Fantasy Football: The Robo Draft

Yesterday was the automated robo draft in my fantasy football league. I guess I should be thankful it was a robo draft because I would be pretty clueless after the 1st couple of rounds had we done it the old fashion way. Here are my selections by Round:

1st: QB Drew Brees Saints- I pretty much consider myself a very lucky fellow because I got Drew with the 8th pick. I considered him to be the #2 QB behind Brady and there were 5 picks in front of me that I would not have wanted over Drew.

2nd: Steelers Defence- Ladanian Tomlinson was available in this slot and I'm disappointed I didn't get him. Randy Moss was also available but his inconsistancy has to be a worry. There were 2 other Defences picked in this round after me, so I'm hoping that a Defence this early in the draft wasn't a bad thing.

3rd: RB Ryan Grant Packers- I am not sure this guy is all that good. I know he was a rookie sensation but wasn't all that good last year. Have no clue what kind of offensive line the packers have.

4th: RB Kevin Smith Lions- Have no clue who this guy is. Apparently he is the Lions #1 running back.

5th: K Stephen Gostkowski Patriots- 1st Kicker selected in the draft. Not sure this is a good thing especially because I didn't have a wide receiver yet.

6th: WR Hines Ward Steelers- May very well have been the best wide reciever still avaiable or maybe he is getting old.

7th: WR Anthony Gonzalas Colts- Taking over Marvin Harrisons spot. Has a big upside.

8th: WR Steve Breaston Cardinals- Don't know who the guy is but I needed a 3rd receiver. He caught 77 passes and was over 1000 yards last year in his 2nd season, so this could be a solid pick.

9th: TE Owen Daniels Texans- I needed a Tight End to fill out my team, don't know much about him but he is supposed to be pretty good.

10th: QB Big Ben Steelers- Will be a good fill in when Breeze has his Bye week.

11th: RB Felix Jones Cowboys- I think he is the 2nd string RB in Dallas, so I don't know where that leaves him. He didn't play much last year as a rookie.

12th: WR Derrick Mason Ravens- May be the Ravens #1 receiver so he may get used.

13th: RB Cadillac Williams Bucs- This one may be a steal. If he is healthy he could possibly be the #1 back in Tampa. Saw him in pre-season game and he looked good.

14th: TE Bo Scaife Titans- expendible, but I will need a TE when Daniels has the bye.

Hmmm

I'll get to that Leech Lake Tournament Report eventually. Pete has been here all week and that tournament kind of took the wind out of my sails physically and motivationaly.

I'm going to be in a fantasy football league this year. At this point my heart really isn't in it as I am just doing it to be a warm body in my brother Steve's league. I am just a casual football fan and nothing close to an expert so I kind of expect mediocre results.

7 to 1

7 to 1 was my strike to land ratio on a Zoom Horny Toad at today's Leech Lake tournament. I ended up coming in 1 fish short of a limit and that just killed me because those Horny Toad fish were probably big.

Full report in a couple of days when I get the final standings.

Also I forgot my camera in the car, so I didn't get any pictures.

Leech Lake Bass Snatcher Club Tournament Tomorrow

We are taking to Minnesota's 3rd biggest lakes at 113,000acres. The forecast is for the wind to be light and out of the SE, which is the best direction you can have. I really hope the forecast is right because getting bounced around on a long run stinks and everybody in the club will have to make a long run on big water because of where we are blasting off and weighing in.

Leech has a great reputation as a walleye, muskie, and bass fishery but only certain area's of the lake hold bass, most of the lake doesn't. The bass tend to have a good average size with some true lunkers. The record 6 fish bag for the Bass Snatchers club (22lbs 9ozs) came on Leech in July of 2006. My boater Bill was the one who caught that bag.

The scuttlebutt is that the bass mostly in wild rice, reeds, or undercut bog banks. Wild rice and reeds requires heavy gear and muscling fish. My partner says it will be a lot like fishing Platte Lake, which suits me just fine. Hopefully the fish will be jumping on topwater slop frogs, otherwise you have to flip and pitch for them. My big rods are ready to rock. I also have a couple of swim jig rods rigged up.

