Best of Bass Pundit 2010: December

I did all the other months, so why not this one?

December 6th: ? What Was Your Best Fishing Moment of 2010 1st retrospective post this month.

December 11th: To Boyd Duckett (and Kevin Short): I Disagree I am quite proud of what I wrote in this post.

December 12th: Metrodome Roof Collapses This year the Vikings quite possibly have had the craziest year of a professional sports franchise ever.

Last but not least my posts on the Best of Bass Pundit 2010
Previous:
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April
Best Of Bass Pundit 2010: May
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: June July
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: August
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: September
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: October November

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: October November

Once again to be done on time, I'm doubling up.

The Best of October:
October 2nd: Serpent Lake Tournament snags me 6th Place in AOY.

Platte Lake Oct 6th: A Good Night That Could Have Been Great. This was a memorable topwater choke on my part.


Platte Lake Oct 7th: Prime Time 2nd Biggest Largie of the year.

October 9th: Bass Snatcher Win!!! The 2010 Challenge Cup@ Sylvan Lake

October 12th: Karen Savik Gets A Raw Deal!!! My thoughts on what has come to be called "Cullgate."

October 19th: My Thoughts on Hooks for Buzz Toads/Frogs A rare Bass Pundit nuts and bolts of bass fishing post.

October 27th: Do you "Like" Tami Curtis? I hype Tami Curtis' Facebook Fan Page and challenge her in a race to 100 fans. I beat her to 100 because I had a huge lead. She proceeds to quickly blow the doors off my Bass Pundit Blog Facebook Fan Page Fan count.

The Best of November:

November 1st: Randy Moss Released By Vikings Day I officially got on the "Fire Chilly!!!" Bandwagon. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf doesn't heed Bass Pundit's recommendation and Vikings season goes down the drain.

November 13th: B.A.S.S. Was My Idea!!! The new owners of BASS take my advice and put the periods back in B.A.S.S. and I take full credit.

November 16th: Minnesota Bass Fishing Wins Derby!!! It's a Bass Pundit Minnesocold Blogger Derby repeat by Jason Holmer.

November 20th: Bass Pundit 6 Year Blogirthday!!!/Blogiversery

Previous:
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April
Best Of Bass Pundit 2010: May
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: June July
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: August
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: September

2011 Bass Pro Shops Catalog Day

Today was the day the 2011 Bass Pro Shops Master Catalog 2011 arrived at my door.

I can still remember the wonder I had in receiving my first Bass Pro Shops Catalog back in the early 80's. On one of the fishing shows I watched there was a 1-800 number given to order the catalog and after seeing the add many times I finally called. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time and it took me a while but I finally called and when the catalog arrived boy was I glad I did. Back in those days tackle stores, at least in MN, were much smaller than they are now. The Bass Pro Shops Catalog had hundred's of fishing items I'd never seen before. It was all so wonderful, the gateway drug to my tackle addiction.

Another thing I also love about Bass Pro Shops Catalogs is their historical value as through the years each catalog documents the evolution, and fads and fashions that take place with bass fishing tackle. From time to time I look through my collection of catalogs past to go back and remember the way things were.

Thank You Bass Pro Shops!!!

Happy Birthday Al Lindner!!!

A good word from Al:


One cool thing about Facebook is that I am Facebook Friends with THE MAN, none other than Al Lindner himself. It's pretty cool in that both Al and Ron frequent Facebook to keep in touch with their legions of fans. They post frequently to the Lindners Angling Edge Facebook Fan Page, but also through their own individual Facebook accounts.

Growing up Al Lindner was my fishing hero. I was an avid watcher of In-Fisherman TV shows and Al was my favorite host. I devoured In-Fisherman magazine and I read their book on Largemouth Bass dozens of times. I can still remember learning about slip bobber fishing at a seminar done by Al at the Minneapolis Sportsman Show back around 1982 or so. Back in the 90's when I used to call into the KFAN radio show "The Common Man Dan Cole" my official moniker was "Al Lindner Guy." Back before I got the nickname of Basspastor, I used Al Lindner Guy as my online fishing message board name as well.

