"That's Lil' Spot-A-Moofus" Why can't I have a cool Nickname?

  All the great ones have them! They are catchy, they are cool, some are earned, some are just given. Let's face it, if you don't have one your just another name in the phone book. ( Do we even still have phone books?)
  Through my life I have sported a few, some I liked and some were just so-so. When I was a little fellar the T.V. show "Good Times" was very popular, and most of my aunts and uncles referred to me as Jay-Jay. I even had a shirt that had Jimmy Walker on the front with the caption "Dyn-O-Mite". I'm thankful that one didn't stick. I was also known as Jay-bird for a short time due to my propensity to run around naked. Also glad that one didn't take, and thankful, as I am sure everyone else was, that I grew out of that habit.
  Let's take a second and reflect on some of the greatest nicknames that have ever been given. Mind you these are some of my favorites and I'm certain that there are others that will escape my memory, but here we go, in no particular order...

Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, that's just Gritty!

Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, carrying the rock.

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, loved the way it rolls off the tongue.

Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, not a Yankees fan but a classic non the less.

"Broadway Joe" Namath, talked the talk and walked the walk.

Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, strikes fear in me today.

Walter "Sweetness" Payton, still the number two NFL rusher of all time.

"Pistol Pete" Maravich, NCAA all time scoring leader.

James "Cool Papa" Bell, fastest cat to play the game.

Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, he had another aka that I loved even more "Dr. Dunkenstein"

Roberto "Manos de Piedra" Duran, for my non Spanish speaking folks that means "Hands of Stone".

Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky , the name says it all.

Reggie " Mr. October " Jackson , once said he was the "Straw" that stirred the drink!  The  epitome of clutch.

And last but by no means least...
  George Herman (Babe) Ruth aka "The Bambino". How great is that! Of course he had a plethora of other names but for me "The Bambino" reigned supreme.

 These are just a few of the nicknames that have stuck in my head for most of my life. There all timeless in there own way, but I would like to add one more to the list.
 I'm sure that none of you have ever heard of this dude but I tell you he had the best nickname that could ever be given. I have no idea how he garnered such an awesome name but till this day I have yet to hear one that I like more...
South Arkansas around 1996 I was working for the local Cable television company when I had received a service call to a residence on the outside edge of our service area. When I arrived there was a little old lady sitting  on the porch watching three or four little kids running around the swept dirt yard playing. I climbed onto the porch with her and sat down. As we began to talk I asked her what kinda of trouble she was having and she began to explain to me what I thought was a remote control problem. I asked her if she had the remote handy and that was when I met him. She called to the little guy to fetch the remote for me to look at and when he  brought her the remote that's when I heard it. She patted him on the head and looked me in the eyes and said.        " That's little Spot-a-Moofus, he's such a sweet boy".  I have absolutely no idea how one would come up with a nickname like "Spot-A-Moofus" but I swear there will never be another nickname that will ever be as memorable to me as that one. Game over that kid won!! As much as I would love to have a catchy nickname I guess "Big J" will have to do until I can think up something better than. "Spot-A-Moofus"

" Old Black Water, Keep on Rollin' "

" Old Black Water, Keep on Rollin' "

The Doobie Brothers

 

 

  As a teenager growing up fishing around North Georgia , I thought I knew quite a bit about catching bass. Not until 1995 did I realize that I didn't know "SQUAT". I had just moved to Arkansas via Hawaii when my education began. Now I'll admit at first the sight of those old cypress filled, duckweed having, backwater sloughs  didn't attract me too much. Man, was I ever wrong! After a few twist and turns, and a couple of location changes (south to north and back south) I settled down in a little town named Crossett. Now y'all probably have never heard of this tucked away little bass haven, but let me tell you, it was the birth place of an Awakening. In this small little town of roughly 6000 people I was fortunate enough to find a group of life long brothers waiting to teach me.

