (2008): BASS Weekend Series (Division 15) Co-Angler Kentucky Bass Federation Qualifiers Kentucky Bass Federation Nation Qualifiers (Road to the Classic) Hopkinsville Bass Club Events (Attempting to earn the 2008 Angler of the Year Title) Western KY Jr. Bassmasters Tournament Director Madisonville Bass Club Events -WHY? Growing up in Western KY, I have been fortunate to have the Kentucky and Barkley Lakes to my availability. These two great fisheries are known for their abilities to produce HUGE limits of bass. I started fishing in tournaments heavily when I was 15, but already had some experience in fishing the adult tournaments. I knew what I was up against and stood ready to take the blow, entering into the world of competitive bass fishing. In fishing with the Western KY Jr. Bassmasters, I have learned a great deal about the sport. Beginning with no teachers, and little help, I quickly was able to climb from last, to the high end of the food chain. Since I do live a pretty good drive from the lakes, I have learned to spend at least a little of every day, in a farm pond or cattle pond, to practice and develop my prior fishing techniques. This, I believe, has been the major key to my success. As of this year I have decided to really pursue a career in fishing, and by choosing to do so, I have decided to fish the BASS Weekend Series as a non-boater. As a non-boater I believe I will have the most opportunity to learn, expand, and become known more than I ever have before. -What I can offer My Sponsors: Sponsor's logos on my Vehicle and Boat Sponsor's logos on my websites Sponsor's logos on my Tournament Shirts Distribution of promotional materials at events Appearances at Tournaments, sports shows, and other related events Demonstrations of products to potential customers Thanks for viewing this. Please if you have time, critique it. I'm looking at a potential sponsorship with shakespeare and Pflueger, and I would like them to have the best copy of my resume on record. And sorry, this might be a little uneasy to read, because I copy and pasted from a WORD doc. Thanks again, and God Bless -Wil

Hey, I'm looking for the 5 1/2 in. silicon skirt layers. I'm looking for specifically for the PB&J color. But i can't find it anywhere. Ive been making my own spinners and Jigs for a while now, but I've never been able to find this color skirt. If you know where I can get some, I would really appreciate you letting me know. Thanks a lot -Wil

Good. You guys hit the nail on the head. I think it's more excitement, than nervousness. But I get so excited and so tensed up that I hurts. I get pains in my stomach and it goes even beyond the pain to sickness sometimes. But funny, it goes away the instant the boat hits the water. I used to notice that if I drank a soda on the way to the lake, I would get really sick, so I try the alternative, Kool-aid. ;D I'm still not sure what to do about the problem, but usually the farther we get into the season, the less it affects me. But I know I'm not in the wrong sport. Out of 15 tournaments that I fished last year, I won 9 of them, and the other 6, I placed in the top 4. :-/ Maybe I'll get this thing figured out this year. Thanks guys.

Does anyone else here get the pre-tournament butterflys? I don't know if I'm alone with this or not. I sometimes get the butterflys so bad that it makes me sick to my stomach. Does anyone else deal with this? And what can I do to help get rid of this problem? Thanks

Next Sat. I'm going to be fishing a real big tournament on a lake that I'm not fimiliar with at all. I went to practice fish this past Saturday but on managed out about 5 lbs all day. A friend of mine told me that I needed to be fishing on bluffs between 15 - 20ft. with a 3/4oz black/blue jig. He suggested doing this with a spinnerbait too. What is your preference on fishing 3/4 oz spinnerbaits? The lake is usually murky to clear (2 - 5ft) visibility. Really rocky. So what do you suggest on getting big spinner down like that. Big blades, little blades, gold blades silver, blades, etc...........

Next Sat. I'm going to be fishing a real big tournament on a lake that I'm not fimiliar with at all. I went to practice fish this past Saturday but on managed out about 5 lbs all day. A friend of mine told me that I needed to be fishing on bluffs between 15 - 20ft. with a 3/4oz black/blue jig. He suggested doing this with a spinnerbait too. What is your preference on fishing 3/4 oz spinnerbaits? The lake is usually murky to clear (2 - 5ft) visibility. Really rocky. So what do you suggest on getting big spinner down like that. Big blades, little blades, gold blades silver, blades, etc...........

Well, thats amazing because I having the EXACT same problem, too. I'm here in KY on Barkley and Kentucky Lakes. But over the last 2 months, I have nearly 100% cured this problem. Like this last Saturday... I went to the lake and started fishing really slow with a shakey head worm. I would have a fish just hammer that bait, and start to move off with it, then before I could even think about jerking, he was already gone. This happened at least a dozen times. Then I pull out the Chartruse, Garlic flavored Dip-n-Glo dye. Instead of dipping the tail of the worm in this dye, dip about 1/2 in. of the head of the worm. Rig it back up, and I never missed another fish. I have done this countless times over the last 2 months, and Its never failed me yet. Hope this helps yall out

