2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #5

Well March comes to an end today and as I write this post, it is currently snowing outside. Weather.com says "no significant snow accumulations" so that's nice, tomorrows edition of WWISMD will tell the tale.

Spring Note- Today I saw my first robin of the spring. It was a round fat one right outside the bathroom window. I got to witness first hand why it was a little chub; As I watched it the bird caught two different worms to eat. I was impressed.

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March 24th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #1
March 28th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway #2
March 29th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway #3
March 30th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway #4

A Year Ago Today....

I got my first open water fish of 2010. My post that day was entitled Wide Open!!!

2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #4

The drive way is now about where it was before we had the snow storm last week, but not on the driveway it seems like there is double or more snow currently on the ground. We got to 40 today and tomorrow it is suppose to hit 45, which is now the average temp, with showers in the evening.

Note- Today I witnessed two sandhill cranes flying around in circles at a pretty high altitude before they eventually flew off to the SE. I could tell they were sandhill's by their call. I wouldn't have had any clue they were up there had they not been squawking, they were way up there and hard to see.

March 24th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #1
March 28th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway #2
March 29th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway #3

A Year Ago Today....

Shocking Development My how things change from year to year. At this point I think we will be in good shape if Platte Lake is open by April 20th. (Note- that is 5 days later than my previous hope date) Hopefully I'll catch a fish this year before ice is totally off the lakes.

I think I can also say it's official: I will not have done any ice fishing this Winter.

OBN Prompting- Why I Started and Still Blog and Un-Frame Worthy Photo

The Outdoor Blogger Network (OBN) is a blog dedicated to networking, encouraging, and enhancing the sphere of the blogosphere that is inhabited by outdoor enthusiast bloggers. One of the things they do is "prompt" us bloggers to write or photo blog about certain things. I'm knocking out the last two prompts with this post. I'll start with the most recent which is a writing prompt.

Why do you blog about your Outdoor Experiences? What got you started with that first blog entry? Are the reasons you started blogging the same now as when you started? Has blogging changed anything for you? And so on…

I started Bass Pundit blog on November 20th of 2004 and in my very first post I wrote: This Blog will be a true fishing weblog with Pics of the BP's fishing exploits, successes and misses starting in 2005, along with being used for other miscellaneous purposes such as Commissioning a Fantasy Bass Fishing League, ripping or praising products, and commentary on bass fishing issues, personalities, and news.

I basically started this blog to enhance my experience with my bass fishing and fishing hobby. I had a heart attack in 2003 that left me disabled and I had a lot of time on my hands and this was something productive that I could do that I thought might be fun and interesting. Although at times in the past 6 years my enthusiasm for blogging has wavered I kept at it and in the past few years blogging has become a much more important part of my life. I blog because I enjoy doing it and I do find it fun and interesting. Through blogging I have met some pretty cool people and learned a great deal. I have certainly enhanced my overall bass fishing experience.

The second earlier OBN Prompt was a Photo Prompt: post the photo that most likely will never find itself in a photo frame in your house.

So here it is, a genuine Tiger Bullhead I took the picture so Tami Curtis would know what a tiger bullhead looked like.

First Grumpy Old Man Sighting of the Year

Today I went to the Grumpy Old Man Hole to take a look at things. The Grumpy Old Man sighting wasn't at the GOMH. I first drove over to the Platte Lake public access to look and see if I could see some ice fishermen. Sure enough Grumpy Old Man Willard was there looking out onto the ice in his minivan. I didn't talk to him. On my way back I stopped to look at the GOMH and it was about 50% more frozen than on March 21st. The water level was up a few inches from March 21st.

2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #3

I'll this one the pet cameo edition. Can you spot the cat?

(Click to Enlarge)

March 24th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #1
March 28th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway #2

What Is A Bait Button?

This is a "Bait Button Dispenser", they sell them at Tackle Warehouse for $7.99. I have no clue what a Bait Button is, well I had no clue there for a second until I scrolled down and clicked on Bait Button Refill Bag.

If I understand it right this is yet another attempt to fill the same niche as the Parasite Clip, Trailer Hitch, Skip Gap Hook, and various bait keeper style hooks. I wonder how the Bait Button stacks up.

Grant Mattos Bass Fishing Survivor Redemption Island Contestant

This is Grant Mattos who is on the current cast of the show Survivor. On his bio info at CBS.com he lists largemouth bass fishing as his #1 hobby. Grant is one of two former NFL Players in the Redemption Island Cast.

Go Grant!

2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #2

This what it looked like today Monday March 28th

Basically much of the area that was snow free before the snow storm a week ago today is now snow/ice free already even though temps have been below freezing to well below freezing the whole time. If we could just get the temps up to average the snow would probably be gone in a week. It is finally suppose to warm up into the 40's on Wednesday, but it is pretty much suppose to be cooler than average for as far as the eye can see.

March 24th 2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #1

Birds of Spring

Tonight I heard and saw a red wing blackbird across the road. As I was walking back on the driveway I thought I heard a honk in the distance. Sure enough about a minute later two Canadian Honkers flew right by headed North. (Goose Photo from blog The Dreaming Tree)

Jerseys for St. Jude Prize Drawing Date: May 2‏

In a addition to the Ebay auctions of Jersey's to benefit St. Jude, there is also a bit of a raffle going on as well.

