Ebayt Monkey Monsoor Swim Jigs

Today the Bait Monkey was very happy when 15 Tom Monsoor Swim Jigs arrived in the mail. There are 7 Blue-Purple-Pink, 7 Blue-Purple-Black, 1 Black & Red. I won these for a buck and a quarter a jig shipped which I think is good for a discontinued jig that retailed for $3 a jig.

(Click to Enlarge)

Update: since these baby's were all blue themed I had to order up myself some electric blue Action Plastic Grubs. They would be an awesome bargin if it wasn't for the shipping costs. Still I bought in bulk for cheaper than I would be able to get anywhere else, but not by much.

2010 Ice Out by Easter Update #2

Nothing to report Minnesota Climatology Minnesota's Lake Ice-Out Status webpage has not reported anything this week.

My other good source for ice out info has been down for 3 days now.

I talked with Cyberfish and he knows a guy is fishing open water near Rochester, but he wasn't sure where and it may have been a situation with current.

Elite Series Clear Lake Day 2

Here is the Top 12. Impressive to see Roy in there.
1 Byron Velvick 5 29- 0 5 22- 0 10 51- 0
2 Randy Howell 5 23- 3 5 23- 7 10 46-10
3 Bill Lowen 5 22-14 5 22- 9 10 45- 7
4 Guy Eaker 5 21-14 5 22- 6 10 44- 4
5 Bradley Roy 5 19- 8 5 22- 1 10 41- 9
6 Jared Lintner 5 23- 4 5 17-14 10 41- 2
7 Bobby Lane 5 16- 3 5 24-13 10 41- 0
8 Matt Herren 5 21-13 5 18- 6 10 40- 3
9 Terry Butcher 5 18- 3 5 21-13 10 40- 0
10 Grant Goldbeck 5 19- 2 5 20- 5 10 39- 7
11 Skeet Reese 5 20- 4 5 18-12 10 39- 0
12 Greg Hackney 5 16- 9 5 22- 5 10 38-14

My Fantasy Team
Skeet 11th
Rojas 24th
KVD 59th
Roumbanis 70th
Ish 75th
All I can say is ouch, the past two weeks have been about the worst fantasy line ups I've ever had.

The Weigh-In has started...



John Murray is going Hero or Zero...

2010 Elite Series Clear Lake Day 1

Top 12
1 Byron Velvick 5 29- 0 5 29- 0
2 Jared Lintner 5 23- 4 5 23- 4
3 Randy Howell 5 23- 3 5 23- 3
4 Bill Lowen 5 22-14 5 22-14
5 Guy Eaker 5 21-14 5 21-14
6 Matt Herren 5 21-13 5 21-13
7 Denny Brauer 5 21- 9 5 21- 9
8 Kelly Jordon 5 21- 8 5 21- 8
9 Jeff Kriet 5 21- 4 5 21- 4
10 Skeet Reese 5 20- 4 5 20- 4
11 Matt Greenblatt 5 19-13 5 19-13
12 Gary Klein 5 19-10 5 19-10

Outstanding day for Hellabass who has Velvick, Lintner, Kriet, and Skeet.

I've got Skeet 10th, Rojas 19th, KVD 51st, Roumba 78th, Ish 82nd. Pathetic!!!

The weigh in has started...

Ish is behind the 8 ball again. 3 for 8-4.
Roumbanis just 4 for 11-10, I more fish would have really helped.
Skeet with 20-4 which looks to be pretty good for today.
Rojas did OK with 19lbs
KVD with a mediocre 15lbs

I am really going to need a big Day 2.


Bada Bing here is my Fantasy Line Up:
KVD
Skeet
Rojas
Roumbanis
Ish

You might want to check out these Elite Series anglers blogs:
John Murray
Bradley Roy
Kota Kiriyama
Brent Chapman
Mark Menendez

From Facebook Clark Rheem thinks he may be onto something. Rick Clunn says it's tough and Mark Davis didn't have anything to say.

An Interesting Take On Trailer Hooks @ Big Indiana Bass

Better Trailer Hook Setups is a post that I think you might find intersting at the excellent bass fishing blog Big Indiana Bass.

I don't use trailer hooks a whole lot unless I am using a buzzbait. I wonder if people ever put trailer hooks on swim jigs?

Tackle Warehouse Opener

Despite the fact that I went to bed relatively early compared to when I have been getting to sleep this week. I still didn't wake up until late in the day. It got to 53°F today but I think it was slightly cooler than that when I opened the Tackle Warehouse up. The "Tackle Warehouse" is where I keep most of my fishing gear. I didn't spend a whole lot of time there today, but kind of shuffled through looking at things. Here is a few pictures.

(Click to Enlarge for a better view)

Update: Last year my first day in the Tackle Warehouse was March 22nd.

Update: Check out the TBrinksFishing.com blog Tackle Cave...

Hmmmm

Apparently Cyberfish of MT Bucket Blog was so worried I was going to steal the picture of this fish, that he marked it so everyone would know where it came from. Good Call!!!

More of Cyberfish's pictures of that ice outing here...

Frenzy Bubble Pop

I know the pic isn't good, but this is a Berkley Frenzy Popper of a color I've never seen a BFP have before. This used BFP was for auction at Ebay and I was willing to bid up to about $16 shipped to get the lure; It went for $16.41.

