Hey Hey Ho Ho the Bowfin Record was broken in 2008. The previous record was 10lbs 15ozs. The record now is 11-4 and was caught out of the St. Criox River in Washington County on October 7th. Can't find any stories or pictures.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
New Minnesota Bowfin State Record.
Hey Hey Ho Ho the Bowfin Record was broken in 2008. The previous record was 10lbs 15ozs. The record now is 11-4 and was caught out of the St. Criox River in Washington County on October 7th. Can't find any stories or pictures.
Minnesota's New Fishing Regulations 2009
I was over at the FishWrench.com forums and there was a thread reminding us Minnesocoldians to pick up our new fishing licenses. I was under the impression that a MN fishing license is good through the end of April. I went and looked it up and I was right. It is a little bit confusing because on the 2008 fishing license it says: "Expires Feb. 28, 2009" but right under that it indicates that the license is good from 3/1/2008 to 4/30/2009 which is the correct info.
Anyway looking into this got me checking on the Minnesota Fishing 2009 Regulations booklet online. Always of interest is the new stuff.
This year MN state residents can buy what is called a Conservation License for $11 which restricts the holder to half the normal State daily/possession/bag limits. In the case of odd numbers you round down, so Muskie which have a limit of 1 cannot be kept by someone with a Conservation License; Northern Pike which have a normal limit of 3 means a Conservation License holder can only keep 1 and so on. To be honest I don't see the point in this one with the regular license being just $6 more plus in some lakes selective harvest where you keep the normal bag limit is the best conservation move. "Catch and Release" is not always the best conservation measure.
Another new thing this year is the Walleye Stamp for $5. Unlike the Trout & Salmon Stamp, which you must have to possess and sometimes even fish for Trout & Salmon, there is no legal requirement with which you have to have the stamp in order to fish. The Walleye Stamp is 100% voluntary and you may fish and keep walleye anywhere in the fish's open season without the stamp. I think I will put in a donation for this stamp because I do fish for Eye's on occasion.
I want to know when they will be coming out with the Smallmouth Bass Stamp. I think this state could use some smallie stocking. It sure would be nice if more lakes had smallmouth in them.
New Fish Gifting Regulation:
"Lawfully taken fish may be transferred as a gift if accompanied by a receipt containing: Name and address of the owner, name and address of the recipient, date of transfer, description of the gift, and license number under which the fish was taken. The recipient cannot Possess more than the statewide possession limit."
I think this regulation will be significantly ignored. Why does fishing need worthless paperwork? If someone were to get pinched for not doing the paperwork it would be a total injustice. What business does the state have in regulating a gesture of kindness? This is a regulation begging for civil disobedience.
I see that my home lakes West & East Sylvia have been newly put on the infested with Eurasian watermilfoil list. Who knows maybe the milfoil will turn those lakes into trophy bass lakes some day. Also they didn't put any slots on the bass, panfish, or wallere which had been rumored, but they did put a new protected slot of 24-36" on pike.
"You cannot practice catch-and-release for a species during it's closed season."
This one is a guideline and not a regulation, at least I don't think it is a regulation. If it is a regulation then what are we supposed to do with a fish on the line out of season? You can't keep it and you can't catch and release it??? Are we supposed to not land the fish and cut the line?
Anyway looking into this got me checking on the Minnesota Fishing 2009 Regulations booklet online. Always of interest is the new stuff.
This year MN state residents can buy what is called a Conservation License for $11 which restricts the holder to half the normal State daily/possession/bag limits. In the case of odd numbers you round down, so Muskie which have a limit of 1 cannot be kept by someone with a Conservation License; Northern Pike which have a normal limit of 3 means a Conservation License holder can only keep 1 and so on. To be honest I don't see the point in this one with the regular license being just $6 more plus in some lakes selective harvest where you keep the normal bag limit is the best conservation move. "Catch and Release" is not always the best conservation measure.
Another new thing this year is the Walleye Stamp for $5. Unlike the Trout & Salmon Stamp, which you must have to possess and sometimes even fish for Trout & Salmon, there is no legal requirement with which you have to have the stamp in order to fish. The Walleye Stamp is 100% voluntary and you may fish and keep walleye anywhere in the fish's open season without the stamp. I think I will put in a donation for this stamp because I do fish for Eye's on occasion.
I want to know when they will be coming out with the Smallmouth Bass Stamp. I think this state could use some smallie stocking. It sure would be nice if more lakes had smallmouth in them.
New Fish Gifting Regulation:
"Lawfully taken fish may be transferred as a gift if accompanied by a receipt containing: Name and address of the owner, name and address of the recipient, date of transfer, description of the gift, and license number under which the fish was taken. The recipient cannot Possess more than the statewide possession limit."
I think this regulation will be significantly ignored. Why does fishing need worthless paperwork? If someone were to get pinched for not doing the paperwork it would be a total injustice. What business does the state have in regulating a gesture of kindness? This is a regulation begging for civil disobedience.
I see that my home lakes West & East Sylvia have been newly put on the infested with Eurasian watermilfoil list. Who knows maybe the milfoil will turn those lakes into trophy bass lakes some day. Also they didn't put any slots on the bass, panfish, or wallere which had been rumored, but they did put a new protected slot of 24-36" on pike.
"You cannot practice catch-and-release for a species during it's closed season."
This one is a guideline and not a regulation, at least I don't think it is a regulation. If it is a regulation then what are we supposed to do with a fish on the line out of season? You can't keep it and you can't catch and release it??? Are we supposed to not land the fish and cut the line?
BOO!
It looks to me like FishingMinnesota.com forums is no longer letting it's members who are bloggers link to their blogs. This among many other reason's is why I recommend Bass Pundit readers check out Futurebass.com forums , Rich Lindgren Forums, FishWrench forums and The Bassholes forums.
Update:By total accident I found out that if you click on the name/moniker of a poster at FishingMinnesota.com that it will bring up a menu where a person with a website can have a link to "homepage" which could be a website or a blog. The trick is you have to have some kind of hint that they have a website or else you are just doing a random check.
Update:By total accident I found out that if you click on the name/moniker of a poster at FishingMinnesota.com that it will bring up a menu where a person with a website can have a link to "homepage" which could be a website or a blog. The trick is you have to have some kind of hint that they have a website or else you are just doing a random check.
Feb 28th in the Twin Cities: Fish Fair
Better late than never with this:
Fish Fair Looking for something to do today (28th). Bring the family down to the Fishing for Life Fish Fair at New Hope Church 9 am to 4 pm (formerly known as Crystal Evangelical Free, the church is located at the northeast intersection of Hwy 169 and Rockford Road at 4225 Gettysburg Ave. N. in New Hope, MN).
Great Lipless Crankbait, Little $
Cotton Cordell Super Spot $2.99 Tackle Warehouse
Cotton Cordell Super Spot $2.89 Bass Pro Shops
I have had a lot of success over the years with this lure. Several years ago, back before KVD was with Strike King, the Cordell Spot was the lipless crank KVD used and he talked them up highly. I am pretty sure that is why I first got into them. For all around use I prefer the 1/2oz size. They no longer make my favorite color which was a chartruese herring bone pattern. If you don't have any of these in your lipless crank collection you should really add them because they are less than half the price of a lot of lipless cranks on the market.
Tip: When fishing in heavy cover and weeds, remove the back treble hook. I have about 5 of them in different colors in my lipless crank box without the back treble. This was a tip I read from KVD and it does work.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Skeet Reese Website
BassMasters Classic Champ Skeet has a nice website that until now I did not have until now on my Bass Pro Site-ING blogroll. Probably the coolest thing about the site is the Voice Blogs (V-Blogs) which is something KVD and Boyd Duckett do on their websites. Can't say that we here at Bass Pundit have any plans to do any voice or video blogging anytime soon.
Wierd: Daiwa Dead or Alive Swimbait
Wierd looking but I would like to see what it does on the water. At $34.95 for the 5inch version I think it will be a while before I see one on the water.
Update: A comment was left directing me to a video of the Dead or Alive where you get to see the lures action. The thing actually looks awesome coming through the water. In the video the buzzbait tail doesn't buzz but spins under water and it looks like a tail. Although I am impressed I won't be rushing out to buy one. Maybe if I was a Muskie guy.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
2009 Bassmaster Classic Final thoughts and analysis
It would seem that Kelly Jordan, Mike Ike, Brian Snowden, and Jami Fralick were all on the fish to win it, but none of them were able to max out their spots or manage the fish as well as Skeet Reese did with his spot. Oh all the guys I think Kelly Jordan has got to be the most frustrated in the outcome. If he would have grinded it out in his starting spot instead of leaving the little area thus forfeiting the spot to Alton Jones who moved in after Jordan left then he very well might have won.
In my opinion the guys who came up biggest today were IKE, McClelland and Federation angler Bryan Schmidt. IKE and McClellend lost it on Day 1 and Schmidt lost it on Day 2.
It was really something to see 5 bags over 20lbs come in on the final day under the coldest weather of the tournament the day after the cold front. They talk about how Florida strain largemouth just don't bite with a cold front, but it appears that Florida strain transplants in a Lousiana river buck that trend. It could be that the Red River environment is conducive to getting anglers into the places where the big bass head under those types of conditions.
There is some buzz that the Bass Cast streaming and Bass Trakk are going to be used with the Elite Series this year. That combined with the stuff I get with Players Advantage at FLW should make this the best year ever in terms of being able to follow the major Professional Bass Fishing tournament trails.
A poster at FishingMinnesota.com handled "Fluker" wrote yesterday how he didn't want Skeet to win because he thinks the guy is a total jerk. I do not hate on the Skeeter but he really isn't one of my favorites either. Of the top guys I really wanted to see Evers win it. The honest truth was that I had mixed feelings about Fralick. Sure he is a Northern boy, but I am not so sure I want to see South Dakota have a Classic Champion before Minnesocold has one. Man I really would have been conflicted if Iowegian Fitzgerald would have done it as I esteem Iowa even less than South Dakota. Even with the Packer Cheesehead rivalry I would rather see a Packer Cracker win it than a Iowegian or a SoDaker. Do they even have bass in South Dakota?
J/K when I lived in Canby MN in far Western SW Minnesota there were a couple of lakes just across the South Dakota border that had more largemouth bass in them than anything close to me in Canby. I didn't really fish these lakes because I didn't have a boat and South Dakota jacked up there non-resident fishing licence price to about 60 bucks in 1996 which was my 2nd year in Canby and the year I would have fished over there given the chance.
On Kim Bain. Sure her showing was a bit of a dissappointment, but I believe Bryan Kerchal came in last place at the Bassmasters Classic as a Federation angler the first time he made it. Kerchal Qualified a second time through the Federation and the rest is tragic BASS history. It would not surprize me at all if Kim qualifies to fish several Classics in the next few years. She is one of the most talented women bass anglers out there and she has the extra help and advantage of having a Professional Bass Angler husband Andre Moore. Kim is a true Professional Bass Angler which gives her a big advantage over most of the WBT women who are more like Semi-Pro's.
