"GET ME TO THE LAKE"- The MNDNR has recorded 9 more lakes ice-free today and yesterday. I was hoping the ice would be out in my area lakes by today, but that was not to be. I checked Bulldog, Rock, Long, and Platte/Sullivan.
Bulldog-The public access had an acre and a half of open water.
Rock-Had some places where the ice had pulled away from shore, and it looked like there was a huge (15 feet wide) open crack just out from the Public Access running SE for at least 100 yards.
Long- The ice seemed to pull away from shore about 10 yards on the North and West sides.
Platte/Sullivan- Ice was pulling away from shore on the North Side of Platte. At the Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH), there was an astonishing amount of open water on the Platte Side. It was open to the small island and half of Channel Inn Bay. On the Sullivan side, it looked like the entire widened area of the Platte River Outlet (PRO) was wide open.
It will be at least 2 days before ice is off any of the area lakes.
Fishing Report- I brought a couple of rods and gave the GOMH a shot. When I first started fishing, a strong S wind blew 15-25mph straight in, and the water was flowing at a steady clip back into Platte Lake. I don't think I have ever caught fish when that is happening. The current of water moving from Platte into Sullivan is the big draw of fish at the GOMH. I fished both sides of the GOMH and got nothing but drifting weeds. No Grumpy Old Men sightings. With all that open water, fish could move into the GOMH anytime.
Cyberfish and Bake hit Pool 4&5 on Saturday and Pool 2 on Sunday for a little multi-species action.
Josh Douglas is prefishing the St. Jude Bass Classic on Pools 4&5...
Rite of Spring: It happens annually right about the time the ice goes out; The self-righteous self-appointed guardians of sportsmanship ethics, law, and largemouth bass go ballistic at FishingMinnesota.com about others they perceive as intentionally fishing for bass in the closed season. There was a new wrinkle this year in that the closed-season cops complained about people fishing for walleye in a river. Apparently, the "violation" occurred on a river containing nice crappies. So that makes yet another case where the violators would be indistinguishable from people that are fishing legally. A jig and a minnow or twister tail grub will catch just as many walleyes as crappies.
The FishingMinnesota.com bass forum got in on the action last Sunday with the thread: Does Turn In Poachers Work?. The BP (as in Bowfin Pro) is referenced in the 13th post in a not-so-unusual plot twist. Much to my delight, a well-reasoned defense of the BP is given in post #25 by Ricqik. Yes, I do intentionally fish for Dogfish, and tomorrow I plan to blog about fishing for Dogfish. We learn in one post that the BP should be labeled a "sociopath." (Does that make me a Bonafide Path?)
One person comes up with a bright idea for enforcing the most ludicrous fish regulation in the book:
If they (DNR) would let some of us volunteer to ticket these people, they would not have to cover so much of the area. Plus i think it would keep more people honest, seeings how no one would know if you have a ticket book in your pocket.
That's just what we need, more citations for an infraction that does absolutely no harm to the resource and for which enforcement is merely a notion in the eye of the beholder. Meanwhile, as usual, the closed-season cops are silent about admonishing people who are actually doing some harm to the resource. You know, the people fishing for panfish just can't resist the temptation to keep the bass they catch because they think they will never get caught. Or what about the people that catch a dogfish in the spring while fishing for panfish from shore and throw the doggy up on the bank to die? I witnessed an infraction of wanton waste twice last spring, in the case linked, I got the Dogfish back into the water while it was still alive.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Weather, Lure Casualties
Weather: It was warm today for awhile I think it may have made it slightly over 70°F then a front moved through and we got rain and a thunderstorm. It came down pretty good at times. It is supposed to get cool tonight but not below freezing and tomorrow is supposed to be low 60's.
Lure Casualties: Before the rain I did get a couple hours in sorting plastic baits. I discovered a bunch more torn baits that Mend-It should be able to fix. I asked on Tackle Tour Forums about whether Mend-It works on Slop frogs or not and a guy replied and said that it has worked for him on SnagProof frogs. I ordered up some Mend-It today.
Another lure casualty that I observed today was my collection of Zoom Trick Worms. I have several packs worth in a variety of colors. When we had our cabin at Sylvia/Twin I used to just kill the fish on these. There were times I would almost go through a bag a day and Trick Worms come 20 to a bag. Up here on Platte/Sullivan I recall only catching a couple on Trick Worms and I flat out just don't use them much anymore. I bet I haven't used one in at least 2 years. Trick Worms don't skip all that great compared to a Zoom Super Fluke so I don't use them for dock fishing. Also my swim jig fascination is taking up casts in situations where the Trick Worm shines. I can't say if the Trick Worm is going to have a spot on my rods this year or not.
"GET ME TO THE LAKE": According to the DNR as of today there are now 26 lakes which they moniter that are ice free. 2 lakes have "Partial Cover" designation. Only 4 of the 10 Twin Cities lakes are open. I am surprized that Lake Gervias in Ramsy County is not open as that is usually one of the first to go.
Lure Casualties: Before the rain I did get a couple hours in sorting plastic baits. I discovered a bunch more torn baits that Mend-It should be able to fix. I asked on Tackle Tour Forums about whether Mend-It works on Slop frogs or not and a guy replied and said that it has worked for him on SnagProof frogs. I ordered up some Mend-It today.
Another lure casualty that I observed today was my collection of Zoom Trick Worms. I have several packs worth in a variety of colors. When we had our cabin at Sylvia/Twin I used to just kill the fish on these. There were times I would almost go through a bag a day and Trick Worms come 20 to a bag. Up here on Platte/Sullivan I recall only catching a couple on Trick Worms and I flat out just don't use them much anymore. I bet I haven't used one in at least 2 years. Trick Worms don't skip all that great compared to a Zoom Super Fluke so I don't use them for dock fishing. Also my swim jig fascination is taking up casts in situations where the Trick Worm shines. I can't say if the Trick Worm is going to have a spot on my rods this year or not.
"GET ME TO THE LAKE": According to the DNR as of today there are now 26 lakes which they moniter that are ice free. 2 lakes have "Partial Cover" designation. Only 4 of the 10 Twin Cities lakes are open. I am surprized that Lake Gervias in Ramsy County is not open as that is usually one of the first to go.
BassFan reporting from the Toyota Texas Bass Classic:
> Bobby Lane said his team lost about 45 cranks this week. Luckily, Velvick and Matsubu found a good buy last week. They snapped up nearly 80 DD22s at $6 a pop.
Lets see 45 cranks x $6 a shot means they went through about $270 in Cranks in 3 days. I am a bit suspicious however because Norman Deep Diver 22's sell for $3.99 at Bass Pro Shops. Something isn't right there.
> Bobby Lane said his team lost about 45 cranks this week. Luckily, Velvick and Matsubu found a good buy last week. They snapped up nearly 80 DD22s at $6 a pop.
Lets see 45 cranks x $6 a shot means they went through about $270 in Cranks in 3 days. I am a bit suspicious however because Norman Deep Diver 22's sell for $3.99 at Bass Pro Shops. Something isn't right there.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Weather: It was cool and cloudy in the morning, but by the afternoon it was partly sunny and got into the low to mid 60's. It was breezy, a good day for melting ice. Tomorrow we might get some afternoon rain and thunderstorms. I am hoping for a deluge of warm rain 8 miles to the North.
More Tackle Time: After I finally woke up this afternoon and got done playing with the dogs I had some tackle time. Today I was messing around with soft plastics. I have a lot of messed up Zoom Horny Toads, I think I better invest in some Mend-It soft plastic lure glue. I sorted my Horny Toads, senko's, plastic worms, drop shot baits, Super Flukes and tubes. I need to do some work on my plastic worm sorting and there was a whole tub full of plastics that I did not get too.
Swim Jigs: A technique that I have taking a shine to in the past couple of years is swim jigging. A swim jig is basically a rubber skirted bass jig with a cone shaped head for the purpose of making it weedless. You fish the jig much like you do a spinnerbait. To add action and bulk the prefered jig trailer is a 3" to 5" twister tail grub. Since I am new to the technique I have bought a bunch of different grubs to try out and today I also sorted those. I have Zoom's, Kalin's, Lindy Munchies, CyberFlexx Super Plastic, Gander Mtn, Mister Twister and a couple of other types in various colors. I think it is going to be a while before I settle on some confidence jig trailer combinations.
Although I have not yet caught one doing it, I bet that the swim jig is a pretty good Dogfish presentation. I almost caught a Dogfish on a white swim jig last year on Mille Lacs bass opener weekend. Unfortunatly the boat was passing over the fish when I got the jig in it's mug, it struck but did not hook up. The boat spooked the fish and I didn't get a second shot at it.
More Tackle Time: After I finally woke up this afternoon and got done playing with the dogs I had some tackle time. Today I was messing around with soft plastics. I have a lot of messed up Zoom Horny Toads, I think I better invest in some Mend-It soft plastic lure glue. I sorted my Horny Toads, senko's, plastic worms, drop shot baits, Super Flukes and tubes. I need to do some work on my plastic worm sorting and there was a whole tub full of plastics that I did not get too.
Swim Jigs: A technique that I have taking a shine to in the past couple of years is swim jigging. A swim jig is basically a rubber skirted bass jig with a cone shaped head for the purpose of making it weedless. You fish the jig much like you do a spinnerbait. To add action and bulk the prefered jig trailer is a 3" to 5" twister tail grub. Since I am new to the technique I have bought a bunch of different grubs to try out and today I also sorted those. I have Zoom's, Kalin's, Lindy Munchies, CyberFlexx Super Plastic, Gander Mtn, Mister Twister and a couple of other types in various colors. I think it is going to be a while before I settle on some confidence jig trailer combinations.
Although I have not yet caught one doing it, I bet that the swim jig is a pretty good Dogfish presentation. I almost caught a Dogfish on a white swim jig last year on Mille Lacs bass opener weekend. Unfortunatly the boat was passing over the fish when I got the jig in it's mug, it struck but did not hook up. The boat spooked the fish and I didn't get a second shot at it.
Odds, Ends, Weather, and Cubby Rods
Today: One year ago today was my official ice out day for Platte Lake and I caught my first open water fish of the year at Rock Lake. This year still iced up for a few more days. Hopefully we will get some warm rain on Monday.
I have a dream: This morning I had a dream that I was going with some buddies on a fishing excursion. Where? Zapata Texas to fish Falcon Lake. My dream didn't actually include fishing, just the planning to get there.
Weather: Did not get nearly as warm as forecasted. Was in the low 50's with wind and overcast. BRRRRRR.
Tackle Time: Today I got line on the last of my new reels and I got rods set up for panfish. I then set about working on my tackle some. I put skirts on spinnerbaits, exchanged out blades on a tandem spinnerbait where the blades had rusted badly due to it falling in the battery box, and nailed some new pegs into the wall of my tackle emporium.
Cubby Rods: They are on sale at Mills Fleet Farm for 20 bucks. These are great panfish rods and I plan to pick up another one. Dad will have a true panfish rod this year which should make fishing a lot more fun than on the far to stiff medium action walleye rod he used last year. When Dad doesn't tag along I can use it for a casting set up without a bobber if I want to try that.
I have a dream: This morning I had a dream that I was going with some buddies on a fishing excursion. Where? Zapata Texas to fish Falcon Lake. My dream didn't actually include fishing, just the planning to get there.
Weather: Did not get nearly as warm as forecasted. Was in the low 50's with wind and overcast. BRRRRRR.
Tackle Time: Today I got line on the last of my new reels and I got rods set up for panfish. I then set about working on my tackle some. I put skirts on spinnerbaits, exchanged out blades on a tandem spinnerbait where the blades had rusted badly due to it falling in the battery box, and nailed some new pegs into the wall of my tackle emporium.
Cubby Rods: They are on sale at Mills Fleet Farm for 20 bucks. These are great panfish rods and I plan to pick up another one. Dad will have a true panfish rod this year which should make fishing a lot more fun than on the far to stiff medium action walleye rod he used last year. When Dad doesn't tag along I can use it for a casting set up without a bobber if I want to try that.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Bait Monkey, Get Me To The Lake & Trophy Update
Bait Monkey: These are the 5 new reels I bought this year. I put 3 of them on rods today and spooled them with line. Each rod already had a reel on it so they were swapped out and will be sent out for a professional cleaning and repairs if needed. It is amazing how beat up the Team Daiwa S-103 reels that I have been using for the past few years look; they really don't hold up well cosmetically. Tomorrow I will get to the other two reels.
"GET ME TO THE LAKE": According to the DNR there are now 22 lakes with ice out and they are as far north as Ramsey County in the Twin Cities. All of the monitered Southern MN lakes are ice free.
Today I did make it to the Grumpy Old Man Hole and threw a few casts. The Platte side of it has 50 to 100 feet of open water, there were two Loons on that side when I arrived. The Sullivan side has a good 150 yards of open water and the whole GOMH area is ice free from shore to shore. There were lots of Ducks and Geese swimming about farther out where the ice is. The water on the lakes has come up at least 8 inches and I think may be higher than it was at any point next year. As for the rest of the lake the ice really hasn't even begun to pull away from shore yet. There is water between the ice and shore because of how much the water has come up. The ice looked plenty fishable yet to me. At this point I highly doubt the ice will be off by Tuesday the 22nd, but sometime later next week might happen.
The Boat: Instead of getting all my stuff out of the boat and bringing it home we just pulled the boat from the lake place to here. As it turned out there were two Vault bottles left over from last Fall with Pete. Fortunatly they did not burst and the one I drank tasted just fine.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Spring Update & Fantasy Bass Win
Oops: I have not checked my email accounts in the past couple weeks and because of that I missed this email:
Congratulations! We are delighted to inform that your entry has been confirmed as a 7th Place winner in ESPN’s Bass Fantasy Fishing: Elite Tournament #2 – Citrus Slam. As long as you are eligible according to the Official Rules (see attached) and you return your completed paperwork in a timely manner, you have won a 7th Place Prize consisting of:
One (1) Advance Auto Parts $10 Gift Card
Approximate Retail Value=$10
To verify your eligibility and begin prize coordination, please read and complete the enclosed affidavit.
So that you are not disqualified, your completed paperwork must be returned VIA FAX OR EMAIL to Project Support Team, Inc. by END OF DAY WEDNESDAY APRIL 16, 2008. Upon receipt of your completed affidavit, you should expect your prize to be delivered in 6-8 weeks.
