Me? A Vip?

[Doug Weston]

Because I have been helping with the events at the convention center, I got the opportunity to go out tomorrow with one of the pro's that didn't make the cut in the National Guard Fishing team. I am not for sure who is on the team, but I know Scott Martin is, and he didn't make the cut. Brent Ehler made the cut so I won't be going out with him. here is something I found about who is on our team.

For 2009, the 15-member National Guard angling team will consist of bass-fishing pros Ramie Colson, Brent Ehrler, Tim Klinger, Scott Martin, Michael Murphy, Jonathan Newton, Clifford Pirch and Justin Lucas, as well as co-anglers Pam Bolton, Diane DeLaGarza, Pat Lay, Adam Lock, Michael McGhee and Rachel Uribe.

I'll let everyone know how it goes...I'm excited to see how they fish this lake.

Doug

[motoman]

That's exciting Doug! Be sure to keep us posted on who you went with, and how it went.

-

Also, I saw a precious post of yours, where I thought you mentioned helping out one of the pros with his trailer, that had one of those hard top, clam-shell style things on it? I've seen pix, and read about them, but have yet to see one in person, they sound like they're pretty cool!

[Sam]

They showed the weigh-in last night on KY3 News, and said 1200+ lbs. of bass were caught in the tournament yesterday. They had pictures of fishermen holding up big bass by the lower jaw with the jaw yanked 'way down - I've read that really damages a fish's jaw and its' ability to eat. Weighing the bass, they were handling them in and out of baskets, dry - and guys were waiting in a long line with their fish in plastic bags to weigh them.

Of course I realize these fish are legal size and within the limits, and the fishermen have a right to take 'em home an fry 'em, legally. They're not doing that, they're making a great effort to return them to the lake alive. That's good, but I can't help thinking that messing with so many breeder bass like this just before they can spawn, and on such a massive scale, has to be bad for the bass fishery.

Tournaments like this bring a lot of money to local merchants, and I guess that's what it's all about. I'll just fish mostly for other species and stay far away from such invasions while they're going on. I guess if I were one of those making money off these deals, I'd feel different about them. That is, I wouldn't mind seeing a public resource damaged if it put money in my pocket - but there's something kinda wrong about that.

[motoman]

I'm with yah Sam on the handling of the fish. One thing that makes me cringe, is when I see the fish getting their jaws 'torqued' open on the scales, to show the crowd.

-

I've read countless articles over the years, (several, in publications from the sanctioning bodies of these tournaments) that discourage the practice of hyper-extending the fishes mouth, as it can have detrimental effects on the fish.

-

A large fish, is a large fish, whether it's jaw is held wide open for a picture, or not. I'd like to see this practice disappear.

[Tightline]

I agree Sam.

Money,money, isn't everything all about money.

To hec with everything else.

[Doug Weston]

I went out with National Guard Pro Michael Murphy. I really enjoyed my morning. I received a pretty detailed class on jerkbaits. Michael used to be a lure designer for SPRO. He used that expertise to design a jerkbait for IMA called the Flit. This bait has several neat features that you may be interested in. It is made to suspend in cold water (around 45 I think). It will just amaze you with its action. It will completely turn around when you jerk it and give it slack. It has a very tight wiggle when moved forward. The sides are flat, but angled down so that the light reflects at a downward angle, where the fish will be coming from to strike. He has triangular sound chambers so that sound is very consistent. Of all the features, I particularly like the action. I airbrush some baits and I have learned a lot about crankbaits since doing so. I am convinced after today that the type of plastic baits are made of affect their action. I have known for some time that different woods have different action. If you take different baits (wood or plastic) and move them in a tank, some will glide, and some will stop when you quit pulling on them. I think it has to do with the density of the material. Whatever causes this, The Flit will glide. This lets it move very much from left to right when jerked. This allows you to keep it in the Strike zone longer since it will move more left to right instead of forward.

I know that these baits sell for about 18.00. They have them on Tackle warehouse, I checked. I made an order tonight. Michael did give me one to take and try out. I appreciate his lessons today and I will be supporting this company with my purchase. I encourage you guys to check these things out. I promise they will impress you when you put them in the water.

We didn't get to fish very long. Michael got to participate in a filming for some intro stuff on the TV Show. That was a pretty interesting deal in itself. I got to take some pretty neat pictures. I did catch a keeper on the Flit though in only about an hour fishing. We spent probably an hour talking about lures before we even fished. He also told me about what was happening on the lake and for the most part, just what you would figure, jerkbaits, wiggle warts, Jigs, and a few on the blade. Transition areas seemed to be the magic thing. He told me he had a good practice. He had such confidence in his Jerkbait pattern, that he failed to adjust for the changing conditions. I think I read that Stacy King had a good practice also, but had a hard time during the tournament. Michael caught a 9lb fish on his jerkbait during practice.

I wish the top 10 luck. Thank you Michael Murphy for the great time today.

Doug Weston

[brownieman]

There's a ton of pros amoung us...some just have sponsers.

No doubt about the fish handling...tourqing those jaws especially on larger fish is not good for them.

Like tightline said, money, money ,money...whatever.

[techo]

Wow! That sounded like an educational fun visit Doug. Thanks for sharing the information with us. Have to admit I am a bit envious of you though.

[Doug Weston]

Thank you techo. I loved the little bit of time I got to spend with him, he and I both like the scientific side of things.

Doug