Hopefully I can nab a few big fish, get a limit, and nab a Top 10. It may take as much as 14lbs to get a Top 10.

Bonus- Once again it is going to be a mild day temperature wise and for that I am grateful.

Moss Moons Packers (Video)

As long as I am in full Packer hater mode this week with the Farve signing. I looked up to see if there was a You Tube video and there is:

Joe Buck is a weenie.

Visitor

We have been dog sitting for a skinny black lab named Lucy the past few days. Lucy is a really good dog for the most part. She is a young dog, not sure how old, maybe around a year. She isn't super rambunctious or needy although she did whine and talk a lot the first day she was here. The cat and Lucy don't really get along, but Lucy seems to be scared of the cat and isn't agressive towards him. Our dogs Patti (Black Lab Mix) and Lilah (Chihuahua mix) are not thrilled about another dog being around, but they are very mellow in their dislike of the situation. Lucy leaves today.

Cheesehead Legend Pretty In Purple: Farve A Minnesota Viking

Ha Ha Ha Packer Crackers!!! At least for today the Vikings Nation has something up on Cheeseheadland.

My Analysis: Obviously everything depends upon how healthy Farve is and if he will stay healthy. Farve was on his game two years ago with the Pack and did improve the Jets from being a poor team to an OK team. If Farve is even 90% he should be an upgrade from Gus Frerotte of last years reasonably successful season. I haven't looked at the schedule yet, but I have heard it is the 2nd easiest in the league on paper according to last years standings. Certainly things change from year to year, but an easy schedule can't hurt. However, I would assume that because the Vikes share so many games with division opponents that the Pack and Bears also should be in a good position. If the defence can be as good or better than last year and Farve is and stays healthy then a division title and shot in the NFC Championship Game are reasonable expectations. I am definitely more enthusiastic about this year than last.

And for the record I was never a Farve hater. In fact I rooted for the Pack throughout the playoffs the year Farve won the Super Bowl (Temporary Insanity). I was at times frustrated by Farve's four leaf clover but at times Farve had his struggles against the Vikes too.

Update: Just noticed I am spelling Farve's name phonetically, but differnt from how he spells it. Favre, I used to mock the FavREE or FavRAY.

Holmer Retakes Derby Lead!!!

That's right we have a new leader

Jason Holmer of Minnesota Bass Fishing blog caught this 5.25lber on Tonka

5.25lbs
4.70lbs
4.80lbs Smallie
4.70lbs Smallie
4.70lbs

Total= 24.15lbs

Check out the action at my Derby Blog

Bass Pundit Visits in Decline

Apparently August and September are months when less people are interested in bass fishing than they are at other times of the year. Last year September saw less hits on Bass Pundit than any other month in 2008. Right now my average of visits per day has dropped sharply from the last few months. Still I am on pace to double the number of visits I had in August of last year.

To those who are still coming around, thanks for stopping. I still have 2 more tournaments to report about and I will probably start fishing more in Sept. if I do something about my boat motor situation.

Elite Series Oneida Day Final

OK I'm a little late with this, so what. The big news is that rookie Chad Griffin holds on for the win. Congratulations to him. Between the choice of Rookie of the Year or winning and Elite Series Tournament, I think you would have to go with winning the tournament.

Here is the Top 12 that will compete in the Angler of the Year Playoff.
1. Kevin VanDam: 205
2. Skeet Reese: 204
3. Alton Jones: 198
4. Kelly Jordon: 182
5. Todd Faircloth: 180
6. Randy Howell: 180
7. Tommy Biffle: 180
8. Mark Menendez: 180
9. Gary Klein: 179
10. Cliff Pace: 177
11. Mike Iaconelli: 175
12. Gerald Swindle: 174

I wasn't sure after Ike's choke at Oneida that he was going to make it. I thought he would but knew it would be close.

Minnesocold Bass Blogger News

Brian "Fishing Hype" Brown and Rich's "Bassin Blog" Lindgren have just completed fishing the BASS Federation Nation Northern Divisional tournament at Big Bay De Noc in Michigan. Brian finished 26th and Rich finished 39th. I assume they will both have blogs up about the experience in the near future.

