By a 15 yr. old school kid who got an A+ for this entry

Since the Pledge of Allegiance 
And The Lord’s Prayer 
Are not allowed in most 
Public schools anymore 
Because the word ‘God’ is mentioned….. 
A kid in Arizona wrote the attached 
NEW School prayer: 

“New Pledge of Allegiance” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Now I sit me down in school 
Where praying is against the rule 
For this great nation under God 
Finds mention of Him very odd. 

If scripture now the class recites, 
It violates the Bill of Rights. 
And anytime my head I bow 
Becomes a Federal matter now. 

Our hair can be purple, orange or green, 
That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.. 
The law is specific, the law is precise. 
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice. 

For praying in a public hall 
Might offend someone with no faith at all.. 
In silence alone we must meditate, 
God’s name is prohibited by the state. 

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, 
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks… 
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible. 
To quote the Good Book makes me liable. 
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, 
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King. 
It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong, 
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.. 

We can get our condoms and birth controls, 
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.. 
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed, 
No word of God must reach this crowd. 

It’s scary here I must confess, 
When chaos reigns the school’s a mess. 
So, Lord, this silent plea I make: 
Should I be shot; My soul please take! 

An Old Farmer’s Advice:   
 

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight
and bull-strong. 

 * Keep skunks and bankers at a 
distance. 

   * Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

 * A bumble bee is considerably faster than a
John Deere tractor. 

  * Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled. 

   * Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight. 

 * Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

 * Do not corner something that you know is meaner
than you. 

 * It don’t take a very big person to carry a
grudge. 

* You cannot unsay a cruel word. 

* Every path has a few puddles. 

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t

never gonna happen anyway. 

* Don’t judge folks by their relatives. 

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best
   answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get
   older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time. 

* Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t

botherin’ you none. 

 * Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a

rain dance.  

    * If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.  

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got. 

  * The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever
have to deal with, watches you from

the mirror every mornin’. 

  * Always drink upstream from the herd. 

  * Good judgment comes from experience, and a
lotta that comes from bad judgment. 

  * Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot
easier than puttin’ it back in. 

 * If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some
influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around. 

  * Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

#10 You can trade an old 44 for a new 22 and even get money back!

#9 You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you’re on the
road.

#8 If you admire a friend’s gun and tell him so, he will probably 
let you try it out a few times.

#7 Your primary gun doesn’t mind if you keep another gun for a backup.

#6 Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.

#5 A gun doesn’t take up a lot of closet space. 

#4 Guns function normally every day of the month.

#3 A gun doesn’t ask , “Do these new grips make me look fat?”

#2 A gun doesn’t mind if you go to sleep after you use it.

And the number one reason a gun is better than a woman.

#1 YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A GUN 

We got wind of a story about a big bass caught on Pickwick Lake. Turns out it was caught by our friend Lance Walker, CEO of Browning Eyewear. And it may have been the Tennessee state record largemouth to boot. 

Walker has been travelling the country this winter attending various trade shows and boat shows for Browning Eyewear. He finally got a few days at home and called his friend Ray Rittenhour to go chase crappie with him on Pickwick Lake. 

Recent rains have had the Tennessee River a mess and the rising of muddy water on Pickwick Lake really hurt the crappie fishing. With a few hours left in the day, they decided to give up on the crappie fishing bust and see if they could just catch a few bass to salvage the day. The rain, mud and rising water limited their options but they figured if they fished some shallow river bars, they might at least catch a couple bass.

Their first fish was a bar fish (striper) and at that point they figured the bass fishing might be a bust too. Walker was fishing with a Yumbrella umbrella rig but because he was fishing Tennessee waters he only had 3 wires on it. On the two outside wires he had 3 1/2-inch Yum Money Minnows and on the middle one he had a 5 1/2 Yum Money Minnow. The two small ones were on 1/4-ounce Buckeye J-Will heads and the middle one on a 1/2-ounce Buckeye J-Will head. He used a 7-foot, 6-inch heavy action Duckett Micro Magic rod with 65-pound Bass Pro Shops braid and a 6:4.1 Johnny Morris Signature BPS reel.

A few casts later, Walker hooked up with what he guessed was another bar fish or a big catfish. It was making runs, swathing back and forth through the water, but then he noticed his line surging to the surface and he went down to his knees hoping it might be a big bass. 

It came to the surface, about 25 yards out from the boat, and rolled and Walker saw lateral lines. The fish made several big runs and Walker thumbed his spool to keep the powerful fish from tearing loose. He finally got the fish up to the boat and they new it was at least a 10-pound class fish, as Walker has modestly caught several double digit bass from Pickwick Lake. 

