Reel Life Outdoors

Spring is approaching and fishermen all over the heartland are getting their gear ready and go hit the lake. This past winter has been a harsh one and now that the lakes are unthawed and the weather is starting to take a turn for the better, fishing is now the number one priority. Every year new baits come out on the market and we all can’t wait to throw them. But sometimes we all get caught up in all of the hype of the new baits that we forget about the tried and true ones that have worked for decades. Think about it. What is one of the number one baits to throw in the spring time? The answer is simple. A spinnerbait. This one bait can be thrown all year long but really shines in the spring. It is the one bait that bass absolutely crush this time of year. Bass move from their winter habitat to the warming shallows to get prepared for the spawn. They feed heavily on whatever food source they have available. Shallow water is perfect for the spinnerbait to shine. There are many different colors and sizes on the market but a 3/8 ounce white or white/chartreuse works almost every time. One thing I like to look for in a lake to help me choose what type of spinnerbait I want to throw is the water color I will be fishing. If the water is stained to dirty I will use a Strike King Premier Plus double Colorado blade(gold) with a white/chartreuse skirt. I like to slow roll the bait along laydowns or over submerged grass. One key is the dirtier the water, the slower I reel. Sometimes I will even pause the bait and shake my rod then continue reeling. By doing this I can generate a reaction strike. Another key is to make multiple casts using different angles to figure out how the fish are positioned on whatever type of cover you are fishing. If the water is stained to clear I will use the same Premier Plus only with a willow/colorado blade combination. A white or shad like skirt is preferred. I can speed up my retrieve a little but not too much. If the water is clear I will switch to a Strike King Burner spinnerbait which has a double willow leaf blade combination. I can reel this bait quicker and jerk the bait occasionally making it appear like a wounded bait fish. I throw all of my spinnerbaits on 17lb. to 20lb. Vicious Fluorocarbon since I am fishing around heavy cover. One thing I always do is use a Mustad trailer hook. A lot of times a bass will short strike the bait but is still catchable if you have a trailer hook. I use an Ardent XS1000 5.0 to 1 gear ratio reel for slow rolling the bait if the water is murky and an Ardent XS1000 6.3 to 1 gear ratio reel for really moving the bait. A spinnerbait is a great all around bait and is deadly in the spring. As the water warms head to the shallows and start chucking and winding. You just might start the season out with a bang.

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Over the past 21 years I would say that I have probably fished somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 tournaments. I have had some real good tournaments and I have had some real bad ones. I have also had some good streaks where everything I did, went my way. One year I cashed ten checks out of twelve events. I have also been on the backside of that where I could not catch a fish in a pay lake. That is tournament fishing. You win some, you lose more. Everyone has had those tournaments where they lose a giant at the boat, or you hear someone say they should have won the tournament but their line broke or whatever happened. We have all said it and or heard it at a weigh in. I know of several tournaments where I could have done better but somehow screwed it up. But there is one tournament where I screwed up so bad that if it would have gone the other way, it could have been a life changing event.
In 2005 I entered my first B.A.S.S. event. The tournament was held on West Point Lake in Alabama. I was nervous and excited to say the least. My practice went fairly well. I had found two different patterns that seemed to be working. I wasn’t over confident. I was just glad I had found some fish. I sat in my boat waiting in anticipation for my boat number to be called. I was shaking. I couldn’t wait to get out and start fishing. My boat number was finally called and I took off to my first spot. I was stroking a jig on an offshore brush pile. Within 15 minutes I got a bite. I set the hook and fought the three pound fish all the way to the boat. As I reeled him in closer the fish decided to jump and got off. Trying not to get too upset I kept fishing. I should have played him better but that was only mistake number one. An hour or so went by and I went to start flipping trees. I had found some fish on the ends of some pine trees that were lying in the water. I flipped into this tree and my line kept going down. I finally realized that I had a fish and set the hook. I pulled the fish out of the tree and had him coming toward the boat. In the clear water I could see that this fish was over six pounds. I don’t remember if I gave him slack or what but ten feet from the boat the fish just came off. Now I was sick to my stomach. I ran around the lake for several more hours trying to get that thought out of y head but it wasn’t working. I started throwing a topwater when a nice three plus pound fish smoked it. I set the hook and he came off. The fish came back two more times and I missed him again and again. Things were not going my way. With ten minutes to go I finally caught my first keeper on a jig. At the weigh in I weighed my one fish for three pounds knowing that I should have had sixteen or so pounds putting me in the top three for day one. Instead I was in the 70’s. I was beyond sick that night. I called my wife and told her that maybe I don’t belong here. She tried to cheer me up telling me not to give up. Day two and I had a fresh start. I picked up my top water and went to work catching three two pound fish within a couple of hours. My confidence was coming back. It was now time to go to my trees and flip a big one out. And then it happened. I got a bite and set the hook. It was big. Four pounds plus and he came screaming out of the tree. He made one jump and broke my line. Oh, did I mention that the night before I took off my twenty pound test and replaced it with fourteen pound test because I thought I would get more bites? At the weigh in my six pounds got me a few places out of the money. With all of the fish I lost I would have been sitting in first or second place. I don’t know what would have happened on day three but if I would have won the event I would say that it could have possibly changed my life. That was and still is the only B.A.S.S event that I have ever had a chance to win. I believe that one event has actually helped my fishing. There are just some things that you have no control over. Someone a lot higher than me does and if you fight it, it just gets worse. I realized that after that event and I am still going strong hoping that one day it will go my way and I know it will. Never give up, even when you think you are at your lowest point. Your next cast could be a life changer.

