SOUND OFF!!!

[fishndinty]

Ok soldiers,
State your name, how long you've been in the club, your biggest bass all time, biggest bass this season, and your two confidence baits/techniques! We need to talk it up, for the new bass club season is almost here!
Much love to all,

Dinty Joe Musk Jr.
3rd season in the club (this fall)
8 lbs biggest all time
5.5 lbs this spring (6 over 5 this year so far)

Confidence techniques:
Flipping and pitching jigs/plastics
Cranking shallow to mid depth structure

The bite I most like to find in a tournament:
Topwater frog bite.

[Tim]

-Tim
-0 Years. I went to the first club meeting of the year 2 years ago and never came up b/c I got swamped w/ schoolwork fresh yr. + I got lazy. (I really want to join and be active this year, I haven't met any of you guys though, hope to meet you all in a month or two)
-5lb biggest all time
-4lb biggest this summer

-Tech: Fishing soft plastics by or under docks/fallen timber
-Lure: Senko or Yum Dinger

[Kerry VanDam]

Kerry C Ryan
2nd year in the club
5.5lbs biggest of all time
Ha.... biggest was probably 2-2.5lbs. this summer
Confidence techniques:Oh jez uhh....
-Spinnerbaits around docks, lay downs (oh heck, anywhere!)
-Typically I feel comfortable with plastics I suppose
Least favorite bait: Jigs
Goal this year: Use baitcaster consistently

[Al]

Al Eng
Alumni of the club-
8 lb - 04oz biggest all time
This year I've whacked over a dozen 5+ and a few went over 6. biggest smallie was 6+ on geneva in july, biggest largemouth went 6 and change in may.

Confidence techniques:
skipping jigs
jerkbaiting

The bite I most like to find in a tournament:
offshore cranking

[Illini MUI]

Steve Mui

3rd yr in the club. I'm awesome....oh yeah biggest all time 6lbs or so. Biggest this spring was even 5lbs caught with ROB's Rod/reel ;D. Got a few 4-5's this summer...

Fav technique:
-Top water
-Texas rigged plastics (tubes)

Fav Baits:
-FROG!
-tubes, creatures, worms

Tournament goal: Win a tournament on a frog....its very possible....Big10 Classic? hehe

Bass fishing goal: Land more fish on a Buzzbait.......I lost 6 fish IN A ROW! on a buzzbait in Minnesota....

Oh yeah I just got back from Minnesota...All I can say is 47 bass 4 hrs....me and my bro on frogs/tubes

[WHammey]

Wesley W. Hammes

Entering 2nd year in the club
Biggest all time: 4.00 lbs
Biggest this season: 3.75 lbs

Confidence in flipping/pitching soft plastics creatures and wacky rig
Goal: catch a 5 lbs+ bass and win a paper t

[Sean]

Sean Landsman

Entering second year
9 pounds from Lake Fork, Texas - Carolina rigged Zoom 4" Lizard
5.5 pound LMB from eastern Ontario

Texas rigged anything pitched into heavy cover
Senkos worked as soft plastic jerkbaits or wacky rigged (thanks, Steve!!!)

[Administrator]

Rob Russow
This will be my third year in the club.
My biggest bass ever was just under six pounds.
I caught a 5.38 pound bass during an ABA at Egypt this past winter. (as well as a 5 pounder on Steve's rod at Kakusha this summer! that was payback for your's steve!)

My confidence techniques are pitching soft plastics and now I've become obsessed with any and all topwaters (buzzbaits, poppers, and frogs to name a few).

The bite I most like to find in a tournament is anything that I am confident that I can fish during the tournament itself. This may sound confusing, but there are certain patterns that easily fall apart when weather/conditions change from practice to a tournament. Frogs would be the bite I would least like to find because like at Egypt they bite one day and are gone the next. You just have to adapt (kudos to dinty on that one).

Goal for the summer: Skipping baits (I am much better now)
Goal for this upcoming year: Start thinking like a tournament pro...making on the water changes and good decisions during tournaments.

Least comfortable bait: Jerkbaits (My goal for the spring was to get better fishing it, but it will have to be my goal for next spring...)

Slowly getting better at: Finesse Fishing (shakey head, wacky worms, drop shots)

Well I guess I've said enough...time to show what we're made of this Fall!

Rob Russow
President, FIBC

[fishndinty]

Rob,
I think it's hilarious how you mention the frog as your least likely to hold up tournament bite, while I am so enamoured with them now I think they're my fave. From everything I've seen, frogs are the most consistent bite out there....people catch fish on them into winter, for pete's sake! That said, light conditions can change how aggressive they are toward that bait, so when I have a frog bite, I would try to have a backup plan too. As far as me making adjustments, we can all look to the Braidwood tourney this spring to know that I still have way too much to learn. And even at Egypt last fall, I didn't find the winning bite until LATE in the afternoon during practice, and if the cold front hadn't hit, I would have weighed 20 lbs easy (trust me), so my adjustments weren't all that great. If I had it to do again, I would have flipped the mats on tournament day with lighter line and a smaller bait to try to get more bites. I knew the fish were still there but I only got 8 bites on T-day compared to 40 in about an hour after finding the fish on P-day.

Everybody get down to C-U ASAP, as the crankin' bite is HOT at Clinton for both small- and largemouths. I even caught a 3 lb "braidwood bass" on a crankbait this weekend. If you don't know what a braidwood bass is, it has whiskers and smooth skin, and smashes crankbaits with reckless abandon.

[WHammey]

Did you eat it?

[Redneck]

Ryan Jozwiak aka "Redneck"

entering 2nd year
Senior
biggest bass 6.5 lbs officially weighed at Lithia Springs Marina on SHELBYVILLE of all places.
Dead Sea what?!?)

Biggest this year 6.05 lbs

Confidence: Ultra Deep Structure (breaks, break lines, points, flats, submurged points, hard bottom)
deep cranks that go to at least 20', 10-14" worms, carolina rigs, SWIM BAITS!!!!! yes 6" swim baits for bass. i'm known as the crazy one from the club. to my knowledge i'm the only one who between me and a friend have caught over 120 fish in under 8 hours with multiples on each crankbait at times.

Goals: 8 lb bass, teach people to fish true structure and not cover (there is a difference), learn how to catch spring time bass regularly and what to target, catch a 6 lb bass from lotw on a deep crank

Interesting Facts: I don't believe fishing the shoreline can be successful, I'm anti-bassmaster, and most tournament fishermen irritate me due to there lack of consideration to others. dont test me on this issue i have fished shelbyville for over 15 years and have met only a handful of guys who are decent. I also dont believe in topwater baits. I am a spoonplugger. i have had 4 bass over 6 lbs this summer and over 15 bass weighing 5. i fish about one day a week and have probably had 750-1000 bass this summer. went with vandy and we had 65 if someone needs a witness.

[Illini MUI]

not even a believer in the frog? imma slap u b