The Centre Sportsman TV Show

Penn State Bass Club Holds Their Fall Sayers Dam Tournament

JimmyMoslak — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:01:29 +0000

On October 25, 2009 the PSU Bass Fishing Team took part in their second club tournament of the year. This one took place at Foster J. Sayers Dam in Howard, PA. Sayers Dam is a 1,730 acre lake located in the beautiful Bald Eagle State Park.

The day started out early with a caravan of PSU anglers making the 20 minute trip from campus. They were greeted by the Host of the CentreSportsman, Scott Laukhuff, and the rest of the Hunter’s Run Bass Club. Each angler was assigned a member of the Hunter’s Run Bass Club and they acted as their boater for the tournament. The Penn State anglers learned some valuable lessons from the Hunter’s Run guys who are very good fisherman on this lake.

The day started out at 8am and ended at 3pm. The fishing was very slow throughout the day. However, 10 largemouth bass were brought into the scales. The big bag of the day went to Jason Haney with 2 fish weighing 3.26lbs. Second place went to Dave Grube with 3 fish weighing 2.88lbs. Rounding out the top 5 were Derrick Hughes(2 fish, 2.57lbs.,) Jeremy Lake (2 fish, 1.88lbs.,) and Chris Dimisa (1 fish, 1.14lbs.)

A total of 12 PSU anglers along with members of the Hunter’s Run Bass Club were treated to a delicious meal afterwords. A special thanks go out to the CentreSportsman and the Hunter’s Run Bass Club for making this tournament possible!

Penn State Finishes in 4th Place at the 2009/2010 Big Ten Championship

JimmyMoslak — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:00:25 +0000

The PSU Bass fishing team made the trip to Lake St. Clair this past weekend in search of an elusive Big Ten Championship title. The tournament was hosted by MSU and UM and 8 teams from the Big 10 competed in this event. Boats were provided for this event which made it easier for more anglers to participate!

Penn State faired well in this even taking home a solid 4th Place finish. This years Big Ten tournament was much better in the weigh category as all 8 teams caught at least 12lbs! (Note in last years Big Ten Championship at Brookville Lake, IN, only 1 team broke the 6lb mark!) Michigan State pummeled the field racking up 49.08bs of bass! Indiana came in 2nd (32.04lbs) followed by Michigan(26.57lbs), Penn State (25.97lbs), and Illinois (25.79lbs) rounding out the top 5.

Penn State had three teams participate in the event and brought in bags of 14.5lbs, 8.33lbs, 3.14lbs respectively.

So in all, all of the Big Ten teams battled the wind and found some quality fish, proving that the Big Ten is not only home to some great football, but they can make a case of being home to some of the best Collegiate Anglers in the nation!

The tournament was hosted by the CBAA (Collegiate Bass Anglers Association.) The Heckamans do a great job of putting on this tournament each and every year. For more information on this and other Big 10 Tourneys check out their website at http://www.collegiatebass.org .

Tight Lines!

Host of the Centre Sportsman TV Show Scott Laukhuff places 5th in the Co-Angler side of the Pennsylvania Bass Federation Classic Tournament on Raystown Lake.

Scott Laukhuff — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:57:13 +0000

This was one of the toughest two day tournament I ever fished on Raystown Lake. The bite was very slow and I had to make it happen. My trusty spinnerbait produced enough bites that helped me qualify for one of the 6 co-angler spots.

2009 State Team Co-Anglers

The Pennsylvania Bass Federation held its annual Classic Tournament on Raystown Lake this past Friday and Saturday. The Classic Tournament is where the Pennsylvania Bass Federation members fish the two day tournament in order to select the “State Team”. The top 7 Anglers (boat owners) and the top 6 Co-Anglers (riders) that will represent the State of Pennsylvania and fish against the other Mid-Atlantic Federation members at the Mid-Atlantic Divisional tournament which will be held on the Susquehanna Flats next October.

Scott Laukhuff

Tight lines…..Scott

(the other blind squirrel made it happen) LOL !

College Bass Fishing Report

JimmyMoslak — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:23:24 +0000

The summer of 2009 has been a breakthrough year for College Fishing. This summer has been filled with large-scale college fishing tournaments. Bass fishing teams from all over the country are competing in many different “leagues” as one might call them. Under Armour, Boat US, CBAA (Collegiate Bass Anglers Association,) and the FLW each hold their respective events for collegiate anglers.

