Dock Fishing

After fishing the BFL on Saturday we headed up to Orlando to visit some of my family who were in town from Washington. Orlando was only an hour away so Tanya and I drove up to meet my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins who were spending a few weeks there. Sunday we went to visit my great uncle who lived in the area. I was excited to hear that he lived on a lake and had a dock in front of his house...I was thinking how I would try to sneak away and fish for a bit.

The day was kind of dreary with a little wind and rain that would stop and start just enough to keep the sun from coming out. Tanya and I kept looking out the window at the lake and finally decided to grab our rods and start fishing. I couldn't believe what happened when we started. Tanya got one on her frog on her first cast. As she was reeling it in, I caught one on a 5" Mizmo Quiver Stick in Green Pumpkin. Both of us caught one on our first cast, I have never seen anything like it. I ended up catching quite a few on the Quiver Stick, with most of them being in the 1-2 pound range. I tried using some other lures, like a spinnerbait, topwater, and even a swimbait, but the fish didn't want to chase anything that day. I was basically casting the bait out and letting it sit for a long period of time, and then slowly bringing it in a few feet.

The best part of the day was watching my cousin Jack catch his own bass. After we started catching them, everyone came out and wanted to try. Jack was using the same bait and caught this bass, the biggest bass he has ever caught. I really enjoy showing other people how to catch fish, especially kids. The fishing was pretty good that day and we able to get two other kids to catch a bass.

What fishing trip would be complete without a story of the one that got away. I had one hooked that was close to 5 pounds, and had it most of the way in before it came loose. My aunt got this great pic of the fish jumping.

Talk about disappointing...

Well Saturday was the BFL tournament on the Kissimmee River I have been looking forward to for weeks. Everything was going to be perfect, and I was supposed to be bringing home a big check and even bigger trophy. But things didn't work out as I had hoped.

Friday I arrived at the Wal-Mart parking lot for the BFL registration and tournament pairings meeting. I saw a few friends and anxiously waited for my name to be called so I could meet my partner for the tournament and then head to the hotel to try to get some sleep. I was paired up with a great fisherman, he had finished 2nd in the last two events there...so he knows what he's doing. He said we would catch fish, and that they will bite whatever you feel like throwing. This is the best scenario for a co-angler, a great draw who is on fish.

Saturday morning was windy from the start....I never feel great about the day ahead when the wind is blowing at 5 a.m., because chances are its only gonna get worse....and it did. We launched and made the run to Lake Toho, which is about 30 mins. This includes driving through Lake Kissimmee, Lake Hatch-ineha, and Cypress Lake and then locking through a dam. I was excited to go fish Toho, this is the site of Dean Rojas and his 45lb 2 oz bag in 2001...that's a 9 pound average!

I fished hard all day and was only able to catch two tiny keepers, and weighed in 2lbs 1oz. I caught my "hawgs" on a Secret Weapon 3/8oz QuickStrike Spinnerbait in Chart/White with one gold and one silver willow blade. I have to be thankful I caught anything, it was windy and tough to fish out there. My partner for the day did good, he caught a 8lb fish in the morning with 4 other keepers and ended up getting a check. I ended up finishing in 52nd place out of 95. I dropped a few places in the points and am now in 25th, which is still well in the range of qualifying for the regionals this fall.

Getting ready for the BFL Tournament

Saturday is the 3rd BFL Tournament in the Everglades Division. We will be fishing the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes going out of Camp Mack. I am currently in 20th place in points on the Co-Angler Side after two decent finishes (22nd and 36th). I am hoping to move up to the Top 5 after the season completes in September, so I need to continue to catch fish at every stop. The goal for every angler fishing the BFL's is to make the regionals and eventually qualify for the All-American, which is the best you can do fishing as a "weekend angler". I made it all the way in 2002, and I'm desperate to get back there.

Tournament prep is one of my favorite things to do; it's fun, relaxing and really makes you think about your bait selections. Since I am fishing as a co-angler, I really need to narrow my baits down and only take the necessities. I take no more than 6 rods and have a small tackle bag which will hold everything I need. I am not like some co-anglers who take everything they own. I believe the less I take, the more focused I will be. Since I decided "less is best", I have seen my fishing improve and have made alot more Monday trips to the bank to cash tournament checks.

