Archive for category Fishing Blogs
Preparing for 2012
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on December 4, 2011
The last few months have been very long for me. With some of the warmest weather I can remember in Pennsylvania I have not been able to fish. If you recall I had been dealing with a shoulder injury for most of the summer. Well in Septmeber after the KBBC Classic I decided to go ahead and have the surgery knowing that it would be a 4-6 month rehab. I am happy to say that I am about 2 1/2 months into the rehab and things are coming along nicely. I still can’t fish or hunt, but everyday life is slowly getting back to normal. Which means I have started getting ready for the 2012 fishing season.
December is a great month to stock up on fishing tackle. Most stores run Christmas sales, on-line sales with free shipping, or simply end of the year sales. Some places that I recommend checking are tackle warehouse, lang big fish, and cabelas. Often these sales don’t last very long so I tend to check the websites 1 or 2 times per week.
I have found that if you contact companies they will often give you bulk pricing on weights, hooks, and even lures. It never hurts to ask and when you are like myself and going to buy 200 bullet weights to get me through the year, you may as well buy in bulk and save money if you can.
Well good luck to you still heading out on the water. I know I would be heading out this weekend to try to get some last minute fish. Remember you might not get a bunch of fish this time of year, but you will usually get good fish to bite.
Land Big Fish Labor Day Sale
Posted by Staff in Fishing Blogs on September 2, 2011
Wanted to pass this along in case anyone is ordering.
KBBC Southside Tournament
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on September 2, 2011
Last Saturday was the final regular season tournament in the Keystone Bass Buddy Circuit (KBBC). Dad and I decided that because we were sitting in 11 place in the standings we were going to take an all or nothing approach to fishing the event. Which meant to us that we were going to try to lock twice. I know a handful of guys risk doing this every year and some guys make it back on time and some don’t. What we had decided is that no matter what we were going to start locking back up at 11:00, even though the tournament hours were until 3:00. We would start locking with or without a limit.
The tournament started at 6:30 and we ran to the first lock, and when we pulled up to it the doors started to open! We were very excited because this meant no wasted time. Once we got through that lock, we quickly ran to the next one. Another boat went up and pulled the chord so we stopped short to make a few casts. I think we were able to make 4 casts and they opened the gates again! Never in my wildest dream did I expect to have both locks line up and let us get to our spot by 7:40. I knew then that we had a better chance to do well.
Our first spot was a creek mouth that I had practiced the week before and caught a number of keepers and dinks. Turned out to have more dinks than keepers during the touranment, but we were able to get 2 keepers from the spot. One decent keeper and one that was around 12 3/4″.
Then we ran to a spot that I found were there was a metal wall, but there were a series of rock humps and wooden structure that was submerged. We got to that spot and I immediately caught a small keeper. It was around 12 1/4″. About 5 minutes later I caught a really nice 15″+ smallie. That would be the last of the keepers for that spot.
We fired up the boat again and ran to another spot by a couple of barges. Quickly dad caught our lunker smallmouth for the day and another keeper spotted bass. At this point we were really excited because we had our limit and it was only 10:30. The problem was that we were out of spots that produced for me in practice. We ran around fishing quickly for about 30 minutes looking for fish but nothing happened. So we decided to lock back through to the next pool.
Like clock work we were able to lock right up through and quickly ran to a spot we had caught them in practice. Once we locked back through we were able to catch 2 more keepers. One that culled and one that didn’t. One was off of a rocky bottom and the other was off of an old metal structure. We locked back through to the southside pool around 1:00. A 2:35 dad got a good bite, but the fish jumped and trashed away from the boat and was able to get off. The fish would have culled, but I think it may have only been able to move us up 1 or 2 places in the standing.
Overall, it was worth the gamble for a couple of reasons. First, we made it back on time. Second, we got away from the crowd. Third, we had decent fish located. Forth, we really had nothing to loose. Seven of the eight keepers we caught were on weightless stick worms. The stick worms were ones that I make myself that are very soft and are a slightly different brown color than most companies make. The other keeper was on a beaver that was green pumpkin that I made myself as well. I am a believer in making baits that no one else has and it has really paid off for us this year.
Congrats to Chuck Walker Jr. and Chris Covert for winning the points title for the year. Their 6th place finish shot them up to the top.
TBF District 6 Pymatuning and Conneaut Lake
Posted by Bass Hounds in Fishing Blogs, The Bass Hounds Blog on September 1, 2011
June 11th
PA TBF District 6 held their second tournament of the year at Pymatuning Lake. Team members Brad Bressler, Derek Severns and Robert Severns, fished this event. The guys were welcomed with a perfect morning, but the promise of a windy afternoon was in store. Brad started out the morning fishing the Ohio side of the lake a area called Bay 41, this was across for the launch at Snodgrass. He started off with two small keepers; his rider caught 4 keepers right away. They caught their keepers on jigs, spinner baits and senkos. Brad then decided to head north to the Linesville area of the lake. He pulled up on a area that he thought would hold some fish and has held them in the past, and he was correct, he boated 14 keepers off of this bank, 2 of them over 3 pounds. His rider did not have then luck that Brad did. Brad rounded out his limit and ended the day with one dead fish for ½ pound penalty and a total weight of 11.81, this would put Brad in 4th place for the day.
