The Day Has Come

 

A totally closed bass season is now a thing of the past in the State of MN. Here at Bass Pundit, I have been advocating for this change since my very first year of blogging. Here is my very first post on the subject from April 2005.

Pundit Activism

Beginner Bass Fishing Tips

 

Beginner Bass Fishing Tips is a website dedicated to those who are just getting into bass fishing. It is the project of a guy who loves bass fishing and aspires to be a successful web developer. The page is thoughtfully laid out and easy to navigate, with simple and short explanations of the topics covered. I would say he nailed it with this website; what a resource!

Outdoor Life Article On Hard To Catch Bass

 The Science on why bass are getting harder to catch

I think bass have been getting harder to catch on Platte/Sullivan every year since 2013 when I feel the lake's bass population was at a zenith. I think it is a combination of factors coming together to make fishing more difficult. Hopefully, we will have more normal water levels this year than last year's drought conditions.

2021 Year In Review (By The Numbers) And Report Card

 

In 2021, I set records for the number of fish caught in a year (3938), the number of days fished (242), the number of trips taken (330), and fish caught per hour (4.96). However, my bass numbers were down 113 fish from 2020. I had a record number of trips I rated as Great (74) and Good (190), and I only had (16) Trips rated as Poor, down from (33) poor trips last year. Not a lot of skunks were had this year (17). 

2021 was the Year of Ice Fishing Where Crappie Catches Were King
2021 started with me on the same old suck truck for ice fishing success. But then I got my new Fish Trap, Smitty Sled, and broke through on a school of fish on Rock Lake in January, and my fishing numbers were on fire for about a month. I ended the year on two fifty-fish nights on Bulldog. If not for the snow and my getting sick, I probably would have reached the milestones of 5 Fish Per Hour and 4,000 Fish in a year. I caught a record number of crappies in 2021 (834).
Ice Fishing Grade: B+

Crappie Fishing Grade: A

2021 Bass Fishing:

I would describe bass fishing in 2021 as solid but challenging. No matter how tough the fishing was, I always seemed to boat one or two, but man, did we have to work for bites. I fear that the bass population in Platte/Sullivan is decreasing. I never really whacked them once non-stop in 2021. If there are schools out there, they were not shallow in 2021. Hopefully, it is just a shallow water and baitfish issue that will work out if water levels and temps are more normal in 2022. We got a good number of 4's and 5's this year between the brothers and me.

Bass Fishing Grade: B-

Bass Size Grade: B+

Tournament Fishing in 2021:

Overall it was a tough tournament season for me, but I got lucky with Platte/Sullivan for the blind draw, doubly fortunate to get Darien Kiefer as a boater, and the rest is history.

Whitefish Lake: 13th Place (Saved by a rally in the final hour and a half)

North Long: 20th Place (Didn't fish well at all)

FishTrap Lake: 8th Place (Rallied in the final hour and a half)

Edward Lake: 15th Place (I sucked, Beau caught 'em fine)

Leech Lake: Skunked

Blind at Platte/Sullivan: 1st Place, Lunker, and Top Co-Angler

Serpent Lake Challenge Cup: (Snatchers came in last, my head wasn't in it)

Tournament Season Grade: A-

Tournament Performance Grade: C

Sure I sucked for the most part, but I got a W, so it's all good. 

2021 Walleye Fishing:

Ouch, this wasn't expected. Walleye fishing crashed back to historical norms after the last few boom years. Low water on Mille Lacs this Fall is the primary driver of the decline.
Walleye Fishing Grade: C

2021 Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) Fishing:

Low water and lack of baitfish made fishing the GOMH the toughest in memory. Thank God for the Trophy.

