Catfishing

About two weeks ago my brother his friend and I went out on the lake to do some night cat-fishing. It was slow starting out but around midnight it picked up in a big way. The biggest we caught was 14.5oz while not as big as we have caught before we caught a lot of +10lbers.

Mystery Tackle Box unboxing.

A few weeks ago I signed up for Mystery Tackle box. If you haven't heard of it basically its a monthly subscription and they send you tackle to use. They had a special going on that you could get your first box for $4.99. Without further delay here is the video of the Unboxing.

River2sea http://www.river2seausa.com/topwater/485-rover.html
Rock crawler Jig http://bsfishingco.com/category.php?id_category=5
Whipembaits http://shop.whipembaits.com/4-Fire-Tiger-Disc-Worm-DW-FT-4.htm
Big bite Bates http://www.bigbitebaits.com/

Tackle Grab Unboxing

Its been a while since my last update. Ive been busy at work and with the weather being crazy I really haven't gotten out to fish in a while. A few weeks ago I signed up for Tackle Grab. If you haven't heard of it basically its a monthly subscription and they send you tackle to use. They had a special going on that you could get your first box for $4.99. I figured what the heck I've wasted five bucks on alot less.

Here is the you tube Unboxing Video I did.

I got a few interesting plastics and crank baits to use. These are the links to the websites if you want to know more about the baits I got.

http://reactionstrike.com/crankbaits/xw-70-90-110.html

http://www.backstabberlures.com/

http://www.hawgwildlures.com/Products_JJGP.html

http://www.gambler-lures.com/category_s/216.htm

I may give this another month just to see what I get but at $16 that will probably be it. Not because received bad stuff but I can spend that and pick out my lures at a store. But that being said I would still recommend giving the $5 first month a try. There is another service like this that I also subscribed to and will do a post on it when I receive it.

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.