The Skeet victory should give yet another boost to the reputation of West Coast and California bass anglers. In case you didn't know Michael Bennett of California is the current Forrest Wood Cup Champion on the FLW side. It's a good thing those West Coasters aren't relying on Byron Velvick to hold their water. (Oh Yes I did!)
Way To Go Skeet!!!
In my opinion the guys who came up biggest today were IKE, McClelland and Federation angler Bryan Schmidt. IKE and McClellend lost it on Day 1 and Schmidt lost it on Day 2.
It was really something to see 5 bags over 20lbs come in on the final day under the coldest weather of the tournament the day after the cold front. They talk about how Florida strain largemouth just don't bite with a cold front, but it appears that Florida strain transplants in a Lousiana river buck that trend. It could be that the Red River environment is conducive to getting anglers into the places where the big bass head under those types of conditions.
There is some buzz that the Bass Cast streaming and Bass Trakk are going to be used with the Elite Series this year. That combined with the stuff I get with Players Advantage at FLW should make this the best year ever in terms of being able to follow the major Professional Bass Fishing tournament trails.
A poster at FishingMinnesota.com handled "Fluker" wrote yesterday how he didn't want Skeet to win because he thinks the guy is a total jerk. I do not hate on the Skeeter but he really isn't one of my favorites either. Of the top guys I really wanted to see Evers win it. The honest truth was that I had mixed feelings about Fralick. Sure he is a Northern boy, but I am not so sure I want to see South Dakota have a Classic Champion before Minnesocold has one. Man I really would have been conflicted if Iowegian Fitzgerald would have done it as I esteem Iowa even less than South Dakota. Even with the Packer Cheesehead rivalry I would rather see a Packer Cracker win it than a Iowegian or a SoDaker. Do they even have bass in South Dakota?
J/K when I lived in Canby MN in far Western SW Minnesota there were a couple of lakes just across the South Dakota border that had more largemouth bass in them than anything close to me in Canby. I didn't really fish these lakes because I didn't have a boat and South Dakota jacked up there non-resident fishing licence price to about 60 bucks in 1996 which was my 2nd year in Canby and the year I would have fished over there given the chance.
On Kim Bain. Sure her showing was a bit of a dissappointment, but I believe Bryan Kerchal came in last place at the Bassmasters Classic as a Federation angler the first time he made it. Kerchal Qualified a second time through the Federation and the rest is tragic BASS history. It would not surprize me at all if Kim qualifies to fish several Classics in the next few years. She is one of the most talented women bass anglers out there and she has the extra help and advantage of having a Professional Bass Angler husband Andre Moore. Kim is a true Professional Bass Angler which gives her a big advantage over most of the WBT women who are more like Semi-Pro's.
The Skeet victory should give yet another boost to the reputation of West Coast and California bass anglers. In case you didn't know Michael Bennett of California is the current Forrest Wood Cup Champion on the FLW side. It's a good thing those West Coasters aren't relying on Byron Velvick to hold their water. (Oh Yes I did!)
Way To Go Skeet!!!
Liveblogging the BassMaster Classic Final Weigh-In
Uh-oh The Expo cam appears to be off the air, which means if the audio feed doesn't work today than there will be no live blogging of the weigh in and I'll just have to find out the winner either from BassZone, BassFan, or somewhere else on the net.
Finally got the feed
Randy Howell
2 for 9-2
He kind of conceeded the area to others who were better positioned but still could have gotten a big bag if he would have landed all his bites.
Berkley Cast for Cash. Casting for $100,000
Selection process from the crowd.
Hank Parker will coach
Kenyon Hill
5 for 24-2
I missed Shaw Grigsby who had 14-8
"Pretty Special Day...I made my adjustment yesterday...started slow got 15 keepers on the day...1/2oz Picasso spinnerbait and homemade jig with Chigger Craw."
Kenyon has 49-14
Alton Jones
5 for 20-10
46-11
Thanks Jesus
Hack Attack
3 for 12-00
Big Bass 7-1
Real slow in the morning...with 15 minutes left caught his bag. Has been disappointed in what the Red has given up this tournament. Wouldn't have changed a thing.
I have grabbed myself a Coke
Fed. Angler Iowian Terry Fitzpatrick
5 for 12-9
A year ago was in bed from open heart surgery
39-15 total
Says hi to family, thanks guy who lent him his Triton.
Fed Angler Brian Schmidt of Texas
Has a Toad
5 for 22-01
51-1
Takes the lead.
"couldn't get bit early...picked up flippen stick and it happened quick...caught on a Sweet Beaver."
Bill Lowen
3 for 7-1
No info
Elvis Pimpem the sponsors, BOO Yah! is my fave.
Kevin Wirth
Can't tell if they are doing intro songs
missed his weight
Thanks sponsors
Mike McClelland
Elvis "it is hawg season on the Red River"
5 for 21-11
Takes the lead
52-11
big fish 6-4
"Jewel Jig...conditions got tough and I had to slow down... had one in the bag about 1.25lbs...1st time I've ever led the Bassmasters Classic"
Greg Pugh
There is the Candy Man intro
He is the Candy Man due to FLW sponsors Snickers and M&M's
2 for missed it
"pulled the flippen stick out Berkley Chigger Craw... Did you see what was in that little one's mouth? A pacifier" His wife "went deer hunting with a Surburban"
Bobby Lane
Elvis "Full on fishing family through and through"
3 for never said.
"Mixed it up every day, sight fished first day...these fish are mean...thanks family and grandma...you guys have an awesome fishery...thanks the crowd."
Apparently those Bass Cast camera's are High Def. I must say it was a pretty clear live feed.
Bobby Lane got 9-1 and Pugh had 6-13
was able to catch up on commercial break
BTW it is awesome that the blog had 100+ visitors yesterday
Dean Rojas
4 for 7-15
"Tough on me today only 5 keeper bites...looking foreward to all Elite Series stop...thanks family and sponsors and fans"
Casey Ashley
Fisherman intro song
5 for 14-7
46-15
Talk about his rookie season win. He lost out to Derek Remitz in the ROY that year.
Talking about Toho Classic of 56-3. Having the crowd do a Booyah if this record gets broken.
Mike Ike
"The approach to fishing is always the same, go out to have fun...fishing keeps me young"
Crowd sends up a big cheer as he gets fish.
5 for 20-3
Mike takes lead with 54-2
"I think a lot of these fish wanted to spawn and now they are back in pre-spawn mode and they want to eat."
Boyd Duckett
13-9 for the day
"great place to fish, super fishery"
Mark Davis
14-2
"My temp guage was showing 52 degrees this morning...I was fishing differently than everybody else, I was fishing rocks...I was using a Red Eye Shad... hooked and missed some bigger fish."
We are at 2lbs more than the unofficial top weight
Dave Wolak
"I'm fishing the clearest water in the system...fish buried themselves in the grass"
2 for 2-12
Break before the Super 6
Snowden, Martens, Jordan, Evers, Reese, Fralick
Time for the $100,000 cast for cash.
Missed the guys name
Missed it, apparently not by much.
He will get a tackle pack and stuff for family and a check for $5,000
Reese needs 16-1
and Fralick needs 16-9
Unofficially neither of them have it but Skeet is closer
Video of Super 6
Intro of Super 6
Nobody got louder cheers than the others
Elvis interviews
Snowden "we all went out there and gave it our best shot"
Jordan "I do have something to show you in the boat"
Skeet "I'm ready to put some fish on the scales"
Fralick "I was out there to catch fish"
Martens "I can't wait to see this weigh in"
Intro of the hot seat
in comes IKE
"We all want to win, it feels good to be up here in contention, if I don't win it this year, look out for next year"
Brian Snowden
Snowden had boat problems
needs 19-6
5 for 18-1
Wow that was 5lbs more than unofficial total
"I've been swimming a jig around pad stems"
Ike
"Lets keep weighing em'"
Aaron Martens
all of his wins have come from Cali
18-9 to win
5 for 13-7
Elvis "Aaron is NOT in 2nd place at the Bassmasters Classic"
Talking about drop shoting on baitcast gear, caught a lot of fish today
Kelly KJ Jordan
needs 18-4
5 for 12-??
"lake Fork Tackle magic shad...left area came back and another competitor was there who sacked em" That was Alton Jones.
Ike
"I gave 100% if I don't win it, all these guys deserve it too."
Edwin Evers
needs 18-00 to lead
5 for 15-2
that is 7lbs more than his unofficial weight
"A great tournament for Nitro, 3 guys in the top 6"
Skeet Reese
Talking about his 2nd place finish and Boyd's last minute big fish
Ike: "whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen"
Needs 18-2 for Classic record
Needs 16-2 to win
5 for 16-12
Skeet takes the lead!!!
"It aint over yet Jamie needs to weigh em' in"
"I can't even explain how the week went... day 2 just went fishing... today put head down never left 200 yard stretch was using new Chigger craw and redemption spinnerbait"
Skeet goes to hot seat
Jami Fralick
"I had a fun day, the fish were really biting out there"
Needs 16-5
5 for 10-9
SKEET REESE wins the Bassmasters Classic!!!
Skeet gets choked up
"Since I won Angler of the Year in 2007 this was my new dream" "Winning is something I have always struggled with... this is for my family but this is for me and for my sponsors, this is for my fans."
The Classic Hoopalah!!!
Congratulations to California angler Skeet Reese!!!
Skeet and Family get in the boat for victory lap.
Skeet "I don't know what to say I'm pumped"
"I am so shocked at how things turned out this week...my hats off to all the spectators...there was a math war going on and I thought I had 15 or 16"
Now comes the Victory Lap
It's gotta be tough on Fralick that Snowden's weight would have won it for him. They were doing pretty much the same thing in close to the same area.
Final Top 10 are:
Skeet
Ike
Snowden
McClelland
Evers
Schmidt
Hill
Fralick
Martens
Jordan
Finally got the feed
Randy Howell
2 for 9-2
He kind of conceeded the area to others who were better positioned but still could have gotten a big bag if he would have landed all his bites.
Berkley Cast for Cash. Casting for $100,000
Selection process from the crowd.
Hank Parker will coach
Kenyon Hill
5 for 24-2
I missed Shaw Grigsby who had 14-8
"Pretty Special Day...I made my adjustment yesterday...started slow got 15 keepers on the day...1/2oz Picasso spinnerbait and homemade jig with Chigger Craw."
Kenyon has 49-14
Alton Jones
5 for 20-10
46-11
Thanks Jesus
Hack Attack
3 for 12-00
Big Bass 7-1
Real slow in the morning...with 15 minutes left caught his bag. Has been disappointed in what the Red has given up this tournament. Wouldn't have changed a thing.
I have grabbed myself a Coke
Fed. Angler Iowian Terry Fitzpatrick
5 for 12-9
A year ago was in bed from open heart surgery
39-15 total
Says hi to family, thanks guy who lent him his Triton.
Fed Angler Brian Schmidt of Texas
Has a Toad
5 for 22-01
51-1
Takes the lead.
"couldn't get bit early...picked up flippen stick and it happened quick...caught on a Sweet Beaver."
Bill Lowen
3 for 7-1
No info
Elvis Pimpem the sponsors, BOO Yah! is my fave.