If I had won the lure I don't know if I would have fished with it or not.

On another note a BFP in the ghost shad color that had a minimum bid of $5.99 + $1.90 shipping was not bid on at all.

In case Tami reads this post, BFP stands for Berkley Frenzy Popper, lol.

2010 Ice Out By Easter Update #1

Yes folks it's that time of the year here in the North country. We are now counting the days until ice starts leaving the lakes in Minnesota. And that means of coarse that my blog will be following the Minnesota Climatology Minnesota's Lake Ice-Out Status webpage. The actual URL is http://climate.umn.edu/doc/ice_out/ice_out_status_10.htm and if you change the number 10 at the end of the URL to a different number back through 99, you can see the ice out dates from 1999; Put 00 and you get 2000 and so on...

Something new they have added this year is a Ice out status - spring 2010 MN state map.

(Click to enlarge)

At the map webpage you can hover over the lakes and get info: This addition is pretty cool.

I suspect the 1st lakes are going to be opening up late this week or early next week due to the fact the weather has been mild and will continue to be mild this week.

The closest lake to me is of coarse Sullivan in the "Central" column followed by Mille Lacs in the "East Central" column back on the full lake listing page. As for me I keep track of many area lakes: Platte, Sullivan, Rock, Bulldog, Long with maybe Erskine and Shakopee. Easter is on April 4th this year and so I doubt the ice will be out around here quite that early. I am thinking the 10th of April is a little more realistic, but one can always hope. Global Warming: Bring It!!!

Dude, when can I make Elite Series Fantasy Bass Fishing line up Changes?

More Bass Fishing Blogs

Mark Menedez @ Largemouth Mafia Largemouth Mafia is a social networking site for bass fishermen and other fishermen and Elite Series Pro Mark Menendez has a blog there. Found this blog because of Facebook.

Donna Rutledge....Bass Fishing Yankee (this is a blogspot blog) She was a Women's Bassmaster Tour Pro who was left in the learch, see this post entitled "Sadness". The blog has been around since October 09, and there have been a total of 15 Posts in that time. The most recent post is March 4th. Found this blog thanks to Tami Curtis.

Crankbaits: I think this is a blog/online store. Can't say I've seen anything else like it. Found this blog thanks to Tami Curtis.

She Loves to Fish.com This is the blog of Ashley Rae out of Canada and she says bass are her favorite, though she obviously does quite a bit of walleye fishing. It looks like her main body of water is the Bay of Quinte. Kind of strange that this blog apparently has two URL's. Found this blog thanks to Tami Curtis. Ashley has a Facebook Fan Page. This lady angler is big into doing video's and they are pretty good.

Victoria Taber It looks like this is one hot bass fisherwomen out of Cali. She is friend of Tami Curtis and as far as I can tell also fishes against Tami. I think her husband (or boyfriend Duane) must be a professional angler and she fishes as a Co. Naturally found this one thanks to Tami Curtis. Now that I have read her blog it's pretty clear that her guy Duane is an aspiring semi-pro who is a fire fighter by trade.

Travis Moran- Dream Catcher 33 This nice looking site is kind of a website/blog hybrid. He has a blog that has 1 post, but the "News" is very bloggish as well. This guy aspires to be a professional fisherman. This is another buddy of Tami Curtis.

RBBassFishing.net- This is a bass fishing news website out of California that is kind of a website/blog hybrid. Found thanks to Tami Curtis.

Jen's Fishing Adventures- This is a brand new blog this month started by the President of the Humboldt State University College Bass Fishing Team. Humboldt State is in California. Tami was on top of this one as well.

If you didn't guess, Tami Curtis has added a new blogroll and I was just picking off all the bass fishing blogs I had not found yet.

Why do fish die in the winter?

Nate's Fishing Blog has a excellent but sort of long post that gives the answer. Nate runs a pond management business and knows his stuff. Basically it is a post about why winter kills happen and I found his thoughts highly interesting.

Money quote:
After all this rambling, the answer to the question of what causes fish to die in the winter is simple: they either suffocate to death, or they end up on my dinner plate. Both of these causes of death will end the life of thousands of fish every winter.

Skeet in Parade Magazine

Up close with pro bass fisherman Skeet Reese
Why He's The Reel Deal
by Harlan Coben

It's an excellent read.

Plus Check this out, Skeet on the Cali Delta for Classic Patterns

Elite Series Cali Delta Day Final

And now we know, it's Little John Crews by an ounce over Skeet. Hackney was 1 good 2.5lb keeper away from winning. Congratulations Little John!!!

