Mike Webb, President of K.A.ST. (Kids Are Special Too) announced today he is the new owner of Central Pro Am Tournament Association. Effective immediately Webb will take over all operations and tournament functions of Central Pro Am.

"This is a great opportunity for everyone involved with Central Pro Am." Webb stated. "Several changes to benefit the anglers and set CPAA apart from other circuits are in the works, we'll be making more announcements very soon." The remaining 2012 season will continue as planned, with final events of the regular season on Table Rock Lake in September and championships set for October.

Yet to be released, Webb indicated the 2013 schedule will return to the two day pro-am format Central Pro Am made famous. "We'll return to the format that built CPAA." Webb stated. "Traveling to a different lake for each qualifying event and a championship on a lake the circuit hasn't been visited during the regular season. In 2013 Central Pro-Am will give anglers multiday events, close to home with a solid payback." Schedule details will be released within weeks as permits are approved and host locations determined.

K.A.S.T. will continue its mission to promote fishing and the outdoors as an alternative to drugs. "K.A.S.T. will continue to visit schools, NHRA and NASCAR events delivering our antidrug message growing bigger and reaching more kids than ever before." Webb noted. "Eventually we hope to develop the kid's tournament series we always dreamed of, now we have the tools to give more kids the opportunity to fish."

The tradition of Central Pro Am will continue as ownership transitions to Mike Webb. The 2013 schedule and more exciting news will be released in the near future. For more information contact Mike Webb at 417-425-7513 or email kastkid@aol.com.

As summer heats up and bass move to their summer haunts, fisherman need to keep a few key pieces of information in mind. First, all bass don't move deep and second, deep is a relative term. Basic fishing knowledge will allow you to break the summertime blues. When dropping my boat in the water there are a few things I always check to determine how and where the fish will position: water color, temperature, lake level, and what is the norm for the lake. Most anglers are not fortunate enough to spend every day on the water. so for the vast majority of fisherman when packing the boat the night before, make sure to add a few minutes for lake research. Check sources, even if it is the same lake you fish week after week. There are several variables that can change daily. Be observant, often it will be the difference in a good day and a great day.

Lake level is imperative for catching bass: keys to look for include water fluctuation rising or falling; water levels have drastic effects on bass. Rising water puts new nutrients and oxygen into the water attracting plankton, minnows, pan fish, and then bass. Crash the shore! Some of my best days have been 4-8 hours after a downpour. Bass will head to the backs of creeks to moving water to fill their gullets. Once water starts to fall, the fish pull off shallow cover and relate to current. This is great! If you look at your map finding current will be extremely easy to locate; look for points, channel swings, and ledges. Bass will quickly relate to these pieces of structure and often times boat loads of fish will be on them.

Water color also has a tremendous effect on bass during the summer. Don't let clear water scare you, bass will use some form of shade whether that be from light penetration or cover. Bass typically do two things. First, butt themselves against or under something such as wood rock or boat docks. Be sure in clear water to use correct line and make farther more simple casts towards cover. Second, bass suspend off main lake points or drops around baitfish. Keep this in mind when fishing clear water to use good line, my line of choice is 6 to 12lb Bass Pro Shop Fluorocarbon or 6lb Gamma monofilament on clear lakes. Be smart and look for the shade. When bass are hard to catch near shore don't be afraid to probe off shore. Although this is one of the more difficult ways to fish, begin by doing "s" turns with your big motor and watch your graph, drive over your favorite point or hump and be sure to look for 2 things: forage, structure, or cover. Bass will either suspend around bait fish and never stray far for easy meal or suspend in brush piles/trees waiting for their prey to come by. Once you see either or both of these on the graph throw a marker buoy or quickly get on the trolling motor to find your target on the front graph. You want to vertical fish these, so find the bait or structure and send you favorite bait down; mine includes a BPS green pumpkin curl-tail worm rigged on a dropshot or jigging spoon for a reaction bite.

On dirty water lakes most bass will not suspend due to light penetration, they don't need to go deep for food. On most dirty water lakes 20 feet is a maximum depth for most bass. Key on the small ledges and channel swings where bass can quickly feed shallow then move to the safety of deeper water. Pick apart cover and make repeated casts at logs, brush, docks, and rocks.

Summertime bass hold very tight to cover in shallows. Most anglers start throwing deeper baits and move out but a great pattern is shallow banks in the backs of creeks. While many anglers are throwing Carolina rigs and dropshotting there is a prevalent shallow water pattern on many lakes that most anglers miss due to the trendy deep water tactics. Backs of creeks and flats offer lots of forage and dirty water which gives shade and cover. Bass are lazy and if they can travel less they will. Open water bass continually migrate to follow baitfish, they are constantly moving which expels energy searching for food, this means they roam much more and roaming fish are much harder to catch. River bass were born in the river and won't leave, they seem to travel far less and position similarly in most lakes. River bass often times will "go deep" but that might be from one foot of water or less to the river channel in three to four feet of water. Deep is relative, often times bass will move from the shallow end of a lay down to the deeper end that is submerged so be sure to make multiple casts then start to pattern where the bites come from.

