Holmer Won My MN Blogger Bass Derby Yet Again

5.81lbs

I thought that Andy's Bass Blog had managed to beat Holmer of Bass Utopia this year, but then I realized I missed one of Holmer's fish and sure enough the upgrade on the cull was enough to beat out Andy by a quarter of a pound.  That makes it the 5th straight year Holmer has won the Derby.  Overall the top weights were way down this year.  Holmers weight of 26.54lbs would have got him 3rd Place each of the two previous years.

This year we had 2 fish over 6lbs both caught by Carl Spande of BassMN.com.

6.50lbs

6.87lbs

2nd Place,  as I already mentioned, went to Andy's Bass Blog
3rd Place went to Jason Dudek Fishing with 26.09lbs

Congratulations Guys!!!

I'm mulling changing things up for 2014, we'll see.

Vikings Season Over- My Thoughts

I believe, like my brother Todd, that Coach Frazier deserves another season as head coach. However, unlike Todd I believe Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave deserves to stay as well.  D Coordinator needs to be gone.  Will I get my wish on this? Probably not, but I put it out there.  If Frazier is gone then Brian Billick is my first choice.

As far as how the season played out.  I am most disappointed with the way Peterson was used in the 3 game stretch from Carolina to Green Bay.  Seriously, what was our play calling about in those 3 games.  It's to bad he got injured at Baltimore, otherwise he would have been in the race for another rushing title this year.

I am equally disappointed that Ponder proved he was not up to the task. To me, the play out of Cassel was only marginally better and I believe the statistics back me up on that.  And like everyone else I have no clue what the deal with Freeman was all about.  I don't know what we should do about QB for next year.  I would prefer we go for a defensive player with our #1 draft pick rather than reaching for a QB..  It was clear to me this year that our #1 problem was our defense, not our QB play.  It will be interesting to see what our off season moves will be.

The biggest positive from the season has to be the play of Cordarrelle Patterson.  We got a bigger, stronger Percy Harvin.

   

1500AM ESPN Pro Pick'Em Challenge Prizes

The swag arrived: 1500AM ESPN Twin Cities Mug, T-Shirt, and Mouse Pad and $50 Duluth Trading Co. Gift Certificate that I'm using to get their Ballroom Carpenter Jeans

Yes It Is Time For An Early C&R Season in MN!!!

Is it time for an early C&R bass season?

The process for getting this looked at has been a little slow in my opinion, but it looks like there is a good chance this will happen in 2015.  There will be a public comment period sometime in the next few months and probably be a hearing or two at the capital.  Providing there is no significant opposition this should pass and I'll be throwing what I want to on the Fishing Opener in 2015.

Bass Pundit's 9th Blogoversary!!!

Well I made it another year.  Thankfully no major health issues this past year.  My ability to blog was definitely impacted a bit by my stroke in December of 2011.  Thank You to everyone who still reads what I write about.  

Bass Pundit Minnesocold Bloggers Derby Now Closed for 2013

However again this year I am behind on getting everyone's weights recorded.  Hopefully I'll do that by January 1st. I'm not sure who the winner is going to be this year.

Here are some of the fish I haven't counted yet.

6.87lbs BassMN

5.50lbs Jason Dudek Fishing

4.41lbs Justin Lundborg Fishing

Bass Snatcher On Extreme Angler TV Fishing Leech Lake

The first 12 minutes of this video has fellow Baxter Bass Snatcher Keith Tuma in it fishing on Leech Lake.  Fishing on Leech is a lot like fishing on Platte/Sullivan except there is a ton more water on Leech.

Viking Reels in a Romomouth Bass

Check out Brian Robison's sack dance.

Vikes- What I think they should do now.

The Vikings made the decision to rush Josh Freeman out to see what he could do versus the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. If you didn't see the game, then you are lucky, because it was Uuuugly!!!  Josh was obviously not ready to play for us yet.  He needs more time to learn the system.  He needs to get his mechanics fixed. And he needs to get his head right.  If I were the Vikings Management and Coaches I would sit Freeman for our next three games minimum.  I would start Ponder verses Green Bay next week and put Cassel as back up.  That is what I think they should do now.

