Trout Magnet Crank

I picked up some trout magnet Crank-baits off of Amazon a few week or two back. Im just now getting around to sticking them in my tackle packs. I wanted to throw up a few first impressions.

From what i can tell they are re-branded Matzuo lures. I love Matzou cranks for the true running and hard flashing colors I've been using them for a few years now. While the trout magnets don't have the flashing colors they do have some muted trout specific colors and the Matzuo the flashing ones.

 Here you can see the two in the packages. 3.5 inch brown trout magnet crank and a 3.5 inch gold/black Matzuo.

A side view shows the same body shape, hook placement and dive lip.

Another view of the front lip.

Here you can see the molded scales on the body. Looks the same.

Here you can see a 2.5 inch trout magnet crank and a 2 inch Rainbow Matzuo. As you can see the Matzuo has a lot of scares from the trout.

I haven't had a chance to get these in the water yet but my initial impressions are good. If they preform as good as the Matzuo lures these will work great. Now I look forward to hooking in to some monster trout with these 3.5 inchers.

Miscellaneous Pictures 2012

Happy New year! I must apologize I have not keep this blog up as much as I would have liked to. One of my new year resolutions is to do just that. I plan on buying a Gopro Hero 3 so hopefully I can share some videos with you also. Some of the new fishing I would like to do in 2013 is first off concentrate more on fly fishing for trout and panfish. I also plan on buying a 7 or 8 wt setup and try to catch some Gar and Carp on Percy Priest Lake. Is there anything new you want to try?

24lb 3oz Flathead

April 2012

Deep sea fishing April 2012

Stewart creek in Smyrna, TN

Don't get Jealous. 

CoE plans to restrict water access near dams.

Some of you maybe aware of the Army Corps of Engineers plans to restrict water access below Cumberland river water shed dams. You can read the press release here. From what I understand this will include all dams that eventually connect to the Cumberland river.

These new regulations will not just effect trout fishing but also stripper, walleye and many other species that collect below and above dams. You may not fish below dams (I only fish below the Center hill dam) But as with all government regulations this eventually these restricted areas will spread.

This is the area at the Center hill dam that will be restricted.

The CoE claim that they are doing this for safety of the public. Yet they are going to allow bank fishing below these dams in designated areas. When the generators and/or sluice gates are open these areas are turbulent too. It would seem that if safety is the concern that all areas would be off limits.

What can we do to stop this? Well it seems not much. Unfortunately the CoE are dead set on pushing through these regulations. I would recommend contacting your elected Representatives.

Senator Lamar Alexander (statewide) 

Contact Info 

Senator Bob Corker (statewide)

Contact info 

Congresswoman Diane Black (6th District)

Contact info 

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (7th District) 

Contact info   

Congressman Jim Cooper (5th District)

Contact Info 

Congressman Scott Desjarlais (4th district)

Contact info 

Redington Palix River wading boot review

I needed to upgrade my fishing footwear from my new balence tennis shoes. I had a few guidelines that I wanted to use to pick a pair of wading boots. It needed to be a good reputable brand and be under a $100. Obviously the price point I was looking at limited what brands I could look at. Orvis? Yeah right. Simms? HAHA. Korkers? Nope. Redington? Yes. The more and more I looked I kept coming back to the Redington Palix River. The problem? I really couldn't find a review or one local to look at. I knew Redington had a good reputation for quality so I figured I really couldn't go wrong.

I ended up ordering a pair from Avidmax.com as they offer free shipping. I normally don't order shoes online because you really don't know how they are going to fit. I wear a size 10 so I figured with the neoprene booties on my waders /wet wading socks I needed to go a size larger. What I didn't know is these boots are over-sized probably for that reason. So I had to send my first pair back to avidmax and order a size 10. They made the return painless and even called me about the return to make sure I was happy.

The first thing I noticed when opening the box was that the boots looked good. Upon examination it was clear that quality was the top priority. I couldent find a loose thread or anything. Sometimes you don't know with things made in China but these were well made. The canvas outer shell and rubber abrasion guard should keep the outside looking good. The thin inner neoprene liner gives the boot a little more cushion and support.

The rubber sole is soft and flexible. The Caney fork doesn't have a lot of slick rock but the traction on the soft bottom was great. Even climbing up the step banks the sole was giving me all the grip I need. I went to the Stones river where I knew there was large flat moss covered rocks so I could test out the traction under less then ideal conditions. The walnut encrusted soles did their job. Redington says they are stud compatible I have no use for this feature but you may.

The lace hooks opening is small and it takes a little getting used too. I actually like this because I don't have to worry about the laces coming unhooked. The laces have a generous length and are quality also. The two drainage holes above the sole are large enough to let water out but small enough to keep debris out.

These boots have exceeded my expectations. The traction has been superb. The boots have been very comfortable. If your looking for a value priced wading boot you should really consider these boots. I see no reason I shouldn't get 3+ fishing seasons out of these boots.

Just a note on Redington. They seem to be active with their customers on their Twitter and Facebook pages. So make sure you 'follow' or 'like' them and say Hello.

Also be sure to check out avidmax outfitters. They offer free shipping to the lower 48 states and deliver awesome customer service. You can follow them on Twitter here and like them on Facebook here.

Update 1/20/13

I have gotten a few good mud secessions in with these boots. I am still satisfied with the performance.

Evening at the Caney

Had a couple of great hours fishing the Caney this evening. I went by myself which is nice at times. Im probably going to start going in the evenings because the rental canoe traffic is not as heavy. I caught several nice fish in the 10 to 14 inch range. I was about to pack it in and I had a 18 inch rainbow strike. I knew I had something when the drag on my reel went off. Then It jumped about 5 times all I could do was hold my breath. But I finally got it in and had a guy on a float tube take my picture.

