fishing - Bass Fishing Florida

Menendez Joins Largemouth Mafia

Paducah, Kentucky – Mark Menendez unveils his tournament boat with a new look and new wrap. Fishing fans will be treated to the ride of the future. The Skeeter FX 20 powered by a 250hp Yamaha SHO 4- stroke Outboard will feature many sponsor logos highlighted by a new name in the fishing world.

“My wrap will feature a new a name in the fishing game. Largemouth Mafia (www.largemouthmafia.com) is a social website that will be featuring content and contests of every type concerning bass fishing. I will be writing tips, ‘How to Articles’, and other never seen before attractions to the internet. This website will be a great source of information for fishermen. “, stated Menendez.

“I am also proud to say that the fans will be able to autograph this rig as always. I started this tradition at the beginning of the Elite Series several years ago. It has been a hit everywhere I travel. To see a young fisherman’s face light up from when I ask for their autograph on my boat is absolutely the best in rewards for me and my sponsors!, cited Menendez a 2009 Elite Series Champion. “The fans will also get to see a familiar face. Barkley will have his picture on the sponsons of my boat. He will be with me in spirit as always. It will be nice to be reminded of all the support I have at home.”

The 2010 tournament season is here and Menendez will be dressed for success.

For more information please go to www.markmenendez.com. Or www.largemouthmafia.com to sign up for the newest wave in fishing.

FLW Series Lake Okeechobee Final Day

Martin wins FLW Series tourney on final day at Okeechobee

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2010) – Team National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to win $50,000 in the FLW Series Eastern Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 71-9.

The catch gave him the win by a 2-pound, 3-ounce margin over John Cox of Debary, Fla., who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 69-6 and earned $20,000.

“I’m about to cry after this one,” said Martin, who has won more than $1 million in FLW Outdoors events. “It’s an amazing feeling. I’ve lived here my whole life and I fished my first FLW tournament here and I’ve been fairly successful here and been in the top 10 a few times. But to win one and keep it here on the lake is awesome. For the city of Okeechobee and the city of Clewiston and all the communities around the lake … it’s unbelievable.

“I wanted to win this tournament and I focused,” Martin added. “When you focus in on something … when you believe it, you achieve it. If you doubt it, you’ll do without it. That’s been my motto all week.”

Martin opened the tournament in fourth place Wednesday with five bass weighing 21-4 that he caught on junebug-colored Lake Fork Trophy Lures “Live” Magic Shad and watermelon red Reaction Innovations Trixie Sharks while fishing the South Bay area. On Thursday he added another five bass weighing 14-14 to move into second place. He then caught five bass weighing 12-4 Friday to make the crucial top-5 cut in second place. Saturday Martin stuck with the baits he’d used the first three days of competition and sealed his win. Martin also received $6,000 for being the Ranger Cup program winner.

“You try to put yourself in position to win tournaments and to make the right decisions on the final day and have a great day …it was just one of those days that would be hard to ever duplicate,” Martin said.

Martin said he returned to the area he fished all week and again had it to himself. He said he slowed down and picked the area apart and relied on GPS to cover different trails through grass than he fished the previous three days. Martin said he retrieved the baits steadily on the surface in heavily matted areas.

“I think the key to my success this week is I haven’t caught many of the males,” Martin said. “I saw lots of males every day. I could have caught my limit every morning and had 10 to 12 pounds, but I left them there on purpose. With the full moon coming, I wanted those males to bring the females. So I just marked them and kept fishing and fishing.

“I think it’s a mistake to catch everything you see, and I’ve done it, and it’s stupid, really with a full moon,” Martin said.

Cox, who led the Okeechobee event for the first three days of competition, said conditions totally changed for him on the last day.

“I went to my area that had a lot of fish in it and the wind was blowing into it,” said Cox, who completed his first FLW Series event. “I thought the rocks in front of it would protect it some, but I got in there and it was muddy.”

Cox said he fished a while in his first area, caught one fish and relocated east of the Kissimmee River. He managed to catch five small keepers off beds and later culled another keeper.

Rounding out the top five pros are:

3rd: Team Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 20 bass, 63-6, $15,000

4th: J. Todd Tucker, Moultrie, Ga., 20 bass, 58-14, $10,000

5th: Tom Mann Jr., Buford, Ga., 20 bass, 58-8, $9,000

A complete list of results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 25 bass weighing 62 pounds, 14 ounces caught by five pros Saturday. The catch included five five-bass limits.

George Kapiton of Inverness, Fla., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger 177TR with a 90 horsepower engine and an additional $2,038 in the optional pot Friday with a three-day total of 35 pounds followed by Marlon Crowder of Tampa, Fla., in second place with 33-13 worth $5,000.