My New Phantom's

I spotted these Stanley Phantom's in an Ebay auction for 70 assorted lures.  I asked if he was willing to sell me all the Phantom's separate and he was, so we agreed upon a price.  The bone and white one are back ups for one's I already have.  The blue one is the same one I lost these summer when I got broken off.  The black, bullfrog, rainbow, and white with the spot and scales are ones I've never seen before.  With the way the weather is looking I probably won't be trying any of these until next year.

Josh Freeman Signing With The Vikes- My Thoughts

I paid a little bit of attention to the Josh Freeman saga over the past week, but I didn't think he would end up with the Vikings, so I didn't pay a ton of attention to it.  I was shocked when I heard he was going to sign with the Vikes last night.  So I have spent the past couple of hours reading peoples reactions and learning more about Freeman.

How Josh Freeman became Greg Schiano's enemy #1 by Bleacher Report pretty much sums up what Vikings fans need to know about how Freeman ended up leaving the Bucs.

As far as reading fan's reactions that is usually pretty worthless, but every once and a while you read something that makes reading through the crap worthwhile.  The comment I thought made the most sense came from the Minnesota Vikings Facebook Page.  This is what some guy named Skyler Geer wrote:

Listen uneducated fans, when Freeman is good he's better than every QB on our roster. That being said he doesnt know our system yet, Cassel is the hot hand.
I think a lot of this signing is to motivate Ponder/Cassel.
Start Cassel the next few games while Freeman learns the playbook see how he does. if it's not good we can throw ponder back in or if Leslie thinks Josh is ready he could be very scary he will throw it which opens up field for AP. Which we just saw Cassel do.
Don't expect to see freeman for 3-5 weeks if one of others plays bad. If we stick w/ Cassel & he plays well freeman may never get a shot here.

The thing that I think it important to realize is that Freeman chose to come to MN over apparently a few other teams.  I think that speaks well of both Frazier and Spielman.  It's pretty clear that Freeman has been seriously regressing and he and his agent believe MN is the best place to get his head straight and turn it around.  Both Ponder and Cassel are now on notice that the future of the MN quarterback position is up for grabs.

Updated 10/9:  The more I have read the past couple of days the more I am liking this deal. At worst if Freeman doesn't work out the Vikes will probably get a compensatory pick.  It seems that Freeman's stats were pretty good last year until the last few games where he threw a bunch of picks.  That apparently coincided with the Bucs not choosing to extend his contract.  That decline continued into this year.  It's pretty clear that the situation in Tampa under coach Psycho had turned toxic for Freeman.  This guy could easily turn into a Stafford like Franchise QB for us. 

My Thought On The Vikings Going Into The Bye

Well the 1st quarter of the season is in the books and the Vikes are lucky to not be 0-4 and unlucky to not be 3-1.  I will say this: the Browns were NOT who we thought they were.  Unfortunately we can't say the same thing about Ponder and our pass defense.  They are the two biggest reason's we are not 3-1.  Ponder has improved a little bit, but his turnovers have just killed us.   However, our porous Defense is the biggest reason we are not 3-1.  There is no way in heck we should have given up 31 points to the Browns at home.  There is little doubt at this point that we finish last in the North unless the Defense improves markedly.  I see no reason to be optimistic about that happening.

As far as Ponder versus Cassel, I think Ponder should ride the bench for a while.  Let him learn from Cassel.  I don't know that the Vikes have to give up on Ponder totally at this point.  He wasn't the only reason our Offense was struggled at times the first 3 weeks of the season.  There are times when Ponder flashes, but he is just too inconsistent. Our Offensive line really struggled against the Lions, Bears, and Browns.  Having Jerome Felton back makes a big difference in Peterson's play and no doubt the whole O line's play as well.  To me Felton's presence was as the big a factor in the win as Cassel.  I think had Felton been able to play the first three games we might have won both the Bears and Browns game.

I say let Cassel play and see where it takes us.  With our D, I don't think it will be very far.  If he can't take us beyond a .500 record over the next two quarters of the season then they should re-insert Ponder for the last 4 games of the season and see if he cleaned up his game.  If not it's time for a new QB plan next year.