No time to liveblog the weigh in, which I now believe starts at 6PM. I've got some lures I want to go test out.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apparently they are running BassTrakk today:

11:05AMCST:
1 Greg Hackney * 15 57 lbs 5 oz -- 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
2 John Crews * 14 54 lbs 14 oz 2 lbs 7 oz 1 3 lbs 0 oz 1 3 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
3 Michael Iaconelli * 15 54 lbs 10 oz 2 lbs 11 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
4 Skeet Reese * 15 52 lbs 10 oz 4 lbs 11 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
5 Stephen Browning * 12 47 lbs 9 oz 9 lbs 12 oz 1 1 lbs 8 oz 1 1 lbs 8 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
6 James Niggemeyer * 12 46 lbs 15 oz 10 lbs 6 oz 1 4 lbs 8 oz 1 4 lbs 8 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
7 Rick Clunn * 14 46 lbs 8 oz 10 lbs 13 oz 1 2 lbs 12 oz 1 2 lbs 12 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
8 Denny Brauer * 16 46 lbs 0 oz 11 lbs 5 oz 1 5 lbs 0 oz 1 5 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
9 Dustin Wilks * 15 45 lbs 12 oz 11 lbs 9 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
10 Shaw E Grigsby 13 45 lbs 12 oz 11 lbs 9 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
11 Gary Klein * 13 44 lbs 3 oz 13 lbs 2 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
12 Zell Rowland * 11 41 lbs 8 oz 15 lbs 13 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz

5:00PMCST:
1 Skeet Reese * 20 69 lbs 14 oz -- 5 17 lbs 4 oz 6 18 lbs 4 oz 1 1 lbs 0 oz
2 John Crews * 18 67 lbs 3 oz 2 lbs 11 oz 5 15 lbs 5 oz 5 15 lbs 5 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
3 Greg Hackney * 18 65 lbs 13 oz 4 lbs 1 oz 3 8 lbs 8 oz 3 8 lbs 8 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
4 Stephen Browning * 16 58 lbs 9 oz 11 lbs 5 oz 5 12 lbs 8 oz 6 14 lbs 0 oz 1 1 lbs 8 oz
5 James Niggemeyer * 16 57 lbs 8 oz 12 lbs 6 oz 5 15 lbs 1 oz 8 19 lbs 3 oz 3 4 lbs 2 oz
6 Rick Clunn * 18 54 lbs 13 oz 15 lbs 1 oz 5 11 lbs 1 oz 6 11 lbs 13 oz 1 0 lbs 12 oz
7 Michael Iaconelli * 15 54 lbs 10 oz 15 lbs 4 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
8 Dustin Wilks * 17 50 lbs 12 oz 19 lbs 2 oz 2 5 lbs 0 oz 2 5 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
9 Denny Brauer * 17 48 lbs 0 oz 21 lbs 14 oz 2 7 lbs 0 oz 2 7 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
10 Gary Klein * 14 47 lbs 3 oz 22 lbs 11 oz 1 3 lbs 0 oz 1 3 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
11 Shaw E Grigsby 13 45 lbs 12 oz 24 lbs 2 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz
12 Zell Rowland * 11 41 lbs 8 oz 28 lbs 6 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz 0 0 lbs 0 oz

If Hack fills his limit than this thing looks like a 3 way race.

Arrived In the Mail

I would say there is a fair chance these get an in the water inspection at the GOMH in the next few days, maybe even today seeing as how it is supposed to be as warm as it's gonna get this week today.

Update: I have now put these guys through their paces and I like what I see. Their action is more like the DM Custom Baits Piranha than a Strike King Pure Poison. The vibration is a little bit tighter than the DM lure.

No I did not catch a fish, which is no surprise there was a 35 yard by 10 yard open channel at the GOMH. Unfortunately I forgot the camera.

When Will I See The Driveway? (#7)

Well today it's official, NO MORE SNOW/ICE ON THE DRIVEWAY!!!
(Click to enlarge)

As can be seen in this last pic, the snow is also fast disappearing from the yard.


When Will I see the Driveway?
When Will I see the Driveway? (#2)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#3)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#4)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#5)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#6)

Note: This is a real possibility that central Minnesota will yet receive a snow storm with significant accumulations. If that happens I don't have any plans to start this process over again.

Very soon I will once again this year be keeping track of the progression from ice to open water here in Minnesota.

Elite Series Cali Delta Day 3 (Liveblogged)

The Weigh-In has now started.

The big news: Stephen Browning crashes and burns. Just 1 fish for 13 ounces.

Meanwhile Greg Hackney sacks 25-7, anchored by an 8-10 and he goes into the lead with 57-5.

Ike has moved up to 2nd with 54-10.

Weights are way down today. It looks like it was about as bad as Day 1.

The Wolverine got only 3 fish today and is out of the Top 10.

6:35PM Weigh In over.

I believe there were only 16 limits and 1 Skunk

KVD finished in 29th

Here is the Top 10
1 Greg Hackney 5 14-14 5 17- 0 5 25- 7 15 57- 5
2 Michael Iaconelli 5 14- 0 5 25-12 5 14-14 15 54-10
3 Skeet Reese 5 15- 1 5 18-13 5 18-12 15 52-10
4 John Crews 4 15- 2 5 21-13 4 14-15 13 51-14
5 Stephen Browning 5 21-11 5 23- 9 1 0-13 11 46- 1
6 Dustin Wilks 5 14-11 5 14- 6 5 16-11 15 45-12
7 Shaw E Grigsby 5 14- 8 5 18-14 3 12- 6 13 45-12
8 Gary Klein 5 13- 9 5 21-10 3 9- 0 13 44- 3
9 Rick Clunn 4 9-13 5 18-15 4 15- 0 13 43-12
10 James Niggemeyer 1 2- 8 5 18- 9 5 21- 6 11 42- 7

Zell Rowland was 1st out of the cut, still I think this was his best finish in a long time.

I would think this one is most likely a race between the top 4.

Elite Series Cali Delta Day 3

Apparently not a single Elite Series Rookie made the cut.

