Done

My fishing year is officially over. The boat is winterized and put away, all my reels are stripped and the drags loosened, I am done for the year!
All that is left now is to thank my great tournament partners - Scott and Shawn, for another successful year, my sponsors - Kistler Rods, FlaMinn lures, Mepps and Mister Twister, and most of all my Family for their support.
Over the winter I plan to blog some how-to articles, some reviews on a few new products I used this year, and whatever else I may think of.
For now, thank you to all my readers and have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Just Hawg Huntin

With the tournament season over and a beautiful day on the horizon, my Brother Scott and I decided to hit one of our favorite North Metro lakes Friday for some hawg hunting. Conditions were sunny and calm with a light South breeze picking up in the afternoon, water temp was 55 degrees. The weather had been stable and with the fall feedbags on, we knew the fish would be biting. We ended up having one of the best frog fishing days we have ever had! Every fish we caught was between 15 and 18 inches with one very fat 19 that Scott hauled in. We estimated out best 5 at around 18lbs!

Simply Fishing Marine tournament - Green Lake, Chisago

I pre-fished Friday and pretty much eliminated the deep bite. The post turnover conditions had the fish very scattered and we only caught a couple of little fish deep. Our plan was to stay shallow, cover water, and hopefully connect with some good fish.
Tournament morning started out a beautiful 50 degrees and sunny with virtually no wind, warming to about 80 in the afternoon, water temp was about 60 degrees.
Our first spot was a row of docks in Little Green, I started skipping a junebug Mister Twister Comida while my partner Shawn was alternating between a FlaMinn Lures spinner bait and a Subwart. After finishing the docks and no fish we ran to another set where we were able to pick up four small keepers on the Comida.
We then went back into the main lake to another set of docks where I connected with a 16 incher to fill our limit. We continued our dock pattern on the main lake, catching some keepers, but only made a couple small culls.
About noon we decided to fish a small bay that was full of milfoil and lined with lily pads. I was throwing a Snagproof frog while Shawn was throwing a Zoom Horny toad. We had worked about half way in and were working back out when Shawn nailed a 14 incher for a cull. A short while later he connected with a 15 incher for another good cull. At this point I also tied on a Horny toad and we continued working the area for about another hour without another bite.
With about an hour left we decided to run back to the docks in Little Green in hopes of culling a couple more times. We managed to catch fish but nothing that would help.
At the weigh in it quickly became apparent that we did not have a good day. We weighed a limit for 8.34lbs for 13th place. There were a few smaller limits and some teams did not even have limits, so we felt good about that, but twelve other teams did pretty well making me believe we missed something. The winner had over 14lbs, and quite a few bags were over 10 lbs.
Thats it for my tournament season, so now its time to just fish for fun, hopefully the weather stays unseasonably warm for a while, I could be fishing well into November.

Sunrise Bassmasters Youth Services Bureau - Big Marine

My brother Scott and I arrived at Big Marine Lake to a very chilly 37 degrees and light fog, fortunately the forecast called for sunny skies and light SE winds. The water temp was 49 degrees warming to 59 in the afternoon.
Like every tournament I fish on Big Marine, we decided to start on what used to be my best spot. We were not able to fish exactly were we wanted because another boat was already sitting near the spot, but we were able to position ourselves close enough. After about two hours of casting jigworms to the weedline we managed a small limit with the biggest fish in the 14 inch range.
We next ran to another weedline where Scott caught a 14 incher that replaced a 12. After another hour of working the area and no bites we figured since the better fish were not going deep we would try shallow.
We settled on a reed bed that has produced in the past and started flipping. Almost immediatly I missed a fish that I didn't feel bite. We continued working around the reedbed and Scott connected with a 3 lber which culled our last 12 incher. Next I caught a 14 incher which culled a 13. A short time later I set the hook on another good fish and Scott netted a 18 incher, culling another 13 incher.
At this point we opted to spend the rest of the day flipping the reeds hoping to upgrade the three small keepers we had. The bite slowed but Scott did manage a slight cull with a fatter 14 incher.
The weigh in was typical for Big Marine with mostly 7 and 8 pound limits. We ended up with 10.68 good for 4th place - unfortunately they only paid 3 places. 1st and 2nd place had over 12 lbs and 3rd place was over 11 lbs.

