November 13, Outcast Junior Tournament

On November 13, Team Outcast Jrs fished the 2nd Jr club tournament of the year. We launched at Joppatownes Mariner Point Park at 11am, 4 boats with 8 kids ready to catch some fish. Tide was extremely low, but the weather was perfect, 65 degrees, and mostly sunny, some good fish were to be caught. I had the pleasure of having Team Duarte onboard my Stratos, Mike and Johnny. I have fished with Johnny many times, and I am never ever disappointed. Theres a reason this young man won the Jr World Championship, he can flat out fish. He has a gift, and skills that make the adults envious. AND guess what, they are rubbing off on his younger brother Mike. We worked a few spots around the canals looking for feeding bass. 1 spot in particular gave up a few bites. Johnny broke a fish off, which happens from time to time, wrapped him up in a ladder, and Mike caught his first keeper from that spot. The boys then beat me with fishing rods and tied me up, forcing me to take them to the Quarry. LOL. There was an adventure getting them in there, but we did, and it paid off big. Johnny knew the exact spot to go, and stayed on it. He caught a good keeper there. With only a few minutes to spare, I simply said “you boys each need 1 more fish, you can do it” …and like magic, they doubled up. I grabbed the net for Mike when John yelled that he was hooked up also. INCREDIBLE. Mikes fish was huge, Johnny flipped his into the boat, and we headed back to weigh in. In the end, Mike Duarte won, with 2 fish for 7.08lbs, including lunker of the day at 4.26, Richie Martin was 2nd with 5.33, and Johnny was 3rd with 5.17lbs. The kids never give up. Natalie Dougherty finished 4th with 2.38, and the rest of the kids gave an all out effort, in tough tidal conditions. If anyone has any children, ages 11 to 18, that like to fish, and are competitive, and have an interest in joining a youth club, with amazing leadership, please contact me. The 2012 Outcast Jrs are looking for members. Great tournament for the kids, and adults as well.

November 12, 2011 - Battle for Mr Bass, Conowingo Lake

After a postponement for an early season snowstorm, The Team Outcast Battle for Mr Bass was on. We launched at Glen Cove Marina, with air temps only at 32 degrees, 15 boats, 30 members ready to go to war. Technically, the top 9 members in the standings, all have a chance to take home the title.

Myself and Eric Flutka made the long run north to Holtwood. Literally, all the way to Holtwood Dam, in the rapids, fishing bluff walls, gravel bars, and super deep water, 110’ deep. We tossed everything from crankbaits, to jigs, to spinnerbaits, and worms. Eric hooked up first with a nice 2lb smallie, on a drop from 6’ to 55’, fishing a crankbait. We worked furiously through the islands and eddys looking for something to happen, it never did. We worked south out of the islands near Muddy Run when I finally caught a smallmouth on a Koppers Live Target lipless rattle bait. We ran around the north end of the lake for a few minutes with nothing else happening, decided to run to a culvert at Cadillac Rock. I made the decision that I talked about all day, switching to a Silver Buddy blade bait. Immediately I missed a fish, hmmmmm! These baits snag everything. A few minutes later, with less than 45 minutes to fish, hooked into a good smallie. Fighting a 4lb smallmouth on 8lb line will get your adrenaline going, trust me. At the end of the day, it was a close race, Jim Goins edged Jason Strozier by 1 point overall to take home the title. Good job Jim. On the Co Angler side, Brian McNutt wrapped up a great season also, taking that title. For the tournament itself, Brandon P won for the boaters, while Bill Ackerman won the rider cash. Charlie Dougherty edge myself and Jason Strozier for big fish, with a 3.78lb smallmouth. Jasons went 3.76, mine was 3.75. It was a fantastic year for Team Outcast, we dominated the SQTs, we made a positive name for a great club, and we had a blast doing it.

Looking forward to 2012, and another year. Thanks to my sponsors, E3 sports apparel, Mobile Auto Service/ RemoteMechanic.com, Crooked Creek Tackle, and Evolve Baits.

September 24, 2011 - Mariner Point Park

After days of rain, hurricanes, cold fronts, and a change of venue, Team Outcast got back at it. We moved the site to Mariner Point Park. I spent 3 days wet and searching, finally finding fish in Middle River. I committed to the plan, including the long no wake zone to get to my fish. First pass through Martin Lagoon, caught my first keeper on a Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty. Black/Blue fleck, with an 1/8oz tungsten weight. I decided to flip this bait on 12lb P-Line CX premium line, just because the water was slightly stained. Lap after lap around the Lagoon without another bite, we had to leave at noon to try and salvage the day. We stopped at a grass bed at the mouth of Seneca Creek, and Tracy F immediately got blasted on a frog. We worked that grass bed in and out, Tracy got a keeper, we had a few more blowups each, but couldnt boat anything else. I knew we were around fish all day, we just couldnt get them to eat. 1 tournament left, the Battle for Mr Bass at Conowingo Lake, and theres about 5 guys who could walk away with it. Until next time, see ya on the water, where life is good.