“As soon as Ray grabbed her by the lip with two hands and pulled her in the boat, I knew I had a fish bigger than the 13.3 I caught from Alabama waters on Pickwick three years ago,” Walker said. “I got the livewell filled up and put her in there and then took about 10 minutes to ‘freak out.’”

Afterward, Walker started calling folks to get the Tennessee State records and find a TWRA official to help weigh his catch. His wife and son met him at the Pickwick State Park where the Park Rangers were waiting to meet him and get good photos of the fish. They finally found a set of reliable scales to weigh the fish. It weighed 14.58, slightly better than the 14 pound, 8 ounce state record caught in 1954. So they knew they were close if not over.

They got a TWRA biologist on the line and he informed them that to certify the catch as a state record they would need blood samples, certified scales, 2 witnesses, dorsal fin clippings, and more to document the catch. In short, the felt the fish would have to die to provide the evidence of the catch being a state record.

The pair deliberated at length on what to do. Go down in the record books and kill the fish, or set it free for someone else to catch down the road some time. It was not an easy decision to make with such a beautiful, healthy, impressive largemouth bass. They measured the bass at 27 1/8 inches and a girth of 24 inches. The formula puts the bass at somewhere between 14.5 to 15.7 pounds.

They made their decision …

… and took the fish back to the lake and waited for her to shake her head and give a big powerful kick before letting her loose into the wild once again. It’s not easy to know you probably have a state record and choose to let it loose, knowing full well you won’t get credit for such a magnificent catch.

The potential state-record largemouth bass is swimming in Pickwick Lake. We believe it is. And even if it isn’t now, in a month or two, it probably will be. Way to go Lance! We hope to be as Wired2Fish as you one day! What a bass!

The first big tourney of the year in Texas put out some absolute stellar weights! 

Congrats to the winners on a windy cold day! You can read the article on the tournament below form the staff!

The 2012 season has begun! Big sacks, huge kickers and humungous paybacks as Bass Champs kicked off with the South Region January 14th on Lake Falcon. Nine double digit bass, four sacks over 40 pounds, and more than $58,000 paid back to participants. Jaime Buitron and Terry Oldham won over $20,000 with their 1st place win.

231 teams merged on Lake Falcon and Bass Champs was ready to award cash paybacks to 31 teams plus Big Bass. Falcon is well known for its big bass and several teams landed them. Incredibly, four teams had total weights exceeding 40 pounds. When the scales closed, it was 45.52 pounds that won the event.

“We had a lot of fun today,” Oldham admitted. “We started out on the side of the river at a gravel bank.” 
Using H2O crank baits, they landed three fish ranging from 7 to 9 pounds. When the bite slowed down, they headed to deeper water. 
“We started using one of my 1 ¼ oz Oldham jigs in a new color – Tilapia.” 
Hitting depths up to 25’ deep, they finished their limit. 
“We didn’t catch a lot of fish, just a good one here and there.” 
Putting five ‘good ones’ together on the scales, their weight totaled 45.52 pounds! That’s better than a 9 pound per fish average. Bass Champs awarded them the guaranteed 1st place $20,000 check, plus the Sure-Life Live Release $200 bonus. 

Another incredible weight was brought in by 2nd place team Lee Leonard and Scott Bronder. 
“We got on ‘em early and caught fish all day!” They targeted areas with scattered rock and hard wood, using a combination of crank baits and jigs. “Our smallest fish was 7.08 pounds, but the rest of them were pretty close in weight. We caught a LOT of fish in the 7 pound range, we just couldn’t cull with them.” 
Lee, a police officer, and Scott who works for Toyota, have been fishing with Bass Champs for the past 6 years. “We just had a really good day. Everything worked just like it was supposed to.” The team was awarded $5,000 for their 2nd place win and would like to thank Wood Bros Custom Roids, San Marcos Police Officer Association and the Tire Factory Outlet for their support.

Rounding out the top 5 included 3rd place David and Dustin Day with 42.09 lbs, Rene Meza & Jose Jimenez 4th with 40.47 lbs and Justin Stone & Spike Stoker won 5th place with 39.97 lbs. 

Now let’s talk big bass. Make that gigantic! 

