Brad Crum and I headed to Vandalia Lake to fish the Vandalia Sportfishing and Conservation tournament. I got onto some quality fish in practice and the game plan was to fish deep for 4 to 6 quality bites with mainly a 3/4 oz Pig Sticker Football Jig. I told Brad we were going to be fishing deep even in the morning and we were not going to go looking for an early morning shallow bite to start the day. We blasted off and headed down the lake to my first stop a long point that fell off into about 20 feet of water on the end. We made about 20 or so casts and I finally hooked up with a fish about 2 and a half pounds on a 3/4oz Pig Sticker Scrawler Jig in Black and Blue. The fish jump out of the water and the jig shot out his mouth. I didn’t feel all that bad because with the fish I had been on I thought I would be culling that fish anyways. We zipped on down to my 2nd spot just a deep brush filled sea wall and I was able to whack a 3 and a half pounder on the jig. I just pulled the jig through the brush and he started swimming off with it.

As summer heats up and bass move to their summer haunts, fisherman need to keep a few key pieces of information in mind. First, all bass don’t move deep and second, deep is a relative term.  Basic fishing knowledge will allow you to break the summertime blues.  When dropping my boat in the water there are a few things I always check to determine how and where the fish will position:  water color, temperature, lake level, and what is the norm for the lake. Most anglers are not fortunate enough to spend every day on the water.   so for the vast majority of fisherman when packing the boat the night before, make sure to add a few minutes for lake research. Check sources, even if it is the same lake you fish week after week. There are several variables that can change daily. Be observant, often it will be the difference in a good day and a great day.

I was asked the question on what circuits I’m fishing and why I’m fishing them. One of the tournament circuits I am currently fishing is the Ozark BFL as a co-angler. I decided to fish the Ozark BFL’s this year out of the back of the boat because I wanted to see what the BFL’s are like and get some experience on the lakes of the Ozarks. Up until this year I’d only fished twice on both Table Rock and Lake of the Ozarks; plus, I had never been to Grand Lake or Truman Lake. What I’m planning on doing is fishing as a co-angler a year or two and then making the jump to boater when my classes slow down. I’ve studied a couple of great anglers and a lot of them started out fishing as co-anglers and then moved up to boater in each division. What I plan on doing is fishing the BFL’s as a co-angler then moving up to boater and fishing the Strens as a co-angler and then moving up to a boater in the Strens. My goal is to keep moving up the ranks. When you fish as a co-angler it is a challenge to catch fish a lot of times behind guys but you usually can learn something from your boater. A lot of times you learn from their mistakes or you learn what not to do.