Look for the last channel swing in the backs of creeks, feeder creeks, or coves with live streams seem to always hold more fish. Start early and late by fishing the flat sides, the bass push baitfish up on the flats to ambush prey. Make sure to cover plenty of water early and put moving baits in high probability areas such as logs, rocks, and grass. Once it heats up start picking apart isolated cover. In many of the creeks there will be scattered cover. A majority of the fish relate to that stuff. Whenever you check this pattern make sure to all the way back, what I mean is get your boat so far back you don't know if you can turn around. If it floats your boat and you can't see the bottom, keeping fishing. As you work your way out, look for ditches and fish the channel swing bank. Many times these bass are easy and predictable to catch. Once you find them in one cove use a map and find a similar cove and check it out. Use good equipment and be sure to be very thorough. Try fishing this pattern when you hit the water this summer and I assure you it will be boat loads of fun!

Data shows that the average boater keeps their boat for four years before selling it. In today's economy more boaters are keeping their boats longer and putting off purchasing new boats. This leads to boaters owning their boats longer and boat seats being exposed to the elements causing damage requiring repairs or replacing seats. You're boat seats will last three years unless left outside exposed to Mother Nature where they last for one season or your first boating trip of the year- Murphy's Law on boat seats. Sooner or later your boat seats will need to be replaced. The only question is do you really want to try and fix them or purchase new ones to replace them. In most situations, the cost to fix or reupholster your boat seats is nearly the same as buying new ones.

Basically, boat owners have three options on fixing their damaged or worn out boat seats. The first is to purchase a repair kit and try to fix it yourself. While this may be an alternative, it's not a good one if you plan on reselling the boat. The directions on the label make it seem like an easy task and you can repair holes, rips, tears, or burns. In reality, it takes a professional upholster to use the kit correctly. Another problem with a repair kit is matching the color of the seat. No matter how good you are at mixing the colors, it's never going to match perfect. Plus that hole, rip, tear, or burn spot will always stick out where you fix it or be susceptible to damaging again. Repair kits should be used only as a temporary fix until a better option is found.

The second option is to have your boat seats reupholstered. Getting your seats reupholstered is a better option than the repair kit. Boat seats that have been reupholstered will last longer than repairing them; however, there are some major drawbacks to reupholstering including taking out and replacing the original seats, not getting to take the boat out because you have no seats to sit on, your boat seats could be at the upholstery shop for an indefinite amount of time, and cost. Cost maybe the biggest setback to having them reupholstered. In most cases, the cost to reupholster is the same as buying new ones.

The third option is to purchase new ones. After looking at the other two options this one makes the most sense. A repair kit is only a temporary fix at best. Reupholster seats usually cost the same as new boat seats. One company that specializes in selling new boat seats is The Boat Seat Store www.boatingseats.com or phone (866)970-9120. In business since 2006, The Boat Seat Store offers a wide selection of boat seats made in the USA to fit any boat or color pattern the boater wants. "Boat seats that look ragged makes your whole boat look bad and will affect the resale value of your boat. New boat seats totally change the look of any boat. We have the best selection of high quality boat seats available on the web. For example, our bass boat seats are made with UV protected marine grade 30-ounce vinyl to increase the life span of the seat," said Sean Hochstetler, Vice President of The Boat Seat Store.

Not only does The Boat Seat Store sell platform, bench, bucket, and other seats for all types of boats and pontoons, but Attwood Fishing Seats, Fishing Chairs, Swing Backs, folding fishing seats, Tournament Series Pro Butt Seat, and more. All of the seats come with mounting bolts to attach the seat to the pedestal. Also available is a wide variety of pedestals to attach the boat seat to the floor of the boat.

"It's so easy to replace a worn out or damaged platform boat seat; just detach the old seat, take out the old existing hardware, replace it with the new hardware (stainless steel hinge), screw the hinge down to the boat and then to the new boat seat," explained Hochstetler. Another consideration to replacing your boat seats is the time it takes to fix or reupholster them. Upholstery shops are normally busy and so you have to wait your turn to get them fixed. At The Boat Seat Store same day shipping is available on all in-stock boat seats and no shipping charges on orders over $100 or sales tax charged. The seats are shipped directly to your front door and delivered by FedEx Ground.

After purchasing new boat seats, the boat owner is responsible for keeping them clean and looking new. "Boat seats should be cleaned regularly with just mild detergent and water. The biggest threat to a boat seat is the sun. Its best to protect them with a cover of some type and 303 Aerospace Protectant," explained Hochstetler.

