Sport's Outdoors Blog

2012 13th Annual Crappie Tournament on Prior Lake

2012-04-25T16:52:26Z

The Prior Lake Hooksetters are putting on their annual event on the lake this weekend. This is a great way to get the kids out for a few hours and enjoy some time on the water. Each boat gets free minnows and the Hooksetters have done a great job of getting sponsors to help with grab bag prizes.

You can take as many kids as you like in a boat but only two adults. Each boat will weigh ten crappies. All fish that appear to be releasable will be released to catch again next year. Cost is $30 per boat with payouts going to top places and big fish. There is also a raffle with more prizes to be won.

7am-9am Registration at Captain Jacks on Sunday (4/29/12)
Blast off will be at 9am and weigh in will be at 2pm.

Should be a great event and the weather folks are calling for a fairly nice day for this time of year so grab the kids and dust off the boat. You could win some great prizes and the kids are sure to have a blast.

Check out the Hooksetter facebook page for details and questions.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Priorlake-Hooksetters/100001793771656#!/people/Priorlake-Hooksetters/100001793771656?sk=wall

Sport

New Mad Bass Baits Web Site and Bait Give Away

2012-04-20T19:11:00Z

The guys over at Mad Bass Custom Baits have been busy this spring updating the website to include some new items for the 2012 season and to incorporate a shopping cart for easy ordering of baits. In the past you had to contact them through email or by phone but now when it is 11:00 at night and you realize you are running low on tubes or finesse worms you can just pull up the site and use your credit card to order a few more packs.

To celebrate and encourage everyone to check out the new site, I am offering a sample pack give away. Place an order through the site between now and May 31st and you are automatically entered to win a 10 pack of some proven Mad Bass baits.

You can also be entered to win by going to the Mad Bass Facebook page and putting a comment up there. Tell us which of the new baits for 2012 you are most excited about or like and you could win another 10 bait sample pack.

Winners will be drawn at random June 1st and will be notified by email when they win. I will send the baits out within a few days after that so you can start using them to catch some big ones.

Go check it out at www.madbassbaits.com

Thanks
Sport

Joke for the day

2012-04-13T16:09:56Z

A pretty good one sent to me by John at Lindberg's Cove. I thought it was worth sharing with all my fishing friends. Enjoy!

Marriage Counseling:
After 35 years of marriage, a husband and wife came for counseling. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the years they had been married. On and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured. Finally, after allowing this for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately as her husband watched with a raised eye brow. The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze. The therapist turned to the husband and said, "this is what your wife needs at least 3 times a week. Can you do this?"

'"Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I fish."

Denali Rods Team

2012-04-10T13:43:16Z

I was contacted a while back by a fellow Mad Bass Custom Baits pro staffer and told about these great rods being made by a smaller company down in Arkansas. I looked into them and was excited to try them out. I contacted them and talked back and forth a bit and decided to get on board. I am very excited to have joined the Denali Pro-Staff.

Denali means "the Great One" in Athabascan, a widely spoken indigenous language of North America. A great name for a great rod company. They haven't been around that long but they have gained a large following `quickly and are selling rods as fast as they can make them. One of the
things that attracted me to Denali Rods was the complete line of rods. From entry level rods priced under 100$ to technique specific high end rods with cutting edge features, Denali has
a rod for every anglers need.

Another unique feature found only in Denali rods is a stabilized hardwood fore-grip. This foregrip allows better sensitivity and transmits the subtlest bite to the anglers hand. This concept isn't new
if you are a believer in fishing tungsten weights. Many rod makers have done away with the fore-grip in order to achieve this sensitivity at the sacrifice of comfort. This leaves your hand gripping a small metal ring that rarely fits your hand and usually the harsh edges and threads underneath. These hardwood grips provide the comfort to flip heavy cover all day or shaking a small jig while still maximizing sensitivity.

If you are looking for a new rod or two this season, you owe it to yourself to check out Denali . A new supply of Jadewood should be available next month.

Sport

Spring Time To Do's and Gear Tips.

2012-04-03T19:46:43Z

Spring came quick this year and I am scrambling to get things ready for the open water season. Tackle organization was put off all winter when it should have been done and now is getting rushed through. My reels are all currently being cleaned and lubed by my reel guy who always does a great job. He is also fixing a few minor problems with a couple.

Last weekend the big Northwest Sportshow was in full swing in Minneapolis. I spent a couple hours walking around and looking at the latest gear. After looking at new rods I came home and looked into a website I had seen advertised recently.

www.buy-a-better-rod.com is a fuji site that talks about five tips to buying a good rod. I figured it was gonna be generic and push fuji components but it wasn't. The information is great. I have had problems with rods not performing as advertised in the past and have never had anyone tell me these things. It largely relates to spinning rods but also touches on bait casters. One of the best and simplest ideas mentioned in the tips is to bring the reel you plan to put on a rod with you when buying a rod. I like this idea and think everyone might consider bringing the planned rod to be used when buying a new reel as well. If you dig into it a little you can get some very technical information about guide placement. If you work on your own rods it is a read you should look at.

Thats it for now. I hope to get the boat out of the garage soon. I also anticipate some news from sponsors in the next few days so stay tuned.

Sport

Little Fun On the Ice

2012-03-05T05:12:00Z

I haven't been out much at all this winter. Family obligations as well as a very warm winter made it difficult to get out as much as usual. I was very happy however when I was asked to take out a corporate group just over a week ago. I jumped at it and called a few fishing buddies to help me with the work that these kind of events require.

The group was about 14 people from all over the country and one or two from even further. Many if not most were first timers but all were game and willing to try. Add a case of beer and a bottle of whiskey and I knew we would have a good day.

I got out 2 days before hand and found bluegills and a few northerns on a weed flat in 8-10 feet of water. We setup in that area the day of the event and of course the fish had moved. We tracked them down in 12-14 feet and pretty soon had everyone catching at least a couple fish. Big ones were hard to come by but that is how mid winter fishing can be.

All in all a great day and a great group. I look forward to getting out with them next year. Below are a few pics from the event.

    First fish of the day for a first time ice angler.

'
    "Pucker up"

    Nothing to this ice fishing!

    "Good Times on Ice"

Thanks for visiting!
Sport

Swim Bait Intro and Tips Video

2012-02-04T23:41:43Z

At one of our last Gopher Bassmaster meetings, a member of our club put together a presentation on swimbaits. Dave has been fising these baits for years and has gained much knowledge on this way of catching fish. I brought along a video camera and captured the talk and fiured I would post it up here for others to enjoy.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HnqWxhaAnkY?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thanks to Dave for sharing his Knowledge as well as the Richfield American Legion for the meeting space.

Sport

Ice is on its way

2012-01-19T18:10:23Z

A lack of cold weather (along with a few other issues) as kept me off
the ice this winter. As I write this today however it is -6 degrees at
noon with the sun shining. That will make some ice. I hear the warm
weather as had the bite going pretty well but guys have to drag
portables out. I need a good 12-14" to get the diesel and wheel house
out so hopefully by next week.

The Great Worm Hunt

2011-06-14T14:44:20Z

As a boy growing up in Michigan, We used worms for bait when chasing just about any species of fish. In the spring a river near my home was host to a spawning run of suckers. They provided hours of fun for me and my friends. If we weren't trying to snag them with big treble hooks, we would get them to eat a big gob of worm. The brook trout in that stream fell for fresh dug worms as well. Perch would take a double hook rig baited with worms in Lake michigan during their spawning runs in lake Michigan, Walleyes on spinner rigs, bluegills, etc. If the ground wasn't frozen and we were going fishing, we probably had to dig a few worms first.

I got good at finding these simple yet very important creatures. It was rare that one of the standard spots wouldn't produce a good ice cream pale full of slimy brown gold. The leaf piles under the eaves of the garage or the tool shed were always an easy place to start. Move the leaves and get to the wet ground and there they would be. Sometimes a stick would be needed to scratch up a little earth if it hadn't rained in a week or more. A keen eye was needed to differentiate between a worm and a wet stick but I mastered the skill. Replacing the leaves back on the pile ensured future hunts would be successful.

From there you could always count on the slightly less pleasant, large pile of dog poop behind our bird dogs kennel. This location provided some of the fattest worms but was most likely responsible for the women in our family never touching a worm during a fishing outing. (Although the women in my family loved to fish, it is hard to tell a leaf pile worm from a dog crap worm) There were several tricks to hunting this spot too. Most important was that worms are rarely if ever found directly in the pile. Even they must not be able to handle the pure fecal power. Instead you had to use a shovel and dig at the very edge where the poop meets the topsoil. Here a couple shovels of dirt could be over turned and broken up to unveil a trove of wiggling beauties.