Gary Klein doesn't seem to think he is on any really big fish, but he must believe he can put together a couple more really good bags because he doesn't plan to switch areas.

Why can't I change my fantasy roster for Clear Lake, now? Actually I'm probably only going to get rid of 1 guy even though my roster has sucked for the Delta.

The Ninja is blogging it...

When Will I See The Driveway? (#6)

We are really getting somewhere now.
(Click to enlarge)

When Will I see the Driveway?
When Will I see the Driveway? (#2)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#3)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#4)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#5)

Update: 4:30AM on the 13th and all the ice is not gone quite yet. But I virtually guarantee it will be gone by picture time.

New FLW Logo Policy

See BassFan Dock Talk for the Details:

IMO- It's pretty much still a load of crap for the anglers. This new policy isn't much better than nothing. The no BASS or PAA logo's is petty and in certain categories anglers may still be screwed out of incentive programs that require a patch.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Elite Series Cali Delta Day 2 (with Liveblogging)

I am watching Hooked Up with Zona and Sanders for the 1st time. It's pretty good. Wonder if anything is up at Bass Zone? (Ok apparently Wide Open starts at 9:05PM) As for Hooked UP, I have no clue why they don't archive it so it can be watched anytime.

Send congratulations to John Murray for making the cut here... John has to be feeling fortunate he only caught 3 fish for 5-12 today. That puts him 4 bass shy of his limit, yet he still made the cut in 43rd.

Unfortunately blogger Brent Chapman didn't make the cut.

Liveblogged:
The Weigh-In has now started.
The weights are up today.

Bradley Roy caught 12-8 for a total of 18-14 which I think will get him in the cut, but it might not. Quite a few people so far who were behind him yesterday did a leap frog.

Currently
Gary Klein is in the lead with 35-3
Scott Rook has big bag at 25-11
Greg Vinson has big bass with a 8-10

BAM: Stephen Browning sacked 23-9 for a 45-4 Total, Yes that is 10lbs on 2nd Place at the Moment.

Apparently Clark Reehm was late and will get a 2lb penalty. Won't matter much, he is well in the cut with 26-10.

John Crews moves into 2nd with 36-15

Ike pounds 25-12 to move into 2nd with 39-12.

Skeet caught 18-13 which moves him into 5th for now with 33-14. Hmmm how are my other Fantasy anglers doing.
Ish is on the cut bubble for sure with 19-4 total.
Rojas only caught 8-7 today but will make the cut with 20-1.
Aaron Martens is out of the cut with 16-14
Boom Boom Roumba laid an egg, no better than 84th.

Only a few left will Ish and Bradley Roy make the cut? I think Roy is screwed.

Unbelievable Tim Horton comes in with the Skunk and Roy gets the 50 spot. Ish in 49th. All Horton needed to bounce Roy was 3-11.

The weigh in is over.

Correction: apparently the cut spot is 49 not 50 so 19 year old rookie Bradley Roy was 1st man out. I'm confused Bassfan says the Top 50 make it and according to the Live Leaderboard Roy is #50

Update: Clarification from the Bass Zone, only the Top 47 anglers will fish Day 3. So that means my guy Ish is out also. I am assuming the fact that there are less Elite Series anglers than in years past is the reason for the change.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Murray blogs Day 1... John is in 16th place and did it on only 3 fish.



The Youngest Gun:This is Bradley Roy who is on the Elite Series at just 19 years old. His official website is a BLOG. I like this kid already. And guess what, he is keeping the blog up to date. GO READ IT!!!

If you are on Facebook I recommend you sign up on his Fan Page...

From what I have seen, Bradley seems like a fine kid and I wish him well. He has a shot at the cut because he is sitting in 47th Place with 3 for 6-6. That is a better day than Ish, A-Mart, Boom Boom, and Mark Tyler. I am thinking he is probably going to need to up his weight by about 10lbs to make the cut.

A-Mart: Apparently he has a leg injury that is drastically effecting his fishing. I think I read a comment on Facebook that said he looked like he was in a lot of pain from what could be seen on the Bass Cast Cam. I wish I had known this at this time yesterday, so I could have dropped him for KVD. Not that KVD is killing it, but I think an injured A-Mart is serious trouble. You just can't fish very well on one leg.

Update on A-Mart from Bassmaster.com: "The diagnosis: a possible tear in his right calf. Martens was given a stronger painkiller, and planned to ice and rest his injury as much as possible last night."

When Will I See The Driveway? (#5)

For the amusement of Tami Curtis, here is more melting snow and ice:

The warm and rain are really starting to take a toll. I would say the driveway is now about 90% snow and ice free. This first picture is maybe a little deceiving. Click to enlarge and it gives a little better idea.


This pic clearly shows most of the bright area on the 1st photo is not actually ice but water reflection.
At this pace the driveway will probably be ice free on Saturday.

When Will I see the Driveway?
When Will I see the Driveway? (#2)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#3)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#4)

Elite Series Cali Delta Day 1

Well Bassfan's the start of Elite's Season is now upon us.