Incredibly, nine bass exceeding the 10 pound mark were registered at the scales. The largest of them all was brought in by the father & son team of Claude and Carson Sims. 
“This is like winning the lottery!” Claude exclaimed. “There are so many really good teams that fish with Bass Champs, catching a fish like this is just phenomenal.” 
“It was my third cast,” he recalled. 
Using a Texas rigged Tightline UV brush hog, he was flipping brush in 9’ of water. The huge fish latched on to his bait. “I knew it was a big fish right away. She wore herself out pretty quick, and Carson was ready with the net when I got her to the boat.” Claude fishes with his 13 year old son Carson who wants to grow up to be a professional angler. 
“I’d like to thank Byron Velvick who turned us on to these new baits. We caught several more in the 3-4 pound range, but no other big ones today. We really like fishing the Bass Champs tournament trail. The guys that fish with them are phenomenal, and don’t mind telling you what they’re fishing with. There’s a lot of camaraderie, which is very different from the guys I fished against in Georgia for 25 years. I am so proud of my son and his goal to be a Pro Angler. We are very blessed to know and be around such good role models.” 

Bass Champs awarded the team $1,000 for their catch, but in addition they also received the new Biobor Bonus as well as the Costa Del Mar bonus.

There are several sponsor incentive bonuses available at every Bass Champs event. Justin Stone & Spike Stoker doubled their $1,200 winnings to a $2,400 day winning the Skeeter Double Money bonus. Houston Erskine & Ben Stogsdill won the Dodge Ram bonus giving them a free entry into any Bass Champs tournament in the next 12 months.

Don’t miss out on any of the incentives Bass Champs sponsors offer. Just go to www.BassChamps.com and read about all of the sponsor incentives being offered and how you can qualify to win.

The next Bass Champs South Region event will be February 11th on Amistad. All Bass Champs tournaments are open for anyone to enter, so don’t miss another opportunity!
Bass Champs staff and crew are heading to Lake Sam Rayburn for the East Region kick-off January 21st.

Here is an article that my buddy and guy that calls his home lake, Fork, Kelly Jordan put out on catching monsters during the cold weather months and how to stay safe when fishing in the frigid weather! Hope you all enjoy

So there we were, myself and pro bass angler Kelly Jordon, catching up over dinner at a tournament venue last fall.

And not surprisingly, after hearing about Kelly’s wife and the birth of the couple’s first child last year, our conversation soon turned to our favorite lake in the Lone Star State.

That would be Lake Fork, of course. Even in the dead of winter.

You would be a big fan of the northeast Texas reservoir too if you had caught the stringer of December bass that Jordon did on a Fork outing a few years ago while fishing a Sassy Shad-style bait and a jigging spoon in 30 feet of water.

“I caught 10 bass that weighed 101 pounds,” said Jordon, a four time winner on the BASS Elite Series and a one-time winner on the FLW Tour. “That’s over a 10-pound per fish average. In fact, my biggest five weighed 54 pounds, 11 ounces. That’s the best stringer of my life.”

Keep in mind, however, that the Palestine based pro does quickly point out that such insane numbers of big fish are the exception rather than the rule during the winter months.

“It’s not a numbers time of the year, since the bass fishing is tough anyway at this time of the year,” said Jordon, a nine-time qualifier for the Bassmasters Classic. “But if you do find them, they’re usually grouped up pretty good.”

The trade-off for the lack of numbers is the scale-tipping weight and girth of these wintertime bass.

“This time of the year, the average size of fish IS bigger than any other time of the year that you’ll catch fish,” Jordon said.

The BASS Elite Series pro with $1.35 million in career earnings and 32 “Top 10” finishes indicated that such an observation is generally true because female bass are “not going to lose any weight since the water is cold and they’re feeding for the upcoming spawn.”

“They’re not even football sized at this time of the year, they’re basketball-sized bass,” he quipped.

Because of that, Jordon is more than willing to endure chilly temperatures to be out on the water as the New Year arrives on the calendar.

“It’s kind of like trophy deer hunting; you may not see a lot, and the weather can be tough, but that’s when you can get it done. If I was a big bass hunter in Texas, I would fish December through February.”

If you are finally convinced to leave the warmth of your cozy den for a try at a wintertime bucketmouth bass, place to start is safety. There are rarely, if ever, any second chances for an angler who gets into trouble at this time of the year with water temperatures typically in the 40s and even the upper 30s.

The best safety recommendation during the winter months is to never fish alone.

“If you do fish alone, make sure that someone knows where you’re going to be, where you’ll be on the lake, and when you’ll return,” Jordon said.

Just in case you do get in trouble, it is a good idea to keep a cell-phone or marine radio handy in a waterproof container during winter outings. Dress in layers of warm, waterproof, and windproof high-tech clothing like Bass Pro Shops’ 100 MPH Gore-Tex suit or Simms Fishing’s Gore-Tex suit that can ward off winter’s dangerous wetness and chill.

In case of accidentally getting wet, Jordon recommended carrying an extra set of dry clothes, extra jacket, and maybe even a sleeping bag, all secured in waterproof bags or containers and placed in a dry storage locker.

