Thomas and TFF'ers sorry for the delay. Thanks for your patients and support.



On Sunday November 16th, I got to take a young fisherman out, not really young in the age aspect of it ( although in his early 20's)I mean fishing experience. T-Ross has only been fishing for about 3-4 years.

I took Thomas Ross, TDR2 here on the TFF, out for "A Day On The Water" at Lake Grapevine. Now let me set the scene for you. Sunday was the day after a cold front blew in, Saturday was 30 to 35 MPH winds and cold, so Sunday was your Normal post cold front day. Little chilly not bad, No wind, BLUE BIRD SKY'S, and bass with LOCK JAW.

I meet Thomas at his house at 5:30 Am Sunday morning, and we head out. With a fast stop by a QT off I30 in Garland,where Thomas swears has the best breakfast something or nothers and picking up me some snacks for the day, we head out to a lake that not even Thomas could have imagined what it was going to look like.

7:00
We arrive at Lake Grapevine and instantly he can tell that this lake is NOTHING like the lakes he has fished before. "It looks a little like Lewisville he tells me, but this lake is going to be very different from Hubbard" He says laughingly.

7:15
After doing the normal pre "Day On The Water" interviews we launch Thomas boat, a Triton TR-17.

He takes a few quick looks at the home made maps he has and heads North down the lake.

7:25
He pulls into a cove with steep ledge points in it and flooded timber in the back right of a marina and ramp.



He starts of fishing a Strike King Series 3 Sexy Shad crank around big boulders sitting in 6 feet of water with the boat sitting in 24 feet of water.

He notice the water is a little murky this morning and contributes that to the high winds the day before.

7:27
Thomas gets his first........BACK LASH OF THE DAY.....and it's a good one, don't worry there will be more later...

7:34
Goes to a Texas Rigged Power worm Blue fleck with a 1/8 weight. Casting to 9 feet water with the boat in 23 feet water.

He looks around and comments on the fish busting the surface all around him, "I need to figure out what that means" he states.

7:37
After going to a C-Rigged LFT Ring Fry, he feels a tap and sets the hook. He breaks off the fish on the set and shakes his head. " I think he had the weight and not the bait he tells me. He takes time to retie so I pick his brain for a second.



8:40
T-Ross has been casting his Series 3 and 5 crank baits along with T-Rigged Power Worm and C-Rigged LFT Ring fry's with no luck. He's been casting to shallow points and deep ledges, but little success. He has now moved to timber that the outer edge is in 26 feet water, the middle is 14 feet and around the bank is 5 feet of water in the sprinkled timber.



8:44
Thomas is talking on camera when he gets a bite.......THIS IS A FIRST FOR "DAY ON THE WATER"



Great Catch T-Ross, I really like how you played those glasses and they didn't come unbuttoned on you...LOL

8:58
He has now moved to the dam and pulls the Series 3 Crank Bait back out just trying to get the first Bass in the boat.

over the next 1 hour and 12 minutes he fished the dam with out a bite, using Series 3 and 5 crank baits from White to Sexy Shad along with Chart/Brown and bone color. Only breaking off twice and getting one of those back when it pops up after he reties another crank on. He start using a T-Rigged LFT worm with some purple in it with no luck around the isolated pipes in the water of the dam.

10:10
He fires up the motor and moves to the second marina up from the right side of the dam, I think it was Dove Loop. At this point he start to really wonder how tough the day is going to be, "There's always a fish on dams he tells me"...

While pulling into the marina he here's a clank at the back by the motor," I think my transducer just fell off into my motor" he tells me shaking his head. After a quick inspection it turns out not to be and he has a relieved look on his face.

10:14
He starts casting a crank bait around the tires and flipping it in small holes cranking it under the tires.



10:20
Moves to the rocky bank down from the ramp and starts to cast a shaky headed fin worm, around shallow cover and isolated objects.

10:25
Moves to docks in 12 feet water and picks them apart with the shaky head, he feels what he thinks is brush and grabs the series 3 crank to run through it. First cast he gets hung up on the dock and back lashes, next cast he hits a boat and gets hung up in some ropes. He breaks off the crank and is starting to really let the day get to him. At this point the Blue Bird weather and Post Cold Front conditions are defeating Thomas.



10:50
After sitting down relaxing and regrouping, He leaves the marina and tells me "If it's going to be this tough, I'm going to find bait fish suspended near shallow water and see if I can get a bass feeding on them to hit"....He has no idea that short break and clearing his mind will pay off soon to come.

11:24
After studying the map and finding a ridge near the Katie Woods ramp where we launched, he finally found some bait fish in 39 feet of water with 3 to 4 feet of water only 25 yards away.