Current Prize List:
1 - Dobyns Savvy Series rod; your choice of model. (Value $150)
1 - American Rod Smiths Limit Stix rod. Donated by Legend Boats. (Value $100)
1 - Rapala Tackle Pack (Value $75+)
2 - Gambler Lures online Gift Certificates (Value $50 ea.)
3 - All-Terrain Tackle Packs (Value $40+ ea.)
1 - Autographed Skeet Reese Lucky Craft Lure
4 - In-Depth Outdoors Clothing packages

A couple of the prizes, such as the Skeet Reese lure, Rapala prize package and the Derek Remitz trading cards have been added in the last month. And, we have several autographed trading cards and photos from various pro anglers (Wendlandt, Lefebre, Remitz) to give away to those that do not win one of the above prizes.

Further details at their blog...

Sportsman Blog Reflects On Blogging With 700th Post

The Act of Blogging Has Enduring Significance

Back in the late 90's when the Internet was really coming into it's own and I needed to secure an email address for myself I made the decision to go with Hotmail because I figured Microsoft isn't going anywhere. It was an account I would be able to have for a very long time and I was right. I wasn't nearly as caculating when it came to picking Blogger for my blog, but I think it is going to work out the same way. This blog will exist for as long as Google lets it exist, which could be as long as the Internet exists.

Another Canadian Bass Fishing Blogger Babe

The Argosgirl Chronicles Found out about this blog because it's author won the first GLoomis rod giveaway at Bass Parade. The blog only started in February on her second post ever was about the Bassmaster Classic. So Rebecca joins Ashley Rae as a bass fishing blogging babe from the Great White North, Eh!!!

FLW Hartwell Day 1

Joe Thomas who is in 4th place has really taken to blogging. He posts almost every day at his blog Surviving in the Reel World. Click that link to hear what he had to say about his big Day 1.

Looks like yet another Fantasy squad is swirling in mediocrity.
Morrow 67th
Mann Jr. 150th WHAT!!!!!
Gags 54th
Thrift 42nd
Ehler 15th
Morgan 16th
Travis 41st
Powroznick 59th
Canterbury 57th
Wendlendt 64th

My Advanced Anglers.com line up is Ehrler, Morgan, Thrift, Wend, Morrow

2011 When Will I See My Driveway? #1

What the heck, these posts were popular last year with the regular readers and I've been asked if I was going to do it this year so hear goes.

Pictures from today, One day after a fairly major snow storm.

(Click Pic to enlarge)

Remarkably enough you can actually see driveway and because of the way the snow drifted there is actually quite a bit of bare driveway up by the garage door, which I didn't take a picture of.

Today was below freezing all day and that is suppose to be the case for the next 3 days, so I may not be taking any more pictures for a couple of days. The sun is strong enough now to melt snow even if the temp is below freezing, but obviously it won't melt very much when temps are below freezing.

Get Active Cheeseheads!!!

WI: Bass culling proposed for tourneys

Two True Mille Lacs Indian Point Stories

Over at Bass Parade they are asking about Weirdest Thing You Have Caught.

Here are two of my true stories.

I was out fishing the Fall night trolling bite on Mille Lacs for walleye on Indian Point. I didn't pay attention to how much line I let out and was past the Fireline into my backing point. A fish hit and my line broke where the knot between the Fireline and the backing line was. I always have multiple rods so I just grabbed another one. Later on that night on one of my trolling passes I caught the broken off Fireline with walleye still attached. I got my line, lure, and fish. Pretty Amazing. The walleye was about 5lbs.

Then there was one time when Indian Point was busy with boats and another boat was following behind too close and my line got into their prop and my Fireline got spooled. That sucked! I hope my line didn't break their seal and wreck the lower unit.

Popular Fishing Myth- Sight Fishing Bedding Largemouth Bass Is Easy

If you spend anytime on the Internet in the Spring on fishing related websites where people are allowed to share their opinion, you are bound to come across those that are opposed to fishing for bass on their spawning beds. Over and over people spout the same duel criticisms/opinions; Bed fishing is detrimental to the resource and bed sight fishing isn't a sporting method by which to catch a fish.

I don't want to get into the resource issue here, but focus on the criticism of bed fishing being an unsportsmanlike way of fishing. The notion that bed fishing bass is unsportsmanlike usually stems from what I'll call the shooting fish in a barrel theory. The shooting fish in a barrel theory is predicated on the belief that catching bedded bass which you can see is easy and takes no skill whatsoever to do. When it comes to smallmouth bass this may or may not be true, but when it comes to largemouth bass it is an outright myth.

Now I will not dispute that catching some percentage of the bedded largemouth bass one sees visually may be easy. But really this is no different than fishing at any other time. A long time ago In-Fishermen theorized that the fish you encounter on the water will either be positive, neutral, or negative in attitude.
When fish are active and in a positive feeding mood, they respond to many baits and methods. Fish in a neutral mood are not actively feeding but can be tempted with a more selective approach. Fish in a -negative mood generally don’t feed and are spooky, jittery, and difficult to catch.
Depending upon the time you come across it a bedding largemouth can be in any one of these three states. In the just completed B.A.S.S. tournament on the St. John's River in Florida angler after after angler talked about how spooky many of the fish were. The anglers talked about how some fish were caught right away, some fish needed quite a bit of coaxing, and some fish ended up being nothing but a big waste of there precious tournament time.

Being able to recognize whether the bedded bass one sees is neutral or negative is one area where experience and skill comes into play. A neutral catchable fish may act in a negative manner fooling an angler into thinking it is uncatchable. A negative fish may act in a neutral manner fooling an angler into thinking it is catchable. The best sight fishermen, all bass fishing pro's readily acknowledge some are better sight fishermen than others, are the one's most skilled in quickly analysing the mood of the fish.

