My latest release at FLWOutdoors.com 

Just prior to the FLW Tour Major on Table Rock, the common starting point for most anglers was shallow. However, the prevalent notion that the event would be won sight-fishing didn’t prove true. Instead, the majority of the top-10 anglers found large limits of pre-spawn females in a 5-mile stretch of Long Creek that had the most stained water.

Although the tournament was won by Brent Long pitching a jig, the rest of the anglers fishing in the area were throwing moving baits and bringing in big weights as well. The key bait for most was a shallow running crankbait that anglers bounced off wood and rock to trigger reaction strikes from the big bass that were feeding up before going onto the bed. > see more at FLWOutdoors.com.

Article by Rob Newell (Courtesy FLWOutdoors.com)

Shaye Baker of Tallassee, Ala., finished fourth with a three-day total of 49 pounds, 8 ounces.

Baker, who contributes to FLW Bass Fishing magazine and flwoutdoors.com as freelance writer, proved he knows his subject matter well with his finish this week.

Unlike others who were having to make the long trek some 40 miles to the Chattahoochee River to get to their shad spawn fish, thereby losing precious early-morning time, Baker intentionally looked close.

“The shad spawn pattern is usually such an early morning bite that I wanted to find it as close to the launch site as possible to maximize that premium window of fishing time,” Baker said. “So I spent a lot of time looking in the Flint for a shad spawn and found one spot where it was going on strong.”

Baker scored on his shad spawn spot on days one and three using a homemade 3/8-ounce spinnerbait, but had to improvise on day two.

“The first day I never went farther than 5 miles from the ramp,” Baker said. “I caught everything on the spinnerbait. On day two, I only caught four bass for about 6 pounds off the shad spawn spot and had to run down into the lake to throw a topwater. I was launching a Jackall Bowstick on a Duckett 7-foot rod and that’s what saved me with two 3-pounders and a 4-pounder. Today I went back to the shad spawn area with the spinnerbait and a white NetBait swim jig with a white Paca Craw and caught everything I weighed-in in 30 minutes.

For the entire article click here.

Article by Rob Newell (Courtesy FLWOutdoors.com)

Shaye Baker of Reeltown, Ala., moved up to fifth place with two-day total of 33 pounds, 14 ounces.

Baker, who is a freelance writer and on-the-water reporter for FLW Outdoors, is backing up his pen and camera with a rod and reel this week at Lake Seminole.

His ticket on day one was a blistering shad-spawn bite early in the morning. Today, however, his shad-spawn bite waned and he had to adapt with a topwater.

“The key lure on the shad-spawn place is a homemade spinnerbait,” Baker said. “And when I go down the lake I’m throwing a Jackall Bowstick topwater. Yesterday I didn’t have to go way down into the lake, but today when my shad-spawn spot died, I went down there with the Bowstick and it really saved me with a 4-pounder and two 3-pounders.”

For the entire article click here.

My Latest release at Alabama Outdoor News-

The Tennessee River is home to some of the greatest bass fishing not only in the state of Alabama but in the entire country. Nestled right in the middle of the river, just up the road from Florence, is a small 18-mile reservoir known as Wilson Lake. Often overlooked by outsiders looking in, this small body of water offers up big bass, and that’s no secret to the locals.

Though the larger events that bring such notoriety to its fellow Tennessee River waterways are a little too much for its surface area, there’s no doubt the same giant smallmouths and largemouths that roam the rest of the river dwell in the deep, clear waters of Wilson as well. Huge stringers in recent months have been brought in to win local Wildcat tournaments, and that has the lake swarming with bass boats. > see more at AONmag.com.

My latest release at Wired2Fish - 

Going into the EverStart Series event on Lake Seminole, I felt fairly confident that the winning fish would come primarily off beds. However with the warm winter that we had in the southeast this year, the spawn happened faster than expected on Seminole. Although there were a few fish left on beds, the majority had already come and gone. With only a handful of spawners left to go around, I chose to cover as much water as I could in search of shallow fish.

I spent about 90 percent of my practice beating the banks with only 3 or 4 bites a day to show for my efforts at the beginning of the week. I found a few fish on bed and was able to catch a couple flipping thick mats and on moving baits around shoreline grass but nothing that I had any confidence in. > see more at Wired2Fish.com. 

My latest release at Wired2Fish -

When discussing giant spotted bass in the southeast, a lot of the talk centers on the Coosa River. With fisheries like Jordan, Mitchell and Lay Lake making so much noise in the fishing world, there is often little mention of the Black Warrior River and the lakes that make it up. Don’t be fooled, however, the Warrior is a mecca for giant spots as well, and many experts believe it will be the location of the next state-record spotted bass.

The Black Warrior River is the largest watershed entirely in the state of Alabama. It’s composed of the Locust Fork or Little River and the Mulbery Fork which flows out of Smith Lake. Logs, rock bluffs, lily pads and pea gravel points present different cover to compose a diverse fishery. The Warrior has some current but nowhere near as much as the Coosa since its dams aren’t the primary source of hydroelectric power generation for the area. > see more at Wired2Fish.com.

 

I am ashamed to admit that I had never thrown a Lew’s reel as of a few weeks ago. I am ashamed because now that I have, I realize what I've been missing. My dad has an older model from back in the 70’s in a shadow box along with a lot of antique lures. I always thought it was cool, but just an antique along with the other wonderful relics locked away and outdated.

After working on articles with Lew’s pro-staffers Terry Scroggins, Timmy Horton and Jimmy Mason in the last few months my interests were definitely peaked. Then while out on a fishing trip for an article with Shane Bedsole I sampled a couple of his new Lew’s Speed Spools. I was very impressed. So much so that I stopped by Academy Sports on the way home and picked one up.

My latest release at Wired2Fish -

Few people outside the fishing world can understand the relationship that you have to have in order to fish with someone. And I don't mean just going out to the lake for a Sunday afternoon to burn a few hours. I’m talking about trust. Full disclosure. The kind of relationship where you know you can tell or show each other anything and also know it won’t come back to haunt you.

It's often associated with a father-son or brotherly relationship because that’s where it usually starts. Years of trust are poured into a partnership before either partner really knows what’s happening. And by the time it comes down to needing to trust someone out on the water, it’s just second nature. Relationships like this don’t come about very often outside of the family. But if they do form, water can be thicker than blood. A friendship forged through fishing is one of the most powerful there is. > see more at Wired2Fish.com.

My latest release at FLWOutdoors.com 

The Alabama Rig did not win the Walmart FLW Tour Open on Lake Okeechobee. Though few ever believed the A Rig would play a role on the Big O, there was still a collective sigh of relief as day 1 of the 2012 season came to a close. A breath of fresh air blew into the tournament world in the form of 33 plus pound stringers snatched from matted vegetation by Okeechobee favorites, Randall Tharp and Brandon McMillan.

Flipping matted vegetation was the obvious front runner in the technique department for the entire event. Most of the top 10 and even the top 20 caught their fish with a flipping stick in their hand in either the Monkey Box or North Shore area. Skinny Dippers, big worms and other moving baits brought in some quality fish as well but for the most part it took the flipping stick to assemble a five bass limit of big ones. > see more at FLWOutdoors.com.