Thanks for the help everyone. I was able to go up there and do my best. After day 1 I was in 9th place. And on day 2 I made a comeback to finish up in 2nd place. It should have been first, but I accidentally released a legal fish on Day 2. But for a 2 day total of fishing, I had 4 keepers that weighed 6.48lbs. It was really rough fishing. And the key seemed so apparent after day 1. Everyone was fishing shallows around the banks, except for one boy that was fishing jerkbaits over 30ft. of water. On day 2 me and this boy shared the same water and I managed to get my fish off of this bridge point in 30ft of water with a shaky head. I was the only other one that decided to go looking for deep water fish, and I doubled the weight of anyone else on the second day. Well, what is important is that I made the top 5 cut and I'm going to fish Nolin River Lake on Nov. 4th. Thanks again -Wil

I've always been told that in the fall, the fish go shallow in the creeks no matter what. Well I've also been told that if they are pulling the lake down for winter pool then the fish will stay out on the main lake. Someone has just told me a bunch BS. One way or the other. I'm going to be fishing a River Lake next week. And it drops 25ft for winter pool. Right now it is just a little below summer pool. So, soon, very soon, the lake is going to start to bottom out. So where do I begin to look for the fish. When I go to practice Saturday, is it even work my time to go peck out some shallow cover that wont be there the next weekend. Or should I just stay out from the bank, and focus on main lake structure like points bridges etc.... Thanks -Wil

Well..... Does anyone have any comments about my resume? How can I improve it? What needs to be changed, etc....? Thanks God Bless -Wil

Does anyone here swim a jig for fall bass? I thought that a blue and white jig would look pretty good, so I tied one up. So heres the main question. Do you put a trailer on your jig when you swim it? If so how big is the jig, and how big is the trailer, and how do you do to special to make the fish bite when you swim the jig? Thanks

What is your Where? When? Why? and How? of Fall Jigging Spoons? How do you know when to throw them, where to throw them, how to work them, etc......????

Well, I didn't get to go to the lake this Sat. because of the tornados and excessive flooding we had in Western KY. So, I went to my pond between storms, and managed out a nice 4 1/2 lber flipping a little trick worm. Anyhow, I was watching Bassmaster yesterday morning, and I got to think about the Chatterbait. I haven't used them very much, but ever time I've used them here on Barkley or Kentucky Lakes, I catch fish or I have a good one come up on it. So do you think it would be worth my time to bring out a white chatterbait and fish a little with it. I noticed that bassnleo didn't perfer to throw a spinnerbait in these conditions. So would maybe a white chatterbait be okay? The shad in this lake as of about 2 weeks ago, were about 3/4 the length of your little finger.. So I guess that would make them about 1 3/4 - 2 inches long. Not really big. The steep banks that I have known to hold fish here recently, are really deep, but they aren't bluffs. They are about 60* angle, so they are about half way between a 45 degree drop and a 90 degree bluff. I fished a little tournament there a couple weeks ago, and another guy that was fishing this bank really just outside the cut of the ramp, caught his 3 nice keepers about 20deep on a shakey head. I've been using this website to help myself look for spots. Is this site really able to produce so information that can help me? http://terraserver.microsoft.com/usgsentry.aspx?T=1&S=14&Z=16&X=170&Y=1300&W=1&qs=13689+Falls+of+Rough+Rd%7cFalls+of+Rough%7cKY%7c Do you see anything on here that can help? I'm putting in about a mile below the dam. Thanks Everyone!!!!

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when I am there tomorrow. I agree about the competition thing, but I REALLY need to place in the top 5. By doing that and then going to fish against the top five, I will get to go fish in the FLW jr. Championship. Just like the BASS Jr. Classic, but this will be a new addition into the FLW Tour. Strangley enough, I've never seen or caught a shallow fish in this lake. I've fished it about 5 times now, but always in the spring and summer. When I catch one on a top water in the morning, it is usually about 10ft away from the bank, and it usually comes on a buzzbait. Thanks

I'm soon to be going to a fairly new lake for me. This is the first time I have ever been there in the fall. I am prefishing for the Jr. State Championship. It will be Oct. 7 & 8. Here on Rough River Lake, KY. Not that that is of much importance. The facts are that it is a semi-clear lake. Usually 2 - 5 ft. visibility. Deep and rocky. It is mosly 100% rock shoreline. It's got some good floating boat docks, a little standing timber in the backs of creeks in the 12 - 45ft. deep water. This spring I found a little feeder creek in the back of the creek arm. The water was running in the the bass were just crushing the shad. But I couldn't catch one, no matter what I fished through there. I'm not trying to turn this into strictly a have you seen the lake post, but that seems to be what it is turning into. But if you have fished the lake before, and know a little bit about it, then PLEASE e-mail me: wphouchens@juno.com I thought about going up this Saturday and looking for some good spots to fish, but I don't know where to begin. I'm not really sure how to catch River Lake fish in the fall, more less I can't catch fish anywhere during Oct. unless it is my homebody of water, Barkley or kentucky lakes. When fishing, what should I throw? What do you like to throw? I would like to fish around some boat docks with spinnerbaits, throw a little lipless cranks and maybe a shakeyhead or mojo some too. What do you like to do when the fish head for the back of the creeks? What kinda creeks do you look for, when your looking on a topo map of the lake? How do you select your looking spots for the prefish? I know this is A WHOLE LOT of questions, but I am really in need of A WHOLE LOT of information. ;D Oh NO! Just as I was writing this I seen on their website that: "The normal reservoir operation will be modified in fall of 2007 only. The lake will remain at its authorized summer level of 495 feet until September 10, 2007, one week after the Labor Day weekend. After the holiday, an accelerated drawdown of the lake will begin to reach winter pool elevation of 475 feet by October 15, 2007." And the tournament is going to be Oct. 7 & 8. But just to say, if you do know this lake or can lend any advise to help me along the way, please email me! I hope that doesn't get me demoted to the "Fishing Places Forum Board" :-/ Thanks -Wil

