Why Not!

I couldn't find any fishing ghosts or pumpkins.

Not Gonna Do It (Maybe)

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm stupid, maybe I'm lazy.

I was given the chance to do an interview with Bass Legend Denny Brauer and CEO of Ardent Reels Mike Brooks for the blog, but I just don't feel like doing it, so I am not going to take advantage of the opportunity.

Basically they wanted to do some promotion for the Ardent F700 Denny Brauer Flip-N-Pitch Reel

It sells at Tackle Warehouse for $200

I guess this reel is an upgrade from the original F500 Flip-N-Pitch about which I heard some mixed reviews. The reel is definitely a unique concept. I don't do a whole lot of flipping and pitching so it isn't really a reel I would ever consider purchasing for myself.

I am sure that doing the interviews would have contributed something to the blog, but what that is I'm not quite sure.

I am hoping that the same offer will be extended and accepted by bloggers Rich Lindgren and BassfishingDem because I'd like to see what they would do.

Update:After thinking about it some more I emailed the contact to see if I changed my mind down the road if the offer would still stand. He seem to indicate that this would be the case. Maybe it will happen after all. I just need to think about it some more.

Bait Monkey Attack

It started out innocently enough. I was at Gander Mountain browsing around not planning to buy anything but on the look out for clearance deals when the bait monkey struck. On the shelf for $100 was a Shimano Crucial CRC-X68M which is a X-Fast 6'8" Medium Action rod. $100 is 33% off the regular price. Oh man, visions of Berkley Frenzy Popper magic went off in my head and I just had to have it.

One thing does have me a little perplexed. It is called a Medium rod but the lure weight specs are 3/8 to 3/4oz which is the same as the lure weight specs for my Crucial CRC-X610MH which is their 6' 10" Medium Heavy rod. The rod specs diverge on the line lb test range with the CRC-X68M recommend range being 8-17 lbs and the CRC-X610MH's being 10-20 lbs. The CRC-X70M is their 7' medium rod and has a line rating of 8-17lbs, same as the CRC-X68M, but it's lure rating is 1/4-1/2oz.

Upon further review of the Crucial Casting Series line there are a number of inconsistencies in the way the rod actions, lure specs, and line specs come out.

Why all the concern about specs? Berkley Frenzy Poppers are 5/16oz which puts them well under the 3/8oz range.

I guess I will just have to do some product testing when I get a chance.

Maybe Mille Lacs Walleye today???

Actually the forecast for today isn't looking that good.

Fall Walleye on Mille Lacs???

There is a pretty good chance I will be trolling the big pond with Pete this evening. Reports for this year have indicated the fishing has been on the slow side and the fish size has tended to be small with many of the fish being keepers.

Hellabass reports the bass are in a funk...

While Ikeslayer seems to be catching a few...

Update: Pete thinks it's too windy and who am I to disagree. No walleye lunch tomorrow.

Vikings Lose to Steelers

Well the luck O the Purple had to run out sometime and today was the day. The Vikings played the Steelers well enough to win in my opinion, but they had a couple of unlucky breaks that put the game out of reach.

The first bad break of coarse was the touchdown that was called off on a bogus tripping penalty. Without that call the Vikes take a 4th quarter lead, something that would not happen. Instead of the TD, 2 plays later the Steelers get a fumble for a touchdown.

However the Vikes strike back immediately with the Harvin return for a TD. Still we are down by those 3 points instead of up by 4.

The D does it's job getting the ball back and the offence drives down the field. The highlight of the drive is when AP just runs over a guy after catching a pass and this puts the Vikes well into fieldgoal range. Then the second unlucky break happens when Chester Taylor fails to catch a screen pass and the ball defects to a Steeler defender who takes it to the house. 10 Point lead Game Over.

It was good to see the D play as well as they did and the offence come alive in the 2nd half. Today just wasn't our day.

A few casts...

I threw a few casts in Platte at Jenny's. Yesterday I had a pike swirl at the brown Snagproof Frog a couple of times, but I quickly decided I didn't want a pike messing up or stealing the frog. Today I saw the signs of a fish but it apparently just spooked. Also tried Bulldog today with nothing. Saw signs of fish further out in the weeds.