Now when you were away from home and had to find a few worms for a last minute trip or maybe had run out during a hot bite, there are some standard locations one could look. Tipping over the logs used as seats around a fire pit always has potential, as did turning over large rocks. Soil type of the area however could have a great affect on success rates. Rocks on a sand beach dont have worms under them. Worms aren't really the beach type I guess. I was also scolded by a young native boy for attempting this technique on a trip to Belize. Apparently Scorpions, Snakes and other mean critters like living under things too. Safety tip for you.

This past spring I had cabin fever something terrible. The weather was nice enough but seasons were still closed here in the north country so I couldn't hit the water. It had rained during the day so I decided to teach my daughter one of the most fun ways to catch the biggest worms. Sarah loves worms and regularly collects them off the driveway following a storm. This night however, we were taking a more direct approach. She was allowed to stay up past bedtime and armed with a flashlight and plastic cool whip container, we hit the front yard. Watching a four year old in princess PJs diving on a night crawler as it shoots back down its hole in the grass is a priceless sight I would recommend to any father who has a daughter. We had a blast. The worms won most of the time but Sarah and I did manage to outsmart a few. If you have never tried to catch a worm using a flashlight at night you would be shocked at how fast they are and although they have no eyes, they can tell when you shine the light on them. You need to pull slowly as Sarah found out once or twice or you will find yourself holding half a worm. Once we had scared all the worms in the front yard back down, It was time for bed. I got a big hug and had to promise another worm hunt soon. A promise I gladly made.

I dont use live bait very often anymore. Worms made from plastisol make up most of my arsenal these days. I will always have a place in my heart though for the wiggly little guys and I am guessing the fish will too.

Mad Bass Releases New Website

2011-04-22T17:37:00Z

Mad Bass Custom Baits has released a completely new and updated website this spring to help customers learn more about their baits and help you catch more fish.

New to the lineup this year are a few baits I am very excited about. The Mad Stix are a stick worm bait that is going to be a solid fish producer. It is slightly fatter than many of the other senko style baits on the market and will appeal to a slightly larger bite.

The Mad Creature is a flipper bait and will pull double duty both as a jig trailer and a flipping bait. Both of these soft plastics are available in standard colors as well as several that can only be found from Mad Bass.

Dont forget to check out the hard baits as well. The crank baits have been completely redesigned for the 2011 season.

Check out the new site it has a great new look (especially the pro staff page of course). If you want to get your hands on some of these baits, let me know and I can help you get the ones you need for that next trip to the lake.

Sport

Ice Fishing With the Kids Video

2011-03-13T11:49:00Z

Winter is hanging on strong so I bundled up the kids and got the fish house hooked up to the truck again this week. It is a fair amount of work taking a baby and a 3 year old out, but it can be lots of fun. Luckily the fish have started to go into the spring feeding frenzy. They were hitting much better than a couple weeks ago when they were in the dreaded doldrums. The warm snap we had a week or so ago also seems to have chased most other fisherman off the lake so we had the whole thing to ourselves.

We used 1/64 oz jigs with small plastics and wax worms to get these gills going. 2 pound line spooled up on ultra light rods rounded out the rig. We do have spring bobbers on the rods but you could watch them hit by looking down the hole, or as you will see, just watching on the camera. The bucket of fish made for a nice fish fry.

This is my first real attempt at editing our videos. The video itself is mostly of the back of my head but Sarah lays the charm on thick when she knows the camera is rolling.

Enjoy!
Sport

2011 Classic Time

2011-02-18T00:53:00Z

I dont consider myself a pundit but figured I would put in my two cents on the upcoming big event that starts the season of bass fishing off.

With new BASS ownership taking over last Nov, this event will be the first for the three man team. It doesn't sound like Logan, McKinnis, and Copeland have changed too much for this event but one change I am interested to watch is the Emcee. Dave Mercer takes over the Microphone at this years classic. Dave has his own show on WFN, "Facts of Fishing". I like the show and I think the funny man should do a good job. Although he can be a character, he does know fishing and isn't just a joker like say a Fish Fishburn.

I notice Mike and Mike will not be broadcasting from the take off this year. Cutting back the limited TV coverage the event already had with the departure of ESPN isn't too surprising. Every year they try to put more coverage online so I guess hard core fans will have to continue to get the best info there. Surfing around the Bassmaster.com site I didn't see if they will be streaming the weigh in. ( I found it an hour after this post of course @ http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/live/index) A shame if they didn't since the one hour recap show never does justice to the event. Check ESPN2 listing for show times.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/news/story?page=bassmaster_TV_schedule

My picks... Should be a good one. No clear favorites jump out at you when you look at the field. I think a less known guy could realize his dreams this year. KVD never dominates in the river tournaments. Lots of people Like Hackney as a "local" guy but the locals rarely win it.
Maybe a federation guy can pull it out this year. The kid from Idaho is hot and reportedly spent lots of time practicing.
Give me Tommy Biffle, Stephen Browning or Edwin Evers (who is quietly coming off a good year last season) as my top picks.
We will see how I do.

Sport

Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo

2011-02-14T16:08:00Z

I heard about this event and figured I would share. Looks like it might be a fun way to kill a few hours this Spring.

Sport

We are thrilled to announce that Tom Helgeson’s Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo will continue this year on April 1 - 3 at a wonderful new location -- The National Sports Center in Blaine, MN.

As you may have heard, Great Waters founder Tom Helgeson died in November after a brief battle with cancer. His absence left a huge hole in the Midwest fly fishing community.

Thanks to the help and encouragement of his countless friends, we are continuing the expo in the Twin Cities.

We have been overwhelmed and heartened by the enthusiasm and support to continue the expo and build on his legacy.

The managers of the National Sports Center have proven to be exceptional hosts and partners who will help the expo grow, thrive and ensure it remains the epicenter for fly fishing adventure, education and environmental stewardship in the Midwest.

We are busy booking exhibitors and planning the kind of educational, adventurous and interesting programming you have come to expect. We are close to finalizing arrangements to bring in several big-name fly fishing personalities who will add sizzle to the show. Stay tuned for regular e-mail updates and check greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com for more information. Gary Borger & Brian O'Keefe will be featured presenters at this year's Expo.

From now on, a significant portion of the proceeds will go to a Tom Helgeson legacy foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to protecting and preserving the moving waters of the Midwest.

Now we need your help. Please come to the expo (National Sports Center staff secured a special discount for Great Waters guests and exhibitors at nearby hotels) and tell your friends who love the sport -- or who want to know more about the sport -- to come see the finest fly fishing manufacturers, shops and guides in the Midwest. It’s guaranteed to deepen your appreciation of the sport and the environment.

We look forward to seeing you at Tom Helgeson’s Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo on April 1-3 at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

New SportSmithFishing.com Release

2011-01-02T04:55:00Z

Happy New Year!
I have had an extremely busy fall and overall end to 2010. A new Baby, home improvement projects and a little time hunting have taken all of my time the past 3 months. I have managed to spend a little time completely redoing my main home page. Please take a few minutes to jump over there and check it out. To be honest it is not completely done yet but I am tired of sitting on all that work and figured what better day than Jan 1 to release it. Click the link below to check it out.

www.SportSmithFishing.com

I also wanted to take a moment to thank my sponsors and all those who helped make 2010 a succesfull year on the water. That includes all of my faithful readers (You) as well. I look forward to working hard to ensure 2011 is even better.

Thanks again!
Sport

Fall Lunkers

2010-10-12T02:21:00Z

With unseasonably high temps it was more like a July evening on the water than mid october. I have been cooped up in the house taking care of the new little guy and working on projects around the house. Tonight I took dad and Sarah out for just a couple hours of dock skipping on a lake right by my house here in Maple Grove.
The water temps were still 67-68 deg. Crazy warm. Water skiers were out as we hit the first dock. It didn't take long. The fish were way up under the remaining docks but if we got a ring fry or hand tied jig under there we usually got bit. We landed 8 or 9 fish with the smallest about 2 1/2 pounds and several around 4 1/2. We lost a big one each when we got our 17lb flouro sawed off. They were big and wanted nothing to do with getting pulled out their homes. Pretty good night for a quick little "get out of the house" trip. Below are a couple pics.

This 4lb plus fish hit a hand tied jig and chiggercraw trailer.

Another 4lb plus fish. This one on a weightless ring fry.

