Fantasy fishing

I'll admit, I'm really a nerd when it comes to fishing.

The past few winters, I've spent time snuggling up to bass fishing books. The reading always helps me get over the anticipation of spring and the upcoming fishing seasons.

But last year, I discovered Fantasy Fishing by FLW. This changed how I read (at least in 2008) during the winter. I went from understanding bass biology to understanding who Shinichi Fukae and Michael Bennett were, and how a couple of Minnesota anglers could compete with the boys down south.

While 2009 hasn't drawn me in as much as last season, I'm still enjoying reading about fishing. Now, however, I find myself looking forward to the tournaments because I know I can follow live updates via Twitter.

I follow FLW magazine edtior Jason Sealock on Twitter, and the most current FLW tour tournament happens to be on Kentucky and Berkley Lakes. Sealock just happens to live near Kentucky Lake (he often tweets about Kentucky Lake from his personal fishing trips), so he's been very busy since Thursday tweeting live coverage.

Possibly one of the hardest things about following pro fishing, whether it be bass, walleye or crappie, is that TV coverage of these events always comes out long after the tournament is over.

With 200 some boats in these tournaments, it is easy to understand how difficult live coverage could be. But, at least in the bass tournaments, the field is pared down to 10 anglers.

Ten anglers. Seems to me an outdoors network somewhere could cover the first couple hours of the field of 10. But I don't see this happening anytime soon.

Which brings me back to Twitter. I hate to admit that I'm addicted to the posts from Sealock. I hate to admit that I've logged on religiously to Twitter since Thursday just to catch his updates.

But like a baseball game on the radio, I find the Twitter updates to be an excellent alternative to television coverage, and I will probably be following religiously again Sunday.

As I said, I'm a fishing nerd.

A couple of good reads

I was thinking the other day about information I could pass along to people about fishing. Mostly, I tend direct my writing to people who have loads of fishing experience.

But sometimes, I wonder if people stopping to read what I write need a little direction on what or how to fish. While I can't provide all the answer, I can help keep you informed when I come across a good site or article with quality fishing tips.

Two such articles come to mind. I subscribe to Gary Yamamoto's Ezine Newsletter, and I often find the articles by Russ Bassdozer to be pretty informative. Recently, he put together a must know for catching bass all summer long.

I also spend time reading what is going on in the world of fishing on Twitter. While I haven't quite figured out a practical use for Twitter because I like complete sentences and punctuation, a lot of people post interesting tweets about fishing.

But wear your hip waders, cuz the stink you're going to wade through to find the good tweets gets pretty deep.

One such exploration landed me on the Web site Fishing Moz, which breaks down different species of fish and gives tips and tactics.

I most recently read a pretty good crappie article that gives basic crappie fishing advice, but takes into account that location plays a factor into how you chase a crappie. If crappies are your thing, I suggest giving it a read.

I'm sure reading fishing how-tos isn't nearly as fun as just hitting the lake and practicing what you already know. But sometimes, when you come across a good read, you'll find yourself putting those tactics into play during an outing on the lake.

And if any of those tricks work, well, they'll become part of your everyday arsenal.

No, I haven't forgotten you

Been a little busy lately. Not so much at the newspaper, but catching up with my family, my fishing hole.

I'm a sucker for going out fishing on my day off. Rain or shine, you can bet I'll be out somewhere working for bass.

The cold front killed off a lot of the bite, but I have to admit, the bite hasn't been that great. Some days things seem to be picking up, other days, I wonder if I shouldn't be doing something different.

Fishing-wise that is. I still value my time on the water, and I better mention now, I value my wife for allowing me that time on the water.

See, she's the key to the entire thing; without her I wouldn't be able to fish as often as I do, and let me tell you, I fish often.

So I'll quickly break down what's been working the last couple of weeks of fishing. The Texas rig has picked up. I'm seeing a lot of good hits on the 7 inch, blue fleck PowerBait worm. I'm also seeing a lot of hits on a 7 inch, Gander Mountain ripple tail worm in the crawfish orange swirl color.

Stick worms have worked well. I don't fish the 5" Yamamoto Senkos, but that's mainly because of the price. I know the baits will last me a while, so the investment is good, but when I can pick up a few Strike King, 5" stick for cheap at Wal-Mart, it's a no-brainer. The money I save can go to hooks, or more worms, or sinkers, or a spinnerbait.

Or perhaps, to a treat for my son. The options are limitless.

Anyhow, back to lures. I've continued to have success on my white, triple-blade Strike King buzzbait. Chartreuse and white/chartreuse spinnerbaits have worked well. Where I'm fishing, the crankbaits are slow, but mostly because of the weeds and snags.

The fish are finicky right now. Some days, slow, slow, slow, finessing with jigs and Texas rigs. The next day, the bass want something active. Some days they want neither and aggravating them seems to be the only option.

All I know is I'm ready for the a change in the weather. I'm betting that'll do the trick.