Destin DeMarion

Everyone affected by Winter Storm Finn, be safe. Snow, rain, flooding, and heavy winds are doing a number on the Midwest and Eastern US. The winds in our neighborhood today were gusting over 60mph. Trees and powerlines are down. Tons of houses and businesses are without power.

Please keep everyone in your prayers, including us and our neighbors, as more strong winds are projected tomorrow as the rain changes to snow.

So. Dang. Gratifying.

Who else actually enjoys doing their winter fishing tackle organization?

Thumbs up if you are kooky 👍😂.

The little one's got 2 more weeks in the cast, but it hasn't slowed her down a bit.

Man, do I miss Florida. There is no better place to be in the winter!
-Former Snowbird/Florida Guide 😂

📸 cred: Larry Cahan

2023 is about in the books. I'm thankful for some good experiences as well as plenty of learning ones. I'm thankful for my faith, family, great friends, job, and sponsors. I've gotten to see so many different places and meet so many more cool people through fishing the EQs, Team Championship, local events, and guiding in 2023. There will be new adventures to be had next year with DuraEdge, new fishing directions, and at home with family and friends. There's always a lot to be thankful for at the end of each year. I'm grateful for the good and the bad and really try to always focus on the blessings around us. Tightlines, and Happy New Year! 🎉

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Lake Erie is basically a sea. It's such a cool and unique place with so much to do. We are truly blessed to have our Pennsylvania shoreline on this amazing Great Lake!

Merry Christmas to everyone that I didn't get a chance to talk to! I'm thankful for a holiday spent celebrating our Savior's birth with my family, and it was nice having my mother join us. I hope you had a great weekend with family and friends!

I was going through some old stuff this evening and ran across these. Even though I think online mapping and Google Earth are top-notch, there is still something about looking at a paper map that really adds something to your lake study. Who else still uses paper maps 🙋‍♂️?

I have a question for you...do you think dinosaurs are really extinct?

The gigantic, big headed bass that swim the tannic stained waters in Florida beg to differ. We dive into the details from our 4th place finish at the Bassmaster Team Championship at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. https://destindemarion.com/blog/are-dinosaurs-really-extinct/

DuraEdge Products | Rabid Baits | X2Power | CentiMark Corporation | The Turwitt Team - Your Home Sold Guaranteed Or We'll Buy It - Real Estate | Angler Tungsten Co. | Power-Pole Total Boat Control | G2 Gemini | Owner Hooks | Fish Sense Inc. | FC Marine | Gamma Fishing | Lowrance | BUCK N’ BASS | Bob's Machine Shop | Amphibia Eyegear |

The season up here is probably about at its end. It was a fun one as Erie somehow continues to crank them out with such consistency year in and year out. This fall season was different than the last, due to mega clear water and overall mild weather. It changed, but the fishing was still amazing. We are really so blessed to have these 210 miles of fertile, trophy smallmouth (and trophy about everything else) packed waters.

A big thanks to everyone we got to fish with in 2023!

When we got the opportunity to go to the Harris Chain to represent the Western PA Team Series, I was very excited. Tyler and Nick held it down very well while I was on the road most of the season.

From the Open in October, I quickly knew where I went wrong on day two and wanted to make sure I didn't make the same mistake. As I've mentioned in some recent podcasts and blogs, essentially the saying, "if ya ain't scopin', you're hopin'," pretty well sums up that lesson.

The plan was to keep an open mind. Also, to sample new areas and try and avoid as much fishing pressure as possible. Whether that was achieved through fishing offshore (scopin') or fishing visible cover, we would give both their due.

This was my partner Tyler's first big derby, and I was excited to dissect the Harris Chain together and show him what preparation for a big event looked like.

We sampled nearly every lake on the Chain in practice, but a special area we found midway through the first practice day turned out to be just that. A big shell bar in deep water, perfect for the cold front conditions we would face. Thankfully, we only had to share the 400-500 yd area with the eventual winners, Aaron and Rodney Yavorsky.

We milked that area, using Active Target to be efficient, but also, at times, turning all of our graphs off and just fishing. We ended up triggering some really big bites and unfortunately failed to execute on them, especially day two. We did, however, weigh five in the 4-8+ lb range, and these were our primary players.

