I am a bass fisherman

• Cross Lake Report 1/31/2012 - Three Hogs

2012-01-31T17:50:00.006-06:00

I intended on doing some fishing this past week end, but something came up and I had to disappear into monotony for the day. Saturday was traded for Tuesday, so today, I made up for all the fishing I haven't been able to do this year. It was an itch that needed to be scratched.I hit the water around noon, armed with four reels. I ended up only using two of them, catching fish with only one rig.

• Remove a Pflueger Patriarch Sideplate

2012-01-25T23:34:00.008-06:00

For some reason, reel manufacturers have gone out of their way to prevent anglers from learning how to open up our reels to accomplish the smallest of tasks. Some companies are obviously more forthcoming than others, but to anyone who is new to a baitcasting reel, taking apart the darn thing just seems confusing. There are screws in odd places and the actual task of opening up the reel may or may

• The Way Out Is Through

2011-12-09T20:24:00.004-06:00

The drought in the South has affected many lakes, including our own here in Louisiana. Cross Lake has been low for months now. If you're not a regular reader, that's the lake I usually post my reports for. Last week, the first real rain that amounted to anything drove water levels up enough to the point where I knew I could load from the bank with ease. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough rain to

• The New Addition: Patriarch XT

2011-10-26T18:22:00.002-05:00

Ever since the Patriarch 71WLP joined my arsenal, I've been in love with it. When Pflueger came out with the more expensive and lighter Patriarch XT, I knew I had to have one. Well, the opportunity revealed itself recently by way of a discounted listing at Cabela's. Unfortunately, this opportunity came with the news that Pflueger is probably discontinuing the XT. I'm glad I got mine. That's all

• Why I haven't been fishing

2011-09-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

• Review: Berkley Dual Sharpener

2011-07-22T05:46:00.000-05:00

As you might already know from your spring and summer outings, my fellow anglers, something like frog fishing requires an immense level of commitment on your part. If your equipment isn't up to snuff, you end up telling lots of stories about the ones that got away. Last year, my bass fishing success revolved around fishing duckweed with a hollow body frog, but my approach and technique was based

• Cross Lake Report 6/12/2011

2011-06-12T17:40:00.017-05:00

Went fishing this morning. Hadn't been out in the 18 footer in a while. I believe my last outing was on Caddo and because of all the wind, I avoided fishing out of that boat at all costs ever since. I got off to a late start because my fishing partner was slow getting around. Didn't motor out to the end of Fourtney Bayou until 7am. Water temps were 85 degrees starting out from there with a heavy

• Small Alligator

2011-06-08T17:25:00.002-05:00

• Off the pier 6-5-2011

2011-06-05T18:52:00.005-05:00

My Twitter followers will know that I recently said that with the hot weather setting in, I'll be more of a morning and evening angler until fall rolls around. Because most of my past success has centered around fishing a Scumfrog over duckweed, most of my Off The Pier antics will focus exclusively on fishing thick cover in skinny water. Unfortunately, the lack of rain this spring has left me

• Off the pier 5-26-2011 - When Owls Attack

2011-05-26T21:48:00.003-05:00

Not much to report tonight. Made my first cast at around 7:15pm. Messed around in the duckweed for a while. Ended up missing one bite, catching one small bass, and an owl dove after my frog.So, with the time change and the extended daylight hours, I was able to get out and fish off the pier for a little bit this evening. The magic hour has always been around 8pm, but tonight, I didn't have the

• Cross Report 5-18-2011

2011-05-18T22:36:00.004-05:00

I loaded the small boat around 7pm hoping to fish some water in the 5-6ft range with my new KVD 1.5 crankbait. My backup lure was a DT-6, but I had a T-rigged craw ready if I had a chance to fish slow before sunset. The shallow water didn't look all that appealing to me, so that's why I opted to head out to the main lake this evening. That patch of hydrilla I ran across in my last outing was just

• Cross Report 5/7/2011

2011-05-07T21:13:00.007-05:00

The last time I went fishing was last month, so when a Saturday with free time presented itself this morning, I went ahead and loaded the small boat. I expected to hit some boat traffic since it was the week end, but I was hoping that women out there might have kept men busy seeing as how Mother's Day is tomorrow. Deciding to fish today ended up being wrong on so many levels. Started out shallow

• FLW Tour: Red River 2011 - My Thoughts

2011-05-04T16:34:00.004-05:00

Another major bass fishing tournament will be coming to the area. From May 19th through the 22nd, the FLW will be ripping lips on the Red. If you’ll remember, in the past, the Bassmaster Classic was held on the Red River and the WBT Championship almost hit the Red before dangerous high water moved the tournament to another area body of water. Judging by the looks of the Red River right now, we

