Final Post at This Address

This the last post on this blog. I’ve decide not be a cheap ass anymore and Rattletrap Ramblings now has it’s own hosting and domain name. The web address is what else, http://www.rattletrapramblings.com

The new blog is up and running but I’m working out a few kinks. Thanks for checking out this blog and I promise the content on the new blog will be much more dynamic. Hope you like the new look.

Cribs: Elite Series Style

 

I just stumbled across this site and I’m totally hooked on it. It’s basically an MTV Cribs for pro bass fishermen. I never thought about it, but some of the tackle rooms that Terry Scroggins, Dean Roajs, Skeet Resse, Timmy Horton, Boyd Duckett, etc. have are just ridiculous. Man I want a room like that. The Dean Rojas frog wall is insane. It’s called BZ’s In The House and if you like reality shows and fishing, then you gotta check it out.

Chad Morgenthaler Reflects on His 5th Place Showing on Toho

FLW pro Chad Morgenthaler has been on quite a run on Toho. He won the most recent Toho Pro Am with partner Matt Herren, and just got a 5th at the PAA tournament there. Here’s his recount of the tournament on Toho this past week:

 

To say that practice was tough is an understatement and the chatter among the anglers was fairly consistent, where is the big bite?   This time of year Toho should be a flipping or sight fishing slug fest.  Not this year.  With warm weather and a full moon the giants should be on the beds or staging up for the spawn, but they were nowhere in sight.     To make conditions even tougher a cold front settled over Florida bringing in 40-year lows.   Florida bass are very sensitive to cold weather and tend to shutdown and not bite.

Just like the majority of anglers I did not have a stellar practice and could not lock down a big bite pattern.   The fish were roaming in deeper water and were extreamly hard to locate and depend upon.   I had one small area that I knew would produce 8 to 11-pounds a day, but that was not going to win the tournament.  To win, I needed several kicker fish to add to my total weight.  

On Day 1 my luck held out and I was able produce a good sack along with an 8.3-pound Toho giant.   This one took a plunge into my livewell with just minutes to spare. Believe me; I was ecstatic to have her.    I caught most of my bass fishing my comfort zone, flipping mats and heavy vegetation using a Reaction Innovations Beaver, or Berkley’s Chigger Craw.  The piece of information that I held really tight during the tournament was the bait I used to catch the majority of my fish – Lunker Lure ½-ounce black and blue Grass Monster Jig.   At the end of the day with an 18.98-pound stringer I was in 4^th place going into Day 2.

I had an early launch on Day 2 and was able to make it to my sweet spot first thing.  I secured the majority of my weight in about 3 hours then headed back to Toho to try and catch another giant.  I had a major disappointment when the only big bite I had on that day made it about 6-inches from my hand before disappearing.  That one still stings.   Overall for the day the bite was tough and the majority of anglers struggled, and the weights definitely reflected it.    With the addition of 10.93-pounds to my surprise I only dropped one place and qualified for the Day 3 cut.

Going into Day 3 I knew my “sweet spot” would not produced the size of fish I needed.   I chose to go for the win, stay on Lake Toho and grind on the areas that I felt confident were the only places I could secure a large stringer.  In typical high drama fashion, by early morning I had caught 2 fish for about 7-pounds and then hit a very long dry spell.  Fortunately for me, in the last 45 minutes I found the “Mother Load” and capitalized on it.   My 15.5-pound stringer was not good enough to take over the lead, but it did retain my 5^th place finish and was very proud to have it.   

As Vice President of the PAA the Tournament Series was my pet project, and one that I have devoted an enormous amount of time to in the last 8 months.  I am very proud of what we have accomplished in such a short period of time, the support from our members, and the new partnerships that we have forged.  We have some fine tuning and tweaking to do, but overall the Toho event was a huge success and an overwhelming milestone for the PAA.   Right now, members are fired up and looking forward to future events.

All of the Carrot Stix PAA Tournament Series events presented by Phoenix boats will be televised on WFN and Verses.    The Toho show should air in February.  Stay tuned to my website for additional information.

