Yesterday, I left my house for northern Alabama. Captain Doug and I stopped by at Regal marine ( www.regalmarinellc.com ) in Hanceville, Alabama. They are the new Basscat boat dealer, so I wanted to say hello to my friends there. I saw Wally and rest of family there. They just had three new Basscat boats that include two Sabre FTD and one Pantera II.
They had good prices on those boats, so if you are interested in Basscat, please give them a call at 256-739-8552 or send email to Wally at wallygreen@regalmarinellc.com .
Their family owned business is wonderful to work with just like Basscat boat company.
Then, we went to Academy Sports + Outdoors ( www.academy.com ) in Decatur, Alabama. We had a meeting about junior tournament on September 25, 2010. Academy will get involved with this event and I will be there to have a fishing seminar. I will be talking about new lures and techniques from Japan. They might have some special at that event also. So come and see us! Detail will be announced so please check us back soon. Academy will also become a sponsor for American Dream tournament that will be held on 10/23-24/ 2010 at Ingalls harbor, Decatur, Alabama. We will be announcing a special news soon through this blog and American Dream tournament site at www.kotaamericandream.com !! I love their positive attitude to work with the local community and young people!! They are our future! I also got to see my friends, Tami and Kayla from Decatur-Morgan county, AL convention & visitor’s bureau ( http://www.decaturcvb.org/ ) at this meeting. They looked wonderful and energetic!!
Then we visited friends at American Bass Anglers ( www.americanbassanglers.com ). We discussed about the detail of American Dream tournament weigh-in show. I am so glad that I get such help from them. They have the state of the art weigh in stage and their experience will help this tournament go smoothly. They are our tournament official weigh-in people.
After all meetings were done, I got to sit for a moment and noticed a blue sky. It looked as fresh as when I just arrived to the USA for the first time that was long time ago.
I remember that everything that came into my eyes were so fresh and it stimulated my soul and produced a lot of energy for my dream. Chasing my American dream is still continuing and it will never end. I would like to thank all the people who has been helping me all the way to achieve where I am now. It is amazing that I never thought of being able to speak English almost 18 years ago when I arrived here in the US. I used to cry because I could not understand English. I used to cry because I could not read English. I used to cry because I could not understand what people said to me. But now, I am fishing for living and made many many friends on the way. What a life!! Kota
I went out with Captain Doug on Logan Martin lake. Day time got just too hot and humid now. We started about 6pm and we ended about 10pm. I was testing some new lures from Japan my friends sent me while Captain Doug was catching a few largemouth and spotted bass.
Fish seemed to go deeper and deeper as water temperature get warmer to mid 90’s. I spent about an hour just see the movement of different brands’ lures, then started fishing. I picked up Flick Shake 5.8″ on Owner Shakey Type jighead 3/16 oz., then casted into deeper brushes. A nice spotted bass ate it right away!
Captain Doug and I caught several more bass after this, then sun went down.
Air temperature also went down to mid 70’s, and it was comfortable to fish. Captain Doug had a evening trip the next day, so he checked several different locations and we tried different lures and depths. I added several more fish including this nice spots!
Again, I caught this one with Jackall Flick Shake 5.8″ with Owner Shaky Type jighead. This is the perfect combination when you need to fish inside the cover with the light line. Twist lock on jighead holds the bait very well even when it is inside the tree and bush. The angle of this jighead eye is very well designed to go through the heavier cover.
Well, now is the best time to go night fihing. It is beautiful to see sun going down and catch fish in cooler weather. For people who want to experience the good fishing in Alabama, give Captain Doug a call at 205-396-5556. He will take you to the right direction!
I just got back from Oklahoma tournament, and joined Jackall while they were in Alabama. Here is Doug’s fishing report. Lake Logan Martin was very humid and hot, but we were able to catch several nice bass with I-Motion technique of I Shad!
Date June 20 2010
Lake Logan Martin
Water Temp 84 degree’s
Clarity 2 – 3 feet
Fishing had slowed on Logan over the last few day with water temperature soaring to over 93 degrees, but on Saturday evening, a huge storm dumped a lot of rain in the area which helped cool thing down and in doing this sparked a improved but limited bite on Sunday morning.
Today I was fortunate enough to have with me the working team from Jackall lures, Ty Ono, Curt Arakawa and my good friend Kota Kiriyama accompanied by Sayuri who was set to film our day on the lake.
A heavy fog lay over the lake . Taking great care, I powered the boat to a nearby grass bed and sea wall that had held some spotted bass over the last few days. The bite was quick with a double hookup and catch three minutes into our trip, there was hardly enough time to get the camera set up. My first thought was ‘did we get that on film?’ The answer was yes.
The day was set for testing and documenting Jackall’s new I Shad and Swimming Jig head. This test was under way and off to a good start with the new lure and tactic proving itself a true player in today’s fish catching adventure. Several spotted bass were caught in the next hour.