More to come on how the summer tournaments worked out for me. Stay tuned! (better late than never)

Sport

Next Generation

2010-09-24T00:40:00Z

I have to apologize for my infrequent attempts to provide content to my site. It has been a crazy summer culminating in the birth of my son William Robert Smith last week. 9lbs13oz and 22 inches long he is a keeper in anybody's book.

Those interested in some pictures of the little guy can go to the following link and enter the following password.

Link: http://www.myfirstdayphotogallery.com/gallery/mgh091810awilliam-953489
Passcode: MGH091810aWilliam

Keep an eye out for updates on my August fishing as well as the Minnesota Federation TOC.
Sport

July Fishing, Fun and Beyond

2010-07-29T01:07:00Z

In late June I took a trip with Sarah up to our lake place and spent 3 or 4 days prefishing for two July tournaments in the Alexandria area. We spent a considerable amount of time driving around MIltona and Ida. Both are large lakes and both have a good population of Large mouth and Small mouth. The weather was not great so several times we sat in the truck waiting for storms to pass or slept in to wait a storm out. We still managed a few fish and put together a bit of a game plan.

This 4 pounder took a senko under a dock. Picture taken by Sarah. Pretty good for a three year old.

Sarah posing nice from the front deck with a rainbow in the background.

We left Alexandria and repacked our bags to head over to Michigan for the 4th of July. It was great to spend time on my childhood waters with my boat and just fish for fun. I managed to help my niece catch her first largemouth by throwing senkos around some weed patches. She was excited and we managed a couple pics (grandmas camera though).

One morning I went out and used a nice antique bamboo fly rod and managed a 14" large mouth on a popper. It was everything I could do to land that fish on a buggy whip like that. Awful lot of fun.

I had told my parents I would take them hunting for trophy Small mouths on Lake Michigan while I was home. Mom usually gets stuck at home with Sarah when Dad and I go out to fish so it was her chance to get out with us and maybe catch a nice one. We got up at 4:30 one morning and headed to the Garden Peninsula. The wind was howling at 6:00 in the morning making it a little too rough to venture out on the big water. We worked around the protected bay and did manage a few fish.

This toad crushed a spook walked over a steep break into 20 feet of water first thing in the morning. Unfortunately we couldn't find any more big ones. The wind got even worse so we called it quits by mid morning.

After catching a few more largemouths back at the cabin, passing on a few tips and tricks to the family, getting wet on the jet ski, and spending a few days on Mackinaw island, we headed back to Minnesota to prefish some more for Miltona and Ida.

More to come.
Sport

May & June recap

2010-05-11T17:28:07Z

It has been too long since I posted. Life has gotten in the way. A new baby on the way, new hardwood floors in the house, grand parents visiting.....The list goes on. It all ended now though as the first several Gopher tournaments of the year are done.

We hit the mississippi river and attempted to catch a few in May. Although the season here in minnesota was still closed, the river is open year round so with the early spring we had, everyone hoped fishing would be good. Of course the 60-70 degree days we had all of april turned to 40 degree days in May.
I had a bad couple quick practices and not very good tournaments to go with them. I am not a fan of the river and that was probably in the back of my mind as well which never helps. I managed 4 fish one day and one fish the next. Believe it or not that was good enough for a middle of the pack finnish both days. I will need to make a real effort to get out and practice next year if we go back to that water.

With the season officially open Memorial day weekend, I spent a few days at my lake place near Alexandria. The fishing on my lake was pretty good and I managed a few 3-4 pound fish from shore. A couple casts in the morning and a few more at night was the extent of the effort but fruitful all the same. Swim jigs caught the majority of my fish for me but dead sticking soft plastics also accounted for a few nice fish. One evening my fishing buddy and I stood ankle deep taking turns catching bass and northerns from the shore. There is something special about catching fish from your own dock or stretch of shore.

We spent one afternoon out on Lake Ida. The large mouths were shallow and hungry. We caught fish on Mad Bass tubes, jigs, shaky heads and more. We kept a few small ones for dinner and were very surprised to see they had not yet spawned. That may have explained the bite we found. My wife and daughter both managed a few fish. It was great to get out and have a look at the lake since I would be fishing a tournament there in July and be back there a few more times this year.

June had me fishing Sylvia/Twin and Sugar lakes outside the west metro. It was nice to sleep in my own bed between events. I had pretty good practice with Sarah on both lakes and figured I had a good chance to finish high in both events. I managed a 3rd place finish on Sugar by throwing my drop shot with a Mad Bass Natures Tongue on it.

This little bait has become my go to drop shot plastic. Sylvia/Twin was a classic case of a bite being off. I had found fish shallow in practice but they were just gone come race day. Everyone agreed they were off and the vast majority of fish caught were deep. I didn't adjust quickly enough and didn't have enough deep water to fish so I landed in 10th place on the day with a small limit. The 2 days showing were good enough to move me up into 6th place on the season however.

I will post up a July recap shortly.
Sport

Minnesota DNR 2010 Hunting Survey

2010-03-17T03:56:00Z

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is collecting input from the public regarding proposed changes to hunting seasons in 2010. Take a few minutes and be heard. Follow the link below to participate in the survey and to learn more. (It doesn't take too long.)

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/sminput.html?gosurvey=Take+The+2010+Public+Input+Survey

Lipless Cranks Article

2010-03-08T05:31:00Z

With the recent Bassmaster Classic win, KVD reminded many anglers how effective a lipless crank can be in cold water. He wasn't alone as most of the top 10 guys were throwing trap style baits. I came across a good article that not only talks about fishing lipless baits but also on the differences between the wide variety of styles available and the techniques each is best at. It also touches on the best setups for fishing these baits and gives a sample worksheet to help you identify baits you should use. Here is an excerpt....

"Lipless cranks may all look somewhat similar, but an important point to realize is that not all lipless cranks behave the same - unless you just chunk and wind them. It's fair to say that most bass anglers today, that's all they do with lipless cranks - chuck them out and wind them back in. If that's all you want to do, then stop reading right now and go use any lipless on the market - and you should have success. Most are good to "chuck and wind" straight back.
If you want to do different things than that with them, you need to realize not all are the same. There is a big difference in what you can and can't do with different brands/models of lipless."

Check out the full article at http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/lipless-crankbaits.shtml
A good read and hopefully it helps you catch a few more bass this season.

We picked up a few subscribers over the past month or two and I wanted to welcome you to the site. If you are a frequent reader but haven't yet subscribed, you can do so by entering your email in the box to the left and clicking "Subscribe". That way you can get every entry delivered straight to your inbox.

Thanks,
Sport

2010 Ice Fishing Gear Review

2010-03-03T18:59:00Z

As the weather warms and ice fishing draws to a close, most anglers have started to prepare for the upcoming open water season. Plenty of good panfish fishing can still be had during late ice as melting snow brings warm oxygen rich water into lakes and streams. I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about new gear items that helped make my winter fishing better than ever this past season. Maybe you can pick up a deal at the end of season sales that some retailers are having for ice fishing gear.

Mobility has become key in Ice fishing in recent years. Sitting on a bucket in one place waiting for fish to swim by is no longer what the sport is about. Power augers have been the biggest advancement in mobility and allow anglers to drill holes all day. I was not an early adopter of the power auger. I would normally find fish during early ice when my hand auger could drill holes easily and often. Once the ice got to 18" or more I would settle in and beat on the spots I had found earlier or invite a fishing buddy with a power auger. This year I broke down and got a Strikemaster Electra 12000dp.

The auger works great and I love not having to deal with gas and oil. It is also nice that it doesn't smoke up the inside of the wheel house. If you are in the market for a new auger. Check it out.

Last year I started selling Rod Slicks and have been using them on my bass rods for some time. This winter, I used them on my ice rods and was very happy with how the worked. If you keep your rods in a bucket you know how often the get tangled. I also use them to protect those higher priced jigging rods. They are great! If you are interested in getting a few slicks drop me a note.

I use a MrHeater Buddy for warming my various shelters. One thing I have always hated is the number of empty 1Lb propane tanks that seem to fill up my truck and garage. This year I got the fitting from Bass Pro Shops that allows me to refill the canisters. Now I keep about four tanks around and can simply fill them off the BBQ grill when I need to. It is quick and easy and it saves you lots of money in the long run.

Filling the tank is very easy. Connect the brass adapter to the 20lb tank and tighten it with a wrench. Then connect the 1lb tank. Turn the whole setup upside down and open the valve. Leave the valve open for one to two minutes then turn the valve off. Your done. The small tank has been refilled. You cant really get the tank as full as when you bought it due to air in the tank but close enough to surely justify the $20 purchase.
Click the picture (left) to take you right to the adapter.