No matter if you plan on keeping your boat or reselling it, replacing the boat seats with new ones is the logical choice. It's easy to do, you have no lost boating time, and it will improve the resale value once installed in your boat. Brad Wiegmann is a professional fishing guide on Lake SWEPCO, Beaver Lake and an outdoor writer. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279 or by e-mail at bwiegmann@bradwiegmann.com or on his website at www.bradwiegmann.com

Angler Watches LIVETARGET Lures Crawl across Rock! Springfield, Missouri. An Angler fishing Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri reported to fellow anglers, newspapers, and TV reporters that he saw four life-like lures crawl across the top of a rock while out fishing early Friday morning. "I was just out fishing and I saw these life-like lures just come out of the water," he continued, "they crawled right on top of the rock and were sunning themselves; till that bass tried to eat them." The angler was able to get a photo of them with his cell phone before the bass attacked them. "I just cannot believe how life-like those lures looked; that bass chased each one of them...just like a LIVETARGET," said the angler. It is unknown at this time if any of the Crawfish made it out alive after being attacked by the bass. No doubt, we will be hearing more about these sightings as other anglers have reported seeing Shad, Smelt, Golden Shiner and other life-like lures being attacked to newspapers and TV reporters.

The LIVETARGET Crawfish Crank (www.livetargetlures.com) is a 'fat style' crankbait with an accurate profile and anatomical details of a fleeing crawfish (Orconectes Propinquus). The 'fat style' is reminiscent of the extremely popular original Wiggle Wart. When Storm lures was purchased by Rapala a number of modifications were made to the original Wiggle Wart that changed the action. Some say for the better, other say that the original Wiggle Wart crankbait action cannot be duplicated. For proof, just look at how much anglers are willing to pay for the originals on eBay. That is where LIVETARGET Crawfish Crank 'fat style' crankbaits come in; they have that distinctive wide wobble swimming action and soft deflection with accurate recovery that fish cannot resist. Almost every reservoir or body of water has crawfish living in it. A number of lures anglers can choose from represent a crawfish such as a jig and pig combo, soft plastic crawfish shaped or sweet beaver style, and hair jigs. However, the number one lure that resembles a crawfish would be the crankbait.

In highland reservoirs like Table Rock in Missouri or Beaver Lake in Arkansas crawfish styled crankbaits are extremely effective for catching bass. In the early spring or pre-spawn, bass will be moving up towards spawning areas feeding on crawfish preparing for the spawn. Shallow crankbaits fished on 45-degree banks and transition areas are productive locations for fish. In the summertime, anglers on these lakes will fish crankbaits at night targeting bluff ends, brush or rock piles, or main lake channel swings. In the fall, bass go on a feeding frenzy and a medium or shallow crankbait will catch bass around lay downs, around boat docks, or near the back of feeder creeks next to the creek channel. Winter normally means anglers go deep and slow; however, on highland reservoirs like Table Rock or Beaver Lake, bass will move extremely shallow on banks that are protected by cold north winds and get direct sunlight. A major bonus is many of these bass are big smallmouth willing to bite on a crankbait.

LIVETARGET Crawfish Cranks come in seven styles and six different color patterns. The profile and anatomical details of these crankbaits is remarkable. The eyes on these crankbaits latterly pop out at you. Every LIVETARGET Crawfish Crank comes with a set of instructions and information about the lure. Who Knows? The next time you are out fishing you may see a LIVETARGET Crank crawling across a rock and you will have a story to tell the newspaper or TV reporters.

Brad Wiegmann is a professional fishing guide on Lake SWEPCO, Beaver Lake and an outdoor writer. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279 or by e-mail at bwiegmann@bradwiegmann.com or on his website at www.bradwiegmann.com

My dad gave me all kinds of gifts growing up. The love of fishing was one of them. No one could catch more fish than Dad in my family, but Dad also knew when it was time to stop fishing and go skipping rocks across the lake or go searching for buried treasure. Having 5 children meant less fishing for dad and more playing most the time. Dad was always big into having live bait for catching fish, no matter if it was minnows for crappie, suckers for northern pike, or night crawlers for bluegill, bass, and carp. I guess that's why we always caught fish; we had lively, fresh bait.

I grew up in a small town in the Midwest. Back then there was no cable TV, cell phones, video games, Facebook, text messaging, or internet. No distractions that could have taken my attention away from fishing. My younger brother and I spent most of our free time chasing night crawlers for live bait fishing. There was a skill to catching them and we were experts at catching these slimy, crawling critters. One of the best and easiest times to catch big night crawlers was after a hard rain. All you had to do was walk around and you could just pick them up off the sidewalk. The other way we caught them was at night. I think we tried every strategy known to get them to come out after the sun went down. We tried watering the lawn, I really mean flooding it with a garden hose. This method worked, until Dad got the water bill! Did I happen to mention that water that comes out of the garden hose is not free? The next technique involved used coffee grounds. I do not know who told us that sprinkling used coffee grounds on our lawn would make night crawlers come up, but I am thinking their last name was Mr. Folgers. I have to say this was one of our better strategies when it came to catching night crawlers. The night crawlers seem to love the taste and after a couple weeks of treating the lawn they seemed addicted to the grounds. Unfortunately, our hands and knees ended up getting coffee stains that refused to come out even after rigorous washing. We did smell better, but even today I associate the smell of coffee with night crawlers. Another of our secret techniques involved using pieces of red cellophane paper. The cellophane paper wrapped around the head of a flashlight would turn its light beam red so night crawlers would not slide back into the holes once the light exposed them. In the end, finding and catching fresh, plump, night crawlers came down to the right lawn and having it rain during the day before you went night crawler hunting that night.