Other skills required by sight fishermen may include the ability to make oneself as stealthy as possible, being able to cast accurately with a quiet presentation, being able to spot a fish or bed in the first place, and being able to coax a fish into a more positive biting mood.

Personally, I don't sight fish for bedding bass very often because I don't seem to come across very many bass on beds. In the rare cases that I do, I don't consider myself to be very good at it because I am not experienced in recognizing a neutral from a negative fish. If I have to take the time to work a fish I almost never am able to catch it. I know first hand from trying it that catching a bedded largemouth bass can be anything but easy.

I think there is one more line of complaint by those that say sight fishing for bedding bass is unsportsmanlike, but I just regard this one as absurd. Basically some people seem to believe if you can see a fish then fishing for it is somehow unfair and unsportsmanlike. Are hunters unsportsmanlike because they see what it is they are shooting? Or they take their shot at close range? Fishermen are basically hunters of fish, why should the ethics be any different?

Update: Alton Jones talking sight fishing, many of my points come into play...

Not Good!

I Could Go Fishing!

Today I was out and about before tomorrows Winter Storm and this was the view from the Grumpy Old Man Hole.

(Click to Enlarge)

There was a bit more open water than I expected to find and the water level was way lower than I expected. Water level seemed to be just about normal to a smidge high. There were a few people ice fishing up on the North End of Platte Lake and a couple of people ice fishing on Sullivan. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot at the Shakopee Lake public access, but I only spotted a couple of groups out on the lake.

This year the ice better be out by Easter which is April 24th, which is the same date as the latest ice out I've seen on Platte Lake since I moved up here. My guess is ice out on Platte will be somewhere around the 15th. We are suppose to run into a cold spell in the next few days, but after the past few days there has to have been a lot of run off into the lakes and a lot of the ice melt comes from the bottom up.

I also went by the Rum River where it flows into Shakopee Lake. The Rum was ice free, but I didn't see any signs of fish.

Travis Manson- High Profile Elite Rookie

Do you know this guy?
This is B.A.S.S. Elite Series Rookie Travis Manson from Green Bay WI. That's right there is an authentic cheesehead on the Elite Series this year. In the title I called him "high profile" because he has done an excellent job of getting himself out there on Online media.

First he has a Facebook Fan Page . He has a TravisManson.com website and the most savvy move on his part was getting the Travis Manson video blogs on BassFIRST . Travis has been really diligent about getting these video blogs done. Basically thanks to his online profile he is one of the anglers I have been able to follow closely so far this year.

Currently he is setting tied for 74th in the Angler of the Year race. Honestly I don't know if Travis will be able to cut it or not. He was a walleye guy and only switched over to bass fishing a few years ago. It will be interesting to see if Travis can hold in there and re-qualify for next year.

This One Is For The Ladies!

A Little More Spring from The Functioning Fishaholics

Hint-You have to read to the end.

Congratulations Edwin Evers!!!

(Photo-Screen Capture from Bassmaster.com)

This one was close folks. The Citrus Slam Elite Series Tournament on the St. Johns River was suppose to be an epic slugfest. It didn't live up to the hype because loads of big fish disappeared on Day 1 and the promised 30lb bags never materialised. I have a theory that the "Super Moon" caused the fish to feel that the moon was full almost a week early. That would explain why the fish were moving up despite a cold front last week at Harris Chain and why many of the Pro's reported seeing the mother load in practice.

With the fishing being tougher than expected the door swung wide open for The Big Show Terry Scroggins to take home the title on his home water, and that almost happened. Unfortunately Big Show suffered through a series of execution issues on Day 3 due to light line and he came in light with only 13-15. That stumble opened the door for Edwin Evers and he stepped through it squeaking out a 2-14 win with 77-1. I am guessing Big Show is just sick that he didn't put up at least 80.

Congratulations Edwin, you earned this one BIG TIME!

You can give Edwin props at his Facebook Page...

There is a good post win interview with Edwin on BassFIRST.

Elite Series SJR Day Final

It looks like this one will be a nail biter. It very well may come down to a last minute lunker.

Don't think I will liveblog today either.

I plan to listen to the Bass Zone.com Wide Open post game at 7:30PM EST.

Sweet! They had Chiggar on this morning on BassCam. (Just watched it and vids are too short)

I wonder if B.A.S.S. is having problems, I'm not getting anything and it's after 3PMCST when the weigh in was suppose to start.

OK Hook'd Up started.

Was On Bass Zone.com Wide Open

This Elite tournament I have really been into listening to Jeffereys and Pangrac over at Bass Zone.com Wide Open. I send in a comment tonight and Jefferys noticed it and asked me to call in on their Skeeter Hotline, so I did. They wanted to know about sight fishing in Minnesota and if we had the ice off the lakes yet. You might be able to go back and watch a replay of the show, but I'm not sure on that. They had Alton Jones as a guest and I was the 2nd caller on the Hotline.

I guess I'm getting some free stuff out of this deal. SCORE!!!

Tackle Warehouse Opener 2011

Today was the 1st time in 2011 that I opened the "Tackle Warehouse" or as other might call it, my man cave.

First order of business was to add some Moaner stickers and one B.A.S.S. sticker to the wall.

Right now the Tackle Warehouse is a mess and I've got some work to do.
I did a few things today, but not that much. I mostly put away a bit of the tackle I acquired over the Winter. I need to get more zip lock bags and a couple more Plano boxes.