The reining Minnesota Federation Nation Champion Randy Wieczorek came in 2nd and will be Minnesota's representative at the Federation Nation National Championship. Apparently Randy is a actually a cheesehead who belongs to the River Rats which is a MN Federation Nation club.

There were not any Bass Snatchers in this years State Team. I expect that to change for the 2010 team with the State Championship being on Pokegama this year.

Elite Series Oneida Day 3

The Griffin looks like he is going to win. BassFan reported that this will be only his second bass tournament victory ever. I wonder if that is excluding club/small field tournaments? Surely he has won some of those.

I have not yet heard if the Top 12 for the Elite Series AOY Post-Season has been finalized. Had it been the normal AOY race than I believe Skeet Reese would have slightly edged out KVD. 2009 has been a banner year for Skeet. I should check his voice blogs more often(Apparently he hasn't really been keeping up until now.).

Elite Series Oneida Day 2

Chad who?

Chad Griffin, a rookie, took the lead today. I can't recall EVER seeing his name before.

Here is the Top 12
1 Chad Griffin 5 15- 3 5 18- 8 10 33-11
2 Bernie Schultz 5 15- 7 5 16-12 10 32- 3
3 Jason Quinn 5 15- 7 5 16- 5 10 31-12
4 Randy Howell 5 17- 9 5 13- 8 10 31- 1
5 Greg Hackney 5 13- 7 5 17- 4 10 30-11
6 Dean Rojas 5 14- 8 5 15-15 10 30- 7
7 Takahiro Omori 5 16-11 5 13- 4 10 29-15
8 Pete Ponds 5 15- 9 5 14- 3 10 29-12
9 Matthew Sphar 5 12- 1 5 17- 9 10 29-10
10 Terry Butcher 5 15- 6 5 14- 1 10 29- 7
11 Jeff Kriet 5 13-12 5 15- 9 10 29- 5
12 John Crews 5 14- 0 5 15- 2 10 29- 2

Huge surprise is that Ike didn't make the 50 cut.

Another thing I noticed was that all 98 anglers got a limit both days. Lowen and Lane had their fish DQed and that's why they have 0's on Day 1.

I have now looked it up and my Fantasy Team is:
KVD 33rd
Skeet 17th
Herren 76th
Fralick 74th
Hackney 5th

Mediocrity reins again.

Elite Series Lake Oneida Day 1 (Yesterday)

So this is the last stop of 2009 for the top levels of Professional Bass Tournament Fishing. Who's on my fantasy team anyway?

I know I've got KVD, Skeet, and Herren, but I don't recall my other two.

Anyway Randy Howell who is having a good year was tops on Day 1 with 17-9.

Bobby Lane and Bill Lowen both made the mistake of boxing 6 fish then throwing the extra fish back when they realised the mistake which resulted in a DQ for the day for both of them. It's unclear whether or not if they would have brought 6 back to the weigh in if a DQ would have resulted. Under BASS rules when a fisherman brings back to many the biggest fish gets culled until you reach the tournament limit of 5 and then those fish are weighed. However, the NY limit is 5 bass, so having 6 in possession might put them over the limit if the Marshal doesn't have a fishing licence. I would think a Marshal with a fishing licence would make it a case where the boat could legally hold 10 bass.

Anyway, it's a mistake that should never happen. If you only carry enough culling tags for your limit and then always immediately tag fish that are going in the live well, there is no way to get your numbers in the livewell wrong because to cull you have to take a fish off a tag to put a new fish in the well. Simple/Easy.

Bass Snatcher Pelican Lake August 8th, 2009

The Weather: Morning light fog with a 5 to 8 MPH breeze, fog lifted around 10:30AM but it was a heavy overcast until about 1PM when the skies cleared and the wind died.

Pelican is an 8,000 acre lake just a bit North of Brainerd MN and it has clear water. We launched out of a small bay on the SW corner of the lake. I was in the first boat out but we were making a long run North in one of the slowest boats in the tournament, so my boater Dennis was worried about possibly not being 1st to where he wanted to start. We had a total of 12 boats and 23 guys fishing. As it turns out his worries were unfounded. We started by what I think is a big sunken island where a sand flat met a breakline with some weeds. Dennis had found a good school here during prefish and was quite confident in the spot. It didn't take long and I got a bite on my smoke tube but the bass was not a keeper at just over 11 inches. I think Dennis then caught a rock bass and things slowed down, Dennis was kind of miffed the fish were not cooperating but he eventually did bring the first keeper into the boat.