Derek started his day in the back of Wade Adams boat, the first spot they stopped on was just north of the launch. Wade quickly caught a limit on a white fluke and a shallow diving crank bait, while Derek couldn’t hook up. Derek did catch his first fish off of that spot. The two then made their way over to the Ohio side of the lake, and begun to flip trees and bushes in the shallow water. Both guys caught fish, Derek caught one over 3 pds. They left that area Derek had 4 fish and Wade still had his 5 and was calling. With a few hours to go, the guys decided to stick it out in a large weed patch on the PA side, just below the causeway. This proved to be a good call for both anglers, Derek ended his day calling out 3 of his 5 fish and adding one over 4 pounds. They were catching their fish on senkos, tubes and jigs. Derek ended his day with 13.09, this was enough to win the co-anglers side. Bob did not have the luck that Brad and Derek had he and his boater fished hard all day, his boater had a small limit and Bob had only had 4. This left Bob in 13th place on the co-anglers side.
August 7th
Was the final TBF District 6 tournament of the year. Conneaut Lake was host to this event. Brad and Derek made the trip to Conneaut, the day was forecasted to be 80 and sunny, which sounds good, but not at Conneaut, this would mean water skiers and boaters everywhere! The morning bite is very important on a day like this. Brad started out with a limit in the first half hour, small, but never the less a limit. The day turned into a grind for him, he caught more fish but they were all small, he just could not upgrade. The fish came on flukes, baby one crankbaits, senkos, and pop-r’s in the morning. Brad ended his day with a limit, but only 5.13 this was enough for 12th on the anglers side. Derek had much the same luck but in different areas with different baits, the big bites just were not there for the guys today. Derek fished a drop shot with a variety of baits, worms, senkos, gulp minnows. He had a small limit for 5.70 good enough also for 12th on the co-angler side. This was not what the guys had planned, but on a sunny day at Conneaut you never know what might happen.
As the 2011 District 6 season comes to an end, the ultimate goal is to qualify for the state championship. Brad finished 10 in the angler of the year points and qualified to the state championship as a boater. Brian Spencer qualified from the Eastern Regional event as a boater. On the co-anglers side, Derek finished 6th and qualified as a rider to the championship. Bob finished the year in 13th and cannot fish the championship event. The state championship will be held October 7th and 8th at Onieda Lake in New York. The team will be represented there by Brad Bressler and Derek Severns. Let cross our fingers the guys can find the right fish to make the 12 man PA team. At this event there will be around 150 anglers hoping to make the coveted 12 man team that will represent PA in an upcoming national level event. As always the team would like to take a minute to thank all the people that make this all possible, the sponsors….Valvoline Oil, Nervous Waters, Metal Menders Paintless Dent Removal, Strauss Auto Recycling, Bowser Collision Center, Poor Boys Baits and www.fishpittsburgh.com . Please support these companies because they support our sport.
Summertime Smallies
Posted by skinard in Fishing Blogs, Kinard's Fishing Blog on August 29, 2011
It’s been a unusual summer where lakes that have been traditionally good, in Western Pennsylvania, are not fishing all that well. The up-side to this is that it forces anglers to adapt and find new waters or techniques to capitalize on. With the nights cooling off now, in the end of August and early September, baitfish have began to ball up giving the gamefish prey to focus on. To my surprise, two recent trips to catch Largemouth Bass have turned into great Smallmouth Bass days… days that would traditionally not be prime for smallies (high blue bird skys).
When Bass are feeding on bait balls, I look to fish the wind or areas that the wind is affecting the movement of prey. The wind blows the bugs and organisms in a direction to which the bait will follow to feed on. This bait movement is followed by the gamefish! Points, Islands, shallow drop offs, shoreline cover all create areas where current flow is broken. This 
break in the flow creates eddies, slack pools, and other type anomalies for bass to stage on where they can feed up. Combine these factors with a hard bottom and you may find wolf packs of Smallmouth Bass (or Largemouth) congragating when the nights start to cool off. They will instinctively seek these area to feed when the surface temperature starts to drop. When fishing these areas you will realize that even if you are way out in the lake, you may acutally be fishing a long point or secondary point. With this, even the smallest depth change can be enough to hold large groups of bass waiting for an easy meal.
