Randall

We have been catching fish this size almost everyday on trickworms and topwaters.

Here is Jerry's buddy Roger who said he hated fishing at Varner becase he could never catch any fish there but would come give it a try. Its now Roger's favorite lake. ;D

Here is Jerry (aka the guy whos dad lives on the big point up the right arm) I took him and a buddy out and we caught some hawgs. Here is Jerry fishing right in his dads back yard so we could call his dad and show him some big fish. ;D

Here is Doghouse with a big fish from last week.

Varner fish are now spawning and post spawn. Since there are a lot of fish that are just now starting to spawn and a bunch of fish that spawned over a month ago in mid to late March fishing has been great for big topwater and wake style swimbait fish as well as fishing for big ones in spawning areas. Most of the topwater fish have been three to five pounds with a real big one here and there. We have had a couple of days with best five on just topwater over twenty pounds. There are still a lot of big fish in the six to over ten pound range still spawning and I am guessing it should continue for a couple more weeks before they are all finished. When the topwater fish will not strike which hasn't been very often I have been catching alot of fish on trickworms in less than seven feet of water. Best baits for spawning fish have been Mattlures Bluegill and a 1/2 oz white jig. We have also been catching some big catfish on beds which at times has been the best action of the day. Its not much different than sight fishing for bass with the exception that the catfish are much more aggressive and bite better when on beds. Best bait for the big cats has been a white jig fished around visible cleared out beds or holes in the banks where the big cats like to spawn. Photo below is a big cat that fought so hard it got a kiss before retruning to the water. ;D

You should be fine with either but I prefer 40lb braid.

Trickworm on a light splitshot rig or jighead and trickworm. Catches numbers and still catches bigger fish and produces in almost all conditions. It the closest thing you will find but a sure fire bait don't exist.

I don't add one because fish eat the whole bait most of the time. I am usually fishing for big fish with it so if it can't eat it it isn't worth catching ;D. I have caught two pounders on it without the treble.

You can throw Matt's baits on heavy action rods or most medium heavy rods that lean to the heavy side. I use an old 7 foot Mitchell Fulcrum heavy action rod which is no longer being made. If you are looking to save money any heavy or medium heavy that is rated for 1oz or better baits that has plenty of back bone but some bend most of the way down the blank will work. You want some bend pretty far down the blank to keep the fish from throwing the baits. I don't like rods with a fast tip for swimbaits. If you want to spend around $100 dollars you can just buy an Okuma Guide Select rod and you can use it to throw other larger swimbaits as well if you get the ones rated for larger baits. Another rod that I think would work well with Matt's baits for a little less is the Bionic Blade that is on sale at Bass Pro Shops for around $55 dollars right now. Get one of the models rated for two ounces and you should be fine.

Not sure what happened without seeing it happen but a big bass can clamp down on a crankbait so hard that a wimpy cranking rod and stretchy line will not be able to move the bait in the mouth of a big fish to set the hook. My solution to this is to not use a crankbait rod but use a heavy action graphite rod and a loose drag. When the fish hits the bait the drag will slip a little allowing the fish to get the bait well. Then you put your thumb on the spool of the baitcaster and set the hook hard with a sweeping motion then release the spool and let the fish take drag. When you want to put more pressure on the fish put your thumb back on the spool. When you want to give a little line take it off. Takes some practice but it works.

Renegade sunglasses at walmart. Less than five dollars . Might not be the best for my eyes but I can see more fish with them than anything else I have tried. If I scratch them or lose them I buy another pair with no worry.

I am looking for someone who can make or tell me how to make a shakey style head that can be used in the grass. Best one I have found so far is the Spot Stalker jighead that can be seen at www.unclejosh.com. They are perfect for how I fish them but, they cost alot , I use a bunch of them and they will not sell them in bulk for less. Anyone here make anything like a Spot Stalker. Looking for 1/8 and 1/16 oz heads with a 60 degree bend.

Thanks. Now go and find a big one. People are going to think I taught you how to snag dinks. LOL ;D

I know I have said this before but I cringe everytime I see one of those jigheads on a rod. I just see it as a lost fish or missed hookset waiting to happen. Regular ball head like a Shakey Head or Spotsticker with no spring keeper will hook and land more fish. If you need a stand up head with a good size hook try a Spot Stalker jighead at www.unclejosh.com.

Can't believe you left out the best parts. ;D It was a pleasure fishing with both of you. Thanks again. Great photos. I didn't even know you had that one of me hung on the bottom.

Fishing at Varner has been good over the past week. Last weekend Doghouse and myself placed third in a two day tournament. We caught all of our fish except one sight fishing with jigs. We were over four pounds behind after a tough first day where we broke off and lost a big fish that would have won it twice. We came back with a big sack on the second day around twenty pounds but were still around a pound short. We had been on a roll winning tournaments and our luck had to run out sooner later. :'( I was on the lake everyday this week and we got a least a six pound or better fish every day except one. There are big fish on beds now all over the lake and big fish cruising the shallows looking for bedding areas. We have a full moon coming up this week which will bring another big wave of fish shallow and on beds. The best baits for these bigger fish have been Matt's bluegill and white jigs. Also some of the fish that spawned in March/early April have recovered and are starting to feed again. Senkos and trickworms fished in postspawn areas have been the best baits so far for these fish but a great topwater bite could start any day. I also got to fish with Burley and Beast from this site on Saturday. It was nice to meet and fish with two guys from here. They were a pleasure to fish with and Beast caught a beast of a fish. ;D I would tell the story but I will let them tell it. They have a bunch of photos so look for their post in the next couple of days. The photo is four of our fish we caught last Sunday in the tournament. I believe our biggest fish was just short of eight pounds.

