Things I shouldnt be writing...

The last post was a little taste of what you need to be able to catch smallmouth bass at Alum Creek in the spring and early summer. I made it as simple as possible because I dont think anyone wants to read some convoluted essay about how to find and mark waypoints on a lake. Those sort of articles are as boring as an episode of River Monsters. Too much detail can make the task at hand seem overwhelming so my idea was to give you the meat and let you fill in the small stuff so that it works for you in your situation. I 100% guarentee that if you find rock piles at Alum Creek you will find smallmouth bass on them from april till early june. It really is that simple. In fact, the ONLY reason I would have to give you more information then that would be to make you think I am smarter then I really am. Find a pile of rocks, find brown fish. EASY.

Of course, the weather, the water temps, the depths of your rock piles, the boat traffic, the fishing pressure and the time of the day will all add to the confusion, not to mention the lure selection, the lure color, the line choice, the lure size, lure depth all also contribute to even more confusion and I dont really feel like writing a book about a tiny 3000 acre lake so be prepared for some trial and error, its all apart of the game. I should emphasize, dont get discouraged because its completely worth it the first time you lay into a nice smallmouth bass.

Essential Tips that nobody else is going to tell you!

In case you didnt know, this sort of stuff people always keep to themselves. Why am I sharing, mainly because I dont care and secondly because I hate when guys are all secretive about what they are doing. I will never be that guy, if you ask me what I am doing at a lake, I will tell you. I want people to understand that I am as accessible as people get and I never want anyone to think they cant ask me about how I am doing what I am doing.

The simplest, easiest way to catch them on that lake is to drag, drag, drag. Pick a soft plastic that you like, that you wont mind losing over and over again and throw it. Natural, clearer colors seem to work much better when the barometric pressure is high and/or the skies are clear and clear water. Darker, non-transparent plastics seem to be better when barometric pressure is low and/or skies are cloudy. Shakeyhead worms, leach type baits, tubes and similar baits all work wonderfully. If its not a tube, make sure it floats. All of Warrior baits soft plastics float so now that you know that, make sure you check out http://www.warriorbaits.com/

Always skin hook your plastics. You will almost always be using some sort of a texas rigged version of whatever you are throwing. Make sure your hook is texposed or you will miss more bites then any one man can handle.

Your hook sets have to be gradual and non snapping. When you get a bit, slowly apply pressure in a sweeping motion from side to side rather then from low to high. The fish will do the rest. This method requires a thin wire hook so your shakeyhead jigs must have as thin of a hook as you can find. Warrior baits offer an excellent shakeyhead that was designed with this specifically in mind. This hookset results in far more hookups at the roof of the fishes mouth, why? I have no idea but thats been my experience and anyone who fishes for bass know that if you get a hook in the top jaw, that fish is coming in the boat.

When you find a good rock pile, do not under any circumstances go up on top of it to retrieve a lure, if you do, you might as well leave. If you want to throw crankbaits, do it after you have thrown a dragging lure for a few minutes, I assure you, it will get hung up and you will have to go up on top of the rock pile to get it loose and in the process spook anything that might have still been there.

After you have done all your homework and you have 50 rockpiles to fish remember this. If you dont get bit within the first few casts, there arent smallies on that spot. Smallies are ultra aggressive this time of year, most of the time they are on those spots because they are in some part of the spawning stage and they are far more aggressive then largemouth. If you drop a lure on a spot where smallies are, they will eat it immidiately, you dont have to make 50 casts in order to get one to bite. If you dont get bit in the first 10 minutes, every cast thereafter is a waste of valuable fishing time.

4 things will ruin a spot, make sure you remember them
#1- MUSKY, if you catch a musky, if you see a musky, if you smell a musky, pack up your stuff and get the hell out of dodge cuz there aint any smallies within 25 yards of that rock pile.
#2- lost fish, if you let one come un-buttoned, chances are you aint gonna get another bite from that spot for at least 30 minutes afterwords so time to bail for awhile
#3- letting fish go. whether your in a tourny or not, if you want to catch more then one fish from the same spot, you better put your fish in a livewell because that fish will absolutely alert other fish that something is up. if your in a tourney and you catch a short fish, chances are pretty good that your spot is shot for awhile.
#4- taking your boat up on the spot to get a lure. just remember it, be aware before you start slinging that dd20 around also remember it when your buying those tungsten shakeyhead jigheads.


