John Cullum

Thats one of the things that attracted me to Grandt Rods was the warranty. You gotta cover shipping but its not a bad deal over all.

It happens from time to time with all rod companies. At least you didnt have to pay full retail to replace it. What does thier warranty say about breakage?

I have a BPS,Cabelas,Gander Mountine and Dicks all within 30 minutes of me. They just built the Cabelas and BPS within the last year around 25 minutes away from eachother same expressway.

If the clock is ticking away and the box is empty I tend to speed everything up. I put the trolling motor on high and tie on a Big "O" crankbait of a Nicoles spinnerbait. I'm looking for a reaction strike. If they fish aren't feeding you can still get a bite or two from bass that bite out of reaction or anger. Chances are I've already slowed way down during the course of the day and worked ever piece of cover I could find. In my experiance most people will slow way down with a jig or tube and that my work for some. But speeding up ,way up, workers more often than not when I encounter a tough bite.

150 acres is a realitively small lake so most probadly made it back home. But if you can fish around the boat ramp it's never a bad idea. Most lakes will have few boat ramp that tournies go out of so if you can't fish the one your launching from fish the others if theres any. Best advice thou, just go fishing. Do what you do best. If your a flipper then find you some flippin water or if you like docks find some docks to fish. Whatever your "style" of fishing is find some water that will allow you to be at your best. Until your fimiliar with how the lake fishes I wouldn't waste alot of time doing things you aren't real comfortable doing. Also try to avoid the dock talk. I'll only make you second guess yourself and have you fishing out of your element.

I've had times where this has happened and have thrown everything in the boat at them with no luck. So I went out and bought a few small inline spinnerbaits (Vibrex) in silver and one in blue and silver. The only time I ever use these lures are if I see fish busting shad or if I'm on the river fishing for 12 inch fish. Either situation these mostly forgotten about inline spinners work. I know it's not a typical "bass bait" but it will put fish in your livewell when the going gets tough.

I'm not sure why this is but the bass I catch seem to take a jig very well. I flip and pitch all the time and hardly ever lose a bass on a jig do to being to slow on the hook-set. I hear some of the replies saying they spit a jig very quickly but in my experiance they seem to hold on to it very well. I'm not saying they hold it like a Senko or tube but they aren't very fast about dropping it after they'd inhaled it. I do from time to time have one come unbuttoned but it is very rare losing a fish on a jig flippin and pitchin. I have been paying attention to when I set the hook on a jig lately and it seems to be between a 1.5 and 2 seconds. I have yet to feel a fish pick it up and drop it within 2 seconds. now I'm sure there may have been some that I just didn't feel but the ones that bit will hold it for at least two seconds. Next week I'm not gonna stick em' and I'm gonna see how long they will hold on to it for. Will post the results when I have some.

I fish all year round. We have some power plant cooling lakes a few hours from me that never close. So I head out there a few times a month during the winter when I'm not doing shows.

Don't set the hook as soon as you get a little bump. Bass will usually hold a jig pretty well and even longer if you add Megastrike scent to it. I know it's hard at first but give the bass a second or two before you set your hook. You may also be feeling bluegill taps and not actually bass. Bluegill will nip at a jig sometimes and you will set the hook. Do you have a rod with heavy enough action to set the hook on a jig with. If your using a lite action rod you may not be getting a 3/0-4/0 hook to penitrate thru the fishes skin resulting in lost fish. Is the hook sharp? Pratice, pratice ,pratice, keep fishing that jig, add some scent and don't give up. Jigs are an awesome bait for catching big bass.

Short fish, hardly ever. I can't recall going out and not getting at least a shorty in the last few years. On the other hand in a tourney I had a zero one time last year and one time this year in about 50 tournaments over the past three years.

The first cut on the north side after the dam has good depth against the bank and maybe some current there. You may have an eddy depending on which way the water flows which would be a bonus. Keith pointed some good stops that I would as choose to fish. Being the lake is very small you might be able to fish almost all of it. I wouldn't pass up fishing the bridge with a crankbait or grub. Fishing frogs across any duckweed or matted weeds I could find in the back of coves. Biggest question I have would be what is that dam like. Is it functioning and making current by releasing water or drawing water? If so, which way does the water flow? Looks to me like the wtaer flows west. But the map doesn't show any freeder creeks or release creek at the west end. I'm guessing at the end of one of those two coves maybe both there will be a creek. If there is current you can pretty much figure this lake out very quickly.

Denny Brauer , Aaron Martens and Jay Yelas.

I met Greg at the Kansas City Outdoor Show and I gotta tell ya. I've worked show from here in Indiana, New York, Boston, Clevelad etc and back and I've never met anyone his age that I knew would make it in this business. The kid if a prodigy. I felt as if I was talking to a guy that had been fishing for 20+ years. Greg knows his stuff when it comes to bass fishing I'm sure we'll be hearing his name again. Great job, Greg.

Thats what I like to hear. I will give them a look in the off-season when I re-stock for next year. Thanks for sharing.