I made the prizes in ESPN/BASS Fantasy Bass Fishing. Funny the final standings had me in 8th place one slot out of the prizes. Someone must have been like me and missed the message. Oh well I don't know what I would have done with a $10 Advance Auto Parts gift certificate, give it away probably. I don't even know if there is an Advance Auto Parts in this neck of the woods.
I have decided: Ok it is maybe I bit ridiculous at this point but I have decided that I am not going to do any ice fishing this ice fishing season. That makes two years in a row of neglect of all my ice fishing gear. Maybe next year???
"GET ME TO THE LAKE": Minnesota Climatalogy didn't really update their ice out web page today, even though Lake Sakatah is listed as "out" with no date given and it was "partial cover" yesterday. If Sakatah is open it's sister lake Tetonka is probably open to even though they have that lake listed as "partial cover." From using FishingMinnesota.com it basically sounds like all lakes South of New Prague are open and some smaller lakes in Twin Cities Metro are Ice Free. If MC updates tommorrow I expect to see that Kohlman and maybe Gervias in Ramsey Cty are ice free.
Tommorrow I plan to get into the boat, it is stored at the Platte Lake house, and get all my tackle that is in the boat out. I will then probably hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) to throw my first open water casts of the season. I would be amazed if I caught anything, but you never know at that place. Dogfish and Crappie season should be starting sometime next week. Bring on the Bullheads!!!
Congratulations! We are delighted to inform that your entry has been confirmed as a 7th Place winner in ESPN’s Bass Fantasy Fishing: Elite Tournament #2 – Citrus Slam. As long as you are eligible according to the Official Rules (see attached) and you return your completed paperwork in a timely manner, you have won a 7th Place Prize consisting of:
One (1) Advance Auto Parts $10 Gift Card
Approximate Retail Value=$10
To verify your eligibility and begin prize coordination, please read and complete the enclosed affidavit.
So that you are not disqualified, your completed paperwork must be returned VIA FAX OR EMAIL to Project Support Team, Inc. by END OF DAY WEDNESDAY APRIL 16, 2008. Upon receipt of your completed affidavit, you should expect your prize to be delivered in 6-8 weeks.
I made the prizes in ESPN/BASS Fantasy Bass Fishing. Funny the final standings had me in 8th place one slot out of the prizes. Someone must have been like me and missed the message. Oh well I don't know what I would have done with a $10 Advance Auto Parts gift certificate, give it away probably. I don't even know if there is an Advance Auto Parts in this neck of the woods.
I have decided: Ok it is maybe I bit ridiculous at this point but I have decided that I am not going to do any ice fishing this ice fishing season. That makes two years in a row of neglect of all my ice fishing gear. Maybe next year???
"GET ME TO THE LAKE": Minnesota Climatalogy didn't really update their ice out web page today, even though Lake Sakatah is listed as "out" with no date given and it was "partial cover" yesterday. If Sakatah is open it's sister lake Tetonka is probably open to even though they have that lake listed as "partial cover." From using FishingMinnesota.com it basically sounds like all lakes South of New Prague are open and some smaller lakes in Twin Cities Metro are Ice Free. If MC updates tommorrow I expect to see that Kohlman and maybe Gervias in Ramsey Cty are ice free.
Tommorrow I plan to get into the boat, it is stored at the Platte Lake house, and get all my tackle that is in the boat out. I will then probably hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) to throw my first open water casts of the season. I would be amazed if I caught anything, but you never know at that place. Dogfish and Crappie season should be starting sometime next week. Bring on the Bullheads!!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Spring Update
"GET ME TO THE LAKE": 5 more lakes opened today and it says partial cover on 4 again. I think Pepin is really open so that makes one more.
Weather and Snow: Today it was nicer than expected. It got to 63 before a cold front moved through about 4PM. The snow has to be about 97% depleted after last nights warmth and today's balmy tempetures. I am pretty sure out drive way is now snow free.
Weather and Snow: Today it was nicer than expected. It got to 63 before a cold front moved through about 4PM. The snow has to be about 97% depleted after last nights warmth and today's balmy tempetures. I am pretty sure out drive way is now snow free.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Get me to the lake: As of today 8 monitered MN lakes are ice free. Another 4 are recording partial cover. Temps were in the 70's with high winds today in Southern MN. Forcast is for the same tommorrow maybe with some showers thrown in. Metro lakes should be breaking up by the weekend.
Up here it got into the low 60's with a great deal of wind. The snow is melting rapidly and it is not supposed to get cold tonight with the winds being sustained thus lots more snow melt. Weather.com says tommorrow will be 20 degrees cooler with showers. The 10-Day says rain/snow showers for the 24th, we'll see.
The Mitchell Report has a new blog post...
Up here it got into the low 60's with a great deal of wind. The snow is melting rapidly and it is not supposed to get cold tonight with the winds being sustained thus lots more snow melt. Weather.com says tommorrow will be 20 degrees cooler with showers. The 10-Day says rain/snow showers for the 24th, we'll see.
The Mitchell Report has a new blog post...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Zumbro Lake was free of ice on the 10th and has just been reported now. Makes you wonder about the status of the other Southern MN lakes.
Blog-O-rounds:
Cyberfish goes for a swim...
Josh Douglas goes to Grand Lake...
Boyd Duckett goes home to Alabama...
Don Zaegel at Getting Reel has been blogging a bunch, including his first tournament of the year... Be sure to watch that YouTube video of IKE.
FLW Tour Co-Angler Duke Jenkel blogs about Lewis Smith...
Blog-O-rounds:
Cyberfish goes for a swim...
Josh Douglas goes to Grand Lake...
Boyd Duckett goes home to Alabama...
Don Zaegel at Getting Reel has been blogging a bunch, including his first tournament of the year... Be sure to watch that YouTube video of IKE.
FLW Tour Co-Angler Duke Jenkel blogs about Lewis Smith...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
BASS Amistad Day Final/Weather Update
Spring???: The sun was out and the snow was melting but it only got to about 43°F today and it's gonna be a cold night. Tommorrow it might be 10 degrees warmer and on Tuesday it's forcasted to get into the low to mid 60's. The long term forecast is for high temps between the 50's&60's. That is some serious snow and ice melting weather. I am holding out hope that Platte Lake will be ice free by the 22nd. Once the ice does get off the lake it should not take long for the surface water temps to get up in the 50's which makes the fish active.
The average daily high temp in this neck of the woods is now up to 53°F.
BASS Amistad Final: In case you did not know Texas angler Todd Faircloth sacked 29-06 and jumped from 10th place into the winners circle. He got all choked up on the weigh in stage. His wife and two young sons were there watching. Good Job Todd!!!
The average daily high temp in this neck of the woods is now up to 53°F.
BASS Amistad Final: In case you did not know Texas angler Todd Faircloth sacked 29-06 and jumped from 10th place into the winners circle. He got all choked up on the weigh in stage. His wife and two young sons were there watching. Good Job Todd!!!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Not Good: A belt on the snowblower broke with a little over 2/3's of the drive way finished. The unfinished section is down by the road. The Explorer was able to make it out and beat down a path, but I don't know if Mom's car will be able to make it or not. Then there is the question of how do you get back out going backwards if she is even able to make it in.
Update: Mom did get stuck but we were able to push her through after a bit of digging her out. Dad was not happy.
FBF Recap: So much for my predicted upward mobility on Day 2. The Bpboys lost a total of 18 angler positions and Bass Pundit 1 lost a total of 29 angler positions. It is going to be interesting to see if the limit bonus points were enough to keep both teams with more points than yesterday. I think the Bpboys will have more, while BP1's points will drop.
Bpboys:
KVD 56th +7
S. Kennedy 86th -7
Davis 27th +1
Remitz 30th -4
Fralick 19th -15
BP 1:
KJ 54th -5
Rojas 33rd -13
Wolack 55th -4
Luce 24th -8
Davis 27th +1
Update: As it turns out the BPboys lost exactly 18 off of yesterday's score and BP1 lost exactly 29 off yesterday's score. I have no clue how it worked out that way.
Update: Mom did get stuck but we were able to push her through after a bit of digging her out. Dad was not happy.
FBF Recap: So much for my predicted upward mobility on Day 2. The Bpboys lost a total of 18 angler positions and Bass Pundit 1 lost a total of 29 angler positions. It is going to be interesting to see if the limit bonus points were enough to keep both teams with more points than yesterday. I think the Bpboys will have more, while BP1's points will drop.
Bpboys:
KVD 56th +7
S. Kennedy 86th -7
Davis 27th +1
Remitz 30th -4
Fralick 19th -15
BP 1:
KJ 54th -5
Rojas 33rd -13
Wolack 55th -4
Luce 24th -8
Davis 27th +1
Update: As it turns out the BPboys lost exactly 18 off of yesterday's score and BP1 lost exactly 29 off yesterday's score. I have no clue how it worked out that way.
Friday, April 11, 2008
As of April 11th 2008 the Minnesota Climatology Working Group is reporting all observed Minnesocold lakes as "ice covered" In a normal year ice is off Southern Minnesocold lakes by April 5-6.
BASS Amistad Day 1
I just remembered. I forgot to do Super 6 Pick'em for Amistad. Oh Well.
The real Day 1 of Amistad was cancelled due to wind, so the tournament will only be 3 days. The full field is fishing today and Sat. and then the top 12 will go on Sun..
FBF Recap: The Posse line ups for Amistad are both over 1000 on the first day, which is doing OK. Average score is 852 and high score is only 1313.
Here are the Posse line-ups...
Minnesocold Bpboys:
KVD 63rd
S. Kennedy 79th
Davis 28th
Remitz 26th
Fralick 4th
Bass Pundit 1:
Jordan 49th
Rojas 20th
Wolack 51st
Luce 16th
Davis 28th
Is it Fantasy Skill when you have Fralick and Luce leading your rosters? I better not get cocky, Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat! I think there is a lot of room for some upward mobility on Day 2. It wouldn't surprize me if Kennedy brought in 30lbs tommorrow. Apparently Kennedy is on big fish, they just didn't bite today.
The real Day 1 of Amistad was cancelled due to wind, so the tournament will only be 3 days. The full field is fishing today and Sat. and then the top 12 will go on Sun..
FBF Recap: The Posse line ups for Amistad are both over 1000 on the first day, which is doing OK. Average score is 852 and high score is only 1313.
Here are the Posse line-ups...
Minnesocold Bpboys:
KVD 63rd
S. Kennedy 79th
Davis 28th
Remitz 26th
Fralick 4th
Bass Pundit 1:
Jordan 49th
Rojas 20th
Wolack 51st
Luce 16th
Davis 28th
Is it Fantasy Skill when you have Fralick and Luce leading your rosters? I better not get cocky, Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat! I think there is a lot of room for some upward mobility on Day 2. It wouldn't surprize me if Kennedy brought in 30lbs tommorrow. Apparently Kennedy is on big fish, they just didn't bite today.
Walloped!
Yes this April snow storm was at least as bad as predicted maybe even worse. I can't really tell how much fell on average because the high winds drifted the snow so bad. As you can see from the pics we have bare spots and 3 foot drifts. It's going to take at least 4 days of solid warm temps to melt all this stuff. On the bright side, the lakes and land needed the moisture. It would have been nice had it fell in the form of rain; No such luck, it was snow from start to end. It's actually still lightly snowing at 3PM.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Winter Storm & Ice Out Info
Winter Storm: Here we are on April 10th and my piece of Minnesocold is getting blasted with a nasty snow storm. We are supposed to get anywhere from 6-14 inches of Snow. The wind is wicked and we even had a clap of thunder that has turned our smallest dog Lilah into a nervous wreck.
Ice Out Dates: In 2004 the ice was out on Platte Lake Today. The ice went out 4/6/2006 and 4/9/2005 on Platte Lake. Last year the ice didn't go out on Platte until the 19th. My guess is that we won't see ice out this year until at least the 22nd. A lake that closly mirrors Platte is Fish Trap here in Morrison County. The DNR has records for Fish Trap going back 13 years and the average Ice out date is April 15th.
Every year for the past few years I've followed MN ice out dates through the DNR's Minnesota Climatology Working Group's Ice Out Website. It's shocking that as of April 7th not a single one of the monitered lakes is ice free yet.
2007 Here
2006 Here
2005 Here
2004 Here
Averages with Earliest and Latest...
Ice Out Dates: In 2004 the ice was out on Platte Lake Today. The ice went out 4/6/2006 and 4/9/2005 on Platte Lake. Last year the ice didn't go out on Platte until the 19th. My guess is that we won't see ice out this year until at least the 22nd. A lake that closly mirrors Platte is Fish Trap here in Morrison County. The DNR has records for Fish Trap going back 13 years and the average Ice out date is April 15th.
Every year for the past few years I've followed MN ice out dates through the DNR's Minnesota Climatology Working Group's Ice Out Website. It's shocking that as of April 7th not a single one of the monitered lakes is ice free yet.
2007 Here
2006 Here
2005 Here
2004 Here
Averages with Earliest and Latest...
Monday, April 07, 2008
Family Pics
Devin Sage with Mom Kim. Unfortunatly Devin got sick a couple of days later.
Isabelle Grace and Haley Jewel Rockin Out.
Guitar and Drum set Hero's.
The full 3-Piece (Uncle Steve, Belle, and Haley)
They are ready to Rock!!!These pics are pretty much the only one's I got from my brother Steve's family visit from Florida. I forgot to bring the camera all the other days I was with them. It was nice to see my niece Devin for the 1st time. She is quite a character. I played a lot of pool with Haley Jewel and it was fun as always to hang out with Belle and Mal Mal (Mallory Joy Maas).
Sunday, April 06, 2008
FLW Fantasy Fishing Update: FLW Fantasy Fishing has instant results for the Lewis Smith tournament. It's as I worried about, fantasy scores were significantly higher at Lewis Smith than at Toho. I missed an Exacta bonus on Luke Clausen by 1 place and that cost me a run into the prizes. At Toho having 3 Top 10 anglers or 2 Top 10 anglers with an Exacta were enough to get into the prizes. At Lewis Smith it took 4 Top 10 anglers or 3 Top 10 anglers and an Exacta bonus so I missed the prizes where my score was good enough for prizes at Toho.