Thanks everyone. Now I have a problem. I have caught my fifteen so what do I do now? I have been after a fifteen for years. Good problem to have I guess. ;D

OK , You guys here get to see it first. ;D Got the pic just a little while ago. I had a few more but my camera broke on the wrong day. The fish was 15lbs 12oz and around 31 or 32 inches long. It was caught on a Mattlures Bluegill just below the surface in twelve feet of water. After looking at the tail I am guessing she is spawned out and maybe a post spawn fish. We were fishing in the AM and only catching a few smaller fish and the wind came up to over twenty MPH with gusts to over forty mph. So I tell the guy I am with who's name is Benny Shiver that since its nasty out and tough to catch fish I will teach him how I target bigger fish and even if we don't catch anymore he will learn something about the habits of bigger fish and what kind of structure to find them on as we go back toward the ramp before it gets real bad. We stop at what I call one of my ten pounder holes and Benny is casting a rattletrap and I am casting Matt's Bluegill. I am actually having to cast the bait and judge the wind to get any accuracy with it since the flat sides are catching plenty of wind. Benny's rod loads up with a big fish on his first cast but the hooks pull free. On about my third cast I see a shadow coming just below the waves and it takes the bluegill about five feet from the boat. I set the hook hard and hit the thumb bar on the reel to release the spool so the fish don't rip off as it dives under the boat. With some slack in the line I put the rod tip down to get the line under the boat and under the trolling motor and turn to the other side to tighten up on the fish and it's still there so I start reeling and it jumps one time. I see the bait in the mouth of the fish deep so I bring the fish to the boat before it can jump again. Benny nets the fish perfectly. Thanks Benny. We put the fish in the live well and regain control of the boat. The fish will not fit in my livewell since the back of the fish is higher than the water. I call Doghouse and tell him something like, "I don't know how big it is but it's at least 13lbs but could be 15lbs". We pull up to the most protected place we can find in the lake to get at least out of the waves and weigh the fish. The scale was bouncing as high as 16lbs but finally settled on 15lbs 12oz. We measured with an eighteen inch golden rule and decided it was over 31 inches long. I thought about having it certified since it would beat the certified lake record of 15lbs 8oz but my livewell wasn't big enough to keep the fish alive for sure and I weighed a 16lb 8oz bass for a guy there a few years ago so even though it would be the certified lake record I would still know it wasn't really the biggest fish ever caught out of the lake. I had a witness and photos and thats enough for me so I released the fish to be caught again. I look at the pic and it don't do the fish justice. This fish was thick as well as long and I still can't get over how big the eyes were. Thank's to Benny for the job with the net and taking the photos. Also thanks to Matt for making a great bait. In a week and a few days I have caught two eleven pounders, and eight pounder, and a this monster all on Matt's bluegills.

Doghouse and myself fished a tournament Saturday at Lake Horton. We had already decided before the tournament we were going to go for broke and fish swimbaits all day. Fishing was slow and I did pick up a worm for a few minutes but when that gave us nothing I picked the swimbait rod back up. By around noon Doghouse had put around six fish in the boat on a swimbait and I had done a good job of netting fish. : We needed a kicker fish and I saw nothing but small fish swiming around in shallow water so we went deep and started fishing for fish suspened in standing timber and bushes in fifteen feet of water with a Mattlures Bluegill. It wasn't long until I had the fish in the photo on the way to the boat and Doghouse had to finally pick up the net. ;D It weighed over eight pounds and gave us over twenty pounds for the win and big fish. Second was around sixteen pounds and third was around fifteen pounds.

Thanks. I really don't keep count but I believe last year I caught around 20 over ten.

The reason I was using the swimming jig is that the wind was blowing to hard at times to throw a fluke very well so I was fishing the swimming jig much like you would a fluke with jerks and then letting it fall. It had a white skirt and a fluke as a trailer. I was imitating a bait fish swimming over beds. The swim jig I use is 1/2oz with a head that makes it plane out in the water and kind of glide. It was heavy enough to throw in the wind but the head gave it a slower gliding action. Only other time I really use it much is over shallow grass in much the same way.

One more.

Another good one.

Went out today at Varner despite the gusts of 30-35 MPH wind. It was tough holding the boat in one spot or even getting anchors to hold in place. It was worth fighting the wind all day since the big ones were biting. We used swimbaits and swimjigs almost all day and caught the fish in the photos and a few more not photographed. Got my second 11lber in less than a week. I am windburned and half the skin on my thumb is gone but it was worth it .

Here is one more photo of eight year old Parker who I fished with Saturday with one of the fish he caught.