I narrowed my baits to the essentials:

1. 7 ft Medium Action Spinning rod with 10lb fluorocarbon - Black worm on an Owner weedless wacky hook, rigged wacky style about 1/3 down the bait.
2. 6ft 6 in Medium Action Casting Rod with 15lb fluorocarbon- Lethal Weapon II Swim Jig in Black/Blue with a double tail trailer.
3. 6ft 6 in Medium Heavy Action Casting Rod with 15lb monofilament - 4" Tru-Tungsten Tru-life Swimbait in the bluegill color.
4. 6ft 8 in Medium Heavy Action Casting Rod with 15lb fluorocarbon - Mizmo 5" Diamond Darter Fluke in Watermelon/Red Flake with a 3/16 oz tungsten weight.
5. 7ft 2 in Heavy Action Casting Rod with 15lb fluorocarbon - Weightless Green Pumpkin Mizmo 5" Quiver Stick
6. 7ft 1 in Heavy Action Casting Rod with 50lb braid - Snag Proof Bobby's Perfect Frog in black.

After looking at the baits, I began questioning myself. How could I go to Kissimmee without a rattletrap tied on? Am I crazy? Maybe I need to put fresh line on this rod....

I decided to let them stay the way they are. I can always change baits in a few seconds if I have to.

Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Classic

The Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic is a great event that people look forward to every year. Last weekend I spent some time at the Fort Myers BPS on behalf of Snag Proof. I love talking fishing so this event was great. My main goal for the weekend was to answer questions about the baits and suggest products that work in the area. One thing I often forget is that Florida is a tourist state...so not everyone lives here. This turned out to be really neat, since I was able to talk to people from Midwestern and Eastern states and even a few from Canada. The great thing is, Snag Proof frogs work in all of these places.

I had a great time at Bass Pro and look forward to working with them in the future. They have a great staff and carry the baits we need. I also enjoyed showing the frogs to the young fisherman who have never used them. I'm sure they are going to have fun with those frogs the next time they go out fishing. One of the most popular baits at the table was the Wiggle Wog. Bass Pro doesn't carry them and some people were disappointed. I'm really surprised more people aren't carry this bait, its really cool.

Weekend Shore Fishing

Florida is great...because there is water everywhere. I had a weekend with no tournaments, so yesterday Tanya and I headed over to Cape Coral to fish the canal systems that run through the city. There are over 400 miles of canals that wind their way through the residential areas...and they are all full of bass. One unseen benefit of the massive foreclosures in our area, is that most of the abandoned houses and unfinished lots are now clear for people to fish.

We had a great time fishing. It was really windy but we still ended up catching close to 10 bass in a few hours.

We would fish one spot for a few minutes then just drive until we found another good looking spot. Before we headed out in the morning, I thought the Lethal Weapon II Swim Jig would catch them pretty good and it did. I caught quite a few fish on the 1/4 oz model in Black and Blue with a 4" Yamamoto Double Tail in Color #157 as a trailer. I targeted all the shady spots right past the weed lines, and would let it drop in those areas. Most of the time the fish would hit it immediately after it reached the shade. I am really starting to like fishing the swim jig, it's not something I did much when I was living in Washington, but I'm sure it would have worked well up there too.

Tanya was determined to catch a fish on a frog since she has never caught one on the Snag Proof frogs I love so much. She has had plenty of blowups in her time, but has never been able to hook up. Once she tied it on, she didn't stop throwing it and got her first fish on the 1/4 oz Pro-Series Tournament Frog in black.

She was ecstatic and is now hooked.

After that I wanted to get one on a frog so I started using the same little black frog. I got a huge blowup on the first cast I made across the canal to the shade of a tree..I thought "YES...they are gonna be eating this thing today". I quickly made another cast to the same spot and my frog just disappeared, no big splash or boil, just a missing frog. This happens all the time, sometimes they just barely suck it under. I waited until I felt him and set it good. The fish was a healthy four pounds..not bad for fishing the shore.

Overall it was a great day of fishing, we didn't have to go far or spend much money on gas or expenses and we still had fun.