Getting hung up is a way of life when your fishing this type of structure, knowing how to get un-hung is a major advantage to keep you fishing, to keep your fish from leaving and saving you money in the process.
#1- while dragging your plastics over the rocks, do not put too much pressure on the bait when it comes into contact with something. If you start to feel some resistance, raise your rod tip straight up in the air statue of liberty style and shake the hell out of your rod tip. This usually frees up the bait and allows you to keep fishing. If you put to much pressure on the bait it usually just drives it deeper into whatever it got stuck on in the first place. Max pressure should be your last resort.
#2 - the ole snapping line trick, I cant explain it but Im sure youtube has videos explaining it in much better detail than I can.
#3 - max pressure, again, last resort but at the point you have to do this, its the only option left anyway. Sometimes it pops free but if it doesnt, dont go get it, just break off and re-tie unless you were planning on leaving anyway.

When I read back through this, I cant help but think that alot of this stuff could apply anywhere so if you have a lake that has rocky points, smallmouth bass and giant muskies, Im sure these tips are going to help you out in some way and if you already knew all this stuff, I am sorry for wasting your valuable interwebs time! If anyone has any questions, dont hesitate to ask

Late S.T.P.

This Past Weekend...

Not a terrible weekend by any standards. I had two tournaments, both at Alum Creek and the fishing was decent for us. We finished 3rd on saturday and 6th on sunday and averaged about 8.5 lbs each day. We caught tons of fish but the giant smallmouth we were searching for eluded us both days. If either or both days would have yielded a 4 pounder, we would have won both tournaments but it didnt happen. Lots of fish, just no size.

Earlier in the spring I promised a dissertation on how to wack smallies at Alum Creek in the spring. I have been patiently waiting for a pic of the smallies we caught in the last tournament but it hasnt came yet so your just going to have to trust me.

First off, location is the most important thing. Its more important then any lures or techniques. You have to be in areas where the smallies are if you want to catch them, there are no two ways about it. Finding these areas is not as hard as it sounds but it can be time consuming. The key is....ROCKS, under the water. You can cheat and cut corners and fish stuff like the dam or cheshire and 36/37 and that definetely works for some people but the rocks Im talking about are on the many points of alum. This is where doing your homework pays off. Not all of the points have rocks on them but ALL of the points with rocks on them hold smallies in the spring and early summer. If a certain point is more dynamic then another, it will likely hold more smallies and replenish faster. For instance, if a point has rocks and a stump, thats pretty good. If your point has rocks and grass and a stump, thats excellent. If your point has the channel swinging against it and it has rocks and stumps, even better but the common denominator is always rocks.

Dont get me wrong, there are smallies all over alum but for me, Im looking for rocks and bolders. You simply have to get out and fish the defined points on your map and figure out for yourself whats on them. If your really a work-a-holic at fishing then you can go out and drag a carolina rig around on those points with a nice high quality rod and you will figure out whats on those points but there is a much simpler way. Its not easier but it is far more effective and accurate. Alum gets drawn down during winter, alot of the good stuff is exposed depending on how far down the lake gets drawn. Get a good hand held gps and put your hiking shoes on. Expect alot of mud and a few days of hiking but in the end you will have perfectly marked structure to add to your boats gps. After that, the fishing gets much easier and you will have eliminated the "where" and you can concentrate on the "how" for smallies on alum creek.

Use Google Earth...

Back in the day, the 80s, the 90s, and prob even the early 2000s, pro bass fisherman used to actually pay for airplane and helicopter rides to do fly overs in preperation for tournaments. A birds eye view is essential when you are trying to get to know a huge body of water. There are things you can see from the sky that you just cant get from the water, not to mention you can get a view of much more area and in a short period of time.  Now enter the world wide webs. Google earth is a wicked tool for structure fishing, for breaking down lakes and for quick, easy and free views of a lakes that could take you weeks to check out by boat and many many dollars to check out by plane.

A few tips to help you out.

1- Sometimes stuff is not what it seems, slopes can be more or less then what they appear to be, humps, points and the such can be much bigger or much smaller then what you are expecting when you see it in person and not every spot you find on the computer is going to produce. You should be using it as just another search tool just like a normal map. If you find a good looking spot and you cant get bit on it, dont waste your time. Move on to the next spot.

2- Realize that what you are seeing everyone else has access to as well. If you are looking at it on google earth, chances are other people are too so looking for subtle spots is often more to your benefit then expecting a huge extending point to be completely untouched by other anglers.

3- Coordinates, coordinates, coordinates! I cant stress it enough. Your curser shows you exact coordinates wherever you put it. Take those coordinates and manualy add them to your gps and be thorough! If you see a spot, dont just take one single coordinate from the center of the structure, en-circle that bitch, put so many waypoints on your map that a complete circle is on your map, trust me, if you do this, you will know the exact shape, the exact depth you will know exactly where your boat is if you find a sweetspot and if you ride up on it by accident its no ones fault but your own. If you dont believe me, try the old "one spot marker system" and when you get out on the water you wont know what the hell your fishing.

