Tuesday night tournaments are very exciting because you only have about three hours to catch five nice bass and the take off is like a race trying to beat other people to the spot. My favorite color to use is black with anything as long as there is more black than the other color and my go to baits are something that has a lot of sound, vibration, and commotion. My partner and I are new to night fishing but so far we are learning more every time we go. The camaraderie around the marina has enabled us to become more familiar with some of the best fishermen in our area, not to mention the wonderful people that work at and maintain the marina. This year is the weigh master’s 25th year of judging and weighing sack after sack of fish on Tuesday nights. Most of these guys offer help in any form that is needed. All the tournament nights are good, just some better than others.
Generosity
My Dad and I were recently blessed with a, new to us, 2012 Ranger z118. With our hearts racing we took the boat out the next day to figure everything out.
The day after testing the boat we took it to the West Rock Landing winter series tournament at lake Maumelle, before we launched the boat another competitor in the tournament gave me 10 full boxes of baits and 3 big bags of soft plastics. Now I am going to try to save enough to get a livescope.
God will bless a joyful giver and we can’t out give God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
First Tournament of 2022
On January 1, 2022 My very first cast was quite a surprise. I didn’t expect to boat a 3+ pounder, and it was the start of our first tournament of 2022 as well. It was raining, lightning, and thundering most of the day but we still managed to make some good memories and catch a good limit on the balsa wood crankbaits that Rapala makes. We can honestly say that we lost to some of the best fishermen at Lake Maumelle. A good weigh master definitely helps make it more fun even when we don’t win a prize.
Rapala makes a wide variety of body shapes, sizes and colors to choose from and here is a link below that will take you straight to there balsa baits. I apologize for not posting in awhile but I have posted some videos on my youtube channel Uncle Dan’s Fishing.
Catching Slab crappie!
It’s that time of year when the crappie and bass start gorging themselves on food for the spawn, so for us anglers we need to be fishing now while they are biting especially the big ones like this crappie here on the left that I caught on my home made crappie jig that ya’ll will soon be able to purchase. I will also have swim jigs and chatterbaits available for serious bass fishermen. But anyway that crappie was 2 ounces shy of 2 pounds but I call it a 2 pounder ha ha. That day the lake was so far down that we were barley able to put our old ranger boat in the water and out because the ramp was 1 foot from being out of the water. even though the lake was down the crappie were shallow.
Rip, Stop, Set the Hook!
On November 6, it was cool and blue bird skies with just a little breeze of wind, usually with these conditions the bass do not bite very well. So with the cooler air and water, I knew right away that I was going to use a suspending jerkbait, the Rapala Ripstop. The Ripstop is such a unique bait because when you rip it with the rod tip and pause, it stops on a dime with its boot tail design. That day I ended up catching some nice sized bass and along with a 7 pound drum that about ripped the rod out of my hands when I went to rip the Ripstop, after a few minutes I got him in the boat using Sufix Advance monofilament line, the Ripstop and the Sufix line held up very well with all the fish that I caught, especially that drum. My Dad was talking in the truck at the beginning of the video below cause he was so exited to use the new baits. You can hit the link below that will take you straight to the Rapala Ripstop where you can choose the sizes and colors that you prefer
Do you like little brats?
Bassin with My Home Made Chatterbait
Catching bass is fun but it is nothing like catching them on your own home made bait. I love throwing chatterbaits because they are so versatile like skipping, throwing around cover, vegetation, sometimes deep open water and it’s a good bait for all the seasons of the year. Also when a bass strikes, it’s like a freight train crashing into a car on the track. Soon I will be selling my custom chatterbaits, swim jigs and crappie jigs so ya’ll can catch numbers and bigger fish.
We haven’t quite reached 50 subscribers yet for our giveaway drawing. If you want to be in the drawing, then subscribe with your email address on my home page.
The Boat is Back!
If you did’t already know, our boat motor locked up a while back. After a month of searching for a motor or entirely new to us rig, we found a remedy that cured our anxiety. We came across a larger boat that happened to have the same model motor that was originally on our boat. We would have used the entire rig, however the motor is a little small for the boat, so we put that motor on our boat and it is running like a top. The next order of business is to work on the interior to continue restoration of this old Ranger boat.
To celebrate being back on the water, I will be giving away some crappie jigs and chatter-baits. They will all be my favorite colors that I know will catch lots of fish. The next 50 subscribers will be entered into a drawing and the winner have have their choice of 4 chatter-baits, 10 crappie jigs, or a combination of 2 chatter-baits and 5 crappie jigs.
Crappie Jigs (many more colors available) 
Bluegill Chatterbait 
Cloudy Shad Chatterbait
We now have a 1989 Javelin 19′ hull with trailer, 24V trolling motor, and manual jack plate that is set up with Evinrude controls available for whomever has, or can come up with, a 200hp outboard motor to put on it. It does have enough life left in it to cause someone to catch the fishing and boating fever.
1989 Javelin 
1989 Javelin
Personal Best
One foggy February morning my dad and I were fishing at Lake Maumelle. On my second cast, right when my bait hit the bottom, I raised my rod tip and felt lots of pressure pulling the other way, I set the hook as if I were playing tug of war. It took a while to get her up to the surface of the water because she was deep, but when I did, my dad and I knew that it was a donkey so he netted her and got the donkey in the boat. As soon as we got her securely in the boat I was like “wheres the scale, we need to weigh it now”. With my hands shaking, I managed to hang her on the scale to see that she weighed 6.17 pounds, my new personal best! After all the pictures and videos we threw her back in the deep cold water. We fished for about three more hours that day without a single bite, but I was happy for the memory of that fish.
We often view some of our favorite life accomplishments in terms of “personal best”. Achieve your personal best for eternal life by asking Jesus Christ into your life today.
Camping at Lake Degray
Fall is a great time for camping because the weather is not to hot and not to cold, it is also a great time for fishing. I always enjoy camping when the whole family goes and sleeps in tents, and because we are enjoying Gods creation on the water and on the bank. And one of my favorite things to do is gathering around the fire cooking smores and hotdogs. Every time we go my Dad and I wake up early in the morning to go fishing for bass with topwater baits. I never looked forward to the last day knowing that we have to pack up and go home. We always enjoy ourselves even when the disappointing things happen.