Not sure when I'll be in the Tackle Warehouse again.

Last year the Tackle Warehouse Opener was March 17th and the year before that was March 22nd.

Elite Series SJR Top 12 and Thoughts

The Day 3 Weigh In is complete and Alton's lead has shrunk to 2lbs 9ozs over Edwin Evers. I would have to say this isn't looking good for Alton as E2 made up 8lbs today and if Vinson didn't have 5 dead fish E2 might be leading this thing. Todd Faircloth, in 3rd, made up 8-14 and Big Show is only 6-11 back and he had a problem with breaking off fish today. KVD came back to earth today with only 12-2, but as you can see is still in the Top 12.

The wind is suppose to blow pretty good tomorrow, so I would have to say advantage Big Show. Really anyone in the top 5 has a great shot and it's conceivable that someone from even farther back could bust a huge sack and pull a major upset.

Should be good!!!

Elite Series SJR Day 3

This post will be sporadically updated with new info on the bottom

Now that I'm finally out of bed this is what I'm looking at.

Bassmaster.com Live Blog

Bassmaster.com BassTrakk (Looks like the fishing is slow as of 12:45PM EST but then again cell coverage might not be the greatest)

Bassmaster.com BassCam

Bass Zone.com Wide Open (Next on at 1:15PM EST)

BassFIRST.com (Once again it looks like they have a few of the video's mislabeled on which day it's for)

Managed to mess the computer up with so much stuff open and a virus scan running. Listening to BassZone Wide Open right now 12:30PM CST.

I don't feel like live blogging the weigh-in today so I won't.

SJR Elite Series Had Marshal Shortage

I didn't get to reading the BassFan Day 1 recap until late on Friday night and at the bottom of the recap they had this note:

> A B.A.S.S. communications official confirmed that due to a shortage of marshals registered for the event, five anglers fished today without an observer. That's a particularly undesirable situation in a sight-dominated tournament due to the organization's rule that fish caught in that manner must be hooked inside the mouth.

I guess I can't say I'm all that surprised by this as B.A.S.S. did a couple of things last week to hype the Marshal Program. The critics of the Marshal program said this kind of thing would happen and I don't think this is the first shortage they have ever had. If the Elite Series were to come to Lake Mille Lacs I would definitely be a Marshal. For Lake Minnetonka, the Mississippi River Pool 4 plus or Vermillion I wouldn't. I would consider doing it for Leech Lake.

I think B.A.S.S. would be a lot more successful with this program if the $100 Marshal fee would include lodging for the Marshals.

Kim Bain-Moore Wins First LBAA Event

Wired2Fish Story...

Elite Series SJR Day 2 Weigh-In Liveblog

(New info at top)

And it's over. First out of the cut is Mike McClelland. Also missing the cut Shaw Grigsby, last man in is Tak. Here is the Top 12:



Fantasy guy Matt Greenblatt 8-9, so he is well short of cut. Gets a check for last weeks big bass. "When it comes to looking at em' I can honestly I am not the greatest."

Chris Lane with 12-7 and he will make the cut. Thanks service crew for fixing boat from yesterday's incident.

Billy McCaghren into 5th place. 9-4 kicker. Said he found a couple of big one's that he just couldn't get.

Boyd Duckett "I suck in Florida"

Brian Snowden into last place with 2-3 "the whole reason I'm here is to be with you Dave"

J Todd Tucker with 21-5 to move into 2nd with 41-13 "Trying to spend quality time on the fish I think will bite"

Terry Butcher "I found a bunch of big one's I just can't make them bite."

Mark Davis makes the cut with 21 something. "I'm not sight fishing"

Rookie Keith Combs into the Top 10 with 14-9. Has a big one found for tomorrow.

Keith Poche with 15-4, which is a big comeback, probably in the cut.

David Walker with 15-9, which is good for my Dad's fantasy team. "This place is about big fish...you couldn't pick a better event to be sponsored by Power Pole."

Hmmm didn't miss Big Show like I said 22-13, moves into 2nd with 40-0. "I found something really special today" "I'm gonna put on the Big Show tomorrow"

Fantasy angler Bernie Schultz with 10 something which will help me a bit.

Huh the live leaderboard has Scroggins weighed in with 22-13, how did I miss that?

Kelly Jordan 16-1, so he has been consistent.

Swindle "Once I got 5 I just put the Motorguide on high and I didn't run across any big one's"

James Niggemeyer redeems himself with 13-1. "I made some key adjustments today." Will make the cut.

Somehow I missed my fantasy guy Peter T who had only 7-6.

J-Will with 1-2 will still make the cut. Says he "freaked out" and ran around when he shouldn't have.

Rookie Ott Defoe with 14-15, made the cut. Caught his biggest fish on the 3rd try for it.

Brody of the Lake "Pit-ti-ful" "I started off the morning and put a hook in my finger" Pimps Brodyofthelake.com. Caught 1-0 for the day. Ended up in 97th of 99.

Jared Lintner says he found a 10 for tomorrow.

Kota thanks people who have been doing stuff to help Japan.

Fantasy Pick Rojas 10even made the cut "I'm excited to get out tomorrow there is a lot of big fish moving around."

JVD with 7-0, won't make cut. "Left one on a bed about 7lbs that I just couldn't get."

Klein "Today I'm just in survival mode, the area I'm in has been picked pretty clean."

Clark Rheem 5-8 kerplunk! Apparently he hurt his ankle, had someone else weigh his fish.

