I would like to apologize for not blogging over the past two weeks, but my Northwest Territories archery mountain caribou hunt for Scent-Loks High Places kept me far away from all communication! The hunt was extremely difficult physically as all mountain backpack hunts are.
Joe Thomas Blog
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Hello from the northern part of the country. While we don’t get as long of a season as most folks, we sure make up for it with the amazing quality we have. Right now I’m catching fish a ton of different ways. My smallmouth bite has been a really neat deal. Usually our thermocline prevents the bass from going too deep, but this year we don’t have one so the fish are free to roam out deep. Sure you can catch them out there in the middle of the day if you are willing to seek out some rockpiles and other structural elements, but my favorite bite is early and late on the feeding flats.
I’ve been dialed in on these active fish. I’m throwing a 1/2 ounce Redemption spinnerbait which I weight down a little more with an additional 1/4 ounce of lead wire around the hook shank. The total weight of 3/4 of an ounce allows me to burn the bait as fast as I can on a 7:1 reel and still keep it below the surface. This bite is not for the faint of heart, I mean the strikes are just vicious. We are catching 5-6 pound smallies in gin clear water on this technique. I’ve learned that these fish can’t be given an option wether or not to bite you have to force them into reacting so I never slow down, in fact I often speed up if I see followers. Because the fish are so often taking swipes at the bait a trailer hook has been crucial. I just had to share this bite with you guys because its been so fun for me.
The largemouth here are really relating to thick grass and grass edges. I’ve thrown buzzbaits and spinnerbaits for those fish, but lately I’ve been experimenting with the new Fat Smasher 75. It’s neat, its got a really predictable sink rate and its perfect for the weedlines I love fishing. Our bass eat a lot of perch and the color patterns are perfect for matching the hatch. It’s a neat new bait that I plan to fish a lot and really learn the intricacies of.
I’m excited for the tail end of the summer topwater bite with the Kelly J Jr. it will certainly be a busy few weeks for me and I’ll be sure to update my blog before too long. As it gets later in the summer we are approaching the amazing fall bite up here, and I’m not talking just for bass. We also have a really good population of walleye that can be taken on precision trolling with Staycees and Pointers. I’ll have to update you guys on some of those techniques next time.
Hope ya catch some giants,
Cary
It’s been a few weeks since the Forrest Wood Cup. Man, Ouachita was fishing tough. Getting five bites a day was a problem and that showed on day 3. Overall, it was a successful event making a top twenty, but I sure would like to win another one pretty soon.
I finally realize why everyone was telling me to sleep while I can before the baby arrived. He poops more than he eats and eats more than he sleeps. I am not complaining, I’m thrilled to be a father, it is just an observation for any of you thinking about becoming a parent in the near future. All my friends were right, get your sleep now. I never thought I would get more sleep at a tournament than I would at home. I think that might be the case.
During the off time I have just about completed a barbeque in the backyard. This isn’t going to just be a barbeque. It’s going to be a smoker, slow cooker and a barbeque. Here are some pictures of it in process.
Next, I am off to Lake Champlain which is up near Vermont. I fly out to Arkansas in a few weeks to pick up the truck and boat and then drive to Lake Champlain.
I expect to fish for both largemouth and smallmouth and I think fifteen pounds a day may not be enough. Champlain fishes funny, you can really get into the fish and never catch one over three pounds. That won’t work, I would think eighteen a day is possible and that’s probably what I’ll need to have a good finish.
Anytime I fish for smallies in the summer I’ll have a Lucky Craft Gunfish tied on. There is a good chance the LC BDS 2 and 3’s will work well also. I didn’t get a chance to pre-practice and it’s a big place so I’ll have to use my pre-fish days wisely to be successful.
I’ll get another blog out after the practice and before the event to let you know what I find.

We just got back from a week of camping at a lake a couple hours from our house. The lake is called Union Valley Reservoir, and it is up at almost 5000 feet elevation and lake, the area and the scenery was just awesome.
skeetreeseinc.com
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I just got back from the Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas.
I went there for a day to work for Stratos in their booth at the FLW Outdoors Expo for a day. I flew into Little Rock on Friday and met Scott Arms from Ranger and Stratos and rode with him up to Hot Springs to be ready for the show on Saturday morning.
skeetreeseinc.com
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I had a chance to take my nephew, Joey, fishing this week on the lake where I learned to fish, “Lake Waynoka” where my mom and dad live. We had a great time and even caught a few nice bass. The one thing that is always consistent at the lake is my mom’s meals…. Awesome!
Joe Thomas Blog
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Declaring the creation of a new game, with new rules and no limits, Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV, and 24 of the world’s premiere competitive bass fishing anglers have come together to form MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING™.
takahiroomori.com
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This week was one of my few down weeks between the end of the season and the promotional work I do throughout the offseason. I spent as much time with Kim and the Girls as I could, and my oldest friend Jeff came to town for a couple of days too. We went on a couple of mountain bike rides, and I thought I was going to die before I finally got in the groove.
skeetreeseinc.com
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I would first like to apologize for not blogging the past couple of weeks and I am sure there were those of you who thought I must have slit my wrists after my disastrous finish in the FLW Tournament on Pickwick. Not true… I’m still alive and kickin’!
Joe Thomas Blog
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It was a long, hot two weeks in Montgomery; down in L.A. – Lower Alabama!
Fishing the Toyota Trucks All Star Week was a lot of fun. It was a lot more relaxed environment the last two weeks without the Angler of the Year title being on the line. The head to head format certainly added a fun wrinkle to the whole experience.
skeetreeseinc.com
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