Like myself you are probably asking what a Fishers of Men Tournament Trail is and what it entails. As you might suspect from the name, it is indeed a fishing tournament. It is also a nonprofit, nondenominational ministry whose mission is to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to fishermen and their families through competitive and professionally run fishing tournaments.

What began in 1998 as a small four division tournament trail with a total of 21 events has now grown into one of the largest fishing tournament organizations in the country. During the 2008 season, 53 team tournament divisions and 37 legacy divisions combined for a total of 355 tournament events.

Now we get to experience the Tournament Trail here at Smith Mountain Lake. Launch time on Sat. and Sun. are scheduled for 6:45am. with weigh in and tournament activities planned for each day at 3:30pm.

For more information you can call 540-483-9293 or visit their site at http://www.fomntt.com/about.php.

The event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 10th from 9:00 in the morning till 1pm. It is open to ages 17 & Under. Fishing contests, fly fishing demo and contest, prize drawings, fly tying, and trout fishing. For more info. contact Angel Young at angelyoung@franklincountyva.org. 

You can also go to http://www.franklincountyva.org/parks/ for information.

It never ceases to amaze me how frequently I forget to use the internet to find things. As many years as I’ve been using the net and as many things as I have found to be lifesavers there, I still don’t always think to look there first. Needless to say I have found some great sites that give free golf lessons, videos and the whole nine. Here are just a few of the ones that looked helpful to me. You may be able to find even more on your own.

Save A Million Shots - A nifty site where many of the world’s best golf coaches have come together to give free tips and input to improve your game.

Learn About Golf - offers golf drills, video lessons and free golf tips.

Tom’s Golf Tips - has free coaching, feature length lessons and tips for specific problems.

Paul Wilson Golf - the inventor of the swing machine golf technique offers free lessons for beginners, woman/ladies, average players and experts.

To me this water sport looks a bit like canoeing from a surf board. According to a Florida news clip it’s getting a lot of attention these days. Some even say it’s one of the fastest growing water sports in the world, and Smith Mountain Lake is catching the SUP bug too.

SUP is an ancient form of surfing. It started with surfing beginners using a one-bladed paddle to remain upright while learning to surf. Standing up on the board gave them a higher viewpoint, enabling them to better see big waves and such coming at them. It gradually evolved into a shorter board and a permanent paddle blade.

SUP board prices range from $500 to $1500, and most use glass-reinforced plastic construction. The boards are generally 9 to 12 feet in length, with features such as padded decks, concave hulls and surfboard-style fins for stability.

Apparently out on the West Coast, Maui, Hawaii and other ocean-side places, stand-up paddleboards are all the rage. If you love water sports you will no doubt be curious about this sport and how you can have fun SUPing at Smith Mountain Lake, so I found a You-Tube video where you can see how it’s done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vLHihGleJU

Listed as one of the “Best Places To Play” in the 2008/2009 Golf Digest, this 18 hole championship golf course is a must for those who appreciate the sport. Mariners Landing offers several possibilities as far as membership options and is open to the public as well. Also their membership rates and other fees seem reasonable compared to other top of the line courses in the region.

There are a number of special golfing activities at Mariners Landing throughout the year. Two of the most popular events each year are tje Four-Ball Open, where local professionals and low handicap amateurs can show their stuff, and the Andrew Haley / SML Lions Memorial Junior Tournament. Other fun events are the Monday Night 9 hole captain’s choice and covered dish dinner, Wednesday evening captain’s choice, known as Boy’s Night Out, and Senior Men’s Golf Association (Greybeards) play each Tuesday and Thursday morning.

Any way you play it, if you love golf, you will love the Mariner’s Landing Golf Course!

The Craigcat sounds and looks extremely interesting, and if you visit the website he mentions, you may just fall in love with this little darling. I know the Craigcat will be on my Christmas wish list.

Here is how Alex McDaniel got into the Craigcat business and how you can find out more info. about the boat for yourself: “My mother came across this unique product and ask if my brother and I would be interested in selling these boats. We took a trip to the manufacturer’s location and factory in Orlando, FL and here we are today in business to sell Craigcats.

The craigcat is a very unique product designed/built by a 30 year catamaran builder. The product itself has been around since 1990 and it started out much like what you see at www.craigcat.com, which is called a classic. It has morphed into a multi-use “power cat” that can become a fishing boat or hunting boat painted in Camo. There is even a green friendly version in electric or gas electric, or solar. The price ranges vary from $2,691.00 – $6,129.00 in the electric models and start at $6,999.00 and go to $11,476.00 in the 4 stroke versions. Our goal for bringing this product to the lake was to help out in the low water situations you find in some areas plus they are a lot of fun. I hope to do rentals in the future but I am just starting out and I want to grow in that direction. If you have any questions that are more directly dealing with a topic about them I will be happy to answer them.”

Our family recieves the Field and Stream Magazine  and in the May issue there was a great interview by Colin Kearns with Doug Hannon. Some of you are no doubt familiar with this man as he is a noted Florida bass expert, tackle designer and has a record of having caught more than 800  10lb. bass! Yes, you read that right, over 800 ten pounders.

Anyway, he offered some tips on what makes him an expert ”Bass Professor”.  Below are just a few of the ideas he presented in the interview.