Tim Horton with 6-11 kerplunk!!! "I had two if I could have got em" "a lot of fish started to pull up again" Apparently he had multiple dead fish penalties.

Skeet Reese 8-13 "This is definitely been one of my bombs" Skeet pimps new bait Havoc Wide Load, Mercer asks "Wide Load Is that from my signature series?" Skeet got a good laugh out of that.

Brent Chapman with 6-14, kerplunk "the area has muddied up" moved to another area late and he said he wished he would have moved sooner.

Rick Clunn with 7-6 so he won't make cut. "Usually I come to Florida just hoping to survive."

Grigsby with 11-7, so he is on the bubble with 19-13. Missed two big fish today

KVD 17-13 into 3rd with a kicker for 35-0, kicker 9-5. He didn't see the kicker, only a little mail, pitched to the bed and the big girl came out of the weeds.

Brandon Palanuik will not make the cut thanks to late penalty. Apparently he got pulled over in a Manatee Zone.

Leader Alton Jones with 22-13 and goes way into 1st. Mercer "Shaq Daddy Super Bass" as he pulls out 8-12 kicker. "My little secret baits still working"

Rick Morris said he fished a frog all day and had about 20 hits, but just couldn't hook fish.

Casey Ashley not nearly as good as yesterday with only 12-3, puts him into 3rd.

Kriet "I said if I came out of Florida with $20,000 I'd throw a big party, but it's going to be hot dogs and Dr. Pepper."

Ish "I went to my gamble area today" apparently lots of big fish are there.

Ike 7-6 probably won't make cut "I can't sight fish, I suck"

BOOM BOOM 16-3 into 3rd "I made a decision early to go fishin' and not sight fishin'"

Edwin Evers 22-5 and into first 38-15.

Rookie Travis Manson from WI with just 6-3, no cut for the cheese. "I couldn't find any rocks and smallmouth."

Faircloth with 10-5 to move into 1st "It got pretty tough on us today"

Bobby Lane 10-9 into 2nd with 28-13 into 2nd

Majorly annoying chippy audio

Cajun Baby with 16-2 moves into the lead

First up John Murray puts up 14-8, he will be in the cut. Pulls out a kicker

Trip "I think the happiest guy in this field is Big Show"

Mercer explains we cut down to the Top 50 today.

Hmmm the sound is chippy so far.

OK National Anthem finished and Mercer on Stage

Oops no Hook'd Up until tomorrow.

I believe things start out with Hook'd Up with Zona and Sanders.

Elite Series St. Johns Day 2

(This will be updated during the day, new content on the bottom)
Well I'm up and on the blog 11:30AM CST

It appears that BassZone.com Wide Open will be on 12:15PM CST

B.A.S.S. on Facebook really doesn't have any info on the day so far.

Bassmaster.com has BassCam Video's from today...

BassFIRST also has video from this morning....

developing...

My Biggest Fishing Train Wrecks Pt 2

This story begins with a several trips into Gander Mtn in Maple Grove Minnesota. They had a 7'6" Fenwick HMG Medium Heavy spinning rod for 50% on clearance. That rod was calling my name and about the 4th time I looked at it I finally gave in and bought it. I thought it would make a great rod for my annual Fall Salmon trip to SE Wisconsin. I was right, the rod was excellent for Salmon fishing. On my third trip with the rod I was fishing at the dam on the Pike River in Kenosha WI. The dam, which is no longer there, was located in the midst of a golf coarse and there was a golf cart bridge over the river made of railroad tries right below the face of the dam. There was a small deep pool where the fish stacked up under the bridge. On the dam side of the bridge there was really only room for one person to fish on each bank of the river and you would either have to stand in the water on a concrete ledge or stand on the asphalt that made up the river bank.

The first time I ever fished at the dam I figured something out with a Mepps Spinner that was just a killer on the Salmon as I fished off the asphalt. On about my 5th hook up I had a beautiful coho salmon that was about 4lbs on. As I was bringing the fish up on the asphalt my rod tip caught on the bridge and my rod tip broke. Not Cool! I then grabbed my line to pull the fish up further on the bank and my line broke and the fish along with my magic spinner dropped right back into the water and were gone. At that point I had a meltdown that I'm sure was a source of great amusement to the other fishermen at the pool.

When I got back home I called Fenwick and told them what happened, much to my astonishment they said they would cover the rod under warranty. I sent them the broken rod and they sent me a new one. Cool!

Fast Forward two years later I was fishing with the rod in the same pool, but this time on the down river side of the golf cart bridge. I was having a grand old time catching Salmon when I hooked into a brute. I was using really strong 20lb test line and really laying the wood to the fish when the rod exploded under the pressure. It sounded like a gun shot as the rod broke in 4 different places!!! My line didn't break and I managed to hand line the fish which was about 15lbs. Now you would think I might be upset, but I thought the way the rod just exploded was pretty darn cool. I was satisfied that I got my money's worth from Fenwick on a rod I paid half price for and didn't bother trying to get another rod under warranty; I wanted what was left of the rod as a souvenir. I still have the rod handle.

See: My Biggest Fishing Train Wrecks

The Women Went at It...

Wired2Fish has the story of the 1st Day of the inaugural Lady Bass Anglers Association (LBAA) tournament that is taking place at Sam Rayburn.

Kim Bain-Moore is in the lead.

Winner! Winner! Winner!!!

The blog FHC Outdoors is running a series of River2Sea lure contests and I won a River2Sea Larry Dahlberg WideGlide Surface, I think it's the smaller size. I would have preferred to win a Clackin' Craw or a Diver Frog, but when you have a shot to win you have to take it. To win the contest you have to be the first to answer a question. I found the answer to the question, what product did Larry Dahlberg first invent? With a Google Search.

