Fishing Report Archives

Hey Y’all from the Excel Storm Cat 230 “Fishful Thinking”. As I write this, the north wind is howling and the poor folks to our north and northeast are getting hammered with snow and winds. We have definitely had our share of wind in this area and it has kept the Storm Cat in the garage for the most part.

As much as I love winter fishing, I’ve found that windy days with fluctuating water levels and strong current tend to be the days I stay off the lake. I have plenty of warm clothes from my snow goose guiding days, but my old bones don’t treat me as well as they once did in cold weather.

A couple of nice days this winter have found me at Rend Lake in Southern Illinois as well as Lake of Egypt, where I fished with Matt Mavigliano of 3 Pound Fishing fame. I am trying to develop some tactics to utilize my Garmin Livescope so I can benefit multiple clients on the boat. Many of those tactics may involve getting back to basic approaches like slip-bobber fishing and casting. Rest assured my trolling tackle will always be at arm’s reach.

I will also be setting the boat up for catfish trips this year. Ben Goebel of River City Catfishing Guide Service is helping me get started on fishing for blue catfish on both lakes. Ben is one of the premier catfish guides and tournament anglers on both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He was recently featured on KY Afield. He also is a member of the Excel Boats Pro Staff.

I’ve taken the days I wanted to be fishing and have gone thru all my boxes of plastics and such to get things more organized. My wife gave me the evil-eye when I recently came into our living room with a 5-gallon bucket 2/3s full of brand new, unopened packages of jig bodies, jigheads, and other terminal tackle. It felt like Christmas even though she knew I had probably already replaced all the tackle I had thought I had lost in my garage. Organization skills are not my forte.

I’ve been fortunate enough to pick up a couple of new sponsors: K9 line and ShowMeCrappie. Kelly and the great folks at K9 have sent me a bunch of their fantastic fluorocarbon line and some of the Crappie Braid. My clients will get to use both on the boat this year.

Raymond and the crew at SHOWMECRAPPIE.com are an up-and-coming on-line store that is adding to their product lines daily. They carry several brands of soft and hard baits as well as terminal tackle. They offer free shipping on orders over $50. For my readers, they will give a 10% discount if you enter the code WYNN10 in the coupon line when ordering. These days we all need all the discounts we can get. If an item is out of stock, keep checking with them as they are stocking daily.

In the age of Covid, it is refreshing to hear the Murray Boat Show will still be held on March 5-7 at the CFSB Center in Murray. I will be doing at least one, maybe more, seminar during the weekend. We will have to abbreviate the seminars and do social distancing so if you have questions or a subject you would like for me to cover, please contact me at my e-mail below.

I missed the entire month of March and April last year due to restrictions from Frankfort. This year, hopefully, we will start to see the end of restrictions. I am now booking dates in March thru November. Justin Elder and I will be fishing several regional and possibly some national tournaments this year.

I was down a considerable amount of time last year with 2 surgeries and rehab time. My right hip is better than new and absolutely pain free. Due to my surgeries, Justin and I missed fishing the Crappie USA Classic for the 2nd year in a row. Since I have a 20-year head start on Justin, I told him he should consider getting a younger, healthier partner this year. His reply was he wasn’t interested in fishing with another partner. That warmed my heart!

With the Grace of the Good Lord, let’s hope 2020 is behind us and we can start to get back to a somewhat normal existence.

Be careful out there!! Winter and early spring is the worst time of the year to be in the water or even just wet in the boat. Hypothermia is a constant threat. Carry a heat source if you can safely and keep extra clothes in the boat.

I recently bought a set of Striker Ice rain bibs and jacket. It hurt my soul to pay the price, but one fall overboard would more than show their worth. While the Striker Ice is not Coast Guard approved for floatation, the suit will keep you afloat for quite some time.

Keeping just another rain suit or a pair of coveralls in the boat as back-up might give you the time to get to the ramp and the safety of your vehicle should you end up wet.

Wear your PFD and watch out for others who might need help on the water. Spring is coming and by getting all your gear in order and ready now, you will be able to take advantage of the first spell of nice weather.

See you at the Boat Show! Welcome to our Slice of Heaven!!