Kevin Wirth
Can't tell if they are doing intro songs
missed his weight
Thanks sponsors
Mike McClelland
Elvis "it is hawg season on the Red River"
5 for 21-11
Takes the lead
52-11
big fish 6-4
"Jewel Jig...conditions got tough and I had to slow down... had one in the bag about 1.25lbs...1st time I've ever led the Bassmasters Classic"
Greg Pugh
There is the Candy Man intro
He is the Candy Man due to FLW sponsors Snickers and M&M's
2 for missed it
"pulled the flippen stick out Berkley Chigger Craw... Did you see what was in that little one's mouth? A pacifier" His wife "went deer hunting with a Surburban"
Bobby Lane
Elvis "Full on fishing family through and through"
3 for never said.
"Mixed it up every day, sight fished first day...these fish are mean...thanks family and grandma...you guys have an awesome fishery...thanks the crowd."
Apparently those Bass Cast camera's are High Def. I must say it was a pretty clear live feed.
Bobby Lane got 9-1 and Pugh had 6-13
was able to catch up on commercial break
BTW it is awesome that the blog had 100+ visitors yesterday
Dean Rojas
4 for 7-15
"Tough on me today only 5 keeper bites...looking foreward to all Elite Series stop...thanks family and sponsors and fans"
Casey Ashley
Fisherman intro song
5 for 14-7
46-15
Talk about his rookie season win. He lost out to Derek Remitz in the ROY that year.
Talking about Toho Classic of 56-3. Having the crowd do a Booyah if this record gets broken.
Mike Ike
"The approach to fishing is always the same, go out to have fun...fishing keeps me young"
Crowd sends up a big cheer as he gets fish.
5 for 20-3
Mike takes lead with 54-2
"I think a lot of these fish wanted to spawn and now they are back in pre-spawn mode and they want to eat."
Boyd Duckett
13-9 for the day
"great place to fish, super fishery"
Mark Davis
14-2
"My temp guage was showing 52 degrees this morning...I was fishing differently than everybody else, I was fishing rocks...I was using a Red Eye Shad... hooked and missed some bigger fish."
We are at 2lbs more than the unofficial top weight
Dave Wolak
"I'm fishing the clearest water in the system...fish buried themselves in the grass"
2 for 2-12
Break before the Super 6
Snowden, Martens, Jordan, Evers, Reese, Fralick
Time for the $100,000 cast for cash.
Missed the guys name
Missed it, apparently not by much.
He will get a tackle pack and stuff for family and a check for $5,000
Reese needs 16-1
and Fralick needs 16-9
Unofficially neither of them have it but Skeet is closer
Video of Super 6
Intro of Super 6
Nobody got louder cheers than the others
Elvis interviews
Snowden "we all went out there and gave it our best shot"
Jordan "I do have something to show you in the boat"
Skeet "I'm ready to put some fish on the scales"
Fralick "I was out there to catch fish"
Martens "I can't wait to see this weigh in"
Intro of the hot seat
in comes IKE
"We all want to win, it feels good to be up here in contention, if I don't win it this year, look out for next year"
Brian Snowden
Snowden had boat problems
needs 19-6
5 for 18-1
Wow that was 5lbs more than unofficial total
"I've been swimming a jig around pad stems"
Ike
"Lets keep weighing em'"
Aaron Martens
all of his wins have come from Cali
18-9 to win
5 for 13-7
Elvis "Aaron is NOT in 2nd place at the Bassmasters Classic"
Talking about drop shoting on baitcast gear, caught a lot of fish today
Kelly KJ Jordan
needs 18-4
5 for 12-??
"lake Fork Tackle magic shad...left area came back and another competitor was there who sacked em" That was Alton Jones.
Ike
"I gave 100% if I don't win it, all these guys deserve it too."
Edwin Evers
needs 18-00 to lead
5 for 15-2
that is 7lbs more than his unofficial weight
"A great tournament for Nitro, 3 guys in the top 6"
Skeet Reese
Talking about his 2nd place finish and Boyd's last minute big fish
Ike: "whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen"
Needs 18-2 for Classic record
Needs 16-2 to win
5 for 16-12
Skeet takes the lead!!!
"It aint over yet Jamie needs to weigh em' in"
"I can't even explain how the week went... day 2 just went fishing... today put head down never left 200 yard stretch was using new Chigger craw and redemption spinnerbait"
Skeet goes to hot seat
Jami Fralick
"I had a fun day, the fish were really biting out there"
Needs 16-5
5 for 10-9
SKEET REESE wins the Bassmasters Classic!!!
Skeet gets choked up
"Since I won Angler of the Year in 2007 this was my new dream" "Winning is something I have always struggled with... this is for my family but this is for me and for my sponsors, this is for my fans."
The Classic Hoopalah!!!
Congratulations to California angler Skeet Reese!!!
Skeet and Family get in the boat for victory lap.
Skeet "I don't know what to say I'm pumped"
"I am so shocked at how things turned out this week...my hats off to all the spectators...there was a math war going on and I thought I had 15 or 16"
Now comes the Victory Lap
It's gotta be tough on Fralick that Snowden's weight would have won it for him. They were doing pretty much the same thing in close to the same area.
Final Top 10 are:
Skeet
Ike
Snowden
McClelland
Evers
Schmidt
Hill
Fralick
Martens
Jordan
Bassmaster Classic Final Day
The fishing is now over and unofficially Ike is in the lead by an ounce over Skeet. Unofficially nobody else is within 2 pounds but there have been several instances where the unofficial tally was 3-5 lbs off the real weight, so there seem to be 12 anglers in the hunt with that in consideration.
Of interest at this point. Kelly Jordan may have lost the Classic by giving up on his first area too soon. According to the Quick Bites blog, Alton Jones went in after Jordan left and Alton has unofficially sacked 19+ while KJ is under 10.
It doesn't look good for my guy Evers, there is no weight listed for Hack, but he needs a 30+ pound bag to have a shot as it is.
Of interest at this point. Kelly Jordan may have lost the Classic by giving up on his first area too soon. According to the Quick Bites blog, Alton Jones went in after Jordan left and Alton has unofficially sacked 19+ while KJ is under 10.
It doesn't look good for my guy Evers, there is no weight listed for Hack, but he needs a 30+ pound bag to have a shot as it is.
Bassmasters Classic Day Final
Once again here are the best places to follow the Classic while the anglers are out fishing. At 4PM Central Time you can listen to the weigh in by going to the ESPN BASS site.
Quick Bites Bassmaster Classic Blog
Unofficial Standings...
BassZone has live streaming coverage... (I'm not sure how often or how long this is on)
Bass Cast- I don't think this ESPN feature has been working for most of the weekend, but it is up and running now. They have streaming video of Fralick and Skeet fishing. I am pretty sure it is not live streaming. I just was watching Fralick cull a fish. Looked like he had a couple of OK fish and his small ones looked around 2 pounds. I haven't watched any of Skeets feed yet. Unfortunately they don't have any sound with the video.
Update: I think I have gone through the full Fralick Bass Cast loop. Fralick sets and misses, casts back and catches what looked to be a solid 3lber and then came the culling sequence I had already seen. I can actually watch the two feeds simaltaneously. Reese hasn't so much as set a hook in anything I've seen so far. From what I saw I would guess Fralicks weight at around 11lbs, Basstrakk has him at 9-04.
Quick Bites Bassmaster Classic Blog
Unofficial Standings...
BassZone has live streaming coverage... (I'm not sure how often or how long this is on)
Bass Cast- I don't think this ESPN feature has been working for most of the weekend, but it is up and running now. They have streaming video of Fralick and Skeet fishing. I am pretty sure it is not live streaming. I just was watching Fralick cull a fish. Looked like he had a couple of OK fish and his small ones looked around 2 pounds. I haven't watched any of Skeets feed yet. Unfortunately they don't have any sound with the video.
Update: I think I have gone through the full Fralick Bass Cast loop. Fralick sets and misses, casts back and catches what looked to be a solid 3lber and then came the culling sequence I had already seen. I can actually watch the two feeds simaltaneously. Reese hasn't so much as set a hook in anything I've seen so far. From what I saw I would guess Fralicks weight at around 11lbs, Basstrakk has him at 9-04.
Holy Buckets
I had 142 blog visitors yesterday, I think that is a record by a pretty good margin. I believe this 28 day month is going to be a record setter for visitors to Bass Pundit blog.
Updated:
Dude
I am up to 150+ for today and it is just coming up on 8PM. Looks like the Classic has been good for business here at the Bass Pundit. I wonder what kind of numbers Rich's Bassin' Blog is getting???
2nd Update:
I had a total of 181 unique visitors today and 434 total visits for the 3 days of Bassmasters Classic. (Unique visitors reset new each day so I had something quite a bit less than 434 unique visitors, but there very well could have been over 150 different people that visited this blog in the last 3 days.)
Updated:
Dude
I am up to 150+ for today and it is just coming up on 8PM. Looks like the Classic has been good for business here at the Bass Pundit. I wonder what kind of numbers Rich's Bassin' Blog is getting???
2nd Update:
I had a total of 181 unique visitors today and 434 total visits for the 3 days of Bassmasters Classic. (Unique visitors reset new each day so I had something quite a bit less than 434 unique visitors, but there very well could have been over 150 different people that visited this blog in the last 3 days.)
ESPN Bassmaster Classic Day 2 Coverage
This morning I read several complaints on message boards about ESPN's Day 1 Classic coverage. They said it was mostly commentary and background story's with very little on the water video of the anglers. I did not wake up to see the Day 1 ESPN Recap, so I can't judge that. There was quite a bit of commentary on the Day 2 review show and they definitely could have used more on the water footage, but I wonder if that is necessarily totally ESPN's fault. I don't know that the anglers give the editors a whole lot to work with. People can say what they want about Iaconelli but at least he knows a little bit about mugging for the camera and giving the video editors something to work with. The most compelling video clip was of Boyd Duckett breaking off a fish and then going on a calm mini-rant about what it feels like to loose a fish in that situation. When the guys are catching a fish on camera for the most part it is all business then they seem to get right back to fishing quickly many times without acknowledging the camera very much if at all. I understand this is a bass tournament and you are judged by the fish you catch, but it is also important that Professional Anglers provide some entertainment and educational value to their target audience. I think if the anglers were better at this aspect of the game than there would be more on the water footage and less fill in commentary. I think it would be in the best interest of ESPN to work with the anglers and train them in the art of making good TV.
I am all for women anglers but I found a Toyota add focusing on women to be a bit over the top in some of the things the lady anglers said. Then there was the little controversy segment where Bernie Schultz flat out stated that he didn't think Kim Bain should be there. None of the other anglers were as demeaning in their comments even if some were less than totally enthusiastic about Kim's presence. I think Bernie looked like an idiot and his sponsors should take him to the wood shed. I have no problem with Professional Women Anglers getting a seat at the table at the Classic. In fact I think this development has taken about 20 years longer than it should have. The old BassNGals circuit and B.A.S.S. had a mutual interest in promoting bass fishing among women, but they didn't do much if anything about it. Having a spot for the BassNGals Champion in the Bassmasters Classic would have been a smart move for BASS to make but apparently nobody was that smart or visionary. I don't know why it took BASS so long to recognise the women bass angler niche, when BassNGals went defunct in 1998 they had over 33,000 members which seems to me to be a pretty good sized drop in the bucket. It could very well be that all of those 33,000 BassNgal members were also B.A.S.S. members. I obviously wholeheartedly think visibility of women in tournament bass fishing is good for the sport.