It should go without saying that anglers should always wear a life-jacket throughout a winter fishing trip, when an unexpected fall into cold water can quickly numb extremities and bring about rapid, death dealing hypothermia.

Once an angler has made safety his top priority, the next step to enjoying a sizzling day of wintertime big bass action is to look for stable weather. Jordan loves to get out on the water about five days after a frontal passage.

Aside from the obvious safety reasons of fishing in stable weather, there’s also a subtle piece of angling advice here, too: “All that you’re doing in stable weather is getting in front of the next front. Typically, the best day of fishing in the wintertime is in front of or right as a front is moving in.”

The next key to a successful wintertime bass trip is to fish in the right spot. While some anglers might think of wintertime as being a time when most big bass are sluggishly inhabiting deeper water, Jordon has at times found otherwise: “Some of my best days of the year on Fork were the coldest days when it was snowing and I was fishing in a foot of water.

“We know that cold air is dense and sinks and hot air is light and rises. Well, the warmest water is at the surface of a lake most times in the winter. The cold water is dense and sinks. What you’re going to have happen at times is those fish will go shallow, although they’ll still be in main lake locations that are still accessible to deep water.

“That’s why you can catch them in a snowstorm in one foot of water burning a lipless crankbait like a Lucky Craft LVR D7 in a mad craw color.” Biologists concur.

“We did some sampling (several years) ago in December or January on Lake Fork, collecting fish for a Largemouth Bass Virus study,” said TPWD Inland Fisheries biologist Kevin Storey. “We shocked up some big bass in two or three feet of water. They were fish in the eight to 10-pound range.”

“There were no baitfish there, it was a cool day, there was no real feeding going on, and there was no real cover. They were just there.”

Whether you choose to target big bass shallow or deep, lure selection in terms of size, color, and proper presentation are additional keys to the wintertime angling puzzle.

Jordon said that the craw color is especially important early in the year, because big female bass are loading up on calories in preparation for the spawn and will often key on crawfish. And since balls of shad seeking warmer water are always fair game to largemouths, shad-colored hues are also an important mainstay early in the year.

Size matters, too. In most cases, that means bigger baits.

“Fish are looking for a big meal at this time of the year,” Jordon said. “You’re using big fish baits like jigs, lipless crankbaits, slow rolled spinnerbaits, and suspending jerkbaits.”

Another key principle to using any of these big baits is a s-l-o-w presentation. Get the bait into the fish’s strike zone, maintain it there as long as possible, and then give the lure enough tantalizing action that the big bass can’t help but eventually react with a quick strike.

The final key to successful big bass angling during the winter months is to be tough minded.

“You’re not fishing for a lot of bites and you’ve got to know that’s what you’re doing before you go,” Jordon said. “You’ve got to be a little mentally tough. You know that if you do get bit, chances are it’s going to be a pretty nice fish.

Well the new year is upon us and with that comes tournament season. This is one the best times to be on your local lake especially in the south. The first reason is your average angler usually wont brave the cold or the wind or both which often happens this time of year. This will allow you to find fish and when you do they are usually un-molested or not hammered on by other anglers! The second reason is 70% of the fish are gonna be in the depth range of 15 to 30 feet. This will allow you to concentrate on this depth range and will in turn take you less time to look for them. The third reason which is my favorite and will become yours if you get out is the big females are feeding up for the spawn. This what happens when fish have babies. Females need to eat in order to store up fat for their babies and the females are the fish that are always going to be bigger. A female bass will sometimes put on as much as 2 lbs during this time of year which means higher paychecks to tournament anglers! I have practiced on two different lakes the last two weekends and the biggest tip I can give right now is once you find a couple of fish slow way down because there is going to be more there! Baits that work this time of year are anything slow, jigging spoons, drop shots, jig and craw trailer, and slow moving lipless crankbaits are my favorite. Hope this helps any of you out there that brave the weather and you may just get that fish of a lifetime to bite.

Zach

Congrats to the cat that caught the 1st share-a-lunker of the season and it came on my home lake. Lake Fork spit out the 1st one of the season over 13 lbs. Caught while crappie fishing.

What a fish!

So I’m new to the whole blog thing, but my sister in law created this site, for you all to go on and follow my high speed, fast pace lifestyle of chasing monster whitetail deer and the ups and downs of tournament bass fishing.  Through the blog you may learn a little, laugh a whole hell of a lot, and can get down with me and my boys while on the road to the next crazy adventure.  Hopefully we shoot some good video and bring some impressive animals to your phone or computer, but regardless it will be one entertaining walk on the wild side.  Hahahahaha tune in because the ride starts now.

Zach