Went out on Sunday and picked up a crank bait… Nothing… so I picked up a shaky head… nothing… so I picked up a 1/2oz chatterbait… Nothing. So, I sat down, drank a diet Pepsi, and tied on a Zman 1/4 oz MicroMax chatterbait, white and chartreuse with a 3.5in spunk Shad trailer. I have to say I really enjoyed the feel on the retrieve and how easy it was to work it slow or fast in water up to 15 feet deep and around cover without getting snagged. It reminded me of a willow vibe, but with more control and the ability to imply, erratic action without going too fast. I found four like this one before I went home. I appreciate all the advice from the SUF family and the confidence to just keep trying new things until something works.

Welp! Caught the same fish twice lol… pretty much a duplicate of the night before. Lost 6 of them, once they turn and run straight towards me that left hand can’t keep up. I’m going to have to figure something else out because I hate losing that many.

My son and I fished our first tournament together. I fish our local Wednesday nighter on the Susquehanna Flats. Not the size we needed but we caught a limit (3 fish for this one).

This week I had the opportunity to fish with my SUF buddy Brian Barde at the St Lawrence River before a BFL tournament. Boy, was it a fishing adventure. We had a great time chatting, fishing, great food and experiencing the nature around us. We won before the tournament ever started!

Because of the SUF experience and Blat’s leadership we entered the tournament with a relaxed calm. 80 boats and co-anglers appeared the morning of the tournament. Weather was beautiful and the watery was fishing well. We didn’t know that morning what our final tournament results would be but we were in the zone. Things worked out for both of us with Barde finishing 10th and I finished 9th of the co-angler side

Barde mentioned the word “ Flow” in our fishing this week. One definition of flow “refers to the smooth continuity of ideas and a psychological state of deep focus. That was it!

We didn’t just show up today, this has been a steady process with ups and downs. It has been a continuous learning process of building block after block from SUF school education, member support and our on the water experiences. We also cannot forget the sacrifices of our loved ones that allow us to have these experiences that create such awesome memories.

I feel thankful and blessed.

FIRST FISH OF THE YEAR OFF A MINI FROG!!! Don’t have my scale yet but maybe a 3-4 lb?

1st night fishing session this year. It was better than I expected. I lost more fish than I landed in the boat,most were lost on fight and I had numerous break offs. I would like to share a little something with my SUF family. I’ve had 2 strokes and fishing has been my main therapy due to all the fine motor skills it takes just to tie a knot,reel and even casting. I moved my spinning reel handle to the left side like my neurologist advised me to do and things have been starting to wake back up. Now if I lose many more fish that reel is going BACK TO THE RIGHT 🤣

Never move past a fish feeder. This is the feeder on my dock, sadly no ramp to pip my boat in on weekends but having the inly feeder in the lake has advantages. Have not fished iff my dock in a while but may be time. My son and I caught 32 bass up to 5 pounds in 2 hours, standing on my dock.

The power of our community.

Since I’ve joined SUF I’ve had the pleasure to meet and fish with so many more people than one would expect. BLat, Tim, Mack, Eric, Chris, Destiny, Alex and a whole list of others.

Recently I took a week long trip titled “Florida Boys Invade Georgia”

Bryan Key and I met in the app and fished locally here in Florida numerous times. He had plans to fish West Point in Georgia and invited me to come along. We drove for 9 hours. 2 Trucks, 2 Boats, 1 destination. We arrived early. Too early to check in at the marina so fishing was an obvious solution to burn time. We fished the next two days on West Point. We were targeting Spotted Bass and many were caught. But as only Florida boys would do, we each landed what is considered giants for that body of water. 2x 5lbs +. We figured we conquered that lake so we’d drive to the Atlanta area.

We met up with Eric Zenke and dropped our boats into Lake Lanier on a windy Saturday morning. This was a momentary lapse of reason. Between the wind and the relentless inexperienced amount of Wakeboaters we didn’t have the best day. We caught fish but retreated for safer ground. Bryan had commitments back in Florida and drove back.

I stayed a couple more days as Eric was gracious enough to open his home. We fished again on Sunday and history repeated itself. Fish were caught but not the way we wanted. Monday morning we arrived at first light. We went to a ramp on the Northern side to explore new waters that Eric hadn’t seen.

On the way to a river that feeds the lake we were looking for cooler moving water. I noticed something unique in the coastline. There was a pile of rocks that went from the shore down into the water and beyond. I pulled up the Falcon and dropped the trolling motor. Eric proceeded to put on an absolute clinic as we had found a spotted bass sanctuary. Eric pulled them in so quickly I sat down behind the wheel and ate breakfast instead of fishing. He ended up with 6 catches in less than 30 minutes. We moved on to the river.

We fished the rest of the day in grueling heat. More fish were caught and then there was when Eric earned his title of “Doctor Braid” after pulling a treble hook out of my finger, but that’s a tale for another day.

I wrote this up to demonstrate to the newer members how strong this community can be if you put yourself out there and take the time to get to know other members. We all are at different levels of the game but share one common passion.

Enjoy your time here and open yourself up.

12 Hour update: If you have taken the minute to read through all of this, you are already on the right track. :)

Wife's not happy, but I did a little retail therapy!