I jokingly posted the "Drum-berland" video when I went up to Kentucky for pre-practice not really thinking what an impact they could have on my tournament. Poor thinking on my part. As I did on my Facebook post I first have to say congrats to Ray Hanselman on a truly remarkable year, winning all three Rayovac events here in Texas and then going to Ohio and finishing the sweep for a perfect 4-0 season. If I learned anything from Ray this year it is that he is fishing in a different league, or more specifically he is making great decisions and he is extremely committed to what he is doing. He said he practiced under the dam at Amistad to get ready to fish the current up there, box unchecked for me. He spent 10 days up on the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers before cut-off fishing, I spent 2, partially checked box. But the box he is marking, I think, in big ink is trusting your instincts. He said on stage that he didn't really know based upon practice..continued 

If I can only get them to change the species we are after, I have it figured out...

Most of us know Albert Collins as a heck of a good tournament bass fisherman, what many don't know is that he is a world class alligator gar angler. On a recent outing on Sam Rayburn he locked on a really solid crankbait fish...a really solid one. That is a 4 foot, and a 3 foot boot paddle next to it. The guess-timate on the fish is 175 pounds. His advice for a fish of a life time, 20# P Line, a chartreuse 5XD, and about an hour of fighting time.  

If you are looking for something to do this weekend or over the Labor Day holiday and you just want to have some fun, this may be the best summer shallow water fishing I have ever seen on Rayburn. As we all know the water was extremely high all spring, which unfortunately killed off most of the hydrilla that could not get enough sun to make it's normal spring bloom. Hopefully the grass will recover next year and Rayburn will continue to have a fair amount of grass over the lake. The positive to the lack of grass is where it has positioned the fish. Although some fish have moved back out deep, there are spectacular numbers up around the "hay grass" or flooded grass on the old bank line. Early or on cloudy days there is a great topwater bite and then as the sun gets high the fish get tight to that shallow cover and are, well frankly pretty easy to catch. And this isn't just 2 pounders, I'm takling 4-5-6's, the fishing is really good. So if you are looking for a fun trip in the next few weeks I's suggest headed to the Big Sam.