I am all for women anglers but I found a Toyota add focusing on women to be a bit over the top in some of the things the lady anglers said. Then there was the little controversy segment where Bernie Schultz flat out stated that he didn't think Kim Bain should be there. None of the other anglers were as demeaning in their comments even if some were less than totally enthusiastic about Kim's presence. I think Bernie looked like an idiot and his sponsors should take him to the wood shed. I have no problem with Professional Women Anglers getting a seat at the table at the Classic. In fact I think this development has taken about 20 years longer than it should have. The old BassNGals circuit and B.A.S.S. had a mutual interest in promoting bass fishing among women, but they didn't do much if anything about it. Having a spot for the BassNGals Champion in the Bassmasters Classic would have been a smart move for BASS to make but apparently nobody was that smart or visionary. I don't know why it took BASS so long to recognise the women bass angler niche, when BassNGals went defunct in 1998 they had over 33,000 members which seems to me to be a pretty good sized drop in the bucket. It could very well be that all of those 33,000 BassNgal members were also B.A.S.S. members. I obviously wholeheartedly think visibility of women in tournament bass fishing is good for the sport.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Kim Bain-Moore
The first woman to fish the Bassmasters Classic gets a dismal 47th place finish and she probably would have been 48th out of 51 if Tim Horton didn't get sick and had fished today. So basically she beat Byron, Kota Kiriyama, and Fed angler Ken Baumgardner and that is it.
Classic Day 2 Liveblogging my Fantasy Results
If the BassTrakk unofficial leaderboard is accurate than I am not in the greatest shape.
For some reason I am not finding the way into listening to the weigh in today.
Ahh found it, the key link was on the Live leaderboard page.
Steve Kennedy is up first
5 for 8-08
Ugh, he is not gonna be in the top 25. Basstrakk has KVD with a big bag, so maybe my last minute switch is going to turn into a big mistake. Kennedy said that the water came up and so he didn't have much of an advantage in the aluminum because the fish were where the glass boats could get to them.
The audio feed has gone out, I'll try a back up method through the video live feeds.
The Live Leaderboard is not updating. This has happened several times in the past.
Not only is the Live Leaderboard not updating, it hasn't recorded a thing today.
Without the Live Leaderboard I can't keep track of where my fantasy anglers stand. I have missed a bunch of the people who have weighed in, so I also don't know if I missed one of my fantasy guys. UGH!
I was away from the computer and missed about 15minutes, the Live Leaderboard is still not working.
Hack Attack
5 for 13-13
26-6 This probably should be enough to get him in the cut. He caught 30-35 fish today.
If they had intro songs I didn't notice them for the most part yesterday. They definitely are doing intro songs today.
Live Leaderboard has come up and
Edwin Evers is in 2nd with 19-3 today that is 4lbs heavier than his Basstrakk unofficial weight.
It has Hack in 12th right now. Steve Kennedy is about to get bumped in 24th.
Matt Herren only weighed 7-7 and is at 21-11 which probably won't be good enough, currently he is listed in 21st.
Kennedy is officially eliminated. Herren is about to be. Hack is down to 14th so he might be ok.
Ha! Kim Bain beat Byron the Bachelor Velvick by almost 3lbs.
Herren is officially eliminated.
Faircloth is officially eliminated, so at best I only have 2 guys in the Top 25. Should have gone with KJ instead of Faircloth.
KVD is gonna need 20+ to make the cut, will he?
Hackney officially has made the cut.
KVD weighs 19-7, not good enough. Still he beats Kennedy.
For some reason I am not finding the way into listening to the weigh in today.
Ahh found it, the key link was on the Live leaderboard page.
Steve Kennedy is up first
5 for 8-08
Ugh, he is not gonna be in the top 25. Basstrakk has KVD with a big bag, so maybe my last minute switch is going to turn into a big mistake. Kennedy said that the water came up and so he didn't have much of an advantage in the aluminum because the fish were where the glass boats could get to them.
The audio feed has gone out, I'll try a back up method through the video live feeds.
The Live Leaderboard is not updating. This has happened several times in the past.
Not only is the Live Leaderboard not updating, it hasn't recorded a thing today.
Without the Live Leaderboard I can't keep track of where my fantasy anglers stand. I have missed a bunch of the people who have weighed in, so I also don't know if I missed one of my fantasy guys. UGH!
I was away from the computer and missed about 15minutes, the Live Leaderboard is still not working.
Hack Attack
5 for 13-13
26-6 This probably should be enough to get him in the cut. He caught 30-35 fish today.
If they had intro songs I didn't notice them for the most part yesterday. They definitely are doing intro songs today.
Live Leaderboard has come up and
Edwin Evers is in 2nd with 19-3 today that is 4lbs heavier than his Basstrakk unofficial weight.
It has Hack in 12th right now. Steve Kennedy is about to get bumped in 24th.
Matt Herren only weighed 7-7 and is at 21-11 which probably won't be good enough, currently he is listed in 21st.
Kennedy is officially eliminated. Herren is about to be. Hack is down to 14th so he might be ok.
Ha! Kim Bain beat Byron the Bachelor Velvick by almost 3lbs.
Herren is officially eliminated.
Faircloth is officially eliminated, so at best I only have 2 guys in the Top 25. Should have gone with KJ instead of Faircloth.
KVD is gonna need 20+ to make the cut, will he?
Hackney officially has made the cut.
KVD weighs 19-7, not good enough. Still he beats Kennedy.
BassMaster Classic Day 2
Once again here are the best places to follow the Classic while the anglers are out fishing. At 4PM Central Time you can listen to the weigh in by going to the ESPN BASS site.
Quick Bites Bassmaster Classic Blog
Unofficial Standings...
BassZone has live streaming coverage... (I'm not sure how often or how long this is on)
Funny: I am watching Bass Edge the TV show and Randy Howell is the guest angler. He hooked into a rod and reel and was bringing it in and there were a total of 3 of these spincast outfits. He says "I've got a school of em"
Quick Bites Bassmaster Classic Blog
Unofficial Standings...
BassZone has live streaming coverage... (I'm not sure how often or how long this is on)
Funny: I am watching Bass Edge the TV show and Randy Howell is the guest angler. He hooked into a rod and reel and was bringing it in and there were a total of 3 of these spincast outfits. He says "I've got a school of em"
Friday, February 20, 2009
In the Mail
A few years ago I bought a green Smithwick Deadstick Rogue for a couple of bucks on sale at Gander Mountain. It turned out the bait was a real fish catcher. Unfortunately a pike stole it two seasons ago and the lure had been discontinued. I have been on the look out for other green Deadstick Rogues ever since. In an 2001 Bass Pro Catalog it shows that they carried 2 different green Deadstick Rogues (baby bass and watermelon), but I am not quite sure which color was the one I lost. The other day I was checking on Ebay and sure enough there was a watermelon/green Deadstick up for auction. I bid and won it and it came in the mail today. It is a much darker green than the Rogue I lost but I am still not certain that it isn't the same color pattern as the one I lost cause in the Bass Pro Catalog the watermelon looks like a much brighter shade of green, maybe this bait was darker than normal or maybe the one I lost was baby bass. I hope this one is a fish catcher cause I paid about triple what I paid for the one I lost. If it catches fish like the one I lost it will be worth every penny and more.
Found:
Joel Trovillion is yet another Illini bass fishing blog. It was started in November and only has 4 posts so far. I found it because the guy had a link to it in his Futurebass.com forum signature. Check it out.
My Classic Fantasy Line Up
Edwin Evers 8th
Matt Herren 19th
Greg Hackney 25th
Steve Kennedy 29th
Todd Faircloth 36th
Not a great day, but not a disaster either, it could have been worse. At the last minute I switched out KVD for Kennedy and his "tin boat." I almost switched Kennedy for Evers. KVD totally flopped today and is a long shot to make the cut. I am pleased that all my anglers have a fair shot at the 25 cut going into Day 2.
Matt Herren 19th
Greg Hackney 25th
Steve Kennedy 29th
Todd Faircloth 36th
Not a great day, but not a disaster either, it could have been worse. At the last minute I switched out KVD for Kennedy and his "tin boat." I almost switched Kennedy for Evers. KVD totally flopped today and is a long shot to make the cut. I am pleased that all my anglers have a fair shot at the 25 cut going into Day 2.
Bassmaster Classic Day 1 Live blogging the weigh-in
There is isn't much of a point to this, because anyone online will be listening or watching rather than paying attention to my liveblogging, but it gives me something to do while I listen.
Hopefully the Live-Leaderboard will work correctly the whole time. It has been known to lock up.
Weigh in should start any time now. The Radio feed is up and running and it is after 4PM.
Yammi commercial says 5 of the last 7 Classic champs were powered by Merc.
J/K
I think I'm going to get a Coke while I wait for this thing to kick off.
Rumor is that IKE will lead and has a 7lber.
The Mayor of Bossier is talking and hawking his city.
Now it's Ray Scott. Flatters Louisiana, hypes this Classic and flatters city. Makes prediction: You need to show up early Sat. and Sun. to get a seat. "I think it is gonna be one of the greatest Classics ever." Basically the stock line every year Blah Blah Blah.
This Coke tastes good. Come on get on with it already.
Ray ends with "God Bless America"
Now they are hyping Merc. They are giving away a prop to the "Craziest Merc Fan in the stands." I wonder how much the prop will fetch on Ebay. Maybe you could increase it's value by getting it signed by Merc. pro's. I think KVD is a Merc. guy.
Elvis is in the building. Keith "Elvis" Allen is on "the top of the food chain."
Introduces Tripp Weldon
Elvis says "Elvis is in the building" about Tripp who must be dressed as Elvis, now that is funny.
Hyping Kim Bain-Moore, Tripp is back.
Saying it was a cold morning.
In case you didn't know. Everybody fishes 2 days then the Top 25 fish Sun. Day Final.
Props out to our Soldiers. Crowd makes a ruckus.
National Anthem...
"for the land of the free, and the home of the brave" crowd goes wild.
I'm guessing video intro, stirring music.
KVD first up???
4 fish 4-04
"I took a gamble...it just didn't work out"
Says spectators on water were great, will make a long run tomorrow.
Says water was up to 10 degrees colder today than it had been.
Reining Champ Alton Jones
Raising an Alton Jones banner
5 fish 13-05
"This morning was a brutal bite, I caught 2 limits later on in the day."
Kermit Man Dean Rojas
5 fish 15-13
big bass 4-02
"You can lose the Classic on the first day, but you can't win it."
"To cold for Kermit, he is in the Bahama's."
Fed Guy Baumgaurdner from PA
4 fish 6-10
"Water dropped 5 degrees, it was a tough bite."
Todd Faircloth
My first fantasy guy
5 fish 9-02 (Not so great)
"I had a tough day... I feel like 17 to 18 is possible" "lost a couple early"
Gary Klien
2 fish 2-13
"1st 20 minutes caught 1 lost 3"
Peter T.