This summer, on July 9-12, Under Armour held its National Championship on the Arkansas River in pools 5, 6, and 7. North Carolina State’s Will White and Chris Wood bested the field of 60 teams with a three day weight of 28.97lbs.

Also, on May 25-29, Boat US held their Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship on Lake Lewisville in Texas. Kalem Vincent and Vincent Campisano of Murray State University conquered the field of 140 teams from over 70 schools to claim the title. Their two day total of 36.16lbs was enough to bring home the title.

My alma mater, Penn State University, competes every year in the CBAA Big Ten Championships. This year the event was held in April at Brookville Lake, Indiana. The University of Illinois came out victorious with 16.46lbs of bass. Penn State ended up in 5th place with 3.27lbs.
By far the most impressive series out of all of these tournaments is the FLW College Fishing presented by the National Guard. FLW and the National Guard are revolutionizing college fishing and really putting this sport on the map. They have 5 different divisions which compete in tournaments on some of the most prestigious bodies of water in the United States. The divisions are comprised of Western, Central, Texas, Northern, and Southeast divisions. Each region holds four separate qualifying tournaments.

During these FLW tournaments, anglers compete against 40 other teams who get the honor or riding with a FLW Stren Series Professional. The Stren Pro escorts the college anglers on the body of water in his/her boat. The Stren Pro isn’t allowed to give advice on those bodies of water or let you use his/her gear but he can give you pointers on fishing in general or other bodies of water. The college anglers operate the trolling motor and determine where to fish. The top 5 teams in each event get a cash prize for their college bass program and their school! The 1st place team at each event gets $10,000 ($5,000 for the club and $5,000 for the university.) Did I mention that it is all free to enter?! FLW and the National Guard really have a special thing going on that is really recruiting people to the sport.
After the four qualifying tournaments in each region, a regional championship is help with the top 5 teams from each of the four events. In the Regional Championship the 1st place team gets $25,000 for their club, $25,000 dollars for their school and a Ranger Bass Boat! Then, the top 5 teams in the Regional Championships get a place in the National Championship with the 1st place team winning $50,000 and a Ranger Boat for their club and $50,000 dollars for the school and a spot in the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup! Everything the FLW and National Guard are doing is phenomenal for collegiate anglers and for the sport.

With all of these organizations conducting these large scale college bass fishing tournaments, it is only a matter of time that this sport really takes off and gets a nationwide following. High school students will begin basing their choices on colleges where they are geographically and if they have a bass fishing team or not. It is going to be exciting to see! Guaranteed.

Keep watching ESPN, Versus, and other outdoor networks to watch all of these events in the near future.

Tight Lines!

Check out these respective organizations websites at:

FLW College Fishing

Under Armour National Championship

Boat US Collegiate Fishing Championship

Collegiate Bass Anglers Association (CBAA)

Coldwater Smallmouth Bass Tactics

Scott Laukhuff — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:36:56 +0000

Centre Sportsman's Scott Laukhuf and Greg Hughes catch coldwater smallmouths

The chill in the air reminds me of fishing for coldwater smallmouth bass. I can’t wait until I get the chance to fish for BIG smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River again. My nephew Greg Hughes and I had a ball catching those big hungry bronze backs, just north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The water temperature has to be just right to make the smallies stack up and go on the feed.

Greg phoned me a said Uncle Scott get your butt down here now, the smallies are biting. So Dave Welch(producer of the Centre Sportsman TV Show) and I packed up the camera gear and tackle and headed to meet Greg at the launch.

The water level was dangerously low and we scuffed our way up the river to the honey hole. It didn’t take long until we started catching fish. Greg started twitching a lucky craft pointer and WAM a big smallie smashed the lure. I started to twitch my pointer and BAM…a big smallie hit my lure too. I couldn’t believe how hard they hit in such coldwater.

The secret was the lure presentation…..twich…twitch..pause…. was the right action you wanted to give the bait. I actually had my hands in my pockets and allowed the bait to drift down stream without giving the lure any action, when the bass would hit.