 

  As I would find out, there was a migration that occurred almost every year, that any living soul who loves to feel that powerful BUZZ that vibrates through your stick when a TOAD rips through the water, needed to be apart of. My house was about three miles from this location.

 

   In this sleepy little paper mill town, Two rivers converged  (the Ouachita and the Saline)  to make up the old black waters of Jack Lee reservoir. Now Jack Lee is a fine fishery year round, but in early spring it becomes phenomenal. Being so close to the Mississippi river flyway about October the DNR would start holding water so they could flood the surrounding river bottoms. Duck hunting is king in southeast Arkansas , and they made sure there was plenty of habitat for those ducks. What they also accomplished by doing this was to open up thousands of acres of new ground for those big sow bass to migrate to as the water warmed in the spring.

 

 

  Now to these buddy's of mine I was an outsider, not saying they didn't trust me , just saying that some things are passed down from Grandfather, to Father, to Son. These little backwater sloughs , and bottle necks where the bass would migrate to as the water crept further out of the rivers banks were special, and were to remain special. If you didn't want 75 knuckleheads stacked up in your honey hole, you kept your mouth shut! After a few years of hunting and fishing with these guys thing began to change, and they realized this Ol' boy from Cartersville, Georgia just might be O.K.

 

  As the seasons passed , deer in the fall, ducks in the winter, turkeys and bass in the spring, and last but not least hogs and frogs in the summer, I began to get invited on more and more trips, It got to the point that the six of us were nearly inseparable. Most of our time was spent in the pursuit of some type of game.

 

 

  Duck season was drawing to an end and every morning waking up at 3 a.m. had began to take its toll. My buddy and I had over slept and the rest of the boys had left us. When we finally rolled out of the sack, we decided to put on our waders and try to walk in to our duck hole. The sun was already up as we walked along an old tram levee that had been long since  rendered inoperable. About half way in we came upon a deep cut in the levee, at one time there had been a trestle here, but had been burnt out years before. As we scampered down to the bottom I noticed that the right side of the old levee had a few inches of standing water. The gap in the levee was only 20 or 30 yards wide, just enough to let the spring floods  pass through and continue to flood the river bottoms without hindering the tram. As we stopped at the bottom to take a look and listen to gun shots, my buddy began to tell me of all the big bass he had caught while standing in this gap. He had told me when the river gauge hit 73 feet and was rising that the water would begin to push through the gap and the bass would follow. I filed the info away, and we continued on to meet up with the rest of our buddies. Duck season finally drew to and end and the thoughts of turkeys and bass was all I could think about.

 

  This was the first year that I had ever heard of a little thing called "El Nino". It had been unusually wet in our area so the water had been held a little longer than normal to keep from flooding Louisiana. This also meant that some of the places that I was accustomed to turkey hunting on were under water. I had to venture out and look for some new areas. My search for the wily gobbler eventually carried me back to old levee. We had a lot of rain for the past few weeks and I had been watching the river gauge and chasing gobblers. I knew the river was getting close to 73 foot  when  I headed out. I was easing down the old levee when I heard what I thought was a hen turkey up near the trestle. I eased on up to find an old man on the levee edge sitting on a bucket with a 10 foot jig pole lying next to him and a slate an striker in his hands. That old black water made about an 6 foot eddy on each side of the trestle and appeared to be about knee deep pouring through the cut. I began to talk to the old gentlemen and he explained to me that ever year when the water got right he would come to this spot and wait on the crappie to bunch up there. I sat with the old man and talked for quite some time and he caught a few . As we talked, I told him how much I loved to catch bass and he told me how much he loved to eat crappie. By the end of our time together he had told me to go on back home and get a good stout fishin pole and some good string and all the black and blue tube jigs I could round up and come on back in the morning . He told me that the fishing was on the verge of bustin loose.