On two of my recent trips, I started out looking for the areas, which I just spoke of, starting out with search baits (crankbaits, top waters, spinnerbaits, etc). Once located, I realized there was no need to change my presentation 
because active feeding bass will look for a aggressive moving target. Crankbaits can be determined on the depth which you are fishing but I would always recommend matching the size of the bait which the bass are feeding on. If you can’t see the bait, take notice to what the bass is spitting up as you are catching them. Another good tip is to put a few in the livewell (releasing them later) to see what they cough up. The days that I spent catching over 60 smallmouth in a few hours provided clues with the water looking like a chum slick from all the bait that was spit out from the bass feast! This time of year, you need to find the hard 
bottom, determine the wind direction, locate the best areas of the structure, make a presentation that is either natural or able to entice a reaction strike. Look for points and drops and determine the depth. Watch the birds!… the birds will tell you allot… One lone seagull on the back side of a point or island can provide a good starting point. www.skinard.com
Waiting Out The Storms
Posted by skinard in Fishing Blogs, Kinard's Fishing Blog on August 29, 2011
Recently I went out for a very stormy evening with the hopes of catching a few nice Largemouth Bass. After being pounded by several evening thunderstorms, I did manage to get a couple hours of fishing in. To my surprise, the bite was a bit slow, but still managed four nice largemouth in the 4 lb class. When times are tough on waters, slow down your presentation…. slow way down!! .. This is when a quality product can really increase your fish catching. www.skinard.com
Where Have I Been?
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on August 24, 2011
For those who follow the blog, know I haven’t posted anything in a while on my personal blog. I have worked on other parts of the website, but just haven’t posted much on my blog. There is a very good reason for this….Memorial Day Weekend I tore muscles and cartlidge in my shoulder. Although, it has been painful, I have tried to fish but have had limited success. To go with the limited success working at the computer tends to bring a little extra pain to my shoulder, so when I am done with work I don’t want to see a computer until the next day. I scheduled surgery in September. Don’t worry I schedule it so that I would be able to fish in the KBBC Classic and the Wednesday Night Championship.
This weekend dad and I will be fishing the last regular season event of the KBBC circuit at the Southside. At this point most guys know that I typically struggle at the river. However, because I have started to pour my own baits fishing the river is becoming easier as I am really keying in on color and size of the lures better. Maybe I am just getting a little bit better at river fishing? Who knows, it could happen. Either way I am looking forward to the event this year. Practice has went pretty well. I do not think I am on the right fish to win, but I feel that a top 5 finish isn’t out of the question. Let’s just hope that barge traffic and the locks don’t ruin my day. I have never made a gamble like this before and I might never do it again, but we are willing to risk it all for a chance to win. Good luck to all that are fishing.
There are no Tuna in Pittsburgh
Posted by skinard in Fishing Blogs, Kinard's Fishing Blog on August 2, 2011
It’s a true statement that “There are no Tuna in Pittsburgh”. You can fish your whole life in the burgh and I can guarantee that you will not hook into one! We seem to always make blog posts on how and where to fish in the Western Pennsylvania region but ignore the best option when the fishing is slow … that option is do NOT fish around here… take a trip and go where the fish are active! I just got back from a great trip to the Gulf of Mexico for a two day Tuna, Wahoo, and Mahi Mahi trip. Every couple years I get invited to Dauphin Island Alabama to visit friends and associates and sample the great fishing that the gulf has to offer. Last year, around this time, the Gulf coast was under siege of the Deep Water Horizon oil rig spill that all but shut down the fishing industry in the gulf. After it was all said and done, the damage to the marsh and Gulf was not near what the government and media led us all to believe. The spill equated to one drop of water in a large bath tub and did nothing to damage this great fishery! The fishing is back and better than I have ever seen. Our journey led us out to sea about 6 hours into the gulf in roughly 5000 feet of water. Bonita were busting the surface everywhere around the different oil rigs we fished and the gamefish were close by. It was an incredible two day experience with at least 5 or 6 Yellowfin Tuna landed that were all in the 100lbs class.. several large Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, Shark, and even some smaller Blackfin Tuna. If you have a chance to get out of the Burgh, I would highly recommend Captain Mike Thierry of Dauphin Island Alabama (CapThierry@aol.com) or on Facebook (Capt. Mike’s Deep Sea Fishing Inc.) Also a special thanks to Quality Valve Inc., of Mobile AL, for making this trip possible again.
Land Big Fish Summer Sale
Posted by Staff in Fishing Blogs on July 22, 2011
We wanted to pass this on to all of our followers. For those of you who don’t already buy from them they are a great online fishing retailer. Free shipping on orders over $50, great selection, and with them being in Ohio you get your orders pretty quickly.
July 4th Weekend
Posted by skinard in Fishing Blogs, Kinard's Fishing Blog on July 8, 2011
Just a quick post on this past July 4th weekend. Went out for some time on the water in search of a few big post spawn Largemouth. Not many bites, but they were quality bites! Been testing out the Backstabber Lures provided by Keith Ray of Alabama… took a little tuning of the baits, but very good product. www.skinard.com
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