11:29
After marking the two ends of the ridge with Orange markers he starts to fish for suspended bass he see's on his graph in 22 feet of water using a series 5 crank KNELLING AND REELING.

11:37
FISH, is all I hear, nothing big he tells me, but man you guys should have seen the weight of trying to get that first fish lifted off his shoulders.

A Bass weighing .10 ounces using the Series 5 sexy Shad Crank by Strike King.




11:37
Another small bass on the top of the ridge, a .8 ounce Bass, with the crank bait.

At this point he's getting fired up, his plan to located suspended bait fish off deep ridges around shallow water is paying off for him.

He keeps seeing bass bust shad in 2 feet of water now, but can't get them to hit his lure.

He puts on a Bone colored rattle trap with a Orange under nose/belly marking and tells me" I need to wait till I see them bust the bait fish again and I will cast to that spot. He wait about a minute and sure enough one fish pops the surface in less than 2 feet of water. He instantly cast to the exact spot and 2 cranks in gets a bite, the fish spits out the rattle trap and T-Ross lets the bait pause....1....2....3...he then start to reel and 2 cranks into it his rode LOADS UP....BIG FISH......BIG FISH...he exclaims, I grab the camera and.....................

[b]NEW BIG BASS RECORD

After all that Thomas just set a NEW BIG FISH RECORD for "Day On The Water" a BEAUTY of a BASS.....(5.14 lbs) as you can tell by the "WOOOOOO.....WOOOOOOOO" in the video he's fired up. LOL[/b]



12:50
Thomas has went a hour with no action and decides to move back up the lake to a hump he found on the map, he knows with the lake being 5-7 feet low it will be shallow, but wants to go check it out.

1:10
We arrive at the hump which is now 3 feet out of the water, and Thomas just laughs, oh well I want to see what the outer edges look like. He makes his way around the hump and marks a few spots he may want to fish one day and is getting ready to leave when he notices a SHARP LEDGE DROP OFF and perks up. " That look nice" he tells me. He makes about 15 passes over the drop and gets exactly where he want's the Orange Marker and flips it out over the boat.

1:22
He picks up his C-Rig rod rigged with the Power Worm Blue Fleck and waits till he's right where he want's to be and makes a cast. He lands the C-Rig about ONE FOOT to the right of the Marker and gives the rod two pulls up...He reels down and with a fast smooth motion sets the hook.

A SMALL BASS, but hey his plan worked out and he feels like he has really taught his self how to work his graph better today on this CRUMMY BLUE BIRD DAY.

The Bass weighed (.9 ounces)

He fished out the area for about 15 minutes and nothing after the first fish.



3:05
Thomas has spent the last two hours or so going around the lake marking bait fish and trying to land a big fish, with no luck and 20 minutes left he has now landed back at the ramp where he caught fish 1,2,and 3. The bait fish have moved back in and Thomas goes back to cranking and trapping the shallow drop near the deep ledge.

3:22
With 3 minutes left Thomas makes a long cast along the bank and to a shallow rock ledge and is running the Rattle trap along the bottom when he feels a thump and pressure. [color:#000099]THIS IS THE ONE TIME I WILL POINT OUT THE ONLY BONE HEADED MISTAKE HE MADE ALL DAY.....He felt the fish and started reeling, LOOKED at me and said he you may want to get the camera, as I'm reaching and getting the camera the fish jumps and throws the trap.....He was the first to admit he was more worried about telling me about the fish and forgot to really set the hook. We have all did it, BUT this cost him a fish as big if not bigger than the (5.14) he had caught earlier.[/color]



I have got to say, great job Thomas it was a tough day. He did get frustrated a few times but quickly caught his self and made adjustments to keep casting away.

T-Ross it was fun bud and the final weight might not have been what you wanted, but hey a 5.14 lb chunk isn't bad on a day like this.

T-Ross Total weight.
#1.....(.10 ounces)
#2.....(.8 ounces)
#3.....(5.14 lbs)*
#4.....(.9 ounces)

TOTAL...(7.9 lbs)

*(NEW BIG BASS RECORD)

Lures He caught his fish on

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congrats Thomas & Great write up Casey. Grapevine is a fun lake to fish, nice toad!

Good Job.

Congrats Thomas on the big girl...

not bad for a United supporter...

Nice toad Thomas! Way to regroup and figure it out. Calming down and dealing with frustration is a big part of fishing. Nice work.

good job!

good job it was a tough day on sunday.
When you were interviewing him at the end, the green jeep in the background is mine. My dad and I were prefishing for a tourney, lol.

Nice fish. Congrats on the new record.

Gotta love a trap....

Well done Thomas !!

Thats a good fish on Grapevine.