 

  With that being said I took off home to gather my gear. I didn't sleep a wink that night with the anticipation of something special. The alarm clock eventually granted me permission to get up and head out and I could not have been more excited. When I arrived he was already there with his jig pole in hand lifting a nice slab up. He told me to wade on out to the middle of the gap and face up current. There was a large opening on both sides of the levee with a giant cypress tree in the center of the upstream side. The cypress was border by two hedge rows of buck brush about 20 yards on each side of the tree. The current split around the big cypress flowing down the edge of the buck brush and created a nice eddy right behind the tree. It then passed through the gap that I was standing in spilled into the hardwood bottoms behind me. He told me to make one of three cast. One to the tree base, one to the right side row of buck brush and then one to the left. He told me to keep repeating that pattern that the bass were on the way. As I stood there with that old black water swirling around my legs I wondered if the old man was telling me the truth. I had been there for what seemed like eternity when I made a cast to the base of the cypress (for the 500th time). As the tube fell to the bottom I began to slowly take up the slack as it tumbled along back toward me. "Thump" There it was, my first bite of the day. I raked back on the tube and Whiff , nothing! He laughed a little and told me to keep on trying, he said if I whiffed enough that I would eventually figure out how to catch them.

 

  This went on for some time until I guess he felt sorry for me and began to explain. He said the first Tap was the bass trying to kill the "DAD", crawdad is what he was referring to. He then explained that if I would just continue to mend the line and wait that she would eventually eat the tube  and head back up behind the tree in the eddy and wait for another one. After this explanation the Awakening began. I flipped that tube back up to the base of that ol' cypress and began to let it tumble back, when the tube got about a third of the way back I felt the tap. I waited for what seemed to be forever and sure enough the big old flippin' stick began to load up. I heaved back and felt that "BUZZ" that I was talking about earlier. At this point, I would love to say that at the end of my line was a big ol sow bellied ten pounder, but it wasn't. It was just a run of the mill 3 pound chunk. I was thrilled to say the least! As the morning passed on along I landed bass after bass. I have know idea how many bass I caught that day but it was a bunch. I would have to wade up out of the cut ever so often to rest my back and put tape on my thumb to cover the ragged flesh that was ripped apart from landing so many fish.

 

  The water stayed right for three days and I was there for every single minute of it. For as long as I live, I will never forget those three days. On the second day I had my best day for size. I caught several bass in the 7 to 8 pound range and an untold number of 4 to 6 pound fish. I returned to that spot for a number of years after that, but was never able to duplicate that first time. Yes, there were some really good days there, but nothing like the first days. On the third day, fatigue had really began to set in. Standing in that cut with the current racing past had got the best of me. The water had steadily risen each day and was getting close to my waist. As I fought the current my old friend never left my side, he had sat there with me for three days watching me wreck those fish. He told me he had never watched someone get so much joy from a fish, that he was going to put right back into that old black water.

 

  Sadly he passed away a few short months later. As I sat at his funeral the memories of those days burned deep in my heart. I never got to tell him how thankful I was , but I think he knew.

 

  Those days were the beginning, the awakening had occurred. Though I still pursue different game I always come back to the BASS. It is without a doubt a passion that burns deep in my soul.

 

  Fish On !

Jason

The Man, The Myth, The Legend "A Blue Collar Bio"

11/11/2014

            In typical "Big J" fashion, I have went about this thing all backwards.
  Some of you may be wondering, "Who is this cat writing all this crap?" So for those of you that might possibly care, I thought I would fill you in on...The Man, The Myth, The Legend !
    Thank you Josh Driver for the Blog title.   LOL

    My name is Jason Mullinax. I'm 43 years old, A U.S. Navy Veteran, and currently working as a Test Engineer for Aubrey Silvey Enterprises / Testing Services Group (TSG), located in Carrollton GA.
    I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains about 60 miles north of Atlanta, in a little town named Cartersville. I call Lake Allatoona my home water.

                                              Georgia Born and Georgia Bred!