July 30, 2011 - Upper Bay- Tydings

Ahhhh, the dog days of summer. How do we catch fish when the water is 90 degrees, and every spot around has been pounded for 3 straight months? My answer to that, Deep water, looking for smallies. I didn't prefish for this tourney, with temps at or above 100 daily, I was looking at past experience. Greg Hall and I ran north in the Susquehanna River, to the Cecil Co side, at the cliffs below Port Deposit. There's some wood and grass here with a really good deep drop, about 200 yards long. Greg picked off 2 quick smallmouth on a jig, off the drop, so I went to a crankbait. In particular, a DT22 in chartreuse and blue. It didn't take long for my first 2 1/2lb smallie, to eat it up. I stayed with the same color crankbait, in 3 different brands and sizes. After a pass down the bank, I switched 1 of them to a Norman Deep Baby N, sunfish sparkly color. Again, fairly quick I caught my second smallie. Alternating between baits, I missed 2 more fish, before I caught my lone Largemouth on a Manns 1-, in 2 feet of water inside edge of some grass. We stuck that pattern out for a few more passes with no other bites. We ran around and hit a few more spots, run and gun, but no luck there either. On to the next one, hoping for better results, and cooler air and water conditions. I might stick with an all Smallmouth pattern, see how it goes. Until then, see ya on the water, where life is good!

July 9th, 2011, - The Heat of Summer is here! Team Outcast club tourney #6 out of Tydings. Unfortunate family business wouldn't let me on the water until close to noon. Temps at 90 degrees, winds from the north at 10mph, blue bird skies, low tide. Uh oh, gonna be an interesting day.

I decided quickly to run north, up into the Susquehanna River, way up into smallmouth territory. The Cecil County side was really clear while the Harford County side was muddy, so I split the difference. I have a ton of confidence in a particular crankbait I throw for Smallmouth, and with only 3 hours to fish, I relied heavily on it. My Norman Deep Baby N, in the Sunperch Sparkle color paid off. 1 smallmouth in the boat, moving to area 2. Barges, old rusty barges, beached on shore with deep water next to them. Not much in life is 100%, but this spot is for 1 keeper. And I got another Smallmouth on the crankbait. With only 45 minutes left, I went back to Tydings Marina, hoping for 1 more. I pitched the new Evolve Original Species Frog up against the island bulkhead, into scattered grass, and BAM, absolutely inhaled. 3lb Largemouth. 3 keepers, 3 hours, just to keep my club standing in check. Not too shabby.

Huge thanks to Derek at Evolve Baits, this frog is unbelievable. I have thrown a ton of frogs over the years, and this particular Original Species Frog is HOT! It came through the matted grass smooth, it casts a mile, and looks like the real deal! I can't wait to give this frog a few more workouts! Until next time, see ya on the water, where life is good.

Sunday June 25th, 2011 @ Dundee.

Beautiful morning for an awesome event. The Md Bass Federation Jr SQT. As a volunteer boat captain, this is the most rewarding experience, giving back to kids with a passion, just like mine. The MBF really stepped up this year, with more volunteer captains than participants. We have a great youth program in the state, and the kids can flat out fish. When the dust settled, and all the weights were tallied, it was an incredible day! 11-14 age group winner, Cody Hall with 11lbs 8oz, 2nd went to Michael Duarte with 10lbs 13oz. In the 15-18 group, Nick Dietrich of Team Outcast won, with 14lbs 7oz, and 2nd place went to John Duarte with 14lbs 5oz. The future is unbelievable, not 1, but 2 Duarte boys out there, and Team Outcast well represented with Greg Halls son Cody winning. WOW, great job guys, very good job!

HUGE Thanks to the captains, Rod Bailey, Scott Sewell, JR Robertson, Tom Todd, Kelly Comer, John Jeddry, John Hansen, and Rich Welden. Thanks to Team Outcast captains Dustin Krowe and Brandon Piscatelli for stepping up also. Thanks to Roger and John Duarte for the hot dogs and cookies. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few guys here, sorry, memory aint so good anymore. Good Luck on the Potomac guys, go get em!

June 18th 2011, Deep Creek Lake, MD -- Bass Federation SQT #2.

