What’s up Wednesday? – A week in review

I apologize for not posting in a while…I just recently got a second job and have been working almost 45 hours a week….

In my busy schedule, I have found some time to go fish for a couple hours here and there. I recently began going back to Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale, CA. I hadn’t been there in a few months and conditions were much different than I had anticipated….there were no weeds and a few baitfish. So, I grabbed out a square billed crankbait and began to throw, but nothing would chase. Then, I began to junk fish…. after a lot of trial and error, I found that throwing Texas-rigged craws at shoreline structure was the ticket, hitting 4 fish within a half an hour! So, my dad and I went back out on our inflatable kayak a few days later and my bite held up as we hit 9 fish in about 4 hours and we lost about 5-6 more good bites.

Above is a GoPro video from our kayak trip. This fish hit me as I was turning on the GoPro, so a quick hook and hard fight. Enjoy the video!!!

The Summer Pattern – The Afternoon

Last week, I discussed my favorite approach to the morning hours during the summertime. This week, I wanted to tell you my favorite approach to the afternoon hours during the summer. In general, there are two approaches I will use during he afternoon and it really depends on what you are most comfortable with and also what you are trying to accomplish.

The first is to stay shallow. Most of the time, staying shallow won’t get you a lot of bites, but the chance of getting a big fish is much greater (in my opinion). When you stay shallow, the thing you should be looking for is cover. During the afternoon, these fish are trying to stay cool, so they look for shade. So look for any logs, grass mats, docks, overhanging trees, etc. I like to throw chatterbaits and spinnerbaits on the edges of weed lines and docks. Also, I like to throw frogs on top of large mats of vegetation and I like to flip plastics (jigs, craws, lizards) under docks, by logs, and in holes within a patch of grass. If you stick to this technique all day and cover a lot of water, you will have a good chance at a big fish.

The second is to go deep. This is where most of the fish go to during the summer. You will get a lot of fish if you go deep, but they may not be the size that many are hoping to catch. This technique is a tougher technique to master. It is very specific and takes a lot of time of the water to do well. This will require a boat (most of the time) and a good fish finder. What you are looking for is a drop off, ledge, or school of baitfish in deep water. Once you find it, which will take a fair amount of time at first, I personally like to throw a drop shot or jig at fish on the bottom and a crankbait at fish that are suspended on a ledge or on a school of baitfish.

Summer Patterns – The Morning

When it comes to summer fishing in the morning in the summer, the number one bait that you should have is a topwater. This is probably the best bait to use during the morning because it will catch a lot of fish as well as very good sized fish. There are many options when it comes to topwaters, but they all have their place and time. I will go over a couple briefly and show you how to work the baits.

The first is the walking baits. This includes spooks, sammys, and pencil baits. You should fish this bait in areas where the weeds are present, but underneath the surface so you still get good action. This should also be used if the fish are actively feeding on shad and when there are shad present.

The next bait is the poppers. These should also be used if the weeds are underneath the surface. This bait should also be used when there are shad present, but these baits really shine when the bass are not as active. Fish these baits slow if the bass are not active and fast if they are.

The last one I want to go over is the buzzbait. I like to fish these baits when there are a few weeds on the surface, but you can still reel a bait through them. Just fish it fast and constant and the fish will come.

Father’s Day Video

Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there!!! Make sure and tell your dad thank you today and tell him how much he means to you (and if you have the chance, take him fishing today)! Today I decided to show you a video from a father and son team who are very well known in the fishing world: Scott and Roland Martin. Enjoy!

What’s up Wednesday? – Perris Tournament

The California Bass Contenders had their monthly tournament at Lake Perris in Perris, CA on Saturday. It had been hot leading up to the tourney, but it had also been raining….so the bite could have been a number of different things. Well, I got up early, got ready, and headed out to the lake. My partner, Alfred, had pre-fished the week before and had a good idea of what the bite should have been. We launched and we were the first boat out, so we headed to our first spot…

The area we headed to had some shad, weeds, and a nice drop off. So we put the trolling motor down. I started with the Alabama rig and Alfred started with the topwater “walk the dog” bait. Alfred fires his first cast and all of the sudden, I hear a huge splash and Alfred says, “I got one!!!” I ran and grabbed the net, net the fish, and he had his first keeper of the day. Then, two casts later, I hear another SPLASH and Alfred says “There’s another one!!” I grab the net, net the fish, and Alfred has his limit! The two casts later…I hear another splash and Alfred says “I got another!!” I grab the net, net the fish, and Alfred culls. After that, the bite slows and Alfred gets one more a little while later. As for me, still zero.