Did I happen to mention the right lawn? We lived next to the courthouse that had the biggest, fertile lawn in town. Dad worked at the courthouse and we adopted the lawn as our own. It was the perfect location for night crawlers and was big enough to replenish itself to keep us well endowed in night crawlers. We would start hunting for the night crawlers right after it got dark. For us, it was a privilege to hunt night crawlers; usually, we would be sent to bed after it got dark, but not when we went hunting night crawlers. We could stay up till we got tired of catching them, or had enough to fill the containers in our refrigerator. The best catch would be when you found two night crawlers locked together and grabbed them both. A double was always worthy of a celebration howl. I can still see the image of our dad standing on the porch smiling as he looked at his kids on their hands and knees searching relentlessly for bait. He knew that the reward of catching our own bait would amplify the joy of catching fish with them. It was exactly like when he taught me how to fillet a fish. He knew I would enjoy the taste of fish more if I was to fillet it. While most families in our town had two cars, we were probably the only family in town that had two refrigerators; one for food and drinks, the other just for storing our night crawlers. Our second refrigerator was outside in the garage next to the car. Thinking back, I realize that is how my parents stayed together so long. Dad always kept the live bait out of the house and in the garage. The second refrigerator was required to keep the night crawlers alive during the hot summer months. Our storage system consisted of one large styro-foam container with other smaller containers wherever they would fit. The bedding was either dirt or sheets of newspapers. When Dad had enough extra money he would buy worm bedding. It was our chore to keep an eye on them, remove the dead night crawlers, and change the bedding when necessary.

Sometimes we would catch so many night crawlers, we did not know what to do with them. That is when one of us kids came up with the brilliant idea to sell them. Back then our marketing skills and budget was limited. We found a piece of cardboard from a box that had been used before in what Dad referred to as brilliant idea to get rich. Thinking back, I realize now whenever Dad said we had a brilliant idea someone was always getting injured or cleaning up a mess. Like the time we thought using 2x4's would work to make a great ramp like Evil Knievel used to jump parked cars with. So, one side of the sign had our recent out of business 5-cent lemonade stand ad and the side towards the road had our new 25-cent night crawler for sale sign. What we did not realize is that you have to be home to sell them. Being young and wanting to go fishing every free minute our sales of night crawlers was limited and our interest in becoming rich by selling night crawlers quickly disappeared.

Today, young anglers still go out and catch night crawlers after it rains or at night for their upcoming fishing trips. The promise of catching a big fish on a fat, juicy night crawler has not died. While most of these young anglers do not have an extra refrigerator, they do have new advanced products such as live storage systems, worm food, pre-mixed worm bedding, and crawler cribs to keep them alive and healthy. One thing that remains consistent over the years is live bait still out produces artificial lures. Recently, my dad was standing on our boat dock fishing for bream with a night crawler; he would get excited and smile every time the bobber went under and he reeled in a fish. I think to myself on this Father's day that my dad gave me one of the best gifts ever, the love of fishing.

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"This is the final straw; I will no longer be using crankbaits or lures with hooks anymore!" I protested loudly to my fishing partner. It was no wonder; my rods were snarled and jumbled together in a large pile. Spinning rods and reels were poking out from a huge web of baitcasting rods and reels. "Yep, I am just going to fish my crankbaits, worms, topwaters, spinnerbaits, and any other lure I got without hooks," I reiterated to him. "Well, you would probably catch just as many fish as you do now without hooks, but you can solve your problem with one thing," he said. "What's that? Take up golf?" I replied. "No. Nothing that drastic," he continued, "just use lure covers on all your lures." "Lure covers, what's that?" I responded. "Just look over here at my lure covers," he went on, "they cover all my lures like shallow water or deep diving crankbaits, topwater, spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, swimbaits, or jerkbaits; now, do you have any questions?" "Just one, why did you bring so many rods rigged with all those lures in the boat; when you know, we always end up fishing your custom built balsa wood crankbaits over there against them ol' Cyprus stumps?" I replied.

Have you reached your final straw when it comes to getting crankbaits, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, topwaters, and jerkbaits snagged on something, someone, or yourself. There is a solution to your problem that does not require you to cut all the hooks off your lures. Crankbait Cover Ups covers those hooks on your lures from dangling down and becoming entangled with everything it comes in contact with. They are easy to use and do not require any special tools to install; in fact, they take just seconds to attach to the rod while wrapping around the lure and hooks. It's an easy solution for a possible chaotic situation.

