1st Cast Fishing Lures

In the world of fishing, there are so many baits/lures to choose from.  The question is, which one to choose and when do you use it?  If you have put any time at all on the water chasing your favorite prey, you know what I am talking about.  I have said before that I have at least 3 favorite techniques that I use, Cranking, Jigs, Texas rigged soft plastics.

I have my opinion about what the perfect bait is, but I would be really interested in hearing what you think.  I like a bait that can be used in more than one technique or situation.  I am not necessarily talking about color here.  I am talking about taking a soft plastic like a Beaver Craw and using it as a Jig trailer or Texas rigging it.  Of using a Trick Stick weightless Texas rigged and then Wacky rigging it with a jig head, either fishing shallow or deep.  Take a Brush Bug and Texas rig it with a 3/8 oz weight then turn around and through it on a Carolina rig.

Just click on the pictures above for a better view.

Until next time, Keep Fishing!

When you are preparing to fish a tournament or even just head out for the weekend there are several things you should do before you ever hook up the boat and head out.  Many are obvious such as making sure that everything in and on the boat is in good working order.  Re-tie your lines and prepare all of your tackle, know what the local regulations are… you pretty much get the picture. 

When tournament fishing there is one piece of preparation that I never slack on and I would suggest that if you want to be a better fisherman and make productive use of your time that you do the same.  It doesn’t matter if it is a lake that I have been to many times or a body of water that I have never seen I still practice this.

 FIND THE BEST MAPS AVAILABLE AND STUDY THEM.  You can save yourself a lot of time and money by studying your maps before you ever leave the house.  You can eliminate a lot of water depending on the time of year and current conditions with the use of a map.  Why fish the flats with a spinner bait if the bass have already headed toward the summer depths.  If you need to find the next drop off from 5 to 10 feet on a point, then your map is the way to go.  These are also excellent record keepers.  Make notes on them when you do find the fish or that secret brush pile.  These days GPS has taken a major role in that area, but we all know that we don’t always fish out of our own boats and unless you want everyone to have your spots marked on their GPS, then take your map.

 There are many good maps available these days.  Look for the one that you like the best and make the investment.

This is just one thing you can do to make your time on the water more enjoyable and productive.

The 2009 Bassmaster Tournament Trail Schedule has been released, and for those following we wanted to make sure that you had your calenders clear for the following dates. We are hoping to keep you up to date with specific information about the tournaments as thy near so stay tuned for what will be a what looks like a great tournament schedule.

Bassmaster Classic
Bassmaster Classic 2009
02/20/2009 - 02/22/2009
Red River, Shreveport-Bossier City, LA

Elite Series
Battle on the Border
03/12/2009 - 03/15/2009
Lake Amistad, Del Rio, Tx

Elite Series
Diamond Drive
03/26/2009 - 03/29/2009
Lake Dardanelle, Russellville, AR

Read the rest of this entry »

Lake of the Ozarks is one of the prime lakes in Missouri that you can test yourself on when it comes to bass fishing. The rewards can be outstanding. This lake is one of the best producing fisheries in the country which is why so many of the National and local tournament trails have their events here each year. There is an excellent chance that your 1st cast could be a 5 pounder. You can find all kinds of tournaments available to you on this great body of water. From the Crappie tournaments to National level B.A.S.S events.

If you are in the area and want to give it a shot, here is a tournament you should consider:

Lewis Boats

Marine Sales & Service

Bass Tournament

Lake of the Ozarks

Saturday October 18th 2008

Coffman Beach Ramp

Take-off 7:00a.m. - Weigh-in 3:00 p.m.

(Buddy/Team Format)

Entry forms available at: www.lewisboatsales.com

Or click on this link for more information: Lewis Boats Bass Tournament

I am sure that you will enjoy Lake of the Ozarks no matter if you decide to test yourself at one of the open tournaments like the Lewis Tournament or just take the weekend and catch a few.

We will have more information covering Missouri Lakes and Tournaments in future articles.

Opens TournamentCentral Open 2

• Central Division
• 09/25/2008 - 09/27/2008
• Kentucky Lake, Paris, TN

Southern Open 3

• Southern Division
• 10/16/2008 - 10/18/2008
• Lake Guntersville, Guntersville, AL

Central Open 3

• Central Division
• 10/30/2008 - 11/01/2008
• Lake Texoma, Denison, TX

Women’s Bassmaster Tour Tournament

WBT Stop 4

• 09/18/2008 - 09/20/2008
• Clarks Hill Lake, Evans, GA

2008 WBT Championship

• 10/23/2008 - 10/25/2008
• Lake Hamilton, Hot Springs, AR

Oneida Lake - Syracuse, N.Y.
August 7-10, 2008

Onieda Lake, a smallmouth bass paradise and the location of another Champion’s Choice bass tournament known for large bronzebacks. Previous tournament members brought home big largemouth bass with swimming frogs and other bass fishing tubes. This years Empire Chase may force anglers to make the same decision and go straight for the larger catch of the bigger largemouth bass as apposed to the plentiful small mouth in Onieda Lake. Predictions point towards a tough, competitive tournament this years as fishing had been slow in few days proceeding the tournament start.