There is a few items I added to my winter fishing. Hope they help you too.

Sport

Custom Search

Welcome A New Sponsor! Mad Bass Custom Baits

2010-03-03T18:27:00Z

I am very happy to announce a new partnership I have joined with Mad Bass Custom Baits.

Mad Bass is smaller family owned bait company based out of Washington State. That area of the country has a very good but little known smallmouth fishery. They specialize in "Finesse" baits as well as smallmouth offerings but offer a fairly complete line up including hard baits and plan to be adding to the product line in the coming months.

I am very excited to have partnered with Mad Bass. As anyone who has fished with me knows or if you have read many of my fishing related entries you will know that I consider finesse fishing one of my strengths and enjoy having a spinning rod in hand whenever it is applicable. You may also know that if given the choice, like most bass anglers, I will chase smallmouth over large mouths any day. That makes Mad Bass baits a perfect fit for my style of fishing.The unique designs and colors that Mad Bass is producing will surely help me put more fish in the boat this upcoming season.

If you are interested in looking at some different smallmouth and finesse type baits, check out the Mad Bass website at www.madbassbaits.com or drop me a note and I can fill you in.

Sport

Tip Up Flury

2010-02-17T16:24:00Z

I spent a few days last week in the UP of Michigan and got the chance to do some fishing. One day we chased panfish with only limited success. I did manage to learn some new water though and spent some time on the ice with friends.
I spent another day and a half setting Tip Ups for Northerns on a lake in the Hiawatha National forest. This area was my stomping grounds as a kid so it was fun to get out and enjoy the country again.

Michigan regs changed in the past year or two and now allow for 3 lines per angler and 2 hooks per line. This meant the party of 5 of us could put out a dozen tip ups and still have a couple rods in hand for panfish. The panfish bite was slow with only one perch being landed on day one. The northern bite however was excellent. On day one we had 15 flags landing 8 fish in the 20-25 inch range and broke off a couple fish that felt much bigger. The fish were obviously active. They were tearing line off the spools. Several fish had half a spool out with in 30-40 seconds of the flag going up. One fish bit threw the heavy fluorocarbon leader just like they do so often in open water.

                            Jackie lands a nice one.

We had our spread starting in about 3 feet of water going out across a channel of 20+ feet and then back up onto a point with some milfoil and pencil reeds in 4 or 5 feet of water. On day one every tip up produced at least one bite even though the depth ranges varied so widely. On day 2 however the shallower lines produced best.

                        Old fashioned but still effective!

Most guys would never think to put out baits in 3 feet of water under 20 inches of ice. They should! This is not the first time we have had success in very skinny water. The action can be fast and furious as big Northerns get up in shallow water looking for an easy meal. The second day we got only 5 flags but landed 4 fish in the 23-34 inch range. We pulled the set in mid afternoon to pack up and head home after a nice fresh fish fish fry for lunch.

                              This 11.5 lb prespawn female took a golden shiner and lots of line

All in all a great couple days. We released most of the fish to hopefully catch next year. Only a couple weeks left in most states to get out and chase toothy fish so get out there now before you have to put the tip ups away for another year.

Minnesota Crappies

2010-01-23T00:20:00Z

I recently took a few guys out and tried to catch a few of the big crappies many lakes of northern Minnesota are known for. We worked with Rick Grabko from the Boy Lake area. Rick lives on the lake and runs a guiding operation on the lake. He rents a few fish houses so we fished out of one of those and stayed in Longville.

The house was sitting in one of the deep holes of the upper basin. We were in roughly 38 feet of water at the base of a ledge running up to 23 feet. Too deep for the Aqua Vu so I borrowed a Vexilar from a fishing buddy. We marked plenty of fish but just couldn't get them to bite. We only managed one crappie the first day and 4 more on day two. Earl had never been ice fishing before so it was good that he caught the majority of the five fish.

                                        Earl shows off the catch of the day.

                                                     Good size fish even if the numbers were down.

Everyone had an extra day before having to hop on planes etc. so we headed back to the cities and hooked up the wheel house to the truck. Off to tonka to bend a rod a few more times.
We parked the house on a weed edge that drops off into a deep hole. I have had luck here in the past and it didn't take long till the action got hot. The Aqua Vu showed fish everywhere. Ray took up a comfy spot on the couch while Earl landed fish after fish from a corner chair. Bill (my dad) and myself took turns catching fish out of another hole and laughing at the almost constant yelling of "Fish On!"

                                                Ray liked his spot on the couch.

They might not have been the biggest fish but we caught plenty (probably around 50) and brought home enough good ones to have a real nice fish fry with the girls back home. We also got one decent northern on a tip up on top of the weed flat.

                                        Earl lands a big one

                                           Celebrating the catch

All in all it was a great three days on the ice. It was great to spend time with friends and to introduce the sport of ice fishing to a newcomer.
If you are interested in the trip we took and want more info about the places we went or the gear we used, feel free to drop me a line.

Sport

New House Fun

2010-01-16T04:30:00Z

We picked up a new wheel house a week ago and I wasted little time getting Sarah and myself out in it. No major lunkers caught but probably 30 gills got pulled up in a couple hours of fishing. About half of those by Sarah.

Sarah had a blast and with the extra room she could watch a movie and wrestle with the dog when she got bored. I hope to get Andrea out this weekend.

Quick post since I am very behind. Hopefully I will get a few more out this weekend.

Thanks
Sport

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2010 Ice Fishing Events and Tournaments

2009-12-14T22:23:00Z

Ice fishing is in full swing here in the Midwest and below is a list of all the fun events you should think about getting out to and catch a few fish for prizes. I am a bit behind with this list but there are plenty here for you to choose from.

This year I tried to organize the events by state. Let me know what you think. Feel free to send me any event I may have missed and I will add it to the list.

Minnesota

StrikeMaster Ice Augers World Ice Auger Drilling Championships
Time:8:00AM Saturday, January 9^th Location:Brainerd

Join us for the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza!
January 23, 2010 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm
On Gull Lake - Brainerd, Minnesota

01/30/10 The 35th Maple Lake Ice Fishing Derby
Hosted By: Maple Lake Property Owners Association

01/30/10 The Original Ice fishing Contest (Part of the St Paul Winter Carnival)
White Bear Lake
http://www.icefishingevent.com

01/31/10 57th Annual United Northern Sportsmen's Ice Fishing Contest
Island Lake, Duluth, MN
http://www.unitednorthernsportsmen.org/Events.htm

02/6/10 12th Annual Park Rapids Legion Community Ice Fishing Derby,
Saturday, February 6, 2010. Start time 1 to 3:30pm
Over 110,000.00 in Prizes Grand Prize Raffle, 2010 Ford 4 wheel drive truck, Polaris ATVs Cash and much more.
http://www.parkrapidsfishingderby.com/

02/13/10 Hunters Point Resort Perch and Pout Hunt
Mille Lacs Lake Fishing hours 7am-2pm
2pm awards and door prizes (lots of them)
Contest entry and details at Hunters Point Resort 320-676-3227

02/13/10 10th Annual Alexandria, MN Ice Fishing Challenge
http://www.icefishingchallenge.org/index.html

02/19/10 - 2/21/10 31st Annual International Eelpout Festival
Leech Lake, Walker MN
http://www.eelpoutfestival.com/

02/20/10 Fountain Lake Sportsmens Club Ice Classic 2010
This years extravaganza will be held February 20th 2010 in conjunction with the City of Albert Lea Winter Carnival.