Fishers of Men - Horseshoe Chain

My partner Shawn and I pre-fished a week ago and found the fishing tough, but did manage enough bites to feel confident. We pre-fished again on Friday and located an area holding a lot of fish that hopefully would still be biting the next day.
Our plan was to hit some of my 1-2 fish spots along the way to our larger fish holding area we found Friday.
Tournament morning started out a cool 65 degrees with 10-15 mph SW winds. We drew boat #17 and when our number was called we raced to our first spot, a tree overhanging the shore on a point. We shook off a bite here pre-fishing and hoped we could pick up a quick fish. After about 10 minutes and no bites it was time to go. Our next stop was a shoreline with a mix of docks and wood. On about the third dock I caught a 13 incher on a Mister Twister Comida in watermelon candy. After fishing the rest of the shore with no success we left.
The next spot was a small bay rimmed with lily pads and wood, and a "magical" tree which always produces a good fish. We started on a shoreline pitching B-A-Hawgs and FlaMinn Lures Jigs to the pads and wood. About half way down I connected with another 13 incher. We next headed over to the "Magic" tree where I stuck a 17 incher on the B-A-Hawg. We continued down the shoreline and were rewarded with two 14 inchers from pads - giving us a limit.
With our plan working and having a limit at 9:30 it was time to go to our best spot. This was a large bay filled with lily pads but only one particular area was holding fish. On about my 3rd cast with a white Snag Proof frog I hauled in a 16 incher which culled a 13. We took our time working the area but didn't get another bite so we decided to work through it again. About half way down the shore in the pads was a long dock which I skipped the first time through with no success. This time I was walking the frog parallel to the dock when the frog just disappeared. After a short battle about a 15 1/2 incher was netted, culling another 13 incher. We continued working the area for quite a while but the bite had slowed so we made a call to go to another shoreline that looked similar.
We flipped and frogged the pads and wood with no takers until we reached an open pocket behind the pads and between two trees. After casting the frog to the pocket and twitching it a couple times a fish boiled but missed the frog. After a couple more twitches the fish came back and ate it. When the nerve wracked fight was over, Shawn netted about a 4 1/2 pounder which made about a three pound cull.
At this point I figured we had about 12 lbs but we knew we had to cull our last 14 incher to have a chance for the money. We figured our best bet would be the pad area that had the most fish, so we spent the last hour there where Shawn was able to cull up a couple ounces with a fish a little over 14 inches.
A few teams had already weighed when our fish were put on the scale. We took the lead and although we had a couple scares we never relinquished it. We ended up in first place with 12.73lbs and second big bass at 4.49lbs for a healthy payday.

Fishing again!

After about three weeks of being busy, lousy weather and not feeling well, I finally managed to get out fishing a couple times this week.
On Sunday I went to The Horseshoe Chain to do some pre-fishing for an upcoming tournament. The Chain is fishing tough right now but we caught a few fish with my biggest being about three pounds and found some potential water for tournament day.
On Wednesday I just wanted to whack some fish, so my brother Scott and I decided to head to Rush lake. Again it was tough fishing, mainly due to the strong winds. The bite was pretty slow but we still caught plenty of fish, most were in the 14 - 16 inch range but I did manage one 17 incher.
It felt good to get out fishing again and I'm looking forward to this weekend. I'll be pre-fishing again Friday and fishing the tournament Saturday.
Watch for a blog next week about the tournament.

Full Throttle - Forest Lake

My Brother Scott and I arrived at Forest Lake Saturday to a beautiful sunny, calm morning. The forecast called for sun and light winds but strong storms for the afternoon.
We had put together a pattern pre-fishing Friday and were confident in our plan for the day.
Our first spot was a reed bed that normally produced better quality fish. Armed with our Kistler Helium Flipping rods we went to work. Scott was pitching a 1/2 oz Black/blue FlaMinn Lures jig while I started with A Mister Twister B-A-Hawg in black neon. By the time we left the spot we had four fish in the well that were all 14-15 inches. Not the size we hoped for but a pretty good start.
Our next spot was another reed bed that we shook off numerous bites in on Friday, but after working them thoroughly we had nothing for our efforts.
We decided to run to some docks that produced bigger fish in the past, which turned out to be a good choice, the first dock produced a 16 1/2 incher which filled our limit. On the next set of docks a 15 1/2 incher culled one of the 14's. We ran some other docks but never had another bite on any of them.
With about two hours left we decided to kill the remainder of the tournament on the reeds we started on in hopes of culling the last two 14 inchers. After pitching for about 10 minutes I stuck a 17 incher that replaced one of the 14's.
With about 45 minutes remaining, the storms started rolling in with lots of lightning all around, so we headed in to fish around the weigh in site but did not get another bite.
At the weigh in we ended up with 11.42 lbs with our big fish being 3.11 - which was good for 4th place and a check. 1st place weighed a little over 14 lbs.