When the weather turns cold…..don’t put your fishing gear away, but try for some coldwater smallmouths, you’ll have a ball. ” That’s quaranteed!”

Tight lines, Scott

Watch the show for more tips!

Check out this clip from the Coldwater Smallmouth Show

Return to Backwoods, WY

Brent Postal — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:08:27 +0000

After several years of hiatus, I headed back out to Cody, Wyoming to camp, fish, and generally enjoy being out of cell phone range. Accompanied by two other devout anglers, one blood, one close enough to be blood, we drove our unpredictable rental car deep into the wilderness. Our destination – the Sunlight Basin. Our goal – catch fish. The weather was as nice as can be. Memories were a certainty.
Only there was one problem. Seems we weren’t the only ones looking to rough it in this part of the country. The usually unoccupied campsites were overflowing with people. “I’ve never seen this many people here” we all said at one point or another. Four-wheelers and RV’s were everywhere. Finally, like a perfect spot outside the supermarket, a clear site emerged. It was just feet from the water! We unloaded the gear and began the simple yet time-consuming task of setting up camp. Just as we were standing up the tent, one of many four-wheelers came rumbling by, only this one didn’t keep going. The lady pulled in to our site and effectively ruined the jovial atmosphere with the words, “You can’t camp here.” We moved fearing a $5000 fine and would later learn that she was correct. Basically, you can’t camp that far into bear country, and to be honest, we did see grizzly tracks and scat not far from our tent. Fortunately, we found another site miraculously untaken a mile or two back, and set up camp number two.
By this point, we were all itching to fish. Over the next two days we would explore miles of Sunlight Creek with marginal success. It wasn’t like it used to be back in the day. “Where did all the fish go,” I thought. Then, on the last night of our stay in the basin, we got into scores of fish. Rising trout were taking bugs as far as the eye could see. We tied on some Adams dry flies and caught fish until it was too dark to set the hook. Best of all, we didn’t see any other anglers. It was just us and the trout. This was why we went to the Sunlight Basin. This is why we fish. But I knew enough to treasure this “easy” fishing, because tomorrow, we were off to challenge bigger water, bigger flies, and most certainly, bigger fish.
The North Fork of the Shoshone remains an untapped gem for big trout. Averaging 16 inches, trout make their way up from Buffalo Bill Reservoir into the river to spawn in the spring. Then, they remain in the river until the water temperatures and levels force them back to the reservoir. This gives anglers several months of prime fishing over big, hungry fish. We just happened to hit the river at the right spot, at the right time, as green drakes floated in foam lines like tiny sailboats. That is, until huge trout gulped them down with splashy rises. Unlike the previous night, we knew our presentations had to be flawless. And it took some practice. But once we figured it out we started catching trout of almost 20 inches on dry flies! With four weights! Rainbows, cutthroats, and cutbows all fell for our well-placed imitations. The jumped, dove, and thrashed there way all over the stream before succumbing to our eager hands and a quick photo or two. Now this is why we fish.
Those four days replanted the fly fishing seed deep down within me. Watching a trout as long as your arm slowly rise to your dry is as exciting as exciting gets. Looking back, the trip was perfect. We camped along Sunlight Creek with snow-capped mountains towering above us. We caught monster fish that snapped our lines at our first mistake in the battle. And as for the memories, I have too many to put down on paper.

Night Fishing

Brent Postal — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:09:12 +0000

For many years, night fishing on rivers and lakes has been a great way to catch big fish. This is when the real predators begin to hunt. Lakes, especially, can produce “cruisers” looking for big meals when darkness falls. Night fishing isn’t as unnerving as you might think. And for those willing to brave it, the rewards can be substantial. Here’s what you’ll need to get started…

Float Tube

This is the most important weapon in your night fishing arsenal. You want one that lets you sit up high above the water, is comfortable, and maneuvers easily. As long as it does this and stays afloat, you’re in good shape. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a good float tube. Don’t let fly shops and outfitters tell you differently. And don’t worry; the “what lies beneath” concerns go away very quickly. Only the bottom or your legs actually touch the water.