The Weigh-In has now started.
Dave Wolak with the early lead with 19-8

Notables:
Skeet 15-1
Ike 14-0
Biffle 1 for 5-10
A-Mart 4 for 5-0 (Not good for the fantasy squad at all)
Boom Boom Roumba 2 for 4-9 (Uggggg!)
The Squirrel 14-3
The Ninja currently in 2nd with 15-2
Tim Horton and Guy Eaker also with 15-2
KVD 9-6
Some guy named Dennis Tietje is in 2nd with 15-4
Rojas 4 for 11-10 (I suppose this one could be a lot worse for fantasy)
Right now John Crews has big bass with a 7-2
Stephen Browning takes the lead with 21-11. He did really well the last time at the Cal Delta.
The Wolverine 15-13 into 4th Place
Ish 2 for 5-13 (My fantasy team is now in serious trouble, I am going to need some big Day 2's.)

My Fantasy Line Up as of Day 1
11th, 29th, 53rd, 64th, 67th Not Good at all.


Wow Big Show and Duckett with the Skunk!!!! Could it be the rods?

Earlier Today:
The big questions in my mind:

Will KVD win even more tournaments this year and will he get himself a 3rd consecutive AOY title?

Can Ike stay on fire?

Can Skeet stay on fire?

Can MN kid Derrick Remitz return to his Rookie of the Year form?

Will the Cali events play big in the AOY race for the West Coasters?

As for Live Coverage:
It looks like there will be Bass Cam's, Bass Cast, Bass Trakk, Hooked Up, and Weigh-In's, so lots of options. I really have not paid attention to what Bass Zone is doing this year.

My Fantasy Team:
Skeet
Martens
Rojas
Boom Boom the Roomba Man
Ish

I went big Cali and "West Side" on this one but will change it up some for Clear Lake. Yes I probably am a fool for leaving Van Dam off. Hard to believe Ish only got onto 7.5% of fantasy teams.

When Will I See The Driveway? (#4)

Update: 5:15PM I would have to say the driveway is now at least 50% free of snow and ice.

Lots of progress today thanks to the rain
Forecast: Temp in 40's, more rain
(Click to Enlarge)

When Will I see the Driveway?
When Will I see the Driveway? (#2)
When Will I see the Driveway? (#3)

Irwin Speaks...

An Open Letter Regarding FLW Outdoors Kind of sounds like they may change their angler sponsorship policies some.

Frenzy Poppers On Ebay Part 2

For Part 1 See: Frenzy Poppers On Ebay

The auctions are now over and the results are in.

The Grey Ghost Frenzy Popper went for $10.09
The Chart Shore Minnow Frenzy Popper went for $9.04
The Rainbow Trout Frenzy Popper went for $5.53

The Grey Ghost and Shore Minnow were bid up by the same two bidders and the Rainbow trout had the bidder that won all three and a different bidder than the more expensive auctions. Since the same bidder won all 3 I suspect there will be a single $2.50 shipping charge.

So they went for an average of $9.05 per bait. In December 2008 I was buying them on Ebay for $3 to $4 per lure shipped. Glad I stocked up when the getting was good. I have no plans to sell mine for now. If they start going for $20 a lure I may change my mind on that.

When Will I See The Driveway? (#3)

A little bit of progress today

(Click to enlarge)

Forecast: Rain and Temps in the 40's

Rapala Max Rap

A Rapala Jerkbait for 18 bucks, sorry but not in my tackle box.

Get Hook'd was not impressed.

When Will I See The Driveway? (#2)

From Today:

(Click to enlarge)

Congratulations Pete and Mandy!!!

UP UP and AWAY!!!

HUGE PROPS to fellow Bloomington Kennedy Alum and family friend Pete Docter on his being nominated for and then winning The Best Animated Feature Academy Awards Oscar for UP. And how awesome is this for fellow Hope Presbyterian Youth Group alum and friend Pete's wife Amanda, who will always be Mandy to me.

You guys are AWESOME!

Pete's Wiki Page...

Minnesota DNR Fishing Tournament Permit Listing

Check Out this PDF I think it lists all the tournaments with permits in MN.

of coarse the source for a schedule of just MN Bass Tournaments is Classic Bass.

Western Bass Bites Blog

Western Bass Bites blog This is a blog by 15 year old Jacob Wall of Jacksonville, OR. He is a young tournament fisherman who aspires to go pro some day. Check it out.

I found his blog thanks too KVD forums.

Another Youngsters Bass Fishing Blog: Midwest Fishing It looks like this one was started by a 15 year old out of Illinois. I don't know if this one is going anywhere cause it only has 2 posts from when the website was first created.

I found this one too thanks to KVD forums.

FLW Tour Table Rock Day Final

Dave Lefebre Blogs: Table Rock is History

OLD:
Well it pretty much is a foregone conclusion that Brent Ehrler is going to win this one. The question now is by how much?

Also of interest to me is whether or not Bryan Thrift can move into 2nd and get me more fantasy bonus points.

I won't be around for the weigh-in today, so no liveblogging.

When Will I See The Driveway?

(Click to enlarge)

One of the sign's of Spring in my world is when I get to see the dirt of the driveway once again. It has been in the upper 30's to low 40's for the past few days and the forecast is for 40's as far out as the eye can see according to Weather.com. Once the dark dirt starts getting exposed to the sun, the driveway should clear up pretty quick.

More signs of Spring: Today I saw a rooster pheasant on the side of the road.

FLW Tour Table Rock Day 3 (Liveblogging)

3:54PM I am back from the Chiropractor and ready to rock. As of right now Ron Shuffield is in the lead with 38-15 which is an 7 ounces more than Ehrler who hasn't weighed in yet.

