Derek Herring Fishing

Dickinson Bayou was on fire Saturday. Ray and I made a late start at about 9am but were on bass and a few reds almost immediately. We caught them a lot of different baits, but a white square bill and a Creme Lure Co. Scoundrel fished wacky caught the biggest ones on the day. We didn't take any pictures, but we had 3 bass in the 3 pound range and quite a few 2 pounders to boot. Looking forward to Dickinson being back on the Bayou Bassin League schedule next year.

Ok I'm back in business!

Making progress! Still have the wiring and electronics to install but it should be finished today.

I know I've been quiet but there hasn't been a lot going on since my trolling motor died. I did receive the new trolling motor on Tuesday and yesterday I picked up the repaired old trolling motor. That should be great news, but the boat is still in the shop. I guess what I thought was a minor issue isn't so minor. I don't have an update on the boat but expect to hear something today. Hope that it is good news and I can get a trolling motor installed this weekend and get back to fishing.

Looky there our buddy Raybo got in the cash up on Rayburn.

9-10 Hourly Results!

Well I decided to try and kill 2 birds with one stone. While waiting on the new Trolling Motor to arrive I took the boat into the shop. Annual service wasn't due until June but it was a good time to get it done. Also she hasn't been giving me full RPMs and they are going to look into that as well. She should be home in time to install the new trolling motor once it arrives. So it will be likely a week to 10 days before I'll be back on the water.

For a tournament angler catching fish is of course you number 1 priority. However once you catch them it is a must to keep them alive so you don't get penalties. There are a lot of options out there for keeping your fish alive but the most effective one I've found from both a cost and usability standpoint is the New Pro Products V-T2 vents. Livewells come closed off and that allows the build up of heat and all kinds of gases that are toxic to your fish. The V-T2 vents allow the heat and those toxic gases to escape while at the time allowing fresh air to enter your livewell. There is no longer a heat or toxic gas build up in your livewell and even on recirculate there is fresh oxygen in the livewell to mix with the water. V-T2 vents are the first thing I install when I get a new boat. I've been using them for years and I can tell you they really do work just as advertised.

Update on my Trolling Motor Issue......😢 Took the Trolling Motor off the boat and it is currently in the shop. There are 17 other trolling motors in front of mine so it may be a while before it is fixed. With the Bayou Bassin League Sabine River tournament the end of May, and my Guiding Schedule I can't afford to be down an extended amount of time, so I have a new trolling motor on the way. Of course nobody locally had the one I wanted so I had to order it and it is scheduled to be here sometime next week hopefully.

Lets talk fishing line for a moment. Most of my followers should know that I using K9 Fishing Products lines and depend on them 100%. I mostly use their Fluorocarbon Blend line but do use their Braid on my spinning gear. The Fluorocarbon Blend blend gives you the benefits of fluorocarbon as well as the benefits of monofilament line. In fact I have started using it as leaders on my spinning gear as the braid to leader knots just works so much better. Straight fluorocarbon is stiff and brittle with any little nick causing issues. The Fluorocarbon Blend is not stiff, does not have the memory of straight fluorocarbon and is just flat out tough. Plus when you can get 550 years of it for under $25.00 you just can't beat it no matter where you look.

Couple more pics of bass from yesterday and the full story. I went to Lake Woodlands to be sure I could put some clients on bass Thursday. I really wasn't fishing hard and didn't stay in one spot long. The Woodlands Magic Turbo Bug jig with the Creme Lure Co. Pro Series Craw and the Creme Lure Co. Scoundrel Wacky Rigged did the most damage. I did catch a couple smaller fish on the Creme Lure Co. Speed Scremer Ned rigged as well. The big fish story is sort of unique. I had a big bite set the hook fish took drag and the line broke. It was either a really good bass and I had a nick in the line or it was a gar and cut the line. I retied a new Woodlands Magic on and the next cast (pitch) caught the 6lb 9oz bass. I didn't make any drag adjustments and man she striped some line. Trolling motor dying really put a damper on the day. I had found out what I needed to know from a fishing standpoint and was heading in when it died. For folks that don't know Lake Woodlands is a electric motor only lake, so I really used mine hard the last few years fishing up there.

I need to magically turn this into a Trolling Motor. If anyone is interested in helping me figure it out DM me for details.