Aug 17th Bass Snatchers Blind Tournament at The Cullen Chain

With our last tournament of the year being tomorrow I figured I better get this done.

We met at a parking lot in Brainerd at around 6:15AM on August 17th and found out we would be fishing the Cullen Chain.  I was alright with that as I like the lakes and my boater Guy won the last tournament there.  The weather promised to be warm, mostly sunny and breezy out of the SW.  We launched out of the middle lakes access around quarter to 8AM.  We were first boat out.  Guy didn't want to run the risk of getting caught in the Culvert going to the Upper Lake so we went to a sunken island on the middle lake.  There was a guy fishing topwater there already.  We came in to the SW of him and about 3 of our boats also came in on this spot.  I had what I'm pretty sure was a pike hit at my Stanley Phantom and other than that we got nothing.

We moved to a point off of some reeds and guy got two good quality fish right away.  I got a pike on a black/blue Chigger Craw.  Not wanting to retie I switched to a craw tube.  I got a 12.5" bass on that as well as a rock bass.  I think Guy landed a couple more small keepers.   We then went to another point off of some reeds.  I had tied on another Chigger Craw by then and was quickly rewarded with my best fish of the day a 15.5" largie.

We then fished some reeds and some slop.  Guy got a nice dogfish.  Guy made the call to head to the Lower Lake.  We had to get out and push but made it.  We started on a weedline spot just out from the channel and I was immediately rewarded with a 14" bass.  We then moved around a bunch of places not getting anything.  The wind had come up pretty good by now and there was a reed bed getting nailed by the wind.  Guy caught a a keeper than two quality fish the first 15 minutes we were in the reeds.  One of the fish was the 4/3 Lunker of the tournament.  I broke off my Texas Rigged craw tube with 3/4oz Tungsten Sinker twice getting caught on the reeds, so I switch to a Strike King Hack Attack jig. We stayed in the reeds and I managed to get one that was just short of 14" and two 14.5" bass out of them on the Jig.  I got my limit and I was happy.  I didn't fish the rest of the day very well only getting a rock bass out of some pads missing a few other hits.  Guy put together a pretty good pattern in the middle lake hitting pad and reed edges with the wind blowing in on them and picked up a few culls.  We quit about 15 minutes early.

Results:  My 6 fish went for 8/12 and put me in 20th place.  Guy managed to win the thing  by over 3lbs with 18lbs 2ozs

My thoughts:  My head just wasn't in this one, especially after I caught my limit.  I did enjoy watching Guy put on a show.  This tournament sealed my fate of not going anywhere in the club point standings this year. Oh well.

SKOL Vikings!!!

Today is start of Vikings season and just like last year I don't know what to expect out of this team.  I can see us starting out at  4-0 or 1-3 in the first quarter of the season.

Here are the big three questions in my mind that will have to be answered this year for us to have a good season:

1. Can AP stay healthy and play at the same level as last year?

If he can, than it's going to be a fun team to watch no matter what happens.

2.  Is Ponder going to improve from last year or is he not the answer?

Ponder could improve from last season and we could still start out 1-3 and have a losing season if AP were to get hurt or if our defense doesn't hold up. If Ponder proves not to be the answer then we will almost certainly have a losing record this season.  If so we can hopefully get a franchise quarterback in next years draft.  

3.  Will our pass rush and young secondary hold up?

If our secondary sucks than we will almost certainly finish last in our Division this year.

Post Game Thoughts:  What a hot mess that game turned into.  Ponder as erratic and mistake filled as ever.  The O-Line not giving Ponder or AP much help.  Musgrave's questionable play calling not helping matters either. The Defense had as many or more issues than the Offense today.  Giving up 34 points in a game isn't acceptable.  This game reminded me a bit of the total team meltdown we had in Chicago last year.  Also I have to give credit to the Lions.  They could be a scary good team if they don't shoot themselves in the foot.

On the plus side AP, the receivers, and Walsh looked good for the most part..  I'm not optimistic about next weeks game in Chicago, but I think we have a shot at going into the bye 2-2.