I have to say I am a little bummed at this one. This is really my 3rd near miss at making the prizes in 2008. Under the old FLW Fantasy Fishing rules I am quite certain I would have been into the mid tier of prizes because my overall line up was quite strong. Having Ehrler finish 12th, and Yelas finish 14th just doesn't count for much under the current scoring system.
The $100,000 winner at Lewis Smith had 5939 points which is 727 points, almost a full Exacta Bonus, more than it took at Toho. It will be interesting to see if the winner hit the 2000 Point Bennett as winner Exacta.
This is a tournament where having Players Advantage could have played big. In the run up to the tournament Michael Bennett told the PA pre-tournament video that he was a solid pick. Unfortunatly for me, I was away from the computer in the middle of last week and didn't get that message. I think there is a good chance I would have switched someone out because an angler who says he's on fish is usually a good pick, especially when you have a 10 man roster.
The next FLW Tournament is later this month at Lake Norman and is an "Open." The fact that it is an "Open" bumps the Top 10 bonus 500 points per Angler, the winner Exacta bumps up 2,000 points and the Exacta bonus bumps up 750 points. Basically the bonus points all double. Doing well with picking at the Opens and the Tour Championship are where points for the end of the year prizes are going to be decided.
The Minnesocold BPboys placed 1231 for Lewis Smith Lake and are currently 745th best team Overall.
I have to say I am a little bummed at this one. This is really my 3rd near miss at making the prizes in 2008. Under the old FLW Fantasy Fishing rules I am quite certain I would have been into the mid tier of prizes because my overall line up was quite strong. Having Ehrler finish 12th, and Yelas finish 14th just doesn't count for much under the current scoring system.
The $100,000 winner at Lewis Smith had 5939 points which is 727 points, almost a full Exacta Bonus, more than it took at Toho. It will be interesting to see if the winner hit the 2000 Point Bennett as winner Exacta.
This is a tournament where having Players Advantage could have played big. In the run up to the tournament Michael Bennett told the PA pre-tournament video that he was a solid pick. Unfortunatly for me, I was away from the computer in the middle of last week and didn't get that message. I think there is a good chance I would have switched someone out because an angler who says he's on fish is usually a good pick, especially when you have a 10 man roster.
The next FLW Tournament is later this month at Lake Norman and is an "Open." The fact that it is an "Open" bumps the Top 10 bonus 500 points per Angler, the winner Exacta bumps up 2,000 points and the Exacta bonus bumps up 750 points. Basically the bonus points all double. Doing well with picking at the Opens and the Tour Championship are where points for the end of the year prizes are going to be decided.
The Minnesocold BPboys placed 1231 for Lewis Smith Lake and are currently 745th best team Overall.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Weather: First thunder of the year at about 11:45PM on April 5th.
Ish vs. Elias: Bassfan tells the story of a disagreement at Falcon Lake on Day 2 between Ish Monroe and Paul Elias. Basically Ish and Elias found the exact same honey hole in practice. Ish had the early draw on Day 1 and sacked 35lbs off the spot. For part of Day 1, Elias sat there and watched Ish catch fish hoping Ish would leave. Elias caught 28lbs on Day 1. Since Elias had the early draw on Day 2 he headed to the honey hole and sacked 39lbs. Ish was pissed! He felt since he was there first on Day 1 and did well enough to get into the Top 5 that Elias should have given the spot up. Ish said he felt "disrespected" and thought Elias showed a lack of "common courtesy." Apparently Elias caught 4 off the spot on Day 2 then left it for Ish.
BP ruling: I think what Elias did was fair, even though it sucks for Ish. Elias found those fish and they were just as much his as they were Ish's. The luck of the boat draw determined who got there first and because the boat draws flip flop they both got first crack for a day. As it turns out having to share the spot means neither guy is going to contend for the win on a spot that had the potential to be a winner.
Update: As it turns out Elias sacked 37+lbs on Day Final and came from behind for the win. By 4 oz he held off Terry Scroggins who caught 44-4 on Day Final. I believe 44-4 is the second biggest all time 5 fish limit for BASS. Elias' 4 day total of 132-8 is a new BASS record.
On Day 3 Elias caught 27lbs and is in 5th place (15lbs out of 1st). Ish caught 25lbs and finished 19th.
BASS FBF News: The Posse line up for Falcon were mediocre to not so good, but Mark Davis is keeping the faith for both Teams.
FLW FBF News: The Bpboys have 3 guys in the cut, 5 in top 15 and 9 in the top 60. Right now the teams base score is in the range for low end prizes seen at Toho. If I can just hit 1 exacta I'll be in line for a great prize. As it stands I'm on the bubble for prizes. If people have picked better at Lewis Smith than at Toho, I probably won't make the prizes without the exacta. Come on Clausen drop a spot on Day Final.
Ish vs. Elias: Bassfan tells the story of a disagreement at Falcon Lake on Day 2 between Ish Monroe and Paul Elias. Basically Ish and Elias found the exact same honey hole in practice. Ish had the early draw on Day 1 and sacked 35lbs off the spot. For part of Day 1, Elias sat there and watched Ish catch fish hoping Ish would leave. Elias caught 28lbs on Day 1. Since Elias had the early draw on Day 2 he headed to the honey hole and sacked 39lbs. Ish was pissed! He felt since he was there first on Day 1 and did well enough to get into the Top 5 that Elias should have given the spot up. Ish said he felt "disrespected" and thought Elias showed a lack of "common courtesy." Apparently Elias caught 4 off the spot on Day 2 then left it for Ish.
BP ruling: I think what Elias did was fair, even though it sucks for Ish. Elias found those fish and they were just as much his as they were Ish's. The luck of the boat draw determined who got there first and because the boat draws flip flop they both got first crack for a day. As it turns out having to share the spot means neither guy is going to contend for the win on a spot that had the potential to be a winner.
Update: As it turns out Elias sacked 37+lbs on Day Final and came from behind for the win. By 4 oz he held off Terry Scroggins who caught 44-4 on Day Final. I believe 44-4 is the second biggest all time 5 fish limit for BASS. Elias' 4 day total of 132-8 is a new BASS record.
On Day 3 Elias caught 27lbs and is in 5th place (15lbs out of 1st). Ish caught 25lbs and finished 19th.
BASS FBF News: The Posse line up for Falcon were mediocre to not so good, but Mark Davis is keeping the faith for both Teams.
FLW FBF News: The Bpboys have 3 guys in the cut, 5 in top 15 and 9 in the top 60. Right now the teams base score is in the range for low end prizes seen at Toho. If I can just hit 1 exacta I'll be in line for a great prize. As it stands I'm on the bubble for prizes. If people have picked better at Lewis Smith than at Toho, I probably won't make the prizes without the exacta. Come on Clausen drop a spot on Day Final.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
I had to put Lilah to bed tonight, eventually Patti joined in.
As mentioned before my younger brother Steve and his family are here from Florida. I may be away from the blog for a few days spending time with them.
As mentioned before my younger brother Steve and his family are here from Florida. I may be away from the blog for a few days spending time with them.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Mitchell Report... Fisher of Men Tournament Lake Murray.
The Angler Report: First Keeper Bass of 2008...
I'm impressed by Spro. Don Zaegel of Getting Reel blogged about a problem he had with a Spro Little John Crankbait. Spro's Sales Manager Syd Rives is either a BassNblog reader or someone told him about the blog and the guy left a comment saying that Spro will do what is necessary to make things right.
In the past I have had defective lures from Terminator and Storm. I sent the lures back and in both instances the companies stood 100% behind their products. I also broke a St. Croix Avid Flippen Stick while swinging a big bass into the boat. St. Criox replaced the rod no problems. I had a Fenwick Techna AV rod break in two for seemingly no reason, they replaced the rod no problems. I had a Fenwick HMG break due to a freak occurance while fighting a Salmon around a bridge tressel; Fenwick replaced that product no problem. The following year I put to much pressure on a big Salmon and snapped the rod in 4 different places, it was actually really cool and sounded like a gun shot. I elected not to get that rod replaced figuring 1 replacement rod was enough. I figure I got my money's worth out of those two rods.
I know certain crankbaits are fish magnets while others just don't seem to catch em. I think the same might be true of topwaters. I have been debating sending my one "Sammy" back to Lucky Craft, because it just doesn't catch fish very well. For the price paid it should be a superior topwater lure and the one I have just does not get the job done. I put on a different lure and I start catching fish. I highly doubt someone from Lucky Craft is going to come to my blog and urge me to send the bait back. And yes I do know how to work the stupid thing. I've tried all sorts of different retrieves and I only catch an occasional fish on the thing. I have blasted bass on the Spro Dawg.
FBF News: My brother Steve and his family arrive in Minnesota from Florida Friday and they will be staying 1 week. That means it's time for the BP to get his Fanasty Bass Fishing Rosters in order. I already have the Posse line-ups done for BASS at Falcon; I don't anticipate making any changes for Amistad. I am gonna get that FLW roster set tonight. I've already pin pointed 8 anglers, so just two more and it's all set.
The Angler Report: First Keeper Bass of 2008...
I'm impressed by Spro. Don Zaegel of Getting Reel blogged about a problem he had with a Spro Little John Crankbait. Spro's Sales Manager Syd Rives is either a BassNblog reader or someone told him about the blog and the guy left a comment saying that Spro will do what is necessary to make things right.
In the past I have had defective lures from Terminator and Storm. I sent the lures back and in both instances the companies stood 100% behind their products. I also broke a St. Croix Avid Flippen Stick while swinging a big bass into the boat. St. Criox replaced the rod no problems. I had a Fenwick Techna AV rod break in two for seemingly no reason, they replaced the rod no problems. I had a Fenwick HMG break due to a freak occurance while fighting a Salmon around a bridge tressel; Fenwick replaced that product no problem. The following year I put to much pressure on a big Salmon and snapped the rod in 4 different places, it was actually really cool and sounded like a gun shot. I elected not to get that rod replaced figuring 1 replacement rod was enough. I figure I got my money's worth out of those two rods.
I know certain crankbaits are fish magnets while others just don't seem to catch em. I think the same might be true of topwaters. I have been debating sending my one "Sammy" back to Lucky Craft, because it just doesn't catch fish very well. For the price paid it should be a superior topwater lure and the one I have just does not get the job done. I put on a different lure and I start catching fish. I highly doubt someone from Lucky Craft is going to come to my blog and urge me to send the bait back. And yes I do know how to work the stupid thing. I've tried all sorts of different retrieves and I only catch an occasional fish on the thing. I have blasted bass on the Spro Dawg.
FBF News: My brother Steve and his family arrive in Minnesota from Florida Friday and they will be staying 1 week. That means it's time for the BP to get his Fanasty Bass Fishing Rosters in order. I already have the Posse line-ups done for BASS at Falcon; I don't anticipate making any changes for Amistad. I am gonna get that FLW roster set tonight. I've already pin pointed 8 anglers, so just two more and it's all set.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Cowardly Lie'n
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
Exodus 20:16
This Email about the B.P. was sent to the Baxter Bass Snatchers by a false accuser and coward (I don't know any Jon Beaupre):
-----Original Message-----From: Jon Beaupre [mailto:fishincops@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008, 7:23 AMTo: Subject: Dave Maas-KNOWN CHEATER
If you have allowed Dave Maas into your club, you better think again!
He has a history of pre-fishing the morning of a tournament, fishing off-limit waters during a tournament, and knowingly fishing for bass out of season.
Here is proof of his pre-fishing on the day of the tournament (cheating) from his own blog:
______________________________________________________
posted by Basspastor 6:49 pm 0 comments
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Proof Positive that BP is a bass tournament cheater: http://basspunditthq.blogspot.com/2006/03/team-bass-guygal-sylviatwin-july-23rd.html
http://basspunditthq.blogspot.com/2006/03/team-bass-guygal-sylviatwin-july-23rd.htmlDoes This make me a Bass "Perp"?????
_____________________________________________________
Now, he says that "he didn't think it mattered," but he took second place, cashed a check, and was subsequently asked to not return to the club.
Here is the quote from his blog: "Technically, I think this was against the rules, but it's the guy/gal tournament, and so I didn't think it mattered. I wasn't pre-fishing. I knew this spot holds the bass in the early morning and that I would not visit the spot in the tourney, and probably nobody else would as well."
The Team Bass club rules specifically stated that there was no pre-fishing the day of the tournament, and just the fact that it helped him pattern a bite makes it cheating in most books. How did he know that no one else would fish that spot? It is just a bad excuse for his cheating.
Read the link and make your own decision!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I have already once blogged about this "Cheating" accusation here. I also responded to the "Cowardly Lion" in the comments section of a blog post.
In this email sent to members of my new club, there are two outright, bald-faced lies.
I have never fished "off-limit waters during a tournament."
I was not "subsequently asked to not return to the club."
As for the charge of "knowingly fishing for bass out of season," this has been thoroughly vetted on my blogs. It is neither illegal nor unethical to catch bass out of season, provided you are legitimately targeting a fish species in its open season. Do I catch bass trying to catch Dogfish, Crappie, and Pike in the Spring? Yes, but so does everybody else who legally targets those species. The "Cowardly Lion" obviously cannot let a settled issue rest.
As for the "Cheating" at the Sylvia/Twin Guy/Gal tournament and the so called getting kicked out of the Team Bass Club. A further apology on my part is in order.
The Team Bass Club 2005 Guy/Gal Tournament was held July 23 at Sylvia/Twin Lake in Wright County, MN. My family had a cabin on Sylvia/Twin until I was 31 years old, and it is the lake I know better than any other and have fished more than any other. On the morning in question, I arrived at the access early and headed to a shallow, rocky point with no pronounced drop-off on a weed flat. I went to this spot because I knew it held lots of little bass that bite on topwater in the morning before the sun gets up to high. I have fished this spot many mornings with buzzbaits and other topwaters, and I can't remember ever catching a fish bigger than 12" off of it. The Guy/Gal tournament got off to a late start at 8 am, or maybe it was 9 am, and by that time, the little bass scatter from the exposed rocks and go onto the weed flat. The notion that I was establishing a pattern is ludicrous; there isn't another spot on the lake like it.
My plan for the day and what we did was fish Slop for 95% of the day. I did catch 1 keeper bass off a point, but that point doesn't have rocks, isn't part of a weed flat, has a very sudden and distinct drop-off, was windblown, and I have caught many bass over 12" off of this particular point. That is 5 distinct differences between the two "points."