02/20/10 Ducks Unlimited Ice Fishing Tournament
Noon to 3 PM on Garrison Bay. $30 per hole per person. Max 2 holes per person. $40 per hole after Feb 15th. Top 75 fish weighed win prizes. Truck, 4 wheeler, Ice Castle fish house, Aqua views, etc. Location: Garrison - Mille Lacs Lake
http://www.fishingforducks.org/

02/20/10 Mille Lacs Perch Extravaganza
Feb 20th out of Hunters Point Resort
$$ for biggest perch & TONS OF DOOR PRIZES
http://www.johnsonsportside.com/

02/20/20 3rd Annual Lake Minnetonka Kids Ice Fishing Challenge
Anglers between the ages of seven and seventeen will converge on ice to compete in an ice fishing derby.
10AM-12PM on Carsons Bay of Lake Minnetonka.
http://fishtonka.blogspot.com/2009/11/kids-ice-fishing-challenge-on-lake.html

02/27/10 8th Annual Little Hole On Big Lake
Lakeside Park in Big Lake, MN (12:00-3:00)
http://www.littleholeonbiglake.org/

03/14/10 VFW Ice Fishing Derby
Baudette, MN
2:00 P.M. VFW presents an Ice Fishing Derby on Baudette Bay
http://www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/calendar.asp

Wisconsin

01/16/10 Big Elk/Musser Lake Association Ice Fishing Contest
Phillips (www.pricecountywi.net)
Ice fishing contest (9am-3pm) plus raffle and paddle wheel contests and hot food & beverages throughout the day in the heated/carpeted tent on Musser Lake. Cash prizes will be awarded for the largest fish Northern, Walleye, Crappie, Blue Gill, and Perch. Entry fee is $5.00. Trophies, cash prizes and raffle prizes will be awarded at 4pm. This event is being sponsored by the Musser Lake Association.

02/27/10 SYAA'S 6th ANNUAL 2010 BASS LAKE ICE FISHING CONTEST
Bass Lake, Somerset, WI. (12:00-3:00)
http://www.basslakecontest.com/

Pelican Lake Ice fishing Tournament (Not sure if this one is going this year)
http://www.wiicefishing.com/index.html

NAIFC12/19/09 Boom Lake, WI [Champ]
01/10/10 Richmond Lake, SD [Qual]
01/24/10 Lake Wissota, WI [Qual]
01/31/10 Hamlin Lake, MI [Qual]
02/07/10 Delavan Lake, WI [Qual]
02/21/10 Lake Thompson, WI [Qual]

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What is a Blind?

2009-12-03T01:55:00Z

The past few weeks have been spent traveling, hunting and spending time with family. My mind often wonders while doing these things and I recently had a few thoughts about what a hunting blind really is. I recently sat in a duck blind constructed of 4 posts a plywood floor and some burlap wrapped around it with 3 other full grown men. The blind was situated in about 2 feet of water on Michigan's Little Bay De Noc. As we scrambled to abandon ship with the whole thing starting to crumble under our weight, I thought of all the wide variety of blinds I had found myself in.

As a boy my father and I would scrounge driftwood and other debris that had washed ashore to make our duck blinds. Each one was different and over the years we saw each as an individual work of art. One year a very large pile of rocks was our crowning achievement. The ducks weren't quite as impressed as we, but a few fell in front of it all the same. We also used layout boats and a sheet of burlap for a few years. Although extremely effective for luring ducks close, the chill of water running down your waders while laying prone in a leaky old wood boat does grow old in the later part of the season.
As a young man I would scramble up a tree in the fall with hammer and a few scrap 2x4s in hand. I would fashion a crude platform just big enough to hold my 90 pound frame and then don a camouflage shirt and wait with my bow and arrow. I never shot a deer from one of those tree stands, but I watched more deer from there and at a closer range than any blind I have sat in since.
In my early years of riffle hunting for deer we were not allowed to be in a tree. I would sit on a bucket behind a pile of brush. Sometimes I would be watching a run or a swamp edge but most of the time I was watching the squirrels and jays stealing corn and apples from my bait. I have graduated now to roomy enclosed blinds with propane heaters and sliding windows. It is not uncommon for some fellows I know to remove their boots while hunting whitetails. I do wonder if it is really hunting at that point but I must admit I like to warm my hands by the fire every now and then.
They make pop up blinds, roll out blinds, snap together blinds and on and on. But what do these various and widely different devices have in common?

I remember a few years ago being asked by a non hunter what I meant when I said "blind". I actually had to think for a minute before trying to explain. A dictionary will tell you that the word blind has many, many meanings. The one to which I am most currently referring to is "a lightly built structure of brush or other growths, esp. one in which hunters conceal themselves". Although mostly accurate, I believe this definition does not do the blind justice. There is so much more that defines a blind. So now you will glimpse into the rambling thoughts of a man driving long distances, hunting (unsuccessfully) and spending holiday time with family.

A blind can be a work of art. The tinkering of a master craftsmen. A blind is often a place to spend time with good friends. To laugh at the missed duck that was sitting 25 yards out and applaud a good wing shot or nice retrieve. A place to get wet in freezing temperatures and to enjoy the smell of your dog when he is wet too. A place to take a nice nap (aka work off your hang over from the night of poker before) or maybe read a book by a small propane heater. A small library of sorts. It can be simply a quiet place of reflection to watch a few animals and learn how they really act without the bars and plexi glass of a zoo. In recent years we have taken to cooking breakfast in the blind. To that end our blind could now be considered a 4 star restaurant. The 5th star was recently removed when the proprietor was caught letting the dogs clean the plates.

It can be a place of worship. If you have never been accosted by your wife, mother or girlfriend over missing Sunday morning church, you probably aren't a hunter, or else you come from a family of atheists. Next time you catch that look when you are preparing camouflage on Saturday night, just remind the would be protagonist that watching the sunrise with a light breeze to your back (for you duck hunters, to your face for you deer hunters) and listening to the sounds of gods creation, as it wakes to a new day, that you couldn't be any closer to God. Remind her that the bible says we were put here to rule over his creation and that your Remington is the only way you know to carry out God's great plan for us. My dad once used a slightly better analogy than this to render a nun speechless after being called out on poor attendance at Sunday mass. I know I have had many a conversation with God while in a blind. God I hope that deer comes closer, God I hope the outboard starts, God I hope my gun fires again after kicking it in the drink, etc,etc.

There is nothing quite like a good blind. Be it small, big, smelly, cold, warm, wet, dark, etc. We love them all and they hold a place near and dear to our hearts.

Andrea Shoots Her First Buck

2009-11-27T01:34:00Z

November 15th in Michigan takes on a holiday feel. This past holiday weekend we headed back with a single goal in mind. Get Andrea her first Buck. Last year Andrea passed on a buck because it came in within 15 or 20 minutes of getting in her blind. Obviously a bigger buck would come by right.... She never saw another buck that year. After learning her lesson, she had vowed to drop any buck that crossed her path this year.
We borrowed a nice .243 Weatherby for her to use this year. After shooting at the range a couple times, it was apparent that she was comfortable with her new gun. She was punching the ten ring at 100 yards and we rarely shoot much past 50 in the cedar swamps of the UP. I wouldn't want to be a buck in one of her shooting lanes.
We both sat several times the first few days of the season. Nothing but does and fawns for Andrea not a single deer for me. The weather was just too warm and too nice for the deer. They didn't need to move and when they did, it was at night. Then last weekend they seemed to start moving just a little more and we sent Andrea to a different blind that I had heard a buck grunting at a day or two earlier. I sat in a blind about 80 acres away with my cell phone on vibrate. When I heard the shot I knew it was her but sent a quick text to find out for sure. Buck down! was the reply. I left my blind and we met up back at camp and got the gear to start tracking and dragging.

He didn't go far but the blood trail was pretty light so it took us a few minutes to find him. Andrea was pretty excited when we did and was making phone calls while I started the messy work of field dressing the nice six point deer. Back at camp we washed fresh cooked heart and belly loins down with a few celebratory shots. I caught a little grief about how Andrea had shot two deer in the past couple years and I had not shot a one. I was still very happy for her and the meat goes in the same freezer. Next year I will probably hunt a little harder though and Andrea may get a little less special attention. (Although she may very well not need it)

Sport

Food For the Blind and Beyond

2009-11-12T22:39:00Z

Jerky is a snack enjoyed by many if not all outdoorsman from time to time. About this time of year I always end up making some from whatever wild game I can find in the back of my freezer. Venison gets the call often, so does duck or goose. I am playing with the idea of trying pheasant this fall as well. I will let you all know how that works out.
I like making jerky for a variety of reasons. First of all, I am cheap and beef jerky is pricey if you buy it at the store. Second It is a great way to use up some less than favorable cuts of meat. It is fun, you can add whatever spice you like, it is great in the blind, boat, or truck... the reason go on and on. That being said I thought I would share a few of the tricks that have worked for me.

I have already mentioned the different types of meats I have used. Any lean meat can work for you. Make sure you trim all the silver skin and fat off the meat before drying it. It will cause your jerky to go bad faster not to mention that it is tough to chew.
I recently bought an electric knife to help with the slicing of strips. This has made that portion of the process much easier than years past. It is great for taking those just a little too thick slices and making a perfect cut in half to get two thinner slices. I paid 20 bucks for the knife I got. You can pay more but this one seems to be getting it done. Plus I can use it to carve the turkey in a couple weeks.