     I spent 12 years of my life in south Arkansas fishing every river and lake in the state before returning back to Georgia to pursue my carrier. I have a beautiful wife named Michelle, aka Babe to all my family and friends. That's right, I defiantly out kicked my coverage on that one! Two wonderful kids, Easton (17)  and Alicia (25), and one unbelievably precious grand baby Annaleigh GracieJoe.

    I have been fishing fruit jars and pot tournaments for many years, but decided on my 40th birthday to take it to the next level and began fishing the BFL / Choo-Choo division as a Co-angler. I have competed in a total of 12 BFL derbies over the past two years with 4 top 10 finishes. I recently finished in 2nd place in the BFL Regional Wild Card held on Kentucky Lake to secure my seat in the 2015 BFL Chevy All-American Championship to be held on..... You guessed it, Kentucky Lake in June.

    I have absolutely "ZERO" sponsorships or affiliations with any fishing related companies, or any other company for that matter. What I do have is a Lovely wife and a loving family, and a host of dear friends. i.e.  Kevin Bearden ( my team derby partner who says I never mention him), That believe in, and support me while I chase this dream.

   It is my hope that you will follow along and root for this 1 in a Million long shot as I document the next 8 months leading up to the Derby of a lifetime. With GOD'S grace and safe keeping, I will try my absolute best to represent our Heavenly Father, my family and friends, and the Great State of Georgia to the best of my abilities this coming June.

   Please understand that I am not KVD or  Greg Hackney, or a great scribe as is Don "DB" Barone (my favorite). I'm simply your run of the mill, hard working, "Blue Collar" man, who loves the LORD, loves his family and friends, and loves to fish.

    Come On with me as I Chase the Dream!

    Fish On !
Jason

Annaleigh GracieJoe

  

11/8/2014 Neely Henry (Seek and Destroy)

11/8/2014
Neely Henry

Valley View between Soddy Daisy and Chattanooga Tennessee

  My buddy Wesley has a club tournament on Neely Henry next weekend and he was kind enough to invite me along for a little pre-fishing. Today's agenda was to do a little field testing of several new lures and to get some much needed "TOW". The alarm went off at 3:30 am and we were on the road to Neely at 4:30 am.

  After a quick stop in Leesburg, AL. for a little grub, we arrived at the state park and got put in. It was a crisp 38* when we got ready to take off. The water had a very slight stain, but by river standards was very good. Surface temps for the day ranged anywhere from 55* to 65* depending on location. We really fished a lot of different places with a lot of different types of  habitat. There was only one generator running so the current in the river was minimal to say the least. As is normally the case this time of year the river was loaded up with bait.

We Made a short run up river and pulled into a nice backwater pocket right off the main river. We both started working top water baits (For Wesley's sake, his bait selection will be un-named but I will give as much detail as I feel prudent). I started off with a 3/8 ounce black Booger Man Buzz bait and alternated it with a 5 inch Basstrix swim bait. We worked our way around the entire pocket with only a few blow ups. The fish seemed to be quite lethargic to start the morning. Wesley connected with a nice chunky 3 pounder, and that was it for the first location.  

We moved on up the river and stopped to check out a small sand bar on the rivers edge. I switched gears and decided to toss a 1/2 ounce Buckeye Pulse swim jig. This was the first time to try these baits out and I really liked what I saw. The wobble on the jig was really tight , almost a shimmer if you know what I mean. I really, really like that it has a 6/0 hook. The gap between the soft plastic trailer and the hook point was awesome. I finally got on the board with a solid 2 1/2 pound chunky Spot. The fished were on the deep side of the sand bar and were chomping. We caught several fish at this location before deciding to move on along. Biggest fish here was 2 1/2 pounds with several 2 pounders in the mix. It should be noted that Wesley doubled up on one cast which I guess could be deemed a 4 pounder. LOL

   We moved on up river and stopped on a long stretch of rip-rap with a couple of docks on it. I picked up a Hack Attack swim jig paired with a Skinny Dipper. I had saw quite a few brim skittering around one of the docks and decided to "match the hatch". I am happy to say that it was a good decision. I connected with several fish around the dock and a couple while skipping under. Biggest fish here was close to 3 pounds and choked the swim jig.

