Congrats on Big 10 Victory

[tomredington]

Hey Illini Bassers, congrats on putting the Big 10 in its place again this year. Always good to beat Michigan at anything, and we all know folks from WI only know how to catch walleye and Indiana anglers are only one small step up from the gator hunters in "Swamp People", so keep putting it to them.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a bass club when I was there, sure wish we did though. I have a pretty good stable of sponsors these days and if I can ever help your team out with sponsors or lake info, I'll be glad to do so. After graduating, I lived in Milwaukee and Madison for a while and fished most of the lakes in southern and mid-WI, along with a lot of IL waters. Get around the country these days on the FLW Tour, not sure how far everyone travels but will help out if I can. Was a disaster of a tourney season for me this year, but if the Illini football team can finally win again, maybe there is hope for me next season as well.

Good Fishing,

Tom

[nibbles]

Nov 4, 2010 16:09:18 GMT -5 tomredington said:

Hey Illini Bassers, congrats on putting the Big 10 in its place again this year. Always good to beat Michigan at anything, and we all know folks from WI only know how to catch walleye and Indiana anglers are only one small step up from the gator hunters in "Swamp People", so keep putting it to them.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a bass club when I was there, sure wish we did though. I have a pretty good stable of sponsors these days and if I can ever help your team out with sponsors or lake info, I'll be glad to do so. After graduating, I lived in Milwaukee and Madison for a while and fished most of the lakes in southern and mid-WI, along with a lot of IL waters. Get around the country these days on the FLW Tour, not sure how far everyone travels but will help out if I can. Was a disaster of a tourney season for me this year, but if the Illini football team can finally win again, maybe there is hope for me next season as well.

Good Fishing,

Tom

Thanks for the kind words Tom!

Don't I know you from BassResource?

[tomredington]

Probably, I post my fishing reports up there on a regular basis and they've posted monthly articles a few times.

[Kyle]

Thanks a lot Tom we need to work to keep it for next year as well! Also that is one hell of a fish u got in your picture! Where did you catch her?

[Carlos]

Hey Tom, welcome aboard. Thanks a million for your help, we really appreciate it.

[tomredington]

Thanks!

Kyle, that one came at Fork. Fishin' TX, and especially Fork, gives one a warped sense of reality. I've reeled in 6s and 7s down here a number of times and groused that I was hoping to catch "a good one," ha. A few hours on one of our dinkfests on the FLW Tour and 6s start looking really, really good again.

I'm hooked up well with Lake Fork Trophy Lures (lftlures.com) and they make very good soft plastics, jigs, tungsten (originator of tungsten sinkers), and high end line. Have hybrid fluoro/mono and mono lines right now, have 100% fluoro and fluoro/braid hybrid both coming soon. I'm also well plugged in at Dobyns Rods, they are a newer company that is really cranking out high end stuff. You can check out reviews at tackletour.com and see how their stuff stacks up versus the industry. I'm sponsored by Lucky Craft as well, but not sure they do a lot for college clubs. If a hookup with any of those companies would help your club, I'd be help get you set it up.

As an aside, who woulda thought we could score 65 vs Michigan and still lose? Unfortunately, I missed the game because I was out fishing. Not much size, best fish were just a few in the 5-6 lb class after a big cold front, hopefully the big ones will start biting again this week. Yes, we definitely are spoiled down here...

[Jake]

ya i went and fished fork last year for a day and we were catching 5-7 pounders all day and the guide was like wow im spoiled as hell these are average or slightly smaller than average. living the life down in texas must be fun

[nibbles]

I just pulled the trigger on a Dobyns Champion crankbait rod the other day. Heard nothing but good things about the Gen. 2 rods!

I love LFTL's Pig Claws and Live Magic Shads. Pig claws for when I need some bulk on my jig and the bite is tough and I need to slow down. Live Magic Shads for dropshotting in grass -If I can figure out the correct length to tie the weight, I'm able to essentially make that little plastic swimbait dart in and out of the grass like it's chasing food. Hasn't been my best producing technique, but it's tons of fun, especially in clear water.

[Matt Sells]

Welcome Tom! Thanks for your support, we definitely appreciate it! Nice to hear from a fellow Illini who shares the same passion for fishing that we do!

If you've got some spare time do you think you could shoot me an email? I've got some questions regarding your sponsors that I'd like to ask you. My e-mail is [e-mail], no hurry though. Thanks!

[tomredington]

Nov 8, 2010 12:29:52 GMT -5 nibbles said:

I just pulled the trigger on a Dobyns Champion crankbait rod the other day. Heard nothing but good things about the Gen. 2 rods!

I love LFTL's Pig Claws and Live Magic Shads. Pig claws for when I need some bulk on my jig and the bite is tough and I need to slow down. Live Magic Shads for dropshotting in grass -If I can figure out the correct length to tie the weight, I'm able to essentially make that little plastic swimbait dart in and out of the grass like it's chasing food. Hasn't been my best producing technique, but it's tons of fun, especially in clear water.

Mark Pack, the owner and designer, uses the Swim'N Slug on his drop shot all the time. Like the Live Magic, but it has a pin tail instead of the swimming one. Catches a lot of fish with it, including a 12 lb 15 oz beast his brother caught on it while drop shotting Fork a couple winters ago. You might try it and see if it works better for you. If you're not familiar with the bait, here it is: lftlures.com/categories/soft-plastics-lft-live-swim-n-slug-4

Tom