Bass Snatcher Catches Big Bass at B.A.S.S. Nation Northern Divisional

Chuck Steinbauer got yet more wood for the wall catching Big Bass of the tournament with this 3lb 8oz Lake Francis Case Smallie at the 2013 B.A.S.S. Nation Northern Divisional.  Chuck (31st Place) and Snatcher Dennis Lothspeich (27th Place) both helped Team MN take home the team title.  You can find all about the tournament here.

I'm Still Alive

Due mostly to car problems and hot weather I only got out fishing 3 days in August.  I just have been to lazy to blog about anything.  Hopefully I will get some more blogging done this week, maybe some fishing as well.  We'll see.

Cullen Chain Quick Report

The "Blind" Lake turned out to be the Cullen Chain.  I got a front row seat to Guy Henkensiefken's domination.  He won the last tournament on the chain back in 2011 and he won today and got Lunker/ Big Bass. He also caught a big dogfish.  I had another mediocre day on the water while my boater lit it up.  Once I got my limit I was happy.  I will have a full report after I get the official results.

"Blind Tournament" Tomorrow

What lake will we be fishing?  Find out at 6:30AM tomorrow.

I'm hoping it's on Pelican.

New Topwater Lures For Me

Another Stanley Phantom came up for bid on Ebay.  I snatched it up and I was the only bidder.  As you can see it's close to the same color I crushed them on earlier this year.  The new one has red gills and a black top and the black dot instead of black stripes, otherwise they are the same.  I'm going to just leave it in it's package for now.  It's always nice to have a back up lure.

I also picked up some Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg's.

Aug 3rd Bass Snatchers Rabbit Lakes Tournament

Weather: The day went back and forth between partly and mostly cloudy.  Wind was light in the morning building to about 10 MPH out of  the NW in the afternoon. Temps went up quickly from a cool morning into the low 70's.

The Day:  We started right around 7AM thanks to my boater Art showing up a bit late.  We got our starting spot, a reed point with boulders on the West lake, despite going out 9th.  The point didn't give us anything but about 15 minutes in as we headed back to the East I got 14.5" on a yellow Zoom Horny Toad out of the reeds.  I was awfully glad to have it, because I came into the tournament awfully pessimistic.  About 10 minutes later I caught one that was to small on the Horny Toad.  Eventually we pulled off of the reeds and slop and I got another dink that didn't measure on a black/blue Berkley Powerbait Crazy Legs Chigger Craw texas rigged with a 3/16oz tungsten weight.  Nothing else happened out there so we moved.

We went to the mouth of a slop bay and worked our way in.  In the pads I got a 15" fish on a Yellow Spro Frog.  I think that was the only fish we had hit in the slop.As we came out of the bay I think that is were Art got his first fish of the day.  Next we headed to a hump that Guy and I fished in my last tournament on Rabbit Lake.  Art just got done telling me "this didn't seem to be the deal" when I hooked into a quality 16.5" bass on the Chigger Craw.  Next at my suggestion we went to a weedline off of some docks that Guy showed me at the previous tournament. I cast into a clump of cabbage weeds that were on the edge of a weed point with the Chigger Craw.  I thought I was caught on some weeds but then my pole kept bending, so I set the hook.  It immediately jumped showing me it was a bass and it was a good one.  When I got it in I estimated it at 19.25".  I had to estimate it because Art ruler was only 17.5" in length.  Art guessed it was close to 5lbs and I said it was a 4 for sure.  It turned out to be 4lbs 4ozs and won me the Lunker/ Big Bass "wood".  Needless to say I was feeling much more positive about the day at this point.

As we worked our way East I spotted a stick in the cabbage on a reed edge and pulled a 15.25" off of it on the Chigger Craw.  Art got a fish off of some  pads with the wind blowing into them.  I missed a good bite in the reeds with wind blowing into them on a craw tube near our starting spot.  We ended up going to the far West end of the lake.  Art lost a good fish right away on a frog, then he caught a dink that was too small.  We worked around the bay.  I did have one hit in the slop, but it may have been a pike.  As we came to the mouth of the bay Art got one in the pads on a frog.  As we worked our way East I got my limit fish, a 14", on a Hack Attack Jig with a Chigger Craw trailer out of a pad edge that had wind blowing on it.  We got back to Guy's docks and I pulled a 13 incher that didn't help me off of a boat lift on the Hack Jig.  On the next dock I culled out the 14" with a 15" with the Hack Jig.  That was my last bite of the day.  We fished some more slop and Art missed some hits.