Crankbait Cover Ups lure covers act like a little lure locker that attaches to your rod and lure anywhere on the blank. They are built by hand in the USA from high quality materials. The soft, pliable, vinyl easily wraps around the rod and lure without flying off during extended boat rides. A patent pending design shape eliminates angler's lines from getting snagged in the corners by other rods or in rod lockers. The vinyl is both UV and mildew resistant. It comes in either smoke or charcoal. The smoke color allows the angler to look at it and quickly tell what lure is inside the Crankbait Cover Ups, on the other hand the darker charcoal color keeps the lure a secret so other anglers cannot tell what you have been catching your fish on. Adjustable high quality hook and loop material keeps the lure cover connected to the rod blank and can be cut to custom fit any of your fishing poles. Additional benefits to using lure covers like Crankbait Cover Ups is soft plastic lures like YUM or Gulp with retain their scent formula or soft texture, Gulp products will not dry out if stored for short periods of time in them, and the size and shape allow them to fit inside or with rod socks.

Crankbait Cover Ups (www.crankbaitcoverups.com) come in four sizes including small, medium, large, and a special size for jerkbaits. The small sized lure cover fits Storm Wiggle Warts or model A Bombers; The medium size lure cover will fit 2 to 3-inch square bills or crankbaits that dive up to 10-feet deep; The large size lure cover will fit Heddon Zara Spooks, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, swimbaits, or deep diving crankbaits; the jerkbait size will hold most stick baits. They come standard with yellow vinyl trim, but other colors are available by special order. Every Crankbait Cover Ups has a built in clasp along with a separate belt clip allowing it to easily attach to tackle boxes, belts, or belt loops.

Just think about it, no more sticking hooks in to boat seats, carpet, raincoats, pants, or ending up with rods tangled together in a super knot. Your fishing partner will appreciate it and his boat will have fewer holes in it from your hooks. Plus you can take a multitude of fishing poles with you without getting the reels, rods, or lures snarled together. Lure covers like Crankbait Cover Ups will keep your rods neat and organized, no matter how windy or small a rod locker you put them in. They are easy to use and can save you valuable fishing time. Co-anglers in bass tournaments will find using lure covers save them precious time and help keep them organized. It's your choice; use lure covers or get them snagged.

For tournament anglers Saturday can never come quickly enough. This Saturday was just like every other one. As the sun was slowly rising over the horizon, all the boats could be seen bobbing around with their navigation lights on preparing for the day's event and going through the check-in boat. By the time the tournament would finally begin the sun had fully peaked over the horizon. Of course you had pulled up to a number of your fishing buddies to chat before takeoff, but you had a surprise for them as they tried to check out what was on your fishing poles. "Hey, what's those things on your rod for?" asked one of them as he tried sneaking a peak at what lures you had tied on. "They are Crankbait Cover-Ups; they keep my lures from hanging up on the deck or getting tangled on the carpet going down the lake," you respond. Of course you knew he was trying to get a look at what lures you were going to fish with, but that wasn't going to happen today. Crankbait Cover-Ups not only keep your lures and rods from tangling up, but the dark color vinyl makes it hard for other anglers to see what you have tied on.

No one likes to have their lures stuck in the carpet or having all the rods twisted together. If it's your job to catch fish then it can take away time that you would be casting and catching fish which can possibly cost you money. Professional anglers Guido and Dion Hibdon know all about being successful when fishing in bass tournaments. Guido won the 1998 Bassmaster Classic Championship while Dion won the Bassmaster Classic Championship in 1997 and the FLW Cup in 2000. "One of the biggest benefits to the Crankbait Cover-Ups are they hide the bait from other anglers trying to check out what you are fishing with. Plus I like the fact that I can run down the lake and it keeps the treble hooks on my crankbaits or jerkbaits from getting snagged," Guido continued, "they also solve the problem of drop shot rigs from tangling up; I just put the bait inside the Crankbait Cover-Ups, tighten up the straps that hold it and leave the sinker on the outside. Its great and now I don't have to use rubber bands anymore." Dion also praised the Crankbait Cover-Ups for keeping his rods from tangling, "What I like about them is they keep my rods organized; we all carry too many fishing poles in our rod locks and if just one lure pops off it becomes a big mess. Plus I like the concealment part on tournament day so other anglers cannot see what you are fishing with." Dion also recommended that after removing a Crankbait Cover-Up, an angler attach it to the piston hinge in the rod locker so you don't lose it and it's ready to use when you put your rod back into the rod locker.

Crankbait Cover-Ups (www.coveryourcrank.com) are great for any angler trying to keep their rods and lures from tangling up; no matter if they are in a fishing tournament or just out fishing for fun. Speaking from experience it is no fun starting your day out on the lake retying your lures back on because they were all tangled up and cutting the line to get your rods free from each other. The original Crankbait Cover-Ups come with a yellow boarder with either a smoke or charcoal vinyl covering. The smoke covering allows anglers to quickly identify what lure is inside the Crankbait Cover-Ups; on the other hand, the Charcoal covering is harder to see through at a distance keeping what lure you have tied on secret from other anglers. New to the original Series of Crankbait Cover-Ups is the Stealth Series has a jet, black boarder with charcoal vinyl covering. The Original and Stealth Series Crankbait Cover-Ups come in 4 sizes including small, medium, large, and one just perfect for jerkbaits.