3 fish 6even
Got lots of bites in practice "disappointed"
Skeet
5 fish 15-8
On the strength of two kickers caught early.
Rick Clunn
5 for 10-11
big fish 4-7
Talking aluminum, says others can get into same area's he can, but advantage is in manueverability within fishing area.
Greg Pugh
5 for 14even
"lost a couple good one's today that would have helped out."
Boyd Duckett
5 fish 20-3
No info at all, Is he catching em on a Laser Lure?
Mark Davis
5 for 11-11
"The river came up and the temp. dropped... I think tomorrow will be the best day to catch a big string."
Hyping BASS, commercial break, UGH!
Fed angler Terry Fitzpatrick of Iowa
5 for 18even
"They turned on later in the day"
David Williams Weekend Series champ
5 for 11-6
No info
Kenyon Hill
Apparently on his boat wrap it says Keyon Hill.
Is using a sport psychologist
5 for 9even
Yo! Ish Monroe
Ran 140 miles
3 for 6-8
Kevin Wirth
5 for 15-3
big bass 4-15
Most productive time? "All day" "Broke off a 5lber at end of the day"
Bill Lowen
wierd screeching noises
Nickname: "Turtle"
5 for 14-12
"just couldn't get that big bite"
Fed Champ Bryan Schmidt
5 for 15-5
big fish 4-8
"Coming from the Fed it is hard to compete with all these pro's"
Fed guy Jay Evans from Mont.
5 for 9-12
"I lost a couple of big fish"
Rick Morris
Hellabass Fantasy Guy
2 for 6-10
"You gotta go for the win... I had some spawning fish... bent his prop shaft on a stump but was able to run fine... has two Power Poles... Costa Del Mars... probably not sight fishing tomorrow... Red River I love it, LSU!!!
Here comes Ike
5 for 15-5
Looks like Basstrakk was way off on this one.
"I believe I got a winning area... Boyd and me have a bait, special crankbait" Hmmm maybe the Laser Lure is in effect.
"I am commiting to a spot"
Tim Horton
this is his 10th Classic
5 for 7-11
Got away from crowds, area got muddied up.
"Here comes the Hack Attack"
5 for 12-9
"It was a little tougher than I'd like...my expectations are still good..."
Dustin Wilks
1 for ???
"I ran a long way to get that one fish... I ran out of gas on the way back"
Bobby Lane
5 for 13-2
Talked about Florida Keys
Commercial
Boyd has big bass at 5-4
We are almost half way home 25 out of 51???
Kim Bain-Moore
2 for 3-6
"I am so proud and excited to be here"
Video of Kim and other women anglers.
Edwin Evers
5 for 17-00
Yeah, he is on the fantasy team
"I'm real fortunate to have what I have...missed some fish...you can't win it, but you can lose it and I didn't lose it."
Jami Fralick from SD
5 for 19-3
"He'll slide into 2nd head first, baby"
"I had an awesome day... 3 big bass in first 30 minutes... it was a location thing... all out of the same spot... on my lonesome... I ran my cranking battery dead and I didn't think I was going to make it in."
Mike McClelland
5 for 13-14
"Today was a much better day than I thought it would be...I got way more bites than I thought it would... I got em' on a War Eagle spinnerbait."
Davy Hite
5 for 10-12
"It was a little disappointing...it might not be bad to be behind the 8 ball a little bit...I missed quite a few fish...I had a lot of fish bumping it... first fish was hooked on the top of the head:
Scott Rook
Will Basstrakk hold up?
5 for 17-11
Nope!
big fish 5-3
"this time of year I don't like the current...all the fish I caught today were out of a back water...look for the warmest water you can find...looking for the hard bottom area...I just kept going back and forth through the same area."
Mike Burns Opens guy
5 fish 15-7
No info
Big Show
5 for 10-8
He more than doubled his Basstrakk weight
"I had a really good practice... I think they went out of the hyanciths and went to the wood"
Kota
1 for 1-10
Holds up the fish
"Fishing is the universal language for me to meet people all over the world"
Shaw Grigsby
5 for 8-11
has a spotted bass
"It's great to be back...I had a lot of fish found, but I never got the big bite... I ran a long way"
Wayne Pittman Fed Guy Georgia
4 for 7-9
No info
Aaron Martens
5 for 18-1
"I fished the way I intended but there were a lot more boats than I wanted...I had a good morning...I caught 13 fish today...the big one's weren't biting real good...I'm probably going back to the same area tomorrow."
7-01 big bass
Casey Ashley
he gets an intro song
5 fish 9-13
"I had a real good practice"
Yami commercial
Man is my middle back bugging me.
Kelly Jordan
5 for 15-10
big fish 5-6
Said he saved spots for tommorrow
Dave Wolak
5 for 17-6
"leading the Classic and going on and winning it is a tough thing...I have a couple back up area's I haven't even touched yet."
10 anglers left
Journeyman Pro Bernie Schultz
5 for 11-3
"Tomorrow I will start slow" (as in how he will fish his lures)
Brent Chapman
5 for 13-3
"looking forward to tomorrow, Boyd Duckett is in the same area... I did very little running"
Scott Parker Fed guy New Hampshire
5 for 10-7
Hopes to get 15-17 tomorrow
Byron
"You'll recognise him especially the ladies" lol
1 for 1 even
"I thought I was on the fish to win this"
Brian Snowden
5 for 15-9
no info
Matt Herren
Another one of my fantasy guys
5 for 14-4
"I really like river chains...I had to change bites and presentations...lost 5lber first fish"
Fred Roumbanis
5 for 18-4
"I lost one between 6 and 8lbs"
Bryan Hudgins
Basstrakk had him with a skunk
1 for 1-5
Went for suspended fish with a faster presentation
Randy Howell
Sounded like he got an intro song
5 for 16-3
Last man out
Steve Kennedy on my fantasy team
5 for 10-14
"Today was a struggle"
So Duckett leads Day 1 with the only 20lb bag
The End my friends
Hopefully the Live-Leaderboard will work correctly the whole time. It has been known to lock up.
Weigh in should start any time now. The Radio feed is up and running and it is after 4PM.
Yammi commercial says 5 of the last 7 Classic champs were powered by Merc.
J/K
I think I'm going to get a Coke while I wait for this thing to kick off.
Rumor is that IKE will lead and has a 7lber.
The Mayor of Bossier is talking and hawking his city.
Now it's Ray Scott. Flatters Louisiana, hypes this Classic and flatters city. Makes prediction: You need to show up early Sat. and Sun. to get a seat. "I think it is gonna be one of the greatest Classics ever." Basically the stock line every year Blah Blah Blah.
This Coke tastes good. Come on get on with it already.
Ray ends with "God Bless America"
Now they are hyping Merc. They are giving away a prop to the "Craziest Merc Fan in the stands." I wonder how much the prop will fetch on Ebay. Maybe you could increase it's value by getting it signed by Merc. pro's. I think KVD is a Merc. guy.
Elvis is in the building. Keith "Elvis" Allen is on "the top of the food chain."
Introduces Tripp Weldon
Elvis says "Elvis is in the building" about Tripp who must be dressed as Elvis, now that is funny.
Hyping Kim Bain-Moore, Tripp is back.
Saying it was a cold morning.
In case you didn't know. Everybody fishes 2 days then the Top 25 fish Sun. Day Final.
Props out to our Soldiers. Crowd makes a ruckus.
National Anthem...
"for the land of the free, and the home of the brave" crowd goes wild.
I'm guessing video intro, stirring music.
KVD first up???
4 fish 4-04
"I took a gamble...it just didn't work out"
Says spectators on water were great, will make a long run tomorrow.
Says water was up to 10 degrees colder today than it had been.
Reining Champ Alton Jones
Raising an Alton Jones banner
5 fish 13-05
"This morning was a brutal bite, I caught 2 limits later on in the day."
Kermit Man Dean Rojas
5 fish 15-13
big bass 4-02
"You can lose the Classic on the first day, but you can't win it."
"To cold for Kermit, he is in the Bahama's."
Fed Guy Baumgaurdner from PA
4 fish 6-10
"Water dropped 5 degrees, it was a tough bite."
Todd Faircloth
My first fantasy guy
5 fish 9-02 (Not so great)
"I had a tough day... I feel like 17 to 18 is possible" "lost a couple early"
Gary Klien
2 fish 2-13
"1st 20 minutes caught 1 lost 3"
Peter T.
3 fish 6even
Got lots of bites in practice "disappointed"
Skeet
5 fish 15-8
On the strength of two kickers caught early.
Rick Clunn
5 for 10-11
big fish 4-7
Talking aluminum, says others can get into same area's he can, but advantage is in manueverability within fishing area.
Greg Pugh
5 for 14even
"lost a couple good one's today that would have helped out."
Boyd Duckett
5 fish 20-3
No info at all, Is he catching em on a Laser Lure?
Mark Davis
5 for 11-11
"The river came up and the temp. dropped... I think tomorrow will be the best day to catch a big string."
Hyping BASS, commercial break, UGH!
Fed angler Terry Fitzpatrick of Iowa
5 for 18even
"They turned on later in the day"
David Williams Weekend Series champ
5 for 11-6
No info
Kenyon Hill
Apparently on his boat wrap it says Keyon Hill.
Is using a sport psychologist
5 for 9even
Yo! Ish Monroe
Ran 140 miles
3 for 6-8
Kevin Wirth
5 for 15-3
big bass 4-15
Most productive time? "All day" "Broke off a 5lber at end of the day"
Bill Lowen
wierd screeching noises
Nickname: "Turtle"
5 for 14-12
"just couldn't get that big bite"
Fed Champ Bryan Schmidt
5 for 15-5
big fish 4-8
"Coming from the Fed it is hard to compete with all these pro's"
Fed guy Jay Evans from Mont.
5 for 9-12
"I lost a couple of big fish"
Rick Morris
Hellabass Fantasy Guy
2 for 6-10
"You gotta go for the win... I had some spawning fish... bent his prop shaft on a stump but was able to run fine... has two Power Poles... Costa Del Mars... probably not sight fishing tomorrow... Red River I love it, LSU!!!
Here comes Ike
5 for 15-5
Looks like Basstrakk was way off on this one.
"I believe I got a winning area... Boyd and me have a bait, special crankbait" Hmmm maybe the Laser Lure is in effect.
"I am commiting to a spot"
Tim Horton
this is his 10th Classic
5 for 7-11
Got away from crowds, area got muddied up.
"Here comes the Hack Attack"
5 for 12-9
"It was a little tougher than I'd like...my expectations are still good..."
Dustin Wilks
1 for ???
"I ran a long way to get that one fish... I ran out of gas on the way back"
Bobby Lane
5 for 13-2
Talked about Florida Keys
Commercial
Boyd has big bass at 5-4
We are almost half way home 25 out of 51???
Kim Bain-Moore
2 for 3-6
"I am so proud and excited to be here"
Video of Kim and other women anglers.
Edwin Evers
5 for 17-00
Yeah, he is on the fantasy team
"I'm real fortunate to have what I have...missed some fish...you can't win it, but you can lose it and I didn't lose it."
