What Are Your Priorities In Fishing?

This Facebook status update from the guys at 5X3 Nation caught my eye.  I thought now that would make for a good blog post.  The 5X3 list is all about tournament fishing, while my list is not exclusively about tournaments.

My Priories In Fishing Are...

1. To Catch Fish-  Make no mistake, when I go fishing I am going to try my darndest to catch as big and as many fish as I can, whether I am fishing in a tournament or not.  (This coincide's with #5 on the 5X3 list.)

2. To Have Fun- Tournament or not my #2 priority when I fish is to have fun and to me catching fish is fun.  (See priority #1)

3. To Enjoy God's creation, cause if the fish aren't biting what else is there to do?

4.  To test my skills.  Mostly against myself, but also against others. That is a big reason why I like fishing in tournaments.

5. To have something to report here or at the Bass Pundit Fishing Log Blog.

6. To experiment with and buy new tackle.  Minnesocold winters are long and the bait monkey's on my back big time at this time of the year.

7. The brotherhood and camaraderie.  I like fishing with other people some of the time, but I also like the peace and tranquility of just me, the fish, and God.  However, my time spent on Facebook and on message boards revolves a lot around this aspect.

8. To make a little money.  Yeah right!  I'm not in it for the money.  But I did win the Baxter Bass Snatcher "Lunker" pot on Rabbit Lake last year, so I won my club dues back.  So there's that.

I Don't Think So Dude!

BassFan.com published an opinion piece by some dude named Steve Chaconas who uses the Nate Wellman scandal as a pretext to make the suggestion that the Bassmaster Classic should be an Elite Series Angler only tournament.

Here is his thesis in a nutshell:
But an even stronger argument that the Bassmaster trail is off track remains. The case is made for only Elite Series anglers to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic. Allowing anglers to qualify for the sport's biggest championship from lower-level competitions only opens the door for desperation and dishonesty.

No winners of the Opens, no collegiate champion, no Federation Nation anglers, no Bassmaster Weekend Series champion. Only Elite Series anglers should be in the “Big Game."
In my opinion this is nothing but crazy talk. I don't know about the collegiate champions, winners of the Opens, and Bassmaster Weekend Series champion, but if B.A.S.S. were to take the Federation Nation anglers out of the Classic than I as a fan would be done with the Classic. No blogging about it. No caring about it. This is something I have already done with the sport of professional baseball and hockey.

As far as I'm concerned it's the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society with it's Federations that built the foundation of the sport of bass fishing and the Bassmaster Classic so it could grow into what it has become today. Cutting out the grassroots tradition of participation in the Bassmaster Classic would be a monumental mistake. I highly doubt the new owners of B.A.S.S. would even entertain the idea and Elite Series Pro's would be cutting off their nose to spite their face to suggest such a thing. However K-Pink on Facebook seems to endorse the idea. I think less of Kevin Short now than I already did and he already wasn't one of my favorite pro's to begin with because he has put his foot in his mouth in the past.

As for the Chaconas contention that "Allowing anglers to qualify for the sport's biggest championship from lower-level competitions only opens the door for desperation and dishonesty." I think the desperation part is in the equation if it is Elite Series Pro's only. There certainly have been a fair share of unfortunate instances of lack of sportsmanship in the Elite Series over the years.

The only area where I think he has a point is where it comes to dishonesty. The more people you exclude and the more you put that smaller group under the microscope the less likely you are to have people try and cut corners because they simply wouldn't be able to get away with it. But I don't think the trade off is worth sacrificing something that makes this sport go round. The Bassmater trail is not "off track"; However, implementing Steve Chaconas ideas would do just that.

OK Skeet, Whatever!!!

“These younger guys don’t have that sportsmanship etiquette yet,” Elite Series veteran Skeet Reese said. “They are making some bad decisions. Unfortunately, that’s part of being young...

“Anybody who fished where Denny fished that first day is out of there,” said Reese, the 2009 Bassmaster Classic champion. “I’ve turned my boat around many times when I pulled in an area where there was somebody who was leading the tournament.

“It’s not very often that an angler is in position to win, so when you have somebody that’s in that position, you don’t hurt his chances."

That was words of wisdom from Skeet Reese just a couple of days ago in regards to Jonathon Van Dam. However, today we find out that Skeet is doing almost the exact same thing he trashed JVD over.