The cold arctic weather looks like it is going to hang around for a while. You can do one of two things, sit on the couch and watch fishing shows or get out on the lake and go fishing. Bundling up like an Eskimo and going fishing doesn’t sound like fun until you get out there and realize that you can catch some of the biggest bass you will ever catch. Don’t believe me? It can be done, but only with the right equipment. There is one bait and one bait only to throw this time of year. That is a suspending jerk bait. There are hundreds of models to choose from but I throw the Strike King Wild Shiner. The Wild Shiner comes in a variety of colors. One of my all time favorites is the clown color. It features a red head, a yellow back, and chrome sides. This color seems to out perform most others colors day in and day out. One myth that I recently learned that was not true is the fact that you have to fish the jerk bait off a point or bluff. Wrong. Yes you can catch them on those types of places but you can also fish inside the pockets. Small secondary points or deep grass lines are key areas to fish. Since the lakes have little or no pressure on them now, it is easy to find a good looking spot without anyone on it. The basic retrieve is a jerk, jerk, pause cadence. Sometimes the bait needs to be paused for as long as thirty seconds before the fish bites it. Other times it can be as little as five or so seconds. Light line is also a key to getting the bait down to the maximum depth. I have found that eight pound Vicious Fluorocarbon seems to work best for me. Not only is it very sensitive but small in diameter to let the bait dive further and not keep it so high in the water column. A medium action rod works just fine. One that you can cast a fairly long distance and still have a little backbone in it. You can either use a spinning or a bait casting reel. A lot of fishermen are using spinning gear now a days because it is easier to cast these light weight baits. For my spinning reel I use an Ardent S2500 spinning reel. This reel casts with ease and is very smooth. If I want to throw a bait casting reel I choose the Ardent XS1000. This is one of the best reels on the market. Not only does it cast great but is very smooth. Whatever equipment you choose make sure that it is up to the task of fighting big fish. This is the time of year that you can literally catch the biggest bass of your life. If you have the guts to get out and brave the elements, you just might catch a giant. You won’t know until you get off the couch.

