More Classic Basspastor from FishingMinnesota.com archives, this from 04/17/01 on the topic of bass closed season angling.

The Basspastor says there is a fine line here between the sin'en and grin'en. I think fishing soft plastic worms, big tubes, and bass jigs are a no no and yes you could get flagged by the DNR. These are plain and simply bass baits where a pike or walleye on them would be an incidental catch. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, walleye and crappie size grubs, beetle spins, and the like however can be primary baits for the other species. Which reminds me of a story from an opener a few years back. I was fishing weed flats with a spinner bait and floating Rap for pike. Naturally I was catching as many if not more bass then pike. The lake has a much larger bass population than pike pop. Anyway, I was working my way down the flat when some guy on a dock starts harassing me about how bass season doesn't begin for another couple of weeks. This guy wouldn't stop and was being a jerk. I proceeded down the way without saying anything back. Later that night while fishing another weed flat I caught a 10lb pike on the same floating rap that this guy was yelling at me about. On this same flat the same night I was throwing a muskie size spinnerbait and could not keep the bass off it. Go figure. I have seen and caught some big pike on opener or the week after using a bass sized spinnerbait or rapala. IN fact in the last few years I have caught a fair number of pike over 7lbs and the majority have all been on bass size lures (Crankbaits, Spinnerbaits)
Follow up post:
My last post reminded me of another opener from a few years ago, but this time it was the bass opener. The weather was cool and cloudy and I was on a new lake. Naturally, I was after bass, primarily throwing bass soft plastics. What I found was Pike everywhere with a bass here and there. That day had I wanted I could have caught more than a hundred pike and I think I ended up catching more than 40 as it was. I ended up catching and releasing about ten bass. Go figure (Redux)

Me On Trophy MN Bass & Mille Lacs Report from 2002

BP Tourny HQ: Fishers of Men Mille Lacs 02...

Today I went deep into the FishingMinnesota.com archives just to look and see what was there. It was amazing to see how many of the original people who used that board were banned and now are listed as annonymous. Ahh the memories. For instance this post on a thread about a big bass:

Hammer,
Yes I would certify a 22" as a big/trophy class fish. Almost no doubt it was over 6lb.
Here's how I score em.
18" Nice Bass
19" Big Bass
20" Hawg
21" Trophy Size
22" Huge Fish
23" Get it weighed possible State Record
24" This could be the magic 10, definitely get it weighed.

PS I'm going with legitimate length: mouth closed tail pinched nose against measuring board. To hold a fish next to a ruler can be deceiving if one isn't careful.

[This message has been edited by Basspastor (edited 07-24-2002).]

Weather: The promised snow storm is taking a more southernly track, so we are only supposed to get an inch or two of snow tonight and tommorrow. Personally, I think we might as well have got whacked because we need the precipitation up here. The weather is supposed to get nice next week, that is a relief. I'm getting itchy to go after those doggies and pannies.

From the archives of FishingMinnesota.com:

Cyberfish vs. Basspastor

Cyberfish vs. Basspastor 2004 Ice to get the full flavor you have to open the links towards the bottom of the page 1 by 1.

Note: Anonymous is FM euphimism for the Banned Pastor. "The Banned Pastor" is a Classic Bass Pundit blog, a must read for all BP readers.

Bassfan world ranking analysis...

KVD AUDIO Blog

KVD Tour Tracker Clear Lake

SMG Tour Notes and Blog...

MN DNR Conservation Officer Tales...

Happy Easter!

The coldest April Easter in Minnesocold since the 1950's. Yeah! We are supposed to get another snow storm on Tues. Yeah! I watched some dude from Iowa win the Masters. Yeah!

Whatever!

A year ago today Platte Lake was ice free and I was one happy camper. Today Platte lake is covered in snow and ice is forming or getting thicker. The past couple of days and next couple of days are going to be and have been miserable; High winds and temps in the mid twenties. Weather.com says the weather should change for the better LATE NEXT WEEK! $%^&$ %%*&%$. At this rate ice off won't be until at least the 20th of April. The latest the ice has gone out since I moved up here was the 10th.

Yuck! It is snowing like crazy today, 6plus inches. The temps are supposed to be down in the low to mid 30's for the next three days. Sure we could use the precipitation, but did it have to be like this?

BassFan World Rankings...

Here's the dish on Minnesocold open water.






I found this BassFan Dock Talk interesting:
Santee-Clear comparison 4/3/2007
Just about every Bassfan knows by now that Steve Kennedy broke Preston Clark's BASS 4-day weight record at the recent Clear Lake Bassmaster Elite Series. Clark set the standard of 115-15 a year ago at South Carolina's Santee Cooper, and Kennedy shattered it with 122-14 over the weekend in California.

Here are a few more numbers comparisons between the two tournaments:

> Day 1 limits – 83 out of 102 anglers at Santee Cooper, 108 out of 108 at Clear Lake.
> Check weight (Top 50 after 2 days) – 39-07 at Santee Cooper, 41-11 at Clear Lake.
> Cut weight (Top 12 after 3 days) – 72-04 at Santee Cooper, 74-11 at Clear Lake.
> 25-pound-plus bags on day 1 – 15 at Santee Cooper, 19 at Clear Lake.
> Winner's best bag – 39-06 at Santee Cooper, 40-07 at Clear Lake.
> 100th-place weight (2 days) – 13-13 at Santee Cooper, 31-02 at Clear Lake.

Lakes Check: Today I got out to take a look at the ice conditions on Platte, Sullivan, Rock, and Bulldog. First stop was at the Platte/Sullivan channel; just as I thought this area has openned up a fair amount into Sullivan. It looked as if the water level was extremely low. I then went to Bulldog which is pretty much all iced up and not as dark as one would hope. Then I went to the Rock Lake access which got pushed up this winter; I am not sure if a boat could be launched over the big bump in the ramp or not. I will contact the DNR tommorrow to let them know about the problem. There was a little ice pull away from the shore at Rock, but the lake looks to be locked up for a while yet. My last stop was at Platte Lake which is still looking quite white as well even though there was some ice away from the shore. From our place it looked like the water levels on Platte are about back to normal. All in all it looks like it could be a while before we get open water in this area, especially with the cold weather predicted for this week. :(

Updated Angler of the Year Standings...

Sean Hoernke FLW Tour Fort Loudoun/Tellico Recap...

Team Lucky Craft Journal Cal Delta...

The Weather: Unfortunatly Spring is taking a few steps back this week. Even so I am guessing that Platte/Sullivan and Rock may have ice out by next weekend. I have not seen the lakes to judge them, but my guess is that the warm rain this weekend has really had an effect. It won't be long now...

Yesterday saw some of the worst media photo coverage of the Elite Series. I have been unable to find a picture of Steve Kennedy's full 40lb bag and no pictures at all of Tim Horton's 12-1 giant. BOO! Update I found pictures! See Yesterday's blog.

Mark Davis wins Ft. Loudoun–Tellico FLW Tour by 2-11 over Dave Lefbre. Also congratulations to Keith Williams, who I've fished with here in Minnesocold, on a 3rd Place Finish.
BassFan Story...

FLW Story...