   We continued on up the river trying several different spots as we went. We caught fish on almost every spot along the way without out one type of habitat being dominate. The fish were scattered and mixed in well. i.e. Large mouths and Spots.

   We returned to the State park and decided to check some places out down river from there. I have always considered myself a Hybrid of sort. As a Co-angler there's often times that my "Go Big" approach (Big Swim baits) is not the answer to a solid Derby finish. I have worked for years to adapt a power fishing approach to a finesse presentation. With that being said I am also working on new and different techniques that are strictly finesse . One of those techniques is the use of a Jig Rig. The particular rig that I have been using happens to be put out by Owner. Its concept is quite simply. It has the basic qualities of a standard jig and adds a new dimension. The overall performance of the rig was out standing. I lost no fish that were hooked and I had excellent penetration of the hook. The best way to describe the rig is a cross between a jig and a drop shot.

   We made a stop on a known community hole and marked a good school of fish hanging on the river ledge. I picked up the Jig Rig and put a Rage Craw on it. From the first cast till we finally pulled off, they destroyed my rig. Large mouths, Spots, Drum, and Catfish it didn't seem to matter. Hopping it, Dragging it, and even dead sticking it , they wanted it! I didn't keep up with the total number of fish that we caught, but it was quite a few (12+). The largest was a really chunky head around 5 pounds. I'm sorry to say I didn't catch it, Wesley did. So... no picture!

Here's a shot of the Jig Rig by Owner. if you get a chance give it a try. I think you'll like it.

     We finished up way down river checking out a few other areas that Wesley wanted to look at. Overall it was a very good day considering the absence of current. I think we ended up with our best five @ 16 pounds. Maybe a little more or possibly less, we didn't put any of the fish on the scale. I am very blessed to have friends that invite me to fish with them. It is because of them that I get to spend as much time on the water as I do. I have also been blessed with friends who are excellent fishermen.

The good Lord's willing I will be flying out for Toledo in the morning, cant say I'm excited about the cold but I got to pay the bills. I hope to see y'all on the water soon. God bless you all and Thank you .

Sincerely,
Jason

p.s. If you like this blog please share it with your friends. I will be keeping it updated as we approach the All-American.

 

 

 

 

"TOW" 11/7/2014 Neely Henry / Practice, Practice, Practice

      Very excited to be heading to Neely Henry in the morning. I hope to wreck some SpotAsauruses.
 I'm Hoping for a Spinner bait bite as well. We shall see. I'm also certain that I will be throwing a Swim bait and Alabama Rig. I will be updating my Blog with a Recap tomorrow evening, so be on the look out and check back in.

      Also, I will be doing some Field Testing of a couple of different handmade Balsa crank baits. I was in Dayton Tennessee this past week and picked them up. They really look good, but the proofs in the pudding!

     For those of you that have Liked, Shared, and Commented on this Blog , From the bottom of my heart "THANK YOU"

 I hope you all enjoy my babble!

Jay

The Dentist Office and A Holy Ghost Meeting

    One of the most frequent questions that I am asked about Bass fishing is "How did you get started with this Fishing business?" Well here it is. Straight from the horses mouth.

    I was 12 years old in the Spring  of 1983 and the grass cutting business was booming! I had managed to secure a couple of yards on the street we lived on and was rolling in the dough. I had developed  a tooth ache an Momma had insisted on a trip to the dentist. A painful, yet fortuitous event transpired on this wonderful occasion. While waiting in the dentist office I had made my way through several periodicals, when I stumbled upon a tattered old worn out edition of a BASSMASTERS magazine. Growing up watching Orlando Wilson, Roland Martin. and Bill Dance I was instantly HOOKED. As I made my way through the magazine one of the sales cards dropped to the floor. If memory serves the price was around $15.00 a year for a subscription to this sublime publication. The card also stated that with this subscription I would also receive a tackle pack valued at $10.00 and an official membership sticker from B.A.S.S.as well as some type of insurance . I folded it up and stowed it away in my blue jeans pocket and headed off for certain pain and misery. when we got home and I could talk again I pulled the sales card out of my pocket and began to explain to Momma why I just had to have it. Momma was nice enough to fill out the card and mail it in for me, Oh Happy Day !

