Their mission is to bring all Pond Hoppers together from beginners to Professionals, to educate and entertain, and share the love & passion of fishing with the World. Follow Pond Hopper Nation on their Youtube and be a part of their fishing family. Compete January 25th-February 4th in a length based, 5 fish, bass only tournament.

Bass must be caught during time of event, in a sporting manner, on public waters only and must meet submission requirements described below. Photos displaying the tournament code must be included with each catch. 5 fish limit, the app will cull for you.

How to submit a catch:
Step 1: Catch a fish
Step 2: Measure the catch on a ruler containing a bump piece
Position the fish on the ruler with the stomach facing down, head to the left, mouth touching the bump piece, & measure to the tip of the tail.
Step 3: Take a photo of the full length of the fish, measuring device as described above & include tournament code in photo
Step 4: Fill in the catch type, length, and lure used for the catch. Press save!

Tournament Code: Posted at 9 PM the night before the contest
Prizes:
First Place: PHN fishing shirt, Kastking Reel, & ConnectScale
Second Place: PHN fishing shirt & Kastking Fishing Line
Third Place: PHN fishing shirt
Big Fish: PHN fishing shirt
Shortest Limit: PHN Fishing shirt & KastKing reel

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]