I guess when a shot at the Classic is on the line, the unwritten rules go out the window for the veterans.

True Story- "It Could Have Been Me"*

This video reminds me of an accident I had back in 2001. I lived in Champlin MN at the time (NW of MPLS outer suburb) and was a member of the Vikings Bassmasters. Our last club tournament of the year was in August out at the Horseshoe Chain which is 20 miles SW of St. Cloud. A bunch of us stayed at one of the guy's homes out by Maple Lake to get us closer for the morning drive. This club liked to start it's tournaments right away at safe light so our convoy of 3 trucks with boats and me in my truck traveled in the dark. I brought up the rear. From the route we took the entrance to the Public Access was towards the bottom of a fairly long hill. Because of the incline, I could see up to the two lead trucks tail lights as they slowed and prepared to turn and I was watching for where they would turn. I didn't know it but they went past the access. The truck and boat in front of me knew where the turn was and because of oncoming traffic they had to stop before they could turn; As that I wasn't watching his tail lights I didn't know he was coming to a stop until it was too late.

When I did realize he was slowing down to a stop I had to slam on my breaks but my momentum and the distance was such that I slammed pretty hard into Mike Jacobson's (Guy who works at Vados Bait Store) motor. Steam went flying up and his boat surged forward pretty good. The bow stop and winch pole broke, but thank God the tow straps held. After a quick inspection, we drove the vehicles into the public access parking lot to get a better look. It was still sort of dark out so we had to use flashlights to start until it got lighter. Mike's boat and motor didn't look to be in too bad of shape, but the front of my truck, a Ford Ranger, was smashed in pretty good.

We decided there was nothing more we could do, so we launched all the boats and went fishing. I was a mess for most of the morning and it was the hardest time I've ever had concentrating on fishing during a tournament. I just felt terrible about what happened and all I could think was things were gonna work out for the worst. It was such an adrenaline rush that I was shaking even a couple of hours later. My partner that day was great and eventually got me settled down and focused on the fishing. My partner won the tournament catching several pigs and easily sealed up the club AOY. Towards the end of the day when I settled down, I managed to put a couple of nice fish in the boat, but I didn't get a limit. I can't remember if I still was able to qualify for the State Team as an alternative or not, but with the accident and anticipated repair bills that was out of the question.

I thought for sure I poked a hole in my radiator and was going to have to get towed, but after the tournament was over we would find out that wasn't the case. I was able to drive without any problems up to my parent's cabin on Sullivan Lake and Dad was able to fix my truck at the pole barn at the property where I live now. I also thought for sure I did major damage to Mike's expensive bass boat and motor and figured my insurance rates were going to skyrocket. As it turned out the damage was minor enough that I just paid a bit over a hundred out of pocket and we didn't need to involve the insurance companies at all.

Even though it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, it still sucked!

* "It Could Have Been Me" is a song by the band The Call on their Into the Woods album

Now that I think about it this story could have qualified for the Outdoor Blogger Network writing prompt "Damaged Goods" This was by far my biggest fishing train wreck ever.

Also Read: My Biggest Fishing Train Wrecks
My Biggest Fishing Train Wrecks Pt. 2

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.

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

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."

"What makes a Professional Tournament Bass Angler?"

"What makes a Professional Tournament Bass Angler?" is the question asked in a post by bass fishing blogger Steve Adams. Steve has a bug stuck in his craw over the current state of affairs.

This is how he starts:
I would love to see ALL circuits that have a “Pro” category regulate who fishes as a pro! I can’t go buy a Jersey & a Baseball bat and walk on the professional Baseball field and say; “I’m a Pro”! Or ANY other professional sport for that matter! Neither should a guy be able to do that at a Bass fishing tournament event just because he has a boat and entry fee!!! They should have to QUALIFY!!!

On the Facebook page of Tami Curtis he goes so far as to say:
The EXACT problem, from a marketing perspective is that anyone can call themselves a professional. It Illegitimatizes the sport.

In his blog post Steve raises some legitimate questions in terms of the bona fides of some who don the mantle of Professional Tournament Bass Fisherman, but I think he fails to appreciate something that I understand quite clearly about this sport. The ranks of "Professional Tournament Bass Anglers" are largely made up of people that can most accurately be described as Semiprofessional Tournament Bass Anglers.