    As the Spring turned to Summer and school was drawing to an end, I had some how managed to make the HONOR roll. For my hard work and extreme dedication to my school work (lol), Pop had purchased me my very own Bass Tracker two man Bass Boat with a 35 pound thrust Minn-Kota trolling motor. Son, I was in High Cotton!

   Pop preached on Sundays and worked for Georgia Power Co. through the week. He was an Electrician at plant Bowen in Cartersville, Ga. . The plant had a large lake that held water for use in there Power Generation. I would catch a ride with Pop into work and fish the holding pond until he got off. Day in and Day out I fished. Trying to mimic all of the techniques that I had read about the previous month.( On a side note, That's why I hate to fish a Carolina Rig. It seemed to be the rage in 83'.)  As was the case with the men at the power plant it didn't take too long before they had put together a Little team derby on the holding lake. Pop asked me  what I thought about fishing it and I was ecstatic. I simply could not wait to fish that thing with Pop. My Dad was not what most of us would consider an avid fisherman, Maybe once or twice a year he would take a hankering and go Crappie fishing with my Uncle Glenn but that was about it. I had purchased Two Cherry wood rods and Two Zebco 33's. I had managed to work up a decent tackle box for a 12 year old that had a little bit of every thing...or so I thought... I tied Pop on a Little N shad colored crank bait and I tied on a #6 Rapala Shad Rap in brown crawfish color. Pop and I smoked them all evening on those two baits. We won Big Fish, Total weight, if it was a category we won. We tore out of the plant that night with a couple hundred dollars and a passel of coolers and other prizes.

     "A Seed Had Been Planted"

  By now your probably wondering," Where in the world does the Holy Ghost meeting come into play?" Well I'll tell you. It was late afternoon on a Saturday, Middle of the summer, and I was in the front yard trying to learn how to cast my very first Shimano Bantam Mag bait casting reel. That's right folks I had parleyed mine and Pops derby victory into a brand new bait caster with a brand new Ugly Stick to mount it on. My tackle box had also grown quite a bit as well. As I struggled to figure out the adjustments to make the reel work for me a feller walked up from down the street and began to watch me. It didn't take him long to come on up in the yard and begin to help me out. As he was adjusting knobs and fiddled with the drag Pop came out and began to chat this cat up. Turned out he was a traveling BIBLE salesmen from Ohio, out of college for the summer and traveling through the south. With Pop being a preacher they instantly hit it off. As they sat on the porch chewing the fat he explained to dad that his goal was to someday be a professional Bass fisherman. I stood in the yard casting away , but listening to every word that he said. At some point of the conversation Pop told this guy that there was a lake just a short distance from the house ( Lake Weiss) and that if he didn't have anything going on that we could load the little boat up and he would drive us over and let us fish awhile. It was a grand day! Most of the things that I had only read about in the pages of BASSMASTERS magazine , he brought to life. Knots, Line, Gear Ratios, he ran the gamete. I have no idea if that cat every made it on the tour but I do know that there was a "Holy Ghost Meeting" that day in Cedartown Georgia.

Countdown to the All-American

Allatoona Team Trail / #6 Derby Recap

Nov 2 at 11:40 PM 

 

 

 

The Weather channel missed the forecast by a tad. My Truck thermometer read 32* this morning.

    The morning started off well enough with us catching a limit fairly quick. The wind kept us from fishing some of our main lake stuff so we made a run to a creek that we will spend the rest of the winter in. There were tons of fish in various spots but they were all cookie cutters. A big fish bite eluded us this morning and I'm not quite sure why. Good wind in the creek. Water was very clear, 8' of visibility. Gave the "Bull Herring” an honest try. No takers. I caught several fish on the 3/8 oz. Davis Spinner bait. Really felt like I was going to get a big bite with it, but it just didn't happen for me.