Any angler can benefit from using Crankbait Cover-Ups and not just professional anglers like Guido and Dion. No one likes having treble hooks stuck in their boat carpet, seats, or worse case scenario in their hands. Plus they keep your rods organized in the back bed of a pickup truck or in your car. Besides, wouldn't you rather be fishing than untangling your fishing poles?

Being that I am a co-angler myself, I wanted to share some tips with any of you that are either considering fishing tournaments for the first time, or maybe even some of you that have been doing it for a while. I have learned that being a co-angler has its pros and cons. You get to fish, but you're in the back of the boat. You get to fish, but you cannot bring all your stuff. You get to fish, but you get stuck fishing some areas you have no idea how to fish.

Now, all rambling aside, packing and picking your gear for a tournament is critical to your success on the water. You must get an idea of what types of lures and water you will be fishing, but you also have to be ready to change in a moment's notice with minimal gear and tackle. What I do when I prep for a tournament is I first try and fish that lake a little before I fish the tournament, whether its two days before or two weeks before, I want to have an idea of what the water is like and what types of structure I will most likely be fishing. Next, I do map study. I take a look at the lake map, Google maps will suffice if you do not have a map on hand, and I look at the area that we will launch out of and some areas I may have fished before and some possible other areas. Just a note, it is always good to have a spot or two if your boater's fish do not pan out.

After I have looked over the maps I go to my work bench and I lay out all my Plano 370 boxes and my stuff from my tackle box and make sure I don't have anything I need to fix or replace, such as hooks, etc. I then try to pack 4 or 5 of those Plano boxes with what I think would be working the best that weekend as well as some back up plans. ALWAYS have a little bit of everything in your tackle box, it might cost you your fish for the day.

There are some exceptions however, if your fishing in March, you are more than likely not going to need any top water lures, in Missouri anyway. So you can leave those at home; just an example. Also, you won't need certain lures on certain lakes; this will be learned with experience.

Another key note is that if you have 20 rods, you can bring them, but they are just going to get in your way. Try to keep it to around 8 rods MAX. I carry between 4 and 6 depending on where I am fishing. Just remember to keep your gear to tailor to where you are what you're fishing. You don't need to bring the whole house with you like those boaters!

Getting involved in the world of tournament fishing for some people may sound like an impossible task, but in reality, it is easier than you may think! There are numerous opportunities for everyone out there who wants to put their skills to the test and learn new things. Even if you're new to the sport, there are thousands upon thousands of very knowledgeable fishermen right in your backyard. All you have to do is a little looking. Most of these men and women are more than willing to help you get better, because in reality what we all want is to "Keep America Fishing".

Being a co-angler, or non-boater as it is called in some clubs, is a great opportunity for many people to get a look into the world of competitive bass fishing right before their own eyes. Many clubs have between 6-10 tournaments a year and some also do charitable events during the year to help with different causes. The fees for a club's dues can run from $65-100 for a year. Those fees do not all go to the club however. A percentage of that money is usually sent to the State and National organizations to pay for operations along with a little that is kept for the local club. Most clubs have entry fees for their tournaments range from $25-50 for one day events which gives you some incentive to fish and gives you as a co-angler the opportunity to fish with a boater that more than likely has some knowledge that you can soak up like a sponge while you go out fishing.

Once you get your feet wet you can always expand your horizons and join groups like the American Bass Anglers (ABA) and the Bass Fishing League (BFL). These organizations have higher entry fees and much bigger payouts, which in turn means there are many more quality people out there fishing. These tournament trails give co-anglers the opportunity to compete against some better competition as well as fish with better competition.

Just remember to stay fishing and get others involved. There are so many websites with information out there that can make you a better fisherman. Find a club today and get involved!

This may very well be the magic article that all tournament bass fisherman have been waiting for. The article that exposes the secrets of the upper echelon. So take a minute and lets delve into the world of the unknown. A world in which the likes of a VanDam, Evers, Reese, Brauer, and a Clunn could only know about. This mystery place is kind of like the Area 51 of bass fishing if you will.

There must be a secret to consistently weighing in limits of fish on foreign waters right? We watch the coverage on ESPN from our couches chapping our lips from licking them in excitement and awe at the simplicity of how these fisherman easily fill their boxes with four and five pound fish. We amuse ourselves like children watching a high wire act at the circus. "How do these guys do this" we ask ourselves every weekend. So, we pay close attention to what kind of gear that they are using, how big the engine is, what the brand of sunglasses are, and how many ball bearings their bait caster has in it's thumb grips. "That must be it!" we say to ourselves and there goes some more of our hard earned money as we ape what we see on television and read in the magazines. We have come to the conclusion that stocking stuffers and retail end cap glittery packaging has to be the secret of catching winning fish! Lets not kid ourselves, it certainly does not hinder our efforts to be surrounded with the best equipment, tackle, boats, and gear on the market. Also, it keeps our outdoor economy with viable fresh air.