Here’s his interview about Toho on Bassfan Radio: Chad Morgenthaler Interview

My New Cumara and Curado

Here’s the newest addition to my line up. After lots of deliberation, I ended up getting a 7’2″ MH Shimano Cumara with extra fast tip and the Curado E7 with 15 lb Seguar Inviz X for worms in heavy cover. I went back and forth a bunch of times between the G Loomis Mossyback with similar specs, but the Cumara won out. 

I’ve taken it out a few times and I’ve got to say it’s the most sensitive in my collection. I mean you can even feel the bait hitting the water on this thing. I love the EVA handles… it feels really great in my hands. My rods with cork handles always look pretty worn out after a year either because I have dirty hands or oily hands. Who knows. 

The few extra inches does make it really easy to pitch and casts go a little further, yet it’s lighter than most of my rods and balanced perfectly. Now I think I’m ruined. I can only buy premium rods from here on out.

Snowden Traps His Way to Victory on Toho

Brian Snowden hurled one of my favorite baits on the Kissimmee Chain, the xr75 Xcalibur Rattlebait in the Foxy Shad color to earn the victory at the inaugural PAA tournament. He was fishing open water hydrilla on Toho and had one of the most consistent bags of the tournament with 15.47 on day one, 19.22 on day two, and 17.75 on the final day. 

I was really pulling for Shaw Grigsby who hasn’t won anything in a while. I’m a big fan from watching One More Cast. He seems like such a nice guy and he’s even gotten rid of his weird mustache. I know he likes to fish for bedding fish and it held up for 2 days. He was leading the tournament after day two with bags of 22.10 and 15.92, but faltered on the final day with just 1.5 pounds which dropped him to 10th place. C’mon Shaw, anyone can go out on Kissimmee and catch more than one fish.

Notable locals in the tournament were Bobby Lane who finished 30th and Micah Silverman who finished 31rst.

Here’s a recount of the final day by Brian Snowden according to BassOnline: 

“It was slow but steady today. I didn’t get a bite until about nine this morning and then I ended up catching two real quick and then caught a 6 ½ pounder to fill my limit out by about two in the afternoon. 

“I caught every fish on an XCalibur Xr75 rattle bait in 6 to 8 feet of water fishing the hydrilla and eel grass in Toho. I found the bite a little bit in practice and then when it got colder during the tournament, I decide to just stay out there and throw the rattle bait. Each day I’d get about seven bites and have five to six keepers.

“Even though they were spraying grass on Toho, they hadn’t sprayed the area that I was fishing in recently so it actually probably helped the way that I was fishing. The key was to find the grass that was still kind of green. Some of the bass were post-spawn and some were pre-spawn, so I caught a little mixture of both.

“It’s really just a great honor to win the first PAA Series event. I think this is something that is going to be really great for the future of our sport so it’s an honor to be part of the PAA. To get the win in the first one is a great feeling. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year and the growth of the PAA. It’s pretty exciting times for the anglers I think.”

Here’s Steve Kennedy’s recount:

“This morning started out perfect. I went running down to my trap fish and I fired out there on my first cast and caught a bass outside of where I was expecting to catch one. When I got over to the little edges of the grass, I called my shots three casts in a row. My cameraman said that I was ‘Babe Ruth’en them.’ I had another little sweet spot off shore and it took me three casts to catch my fifth one. Within 15 minutes I had a limit. “I fished my trap for about an hour after than without a bite and went to my flipping stuff and the little ones were biting good. I probably had eight bites in the first hour and I had one big bite and she shook her head and came off so I don’t know how big it was. As cold as it was, they were just really finicky.

After that, I went all day without a big bite and was only able to cull up a few ounces. The morning was as good as it gets. Yesterday morning I did the same thing – it just so happened that they were four pounders then.

There were several other boats that had worked through the general area and I think we just beat them up. I was throwing the KVD special, the Strike King Red Eye Sexy Shad – I watched him do it on TV down here. When I came down here I thought, ‘If Kevin can catch them on it, I can do it.’ It almost worked out. I was flipping a Kinami Palm Tree and a Beaver both in black and blue color.