  I caught fish on every technique that I used today... Alabama Rig, Square Bill, Jerk bait, Jig ... with the exception of the Swim Bait.

  The Jig out performed all other baits 3:1. Also caught our biggest fish on it. A solid 2 1/4 lber. It was odd to me that every fish I caught on the jig came in the boat spitting up shad. And oddly enough they preferred the jig dead sticked.

   

" TOW " (time on water) is essential in my preparation for the

All-American. Videos, Maps, Books are also an important part of preparation but in my humble opinion TOW is the difference maker.

 

    It took 11+ to win and I didn't hear who got the last check but I would imagine 8.5 got it. We had 7.14 lbs. which I'm certain fell somewhere in the middle. We did however put together a decent pattern the last 45 minutes that would have been very helpful three hours earlier.

Hey!!  That's fishing.

 

Fish On!

Jason

Allatoona Team Trail / # 6 Nov. 2 2014 Pre-Derby Preparation

 Nov 2 at 11:39 PM 

 

 

I'm sitting here watching my pigs give Mississippi state heck and loving it. My Bulldogs laid down on me today and ruined my good mood. Hopefully the pigs will prevail and pick me back up.

I have a 5 hour Derby in the morning on Lake Allatoona. It is one of a 29 week winter tournament trail on my home lake. The Allatoona Team Trail is one of the most competitive Derbies I have ever participated in. Some of the men fishing this trail include All-American qualifiers, Bass Open Winners, and teams that have fished together competitively for 30 years. When you out sack them here you've earned it.

Our lake is in the middle of winter draw down and the water has drop 7 feet this past week. We also had our first major cold front blow through today dropping our temps drastically. We’re looking at a balmy 28* at blast off. The water temps were in the middle 60's last Sunday and we should see a considerable decrease in the morning. Blue Bird sky's with winds out of the north at 7-10 mph.

I will start my morning with a 6" Triton Mike Bucca "Bull Herring". My secondary choice will be a 3/8 oz. Davis Spinner bait with one white and one chartreuse willow leafs.  My third choice in my morning progression will be a Little John Square Bill in Cell Mate.  As always I'll have a 1/4 ounce Spanky's Jig in Green Pumpkin with a Green pumpkin trailer tied on to flip to lay downs and stumps and to pitch to any missed fish that swipe an miss at the swim bait or the Blade.

As been the case this past week my mind has not drifted too far away from June 17 2015. I watched several videos today centered around ledge fishing on the Tennessee River. I concentrated most of my attention on the anglers’ cadence. There were a few different ones that seemed to be dominate. Cadence is extremely important while fishing from the back of the boat. If the fish are really keyed in on a particular type and size of crank bait or jerk bait and the front of the boat is just beating the brakes off you , often times a simply adjustment in cadence will trigger bites from bass that turned down the initial offering that had just passed by.

Time to wrap it up tonight, were tied and it's getting good.

 Fish On!!

Jason

Looking for These !