Posse Results Ft. Loudoun–Tellico & Overall pts and place:
1 Minnesocold BP's Boys 767 688thplace 1552pts 251thPlace
2 Cyb'sBboys 755 790thplace 1490pts 459thplace
3 Schmenzig Bassmen 752 817thplace 1372pts 1115thplace
4 BPObro 747 879thplace 1602pts 121thplace
5 Bp's Mommy 645 2066thplace 1321pts 1428thplace
6 Bass Pundit 1 611 2411thplace 1447pts 699thplace
7 BP's Dad 524 3110thplace 1338pts 1329thplace
Not exactly a great showing for any posse member, everybody was headed backwards pretty much.

Elite Clear Lake: Basszone Blog from the Water...


The Fat Lady has sung at Clear Lake and it's Steve "Yes he is on BP1 and BP boys rosters" Kennedy who has won and set a new Bass four day tournament record with 122-14 a full 5-8 better than Skeet. Kennedy notched the days big bag for the 2nd day in a row, chock up the bonus points baby!
BassFan Story...

BASS Story...

BassZone Story...

Clear Lake Fantasy Bass Results
Minnesocold BPboys: 614 7thplace MN Fantasy Bass league, Overall 1559th place
Bass Pundit 1: 545 1stplace MN Fantasy Bass league, Overall 217th place
A pretty good tournament for both teams. BPboys move up 2,592 places and BP 1 moves up 233 places on the big board.

BassZone on the water Blog day 3...

Steve Kennedy sacked 40lbs at Clear Lake!!!! Developing...

You know you're in a big-league whackfest when you start the day in 3rd place and catch a 35 1/2-pound bag, and you don't budge in the standings.
Bassfan Clear Lake Day 3...

BassFan Big Stick John Murray...

Ft. Loudoun–Tellico FLW Tour
Official Day 3 Standings
Saturday, March 31, 2007
1. Mark Davis -- Mount Ida, Ar -- 5, 19-13
2. Jay Yelas -- Tyler, Tx -- 4, 11-15
3. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 11-06
4. Keith Williams -- Conway, Ar -- 5, 10-15
5. Harmon Davis -- Marlow, Ok -- 5, 10-03
6. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 5, 9-15
7. Derek Jones -- Chicago, Il -- 3, 9-08
8. John Sappington -- Willard, Mo -- 5, 8-15
9. Shinichi Fukae -- Mineola, Tx -- 5, 7-12
10. Thanh Le -- Las Vegas, Nv -- 4, 6-02
Davis Rock-Solid, Whacks 19-13 and leads by 8...
GO MARK! GO!

Lake Dardanelle WBT final standings...

SMG TOUR NOTES & BLOG...

Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes:
Elite cut to 12 day turned out to be a mixed bag as Kennedy moved up to second, Lintner moved up to 4th but Gutierrez lost his big lead and KVD, Ish, Roumbamis and Martens all dropped substantially. It will really suck if Skeet pulls the win tommorrow in this three way horse race.

Super 6 pick em rode the suck truck as KVD, Roumbanis, and Ish all got knocked out of points range contention.

BassZone on the water blog Clear Lake Day 2...

Holy Cow Ike bags 26lbs and it isn't even good enough to get him in the cut. Ouch!
Elite Clear Lake Standings...

WBT Dardanelle standings...

BassFan Ft. Loudoun–Tellico FLW Tour...

Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes:
Amazingly enough day 2 was good to me in FLW and BASS. In FLW the posse improved a total of 130 places overall. 12 of 18 were gainers; Major gainers in Fukae +73, Strader +39, Wendlandt +34, Powers +31. Managed to get 4 FLW anglers in the cut. None of the posse line ups are stellar, but I think they all come in pretty reasonable.

In BASS it was a very good day, mostly because Steve Kennedy caught 29lbs and went from 51st to 12th. Right now BP 1 has a line up that is all within the top 12 cut. BP boys are headed by tournament leader Gutierrez, who again today sacked the big bag bonus. BP boys have 4 anglers currently in the top 12 cut; A-Mart dropped but that was more than made up by Kennedy.

In Super 6 pickem I used the same line ups:
Skeet, Ish, Lintner, KVD, A-Mart, and Roumbanis. It looks like all but A-Mart have a shot at yielding points.

I however can't get to far ahead of myself with the Bass picks, because there still can be a lot of movement with 50 anglers vying for 12 spots in such a slugfest. All my anglers in the top 12 could be out of it tommorrow.

The next few days are a bassin bonanza with the Elite Clear Lake, FLW Ft. Loudoun-Tellico, and WBT Dardanelle.

BassZone Blog from the Water Clear Lake Elite...

Bass Real-time leaderboard...

The weigh-in at Clear Lake is over and big bags are the rule. 20lbs for 51st place!!!

Any angler who practiced at Tennessee's Ft. Loudoun-Tellico for more than a few days might as well have taken the pile of $100 bills spent on gas, food and lodging and built a mini-bonfire with it.
BassFan Ft. Loudoun-Tellico coverage...

Mark Mauldin, a local pre-tournament favorite, blanked today. He spent the whole day flipping muddy water up the river, refusing to surrender to finesse. "I can't tell you how disappointing it is," he said. "This tournament was the whole reason I signed up for the Tour. The weather didn't screw up the fish as much as it did the fishermen. I guess I fell victim to trying to catch them how I wanted to catch them. But I went down swinging. I wasn't going to go down with a shaky-head or Senko in my hand."
Moron!

Lake Dardanelle WBT info via Future Bass...

BassZone Clear Lake Coverage...

BassFan Big Stick John Murray Clear Lake Day 1...


Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes:
The posse's day in FLW action wasn't so good, just mediocre. The Tenn. anglers just did not come through especially Mark Mauldin who didn't even catch a fish. However there is lots of room for improvement because Day 1 Don't mean Jack Squat.

Got off to much better starts in BASS. Steve Kennedy at 51 is the lowest player. Both teams have 2 anglers in the top 10. BP Boys got big bag and big bass bonus on the back of Greg Gutierrez. I view day 2 with much trepidation as that this tournament is a dog fight with heavy bags being common, there will probably be quite a bit of movement on the leaderboard tommorrow. In MN fantasy bass league BP1 is now in the top spot and the BPBoys moved up all the way up to 6th, too bad Day 1 don't mean jack squat!

Another day closer to open water.

Rich's Bassin' Blog Exclusive to Lake Texoma...

March 28 SMG tour notes and blog...

Check out the new 7/24 Journals...

Bassfan Big Stick Jay Yelas on Loudoun–Tellico FLW Tour...

Bassfan Big Stick John Murray on Clear Lake...

Pundit Picks Clear Lake...

FLW Pundit Picks...

Just finished putting the Posse together for Lake Tellico , we are heavy with Tennesseeians.

KVD audio blogs...

KVD tour tracker for the Delta...

KVD Forum's

KVD has to have the coolest website of any pro out there.

Spring Fever: It got to 78F today, a record high temp. The snow is now 99.9% gone. I used the warm whether to play fetch with Patti, track down my fishing rods which were spread out, and spent some time in the tackle shack. Nice

Tour Notes and Blog with SMG Pro's...

Team Lucky Craft Journal Elite Amistad...

Rotico's: How to Catch more bass (a blog about hooksets)...

Hellabass: Recounts his fantasy bass fishing awesomeness and other random bass fishing ditties...

Zona has a My Space...

Blogger has now forced me to use the new and improved Blogger which I have heard bad things about. Hopefully they have the bugs worked out now.

My back is feeling better slowly. I think I might go to see the Chiropractor again sometime this week.