• A Look at the Plano 3364 Tackle Bag

2011-04-12T07:08:00.001-05:00

In my younger years, I spent a lot of time on the banks of my grandparent's farm pond. Several lessons were learned fishing that small body of water. Many nice bass were caught out of that pond, including my personal best. Throughout those experiences, my companion at the bank was always a trusty green hard plastic Plano tackle box. That box is still with me and often serves as my primary tackle

• Caddo Report 4-3-2011

2011-04-03T20:35:00.012-05:00

When area lakes are under a Lake Wind Advisory, the chop out there can be relentless. Today was one of those days. The last time I braved water that rough, the first thing I said to myself as my right arm became drenched with water splashing over the side every time the boat hit a wave, was that I'd never do that again. Unfortunately, I didn't listen to the voice inside my head today and I headed

• VMC Wide Gap Worm Hooks

2011-04-02T17:08:00.014-05:00

A reliable connection between ourselves and a hooked fish is dependent upon many factors, from the rod and reel, line, the knot, and lastly, the hook. Failure anywhere in that series of items usually results in a lost fish. Our last line of defense is at the level of the hook. That sharp hook plays a very important role in achieving success. The gravity of a hook's importance in successful

• Lost & Found (and Fix)

2011-03-25T18:19:00.006-05:00

During my last outing on Cross Lake, I came upon a cypress tree with a lure stuck about 20 feet up. The lure was white, so I could see it from a good distance away. Upon further inspection, I surmised that it was a Bandit crankbait and the lip was far too large for fishing the skinny water the tree was in. It looked like a 200 series which dives from 4 to 8 feet. Even when the water is at normal

• Cross Report 3-19-2011

2011-03-21T14:52:00.005-05:00

I know it's Monday and I should have posted this report after I returned from my outing on Saturday, but I didn't catch a single fish and the activity was flat out abysmal. I started fishing around 3pm. The sun had been shining all morning and I didn't want to go out just to get cooked. My plan was to fish deeper water around trees that provided shade, waiting until around sunset to drift back

• Cross Report - 20-30 minutes of prefishing

2011-03-18T23:20:00.004-05:00

I only caught one fish tonight with the 30 minutes of free time I had. The activity out there has been strange, so I didn't have a solid plan going into tonight. The crappie have already left the shallows. The gar are up spawning. Even bowfin are lurking in the shallows. There was a lot of commotion around several cypress trees, but I couldn't for the life of me get anything to bite. After

• Cross Lake Report 3-11-2011

2011-03-12T10:27:00.004-06:00

Fished last night for a short while. Wanted to get some fresh air and clear my head. I also wanted to see what mood the bass were in. The warmer weather should have driven a few spawners up. Fished some shallow water with a gold Rapala F11. Had three bass all follow and stare without biting. I'm not sure why they were all in this curious, but apprehensive mood, but I couldn't get them to bite.

• Cross Lake Report 2-19-2011

2011-02-19T22:16:00.003-06:00

Instead of watching the Bassmaster Classic coverage online, I decided to go ahead and get out on the water for a little fishing myself. My goal was to catch crappie, but I ended up catching a whole lot more. At the end of the day, I had landed 19 fish. Here's the tally.Four crappieFour chain pickerelEight bassTwo breamOne oversized shad.Best crappie probably went 1.5lbs. Best bass was probably

• Cross Lake Report 2-16-2011

2011-02-16T20:43:00.008-06:00

Where to begin?Well, I went out this evening and fished the dead pad stems with nothing to show for all the work. The wind knocked me around a lot and because it never let up, I pulled the anchor and drifted with it, searching for any fish that might be along for the ride too. I really took a beating and although the skies were overcast, something that usually gives me more confidence out there,

• Cross Lake Report 2-12-2011

2011-02-12T20:18:00.002-06:00

Nicer weather has entered the picture and seeing as how I've been itching to fish ever since sticking that 5lb fish in December, getting out on the water today was inevitable. I hit the water around 1pm and futzed around in the shallows for a while, swimming a jig through lily pads that have survived what winter has thrown at us . After striking out there, I moved further out into deeper water

• One chunk schooling

2011-02-08T16:49:00.006-06:00

When my schedule prevents me from getting on the water and nature throws crummy weather my way, any sunny opportunity that comes along must be seized. I had 30 minutes to mess around, so I made the decision to use that time to fish off the pier. Luckily, the angle that the sun was shining hit the water just beyond the pier. I figured the water might just be warm enough to trigger some activity

• Needed coffee, left with hot mustard & silver

2011-02-01T19:36:00.005-06:00

Like any trip to the store where I only need to buy one thing, I came out with multiple items. All I needed was some coffee and I happened to stroll by the fishing area where I noticed items on clearance. After I did a lot of side to side glances to see what deals lurked on that wall, I honed in on the array of Rapala lures hanging from the rack pegs. Some DT-10's were up there for $5, but that