I decided conditions were conducive to a topwater bite so I put on a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. After about 5 minutes the popper was smashed by 21 inch pike. After fishing for about 10 minutes with nothing I tried a white Spook, but that hauled water and Dennis decided it was time to move to a new spot. We moved to a depression in a flat that had weeds in it. I started throwing a bullfrog Frenzy Popper thinking I might need a little brighter bait in the heavy overcast. I had a fish miss the popper but it came back for a second try and hooked up; It was a 14.5" bass, so I was on the board. A little while later I had a fish miss the Popper 3 or 4 times before it finally hooked up and I landed the 15.5 incher. I think Dennis caught a couple on a Texas rigged tube, so I went back to throwing the smoke tube and I caught 12.25" squeaker. Dennis had a nice bass follow a blue/black tube to the boat which got me thinking that maybe the fish would be willing to chase something swimming so I put on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig, however I didn't get anything on it at this spot.

Eventually Dennis decided to move and we went to a weed bed on the North side of an island where the wind was blowing in pretty good. I thought it was perfect conditions for the Pure Poison and I was right. I nailed a 15" on my second or third cast. A few casts later and I was reeling in 18.25 that just engulfed the Pure Poison. Dennis was not quite pleased that I pulled a big fish off one of his big fish spots, so he was giving me crap. A few minutes later I was hooked up with my limit fish which was a quality 15.25" largemouth. We worked back over the area a second time and I had a couple of bumps that didn't hook up and I think Dennis missed a bite too.

Next we were off to another one of Dennis' big fish spots but a pontoon was sitting right on it. The next two spots Dennis wanted to hit were covered up by Bass Snatcher boats and we ended up fishing a little ways from 3 Bass Snatcher Boats. I think Dennis got a fish on the next couple of stops while I caught nothing.

Eventually we ended up at our starting spot and I started chucking a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I believe Dennis filled his limit and started culling which gave me confidence fish were in the area, so I kept throwing the Popper. On one of the retrieves about 20 feet out from the boat I had a strike and was able to land the barely hooked fish that went a little over 15 inches, which got rid of my squeaker. At this point I was pretty pleased that I would be weighing a pretty good bag of fish. Things kind of got slow for me for a while.

Around 1PM the sun came out and it got calm. We quickly tried the area by the Island again before the pleasure boaters would start to show up, but we didn't get anything. Next it was back to one of the weedy depressions.

I got a fish that didn't help then I got another hit that didn't hook up so I threw right back to the same area. I got another hit and it was a good fish that just inhaled the smoke tube; this fish went 17.25 inches. A little while later I had another good hit from a bigger fish but it got off before I was able to see what it was, I think it might have been a pike. About 2 minutes later I had another hit on the tube and brought in a chunky 17.00 inch bass. Dennis thought I was probably 1 more quality fish away from winning. I did get a couple more fish that didn't help and it turns out Dennis was right on the needing 1 more good fish.

My 6 fish went 14 even which ended up putting me in 4th, just 3 ozs out of 3rd place. 1st Place was 15lbs 7ozs and 2nd was 15lbs 6ozs and they came from the same boat; They spent a lot of time in one of those depressions on water Dennis wanted to fish. My partner Dennis was not so unhappy about getting "back seated" when he found out his 12/11 put him right behind me in 5th place.

Analysis:I owe my success in this one to my boater Dennis who was on good fish and made good decisions about where we should be fishing and when. Dennis also kept me entertained all day with his curmudgeonish trash talk. It is possible that I had the bites to win with that one good fish getting off but I'll never know because I never did get a look at the one that got away.

I am now tied for 11th Place in the club standings (32 fisherman club) but I am 9th over all in terms of weight of fish caught for the season which I think is maybe a better barometer about how you actually fished for the season.