Weather: Early this morning and then again in the afternoon we had the first thunderstorms of the Spring. Very nice to see, although all the snow is not gone and the lakes will be iced up for at least another couple of weeks. It may hit 70F tommorrow. Yeah!


Congratulations to Aaron Martens on his first BASS tour win at the Cali Delta. Here he is seen getting the trophy from his mother who also used to be his tournament fishing partner.

BassFan Story...

Bass Story...

Bass Zone Story...

Of Note: BassZone.com had a on the water blog at the Delta. Cool Beans!

Fantasy Bass Fishing Update:
Bass Pundit 1: The worst tournament of the year so far for this unit, only 345pts but that was still about 50pts higher than the average score. Currently in 4th Place in the MN fantasy bass league and 450th overall.

BP Boys: On the strength of the A-Mart win the score was a respectable 421 moving up to 17th in the MN fantasy bass league and to 4151 overall.

Super 6 Pick'em:
Bass Pundit 1: Got 36 more pts which was tops in the MinnesotaEliteVenue league. For the year 84 pts which is 660th overall.

Bp Boys: notched 26pts which was 4th in MinnesotaEliteVenue league. For the year 62pts which is 1709th overall.

This week is both a BASS Elite event and FLW tour stop. Lots of fantasy bass opportunities. I'm gonna keep my fantasy BASS line up's the exact same. I'll probably make a change or two in FLW and Super 6 rosters.

Hellabass is kicking some serious tale in fantasy, right now he is #6 of all players overall. I think he is riding Remitz and KVD for serious points. He was 15th place at Amistad.

BP once again stands for Back Pain. Last Saturday I was getting up out of a chair and my back instantly went out of alignment. I was in major pain all weekend. Got to the Chiropractor on Monday and that has helped a little. I will be back to see him tommorrow morning. Hopefully this next adjustment will get my back, back to normal. Pain sucks!

KVD's Tour Tracker Journal for Amistad...

SMG Pro's Jay Yelas and Sean Hoernke On Tour...

Found a great new Bassin Blog called Propwash

Scott Campbell's Elite Amistad Journal.. A good read, Scott was in 2nd after the first two days and caught that 12 pound giant (scroll down to see it)

Check out the other 7/24 Journals.

NCAA March Madness: I used to really get into the "Big Dance" when I was in college and for a few years afterward. I hardly pay attention anymore. Basketball as a sport has lost my interest. The only sports I seem to care about are Pro Fishing and Pro Football.

The Bass Poacher and Cheater... An Annonymous commenter has called me onto the carpet at my Blog, Bass Pundit Preach. My guess, annonymous can't beat me in open debate and lost to me the majority of the time in bass tournaments and probably Fantasy Bass Fishing too. Can you say "sour grapes."

Thank You and Hello to all my new friends at My Space and Angling Masters.

There is an FLW Series West Tournament going on at the Cali Delta, coverage at FLW Outdoors. They are bringing in some huge sacks, but not quite as big as BASS Elite Amistad (at least not yet anyways.)

Amistad Day 2 & 3 as a Co-Angler by Hellabass

Found: The Bass Hog Blog.

Hellabass blogs: Amistad Elite Series Practice & Day 1Detailed


American Idol: Yes I am an American Idol fan, a non voting one. Actually this is the first year I've really paid attention to the show beyond an occasional watch. My favorite is Melinda Doolittle, man can she sing. I think Lakisha, Jordan, and Blake all have a lot of talent but Melinda is definitely my choice to be the next American Idol. Who knows, maybe when it gets down to the end, I'll maybe send her a vote if you can do it online.

The Weather: It was darn near 60 F degrees yesterday. The snow is melting like crazy. It still will be a couple of two three or four weeks before open water finally arrives. Hopefully I will be ready when the day comes and that it will be as warm and nice a spring as last year.

SMG On Tour...

Derek Remitz on BassFan Radio...

Ice Fishing Sabbatical Starts

I have decided... A new BP post at the Fishing Log Blog.

BP now has a My Space page. Well I've followed in the footsteps of Hellabass and invested in another site to promote the Bass Pundit Franchise. If you are a My Space Cadet I look foreward to having you be in my "Friends." I think I will probably keep the Page designed in the simple stock manner. For the most part I think the jazzed up My Space pages are ugly and a pain to navigate around on dial up.

Through Sondra Rankin's My Space page I learned about Basstrac.com, which is a website you might want to check out. They are giving away a bass boat, however it ain't free. You first have to be a Basstrac.com member at $100 bucks a pop. I am really not clear on what else they offer as that you have to be a member to access the content.

Do I think it's worth the $100? Depends on if you have money to burn or not. Don't count on the BP signing up anytime soon.

John Murray has his Amistad Bassfan Bigsticks report up...

New March 11 Tour notes and Blog from SMG... Has the tale of Faircloth's big day, check it out.

Amistad Day Final

AND IT's REMITZ BY A MILE
Minnesota native Derek Remitz wins the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Amistad with a final day bag of 31-6, big bag of the day, for a total of 111-7; beating IKE by 7-12. Derek had the days big bass with an 8-11 kicker. Way to go Derek!

It's been a long time since a Minnesocoldian wins a tour level Bass Tournament.

BassFan Story...

BASS story...

beartrap first hand report with pic...

BassZone Report...

Hellabass Blog...

Fishing Diva has a tournament tale, complete with lost car keys...

Fantasy Bass Round UP:
Bass Pundit 1 with 468 currently in 2nd MN fantasy bass league. Fair line up with 3 anglers in the final cut Kennedy 2nd, KVD 5th, Ish 6th. Niggemeyer was the albatross.

MNsocold BPboys with 377 to move up to 25th in MN fantasy bass league. Two angler in the final 6: Kennedy 2nd, Ish 6th.

Super 6 Pickem Round UP
Bass Pundit 1: 32 Points for

MNsocold BPboys: 20 Points

Amistad Day 3

Hellabass Day 3 Blog is up...

SMG has a March 10 Blog up...

Amistad PRO Top 12
1. Derek Remitz: 80-01
2. Steve Kennedy: 77-02
3. Mike Iaconelli: 76-04
4. Todd Faircloth: 75-01
5. Edwin Evers: 71-04
6. Davy Hite: 69-13
7. KVD 68-4
8. John Murray 67-1
8. Jeff Kriet 67-1
10. Skeet 66-14
11. Ken Brodeur 66-12
12. Ish 66-09

MN Co-Anglers Day 3
20 Joe Barnett 36-8
32 Richard Lindgren 31-7
36 David Doty 27-11
48 Wayne Lindgren 21-11
85 Jason Dudek 10-0

Team Evinrude Day 2 Journal

Liveblogging the weigh IN
I'm enjoying watching the ESPN/Bass Live Leaderboard

Right now MN boy Derek Remitz has taken the tournament lead with a Day 3 leading bag of 30-7. He also has Big Bass as of right now with a 9-2 kicker.

Other notable news at this point: IKE stays consistant with another 24lb bag, KVD may not make the top 12 cut; he only caught 17-4 today. Gary Klien only caught 8-8 and has dropped out of the top 12, so far he has low bag of the day (didn't even catch a limit).