After slicing the meat, I have started running a Jaccard over the meet. This is basically a mechanical meat tenderizer. It allows the meat to better absorb the marinade and it helps to even out the thickness of the strips allowing for even drying. Some folks like to make jerky out of ground meat. The end product is easier to chew but the grinding process is labor intensive not to mention you have to clean the grinder and the tube gun that lays the strips in the dryer. I find the Jaccard to be an easier option.

Marinades are as numerous as stars in the sky. I even read a recipe lately for jerky ice cream. I dont know about that.
You can buy pre-made marinades, you can find recipes on line or you can buy a book. As you look at them all you will find a few ingredients make up 80% of them. soy sauce, teriyaki, salt, brown sugar and liquid smoke are in most of them. Add some garlic, ground pepper and any hot pepper and you have them covered. Mess with these, add some hot sauce, beer or whiskey and enjoy.

Original jerky was dried by smoking it. If you have a smoker, have at it. I don't, so I have used the oven. The lowest heat with the door cracked will work. A dehydrator does work a little better however. The air movement dries the meat more evenly. Either way you will enjoy your tasty snack while hunting for more meat for your next batch.

I hope this gives you a few ideas or motivates you try making jerky yourself.

Good luck in the field,
Sport

Ice Fishing is Coming

2009-10-30T21:15:55Z

If you are like me, you have started to think about ice fishing season. Although hunting is in full swing now, you can still take the time to get a few things ready for the hard water.

Clam Ice Fishing recently released a new web site. They have several new shelters for the 09/10 season as well as a bunch of accessories. If you don’t have the itch yet, looking at their site will probably give it to you.

StrikeMaster is offering an early season online special with 30% off auger blades. New blades make such a big difference if you want to pop a bunch of holes but they are not cheap. Check out the StrikeMaster site for details on this offer.

They are also offering a tune up deal. (From strikemaster newsletter...)

Who Needs an Auger Tune-Up?

Print this post and bring it to StrikeMaster's warehouse with your power head and receive 10% off a tune-up while you wait. In house tune-up only. Ice fishing is getting closer. Are you Ready?

"Don't catch them all"
Sport

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Duck Hunting Forum

2009-10-30T15:48:00Z

I stumbled into a new forum the other day. FowlNation is a duck hunting themed forum that recently got off the ground. Looks like there will be a few fishing discussions thrown in as well. They will be giving away a dozen decoys when they hit 500 members, so get over there and sign up if you are looking to add some decoys to your spread.

What Would I Rather Be Doing?

2009-10-13T02:13:00Z

As I look out the window at my poor bass boat covered in snow, I cant help but think of things that would be better than this day. It is only the second week of October, the leaves on my maple trees are still green and I have one more tournament scheduled to fish this year. I usual have the boat tucked away in a nice warm garage before the snow flies. Yet there it is. If the boat could talk it would have words for me I am sure.

I could be duck hunting. Snowy cold weather is good for duck hunting. My mind continued to wander.... Deer season is right around the corner, phesants just opened as well.
It was about this time last year that I was fishing in Mexico (see Fish and Cervesa in Cancun). No snow in Cancun. That would be nice....
I saw a few pinks a week ago at the base of Goose Berry Falls running up from Lake Superior. During the fall of every odd numbered year, Pink Salmon run up the Skagit river in Washington state, eventually spawning in the streams that flow past a cabin I still own out there. Pinks/Humpies are a favorite of mine, mainly because they are aggressive hitters unlike most Salmon during spawning.

Male Pink Salmon caught on the Cascade River.

The river is probably full of them by now...and it doesn't snow there very often.

Well the list could go on but my 2 year old daughter wants to make a snowman so playing in the snow is what I will end up doing today. Until my next day dream.....

Sport

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Michigan Duck Opener

2009-10-06T17:27:00Z

I made the trip home a week ago to hunt the duck opener with my dad and a couple hunting buddies back in Michigan. The weather for opening day was far too nice. So nice in fact that a newly discovered leak in my waders didn't even bother me. With no flight ducks down we only managed a few of this years hatch green heads and missed a few local geese. The dog did a pretty good job though and it was nice to fire the gun for the first time this year.

After calling it a morning and pulling in the decoys, we headed up to the lake place to try for a few fish. Fishing was pretty slow but the new pontoon was pretty comfortable and Sarah enjoyed the room to roam. There is a lot more room for a 2 year old on a 21 foot pontoon than on an 18 foot bass boat. We did manage one decent largemouth before calling it a day. The next day we had winds in the 40+ mph along with a 30 degree drop in temps so we decided against trying to get out to the blind to hunt. Instead we dumped the fishing boat in the afternoon above dam number 3 on the escanaba river and tried for some smallmouths. My dad hadnt been on this piece of water in 25+ years. I had never been on it. It is always fun to hit new water. We took the boat up river till the river got shallow and started fishing back down. The trolling motor blew a fuse so we were at the mercy of the wind and current. We were able to get a few decent drifts over a few holes and caught a couple nice smallies on a small beetle spin. Considering the conditions and time we spent fishing, this water is probably worth another trip to fun fish.

I made it out one more day to hunt and managed a hen gadwall. We should have had a few more but Gary was so hung over that he was sleeping on the floor of the blind when a small flock landed in the decoys. I of course was out in the decoys tweaking the set a little. As any duck hunter will tell you, they only seem to come in when you are in the decoys, eating, standing up, yelling at the dog or just plain messing it up and not ready. Thats what makes it fun I guess.

2009 TOC Recap

2009-09-25T15:13:00Z

The cabin came to life about 4:30 on the morning of the first day. The smell of bacon was in the air and the weather channel was on TV. Dense fog warning until 10:00am. "This should be fun" was what many thought. Last year day two was greeted by a 3 hour plus delay and it looked like day one this year would continue that trend.

I picked my partner up at his hotel and headed for the ramp. After putting the boat in it was obvious we would be sitting for a while. My GPS was the only reason I made it to the take off area a few miles from the ramp. Visibility was slim. Boat were beached all along shore waiting for the tournament director to give us the go ahead. 3 hours later we started to push off.
I had drawn a good boat number in the first flight. My original plan had been to hit some community holes and burn those fish before going to the water I had found in practice. The fog delay however changed my plans as I figured a limit was going to be the most important thing that day. I started on a weed line turn that had held a school of 2 pound largemouth in practice. As is usual in tournament fishing things had changed. The shallower water largemouth bite was gone, dead, evaporated, eliminating about half of the water I had found in practice. I scrambled around a little and managed to find a few quality smallmouth out in my deeper water spots. The biggest weighing in at 3.92 pounds. He fell to my drop shot with a 4" Berkley Gulp minnow on it.

With about 30 minutes to go, I still needed one fish for my limit, so I headed for the 169 bridge pilings. With drop shot in hand I quickly caught my limit fish. A 14" largemouth. I sat on the back deck and told my partner "go get 'em". He was still a couple fish shy of a limit. He never managed another keeper as we ran out of time and headed for the weigh in.

11.25 pounds put me just out of the top 20. Just .01 pounds behind my day two partner. That meant I had to go back to the cabin and get my gear paired down to fish out of his boat.

Day two had us in the last flight. We started on one of my partners spots. A deep water break going up to some reeds. He didn't want to fish the reeds. He was keeping the boat in 40-50 feet of water and casting a soft plastic jerk bait just below the surface. I guess that is how he caught his fish on day one but it wasn't really getting it done on day two. Every so often he would drift in a little close and I could hit the weed line with my drop shot and I would catch a fish. It didn't take too long and he was digging into his rod locker for a spinning rod. We moved to one of my areas. A small point with good weeds dropping out into 20 plus feet of water. I had seen quality fish on the camera there but didn't get a single bite. My partner however manged to school me catching 4 keeper large mouth on a wacky rigged senko. Nothing big but enough to make him feel a little better.
From there we moved to my big fish spot from day one. The fish had moved a little but I found them and landed two quality smallmouth in the 3.5 lb range. My partner then asked me for a Gulp minnow to put on his drop shot. I obliged but he only caught rock bass on it.
We jumped around on a few more of his spots and couldn't find any active fish. We finally went back to the spot we had started on and tried out deep again. Nothing. When I was asked where next, I mentioned we should at least give the reeds a quick try. First cast with my hand tied jig, I put a 2+ pound Largemouth in the well and culled a 13 incher. As I slid him in the box I told my partner I may have just won myself a trophy. I hadn't been nervous the whole tournament. I fished clean only missing one bite and not breaking off any fish. Although it was a slow bite, I had stayed focused and confident. Once I had that fish in the box however my nerves hit me. Even though we had a little over an hour left to fish, all I could think about was getting my fish into the scales.
Weights were up on day two. Bags in the teens were being called off as we waited for room to beach the boat. My bag came in at 12.05 and was good enough for 20th place. Good tournament and my highest finish at state. I got that trophy but not a chance to fish divisional next summer. Maybe next year.