Semiprofessional is an adjective defined as "engaging in an activity for pay or gain but not as a full-time occupation." Clearly this definition fits most of the people who don the mantle of Bass Fishing Pro. All but a select few of the Professional Bass Fishing circuits are geared to the semiprofessional with maybe a few true Full-Time Professional Bass Fisherman sprinkled in the mix. Once you understand this, there is nothing illegitimate about it.

Now I think we in some sense get to the heart of Steve's, who is a Co-Angler, complaint when he says:
It really SUCKS sometimes for those of us who fish as amateurs, pay good $$ to enter, travel, multiple practice days, etc. Then get paired with someone who SHOULD NOT be fishing as a Pro!

Some Bass Pro's are obviously more dedicated and serious than others. This is a sport where money talks and if you have it you can spend it and be "Pro" competitor. The more serious and dedicated Pro's are more than happy to take the donations of those that have the money and don't take it very seriously. Co-Anglers get to play the exact same game to one extent or another but they have to deal with the variable out of their control, which is luck of the draw. I would venture to say that most Pro's take it seriously, but some are just more dedicated, skilled, and experienced than others. If you choose to be a Co-Angler you are always at the mercy of the draw, deal with it.

Update: Steve Adams left a reply to my post in his comments section.

In the key paragraph there he says:
No, I do appreciate and understand that quite clearly. You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT in your description of “Semiprofessional” and just made my case even stronger with additional clarification of “the current state of affairs”. That IS the problem! The tournaments I’m larger referring to are “Pro/Am’s”. They are not called “SemiPro/Ams”
Yes, they don't call them "SemiPro/Ams", but that is exactly what they are. The FLW Tour is probably the only example of a Pro/Am where most of the Pro's are not Semi-Pro's. The B.A.S.S. Opens and FLW Everstarts are full of Semipro's that want to make it to the true Pro Tour level, which is the Elite Series and the FLW Tour. I think the PAA qualifies as a true Pro Level Tour as well, but I'm not sure if the PAA has a "farm system."

Sweet!!!

Wired2Fish blog has an excellent essay entitled Who Are We A Fishing Mantra

If you love fishing, you love tackle. The rods and the reels. The line and the lures. The tackle and subsequent organization and preparation help us cure the cabin fever that sets in when we can’t be on the water for extended periods of time. They’re matchbox cars, Star Wars action figures and comic books for us as grown-ups.

Go read it all!!!

The Bass Slam, BP Don't Give A Da Ham!!!

BASS Slam: The Angler's Ultimate Challenge

Yeah, Yeah, I'm a bit behind the times as Bassmaster Magazine issued their Bass Slam challenge in the July/August Issue of 2009. Were any of my blog readers inspired to take up the Challenge or put getting the Bass Slam on the "bucket list"?

Me I could care less. I am just not an adventurous person and life lists are not my thing. I'm perfectly content to spend my life pursuing the green and brown fish in the near abroad of Minnesocold and maybe Cheesehead Land. Honestly, it probably wouldn't bother me or bore me very much if all I could fish was a single small lake, if it had a good population of bass that allowed me to utilize various presentations.

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...

My Thoughts On Six Idea's

BassFan Editor-In-Chief Jon Storm wrote an Op-Ed entitled "Upon the Cliff" where he threw out 6 ideas that he would like to see implemented by the new management at BASS and FLW.

Here are the 6 ideas and my thoughts.

1. The sport needs a unifying championship to survive. Period.

I guess a unifying championship would be OK, but I don't think it's something that is vital. Also I wonder exactly what Storm has in mind as there is a lot of different ways you can go with this. It isn't clear to me what a unifying championship would look like.

2. The sport needs a joint conservation, youth and legislative body to take on the antis and polluters. We must ensure there are players and a playing field for the sport in the future.

I view this one as another nice, but not necessary. It is not clear to me that having one big centralized initiative is better than having a diverse coalition of smaller initiatives of varying sizes.

3. Tours should be exclusive, not inclusive. Billy Joe shouldn't get to fish against Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese or Brent Ehrler just because he's got a trust fund or a gas well in his backyard. Make it tough to get on a tour and demand a multiyear performance level to stay there.