The Guy/Gal tournament did not count for any points in the Team Bass Standings and was a tournament I thought the club did for fun and trophies. I only found out the money was on the line when we were at the weigh-in, and they handed out checks to the winners. Had I known the money was on the line and someone would be hyper anal retentive about it, I would not have fished for fun early. There was nothing for me to gain by doing what I did except to enjoy myself, which is what I did. I probably caught a dozen 7-10" bass, just like I thought I would. The spot has been consistent that way, and I am willing to sacrifice size for topwater when I'm fishing for fun. I used a topwater popper to catch all of these little bass. I did not use a topwater popper at any time during the tournament. Yet another gaping hole in the theory I was "pre-fishing" to pattern fish.
How does my "sticking" little bass the morning of a tournament in any way benefit me for the tournament day?
The place I was fishing that morning was directly between the public access and where we headquartered the tournament in an area where the lake narrows down. While fishing, I waved at several club boats as they passed by. I am sure at least 3 tournament boats saw me, and no protest was filed on the tournament day. My sister-in-law Erin and I came in 2nd place and won $100 and two trophies. I believe the "entry fee" to fish the tournament was under $20. In Team Bass, you pay a flat fee at the beginning of the year, and that is divided among all the tournaments.
Apparently, the "Cowardly Lion" learned about what I did because they read my blog about it. This person obviously reads my blogs even though they hold a grudge against me. "Know your enemy," I guess. The "Cowardly Lion" has never addressed me directly but anonymously went to the Tournament Director, Dale Glader, and filed a protest months and months after the fact. I assume the same coward sent the email to my new club. The Team Bass Tournament Director got my side of the story and did not D.Q. me and ask for the money back. I would have paid the money back if that had been the punishment. I was "punished" by not being allowed to fish in the first tournament of the next season in W.I. The Tournament Director knew I had no intention of fishing this tournament, so the actual punishment was less than a slap on the wrist.
As I noted above, it is a bald-faced lie that I was "subsequently asked to not return to the club." I fished two tournaments in 2006 and was headed to my third at the Horseshoe Chain in early July when I hit a deer and totaled my truck. I no longer had my vehicle to get to the tournaments, so I didn't attend any more tournaments that year. In 2007 I elected not to rejoin the Team Bass Club on my own; I was never asked to leave.
Since the "Cowardly Lion" still frequents my blogs, why don't you show a little courage and admit who you are and renounce the lies you have told about me. I want to hear about this incident where I fished on "off-limit waters" during a tournament. I am not gonna hold my breath, but I am gonna say this:
The Guy/Gal tournament is for fun, and money just happened to be on the line. My actions were predicated on the fact that I did not take that particular tournament seriously. I think your attitude and actions make you a Grade A Royal Prick, "lighten up Francis."
BTW "C.L.," the guys who got the email think what you did is bush league, and they have made up their minds and have allowed me to join the club.
Exodus 20:16
This Email about the B.P. was sent to the Baxter Bass Snatchers by a false accuser and coward (I don't know any Jon Beaupre):
-----Original Message-----From: Jon Beaupre [mailto:fishincops@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008, 7:23 AMTo: Subject: Dave Maas-KNOWN CHEATER
If you have allowed Dave Maas into your club, you better think again!
He has a history of pre-fishing the morning of a tournament, fishing off-limit waters during a tournament, and knowingly fishing for bass out of season.
Here is proof of his pre-fishing on the day of the tournament (cheating) from his own blog:
______________________________________________________
posted by Basspastor 6:49 pm 0 comments
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Proof Positive that BP is a bass tournament cheater: http://basspunditthq.blogspot.com/2006/03/team-bass-guygal-sylviatwin-july-23rd.html
http://basspunditthq.blogspot.com/2006/03/team-bass-guygal-sylviatwin-july-23rd.htmlDoes This make me a Bass "Perp"?????
_____________________________________________________
Now, he says that "he didn't think it mattered," but he took second place, cashed a check, and was subsequently asked to not return to the club.
Here is the quote from his blog: "Technically, I think this was against the rules, but it's the guy/gal tournament, and so I didn't think it mattered. I wasn't pre-fishing. I knew this spot holds the bass in the early morning and that I would not visit the spot in the tourney, and probably nobody else would as well."
The Team Bass club rules specifically stated that there was no pre-fishing the day of the tournament, and just the fact that it helped him pattern a bite makes it cheating in most books. How did he know that no one else would fish that spot? It is just a bad excuse for his cheating.
Read the link and make your own decision!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I have already once blogged about this "Cheating" accusation here. I also responded to the "Cowardly Lion" in the comments section of a blog post.
In this email sent to members of my new club, there are two outright, bald-faced lies.
I have never fished "off-limit waters during a tournament."
I was not "subsequently asked to not return to the club."
As for the charge of "knowingly fishing for bass out of season," this has been thoroughly vetted on my blogs. It is neither illegal nor unethical to catch bass out of season, provided you are legitimately targeting a fish species in its open season. Do I catch bass trying to catch Dogfish, Crappie, and Pike in the Spring? Yes, but so does everybody else who legally targets those species. The "Cowardly Lion" obviously cannot let a settled issue rest.
As for the "Cheating" at the Sylvia/Twin Guy/Gal tournament and the so called getting kicked out of the Team Bass Club. A further apology on my part is in order.
The Team Bass Club 2005 Guy/Gal Tournament was held July 23 at Sylvia/Twin Lake in Wright County, MN. My family had a cabin on Sylvia/Twin until I was 31 years old, and it is the lake I know better than any other and have fished more than any other. On the morning in question, I arrived at the access early and headed to a shallow, rocky point with no pronounced drop-off on a weed flat. I went to this spot because I knew it held lots of little bass that bite on topwater in the morning before the sun gets up to high. I have fished this spot many mornings with buzzbaits and other topwaters, and I can't remember ever catching a fish bigger than 12" off of it. The Guy/Gal tournament got off to a late start at 8 am, or maybe it was 9 am, and by that time, the little bass scatter from the exposed rocks and go onto the weed flat. The notion that I was establishing a pattern is ludicrous; there isn't another spot on the lake like it.
My plan for the day and what we did was fish Slop for 95% of the day. I did catch 1 keeper bass off a point, but that point doesn't have rocks, isn't part of a weed flat, has a very sudden and distinct drop-off, was windblown, and I have caught many bass over 12" off of this particular point. That is 5 distinct differences between the two "points."
The Guy/Gal tournament did not count for any points in the Team Bass Standings and was a tournament I thought the club did for fun and trophies. I only found out the money was on the line when we were at the weigh-in, and they handed out checks to the winners. Had I known the money was on the line and someone would be hyper anal retentive about it, I would not have fished for fun early. There was nothing for me to gain by doing what I did except to enjoy myself, which is what I did. I probably caught a dozen 7-10" bass, just like I thought I would. The spot has been consistent that way, and I am willing to sacrifice size for topwater when I'm fishing for fun. I used a topwater popper to catch all of these little bass. I did not use a topwater popper at any time during the tournament. Yet another gaping hole in the theory I was "pre-fishing" to pattern fish.
How does my "sticking" little bass the morning of a tournament in any way benefit me for the tournament day?
The place I was fishing that morning was directly between the public access and where we headquartered the tournament in an area where the lake narrows down. While fishing, I waved at several club boats as they passed by. I am sure at least 3 tournament boats saw me, and no protest was filed on the tournament day. My sister-in-law Erin and I came in 2nd place and won $100 and two trophies. I believe the "entry fee" to fish the tournament was under $20. In Team Bass, you pay a flat fee at the beginning of the year, and that is divided among all the tournaments.
Apparently, the "Cowardly Lion" learned about what I did because they read my blog about it. This person obviously reads my blogs even though they hold a grudge against me. "Know your enemy," I guess. The "Cowardly Lion" has never addressed me directly but anonymously went to the Tournament Director, Dale Glader, and filed a protest months and months after the fact. I assume the same coward sent the email to my new club. The Team Bass Tournament Director got my side of the story and did not D.Q. me and ask for the money back. I would have paid the money back if that had been the punishment. I was "punished" by not being allowed to fish in the first tournament of the next season in W.I. The Tournament Director knew I had no intention of fishing this tournament, so the actual punishment was less than a slap on the wrist.
As I noted above, it is a bald-faced lie that I was "subsequently asked to not return to the club." I fished two tournaments in 2006 and was headed to my third at the Horseshoe Chain in early July when I hit a deer and totaled my truck. I no longer had my vehicle to get to the tournaments, so I didn't attend any more tournaments that year. In 2007 I elected not to rejoin the Team Bass Club on my own; I was never asked to leave.
Since the "Cowardly Lion" still frequents my blogs, why don't you show a little courage and admit who you are and renounce the lies you have told about me. I want to hear about this incident where I fished on "off-limit waters" during a tournament. I am not gonna hold my breath, but I am gonna say this:
The Guy/Gal tournament is for fun, and money just happened to be on the line. My actions were predicated on the fact that I did not take that particular tournament seriously. I think your attitude and actions make you a Grade A Royal Prick, "lighten up Francis."
BTW "C.L.," the guys who got the email think what you did is bush league, and they have made up their minds and have allowed me to join the club.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Bust on Ebay: This morning 7 Team Daiwa S-103HVA reels came up for auction. This was out of a lot of 10 reels. 3 of the 10 were originally listed at a very reasonable "Buy It Now" price. I snapped up those three reels. In today's auction I was prepared to buy as many as 4 more reels if I could get them for the same "Buy It Now" price or less. As it turned out I only won 1 reel and that at the 2nd highest price of the 7 reels auctioned off today. Of the 7 reels auctioned today I feel that only 2 of them went for a good price once shipping charges are figured in. All of today's reels went for more than the "Buy It Now" price I snapped up. I feel like 3 of the reels today, including the one I got, were over valued by $10-$15. The amount that I did pay was exactly the highest amount I was willing to pay for 1 of these reels, this provided he eliminates the shipping charge on the reel because I've already paid $30 in shipping for the "Buy It Now" reels. I figure $30 is about $20 more than it will actually take to ship 4 reels. The reel that I just got cost $5.25 to ship USPS Priority Mail.
Now that I have some hindsight I can see that my bidding strategy was flawed. The earliest ending reels went cheapest and the latest going reels went highest. My strategy was to try and low ball at first, then to go to my upper limit at the end if I was not winning anything. Lesson learned: If multiple same items of interest come up for auction and end in a compressed time frame, start out bidding as high as you will go and adjust from there. That said it is hard to know how that would have worked out because you never know how high the winning bidders maximum bid was.
Another thing I got messed up on was that the 1st two reels ended less than a minute apart. Because of this I didn't get my bid for the 2nd reel in time and that reel went for the cheapest of them all. I do not however know if my max bid would have been enough because it was my same max bid on reel #1, which obviously wasn't high enough.
I guess I will keep my eye open to possibly get another reel or two, but I will keep my bidding at this point to only what I consider to be a good value. I feel like 50% to 60% off original price is about right for a used reel in good condition.
Reel Recap: Originally I was going to spend about $400 on two New baitcast reels, a Team Daiwa X and Revo SX. Instead I got Ebay on the brain and bought 5 used reels for for about $40 more than I would have spent on the new reels. Hopefully I have gotten a good value. I won't really know until I see how these used reels perform. I did get a bum reel from Ebay once.
Now that I have some hindsight I can see that my bidding strategy was flawed. The earliest ending reels went cheapest and the latest going reels went highest. My strategy was to try and low ball at first, then to go to my upper limit at the end if I was not winning anything. Lesson learned: If multiple same items of interest come up for auction and end in a compressed time frame, start out bidding as high as you will go and adjust from there. That said it is hard to know how that would have worked out because you never know how high the winning bidders maximum bid was.
Another thing I got messed up on was that the 1st two reels ended less than a minute apart. Because of this I didn't get my bid for the 2nd reel in time and that reel went for the cheapest of them all. I do not however know if my max bid would have been enough because it was my same max bid on reel #1, which obviously wasn't high enough.
I guess I will keep my eye open to possibly get another reel or two, but I will keep my bidding at this point to only what I consider to be a good value. I feel like 50% to 60% off original price is about right for a used reel in good condition.
Reel Recap: Originally I was going to spend about $400 on two New baitcast reels, a Team Daiwa X and Revo SX. Instead I got Ebay on the brain and bought 5 used reels for for about $40 more than I would have spent on the new reels. Hopefully I have gotten a good value. I won't really know until I see how these used reels perform. I did get a bum reel from Ebay once.
Frog Rods
Talkin Froggin at Futurebass.com BB...
Frog Rods: I use the 7'3" St. Croix Avid and it is by far the best frog rod I've ever used. They claimed this rod a Med Hvy. They are no longer made:(, Gulp! better not break any more of them. Glad I have 2)
There are a number of manufacturers that are now making rods specifically for frog fishing.
St. Croix Legand Tournament SlopNFrog Rod is a 7" Heavy Fast ($240)
Bass Pro has a Johnny Morris Signature Series Frog Rod that is 7'2" Xheavy Xfast ($170). That same profile is also found in their Nitro Big Bass Rods ($150) and Extreme line ($100).
G. Loomis Frog Casting Rod 863C 7'2" Med Hvy ($230)
Same Profile in GLX ($440)
Loomis has numerous other rods that would probably make good Frog rods in sizes 7',7'1",7'3", and 7'5"
Daiwa Light and Tough Frog Rod 7'4" Hvy Fast ($130)
Kistler Graphite Plus Frog & Slop 7'3" Hvy ($150)
Lamiglass Certified Pro Graphite 7'2" Frog Rod ($185)
Powell Max Flippen Rod 7'3" Med Hvy X-Fast ($200)
Quantum Tour Edition Dean Rojas Frog Rod 7' MH ($190)
Dobyns Champion Series Frog Rod 7'3" Hvy XFast ($190)
Team All-Star Big Boy 7'2" Med Hvy Fast ($120)
Shimano Cumara Rods have 2, 7'2" Med Hvy models that would probably be awesome Frog Rods ($220)
Frog Rods: I use the 7'3" St. Croix Avid and it is by far the best frog rod I've ever used. They claimed this rod a Med Hvy. They are no longer made:(, Gulp! better not break any more of them. Glad I have 2)
There are a number of manufacturers that are now making rods specifically for frog fishing.