Minnesota State Tournament of Champions 2009 Practice Recap

2009-09-20T16:47:00Z

Earlier this month I headed up to Grand Rapids to start prefishing for the BASS Federation Minnesota Tournament of Champions. 4 days of practice would be followed by a day of off limits and then two days of tournament angling. I had high hopes for this tournament and managed to get up to Pokegama for a couple days prior to the off limits period earlier this summer. The lake fishes to my strengths with big smallmouths and clear water. I did well in club tournaments up there last year and was looking to redeem myself after a disappointing day two at last years TOC.
Day one practice was nothing short of amazing. I managed good fish everywhere I went. I located several schools of fish and was able to narrow down baits that they seemed to prefer. A texas rigged Berkley Chigger Craw worked through healthy weeds and inside turns produced 2 to 3 pound large mouths.

I found a few rock piles in 8-14 feet of water and was able to catch a few nice (3 pound plus) small mouth on my drop shot. I was excited but a little nervous too. I have never had a TOC practice day that good. Surely everyone else would find fish too. Back at the resort I found that many of the other guys in the club had not done as well. That made me feel a little better as I passed on what pattern tips I could to the other Gopher members.
Day two was not as good. I tried to go out and replicate the pattern I had figured out day one on new water. I think I was over confident and working too fast because I only caught a few small fish. I did look at lots of new water though and figured I could always go to that water if I struggled during the tournament.
Day three I decided to check out the river. Just in case my partner dragged me up there at some point. It was a beautiful ride for 15 -20 miles up the river. The sun was out and there wasn't a ripple on the water. The fishing on the other hand wasn't anywhere near as nice. I had two blow ups on a cane toad in about 5 hours of messing around. No current and no wind probably had the fish scattered in the wild rice and made for a poor bite. In the afternoon I pulled my boat and trailered back to the lake and set out to camera a few areas I had found during my trip up earlier in the summer.
Working an under water camera by yourself is not real easy but I managed to setup a nice little rig that allowed me to use my trolling motor, keep an eye on my graph and an eye on the camera.

I found a few fish doing this and decided I would use the camera all day on the fourth and final day of practice. Wayne Lindgren and I headed out together on the final day of practice so I didnt need my fancy tie down rig. Wayne ran the trolling motor and I watched as we verified the number and size of fish on both of our spots. At one point we came upon a school of walleyes so numerous that I quickly lost count of how many we had seen. The occasional smallmouth was mixed in with them as we cruised our boat over 25 feet of water. Doing this the day before a tournament was a fantastic way to see how the fish were positioned on the cover/structure and gave me a ton of confidence in the water I planned to fish. Now it was just a matter of making the fish bite.

Stay tuned for the tournament recap.

Two days on Tonka

2009-09-18T04:20:00Z

The thermometer in the truck read 45 degrees as I headed for the lake. It was August and I was about to fish two tournaments on Lake Minnetonka over the next two days. I hadn't caught a lot of fish in practice but I had found areas that I felt would hold fish. The weather however was not going to help matters.
My bass club had decided to split the big lake into two halves. We would fish the west side on Saturday and the east side on Sunday. Since I spend most of my time fishing the east side, I had spent some timing practicing on the west side. Dave Cindrich and I decided to start on a point that had held fish for me in practice we would then move to a weedy bay that we had fished together in practice.
We got out before sunrise and made a quick run to our starting point. As we came off plane I noticed a fisherman in waders standing waist deep just feet from the best spot on the spot. He was casting a big topwater in all directions and did so for at least an hour while we worked the weed line out of his casting range. I have had boats on my starting water before but never a guy in waders standing right on my spot. The bite was slow (as we expected) but we did manage a few fish by hunkering down and fishing painfully slow. Dave was throwing a Berkley Chigger Craw and I went into junk fishing mode throwing a drop shot, jig, wacky worm and several other baits trying to find something the fish might like. We both managed a couple keepers before heading into black water bay. We worked some lily pads and I managed a solid keeper on a buzz frog. We got a couple other blow ups but couldn't get the fish to commit so we headed to a row of docks. I filled my limit skipping my hand tied jig and dave managed a solid keeper on a weightless ring fry. I wasn't able to upgrade after that although we did try several other areas. 7.98 pounds was only good enough for 10th place. The bite was tough for many and only half the field brought in a limit. Although I had hoped to do better, the 10th place finish did help my angler of the year status a little.

Sunday morning temps were about the same. I was prepared though and was optimistic since we were fishing the side of the lake I am most familiar with. To make matters better, dock talk hinted to the fact that many guys had struggled to put anything together on that side of the lake.
Steve Brumer was fishing with me that day. We had gotten out and looked at a few areas and decided to start on an inside weed edge that always produces for me. By late august, the quality fish have usually moved deep on Tonka and are often caught on deep rock piles. This year however the fish seem to have stayed shallower and were not being caught on the deep hard bottom. At least thats what practice had taught me. Of course nothing but small fish were on my first two spots but we finally located a school of fish working an inside turn in about 12-15 feet of water. Steve and I both manged a few good keepers off the spot before we ran a few more spots. I managed most of my fish throwing texas rigged plastics and upgraded a couple times using my drop shot. Not what you might expect as a typical tactic but hey, it worked. As the sun got higher and temps rose, Steve wanted to pitch some heavy cover. As it turned out it was a good idea. We worked a large milfoil mat and both managed a couple solid upgrades.
10.37 was good enough for 5th place. A solid finish to close out the club season. My sight were now firmly fixed on the BASS State Tournament.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but such are the joys of running the weigh in.

Smith Mountain Lake and a Family Reunion

2009-07-31T03:31:00Z

If you are one of my subscribers you may have noticed a little delay in my entries this month. I spent the past two weeks in Virginia for my mother in law's family reunion. I may have picked up a little bit of the slower pace that the southern folks are sometimes known for. I will try to catch up on my entries both here and on Sarah's site over the next couple days.

Now many of you may think It would be crazy to drive cross country with a two year old just to spend time with your in laws and a bunch your wifes family that you have never even met before, but this reunion was going to be held on the shores of Smith Mountain Lake. A beautiful lake in western Virginia full of large mouth and smallmouths, not to mention a fantastic striper fishery. My father in law had setup a striper trip for wed morning so Monday after the knife lake tournament I packed up the truck and we headed south, driving straight through. 22 hours and god knows how many miles of road construction, we made it. A short night sleep and we were getting up at 4am to hit the water.

Margaret is the wife of a gentleman (Mark) that plays golf with my father in law. She is pretty much a fishing addict. Pictures on the wall in their house prove she has caught her share of Smith Mountain Lake stripers (and helped other to do so as well). She is also your typical southern hostess and greeted us with a hug, fresh made biscuits, eggs, and coffee when we got to their house. We readied the deck boat, packed breakfast up and were on the water before sun up. Mark isn't as big on the fishing as Margaret but he does what he is told which was, "speed up, slow down, go over there, no back there, turn back past that, speed back up, your getting to shallow," etc. We all were laughing as Mark calmly did what he was told and Margaret worked the rods in the rod holders. We were using live shiners dropped down about 10 feet on heavy tackle. Shimano Calcuttas on Shakespeare rods. The bait was kept lively in a 25 or 30 gallon bait well with twin aerators. Southern heat can be hard on live bait so Margaret and Mark added ice occasionally to keep them lively. Margaret also ran a bucktail jig out on a planner board for a while.

The most bites came right in front of the house and mostly when we were all working on the biscuit and egg sandwiches. Only real problem was the bites were all coming from a school of white bass. We caught several and lost a few more baits before deciding to fire the big motor and try a few different areas. I enjoyed the ride on the Blackwater river arm of the lake. I had not been that far up the blackwater and like most of the lake, it is ringed with beautiful homes. We stopped to troll around a rock point at the mouth of a creek. As we got a little close to the point I could see big chunk rock in about 6 feet of water. I couldn't resist the temptation so I grabbed one of my baitcasters and slung a shakey head worm out onto the point. Mark slowed down some and I let out line as we slowly dragged the worm over the point. It didnt take long and I was fighting a nice 3 1/2 pound chunker largemouth at the end of a lot of line.