Update

I am not going fishing tonight. Just not that into walleyes as of right now.

Glad to see the Angels beat the Yankees. They deserved to win the game after that terrible ball call that should have been strike three.

Brutal on Platte/Sullivan for the Range Bassmasters

Last Saturday the Range Bassmasters Bass Club had their last club tournament of the year on Platte and Sullivan. I would have gone to the weigh in, but I was taking the dock out with Dad. I did see 3 of their tournament boats including In-Fisherman's Steve Quinn. The results are now online and they had a tough go of it.

They had 14 people fishing and 7 of them came in skunked. The winning bag was 3 fish for 7lbs even. They had 2 two fish bags and 4 one's. The big bass was 3lbs 5ozs. Emmet Smith who I fished with at the Challenge Cup caught 1 that was just over 3lbs. Can't say I would have done any better, those lakes have been known to be cruel to me at times.

How much do I want to fish?

My friend Pete has been talking for the past several weeks about coming up so we could fish Mille Lacs and I thought he might show up tonight, but now it's about midnight, so I don't think he's gonna show. My guess is he saw tomorrows wind forecast and decided it wouldn't work out. Although not particulary good for getting out in a boat where I know to troll in the Fall, that wind forecast could be good for shore fishing off of the Eddy's Jetty tomorrow night. It would be cold and nasty but that can trigger the fish. I am not sure I'm that enthusiastic, but you never know.

Pam Martin-Wells to 2010 Bassmasters Classic

I am glad to see that Mrs. Wells is going to get an opportunity at the big show next year on Lay Lake. I consider her to be the best professional woman's bass fisherman in the world today.

She has a website...
but it doesn't look like it has been updated in a few years.

Good Luck at the Classic Pam.

Despite Vikings Defensive Collapse- A Win

The Vikes may be 6-0 at this point but that record pretty much comes down to some incredible luck, not just once but twice this season. The way the Vikings defence fell apart yesterday was astounding. In the collapse the Ravens did make a few plays on downs that were reasonably well defenced, but there were also some key plays where the Vikings just didn't make tackles that should have been made. The D absolutely must clean things up or else the team will have little chance of being a serious contender.

On the bright side was the offence that put up 33 points against the Ravens D without the help of turnovers or big special teams plays that put the ball deep in Ravens territory. The offence certainly showed they are ready for prime time and a force to be reckoned with that can carry the team when necessary.


The big plays that were not quite big enough:

While the close call collapse is the story of the game, the Ravens were also a little bit lucky not to be completely out of it in the first place. The Vikings had a total of 3 huge plays (63 yards, 58 yards, and 58 yards) of long distances that in 2 out of 3 cases were just a little bit short of going for touchdowns. In all three instances the long plays resulted in field goals. Had Rice scored on the 63 yard pass and Peterson scored on the 58 yard run than I think the game would have been out of reach for the Ravens even with the defensive collapse.

Anyway as a Vikes fan I know I have a lot to be thankful for. Hopefully the injuries to Harvin and Windfield are not that serious.

Vikings For Real???

The lads in Purple are 5-0 but 3 of those wins were against bad teams. Today is the first of 3 consecutive games that will tell us a whole lot about where the 2009 Vikings are headed.

SKOAL Vikings!!!

WBT Championship News

Go to I am a bass fisherman blog for some good info...

I'm just sayin'

It's a good thing I didn't try to liveblog the Twins/Yankees Series.

Recently noticed on BassFan Dock Talk the rumors and news about dropped or decreased sponsorships of the FLW Tour. I can easily foresee the the sport of professional bass fishing taking some significant steps backward if the economy continues on it's decline.

My 2009 Bass Snatcher Review Part 2 (Lessons Learned)

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

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

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

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

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

My 2009 Bass Snatchers Season Review

In 2009 I fished all 6 Baxter Bass Snatcher tournaments.

In the clubs official standings for the year I accumulated 160 points, which with my worst showing deducted came to my official total of 142 points which put in a tie for 12th place out of the 32 guys who fished this year. Last year I had 152 total with an official total 134 points and I came in 15th place.

This year I weighed 32 fish for a total weight of 52.06lbs or 8.68lbs per tournament and 1.63lbs per fish. My big bass of the year was 3.19lbs.

