The Trail

 Well the opener is done and the trail begins, I fished a tournament with wife Maria last night and did really well. I'm off to the Bay of Quinte for a 3 day tourney out of Trenton. It should be a blast, it's big water with a lot of back bays and cuts. There's a million different ways to to fish it but I can do what I do best, flip! I am kinda of nervous, my Etec blow up twice there last year and that killed my year. But my motor is running strong this year and I have had no problems so I should be good. Take care and tight lines everyone I'm off to the boat ramp.

The Opener

It's that time of year again when all us bass anglers get excited and start looking for those bags of tackle that we bought during the last few months to get us through. The season opens tonight at midnight and in years past I used to be out on the water jitterbug in hand, but tonight I will be in my hotel room tying rods and looking at the weather channel trying to figure out if I'm going to make the big run south. Cause that what this opener is all about, but we've talked about this already so I'll leave that alone. After chasing southern largemouth for the last 6 months I have to switch gears to smallmouth and our lazy northern strain largemouth. This is not easy task I miss a lot of fish the first day on the hook set. I'm usually on pace by tournament day. Looking for small mouth structure comes back fast because I've been doing that for over 35 years.
 I thought about not doing the Casey Cup this year because I hate Simcoe but the idea of not fishing in a tournament on opening weekend just doesn't sit well with me. Plus it's a wild-card for the CSFL, lol.
I want to wish everyone good luck this weekend and season and be safe.
Tight lines & take care.  

The Russell Peters.com Ranger

Well I'm off to Trenton Ontario this morning to have the boat serviced before I start the CSFL tournament trail. The guy's at Bay Marine will hook me up I hope, my buddy Casey Ruttan no longer works there but I'm sure they'll still take my money. The boat ran great yesterday on Simcoe no problems, no issues. That prop I got from Power Tech is making a world of difference! The boat handles a lot better and the ride seems to be a lot smoother when I trim the motor up.
 It's about that time to hit the road, so see ya. Tight lines everyone.

http://www.bay-marine.com/

2011 Tournament Trail

Next week is the Casey Cup, The first tournament of the year for the CSFL bass trail. It's a wild-card event but it is also one of the biggest tournaments of the year. I'm not a fan of the body of water it's on but what are you gonna do. Lake Simcoe and Couchiching are not easy lakes, Simcoe is a smallmouth factory that I'm sure holds the world record but it also eats Rangers. The ride from Orillia down to the islands in ten foot waves can be a nightmare. I have stuffed the boat 4 times on that run and have lost and broken equipment. If the lake is blowing I don't make the run, I sit up in Couchiching and hunt for the big largemouth prize, plus having to explain to the Funny and the Money how I sank the boat isn't a conversation I would like to have. lol! But with the hope that the lake will be calm enough that I can make the run I will spend the next few days prepping the boat for rough water and hard driving cause I know that if I don't make the run I haven't got a snowballs chance in hell of winning or even coming close.

 After the Casey it will be non-stop for the next 3 months, I love it and look forward to it for months. It's hard and like I said it's non-stop tournament fishing. We are so close this year I can taste it! This year is going to be it. I have never felt so in-tuned to something. This will be are break out year.

 Good luck to all my fellow competitors be safe out there and tight lines! 

FLW Pickwick Everstart

Well the tournament didn't turn out like I planed or hoped. I had a great practice and I had my spots and patterns. Come tourney morning there was nothing on my first spot which was supposed to give me a quick limit. I only picked up 1 dink, second spot had nothing on it! And that was my big fish spot. So feeling the pressure I spent the rest of the day running and gunning and picked up a few more fish. I was so pissed off, I went to bed that night angry. When I woke for day 2 I felt better with the idea that I was just going to fish like I had nothing to lose and I didn't. Lol. Day 2 I drew a local who was in 9th place, so I told him I had 1 spot in the morning that should give us a limit and then we can go where ever he wanted. He was happy with that and my spot was close to all his spots so it worked out well. I picked up a 3 lbs spot and he got 2 dinks. Then we started hitting his spots he ended up with a small limit and I was catching shorts all day long. I did lose a really big fish boat side that didn't help my feelings but that's fishing. In closing I like Pickwick and I'm looking forward to going back there and try some new spots. Tight lines. 

Team TFB's Truck and Boat

Pickwick Day 5

Came off the water early today, it was 100F by 10:30am. I found my big fish pattern and a new spot that seems to hold them first thing in the morning. The bite died off by 9:30, it must have been the heat. I have to say I really like this lake and I would come back here with the family. The city of Florence is very nice with a lot to do. I hope it's on the tour next year. That's all for now, take care and tight lines everyone.

Pickwick Day 4

Wow today was a much better day! I have 2 patterns a morning and afternoon spot. Just have to fine tune getting the bigger fish to bite more consistently. Ran way up to the Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee border, it was a long run but I think is worth it. I mean there's fish there, lol. Have to come up with a game plan for tomorrow, any ways going to eat and relax. Later, tight lines. 

Pickwick Day 3

Spent the day up river fishing rock walls and ledges. They didn't want a crankbait or anything moving for that matter. I started drop shoting about 2pm and got a hit, the bite is very soft and the fish seem to be staying deep. It was hot as hell again today, I drank 4 Gatorade's and a bottle of water and I didn't have to take a leak all day! Going back up river tomorrow to hit those rock walls again to get a pattern going. I'll keep you posted. Tight Lines!

Pickwick Day 2

Well today was pretty productive, spent the morning down at the dam but they weren't running the water so the bite was pretty slow. I moved further up the river in the afternoon and things were better. Going to spend tomorrow up river explore a few spots I found on my Navi chip. When the water isn't moving the bite seems to be real slow, I didn't feel any of the fish bite that I caught today. I'll keep you posted. Take care and tight lines!

Pickwick

Well I made it! It's hot as hell down here! 40 to 45C, I sweated 10 lbs away lol. We fished till about 2pm and then it just got too hot. I don't know how I'm going to get through tournament day. Thank god I'm retaining a 100 lbs of water. Going to try and get out on the water super early tomorrow to get some time in before the heat kicks in. Sitting in my hotel room now with the AC going and waiting for the heat to die down so I can go outside and retie some rods, plug the boat in and fill some oil. That's all for now I'll fill you guy's in tomorrow. Take care and tight lines!