Fish I've Caught Latley 12/24/13

Fly Floaters

I started making these back in 2006 and have been selling them on eBay with much success. They are made of recycled fly line and wine corks. So I decided to take it to the next level and start a website. I have been working on it for a while and I just launched it tonight. Please pass the word about the new website for me! Thanks! Here's the link: flyfloaters.com

A Move to the South

Won't be any tournaments for a while. I have moved to Panama City. I will still be fishing tournaments in Alabama but probably not til next year. I have been doing a lot of saltwater fishing though. Flounder mostly. A lot like bass fishing actually. Same with redfish and specks. I might get into some of those tournaments also sooner or later. We really like it down here though. Really friendly people, everything you could need within 5 miles, water to fish everywhere....what is there not to like?

Lake Virginia Tournament April 27th

I fished this tournament with Johnnie Swindle. We ended the tournament with only 2.5lbs. We caught around 30 bass in all, but only 3 kept. 5th place was all we got. Sorry I have waited so long for an update, but I just started a new job working 12 hour shifts.....7pm-7am. I haven't fished a tournament since this one. It's hard to work one into my work schedule. Hope to get back in one soon.

Lake Howard Tournament 4/13/13

Great conditions again. Started out in the high 40's and ended in the mid 70's. Water temps were in the mid 60's all day. I fished this tournament with my brother Eli Johnson. It was his first tournament ever. We started out strong, we had our limit by 8:30. We culled two in the next 2 hours and that was it except 2 short fish. We went to weigh in with high hopes. When we weighed in we were in the lead with a limit for 6.0lbs which is good for this lake. We ended up missing second by half a pound and first had 11lbs with a 4lb kicker. We had a good time anyway. Didn't really miss any key bites so no regrets. I'm pretty sure everyone was doing the same as us anyway, it just came down to the luck of dropping it in front of them.

Chambers County Lake Tournament 3/30/13

Amazing condition were the setting Saturday. Overcast light wind with temps in the high 50's to low 60's. Water was at 59 all day. Started the day off with 2 missed bites. Caught one at around 9:30 just big enough to keep. Found some small fish on beds. Spent 45 mins on one bass, never hit at anything I put in his bed or hit him with. Same story for the others on bed. My partner never even got a bite the whole day. It was the same for some of the other teams. We were 1 of the 6 teams that caught a fish. I have no clue what we were doing wrong. We tried everything. I don't know. We came in 6th so it wasn't so bad. Had a little fun too.

Chambers County Tournament Saturday

Haven't had a tournament in over a month now. I'm getting a little shaky I think. I've been counting down the days. We usually do pretty good at this lake. It's probably the best lake we fish in the series.  I'll let y'all know how it went.

Bama Jigs Jake's Craw Review

Bama Jigs sent me an assortment of colors of their Jake's Craw. They are great quality jigs packaged with a Paca Craw from Net Baits that goes perfectly with these jigs. The unique weight system helps the jig sit right on the bottom as you drag and hop it. Another thing that makes these unique is the screw on trailer holder instead of just threading it onto the hook your trailer will not slid down. The rattles are very audible also. They were featured in FLW magazine this year also. I know I will catch a lot of bass on these in the future. You can order from this link: www.bamajigs.com

Bedding Bass 10+

Went fishing next door in a small lake I've been fishing for a long time. Bass were on beds everywhere. Found this one near the dam with a 2lb male. Caught the male then caught the female the next cast. Had to hit her in the face a few times before she picked it up to carry it out of her bed. I figure she weighed between 10 and 12. Would've been more if she hadn't laid her eggs already. Didn't have a scale and didn't want her to die on the way to get her weighed. So she is still swimming in there to be caught when she's a state or world record!

How To Dry Out Your Tackle Box

If you've ever had to fish in the rain, you've had water in your tackle box. If you've ever left water in there, the next time you opened it there was a lot of rust. I've had this happen many times so I tried doing this. It's easier than taking all the lures out and wiping it down and putting them back in. I use a hair drier holder with the hair drier on the lowest setting letting it blow on the lures for about 10 minutes, a little shorter for soft plastics. When I come back they are dry as a bone. Next time your tackle box gets filled with water try this trick to save you some money on hooks.