Jami Fralick from SD
5 for 19-3
"He'll slide into 2nd head first, baby"
"I had an awesome day... 3 big bass in first 30 minutes... it was a location thing... all out of the same spot... on my lonesome... I ran my cranking battery dead and I didn't think I was going to make it in."
Mike McClelland
5 for 13-14
"Today was a much better day than I thought it would be...I got way more bites than I thought it would... I got em' on a War Eagle spinnerbait."
Davy Hite
5 for 10-12
"It was a little disappointing...it might not be bad to be behind the 8 ball a little bit...I missed quite a few fish...I had a lot of fish bumping it... first fish was hooked on the top of the head:
Scott Rook
Will Basstrakk hold up?
5 for 17-11
Nope!
big fish 5-3
"this time of year I don't like the current...all the fish I caught today were out of a back water...look for the warmest water you can find...looking for the hard bottom area...I just kept going back and forth through the same area."
Mike Burns Opens guy
5 fish 15-7
No info
Big Show
5 for 10-8
He more than doubled his Basstrakk weight
"I had a really good practice... I think they went out of the hyanciths and went to the wood"
Kota
1 for 1-10
Holds up the fish
"Fishing is the universal language for me to meet people all over the world"
Shaw Grigsby
5 for 8-11
has a spotted bass
"It's great to be back...I had a lot of fish found, but I never got the big bite... I ran a long way"
Wayne Pittman Fed Guy Georgia
4 for 7-9
No info
Aaron Martens
5 for 18-1
"I fished the way I intended but there were a lot more boats than I wanted...I had a good morning...I caught 13 fish today...the big one's weren't biting real good...I'm probably going back to the same area tomorrow."
7-01 big bass
Casey Ashley
he gets an intro song
5 fish 9-13
"I had a real good practice"
Yami commercial
Man is my middle back bugging me.
Kelly Jordan
5 for 15-10
big fish 5-6
Said he saved spots for tommorrow
Dave Wolak
5 for 17-6
"leading the Classic and going on and winning it is a tough thing...I have a couple back up area's I haven't even touched yet."
10 anglers left
Journeyman Pro Bernie Schultz
5 for 11-3
"Tomorrow I will start slow" (as in how he will fish his lures)
Brent Chapman
5 for 13-3
"looking forward to tomorrow, Boyd Duckett is in the same area... I did very little running"
Scott Parker Fed guy New Hampshire
5 for 10-7
Hopes to get 15-17 tomorrow
Byron
"You'll recognise him especially the ladies" lol
1 for 1 even
"I thought I was on the fish to win this"
Brian Snowden
5 for 15-9
no info
Matt Herren
Another one of my fantasy guys
5 for 14-4
"I really like river chains...I had to change bites and presentations...lost 5lber first fish"
Fred Roumbanis
5 for 18-4
"I lost one between 6 and 8lbs"
Bryan Hudgins
Basstrakk had him with a skunk
1 for 1-5
Went for suspended fish with a faster presentation
Randy Howell
Sounded like he got an intro song
5 for 16-3
Last man out
Steve Kennedy on my fantasy team
5 for 10-14
"Today was a struggle"
So Duckett leads Day 1 with the only 20lb bag
The End my friends
Bassmaster Classic Day 1
If you didn't already know, there are a couple of ways to keep up on things
Quick Bites Bassmaster Classic Blog- They have Martens in the lead with 17 pounds as of 12:30PM ET.
Unofficial Standings...
BassZone has live streaming coverage... (I'm not sure how often or how long this is on)
Could it be for Kim Bain-Moore? Basstrakk has her with the skunk in the boat. If this is the case I think it would just be awful if she comes in with nothing. Bad for the sport, bad for women anglers. On the flip side, Basstrakk also has KVD without a fish. A Bain-Moore skunk would go down a little easier if Kevin also had a goose egg.
Updated: KVD now has his first fish. Kim needs to step it up.
Updated: I went to run some errands it's now 2:35PM CT and I think the anglers are off the water. Apparently Kim caught 3. I guess we will just have to find out for sure at weigh in.
Quick Bites Bassmaster Classic Blog- They have Martens in the lead with 17 pounds as of 12:30PM ET.
Unofficial Standings...
BassZone has live streaming coverage... (I'm not sure how often or how long this is on)
Could it be for Kim Bain-Moore? Basstrakk has her with the skunk in the boat. If this is the case I think it would just be awful if she comes in with nothing. Bad for the sport, bad for women anglers. On the flip side, Basstrakk also has KVD without a fish. A Bain-Moore skunk would go down a little easier if Kevin also had a goose egg.Updated: KVD now has his first fish. Kim needs to step it up.
Updated: I went to run some errands it's now 2:35PM CT and I think the anglers are off the water. Apparently Kim caught 3. I guess we will just have to find out for sure at weigh in.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
From BassZone.com
10 Things that will not happen at the 2009 Classic
Number Ten: Scott Boras convinces KVD to hold out for a bigger contract and doesn't make a cast.
Number Nine: A remake of the Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial starring Mark Davis.
Number Eight: Bulgarian judge deducts half a pound from Skeet Reese’s weight for style infractions.
Number Seven: Tony Christian seen at Classic Expo selling decorative baskets.
Number Six: Terry Scroggins breaks out the flat grill and cooks breakfast for his media observer after bagging 27 pounds during the first thirty minutes of Classic.
Number Five: Tripp Weldon disqualifies Boyd Duckett for excess pine tar on his Carrot Stix.
Number Four: Byron Velvick hooks 50 pound nutria on a swimbait, spends almost entire first day trying to unhook it.
Number Three: Ray Scott shows up, directs the competitors to a plane, and takes off for Milford Lake in Kansas.
Number Two: Aaron Martens, accused of using performance enhancing drugs, admits to “the cream,” but not “the clear.”
Number One: Greg Hackney suffers a “wardrobe malfunction.”
I thought #5 was the best.
10 Things that will not happen at the 2009 Classic
Number Ten: Scott Boras convinces KVD to hold out for a bigger contract and doesn't make a cast.
Number Nine: A remake of the Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial starring Mark Davis.
Number Eight: Bulgarian judge deducts half a pound from Skeet Reese’s weight for style infractions.
Number Seven: Tony Christian seen at Classic Expo selling decorative baskets.
Number Six: Terry Scroggins breaks out the flat grill and cooks breakfast for his media observer after bagging 27 pounds during the first thirty minutes of Classic.
Number Five: Tripp Weldon disqualifies Boyd Duckett for excess pine tar on his Carrot Stix.
Number Four: Byron Velvick hooks 50 pound nutria on a swimbait, spends almost entire first day trying to unhook it.
Number Three: Ray Scott shows up, directs the competitors to a plane, and takes off for Milford Lake in Kansas.
Number Two: Aaron Martens, accused of using performance enhancing drugs, admits to “the cream,” but not “the clear.”
Number One: Greg Hackney suffers a “wardrobe malfunction.”
I thought #5 was the best.
Got Cabin Fever??? Winter Blues???
This might warm a guy up.
Actually I think somewhere in the Bass Pundit archives is a You Tube video of the girls in action on the ice.
Crazy Fantasy Move for Classic
I did it! I took the BEAST off my roster and played for a semi-educated hunch. It was a surprize swap too, because I had been leaning KVD for KJ. Instead I am gambling on a gimmick and I just have to hope that KVD tanks so his fantasy value doesn't raise, so I can switch him back into the line up for Amistad.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2513 FLW Fantasy Fishing Rant
2513 is my place of finish for the FLW Fantasy Fishing results for Guntersville. I had 4 anglers make the Top 10 in this tournament and 5643 was my point total. Last year that point total was in the Top 400 at the Norman Open and in the Top 100 at the Beaver Open. So basically I think it is safe to assume that people picked the fire out of em' for this tournament and there are a whole lot more people playing FLW Fantasy Fishing this year than there were last year.
In looking at league results it is pretty clear that there were a lot of people who picked Fritts to win and picked up those 5000 bonus points. I was beaten by a lot of people who picked Fritts to win and otherwise had weak line ups. If it were not for those Exacta bonuses my results would have been not just significantly better, but drastically better.
In the Tackle Warehouse League, which has 659 teams, the top score was 11,676. This score was achieved with just 3 anglers in the Top 10. Personally I think there is something wrong with the game when a 3 angler line up like that could beat a line up with 9 anglers in the Top 10 if there were no exacta's. It's just ridiculous that the exacta bonuses are worth what they are worth. The FLW game does not come down to who made the best picks, but who got the luckiest with improbable exacta's. The one place where I feel a hefty exacta bonus is warranted is for picking the winner. Picking the winner is impressive, just by dumb luck putting Dowling in 10th place is not. If they limited exacta's to only the Top 3 places I would be much happier.
In looking at league results it is pretty clear that there were a lot of people who picked Fritts to win and picked up those 5000 bonus points. I was beaten by a lot of people who picked Fritts to win and otherwise had weak line ups. If it were not for those Exacta bonuses my results would have been not just significantly better, but drastically better.
In the Tackle Warehouse League, which has 659 teams, the top score was 11,676. This score was achieved with just 3 anglers in the Top 10. Personally I think there is something wrong with the game when a 3 angler line up like that could beat a line up with 9 anglers in the Top 10 if there were no exacta's. It's just ridiculous that the exacta bonuses are worth what they are worth. The FLW game does not come down to who made the best picks, but who got the luckiest with improbable exacta's. The one place where I feel a hefty exacta bonus is warranted is for picking the winner. Picking the winner is impressive, just by dumb luck putting Dowling in 10th place is not. If they limited exacta's to only the Top 3 places I would be much happier.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Added
A New "Friend of Bass Pundit":
The Bass Kicker is a new bass fishing blog started in January 2009 out of Indiana. The Bass Kicker is off to a great start and I recommend checking it out.
The Bass Kicker is a new bass fishing blog started in January 2009 out of Indiana. The Bass Kicker is off to a great start and I recommend checking it out.
Welcome to Bassmasters Classic Week @ Bass Pundit
I would love to know how many people FLW has playing Fantasy Fishing because it would be a true paradigm shift if more people were paying attention to the 1st FLW tournament of the year than there will be paying attention to the BassMaster Classic. There is a realistic possibility that this could be the case. While I think FLW is crazy for offering the Fantasy Fishing game they do, I don't think it is entirely stupid in terms of promoting their brand.
Of coarse here at Bass Pundit I am more of a hardcore Bass Fan than many who are dipping their feet in the FLW Fantasy Fishing game. But just because I am more hardcore does not necessarily mean I buy into all the Classic hype. I enjoy the Classic because it provides more opportunities to keep up with what's going on than your average Elite Series event and I like that. I can't for the life of me understand why ESPN doesn't cover all Elite Series events with the same passion. ESPN owns BASS but they most certainly have not done enough to mainstream tournament bass fishing into the greater sports world. At a minimum they should have daily Elite Series tournament highlights featured on SportsCenter but as far as I am aware they only do this for the Classic.