Every year I look forward to the Illinois shotgun season for deer. I have been deer hunting since I was thirteen years old and every year I get just as excited as I did back then. This year my wife Heidi decided to put in for a shotgun tag. She has went with me in the past and been fortunate to have killed two bucks, but this year she said would be different. She wanted to shoot a big one so that she could have it mounted and hung on the wall with all of my deer. I made her a promise that the first big one we saw she could shoot it. Opening day came and we got into the woods early. Before shooting light we had two small bucks walk within ten feet of us, and we were hunting from the ground. As daylight broke we had several encounters with a few small bucks and a couple of does. She was going to hold out for a good one. By now I had decided to do whatever it took to get her a trophy. By 8:30 am she was ready to leave and run into town to get a cup of hot chocolate. I walked her to the truck and told her that I would stay all day and to call me when she was ready to come back. As she drove off I started walking back to where I wanted to sit. I didn’t get very far when my cell phone vibrated. I t was Heidi. “Luke, there is a big buck with a doe out in the field!” She said. I told her to come back and pick me up quickly. I ran back and jumped in the truck. She drove up and I could see him standing there in the middle of the pasture. I crawled up into the field and motioned her to follow. The buck went over and made a scrape on an oak tree. He was out there a good ways but I thought there was a chance that she could get him. She settled the scope on him and squeezed the trigger. The buck and the doe took off running. She missed and in the process blacked her eye from the scope. She was upset but I told her that it would be ok. We got back in the truck and she went to drop me back off. Once I got out of the truck I noticed the same buck was standing in the back field with that same doe. The wind was right and I knew we had a chance to cut him off. We ran down the creek and then crawled up the ridge on our hands and knees. Once we got to the top of the ridge we belly crawled another ten yards to the fence. From there we watched him at about 100 yards feeding in the field not straying far from the doe. I told Heidi that we would wait him out as long as it took and hopefully he would get closer for Heidi to get a shot. After watching him for about fifteen minutes the buck started to walk toward the woods. Heidi thought he was leaving but I knew better. He wasn’t about to leave the hot doe. As he walked toward the woods a smaller buck shot out and the chase was on. The bigger buck chased the little one all over the field and getting closer and closer to us. Finally I told Heidi it was now or never and she had to pull the trigger. At 60 yards Heidi dropped the giant. I ran out into the field to make sure he was down. “Get over here and check out your buck!” I exclaimed. She ran out into the field and put her hands on her big 9 point buck. We took several pictures and she made several phone calls. Mission accomplished. Heidi finally had her trophy. Heidi’s buck scored out at around 140 inches. A trophy anywhere in the country. She would finally be able to hang this big buck on our wall. There is nothing better than to take someone out hunting, especially a family member, and to have them shoot a buck of a lifetime.

31 st Annual Jacob Deer Rut

This year 527 people signed up for the Jacob Deer Rut Contest. The contest is in its 31st year . The contest is for the Illinois shotgun season only. There are several categories each year but the most prestigious one to win is the biggest buck category. All deer are weighed and the heaviest wins. This year’s winner was JR Kranz. His buck weighed in at 195.2. In the doe category Brandon Busby weighed in a doe that tipped the scales at 128.4. In the team category it was Steve and Dane Walls that had a combined weight of 358.8. Nathan Bauersachs won the 15 and under category with his deer’s weight at 173.6. The oldest hunter that weighed in a deer was Pete Leece. He is 88 years old. There was a tie for the youngest hunter. Colton Titsworth and Austin Ebers both age 9. There were 137 teams that entered. This year only 150 deer were weighed in. Thanks to everyone that entered and we hope to see you next year. Here are the complete standings.

Buck Category
JR Kranz 195.2
Doug Clark 195.0
Kevin Rendlman 189.4
Brice Harsy 186.6
Jesse Elder 185.2
Dane Walls 183.0
Larry Winkitter 182.2
David Colvis 181.4
Ryan Ellett 180.2
Gene Adams 180.0
Joel Eggers 179.4
Bryce Muller 179.2
Rusty Honeycutt 178.0
Dennis Hassemeyer 176.4
Allen Bachmann 175.8
Steve Walls 175.8
Kenny Dereks 175.4
Fred Madden 174.6
Blake Beckman 174.2
Mary Annelecce 174.0


Doe Category
Brandon Busby 128.4
Shawn Beckett 122.6
Delbert Bauersachs 119.2
Ronnie Korando 115.8
Ryan Edwards 114.6
Chris Brand 114.4
Kenny Dereks 112.6
Dustin Hiple 112.2
Josh Kranawetter 110.4
Jeremy Kranawetter 110.0
Robert Kohen 110.0