GOMH Grade: C-

2021 Pike Fishing:

The great thing about the drought and early high water temps was that it threw the pike in Platte Lake for a loop. I only lost about 10 frogs this year. Last year, I lost at least two dozen. I also caught some tanks.
Pike Grade: A

2021 Bowfin Fishing:

I landed a 3 this year, including one tank on August 8th while fishing with Steve.
Bowfin Grade: B+

2021 Smallmouth & Tulibee Fishing:

Didn't catch either one in 2021. Straight up F's Homey!
Smallmouth Grade: F

Tullibee Grade: F

2021 Fishing Grade: B

Northwoods Team Trail 2021 Website Is Up

 

They are a low-cost bass tournament option with in-person tournaments on specific lakes and virtual options. They aren't fishing Platte/Sullivan this year and I think most of the in-person dates conflict with my Snatchers schedule. If you are interested, give them a look.  

Florida Study Shows Bed Fishing Zero Impact On Largemouth

Facebook Video Here

The Study Here

It has been my opinion for a very long time that having a completely closed season on largemouth bass is nonsense from a scientific perspective.  Angling pressure during the spawn does next to nothing in effecting how successful a body of water is at producing largemouth bass.  This is doubly true in weedy natural lakes.  A lake's fertility, carrying capacity, and spawning habitat are what impact largemouth populations, not fishing pressure.

Get with the program state of Minnesota.  Open up largemouth bass to catch and release fishing when not in season.

Baxter Bass Snatchers 2020 Tournaments (Tentative)

This is the tentative schedule this year for the club along with my thoughts on the lakes.

May 30th Gull Lake:
I think this lake is getting switched out because it conflicts with the annual Teen Challenge Tournament.

June 27th Serpent Lake:
This will be my third time fishing Serpent.  I like the lake a lot.  Two thumbs up!

July 18th Mission Lakes:  This will be my 7th tournament on these lakes.  The lake has never been particularly good to me, though I did catch the Lunker in the last tournament I was in out there.  My attitude, meh!

Aug 15th Big Winni: Too much driving.  I really hope this one gets changed.

Sept 12th: Little Boy/Wabedo:  Will be my 3rd Tournament on these lakes. I really like them. 

Oct. 3rd: Cedar Lake:  Will also be my third tournament on this lake.  I've never gotten a limit here and had my boater kick my butt both times.  Don't care for this lake. thumbs down.

In place of Gull, I would like South Long

In place of Winni, I would prefer Pokegama

I think the rest of the lakes will remain the same.

What Dad Got For Me At The Salvation Army Today

That's right 3 bass fishing VHS tapes. (Yes, we still use a VHS at this house).  I am hopeful that the two Winkleman video's might have some tips I can use.

Actually, seeing as how there is nothing on TV tonight I'll watch the Trophy Bass Patterns video right now.

Trophy Bass Patterns Seminar: This video is Babe giving his "Pattern Seminar" at some Sportsman Show probably sometime in the mid to late 90's I would guess.  He really doesn't get into patterns for trophy bass like I was expecting; I read his Largemouth Bass Patterns book when it first came out and I was expecting him to talk about the specific patterns he uses like he did in the book.  He did very little of that in the video.   Instead it's more basic information that relates to all fish, but using largemouth as the primary example.

What struck me while watching the video is how little attention I now give to the basics of listening to what the fish are telling me.  For whatever reason I rarely think about what the fish are doing and why.  I guess I've just become lazy in my mental approach.  I have how I want to catch them and if it works it works and if it doesn't it doesn't.  Maybe this year with me planning to get out in the Trophy more my mind will be a little more engaged as I try hunting for the fish.

    

Popular Fishing Myth- Sight Fishing Bedding Largemouth Bass Is Easy

If you spend anytime on the Internet in the Spring on fishing related websites where people are allowed to share their opinion, you are bound to come across those that are opposed to fishing for bass on their spawning beds. Over and over people spout the same duel criticisms/opinions; Bed fishing is detrimental to the resource and bed sight fishing isn't a sporting method by which to catch a fish.

I don't want to get into the resource issue here, but focus on the criticism of bed fishing being an unsportsmanlike way of fishing. The notion that bed fishing bass is unsportsmanlike usually stems from what I'll call the shooting fish in a barrel theory. The shooting fish in a barrel theory is predicated on the belief that catching bedded bass which you can see is easy and takes no skill whatsoever to do. When it comes to smallmouth bass this may or may not be true, but when it comes to largemouth bass it is an outright myth.