4- Labeling. Make sure you make a note on your gps that tells you what the structure is. If your like me, anytime I get on google earth, I go crazy, before I know it I have 20 spots I want to fish. I get out on the water and I dont know whether Im fishing a rock pile, a sand bar, a foundation or what. Make a simple note with your coordinates denoting what the structure is so you dont have to guess.

5- Zoom In. When your scanning the banks and the out of water structure, make sure you are zoomed in far enough to see the subtleties. This is what sometimes makes the difference in what you are seeing and what everyone else is seeing.

6- Dont be upset if the lake you want to check out isnt at low pool. There is still alot to learn about the lake from the pictures available. Humps and points are still sometimes noticeable and you can still get an idea of what the shore structure is like. Even changes in water color can give you an idea of an areas depth and bottom make-up although its not always perfect, just use it as an indicator or a clue, dont assume that because the water is muddy in a google earth picture that the bottom is mud in that area.

There may be more things that I dont do, that you may do. This is just a way to get you started if you havent already done so. It works, especially on lakes that drawdown or were in drought when the photos were taken. Take advantage.

Looking Ahead...

Yeah, its a bit early to look ahead to next season but Im already doing it because Im insanely jacked right now. I probably should just be worried about the next tournament but Im already prepping for next season. The first order of operation for next season is to get myself into a new rig. That means selling my current rig which has been a great boat but its not cut out for 3 day tourneys and 12 hours a day on the water for weeks at a time. Boat Boys of Newark Ohio has been awesome to me over the past year and I am commited to working with them for as long as they want my representation. Today I talked to Todd Thompson, who is an awesome fisherman as well as being a great boat guy. Looks like to me and more importantly, my wife, I will be rolling in a new Skeeter next season for another run at the Elites and the Bassmaster Classic. Sign me up for the 250 SHO 4 stroke motor, duel Power Poles, Humminbird Electronics and a two tone paint scheme consisting of red and black with loads and loads of GLITTER!

And if your in the market for a bass boat yourself, Todd will have just about something in every price range possible including my ZX200 (coming in september). There is a reason why they sell more boats then any other dealer in central Ohio, they are the best around.

Day Two and the Cut...

First off, the post below was made by my brother, I just didnt have the time to make an entry and I had to tell you all, I didnt want anyone to think I was going all "Ricky Henderson."

So to the fishing. Day two, I can only say that it was tough to get that 10lbs. It took me all day and two of my fish that culled out smaller fish were sort of freakish bites in that they hit right at the boat. I knew that my fish were toast going into the final day but I held out hope that the house foundation I was fishing would replenish itself. I found out after the weigh in that a big local night tournament went on friday night well into saturday morning and since that foundation would be perfect for some hot night action I would bet the farm that the locals raped my spot for all it was worth. I struggled all day to get bit and it showed with that pathetic day three weight but honestly, I didnt care. Of the three tournaments on the schedule I felt Douglas would be my biggest challenge. After failing to take the advice of some great fisherman in the first two tournaments, I finally told myself to just do what Im good at and make it work. At Norman and Toho I didnt really do that and what sucks is that if I had had 2 good days instead of 1 good day in both of those tournaments, there is a chance I could have qualified for the Elites.

The final weigh-in was insane. 500 people, all eyes on you, pictures snapping, excitement, adrenaline, it would have been awesome if I could have had a huge sack of fish but my little fish didnt keep all the kids and fans from asking for autographs and pictures. How cool is that? Bananas!

So now my attention shifts to locally. I have two tournaments next weekend, both at Alum and hopefully I can catch some smallies. I will absolutely be signing up for the opens again next season and Im going to be dangerous! Better watch out!

Day 3 Launch

After another solid 10 pound bag on Day 2, Steve made the top 12 cut.  He sits in 12th place heading into Day 3.  Live weigh-in @ 3 p.m. on http://www.bassmasters.com/

Day One...

Things are looking good, my tuesday practice went really well and it sort of translated into today. I say sort of because my two first spots I didnt even get bit on, so I had to start running and gunning in order to dial up a limit.

I actually had a few spectator boats watch me today? Crazy huh, they didnt last long because I rolled out of every spot I fished pretty quick but it was still sort of cool.

Terry Scroggins, aka, "Big Show" congratulated me on my bag of fish and even asked me how I was getting them. Nuts!

Final Thought, Im feeling a ton of pressure, I hope I dont screw it up.

here is the pics posted on espn.com, taken by the legendary bassmaster photographer james overstreet.  I am so pumped and I got a ton of calls of support, gonna give my best!