Here we go, the 2nd SQT tourney of the year, Deep Creek Lake, I am amped up. John Duarte and I got to Deep Creek Wednesday, and got to work. Early Thursday morning we found the fish, big, quality Largemouth, in the grass in the back of the creeks. As witnessed by the photo, we had em located, but they were spread out, and skittish. You had 1 shot, when they hit, you had to stick em, if not, they were gone. I spent most of Friday running to the backs of every creek in the lake, searching for fish. Found some on beds, some cruising, some hunkered down in the shallow grass with the toothy monsters, aka, the pickeral. We got alot of rain each night, but the creeks stayed clean, Saturday we are swinging for the fences. Rain again overnight, and all morning on tournament day, UH OH.........

They, meaning the lake commission, or Army Corp, whoever, started pulling water, dropping the lake level Friday into Saturday. Our shallow fish were gone, not on beds, not in grass, nowhere to be found. ????? Now what??? I stayed on the pattern hoping for a few stragglers, cruising fish, no luck. I abandoned my shallow plan, went flipping deeper piers, with no luck either. In hindsight, I should have went to the first drop, deeper water, in the creeks. Im pretty sure thats where the fish went, maybe threw a suspending jerkbait, or a jig.

With my bad showing, we have alot of ground to make up now, SQT 3 in 4 weeks on the Upper Bay, back to tidal waters, my home waters, we can salvage the season with a great showing. Huge CONGRATS to Team Outcast, Joe Devoe with the win, and sitting in 1st place overall, Gene Zinkhan in 10th overall, and Andrew Sams in 12th. There is a great possibility we can put 3 guys on the team, simply amazing! Go get em guys, I will do my best to help ya out! See ya on the water, where life is even better.

Sunday June 12, 2011, Bush River:

It’s been a struggle, to say the least. After the last Team Outcast debacle, I was at a loss. Fishing is fun, it’s not work, and I lost focus of that. This tournament I was determined to get back, have fun, no pressure. I didn't have a plan, I didn't prefish, and in all honestly, don't really like the Bush River. I was just going to put the trolling motor down, trust my instincts, and fish. It’s what I do best. So my partner Eric Flutka and I draw the next to last position again, I'm getting used to this, and we are off. Short run to the old Bush River Boatworks/ Gablers Shore creek, no takers. The topwater bite just isn't right yet, water warmed way too fast during the spawn, fish are stuck in a limbo, in the transition. They are banging and slapping the baits, but not eating them. Not being familiar with this river, I looked over my GPS chart, and made a 10 minute run north, 6' deep, mouth of a creek. Worked a variety of baits, 1- crankbait, Crooked Creek Thunderjig (chatterbait), swimbait, the old Tiny Torpedo, and a few different soft plastics. My first fish I pretty much called...12" tree laying on an angle onto shore, 4 to 6' of water, on a point. Boom, right where she was supposed to be. Caught it on a 4" Black/Blue fleck chiggercraw. We continued that shoreline for a few hundred yards. Eric and I talked extensively about a White spinnerbait, both had 1 tied on, but neither had picked one up. Within 10 casts of throwing the spinnerbait, stuck a 4lb fish, holding tight to another laydown. We decided to key on wood, fishing piers and laydowns. Ran back to the creek we started in, and worked the piers, pilings, and bulkheads, fishing super tight to the cover. I pitched a Black/Blue fleck Havoc Craw Fatty against the bulkhead, as it slid down, it got eaten. A solid 4lb fish again. Explained to Eric, tight to the wall, same spot as my last fish, bang, he hangs a 4lb fish on a shaky head. We are here to stay. We continued working the bulkhead, where I limited out, flipping creature baits. My weight at the scale read 15.9lbs, great day. Was over 16lbs, but had a regurgitated perch left behind. No complaints though, I still got the WIN. Hopefully the monkey is off my back, my confidence is sky high, SQT at Deep Creek this week. Let's keep it going!

Thanks to my sponsors, Crooked Creek Tackle, my spinnerbait of choice, RemoteMechanic.com, E3 sports, and Team Outcast for sticking with me.

See ya on the lake, this week, where life is good!

Oh Yeah, Spawn time on the bay! This is my time of the year, time for the big girls! Sort of....

May 22nd, 2011 Gunpowder River/ Dundee Creek, Team Outcast club tournament.