Answer: Flashabou

Elite Series St. Johns Day 1

Note- This thread will be updated sporadically through the day. New stuff at the bottom.

Some of the best coverage will be found all day sporatically at Bass Zone.com Wide Open.
They are suppose to be on Next at 11:45AM EST
They had live play by play of Rojas getting 8lb class toad.
Next report at 1:00PM EST

Rich Lindgren at his Bassin' Insider blog with Versus has a blog on the ethics of sight fishing.

My Fantasy Teams:B.A.S.S.- Rojas, Scroggins, Schultz, Peter T, Greenblatt
Advanced Angelers.com- KVD, Scroggings, Peter T, Grigsby, B. Lane

Another good place for tournament coverage is BassFIRST.com. Now BassFIRST doesn't have updates on how the day is going, but there video's are good for pre and post tournament days.

Just watched the Day 1 morning B.A.S.S. BassCam video's. Ole Shaw doesn't think he has found the fish to win and Scroggins claims other guys have found his key areas. There is an on the water video that claims Brent Chapman landed a 10lber.

Sad News- Don Barone has reported that Steve Kennedy's Jack Russel Terrier Louie passed away on Tuesday. Louie would go nuts when Steve would be weighing his fish and you could hear him on the live feed. That just sucks!!!

Developing...

Norwegian Elkhound Fishing Video

My Norwegian Elkhound Soren was NOT this fish crazy. In fact Soren could have cared less about fish. Wasn't much for the water really except one time when I took Soren's breeder out fishing and Soren swam out to get in the boat with us.

My Biggest Fishing Train Wrecks

The week the Outdoor Blogger Network has a writing prompt titled Damaged Goods. Here is the idea:

If you have broke, damaged, or set on fire a favorite piece of outdoor gear we want to hear your story!

I have a few stories, which I will do in multiple posts.

Can you guess what this first story is about?

For about 10 years in a row from the mid-90's to the mid-2000's I made the trek down to SE WI to fish the Fall salmon run. I would go in early to mid October to fish the Root River in Racine and the Pike River in Kenosha. One of the places I fished was Lake Michigan where the Pike River flowed into the lake. Sometimes the wave action from Lake Michigan would close up the river mouth with sand; The river comes out at a beach. To get fish you need the river flowing into the lake. The first time I witnessed the phenomenon of the river being closed up by sand, I had the bright idea to try to do something about it. I went and got a 5 gallon bucket from the car and set about making a channel from the river to the lake. The idea was to get some water to start to flow, which would naturally cause erosion in the sand making a wider channel until eventually the river would be flowing into the lake, which would bring the fish in close. Well the plan worked and once I got the channel made water was soon flowing quickly from the river into the lake. I kept working to expand the channel and the flow got better and better. One time when I bent down to scoop some sand while I was in the middle the channel my cell phone popped out of the pouch on my waders. At this point the river flow was such that the cell phone was instantly swept away from me right into the lake. Just like that it was gone. I couldn't believe it. As the Z-Train would say, "train wreck."

KVD on the St. John's

BassFIRST.com got KVD on camera... KVD says it's gonna be a sight fishing deal, provided it don't blow and rain.

Someone Don't Know Fishing!!!

A spinnerbait below a big ole round bobber, Really!!???

Do You Take the Sucker Shot?

Let Big Indiana Bass introduce you to Fishing with a Purpose- The Sucker Shot Mentality.

Now I'm probably like most in that I will take a Sucker Shot when I can get it, but finding a reliable Sucker Shot isn't always easy. Things often change from year to year or the weather won't cooperate and shuts the "Sucker" right down.

Alton On St. Johns

This was just reported on Facebook by Alton Jones:

With stable weather it looks like this one may be a battle of the sight fishermen. Shaw could be very dangerous again. Kelly Jordan, Alton Jones, Dean Rojas, Grant Goldbeck are all accomplished sight fishermen. Who else?

In the Mail: Moaner Monster Bass Pack (Creature)

I recieved the Moaner Monster Bass Pack Creature Edition that I won in a contest on T Brinks Fishing blog. I received a pack of Strike King Rage Tail Space Monkey's and Smoking Roosters, one jar of J.J.'s Magic Dippin' Dye with Garlic Oil, a pack of 5/0 Moaner Stroker Hooks, a pack of 4/0 Moaner Stroker Hooks, a pack of 5/0 1/4oz Weighted Moaner Stroker Hooks, 3 Moaner stickers and I got a bonus pack with 2 Moaner The Stiffy stand up shakey head jigs and 1 1/8oz Weighted Moaner Stroker Hook.

Hmm

This from the boys at Bass Zone.com and Bass Talk Live:
I guess they would know because they do have a blog, but they have kind of given up on it.

Elite Series Harris Chain Day Final Thoughts

Well the veteran legendary Florida sight fishermen Shaw Grigsby, pulled out yet another sight fishing victory in Florida. Shaw was kind of lucky because he beat Grant Goldbeck by 7-6 with Grant weighing in a full 5 fish less than Shaw. It was an increadible comeback for Grant with just 1 fish for 1lb 1oz on Day 1. Personally I was hoping Grant would somehow pull it off and he was just one toad away from doing that today. I think I along with a lot of Elite Series anglers are astounded that sight fishing was the deal in this one, especially with the winning area being shared by 3 or more boats. I guess it just goes to show how unpredictable fishing can be at times.