Now I will not dispute that catching some percentage of the bedded largemouth bass one sees visually may be easy. But really this is no different than fishing at any other time. A long time ago In-Fishermen theorized that the fish you encounter on the water will either be positive, neutral, or negative in attitude.
When fish are active and in a positive feeding mood, they respond to many baits and methods. Fish in a neutral mood are not actively feeding but can be tempted with a more selective approach. Fish in a -negative mood generally don’t feed and are spooky, jittery, and difficult to catch.
Depending upon the time you come across it a bedding largemouth can be in any one of these three states. In the just completed B.A.S.S. tournament on the St. John's River in Florida angler after after angler talked about how spooky many of the fish were. The anglers talked about how some fish were caught right away, some fish needed quite a bit of coaxing, and some fish ended up being nothing but a big waste of there precious tournament time.

Being able to recognize whether the bedded bass one sees is neutral or negative is one area where experience and skill comes into play. A neutral catchable fish may act in a negative manner fooling an angler into thinking it is uncatchable. A negative fish may act in a neutral manner fooling an angler into thinking it is catchable. The best sight fishermen, all bass fishing pro's readily acknowledge some are better sight fishermen than others, are the one's most skilled in quickly analysing the mood of the fish.

Other skills required by sight fishermen may include the ability to make oneself as stealthy as possible, being able to cast accurately with a quiet presentation, being able to spot a fish or bed in the first place, and being able to coax a fish into a more positive biting mood.

Personally, I don't sight fish for bedding bass very often because I don't seem to come across very many bass on beds. In the rare cases that I do, I don't consider myself to be very good at it because I am not experienced in recognizing a neutral from a negative fish. If I have to take the time to work a fish I almost never am able to catch it. I know first hand from trying it that catching a bedded largemouth bass can be anything but easy.

I think there is one more line of complaint by those that say sight fishing for bedding bass is unsportsmanlike, but I just regard this one as absurd. Basically some people seem to believe if you can see a fish then fishing for it is somehow unfair and unsportsmanlike. Are hunters unsportsmanlike because they see what it is they are shooting? Or they take their shot at close range? Fishermen are basically hunters of fish, why should the ethics be any different?

Update: Alton Jones talking sight fishing, many of my points come into play...

Hooked In The Head!

Now there is a video I want to see. Unfortunately it doesn't live up to they hype. I wish they wouldn't have muted the video at the start.
The camera man was so close to catching something that would have gone viral easy.

Really db?

I may be the only one, but I have found bass fishing writer Don Barone to be unreadable at times, hence I don't go out of my way to read his stuff very often. Yesterday he wrote a note on Facebook which I chose to read and I got to read this:

Opus #4: B.A.S.S. & Wired2FishYou athletes with a bench, rest up, you athletes who play by quarters, innings, pit stops, half times, commercial breaks, I'm going to put your athletic behind on a bobbing surfboard with seats, called loosely a boat, Bass Boat, and I'm going to yell go and for the next 8 hours you are going to play your sport and NEVER stop, never get a time out, never sit, NEVER LEAVE THE FIELD.

I'm going to make you pitch every 15 seconds for 8 hours, non-stop. Make you shoot threes every 15 seconds for 8 hours, make you serve every 15 seconds for 8 hours, make you run, pass and catch ever 15 seconds for 8 hours.

And if you make it through that, I'm going to make you do it again the NEXT DAY. And the NEXT DAY. And the NEXT DAY. And the NEXT DAY. Think you can win that…rock on.

Really?

Last time I looked a tournament bass fisherman can sit down and take a time out to assess things, rest, change lures, run to a new spot or eat anytime they want. Heck, sack em up early and you can be like Tim Horton and go to the dock to order Pizza delivery. If you are catching fish, especially lots of them as is sometimes the case, every second of a bass tournament is not some kind of bottled intensity. Yes bass fishing does have intensity and it's day runs longer than your typical sport, but it can have a lot of monotony to it when you are not around fish or the fish are turned off. Chuck wind repeat, pitch wind repeat, flip pick up repeat. Tournament Bass Fishing is far from being some kind of super wonder sport. It's the art and science of catching those green fish as efficiently as possible, that's all. I guess hyperbole just isn't my thing this morning.