St. Croix Legand Tournament SlopNFrog Rod is a 7" Heavy Fast ($240)
Bass Pro has a Johnny Morris Signature Series Frog Rod that is 7'2" Xheavy Xfast ($170). That same profile is also found in their Nitro Big Bass Rods ($150) and Extreme line ($100).
G. Loomis Frog Casting Rod 863C 7'2" Med Hvy ($230)
Same Profile in GLX ($440)
Loomis has numerous other rods that would probably make good Frog rods in sizes 7',7'1",7'3", and 7'5"
Daiwa Light and Tough Frog Rod 7'4" Hvy Fast ($130)
Kistler Graphite Plus Frog & Slop 7'3" Hvy ($150)
Lamiglass Certified Pro Graphite 7'2" Frog Rod ($185)
Powell Max Flippen Rod 7'3" Med Hvy X-Fast ($200)
Quantum Tour Edition Dean Rojas Frog Rod 7' MH ($190)
Dobyns Champion Series Frog Rod 7'3" Hvy XFast ($190)
Team All-Star Big Boy 7'2" Med Hvy Fast ($120)
Shimano Cumara Rods have 2, 7'2" Med Hvy models that would probably be awesome Frog Rods ($220)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Cyberfish has created a blog for G.E.M. (Great Expectations Ministries)
Find out more about GEM here...
From The Brushpile:
Brett Hite-When BassZone's angler rankings comes out in a few weeks, I dare any of the "so called experts" out there not to select him as their number one. Hite has won two $100,000.00 + events right out of the blocks this season. He also won events on water ways separated by two time zones. His FLW Tour victory came by a margin of over 20 pounds, his FLW Western Series win had him weighing over 106 pounds for four days. That event was on the Delta, ladies and gentlemen, NOT CLEAR LAKE! Hite currently leads the ProBassAnglers.com Angler Of the Year race, Sponsored by NOBODY! (The actual name of the award, will have the corporate interest that sponsors the award inserted in replacement of "NOBODY," when we finally get a corporate sponsor for the award.)
I don't want to go BassZone and see Kevin VanDam being handed the top ranking simply because he is Kevin VanDam, I know he won at Toho, he also finished 31st at the Harris Chain, (not a bad finish!) Brett Hite did his damage in fields containing 200 anglers. Hite is number one for now
I think I would have to agree! However Nighswonger then goes on to take a shot at the Bassfan World Rankings, which I believe to be the best set of and true rankings for PBF. So far Hite is the best for 2008, but definitely is not the best cumulatively over the long haul which is what the BassFan World Rankings measure.
Find out more about GEM here...
From The Brushpile:
Brett Hite-When BassZone's angler rankings comes out in a few weeks, I dare any of the "so called experts" out there not to select him as their number one. Hite has won two $100,000.00 + events right out of the blocks this season. He also won events on water ways separated by two time zones. His FLW Tour victory came by a margin of over 20 pounds, his FLW Western Series win had him weighing over 106 pounds for four days. That event was on the Delta, ladies and gentlemen, NOT CLEAR LAKE! Hite currently leads the ProBassAnglers.com Angler Of the Year race, Sponsored by NOBODY! (The actual name of the award, will have the corporate interest that sponsors the award inserted in replacement of "NOBODY," when we finally get a corporate sponsor for the award.)
I don't want to go BassZone and see Kevin VanDam being handed the top ranking simply because he is Kevin VanDam, I know he won at Toho, he also finished 31st at the Harris Chain, (not a bad finish!) Brett Hite did his damage in fields containing 200 anglers. Hite is number one for now
I think I would have to agree! However Nighswonger then goes on to take a shot at the Bassfan World Rankings, which I believe to be the best set of and true rankings for PBF. So far Hite is the best for 2008, but definitely is not the best cumulatively over the long haul which is what the BassFan World Rankings measure.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Baxter Bass Snatcher- It's official, today I joined the Baxter Bass Snatchers Fishing Club. This club has been around since 1977. I blogged about these guys before when I was doing my links to MN bass clubs. The Bass Snatchers are also Bowfin Snatchers; 4 of the 9 Minnesota Bowfin Grand Champions are members of the club, I make it 5 of 9.
I am a provincial member which means if there are 34 guys ahead of me in the club. 30 is the limit of fisherman that can fish in a given tournament due to permit restrictions. If 30 guys fish than I'm out of luck. Apparently a person has been excluded only once, so there is a pretty good chance I'll get to fish all 6 tournaments this year. I will be fishing as a non-boater.
The tournament schedule is:
June 7 Farm Island
June 22 Big Birch (Grey Eagle)
July 19 Pokegama
August 23 North Long
September 20 Serpent
October 4 Mission
I have not fished any of these lakes before. Farm Island is fairly close to me and Pokegama is the farthest away. Big Birch, Pokegama, and Serpent have Smallmouth but Pokegama may be the only lake with a decent amount of them. If anyone knows anything about these lakes and can give me a few tips, I'd love to hear them. You can leave a comment here at the blog or email me: basspundit@hotmail.com .
Something unusual about the club is that even though it is a Minnesota Bass Federation Nation affiliated bass club, I do not have to be a MN Federation Nation member to fish or even be a member of BASS. I don't really have any aspirations of going to the State Tournament at this point in time, so I get to save some money. My mom did just get me a gift subscription to Bassmaster Magazine but I'm not sure if a BASS membership comes with that.
Attack of the Bait Monkey: Today I used my FLW Fantasy Fishing $15 Walmart gift card to buy some Strike King Zero's (super plastic senko's), a couple of Wing-It bobbers, and a #10 Pink Husky Jerk.
Also in the mail today I got the Team Daiwa S-100HSD reel that I won on Ebay. I didn't realize until I got it out of the box that it was a S-100 and not a S-103. The S-100 has a higher capacity spool. I will probably match this reel with my frog rod, St. Croix 7'3" Avid.
I am a provincial member which means if there are 34 guys ahead of me in the club. 30 is the limit of fisherman that can fish in a given tournament due to permit restrictions. If 30 guys fish than I'm out of luck. Apparently a person has been excluded only once, so there is a pretty good chance I'll get to fish all 6 tournaments this year. I will be fishing as a non-boater.
The tournament schedule is:
June 7 Farm Island
June 22 Big Birch (Grey Eagle)
July 19 Pokegama
August 23 North Long
September 20 Serpent
October 4 Mission
I have not fished any of these lakes before. Farm Island is fairly close to me and Pokegama is the farthest away. Big Birch, Pokegama, and Serpent have Smallmouth but Pokegama may be the only lake with a decent amount of them. If anyone knows anything about these lakes and can give me a few tips, I'd love to hear them. You can leave a comment here at the blog or email me: basspundit@hotmail.com .
Something unusual about the club is that even though it is a Minnesota Bass Federation Nation affiliated bass club, I do not have to be a MN Federation Nation member to fish or even be a member of BASS. I don't really have any aspirations of going to the State Tournament at this point in time, so I get to save some money. My mom did just get me a gift subscription to Bassmaster Magazine but I'm not sure if a BASS membership comes with that.
Attack of the Bait Monkey: Today I used my FLW Fantasy Fishing $15 Walmart gift card to buy some Strike King Zero's (super plastic senko's), a couple of Wing-It bobbers, and a #10 Pink Husky Jerk.
Also in the mail today I got the Team Daiwa S-100HSD reel that I won on Ebay. I didn't realize until I got it out of the box that it was a S-100 and not a S-103. The S-100 has a higher capacity spool. I will probably match this reel with my frog rod, St. Croix 7'3" Avid.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Big Bass of 2007
How Pathetic!!! At FishingMN.com, there is a thread in the Bass Forum entitled "Top 3." It is a thread for people to list the baits they caught and their three biggest bass of 2007 on. Those who followed the blog last summer know I only did some bass fishing in 2007. I usually keep a tally of 19"+ or 4lb+ fish I caught in my Day-Timer Calendar. I record the date, length or weight, type of bass, lake, location, and lure. In 2007 I did not record a single bass in the Day-Timer; frankly, I didn't land a bass 19" or over in 2007. How Pathetic!!!
However, thanks to the chronicling of BP vs. Duffman here at the Bass Pundit Blog, my blogging at Bass Pundit's Fishing Log Blog, and Bass Pundit's Tourny HQ, I know a little about the biggest bass I caught in 2007.
BP's Top 3+ for 2007
#1. 6-15-07, 18.5" Smallie Twin Bay dock Mille Lacs Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke
#1 5-26-07 (Bass Opener) 18.5" Larry Cemetary Jetty Mille Lacs either a white Swim Jig or a 3/16 White/Chart Strike King Spinnerbait with colored (either Chart or Chart/White) double willow leaf blades. I think it was the spinnerbait.
#2 6-22-07, 18.25" Larry Big West Bay S. shore dock Platte Lake Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.
#2 5-27-07 (Bass Opener Sunday), 18"+ Smallie (Unmeasured) Wakon Bay Mille Lacs 3/16oz White/Chart Strike King Spinnerbait with dual Chart. willow blades.
#2 5-28-07 (Bass Opener Memorial Day) 18"+Smallie maybe (Unmeasured) NW Arm Bordon Lake 3" Green Pumpkin tube jig.
#3 6-13-07, 17.5" Larry Platte River Outlet Sullivan Lake White Spro Bronzeye Frog.
#3 6-9-07, 17.5" Larry Platte River Outlet Rock Lake White Spro Bronzeye Frog.
#3 6-22-07, 17.5" Larry Big West Bay Dock End Slop Black Zoom Horny Toad with stump legs.
I am amazed now that I look back at it. I blogged most of the fishing trips I took in 2007.
However, thanks to the chronicling of BP vs. Duffman here at the Bass Pundit Blog, my blogging at Bass Pundit's Fishing Log Blog, and Bass Pundit's Tourny HQ, I know a little about the biggest bass I caught in 2007.
BP's Top 3+ for 2007
#1. 6-15-07, 18.5" Smallie Twin Bay dock Mille Lacs Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke
#1 5-26-07 (Bass Opener) 18.5" Larry Cemetary Jetty Mille Lacs either a white Swim Jig or a 3/16 White/Chart Strike King Spinnerbait with colored (either Chart or Chart/White) double willow leaf blades. I think it was the spinnerbait.
#2 6-22-07, 18.25" Larry Big West Bay S. shore dock Platte Lake Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.
#2 5-27-07 (Bass Opener Sunday), 18"+ Smallie (Unmeasured) Wakon Bay Mille Lacs 3/16oz White/Chart Strike King Spinnerbait with dual Chart. willow blades.
#2 5-28-07 (Bass Opener Memorial Day) 18"+Smallie maybe (Unmeasured) NW Arm Bordon Lake 3" Green Pumpkin tube jig.
#3 6-13-07, 17.5" Larry Platte River Outlet Sullivan Lake White Spro Bronzeye Frog.
#3 6-9-07, 17.5" Larry Platte River Outlet Rock Lake White Spro Bronzeye Frog.
#3 6-22-07, 17.5" Larry Big West Bay Dock End Slop Black Zoom Horny Toad with stump legs.
I am amazed now that I look back at it. I blogged most of the fishing trips I took in 2007.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
BASSblog by Dave Precht editor of Bassmater Magazine. While the ESPN Outdoor blogs are blogs I haven't gotten around to putting them on the Blogroll-O-BassNblog and I'm not sure that I ever will.
Bass Insider Blogs: Apparently Bass Insider has Elite Tour Pro blogs that are part of the pay to see Bass Insider content. I wonder if the Pro's get a little sumpin sumpin for doing these blogs, although I can't imagine it would be much. If not, I would think the pro's would be much smarter to do blogs as a part of their own websites. It is retarded that more Bass Pro's and aspiring Bass Semi-Pro's don't take advantage of the opportunity that blogging presents.
Discovered: I just got around to looking in Terry Brown's, formerly of BassFan Radio, website Wired2Fish.com.
Wierd: My BassNblog link to The Brushpile at Probassanglers.com came up with this lame post time after time for a long time. So I finally went to Probassanglers.com and clicked that link to the Brushpile and sure enough it was new and fresh as the newly fallen snow. The URL is the exact same as the one I was getting the non-changing lame post on. I switched the BassNblog link and now for some reason beyond belief it works and that lame post has gone away.
The Mitchell Report:. Apparently Probassanglers.com is giving Elite Series Rookie Brent Mitchell (Never heard of him and we are two events in to the Elite Tour, DOH!) a forum in which to blog about his experiences this year.
Update: From what I gather this guy is NOT in the Elite Series because he did not fish at Toho. I guess the only way to find out about him is through this blog.
Update: He is fishing the Opens hoping to move up to the Elites. It's a good read. There is a lot of content already.
Pro Tour Journals 2007: Last year Probassanglers.com gave FLW Tour Pro's Art Ferguson and Mark Burgess a forum in which to blog about there experiences last year. I am not surprized I missed this until now because I really don't frequent Probassanglers.com. Ferguson blogged 2 tournaments and Burgess did 3.
The Brushpile on FLW Fantasy Fishing and Angler self marketing:
01/08/08-FLW And Self Promotion Used In The Same Sentence?-I have pounded on FLW over the years to allow anglers a chance to self promote. "Fuzzy'n up" pictures in magazines, or the dreaded "masking tape of the patch" at weigh ins has hurt FLW's credibility over the years. For many of course, BASS has been the route to follow because an angler gets to promote their own stable of companies as well as themselves. The knock on FLW has always been the relative anonymity of the pros that fish FLW events.
It is time for your's truly to give credit where credit is due. After reading some of the things about the new FLW Fantasy Fishing game and doing a lot of thinking, (I know it looks like I'm simply staring at the wall, but I am thinking,) the light bulb finally clicked on. Pros on the FLW Tour are going to have the opportunity to self promote in a big way, thanks to this game. Mind you, that it still will take performance to gain recognition, but it has always been that way is this sport, now however, the number of fans who claim an angler for their Fantasy Team will give some very key marketing data, that I hope will be made available to the anglers. Think about it, if 15,000 fishing fans pick angler A as one of their Fantasy Team members, that angler immediately has gained the attention of 15,000 potential consumers who have a direct stake in how that angler does... Go to the Brushpile and read it all (link above or in Blogroll-O-BassNblog)
CyberMT Bucketfish did a 2nd Crappie video. Will it work?