News of interest: Scott Suggs will not make the Top 5 cut.

Mark Rose: "I thank the Lord for every fish I caught this week."

Clark Wendlendt: Threw a shakey head, could not get them on a Wiggle Wort. Will not make the top 5.

Charlie Evans returns to MC

Scott Martin: Wasn't getting a lot of bites, fishing deep with a swim bait. 3 fish for 10-6. Doesn't make top 5. Thanks the National Guard as usual.

Dan Morehead: Just 1 fish. Will be on Kentucky Lake tomorrow getting ready for BFL.

Jimmy Houston: Tells a story about a yellow canary at a robin. He caught 2 walleye "We catch em better than we catch bass"

Co-Angler comment: Charlie how did you catch that fish? "The grace of God and a jerkbait."

Looks like Randal Tharp will be on the 50 cut bubble, currently in 38th.

Brent Ehrler: Has a limit, got it in 2-3 hours. 14-6 for 54-14. "I'm real fortunate to catch em. I didn't know what was down there until the first day of the tournament." Charlie Evans runs down just how far ahead Brent is (this bit was funny).

Brent says he has never been so far ahead in a tournament before.

Jack Wade: Weighs a fish so he gets points for this tournament.

Gagliardi: "I struggled pretty much from the beginning" Theory on the cool weather: So many Evinrude E-Tec's that global warmer has reversed.

Shin Fukae: Into 19th place, so he won't be fishing tomorrow.

Co-Angler goes from 0 fish to 3rd place has 5-9 kicker.

Charlie Evans tags out. Booo!

Stacey King: "they out to target March 15th to April 1st (on Table Rock)"

Ish: with a limit, got it early. Moves into 15th.

4:37PM Must be more fish caught today because weigh in was over by now yesterday.

Larry Nixon co-angler got limit for 14-14. His big bass 5-10. I think this is the biggest bag of the day, Pro or Co. Put him in 3rd Place.

Co-Angler race was very close and they drug out the drama to the end.
Winning co-angler fished with Rose, Morganthaler, and Brian Travis.

4:55PM Looks like the weigh-in is over. Here is the Top 10

1 EHRLER, BRENT 16-06 (5) 22-02 (5) 14-06 (5) 52-14 (15) -
2 SHUFFIELD, RON 9-05 (3) 15-06 (5) 14-04 (5) 38-15 (13) 13-15
3 THRIFT, BRYAN 14-13 (5) 14-03 (5) 9-14 (4) 38-14 (14) 14-00
4 PUGH, GREG 18-11 (5) 10-08 (4) 9-05 (4) 38-08 (13) 14-06
5 WURM, MIKE 16-14 (5) 13-05 (5) 7-09 (3) 37-12 (13) 15-02
6 MARTIN, SCOTT 14-07 (5) 11-01 (2) 10-06 (3) 35-14 (10) 17-00
7 ROSE, MARK 12-03 (5) 12-13 (5) 9-09 (4) 34-09 (14) 18-05
8 MORGAN, ANDY 9-15 (4) 13-08 (5) 9-15 (4) 33-06 (13) 19-08
9 WAGNER, ADAM 12-10 (5) 7-13 (3) 11-13 (5) 32-04 (13) 20-10
10 SUGGS, SCOTT 11-07 (4) 8-09 (3) 11-11 (5) 31-11 (12) 21-03

Erher with big bag of the day again. He will really have to choke to lose this one.

I lost just under 1000 fantasy points from yesterday. Boooo! I think that all can be credited to Dion Hibdon who went from 5th to 16th.

Jim Moynagh was super consistant and got a good check
26 MOYNAGH, JIM 6-08 (3) 7-05 (3) 7-06 (3) 21-03

This Just In: MN bass blogger Matt Peters got the 4th biggest Co-angler bag of the day and landed in 15th place, which comes with a nice check and excellent points. He caught a fish all 3 days which is an accomplishment in and of itself in this one.

FLW Tour Table Rock Day 3 (Cut Day)

The big question today is whether or not Brent Ehrler is going to put this thing on ice? Or will his fish disappear?

It's hard to believe that Guido Hibdon has not caught a keeper in 2 days. Also Edwin Evers has double zero's. I think Edwin is in a bit of a slump. He did not have a good last year on the Elites.

Once again if I am around for weigh-in today I will live blog it.

Update: I have a chiropractic appointment at 3PM which is when the weigh-in starts. I'm guessing I'll miss about half.

Bait Monkey Attack!!!

After Pete's success last year with a pink spinnerbait, I just had to have it. I got 3 of these babies off of Ebay. I bet Fisherbabe is going to be jealous.

Hooked up with a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke this thing should be money.

MN Pro's & Co's at Table Rock Day 2.

Pro's
34 JIM MOYNAGH CARVER, MN 3 6-08 3 7-05 6 13-13
80 CHAD GRIGSBY MAPLE GROVE, MN 3 7-14 0 0-00 3 7-14

Co's
40 MATT PETERS GAINESVILLE, GA 1 2-04 1 1-14 2 4-02 (Matt is really from Waconia)
44 JOHN ATKINS WOODBURY, MN 0 0-00 1 3-14 1 3-14
45 GREG SCHULTZ WAYZATA, MN 1 1-12 1 2-01 2 3-13
51 JEFF ZIERMANN CHASKA, MN 1 3-04 0 0-00 1 3-04
85 ERIC SCHULTZ WAYZATA, MN 0 0-00 1 2-02 1 2-02

FLW Tour Table Rock Day 2 Weigh-In (Liveblogging)

Well lets see if I can do this or not.