100 Bass In A Day?

In the FishingMN.com message board a thread was started with this question
100 Bass In A Day?:
Hey everyone I'm new to the forum. So a friend and I have been having an on going argument about whether it is possible to catch 100 bass in a day.(This was brought up over a few drinks each time we have the argument.) He says there is no way that its possible. And i disagree I think it is very possible to do. I know it all depends on the lake and many other things come into play out fishing. So my question to all of you is...have you or do you think its possible? Him and i haven't been fishing for bass as long as some of the people on here so i wanted to get a few opinions on this topic.


The poster doesn't make clear if he is talking about an individual or multiple fishermen and whether or not places outside of MN are included. I assume he meant individually because I don't think 100 bass in day for pair of anglers is that big of deal on lake or river with good numbers of fish. Individually reaching the century mark is much more difficult, but I not only think it's possible, I know it's possible because I have done it at least once with largemouth bass. I passed 100 bass in a day fishing from a float tube@ Sylvia/Twin. It wasn't a total dink fest either, most of the fish were over a pound and a fair share of them were 2lbs or more. The fishing that day was ridiculous, it only took me 3 or 4 hours and being in a float tube I obviously wasn't covering a whole lot of water. I was just on a massive school of fish; I would reel one in and sometimes 10 or more fish would come along following behind. It was a total blast. I don't remember for sure, but I was using either a Bionic Minnow or a beetle spin with with a twister tail grub.

You definitely have to have the right lake at the right time for it to be possible.

Florida Bass Fishing For Cash & No Tournament

This a sweet deal
No fish tale: Anglers can reap cash by reporting tagged bass

Hat Tip: Big Indiana Bass on Facebook

Somehow I don't think this will catch on here in Minnesocold, not even with the gravel lizards.

To Boyd Duckett (and Kevin Short): I Disagree

On his two blogs (Boyd's Blog, Boyd's Biz Boyd Ducket writes a blog post entitled: "To Kevin Short: I agree" or at Boyd's Biz: "Dear Kevin Short — I agree with you"

Boyd is responding to Kevin Short's essay found on the blog Bass Parade entitled Short Challenges Duckett, All Elites

Boyd writes:
...But let me address another thing that Kevin said, because he made a great point. He said he would be happy if we, the pro anglers, could receive no information at any time about the bodies of water we’re going to fish. No help from locals, in other words.

I agree with that 100 percent.

I think a “no help rule” would be outstanding — a great thing for our sport.


I think Boyd and Kevin Short are 100% wrong about this. One of the greatest things about the sport of fishing, any kind of fishing, is that the sport is heavily built upon personal relationships. Ray Scott had it right in the beginning when he recognized that bass fishing could and should be a fraternity. Getting help from others when it comes to fishing is a feature, not a bug. It's a feature precisely because it builds relationships and community and isn't that what we claim is important? I believe a "no help rule ever" sends the wrong message to bass anglers everywhere. The flip side of you can't get help, is that it is wrong to give help. There is already too much of that kind of attitude when it comes to bass tournament anglers as it is now.

I've seen it on Facebook where Professional anglers due to "no info rules" have basically had to tell someone to shut up and keep it to themselves when offered a simple helpful suggestion. Shutting out others especially with the technology we have at our fingertips now is the wrong way to go, period.

I add more thoughts at Futurebass.com Forums...

Bassmaster Classic: The Dream That Never Was

During this past Bassmaster Classic week I heard several different fishermen from Federation anglers to Elite Series pro's express the notion that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic was a lifetime "dream come true." A couple of times I heard it said that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic is the dream of all tournament bass fisherman. I must be an odd case then, because I can't say that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic has ever been one of my aspirations.