I spent 2 full days scouting and pre fishing for this tournament, and found the fat spawners, had them pegged, tides were perfect, only 1 other boat around us. This is gonna be a great tournament ... and then it went bad quick! Im not sure how many of us think about the mental aspect of competition, but we all should. I have in the past, years ago, had a tendency to get into my own head, to lose focus, when things get sticky. I worked long and hard to make better decisions on the water, fish the conditions, and have had great success in the past 3 years. My first bite, I missed, set the hook, fish came off. No worries, keep your head down, fish. My second bite, I broke off. Set the hook, heavy weight pulling back, BOOM, broke, gone. My partner Paul catches a good 4lb fish. Here come the questions.... What? Why? How? Third, Fourth, and Fifth bites, swings and more misses. HAUNTED all day by breaking that fish off, voices, demons resurrected, crushed my focus, brought me down. Why is this happening? Why arent they staying hooked? How can I reverse this? I couldnt, and I didnt. Tunnel vision, I didnt make the decision to make a move. I blanked for the day, 1 tiny 6" fish, all I boated. Shot down, confidence crushed, no answers to any questions.

Next week, River Ratz Open, Redemption time, finished 3rd here last year, this year, in it to win it....or at least hook a fish and actually put it in the boat.

We launched 11th, ran to Perry Point, fished the rock jetty. As the 20 other boats emptied into Furnace Bay, we wondered. No takers on the point, short run to Apartment Cove. We did fairly well here, 1 good keeper, a few fish that were barely short. We decided to hit the Flats, work the grass in 5' of water. 5 minutes in, another keeper, are we finally on them? Possibly, but we lost a few more fish, and thus ended our day, still looking for a limit.

Huge congratulations to Andrew Sams, of Team Outcast and Kenny for an incredible 25.68lb bag of fish. Another big congrats to my friend Scott Sewell and Chris for a great 23lb stringer and second place. The Upper Bay weights are outstanding right now, better then ever.

Next up, the UltimateBass.com Upper Bay Bash, June 4th at Anchor Marine. This is strictly a fun tourney, a get together, fun. But make no mistake, I wanna place well, and relax at the same time. If you cant beat em, join em, See ya on the water (in Furnace Bay), where life is good!

Chuck

Saturday, April 30th, 2011 : Welcome to the 2011 Club Challenge.....or as we renamed it "Mud Bog 2011"!

In my 10 years of tournament fishing, on the Upper Bay, NEVER have seen current or muddy water like this! 5 clubs competing, 80+ people, not much clean water to fight for. I found some bigger fish during a scouting trip, and again pre fish, hoping I could catch them in the dirty water. We made the short trip to Apartment Cove, first boat there! We staked our claim on the inner most part of the small cove, and started the tedious, slow process. I chose a Zipper ring worm, black, with a blue paddle tail, rigged on a Tru Tungsten Ikey Head. I fished it on a medium heavy Berkley Lightning rod, with 12lb Vicious Pro Elite Flourocarbon. SLOW. There were 2 other boats there, so it was a crowd, and both of those boats boated keepers. Our turn. I caught my first fish, 3lbs 4oz tight to cover, under an old concrete culvert box. Soon after, I lost a good fish, bad hookset, swimming at sonic speed right at me, never had a chance. I know, days like this, I CANNOT MISS FISH! Execution is critical. We decided to run to Swan Creek, but our stay there was brief. On our way to Furnace Bay, to join the fleet of 50 other boats, we stopped back at Apartment Cove. Empty, not another boat there. Sweet! We worked the area again slow, where Mike C caught a good 4lb fish. Joined again by 3 more boats, we stayed put. I caught my next 3lb fish from a laydown tree, tight in it again. Soon there after, Mike caught his second fish, from the same spot as his first. Another boat caught a 5lb fish from the same spot. This "spot" I refer to, is the sweet spot within the spot. Its no bigger than a car, and they stack up there. I continued laps around the cove, fish on! Fish off! Missed another 4lb fish, just came unbuttoned, gone. ARGH! CANNOT MISS FISH ON A DAY LIKE TODAY! With commotion behind us, the boat from earlier caught a 7lb fish from the exact spot as Mikes fish, and his previous 5lber. We finished out the day in there with no other bites. Catching fish under these conditions is a huge accomplishment! So I was pleased with my day. 2 fish at the scale, for 7lbs 3oz, good for 15th place overall. Team Outcast finished 2nd overall by a mere 2lbs.

Next one at Dundee on the 22nd, and then the Ultimate Bass Upper Bay Bash!

See you on the water, where life is good!

April 9th, 2011.