As the sun began to burn off the fog, the bite slowed so to test the I shad in all types of situations we rigged and fished the new soft plastic on several different tactics, Carolina Rig. Shaky Head, Texas Rig and weight less texas rig. All produced bass in water depths from 1 foot to 16 feet. I think that this bait may overtake Jackall’s Flick-Shake worm as the number One soft plastic lure, and we all know that to date the Flick-Shake is incredible. Mark’s Outdoors ( http://www.marksoutdoors.com/ ) is the first and right now the only store to stock the I Shad, supply is limited so get in and get yours now.
Half of a day was all that was needed to film the success of the new bait so we decided to close our trip with a short film clip to post on Kota’s web site www.ninjatacklebox.com for the up coming ICAST show that will be held in Las Vegas in July. We pulled our boats into the shallow cove that is to the right of lakeside, and set up for the shot after talking briefly about the bait. Curt made one cast in front of a grass patch to show the new lure and tactic where not only did he get a bit but landed on film a nice three pound Largemouth bass. Jackall is working around the clock to add new and Improved baits and tactics to help you catch more fish on your next fishing trip.
To learn all of Jackall’s new products and tactics you can book a Guided Fishing Trip with me by phone at 205-396-5556 or e-mail at fishendoug@hotmail.com If you are not on the water I give up-to-date reports every Saturday morning on Jox 690 Radio with Johnny Poer between 10 and 11 am.
I spent all day on Fort Gibson lake today. It is not a very big lake, but it is large for only one day practice. I threw many things today just to see where they are. I caught a lot of Hybrid bass at 12-15 feet by Muscle deep 15. I also caught their food with new proto type crankbait.
well, fishing was not easy today. I got one decent fish, so I will start from that pattern tomorrow. Let’s see what happen!
We were on Arkansas river yesterday and today practicing hard. At about 5pm, I looked at my cell phone screen, and noticed there was a message. I looked at it and it was from BASS. so I opened and read ‘ meeting at 6pm at harbor.’ I thought the meeting was at the last day of the practice that is tomorrow. But anyway I left a river and run back to meeting place. People were there and we were told that the tournament on Arkansas river is canceled and it will be on Ft. Gibson lake. We also have only a day of practice! wow!
Now I have to refresh my mind to the different lake and start everything again!
I got to Muskogee, OK yesterday afternoon, and set up the camper. It is very hot here.
I worked on my battery, because cranking battery was dead in the middle of the last tournament day, so I recharged it,then it shows it is charged full right away. so I took it to test the battery and it was bad. They replaced it for free right away, so it was OK. It cost me some time in the tournament, but that is a part of this tournament life.
Well, Kentucky lake can be very good lake when someone find a sweet spot. Because it usually produce more than one or two fish at the exact same spot. I caught some cranking fish, but I mainly used Alabama dropshotting with I Shad 5.8″!
I rotate the Green Pumpkin and Clear Thunder, and sometimes Cola. I knew they liked this lure because almost every one of the fish I caught, hook was well inside in their mouth. X metal Tungsten weight made a big difference with this fishing also. Because this super hard material can tell me more about the bottom especially to distinguish rock, clay and shell beds bottom.
I had two sets of Alabama dropshot rigs. One was with a 1/2 oz X metal weight with Owner Z lock 5/0 hook. I also had a 1 oz X metal hexagonal shape weight with Owner Twist lock 5/0 hook. This hexagonal Tungsten weight was my underwater depthfinder because it scratches more bottom to pick up the small difference from large shells to small shells.
My rods were Shimano Final Dimension 172 MHPF and reels were Shimano Metanium MG DC7. These 7′2″ rods and super long casting distance Digital Control high speed reels were perfect combination for me.
Tomorrow, I will start practicing for last event of Bassmaster Elite series. I gotta bring a lot of water and keep fishing!
I made a long run again today. I caught 6 keepers but they were smaller than yesterday’s fish. Did I catch all bigger fish? well, I will fish harder tomorrow to find! I dropped to 6th place, but I am still within a pound to third place, so Im going to fish hard!!
I am glad to see families and people visit our weigh in site. They are the people who support fishing industry and they are our future!
We started on time and everything went well. We did not get rain very much and not much wind helped me run on the main lake today.
I went to the first spot where I had a good fish at practice. I fished there for a while and did not get a bite, so I went to the next spot where I caught 2 small fish at practice. I felt good on the bottom and got a strike! I set a hook and big fish jumped and finally landed him. I noticed a weird thing in his mouth and there it is again! A big shell!! I guess that makes a good spot! I caught over 23 pounds today and dead fish cost me, and I am sitting at 4th place!!
We just uploaded a movie at www.ninjatacklebox.com ! Im throwing a Jackall Squad Minnow 115 this time! Check how I move the lure and catch fish!
We also uploaded a movie ‘ Eat them up! ‘ by Captain Doug!! Check how he uses his I Shad 4.8 in Alabama way!
It is 5:06am on the first day of the tournament. Thurnderstorm just got this area a little while ago, and it is raining and lightning badly. Well, let’s see what happen today!
I have been fishing shell bed areas on Kentucky lake. There was not much current and fishing has been tough for me. I cranked many shallow flat spots, and I caught a palm size shell a few times! They are all big!