Martin and Crowder each won a $1,000 gift card as part of the new Cabela’s Angler Cash program. Beginning in 2010, Cabela’s is offering pro and co-anglers the opportunity to register and win a $1000 gift card for being the highest qualified finisher in each division at all FLW Series events, making the stakes even higher in an already rich award package. Anglers can visit FLWOutdoors.com for a complete list of rules and to register.

In FLW Series competition, anglers and co-anglers are also vying for valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.

The Lake Okeechobee event was the first of four FLW Series Eastern Division tournaments that will be held in 2010. The next FLW Series tournament will be held March 10-13 on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala. The event will be hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce and boats will launch from Lakepoint Resort State Park in Eufaula.

The remaining tournaments are scheduled for:

Aug. 25-28 Lake Champlain Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Sept. 15-18 Lake Chickamauga Chattanooga, Tenn.

Coverage of the Lake Okeechobee tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors”, will air May 2 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide.

ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. FLW Outdoors has also taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing awarding the largest prizes in the history of fantasy sports. FLW Outdoors memberships are available featuring numerous benefits including Player’s Advantage. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com.

www.FLWOutdoors.com

Carolina Rigs for Pre-Spawn,Spawning Bass

Carolina Rigs For Pre-Spawn, Spawning Bass
By Larry Nixon

If it hasn’t already begun to happen where you live, then over the next few months the water in your favorite fishery will begin to warm up and all the bass will instinctively begin to think about reproducing.

They will begin to move into shallow-water staging areas, because shallow water warms more quickly than deep water., to forage after a long winter before moving up on to bedding areas.

Granted, these bass behaviors will be affected by the region of the country where you fish: Southern latitudes with warmer weather are already seeing bass in the spawn; Northern anglers won’t see these behaviors until the May/June timeframe. This time of year is very popular with bass anglers because of the opportunities to catch big, hungry fish.

There are a lot of ways to do it, but one of the most effective ways to catching bass during this time of year, a way that is less affected by springtime’s ever-changing weather, is using a Carolina rig.

A Carolina rig is a bass fishing basic. I try to keep my Carolina-rigging simple: I use basically the same line, rods reels and baits for most situations. I know it works well shallow or deep, ultra clear water or stained and I know it works all year long. A lot of people think of a Carolina rig as a post-spawn, summertime technique, but it can work during this time of year, too.

The rig works well because it keeps the bait on or near the bottom better than any method out there and it covers lots of ground. When bass are relating to the bottom they will eat a Carolina rig. When they aren’t relating to the bottom of the lake, try something else. Because bass are moving shallow with the warming of the water, that means they are relating to the bottom. You can use a Carolina rig in staging areas during pre-spawn, by targeting transition areas near spawning flats. Once the fish have moved to the beds – whether spawning has started – the Carolina rig is a great alternative to sight fishing, especially when wind or cloud cover prevents you from seeing the fish on the bed.

How do you do it?

I thread a 3/4-ounce sinker on my main line, then a bead, and then a Trilene knot to tie on a swivel. Then I tie on a leader — about 3-feet long — and attach a hook designed for rigging. For my main line I use 10-pound Berkley FireLine and 20-pound Berkley Vanish for a leader. The main line needs to be tough and low stretch; the leader needs to be invisible to the fish. These lines do just that.

I use two different baits, Berkley Gulp! and PowerBait. For this time of the year, the two baits I use are the 4-inch Gulp! Sinking Minnow and the 4-inch PowerBait Power Lizard in green pumpkin or white. These baits and colors mimic prey bass will be feeding on during this time of the year, as well as the kind of predators that might be raiding their beds in search of eggs. I switch baits and colors and let the fish tell me which to use.

I always use a tungsten sinker. Being more dense, it stays on the bottom better and sends more distinct vibrations up the line so I can tell more about what’s going on down there. I feel the rocks, gravel, logs or whatever. After time you will know instantly the bottom composition. I use a bead to protect the knot but I make sure of two things: first, the bead needs to be made of plastic because glass breaks easily in the rocks; and second, the bead needs a hole in it large enough to go over the knot.

Leaders, hook-sets

Sometimes I vary the leader length. Heavy cover and shallow water requires a shorter leader. Hang-ups are less frequent and when I hit a stump or other cover I know the bait is close by and to get myself ready to react. I try to always use a sweeping, side-arm hook set. I use a 7-foot Fenwick Techna AV medium-heavy rod. It feels good to me for a Carolina rig rod … long enough to take all the slack out of my line to set the hook and sensitive enough to feel the bottom and the bites. I use an Abu Garcia REVO STX high-speed reel, it’s the best one I’ve ever used for any fishing technique.