Then we head to the next spot: a shallow flat with some scattered bait fish. Not too much going on, but as I’m firing the buzzbait out, I get a blow up and I’m on! Alfred grabs the net and I get my first keeper. We keep fishing the area and I get one more on the Alabama rig. Then the bite slows…

Then we decide to hit an area called “the tires” because there are a bunch of sunken truck tires in there. After looking around, we realized that a lot of fish were swimming out from the middle of the tires. So, we pull out some fake craws and start flipping into the tires. Alfred and I both get a few fish to hook up doing this and I finish up my limit too. So now, we try to upgrade. Alfred had a good limit from those good topwater fish earlier that morning, so we try to get me a couple nice ones so we can get the big boat award.

We decide to go back to the spot where Alfred caught his topwater fish. We start cruising around and we start getting followers, but no takers. Then finally, we see a fish sitting in the weeds, its close to 4lbs and it will help me A LOT. I grab a fluke and toss it out at the fish. The bait slowly falls and the fish slowly comes up and takes the bait….then I set the hook and my line starts screaming! I get on the trolling motor and start to chase the fish. He gets me in the weeds and I am stuck. I pull and pull and finally it releases and I have a bunch of weeds on my lure. I start to pull it towards the boat and then I see a tail and tell Alfred “Get the net! He’s still there!” He grabs the net and the fish flips in! After that we got one more fish to follow (it was about 5lbs and would have helped a lot) but never took. So now time for the weigh in…

We both did very well this tournament: Alfred got 3rd place with 6.25lbs and I got 6th place with 5.35lbs. Sadly, we lost big boat by 0.5lbs…oh well. The winner, Mark, got 8.2lbs and a 6.2lb kicker fish. He and his partner Manny also got big boat with 12.24lbs.

All in all, it was an awesome tourney and I learned so much from Alfred. Thanks for the awesome day and special thanks to Danny Caldwell and the entire GRIND fishing crew for the hot dog BBQ after the weigh in!

Approaching Tournaments

After experiencing many days of unsuccessful fishing in the past, I have understood more ways that I could be successful each time I go out. In this post, I want to focus on how I would prepare to fish a tournament so I feel like I have the best chance of doing well

If I were to be fishing in a tournament, I would take two days of pre-fishing before the tournament. On day one, I would go out with the baits that typically work for the conditions, time of year, etc. I would go to the areas that typically work during the time of year. If the fishing is good, I would catch a couple fish, save the spot in my mind and mark it as a waypoint on my fish finder, and move to other areas using the same baits.

On day two, if the fishing on day one was good, I would try to find new areas that I didn’t find on day one, or I would see if the fish are still in the same spots they were the day before. I would use the same rigs or lures, but make minor changes to them. For example, if I was catching fish on a white crankbait, I might try a red or shad colored crankbait on day two. Sadly, your first day of fishing may not be that good….

If the fishing was bad on day one, I would go home and assess what happened and what I could change. Then, on day two, I would make the necessary changes and try to catch fish again. For example, if on day one, I tried fishing shallow, but I began marking fish deeper on my fish finder, I would use rigs on day two that would get down to the fish better.

Although it is rare, there will even be times where the bite is EXTREMELY good….to the point that you are catching fish on almost every cast. If this does end up happening, what I like to do is completely remove the hooks from my bait and just feel for fish. What this allows you to do is know exactly where the fish are, but without disturbing them by hooking them.

This is the best way, that I have found so far, to approach a fishing tournament. This does not work all the time though!!! There are many occasion (and maybe more times than not) that pre-fishing doesn’t help you at all. A lot of times, the fish are not where they were a week ago. So, in this case, figure out what changed from the previous week and continue to just adapt until you find a pattern that works.

What’s up Wednesday? – The Summer Pattern

Today, I wanted to show you guys a video put out by Tackle Warehouse about a good summer pattern. I have personally done this type of pattern and will be doing it a lot this summer too. If you have any questions about this technique, please comment and I will try my best to give you a good answer.