On June 15th of 2009 I dropped into Gander Mountain in Brainerd to get a few things and I was lucky enough to meet my hero face to face for the first time. I blogged about the encounter in a blog post entitled: Brush with Greatness. Who knows, maybe one of these days I will run into him on the water. I know of a couple of people who have had that happen.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Al and I wish you many more!!!

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: September

September 10th: Rich Lindgren DQ'ed @ MN Federation Nation Tournment of Champions lost out on 2nd Place AKA "Tweetgate"

September 12th: Congratulations Nate!!! It's official, my fellow Baxter Bass Snatcher Nate Steinbauer wins the MN State Federation Nation Tournament of Champions.


September 14th: Tweetgate make Facts of Fishing FYI


September 17th: Berkley Frenzy Popper sells on Ebay for 36.88 before shipping.


September 20th: I hit Panic Button after Vikings Loss to Miami in 2nd game of season. I wrote: Hate to say it, but this could turn into a lost season, fast.
Panic was justified, ship was sinking FAST!!!


September 21st: Herb's Dilly Day This would mark the start of my Fall big bass topwater bite.

(FallEE WallEE the Fall Outing Tournament Trophy)

September 25th: I win FallEE WallEE at Fishers of Men Fishing Club Fall Outing.


September 29th: Finally a 5er And A Nice Pike To Boot. I catch my biggest largie and pike of the year

Previous:
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April
Best Of Bass Pundit 2010: May
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: June July
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: August

Joe Cool

Rookie Vikings QB Joe Webb has led the Vikings to an improbable Tuesday Night football victory in Philadelphia over the Eagles 24-14.

SKOAL VIKINGS!!!

The Vikings Defence played probably it's best game of the year, scoring what I believe was it's 1st defensive touchdown of the year. The offence only had one insignificant turnover, when AP had the ball kicked out of his arms as he was falling to the ground. Joe Webb made a fantastic play scoring a touchdown after scrambling around. Personally I thought the Vikes got ripped off yet again when the refs overturned a touchdown pass. The replay showed the ball moved, but it was completely under Sidney Rices control the whole time just like that touchdown of Shincoe's that was reversed vs. the Packers. Fortunately it wouldn't matter.

I believe this game should put Leslie Frazier over the hump in terms of getting the Vikings head coaching position for next season. Are you listening this time Zygi? BP knows what is best for the team!!!

And speaking of off season moves, I think the Vikes should only attempt to re-sign T-Jack if the price is low. I think Tavaris is OK as a back up, not a #1. His loss wouldn't be a big one. I think Joe Webb is more athletic than Tavaris, thus has more upside.

Article About Peak Bass Fishing Performance

Analyzing their ‘A’ game
A closer look at what makes the best ‘the best’ by By Rob Newell

I found this article extremely interesting. It talks in detail about Bryan Thrift, Andy Montgomery, Mark Rose, and Brent Ehrler. Newell really gets into fine detail on why he thinks these anglers excel when they do. Of the different approaches taken by these anglers I am closest to Ehrler in terms of philosophy and approach. Obviously Ehrler is several levels more skilled and versatile than I will ever need to be. It's nice to know that I'm not just some odd duck who approaches bass fishing in a utterly moronic fashion. If Ehrler gets away with it, then there is hope for me.

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: August

August 3rd: BASS Tentatively Sold

August 10th: My Suggestions To The New Owners Of BASS

August 19th: My Thoughts On Six Idea's This my point by point response to an Op-Ed at BassFan.com entitled "Upon the Cliff".



August 27th: Jerry McKinnis soon to be owner of BASS starts blog


August 28th: Baxter Bass Snatchers Washburn Lake Tournament August 28th My best bass tournament finish of the year, 4th Place.

