And bite me they did. Our tournament at Pyramid lake October 16th, 2011 was a blast and a half from kick off to the hot dog on the way out. The bite was on early and continued through out the day. It started as a top water bite and evolved to a slower deeper more finesse bite.
2 of our 4 fish limit.
It was only my second time on the lake so I did not know what to expect. The lake was really weedy which made certain lures frustrating to use. Early on it was perfect conditions for top water. The water was warm, there was a lot of shad boiling along the surface and near the shore line and the weeds gave the bass ideal hide out spots to ambush their prey. The majority of our fish came up from the weeds to hit a spinner bait, fluke and popper. We also caught fish on a drop shot, crank bait and Ika.
The Ika master.
A good tip I learned from my partner was how to fish a Fluke Jr. with a stinger hook. I usually fish the full size fluke (5 inch model), but my partner used the smaller 4 inch model and it looked great on the surface! He missed quite a number of fish so he added a stinger hook to the back. The hook weighs the bait down a tad so the action isn't as realistic. When I find myself with this predicament in fishing I always keep the action true on my bait rather then adding a hook or more weight to help land more fish. If you never get the bite to begin with how are you ever going to land them?
Our bass sack for the day.
I was able to catch a fish with the Ika for the first time so that was exciting. I got some tips from the master himself and he taught me to use the rod to move the bait to get more feel rather than using the reel.
The hotdog guy!
When it was all said and done we ended the day in third place with a total weight of 9.75 pounds of bass. To help celebrate our great day on the water we bought hot dogs from a guy on the way out, where I got the last bite! I may not eat bass but I love dogs! Sorry peta.
Thanks for the Bass Art Summer Sauce! I hope that's a good knot.
Fishing may knot be your cup of tea but there are some fishing philosophies that translate to all aspects of life. The great UCLA Bruins basketball coach John Wooden would teach his players in their first practices how to tie their shoes. This may sound silly to some but the man has won 10 NCAA titles, so I would at least hear him out. To compete on a high level you must focus in on the details to eliminate possible error. If you have already thought of the things that can go wrong on the water, basketball court or in the game of life and are prepared for them you can concentrate on the task at hand. Silly? I think knot!
In fishing one of the most important details to spend some serious thought on is your knot!
Knot, knot...
Who's there?
Your fishing line...
What do you want fishing line?
You better tie me right or you are knot going to catch many fish!
I can't stress this enough, details are important. There is a famous phrase that says,"The devil is in the details," which to me means looking out for the small details in life is generally a good practice, since it greatly reduces the risk of surprise. While some surprises are pleasant, those planned by the devil are generally knot, so it pays to avoid pratfalls which are preventable by remembering that the devil's in the details.
Below are a few of my favorite knots, so if I were you I would practice these to avoid being thrown into hotel heartbreak where you get to watch Elvis have his way with your girlfriend while you're stuck in a glass box of emotion, courtesy of of bucket mouth billy bass. Shake it billy but don't break it!
The Albright knot: This knot is a great knot to use to tie two different diameter lines together as well as attaching a flurocarbon/mono leader to braid. This knot finishes in the shape of a triangle or pyramid.
The Uni-knot:
This is another knot used to tie two lines together. It is better with two lines that have a similar diameter. The knot itself will be larger than the albright knot so if you are using a shorter leader I would go with the albright knot.
The Palomar knot:
A great all around knot, I originally started using this knot a lot when I got introduced to braid. It does knot slip like a trilene knot which makes it ideal for braid. Also, it is my knot of choice for a drop shot, you just have to pull the line through one more time so your hook is perpendicular with your line.
The Rapala knot:
This is a great knot for lures with a lot of side to side action. It allows more freedom of movement for jointed plugs and some top water walk the dog type baits.
The Trilene knot:
This is another great all around knot like the palomar. It is the first knot I learned to tie and still use it to this day on everything from Texas rigged worms to crank baits.
The Snell knot:
A new knot to my arsenal. This is the knot to use for flipping and pitching into heavy cover with large soft plastics like the brush hog as well as punching rigs. What makes this knot great for these applications is when you set the hook on a fish, the knot pulls the hook up facilitating the hooks penetration into the mouth of the fish. That's what you call a good wing-man!
A good solid double knot on the old basketball shoes should do the job so you can, "forget about it" and drop a triple double on your opponent. If you master these fishing knots you can concentrate on filling your livewell with lunkers and joining coach John Wooden in the trophy room instead of getting thrown into the dirty bed bug infested hotel of heartbreak with the fat Elvis, not the skinny good looking one.
Knot so fast, one last thing. Always lubricate your knots with saliva to avoid friction which can lead to line breakage:)
Now go out and get knotty!
Skyman out
Final knot count: 39
Below is a Mickey's puzzle. See if you can solve the riddle.