On this one I think there are Pro's and Con's for both approaches. Obviously the Elite Series is more exclusive and the FLW Tour is more inclusive. I think there is room for both models.

4. The sport needs to ditch its focus on 1st-place payout and balance the payout down the field. Once you pay your dues to reach a tour, it should be a profitable or break-even venture to stay there. And fans simply don't care how much a pro athlete wins at an event.

I tend to agree with this point as I think it's something that will make the sport more sustainable for those trying to live the dream.

5. Outlaw made-for-TV events and formats, like the BASS post-season or the FLW Tour cut to the Top 5.

Obviously there are serious flaws with the BASS post-season that need to be addressed and scrapping the thing wholesale might be the answer. As far as the FLW cut to 5, I'm not really sure why he singled this out. Cut to 5, Cut to 10, Cut to 12 whatever cutting the field down makes sense to me.

6. Distribute house money fairly. As BASS stabilizes, it should use sponsor money to cut entry fees first, boost purses second. Same for the FLW Tour. But also, performance should dictate who gets FLW sponsor-team deals, not who you know, what you look like or which boat you drive. And FLW team money should go to tour pros only, not co-anglers.

I was right with this one until he advocated cutting out the Co-Anglers. As I've made clear on many occasions, I believe Co-Anglers are good for the sport. I think it is a feature that bass fishing has an avenue open for fans to fish with the Pro's while in serious competition. I think Co-Anglers should have a shot at incentives and a piece of the pie. This kind of gets to one of the Cons about making the sport more exclusive. I think as you make professional bass fishing more exclusive you limit the overall outreach potential of the sport. Kevin Van Dam can only be in one place at a time. More people are on the radar screen when you have an army of Tami Curtis's, Chris Ricci's, Matt Peters and Ashley Rae's. I certainly think more can be done to promote Co-Anglers and to get Co-Anglers out promoting themselves and the sport.

Mike Hart Cheating Scandal- My Thoughts

I am not really sure if I even have a dog in this fight. On the one hand I have and do fish bass tournaments, but on the other hand I never have been very serious about it in terms of monetary investment and probably never will get to that point, so basically there is no chance that I have or will get swindled personally. Whether I have a dog or not here are my thoughts.

I think this guy Mike Hart as a bass fisherman is the worst kind of cheater you can get and is total scum for it. Not only was he into ripping off people but he did it in such a way that I think was harmful and cruel to the fish. And while I don't know the science, I would suspect stuffing ounces of lead into the bellies of bass who could possibly go on to survive for long periods of time with the lead in their belly after the deed would create a lead poisoning risk for humans who might eat the fish. I hope he gets charged for environmental damages beyond the obvious fraud involved.

My second thought on the matter is that I am pretty sure this was not the first time he has commited the fraud. Those weights looked to be specifically made for the purpose by which they were used and the system was so slick that a the Co-Angler in the boat wouldn't and didn't even notice anything suspicious. On bass fishing message boards I have seen it documented that this guy has won thousands upon thousands of dollars in tournaments over the past several years and from what I understand he has been a highly successful tournament fisherman for more than a decade. I think all of that "success" gets called into question. I think he needs to come clean about the scope of his cheating and should at a minimum pay back entry fees of all the anglers he has defrauded over the years. Short of that I hope there is enough grounds and legal standing for civil liability to force the issue if he isn't forthcoming.

My final thought is that Mike Hart seems to have been a very very good fishermen seemingly without "the need" to cheat to do well for himself. The cheating on top of that, however, would often be enough to push him over the top from an OK finish, right into where the big money comes into play because of the way tournament dollars are allocated in a top heavy manor. This gets us back to my second point in that I think he owes a lot of people their money back. I don't know Mike Hart's financial situation but I hope he can afford to be "generous" in his contrition. If not, bankruptcy isn't too large a price. You have to feel for his wife and family, but that is true for all innocent familial relations of criminals.

Minnesota Closed Bass Season, More Thoughts

As happens at this time every year there is a lot of chatter on Minnesocold fishing forums about our closed season for bass. Guys are upset that they see people out fishing for bass when they shouldn't be. And guys like me are upset that catch and release bass fishing is against the law to begin with. And yet other guys are quite happy with the way things are and don't want to see any change at all.

Fishingminnesota.com/hotspotoutdoors.com has an interesting thread this year discussing the closed season entitled "Bare with me" The guy who started the thread tends to favor keeping the status quo.