Results:  The guys really sacked them in this one.  My 14lbs 6ozs bag was only good enough for 13th Place.  Chuck Steinbauer won his 3rd tournament of the year and second in a row with 18/05.

Thoughts:  Huge thank you to Guy Henkensiefken for showing me the area/ spot where the big bass came out of.

We didn't fish in the East Lake at all.

Turns out Guy is my boater for the next tournament, which is a "blind" tournament where we won't find out what lake it's at until that morning.

July 21st Bass Snatcher Rush Lake (Ottertail) Tournament Report

I guess you could say after the last two tournaments I got depressed.  I didn't get around to writing this report until 2 weeks later after the guys gave me crap for it at the Rabbit Lakes tourny yesterday..  There is really not a whole lot to tell.  In the morning my boater Adam predicted it would take 20lbs to win.  We sped off to his starting spot, an off shore weedline.  Adam got 1 bass there on a craw tube I think.  On the second spot he got one on a jig.  We tried a bunch of different places for the next 5 hours only getting a couple of pike. Finally on the starting spot Adam connected with another bass.  I think we left and came back and Adam got 2 more bass.  We left and came back to finish the day on the spot.  With 5 minutes left before we had to go in  I was just about to say it didn't look good for me getting the skunk today, when I had a hit on my Crazy Leg Chigger Craw.  It was a 3.75lb bass, so I didn't get skunked.

Results:
My fish kept me out of last place but that was it.  I was 2nd to last place for the 2nd tournament in a row.  This time I finished in 26th Place.  Chuck Steinbauer won it with 20lbs even.  This was Chuck's 2nd victory of the season.  Big Bass was 5lbs even.

Thoughts:
I wish I had packed a 2nd Texas Rig Rod.  I finally got the fish after going down to a 3/16th oz weight and the Chigger Craw.  Would it have made a difference, who knows.

This tournament pretty much wrecks my season in terms of my end of the year standings.  I'm going to need 3 strong finishes to have any shot at  making the Top 10.

Rabbit Lakes Tournament Quick Report

Well today far exceeded my low expectations.  I caught a quality limit and got Big Bass with a 4.25lber.  I was reminded that I have yet to do my full report from Rush Lake two weeks ago.  I'll probably get on that tomorrow.  This is the 2nd time I have gotten the clubs Lunker Award.

I also won another Stanley Jigs Phantom on Ebay today.

Bass Snatchers Rabbit Lakes Preview

This will be my 2nd Tournament on Rabbit Lakes.  I fished an Excel Bass Tournament there in late June of 2004 and I fished with the Snatchers there in late July of 2010.  I don't know if those experiences are going to be of any benefit or not. I got out to fish with my boater Art for about 3 hours on Wednesday.  Art doesn't have good track record at the lake.  He also doesn't have a GPS, only an old Garmin fish finder.  I took him to 1 place we got fish on the West Lake and told him about 2 others.  We didn't get anything but panfish hits off the hump.  On the East Lake I took him to 1 weedline where we got fish in the last tournament.  I got 1 bite that I think was a bass and Art mostly retied from a bite off he had in the West lake.  Art didn't like fishing in the wind so we moved.  The next two places we went were spots we fished in the last tournament, but hadn't told Art about; He caught a nice keeper off of one of them.  We did see a couple of other of our guys catch fish.

Honestly my expectations for this tournament are at an all time low.  I just hope I can get a keeper.

I've got 3 rods rigged up with Frogs: A Spro, Horny Toad, and SnagProof Buzzbait
1 Jig Rod
2 Texas Rig Rods
1 Topwater/ chatterjig/ crankbait rod
1 Jig worm/ Dock  

Using Cull Tags The Right Way

I did not know this, now I do.

Vikings Started Camp Today!

