Brett Groeteke

True, One of the reasons why I'm fishing Webb's tournaments this year since they aren't allowed. Just a lot more fun to throw multiple baits than to be forced to throw that thing alone in 2 of the events

Sorry to hear your displeasure. When did you buy the gloves?

Conditions were brutal. I was actually really surprised there were over 40 boats that showed up. I'll actually mention something I think the readers on here would be interested in. Last year I worked with the guys at Bass Pro to design a pair of gloves for fishing in those kind of conditions. We came up with the 100MPH glove that is insulated, waterproof, windproof, and has less lighter fabric around the palm and bends of fingers to provide the best feel and dexterity. They are expensive but worth it if you are going to try fishing in the winter.

Fished the Joe Bass team tournament out of Ahoys on 3/11. It was a challenging event since it rained, sleeted, and snowed on us the majority of the day, but it was good to be out on the water regardless. Fished the event with my brother, Ryan. We started out trying to catch some deep fish (50ft plus) on a grub that my brother had found the day prior. In retrospect, it wasn't the right choice considering the conditions, but it was too difficult not to try it since he had 3 fish over 4lbs doing it the day before. After trying deep for an hour with nothing to show for it we started hitting some shallow banks. First spot I caught 4 in short order on a wiggle wart, but only had one that would go in the box, a squeaker smallmouth. I looked up and spotted one more tree that I really wanted to hit before we left, one of those perfect cedars that has fallen over and is laying horizontal. I paused my crankbait as I deflected off of it and had a fish annihilate my bait. I set the hook on a heavy fish and felt it take me over the other side of the tree before pulling off. Oh well, off to the next spot, a mixed rock bank that my brother caught three keepers on 2 weeks ago during Webb's event. This one kicked out a couple of 2.5lb largemouths that wanted the crankbait. We were getting bit but not the kind of quality it takes to contend in a spring derby with nasty weather. We tried running back into a creek and I caught one over 3 in a little cut with chunk rock, again on the WW. We then went an hour or 2 with no more bites when I lost one on a jig. It was probably the hardest bite I've ever had. I set the hook on her and as I tried to reel, my wet hand slipped off of the handle twice, resulting in no pressure on the fish and a lost opportunity. Fortunately my brother redeemed me as he caught our biggest fish shortly after off a secondary point. A 4lb largemouth that fell victim to a Bass Pro Shops grub. We culled two more times on the grub before weigh in and ended up with 15.56lbs, a small check, and a boat full of snow. As expected, the weights were high. I believe the top 3 places were over 19lbs so job well done by those guys.

I used one for a bit a couple weeks ago and while I didn't catch anything on it, I can tell you I was impressed by its action. It cast nicely, self rights pretty well, and leaves a nice bubble trail. As you might expect, it doesn't make the louder plopping noise of the 130 size, but it churns out quite a bit of water and has the noise of the 90 size Wp. There's guys out west that have been doing really with it around grass. since it floats you can stop it momentarily in the holes in the grass.

I was there on Sunday, they've got a bunch of good stuff in there

I fished from Campbell Point up to Indian point this weekend, even up in the James some and Campbell point had the clearest water I saw, probably pushing 8-10 ft visibility. I can tell you that the big bass of the tournament came out of big creek

Just wanted to take a moment and invite everyone to come out and fish the American Diabetes Association Benefit Buddy Tournament on Table Rock on August 29th out of Mill Creek. The Tournament is hosted by the Webbs of Central Pro Circuits. $100 entry fee, 70% payback, tons of raffle items and giveaways, plus free breakfast and lunch. Hope to see some of you there, just don't beat me in the tourney!

Fished the dam area on Saturday and weighed in 14.30 in the Joe Bass tournament. Started off great as we had 2 fish in the 4lb range in the first 20 minutes flipping trees inside a cut along a bluff bank. Tried that for another 2 hours with no more luck so we went and threw spoons for a bit, catching a couple keeper Kentuckies out of 30ft. Finally got our 5th keeper late in the day off a rock pile in 18ft on a football jig, a fat smallmouth about 2 1/4 pounds. Turned out the fishing was really good for several teams, as it took over 17lbs to crack the top 3. After hearing the other reports, Big cranks in the James was the place to be. My hats off to the guys that figured out that bite, it's something I haven't spent enough time trying to figure out

That is what was told to me by a Normark Sales Manager

Have some information that might clear up some things. First, the Spro Rock Crawlers will be available on January 15th, had some manufacturing delays that delayed them from their previously stated 11/15 eta. I heard from John Crews today who said the following: "I have fished an old wiggle wart quite a bit. The Rock Crawler is a really good bait. It will get down to 12ft on 12lb test. Nice hunting action. They are it really good the last few days. It's a winner." Crews is sponsored by Spro so I wouldnt expect him to talk trash on it but glad to see it has his seal of approval anyway. Also, Normark is not redoing the wiggle warts and has no plans to do so. They maintain that the molds are the exact same, and the only difference is the materials that are used.

Haven't jumped on here in quite awhile but The baby went to sleep early tonight so here I am. Anyway, Normark delivered the new exclusive warts today so they'll be available online within the next day or so and in the Spfld store in about a week

Quillback, I'm glad to hear you say you feel that Bass Pro does a better job of keeping things in stock. I'm not afraid to admit that I do work for Bass Pro and I am in charge of ordering and keeping in stock the freshwater lures. We have systems in place to stay in stock and I can tell you that 95% of the time we are out of stock, it is because the vendor is unable to keep up with demand and ship us product. Mr. Babler, I like and respect what you said- it was a logical and well said statement

Amboyduke, very well said. Thank your for attempting to clear up some of the misunderstandings