One thing about Shaw, I like the way his Jersey looks in the abstract and the hoodie that I am having designed is going to be quite similar in terms of the color scheme and design.

In terms of Angler of the Year race you have to believe that KVD is licking his chops. And Props to JVD in finishing 1 spot below his Uncle in 5th. If you missed the weigh in today Jonathon Van Dam was moved to tears when talking about how this was his dream come true.

My B.A.S.S. Fantasy Team was brutal in this one with 3 anglers worse than 77th Place. I faired much better in Advanced Anglers.com because I put KVD and Scroggins on that team. David Walker and Bobby Lane were major buzz kills on both. While my Fantasy Fishing teams have kind of sucked it up this year I am still ahead of the game in terms of prizes won thanks to a contests with The Bassholes.com, Chris Lane on Facebook, and TBrinks Fishing blog. Hopefully I'll pull down some Fantasy Fishing prizes yet, the season is still early.

Update: Here is a nice write up on Shaw from Wired2Fish.

Sorry!

No live blogging the weigh-in today either. I just don't have any energy.

Elite Series Harris Chain Day Final

The best place to follow the days action is at the Bassmaster.com Live Blog... and with BassTrakk.

Also don't forget Bass Zone Wide Open coverage that comes on sporadically. They are set to go live again at 1:15PMEST

Well it looks like Shaw and Grant got to the honey hole today and no other boats were there, which almost certainly means Shaw wins.

Live coverage on Bass Zone.com was pretty cool. It looks like Goldbeck needs to catch a serious kicker at this point. Both he and Grigsby are one short of a limit. On Bass Zone Grigsby had been sitting on a spot for a long time, then moved off and back again. Speculation was that if Grigsby got that fish he almost certainly shuts the door because of the way he was putting effort into it. Steven Browning also has a shot maybe but he needs a serious kicker. BassTrakk has him down by 4+ but he has his limit.

I wonder if Shaw has done everything he can to get a limit? I would think that would have been priority #1 going into the day. But then again with Goldbeck right there he probably has a pretty good idea of what he needs to do.

Oh, one thing I learned yesterday is that B.A.S.S. has stuff on Facebook in terms of tournament coverage that isn't anywhere else.

Eden Prairie 2011 MN State High School Hockey Champions

The Eden Prairie Eagles won the longest Championship Game in MN High School Hockey history. They beat Duluth East 3-2 on a bit of a lucky own goal off of a Duluth East players skate in the 3rd Overtime. A shot squirted past the goalie into the crease; A Duluth East Player then whiffed on a chance to clear the puck allowing a diving Eden Prairie Player to get his stick on the puck which shot the puck into the goal post which rebounded right into a Duluth East players skate from which the puck deflected into the goal. Definitely a fluke goal.

Congratulations Eden Prairie!!!

The Big Question Elite Series Harris Chain Day 4

Will people who are fishing tournaments tomorrow on the Harris Chain and blasting off before the B.A.S.S. guys move in on Shaw and Grants honey hole?

If that happens, it's a nightmare for Shaw and wide open for Browning and Van Dam. If not, it's probably over.

On The Wolverine Skunk

This is from the B.A.S.S. Day 3 Liveblog:

In answer to the comment below on Derek Remitz: Yes, he did fish. And as crazy as it seems, Remitz zeroed both days. He is one of those anglers who got caught in making the wrong decisions at the right time. Count him and Bobby Lane in the same boat. Lane didn't zero but on his home water he feels like he did.

Both are deeply disappointed. But both are also at the top of the game nine days out of 10. We expect to see each of them back on their games next week.

Elite Series Harris Chain Day 3

If you are like me and slept all day missing the action you can quickly go back through it because B.A.S.S. put up it's Live Blog today.

The Top 12 are;
Shaw Grigsby
Grant Goldbeck (Who has an outside chance at a stunning come back)
Browning
Golden
KVD
Chris Lane
JVD
Niggemeyer
Alton Jones
Scroggins
Clunn
Cajun Baby Crochet

Tonight I plan to catch Bass Zone Wide Open at 6:30PM Central.

Bass Parade B.A.S.S. Speculation.

Bass Parade blog put out a post entitled Something's Brewing at B.A.S.S., which is a jump head long into speculation about what might be coming from the new ownership at B.A.S.S.

Here is an excerpt:
At this point I think it’s safe to say that Jerry and Co. have something cooking that’s either going to impact how anglers qualify for and/or maintain their Elite Series status. Lane says he knows “how good it’s going to be”. So there’s already some hype attached to it as far as the anglers go.

Are we about to see the end of the Elites as we know it? Based on B.A.S.S.’ timeline of scrapping one format in favor of another, we’re about due for a repackaging. Maybe it’s some kind of new TV deal? It’s all speculation at this stage of the game, but I definitely smell smoke.

Anybody out there have any thoughts as to what all this means? What would you like to see happen? Is the Elite Series fine as is or does it need some tweaking?

In the comments some of the speculation centers around B.A.S.S. making it so the Elite anglers don't have to pony up entry fees and get a guaranteed payback.

In regards to this speculation I have some questions and thoughts.

How will anglers "not having to pay to compete" (these were the words used by a commenter) differ from the current system where the idea is for anglers to get sponsors who will pay the anglers entry fees?

Obviously the anglers and organization need sponsors to put up the money. That doesn't change. So what changes and how?

Maybe all anglers get a guaranteed minimum payback from B.A.S.S. and the anglers can make sponsor deals on top of that???