Now we have a full spread of the latest NASA approved fishing reels, rods, clothes, sunglasses, and an engine that has more horses and ponies packed into one cowling than John Force's top fuel funny car. Armed with GPS, side scanners, Japanese lures, and weights made from materials that are questionable to be found on the periodic table of elements, we are finally ready to expose their secrets. Lets go fishing.

Day one results: not too good, must be the front that passed through last month. Day two results: even worse, must be the dam people pulling water off our fishes head. Day three results: the dam people quit pulling water and the bite went away. The greatest gear from the far east has not caught the under water Boone and Crocketts so it must be something else going on. It can't be from decisions that we have made, no way. No one wants to walk up the hill with an empty bag and have to tell their comrades that they just can't catch fish. So we blame it on the dam people and meteorologists. By the way, the dam people are some of the nicest folks I have ever met. They mention all the time that their ears start burning around 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays. I just tell them to wear more sun block.

So how does VanDam, Brauer, Reese, Evers, and Clunn do it on television and just what is their secret to unlimited catches of bug-eyed box fillers? I unfortunately do not have the resources to "Pull that rabbit out of the hat," however, I can let you in on what I have observed. These guys are full time employees of the fishing industry and surround themselves with fishing and it's nuances everyday of their lives. Information inundates their brains every minute from multiple sources in addition to the research that they pursue on their own. In short order, they are walking lineside computer processors, constantly storing and sending new information.

During a television show with Edwin Evers called "Lost Lake" he was fishing with deep crank baits on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. These baits have become so popularized by their success on Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River Chain of Lakes by VanDam and Evers. We all have set out to enjoy this success with these lures but most of us have not been able to find the correct angle of retrieve, line size-sure match, speed of retrieve, and color that we read and watch on television. These factors don't even take into consideration whether or not those are even bass that we see on our electronics. Wow, so many factors, just what is the secret? Readers, it is much simpler than this. Mr. Evers enlightened my approach to these baits and bass fishing as a whole with his "secret" that, surprisingly, he told on cable television. Edwin went on to say, "These baits work and they work well. Television editing will not allow you to see the amount of time that we have to put in a day to catch the fish for a thirty minute show. Stick with the bait all day and learn how to use it." Well, this may not be exactly what he said but it is dam close. I just can't let the dam people off the hook yet.

The secret was let out of the clutches of the Fort Knox fishing withholdings with that one statement by Mr. Evers. This is my synopsis on his comments: Work hard at what you do and believe in what you are doing and you will succeed. There is no secret other than spending as much time as you can on the water and doing your own research, not just relying on that of others, to better your efforts. We need to learn our tools and how they are best utilized. We must understand how all of our gear functions by itself and in relation to other gear. There is no one aspect of fishing that can better your results more than proper effort and experience. Learn from your days on the water and observe everything. Each day of fishing that we spend sets the foundation for the next day. Think of your career as a "ladder." Every day we fish we can add a rung to it. But we better make sure that the rungs are secure and will hold us while we work on the one above it. Otherwise we will fall down and utter momma's no-no's at the dam people around 3:30 while walking up the hill.

Arriving at a lake for the first time and dissecting its features can be a cumbersome task to deal with for any fisherman, novice, intermediate, and professional. Once the boat is launched it can be challenging to orientate ourselves to points of the compass and whether or not we need to go left or right to come face to face with the dam, if there is one. This is not the first time that we need to look at the lake or a new section of a lake that we have fished before. To be proficient at locating fish hangouts, corridors, and feeding areas one must study as best as they can on dry land at home before we get the bunk rails wet.

Lake maps are generally composed of three different visuals. Topographical maps, satellite/aerial view, and your plain old artist rendering maps. The latter of the three are the ones you see at the marinas with the pictures of people skiing, swimming, and enjoying dinner at one of the lakeside hotspots. These are of no use to us as fisherman because they do not give us any underwater or shoreline visualization. Topographical and satellite view maps are the tools that fisherman must have in their tackle boxes to give them a head start on the fishing and eventually dissecting a bass's backyard.

Topographical maps or "Topos" are comprised of contour lines that depict elevations and elevation changes. The closer that the lines are together the steeper that the bank is going to be and vice versa. The best way to visualize this is to visualize yourself on a roof looking down at a ladder leaned up against the wall at a steep angle. The rungs of the ladder are going to appear very close together. If the base of the ladder is moved farther away from the wall then the rungs of the ladder are going to appear farther apart. This is the same way that cartographers utilize contour/elevation lines on a map. Looking at a lake map with these lines everywhere is overwhelming. Think of the ladder leaned against the wall and visualize it as the bank with the rungs being the contour lines and it is easier to understand.

Now, your map is opened up and your eyes are wandering from one end of the map to the other and it all becomes a blur. You have to dissect an area at a time, like a long creek, or a section of a river. Try this trick that I like to use, purchase highlight markers with the sharpest point that you can get. Start coloring from the bank to the first contour line in yellow, which is generally from 0-10 feet and is where 85% of fisherman cast. Next, take green and color from 10 feet to the next contour line, which is generally 15-20 feet. You will find that the map is easier to understand and see. Also, you have identified the areas where 95% of tournaments are won.