Previous:
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April
Best Of Bass Pundit 2010: May
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: June July

BP Holiday Facebook Fan Drive Day 7

I went through my Facebook account and confirmed a bunch of friend requests from fellow fisherman that have been adding up for the past few months. Then I went through all my friends to send them an invitation to become a fan at the Bass Pundit Facebook Page. I was amazed at just how many of my fishing Facebook friends are not fans of the Bass Pundit Facebook Page; It was over 100 easy. It will be interesting to see just how many choose to "Like" the BP page. It would be really nice if I could get up to 150 125 fans by New Years Day. (Had to downgrade expectations, maybe Christmas week isn't the best time for a fan drive.)

If you are reading this and not a fan of my blogs Facebook page, you can do so by hitting the "Like" Button on the upper right hand corner of my blogs sidebar.

Vikings Season of Insanity Continues

Just turned to NBC to learn Vikings game is postponed until Tuesday. I wonder if a NFL team has ever had two games postponed in one season.

Just one more unbelieveable turn in the Saga that is the Minnesota Vikings Season 2010.

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: June July

Due to another blogging project that I started, which won't be finished and released until next year. I didn't get around to doing a "Best of" on Christmas like I planned, so this one covers June and July to keep me on schedule to be finished with the review before New Years Day 2011.

June 2010 Highlights:
June 5th Whitefish Tournament Report Got of to an OK start to my Baxter Bass Snatcher Bass Club Tournament season. A bit of bad luck kept me from doing much better. What happened? Go read.

June 18-19th: GOMH BAM!!!, GOMH Quick 10, & 10 More Bullheads The Grumpy Old Man Hole got hot for some shore fishing action.


June 23rd: Eddy's Launch with Dad Not our most productive launch, but it was good memories none the less.

July 2010 Highlights:

July 21st: Rabbit Lake Pre-fish

July 23rd: Mike Hart Cheating Scandal- My Thoughts The Mike Hart cheating put my blog traffic into the stratosphere for a couple of days and this most certainly is my most read blog post ever.

July 24th: B.B.S. Rabbit Lake Tournament July 24th Once again a little tough luck on a missed fish, cost me big.

July 31st: Annual Mississipi Trip w/Pete & Greg Jones of Mid-West Outdoors

Previous:
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April
Best Of Bass Pundit 2010: May

Merry Christmas From BP

Mercer Brings the Christmas Cheer

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: May

Well in May I'm not showing the Bass Pundit archives from the 1-21st. So for then it is to the Bass Pundit Fishing Log Blog. The Log Blog is showing 34 fishing report posts for the month.

Wait! I have decided to look back at my Bass Pundit posts for May with the "Edit Posts" pages which is a feature available for Blogger administrators.

May 5th: Hilarious "Baron Von Crappie" aka Cyberfish strikes a pose.

May 6th: In The Water, On The Water The years inaugural trip with my boat The Trophy and my new 25hp motor. Also the day the Rock Dock was finally out.

May 9th: Minnesota Closed Bass Season, More Thoughts A little ride on my favorite Spring hobby horse.

May 14th: A Fond MN Fishing Opener Memory My story of the 1985 MN Fishing Opener.

May 15&16 MN Fishing Opener Posts: No Wind, No Good!!!
Not Skunked Tonight!
No Wind, No Problem!!! No Skunk!!!
Nice Night on the Lake
The Opener Closer "I caught an edible golden sock" Maybe the best Bass Pundit line of 2010.

May 19th: Eddy's Launch with Dad and Don W. Fishing with Dad may not be a highlight for you, but it is for me.

May 23rd: Catch My Personal Best Smallmouth

May 24th: Eddy's Launch with Dad & Pete/ Don's Dock Evening This Eddy's Launch trip was a real highlight of 2010.

