Alright guys, here it is: the official registration thread for the much anticipated Battle of the BASStards. Our 2nd annual tournament will be held on Sunday, August 21st at Lake Wampanoag in Gardner, MA. To register, simply post your team name and members in this thread. We launch at 8:00 am so please show up early to register. Register on the forum today! See Rules and Regulations for details. Check out last...

March 15th, 2011 Met at the National Park Dock at 7:30am with my parents for a ¾ day (6hr) offshore charter with World Class Anglers of St. John, USVI. Saw Captain Chris pulling up his boat and headed over to greet him. After exchanging a quick handshake I was greeted with some discouraging news. The wind had picked up and the swells were 8-9 ft—offshore was not an option. So much for my quest for Caribbean mahi mahi, wahoo, tuna and...

Got up at 5:45, met up with Casey at 6:15, and headed to the reservoir for an early bite. We had 6 or 7 tip-ups located on the outskirts of a submerged island, reaching depths of 10-15 ft, then 30′, then down to about 50′. We rigged live shiners 1-2 feet off the bottom of each, and by 7:30am we had the first flag up. Pulled in a beautiful smallmouth of about 16-17″ in length. 8:00 brought another flag, and Casey made the...

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Crazy BASStard and I took a day to target lethargic largemouths through the ice. Hit the local tackle shop just before 8:00 am to pick up a dozen medium size shiners, then drove to a secluded pond just over the Vermont / Mass border to start the day. We are familiar with the area—one of our summertime hot spots—and knew of a submerged rock wall that spanned the width of the pond, and...

BASStardFishing.com is proud to announce that one of our forum members and previous BASStard Of The Month “CrazyBASStard Girl” will be competing in the upcoming Miss Massachusetts Pageant! CrazyBASStard Girl was The BASStard Of The Month Winner for May 2010 with the beautiful 18 inch, 2 pound 15 ounce Largemouth pictured below and has been an active member of the BASStard Forum for nearly 2 years. The crew at BASStardFishing.com...

Just got my latest order in the mail from Tackle Warehouse, the Daiwa Viento casting reel. I hadn’t planned on adding a new setup to my collection for this coming season, however I came across this reel marked down to $90.00 USD from $200.00 USD and being a huge fan of Daiwa products I couldn’t stop myself. The Viento is styled very similar to to Sol and the Zillion, two reels by Daiwa that I have been fishing exclusively over...

Having a few family members who are avid fly fishermen I felt obliged to pick up a fly fishing outfit this past year and give it a shot, my target species of course; bass. After spending a few hours up at the Kittery Trading post in Maine and talking through the ins and outs of bass fishing fly rods  with a local fly fishing guide I settled on the 2 piece 9 foot 6-weight Redington Crosswater Fly combo. My Uncle who has been fly fishing as...

St. Croix has been a staple brand in the world of freshwater fishing for quite some time and has drawn an expanding crowd of BASStards in the past year with its introduction of the new Mojo Bass Rod. I have been fishing St. Croix rods ever since I casted half of my Ugly Stik into the middle of a pond my first year fishing and decided it was time to pick up a one piece outfit. The rod I selected was a 6′ 6″ Medium Heavy St. Croix...

When the Rapala Clackin’ Rap was released in 2009 it was available in only one size, the 3-1/8″ 7/8 oz, which many anglers found to be too heavy to manage on their light to medium power rods. Shortly thereafter Rapala added a 2-1/2″ 7/17 oz Clackin’ Rap to its lineup, which quickly became a staple in my fishing arsenal despite its undesirable price tag. Just recently along with the introduction of the new...

With temperatures plummeting up here in New England it is becoming more and more difficult to get a productive day out on the water. This past week Lucky and myself hit the water a few days and were able to manage a couple of late fall Largemouths, crawling and swimming Jigs. With the vegetation and weed cover dying down in the past weeks the water clarity is pristine and the markings of the fish we caught were crisp from the clarity of the...