I didn’t win it but it worked out pretty well for the amount that I practiced. I put in Monday at one in the afternoon and found those fish around three. I also went out Tuesday around ten in the morning just looking for a flipping bite and I didn’t practice Wednesday.

“Overall, it was pretty awesome and I really hope this turns out to be something big.”

And here’s what Todd Faircloth said: 

“I started out today with a flipping rod and that’s what I did all day. I had a limit by around eight this morning and caught a ton of fish today. I just only caught one big one right at the end of the day and I think the bigger one started biting later. I probably caught 25 fish today. I caught more today than any other day. 

“I had two patterns that I was working. One was fishing a Sebile Flat Shad in the hydrilla and the other one was flipping a Yamamoto creature in the gnarliest stuff I could find. It seemed like the hydrilla bite faded on me and the flipping bite got better as the tournament went on. With the exception of the first day, all my fish came from flipping.
I fished Toho the whole tournament but the fact that they were spraying the grass really didn’t affect me at all.

“Overall, I think it was a good start for the PAA organization. We had 147 guys there, guys from BASS, FLW, and some guys who don’t fish either. I think that overall it was ran really well and a good start.

see full field results: Carrot Stix PAA Event on the Kissimmee Chain

Results from the Bassmaster Weekend Series Event on the Harris Chain

I just fished the BWS tourney on the Harris Chain this weekend and it was dang cold with freezing temps at launch and wind blowing about 10 knots. I knew it was going to be a slow day, but I hammered my area on Harris and got 5 bites throughout the day pitchin a fluke with a 3/8 Denny Brauer Flippin Weight in kissimmee grass. I got my 5th bite at about 1:30… I set the hook on this 3-5 pounder and played it to the boat when all of a sudden it came unbuttoned for whatever reason. I think I was in a good area, I just didn’t execute. My meager 7.66 bag was good enough for 13th place and my co angler made a check as well.

I can’t believe I’ve got the one that got away story. I’m gonna go buy some Reaction Innovations Bad Mother Flippin hooks this week so I don’t have to tell this story again. That fish would’ve gotten me way up there in the standings. Thanks to my co angler Davie who clued me in on pitchin a fluke. The bites during practice came on a junebug Sweet Beaver, but they liked the fluke that day. Anyone else ever flip and pitch flukes?

Russ Osbourne won the event with 18.31 pounds pitchin a black and blue jig in matted down kissimmee grass on Harris and second went to Rick West who had 15.44 pounds. They were both fishing the same area for bedding fish and had to share that spot. I wonder where they were at.  After those two, the bags were much less.

The next BWS is on the Kissimmee Chain and I can’t wait to see how all the spraying is affecting the hydrilla in my favorite areas.

see full field results: Bassmaster Weekend Series Tournament at the Harris Chain on January 17, 2009

Day One Results from the PAA Event on the Kissimmee Chain

The PAA event at Toho began yesterday in freezing temps and I can’t believe some of the bags being weighed in. Ben Matsubu is leading the pack with 23.15 with a big fish of 11.64. I know Ben won the Elite series event a few years back in open water hydrilla on Toho. I’m wondering if he’s fishing that spot again. Shaw Grigsby is running a close second with 22.10 and a monster big fish of 13.36. I know Shaw likes Cypress and I do know where they bed out there. My buddy went to the weigh in and said Shaw was on some beddin fish. 

Eleven guys weighed in over 15 pounds in not the ripest of conditions. I gotta say, I like the Kissimmee Chain much more than the Harris Chain. I just might have to make a little scouting mission out there today. 

Other notable finishers on day one include FLW pro Chad Morgenthaler who won the Toho Pro Am a few months back weighing in 18.68, Todd Faircloth weighing in 17.82, Mike McClelland with 17.32, Steve Kennedy with 16.02, Brian Snowden with 15.07, David Walker with 13.54, Takahiro Omori with 12.87, and Boyd Duckett with 12.25.