Growing up my family had a cabin on Lake Sylvia/Twin (now East & West Sylvia) near Annandale in Wright County Minnesota, which is about an hour and a half NW of Minneapolis; The two lakes are prolific largemouth bass fisheries. I was taught to fish at a very early age by my Dad, Grandmother Maas, and my Mom. Dad was my main fishing tutor and while he liked to fish, he was not overly serious about the sport, more of a casual weekend warrior type. Dad was much more serious about cars and Ham radio. Our fishing boat was late 1960's 14 ft Alumacraft with bench seats and a 5.5 horse Johnson motor. We also had a pontoon boat we would use for fishing. However, most of my early fishing was done off of our or our neighbors docks.

Of my 3 brothers and me, I was basically the only one to be badly afflicted with the fishing bug. I have just always loved to fish and we were up at the cabin frequently in the summer, so I got to go fishing often and as I grew older my love for fishing just grew and grew. My first exposure to fishing outside my family came from TV shows by Virgil Ward, Roland Martin, and Bill Dance. My first exposure to the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society probably came from commercials while watching fishing shows, but I also distinctly remember looking at Bassmaster Magazine at the Barber Shop in Annandale when I was probably around 8 years old. I remember thinking B.A.S.S. was the coolest thing and I wanted to join, but my parents didn't pursue it for me. I don't know when I was first made aware of tournament bass fishing, but I don't think it was until I was a teenager that I ever heard about the Bassmaster Classic and the information I heard about it was pretty scant. When it came to fishing I was much more interested in learning how to catch fish than I was interested in hearing about tournaments.

It wasn't until I was out of college and in my early twenties that I gave much thought to tournament bass fishing. In the 90's Lake Minnetonka used to be the site of a prestigious bass tournament called the Don Shelby US Invitational that drew in some of the big names of B.A.S.S.. The "Shelby" had a $50,000 top prize, which was big for those days. I was just astonished by how big a sack of bass it took to do well in that tournament. Sylvia/Twin is a peanut factory where 3lb and up fish are rare, and these guys were bringing in sacks with close to or over a 4lb average per fish. Also for the first time in my life I had cable TV and so I could watch the Bassmasters TV Show and I think I joined B.A.S.S. in 1993. In 1995 I went to see my first weigh-in ever at the Bassmaster Top 100 that was held on Lake Minnetonka.

I did not fish in my first bass tournament until 2 years later in 1997 when I was 27 years old; That summer I fished as a non-boater in 2 Military Bass Angler (now ABA) tournaments at Clearwater Lake in Wright County. I got skunked in my first tournament but did manage to catch a couple of fish on my second try. Looking back at it now, I had very little clue as to what I was getting myself into when I fished those tournaments. But despite the poor results I did enjoy myself and wasn't all that discouraged. In 1998 I joined The Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) which is just a fishing club, not a bass fishing club. It was not until I was 31 when I started fishing bass tournaments with any seriousness.

I think because I wasn't brought up with it and didn't start tournament fishing until well into adulthood is probably why the Bassmasters Classic for me is the dream that never was.

State of the Union: Bass Fishing.

Blogger TBrinksFishing.com put together a State of the Bass Fishing Union essay on his blog. It is worth the read, so check it out.

So what does the BP think about the State of the Bass Fishing Union?

I see a difference between the state of bass fishing in a general sense and the state of bass tournament fishing in a particular sense. I think bass fishing in general is in pretty good shape, maybe the best shape it has ever been. To start things off a world record largemouth was just caught and officially certified. Next I think in most places that bass inhabit the populations seem to be thriving and in many of places the fishing has never been better. Then there is the excellent state of bass fishing equipment, which certainly has never been better in terms of quantity and quality. Bass fishing wisdom and knowledge is widely available in all forms of media both old (Books, TV, Magazines, VHS) and new (blogs, Internet forums, websites, DVD's, computer games, podcast/Internet radio, social networking sites, etc.) Indeed the general state of bass fishing is very good.