Teams
Steve and Dane Walls 358.8
Nick and Nathan Bauersachs 343.8
Jaime Hubbs and Blake Beckman 340.4
Chad and Dennis Hassemeyer 330.8
Gene Shanyfelt and Gene Adams 328.8

15yrs old and under
Nathan Bauersachs 173.6
Nick Bauersachs 170.2
Michael Ritter 155.4

Every deer hunter looks forward to the opening day of deer season. Every year hunters get ready to go out into the woods to chase after those elusive whitetails. But what if you could not go out every year or never had the opportunity like most of us have to even go deer hunting? There are many people in this world, especially young kids who will never get to experience the joys of deer hunting. There are a few programs out there and Joey Thurston, the sight manager for the Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area has set up a special hunt for children with disabilities and life threatening illnesses. This year the Jacob Deer Rut Committee got involved in donating some product for the five lucky hunters. Steve Young and Brian Vanpelt (two members of the Jacob Deer Rut Committee) went down to hand out the donations to the kids. The five kids were thrilled on what was donated and could not wait to go hunting the next day. Each child has a guardian or parent along with a guide to help them out. Blinds are easily accessible for the hunters. Special thanks go out to all of the volunteers that donated their time to help these special children. The organization that really gets this program going is the United Special Sportsman Alliance. They are the ones that provide a cost free outdoor experience the critically ill and disabled youth. The President of the advisory group also attended. Mr. Ron Johnson. Also a special thanks to Jon Adams of NATGEAR for his donations. If you are interested in donating or helping this fine organization please check out their website. www.childwish.com. Here are the names of the five children that got to go on the hunt. From left to right are Cole Ruppe (age 10) from Suffolk,Va. Wesley Johnson(age 22) from Spencer,WI. Jayden Mayfield(age 8) from Owensbor,KY. Chase Kupferschmid(age 19) from Fairberry,IL. Dawson DeCapp(age 7) from Geneseo,IL. This was a hunt of a lifetime for these young hunters. The Jacob Deer Rut Committee will continue to be involved to the fullest extent for this great event.

Most men want to have little boys when they get married and have kids. I was no exception. But God had different plans and blessed me with the two most beautiful little girls in the world. My oldest had started to take an interest in deer hunting so this year I decided to get her a youth permit. I had never let Emily shoot a real gun up until the week before the season opener. I got my 22 rifle that had a scope out of the gun safe so I could start her on something small. We set up a target at my friends house and she was hitting the bulls eye every time. She was liking it and ended up shooting almost all of my shells. I purposely did not let her shoot the 20 gauge she would be using until it was time to shoot a deer. I did not want to scare her. Plus she would not even feel it because of the adrenaline. On opening evening we went out and set up a ground blind. Pretty soon a few does came out and she was getting nervous. The wind was not in our favor and we never had one come close enough for her to shoot. It did not matter. She was having a blast and I was a proud father. The next day I took a nap but Emily woke me to get back out there early. We had switched guns to a muzzle loader so that we could shoot further. Again, several does came out but they were way out there. Emily watched them in excitement just praying they would come closer. As we watched over the field two does stepped out of the corner of the field. One of them was in shooting range but kept staring at the blind. She was very skittish. As I eased the gun up and put it on the shooting sticks, the doe broke and went back in the woods. No shot. Emily was upset but I told her that sometimes it just doesn’t work out. As daylight faded we got out and took down the blind. I looked up and there were four does out in the field. I decided to let Emily have a crack at one of them. The shot would be long and I estimated it at around 100 yards. It was too far for her but she wanted to try. I helped her steady the sticks and she was nervous and shaking like a leaf. The smoke flew out of the barrel and the shot did not hit its target. She got teary eyed and I assured her that there would be many years to come and I promised her we would get one next year. On the way home I asked her if she enjoyed the whole experience. She did but she still wanted to get one. I knew she was heart broken but couldn’t wait to go again. My daughter had just become a deer hunter. The fact that killing is not what it is all about but the time spent together. I will never forget those two days we spent together in the blind and I am looking forward to her first deer as I know she is.