Remember that with a Carolina rig, you’re actually fishing the sinker, not the bait, since that is what you will feel making contact with the bottom. The sinker controls everything. The Sinking Minnow or the Power Lizard just hangs around and does nothing except follow the sinker. The weight of the sinker controls the fall speed, the crawling or swimming action, and the bottom-bouncing attraction. The sinker makes noise on hard bottoms, and puffs up clouds of silt on soft bottoms.

The next few months will see many anglers across the nation enjoying some of the best fishing of the year. There’s lots of ways to do it, but sometimes sight fishing for the spawning and pre-spawn bass just won’t work. With a Carolina rig, novice and pro anglers alike will be dragging in these rigs in, two feet at a time, right through the heart of some big-bass water.

Larry Nixon is a former Bassmaster Classic winner with more than $1.5 million in career earnings on the BASS Tour. Currently fishing the FLW Tour, Nixon lives in Bee Branch, Ark.

FLW Series Okeechobee Day 2

Cox maintains lead in FLW Series on Big O

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2010) – John Cox of Debary, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 14 ounces Thursday to retain the lead in the FLW Series Eastern Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 47-15.

“I was just running and moving around a lot and catching a good one here and there,” said Cox, who is fishing in his first FLW Series event. “I figured I caught 15 (pounds) early in the morning and figured that was pretty good.”

Cox said his technique of moving around and searching for fish produced 12 keepers Thursday. He said he is mainly focusing on fish he can see and picks the fish he thinks will bite. The longest he targeted one fish Thursday was 20 minutes.

“I’m kind of just standing around and waiting to see them,” Cummins said.

Cummins said he fished new water on the second day of competition and will continue to do the same Friday. Cummins also said he is looking forward to the forecast of rain for Saturday.

“I’ve got a flipping spot and I’ve been dying to go to it,” Cummins said. “These flipping fish are on beds; you just can’t see them.”

Cox now holds a commanding 8-pound, 13-ounce lead over second place pro National Guard team pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 39-2 during the first two days of competition.

“The neat thing about Lake Okeechobee is that it’s never the same year after year,” said Martin, who has won more than $1 million in FLW Outdoors events. “As big as this lake is, it’s always different based on water levels and the amount of grass. I’ve never really gone out and caught fish in the exact same spot year after year.”

Rounding out the top-10 pros at Lake Okeechobee are:

3rd: Team Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 35-11

4th: Bob Izumi, Milton, Ontario, 10 bass, 34-6

5th: Tom Mann Jr., Buford, Ga., 10 bass, 34-0

6th: Craig Dowling, Grant, Ala., 10 bass, 33-5

7th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 33-2

8th: Ray Scheide, Dover, Ark., 10 bass, 32-0

9th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 31-8

10th: Trevor Fitzgerald, Ocklawaha, Fla., 10 bass, 31-3

Overall there were 671 bass weighing 1,459 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 153 pros Thursday. The catch included 113 five-bass limits.

In FLW Series competition, pros are competing for a top award of $50,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.

Jeff Cummins of Marion, Ohio, leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 25-2 followed by Larry Mullikin of Lauderhill, Fla., in second place with nine bass weighing 24-6.

“We were throwing everything,” said Cummins, who is fishing in his first FLW Series event. “The bite was tough, but we worked at it all day long and finally got a limit.”

Cummins said he caught six fish during the course of the day on Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers and flukes. Cummins said his largest fish, an estimated six-pounder, was his second fish of the day and fell for a Senko.

Cummins caught five bass weighing 10-14 while fishing with pro Robert Sherry of Saint Charles, Ill., Wednesday and five bass weighing 14-4 while fishing with pro Pat Kelly Sr. of Guntersville, Ala.,Thursday.

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers are:

3rd: Larry Butler, New Haven, Vt., 10 bass, 19-13

4th: Richard Rhodes, Calvert City, Ky., six bass, 19-12

5th: Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 19-2

6th: Marlon Crowder, Tampa, Fla., 10 bass, 18-13

7th: Eugene Lewis, Saint Petersburg, Fla., 10 bass, 18-9

8th: Robert Eid, Key West, Fla., nine bass, 18-4

9th: Anthony Goggins, Sylacauga, Ala., nine bass, 17-14

10th: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 17-12

Overall there were 355 bass weighing 591 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 130 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 29 five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are competing this week for a Ranger 177TR with 90 horsepower engine as well as valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.

Anglers will take off from C. Scott Driver Park located at 10100 W. Hwy. 78 in Okeechobee at 7 each morning. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in on Saturday will be held at Gilbert Chevrolet Company located at 3550 Hwy. 441 S. in Okeechobee at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to a Family Fun Zone at Gilbert Chevrolet prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a drawing for a $300 Cabela’s gift card and drawings for rod and reel combos will be held every 30 minutes during the event. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.

ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS

www.FLWOutdoors.com

FLW Series Okeechobee

Cox leads with 25-1 at Okeechobee FLW Series

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2010) – John Cox of Debary, Fla., landed five bass weighing 25 pounds, 1 ounce Wednesday to lead day one of the FLW Series Eastern Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. He holds a 3-pound, 10-ounce lead in the tournament.

“I started on one fish in the morning and it ate my first pitch,” said Cox, who is fishing in his first FLW Series event. “I caught two other 3-pounders and a few other nice ones about 11 o’clock. After that, I just went around and tried to find new areas.”

Cox said he was sight fishing for larger bass and attributes his success on the first day of competition to being in the right place at the right time.

“I’m going to do the same thing on Thursday, but I’m going to start in a different area and try to put 15 or 20 pounds together,” Cox said.

Cox said his 3-pound, 10-ounce lead isn’t enough to make him comfortable after just one day of fishing on Lake Okeechobee.

“That’s nothing out here,” Cox said. “You need a 10-pound lead out here to have any kind of cushion.”

Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., trails Cox in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 21-7.

Rounding out the remainder of the top-10 pros after day one at Lake Okeechobee are:

3rd: Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., five bass, 21-6

4th: National Guard pro Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 21-4

5th: Tom Mann Jr., Buford, Ga., five bass, 20-1

6th: Robert Behrle, Hoover, Ala., five bass, 19-11

7th: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 18-11

8th: Tony Chachere, Opelousas, La., five bass, 16-12

9th: Randall Tharp, Gardendale, Ala., five bass, 16-8

10th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., five bass, 16-7

Overall there were 664 bass weighing 1,486 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 154 pros Wednesday. The catch included 110 five-bass limits.

Scott Kerslake of Henderson, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 12-0 followed by Philip Jarabeck of Lynchburg, Va., in second place with five bass weighing 11-8.

The remainder of the top-10 co-anglers are:

3rd: Dale Walker, Miami, Fla., five bass, 11-7

4th: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 11-6

5th: Greg Schultz, Wayzata, Minn., five bass, 11-3

6th: Robert Eid, Key West, Fla., five bass, 11-1

7th: Frank Mackin, New Port Richey, Fla., five bass, 11-0

8th: Jeff Cummins, Marion, Ohio, five bass, 10-14

9th: Eugene Lewis, Saint Petersburg, Fla., five bass, 10-6

10th: James Sharp, Leesburg, Ga., five bass, 10-5

Overall there were 371 bass weighing 607 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 117 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 32 five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are competing this week for a Ranger 177TR with 90 horsepower engine as well as valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.

Anglers will take off from C. Scott Driver Park located at 10100 W. Hwy. 78 in Okeechobee at 7 each morning. Thursday’s and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Gilbert Chevrolet Company located at 3550 Hwy. 441 S. in Okeechobee beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to a Family Fun Zone at Gilbert Chevrolet prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a drawing for a $500 Cabela’s gift card and drawings for rod and reel combos will be held every 30 minutes during the event. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.

ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS

www.FLWOutdoors.com

Lake Toho Bass Fishing Report Jan 16th

Lake Toho Bass Fishing

The first half on January as seen some good bass fishing on Lake Toho, as well as some tough fishing at times. The tough fishing came when we got slammed with a brutal cold front, brutal that is for Florida.

Water temperatures had dropped in the low 50’s for several days, with us hitting a few areas where water temperatures had hit as low as 48 degrees. This low water temperature in Florida lakes can make for some very tough fishing. We even had a day where we experienced ICE rain. Before this front hit us, we were experiencing some very good days on Lake Toho as the bass played well with not only live wild shiners, but the artificial bait bite was doing well also.

Most of our action has been coming once again from the southern end of Lake Toho so we have been using the South Port Ramp and Whaleys Landing ramp. Outside grass lines and scattered deep water hydrilla have been the big keys to success out here for us. Trick worms, senko type baits and steel shad have been the main producers and have kept the action steady. We have started spotting a few scattered beds on Lake Toho, as well as Butler Chain and Johns Lake. The cold front has delayed the start of the spawn some, but we fully expect with our current warm up, the spawn will be in full swing and the trophy bass will be slamming our baits again.

Menendez Joins Largemouth Mafia

FLW Series Lake Okeechobee Final Day

Carolina Rigs for Pre-Spawn,Spawning Bass

FLW Series Okeechobee Day 2

FLW Series Okeechobee

Lake Toho Bass Fishing Report Jan 16th

Lake Toho

Butler Chain of Lakes

Current Orlando Fishing Reports