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.

Great fun at Rayburn these days, the water is high and frankly there are fish everywhere. You can catch them off the bank out as deep as you want. The best fishing seems to still be in and around the bushes. However we caught them everywhere, the week prior I found a spot where I caught 7 in a row on a 6XD, when I didn't get bit on cast 8 and 9 I threw a Carolina rig in and got bit another 10-12 times in a row. Three to eight pounders, I thought I had found the winning fish but as happens the bite on that spot died off. I really have no complaints, we caught 19 lbs, lots of fish, unfortunately our big fish when was a 6.88 was caught very early on a Carolina rig and she died. Not a deep hooked fish, just stressful on her and it's summer and a long day in the livewell. Actually I do have a gripe, why would they attach a 1 pound penalty to dead fish, a half a pound is bad enough. We do everything we can, we don't want dead fish, we love fish, so why punish us, especially on summer tournaments. You are the ones that put us out there this time of year, the water is mid 80's fish are going to die. Yes it cost us $1,000, but we didn't break a rule or do anything out of line, I just don't think excessive dead fish penalties benefit the fish or the tournament circuit...just my two cents...or hundred thousand cents in this case.