UPDATE!
2/27/12
Got back home last night from Bass Pro Shops in Auburn, NY (the staff in that store is second to none). I had to do product demonstrations for Jackall's line of plastic finess baits, during the Bass Pro Shops 2012 Spring Classic.
I met alot of great people and had a really good time demo-ing products in the fish tanks, showing people how great Jackall's line of plastic products are. The baits pretty much sold themselves after each demo. Even after a scheduled feeding I could always get the fish to bite, I got a kick out of watching peoples reactions to the fish attacking the baits in the tank.
I have to admit my fist time on top of the tank was intimidating, but with some calming words from another rep named Bob Green (professional guide on Chautauqua Lake, if you're in his area and need a guide.. look no further), the second time around I felt as cool as ice in the shade. After developing my rythm, the weekend went by much faster than I expected. I really enjoyed talking to customers, other reps (Andy List, Frank Doll, I can go on and on with names), listening to and telling stories, teaching people different ways of fishing Jackall's plastics, just introducing people to new bass fishing techniques, and bouncing ideas off of each other.
This weekend was a great experience, I look foward to doing it again! I've added a few new pics of me on the BPS fish tanks doing my demo. Till next time, have a blessed one..
-Dre
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11/11/11
Its been a while since I last updated the site. I promised myself that I would do it a day or to after my last time on the water this season, and that day came and went, so here I am.
I thank God that I was able to complete this season without having to find out that I needed some sort of surgery like the past 2 years.
Looking back this year I'm kinda happy the way things went for the most part. As I hoped for, I've improved my mechaincs, refined some technique, and gained more on the water knowledge this season. Last year around this time I was looking foward to making and fishing the B.A.S.S. Weekend Series Regional Championship on Lake Erie. I got there (that was the good part), but so did the bad weather. Some of the worst conditions I've ever f ished in, 30mph winds, low 40's in the morning and rain. But I wouldn;t let that deter me from my goals. I was lucky enough to fished with 2 great guys each day. Long story short, I missed qualifying for the National championship on Santee Cooper this year (again). It burns real bad, but it just add to the hunger to do better next year.
The Last NY Bass fed Tourney was on Cayuga Lake this past October, it was my second time on the lake and as fate would have it, I fished with the same person I fished with my 1st time on the lake, a real good guy named Scott. We work that lake out to the best of our ability, I would up finishing in 11th place. The points from that dropped me from 2nd plance in the standings to 3rd place. If i had enough weight, I would have maintianed my 2nd place in the standings and made the NY State team. Even with the 3rd place finish in the overall standings, I'm still appeciative for the finish. I can't wait til next year. I haven't ironed out what trails I'm gonna fish (have a very good idea), but I know I'm looking heavilyinto fishing the B.A.S.S. Opens (depending on my $$ situation), the NY Fed and the Weekend Series. Still working out the details on all of it. For now its back to researching, studying, and improving my mechaincs.
Until next season...Have a blessed holidays!
-Dre
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7/28/11
Got back home Sunday night from the NY BASS Federation on the St. Lawrence River. Had a great time, and I got to fish with one of the legends on the NY Fed circuit: Whitey Grogan. Whitey's been fishing with the Fed for over 30 years now and still knows how to find them. We worked one area (about 100 yards long), throwing spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Keitech Fat Live Impact, and dropshotting the Jackall Cross-Tail Shad. The morning air had me shivering the first couple of hours, but once that sun came up, it was on. Catching fish on outside deep weed lines and working another deep shoal, netted me 15.62 and 3rd place (full article here). Those 3rd place points, plus the 10th place points I got on Lake George has me in 2nd place in the AOY on the non-boaters side. My Next Fed tournament is October 2nd on Cayuga lake (right after my 2 day Weekend Series Regional Championship on Lake Erie). I haven't fished Cayuga in 2 years and I'm really looking foward to it.
Before the St Lawrence I fished the BASS Weeknd Series on Lake Champlain (out of Ticonderoga) where I took 5th place. My boater John and I worked rock bluffs and laydowns. All of my bigger fish of the day I got throwing a Keitech 3.8 Fat Impact (Prostaff color) along laydowns. My 3 biggest fish came in at 9.76 lbs and netted me a nice check and 5th place.
On June 25th I had a club tournament on the Hudson River out of Kingston, NY. The Hudson is probably one of the most dreaded places that my club fishes, no one looks foward to it, mainly because of the 15" limit. My partner/boater for the day was Paul, this would be our first time together. We figured we could just relax and read a book most of the day, but that never happened. I wound up winning my 3rd club tournament in 3 years with a weight of 10.62lbs.
Up next is the St . Lawrence River on the 6th, out of French Creek (for the Weekend Series). I'm looking foward to that tournament, hopefully I'll do well. Then its back to the Hudson River on the 10th.. Till then.. Tight lines
P.S. I've posted some new pics, but have more to come..
-Dre
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6/22/11
Had a good weekend, I finished 10th in the NY BASS Fed opener on Lake George. We has a good size field with 98 boats and the weather was beautiful, you couldn't ask for more (ok.. weighing a winning bag of fish would have really been the icing on the cake).
I got up to Ticonderoga Friday night and put in 1/2 a day practice with Frankie on Lake George where we got tired of catching 12" 1-lb fish. Frank had the idea of running across to Lake Champlain where we filpped flooded brush for a couple of hours and landed some nice largies. Good start to a good weekend.
On June 11th we had the B.A.S.S. Weekend Series opener on Lake Champlain out of Plattsburgh. Practice was cool, all things considered (extremely high water, rain, and heavy winds). Tournament day was no exception, by the end of the tournament I thought I was in the movie, "The Perfect Storm" the wind was ridiculous, and the swells were just as bad. I wasn't too thrilled with my finish (19th place), but it could have been alot worse, I'm grateful for what I had, andI didn't miss any fish, and we (me and my boater) worked every area we fished to the bitter end.
Up next is the Hudson River on the 25th, then its back to Ticonderoga on July 9th and 10th.. Till then.. Tight lines
-Dre
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5/9/11
This off season was something amazing, I found out I had a rare soft muscle tissue cancer, and had 2 major surgeries. I healed somewhat, and after radiation treatment (that slowly undid all of the healing) I'm back on the mend, and by the grace of God I should be making a full recovery. I just want to say thank you to all of my friends and family for their support and prayers through the worst point in my life. I wanted to also give a BIG thank you to Lance Stringer and Kistler Rods for adding me to their prayer list and always checking on me when I was down.
One of the things that kept my spirits up was looking foward to the 2011 season. After a dismal performance at the 2010 Weekend Series Regional Championship, I have a insatiable hunger to improve my skills and improve my performance this 2011 season.
I want to say a BIG thanks to Mike Czaplinski of Keitech Lures for allowing me on their Pro-Staff (check out the Keitech link on the side for product/store info) and also many thanks to Sylvia Brown-Woods of Heritage Real Estate Services for Sponsoring me this year.
Check out my Photo Gallery for some new pics @ the Bass University and me on the water this year! God bless & tight lines! ttyl
-Andre
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Thanks
for stopping by! On my site you will find my current tournament
schedule, links to my sponsors (A BIG thank you to Kistler Custom
Rods, Jackall Lures, Keitech Lures, Bowman Becker Consultancy, Heritage Homes Realty, and Sylvias Soul Food Products),
a bunch of pics of me, my family, & friends, and other relevant
cool fishing info and whatver I think is relevant. If you want
to get in contact
with me for any questions/comments, shoot me an email
and I'll get back to you ASAP. Thanks again for stopping by.