The question is asked:

Do you feel that there is a connection between our great fishing and having a closed season.. or is it more a matter of us having more water and less pressure than other states..


Personally I don't see a connection between great fishing and a closed season or even great fishing and less pressure. In Minnesota we are blessed with lots of water that features ideal habitat for bass and thus we have a robust bass fishery. If you look around a little you see that bodies of water like Kentucky Lake or Gunterville that have absolutely phenomenal bass fishing that is arguably far better than anything Minnesota can offer and they are bodies of water that have no closed season and have tremendous fishing pressure applied to them. What do Kentucky Lake and Guntersville have that allows those fisheries to be so good? The simple answer is good habitat for bass. If you have the good habitat, and we do, than nothing else matters because bass are a prolific species. I think this conclusion is pretty clear cut.

Towards what is currently the end of the thread someone floats the idea that Minnesocold should have a special early season bass catch and release stamp that people can buy that would allow them to pursue bass pretty much any time they want. I am 100% for the idea and would be willing to pay a significant amount of money for such a stamp. As it stands right now, I could care less if someone is fishing for bass in the closed season because I think it is a lousy law and I don't think any real harm is done. Put a price on it and allow catch and release fishing, then I would care about people fishing bass if they didn't pay for the privilege. I'm funny like that.

That's A Lot of Accidents!!!

Minnesota has a closed season for largemouth and smallmouth bass and according to MN fishing regulations "You may not intentionally fish for any species during it's closed season." As you may know I hold this law in contempt.

Updated to add: The actual rule/law is 6262.0100 GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON TAKING FISH Subp. 5.B Possession of fish while on state waters, which says:

"A person shall not angle for, including catch-and-release, or reduce to possession any species during its closed season."

Anyway I had a thought the other day, that touches on this issue.

I wonder just how many bass are caught in Minnesota by accident before the bass season opens? I think the number is probably is probably well over 100,000 and could conceivably be more than a million bass getting caught accidentally in the closed season.

The question then occurred to me, when something becomes a frequent occurrence at what point does it stop becoming an "accident" and instead enter the realm of being an expectation?

I think it is not so much an accident but instead is more of an expectation that out of season bass will be caught while fishing for panfish in the Spring. For instance when I fish at the GOMH for crappies I would be shocked if some bass were not mixed in with the crappies; It is the nature of the location both species are there schooled together. Growing up fishing for crappies on Sylvia/Twin lake in Wright County it was the exact same thing. You never knew if the next bite was a bass, crappie, or sunfish. I am sure there probably are places where you do not have such intense intermingling of species such as these examples. For instance the North end of West Rush Lake in Chisago County comes to mind. For some reason the panfish load in thick on that North end, but bass not so much.

If it can be established that it is an expectation that closed season bass will be caught by people after panfish than it is an awfully thin line that separates legal fishing from the illegal fishing of intentionally fishing for a species during it's closed season. If there is an expectation of something happening, than I would say there IS an intention to see that thing happen if you are engaging in the activity that brings the expectation. When you intentionally go fishing for bass there is always the expectation that you will catch them, whether you do or not.

Is it really possible to have an expectation about catching fish, without the intent too?

Bassmaster Classic: The Dream That Never Was

During this past Bassmaster Classic week I heard several different fishermen from Federation anglers to Elite Series pro's express the notion that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic was a lifetime "dream come true." A couple of times I heard it said that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic is the dream of all tournament bass fisherman. I must be an odd case then, because I can't say that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic has ever been one of my aspirations.

Growing up my family had a cabin on Lake Sylvia/Twin (now East & West Sylvia) near Annandale in Wright County Minnesota, which is about an hour and a half NW of Minneapolis; The two lakes are prolific largemouth bass fisheries. I was taught to fish at a very early age by my Dad, Grandmother Maas, and my Mom. Dad was my main fishing tutor and while he liked to fish, he was not overly serious about the sport, more of a casual weekend warrior type. Dad was much more serious about cars and Ham radio. Our fishing boat was late 1960's 14 ft Alumacraft with bench seats and a 5.5 horse Johnson motor. We also had a pontoon boat we would use for fishing. However, most of my early fishing was done off of our or our neighbors docks.