We gave up on the stripers a little while later and tried for some more largemouths but didn't have much luck. As lunch time approached we decided to call it a day. It was a great morning on the water. I look forward to fishing with Margaret and Mark again.
I have some more pics coming from a few different fish I manged to catch while in Virginia so I will post those when they come in.

As far as the reunion goes, it was a pretty good time. I ate so much I had to loosen the straps on my life vest when I got home.

Sport

Knife Lake Recap

2009-07-21T13:59:00Z

After a night of adult refreshments around a camp fire, the 4:30 alarm came all too quickly. My truck thermometer read 44 degrees as I waited for it to warm up. Not what you would expect for a mid July morning. A quick stop at the local gas station and a line of bass boats headed down the back roads on way to Knife lake.

Expectations were high as stories of 21 inch fish and 5 or 6 pounders caught in practice stirred around. I myself was cautiously optimistic after catching a lunker in practice (see a past entry). The cold front would be a wild card and it was also rumored the lake had an algae bloom going on. Many still felt it would take 18 or 19 pounds to win the day. The lake had proven that any cast could produce a Minnesota trophy

My partner (Clay) and I started in the area where we had caught the 5 pounder in practice. As we came up to the area we noticed a pan fisherman was sitting right on it so we started nearby and worked an adjacent stretch of pads. It only took a couple casts and Clay had a small keeper in the boat. A couple more casts and Clay was hollering for the net. As I turned to see what he had on I could see something that didn't look right. Clay noticed it to and said "what the ...". A 19" walleye had taking his pig and jig in the middle of the pads we were flipping. A little known walleye pattern apparently.

The pan fisherman said hello as he moved down the shore so we turned the boat and headed back towards the "honey hole", A family of otters barked and huffed at us as we fished. Popping up and down in the water like wet furry Jack in the boxes, they stayed a safe distance and kept an eye on us. This is one of the neatest things you can see during a calm morning on the water. I have seen otters do this a couple other times but it is still fascinating to me.

As we worked down the bank I flipped into a bush tight to the bank. As soon as my jig hit the water the whole bush shook. Something big wanted the black and blue jig. A few seconds later Clay was netting a nice 3 1/4 pound bass for me. We continued to work shallow wood and pads until about 8:00 when we moved to a row of docks that had produced good numbers in practice. About 30 minutes later I managed my fifth fish. It was a nice 2 pound fish and was especially fun to catch because a competitor boat was within ear shot as I hooked, landed and boxed the fish. They had not yet caught a limit and promptly pulled their trolling motor and sped off. Clay too was a couple fish short of a limit so he took over the front of the boat.

It began to rain and the bite slowed. As the sun came out later in the day, the bite picked back up a little. For Clay at least. He started to cull a few of his smaller fish as I started to diminish my jig supplies. I had tied three jigs specifically for this event and had a couple already in my box. As northerns took a few and I straightened a couple horsing fish out of thick cover, I found myself out of the color and size that had produced for me in the morning. I decided to make a change to brown and orange. I was almost immediately rewarded with two nice culls. We ran around a little more but all the areas we moved to had turned to pea soup. The algae bloom we had heard about was in full swing and we didnt manage a single fish, of any size, in that green water.

Lots of guys were saying they had a couple nice ones while we pulled the boats for weigh in. Once on the scale however most fish seemed to shrink. Only one fish was brought in over 4 pounds. There was plenty of 3 pounders though with 15 guys weighing a big fish at or above 3. My 12.26 was only good enough for 9th place. A little over 2 pounds from the 1st place bag. Two solid finishes over the weekend did help me in the yearly standings though, moving me to 9th overall with two tournaments to go. Minnetonka will be the next two and I have been able to get out there a few times this year. We will see if I can move up a few more spots by years end.

Sport

Rush Lake Gopher Tourney

2009-07-19T14:46:00Z

Last weekend was tournaments 4 and 5 of the Gopher Tournament Season. Saturday we headed to Rush lake near Rush City Minnesota. The lake is made up of two sides connected by a long narrow channel. The water was pretty dirty which limited weed growth to 5 or 6 feet of water. I had a late boat draw so I knew it would be tough to make it to a couple of the best deep weed/rock spots. I had caught a fish or two in practice off a lone dock with scattered logs and other cover that had obviously been thrown out by the property owner. I figured I could start there and get a fish or two to start off the day then I would move to a deeper weedline and try to find a school. The dock was a bust and there was boats all over the weed line I wanted to fish so we worked a few areas near the spots I wanted to fish and managed one small keeper.
I decided that the deepwater bite wasnt going to work for me so we ran into West Rush to check a short row of docks that my dad and I had found in practice. Most of the lake was choked off with weeds and slime in anything less than 3 feet of water. Low water conditions made for an even more limited number of docks that actually had fishable water on them. This row was a clean sand bottom and 2-3 feet of water. To make them even more attractive the wind was blowing in on them. We pulled up to the first one and each caught a fish. From that point on we knew we were on something. Each dock gave up at least one fish and a second pass down the docks produced again. Rick managed the big fish for the tourney after missing him the first time. It always pays to throw back in after you miss one.

We ran around for a couple hours looking for more docks to duplicate the pattern but couldnt find any on west rush so we made one last pass through the best 5 or 6 docks allowing me to cull a few fish before heading to east for the last hour of the tourney. As we ran down the east lake I spotted a small set of docks that looked to be similar in make up to our hot spot. Rick still needed a few fish to fill his limit so I held the boat in the wind so he could fish. After he had casted some of the best looking spots I flipped a Lake Fork Tube craw under a lift and was hit immediately by a nice 3+ pound fish. I had to horse him over a lift rail as Rick fumbled for the net. We managed to get him in but only after the wind had blown us in onto the docked boats leaving a little battle wound in the Skeeter. The fish was bleeding pretty badly so I quickly culled a 14" fish, added some stress reducer to the live well and headed to the weigh in area. As it turned out my big fish was 1/100 lighter than Ricks. The two biggest fish for the tournament coming out of my boat. If the fish hadn't being bleeding so much, Would I have gotten big fish?

My 11.11 lb bag was good enough for second place. Not enough to win the match fishing match up that day. A good finish all the same and definitely gives me boost in the yearly standings.
Stay tuned for a recap on Knife.

Sport
www.SportSmithFishing.com

Knife Lake Pre Fish

2009-07-03T04:09:00Z

Sunday I headed up to Knife lake in Kanabec county to prefish for an upcoming Gopher tournament. I also had to meet the local Sheriff water patrol to finalize our permit for the event. My partner for the day had been on the lake in the past and had nothing but high hopes for multiple picture worthy fish. He says it will take 20 pounds to win when we fish it. We will see about that although I have heard similar tales from other guys.
The lake is a dirty water lake with visibility at about 6 inches when we were there. It is also a shallow lake with the main basin only dropping to 13-14 feet. These things together add up to me leaving my spinning rods at home. All shallow water fishing.

Nice Knife Lake bass caught on one of my hand tied jigs and a Trigger X trailer.

We managed a few nice fish including this one above that was pushing 5 pounds. Hopefully I can find a couple more like this one on tournament day. My partner wasn't happy however with how we did. Too many of our fish were small and some of his best areas didnt produce. I figure that is a good sign for tournament day. I have had too many bad tournaments after a good practice and visa versa so I am ready for this one. Hope fully I can post a few more pictures of some big ones in a few days. Check back and see!

Sport

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Minnesota State Jr Tournament of Champions

2009-07-02T23:44:00Z

Last Friday I had the opportunity to be a boat captain for the Minnesota Jr tournament. This tournament is for the youth of Minnesota to get together and compete for a chance to fish with the adults at the next level at divisionals. This years tournament took place on Waconia lake in the south west metro. I drew a young person from both the younger and older age groups. Both kids were capable anglers and ran the boat all day while I caught up on a little reading (Bass Times, Field and Stream, etc.). Boat captains are not allowed to help the kids. We basically can step in for fish care and run our boats to keep them out of harm. Otherwise the kids are supposed to make all the fishing decisions. This can be extremely tough on an avid angler like myself. I wanted to pick up a rod several times.

All in all it was a pretty good day. I think all the kids caught at least one fish and the wining bags were in the mid to high teens. I added a few pics of the boys from my boat below. After the smoke cleared, the Gopher Jr team was announced as the winning team for the event (the Juniors from our club). Congrats guys!

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