Hellabass' pro Jason Quinn weighs 13-14
Hellabass weighs his tournament best at 13-1 (He will probably move up but is way short of the cut)
Hellabass total weight 31-7
Hellabass' Dad weighs only 1 bass for 2-6 total 21-11

Ken Cook has the new Pro low bag with 8-2
Real-time leaderboard is now stuck on Brent Chapman-I hate when that happens.

Weigh in is now over. KVD made the cut in 7th. Todd Faircloth had the days big bag 36-7 and big bass 10-11. Derek Remitz is in 1st Place.

Amistad Day 2

Halloween Machine! Grand Rapids Thunderhawks beat #1 Edina Cake Eaters 3-1 in Minnesocold State High School Hockey Tournament.

3 Questions

Excellent Amistad Coverage at BassZone

Pro's Picks to win it.

Co-Angler Report

Drats! It looks like the Real-time Leaderboard is down, therefore "No weigh in for you" Update:It's working now!

SMG Pro's On Tour March 8 & 9

Billy Harris Bass Pro has a Percy Priest Tournment blog up.

Hellabass Day 2 Blog

MN Co-Anglers Day 2
19 Joe Barnett 26-5
36 Wayne Lindgren 19-5
46 Richard Lindgren 18-6
48 David Doty 17-0
85 Jason Dudek 10-0

Fantasy Notes:
Bass Pundit 1: KVD moves up +9 into 5th Place, Kennedy holds on by the skin of his teeth, Linter backs off a little along with ISH. Niggemeyer is a disaster pick, LAST PLACE (not even a bonus point) Overall Day 2 about the same to positive.

BP boys: Martens drops like a rock right out of the cut. Ish and Kennedy see BP1, Jeff Reynolds bombs without limit, Place 106. Crews is a slight up mover +6 and in Da Cut. Overall a tough one because of Martens.

Hellabass has a fantasy team that is smokin.

Amistad Elite Day 1

Check Out Elite Rookie Scott Campbell's 12lb Amistad Beast--->


Hellabass has an Amistad Day 1 Blog


Amistad BassFan Story

ESPN/BASS Story

Day 1 Standings

Velvick's Follies




Amistad Fun Facts: 5 Minnesocoldian's are fishing as Co-Anglers including Day 1 leader Joe Barnett of Fergus Falls with a 24-12 Catch. Hellabass' Dad Wayne Lindgren is in 11th after Day 1 with 16-06
49. Richard Lindgren Lakeville, Minn. 4 8-11 Go Hellabass!
50. Jason Dudek Excelsior, Minn. 4 8-08
57. David Doty Cottage Grove, Minn. 3 7-11

Day 1 Fantasy Bass Notes: Steve Kennedy Rocks, Ish Solid, KVD on the prowl, Lintner respectable along with Martens. Niggemeyer and Jeff Reynolds bomb, Niggemeyer didn't even catch a fricken limit thus stealing 5 bonus points from Steve Kennedy's Big Sack Bonus.

Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat! (except for those 5 missed bonus points)



Steve Kennedy Sacks 36-10!

Bassfan Big Stick John Murray has a practice report from Amistad.

Good Luck Hellabass!
If you are unaware Bassing Blogger Rich "Hellabass" Lindgren is fishing Amistad as a Co-Angler.

Hellabass has a pre-fish Update Up.

Get those Fantasy and Super 6 Pickem rosters in.

Congratulations! to Terry "Big Show" Scroggins on his come from behind win at the BASS Southern Open on the Kissimmee Chain. Story

Bassfan's weigh in on Swindle DQ
BP weighs in on Bassfan's article:
I am of the opinion that Gerald Swindle operated his boat in a reckless and unsportsmanlike manner at the Bassmasters Classic and agree that Tournament Director, Trip Weldon, made the right call. The BassFan article confirms that there are many that agree with this assessment, but not all. Those who justify Swindle's actions are flat out foolish. It is common sense that you don't run through boat traffic at a high rate of speed. All the talk about a "narrow" channel misses the mark; You don't navigate a channel at high speed if there is little room for maneuver because of other boats. It is common courtesy to not buzz by other boats especially at distances of no more than a couple of feet.

Swindle himself tried to justify his action claiming to be a "professional boat driver." If he were such a Pro he would have shut it down and idled through because that was THE ONLY sensible action.

Meet Elite Series Rookie Matt Sphar

Team Lucky Craft Journal Lake Travis

BP stands for Back Pain This time the Chiropractor was not a miracle healer and my back has been quite sore since Monday. I think I'm gonna need to see the Chiropractor again next week. However right at the moment my back is feeling OK, which is a nice change.

Team Lucky Craft Journal has it's blog about the Classic Up.

On Tour SMG pro's at BassMaster Southern Open on Lake Kissimmee and the Classic.

Rich "Hellabass" Lindgren has started himself a My Space Page.

Until I figure out what to do with this, I'll leave it here: Lunkergirl.com

Just learned about Ken Cook's Elite Schedule Journal which consists of Elite Series Bass Pro Ken Cook blogging about the various stops on the BASS Elite Series. Check out the blogs of the 2006 season. Another cool thing on Ken Cook's website is the Pattern Forecast. Ooops I guess you have to pay for it, not that cool then.

Bassmaster Classic Fantasy Bass Recap

Team Bass Pundit 1 gave a respectable performance amassing 636 Points which is in the 96t% and in place 448 overall. 3rd Place in MN Fantasy Bass League.

The Bass Pundit 1 line up:
Boyd Duckett-1st
KVD-3rd
Mike McClelland-12
Tim Horton-16
Russ Lane-24

The Minnesocold BP Boys didn't fair nearly as well.
Line Up:
Steve Kennedy-8th
Russ Lane-24th
Aaron Martins-25th
Jeff Reynolds- 27th
John Crews-35th

This was only good enough for the 20%, 8989th place overall and 28th place in the MN Fantasy Bass League. The BP Boys have some ground to make up.

In Super 6 Pick em both teams scored 16 points missing KVD's spot by one short and one long. This put the teams in the 53%, 2845 overall and tied for 8th in the Minnesota Elite Venue League.

Next Fantasy opportunity is the Lake Amistad Battle on the Border lock down 03/08/07 08:59:59 AM PST. Good Luck!

Classic Day Final

Well the 2007 Bassmasters Classic is in the books and the winner is Alambama native Boyd Duckett. He won on the strength of a 6-9 kicker that gave him a 6oz margin over Skeet Reese.

Congratulations Big Bass Boyd!














A little liveblogging of the Classic weigh in:
Note: I do NOT have live streaming of the weigh in and even if I did I'm on dial up so it would be all hacked up anyway. I can blog because of the real-time leaderboard.

So here are the unofficial Top 10 on the day
1. Kevin VanDam 45-6
2. Gary Klein 44-3
3. Terry McWilliams 43-9 45-3
4. Skeet Reese 43-5
5. Boyd Duckett 42-5
6. Dean Rojas 38-9 37-13
7. Todd Faircloth 37-7 35-11 (Not in Top 10)
8. Randy Howell 36-14 36-15
9. Kevin Wirth 36-6 41-4
10. Jason Quinn 36-3 38-1
10. Mike McClelland 36-3 37-5

Once again we will watch to see if it holds true to form.
Jason Quinn has 38-1. Mike McClelland has 37-5. Faircloth has 35-11. Kevin Wirth has 41-4. Randy Howell 36-15. Dean Rojas with 37-13.

Terry McWilliams knocks it out of the park 17-6 for 45-3!