There's just one problem with using crankbaits and spinnerbaits on this lake. There are lots of Muskies and Walleyes. They just love to eat um up.

Whats your favorite way to fish water that is fairly deep and clear? As in deep I mean like lots of 30ft. deep bluffs, etc.... And clear 5 - 10 ft. visiblity. I was fishing a new lake to me this past weekend, and I managed to catch a ton of little fish. The size limit is 12in. but the biggest thing I managed to catch was about 11in out of about 35 - 40 fish. At one point I actually found a shelf that was about 7ft. deep that dropped down into the river channel. After getting hung up, I went to retrieve my lure, and happened to notice a keeper sized fish laying in a small brushpile near where I was hung. Out of curiosity I continued down the shelf and began to see more and more of these keeper size fish. This place is noted for putting the best anglers to shame in the summer time. For a tournament it usually takes only 2 -3 keepers to win. But as I traveled the length of this shelf I saw probably a dozen keepers. I fished far infront of the boat with small shakey head worms, senko, finesse jigs, topwaters, flukes, trick worms, crankbaits... etc... What do you like to do when the water is clear and the fish are just plain ignorant to eating anything? So what do you think? Thanks

First, I am not the GREAT CHARLIE MOORE, I just got the nickname from my friends because I talk about fishing so much.. I just threw in the pic. and the catch phrase at the bottom for kicks. -Name: Wilton (Wil) Houchens II -Age: 17 -Location: Western Kentucky -Current Employment: High School Student (Senior) Piano Instructor and Accompanist in a Major Creative Arts Center Accompanist for High School Choir Wedding Pianist Semi - Concert Pianist Full Time Pianist - Hillcrest Baptist Church -Former Employment: 4 years mowing House Sitting KBF Observer -Objective: To fish in the BASS Pro Circuit -Tournament Fishing Past 2004: Adult Club Tournament Opens 2005: President of Western Kentucky Jr. Bassmaster Chapter 2005: 5th Place in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Rough River 2005: 2nd Place in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Cave Run 2005: 4th Place in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Barkley Lake 2005: Big Fish Finish in Jr. KBF Qualifier Tournament at Barkley Lake 2005: 3rd Place Angler Of the Year ~ State of Kentucky 2006: President of Western KY Jr. Bassmasters 2006: 5th Place Anlger of the Year ~ State of Kentucky 2006: 2nd Place in State Championship at Rough River Lake Etc..... WHY? Growing up in Western KY, I have been fortunate to have the Kentucky and Barkley Lakes to my availability. Two great fisheries, known for their abilities to produce HUGE limits. I started fishing in tournaments heavily when I was 15, but already had some experience in fishing the adult tournament, I knew what I was up against and stood ready to take the blow, entering into the world of competitive bass fishing. In fishing with the Western KY Jr. Bassmasters, I have learned a lot. Starting with no teachers, and little help, I quickly was able to climb from last, to the high end of the food chain. Since I do live a pretty good drive from the lakes, I have learned to spend at least a little of every day, in a farm pond or cattle pond, to learn new and develop my prior fishing techniques. This, I believe, has been the major key to my success. After witnessing my rise to the top, some companies have already taken the opprotunity to enlist me as a company member. As of this year I have decided to really pursue fishing, and by choosing to do so, I have decided to fish the KBF as a non-boater. As a non-boater I believe I will have the most opprotunity to learn, expand, and become known more than I ever have before. I have learned not to become comfortable sitting near the top. I have witnessed many people take the plunge after becoming comfortable with their position, and mentally becoming cocky. For all of my sponsors, I wear their logos, and promote them in anyway I can, whether it be suggesting their product in a Forum, standing in a Wal-mart isle telling my success stories to other fisherman, or speaking on stage after a tournament. I definitely try my best to make my sponsors happy by using what I have available. I am trying hard to make a good/ well known name for myself in the fishing world. What? 1. I don't ask for money to help me with my tournaments. 2. I look for new and old products to try, and the ability to be able to contact my sponsorer to review and comment on their product(s). 3. I'm not looking to have a free ride or to get in over my head. I would rather be upgraded with time based on my performance. If you would like more information you can email me at wphouchens@juno.com. Thank You -Wil Houchens

Hey, I'm looking for a last minute christmas gift for my dad. He loves to fish, especially for bass, but not nearly as much as myself. Anybody got any suggestion for things that might make for some good christmas gifts. Thanks -The Mad Fisherman