How do you get there other than with a basic redistribution of the total purse with a lot less going to the top finishers?

The way I see it you have risk and reward. The higher the reward means higher risk for individual fishermen. I don't see how you lower the risk without reducing the reward at the top. It's a zero sum game.

For it not to be a zero sum game, somehow you have to create more value for the sponsors than what already exists. It will be interesting to see if the new ownership can figure out a way to accomplish that. Maybe skillful leveraging of new media is the answer. (But then again maybe not, there are a lot of children at that table already and those hi-tech secret formula's are notoriously fickle.)

Some suggest shrinking the field is a way to increase value and that no doubt is probably true, but it seems you will still have the same basic problem where a few at the top reap great rewards while it just becomes more difficult for everybody else to reach that level. If this is the case it might prove a disincentive for people to try to "live the dream" and you end up going backwards. Then again if done right maybe the incentive to try is actually increased and everybody is happy.

And then of coarse the really big question is, what are the implications for Fantasy Bass Fishing?

Go read the Bass Parade article and throw your thoughts in the ring.

Harris Chain Day 2 Weigh In Liveblogged

(Newest Info at Top)

So Shaw is in 1st and I think Rojas is 1st out of the cut.

Derek Remitz doesn't weigh in today either, wonder what the story is?

Peter T does Shakespeare, seriously he did.

Sconni Boy Rookie Travis Manson 6-3 doesn't make the cut. Mercer does funny bit about one of these things is not like the other one. Bald Trip and Mercer with Manson's super hair.

Brandon Palanuik 11-7 with 3 fish. Apparently Brandon's sister is in the crowd, she was really loud.

Bobby Lane 3-3 this is not a good day for my fantasy team. "I think Lake Harris is the cleanest I've seen it in 5 years."

Randy Howell fell out of the boat today and yesterday he caught a little gator.

Cajun Baby- 16-5 into 8th pulls out 1 stud 7-9. "Yeah son it feels pretty good" in his cajun accent.

Hallman- 9-6 on my Fantasy Team currently in 71st with about 15 to go.

Faircloth "I went through a lot of fish to get what I got" he is on the cut bubble.

David Walker 2-14 Ouch on the Fantasy Team!

Grant Goldbeck 27-1 after 1-1 yesterday. Mercer said his kicker probably poops 1-1.

Scroggins comes up and the crowd goes nuts. "I'm totally confused."

Mark Davis takes a stroll down memory lane about the Harris Chain.

Swindle was hilarious but he talks to fast to catch "I hate lilly pads"

Chris Lane has 7-6 kicker caught later in the day. "Sight fish move up in a cold front in Florida, I've never heard of that."

Denny "I'll lick my wounds and move on to the St. Johns"

Rookie Greenblat pulls out a 10-4, it's his birthday. Caught it on 8lb test. Greenblat is from Florida and I'm almost put him on my Fantasy Team, went with Walker instead.

Alton Jones- "This is kind of a 2 day lake"

Rheem 6-6 "lost several in the last 30 minutes"

Niggemeyer pulls out two kickers, he had 19 something. "I hit everything I had" Tells story about guy cutting trees by his kicker that was on a bed. He obviously caught it anyway.

JVD 12-7 so he probably will make the 50 cut.

Ott Defoe's daughter sings "Rock Star"

Marty Robinson- Pulls out a toad had to be at least 8.

Mercer "Get on your feet for Skeet Reese." Skeet "These guys are pretty good"

Browning "I've been blessed two days in a row, I can't wait to get up in the morning"

The Squirrel "I caught more weight on this lake in two days then I have in 4 previous try's"

Shaw is Gary Klein's roomate: Mercer "we know who's buying dinner tonight" Klein "I don't know about that, he's a little tight."

Montgomery with 18-12 "You couldn't drive a nail up my butt with a sledge hammer" about only having 4 fish late in the day.

Shaw Grigsby- 29-8 for 43-15 He pulls out two monsters, weighs one for 10 even. Broke a rod on a 7lber that he got in. Caught 6 fish today. "I caught a big old pig I like it."

Kevin Wirth 5-1 crash and burn.

1st UP KVD 18-3 "This place changes a lot from day to day" "I see a few big one's behind me back there." "I'm not sight fishing"

Trip says they whacked em' today.

Elite Series Harris Chain Day 2

B.A.S.S. Web Guru Angie Thompson is riding in the boat today with Elite Rookie and Federation Nation Champion Brandon Palaniuk and from a couple of fish of his that she has posted to Facebook, it looks like Brandon is having a very good day.

You can catch sporadic live on the water coverage at Bass Zone.com Wide Open
Great Quote: "We haven't seen any alligators, let alone Bikini's"


Another place that is doing a good job of covering this tournament is the website OutdoorsFIRST.com. They have video angler interviews from this morning

Bassmaster.com BassCAM also has some video coverage from today...

Here is some on the water video of Palaniuk talking about what he is doing and what he got...

I'll Be Getting The Bassmasters by the End of the Month

From Bassmaster.comTEMECULA, Calif., and CELEBRATION, Fla. — Outdoor Channel, America's Leader in Outdoor TV, and B.A.S.S., the authority on bass fishing, today announced that the two companies have entered into an agreement that brings The Bassmasters, one of the highest-rated outdoor programs on television, to Outdoor Channel. The popular show highlighting the Bassmaster Classic and Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments will debut on Outdoor Channel beginning March 28, 2011.

Hmmmmm

Does this seem odd to anybody else?
Our guy is almost in last place, Hooray!