The Super 6 are: Klein, Horton, Duckett, Scroggins, Reese, KVD!

LONG DELAY for the Super 6 hoopla!

Oops that Unofficial Top 10 wasn't the Final Unofficial Top 10.

Here it is:
1. Kevin VanDam 45-6 45-4
2. Skeet Reese 45-5 48-4
3.Gary Klein 44-3 44-5
4. Terry McWilliams 43-9 45-3
5. Boyd Duckett 42-5 48-10
6. Dean Rojas 38-9 37-13
7.Mike Wurm 38-1 37-9
8. Todd Faircloth 37-7 35-11(Not in Top 10)
8. Terry Scroggins 37-7 39-9
10. Randy Howell 37-6 36-15

Gary Klien comes up short.
Boyd Duckett knocks it out of the Park 17-13 for 48-10
Scroggins 39-9
Skeeter 15-14 for 48-4 just short.

Van Dam vs. Duckett and the winner is: BOYD DUCKETT! breaks the home state jinx!

KVD comes in 3rd with
45-4
Snowed In Last night we got about 14 inches of blowing and drifting snow. Major drifts in the drive way; Big enough to make Lilah disappear entirely.

Keep up with going's on at The Bassmaster Blog and Unofficial Top 5

Vam Damage has his limit already and is ready to rock. According to the Bass Trakker Rojas is making a surge but has a lot of ground to make up.

BassFan Bigstick John Murray recounts his sub-par Classic performance.

Rotico's talking big bass in Texas.

Classic Quotes from Bass Zone

Bassmaster Classic Day 2

The big news today other than Van Damage and Pamela Martin-Wells is the DQ that G-Man Gerald Swindle received for unsafe boating. It was all caught on tape. Shame Shame G-boy. He got exactly what he deserved. The DQ cost him a fair shot at the Classic.

Well Day 2 is in the Books and Van Damage is in the Cat-birds seat. Will he be able to do it? I wouldn't bet against it. But I think anyone in the top 13 could take it.

The Day 2 weigh in has started here is an unofficial Top 15. with the actual
1. Tommy Biffle 33-5 28-6 #8
2. Ishama Monroe 31-5 27-5 #11
3. Kevin VanDam 30-3 32-15 #1
4. Boyd Duckett 29-6 30-13 #4
5. Skeet Reese 29-5 32-6 #2
6. Terry Scroggins 29-4 30-15 #3
7. Steve Kennedy 28-14 28-9 #7
8. Gary Klein 28-10 28-11 #6
9. Randy Howell 27-13 27-8 #10
10. Kevin Wirth 27-7 27-1
11. Terry McWilliams 27-3 27-13 #9
12. Michael Iaconelli 26-1 24-15 (In the 15 Spot)
13. Mike Wurm 25-8 24-8 (Not in Top 15)
14. Royce Dennington 25-2 23-12 (Not in Top 15)
15. James Charlesworth 24-7 21-10 (Not in Top 15)

It will be interesting to see how this corresponds to reality. Skeet Reese has weighed in and officially has 32-6. KVDamage weighed 19-14 and has 32-15. Wurm only weighs 10-8 for 24-8. Howell fizzles 9-9 for 27-8. James Charlesworth bombs with 9-3 for 21-10. Kevin Wirth 12-8 for 27-1. Terry McWilliams 12-4 for 27-13. Gary Klien 17-5 for 28-11. Steve Kennedy 16-7 for 28-9. Ish 12-5 for 27-5. Ike 11-6 for 24-15. Tim Horton 12-6 for 29-11. Boyd Duckett 10-15 for 30-13. Terry Scroggins 13-15 for 30-15. Royce Dennington 13-13 for 23-12. Tommy Biffle only 11-11 for 28-6.

People also in Top 15:Mike McCelland, Kevin Wirth, Aaron Martins, Tim Horton
Looks to me like anyone in the top 13 have a shot. GO KVD!

Congratulations Pam Martin-Wells!
Apparently Pam Martin-Wells has gone wire to wire at the inaugural Woman's Bassmaster Tour Championship at Lake Mitchell. She sacked a tournament best 15-8 bag on day 3 and beat out Sherri Glasgow by a solid 7-2.
>Story Here
>Results Here

BP Notes: So I wake up early this morning to catch the Bassmaster Coverage on ESPN 2. I thought the deal was that they would be showing an hour or two of Day 1 and then an hour or so of Day 2 coverage. I was quite disappointed when they only did a little on Day 2 and just immediately re-ran the same stuff from day 1. Boo!

Day 2 Classic Blog
Day 2 Unofficial Top 5

BassFan Day 1 Notes from the rest of the field.

Blog of a Classic Volunteer

BassMaster Classic Day 1

BassFan has it's intial recap up.

BassFan Big Stick John Murray on Day 1

Team Evinrude has the Day 1 story for Mike Wurm and Denny Brauer.

Just Call him Big Bass Boyd Boyd Duckett has weighed a 8lb2oz Toad and has just a scrape under 20 with a total weight of 19-14.

Well the Day 1 Results are in and Duckett is in the lead by almost 2lbs. The ten spot is at 14-9, the 25 (Cut) spot is at 12-2, and the 38 spot is just 2-1 from there; This all adds up to a pretty congested field going into Day 2. I feel like day 2 will make it or break it for the front runners. My guess is they are going to need to have 17lb plus bags at this point to make a run for it.

Alabama anglers aquitted themselves well on day 1 taking 3 of the top 5 slots and 4 of the top 10.

Some WBT Championship results are in and Pam Martin-Wells leads by 4-08 over Sheri Glasgow going into the final day.
Day 2 Story
Day 2 Standings

Weigh starts at 4:45CT: Real Time Leaderboard

Check out: the Classic Blog for the latest scuttlebutt.
Also Check Out: the unofficial "Top Five"

It's about time the major bass fishing organizations break out some new technology to cover the fishing competition. It's been a complaint of mine that the tournaments are not blogged. Now at least the Bassmaster Classic is being blogged as it should be. Hopefully FLW will take a clue and due something to expand their tournament coverage as well. I just hope BASS keeps this up for the Elite's.

Hellabass on The Classic Media Blitz.

Will Kermit Play? Kermit, of coarse, is the nickname for the Spro Bronzeye Frog that Dean Rojas throws. According to BassFan, Rojas plans to throw Kermit during the BassMaster's Classic this weekend. I think the frog bite is a bit iffy due to the water temps being in the low to mid 50's. It will be interesting to see what happens.

My first day of practice was unbelievable. It was rainy, warm, the fish were biting, and I had about 25 bites. A few were good ones, and one was about 4 pounds. I was pretty confident.

Then the big freeze happened and I hardly fished the second day.

On the third day, I went upriver and got only a couple of bites.

A week later, on the final practice day, it was warm again and I got quite a few bites. A lot of them were little ones – 1 1/4-pound fish. I also caught a couple of drum.

So right now, I've got a deep-water pattern where I can get 10 to 20 bites. It's a main-river, current-driven pattern for a good limit. I've also got a shallow pattern for later in the day. I'm really not sure of the size on that shallow pattern.

If I could catch 13 to 15 pounds the first day, I'd be highly pleased.
BassFan Big Stick John Murray on his Classic Practice

Hellabass has his Fantasy Bass and Super 6 Pick'em line up's available for the world to see.

more Classic Picks are

Bass Fishing Home Page 1

Bass Fishing Home Page 2

Major League Baseball Players

Elite Series Anglers

BassFan's Top 10 To Watch

Women Bassmaster Tour Championship Day 1 Results.