- After speaking with anglers known for 15lb. catches he found that one thing they had in common was that they were all caught in 6ft. of water or less.

- Fishing after the spawn is best, in late spring and early summer. Then, Hannon says, “the fish will attack anything, and all of your different lures and presentations work because the fish are so aggressive.”

- Hannon favors small lures and has caught 90% of his big fish on a 7 inch, straight-tail worm.

- The most important thing Doug Hannon ever learned “is to have enough patience and confidence to believe that where you are fishing is where the fish are – and to rely on the fact that when you do get it right, it’ll work.

If these pointers intrigue you, you can read more at  www.fieldandstream.com.

The event is scheduled for Monday May 18th, with lunch at 11:30am. and Tee Off at 1pm.

The 18-hole event is a modified four-person best-ball with prizes awarded in gross and net divisions. Prior to the Awards Ceremony, players will receive green and cart fees, not to mention tasty hors d’oeuvres. Come on out for a fun day of networking on the golf course! 

Old man winter has finally awakened and cooler temperatures are here and holding steady. For quite some time, we fall bass fishermen have been anxiously awaiting a cool down that would in turn lower our lake water temperatures. It’s time to go fishing.
   Personally, I love fall pattern bass fishing. It is the time of year bass gorge on food getting ready for winter. When they are filling themselves up, I like to be on the water catching them. Generally speaking, if you can find them, they are pretty easy to catch, and catch and catch.
   As the water temperatures cool down on our lakes, the shad (one of Mr. Bass’ primary dishes) move into the creeks and guess who is following right behind them? That’s right, old man bass. Now that we’ve got them cornered and hemmed up in the creeks, its time put your boat in the water and get ready for some fun.
   I generally start out on the points of main creeks. It is a good place to find bass that are moving into the creek or coming out. They will literally “stack up” on the points as they move around to feed on the shad.
   My bait of choice on the points is a Norman’s crankbait. My overall favorite is the Deep Little N (DLN) in any of the numerous shad colored patterns they have on the market. The Deep Little N crankbait is a medium diving bait that works really well when the fish are suspended off of the points. It is also about the same size as the shad this time of year. It has good action and sound with the built in rattles.
   I use 10- to 12-pound CXX P Line year round, when cranking. My friend, Eric Talley of Corsicana, Texas, turned me on to using the smaller lines. I’m glad he did because it has greatly improved my numbers since I switched. The smaller lines allow the bait to dive deeper and have a better action than the larger lines do. If you are like I used to be, using 15- to 20-pound line while fishing a crankbait, try down sizing your line. I bet you catch more bass, like I did.
   Once the fish are in a feeding frenzy along the banks of the creek, it’s time to pull out the spinnerbaits and jigs. The spinnerbaits work well, and in the right situation, can catch you a lot of fish. Use white spinnerbaits in clear to slightly stained water and chartreuse in off colored to stained water. I prefer a combination of gold and silver Colorado and willowleaf blades. Again, because of its strength, I use P Line in 15- to 20-pound test depending on the amount of cover (trees, logs, rocks, etc.) I’m fishing.
   If you’re looking for the big guys, whip out a jig. Once you find a part of the creek that is holding fish, pull off of the shoreline and find the main creek channel. This is where the hawgs tend to hang out waiting for that unsuspecting meal to swim by. My favorite is a 3/8-1/2 oz. Bulldog jig. I like the lighter baits because they fall slower, allowing the fish more time to eat them. In clear to stained water, white is my favorite color. It better represents the color of forage than any other color, even though I will use the traditional black/blue, too. Be certain to use a trailer, either a pork rind or one of the soft plastic ones will work fine. It gives the bait more bulk and slows the fall down even more. Pitch the jig up close to large trees, stumps or lay downs and allow it fall slowly beside the cover. Watch your line closely. Often this time of the year, the big fish are suspended off of the bottom. They can pick up your bait and be swimming off with it, and you’ll never know it if you’re not watching your line. If it starts moving off to the side, set the hook and hang on. It could be the fish of a lifetime.
   This is also a great place to use the crankbait. Cast the bait beyond your target and slowly reel it in. When you think the bait is at or near your target area, stop it momentarily to allow the fish that might be sitting there time to strike it, then continue reeling it in. Change the retrieve from time to time to give the fish different looks. It might make a big difference.
   Fall and early winter can be a great time to catch large numbers of bass. Keep in mind, however, the danger associated with cool and cold weather outdoor sports. Hypothermia is a silent killer. If you or your fishing partner get wet, find a place to get out of the weather, get dry and get warm. It doesn’t have to be below freezing to die of hypothermia. Please be careful.
   If you have any questions or comments about fall bass fishing, please visit my web site. Until next time, enjoy the outdoors, and take a kid along with you.

Tom Lester II is a professional bass angler and outdoor writer. He lives in Corsicana, TX with his wife, Kelly and daughters, Tatum and Megan. He host and operates an information based web site where he answers questions about products and techniques he uses in the professional bass fishing arena. He fishes bass tournaments throughout the southern and midwestern United States and represents numerous tackle manufacturers across the country at trade shows, on his web site and at seminars. For more information or to contact Tom, visit him at www.FishingProStaff.com.