Locals who are doing well include Terry Seagraves with 12.68, Micah Silverman with 12.07, and Bobby Lane with 11.84. You’d think Scroggins would be in there, but he’s way down in the pack. 

Full Field Results: Day One from the PAA Kissimmee Chain

Final Day of Practice on the Harris Chain

Everyone knows Florida fish don’t like cold weather and there’s a freeze warning out for day of the Weekend Series event on the Harris Chain this Saturday. Running wide open in those temps will put a chill in the bone. 

I got a little worried about the cold front so I decided to take a look at my spots one more time. The water temperature has dropped another 5 degrees to The fish are still there, but the fish were smaller and you had to work to get a bite. There’s no 5 bites an hour anymore. It’s more like a bite an hour if that and the fish seem to be getting smaller.

Everyone’s got to put up with the same conditions. Heck, Shaw Grigsby and Ben Matsubu weighed in over 20 pounds at the PAA event on Toho yesterday. I can’t believe the size of the 13.36 he weighed in. I guess it’ll take 20 pounds at Harris as well.

Practice on the Harris Chain

I spent all weekend on the Harris Chain and think I’ve got some fish located. The only problem is that the two spots I found are on different ends of the world. There’s a cold front coming in this week and the water temps have probably dropped 5 degrees the past few days already so we’ll have to see how the fish react. Water temps only got up to about 65 and will probably drop some more by Saturday.

I’ll be rattletrappin Griffin in the morning, but it’ll require running about an hour on my boat to get there. Then I’ve got to lock through before the guy shuts down for lunch at noon. My flippin fish is on Harris and I’ll probably have about 3 hours before I have to weigh in.  The fish I get here on the Gitem Sugar are bigger but I’m concerned the cold front may shut that place down so I’m gonna try to get my limit before I start flippin.

The only reason I’m making the run is that all my bites on Harris has been coming in the afternoon. I hope my gamble pays off, but I am excited about my prospects for the Weekend Series tournament this weekend.

Pre Fishing the Harris Chain

I fished mostly Lake Eustis yesterday with the water temps starting at about 65 degrees and ending up about 70 and the only thing I figured out was that they’re not here. Thanks to Phil from Lake County Bass who showed me a few spots on Lake Eustis a couple of weeks ago.  I started out the morning throwing a wacky rigged watermelon red fluke along the bridge pilings in the dead river with no takers so I proceeded to go into a residential canal there that’s usually pretty consistent.

I tried shaky heads, wacky rigged senko, and a weightless senko to no avail, so I headed over to the mouth of the Dead River and pulled in a nice 3 pounder off the pads on a chartreuse LongShank spinnerbait with double colorado blades. It’s the area where Mike Mclelland won the Elite series event last year, but there were 3 boats fishing it already so I didn’t spend too much time there. I checked out the L canal where Peter Thilveros won the Elite series event a couple of years ago and not even a bite.

The cool thing about the Harris Chain is the people. Everyone’s super friendly and you can’t avoid talking with somebody. In both the canal in the Dead River and the L canal, the only thing I’d hear is that the fishing hasn’t been good this year… Yikes! It got me thinking that maybe I should spend more time on Lake Griffin. I did get some quality fish in the Yale Canal and the Ocklawaha a week ago, but just not numbers. You go a long time in between fish. 

Not seeing any signs of life in the canals, I determined the fish aren’t spawning yet and headed to Haines Creek where I caught a few at the base of the Cypress trees on a senko. I then looked for prespawn fish on the north end of Lake Harris. I flipped a junbug weightless senko and a black Chigger Craw with red flakes for 2 hours in the Kissimmee Grass without a hit before sunset.

Not a real productive day, but at least I know where they’re not at. 

I plan on fishing sun up until sun down this weekend and I’ll be focusing on some shell beds in Lake Harris along with prespawn shallow kissimmee grass and also the marsh areas in Griffin. I sure hope I find them this weekend.