May 29-31 Minnesota Bass Opener: 2010 Bass Opener Part 1
Bass Fishing Day 2
Smallmouth Bass Mille Lac-TION Don't remember what possessed me to go to Mille Lacs, but I'm glad it did.
Holmer Throws Down Jason Holmer of Minnesota Bass Fishing blog breaks his own Bass Pundit Derby Big Bass record with this 7lb3oz TOAD!
Bass Openers Last Stand

Previous: Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February
Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: March April

A look back at what I consider my blogging highlights this year. Because I didn't think of doing this until yesterday. I am having to double up months for the first 2 parts of 10 posts.

Hmmm it seems that the 1st 8 days of March are missing from my archives presumably because I reached the max size limit allowed and because this blog doesn't have the code for "Older Posts" to be viewed when you click on it. Humbug!!!

March 13th: When Will I See The Driveway? (#7) The final post of my series chronicling the snow disappearing from my driveway. Exciting stuff to be sure.

March 17th: Tackle Warehouse Opener Not the company Tackle Warehouse, but my personal Tackle Warehouse.

March 30th: Shocking Development...The Ice is Out on Platte Lake and first Grumpy Old Man sighting at the GOMH.

March 31st: Wide Open 1st Open Water fish of the year a 17" largie from Rock Lake.

Hmmm it isn't showing any archive posts from April 1-9. Hopefully when I upgrade my blog that stuff will come back out of limbo. Until then to the Fishing Log Blog.

April 1st: By a Whisker 1st Grumpy Old Man Hole bullhead of the year (a toothy bullhead).

April 2nd: Bullheads 1st Jumpin Bullheads of 2010 at the GOMH.

After an Easter heart scare in the hospital and trip to the cities for an angiogram

April 9th: Silver Bullhead Appearance- Mark It

April 12th: A Major Award A blog about the major booty I won in a Strike King Facebook contest. The red Strike King had would appear in lots of blog pictures this year.

April 19th: That's A Lot of Accidents!!! My musings about the implications of so many bass being caught out of season in MN.

April 23rd: Major Announcement BP stands for Bowfin President as I assumed the duties of President of the Minnesota Bowfin Club(MBC)

Previous: Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February

Fisherbabe's Question

Near the end of an interesting and fairly long blog post reflecting on the holiday's and the past year Fisherbabe@ From the Fisherbabe asks her readers to ask themselves and then "give yourself a truly honest answer" to this question:

"What do I want from this life?"


For some reason the question really hit home and has made me think. I am thinking about writing a post about my answer at Bass Pundit Preach, which is a blog more geared to touching on philosophical and spiritual matters.

I have several things I want to get to today, before I can get into that though.

Update: Still plan on writing this but will hold off on publishing until early 2011.

MN B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Facebook Fan Page

The Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation just started a Facebook Fan Page. Go check it out and click "Like" to become a fan.

Best of Bass Pundit 2010: January February

Since we are closing in on the end of the year and I need something to blog about, I figured I would go back into the archives for a look back at Bass Pundit's best posts of the year. Today I will cover January and February.

Jan 2nd: I started off the year with My Top 10 Baits of the 2000's

Jan 6th Essay: Does Bass Fishing Cost too Much?

Jan 14th: Discovery of Tami Curtis...What's Up Bass Fishing Blog (now Tami Curtis Pro Bass Angler), TBrinksFishing.com blog, and Kramer Gone Fishing blog. Three excellent blogs!!! Tami, Tyler, and I have become bass fishing blogging buds.

Jan 19th: Brett Favre Pants on the Ground video after Vikings destroy Cowboys in Playoffs.

Jan 28th Essay: State of the Union: Bass Fishing


Jan 30th: Fear of the Frenzy Popper This is one of my favorite posts of the year. I correctly predict the escalation of Frenzy Popper prices on Ebay.

Feb 11th Essay: FLW Tour Red River- Was Canceling the Right Decision?