B.A.S.S. SOUTHERN OPEN


My last big tournament of the year was in South Carolina on Santee Copper Lake. The lake was drawn down almost three feet and trying to get around was just short of dangerous. My four day practice time consisted of concentrating on one area of the lake and trying to learn and locate fish as best as I could. With a half day left on the final practice day I had found nothing. I think I had only caught four fish total in the three and a half days I had been fishing. It was tough out there. With a couple of hours to go I made my way back into a pocket and started throwing a ½ oz. Strike King Premier Elite spinnerbait around some deeper Cypress trees. I got a bite but the fish came off at the boat. It had looked like a good one. As I idled out back to the main channel my depth finder went from four feet to twenty feet fast. Since I hadn’t fished out deep on any ledges I decided to give it a try. I spun the boat around and on my first cast with a Carolina rig I got bit. Within a minute or so I had several good bites. I marked the spot on my gps and decide that I would be fishing there on the day of the tournament. The next morning came and I went straight to the Cypress trees. I immediately caught a three pound fish on the spinnerbait. That was a good start. I ran around the lake for a while with no success and decided to go to the ledge I had found. I tipped my Carloina Rig with a Strike King Game Hawg and went to work. I caught three nice keepers and lost one at the boat. Time ran out so I ran back to the weigh in. My four fish weighed 9pounds, 9 ounces. Good enough to put me inside the top thirty. I was not only shocked but excited. Day two I decided to stay on the ledge. My partner quickly went to work catching his limit before I even had a bite. I broke two nice fish off and was starting to get frustrated. At one o’clock I picked up a football jig and put three god keepers in the boat. Time ran out again and I knew that I probably wouldn’t make it to the next day. I put my fish on the scales and those three weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces. I stood back and watched as all of the other competitors weighed in. In the end I squeaked in the top thirty sitting in 28th place. I could not believe I had made it to the final day. My goal for day three was to catch a limit and that’s what I intended to do. Day three and I ran straight to the ledge. They were there and we started catching them quick. My co angler and I both had a limit by 9 o’clock and I had only lost one fish. We stayed there all day throwing Carolina rigs catching fish after fish. In the end we had caught over twenty keepers. My rig consisted of a 6’10” medium heavy rod, an Ardent XS 100 reel, and seventeen pound Vicious Fluorocarbon line with a twelve pound leader. I used a Strike King Game Hawg in the California Craw color on a 3/0 Mustad worm hook. The key to not breaking off any fish that day was the switch to a lighter rod on day three. I was happy that I had caught a limit. Now it was time to weigh them in. When my fish hit the scales they weighed 10 pounds, 8 ounces. It was good enough to vault me into 16th place. It was a great way to end to year. I was glad it was over and I happy to end it on a good note. I would like to thank all of my sponsors for their continuing support. If not for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Newbold Toyota, Strike King Lure Company, Ardent, Vicious, Mustad, Sure-Life, E &D Concrete, PLP Battery Supply, Von Jacob Vinyards, Natural Gear, and Camo Clad. Last but not least I would like to thank my wife Heidi and all of my friends that stand behind me. You do not know how much that means to me.

Awesome finish for Luke at Santee Cooper Lake in South Carolina! Luke finished in 16th place in the 3rd and final B.A.S.S. Southern Open event of the year! That's (2) 16th place finishes in 2009. Congrats Luke!

