Fort Myers Bass Club - Kissimmee River

Yesterday our club fished the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes out of Camp Mack. I love fishing this place because you can choose to any of the four lakes on the chain; Kissimmee, Hatchineha, Cypress, and the famous Tohopekaliga (aka "Toho"). Yesterday we fished them all, and caught fish in each one. The picture to the right is the lock going into Toho.

I struggled most of the day and only came in with 4 small (very small) keepers. I caught two on a shaky head, one on a rattletrap and one on a crankbait. I was fishing with the guy who got 2nd, he was throwing a deep diving crankbait. I took too long to adjust to a deeper diver and then it was too late.

The cool thing about fishing here is that no matter where you go, it looks good. Bass are everywhere and you just need to find something that is holding fish. As you can see in the picture, it is basically an endless line of vegetation no matter where you look. We actually did better in the canals that separate the lakes; they are deeper and have some nice drop offs. This time of year with all the rainflow there was current in certain areas and this is where the fish are. Our next tournament is on the Caloosahatchee River in two weeks which is only 30 mins from home. I finished 3rd there last year, so I'm hoping to do well. If you are in the Fort Myers Area, check out our website and come see us!

Alton Jones Interview

I got some great interviews of pros from a couple years ago. They have some great tips and I think you will really enjoy them. Let me know what you think.

Summer is Swim Jig Time!

Summer officially started on Sunday, so that means the fish are going to be in their summer patterns; topwaters, frogs, plastic worms, and of course swim jigs! In the last year I have gained confidence in the bait and now always have one tied on during the summer or anytime there is grass in the area. My favorite brand to use is the Lethal Weapon swim jig. The Lethal Weapon II is the 1/4 oz and 3/8 oz sizes. The Lethal Weapon III is the smaller sizes 1/8 oz and 3/16 oz. These baits cannot be fished wrong. I like to cast in grass and slowly pump and reel as I bring it back in. As you can see they come in a huge selection of colors. My favorite color for overall conditions is black/blue, but anything with white or chartreuse also seems to do very well.

Try one out this summer. You will not be disappointed. If I had to pick one size and color it would be the 1/4 oz in black and blue.

Saturday Morning Fishing

I woke up early today...and the first thing I thought of was catching the morning bite. We jumped out of bed and grabbed some coffee and started fishing the canals, ponds and any water we could find in town. My first fish of the morning was on a Snag Proof Tournament Series Frog in Watermelon. This is the bait that got me hooked on frog fishing.

We headed to the next stop and the sun was beating down, it was 86 degrees and humid at 8 a.m. The fish were definitely in slow mode. I caught one on a spinnerbait. Notice the cars in the background. This pond is on a busy street. Urban fishing at it's best. Actually my work is right across the street.

As I continued down the shoreline I saw this sign and started paying a little closer attention to the ground I was walking on. I'm not a big fan of snakes, so I didn't fish too much longer.

More on the Phat Frog

Two weeks ago I posted about Ish Monroe winning the Cal Delta Stren Series on a new Snag Proof frog. I had a chance to talk to Snag Proof and was told the frog will be released after ICAST next month. Today wired2fish.com had an article on the bait, you can check it out here.

This photo is from wired2fish and shows some of the cool colors that will be unveiled. I can't wait. I really like the chartreuse with a blue back. It looks like my favorite crankbait color.

Ft. Myers Bass Club Kids Tournament

There's not much I enjoy more than getting kids into fishing. Today our club had our annual kids tournament. It was a great time, with all the kids having fun...and that's what is all about. We had a 3 hour tournament followed by a barbeque and awards ceremony. Everyone out there should remember to take kids fishing. They are the future of our great sport.

Frogs rule bass drool..very true

That's me helping with the weigh-in.

The Bassmaster Elite Series on the Mighty Mississippi

Today the Elite guys are heading out of Fort Madison, Iowa to take on the Mississippi River. Reports from all the media say it is going to be TOUGH! I personally like seeing the challenge in fishing a little more than watching 20 pound limits look like nothing. I think it will be a real challenge and I look for a few guys to do really well:

Bill Lowen: Everyone is picking him due to his Midwestern River experience, but I am going to go with him to win it all.

KVD: He catches them everywhere. No more explanation needed.

Ike: He also seems to do well when things get tough. I see him with a spinning rod in hand and making it happen.

Dean Rojas: He grew up fishing Havasu and Mead which are some really tough lakes to figure out. I see him catching some frog fish each day.

Scott Rook: He's had a bad year, but he should do well here.

Let's see how my pics end up. Who do you think will win? Check out my forum and let me know.

Bobby Lane Wins at Kentucky Lake

Photo: Bassmaster.com

Congrats Bobby Lane! He smashed the field and almost hit 100 pounds. Kentucky Lake is on fire right now and looks like one of the best lakes in the country. Here is how the Top 12 finished.

1. Bobby Lane: 97-09
2. Kevin VanDam: 92-01
3. Russ Lane: 90-09
4. Skeet Reese: 90-07
5. Rick Morris: 88-06
6. Steve Kennedy: 87-04
7. Britt Myers: 86-09
8. Kelly Jordon: 85-03
9. Gerald Swindle: 84-06
10. Byron Velvick: 81-07
11. Jeff Kriet: 80-15
12. Fred Roumbanis: 79-02

Bobby Lane Leads Day 1 at Kentucky Lake

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito

Yesterday Bobby Lane weighed almost 30 pounds and took the lead at the Kentucky Lake Elite Series. This guy is good! I have fished with him so I have seen it first hand. I fished the Bassmaster Southern Open on The Harris Chain in January this year and drew him on the first day.

At the time I was excited and couldn't believe I was going to fish with him. It was an awesome opportunity to fish with such a good fisherman. As a co-angler, you are really there to learn and get better. I learned quite a bit from him on sight fishing Florida style. I'm still pretty new to Florida and had never really sight fished in dirty water.

We spent the entire day in the reeds fishing for bedding fish. He whacked 20 pounds that day on the way to a 3rd place finish for the event. The bad thing about fishing with pros of this level is they leave nothing behind....I only caught one fish that day, he was a machine and caught everything in sight. But I did have a great time and it was worth the entire trip.

Here is a link to the full story on Bassmaster.

Cal Delta Stren Series

Ish Monroe smashed the field last weekend in California at the Stren Series on the Delta. He won by over 12 pounds! He was using his new signature series Snag-Proof Phat Frog.

This is what FLW Outdoors had to say about the new bait:

"Monroe relied mainly on his new signature series Snag Proof Phat Frog. Color pattern was black with black and red legs, but the bait’s design was the critical element. The Phat Frog’s legs are set farther back to allow for optimal hook sets, while a lower profile and flatter belly mean smoother casts and better tracking across weedy surfaces. A weight positioned at the back end keeps the head up and an inner tube design prevents water intake so the bait won’t sink." You can read the whole article here.