LApanic

After placing 4th in our last club tournament for the year on Lake Mitchell this weekend, I made the top 10 and am going to our club classic. I've never fished these waters this time of year, and thought the good folks on the forum could help with some info to get me pointed in the right direction on fishing these waters. Whether it's past experiences, techniques or lure selection...any info would help this 3yo tournament angler. **The lake/river and even landing will be determined the night before. These are my home waters, so I'm not going in completely blind. For what it's worth. I drop shotted (first time) 11 lbs of spots on Mitchell today to bump me from 11th to 10th...by a margin of 1.5 lbs. Today was an awesome day, since I've never fished Mitchell or thrown a drop shot....all the stars aligned!

A lot of people have been in your shoes including myself. My background in bass fishing was spotty hear and there till I was 17 or 18. I fished small creeks and farm ponds for pan fish and catfish 90% of the time and gradually started getting into the CHALLENGE of bass fishing still fishing ponds and the occasional small boat lake trip till I was 26. Then I got married. Just so happened my father in law had been a member of a 30-40 person bass club he help start in the mid 70s. After we got married I fished more often with him, tournament style but still fun fishing. I gathered a couple plueger bait casters with rods for 75-100 bucks for the combo. I met a few guys from the club of elders, to be honest. The couple guys ranging from 40-65 yo, made me feel comforable and just fish. I didn't have to live up to the feeling that I needed 12-15 rods, bundles of tackle and honey holes. I still dont have a boat and been fishing non boater for 4 years in the club. I acquired a total of 6 rods and reels and enough tackle to catch fish, nothing tremendous by any means. What I acquired the most that helped was knowledge from fishing on the back of the boat with guys that have been fishing competively for 20-30 years. Become a human sponge and just learn and don't overdue anything. I think my lack of a boat has helped in a way that I can fish a tournament day fully focused on fishing and not boat issues, gas and all the things that come along with owning a boat. Its my 4th year in the club and feel like I can compete and climbed to the top 10 this year to fish our classic, which was my goal for the year. Don't get me wrong, the long 8-9 hour days of hard fishing can beat you down the first 3-4 tournaments, especially if your not catching a lot if any fish. Before you know if you will be enjoying fishing because your putting what you've learned into it and catch a paycheck or a decent weigh in. Next thing you know, you will be waking up at 2-3am on Saturday...freaking amped to fish...then you're hooked. Whether I fished on a larger scale later in life, I will always fish in a club and will enjoy a day on the water, good or bad. Hope my experience helps

Ok.....my go to/favorite worm is definitely a Zoom U-Vibe Speed Worm, Green Pump or Junebug Red. BUT...my favorite lure to catch fish on is most definitely a spook style/walking topwater. The rhythmic retrieve on a long casts....... and the strikes are like nothing else!

check this vid out with Scroggins and the DH

Still works, but needs tuning....going to do that soon!

I picked up several antique (to me) rods and reels. I picked them up for a song and was wanting to see what you guys/gals may know about them as far as age, usage and value. I think the short rods with light line might be for ice fishing but have no idea. The reel is a Penn Peerless No. 9 Pretty cool anyways

Exactly, Im all about C&R and do it 95% of time. Even if I catch a 10#er one day, I will measure the girth, length and take several photos and get the taxidermist to replicate as best as possible, and let it keep on growing. BTW...if you do that in Florida there is a cash or some kinda incentive the state gives you in you do the fore mentioned. It's funny that i'm just reading this post, because i'm about to, scale, gut and pan fry 15 or so 1lb bass. They needed to be harvested out of a friends pond to make the big bass population flourish and not get stunted...that's no fun catch 20 fish, all 1lbers all day. Anyway any marine biologist of pond/lake management person will tell you the same. But back to how I like to eat my bass, which I enjoy. Filleted, cut into chunks, dredge in a mix of Flour, cormill, old bay and salt and pepper. Place mixed dry stuff in good Ziplock and toss in half a dozen, give or take and give it a shake.....then straight into 2" of peanut oil in a iron skillet until golden brown.