Feb 21st Essay: Kevin Van Dam 2010 Bassmaster Classic Champion- Analysis

Feb 28th Essay: Bassmaster Classic: The Dream That Never Was

BP Holiday Facebook Fan Drive

Today I went through my Facebook account and confirmed a bunch of friend requests from fellow fisherman that have been adding up for the past few months. Then I went through all my friends to send them an invitation to become a fan at the Bass Pundit Facebook Page. I was amazed at just how many of my fishing Facebook friends are not fans of the Bass Pundit Facebook Page; It was over 100 easy. It will be interesting to see just how many choose to "Like" the BP page. It would be really nice if I could get up to 150 fans by New Years Day.

If you are reading this and not a fan of my blogs Facebook page, you can do so by hitting the "Like" Button on the upper right hand corner of my blogs sidebar.

Ebayt Monkey Goes Banana's for Topwater

I basically bid on this lot of lures for the Spro Frogs and the Jackall Dagored which is the jointed minnow with the propeller. I am not sure what kind of popper that is, maybe when I get it I will be able to figure it out.

I think I will probably be donating some of these lures to GEM. If you have any extra lures that you don't use and would be willing to give to a good cause, Great Expectations Ministries (GEM) is a great organization that gets kids on the water.

Update: Arrived in the mail 12/22. The seller included a bonus bag of 3" Powerbait Hollow Belly Split Tails, which look like they would be a good dropshot bait or maybe put on a jig for GOMH bullheads. Have no clue what kind of popper I got and I'm not impressed with it's shallow spitting cup. I got a good deal on the stuff, so I'm happy.

Teach A Man To Fish...

'Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime'

It's the giving season and as perfect a time as any to remember that there are many people in the world less fortunate than your average recreational sport fishermen. One fantastic organization fostering development among the world's poor is World Vision. One World Vision initiative is to get "Fishing Kits" into the hands of the needy so they can work to provide for themselves. The donation for this program is $40 per kit. I would assume the kit is tailored to needs of a particular project or recipient.



Hat Tip: to T Brinks Fishing blog

FYI- I donated for a kit and they take Paypal.

Lefebre Family Blog

"ON TOUR" with Dave & Anne looks to be a blogging project of FLW Pro Dave Lefebre and his family. My guess is that it will be something along the lines of the blog Chapman Fishing-Camping Fun! which is done by Elite Series Pro Brent Chapman and his wife Bobbi. If so the blog won't be about fishing, but life on the road as a touring bass fishing Pro's family.

Here is the blogs description:
Join the Lefebre family as they travel the country following the FLW Tournament Trail. Hear personal stories from the road and on location in this joint diary of their lives "On Tour", presented by Chevrolet.

Hopefully it will be an interesting blog to follow.

National Lampoon's Griswold's Go Bass Fishing

Blogger Victoria Taber's bass fishin' man has got himself a new tow vehicle.

If I had a Rocket Laucher...

...Some son of a bass would die!

W2F Blog: The Rocket Launcher

Is a Rocket Launcher fished with the Rocket Bobber?

Free Bass Lures

Free Bass Lures is a website with a unique take on advertising.

It looks to me like it is worth intermittently checking this site whenever online.

Their latest winner is bass fishing blogger Chris McDonald of Thoughts of a Christian Bass Fisherman.

MN Girl to be new FLW TV Host

Schara joins Harper as host of ‘FLW Outdoors’

Five Bass blog broke the story on Wed. with the post: Bass Fishing on TV Just Got a Whole Lot Better The radio interview that Five Bass links to is long but get hilarious at the end when Laura plays their little game.

Update: Apparently BassFan.com gave Five Bass props for breaking the story. Congratulations Five Bass.

Here's a video about "MN Gurls" (ala Katy Perry parody)

B.A.S.S. Facebook Contest

At the official B.A.S.S. Facebook Page they are having a contest where the prize is getting some lures from B.A.S.S. owner Jerry McKinnis.

The trick is to correctly answer the question:On which lure did Rick Clunn win his first Bassmaster Classic?
It's multiple choice.