Alton Jones ON TOUR

Clay Dyer has an update.

BassFan Army is offering FREE lifetime memberships, sign up here

WBT Amistad Story from the 7th Place Finisher

Be sure to visit the Classic Blog

Zona on Fantasy Bass Fishing

Weather.com for Birmingham Alabama. Looks like the weather is gonna warm up which may turn the Classic into a pre-spawn largemouth whack fest. If that's the case look for Brauer, Biffle, and Hackney to do well.

Classic Media Info. BP's Thoughts: I am probably going to follow the weigh ins on the Real Time Leaderboard and then watch them on TV. I would prefer that they carry the weigh in's live but ESPN has elected not to do that, probably so the coverage will look a little more slick.

Tim Johnson gives his FLW Lake Travis recap

Bish on Fish on fishing photograph cheating

Pro Site-ING
Aaron Hastings who just won the FLW Lake Travis.

Here's how the Posse faired at Lake Travis in the FLW Fishing Challenge

1 BPObro Todd Maas 855
2 Bass Pundit 1 Jeff Sutter-Maas 836
3 BP's Dad Chuck Maas 814
4 Minnesocold BP's Boys Dave Maas 785
5 Cyb'sBboys Mike Thompson 735
6 Bp's Mommy Sue Maas 676
7 Schmenzig Bassmen Steve Maas 620

BPObro was 39th best of all players
Bass Pundit 1 was 78th overall
Bp's Dad was 177th overall
Minnesocold BP's Boys are 376th overall
Cyb's are 882 Overall
Bp's Mommy is 1691 overall
Schmenzig is 2432 overall
I am unsure how many are playing FLW this year because only the top 500 scores are listed.

The winner of the Lake Travis Flw tour stop is Aaron Hastings of Middletown, MD with 9-10 bag and 19-9 Total weight. He won by 1-11 over Bryan Thrift of Shelby N.C..

Clark Wendlandt only brought in 2 fish for 5-15 and ended up in 4th place.

The days heaviest bag belonged to Bryan Thrift with 10-9.




BassFan Story

FLW Story

Quick Bites

Sean Hoernke blogs about Lake Travis and fishing in a 200 boat field.

Liveblogging today's Day 3 FLW Weigh in (Starts 4PM CT)

Today was obviously the toughest of the tournament so far with only 4 of the top 10 pro's bringing in limits. Aaron Hastings will take a 2-4 lead into day 4.

Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa sacks a limit but only for 6-8. Which pretty much leaves the door wide open for most of the anglers for Day 4. One kicker fish is about all the distance between 1 and 10.

Will Lefebre knock it out of the park or will it be a nip and tuck day 4?

Clark "Clean Shoes" Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx the home town hero does get a limit for 7-12.

Jerry Green -- Del Rio, Tx with only 2 for 3-8. He caught 13-2 and 11-1 on the previous days. Ouch!

Craig Dowling -- Madison, Al with 4 for 5-8. Wow today is looking tougher and tougher.

Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar with 2bass for 5-5.

Ott Defoe -- Knoxville, Tn with 4 fish for 4-12. Looks like it was a tough day. Note in an amazing twist on Thur. and Fri. Ott and Robertson caught exactly the same weight both days. Amazing!

Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok fumbles with only 1 fish for 1-7

Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, Nc bags 7-6 with a 5 bass limit. His two previous days were 10lb bags.

Aaron Hastings -- Middletown, Md bags 9-15, that's a little better.

Tracy Adams -- Wilkesboro, Nc weighs 1 fish for a scant 1-6. I don't think that is gonna get the job done.

And we are under way first up is a Co-Angler. I will not be liveblogging for them. I only am going by the results screen as that I can't get the live video feed to work. It looks like they are weighing all the Co-Anglers first.

Lake Travis Co-Angler Champion is Frank Divis SR with 8-11

BASSMASTER.COM has a Classic Blog in the run up to "The Classic"

Full Classic Coverage from BASSMASTER.COM



More News on Bassmaster the movie.

Rojas takes on Winni:
When his guides complimented Rojas on the sheer fact that he was not whining about the cold, Rojas wanted none of it. "Dude," he told them, "I'm a professional fisherman. I deal with stuff like this all the time."
Sure Dean fishes in 20 below wind chills all the time in Arizona. Right

Jay Yelas on Lake Travis:
Jay Yelas – Competition 2/16/2007
It was a pretty poor tournament for me – I thought I would do a lot better. I had several good jig bites in practice and a lot of good dropshot bites, but I only hooked one good fish in 2 days during the tournament and that one broke me off under a big metal dock.

I thought I was dialed in pretty good, but as it turned out I didn't have the fish to do much better than I did. It just goes to show you that sometimes things don't go the way you think they're going to.

On a new lake, it's easy to get fooled into thinking you're on a good pattern when you're really not. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably fish a jig a lot more in practice.

Fantasy Notes:
Jim Moynagh had a good day at Lake Travis catching 11-15 to jump 100pts in the standings. Overall Day 2 was on balance a good one for the Posse fantasy picks. BPObro will be the top team

5 Best Plays: Wendlandt(cut), Robertson(cut), Stacy King (19), Chip Harrison (21), Moynagh (23)

5 Worst Plays: Chris McCall(164), Alvin Shaw(159), Mike Hawkes(147), Sean Hoernke(95), Gagliardi (82)

Today was the start of the 2007 FLW Tour Season. The first tournament is being held at Lake Travis near Austin Texas. This is Clark Wendlandt's home lake and he did not dissappoint bagging 17-03 which is 3-13 in front of the nearest competitior.
BassFan Story Here
FLW Story
FLW Quick Bites

Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes:
I have the full 7 team posse playing the 2007 FLW Fantasy Fishing Challenge After Day 1 there are a couple of teams doing OK but nothing to get too excited about. On a possitive note I did put Clark Wendledt on every team.

Happy Birthday Steve!

If your looking for fantasy bass fishing help for the FLW event at Lake Travis the Pundit Picks are in. Better hurry though the roster deadline: Feb 14, 2007 11:59 p.m. ET.

About the ladies:
Conny Jenkins* presents: Profiles of the 24 women who will be competing
in the first Women's Bassmaster Tour Championship...a series starting in
reverse order of ranking..... (Scroll down the page for these interesting articles)

A Remarkble Fisherman

Today in my online pursuits I came across Flw Tour Pro Clay Dyer's website. As you can see from the picture, Clay doesn't have legs or hands yet he is still able to drive a bass boat and fish competitively at the highest level. I was pleased to discover that Clay is also a Bassin Blogger.

Very soon Clay will be releasing a book entitiled The View From Down Here Is Just Fine with biographer and outdoor writer Scot Laney. Check out those links to find out about this remarkable fisherman.

The SMG site has a blog for all SMG Pro's .


Also through the SMG site, I found FLW Pro Sean Hoernke.com with blog.

Changes, who needs them?

Today I have discovered that the way that I import pictures into the blog is no longer available because the new updated Blogger (which I don't use anyway, at least not yet) is not compatible with the Hello BloggerBot.

So now I've got to try a new way of adding pictures. Here it goes:





And there it is! A huge bass from Lake Nacogdoches via FLW Catch of the Week






All well and good but what about multiple pictures?


