Time to change again! Slaloming the narrows of a creek I run as far into the back as I could go, somewhere the app showed I’ve had a lot of success previously. Starting with a finesse worm, then jig, crank bait, and ending up with the kitchen sink, I didn’t catch a cold. What have I not done? What did those earlier bites tell me?

It hit me. A reaction bite. I pick up my #8 Tackle Co. rod, paired with an Ardent Elite reel, that has my black and blue 1/2 ounce spinner bait on. First cast, BOOM, one slams it. Gaining confidence, I cruise down the bank, not getting more than 50 more yards and bam I get hit so hard, the fish knocks 5’ of slack in the line. Scrambling to catch up, I set the hook and the fight was on. Uttering a quick prayer I begged Jesus to let me get this bass in. One more excruciating run under the boat and the fish comes up just enough to slide the net under. My best fish by far, totaling just at 7 pounds. What a rush!

All in all it was a great tournament! These FatSack tournaments are always challenging especially when you have competitors like Baxley and South C. I want to say real quick, South C were praying for you man, hope everything is going well with you and your family and we can’t wait until you can get back on the water! FatSack outdoors is head and shoulders above every other app with these tournaments, I have never had so much fun on the water! So on to the next tournament, should be a blast as always!

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Final Standings

After second place in the last event Fatsack Outdoors hosted, Matthew was out to win. Before the tournament, he had been fishing a ledge with healthy staging fish, just the size he was looking for, 5-8lbs, and was able to coerce them to bite by slow rolling a Rat-L-Trap. More so like you would a worm, really slow on the bottom, sometimes even just shaking it, letting the Trap display its famed dance and sound. The first day Matthew navigated back to the same ledge but to his dismay, the fish had shrunk, or so he thought. For 3 days the Florida native pulled 40 Largemouth off the ledge, but no monsters like his home state is known. In fact, Matthew’s two longest fish were only 19″ but a fisherman must trust his gut and Matthew’s said those bigger females were still in that area, he just had to find them.

December in Florida can bring all sorts of weather patterns that ultimately dictate what these fish do. After a few hot days in a row Matthew decided to seek shallower water to see if the warm sun had lured these fish to the banks. Hours in he found a 3’ drop off, which can be a drastic enough depth change to hold a stubborn Florida Largemouth, especially if it has a cement drain, like this spot did. This time a pleasant surprise, those fish were chasing and eating large schools of shad, making the water look like it was a large black pot of boiling water. Re-positioning himself down the bank, Matt reared back and fired a white, half-ounce Strike King spinner bait directly across the small drop. It was as if you were watching Jordan Lee win the Bassmaster Classic on the final day; cast after cast he caught fish. Then it happened. An agitated, Florida Largemouth stopped the spinner bait as it began to drift off the ledge. Fighting for what felt like a lifetime, he grabbed hold of the six-pound stud, but as he reached to unhook her he notice something, the fish had completely snapped his spinner bait wire. That was when he knew he had stumbled onto something special. The way that fish bit the bait as it rolled off the ledge. Continuing the day I boated my other 4 keepers off the same area but none as big or telling as the monster that broke my spinner bait.

Big Fish

What’s the lesson here? If you have been on a school of staging Florida bass and have a change in the weather like a front or rain or a warming pattern, those fish haven’t gone too far, try going a little deeper or slightly shallower and SLOW DOWN. Regardless, let the fish will tell you what and how they want to feed on certain days, after all, it is fishing.[/vc_column_text]

Make sure you have the latest software or upgrade here:

Download the Update for iPhone
Download the Update for Android

Just go to the Bait Shop and pick a Pro Staff Pack. The coordinates will appear on your Maps along with all the details of each catch. Plus, the app will guide you to the exact location via GPS.

The article by Todd Davis is titled, “3 Fishing Lessons our Fathers Taught us that Still Apply Today.”

Read it Here

This month we are running another great new contest for Father’s Day!

Post a photo of you and your dad for a chance to win a trip for 2 to the home lake of one of our pro-staff, along with a pro-staff guided tour.

Make sure you have the latest version of the app because we’ve made some improvements and added some great new features.

Download the Update for iPhone

Download the Update for Android

How do you get the most out of your Fatsack app and save precious time on the water? For me, I usually have 4 or 5 setups that I think I am going to catch on that particular day (keyword, “think”). Each one of those items are already in my Tacklebox and if not, I quickly add them. Then, I set up a Favorite Rig for each one of my setups that I think I may use.

Now when I Sack It, instead of loading in each item of that setup for that catch, I simply add that particular Favorite Rig. As always, the app is set to keep the details the same as the previous catch, minus weather, GPS, and time (obviously).

So, edit the water temp, depth or whatever you need to, and there you go. Time cut in half.  If you ever need to edit a catch, you can go to the calendar page, view that day and each one of your catches. Here you can edit anything from Location to Lure or Throw Back Any of Your Catches?