Of my 3 brothers and me, I was basically the only one to be badly afflicted with the fishing bug. I have just always loved to fish and we were up at the cabin frequently in the summer, so I got to go fishing often and as I grew older my love for fishing just grew and grew. My first exposure to fishing outside my family came from TV shows by Virgil Ward, Roland Martin, and Bill Dance. My first exposure to the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society probably came from commercials while watching fishing shows, but I also distinctly remember looking at Bassmaster Magazine at the Barber Shop in Annandale when I was probably around 8 years old. I remember thinking B.A.S.S. was the coolest thing and I wanted to join, but my parents didn't pursue it for me. I don't know when I was first made aware of tournament bass fishing, but I don't think it was until I was a teenager that I ever heard about the Bassmaster Classic and the information I heard about it was pretty scant. When it came to fishing I was much more interested in learning how to catch fish than I was interested in hearing about tournaments.

It wasn't until I was out of college and in my early twenties that I gave much thought to tournament bass fishing. In the 90's Lake Minnetonka used to be the site of a prestigious bass tournament called the Don Shelby US Invitational that drew in some of the big names of B.A.S.S.. The "Shelby" had a $50,000 top prize, which was big for those days. I was just astonished by how big a sack of bass it took to do well in that tournament. Sylvia/Twin is a peanut factory where 3lb and up fish are rare, and these guys were bringing in sacks with close to or over a 4lb average per fish. Also for the first time in my life I had cable TV and so I could watch the Bassmasters TV Show and I think I joined B.A.S.S. in 1993. In 1995 I went to see my first weigh-in ever at the Bassmaster Top 100 that was held on Lake Minnetonka.

I did not fish in my first bass tournament until 2 years later in 1997 when I was 27 years old; That summer I fished as a non-boater in 2 Military Bass Angler (now ABA) tournaments at Clearwater Lake in Wright County. I got skunked in my first tournament but did manage to catch a couple of fish on my second try. Looking back at it now, I had very little clue as to what I was getting myself into when I fished those tournaments. But despite the poor results I did enjoy myself and wasn't all that discouraged. In 1998 I joined The Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) which is just a fishing club, not a bass fishing club. It was not until I was 31 when I started fishing bass tournaments with any seriousness.

I think because I wasn't brought up with it and didn't start tournament fishing until well into adulthood is probably why the Bassmasters Classic for me is the dream that never was.

True Bass Fishing Confession

I don't think I have ever fished bass in such a way where I have intentionally attempted to duplicate a specific pattern to the exclusion of missing all other fishing opportunities. I think it is true that every time you go fishing whatever you are doing equates to trying one kind of pattern or another. It is pretty much impossible at all times to not be fishing some sort of pattern, but zeroing in on one thing and then attempting to replicate that one specific thing in different areas of a lake over and over again while doing pretty much nothing else is not something I have really never done. This could be a function of fishing mostly relatively small natural lakes in boats with relatively low horsepower. The closest I have come to the type of pattern fishing I am alluding to is rock pile hoping on Mille Lacs lake for smallmouth bass. But the rock pile hoping is more like a random act than it is a deliberate attempt to duplicate something specific. Maybe if I was more intentional about getting intimate with the features of all the various rockpiles it could evolve into a narrowing down to something specific, but I see little point in doing that level of due diligence.

It seems to me that the features of the natural lakes that I fish just don't lend themselves very much to the duplicating a pattern approach to fishing. I suppose the main exceptions to that theory would most likely be bed fishing, docks, inside weedlines, outside weedlines, flats, weed type and slop; These would be the most common features that one could replicate.

If I were to just go out and target bedded bass that would be hitting on a single specific thing, but I can't say I've ever done this or really plan to take this approach. If I come across a bed I will fish it, but to just go bed hunting isn't something I see myself doing.

Fishing every dock you come across isn't really replicating anything beyond the basic fact that you are hitting dock after dock. That approach is just as random as it is deliberate. When fishing docks I don't think it wise to fish only docks with boat lifts or only the docks with this or that. I just hit the docks as they come.

Inside and outside weedlines, and flats combined with a certain weed type or types probably present some of the best opportunities in natural lakes to replicate something specific. Maybe this year I should try it and see if it works out.