DT 14 & 16 Penguin with Owner STX-38 Zo Wire Trebles
12-14 lb Gamma Edge Fluoro
5.4:1 Baitcaster (deep spool for cranking)
7'6" MH Mod-Fast Cranking Rod

Various junebug worms on Carolina Rig
1/2 oz egg sinker
2 beads and Owner Hyper Barrel Swivel
4/0 Owner Jungle Hook & All Purpose Worm Hook
16-20 lb Gamma Edge Fluoro
10:1 Baitcaster
7'6" H Fast

Various Red/Red Bug Worms
2/0 Owner Cover Shot and Down Shot
1/4 oz Angler Tungsten Combat Series Dshot Weight
10 lb braid to 12 lb Gamma Edge leader
High Speed Spinning Reel
7' Medium Fast

Man, does this one have a good story...Aaron Yavorsky messaged me this picture saying, "I caught yalls fish today." Aaron and his dad won the Bassmaster Team Championship yesterday, and today in the Classic fish off, he caught this 7 pounder with Tyler's Owner Downshot hook in its mouth that he broke off day one! 🤯

What a crazy week with my bud, Tyler. After the dust settled, we ended up 4th out of 248 of some mega hammer teams from the US and abroad. The Team Championship was an awesome experience, and despite the chaos ( ) that included a gar bite today 😂, I hope to do it again and for years to come!

Congrats to Aaron & his pops for the W. It was cool to see them have a banner day, sacking 31+ lbs, 200 yds from us. Also, congrats to some fellow PA guys, Blain and RJ, on a 2nd place finish!

This 8-7 Harris Chain tub-a-lub anchored our nearly 18 lb bag to get things started in 6th place. Tyler and I are officially as it was a roller coaster of a day (more details to come). Tyler went in with our fish after we slung an ear on the prop, running back in Lake Dora. It seems like fish are coming to us, and I'm hopeful for another good day. Let's win this thing!

The Bassmaster Team Championship starts tomorrow, and Tyler and I put in the work at the Harris Chain. Now, it's time to grind em out ⚒️. Team events are a blast, and it's great that there is an opportunity for a Classic spot through a Team derb! Boat 201, checking in a 4:20pm.

We're back at the Harris Chain to finish off the season with the Bassmaster Team National Championship 🏆. Tyler and I qualified locally through the Western PA Team Series. Pumped for this one!

Man, my sides are still hurting from laughing so much today. I had the immense treat of fishing with one of my best friends, Jeff, for the first time all year. It was freezing, and the bite was tough overall, but man, did we have fun. The Binsky was king, but Jeff did sn**ch a 6-4 on the new TS technique, 🔨.

Graph art from the season on the Lowrance canvas. I like creating different color trails to keep track of where I go day to day to jog my memory while running down the lake. Do you use colored trails, too?

Smallmouth are cool. That's it. That's the post.

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First off, Happy Veteran's Day, and thank you to everyone who has served this great country! My friend, Kevin, and I got the full Erie experience today with some N winds and big smallies biting. Amazing, the water temps are still in the low 50s this late in the game.

The Angler Tungsten Co. Eclipse Head with a 3" swimbait was the deal today 👌.

When we talk about ledge fishing, this is about as good of example as you can get. As you see, there is a natural rise, often on the edge of a river or creek channel. Like in the textbook, the HDS Live shows a school of fish stacked up on this edge perfectly. This was one of the few big schools I located and milked at Watts Bar.

Lowrance

That little morsel gets munched. Total Eclipse of the AT Eclipse head. I prefer 1/8 oz when I'm fishing shallower in that 5-10' and 3/16 oz in that 10-15' range.

Angler Tungsten Co.

Onto the next chapter...

📸 credit: Bassmaster

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What an incredibly fun day on the Big Pond with Rohan and Tyler! It started out bumpy, but the winds subsided, and the fish chewed most of the day. We ended up with about 60-70 bass and so many 4 to nearly 6ers. We are truly blessed to have such an amazing fishery here in Erie.

First snow of the fall...not ready for this.

Happy Halloween, my fellow bass fishing friends and family 😁.