I hope this tip helps you enjoy this app more and as always, if you have any problems or suggestions, let us know! We are undergoing a big integration that should make the logging process even easier. Just wait…. Imagine catching a fish, weighing it, and the app does the rest!

I called in the big forces for this one, my good friend, Brian Latimer, Bassmaster Northern Open and Rayovac pro. Brian said he could teach me a few tricks to help my game and score me that big fish, despite the hot temperatures.

1. Go to places you don’t normally go.

Chasing top water fish on the lake is common knowledge, especially on the Savannah River chain, and it is to ensure some solid catches. To catch fish you don’t normally catch, you must fish places you don’t normally fish. Try fishing in the very back of a creek arm, where the natural creek run-off flows. Often times, the fish lurking in these dark waters never leave the creek. They stay there along the shady banks, in the bushes or any brush. Bass are warm blooded creatures, When the water temperature rises these shallow fish get more active causing the fish to need to eat more. The dirty water in these feeder creeks usually indicates a flow of water, in turn generating the oxygen required to keep these fish stable and active.

2. Use a variety of baits.

Typically the most difficult part of catching these shallow fish is unmasking their location. Once you find those few creeks that are holding fish, you are then burdened with the task of deciphering what they want. Brian looks at it three ways: they either want it on top, in the middle, or flipping. When he’s planning for a trip to go beat the heat in the shades of the creek, he always has a frog, buzz bait, floating worm, and texas rig on the deck of the boat. As he hones in on the pattern, he will figure out just where in the water column these fish want the bait. Take notice of the forage in the creek, and be sure to look for shade, may flies and bream to try and match the hatch.

3. Quit adjusting your trailer and keep your bait in the water.

Fishing a creek bank infused with laydowns and overhanging branches can make for some interesting casting opportunities. Often times the fish are hiding deep inside an array of brush or behind the arms of an outstretched willow tree and the only way to reach that sweet spot is to skip your bait under. You will notice after a couple of skips, your trailer will be sliding down the hook and soon you’ll spend more time adjusting your hook than actually fishing. Try using a Chunk X Sling by tour Edge Lures, which holds the trailer on the bait skip after several brutal skips. Not only will it save you time but also money when you factor in the savings on trailer packs.

4. Long legs aren’t always a good thing.

As it skims across the water, the flappy appendeges on some trailers will slow the bait down. To solve this issue, choose a trailer with a long flat surface and with as few pieces to grab the water on a skip as possible. Brian will go so far as to cut the curly part of the legs off the trailer, leaving small, straight legs behind.

With both the right location and the right use of tackle, we finally bagged that big fish, and ended up cracking the 15lb mark that day, an admirable feat for me. By implementing these tips and tricks into your tackle box, my hopes are that you will as well. To achieve those things most people don’t normally achieve requires doing those things most people don’t normally do.

Fishing like everyone else, using the usual methods, will score you a catch like the rest of your friends, but learning to fish with strategy, precision and thought might just give you that catch you’ve held in your mind for years.

Good luck!

The time spent searching for the perfect honey hole or picking just the right lure seem negligible when a fish tugs heavily on my line. No matter how long it may take, the end result of an incredible catch keeps me coming back to my rod and the lake.

But, what if there was a way to reach this end result faster? What if there was less work and more thrills? What if there was a way to make the whole process more streamlined?

Fatsack Outdoors created an app to get you, the fisherman, to the thrill of a great catch as quickly as possible. With a touch of a button, the app records all of the important data including exact location, water temperature, weather, and time of day. A few additional swipes of the thumb allow you to input the specific lure, jig or bait used to catch the fish. Your specific analytics are stored on your phone and are made available to you at all times. As more and more of your personal data is stored, the app creates graphs to display your best days on the lake. This makes it easier for you to duplicate and recall exact details after a great day of fishing.

Gone are the days of outdated fishing journals and time spent writing statistics down by hand. No longer must anglers be forced to analyze their own data or recall details after a day where your thumb is raw from catching so many fish. Forget the struggle and frustration of trying to duplicate a day on the lake you can’t quite remember. With Fatsack, the data stays with you, on your phone, making it readily available at all times.

Advancements in technology, such as Fatsack Outdoors, change the way even the top notch fish. Pros, such as Jordan Lee and Matt Lee, have adopted this trend and are using the app to improve their own game. Not only are these Elite Series fisherman utilizing it to catch more fish, others such as Brandon Cobb of the FLW tour, and Brian Latimer are partnering with the company to produce video tutorials to be seen directly within the app. Yet again, these videos strive to teach you tips and techniques to make you a better fisherman.

As you continue to improve, Fatsack wants to be right there with you along the way, which is why the app contains a social media aspect called the Bragboard. It is our own in-app site that allows you to post photos of your catches and link the picture directly to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter showing off your angling skills.

Fatsack Outdoors, is available for both iPhone and Android and can be downloaded for free within the app store. As technology changes and improves, so does the sport of fishing and we strive to be with you along the way. Work less, fish more.