In 2005 I fished my first B.A.S.S. Open tournament. The last tournament of the year was held on Lake Kissimmee in Florida. I had never fished in Florida and once I got on the lake I was overwhelmed by all of the grass. Of course I threw a grass frog but the bites were few and far between. While I was down there I learned about a technique that I had never heard of before. It is called punching. Since then I took that knowledge and started to apply it to the lakes here at home. When the grass mats up during the summer most fishermen simply fish the edges or throw some sort of weedless frog over the top of it.That is fine but what if they aren’t biting. This is where punching a mat comes into play. For anyone who likes to flip, you will love it. Punching is when you flip a bait into the grass mat and let it “punch” through the mat. As the bait falls fast to the bottom, the bass will either get out of the way or strike the lure with a vengeance. This technique has been around for years but only recently here in the heartland anglers are learning that they can catch some giant bass doing it. In the heat of the summer and continuing in the early fall, punching mats is the way to go. Bass tend to hold in the thickest parts of the grass. There are two reasons that bass like to hang out in the heavy grass. One is the shade it provides and the other is it creates cover for them and makes it easy to ambush their prey. Now not all mats are created equal. Grass mats that have stumps below them or that are slightly deeper may hold more fish. The key is to locate the grass mat that is holding fish. Start by going down the mat flipping as many times as you can. You may have to fish several hundred yards of grass without a bite but once you do get a bite, then stay in that area because most of the time there are more. Punching mats is a close quarters type of fishing. You need the right equipment to get the job done because if you do not, it will only result in several lost fish. Let’s start with the line. There is only one to use and that is braided line. Braided line will cut the grass like a knife and has the strength to pull the fish out of the mat. I use Vicious 65lb. Braid. Nothing less. It has all of the strength I need. Next is the weight. Obviously you have to have a weight heavy enough to get the bait through the grass. A one ounce to one and a half ounce tungsten weight will get the job done. Next is the hook. I use a heavy gauge Mustad Denny Brauer flipping hook. The hook has to be strong enough not to give when you set the hook. You need a fast reel. I use an Ardent XS1000 reel with a 6.3:1 gear ratio. A lot of times the bass will hit the bait on the fall so you need to be able to reel the slack out of your line as quickly as you can. There is no question that a heavy flipping rod is key. A seven foot, six inch rod or longer is a must. Another key is a bobber stop. I place it on the line before I put the weight on to keep the weight close to the hook when I flip the bait. As far as bait selection goes I use something small and compact so it can go through the grass. A Strike King Rage Tail Craw or the Space Monkey are perfect punching baits. The way to do it is easy. Simply flip the bait into the grass and shake it so that it falls through the mat. Let the bait fall fast to the bottom. Be ready for the strike immediately . If you do not get a strike on the initial fall just shake it a couple of times, then reel up and do it again. Once you do get a strike, set the hook and pull the fish to the top of the mat so the fish is pinned right underneath the mat. He will stop fighting and you can troll in after him. This is hard core power fishing at its best. Punching mats. What a great technique to do to catch some giant bass.

Fall is great for some good topwater action. Lakes and rivers that have grass in them require one of my favorite lures. The Strike King Rage Tail Toad. This soft body frog has unbelievable action when it is worked over the grass. The vibration of its legs is unlike any other topwater frog on the market. One misconception about these baits is it can only be thrown in the early morning or late evening. Wrong! I have had great success throwing the Rage Toad all day long. If it is cloudy then that is an extra bonus. This lure does not have to be just cast out and reeled in. You can pause it, shake it, or burn it depending on the fish’s mood. The Rage Toad glides over grass easily and the bass go nuts for it. There are a few tricks to catching bass on this type of bait that I have learned over the years. One of the coolest ones is a Carolina rig bead. Place the bead on the line before you tie the hook on. The bead helps keep the grass from clumping up on the bait. Another important thing I do is not wait forever after the fish strikes the bait. I might wait a second or two but that is it. When he strikes, I set the hook. The next tip is the size of hook. I use a 6/0 Mustad wide gap hook. It is huge and almost looks like a shark hook, but when the bass get the bait, they do not get off. Another key to getting more strikes is to take multiple casts over the same grass bed. Cast at different angles and this will often trigger a strike. A lot of times an angler will just fish down a grass line or bed and take random casts not totally covering the area. These grass areas need to be combed and picked apart. Throw the bait all day. Do not just stop when the sun gets up. I have caught fish in the heat of the day by just sticking with it. The equipment I use is also important. Braided line is a must when throwing this type of bait. I use 50lb. Vicious Braid. I like the 50lb. better than the 65lb. because I can cast it a lot farther. I use a stout rod like a seven foot fast heavy and an Ardent XS 1000 reel. The right equipment can make all the difference in the world. So this fall throw a Rage Toad. It is some of the most heart pounding topwater action you can do.