Many in the bass fishing world regard the Classic as the greatest event in professional bass fishing. I do not. Sure qualifying for the Classic isn't easy, but qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup and the Elite Series are not easy either and the Forrest Wood Cup has a bigger payday. The main reason I do not put as much stock in the Classic as many other bass fans is because it is a limited field event. I just am not as impressed by a tournament win in a field of 51 top anglers as a field of 100 top anglers. I suppose some consider qualifying as a multi event tournament, but I don't look at it that way. The Angler of the Year race is more of a multi event tournament in my mind.
Then you have the whole issue of those who qualify through the Federation, Weekend Series, Opens, and WBT. These paths to the Classic vary a great deal in the degree of difficulty to make it as compared to qualifying through the Elite Series.
With all this said the Classic is fun and so us Bass Fans should just enjoy the show.
For a different perspective on the Classic than mine:
Classic cash
How far can a Classic victory really take an angler's career?
The Kim Bain-Moore Classic
David Fritts wins FLW Chevy Open @ Guntersville
After Day 3 it didn't look like any of the 3 Dave's in the top 10 had a shot at winning. However David Dudley and David Fritts both sacked em' big time on Day Final and Fritts was able to pull out the win. I thought for sure Scott Canterbury was going to take it, but he only caught 2 little fish today.
The $200,000 Fritts won is the biggest amount he has ever won in a bass tournament despite the fact that he has won the Bassmaster Classic and FLW Championship.
Way to Go Dave!!!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Stunned and Confused
Can this be true?
At the FLW Guntersville Tournament I got 4 anglers in the all important Top 10 for Fantasy Fishing. Unfortunately I did not up my score with any exacta bonuses. Right after the Day Final weigh in was completed I went to see if I could see my place in the standings. I was stunned to see myself ranked at #2513 for the tournament. Can that be right?
Last year in the Open's my score of 5643 put one below 400th place and easily into the prizes. Has fantasy fishing exploded to the point that more than 2500 people could beat 4 anglers in the Top 10?
If the number of Fantasy Players was doubled and the scoring averages were close to the same as last year than at worst I should only be around 1000th Place. Sure they shrunk the FLW Fields from 200 to 157 but I don't think that change could have such a drastic impact on scoring.
What is going on???
If those standings are incorrect and I am in 400th place or lower, I still do not think I will make the prizes which go down 303 places this year as opposed to the 585 places of last year.
At the FLW Guntersville Tournament I got 4 anglers in the all important Top 10 for Fantasy Fishing. Unfortunately I did not up my score with any exacta bonuses. Right after the Day Final weigh in was completed I went to see if I could see my place in the standings. I was stunned to see myself ranked at #2513 for the tournament. Can that be right?
Last year in the Open's my score of 5643 put one below 400th place and easily into the prizes. Has fantasy fishing exploded to the point that more than 2500 people could beat 4 anglers in the Top 10?
If the number of Fantasy Players was doubled and the scoring averages were close to the same as last year than at worst I should only be around 1000th Place. Sure they shrunk the FLW Fields from 200 to 157 but I don't think that change could have such a drastic impact on scoring.
What is going on???
If those standings are incorrect and I am in 400th place or lower, I still do not think I will make the prizes which go down 303 places this year as opposed to the 585 places of last year.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Bassin' Grandma Wins 2nd FLW Co-Angler Title
Grandmother and BP Fuel Pro-Co Judy Israel once again proved she could hang with the boys catching 17lbs 11ozs en route to her second FLW Tour Co-Angler Title. Way to go Judy!!!Check out the story at FLW Outdoors...
There are no women fishing the FLW Tour as a Pro this year but there were at least 5 women on the Co-Angler side.
One thing I have noticed on the live feed this year is that it seems like every Pro and Co is wearing some kind of Tournament Jersey as they weigh in on Day 1&2; This most certainly has not been true in the past for Co-Anglers. Generally I think the jersey's look nice, some of them are on the ugly side, but I don't think anyone but the big main logo gets any bang for the buck on the live stream. Maybe if my computer screen was an HD widescreen TV I'd see it differently, but I don't think the live feeds are in HD.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sufferin' SucKotash
It was coming down to the end of today's FLW Guntersville weigh in and it looked like Brent Ehlers 40-4 might hold up and get him into the Top 10. The weigh in was just about over and John Tanner of Texas was the last guy with a realistic shot of bumping Ehrler out of the all important Top 10. Sure enough his 19-06 bag was enough to knock Ehrler into 11th place by 8ozs. I was that close to holding serve and keeping 5 guys in the Top 10 for 2 days straight. Neither Tharp nor Morgan could improve their Day 1 catch so I lost ground. As it stands I will probably need 1 exacta on 1 of my 4 Top 10 anglers for a shot at a prize.
Of Yesterday's Guntersville Top 10 there were 3 anglers who got booted on Day 2 (Ehrler(11), Schiede(25), and Baksay(33))
Of Yesterday's Guntersville Top 10 there were 3 anglers who got booted on Day 2 (Ehrler(11), Schiede(25), and Baksay(33))
Players Advantage and FLW Live FLW Fantasy Fishing
Players Advantage is a pay service that FLW Fantasy Fishing offers that has a bunch of different features. FLW Live is a live video stream of the FLW weigh in. With Players Advantage you get extra features that help you track your Fantasy Fishing team. These Players Advantage features are nice, but my computer is under powered for this content and that means accessing the bonus Players Advantage features is slow. However now that I have a DSL connection the live stream comes in pretty good.
Come on Tharp, Morgan, Dudley, Rose, Walker, Fritts, Canterbury, and Ehrler!!! I am wishing right now that I would have picked Tharp or Canterbury for the win.
Come on Tharp, Morgan, Dudley, Rose, Walker, Fritts, Canterbury, and Ehrler!!! I am wishing right now that I would have picked Tharp or Canterbury for the win.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
FLW Fantasy Fishing Day 1...
... Don't Mean JACK SQUAT!!!
This is a Bass Pundit Fantasy Bass Fishing mantra. This motto is a bit more germaine for BASS/ESPN FBF than it is for FLW. FLW only gives an angler 2 days to get into the Top 10 where all the Fantasy points are. If a guy really bombs on Day 1 in FLW it is a steep climb to get into those key top 10 places, where with the Elite Series the path from Day 1 zero to Day Final hero is much easier if an angler really heats up. That said, it is true in FLW Fantasy Fishing that it is the Day 2 standings that determine how good or bad your Fantasy team does.
So how did the Posse do on Jack Squat Day.
The Minnesocold BP boys
1 David Walker
2 David Fritts
4 Brent Ehrler
6 David Dudley
9 Scott Canterbury
13 Andy Morgan
21 Randall Tharp
35 George Cocheran
92 Mark Rose
111 Larry Nixon
My line up has 6 guys that sacked at least 20lbs and Tharp who had 19+. If this was Day 2 I would be in awesome shape with the 5 anglers in the Top 10. If I have 5 anglers in the Top 10 after tomorrows weigh in than I will be a happy camper.
My Dad's team has Ehrler(4) Dowling(8) Morgan(13) and Tharp(21) then he drops to anglers 53rd or lower who at this point will need huge bags tommorrow to move up into the top 10.
Keeping fingers and toes crossed.
This is a Bass Pundit Fantasy Bass Fishing mantra. This motto is a bit more germaine for BASS/ESPN FBF than it is for FLW. FLW only gives an angler 2 days to get into the Top 10 where all the Fantasy points are. If a guy really bombs on Day 1 in FLW it is a steep climb to get into those key top 10 places, where with the Elite Series the path from Day 1 zero to Day Final hero is much easier if an angler really heats up. That said, it is true in FLW Fantasy Fishing that it is the Day 2 standings that determine how good or bad your Fantasy team does.
So how did the Posse do on Jack Squat Day.
The Minnesocold BP boys
1 David Walker
2 David Fritts
4 Brent Ehrler
6 David Dudley
9 Scott Canterbury
13 Andy Morgan
21 Randall Tharp
35 George Cocheran
92 Mark Rose
111 Larry Nixon
My line up has 6 guys that sacked at least 20lbs and Tharp who had 19+. If this was Day 2 I would be in awesome shape with the 5 anglers in the Top 10. If I have 5 anglers in the Top 10 after tomorrows weigh in than I will be a happy camper.
My Dad's team has Ehrler(4) Dowling(8) Morgan(13) and Tharp(21) then he drops to anglers 53rd or lower who at this point will need huge bags tommorrow to move up into the top 10.
Keeping fingers and toes crossed.
This Just Ain't Right Either
The Vagabond Donco #40 at Tackle Warehouse for $48.99.
How in the world can a topwater popper be 50 bucks? I don't care about the "craftmanship" it's 50 BUCKS!!! They don't even mention how much the thing weighs.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
NAFC- North American Fishermans Club
Today I got some junk mail from the North American Fishing Club. I was a member of NAFC for several years 5 or more years ago. I was happy with the club when I was a member and I decided to sign up again. I Googled the club so I could find their website and was surprised to see there were several results from people basically claiming the NAFC is a scam. I was a bit surprised to see people making this claim. The NAFC has been around for more than a decade, has a magazine, publishing company, and TV Show. Steve Pennaz the NAFC Executive Director has spoken at one of my Fishers of Men fishing club meetings and I have even seen him while fishing one time.
The North American Fishing Club is not a scam. However, they are very aggressive marketers who are definitely out to take as much money as they can. The downside of being a member is that they will solicit you to buy books, upgrade your membership on a regular basis, and with offers for various club "special offers." I am signing up for the magazine, the members only message boards and contests, and the field testers program. When I was a member I think I got to field test a couple of inexpensive items and I no longer remember exactly what they were. Some members get lucky and get to field test and keep some really nice stuff.
The BassHoles Internet message board has a Forum for the NAFC. Back when I was an NAFC member I was a frequent contributor on the NAFC members message board and really enjoyed that. You have to be a club member to post but anybody can read the message board.
Monday, February 09, 2009
$100,000 on the Line
It has sunk in but I am not sure it ever really should. This week is the 1st FLW Fantasy Fishing $100,000 give away of the 2009 Fantasy Bass Fishing season. The Roster Deadline is 11:59PM on Wed. I have been loitering over my roster for this one ever since I registered back in December. I have elected not to put pre-tournament favorite Greg Pugh on my roster. I thought my original research turned up with him not performing well at Gunterville, but I have taken a second look and actually his Guntersville resume is pretty good; However, I can't find any record of him fishing tournaments there in Feb.. Only 1 of my picks is a gamble and that is the guy I am picking to win; Mark Rose does not have a particularly good record at Guntersville and is not exactly a very consistantly good pro but when he fishes well he can finish quite high. I wouldn't recommed selecting Rose, but I am putting him on my team. Pugh is a much more sane pick.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Patience and Confidence
I think a lot of what an angler is patient about is what they are confident in.