Fins

In order to get around with some pace, you’ll need fins. Generally, the bigger the better, although you don’t want to be scraping the bottom in the shallows. You’ll learn to lean back in the raft to maximize speed. With only one night’s practice, you’ll be whipping around and turning on a dime in no-time. Without fins, it will take forever to get from A to B. Use them to steer the battle with a fish as well. For instance, kick away if trying to keep a running fish from finding the shoreline weeds.

Long Fishing Rod

It’s very important that the rod be nine feet or longer. You need this length to provide clearance above the water for your backcasts. As your casts grow longer, it will become increasingly more difficult to keep the entire line off the water as you cast. A stiff rod will help in this capacity. Also, a long rod held high will help steer the fight with a hooked fish.

Net

There’s no point in struggling with a fish in the darkness. Scoop it up with the net, keep it in the water and take your time. Without a net, you’re sure to have tangled mess of line in front of you after the release, that is, if the fish didn’t break the line with its thrashing. A net also allows for pictures. Fasten it to the boat and it will be out of your way.

If you’re up for it, there are some big fish to be caught at night. The weather’s cool, the fish are biting, and you’ll probably have the whole lake to yourself. Some things to watch out for: bats, mosquitoes, and the boogeyman.

Centre Sportsman’s Pro Staffer Jim Brown Takes 1st Place

Scott Laukhuff — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:34:28 +0000

Centre Sportsman’s Pro Staffer Jim Brown took 1st place co-angler in the Pennsylvania Bass Federation District 2 Tournament on Sayers.

Jim Brown

Very hard fishing conditions hampered the anglers but Jim’s weight of 4.84 #s was enough to land him 1st place. Jim was fishing a Berkley Shakey worm.
Great Job Jim !

Scott

Introducing people to fishing

Brent Postal — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:53:55 +0000

Fishing has always been somewhat of a misunderstood pastime. For those unfamiliar with the activity, it seems pointless and unexciting. It’s difficult to introduce people to angling, and even more difficult to make them want to go on their own.

I can personally attest to the difficulty of trying to teach somehow how, and why, to fish. I find that getting them there isn’t a problem, keeping them there is the real dilemma. Particularly to young people, fishing is boring. They just don’t understand why we’d want to stand in a stream for hours at a time, throwing bait at something that may or may not be there. If you plan to take on the difficult task of introducing someone to fishing, here are some tips:

• Explain why and where – Even before you go, be sure to tell them why you have a good chance at catching fish that day. Maybe mention the time you caught 10 fish in an hour where you’re going, or how it’s your favorite all-time spot.
• Keep it moving – Do not, under any circumstances, stay in one spot longer than a half hour if nothing is biting. Not only will they want to leave, but they’ll probably never want to go back.
• Keep it fun – There’s a place for seriousness in angling, and it’s not when a beginner is standing next to you. Play the fun angle at all times. Even during snags and break-offs, laugh it off and keep it fun.
• Put the rod in their hand – One of the oldest sales techniques is to “put it in their hand”. Let them try to cast and reel. Show them that the rod, reel, and line are all working in tandem, thus the difficulty, thus the fun. Be lenient and understanding when they hook the telephone wire above you, twice!
• Don’t show off – You want to look like you know what you’re doing but don’t act like you’re the best ever. Keep the technical jargon to a minimum as they won’t understand it anyway. Be humble even during constant success.
• Catch a fish – Easier said than done, but if you can hook on to a fish, they will get to see what it’s all about. Give them the rod and let them feel the pull. Instead of constant direction, turn away advice when they ask for help. Say, “It’s up to you now. Try to get him in and I’ll land him.” If/when they successfully reel it in, they’ll probably feel happy, proud, and ready to do it again.

Fishing can be fun for all ages and genders. And it really is fun to share the experience with someone else. So give a try, and maybe you’ll end up with a new fishing buddy.

Penn State Bass Club fishes the Potomac River

Scott Laukhuff — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:10:57 +0000

: Penn State Bass Club with Rick

The Penn State Bass Club traveled to the mighty Potomac River to fish with the Run and Gun Bass Club.

All Penn State members caught a limit of largemouth bass.

Derrick Hughes
had the winning weight of over 12lbs of bass.

Robby Zellers with a 4.75 lb bass

The PSU club had a great time fishing with the Run and Gun Bassmasters of Southern Maryland.

A big speacial thanks to Rick Falkenstein!