White Plains Res. Tournament 2/23/13

Horrible conditions was the setting...again. It had rained for nearly 2 days straight up until the end of the first hour fishing. We had post front conditions in 40-55 degree weather all day. The water started the day off at 49 and ended around 53. Ronnie lost 2 within the first 10 minutes. I had one around 3lbs on a few minutes later and had him to the boat, but Ronnie didn't have the net ready so I tried to lift it....splash...right back in the lake. Went on a dry spell for a while then we came back to the first spot. Ronnie caught one then I did back to back. After a while I caught another back at the same spot. The rest of the day only brought 2 more bites and one short fish. We ended up with only 3.9lbs which was good enough for 5th place. The winning weight was 14lbs, a new club record. They caught a 7.7lb monster on their 4th cast which was also a club record. Our next tournament is at Chambers County Lake on March 30th. We always do pretty good there.

White Plains Tournament This Saturday

This will be my first time fishing this lake. Didn't get a chance to prefish it. I'm assuming the bass will be in prespawn because it is in north Alabama near Oxford. I will have an assortment of lures tied on to try and figure these bass out. I found a topo map of the lake and it has a few really good points with sharp drop offs I will be targeting. There is also a gradual drop off going into a shallow area where bass might be spawning...but we will see where they are saturday. I will let yall know how it went saturday night!

8/26/12 Inland Lake Fun Fishin

This was our last trip to Inland before it closed. For those of you who don't know, Inland Lake is closed for dam repairs. Our last day there was amazing. Caught a lot of spots and a few LM's. The big one I'm holding was between 6-7LBs. We were catching them on plastics all day. I can't wait til its back open. It was becoming my favorite lake. And as you can see from the pics, it's simply beautiful.

2/13/13 Fun Fishin

Went next door to a lake Ive been fishing for a few years for the first time this year. During the summer I can catch 10-20 a day. But with the rain the lake was flooded and muddy. Only stayed for about 45mins. This is the only one that I caught. Topwater bass in 45-50 degree water right off the bank. BTW there was a 13.14 LB bass caught there last year. It's probably a 8-10 acre lake. My best there is a 6.8 LB bass.

Mark's Outdoor Sports

 

I have always liked going in Mark's, so I thought I would ask them to sponsor us. They agreed and they said they would fix us up. We went in the week before Christmas not knowing how busy they were going to be. We got there and the parking lot was full and overflowing. We went in and they took the time to get us fixed up. They were amazingly nice to us. They had a great selection of lures you can't find anywhere else also. Next time you need to restock your tackle box, check out Marks Outdoors in Hoover.

Skippy Fish

 

Skippy Fish is unlike any other fluke on the market. The life-like tail sets it apart from the competition. We have put a lot of fish in the boat with Skippy Fish. Look up the deuces wild rig....it's deadly on schooling fish. I also use them as a trailer on chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and swim jigs. You can find them at http://www.skippyfish.com/ Try them out on shaky heads also when the fishin gets slow, the tail lures them in when standing straight up.

Bama Jigs

I found out about Bama Jigs while riding down I-65 and saw their decal on a cars window. I contacted them about sponsoring me after I checked out their website. They said yes and sent me a box full of their Jake's Craws and Jake's Swim Jigs and some lures they haven't released yet. These are some amazing quality jigs. The screw on trailer attachment makes them unique, also the weight system makes them very customizable. I will be fishing them a lot in upcoming tournaments.

1st Tournament of the year

Lake Howard was the stage. Freezing cold were the conditions. It added up to 1st place going to a 5.3lb sack. Our day started out horrible with nothing wanting to work right due to the freezing temp. Lowrance didn't wanna work, outboard didn't wanna start, reels were froze up, line would be frozen stiff before we could even reel, and the line guides were iced shut. Ronnie started out catching a 1lb warmouth...bad start. A few min. later I caught an 11inch that didn't quite keep. We lost a couple and I broke one off. By the end of the slowwww day I had 2 more keepers. We went to the weigh-in with really low hopes and a really light sack of fish. Turns out our sack of 3 keepers for 3lbs even was enough for 4th place and our big fish came in second at 1.8lbs. No money was won, but it was still a good learning experience for both of us.

Intro

My name is Bo Johnson. I fish in a jon boat tournament series called Lil Water Bassin with my fishin buddy Ronnie. This is my 2nd year fishing in tournaments. My 1st year we won 1, came in second in 1, and came in 3rd 2 times. This year we have acquired 4 sponsors; Skippy Fish Lures, Bama Jigs, Mark's Outdoors, and Shaky Jake Lures. All these sponsors have been really good to us and I will be advertising their amazing products every chance I get. I hope to have an even better year this year now that we have learned the ropes of tournament fishing. It's a totally different style of fishing from normal. Sunburn, lack of sleep, and sore arm and shoulder muscles the day after are a few things, but I actually look forward to all that. Like not sleeping the night before the tournament from being so excited and nervous for the next day, and being wide awake enough to talk the tournament through again on the ride home. It's more than just a hobby....it becomes a way of life.