Tip: If you don't know the answer Google Rick Clunn and then each of the answers until you get the right one.

If you win and I sent you there, I expect a kickback.

This One is About BASS AOY, pretty good.

Redneck Green Energy Solution

Figure out a way to factory farm and raise the electric eel (or one the other strongly electric fish) . I think Obama might give Bubba a few hundred mil to test the idea.

10 Days Until Christmas

Tackle It is an online tackle retailer that I recommend everyone check out this holiday season. They have free shipping on orders over $50 and for the holiday's are also giving a 15% discount on orders over $50. It looks to me like Tackle It has things that you maybe won't find at too many other places. One of their specialties is Maverick Baits with whom they will do soft plastic bulk orders and custom colors.

Tackle It and Maverick sponsor Bass Fishing Blogger Tami Curtis

Someday

Someday @ Pete Weighs In Blog go read the rest.

Bass Parade!

Duckett: No Info, No Problem If you haven't, go read it.

Vikings Loss to Giants Rehash

That game was not the embarrassment this season's home loss to Green Bay was, but still it wasn't good. I think this game clearly showcased just how poor the Vikings offensive line is at this point. If you don't know, two starters are out including our best lineman Steve Hutchinson. Peterson couldn't rush the ball and Jackson was pressured all night. Of coarse, the Giants have a good defence and that makes our line's weaknesses more glaring than they might otherwise be.

Without Percy Harvin the Vikings receiving corps is below average and Sidney Rice was less than his remarkable self and was unable to catch the ball on a couple of key occasions where you kind of expect him to make the highlight reel play.

T Jack was less than impressive, but the offensive line is a huge part of that.

The defence giving up big plays on the ground is a disappointing surprise. If the Vikes had a shut down run defencive game it would have been a contest vs. the rout it turned out to be. I have little doubt that the defence plays much better if that game is held in our dome.

Penalties! Man that was ugly. A couple of the calls were also brutal. That "helmet to helmet" that wasn't that led directly to the Giants touchdown before half and I also thought the block in the back call that wiped out the touchdown was highly questionable.

Positive- Lorenzo Booker. I wonder if he can learn to catch punts too. He was very impressive as a return man.

Bass Pundit Blog Reading Tip

Find something that catches your interest on Bass Pundit? If so, at the bottom of the post there are these thing called "Labels" which are hyperlinks to other Bass Pundit posts that deal with the same subject. On this post my "Labels" are Bass blogging, Blogging, Blogger.

The post below this one has the Label Vikings, where when clicked will bring up all the posts I've ever done about the MN Vikings football team.

Using labels will enhance your Bass Pundit blog reading experience because I have so many posts on so many different things. Unfortunately I didn't put labels in for my first several years of blogging. One of my projects this winter is to get labels put with old posts.

Update: WOW Blizzard Collapses Metrodome

Looks like the Vikings are going to lose dome field advantage for the rest of the season.

I'm just glad no one got hurt.

Wow!!! Blizzard Postpones Vikings Game!

Vikings game with Giants is moved to Monday night

Up here we only got 3 to 4 inches of snow. It's really something when a football game played indoors gets postponed due to snow.

Great Bass Fishing Winter Wasters

Too cold to get on the water, but need a bass fishing fix. I recommend seeking counseling on one of these Bass Fishing message boards.

The Bassholes.com one of the more comprehensive sites with the friendliest people.


Futurebass.com Forums This forum centers around Midwest Tournament Fishing, but it does catch some general bass topics as well.

Tackle Tour Forums is the best site on the Internet to learn about bass fishing tackle.


KVD.com Forums- Yes KVD has a bass fishing forum at his website and it's a good one.