Always fish with your boat going into the wind. It's harder to cast but it is more natural for the bait fish to be moving with the wind then against it. Also if your having trouble casting into the wind down size your line and use spinning gear if possible. The wind cherns up the bottom too. Exposing crawfish and other bottom creatures the bass will eat. Jigs and crawfsih colored cranks are a real good bait for windy blown rocky banks. Wind is a huge plus in clear water. It breaks up the surface and makes it harder for the fish to detect if it's artificial or not. It will also ball up the shad into a cove or creek. Anytime this happens after a few days of the same direction wind you can bet the bass and other fish will be there feeding. Baby One Minus and spinnerbaits are a good bait to use. If the wind isn't blowing to hard a Sluggo type bait is also a good choice. In the early spring wind can also be a big help. The sun is warming the surface faster than the water below. If you get a few sunny days and a stiff wind blowing the wind will move the warmer surface water to one side of the lake. Hopefully it'll blow it into a cove or bank. This water will be a few degrees warmer than the rest of the lake and that can sometimes be the differance between catching fish and not catching fish. The only condition I try to avoid the wind is in real cold,muddy water. I usually try to find a non-windy cove. The wind stains up the water that is alreay muddy making it harder to catch fish.

It couldn't hurt thats for sure. It would show your would be sponsor that you have a drive to succeed and you have dicipline in what you do. I'm not sure how much looks have to do with who gets a deal and who doesn't but it has to factor in somewhere along the line. I know if it were me and I had a few guys with equal speaking ability and fishing success it would come down to who looks the part. Who will get my consumers to notice my "guy" which is my product and which guy would just blend in.

Other, theres nothing wrong with that if he is a vegan and he eats all the weeds he's dumped in the back of my boat before they dry out. If not drop them overboard where they belong.

My non-boater turning the back of my boat in to a vegans dream. After you clean your bait of the weeds just dump them over board and not on to my carpet. Fishing partner putting anything on top of the net so you don't have easy access to it. The one I do that really ticks me off. I have a few rods over the side and I didn't leave enough space inbetween them and the lures get tangled. That wastes so much time and I swear I do it every other tourney.

I didn't boat my first bass until I was almost 18. I grew up in the city and although there were places to fish it just wasn't the "in" thing to do. When I moved to Indiana and made some new friends they they were big into fishing so I went out to Sportmart and purchased some tackle, a new casting rod and a spinning reel. Yeah thats right a casting rod and spinning reel. Got everything all set to go the night before and it never dawned on me something was wrong with my rod and reel set up. Two second after my friends pick me up the taunting and teasing began about the rod and reel not being right. After tieing a non-fishing knot on to the Pop-R I purchased fresh out of the bubble pack in which it came I casted to the middle of the backwaters. Lure in the water I decided to read the directions and try not to further the punishment I was recieving by not knowing how to work a lure. My first "POP" from the bait was my first fish a "keeper" 13 inch largemouth. That was the being of a lot of tackle, rod and reel combo buying (the right rod with reel) and boat purchases. I wish I would of started years ago when I was a kid but growing up where I grew up and with only a mom fishing wasn't a part of my childhood.

Any water deeper than 15 feet is my down fall. Most of our lakes here in Indiana are shallow and stained. So it really isn't often I fish any deeper than the shore cover to 6-8 feet. I've tried fishing the lakes we normally fish tournies on a bit deeper but have had zero luck doing so.

Ho-LEE-cow!!!!!! Way to go man!!!

Very big differance in foul hooking a fish on a spinnerbait and foul hooking a bedding fish. If a fish strikes at your lure and misses and hooks himself in the head or side or whatever it's still legal fish to be weighed in, in most states. A bedding bass MUST be hooked in the mouth to be a legal fish whether he bit the lure or not. If the fish is hooked anywhere but the mouth while sight fishing it must be released.

Megastrike is sold as a scent like all the other companies but it is a differant kind of "scent". Yes, Megastrike has a scent to it but it's made up of Amino Acids and Proteins that bass and fish in general taste on a dailey basis. It's not packed with garlic or a sweet anise Megastrike scent is a Natural scent. It's also comes in a tooth paste like tube so you use what you need. It's not in an aerosal can that spray into the wind and all over everything else and hopefully gets on your baits as well. There is very little wasted product when you use Megastrike which means your money goes further. I use it 100% of the time I fish soft plastics because I know that the fish will hold on to a bait longer if Megastrike has been applied to it. That extra second or two is a great thing when your money is on the line. One nice fish can make or break your day whether your fishing a tourney or just fun fishing. I can think of many reason to use scent and can't think of one legit reason not too.

Pan fishing I think is a little better for younger kids. It's easier most of the time to catch pan fish and it keeps them interested longer. Bass fishing isn't as easy to stay focused on if your not catching anything when your younger.

I can't really remember where I seen this at but I believe it's from a certain type of protein in the forage they eat. I can't recall what forage it was but it definatley wasn't crawfish. I believe it was in other fish they pray on shad, bluegill,minnows. The same article had the clown/colored bait theory too. It said that the reason clown colored baits were very effective around the spawn was that a fishes lips/head will turn reddish in color if it is feeding on eggs because of this certain protein. therefore the bass believe a red bait is more of a threat to thier nests and attack it. Not sure if it's true on not but it makes a little sense.