"Lightning While Fishing"

"Lightning while Fishing" is the title of a thread on FishingMinnesota.com. The thread contains the common stories of rods buzzing, shocks off the rod, line floating and hair standing on end as a storm approaches. Several commentators advise extreme caution advocating getting off the water at any sign of lightening and thunder. If you have seen this discussion once you have heard it a hundred times.

If you are a dedicated fishermen then storms with lightning are an annoying fact of life. Wouldn't it be grand if storms had no lightening and high winds to be wary of! But the fact of the matter is storms often do contain these dangers and we need to be wary. But how wary should we be?

Certainly anytime lightning is within 10 miles of you there is an element of danger. However I also think it is true that the chances of getting hit are pretty remote. A quick Google search turns up not a single instance of a fisherman in Minnesota being struck or killed by lightning. I think it is probably true that ever summer there are many thousands maybe even millions of instances of fishermen in Minnesota that are within 10 miles of lightning.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this but many times I have pushed my luck on the water. I can't say that I have ever had the experience of my rod buzzing and giving me shocks or having my line float, but I definitely have been caught out in a storm or have fished with lightning in a proximity than is closer than recommended. It is not uncommon for me to be fishing with the skies rumbling. If I am lucky the storm passes just to the North or South and I get to reap the benefits of that hot frontal bite. Sometimes I am not so lucky and get the deluge. I have some fond fishing memories of getting caught in storms. This may be words that I live to regret, but I will continue to push my luck to what I consider to be within reason. I think I am actually more scared of high winds and big waves than I am of lightning.

I suppose there is nothing wrong with leaving nothing to caution as many advise, but it is a real bummer to leave a bite just as it gets red hot.

Here is a good article for outdoorspeople about lightning:
Where Hunters and Fishermen Should Hide from Lightening (And How to Save Your Buddy if He Gets Struck)

Are We Bass Fishing Millionaires or Billionaires or More?

At the BassNblog Bass and Me, which I just found, blog author Nitewraith has a post entitled: Fishing Has Made Me Wealthy. He starts out by saying;

As I sat today waiting for my Fraternal Order of Eagles district meeting to start I had time to contemplate my life, and I came to the following conclusion — Every man or woman, rich or poor, who has fished is a “millionaire.”

Now you might think to yourself, “What in the blue blazes is he talking about?” And normally you would be right, but think about it this way. It may not be reflected in the fishermen’s wallet or checkbook and you may have a poor credit rating, but even the modest fisherman is a millionaire — his wealth is in his heart and in his experience.

The sentimentality of that may be right on, but how about a literal interpretation.

How much is the real worth of time spent in the pursuit of bass?

I suppose one might answer that this is mostly a subjective question because Rich Lindgren will give you one answer and Paris Hilton would probably give you another and every individual would probably appraise the value differently.

I suppose if I were a trained economist, accountant, statistician or mathematician I could run the available numbers in a scientific manner and give answers that would have an heir of objectivity. Since I am none of these things I have a few very unscientific approaches as food for thought.

If you are interested in the rest of my ramblings on this topic check out the full essay at Bass Pundit Preach (click here)...

Patience and Confidence

I think a lot of what an angler is patient about is what they are confident in.
Captain Robert McFarlane

This is an excellent quote that I read in an article about the fishing couple the McFarlane's. I can't say that I have ever heard anyone say this nugget of wisdom before. It really does not make a whole lot of sense for a person to be patient fishing something that they lack confidence in though some people certainly will do it. There are probably times when you will be fishing and you won't have any confidence in anything. Usually this is when you have been at it for a few hours and nothing that you try is working. Sometimes the fish do give you reason to not have confidence. I think in this respect I am luckier than many because the bass fishing in Minnesota is so good. Because we have such healthy populations of bass up here in the North country you still have a pretty good chance of coming across fish even if you are totally fishing the wrong ways. This is not to say that I never get skunked in a day of fishing but thankfully that is a rare event for me where I live. I know in other area's of the country the potential for a skunk is far higher. I have sympathy for those who live where getting bites are hard to come by.

As a general rule I think it is a good idea when things get tough for anglers to fall back on things that they have the highest confidence in even if that security blanket isn't the textbook solution to the problems presented by the scenario on the water that you are faced with. I think when you go with what you are confident in you can have a little more satisfaction when things don't work out that at least you took your best shot at it.