The state of tournament bass fishing, however, is not nearly as positive and this is true for the Professional Bass Angler, aspiring Pro and semi-professional bass anglers and the weekend warrior clubbers. The problems are well known; Money and Sponsorships are leaving the sport while the costs of participation are increasingly prohibitive at all levels; For this and other reasons participation on the whole is down instead of growing. However, before one gets to down on the whole enterprise there is a silver lining because the current difficulties present an opportunity for those in the tournament industry to re-evaluate, innovate, and build upon the good things that remain.

I think I should acknowledge that even with the set backs there are things about tournament bass fishing that remain positive such as that thanks to the Internet ESPN/BASS and FLW have been and will continue to take steps to make Professional Bass Fishing more fan friendly. Many if not all of the things that I mentioned earlier as being positives for bass fishing in general also apply to tournament bass fishing. As Tyler Brinks mentioned in his essay on this subject:

One of the most positive things I have seen in fishing has to do with the future of our sport. The youth and college programs in bass fishing have never been better. Youth clubs are becoming hugely popular and are even being seen at the high school level. College fishing is exploding and is training our young anglers for a long future in the sport.

And last but not least tournament bass fishing is still fun so if you are inclined to this kind of thing it is worth the price we have to pay, whatever that may be.

Does Bass Fishing Cost too Much?

Vagabond Persimmon Seed #21 $68.99

Yesterday on Facebook one of my friends wrote:
The economy continues to wreak havoc on the fishing industry but it seems people in the industry just don't get it. Come on $20 crankbaits, $70k boats! The average angler is being hurt the worst.

Several people clicked "Like" or commented in agreement. I ,however, was the lone dissenting voice when I wrote:

Sorry but I disagree, I think at no time in history has it been so easy to get quality equipment at a reasonable price thanks to the very large Internet inspired new and used marketplace.

I think at the outset it might be a good idea to make a distinction between an "average" bass angler and an "average" bass tournament angler because I don't think the Joe average bass fisherman is necessarily a tournament person. To be a tournament fisherman generally is going to require a financial commitment to equipment that is completely unnecessary for the basic task of having a good time by catching a few bass as a hobby.

For the guy that just wants to go out on a regular basis and bust a few bass it most certainly does not require "$20 crankbaits" and "70K boats." Any suggestion that this is the case is ridiculous. There is no doubt in my mind that right now and into the foreseeable future the average fisherman will be able to acquire quality equipment that will bring plenty of bass fishing success even on a tight budget.

I think the same pretty much holds true for Joe average bass tournament fisherman, because Joe average bass tournament fisherman is a club guy fishing for little to nothing beyond bragging rights, a trophy and maybe few hundred up to maybe a couple of thousand dollars at the high end. Bill Ludenia, who is a guy in my bass club, is a perfect example of a guy who has been a very successful bass tournament fisherman who doesn't see a big need to "keep up with the Joneses." He keeps it simple, fishes to his strengths and gets the job done.

To my comment someone replied with this:
Pretty hard to get a used BDS 4 spring craw. Used boats time is now but who has the cash, half price may as well be full price.
(Note a BDS is a Lucky Craft Crankbait that retails for $15-$17 depending on size, spring craw is a color pattern)

Well obviously is someone is dead set on getting a specific Lucky Craft crankbait, finding a good deal on it may not be possible. Heck the notion of "good deal" and Lucky Craft crankbaits is probably an oxymoron to the average Joe bass fishermen who probably gets bye just fine with a few Bandits or Bombers out of the bargain bin.

Owning a boat is nice but not a necessity. With the Internet it is easier than ever to get connected with people who have boats or find out about local opportunities to catch bass where a boat isn't even necessary. If you are in the market for a watercraft as long as you have a couple of hundred bucks you should be able to find something between Craigslist, Ebay, and local fishing forums.

Does bass fishing cost too much? No! Lack of money is not much of an excuse.

Update: Be sure to look at this threads comments as there are some excellent things pointed out.

My Top 10 Baits of the 2000's

Ok I know I said I wasn't going to do a retrospective look back at the 2000's decade but then I saw Hellabass do one on his Top 10 Bass Baits of the past Decade . I thought it was a cool idea and so I am going to do my own Top 10 list.