To Boyd Duckett (and Kevin Short): I Disagree

On his two blogs (Boyd's Blog, Boyd's Biz Boyd Ducket writes a blog post entitled: "To Kevin Short: I agree" or at Boyd's Biz: "Dear Kevin Short — I agree with you"

Boyd is responding to Kevin Short's essay found on the blog Bass Parade entitled Short Challenges Duckett, All Elites

Boyd writes:
...But let me address another thing that Kevin said, because he made a great point. He said he would be happy if we, the pro anglers, could receive no information at any time about the bodies of water we’re going to fish. No help from locals, in other words.

I agree with that 100 percent.

I think a “no help rule” would be outstanding — a great thing for our sport.


I think Boyd and Kevin Short are 100% wrong about this. One of the greatest things about the sport of fishing, any kind of fishing, is that the sport is heavily built upon personal relationships. Ray Scott had it right in the beginning when he recognized that bass fishing could and should be a fraternity. Getting help from others when it comes to fishing is a feature, not a bug. It's a feature precisely because it builds relationships and community and isn't that what we claim is important? I believe a "no help rule ever" sends the wrong message to bass anglers everywhere. The flip side of you can't get help, is that it is wrong to give help. There is already too much of that kind of attitude when it comes to bass tournament anglers as it is now.

I've seen it on Facebook where Professional anglers due to "no info rules" have basically had to tell someone to shut up and keep it to themselves when offered a simple helpful suggestion. Shutting out others especially with the technology we have at our fingertips now is the wrong way to go, period.

I add more thoughts at Futurebass.com Forums...

Awesome Evolution of Al Lindner!!!

Dave Mercer blogs some thoughts...

In the Mail: Berkley Frenzy Poppers

When these came up for auction on Ebay, I couldn't help myself and put in a bid. Much to my surprise my bid held, but just barely. What I really wanted was the rainbow trout one as that I don't have that one in my collection yet. Now that I have two clown's and two shad, I will put one of each in my tackle box.

Hmmm

I don't know if this is pathetic or brilliant...

For the record, Cappy is getting nothing from BP. I do have some stuff I need to give to GEM. If you are looking to get rid of some tackle and are thinking of giving it away. GEM will get it in the hands of kids who fish.

B.A.S.S. News: Flush!

BassFan Dock Talk has reported that BASS Insider is circling the drain and will soon be gone. As some Bass Pundit readers might recall I decided to get the free 30 day trial of BASS Insider last year so I could get the extra's they had for the Bassmaster Classic. I made the mistake of paying for a years subscription once the trial was over. I don't go to the ESPN/BASS website very much and so I don't use that BASS Insider subscription I got. The truth of the matter is I didn't think there was a whole lot of value within the Insider content. I liked to read the blogging done by KVD and Ike, but really it's ridiculous that it was for pay content. Beyond that blogging, I can't even recall anything I used that Insider for once the extra video stuff they did at the Classic was finished.

I am sure former bass fishing blogger Angie Thompson will do a good job as Director of Digital Content Development. I assume that means she is going to be in charge of the B.A.S.S. website and for expanding the B.A.S.S. presence on social network media. I am her friend on Facebook and she is a devoted user who updates frequently. I am not even sure if B.A.S.S. stuff posts on my newsfeed.

Fishing News: The Walleye Federation

I wonder if this is an idea that has been tried before that didn't work very well? Now that I think about it, it is kind of odd that the walleye guys didn't band together and copy B.A.S.S. with it's Federation of grassroots anglers. There are powerful grassroots organizations for Muskies (Muskies Inc.) Trout (Trout Unlimited), Ducks (Ducks Unlimited) and Pheasants (Pheasants Forever) but nothing equivalent for walleye's.

Well now there is The Walleye Federation which looks to be an initiative of FLW Outdoors with Cabela's and Ranger Boats as it's main corporate sponors. On their initial press release they say:
The Walleye Federation, (TWF) a new organization based on the TBF’s grassroots model successfully used for 40 years.
I don't know about other area's of the country but here in MN FLW's Minnesota Federation of Bass Anglers (MFBA) is struggling and is far overshadowed by the B.A.S.S. affiliated MN B.A.S.S. Federation Nation.