Morning temps in the 40s, slight breeze, and my Team Outcast tourney season kicks off. With not much to go on, and a subpar SQT the week before, we decided to gamble. Ran to Quantico Creek, hoping for some shallow grass, and wood action. We worked the creek wood, stumps, and some points with nothing to show for about an hour. Finally, a short fish, end of a tree, on a crankbait. Maybe??? BOOM, "Tracy, get the net, this is a monster''........."nevermind'', I foul hooked a carp, but it felt good! Tracy has 1 short fish, we decide to move....not so fast. We see a boat catch a keeper right in front of us, so we work past them. Finally, first keeper, on an Excalibur xcr100 crankbait, hit me literally right at the boat. We moved anyway, to Chicamuxen, then up to the Pumphouse. I missed a fish on the rock jetty right away, on a shaky head. We watched another boat sitting on the sweet spot, not catching anything at all, so now the head games start. "Where are they?, What are they eating?'', other boat leaves. I work straight through where they sat, and bam, keeper #2. Same bait, same type retrieve. We continue around the Pumphouse rocks for another hour or so, and on the sweet spot again, keeper #3, on the crankbait again. With time winding down, headed back to Mattawoman, finished out the day in the shallow grass with no other bites. All in all, it was a tough day, but we had fun, and brought 3 fish back for almost 7lbs. Next stop, Upper Bay, for the Club Challenge. See ya on the water!

Wednesday April, 6th, 2011:

Here we go, full swing into the 2011 tournament season. After a great vacation, I am 1000% focused, and raring to go. Up first, the MBF SQT #1, Potomac River, April 2nd, 2011. The water was still cold, 46 to 49 degrees, Mother Nature has been crazy lately. Pre fished on Friday with Jr World Champion, John Duarte. 20mph winds really hampered our day, but we found fish in Mattawoman, shallow grass, behind Marsh Island. We tried and failed at everything else. Without so much as a clue to Saturdays tournament, my head spun all night. My Co-angler for the SQT was Mitch Boyle, from the Western Region. He found some fish pre fishing also, so gameday came, we headed off to his first spot. Bad Luck, Bad Draw Position, Slow Boat, whatever the case, there was already a boat on his spot, and they were catching fish. We worked the area around that boat, and had a great flurry of fish at one point. I caught the first keeper on a Bandit 100 series crankbait in 6' of water, not too long after Mitch caught his keeper. From that spot alone, we caught about 13 fish total, just the 2 small keepers though. Quick run to the pumphouse, 4 boats sitting there, so we ran to Marsh Island. We worked the area thoroughly, inside and out, with only 4 short fish to show. Overall, it was a tremendously tough day, the big girls just wouldnt show up. When a 5lb fish wins lunker, on the Potomac, in Spring, times are tough.

Congrats to Don Muir, Brian T, and Randy Elliott, good job boys.

Also a huge CONGRATS to Gene Zinkhan, and Joe Devoe, you guys are right there, in position to make the State Team. Thats how Team Outcast rolls!!!

Next SQT is June 18th, Deep Creek Lake. Next tourney, is Team Outcast #2, this weekend back on the Potomac.

Keep watching the site for updates, while I keep my eyes on the prize. Success is where preparation and opportunity meet, see ya on the water, where life is good!

Saturday March 18th, 2011:

Here we go, 2011 season is underway. A lot of changes this year, new sponsors, new outlook, and an unrelenting new focus. Huge THANKS to John Hansen, RemoteMechanic.com for keeping things running. Thanks to Crooked Creek Tackle, E3 sports apparel, for their personal support, and Thanks to Ryan Abey and Explosive Tackle for supporting the greatest club around, Team Outcast. Check out the following sites,explosivetackle.com, crookedcreektackle.com, and RemoteMechanic.com, and follow me here or on Facebook. We will try this year to update the site weekly, as well as Tips and Tricks as we get them.

As always, I'm on the hunt for additional sponsors, and support wherever possible. Anyone who owns a business, or knows someone who owns a business, that would like to advertise, please contact us through the site, or me directly at ctawney26@yahoo.com. Any business, personal or professional, I will represent with 100% full focus. I take this very serious.

Thank you to my fans, friends, family, and sponsors, 2011 is here, and its gonna be outstanding!

January 5, 2011 -- Welcome to 2011.

The start of the show season is here, The Fishing Expo @ Timonium, January 13-16, I will be there. Most likely at the Mobile Auto Service booth, repping the sponsors. Then the Spring Fishing Classic at BPS in February. A much needed vacation in Florida in March. Then we fish!!! Look for a new page coming soon, Tips and Tricks. Its in the works now. Thanks to all my sponsors; Fish Harder-Tru Tungsten, Picasso, Mihatchii, E3 sports apparel, Crooked Creek tackle, & Mobile Auto Service-Remotemechanic.com. Looking forward to 2011.

Now if G Swindle can win the Classic on the Delta?