#10 Mann's Minus One- I use all 3 sizes and they have caught many bass and some big pike. I threw thew them a lot more often earlier in the decade and in the latter part of the decade I have used them primarily for going after pike.

#9 Buzzbait- I don't throw buzzbaits a whole lot but they were the key lure for winning the 2008 Fisher of Men Fishing Club Fall Outing Fally WallEE Trophy  and I caught a 5lb bass on the Herb's Dilly Buzzbait this decade.

Top Brands: Herb's Dilly, Northland, Blue Fox.

#8 Rapala Subwalk- The Subwalk gets the nod mainly because I caught these 2 bass on it in one cast and then there is the episode of getting one bit off, retrieving the lure several days later, and then losing that particular bait never to be seen again.

#7 Rattlebaits- This particular family of baits was hot for me early in the decade, but I have developed upper back issues that interfere with me being able to rip the bait.

Top brands: Cordell Spots, Berkley Frenzy, and the venerable Rattletrap

#6 Swim Jigs- I have pounded bass and pike hard over the last couple of years thanks to swim jigs and of coarse there is the episode of The Lost Jig.

Top brands: Bass Pro Shops Tom Monsoor Enticer, Outkast, All-Terrain, Brovarney.

#5 Buzz Toads- This type of bait is #6 because I just love to throw em and a white Sizmic Toad caught one of my Top 5 biggest bass of the decade.

Top Brands: Zoom Horny Toad and Sizmic Toad.

#4 Suspending Jerkbaits- This decade I hammered bass (Larry and Sally), pike, and walleye on suspending jerkbaits. A green Smithwick Dead-Stick Rogue caught one of my Top 5 biggest bass of the decade and I believe a Husky Jerk was probably responsible for my personal best walleye which was caught trolling in the Fall on Mille Lacs.

Top Brands: Rapala Husky Jerk, Rapala X-Rap, Smithwick Dead Stick Rogue, Smithwick Suspending Rogue, and Bomber Long A.

#3 Slop Frogs- Snagproof Tournament Frogs were responsible for my two biggest bass of the decade and accounted for more 4 and 5lb bass than any other lure. Also Mike Thompson caught the biggest pike I witnessed get caught this decade on a Snagproof Frog.
Top Brands: Snagproof, Spro, River2Sea.

#2 Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke- I have caught a lot of bass (mostly Larry's but some Sally's too) on Zoom Super Flukes over the past 10 years and it has been clutch for me in tournaments. My Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke is responsible for my 3rd place finish and Lunker at the 2008 Baxter Bass Snatcher Club Tournament at Serpent Lake (4/02), Big Bass and Tournament win at a Fishers of Men Club Tournament on Rush Lake (20.5"), My 3rd Place in the 2004 Excel Singles Tournament at Rabbit Lake, and was partially responsible for my 2004 Team Bass win at Bone Lake, WI; there is more but those are the biggest Super Fluke highlights.

#1 Berkley Frenzy Popper- Some of my most fun and prolific times on the water this decade involved the now discontinued Berkley Frenzy Popper. Fortunately for me I snapped up lots of Frenzy Poppers off Ebay before they were discontinued.

My 2009 Bass Snatcher Review Part 2 (Lessons Learned)

In the comments of the intial review Hellabass wrote:
"But I guess the other important thing, is did you learn new stuff fishing with these guys?"

In light of that question, I am doing this 2nd installment of the Review that will anwer this question.

Lesson 1
1. The use of GPS in conjunction with and lake mapping software provide an angler who can maximise their utility a definite advantage in finding and catching fish.

Lesson 2
2. I got outfished with a jig around cover on several occasions this year. I think this is a combination of being a back of the boat thing, a deficiency in my jig fishing skills, and something to do with my prefered fishing style which tends to be more horizontal than vertical.

Lesson 3
3. I have had a good experience with every guy I have fished with in the club so far and I would take any of these guys as a partner again in a heartbeat.