Well I'll be a blogging bear in a river, it's easy to do. Thanks for bearing with me!

What is with FLW?
The 2007 FLW tour debut at Lake Travis, Texas starts in two days yet their website doesn't have any articles about it. Where are the pundit picks? Someone throw BP a bone cause that Fantasy Bass Fishing lock down deadline is looming in quickly.

Blog Note: Not only have I learned a new way to import pictures today, but I also, thanks to Hellabass, learned the secrect of getting links to open in a new window. You're never to young to learn especially when your computer IQ is as low as mine. Now all my links on right column will open a new window; It was quite the project to change that up, so I hope BP users enjoy. No more hitting the back button to get back here.

Wanna take a fishing trip?
Check out Fishing Traveler: the blog that helps you plan your next fishing trip. This blog has information on trips in the Continental USA, Canada, Alaska, Mexico, and looks to be adding more info all the time. As of now they have 7 articles on Minnesocold Fishing. It's easy to find the articles on the destinations where you want to go.

Blog for Cyberfish to Check out:
These are the Generations of...

Global Warming
Global Warming? Where Have You Been The Past 60+ Hours? from Sportsman's Blog

Find out about:
The FISHHER Sisters (Hat tipUltimate Bass.com blog and ebassfish) and ladies don't miss the FISHHER website.

Minnesota bass anglers crowned top Federation for 2006 via Hellabass

New products for 2007 (via Ultimate Bass.com blog)

WBT Amistad Results
And the winner is Juanita Robinson of Highlands Texas. She sacked the day and tournaments biggest bag at a respectable 26-00lbs to bring her three day weight to 56lbs-08ozs. Both weights set WBT records.
Bassmaster Story Here
Final Standings Here

Bass in Blogs:

As American Dream stories go, this one had me hook, line, and sinker.

Non-bassfishing-endemic blogger Steve Krause of Steve Krause: Blog has blogged about Takihiro Omori titled Bassmaster and the American Dream

Bass Fishing Hits the Big Screen ... Again blogged by Cinematical. Movie Blog has a related opinion: A Movie About Bass Fishing - Kill Me

Kentucky takes its bass fishing seriously blogged by PigIronMalt

Random Facts About Bass Fishing Don't believe everything you read on the internet or hear at the Waffle House. blogged by Nick Gray dot net.

Pro Bass Fisherman Explains Life To Son Through Complicated Bass-Fishing Metaphors from The Onion Sports.

And this could have come from The Onion Sports; Bass Fishing with Famous People from The Ebb and Flow Institute.

Thanks to a entry over at the Hellabass Bassin Blog I found out about this cool fishing web community called Angling Masters International. AMI is basically a My Space type online community specfic to fishermen and women. It is a neat idea and I signed up straightaway. I think the page layouts are much cleaner than the typical My Space page.

An individual's page is called a "Cabin." The Cabin holds some basic personal information, a blog, photo gallery, "Livewell" (place to record catches and accrue points to compare against others from your state and presumably all AMI members), and "Fishing Buddies" listing. Fishing related businesses can have a part of the action as a "Marina."

So to make a short story longer; I have now openned up another franchise in the Bass Pundit Blog Franchise Empire:

Introducing BP's Cabin

Hellabass Cabin Here

Cyberfish Cabin Here (Apparently Cyb found AMI, but he didn't say anything to me about it)

I have taken to adding some new Bass Fishing Blogs to the Blogroll-O-BassNblog. They are:

Rick Morris Blog - An Elite Series BASS Pro gave blogging a try, but it looks like he stopped.

Rotico’s Bass Fishing Blog- About Rotico: I’m a long-time freelance writer, specializing in fishing, conservation, environment, and travel. I’m a Senior Writer for ESPN/BASS Publications and a Contributing Editor for Stratos, an in-flight publication for private and corporate owners of planes. I’ve fished all over most of this country, as well as in Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and South Africa. Also, I’ve fished with many of the best tournament anglers and guides. I’ve caught my share of big fish, including ten bass of 10 pounds or more. I’ve also been skunked more than a few times.

Bass Fishing Center Blog- I am not really sure what the deal is with this blog. It looks to be dormant as well.

Cyberville Bass Fishing- A blog about fishing for Sally and Larry.

Flyfishing, Bassfishing and all about fishing- This blog is crazy and I'm not sure what it's deal is.

Gone Fishing bass fishing tips locations- Looks like a respectable bass fishing blog that is current. This blog has been around for quite awhile. Where has it been that I couldn't find it?

Apparently Fishing Jones has a new site. I wonder if they got to big for Blogger?

The Ladies of the Women's Bassmaster Tour are fishing the 1st event of the 2007 tour this weekend. The Ladies are fishing "HAWG factory" Lake Amistad in Texas.

The Top weight for Thursday was only 19lbs-13ozs and was brought in by Texas Angler Karla Bullard. She is from Del Rio Texas thus Amistad is her home body of water. Marcia "Reelady" Rubin ,who I blogged about on Wednesday, only caught 2 fish and is sitting in 57th place.

Day 1 Story Here
Day 1 Results Here
Day 2 Story Here
Day 2 Results Here

Cool Article on the life of Bass Pro Ish Monroe
Through society's often-stereotypical eyes, Monroe, 32, might seem out of place in the sport he loves. Not long ago, competitive fishing was an almost-closed fraternity, with both subtle and visible barriers. It was a sport rooted in deep traditions that conjured images of the "good ol' boy" South.

But Monroe is perhaps the biggest example of how it's changed: He is the only black to have made it on the Bassmaster Elite Series and one of the hottest anglers on the circuit. Monroe is part of a new breed of stars, along with Mike Iaconelli, Skeet Reese and Jason Quinn.
Read it all Here

Check it out:
Team Evinrude website is a new feature out of BassFan that is similiar to the On The Water with Team Lucky Craft and BassFan big sticks. I consider online journaling like this to be a form of blogging. They have entries from a couple of 2007 tournaments already, the latest being Gary Dobyns on the FLW Western Series at Havasu.

One of the unique things about Bass Pundit blog is that it has the most comprehensive listing of Professional Bass Fishermen and women websites on all of the internet.

Here are the new one's I've added to the Bass Pro Site-ING blogroll for 2007.

Alton Jones
Charlie Youngers
Chris McCall
Dearal Rodgers
Gary Howell
Robert Karbas
Kim Striker
Mike Wurm
Preston Clark
Zack Thompson
Tim Carroll
Jason "Hardware" Quinn My Space Page
Denese Freeman My Space Page
"IKE" My Space Page
"Ish" My Space Page
Kurt Dove My Space Page
Sondra Rankin My Space Page


I'm counting ebassfish as a BassN blog even though it is more of a full-website than blog. It's a great site to learn about the ladies.

Update: I have decided that this site ebassfish is the Bassfan.com of the Women's Professional Bass Fishing world therefore I will reposition it under Pro Bass Info as I will also do with the two other women's site's that I have under BassNblogs, but really aren't.

Of interest:

I'm back from my first "official" tournament as a new Bass Pro. Although I did
not finish quite as high as I had hoped, (Motor troubles the day before the
tournament) I will tell you that my experience on Neely Henry is not one that I
will be soon to forget. I've never fished a "river system" before, so this whole
"current" thing was a brand new dimension.

from Marcia Rubin's 2006 WOMEN'S BASSMASTER TOUR Diary

She has a website and My Space page with blog.