The Battle, Part 2

Fishermen are known for their fish stories. Every angler out there has several. Most of stories get more fabricated as the years go by, but hey, we all do it. My story is a true fish tail but the one good thing about this tail is that I have proof about the one that “eventually” got away.
I went down to Cedar Lake to fish a little fish off with a buddy of mine named Charlie. The hours were from six to ten in the evening. It was just a fun tournament that a couple of guys threw together more for just bragging rights than anything else. Charlie and I started fishing points with worms and having little success. I decided to go back toward the Presley Lake spillway to see if we could catch some little fish for our unders. It is a slot limit so we have to have two fish under fourteen inches and that is a great place to catch them. We pulled up to the spillway and sure enough there was water running and the small bass were everywhere. We were catching several small bass and having a good time when I noticed this huge catfish kind of pourpising out of the water feeding on shad and whatever else he could inhale. He did it several times right in front of us. I picked up my crankbait rod and cast it over to where the fish was feeding. I did not think he would actually hit my Series Six but he did. I looked at Charlie with a puzzled look on my face and then set the hook. The fish never fought hard for whatever reason but it was like pulling in a cinder block. I could hardly move him. Now keep in mind I had ten pound Vicious Ultimate line on my Ardent crankbait reel. Hardly the right tackle for what I had hooked. My crankbait rod doubled over like a noodle as I dragged the giant in. I got him to the boat and Charlie immediately said no way to grabbing him. The flathead was much bigger than I thought so I gave Charlie my rod and put BOTH my hands in his mouth. When I did he clamped down on them drawing blood. It was all I could do to lift him in the boat. He was massive!! I had never seen a catfish so big before. Charlie and I started screaming like little girls in shear excitement. I lifted him back up and he took several pictures. I laid him back down in the bottom of the boat and thought, now what? I called some buddies of mine to see if they had a cooler big enough for the giant to fit in. We ran down the lake and found them. They too were shocked. I asked how big. The both said fifty, maybe sixty pounds. However big he really was, he was a true beast. We took a few more pictures and decided to tie him up on a log near the bank with a ski rope. I made sure the knot was good and had enough line so that he could swim around until it was time to weigh in. I just had to show all of the guys. So I did and then went back out fishing. Not caring about the rest of the night, Charlie and I decided to go in early and get the catfish. We pulled up to the bank and I saw the rope. But once we got right up to it, I saw that it was cut! Someone had stolen my fish! There was no way the fish broke that rope. I even inspected it and you could clearly see that it was cut. He was gone but I had proof that I had caught him. That was all that mattered. So that is my fish story. The one that eventually got away.

In the middle of June a heat wave swept over much of the heartland. The temperatures were topping into the one hundred degree mark and it was just downright miserable to be outside. One day after work I decided to head out to the lake and do a little bass fishing. My wife and kids were gone and even though it was hard to breath outside the desire to go fishing was just too strong. By the time I got to my first spot I had already drank one bottle of water. I thought to myself that there was no way I am going to catch a thing. Within fifteen minutes I boated a solid four pounder that fell victim to a Series Six Sexy Shad crankbait. Thinking I could do this the rest of the afternoon I started running from spot to spot cranking everything. It was not happening. Maybe that fish was just a fluke. Three bottles of water later I took a cast and bumped a stump. The rod loaded up and I knew it was a giant. After about fifteen seconds I knew something was not quite right. It was not a bass so it had to be a muskie. The fight continued on for several minutes and I began to wonder if I was ever going to get this thing in. My arms were starting to get sore. The sun was beating down on me as this huge fish was winning the battle. Ten minutes into the fight I knew this was not a muskie. My ten pound Vicious Ultimate was holding up and usually a muskie will cut the line with his teeth so I knew it could not be one of those toothy critters. By now I had a pontoon boat watching me get pulled around by whatever I had. The battle continued and I was not gaining anything. The fish would not come up and show himself. Now I am fifteen minutes into the fight and I am starting to win. I see the fish about six feet under the water and realize that I have got a giant flathead catfish. I drag the fish close to the boat and net the giant. I lay on the deck as the people on the house boat clapped and cheered. I was exhausted. I unhooked the beast and held him up to the boat. My arms were shaking. I filled my livewell and crammed him inside it. My girls had to see this fish when they get home. The catfish weighed in at twenty five pounds. The fish had actually tried to eat my crankbait. I have never caught a catfish on a rod and reel that size before. What was even more amazing is that I put my Vicious Ultimate ten pound test line to the absolute hardest test and it passed. I still have no idea how I got that fish in. He wipped my butt for fifteen minutes by I eventually won the battle. This is one fish I will remember for a long time.