Bass Insider Blogs: Apparently Bass Insider has Elite Tour Pro blogs that are part of the pay to see Bass Insider content. I wonder if the Pro's get a little sumpin sumpin for doing these blogs, although I can't imagine it would be much. If not, I would think the pro's would be much smarter to do blogs as a part of their own websites. It is retarded that more Bass Pro's and aspiring Bass Semi-Pro's don't take advantage of the opportunity that blogging presents.
Discovered: I just got around to looking in Terry Brown's, formerly of BassFan Radio, website Wired2Fish.com.
Wierd: My BassNblog link to The Brushpile at Probassanglers.com came up with this lame post time after time for a long time. So I finally went to Probassanglers.com and clicked that link to the Brushpile and sure enough it was new and fresh as the newly fallen snow. The URL is the exact same as the one I was getting the non-changing lame post on. I switched the BassNblog link and now for some reason beyond belief it works and that lame post has gone away.
The Mitchell Report:. Apparently Probassanglers.com is giving Elite Series Rookie Brent Mitchell (Never heard of him and we are two events in to the Elite Tour, DOH!) a forum in which to blog about his experiences this year.
Update: From what I gather this guy is NOT in the Elite Series because he did not fish at Toho. I guess the only way to find out about him is through this blog.
Update: He is fishing the Opens hoping to move up to the Elites. It's a good read. There is a lot of content already.
Pro Tour Journals 2007: Last year Probassanglers.com gave FLW Tour Pro's Art Ferguson and Mark Burgess a forum in which to blog about there experiences last year. I am not surprized I missed this until now because I really don't frequent Probassanglers.com. Ferguson blogged 2 tournaments and Burgess did 3.
The Brushpile on FLW Fantasy Fishing and Angler self marketing:
01/08/08-FLW And Self Promotion Used In The Same Sentence?-I have pounded on FLW over the years to allow anglers a chance to self promote. "Fuzzy'n up" pictures in magazines, or the dreaded "masking tape of the patch" at weigh ins has hurt FLW's credibility over the years. For many of course, BASS has been the route to follow because an angler gets to promote their own stable of companies as well as themselves. The knock on FLW has always been the relative anonymity of the pros that fish FLW events.
It is time for your's truly to give credit where credit is due. After reading some of the things about the new FLW Fantasy Fishing game and doing a lot of thinking, (I know it looks like I'm simply staring at the wall, but I am thinking,) the light bulb finally clicked on. Pros on the FLW Tour are going to have the opportunity to self promote in a big way, thanks to this game. Mind you, that it still will take performance to gain recognition, but it has always been that way is this sport, now however, the number of fans who claim an angler for their Fantasy Team will give some very key marketing data, that I hope will be made available to the anglers. Think about it, if 15,000 fishing fans pick angler A as one of their Fantasy Team members, that angler immediately has gained the attention of 15,000 potential consumers who have a direct stake in how that angler does... Go to the Brushpile and read it all (link above or in Blogroll-O-BassNblog)
CyberMT Bucketfish did a 2nd Crappie video. Will it work?
Putting the Dogs to bed: I do more of my blogging late night than at any other time of the day. Something happened tonight that happens every couple of days. I start in on the computer and our little dog Lila started fussing at me. Lila will fuss at me for food, to go to the outside, or to get tucked into bed. I had already taken Lila out for the night and fed her so she was fussing for me to put her to bed. To do this I need to go into my bedroom and lay down on the bed until she lays down and gets ready to sleep. Usually our Black Lab Patti Lou comes and joins in. The pic is after the two have settled in for the night or so I hope.
Patti usually comes out to join me at some point to beg for a treat bone. Lila is conditioned to hear Patti's footsteps on the kitchen floor and when Patti starts chewing up her treat bone, Lila gets out of bed to come get a treat bone too. After I get them the treat bone they settle down for a while until the process repeats itself or I go to bed.
Update: It's 2AM and Patti just came out for her midnight snack, as soon as she walked off the kitchen floor, there came Lila looking for hers.
Update: It's now 3AM and Patti came out for her 2nd midnight snack, followed of coarse by Lila. This is it! If Patti tries it again, I'll just tell her to lay down until she does.
Mom and Cat
Cyberfish of MT Buckett got a cool video of sight fishing Crappies through the ice...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bass Fishing without a rod???
I am sorry but the idea of catching bass without a rod has exactly zero appeal to me. In the winter I really don't enjoy tip up fishing that much. I don't really care for the line stripping that is done in fly fishing either. I love the feel of the tug on the rod and playing the fish with a winding reel.
UltimateBass.com blog has some good articles on worm fishin, pre-spawn and reel care...
Slop Frog News:
Another New Frog is the River2Sea Bully Wa Frog
This frog is supposed to be excellent for walking the dog. At $6 a pop, I'll have to give these a try too.
I am sorry but the idea of catching bass without a rod has exactly zero appeal to me. In the winter I really don't enjoy tip up fishing that much. I don't really care for the line stripping that is done in fly fishing either. I love the feel of the tug on the rod and playing the fish with a winding reel.
UltimateBass.com blog has some good articles on worm fishin, pre-spawn and reel care...
Slop Frog News:
I've been over at Cabela's looking at lures and reading some product reviews. I was reading reviews on the Spro Bronze Eye Frog. A re-occuring theme in the reviews and the #1 complaint about the bait was difficultly with hook ups. Now bass do miss topwater lures outright 10-15% of the time and you don't have a chance for a hook up in that case. But if the fish does get the frog with proper gear you should hook up and probably catch the fish 80% of the time or more. I think people are probably not using heavy enough equipment and aren't doing a wicked enough hookset. Braided line is a must along with a long rod with a lot of back bone. I use a 7'3" St. Criox Avid Flippen stick and have found this rod to be perfect for Slop Froggin'. There are a number of rods out there now designed specifically for Slop Frog fishing. I say if your not hooking up it's a failure of the fisherman and his equipments, not on the Bronze Eye Frog.
Speaking of Frogs, Cabela's has come out with it's own house brand Chuck-It Frog.
It is a handsome frog and at $5 bucks a pop, I'll have to try it.
Speaking of Frogs, Cabela's has come out with it's own house brand Chuck-It Frog.
It is a handsome frog and at $5 bucks a pop, I'll have to try it.
Another New Frog is the River2Sea Bully Wa Frog
This frog is supposed to be excellent for walking the dog. At $6 a pop, I'll have to give these a try too.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Maas Marauder
They named a bait after me: The MAAS Marauder
Actually it's named after Al Maas the Leech Lake muskie guide. The bait sells for $20 at Cabela's. The lure sure isn't very pretty.
Audio Blogs from KVD on the last two Elite Series events...
MT Cyberfish has been catch-n some metro specks... with Cisco Pete...
New Rapala Lures: Rapala has come out with 2 new baits that look phenominal. The X-Rap Walk which is an X-Rap topwater and the X-Rap SubWalk which is a lure designed to walk the dog sub surface. So far the SubWalk is getting some good reviews. The downside on these baits is cost; The Walk goes for $12 at Bass Pro and the Subwalk goes for $10 at Bass Pro. I will probably buy a SubWalk, but the Walk is a little to pricey for me on a topwater. I made the mistake of buying a Lucky Craft Sammy once, I'm not doing that again. Note: The Sammy does catch fish but I have a number of other far cheaper topwaters that I have been more productive with, the Sammy doesn't measure up in comparison.
Actually it's named after Al Maas the Leech Lake muskie guide. The bait sells for $20 at Cabela's. The lure sure isn't very pretty.
Audio Blogs from KVD on the last two Elite Series events...
MT Cyberfish has been catch-n some metro specks... with Cisco Pete...
New Rapala Lures: Rapala has come out with 2 new baits that look phenominal. The X-Rap Walk which is an X-Rap topwater and the X-Rap SubWalk which is a lure designed to walk the dog sub surface. So far the SubWalk is getting some good reviews. The downside on these baits is cost; The Walk goes for $12 at Bass Pro and the Subwalk goes for $10 at Bass Pro. I will probably buy a SubWalk, but the Walk is a little to pricey for me on a topwater. I made the mistake of buying a Lucky Craft Sammy once, I'm not doing that again. Note: The Sammy does catch fish but I have a number of other far cheaper topwaters that I have been more productive with, the Sammy doesn't measure up in comparison.
FantasyBasstour.com: Apparently this Fantasy Bass Fishing site didn't make it past 2006. I can't imagine trying to do FBF on AAA and AA bass tournaments. It's hard enough doing FBF on the 200 boat FLW field. If it was MN bass tournaments my team would be Dean Capra, Rich "Hellabass" Lindgren, Brad Cline, Jeff Bosshardt, and Jason Berg. With Jim Severson, Chuck Steinbauer, John Crane, Brad Leiferman, and Chad Kastenbauer as alternates.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
BASS Toho Day Van Damage!!!
Stolen from Bass Fishing from a Different Perspective
KVD is the man!!! KVD held onto the lead and won his 3rd Bass Elite Series title and I think this was his 13th tour level victory. He had the 4th biggest bag of the day at 10-6 which did leave the door wide open if someone could have sacked a bag in the upper teens. As it was Kevin won by 1lb 11ozs.
FBF News: For the second time in two years the Bpboys had a shot going into the last day to make it into the BASS FBF prizes and possibly even win outright. Prizes go to the top 7 of all BASS FBF players. While I will have to wait for the results, my guess is that I came up a little short even though I did gain 2 angler places for the day and Bobby Lane caught the days Big Bass. I think to vault into the prizes I needed Bryan Hudgins to improve several places and maybe snag big bass or big bag bonus points. Hudgins ended up dropping 2 places on the day, which I think kills my chances.
Update: I gained a total of 42 points over yesterday, but all that did was keep me in 8th place; one place under the prizes. If Hudgins would have sacked them today than I would have been in like Flynn. In FLW Fantasy Fishing 8th place is good for a $1,000 Wal-mart Gift Card. Back a few years ago an 8th place finish would get you a pretty good gift card from Bass Pro Shops.
KVD is the man!!! KVD held onto the lead and won his 3rd Bass Elite Series title and I think this was his 13th tour level victory. He had the 4th biggest bag of the day at 10-6 which did leave the door wide open if someone could have sacked a bag in the upper teens. As it was Kevin won by 1lb 11ozs.
FBF News: For the second time in two years the Bpboys had a shot going into the last day to make it into the BASS FBF prizes and possibly even win outright. Prizes go to the top 7 of all BASS FBF players. While I will have to wait for the results, my guess is that I came up a little short even though I did gain 2 angler places for the day and Bobby Lane caught the days Big Bass. I think to vault into the prizes I needed Bryan Hudgins to improve several places and maybe snag big bass or big bag bonus points. Hudgins ended up dropping 2 places on the day, which I think kills my chances.
Update: I gained a total of 42 points over yesterday, but all that did was keep me in 8th place; one place under the prizes. If Hudgins would have sacked them today than I would have been in like Flynn. In FLW Fantasy Fishing 8th place is good for a $1,000 Wal-mart Gift Card. Back a few years ago an 8th place finish would get you a pretty good gift card from Bass Pro Shops.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
BASS Toho-ho Day 3
Holy Cow: I just checked the BASS FBF page and the BPboys are sitting in 8th place of all players. If KVD, Scroggins, Hudgins, and Bobby Lane all perform well I could see a prize.
Hmmm- I was planning on buying a Abu Garcia Revo SX fishing reel this spring, but I have been doing some research and several people have commented that they are extremely backlash prone. I don't like the sound of that, especially because I have almost zero backlash problems with Team Daiwa reels. I guess I've got a decision to make.
JoshDouglas is going to be fishing for sick kids...
DH to RH: My guy Disappearing Hudgins turned into Re-appearing Hudgins by sacking the days best bag with 20-10. Who knew.
FBF Recap: For the first two days of the Elite at Toho the BPboys have had 4 anglers in the top 12. I thought that streak was over when Mark Davis weighed in 7-13 and slowly fell out of the top 12. But my guy RH showed up big and the streak of 4 in the top 12 continued. The Bpboys managed to move up a total of 10 angler places thanks to RH's 28 position jump. However despite the 10 place increase my score will remain close to the same.
BPboys:
KVD 1st +2
Hudgins 6th +28
B. Lane 10th -4
Scroggins 11th -7
Davis 18th -9
Bass Pundit 1 was elevated slightly thanks to RH. Bobby and Scroggins are poised to strike tommorrow as that they have more upside than downside.
Hudgins 6th +28
B. Lane 10th -4
Scroggins 11th -7
Hmmm- I was planning on buying a Abu Garcia Revo SX fishing reel this spring, but I have been doing some research and several people have commented that they are extremely backlash prone. I don't like the sound of that, especially because I have almost zero backlash problems with Team Daiwa reels. I guess I've got a decision to make.
JoshDouglas is going to be fishing for sick kids...
DH to RH: My guy Disappearing Hudgins turned into Re-appearing Hudgins by sacking the days best bag with 20-10. Who knew.
FBF Recap: For the first two days of the Elite at Toho the BPboys have had 4 anglers in the top 12. I thought that streak was over when Mark Davis weighed in 7-13 and slowly fell out of the top 12. But my guy RH showed up big and the streak of 4 in the top 12 continued. The Bpboys managed to move up a total of 10 angler places thanks to RH's 28 position jump. However despite the 10 place increase my score will remain close to the same.
BPboys:
KVD 1st +2
Hudgins 6th +28
B. Lane 10th -4
Scroggins 11th -7
Davis 18th -9
Bass Pundit 1 was elevated slightly thanks to RH. Bobby and Scroggins are poised to strike tommorrow as that they have more upside than downside.
Hudgins 6th +28
B. Lane 10th -4
Scroggins 11th -7
Friday, March 14, 2008
BASS Toho-ho Day 3
Sean Hoernke blogged a FLW Toho recap...
OTW Bassfan Bigstick John Murray...
Disappearing Hudgins: At the 2008 Bassmasters Classic Charlie Hartley did well the first day and then fell back the 2nd and 3rd days. Because of his fall we found out that he has the nickname "DC" for Disappearing Charlie. The nickname was given to him by his wife for his tendancy to fish strong the first day of a tournament but then fall back during subsequent days. Well the posse BASS FBF teams have found a "DH," Disappearing Hudgins. At both Harris Chain and Toho Bryan Hudgins sacked 20lb bags the first day, but couldn't follow up and fell badly on subsequent days. DH made the 50 cut at Toho but fell 24 spots on Day 2. He had the worst Day 2 of any angler who made the cut.