Here are a few more I caught.

14" Brook

16" Rainbow

I also found out my camera will take panoramic shots. So I messed around with it for a little bit. Let me know what you think.

Frogg Toggs Neoprene wading socks review

Wet wading is one of the things I love about warm weather. And like most fishermen I hate rocks and pebbles in my boots. I finally got tired of this and decided to get a pair of wet wading socks with gravel guards. After much price shopping I settled on ordering a pair of Frogg Toggs.

I couldn't find a direct size chart on their website but using the size chart for the stocking foot waders I felt confident that a large would fit my size 10 feet.

The first thing I noticed is the Neoprene is very soft on these. Which is great because after a few hours of wading my feet get to hurting. During my first outing I could tell my feet were not hurting as soon as they used to.

The next thing I noticed was the traction "dots" on the bottom. After my wading boots get wet inside they can have a slick feeling. While the dots didn't fully eliminate the slickness they defiantly cut down on it.

The only thing that concerns me about this product is the lace hook. It a thin metal and I just don't know how it will hold up. I would prefer something more heavy duty in this area.

All things considered I would buy this product again. It does its intended job in keeping rocks a debris out of my boots. I look forward to trying other Frogg Togg products.

I would like to say that I was in no way compensated for this review. All though I did Tweet out that I would be doing a review on these and Frogg Toggs responded

"Where value and quality leave the same footprint" 

So from what it looks like their Twitter and Facebook pages they are involved with customers in social media which is something that is important not only for marketing but listening to customer feedback. 

Stones River Fishing 7/3/12

I didn't get to make it to the Caney this week while I was off. Mostly because I tried to put a 2x4 through my windshield. I was able to go to Nices Mill Damn on the Stones River for a few hours. People talk about this place and its not all good. I could tell it is a heavily fished area because of all the trash. But none the less I caught a ton of fish. They weren't big but I was catching.

Longear sunfish.

I don't know what this little guy was thinking he's not much bigger than the lure.

Sad to say this redeye or cossa bass was the trophy of the day.

With views like this I'll defiantly be back.

Whats been working for me.

Its been a hectic week but I wanted to throw up a post about what has been working for me on the Caney Fork river this year.

A lot of what I use depends on the weather and time of day. The hotter and more middle of the day it is, the more the fish retreat to the deeper sections of the river. So too catch them you have to adjust what your fishing with.

This is a 1/8oz rainbow rooster tail. The treble hook has been replaced with a size 12. It is best to use early to mid morning and evening. Throw across the current and slow crank it, as the current makes the blade spin.

This is a 1/8oz Black glitter rooster tail also with a replacement size 12 treble hook. I've found this best to use during mid morning and late afternoon. 

Joe's flies are a great option to use also. They are very light and I typicality use a split shot weight about 10 to 12 inches above. i have caught some nice size browns on these. They can be use pretty much anytime as long as its not real hot.

The Rapala Countdown sinking 1/8oz is my go to lure during the hottest part of the day when the trout are hiding in the deep stretches of the river. This is the rainbow pattern that I use but they also make a brown and brook trout pattern that should be effective also. Just throw out and let it sink close to the bottom and slow crank in. I believe it drops about a foot a second so as the name implies just count it down.

With any hook or lure you use you will want to use a fluorocarbon leader. I prefer the Berkley Trilene professional grade. In my opinion it is more abrasion resistant than other brands, but whatever you chose get 100% fluorocarbon and not fluorocarbon coated. This is a 110 yard pony spool that fits right in a small pocket on my fishing vest.

 I any questions or comment please leave below.

Afternoon Fishing 6/16

It was a nice day fishing with Matt. The fish were bitein and fightin. I got 5 brown trout Including a 14" brown (wiggled out of my hands before we could get a Photo) and Matt got I believe 2 browns and a nice 12" brook. Don't have much to write so I'll just post some photos. Please post any comments you may have.

                                          My Third of the day (need to remeber to take pictures)

                                          Matt's First of the day.

Rainy dreary day 6/10/12

Some day just aren't days for tout fishing. One of those days was today. Jerry who I work with has started going fishing with me at the Caney. He is a beginner fly fisherman I on the other had am strictly a spin fisherman. Another guy we work with named Matt wanted to go with us. We planed on leaving my house at 5am and driving the 45 minutes up to the Caney. It was a light sprinkle this morning and slightly chilly. We started below the damn and I caught a small brown right off the baton a black rooster tail with a gold spoon. Unfortunately that would be the last on only fish we caught there.

After about an hour of nothing we decided to go down HWY141 and try a new spot. After climbing back in the the cold waters again. We still were not getting any hits. After switching to several different lures I got a hit on a Joe's Fly. I pulled in a nice 11 inch brown that put up a great fight. Again that was the only fish we caught in that spot.

We packed up and left for Happy Valley before we headed home for the day. After a stop at the Big rock Market to Fill our "fishing gas tanks" and to look at some new flies for Jerry (and a few more Joe's Flies for me). We made it to Happy Valley. After fishing for a hour none of us was getting anything. I was wading back to the shore and getting ready to leave when Matt said "I got one" I gave him the thumbs up as he pulled in a small brown. Then preceded to catch two more with in 5 minutes. We had to go ahead and leave right after that so Jerry could get to his sons birthday party. As we were walking up the boat ramp I told Matt not to judge the Caney on this one day of fishing that it is a lot better. His answer was "I caught tree trout...Im hooked now"