I Hardly Knew Ye

Good thing I got this photo of that Stanley Phantom in a jumpin bullhead, because this was one of two it hooked.  The second one dived into the rocks and broke my line.  Total freak occurrence.  I don't know maybe a pike tried to take it out of the bass' mouth.  All I know is I had a pretty good bass on, it dove hard into the rocks and then my line broke while it was pulling hard.  I thought maybe the Speed Clip came off, but my line was broken.  The bass never tried to throw the lure, maybe it got eaten by a big pike, who knows.

I also got a small toothy bullhead on the purple/yellow Phantom.  I got this silver bullhead on a Chigger Craw.

10.5"

 I also got an 8.5" jumper on the Chigger Craw.

I missed two hits at the Culvert and didn't get anything at Jenny's..

 I fished from 5:50AM to 8:20AM

My Thoughts On Rush Lake(Ottertail)

Tomorrow is our 3rd Baxter Bass Snatcher Tournament of the year.  The club has only fished the lake twice and the last time was 10 years ago.  The lake then kicked out 19lb bags to win, but not many limits.  From what I saw in my pre-fish the bass fishing has improved on the lake.  I am not totally sure of how my boater Adam plans to fish this one.  I'm not sure he knows.  He has only fished one tournament and only got 1 fish in that one.  He pre-fished the lake a couple of weeks ago and did catch some fish.  Basically I am setting up to go heavy for the reeds, but I think Adam is thinking weedlines.

Here are the Rods I'm Bringing
7'10" H Jig
7'6" H Jig
7'3" H Hollow Body Frog
7'3" MH Horny Toad
7'3" MH Spinnerbait, Buzzbait, Dippers
7' H Texas Rigged Craw Tubes or Big Worms
6'8" M Topwater, Chatterjigs, Crankbaits
5'6" Spinning Dock Rod

If I get a limit, I'll be happy.

My New Stanley's Jigs Phantom's Catch Fish

Here are two of my 3 new Stanley Phantom's that I won on Ebay.  The other one is bone color, which I already have one of, so I left it in it's package and put it with my extra's in the Tackle Warehouse.  I didn't have to wait long and I was pulling in a bullhead, toothy bullhead that is.

I switched to the purple/yellow one and threw it under the bridge.  I missed the first fish that hit it, but on the same cast I  had this fish crush it.

16.5"

I also got a 16" and 12" under the bridge on a Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.  I got a 15" bass on a black Horny Toad at the Culvert.

I fished from 6:15AM to 8:15AM.  I did miss a couple hits on the Craw Tube at the GOMH as well.

I Saw This On Facebook

For a while now I have been thinking about doing a post on fish pictures and this picture gave me the perfect opportunity.  If you are familiar with my pictures with fish you can tell I prefer a picture with a fish and me in it, to just taking a picture of the fish.  The same goes for other peoples fish pictures.  So do you prefer to see just a fish or the fish with a person?

Black & Decker Tackle Wrecker Strikes Again

I was pre-fishing for my next tournament on Rush Lake near Ottertail when I had a big dogfish hit my Aruku Shad.  Can you tell?  Can't say I've ever caught a bowfin on a rattlebait before.  It was raining so I didn't get a picture of the fish.  I would say it was about 26.5 inches long.  It put up a tremendous fight and got all tangled in the net.

It was raining so I didn't get a picture.

Big Bass & Breaking in My New St. Croix 7' H

20" Mad Maxx Frog

All it takes is one bite to turn an extremely mediocre morning into a great one.  Today I got that bite.  She hit the "Big Sexy" and fortunately didn't take me into the pads like it could have.  She was barely hooked.

To that point in the morning, a good hour and a half into fishing, I missed a jumper and a toothy on the Stanley Phantom and got one 14.5" jumper on a watermelon/red Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.

In the picture you can see my new and vastly improved St. Croix Avid 7' Heavy.  It's lighter than the previous rod and actually loads a little bit when I cast, which the previous rod that was a total broomstick did not really do.  Casting distance is improved and I can now  use it for pitching, which the previous rod didn't do well at all.  It's not quite as powerful as the previous rod, but I'll take that trade off as it still has plenty of power.  I also think it's gonna be quite a bit more sensitive, but I really didn't get enough bites to gauge that very well.  Overall I'm very impressed.