FBF Recap: It was an ugly Day 2 for Bass Pundit 1, which is a big surprize because it seemed to have the better upside of the two posse teams. Here's the shake down on Team Florida.
Scroggins 4th -2
B. Lane 6th +1 (Yes a 1 point gain!!!)
Hudgins 34th -24
P. Clark 60th -23
C. Lane 72nd -11
That's right the BP 1 fell 59 angler positions on Day 2. OUCH! They were 8750th place on the day (54.24%) I suppose it could have been much worse if Scroggins and Bobby Lane tanked. BP1 dropped all the way down to 16th in the Futurebass.com league.
My hope for the Minnesocold Bpboys on Day 2 was that they would hold strong. With the exception of DH they did. In fact the Bpboys actually improved 13 angler positions thanks to big mover Mark Davis.
KVD 3rd +5
Scroggins 4th -2
B. Lane 6th +1
Davis 9th +33
Hudgins 34th -24
Despite an actual improvement in points over yesterday, the BPboys slipped to 262th best of all players from 91st. Wierd!
OTW Bassfan Bigstick John Murray...
Disappearing Hudgins: At the 2008 Bassmasters Classic Charlie Hartley did well the first day and then fell back the 2nd and 3rd days. Because of his fall we found out that he has the nickname "DC" for Disappearing Charlie. The nickname was given to him by his wife for his tendancy to fish strong the first day of a tournament but then fall back during subsequent days. Well the posse BASS FBF teams have found a "DH," Disappearing Hudgins. At both Harris Chain and Toho Bryan Hudgins sacked 20lb bags the first day, but couldn't follow up and fell badly on subsequent days. DH made the 50 cut at Toho but fell 24 spots on Day 2. He had the worst Day 2 of any angler who made the cut.
FBF Recap: It was an ugly Day 2 for Bass Pundit 1, which is a big surprize because it seemed to have the better upside of the two posse teams. Here's the shake down on Team Florida.
Scroggins 4th -2
B. Lane 6th +1 (Yes a 1 point gain!!!)
Hudgins 34th -24
P. Clark 60th -23
C. Lane 72nd -11
That's right the BP 1 fell 59 angler positions on Day 2. OUCH! They were 8750th place on the day (54.24%) I suppose it could have been much worse if Scroggins and Bobby Lane tanked. BP1 dropped all the way down to 16th in the Futurebass.com league.
My hope for the Minnesocold Bpboys on Day 2 was that they would hold strong. With the exception of DH they did. In fact the Bpboys actually improved 13 angler positions thanks to big mover Mark Davis.
KVD 3rd +5
Scroggins 4th -2
B. Lane 6th +1
Davis 9th +33
Hudgins 34th -24
Despite an actual improvement in points over yesterday, the BPboys slipped to 262th best of all players from 91st. Wierd!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
BASS Toho-ho Day 1 (D.M.J.S.!!!)
The Weather: Today was supposed to be cloudy and in the mid to low 30's, it turned out to be sunny and in the mid to high 40's. I can actually see some of our driveway which means things around here get messy.
Dock Talk: I avoided it and decisively went with my fantasy line ups this time.
BassFan Big Stick John Murray on Toho practice...
BASS Live-Streaming: Today started out with nothing and I wasn't the only one as there was a thread with a couple of posts on the Bass Fishing Home Page. I was just about to take Patti outside to play ball when the feed went up just in time to see Byron Velvick weigh his big bag. The feed was great the rest of the time.
American Idol blog and more... So yesterday I post about American Idol and today I get an email from the website BuddyTV.com telling me about their blog and American Idol coverage. If you are into TV shows than this looks like a great site to burn some time at.
At first I wasn't gonna say anything, but it's on BassFan so it isn't much of a secret. There is yet another Fantasy Bass Fishing game in town This one is sponsored by BRP/Evinrude and has total purse of $175,000 in Prizes. I know I'll be playing.
FBF Round-UP: As all Bass Pundit readers know, when it comes to Fantasy Bass Fishing Day 1 of a bass tournament doesn't mean Jack Squat! Now if today was Sunday the Bpboys would have a line up to crow about; They are the 86th best roster of all players on the day (99.55%).
Scroggins 2nd
B. Lane 7th
KVD 8th
Hudgins 10th
Davis 41st
I do have some hope that these anglers can hang tough and that Mark Davis will move up some, but the fact of the matter is that it's a lot easier to slip with a line up like this than to improve.
Bass Pundit 1 is doing OK at 1283rd of all players for the day (93.29%)
Scroggins 2nd
B. Lane 7th
Hudgins 10th
P. Clark 37th
C. Lane 61st
If the line ups hold, big question mark, both Posse teams have a shot at being in the Futurebass.com league Top 10 maybe even Top 5.
Dock Talk: I avoided it and decisively went with my fantasy line ups this time.
BassFan Big Stick John Murray on Toho practice...
BASS Live-Streaming: Today started out with nothing and I wasn't the only one as there was a thread with a couple of posts on the Bass Fishing Home Page. I was just about to take Patti outside to play ball when the feed went up just in time to see Byron Velvick weigh his big bag. The feed was great the rest of the time.
American Idol blog and more... So yesterday I post about American Idol and today I get an email from the website BuddyTV.com telling me about their blog and American Idol coverage. If you are into TV shows than this looks like a great site to burn some time at.
At first I wasn't gonna say anything, but it's on BassFan so it isn't much of a secret. There is yet another Fantasy Bass Fishing game in town This one is sponsored by BRP/Evinrude and has total purse of $175,000 in Prizes. I know I'll be playing.
FBF Round-UP: As all Bass Pundit readers know, when it comes to Fantasy Bass Fishing Day 1 of a bass tournament doesn't mean Jack Squat! Now if today was Sunday the Bpboys would have a line up to crow about; They are the 86th best roster of all players on the day (99.55%).
Scroggins 2nd
B. Lane 7th
KVD 8th
Hudgins 10th
Davis 41st
I do have some hope that these anglers can hang tough and that Mark Davis will move up some, but the fact of the matter is that it's a lot easier to slip with a line up like this than to improve.
Bass Pundit 1 is doing OK at 1283rd of all players for the day (93.29%)
Scroggins 2nd
B. Lane 7th
Hudgins 10th
P. Clark 37th
C. Lane 61st
If the line ups hold, big question mark, both Posse teams have a shot at being in the Futurebass.com league Top 10 maybe even Top 5.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Minnesocold Weather: I think it might have reached 40°F today with rain that has turned to sleet/snow but it really isn't accumulating.
FBF News: Get those rosters for BASS Toho in ASAP.
I got my FLW Player's Advantage $15 Walmart gift card today. Apparently they are also going to send a coupon book with over $100 in coupons from FLW sponsors.
FLW Lewis Smith rosters aren't due until 11PM April 2nd.
Big Bass Contest: Cyberfish of MT Bucket is participating in a for fun big bass contest at AnglerInsider.com message board. Info on it here... I don't think I'm going to enter because of the hassle of having to take an accurate picture with token item. This summer I am going to run a Beat Bass Pundit challenge instead of BP vs. Duffman Challenge.
FBF News: Get those rosters for BASS Toho in ASAP.
I got my FLW Player's Advantage $15 Walmart gift card today. Apparently they are also going to send a coupon book with over $100 in coupons from FLW sponsors.
FLW Lewis Smith rosters aren't due until 11PM April 2nd.
Big Bass Contest: Cyberfish of MT Bucket is participating in a for fun big bass contest at AnglerInsider.com message board. Info on it here... I don't think I'm going to enter because of the hassle of having to take an accurate picture with token item. This summer I am going to run a Beat Bass Pundit challenge instead of BP vs. Duffman Challenge.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The weather: It almost hit 50°F today
Unstuck: Farmer Ron Wall brought over his little tractor and pulled the Explorer out slick as Rick.
American Idol: Once again this year I am following American Idol. They are touting this year as the "most talented group they have ever had." Personally I think that is hype because I don't know if there is a Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood in the bunch. I am not even sure if there is anyone as good as my favorite last year, Melinda Doolittle, who came in 3rd place.
My favorite performer this year is Brooke White. She doesn't have the biggest vocal chops in this years group, but she is very pleasant to listen too and is an excellent performer. If she were to make a record, I am pretty sure I would like it. It doesn't hurt that she has a million dollar smile and genuinely nice and humble personality.
Unstuck: Farmer Ron Wall brought over his little tractor and pulled the Explorer out slick as Rick.
American Idol: Once again this year I am following American Idol. They are touting this year as the "most talented group they have ever had." Personally I think that is hype because I don't know if there is a Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood in the bunch. I am not even sure if there is anyone as good as my favorite last year, Melinda Doolittle, who came in 3rd place.My favorite performer this year is Brooke White. She doesn't have the biggest vocal chops in this years group, but she is very pleasant to listen too and is an excellent performer. If she were to make a record, I am pretty sure I would like it. It doesn't hurt that she has a million dollar smile and genuinely nice and humble personality.
Monday, March 10, 2008
"Struggled Again, I wasn't alone" Boyd Duckett...
The weather: So far in 2008 the winter weather in MN has put the cold in Minnesocold. We have had a lot of days in the single digits and below zero. Finally it looks like tomorrow we are going to see some warmer weather. The average daily high temp. for Brainerd today is 35°F. When I think about it, that isn't really all that warm, but the next few days are supposed to be close to 40°F. Unfortunately it is supposed to cool down a little bit come Thursday. It will be nice to see some of this snow melt.
Stuck in the Snow: Today I had the bright idea that I was going to do some scouting for some ice fishing I might do this month. One of the access points I use to get onto Platte Lake is on our friend Jenni Olson's property. I have used this access in the past and never really had any trouble until today. I ran the Explorer down to the lake and where the lake met the shore the snow was too deep and I got stone cold stuck. No problem, you just dig out the truck and proceed forward. Unfortunately the snow under the truck was up to the undercarriage deep and hard packed. I tried to dig out as best I could but for the first time in my life doing this wasn't enough to get a stuck vehicle free. Tomorrow morning one of the local farmers is going to come with a big tractor and we are going to have to pull it out. Dad was not happy.
Secret Weapon Survey: Answer 8 questions and have a chance to win some nice prizes. Let them know that Dave Maas referred you.
Bass FBF News: Point values have not been raised after Harris Chain for any of the anglers. Get your picks in fast or else this might change.
The weather: So far in 2008 the winter weather in MN has put the cold in Minnesocold. We have had a lot of days in the single digits and below zero. Finally it looks like tomorrow we are going to see some warmer weather. The average daily high temp. for Brainerd today is 35°F. When I think about it, that isn't really all that warm, but the next few days are supposed to be close to 40°F. Unfortunately it is supposed to cool down a little bit come Thursday. It will be nice to see some of this snow melt.
Stuck in the Snow: Today I had the bright idea that I was going to do some scouting for some ice fishing I might do this month. One of the access points I use to get onto Platte Lake is on our friend Jenni Olson's property. I have used this access in the past and never really had any trouble until today. I ran the Explorer down to the lake and where the lake met the shore the snow was too deep and I got stone cold stuck. No problem, you just dig out the truck and proceed forward. Unfortunately the snow under the truck was up to the undercarriage deep and hard packed. I tried to dig out as best I could but for the first time in my life doing this wasn't enough to get a stuck vehicle free. Tomorrow morning one of the local farmers is going to come with a big tractor and we are going to have to pull it out. Dad was not happy.
Secret Weapon Survey: Answer 8 questions and have a chance to win some nice prizes. Let them know that Dave Maas referred you.
Bass FBF News: Point values have not been raised after Harris Chain for any of the anglers. Get your picks in fast or else this might change.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Harris Chain Day Final
It's a shocker: Brain Snowden who had a 10lb lead going into the last Day and caught 3 consistant big bags of fish ends up with a skunk and loses to Mike McCelland by 5lbs. McClelland caught 15lbs which was the days biggest sack. The leaderboard says Brad Hallman had the days Big Bass at 2-11. I wonder if that is right because McCelland obviously had to have some fish over 3lbs.
For Full Harris Chain recaps as always check BassFan.com, BassZone.com, and Bassmaster.com.
FBF Recap: I was wary of day 3 for the posse because with Bobby Lane at #3 there are more places to go down than up. Bobby caught a limit and held steady in 3rd, holding off his brother Chris by 10ozs.
Minnesocold Bpboys: 1240 points which was good for placing 1391 overall for the tournament (92.51%). This moved the Bpboys up 22 spots to 16th in the Futurebass.com league 151 points off the lead. Overall rank #2827 (84.8%).
Bass Pundit 1: 1234 points which was good for placing 1514 overall for the Tournament (91.84%). This moved BP 1 up 11 spots to 7th in the Futurebass.com league 78 points off the lead. Overall rank #1449 (92.2%)
I don't know if it was the Day 3 slide or that I haven't figured out something about the way BASS does the scoring, but neither team would have made the prizes under FLW's generous prize schedule.
For Full Harris Chain recaps as always check BassFan.com, BassZone.com, and Bassmaster.com.
FBF Recap: I was wary of day 3 for the posse because with Bobby Lane at #3 there are more places to go down than up. Bobby caught a limit and held steady in 3rd, holding off his brother Chris by 10ozs.
Minnesocold Bpboys: 1240 points which was good for placing 1391 overall for the tournament (92.51%). This moved the Bpboys up 22 spots to 16th in the Futurebass.com league 151 points off the lead. Overall rank #2827 (84.8%).
Bass Pundit 1: 1234 points which was good for placing 1514 overall for the Tournament (91.84%). This moved BP 1 up 11 spots to 7th in the Futurebass.com league 78 points off the lead. Overall rank #1449 (92.2%)
I don't know if it was the Day 3 slide or that I haven't figured out something about the way BASS does the scoring, but neither team would have made the prizes under FLW's generous prize schedule.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Welcome from BP to the Bass Pundit blog...
This was the blogs very first post, worth a read for new Bass Punditeers.
Angie T of the blog Bass fishing from a different perspective is back to blogging again.