Enjoy and I hope it helps you catch more fish!

PLine XTCB Braid

A little while back, I was talking to some of my fishing buddies about a good line to use for drop shotting. And I was told braid to fluorocarbon was the best. So after asking around some more, my good friend and PLine pro staffer Branden Hoffman recommended PLine’s brand new XTCB braid. I’ve been using the new line for drop shotting a lot lately and I have been so pleased with it that wanted to write a post/review about it. Before I begin, I want it to be noted that I am in no way affiliated with PLine, I just really like this new line and wanted to share this knowledge with everyone!

This new braided line is coated in teflon (Hence TCB – Teflon Coated Braid). This allows the line to smoothly come off of your reel, go through the guides smoothly, and results in longer casts. The other neat thing about this line is that (for the line that I got) it is made with eight fibers which allow for a very small diameter as well as superior strength.

In my own testing with this braid, I found a few other things that I think should be mentioned. First is the sensitivity. When you are fishing a drop shot around structure (like rocks or sticks) it can be tough sometimes to make out a bite versus hitting a rock. Well, with this line I have noticed how I can better detect when I am hitting a rock versus a bite because of its sensitivity. Another thing that I think is very overlooked with this type of braid is how smooth it is in conjunction to your drag during the fight. The worst feeling in the world is when you line knots up by your spool and when the fish pulls, it snaps. Well, this new PLine comes off your spool so smoothly and helps to eliminate this from happening…allowing you to focus on getting the fish in (and helping you land more fish). The last thing that I think is not given enough credit (because of problems I have had with previous lines) is the line’s abrasion resistance. I have been fishing my drop shot through weeds, around sticks, and through rock piles a lot lately….and everytime I pull up, the line isn’t frayed or damaged at all, which is incredible for me because it means I don’t have to retie a lot!

I love this line and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for some good braid to spool on their drop shot, topwater, or flipping rod! Thanks for the recommendation Branden!

What’s up Wednesday? – A week in review

This week, I had the opportunity to fish a bit more and check out how the recent cold front affected the bite. I went to Silverwood lake in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday. It was in a full spawn mode before the cold front. The big fish were no where to be found on Saturday. The cold front pushed these fish out deeper (which is pretty typical) but we did still find some spawners up shallow. I caught one fish on a bed spawning and one fish in the weeds sitting on fry (post spawn). Overall though, it was very difficult to get these spawners to bite. The more consistent pattern was a shallow jerkbait. I caught 2 stripers and another bass. The key was the pause for this pattern. The water was clear enough that I saw most of the hits and I noticed that the fish hit when it was still….not on the jerk.

I also know some people who went fishing at Perris Lake in Perris, CA this last week. It sounds like the small bass were biting pretty well all week, but the cold front turned off the big bass.

The bite should be picking up in the next few weeks as it looks like were gonna have some warm weather pretty consistently. So be ready for more good reports in the coming weeks (as well as a Perris tournament report soon)….

Junk Fishing

There are going to be days where you cannot figure out the bite or the fish are in all sorts of different patterns…there are days where the fish are shallow feeding on crawdads by structure while others are mid-depth on shad while others are deep on drop offs or rocks. In these situations, most techniques will work depending on where you are and it may be tough to get a lot of bites….

This is where junk fishing comes into play. Junk fishing is where you are not quite sure where you are going to get the bites, or the fish are all over and you are trying to catch five fish (for a tournament), so you fish everything that you know how to do until you find the best pattern for the day.

Let me try to give you an example….Imagine you are moving down a shoreline with your boat. As you go along, you are watching your graphs and the shoreline structure itself. As you go along, you find a large mat of grass. So, you pull out your flipping jig and flip into holes and then you pull out a frog and throw it over the top. This yields two fish. Then you move a bit further and find a large accumulation of timber. So, you pull out a jerkbait (for open areas) and a Texas rigged crawdad (for right next to the sticks). This yields only one fish. Then you notice that that there is a hump in the deep water to the side of your boat. So, you pull out a deep crankbait and a drop shot. This yields two fish. You move along further and you find a school of shad. So, you pull out an Alabama rig and a topwater. This yields three fish.

You get the idea….just take into account the knowledge you already have and apply it to the lake you are fishing. This may also reveal a bite that works better than the rest, so it becomes your main pattern for the rest of the day or tournament.