Topwater at sundown

Topwater lures at sundown are a pretty good bet right now. This one ( 20") and a couple more hit a Rapala Skitter Pop in the last few minutes of light. Before it got dark, Ken Schumacher picked up 9 or 10 by using 4" & 5" Senkos. I used a 3" Senko and got 8 bluegills that averaged a 1/2 pound each.
Catch the topwater bite now before it starts getting cold at night.

8/19 8/20 8/21

Friday evening I waded the river for about 45 minutes. Water was slightly high but still clear. (Totally raging and muddy after friday night/ saturday early AM storms). Lunker City hellgie on a 1/16oz Slider Head jig caught a couple dink smallmouth bass as well as one 10" crappie and a couple green sunfish.
Deep holes weren't as productive because the water is high enough for the fish to roam just about anywhere now. No definative pattern was established.
Mike and I hit a post rain Lake W saturday morning and did fairly well. Largest bass was caught by Mike, about 20" on a Senko. Other lures that worked were Berkley Power Craw, Minus 1, Storm Sub wart. We caught about 30. Mostly cookie cutter 12"ers. Rocks and incoming water sources were key.
Sunday I fished with my brother on 2 different ponds. I got skunked. He caught one 17" smallie on a 4" chompers. Blue bird skies and a post cold front condition made it really tough.

Keep your pole in the water.
Jamie

Fishing at Sadam's place.

RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE FROM OUR FISHING BUDDY JADE MILLER Cpt OVER THE WEEKEND.

We managed to get on a flight down to another base where Sadam had a very nice palace as well as several lakes that are feed by the Tigris River and were stocked with fish for his family only.

After arriving at the other base we met up with a few NCO's from one of the other companies in our battalion and they took us over to Sadam's old boat house. Now sure I could have taken pictures of the boats that are still left in there from when he was ousted, but I had more important things to focus on. FISHING.
We immediately started seeing small carp and the ugliest looking catfish in the world. I assembled the vintage travel rod that my fellow fisherman Mike sent out to me and went to work with a Gulp earthworm on the bottom. I managed to catch a couple of the ugly catfish which were no more then 4 inches in total length. Pictures of these things do not even turn out they are so ugly.

After a while we switched over to where the canal enters into the lake and started seeing some much larger carp cruising around. On with the corn nibblets and we started off with some smaller carp and I managed more catfish. Jim managed the next catch and it was an Asp, not the snake. An asp is like a hybrid between a bass, crappie and a trout. The picture did not turn out due to poor backlighting.
I managed to get a carp on that put a serious bend in the rod. The rod is an old glass spin/fly combo. It was doubled over for a fat carp that would probably tip the scales at over a pound. What it did not have in length it made up for in girth.

I managed to get an asp and it was somewhere between 12 and 16 inches in length and put up a great fight.

Jim closed the evening with the largst carp of the day.

The two guys we were with caught several small carp and catfish. They said we needed to be there in the morning when the bite was really good. They have caught carp over 24 inches so far. Hope you enjoy the photos.
Mom, don't worry, helicopters are very safe.

Jade JADE P. MILLER CPT, OD Commanding

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King
"By profession I am a Soldier and take pride in that fact, but I am prouder to be a father." General Douglas MacArthur

Recent updates

This is gonna be a long one folks! We've been VERY VERY busy!
First, we'd like to start out by telling you about our latest and greatest product line of " BIG PRINTS" ! These are a little different from the Trophy Prints that you already know us for in the outdoor sporting world. BIG PRINTS are geared for the car and bike enthusiast.
Here's a sample of our latest brochure:

In other sporting news:

Fishing has been pretty good lately even with the drought we are experiencing here in the midwest which has brought with it 20+ days of 90 degrees or hotter. The fish seem to have adjusted nicely.

In the rivers we're catching numbers of smallmouth bass on small natural colored crankbaits as well as jig and plastic offerings. Early mornings and sundown, topwater lures like white buzzbaits and black/silver Chug Bugs and Pop-Rs have been working. The fish are using all areas due to slower currents but deeper water holes with shade are still the best.

Lakes and ponds are hit or miss but when they're on,THEY'RE ON! I personally caught my 3rd 21" smallmouth of the year last sunday in the 92 degree heat of a bright cloudless day. She hit a Salmo crankbait in 5' of clear water. Go figure...

Largemouth bass are easier to catch right now in many of the local ponds. Just concentrate on the area within 15' of shore, especially early and late in the day. Stick with natural colored baits...we even use natural colors in stained or murky water with better success than the guys who throw firetiger patterns. (when's the last time you saw a firetiger colored minnow in a lake?)

Mike recently purchased a new boat. We now fish out of a spaceous deep-V Lund Predator called "The Local Moron". I've been doing so well around home lately as well as being busy with family and business that the "Il Bastardo" is still on the trailer. That's where it pays for Customfish.com to have two bass boats at the ready.

We'll have more updates in the next day or two including the winners of the FREE LIFESIZE TROPHY PRINT GIVEAWAY! Wait til you guys see these monsters we did! Stay tuned!

Jamie