Wild Card Re-Cap

   BFL Regional Wild Card
   Kentucky Lake / 10-24.25-2014

  After a disappointing regular season fishing the BFL/Choo-Choo division, Which included two derbies that resulted in
ZERO keepers being caught, I was down like four flat tires. One fish in either derby would have solidified a spot in the
regional being held on the St. John's river and I couldn't Close the Deal. With this being only my second year fishing as
a Co-angler in the BFL, and having qualified for the regional my first year. I had completely Forgotten about the Wild Card regional.
But alas the email arrived and "BAM" we had a chance!
  On the First day of the derby my boater informed me that we would be targeting shallow fish that were actively feeding on bait fish
on two separate flats inside a fairly large creek off the main lake on Lake Barkley. We had a slight breeze pushing across both areas
and there was a few indications of Bait fish in the area. My boater began the day tossing a square bill crank bait to the shore line and I
started with a 6" Triton Mike Bucca "Bull Herring." As a Co-angler I tend to try to pursue fish that are not being targeted by the boaters
offering, and more times than not a large swim bait fits the bill. We worked both flats numerous time the first half of the day, with my boater
catching several non-keepers and I had not a sniff on the swim bait. We were making our last pass down the flat before packing up for a
short run to another area when we came upon a log about 4' long that my boater had caught a short fish from on two different passes.
I had noticed that on every pass he would cast to the log on both ends but never come over the center of the log. He was using a small profile
square bill, and true to form, I tied on a Fat John 60 in Cell Mate pattern. We were moving very quickly down the flat and I knew I would only get
one shot at the center of the log. I fired off my cast and cranked slowly down to the log until it was snugged up on the top and sharply snapped
my rod tip ripping Ole Fat John free. I watched her roll up and choke Ole John. Keeper #1, 1.5 lbs 15 1/4 inches. we finished up the flat without
another fish.
  We moved to a very isolated pocket right off the main lake. The wind had picked up significantly and was blowing directly into the pocket. I
continued making long cast with the swim bait but my confidence was waning that these fish would come up to eat it. After fishing about half of the
pocket the white bass began to corral up the shad and feed on top. I noticed the shad were around 2 1/2" long. We followed the activity
toward the back of the pocket following along an old road bed. I saw a submerged tree trunk with two limbs lying in deeper water on the inside
of the road bed. I had finally given up on a swim bait bite after seeing the size of the shad that were abundant in this pocket, and tied on an
Davis Bait Co. Spinner bait with tandem willow leaf blades. When I finally got into position I fired away with the trusty Spinner bug. Slow rolled
the blade till I got to the big limb off the trunk and once again ripped it over the limb and let it flutter on a slack line. "THUMP" keeper #2
4 lbs.  (didn't measure it, I was too dang fired up). I immediately welled the fish and fired back to the same spot. Same process but with
a not so good outcome. I saw a head roll up on the blade when i snapped it over but she missed it. My heart sank! I knew that keeper bites
were at a premium and I also knew that I had just let one get by me. I fired to the same spot for a third time repeating the process and was
rewarded with keeper #3, 1 1/4 lbs 15". I finished the day with 6 lb 12 oz., and sitting in a respectable 8th place.
 
  Day two of the derby started with a 1 hour and 21 minute ride to our first location. A nice saddle between two hydrilla mats with
good depth on both sides.Needless to say, I was somewhat frazzled after that long of a run at 76 mph and it showed in the first half hour off fishing.
My boater began working a spook across both ends of the saddle and quickly boated four keepers. I began the day just like the day before with the
"Bull Herring". I had no takers on the Herring. I had been watching bait fish dart in and out of a few clumps of isolated hydrilla when I
caught a glimpse of bass roll up a grab one when it darted out of the clump. I picked up the Fat John 60 and began to fan cast to
each isolated clump i could reach. I would bury the crank in the edge of the clump and rip it free. After a half hour of this technique I
finally ripped it out of the right clump and caught my 1st keeper of the day a solid 2 lber. I continued this technique for an hour more
with nothing to show for it. We packed up and ran another 20 minutes south and worked another section of mat for about an hour or so without a
single bite. We returned to the saddle to finish our day. I worked a spook along the edge of the mat and finally coaxed keeper #2 into eating the spook.
A solid 2 lber. I finished the derby with 11 pounds 2 ounces, good enough to get a 2nd place finish and a trip to the All-American.
  I was very fortunate to have drawn two Boaters that got me close to fish,  and as we all know, You've got to be Close to a Bass to Catch a Bass !
I am so looking forward to returning to Kentucky Lake in June of 2015. I hope to see you all there.
   

YATZEE !!!!!

The Beginning of this story starts right here....