Note- My previous Avid 7' Heavy was a pre-IPC technology rod.

That was all I got at the Grumpy Old Man Hole this morning.  I got a couple of nice fish (16",15") on the Horny Toad at the Culvert and got a total dink at the Inlet on Sullivan on a black/blue Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.  That was it.  I fished from 5:45 to 9AM.  Quite a change from the past two morning where I caught a bunch of small fish.

Yesterday Morning
2 Days Ago

101 Bass On the Stanley Phantom This Year!!!

106 fish total when you count the pike.  Most of them came on this color, but I've got a few on the white one and bone color as well.  I've been watching for them on Ebay, but none have come up.  I wish I would have put them on my saved searches years ago.  I've been keeping an eye on Spooks and  I think I may have found them under another companies name that sold them for the saltwater market.  That would explain the saltwater hooks. I think that company changed the way they made them, then went out of business.

BAM! I just did an Ebay search under Stanley Jigs and it turned up 3 of them.  Two in colors I've never seen.  The Bait Monkey was all over it.

They Missed Me!

After not getting out for more than a week I headed to the GOMH this morning, arriving just after 6AM.  I put on the Stanley Phantom and got a bite on my first cast.  I was a little rusty and he got off in the lily pads.  Not to worry I got a fish on my next cast as well.

 I pretty much crushed them on the Phantom getting 10 jumpin bullheads and 1 toothy bullhead before they finally stopped.  The biggest jumper was this 15.25"

I got a couple of small ones on a Horny Toad and 4 small one's on a Zoom Super Fluke and 1 small one on a Craw Tube.  I then moved to the SW side.  I got a 14.25" on the Horny Toad, a 15.5, my biggest fish of the morning, and another 11.5 dink on the Craw Tube.

I then went to the culvert and got a 12.5 and 2x 15"'s on the Horny Toad.  I was done at 8:20AM

23 Bass
1 Pike
Biggest 6 bass
15.5", 15.25", 15", 15",15",14.75"

Power Pole Micro Anchor Has Me Interested

This won Best In Show at ICAST.  How much are they gonna cost?


Answer: $595 Retail and I'm not sure if that is with the spike included.  That's a bit steep for my blood at the moment.

Fishing Forward Marshal's For KVD

He also Marshaled for Duckett and Williamson at the recently completed Elite Series tournament out of La Crosse WI.  He did an excellent write up with good pictures. Go check it out.

Derby Has A New Big Bass Leader

Check out what's going on at the Derby.  I'll be adding new fish the next few days.

Retiring A "Big Sexy".

Last night after getting the 19.25" and 14.75" on this "Big Sexy", it turned into a sinker. So today I retired it after 4 years and probably 25 plus fish.  It caught me some nice one's over those years.  Thanks for the memories.

I had a fish smash the "Big Sexy" I replaced it with in the same spot I got the big one last night.  I didn't hook it and I had another fish swirl on it, but not hit it.

Derby Fish For Me Tonight

She choked it!

Not one good photo.  I hit the micro button

Tonight I got this 19.25" slob at the Culvert.  That will put me over 20lbs in the Derby.  For some reason I decided to throw the Tru Tungsten Mad Maxx frog first and I was rewarded with that choice. I got a dink pike on the Hack Jig and had 14" or so bass jump me off.  I got a 15" or so jumpin bullhead at the GOMH on the Mad Maxx;  It now sinks pretty quickly, so I'm going to retire it.  I missed a couple of hits on the Mad Maxx as well.  John and his daughter were at the GOMH and got at least 4 jumpers.  A couple of teenagers were fishing at the GOMH as well.  He had a small jumper and golden bullhead in his pail.

This Mornings Sunrise

I also fished at the GOMH in the morning. I got 3 small jumpers on the Frenzy Popper and missed a couple as well.  A couple small jumpers on the Fluke and a 15.5" on the Mad Maxx.  I also fished at the Culvert and Inlet but didn't get anything.