Last year I weighed 36 fish for a total weight of 65.13lbs or 10.85lbs per tournament and 1.81lbs per fish.

Even though I collected more points this year, it is pretty obvious from the other statistics that 2008 was a much better year for me in terms of the fishing. I feel I should have done better at 3 tournments this year (Cedar, South Long, Leech) where as I felt pretty good about all of the tournaments in 2008.

Even with the frustrations and tough tournaments it was a good year and as of right now I plan to fish with the Bass Snatchers again next year.

Purple Favre Cuts Down Packers

Didn't think I would let this go un-noticed did you? Yes it was a beautiful thing watching the wily veteran cut his old team to pieces on Monday Night Football. Hopefully he can go into Lambert on November 1 and do the same thing.

I just noticed that the Vikes play the Lions and Packers twice before we get to the Chicago Bears for the 1st time.

We should go 5-0 playing the Rams next, but then that schedule gets a bit tricky with the Ravens, Steelers, and Pack at Lambert. The Vikes are for real if they can win 2 of these 3 games although I think they can afford it if they only win 1 of the 3.

Should I Twins live blog, why NOT!

It's 4 to 4 in the bottom of the 9th in the Twins vs Tigers one game playoff for the Central Division Championship. My brother Todd, Sister-In-Law Kirsten, and neices Isabelle and Mallory are at the game and boy has it been a good one. Both teams have blown great opportunities to score.

Bottom of the Ninth: Punto walks then is bunted to 2nd. Tigers 3rd basemen makes a play and gets 2nd Out. Mauer will be walked, putting up Gomez??? Yeah that's who you want batting-NOT. He grounds out and the inning is over.

Twins Ace reliever Joe Nathan who was brought in to pitch in the 8th inning after the Tigers already tied the score is now done, won't pitch in the 10th. Jesse Crain to pitch.

Top of 10th:
One Out
Hit batter-Huff
Strike Out
Tigers score on double by Inge
3rd Out

Bottom of 10th:
Cuddy- With a dome lost in the lights lead off triple.
In field Out D. Young
Walk Casilla
TWINS TIE IT up on Tolbert base hit.
Casilla at 3rd
Punto at bat.
Play at the plate, Out #3 but I'm not sure where the 2nd out came from. Ahh Punto flied out to left field and left fielder Raburn nailed Casilla

Top of 11th:
Crain starts inning with Strike Out
Now Gardy in his infinite wisdom is replacing Crain with Mahay
Mayhey gets strike out and now in his infinite wisdom Gardy is replacing Mahay with Keppel.
Line drive Out.

Bottom of 11th:
Twins have top of the order up.
Span out on a good play by outfielder Granderson.
Cabrera struck out
Mauer grounds out to 2nd
Quick 1-2-3 inning.

Top of 12th:
Keppel will pitch
Fly Out to Center Field
Tigers best batter Cabrera up- 3and2 Walk (Keppel was ahead in the count and let it get away)
Tigers get double with Cabrera to 3rd
Intentional walk to load bases
Inge to bat
Inge claims he was hit
2 strikes
ball in the dirt 2-2
foul ball
Ground ball Play at plate: OUT!
Laird at bat 3-1 count
foul ball
STRIKE OUT!!! would have been ball 4.

Bottom of 12th:
Single Gomez
Cuddy at bat
Cuddy moves Gomez to 2nd on grounder to 3rd.
Delmon Young walk
Casilla at bat
Casilla hits ground ball to right field
GOMEZ SCORES TWINS WIN!!! 6-5

Minnesota Twins are American League Central Division Champs 2009

Bass Snatchers Win Challenge Cup 2009

Today was the Challenge Cup which is a longstanding contest between the Baxter Bass Snatcher Bass Club and the Range Bassmasters. By virtue of the fact that other more highly seeded Bass Snatchers didn't want to fish I was allowed to be on this years 6 man team. There were 3 Snatcher boaters with 3 Range non-boaters and vise versa. My boater was Range Bassmaster Emmet Smith.

Going into the tournament the scuttlebutt on Emmet was that he was going to take me into the shallow junk all day and that I should use my allotted 4 hours in the front of the boat to hit weedlines. That isn't how it worked out.