Bass Snatchers Pelican Lake Tournament Quick Report

I had a pretty good day on the water thanks to my boater Dennis who was on good fish. I ended up 3 ozs out of 3rd Place. Unfortunately a picture of me holding my two biggest bass didn't turn out. I will have details/a full report in a couple of days.

Bass Snatchers Pelican Tournament Preview

Tomorrow is my Bass Snatchers Bass Club tournament at Pelican Lake near Breezy Point MN. Pelican is a fairly large lake at 8,253 acres. I did not pre-fish and I have never been on the lake before but I understand it has very clear water with secchi readings in excess of 12 feet even in August. My boater Dennis is one of the best fishermen in the club. He has won Mr. Bass, Club AOY, 4 times including last year and in 2006. I fished with Dennis at last years final tournament of the year on Mission Lakes. Dennis won a club tournment on Pelican in late August 2004. If possible Dennis likes to fish deep and Pelican has lots of deep structure. Dennis did pre-fish and he thinks he has a couple of good schools of fish located.

I have 7 rods rigged and going with me. My primary plan is to throw the same exposed hook tube I used at the last tournament on Lake Ida. Apparently the weeds are not very dense so an exposed hook should work out OK. If not I can go to jignpigs (3 rods) or texas rig a tube or Beaver on the tube rod. I also have a rod for topwaters/chatter jigs, a spining rod for jigworms/paddletails, and a drop shot rod.

I hope that I can keep up with what Dennis catches and put myself in the Top 10 on the day. (Note: Dennis beat me by 5lbs at Mission)

2009 Forrest Wood Cup

Will a relative no-name non tour pro pull it off? Going into Day 4 the no-names are stacked up 1 2 3, so there is a pretty good chance it could happen. Personally I am rooting for Lefebre, but it will probably take an almost 9 pound bag for him to come from behind and take it.

Update: And the winner is Greg Hackney!!!

This means they are only giving out $500,000 rather than the million.

Also of note is that Ike finished 2nd, just as he did in the Classic this year.

Sidebar Addition: Click It!

I have added this widget to my sidebar below the Petfinder widget.

The widget takes you to a website where when you click on a button once per day, food is donated to animals in rescue shelters. It is totally free and worth a second of your time. Hopefully with the widget on my blog I will remember to click it every day.

Again: Miss with Pete and Greg.

Thursday July 31st

As discussed we were able to get out on the Mississippi again with Greg Jones of Mid-West Outdoors TV & Magazine. Originally we were going to meet him at 6PM but that got kicked back to after 7PM. On this night we would launch by Royalton which is a pretty good distance up river from where we launched on Monday. I ended up recognizing this stretch of the river from fishing it last year.

We started out drifting right from the launch on the East side of the river and I was throwing my white/chart Spinnerbait. It didn't take long and Gregg was hooked up on a Smithwick Devils Horse topwater. Greg got another fish and so I switched up to a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper. The popper didn't produce any fish and Greg got another couple on the Devil's Horse, so when we ended our drift and headed up river I asked Greg if he had a Rapala Skitter Prop and he did in kind of a lime green color and he put a feathered Mustad Triple Grip on the back.

We ran up a little ways close to where we started on last year. It was not long into the next drift when I had a good strike on the Skitter Prop. I was hooked up until the fish jumped and sent the lure flying back right at us and into the boat just missing me and Pete. A little farther down river I had a hit and miss, hit and miss, hit and miss, but the 4th time was the charm and I landed this nice smallie.


On one cast the Skitter Prop was just annihilated by this smallmouth, it was awesome:


As we were rolling down river Pete and Greg got into an argument about where Pete should be making his casts. Greg made a suggestion and Pete was having none of it. While they were sniping at one another Pete landed an 18 inch smallie which was the big one of the night. Pete also caught a 22+ inch pike that he insisted go in the livewell over my and Greg's protests.

The fishing wasn't fast but we were getting bit and the average size was a quality fish around 15.5 inches. As it got dark I put on a bullfrog Frenzy Popper and we got in a hot stretch of water and I pulled my last to fish of the night. It was dark enough that I really couldn't see the bite, I would just hear and feel it.

For the night I had 7 to 9 fish caught total which isn't bad for about an hour and a half of fishing.