What have I stumbled into...
Answer: The world of My Space Bassfishing which appears to be rather extensive. So this is where bassfishermen and women have gone to be a part of the blogosphere. What a huge disappointment. IMHO MySpace is designed for 8-16year olds with high speed Internet connections. I just flat out don't like the way My Space pages are laid out especially since I'm on dial up. I consider sites like My Space or Xanga to be the gated communities of the blogosphere. Sure you can navigate them without being a member, but it's obvious that they are designed for community membership and not a wider world wide web appeal. I guess I am prejudiced in favor of blogs which are more free floating.

My Space is it's own world in the blogosphere and I'm a little unsure how or if I want to integrate it with my blog. I foresee a lot of time expanding blogrolls if I want to incorporate the My Space world into the B.P.B.F.E.. I suppose the best way to do it would be to (God forbid) start up a Bass Pundit My Space page and add it to the Franchise Empire and go from there. I'm gonna need some time to think about this.

BP Blog Note:
I have decided to get rid of the Guest Book because the thing wasn't working anymore. Thus visitors can only now make their presence known by leaving a comment. Thanks BP

Fishers of Men Club Meeting with Travis Frank

My fishing club is the Fishers of Men (Twin Cities). We meet the first Thursday of every month. Last Thursday, February 1st at the club meeting our speaker was Travis Frank of Trophy Encounters Guide Service (His website is basically a jazzed up blog-check it out). Travis is a young guy (23) but a hardcore fisherman who spends lots of time on the water. He guides mostly on Tonka, Waconia, and Mille Lacs for Muskies and Walleyes. He gave a very interesting presentation on shallow water weed walleyes. He says he fishes walleyes in 4 to 10ft of water for most of the year (open water), catching some real brutes. I was impressed and will give his methods a try.

Congratulations Colts
the BP was rooting for them all the way.

Favorite Commercial: The Blockbuster mouse

Best diversion of the day: Puppy Bowl III on Animal Planet

As promised ESPN/BASS Fantasy Bass Fishing is ready to rumble. Prizes seem to be a little better than last year.
(BP is FBFing in the group: MN Fantasy Bass)

Ice Fishing 2007

I have yet to try my hand at ice fishing this winter. The weather is supposed to stay quite cold for a couple of more weeks, so I probably won't be getting out anytime soon. It's hard to say why I've not gotten my act together and headed out. There are a lot of little reasons and the simple fact that I just have not been motivated to want to do it. If it were summer I would go out fishing tommorrow as that I've got an itchin to go open water fishin. Ohh well only another 2months and 2 weeks or so until open water.

Hellabass is reporting that ESPN/BASS Fantasy Bass Fishing will open up registration on February 2nd.

Hopefully Espn will up the prizes from last year.

Congratulations to Mark Zona who will be hosting The World's Greatest Fishing Show on ESPN Outdoors.

Bass fans out there are aware already I,m sure, but it is notable that BassFan has changed it's website page layout.

BP's Review: I absolutely loved the old layout; It was perfect. The new look is not nearly as good; It's harder to navigate and it's just plain ugly by comparison. Two thumbs down!

Registration is open for FLW Fantasy Bass Fishing.

Christmas is coming

A year ago I was in Florida for Christmas, boy do I miss that. Actually the weather in MN has been very mild so far this winter. Will it be a white Christmas?

The BP has not been out ice fishing yet, but the ice seems to be safe on area lakes. I was given a very nice permanent ice fishing shack that will go on the ice sometime after the first of the year. Hopefully I'll put up pictures.

The Vikes are almost officially not play-off bound. I do like the looks of Tarvaris though.

Anyway Happy Holiday's to all!

The wheels are falling off

Last week a loss to the Pack, this week a loss to the Dolphins. The only good thing about the loss is that Chokepepper wasn't QBing. If you missed it, the Vikes awfulfense gave up two touchdowns in the 4th quarter and Miami won 24-10.

Mallory goes to the doctor. 

Here she is: 

Isabelle is my 2yr old neice and these pics were taken 11/3/06 

Fluh Fluh and Belle 

Future Pilot??? 

Big Smile 

Big Sister and Mallory Doll 

Eating Invisible Pizza 

Isabelle in a box 

Isabelle Grace Photo Blogging 

Happy Halloweener!

Vikes got Rolled
The Pats came to town on Monday night and put sort of a whooping on the Vikes. However, on a key play in the red zone Mewelde Moore was blatantly held, uncalled, resulting in a Patriot interception. The game may have turned out quite a bit differently had a penalty been assessed with the Vikes 1st and goal at the 2. The score was only 10 zip at half.

Mewelde who is my favorite Vike ran back a punt for 6 otherwise it would have been shut out city. The Vikings red zone offence was terrible. I was not happy that Bolinger came in instead of Taveris.

Also I am now NO fan of the New England Patriots. When the game was obviously over, they stayed in the pass first offence and tried to run up the score. Fortunately the Vikes D stepped it up a little and put a few knocks on the golden boy as they well should have.

Vikes Win! Vikes Win!
31-13
I had no faith. I thought the Vikes may play the Seahawks close in Seattle but didn't think they had any shot at the win. Who knew?

Mille Lacs Fall Trolling

Still alive, still not much in a blogging mood. I have been out for one Fall Walleye trip on Mille Lacs. I did OK Fishing from 8PM to 1AM or so landing 7 walleye from 1 cigar up to two 27"'s. Got them on either a Perch Frenzy Minnow, White Green Frenzy Minnow, or Mystic Susp Minnow wht/blu. Unfortunatly I was unable to get down to the Salmon Run again this year, the reports say it's been a good year.

I probably should have gone trolling tonight as that it was reasonably warm, oh well.

What is up with the BP

Ever since I hit that deer, I have had very little interest in fishing. I've only been on the water twice since; Both trips I was fishing with someone else or I wouldn't have bothered. Since I've had no interest in fishing, there has been no interest in blogging about fishing or anything else. I guess the BP is just drowning in the dog days of summer.

Hellabass has been writing consistantly, so if you want a bass blogger check him or Bass Hole first.

Anyone know of any new bassin bloggers?

Tigerhawk goes fishing

I've been a periodically avid fisherman since I caught my first smallmouth bass at age five. In addition to the savage smallmouth, the Adirondack lake where I learned to fish has walleyes and northern pike, and at various times I have pursued these as well. I've just returned from two lovely weeks up North, and had a very nice time reliving fishing memories through my tackle box. Any tackle box collects, over the years, a wide assortment of lures, each with its own story, or the grating absence of a story. Mine is no exception. In addition to lake fishing, I have at various times also pursued largemouth bass in weedy farm ponds, fished for carp and channel catfish in the muddy Iowa River, and sought trout and landlocked salmon in fast, clear running streams. Of course I share a fisherman's attraction to pretty, shiny lures of new shapes and sizes, and am far easier to tempt than the fish I pursue, and as a result my tackle box is crammed with all sorts of lures.

I have stuff to say, but will say it tommorrow maybe

I'm still alive, but haven't been doing any fishing. The FLW Championship was held an was won by Brent Erhler, who? Not exactly a house hold name. Jay Yelas actually had the best 4 day weight by quite a bit, but only the last day matters in the FLW Championship.