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If you're like most of us, you spend your fishing days looking for the right spot at the right time with the right bait so you can load 'em up. Cutting and re-tying, changing lures, tossing spent mounds of plastics to the floor...there isn't time for tidiness. But what happens over time when a bunch of those little bits of plastics and line end up down the drain in the floor of your boat? It could be a disaster waiting to happen. In this unique video blog Pete Gluszek re-counts a situation on Lake Erie that all big water fisherman should hear.

Soon after hearing Pete's story, the news broke of Elite Series pro Clark Reehm, who had a dipping dye pen that was rolling around on the floor of his boat lodge in his throttle while traveling 55 MPH. Heading towards the dock he couldn't slow down and he spun the boat out ejecting himself and his Marshall. Sure, it was a freak accident, but serves as another reminder of why keeping the bottom of your boat clean means water safety.

Jeff Connella was in good company on day four of the Blue Ridge Brawl held on Smith Mountain Lake, Moneta, VA.  The Bassmaster Elite angler and member of the SFTtackle.com Pro-Staff, made the cut of the top 12 anglers and was laying it down with the likes of some of the world's top pros. Jeff's key baits were the Chatterbait and the V&M Sling Blade. Positioned to go for the win, Jeff commented, "I found fish in practice and then the water muddied up. I didn't go back to them until Friday and that was a mistake. I should have gone sooner because they settled in and started biting well."

Jeff is in the zone as he has consecutively scored higher in each tournament he has fished this year. Being a full-time professional engineer, husband and father keeps you busy enough, but Jeff manages to do all that and fish the Bassmaster Elite Series Professional Tour. Looking ahead to the Southern Challenge, starting May 7th on Lake Guntersville, Alabama, Connella will be ready, and

The only direct link between fisherman and fish is the line. This fact makes line choice one of the most important decisions a fisherman can make. After trying many fluorocarbon lines over the years, I have determined HI-SEAS makes the strongest, most abrasive resistant fluorocarbon line on the market. On top of this, HI-SEAS fluorocarbon line has less memory than any other fluorocarbon line, which is an inherent problem with fluorocarbon. Another interesting fact is that HI-SEAS fluorocarbon is leader grade material. Most companies sell leader grade fluorocarbon in small spools of 25 yards which is typically very expensive. Not HI-SEAS, they have been able to manufacture a 100% Fluorocarbon fishing line with leader like strength and abrasion resistance, but still be the softest and most manageable fluorocarbon line on the market today.

I started using HI-SEAS after having some problems with fish breaking my line using another major company's brand. I switched exclusively to

SFT Pro-Staffers Captain Karl Bunch and Dave Kilby brought in Lunker at the Angler's Choice Potomac Pro Teams Tournament held on March 28, 2009.  Congratulations guys!

Here is how it happened as described by Captain Karl:
During the early morning hours of the tournament Dave & myself decided to run south to the Aquia Creek area, the first cove we wanted to fish was like one of the many traffic jams we encounter on "I 95" so we decided to fish another smaller cove that we knew had some good fish. We were primarily targeting the 4 to 5 foot drop off of the shoreline, and after about one hour another team fishing the tournament pulled into the same creek and they choose to target tight to the same shoreline as we continued to fish and defend our 4 to 5 foot drop off. After a few hours they had left the creek and the bite had slowed for us, so we decided to try another spot but we quickly decided that was a mistake (the Don't Leave Fish to

I am calling on all fellow fisherman and outdoorsman to help a very worthy cause. I am organizing a Trash Cleanup along the banks of the Susquehanna River in the area below the Brunner’s Island Power Plant on March 21st 2009.

The Susquehanna River is the longest flowing river in the East and along its long journey, it picks up way too much unnatural trash and deposits it along its banks. The area that we are cleaning is a “catch all” for this debris, and is nothing short of an eye sore and a real shame that anyone has to look at it.

Please help this worthy cause and bring the whole family and your friends. Even if you don’t use this area, we need your help!!