Kramer Gone Fishing Writes About The Frenzy Popper

The curious case of the Frenzy Popper

(click on the link to read the story George wrote)
Ah yes the Berkley Frenzy Popper.  A lure that kind of fell out of favor with me the last couple of years.  I only got 6 bass on them in 2012 and only 4 on them in 2011.  This year I've already got 20 fish on them and I would probably have a lot more if the Stanley Phantom wasn't catching them so well this year.  Go read George's piece.

My 1st Broken Rod Post

I didn't realize I only published this at the Fishing Log Blog, not here at mother ship blog.

I wrote this on 6-26-13

Kind of had a feeling this might happen thanks to my cat climbing were it shouldn't have been. He shut the Explorers rear window on it and 2 others. I'm hoping the heavy rod makes it through the season at least. The good thing is they were all St. Croix Avid's, so I can replace them with a new rod at more than 50% off what a new one costs. I'll have this rods replacement before my next tournament.

17.5"

I had caught this jumpin' bullhead, my best of the morning, and 10 others on it between this morning and my last two outings before the rod cracked and broke in two. 

 It was a good morning of fishing.  I hit the GOMH, the PRO Culvert, and the inlet getting fish at each and missing a bunch as well. I arrived at the GOMH at 5:50AM.  I started off getting them on topwater on a Lucky Craft Kelly J (12.5"), a Frenzy Popper (2x14", 15") and the Stanley Phantom (2x13", 3x14", 15", 16" and two little toothy bullheads).  Then I got them on the Fluke until the rod broke (2x14", 17.5",11.75" and a small toothy bullhead).  I got 1 (14") and yet another small toothy on a Chigger Craw.  I left to go to the culvert around 9AM.

There I missed my first several hits on a Horny Toad before finally getting a 13", I also got 1 (14") on a Chigger Craw and 1 (14") on a Subwart in the culvert.

I then headed to the Inlet and missed two good fish on the Grass Pig before connecting with a 15.5".  That was my last fish of the morning.  I quit at 11AM.

Best 6 Fish
17.5", 16", 15.5", 15", 15" and 14.25"
20 bass Total and 4 Pike

Broke The Heavy

Well looks like I'm replacing all 3 rods.  I broke the 7' Heavy St. Croix rod fighting a little northern that got down in the weeds.  The rod cracked and broke in two.

Here is the window the cat tried to climb out on resulting on the widow shutting on the 3 rods.

Unfortunately I caught the cat instead of the window. I was really hoping the Heavy St. Croix would make it.  I'm glad I found out now, so I can have the rod back by my next tournament.

Fishing sucked. I didn't get anything at the culvert, and the "new new juice" had two guys fishing it.  They were keeping some jumpin bullheads and letting some go. They were also getting some orange bullheads.  I got 2 jumpers on the SW side and that toothy that I broke the rod on.  I fished from 10AM to 11:45AM.

Great Point By Kumar on Palaniuk DQ

If I'm Rapala – a MN company – I'm going to chew out MN's head of fisheries because my guy missed out on potentially millions of dollars worth of exposure due to a rule that should've died round about the time T Rex did. Sheesh.

Mission Lake Full Tournament Recap Up

I'm not even gonna bother posting it here, my day was so poor.   Mission Lakes has my number.

You can read about it if you want over at Bass Pundit's Tourny HQ.  It might be of interest to some because I fished with the tournament winner.

Apology To Brandon Palaniuk On His Disqualification

PHOTO: B.A.S.S./SEIGO SAITO

Brandon I am so sorry that my state and it's idiotic rules on culling on the Mississippi River caused you to be DQ'ed from the Mississippi River Rumble.  I know it was a tough one to swallow as it looked like you were on your way to winning and getting to the Bassmaster Classic next year.  Minnesota and it's rules and regulations regarding bass fishing are a never ending source frustration for me.  Unfortunately I don't see things changing, but who knows maybe some good will come out of this.  Our state just got a huge black eye.

I encourage everyone reading this to send the MN DNR an Email voicing your displeasure. info@dnr.state.mn.us

Updated: MN finally got rid of the no culling rule for the 2017 Season