Olebiker

When I was marshaling for the Elite Series on Lake Seminole back in March most of the pros were throwing Chatterbaits with a swimbait used as a trailer.

Martin, that is too weird! That is exactly what happened.

Only when I was riding with Cliff Prince and we came upon a flock of coots. One of them got off the water a little slowly and zoomed past my face about six inches away.

I don't always cast at schooling fish, but when I do my first cast is always a backlash.

Lou Malnati's in Chicago. It's worth the trip to Chicago just to eat there.

They are opening in Tallahassee in a little over a month. It's on my way home from work.

Years ago my father and I were on Taylorsville Lake in Kentucky. It was shortly after dawn and we had already caught a few fish on a flat just below a hillside. There was a light mist coming off the water and a beagle hound was running a rabbit on the hill above us. Dad turned around and grinned at me and said, "I wonder what Jesus is doing with the boys He doesn't love this morning." The theology may have been a little questionable but I knew exactly how he felt.

One of my daughters here in Tallahassee is trying to get a house built. They have been working with a builder for months and it takes repeated calls to the guy to get him to do anything. Seems like it was just yesterday they were begging for work.

A few guys have tried it but it was just to difficult to try to manage the travel logistics, the wear and tear on the angler's body, and the time away from family.

Texposed, weightless. I also fish them wacky style with a weedless hook when I want something a little less subtle.

Most of my Carolina rigging is done in water less than 20 feet deep that has some sort of wood on it. I use 5/8 oz. Mojo Carolina rig weights since they come through the cover more easily and I don't get hung up as much:

Every time I have occasion to use a Motorguide I wonder how the company stays in business. Everyone I have ever used has been noisy and the steering is imprecise compared to a Minn Kota. I have an MK Maxxum 80 pound coming.

7 pounds 6 ounces on Lake Talquin, September 30, 2007. Skipped a green 5" Senko up under some overhanging trees.

We have a sporting goods shop here in Tallahassee, Kevin's, that carries a good selection of bass tackle and will match Tackle Warehouse prices. The guys that work in the fishing section are knowledgeable and friendly. Academy Sports just opened here and when I first went in a gentleman who said he is responsible for the fishing departments in this part of the country asked a couple of us what they didn't have that they needed to carry. We used to have a Sportsman's Warehouse that never seemed to understand that concept. They stocked the store as if they were in the Pacific Northwest. They didn't last a year. When I first moved to Tallahassee over twenty years ago I did a lot of bicycling. There was a shop that treated everyone as if they were criminals trying to shoplift the whole store. Until the day they went out of business I tried to explain to the owner that he was running people off with that attitude.

After practicing all day for a tournament without catching anything I am prone to say, "Well, I eliminated a lot of water today."

I fish out of a Heritage Redfish 14 right now since I fish for both bass and saltwater species. If I was going to buy a bass-only kayak it would be a Wilderness Systems Ride 11.5. It is wide enough that you can stand in it. The seat is very adjustable fore and aft and the boat is built so that the water drains away from the seat.

Had a tournament Saturday on Lake Talquin, just outside Tallahassee. It's the middle of summer and it has been hot as blue blazes so I figured I was in like Flint when I drew a partner who is a whiz at Carolina rigging the ledges. We were fishing out of his boat and he told me to bring two rods: a Carolina rig and a back-up Carolina rig. We went to Hurricane Ledge first thing. He had caught ten bass on ten casts there one morning last week. We fished it for about 90 minutes with no strikes at all. We then started a milk run of five or six spots and finally, after noon, he caught two fish and I caught one. We got to the weigh-in and found that the guys who had done well had caught them shallow, in the lily pads. Whouda thunk it??!! I got thinking about it and remembered that the water temperature started out at 84 degrees and topped out at about 88. This time of the year it is normally well into the 90s. We have been getting afternoon thunderstorms just about every day and it looks like the fish were taking advantage of that highly oxygenated water up shallow. I'll just have to add that set of circumstances to my data bank.

I loved it when folks realized "oh yeah, it's Ode to Joy we need to stand up."

You can catch bass on Zoom Horny Toad type frogs any time and place you would catch them on a buzz bait.

If the kayak did not come with an anchor trolley get one. They are simple to install and, in my experience, priceless.

I have one and it is just great. Installation is very simple and straightforward. If I can do it, anyone can. I had it on the console at first and moved it to the bow when I bought a side imaging unit. The two units are Interlinked.

The first time I took my father's old Bass Tracker on Lake Talquin I was idling away from the dock watching the depth finder. I was amazed at the quality of the images I was getting and was surprised at how deep the water was. About that time, in 22 feet of water, I ran into a stump. It took me a few minutes to figure out that the depthfiinder was in "demo" mode. I was sure glad I was alone.

Tallahassee Bass Anglers license plate on the front of the truck, Humminbird, Falcon Rods, and B.A.S.S. stickers in the rear window, caved in license plate in the rear from hitting it with the trailer while hooking up the boat.

I have always fished a Skinny Dipper type bait with a weighted hook but I have a little trouble with getting a consistent hookup. Cliff Prince used a swim jig head with the swimbait and didn't miss a single fish with that technique.

I have to get better about proof reading. It was Cliff Prince.