LOCATION: South End Gut RD Near Saginaw PA
DATE: March 21st 8:00am – 4:00 PM

WHAT TO BRING:

• Work Clothes
• Waterproof Shoes
• Work Gloves
• Bagged Lunch

Remember We ALL LIVE

Welcome Aboard!  Winter-time blade bait fishing is probably as old as fishing with artificial lures and there is definitely not another type of artificial lure as consistent at catching all species of fish in the frigid late fall and winter water temperatures. In fact the current Maryland tidal water largemouth record was caught last winter (2007) by Justin and Ed Riley using a blade bait on the Potomac River. Have I got your attention yet?

While fishing a blade bait (known by many as a silver buddy, which was one of the first and original makers of today’s style blade baits) SLOWwwwww, is many times the key. This retrieve works very well for the cold weather conditions but I promise however cold it is, once you feel the heavy weight of a good quality largemouth bass on the end of your blade bait your blood will immediately start to flow and the fight will be on.

The Retrieve: There are three popular

Every year on the Susquehanna (and other Mid-Atlantic rivers) something happens that gets fisherman excited. Smallmouth begin to chase migrating shad, and will attack baits with reckless abandon. While many baits will catch fish, nothing does it better than a hard jerkbait.

The Right Jerkbait

One of my long-time favorites is the Lucky Craft Pointer series. Normally I have my clients throw the bigger sized baits like the 100 size, in ghost minnow, chartreuse shad, or all chartreuse. When the fish move into deeper areas this bait is hard to beat, and will catch some of the biggest fish of the year. Another bait that has done well since its introduction is the 10 pound X-Rap from Rapala. My favorite colors include, mossback shiner, blue silver, and glass ghost. This is a great bait that suspends well, and at times is preferred over any other bait.

A new bait that is quickly becoming my go to bait is the

A map is a critical tool to use before traveling to any body of water. It is just as important while you’re on the water as it is to you while you’re off the water. Maps allow you to locate marinas, navigational hazards, damns, jetties, creeks. The list can go on and on. The amount of information a map can provide is limitless as well as priceless.

Applying the basic seasonal movements of bass to these maps will allow you to find fish and acquire confidence long before you head to the lake. I like to associate different color markers with different seasons of the year. This will help you understand the seasonal movements of bass to any particular body of water you may be fishing.

My marker color choices that help me keep it simple are as follows:

• Spring/Fall-Red
• Summer/Winter-Blue
• Transition Areas-Black

We all know the basic seasonal movements of bass. The warmer spring temperatures bring bass out of there

I wanted to pass on some pictures and say thanks for the service and blogs on the website. As a result of reading George's blog on Lake Erie I put to use some of his lure selections and rigging options to land some of the fish in the pictures while fishing with Elite Series Pro Matt Sphar. Also I read about Koto Kirayama's winning bait in the Erie tournament this year and was happy to see you guys carried it in the store, the Cross Tail Shad which is a variation of the Crazy Ninja Worm...After landing my 8th fish on the bait, Matt Sphar said, "alright you've sold me on those I'm gonna have to get me a couple bags of them". Thanks again for your service, selection and articles online... Much appreciated!

Welcome Aboard! The fall pattern has started, it is in the early stages but the pattern should become much more consistent next week, as the bass get a chance to adjust and settle into the cooler water temps. We are using the deps Mini Bro spinnerbait in the chartreuse color and the new ima Rock N Vibe lipless crankbait in the fire tiger color to locate the fish on the move during the moving tide. The Roumba is still getting some good quality bass when the topwater bite is on especially in the early morning hours. The outside grassbed edges seem to be best close to the deeper water and also the main points leading into the creeks. When the tide is not moving or extremely high we are targeting the wood with the Zappu Inchi Wacky jighead, rigged with a 4 inch finesse worm. The spinnerbait and Rock N Vibe are working great on the rip- rap shorelines and points also.

As always we are applying scent to all of our baits about every 25 cast’s.

Thanks & Good Fishing,