Last Sunday I fished a team tournament with a Korean friend who is a host from the “Decode” fishing show on FTV. We arrived on Saturday afternoon with another one of my friends (owner of the “Lure in Korea” shop in Busan) so the 3 of us could get a few hours practice on the water. We were fishing out of my friends Champion boat this weekend and I pulled it to the lake as his car was out of order. When we arrived there, he realized that he had left his rods and both fish finders at home, great start to the weekend!! (a few other guys were coming later on Saturday night and they brought his missing tackle for him).
During practice I decided all I was going to throw was the Alabama rig, determined to catch a bass on it. Well I did just that. As I slowly dragged it along the lake bed in 30 meters of water, a bass just slammed the rig hard. After a great fight I landed this nice bass.
That was the only one I caught on Saturday, but I did have another bite on the a-rig, but it was a short bite and the bass stole the tale off of one of my SureCatch Hyper Minnow swimbaits.
My friends caught a few using jigheads and creature type worms.
Sunday morning in the tournament, we headed back to the spot where we had the best luck on Saturday and within 2 casts my friend caught a nice bass on the jighead. About 5 minutes later we saw a bunch of good sized fish on the fish finders in 30 foot of water sitting tight to the bottom, so I dragged my a-rig along the bottom as slow as I could possibly turn the reel handle and I felt a huge hit……which I somehow missed, so I cast the a-rig back out to the same spot, let it sink to the bottom and started dragging again, within seconds the bass hit hard again, but this time the bass was mine. Photographed and in the livewell.
We had several more short bites throughout the day, but no more fish until the last hour of the tournament when my friend caught a small keeper on a jighead and craw worm. We finished in 7th place out of 39 boats, so not too bad.
OK, now to explain the meaning of the title of this post. During this weekend I had several firsts for me that made this weekend even better.
1. I caught my first bass of 2012
2. I caught my first bass on the Alabama rig
3. The was the first time I have ever caught a bass that I saw on a fish finder, cast to and caught.
By the way, isn’t all fishing FUN? 
Steve,
Beautiful bass and to believe you caught them in February. Looks like your A-rig is the deal. You now got my curiosity going a tad bit more. Good job on placing 7th and good luck on your next tournaments.
On a side note. Have any of you had recent bad experiences with stuff coming all broken in the mail from Bass Pro Shops. I have had a string of bad luck. First I waited nearly over months for a rod I ordered and it arrived smashed in two. Then I ordered a rod rack and I received an empty box after waiting for close to two months also. Two for Two. Talk about bummer.
Nice going Steve! Congratulations! And very nice pics! You guys look cold though.
Tex Mex, I have NEVER had good luck with ordering stuff from BPS. Although I’ve never had anything broken when it arrived, it has always taken forever and a day to get something from them, and for that reason I don’t even mess with them any longer.
If you want stuff over here fast, check out Bass Tackle Depot on the sidebar of this blog. That guy has his stuff together, and he has two or three unvelievable sales per year too. I highly recommend them, and I think Nomad would too.
WTG, Steve. Where’s the ice? No ice in February?
Tex Mex, I don’t know what it is about BP but yeah, my orders ususally took at least 6 weeks to get to Korea. Never had anything broken though. I did have an order or two that never showed up and BP sent the replacement order out via priority mail right away (which made me wonder why there was no priority mail option in the first place). I finally switched to Cabelas or Bass Tackle Depot if I wanted something in a reasonable amount of time.
Steve,
Good job. Yea you do look a little cold though. Top 7, great job. I’ll be trying my rigs out shortly.
Thanks for the info guys. I love the BP Shop but this is getting old. Last time they sent me the broken rod, the first person I spoke to tried to get me the replacement at the cost it was currently at instead of the sales cost I paid for because they had run out of the length of rod I wanted and had to change the size order. Then she wanted to charge me postage and handling. Talk about pissed off. I had to ask to talk to higher personnel to get that one resolved. I’m listening to you guys and changing companies. It’s not BP is all that inexpensive anyways.
Tex Mex,
For rods, reels plus other tackle, check this place out http://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/
Yes, some of the stuff they carry is pricy and higher-end but their service is outstanding and if you subscribe to their email newsletter or check their site out regularly, you can catch some great deals. I had one G. Loomis rod show up from them broken in half; I took pics of the carnage and sent them to these guys, within 24 hours they shipped me a replacement rod, all free of charge and I got to keep the broken one with no need to send it back to them.
Does anyone know when spawn starts here?
The spawn usually starts in late March down here the southern parts, and I have seen it last right up into June in Northern places like Andong.
Ok thanks that’s good to know:) I’ll be fishing at yum chi or pyeontaek most of the time.
Steve do you have any spinner bait color preferences for early spring?
All chartruese
Jacob,
If you look back here through the archives, you will see that when it comes to the Pyeongtaek river, I caught my best quality and quantity fish starting in late March, through early May, depending on the weather. But if you’re willing to brave the cold mornings, the big mommas start cruising the shallows sometime in mid to late March.
Cool, thanks.
Ok, um for you guys in Korea check out gmarket. It’s a korean online shopping site and almost everything is free shipping. Just go to categories click on outdoors and then fishing.
Does anyone know if the Abu Revo s is good?
Yes, it is a great reel. I have a few of the olderversions and I love them. Very strong reels with a great brake system.
Jacob (as I have nightmares of Lost, ack!), I have a Skeet Reese edition Revo and it is easily the best reel I’ve ever owned.
Jacob,
I took a short walk down memory lane…you may want to check out these posts (if you haven’t already)
http://www.landinglunkers.com/2008/03/29/fishing-gods-smile-down-on-rob/
http://www.landinglunkers.com/2008/04/04/early-morning-bass/
http://www.landinglunkers.com/2008/04/06/khalil-strikes-gold/
http://www.landinglunkers.com/2008/04/12/one-of-those-days/
http://www.landinglunkers.com/2010/04/23/kicking-ass-and-taking-names/
As for the Revo, I own several and love them. Great reels for the money. I haven’t had the chance to use them lately
, but good reels they are.
Thanks. How about the orra? I’m thinking to buy One of the two.
Tex Mex
I have also used American Legacy. Have bought some G. Loomis rods and mabe my carrot stiks. Not sure about them.
Jacob
I bought three Revo’s from them and any problems with them are surely my hand and eyes with them not the reel.
I listened to you guys about using the Bass Tackle Depot and am glad I did. I placed a rather large order and got everything in 8 days as compared to the usual 6-8 weeks at Bass Pro Shops. Looks like I’ll stick with these guys for a while. Thanks for the info. Wish I had known about them earlier as I’m still waiting on stuff I ordered from the Bass Pro Shop over 2 months ago.
Tex Mex,
Rob told me that Bass Pro now offers priority or express shipping to APO. Wow, anything over 8 weeks and I’d be emailing the folks at BP to let them know. Once it got to 60 days, I notified them and they sent me a replacement shipment.
BTD is a first class outfit. Wait until they have some specials this summer. I think they always have one around the 4th of July, and you can save 25% or more (usually) on Internet orders, and they sometimes give away some pretty decent rods and reels too. Those guys have their act together.
And yes, BPS does offer expedited shipping to APO’s now. I placed an order approximately 8 days ago so it should be here any day, should.
“should”
I am not buying anymore gear! Ever!!!
I acutally got the package yesterday.
LOL Wilsong…lol