Shin Fukae says he caught or brought in "only 5 fish," not sure what that means.

Luke Clausen only brings in 1.

Stacey King only got 1 fish. Wow! Says you need wind and it was glass slick. His one fish went 6-8.

Ish only with 2 keepers, says he caught some non-keepers

Larry Nixon talking Chevy, says his bite is later in the day and has a late flight tommorrow. Got a 4lber (only fish), didn't like slick conditions.

Jay Yelas with 3, used Berkley Power Worm. Had his fish by 10 and that was it. Plan for tomorrow is the same as today, start deep then go shallow.

Joe Thomas 3 good fish, not getting lots of bites. Moaning about calm conditions. 9-8 for 24-15 and into the lead

Dave Walker, only 2 fish. Is on the right fish, just couldn't get them to bite. 20-7 total

JT Kenney got his first keeper.

Ahhh the audio is stopping and starting. BOOOO! Going to try to restart FLW Live and see if that gets it back to running smooth again.

Good that worked, but Chalie Evans is no longer the MC. Booo!

John Netwon who skunked yestery got a limit today. 13-13

Co-Angler talking about his pro who is the "Living the Dream" Federation guy.

Gagliardi with only 2 fish.

Scott Martin with on 2 fish, but they are good one's. Needs wind. Thanks the Lord and National Guard. 11-1 is his weight for the day. Didn't catch his total but he went into 1st place.

FWIW they no longer measure for big bass

Greg Bohannan 1 fish for 2-1. What a dissappointment, but the way weights are he still can be a big mover.

Stupid video is cutting out again. Annoying.

Scott Suggs hawking Folders coffee, 8-9 for 20 even. Lost a good fish.

Greg Pugh (yesterday's leader) brings in 4 fish. 10-8 for 29-3 and into the lead.

Ron Shuffield got a limit deep 15-6 on the day.

Dion Hibdon got his limit. Says he figured them out today. 21-2 is his total, they didn't say his weight for the day.

Steve Kennedy only 1 fish today.

Need to take a bathroom break.

Charlie Evens is back

Apparently there are at least 4 Co-Anglers from Minnesocold.

David Dudley with 3 "This lake will test your patience." "God sure has blessed me with these 3 because my patience was maxed out"

Dan Morehead got 3 and has a smallie in his bag.

Mark Rose with a limit 12-13 for 25 even. Only caught 5 today. Waiting for the turkey's near his spot to start gobbling.

There are at least 4 Minnesocold Co-Anglers

Clark Wendlendt only got 2 but for 7-4.

16-9 from the back of the boat, didn't catch the guys name.

Jason Christie got his limit for 10 even.

I guess it isn't much of a surprise but the weigh in's and Family Fun Zone's are no longer being done at Walmart.

Brent Ehrler "I had a great day today" "a few random fortunate bites" is very excited. 5 for 22-2 for 38-8 and way into the lead.

Dave Lefebre "This still isn't what I'm looking for" 5 for 14-11 for 22-13.

4:35PM That is it.

Lets see if I can steal that Top 10.

1 EHRLER, BRENT 16-06 (5) 22-02 (5) 38-08 (10) -
2 WURM, MIKE 16-14 (5) 13-05 (5) 30-03 (10) 8-05
3 PUGH, GREG 18-11 (5) 10-08 (4) 29-03 (9) 9-05
4 THRIFT, BRYAN 14-13 (5) 14-03 (5) 29-00 (10) 9-08
5 HIBDON, DION 4-08 (2) 21-02 (5) 25-10 (7) 12-14
6 MARTIN, SCOTT 14-07 (5) 11-01 (2) 25-08 (7) 13-00
7 HARKNESS, ROBERT 12-02 (5) 13-05 (5) 25-07 (10) 13-01
8 ROSE, MARK 12-03 (5) 12-13 (5) 25-00 (10) 13-08
9 THOMAS, JOE 15-07 (5) 9-08 (3) 24-15 (8) 13-09
10 SHUFFIELD, RON 9-05 (3) 15-06 (5) 24-11 (8) 13-13

Co-Angler Note:
40 PETERS, MATT 2-04 (1) 1-14 (1) 4-02 (2) 16-06
If Matt catches them a little better tomorrow he could cash a good check. If he skunks he is probably out of the money.

Frenzy Poppers on Ebay

I think the Berkley Frenzy Poppers was has to be one of the greatest lure values ever made. When they were in production they went for about $4 retail but you could sometimes find them on sale for half that. Now these fabulous lures are out of production.

When they were in production there used to be dozens of Ebay auctions for them in singles and groups. Since they have gone out of production the Ebay auctions on them have pretty much ground to a halt. For the past two months I have been occasionally checking and there just haven't been any auctions on them at all. Finally this week there are some up for bid as singles. I am very interested to see how much they go for.

I bought a lot of them on Ebay in bundles for $3 a lure shipped.

Right now with 5 days left in the auction they are bid at $3.99 a lure with another $2.50 for shipping.