It will be interesting to see if this takes off or flops like WalleyeFan.com. (Remember that?)

Research Into Bass Fishing Related Google Searches

Manitou Pontoon Boats in conjunction with Netvantage Marketing did a research study on 100 of the top bass fishing related terms on Google.

Their results are given in an article titled:Fishing for Bass Fishing Keywords on Google at the Manitou Boats website

It has been the experience here at Bass Pundit that blog traffic is at it's weakest from September through November. Although this year my lowest traffic months according to Sitemeter have been November (lowest), April, and June.

Excellent New MN Bass Fishing Blog

Five Bass appears to be the latest bass fishing blog to spring up here in "Minnesocold: The BassNblog Capital of the World!!!". The blog is written by Tom Harkman who is a tournament bass fisherman who was the 2010 Sunrise Bassmasters Club Angler of the Year. Tom blogs a recap of his tournament season here. Five Bass looks good and is well written, go visit and subscribe to it's feed.

What Was Your Best Fishing Moment of 2010?

This was the question asked on Facebook yesterday, by the guys at Wired2Fish.

For me three things come to mind.

May 23rd I caught this 20.25" smallie off of Eddy's Jetty. It is my personal best smallmouth bass.

On May 24th Dad, Pete, and I went on a morning launch trip with Eddy's Resort. We were the only 3 customers that day so we got to go drift fishing with live bait rigs; Normally a launch trip means bobber fishing. Between Dad and I we caught 5 walleye's missing several bites as well. Pete got skunked and our Captain caught a walleye and a big rock.

Another great memory from 2010 was my great pre-fish day on Rabbit Lake with Bass Snatcher Guy Henkensiefken. I was just telling Guy about a topwater pattern I knew about from an In-Fisherman video when this 19.25" fat boy annihilated my Berkley Frenzy Popper. The fishing for me was great that day and Guy was a pleasure to share a boat with.

Vikings Game Ball- Sidney Rice

Sure AP had 3 touchdowns and T-Jack filled in for #4 and we scored the most points we have all season. But to my mind the biggest factor of that goes to Sidney Rice with his two amazing touchdown grabs. The first touchdown took a near certain interception and turned it into 7 points and the second touchdown was yet another remarkable display of receiving ability.

It's not difficult to say, this season would probably look different had Sidney been healthy for us all year instead of missing 10 games. I know a lot of other teams such as the Packers have gotten pub for the fact they have had a lot of injuries but I haven't heard anyone nationally talk about what a huge loss missing Sidney has been. This game showed just how big a deal it was losing Sidney.

I Concur

Gift Ideas for the Avid Angler
Note: You actually have to read past the beginning to get to the good stuff.

Ha!

Growing The Sport over at Big Indiana Bass I thought this was good for a laugh.

I actually haven't heard much in the bass fishing world about "growing the sport" in the last couple of years where we have witnessed a great deal of contraction.

Another Minnesocold Bass Fishing Blog

Actually since I had to Google it, I discovered the old Fishwrench site, that I had taken off the blogroll is still around.

Fishwrench also started a Blogger blog last summer which has a grand total of 1 post.

Also a couple of other Bass Fishing Blogs found via Outdoor Bloggers Network

World Record Trophy Bass Fishing This is a blog about true giants.

Duane Bethke's Bass Blog This is a blog out of Michigan that was just started in November. I'm guessing Duane is either a guide or semi-pro tournament fisherman.

New B.A.S.S. Outsources Tournament Emcee Job

Crazy Canadian Dave Mercer is replacing "Elvis" as Emcee for B.A.S.S. Elite Series Tournaments and the Bassmaster Classic.

I like Mercer and wish him well. Dave has a blog, but he doesn't use it much. He is more into Twitter and Facebook and of coarse Youtube with Facts of Fishing FYI.

B.A.S.S. story here.