Up and Adam Adventures

Congratulations are in order for Chris Lane who won  the 2012 Bassmaster Classic on the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana.  Chris won his first Classic by making good decisions when the chips were down. Chris' strategy included abandoning the traditional fishing adage of "never leave fish to find fish."  In other words, if you are fishing an area that you know holds fish and are catching them, it doesn't make sense to leave that area to go to another which may or may not have catchable fish.  Chris, however, left areas where he was catching fish during all three days of the Classic.  He admitted that the secondary areas he went to gave him fewer bites, but the fish were larger and allowed him to cull and upgrade his bag. Lane, a Guntersville, AL fisherman, beat runner up Greg Vinson by more than 3 pounds with a total of 51 pounds, 6 ounces and took home the $500,000 winner's purse.  He named two lures that he used to claim the victory. One was...

Tomorrow morning will kick off the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing, the 2012 Bassmaster Classic on the Red River in Shreveport-Bossier City, LA.  49 anglers from 22 states qualified to fish this prestigious tournament by fishing several tournament series within the B.A.S.S. ranks.  The defending Classic champion, Kevin VanDam gets an automatic berth, and the remaining spots are filled by the Elite Series and Opens winners, top anglers in the 2011 Angler of the Year standings, top 6 anglers from the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, winner of the Bassmaster Weekend Series, and the Mercury B.A.S.S. College champion. I won't do a Fantasy Fishing style run-down of who is favored to win on this fishery and for what reason because you can get a much better analysis on Bassmaster.com .  And here's a link to see the Complete List of 2012 Classic Contenders.   What I will do is tell you who my favorites are. Kevin VanDam is poised to set a record by winning three Classics in a row i...

The weather here in Georgia, and the rest of the country for that matter, has been downright nice this year.  It's been unseasonably warm, and forecasters always predict a miserable summer after such a pleasant winter.  According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) January 2012 was the fourth warmest January on record in the United States.  In addition, several states have had very little snowfall, and this threatens them with a dry Summer.  Nevertheless, getting out in the outdoors is a lot more pleasant when the temps are this comfortable.  Today I went on my first ever Quail Hunt. Along with my friends Jon Gissendaner and Mark Jeffries, and a friend of Mark's called "Paw Pat," I hunted quail and chukkar at Buckeyes Plantation in Jersey, GA. Buckeyes Plantation Buckeyes Plantation is located in Jersey, GA, east of Atlanta.  The plantation has been owned by the McGarity family since the mid 1800's, and Tom McGarity is the current owne...

The premise of my blog, if you will, is "the Adventures of the Blind Pig and the Acorn." It's taken from the phrase "even a blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while."  It mostly comes in the form of good-natured ribbing, and for me it's usually from my pastor and friend Rev. Daniel Gissendaner when I "stumble upon" a good shot in an archery tournament or harvest a game animal.  True enough, I may be slightly more capable than that, but for me it's a reminder that although I've been in the outdoors all my life, I'm still just a novice. My First Squirrel - Age 12 And keeping that in mind, I want to learn something every time I go afield.  I want to be a better hunter on the trail back from the stand than I was when I climbed the tree that morning.  I want to be a better fisherman loading up the boat to come home than I was when I launched it.  I want to be a faster, stronger runner after every jog than I was when I left ...

I am excited to announce that I am on the 2012 Pro Staff for ProLine Bowstrings !  ProLine makes quality custom strings that are guaranteed to have no serving separation, no peep rotation, and no creep.  They back up this claim with a 6 month warranty.  I'll be shooting ProLine strings on my Hoyt Alphamax 32 for 3D, and on my Hoyt CRX 32 for hunting this year. ProLine has made a steady climb over the last 6 years to become one of the top string makers in the industry, and they now supply the stock strings for several bow manufacturers. I'll be joining National shooting staff pros such as Kenny Lantz, Shane Gillispie and Eric Griggs, in addition to some great local staffers like myself.  I'm excited to help make 2012 THE year for ProLine to really take their string sales to the next level!

Yesterday I went to a Georgia DNR 3D archery range with my friend and pastor, Rev. Daniel Gissendaner. We are planning to shoot a Christian Bowhunters of Georgia Tournament this weekend and shooting an actual 3D course is the best way to get in tune for the shoot. In addition, I've been working with a new bow setup and shooting the course helps to uncover tuning issues before the tourney day. I'm shooting my Hoyt Alphamax with a Spot Hogg Infinity lizard-tongue style rest, which is quite a departure from the drop away rests I've used for hunting. Also I'm using a Spot Hogg Friday Night Delight thumb trigger release, and I normally use a standard trigger release. I really like using the Friday Night Delight. It has taken some getting used to, but I tend to punch the trigger when shooting a normal release. Due to using the thumb with the Friday Night Delight there is less tendency to punch the trigger. I truly believe my accuracy is going to improve with time as I get...