Captain Robert McFarlane
Captain Robert McFarlane
This is an excellent quote that I read in an article about the fishing couple the McFarlane's. I can't say that I have ever heard anyone say this nugget of wisdom before. It really does not make a whole lot of sense for a person to be patient fishing something that they lack confidence in though some people certainly will do it. There are probably times when you will be fishing and you won't have any confidence in anything. Usually this is when you have been at it for a few hours and nothing that you try is working. Sometimes the fish do give you reason to not have confidence. I think in this respect I am luckier than many because the bass fishing in Minnesota is so good. Because we have such healthy populations of bass up here in the North country you still have a pretty good chance of coming across fish even if you are totally fishing the wrong ways. This is not to say that I never get skunked in a day of fishing but thankfully that is a rare event for me where I live. I know in other area's of the country the potential for a skunk is far higher. I have sympathy for those who live where getting bites are hard to come by.
As a general rule I think it is a good idea when things get tough for anglers to fall back on things that they have the highest confidence in even if that security blanket isn't the textbook solution to the problems presented by the scenario on the water that you are faced with. I think when you go with what you are confident in you can have a little more satisfaction when things don't work out that at least you took your best shot at it.
Hellabass in the flesh
Tonight Rich Lindgren of Rich Lindgren's Bassin' Blog and his various other online Bass Fishing Empire websites was tonight's speaker at my Fishers of Men Fishing Club meeting. Rich did an excellent seminar on tungsten and Tru-Tungsten products. He had a video projection unit so he had a Power Point presentation in addition to just speaking and it really added to the presentation. It was great to meet Rich in person. Thanks for speaking to our club!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
FYI FBF
In the BASS/ESPN Elite Series Fantasy Bass Fishing I am playing the Futurebass.com league/group.
Also I have decided to fully retire the Posse, so it will just be the Minnesocold BPboys representing the BP family.
Also I have decided to fully retire the Posse, so it will just be the Minnesocold BPboys representing the BP family.
Breaking ESPN Fantasy Bass Fishing News
Registration is now open and they have changed the layout of the game from years past. Selecting a team is definitely more time consuming and tricky to navigate than in years past. They have changed the anglers point system to monitary values and you get $100 to work with rather than the 60pts of years past, so for your five man roster you need an average of $20 per angler or less.
So far it looks to me like the $100 team limit loosens up angler picks a bit more than in years past. KVD is worth $25 and the lowest anglers are worth $12. 16 anglers are worth more than $20.
Upon first glance it looks like they got rid of Limit, Lunker, and Big Bag Bonus Points. It looks like the Fantasy points will strictly be place of standing in a tournament according to the Elite Series Angler of the Year point system. This is kind of a bummer I thought the bonus points were a good feature. I think going by AOY poins means there is a 5 point bonus for the angler in 1st Place each day of the tournament.
It looks like they got rid of Super 6 Pick 'em and "Tiebreakers" (Good Riddence)
The prizes are a step up from the last several years. Still for the Classic there are just 9 places, in the tour tournaments the prizes go down to 8 places, and the end of the year prizes go down 10 places, so basically winning a prize in this game will take an extremely good roster, even great rosters will not be good enough.
So far it looks to me like the $100 team limit loosens up angler picks a bit more than in years past. KVD is worth $25 and the lowest anglers are worth $12. 16 anglers are worth more than $20.
Upon first glance it looks like they got rid of Limit, Lunker, and Big Bag Bonus Points. It looks like the Fantasy points will strictly be place of standing in a tournament according to the Elite Series Angler of the Year point system. This is kind of a bummer I thought the bonus points were a good feature. I think going by AOY poins means there is a 5 point bonus for the angler in 1st Place each day of the tournament.
It looks like they got rid of Super 6 Pick 'em and "Tiebreakers" (Good Riddence)
The prizes are a step up from the last several years. Still for the Classic there are just 9 places, in the tour tournaments the prizes go down to 8 places, and the end of the year prizes go down 10 places, so basically winning a prize in this game will take an extremely good roster, even great rosters will not be good enough.
Fantasy Bass Fishing News
Elite Series Fantasy Bass Fishing registration now open...
Today is the day that ESPN/BASS is supposed to open up registration for their Fantasy Bass Fishing Games. It will be interesting to see if they will do anything about increasing the prize values in response to the gorilla that is FLW Fantasy Fishing. At a minimum I hope they drop the Super 6 Pick em' game and use that as one avenue to increase the prize pool for Fantasy Bass Fishing. I am guessing they are going to keep the scoring system from last year and not go back to the old system that really emphasized the top 3 places.
Update 8AM: The game is not open for registration yet. However it does look like they might have gotten rid of Super 6 Pick 'em. I couldn't find any way to navigate to last years Super 6 Pick 'em game.
Update: 1PM still not open for 2009 Registration.
While we are waiting here is a round up of Minnesocold BassNblogs and what they have been up too
Art Simms Bass Fishing- He has a new article about fishing the Mr. Twister Comida (senko)
Hellabass has been doing some winter largemouth fishing in Minnesocold (Yes open water)
At his Fishing Tackle Blog Hellabass is pimping his FLW Fantsy Fishing League
Josh Douglas has been doing some river smallie fishing
John Haynes of Bass Fishing the Midwest has also been doing some river smallie fishing
Sport Smith has been ice fishing
Carl Spande of Team BassAckwards has been doing some new things on his blog
AJ Rods and Tackle blog has a bunch of new content
Minnesota Bass Fishing has an excellent post about Early Spring Cleaning
Cyberfish won another Ultimate Panfish League Ice Fishing Tournament, of coarse the details are at MT Bucket
GEM had an ice fishing outing on Jan. 19th
Obviously a lot of Minnesocold blogging has been going on. On the Blogger blogspot blogs look for the "Follower" gadget on the sidebar and sign up. I think you have to have a Blogger account to do this. Some of my other blogs do have the Follower Gadget but because this blog is old school there is no way to easily put one on. You can still be a "Follower" of Bass Pundit by going to your Blogger Dashboard and manually adding Bass Pundit to your following list. It is easy to do and I already have 3 Bass Pundit followers even without the sidebar gadget.
Today is the day that ESPN/BASS is supposed to open up registration for their Fantasy Bass Fishing Games. It will be interesting to see if they will do anything about increasing the prize values in response to the gorilla that is FLW Fantasy Fishing. At a minimum I hope they drop the Super 6 Pick em' game and use that as one avenue to increase the prize pool for Fantasy Bass Fishing. I am guessing they are going to keep the scoring system from last year and not go back to the old system that really emphasized the top 3 places.
Update 8AM: The game is not open for registration yet. However it does look like they might have gotten rid of Super 6 Pick 'em. I couldn't find any way to navigate to last years Super 6 Pick 'em game.
Update: 1PM still not open for 2009 Registration.
While we are waiting here is a round up of Minnesocold BassNblogs and what they have been up too
Art Simms Bass Fishing- He has a new article about fishing the Mr. Twister Comida (senko)
Hellabass has been doing some winter largemouth fishing in Minnesocold (Yes open water)
At his Fishing Tackle Blog Hellabass is pimping his FLW Fantsy Fishing League
Josh Douglas has been doing some river smallie fishing
John Haynes of Bass Fishing the Midwest has also been doing some river smallie fishing
Sport Smith has been ice fishing
Carl Spande of Team BassAckwards has been doing some new things on his blog
AJ Rods and Tackle blog has a bunch of new content
Minnesota Bass Fishing has an excellent post about Early Spring Cleaning
Cyberfish won another Ultimate Panfish League Ice Fishing Tournament, of coarse the details are at MT Bucket
GEM had an ice fishing outing on Jan. 19th
Obviously a lot of Minnesocold blogging has been going on. On the Blogger blogspot blogs look for the "Follower" gadget on the sidebar and sign up. I think you have to have a Blogger account to do this. Some of my other blogs do have the Follower Gadget but because this blog is old school there is no way to easily put one on. You can still be a "Follower" of Bass Pundit by going to your Blogger Dashboard and manually adding Bass Pundit to your following list. It is easy to do and I already have 3 Bass Pundit followers even without the sidebar gadget.
Monday, February 02, 2009
How commen are 5lb Bass? is an interesting article by Brian Waldman at the blog Big Indiana Bass. Check out the article and the blog, it looks like it has many interesting articles.
Update: I highly recommend spending some time at Big Indiana Bass. This blog has fantastic content.
Update: I highly recommend spending some time at Big Indiana Bass. This blog has fantastic content.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Super Bowl Blogging
Summary:WOW!!! That was a humdinger. After Arizona scored the go ahead touchdown I said that they deserved to win the game, but after the historic Steeler drive I think both teams deserved to win this one. I just wish Warner would have been able to get away a Hail Mary pass to see if Fitzgerald could come down with it. Larry Fitzgerald is a beast!
I thought the refing was poor with a number of personal fouls that just should not have been called. I thought the Holding Call that gave Arizona a saftey was also pretty lousy as well; It was questionable whether it really was a hold or not and there is no way the D Lineman was going to be able to go through or over the O lineman to get at Roethlisburger.
It is bitter sweet to see yet another Vikings Assistant Coach win the big one. The Vikings have had many teams that were good enough to win a Super Bowl, but we have never had a head coach that was good enough. I firmly believe that head coaches make champions.
I thought the commercials this year were pretty good but nothing was especially memorable. I didn't have the 3rd glasses so I missed out on that. I thought the half time show started out kind of slow, but liked it by the end even though I am not much of a Springsteen fan.
First Half:
I think the Stealers got jipped. There most certainly was not definitive proof to overrule the call on the field of a touchdown. Had it been called the other way on the field I think that the call should have stood because there wasn't a perfect look.
I thought the refing was poor with a number of personal fouls that just should not have been called. I thought the Holding Call that gave Arizona a saftey was also pretty lousy as well; It was questionable whether it really was a hold or not and there is no way the D Lineman was going to be able to go through or over the O lineman to get at Roethlisburger.
It is bitter sweet to see yet another Vikings Assistant Coach win the big one. The Vikings have had many teams that were good enough to win a Super Bowl, but we have never had a head coach that was good enough. I firmly believe that head coaches make champions.
I thought the commercials this year were pretty good but nothing was especially memorable. I didn't have the 3rd glasses so I missed out on that. I thought the half time show started out kind of slow, but liked it by the end even though I am not much of a Springsteen fan.
First Half:
I think the Stealers got jipped. There most certainly was not definitive proof to overrule the call on the field of a touchdown. Had it been called the other way on the field I think that the call should have stood because there wasn't a perfect look.
Puppy Bowl V Update
This is Matilda who was the Puppy MVP of Puppy Bowl V. Matilda scored 3 touchdowns in short order and was always in the middle of the action. The Puppy Bowl V had a dog streaker which was pretty funny. The yellow lab Griffey pictured in my first Puppy Bowl V post was kicked out of the game for playing too rough. Both times when the Ref lifted Griffey up, he had a look that said, "Man what did I do."
Puppy Bowl V
Yes, once again it's time for the Little Game that goes on the day of the "Big Game." Puppy Bowl V on Animal Planet. This year a Parrot is going to sing the National Anthem. I saw my first Puppy Bowl two years ago and just loved it. The bad part about it is, I tended to miss out on Super Bowl commercials because I was wanting to watch the Puppy Bowl action.
History of the Puppy Bowl...
As for the Super Bowl. Once again I will be rooting for my Mom's team the Steelers. I think it will take a miracle for Arizona to win, but then again the Giants pulled off a miracle last year.
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