Now that you have a map full of color let's take a look at what these colors mean and how they relate to each other. Flats are going to be wide areas of solid color. Ditches in the flats will have a thin line of green running through the yellow. In areas where you have a flat, or broad band of yellow, that becomes shrunk down and is very thin is generally a channel swing, ledge, or a roll-off. I have found that by coloring a map in this manner I can quickly skim over the water and find the sweet spots on a flat, in a creek, or large cove. Furthermore, any section that is out of the ordinary in an area, that is consistently the same, will generally be the best place to start looking. If the fish are not directly on that location then they will be in the vicinity usually. Small bands of different colors close to one another that have been colored are going to deep banks and if the colors become one in the same then it is a bluff.

Every lake map that I own has been colored. It was a trick that I utilized when map reading for myself when going to water for the first time. Even though I have learned to understand what the cartographers have drawn without coloring the map, I still color the maps up in green and yellow to help me find the haunts and homes of bass. Look at your maps in the off season and mark them based upon what you have learned. I hope that this helps you to catch more fish and facilitates understanding what the maps have to say.

Flippin' you the best,

Matt Beckler

Fishing competitively centers around having an edge on the competition and most importantly the fish. This article will hopefully enlighten the readers to lean on the latter of the two above and focus the attention on catching fish utilizing knowledge from fishing experience of their own and others.

What is learned knowledge in regards to catching bass? Learned knowledge is what we interpret through trials and tribulations while trying to catch bass. It definitely is not "dock talk" and conversations of that sort. This sort of talk is usually centered around a boat or two after a tournament has been decided or before the tournament. This writer doesn't take too much stock in the "early morning discussions" as they seem to be a curveball that one can't hit over the fence or they are a smoke trail with no fire. If I am on good fish, I sure as heck am not going to tell someone I am competing against how to catch 'em and vice versa. Figuring out how to catch the fish on your own will make you a better fisherman. This author's opinion is that there is not any single one component of bass fishing that will make us good fisherman other than going very often and being observant the whole time. That experience is the greatest learned knowledge and is not easily forgotten. There is another resource at our fingertips that must not be overlooked.

We are in an age of the internet, emails, surfing, and googling. We have the ability to research tournaments on websites from ten years prior on lakes all around the country. This gives us a great opportunity to get a jump start on the fishing before we get to the lake. These results will let us know what the tournament winning lure was and the area of the lake on some cases. However, we can take it to another level and really dissect the information and understand why and how the tournament was won.

I will use Lake of the Ozarks for an example on how to prepare using internet media. I began my research in January for an upcoming Pro-Am tournament at LOZ in March a few years ago. I started with the lake maps and highlight markers and locating a few areas that I thought would be good points. My next move was doing some tournament research on the web. The very first thing that I noticed was the large amount of fish that were caught on stick baits. Equally, the bags were generally over 18 pounds. This information was just not good enough for me and I wanted to know why. The more I researched I found that just as many derbies were being won on crank baits in March. At this point it was a toss up on what to use during my pre-fishing.

It seemed like all of the information was scattered and really leaned towards throwing a crank bait or a stick bait near the dam or in mid lake. That is an area of nearly 40 miles. I was wanting to know how this information could affect my decision making process on the water and where to begin. All the information was there, I just needed a way to break it down and decipher it. I decided to utilize the internet results over several years for tournament wins in March at LOZ and make a graph in hopes that it would be easier to understand. Once I put the information together it was so much easier to understand. Stick baits are at their best when the fish are staged and are in the brush piles. Many of the fishermen at LOZ that do well year in and year out have knowledge of copious amounts of brush piles. My knowledge of submerged Christmas trees was much more limited and was hoping for a crank bait bite.

I learned from this graph below that the winning weights are the highest when the fish are in the brush piles and are easier to find. The stick bait was winning not solely because of super human effort, just that the bass were easier to find. The weights came down as the crank bait bite picked up, this coincided with 47 plus degree water temp. This makes sense because crank baits are at their best when the fish move from the brush piles to the banks and start searching for spawning habitat. Equally, the winning weights decreased as a result of the fish becoming more scattered and not relating to the brush piles as well. The water color coincided with the jerk baits as a result of the fish only being able to see the bait better. The fish swallowed crank baits in clear water as well.

When I arrived at my first spot the water temp was 47.8 degrees. I threw a crawdad imitation crank bait all day on spawning banks and was able to amass a limit that weighed 14.9 lbs. Not a giant limit for LOZ in March but good enough for 3rd place. I was only 1.5 pounds out of the lead. The week before the tournament was won with nearly 22lbs on jerk baits.

In summary, I learned through research on the internet, magazines, and the likes that information is only as good as we interpret it. The information is easily accessible on media outlets. I now use this little graph for every tournament and it has helped me break down the content of the articles. If it was not for this little graph here, I would have thrown a stick bait all day in hopes of catching 22lbs of winning bass. Why, because that is what won it the week before.