Folks just returned from Pick Wick Lake 3/25/2012 and I have never seen the lake that low do not count on your honey holes 90% chance that they will be dry.

I know there is a big Bass Tournament scheduled the last week-end of March and I must say be real careful running at full speed. I saw some stumps in Indian/Yellow Creek that I have never seen before and a lot of submerged trees sticking up.

We threw the A-Rig that everyone is so up about and produced nothing, ran into a few other bass anglers and they report that the A-Rig the bass stopped hitting them last week… I know sounds like the old story that goes…OH SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE YESTERDAY THEY WERE HITTING EVERY CAST. Needless to say we did not catch nothing on the A-Rig but was able to catch a white bass on a rattle trap and a very small bass on a crawdad color crank bait (BANDIT 200) in Indian.

The wind came up around 11am and we decided to call it and head to the ramp. I will say there were a lot of crappie fishing anglers out there and they were catching crappie that would make it to the freezer. Maybe I should try again and this time go for crappie.

Keep The Hooks Wet

Steve

WYNNE – Almost 36 years to the day, Arkansas’s largemouth bass state record  has finally been broken. On Tuesday, Paul Crowder of Forrest City set  the new record on Lake Dunn near Wynne. Crowder’s lunker weighed 16  pounds 5 ounces, breaking the old record by just a single ounce.

Aaron Mardis of Memphis had held the state record since March 2, 1976.  Mardis’ 16 pound 4 ounce fish was caught on Mallard Lake near Manilla in Mississippi County.

Crowder broke the record on the afternoon of Feb. 28 using a plastic 6-inch  Mann’s jelly worm with a bullet sinker and plastic rattle in tequila  sunrise. He was using an Enigma rod and reel combo purchased from Bass  Pro Shops. Crowder caught the fish on Trilene 14-pound test line.  Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist Lee Holt certified the fish on a certified scale at Hayes Market in Wynne.

The fish measured 26½ inches in length and was 22¾ inches in girth. Crowder said that he had been fishing all day for catfish without any luck. “I  made a cast and set the rod down to take a look at my catfish rods when I noticed the rod was just about out of the boat,” he said. “I was able  to grab it just before it went out of the boat,” he added. It was the  only fish he caught all day.

It only took about eight minutes for Crowder to reel the record into the  boat. “I didn’t have a net, so it took me five or six tries before I was able to lip it and get in the boat,” he explained.

The 80-acre lake is located in Village Creek State Park in Cross County.  The AGFC is going to test the fish to see what genetic strain of bass it is, according to Assistant Chief of Fisheries Chris Racey. “We are  going to take samples to determine if the fish is a pure northern strain or if it has Florida bass genetics,” Racey explained.

I do not think there has been a lure that has set the Bass Fishing World in such a buzz, fishing a multi-lure rig. Back in October, when Paul Elias won a tournament on Lake Guntersville with the Alabama Rig, it’s all any one wants to talk about now days, and it is all the anglers want to fish.

Why the fuss ? Give the right conditions, especially the fall weather down south when the bass start storing up on food for the winter the Alabama Rig is something that sould be tied on one rod. This is a bait that we are going to see in alot of local tournaments in the states that allow it. That is great news for us little folks but the Pro’s: Paul Elias, Skeet Reese, and many others, it is a setback.

For that reason, members of the Bassmaster Elite Series Rules Committe, which advises B.A.S.S. on tournament rules, recommended that all multi-lure rigs, including umbrella-type rigs, be prohibited in tournaments.

Their argument is compelling. Believing the rig is too effective and too easy to use, they argue that it minimizes the importance of skill in tournament competition.

Tournament Director Trip Weldon and other officials granted their wish. Beginning   2/1/2012, qualifiers for the Bassmaster Classic and the Bassmaster Elite Series will be allowed to use no more than one lure at a time. That means no more “donkey rigs” (tandem soft jerkbaits), or drop shot setups using jigs for weight, or double topwaters – or Umbrella Rigs.

The rule does not apply to Bassmaster Open, Federation Nation, College B.A.S.S. or other events.

Anglers are waiting in lines out side stores to buy theis umbrella rig and some tackle companies have gone into 20 hour days trying to meet the demand for this  crazy lure…and it does not just stop there, whats more there are anglers wearing fishing hats lined up in the cookware section of the stores buying wire wisk so they could fashion their own umbrella rig.

I remeber a few years ago Strike King Came out with a type of rattle trap and crank bait  that KVD used in tournament and won it was the sexy Shad color, and you could not get either bait for months and the back orders were shocking, but at least the bait did not get baned from tournaments.

Again I say to all my readers do not get caught using the Alabama Rig where it states that it is illegal.

Other than that let’s see what they come up with next…I know it is like dangling candy over the anglers face and then tell them that they can not use this lure.

KEEP THE HOOKS WET

Steve

Thanks to DAVE PRECHER of BASS TIMES

Well after being here all week I got to say it has been adventure with the weather, and I know if it had stayed the same as when we arrived we would have torn the bass up. I tried a lot of my usual honey holes and one still remained the same and I call it Steve’s Small Mouth spot and it always produces some great fish. We did get some bites in another spot and it was good bites, but failed to land them.

Tuesday and Wed, the storm came in and the temp dropped it was going to put a bite on how many we would catch, and it did because when Saturday arrived with the sunshine and temps around 66 the poor fish did not know what to do. The lake was holding a Bass tournament and we had to factor that there were going to be other anglers looking for the same.

One thing that I can say is the shad are not in the back of the coves and the bass are busting them that is not so. Some of the articles I looked up before coming to Pick Wick all stated that the shad were in the back of coves and to look for the bass there. We found most of the balls of shad still at the mouths of the coves and they might move back into the cove in another week provided the weather stay normal.  Water temp is between 62 in the morning with very heavy fog…then about 9:30am it will warm up to 68 if your lucky, but all fish were taken off the ledges.

I would say 95% of our fish came off either a Spinner Bait or Buzz Bait on any rock wall that had a tapering ledge where the fish could hide under and attack the shad when they swam by. Every one that I talked to that fished the Bass Tournament said about the same except one person said that she caught her fish with a BrushHog.

I guess you could say we threw the kitchen sink, because when we came in the whole front end of my boat was full of lures at the end of the day.

We all are still happy with the fish we caught and most of all the changing of the leaves as MOTHER NATURE prepares for her winter Nap and being able to get outdoors and enjoy…OH by the way little Carson (KVD JR) had a blast, and made sure that he caught some fish /drove the boat/worked the trolling motor..so we are getting him ready so later in life he can take his kids out and show them what we are teaching him now…not to mention a good time for a father and son get out and enjoy each other company and the outdoors.

When I get back to Memphis will being posting pictures on the brag board and yes I am so relaxed. Thi is the best way to leave all your tensions behind, if fact the guy that went with me an Air Federal Marshall left his phone in the cabin so he could also unwind, and this is the first time I have heard him say that he was tired and sore all over, and I must admit I am the same way but this is the hardest day for me leaving Pick Wick…maybe one day I can move here and settle down.

FOLKS GET OUT NOW AND SEE THE WONDERFUL SHOW MOTHER NATURE IS PUTTING ON JUST FOR YOU. Until Next time:

Keep The Hooks Wet

Steve