There is no place like it. That is Lake Guntersville in Alabama of course. I have never seen so many four and five pound fish in my life. It is truly a bass fishermen’s paradise. This year I was invited to fish the 10th Annual Coaches Kickn Bass Tournament. It is a fund raising event and it is first class. I got down there Thursday morning to do a little pre fishing. The grass was not topped out on the flats but the bass were still there.
By midday I picked up Chris Brown from Strike King Lure Company and we went back out to do some fishing together. Chris brought a few packs of the new Strike King Thumper worm. It is somewhat like the Anaconda but looks more like the old curly tail worms from years ago. Lake Guntersville is known for swimming a ten inch worm. The bass absolutely go crazy on it. We started on a river ledge and immediately Chris boated a three pounder. Small for that lake. Then another nice keeper. I took the worm I was using off and put on a Thumper and caught one. We left there and hit a rip rap point where I caught a nice five pounder on a Series Six crankbait. We ran to a shell bed and once we located the sweet spot Chris and I proceeded to catch fish on almost every cast. We had to catch at least twenty bass in a row. We had a blast fishing together.

The next day I took Jake Tippie from Ardent Reels out. We started shallow with little success then headed out to the main lake and started swimming the Ten inch Thumpers. The bite was on as Jake and I exchanged good fish catches with the biggest being right at five pounds. This was Jakes first time swimming a worm in the grass and I can guarantee it won’t be his last. The technique is simple. We used 15 pound Vicious Fluorocarbon line, a medium heavy rod, a 6.3:1 Ardent XS1000 reel, a 3/16 ounce weight, and a 5/0 Mustad hook. We would make a long cast out over the submerged grass and slowly reel it in letting the Thumper Worm tick the tops of the grass. When they bit, it was with a vengeance. No other place do I know of can you use this technique with such great success. On our last spot we fished I broke a giant off due to my lack of retying after so many bass we had caught. I quickly marked the spot with my GPS and decided to go back there and start for the evenings big bass tournament. I knew it was a big fish and once you find one fish there are usually many more. I picked up my partner for the evening. We ran straight to the spot I marked. Arnold caught three reel quick including one over five and a four pound fish. I needed a good one. We were getting plenty of bites when I set the hook on one almost six pounds. Once I got him in the boat we decided to leave and go explore new water for the next days tournament. We caught several more on the Strike King Thumper but could never get any ones bigger than the two we had. I ended up getting 5th Place that evening out of 91 boats. I was surprised that my fish held up because normally there are some giants weighed in but it all worked out. The next morning I was fortunate to fish with Ben Leird. Former quarterback for the Auburn Tigers. I told Ben that we would be fishing one spot most of the day. When we got there I rigged up a Thumper Worm for him. It didn’t take long for Ben to boat a four pound fish. Then it was my rod that doubled and the next four pounder came in the boat. We continued taking turns catching one after the other and quickly had our limit of three. This year they had changed the limit to avoid fish fatality in the extreme heat. We fished for several hours combing the grass for a big bite and I finally got one but the six pound bass decided that he was going to win the battle. We ended up catching a little less than thirteen pounds with three fish and that one big fish cost us. It took over eighteen to win. What is so incredible is that even in less than favorable fishing conditions due to the heat, the bass bit well. Four pounders are comman with the chance to catch a real big fish in the eight to nine pound range. Lake Guntersville is one of the nation’s best when it comes to bass fishing. I would like to thank the people that hosted the tournament especially Jeff Bergstresser with The Orthopedic Center for all of his hard work and dedication to putting on such a great event. I look forward to next year for more fish catching action.