FLW Tour Table Rock Day 2

Now that ice fishing is out of my system for the time being I should be able to focus on Table Rock.

With the bags to be had in this lake, and the real possibilities of serious stumbles pretty much everyone is still in this one after Day 1. My fantasy team did not do all that well on Day 1, but as I always say Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat!!! And I think that is going to be especially true in this one.

If I watch the weigh in today I will try and live blog it.

One Woman in the FLW Tour 2010:
Her name is Kathryn “Kat” Ealey from Moody, AL and she is an FLW Tour Rookie. Apparently she was a WBT pro but I'm not familiar with her and she doesn't have a website.

It will be interesting to see if she can compete well. She skunked on Day 1, but so did Guido Hibdon, Dan Morehead, and Michael Bennett just to name a few.

Hat Tip: Armchair Anglers blog

Two In a Row!

(Pete working his hot hole.)

Yes it's true. I went out ice fishing for a 2nd day in a row and I actually caught a few fish today.Pete and I got out around 3:30PM today and we found our friend Don W. out in the sunfish spot. Don had been there since 1PM and had 4 sunnies in his bucket. We basically set up shop in the same general area as yesterday (at least Pete thought it was) and we didn't even need to auger holes. Pete broke a few open with the spud and there were several holes that had been opened today that were available.

Pete got a bite in his hot hole as soon as he put a jig down the hole, though it took him about 10 minutes to get the first fish. I had to move through several holes before I started calling in some fish. After about half an hour I got the skunk of the ice with a 7.5" sunfish. Not wanting to clean fish I threw it back. I ended up with 2 more fish out of that hole and that was it for me. Pete caught about 13 sunnies total and kept 8 and I did keep 1 of mine. The fish were not very aggressive but I did get 10-15 bites, a few times my Powerbait spike got pulled right off the hook.

Although it was nice out when we got out, it cooled down in a hurry once the sun got low in the sky and I think we called it quits about half and hour earlier than last night.

FLW Tour Table Rock Day 1

Apparently BassFan is unaware that Minnesota Boy and bass fishing blogger Matt Peters is fishing this tournament.

Update: BassFan didn't overlook Matt because he is fishing as a Co-Angler. I assumed because he has a wrapped boat and seems to be 100% sponsored that he would be fishing the pro side. My mistake.

Here is my Fantasy Line Up:
Scott Suggs to win
Shin Fukae
Brent Ehrler
Scott Canterbury
Dion Hibdon
Dan Morehead
Greg Bohannan
Robbie Dodson
Bryan Thrift
Stacey King

Keep in mind this year the FLW guys all get to fish for 3 days before they make the cut to the Top 5 for the final day. Curiously enough Fantasy Fishing is still predicated on the Top 10 who all get bonus points, but you are heavily rewarded the higher up an angler on your roster finishes. 1st Place is worth up to 5,000 bonus points and 10th place is worth 250 bonus points. We will see how it plays out but I think I like this new scoring system way better than what they had for the past couple of big prize money years.

Yes I Did!

This is the photographic proof I was out on the ice fishing today on Sullivan Lake. The guy closest to the camera is Pete. We got out about 5PM and fished until dark. Pete caught 1 Sunfish and I got skunked. I think I had a few bites, but after 3 years off I am a bit rusty, plus we didn't have live bait and the fish seemed to be kind of fussy. The one Pete caught he got with the help of a spring bobber (I don't use spring bobbers). I managed to tweak my lower back while lifting the Vexilar out of the hole. I am not in a all that much pain but I am going to definitely take a trip to the chiropractor.

There is a fair chance that Pete and I will get out and try again tomorrow.

Will I Go Ice Fishing Today?

Pete is up here and the weather is mild and we have a hot tip on a good sunfish bite. I am not sure how I get out of this one. Maybe the power auger won't start, but I'm kind of thinking that possibility is a nonfactor because there have been lots of people fishing the area and a Lazer hand auger would probably work just as well. Sure catching good sized gills through the ice is fun, but Pete will want to keep them, which obviously means cleaning sunfish which I hate to do. Who knows maybe I will win MT Bucket blogs MT's 2010 Monster Bluegill On Ice Derby.

"And after Winter..."

Now that February is over, I will allow myself the luxury of thinking about Spring. In two weeks daylight savings time begins. Cool! Up here in Central Minnesocold I would say to this point the winter has been pretty average in terms of cold and snow. The Southern part of the state has seen quite a bit more snow than we have. It is really going to come down to what happens here in March and into April that will determine how soon I get to fish in open water. Since I moved up here the earliest the ice has been off Platte lake is April 6th in 2006 and the latest the ice was off Platte Lake was April 24th in 2008. I have discovered the past two years that it is possible for me to begin catching fish before the ice is off the lakes because the Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) opens way before anywhere else around here. Last year I caught my first open water fish on April 10th and the ice was not off Platte Lake until the 17th. Who knows maybe I will even do some late ice, ice fishing this year.

Lately there have been lots of bass fishing bloggers out fishing.
I am a bass fisherman
Josh Douglas
Smallmouth In Your Soup
Rattletrap Ramblings
TBrinksFishing.com
McCotter's Lake Anna Guide Service
Fish with Dirt
Joel Trovillion
Big Indiana Bass

Even Rich Lindgren got out for some open water largmouth fishing here in Minnesota, but as of right now he has only Facebooked it.