The weather: From the low 40's in the morning to the low 50's in the afternoon. It was cloudy with a couple short rounds of light sprinkles. Wind was out of the North around 10mph.

Emmit started us off on a weedline spot on the West end of the upper lake. In the first hour Emmet managed 2 keeper bass around 2 pounds and a 10lb pike. I had a couple of hits on my black spinnerbait but they didn't hook up. One of those bites felt big. After about 45 minutes with no action we ran to the NE end of Upper Mission to a weedline spot I had fished before. I caught a pike and had my spinnerbait get bumped a couple of more times.

Next we headed to Lower Mission to try some docks, that was a bust, so we tried some reeds and that was a bust so we tried some weedlines and that too was a bust. We headed back to Upper Mission to our starting spot.

We spent a couple of hours flogging our starting spot and Emmit got a 12 incher and a pike, while I had a pike bite off and that was it. Totally perplexed we went right to a spot that I wanted to fish, even though I didn't mention the area to Emmet. We were fishing down a weedline towards Range boater and In-Fisherman Bass Guru Steve Quinn. We watched as Snatcher Bill Ludenia caught a small keeper. They were struggling like we were struggling and word was that the bite was very tough for everybody except Snatcher Chuck Steinbauer. We passed the Quinn boat and I got a bite on my tube, but it was a pike. Shortly after the pike Emmet caught 2 keeper bass on a jigworm off of the used water. We worked the weedline up the side of a point with no action so we decided to head back over the water where Emmit got the last 2 fish.

I was throwing my black spinnerbait and I hooked up, but once again it was a pike. Emmet caught a short, then Emmit got the idea that we should move a bit shallower. He was rewarded with his biggest bass of the day on a spinnerbait in the little reedbed up by shore. We kept working shallow into a slop bay. I thought I might have had a fish on for a second on a Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig when the next thing I knew Emmet was hauling in a 2lb bass. I picked up a Herb's Dilly Buzzbait and finally was rewarded with a bass just a little under 3lbs, at this point there was just an hour and a half left to fish; I was mighty relieved to have the skunk out of the boat with a good fish. We worked from the North side of the slop bay around to the South side of the slop bay where Emmit caught another 2lber on a craw tube pitching into the pads. Emmet had to cull, so I took the front of the boat and worked the rest of the South shore of the slop bay then I headed us quickly back to the North side. On the North side Emmet caught another 3lber on the craw tube and I got a pound and 3 quarter bass on the Herb's Dilly. Those would be our last fish although we would both miss bites in the reeds on our way back to the landing.

I don't and probably won't have the official numbers but I can report that 4 out of the 6 snatchers won in their boats. Chuck Steinbauer won with about 18lbs and Lunker that was right about 5lbs. I think Snatcher Dennis Lothspeich got 2nd and Emmet got 3rd. I think our Snatcher Club won total weight by around 4lbs.

Preview: Challenge Cup- Baxter Bass Snatchers vs. Range Bassmasters

This tournament is for club bragging rights between the Baxter Bass Snatchers and the Range Bassmasters, which is another Brainerd area bass club. This year the event is being held on Upper and Lower Mission Lakes. I will be partnered with a boater from the Range Bassmasters Club named Emmit Smith. I know Emmit has a reputation as a very good bass fisherman and I've been told by guys in my club that he is a shallow water guy that will most likely take me up into the reeds and pads. This tournament poses a dilemma for me in that I normally don't care about getting my half the day in the front of the boat. However, the way this tournament sets up for the sake of the club I have been advised to take command of the ship for the 4 hours alotted me according to the rules.

The only time I have fished on Upper and Lower Mission was at the last Bass Snatcher tournament of the year last October, so all of the spots I know on the lake are those of a guy in our club; he has given me the go ahead and use them up tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be cool/cold with rain possible and a 10mph wind out of the N NW. I have no clue what the cold snap this week will have done with the fish, especially shallow fish. If I can hold my own in shallow I may just do that all day, but if things are not going well I will definitely take it to the weedlines. Hopefully fishing will be good and I will bring in a better bag than several of the Range guys. I figure as long as I can beat a few of the Range fishermen that I will have done my job.