All good ideas and info. keep the input coming! Full Disclosure: I'm a web developer and avid fisherman that's in the process of "scratching my own itch" and am in the early stages of planning and development of a web app to simplify the entry process and retrieval process via web browser or mobile device of choice. It will start out as a free user registration tool and be fully featured....More info to come in early to mid 2014

Agreed! Met Chris Lane, January 2013 at Guntersville Baptist Church. My grandad is a pastor there and introduced me to him dressed in his Sunday's best. we had a nice chat and talked about how he really enjoys fishing one of local lakes, Lake Seminole. Pretty cool to see Chris out of the spotlight, dressed up and walking into the church service

For a year or more now, I've done a little research via web articles on keeping a Fishing Log. Bass Edge's podcast, The Edge, talk about Journals they keep and it's pretty in-depth. With that said, I'd like to get some input from the forum on; 1. Do you keep a log, 2: What information you enter, that might differ from the standard log, and lastly what are some best practices/tips/tricks you use to manage and keep good records for future use. Being a techy kinda guy, I want to build a spreadsheet or digital log since that would be easier for me to enter info, retrieve info and save time that it takes to hand write in journals, etc. Any input, etc is greatly appreciated! P.S. Just FYI...I fish competitively on the local level in partner/pot tournaments, draw style club tournaments and of course pond fishing, county lakes, etc when "fun" fishing being a non-boater in tournaments.

That is the exact Rod I throw for buzz frogs on mats, pads, really any vegitation

^^my sentiments exactly

I would have NEVER landed that 6# in my Avatar if it wasn't for Braid!.... throwing a CottonCordell Crazy Shad Prop bait

Wow, guys/gals the responses have been kinda a-typical from what I expected, and see why one poster called the forums heavy "braid/PowerPro" users. I am one myself so I guess that makes me typical, lol The reason I posted the topic was to really see how I was using it compared to others using the same techniques, some different and experiences. Here is my standard issue setup for almost 90% of my fishing, club tournaments, ponds, etc. Quantum 7:1 on a Veritas 7'6" MH - 50# PowerPro (Mossy Green) Flipping/Pitching C-Rig (fluorocarbon leader) Buzz Frog Buzz Bait Swim Jigs A-Rig (very light) BPS ProQ 7:1 on Shimano Sojurn 7' M - 50# PowerPro (Green of course) Walking the dog's Hollow Body frogs 90% of T-Rigging (normally NO leader unless the water's clear) Soft Jerkbaits (14# Sunline FC 24" leader) etc 3rd Tournament Setup same as last ^^^ Plueger Echelon 6:3:1 on Fenwick 7' MH - 15# Seaguar InvisX Crank baits (larger) Spinnerbaits Some Jigs (finesse) etc Quantum Tour Edition PT on Allstar 6'6" Medium - 14# P-Line Copolymer Smaller Plugs (2-4ft) Square Bills etc. Plueger President Med Size spinning - Quantum 7' M - 20# PowerPro (green again) 10% of T-Rigging (ponds, deeper water, finesse) Secondary Soft Jerkbait/Jerkbait Rod **Most all the time have 18"-24" 12# FC leader for applications above All in all, i'm catching fish and am confident in what I use. I do fish a lot of grass lakes/ponds so i'm comfortable and confident in these setups and that plays a big role!

Well, I feel like a dumba**, here's the listing I paid for and will return, but have a feeling it will get drawn out in the eBay/PayPal proceedings http://www.ebay.com/itm/380665911637?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#rpdId

Not to well, had 13#'s on the first day (10 fish limit) and about the same the second. A little over 32# for two days won, we caught to many spots and not enough largemouths

Small world! Lake Tollochoa (sp?) on base at Ft. Rucker is a small impoundment with some bigger bass!

Welcome and enjoy!

Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier, you wont be disappointed! Have 2 of them. Go with the 7:1:1, I think a faster retrieve is better IN MOST situations http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Pro-Qualifier-Baitcast-Reels/product/102287/?cmCat=CROSSSELL_THUMBNAIL

I haven't and your probably right, I just think HVY when I think Flipping (Big Stick) Rod

A Lew's Tournament MG, or Abu Garcia Revo SX