Fishers of Men Club Spring Outing Camp/Lake Wapogasset

May 1-3
I arrived at the camp around 3:30PM and had the boat launched by 4:30PM. There was a mix up in communication so we ended up eating camp food rather than grilling our own for dinner. After dinner I went out with Gordy and Gary Pflipsen. We fished right by the camp and I could not get a white bass to go. Gary P. caught this sunfish which was the 1st fish of the weekend.

Not long after Gary's sunfish, Gordy pulled in this nice crappie.
Gary P. got the first bass of the weekend, but it would not be in season until midnight.
I drank to much milk for dinner and had to be let off at the dock so I could use the facilities. Here is Lowell Borgen, Jim ???, and Art Halverson just off the Camp Wapogasset East dock.
Our accomodations on this outing left a little bit to be desired. Lowell had to organize his tackle while sitting on the floor. We had 9 guys at the Outing: Myself, Mike Thompson, Gordy, Gary P, Gary Ellis, Lowell, Art, Jim, and John Cummins.
Mike "Cyberfish" Thompson and I elected to not get up at dawn. I headed out in front of the camp around 7AM but didn't get a bite before breakfast at 8AM. I don't remember for sure if Gary P. and Gordy caught a fish, but the other two boats came in skunked for the morning.

Cyberfish and I headed out after breakfast and fished around the Camp in Bear Trap. I think Cyb openned things up with a 10inch "Larry." I was throwing a small Fat Free Shad crank and connected with my 1st bass of the season but it only went 12.5". My crankbait got out of tune so I switched to a little bigger Fat Free Shad in citrus shad and I got another bass. Mike got a 22 inch pike on the drop shot and a couple more small bass. Coming up on lunch time we ran across Jeff Bosshardt as he was headed to the camp for lunch. He and his partner only had a few small bass on cranks and he got those on the North end of Bear Trap by the break for the boat channel, basically what we were fishing.

After lunch it was slow and I got tired, so Mike dropped me off at the dock and I took a nap in the truck. While I was relaxing Mike just went out a little ways off the end of the West Camp dock and started blasting sunnies, crappies, and even a few largemouth (biggest 15.5"). Eventually I got up and fished off the dock, landing an under 10" bass on the Storm Wildeye Swimbait, unfortunately I didn't have my camera to take a dink picture for The Bassholes.com.

We had pizza for dinner at 5PM and the guys were pretty beat up from a rough day on the water. Winds were NW and around 20mph and it was in the low 60's and cloudy. Mike won the tournament easily thanks to the pike and crappies. I think Mike may have been the only one with more than 1 species of fish.

After dinner Mike and I started around camp and I got a couple of bass on an Outkast Money jig with a Cabela's Aqua Glow Hoochie Koochie Shad. The wind started calming down so we headed South on Bear Trap. We first went to the point with the bouy and Mike had a pike break him off. Next we went to a spot that has been productive for a variety of fish in the past. Mike caught a couple of crappies and I caught a dink bass on a Fat Free Shad. It started getting dark and I didn't have a way to hook up the stern light so we headed in.

Mike Thompson ended up getting "King Crappie" honors with a 10 incher.

I did a little fishing before brunch on Sunday off the camp dock. I missed a small pike on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke. Brunch was at 9:30AM and everybody but Mike and I headed home. Naturally Mike and I started fishing right by the camp. He got a crappie and sunfish, but we couldn't pick up any bass. Next we headed to the North end of Wapogasset and it was just dead up there despite the fact that water temps were 53-54. We fished up there for quite a while. Mike got a sunfish, crappie, and missed a nice sized bass and I got a small pike. The water was not warming up quickly and so we gave up on the North end before 2PM. We stopped at the YMCA camp to the North of the Culvert but nothing was in there so we headed back to the South end of Bear Trap. We fished that spot that has been productive in the past and Mike caught a few crappies, but just couldn't get dialed in and it was cool and windy, so around 3PM we headed back off the camp docks. Mike caught a small mess of crappies and sunfish which he kept.

While we were anchored two loons came to visit (in the upper left corner is a loon beak and head just coming out of the water click pic to enlarge).
We fished until a little after 4PM but the bass just were not showing up, so we called it a day. We didn't land a single bass on Sunday.