Casey Ashley singing Fisherman (Just the song, no video)
Hook Setting from Bass Insider by Gary Kline
I still like the snap set better. I don't think the "pull set" is a good idea for texas rigged soft plastics.
This was the blogs very first post, worth a read for new Bass Punditeers.
Angie T of the blog Bass fishing from a different perspective is back to blogging again.
Casey Ashley singing Fisherman (Just the song, no video)
Hook Setting from Bass Insider by Gary Kline
I still like the snap set better. I don't think the "pull set" is a good idea for texas rigged soft plastics.
2008 MN High School Hockey State Champions!!!
Hill-Murray
Tonight the Hill-Murray Pioneers managed to shut out the Cake Eaters, aka Edina Hornets, 3-0 and win the schools 3rd Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Championship. Last night Hill-Murray beat the previously undeafeted, #1 ranked, and defending AA State Champion Roseau Rams. The game was a rematch of the 1988 championship, my senior year of HS, that Edina won 5-2.
Way to go Hill-Murray!!!
I can stomach anyone but Edina winning it. Apparently Edina had many underclassmen and are the odds on favorites to take it next year.
Class A was taken by St. Thomas Academy.
Hill-Murray
Tonight the Hill-Murray Pioneers managed to shut out the Cake Eaters, aka Edina Hornets, 3-0 and win the schools 3rd Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Championship. Last night Hill-Murray beat the previously undeafeted, #1 ranked, and defending AA State Champion Roseau Rams. The game was a rematch of the 1988 championship, my senior year of HS, that Edina won 5-2.
Way to go Hill-Murray!!!
I can stomach anyone but Edina winning it. Apparently Edina had many underclassmen and are the odds on favorites to take it next year.
Class A was taken by St. Thomas Academy.
Harris Chain Day 3
FBF: Weights and limits were down on Day 3 at the Harris Chain and so were the fortunes of the Bpboys and Bass Pundit 1. The gains of Day 2 were taken back a little bit. Bpboys lost 7 angler places and were 2 for 4 on the limit bonus. BP1 lost 17 angler places and was 2 for 5 on the limit bonus. The Bpboys Mark Davis missed the cut on a three way tie breaker, had he caught a limit today he would have been 11th but he misses the cut in 13. Even though it wasn't a good day of FBF for me, the Posse teams performed well this tournament.
Minnesocold BpBoys
B. Lane 3rd 0 (limit bonus)
Davis 13th -5 (lack of limit today was buzz kill)
Skeet 17th +8 (The only possitive mover on both squads)
Hudgins 21st -10 (I'll just be thankful the implosion wasn't worse)
Scroggins 63rd DNF
Bass Pundit 1
B. Lane 3rd 0
Skeet 17th +8
Hudgins 21st -10
Stone 37th -3 (At least he popped a limit bonus)
Rook 42nd -12 (Was 1 short of a limit and 2-1 from holding at 30th so that missed limit fish had a ton of upside potential)
Minnesocold BpBoys
B. Lane 3rd 0 (limit bonus)
Davis 13th -5 (lack of limit today was buzz kill)
Skeet 17th +8 (The only possitive mover on both squads)
Hudgins 21st -10 (I'll just be thankful the implosion wasn't worse)
Scroggins 63rd DNF
Bass Pundit 1
B. Lane 3rd 0
Skeet 17th +8
Hudgins 21st -10
Stone 37th -3 (At least he popped a limit bonus)
Rook 42nd -12 (Was 1 short of a limit and 2-1 from holding at 30th so that missed limit fish had a ton of upside potential)
Friday, March 07, 2008
Apparently the people at BassFan.com, BassFanArmy.com, InshoreFan.com, OutdoorsFanweather.com and ShotgunFan.com have openned up another franchise: Walleyefan.com.
Here is the logo (Not a link)
Here is the logo (Not a link)
BASS Harris Chain Day 2
BassFan Big Stick Blog John Murray...
FBF: This is the reason I say Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat. The BPboys anglers moved up 95 places and Bass Pundit moved up 167 places. There is still a lot of moving to be done Day 3 of Elite Series events when the cut goes from 50 to 12.
Updated:-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Bpboys are 98th best of all players for the day. If only this were FLW, I'd be sitting pretty. Scroggins really is going to keep my line up from being Elite. It won't surprize me if I backslide Day 3.
As it turns out Bass Pundit 1 is even better ranked at 86th best of all players for the day. This line up has more upside for tommorrow than the Bpboys with all 5 in the cut with 3 of them between 25th and 34th
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesocold BPboys:
Scroggins- 63rd +15 (Van Dam beats handily, this pick a bust)
Skeet- 25th +9
Davis- 8th 0
Hudgins- 13th -11 (Little weight today, not looking good for Day 3)
B. Lane-3rd +82 (Biggest Sack Bonus Points, biggest + mover)
Bass Pundit 1:
Skeet-25th +9
Rook-30th +68 (Probably the days 2nd biggest + mover)
Stone-34th +19 (Schultz crashed and burned)
Hudgins-13th -11 (Had nowhere to go but down)
B. Lane-3rd +82
The Day in Live-streaming: For the first 3/4 of the day it streamed just fine, but it got choppy towards the end. Unfortunatly I missed seeing and hearing Lane's big bag.
FBF: This is the reason I say Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat. The BPboys anglers moved up 95 places and Bass Pundit moved up 167 places. There is still a lot of moving to be done Day 3 of Elite Series events when the cut goes from 50 to 12.
Updated:-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Bpboys are 98th best of all players for the day. If only this were FLW, I'd be sitting pretty. Scroggins really is going to keep my line up from being Elite. It won't surprize me if I backslide Day 3.
As it turns out Bass Pundit 1 is even better ranked at 86th best of all players for the day. This line up has more upside for tommorrow than the Bpboys with all 5 in the cut with 3 of them between 25th and 34th
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesocold BPboys:
Scroggins- 63rd +15 (Van Dam beats handily, this pick a bust)
Skeet- 25th +9
Davis- 8th 0
Hudgins- 13th -11 (Little weight today, not looking good for Day 3)
B. Lane-3rd +82 (Biggest Sack Bonus Points, biggest + mover)
Bass Pundit 1:
Skeet-25th +9
Rook-30th +68 (Probably the days 2nd biggest + mover)
Stone-34th +19 (Schultz crashed and burned)
Hudgins-13th -11 (Had nowhere to go but down)
B. Lane-3rd +82
The Day in Live-streaming: For the first 3/4 of the day it streamed just fine, but it got choppy towards the end. Unfortunatly I missed seeing and hearing Lane's big bag.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
BASS Harris Chain Day 1 (Don't Mean...)
The Day in live-streaming: I decided to try the BASS Live-stream with Firefox. I don't think it was the Firefox but I actually did get a real stream of the BASS weigh in today. It was working great up until the time I went to check on the Live Leaderboard and my computer locked up. I had to reboot the computer, which takes forever, but I still got to catch the end of the weigh in. When I first got the streaming the 2nd time it ran a little rough for a couple of minutes but then evened out into a good stream again.
Since the weigh in was streaming so well I'm guessing the streaming problems at the Classic and with FLW are heavily related to how many people are loading up the live-stream and less about how clunky my computer is.
The Live Leaderboard stopped working so I don't really know the results beyond the Top 10 at this point.
Harris Chain FBF:
Here are the posse line up's and Day 1 results
Minnesocold Bpboys:
Scroggins-78th (traded out KVD at the last minute on word that KVD had a bad practice. KVD's record at Harris Chain isn't good)
Skeet-34th (Has a great Harris resume')
Davis-9th (At 4.0 is the best value in BASS FBF)
Hudgins-2nd (FL guy)
B. Lane-85th (FL guy, picked more for Toho than Harris)
Bass Pundit 1
Skeet-34th
Rook-98th (Has a good Harris track record)
Stone-53rd (Has a good Harris track record, traded out Bernie Schultz at the last minute)
Hudgins-2nd
B. Lane-85th
Neither line-up is going to set the world on fire in this one, but Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat.
Wow!!! I can hardly believe my eye's. The average FBF score today was only 805. The Bassmasters Classic average score was 1150. The BPboys, who's score for the day was 1023, moved from 25% to 87.5%. The BPboys jumped past Bass Pundit 1 (884) in the Futurebass.com league, up to 8th from 38th. A little upward movement on Day 2 and the Bpboys are lookin' fine. Only 4 out of the 59 teams in the Futurebass.com league scored over 1000 today.
If my math is right there is between 17,500 and 18,000 people playing BASS FBF. So FLW is actually bigger than BASS for the 1st time ever. Amazing what a couple million in prizes will buy you.
Updated: I think my math was bad, I now think there are around 22,000 people playing BASS FBF.
Oops: 1147 fantasy players have Jeff Coble on their Harris Chain rosters. Coble is not fishing the Elite Series. There are 109 guys fishing Harris Chain yet BASS has 117 anglers you can pick from in FBF. Apparently they didn't scrub the non-Elite series Classic guys. Brent Haimes is on 197 rosters and he ain't fishing either. Jeff Freeman is on 1026 rosters, not fishing.
I wonder if the not fishing this tournament asterisk wasn't working? I know Coble didn't have it when I switched him out.
Since the weigh in was streaming so well I'm guessing the streaming problems at the Classic and with FLW are heavily related to how many people are loading up the live-stream and less about how clunky my computer is.
The Live Leaderboard stopped working so I don't really know the results beyond the Top 10 at this point.
Harris Chain FBF:
Here are the posse line up's and Day 1 results
Minnesocold Bpboys:
Scroggins-78th (traded out KVD at the last minute on word that KVD had a bad practice. KVD's record at Harris Chain isn't good)
Skeet-34th (Has a great Harris resume')
Davis-9th (At 4.0 is the best value in BASS FBF)
Hudgins-2nd (FL guy)
B. Lane-85th (FL guy, picked more for Toho than Harris)
Bass Pundit 1
Skeet-34th
Rook-98th (Has a good Harris track record)
Stone-53rd (Has a good Harris track record, traded out Bernie Schultz at the last minute)
Hudgins-2nd
B. Lane-85th
Neither line-up is going to set the world on fire in this one, but Day 1 don't mean Jack Squat.
Wow!!! I can hardly believe my eye's. The average FBF score today was only 805. The Bassmasters Classic average score was 1150. The BPboys, who's score for the day was 1023, moved from 25% to 87.5%. The BPboys jumped past Bass Pundit 1 (884) in the Futurebass.com league, up to 8th from 38th. A little upward movement on Day 2 and the Bpboys are lookin' fine. Only 4 out of the 59 teams in the Futurebass.com league scored over 1000 today.
If my math is right there is between 17,500 and 18,000 people playing BASS FBF. So FLW is actually bigger than BASS for the 1st time ever. Amazing what a couple million in prizes will buy you.
Updated: I think my math was bad, I now think there are around 22,000 people playing BASS FBF.
Oops: 1147 fantasy players have Jeff Coble on their Harris Chain rosters. Coble is not fishing the Elite Series. There are 109 guys fishing Harris Chain yet BASS has 117 anglers you can pick from in FBF. Apparently they didn't scrub the non-Elite series Classic guys. Brent Haimes is on 197 rosters and he ain't fishing either. Jeff Freeman is on 1026 rosters, not fishing.
I wonder if the not fishing this tournament asterisk wasn't working? I know Coble didn't have it when I switched him out.
Boyd Duckett blogs from the Harris Chain...Go and wish him some luck.
John Murray OTW Bassfan Bigstick Harris Chain...
John Murray OTW Bassfan Bigstick Harris Chain...
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Making it official...
With the addition of the Bad Bass Boys Blog and Nicks Bass Blog that now makes at least 13 BassNblogs that call Minnesocold home. I think it is time to stake our claim and make it official.
Minnesocold: BassNblog Capitol of the World!!!
Rumor has it that MN Pro Brian Brown of Fishing Hype.com is going to start a blog.
FBF News:
If you don't have your roster changed for BASS FBF Harris Chain then you better get crackin'.
FLW has the story of Minnesocold guy that won $100,000 for Toho...
Turns out the winner didn't hit the Hite Exacta; He hit Exacta's on Svebek, Fisher, and Hadden. Those were the only 3 anglers he had in the Top 10. The story claims both he and the 2nd place winner used Player's Advantage to their benefit. I'm sorry but I have Player's Advantage and Svebek, Fisher, and Hadden never even crossed my radar and I try to throw a wide net before narrowing down my picks. Unfortunatly all the Player's Advantage features no longer work for Toho. I would love to go back and try and see what this guy saw. Maybe he used the quick picks option and got supremely lucky.
Updated: I went into the Player's Advantage Angler profiles and there was nothing, except the fact that Hadden is from FL, to recommend Hadden, Fisher, and Svebeck. I'm at a loss.
From a comment a guy made about being in the 4 percentile and missing the prizes by 100 points, I figure there is 15,000 to 20,000 people playing FLW Fantasy Fishing. If so this is a stagering increase over the 6,000 that used to play. Hopefully FLW will reveal the number of players at some point.
Minnesocold: BassNblog Capitol of the World!!!
Rumor has it that MN Pro Brian Brown of Fishing Hype.com is going to start a blog.
FBF News:
If you don't have your roster changed for BASS FBF Harris Chain then you better get crackin'.
FLW has the story of Minnesocold guy that won $100,000 for Toho...
Turns out the winner didn't hit the Hite Exacta; He hit Exacta's on Svebek, Fisher, and Hadden. Those were the only 3 anglers he had in the Top 10. The story claims both he and the 2nd place winner used Player's Advantage to their benefit. I'm sorry but I have Player's Advantage and Svebek, Fisher, and Hadden never even crossed my radar and I try to throw a wide net before narrowing down my picks. Unfortunatly all the Player's Advantage features no longer work for Toho. I would love to go back and try and see what this guy saw. Maybe he used the quick picks option and got supremely lucky.
Updated: I went into the Player's Advantage Angler profiles and there was nothing, except the fact that Hadden is from FL, to recommend Hadden, Fisher, and Svebeck. I'm at a loss.
From a comment a guy made about being in the 4 percentile and missing the prizes by 100 points, I figure there is 15,000 to 20,000 people playing FLW Fantasy Fishing. If so this is a stagering increase over the 6,000 that used to play. Hopefully FLW will reveal the number of players at some point.
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