Blog Archive for August of 2009

August 31, 2009

The dog days of summer are about to meander their way in to the Fall equinox quite quickly. June, July, and August have once again slipped by faster than most of us would like to have seen them go.

On the other hand, I know that there are many bow hunting enthusiasts who are itching to get in their stands and have been waiting with "baited" breath for Fall to arrive. Certainly Fall provides a different venue, and it is a pretty time of year, but... The problem with the Fall is it is just way too short. And then, once the color is gone, it's time to get the leaf blower out to fight the never ending battle with the falling leaves. Every year I use a few expletives to express my aim at not having one single tree in the yard of my next house! In any case, you can't stop or even slow down the march of time so you best learn to manage your time well and make hay while the sun shines.

Talked to ole Dennis Cook, the Ice Mountain Tear Drop Tournament Trail director, yesterday and got the run down on how the Classic contenders did on their two day fish off up on Long and Green Lakes in Interlochen. I expect to get a full Classic report from mi hermano de Tejas Nick Vawter. Nick and his son Brent qualified for the Classic again this year and took pictures and is writing up an account of the action, but until then, Dennis did give me some quick facts to share.

The first day of the Classic was on Long Lake. It is an underfished jewel of the north. Lots of big everything in the lake. Jesse Weener and Ross Machiela took the day one lead with around fourteen pounds follow by Dennis Cook and Bruce Mitchell. They got rained on all day, but they toughed it out and caught largemouth in the weeds off major lake points. It was a pretty much a black bass bite despite fishing a very good smallmouth lake.

Day two was much better weather wise, and the Tear Drop contenders were on Green Lake, which is across the street from the Interlochen State Park. The day one leaders stumbled and from the back of the pack came Myers and Kyser and the old guys Baker and Evans. Josh Myers, as I've said before, is a dominant angler in the northwest corner. He and his newest partner Kasey Kyser have won several AOY races and were the top team again this year. Despite all of his AOY plaques, Josh has not added a Classic win. Well this year that all changed. We'll wait for the rest of the story from mi Nick de amigo.

Dandy Don Fowler fished the Michigan Division BFL down at Elizabeth Park on the Detroit River this weekend. Here are some pictures from Elizabeth Park, looking first down river where you can see the mouth as it enters Lake Erie. The second picture of Miles shows the upriver side right at Elizabeth Park. It's about 17 miles upriver to Lake St. Clair.

Looking south out of Elizabeth Park at the mouth of the Detroit River where it meets Lake Erie.

Miles Johnson fishing the wall in front of Elizabeth Park.

One of Lake Erie's finest!

Don said the weather was worse than terrible Saturday, with big waves, wind and rain. The fish didn't cooperate for Don the way he wanted them to. He knew he would need 20 pounds to be a contender so he made it a point to get his coangler, who was sitting fourth in the points, a limit. The limit moved his Co into first place overall. I'm sure he appreciated Don's efforts.

None of my BFL buddies did as well as I would have liked to have seen them do. It was a rough day in many ways. I bet that first mile of the Detroit River was a roller coaster ride coming back from St. Clair. In fact, Don said there were legit five footers there. Here are the standings for the Boaters and the Coanglers from this past Saturday's Michigan Division BFL.

Yesterday my wife and I went to the "Taste of Saugatuck ." If you live in southwest Michigan, or want to come for a great small town summer celebration, I would highly recommend it. The area is very scenic. The street right along the river channel to Lake Michigan is fenced off, and that's where all the food booths are. The grassy area between the street and the channel, about fifty yards of open space, has a bandstand where two great bands played all afternoon.

You know me by now as someone that can't pass up good eats. I had two helpings of Clare's Spectators Bar and Grille ribs, two of his pulled pork sandwiches served on pretzel, (my personal favorites of all the food I tried) pita chips and cheesy artichoke dip, margarita chicken, two outstanding fish tacos, carmel corn, and a carmel apple. I think that's the complete list, but when you're on a food binge it's easy to loose track of menu items. Here are some pictures.

Clare and Pat cooking the delicious barbecued ribs!

Fish tacos with black bean salsa were excellant!

A little something for the sweet tooth. My wife really liked the chocolate covered strawberries!

They had some adult beverages available to taste.

The music was awesome! Great musicians and tremendous vocalists!

Raising money for the local schools.

A great place for a summer stroll. (Where's Tim B.)

I shot some video of the goings on at the "Taste" and hopefully I'll have some short videos up on the website soon so you can see and hear some of what goes on in the "Great Lakes State."

That's going to be it for today. A befitting parting shot comes from Henry James. He once said, "Summer afteroon - Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language." Take care and make sure you start the work week by taking a moment of your day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 28, 2009

I don't know how the time gets away from me when it comes to getting back to the blog for some info sharing. It doesn't seem like it's been five days since my last post. We have been on our retirement schedule and the worst part about it is, we have no deadline projects or specific dates for things that have to be done. What then happens is, nothing much gets done. I'm a believer in that you should always start each day by finishing it on paper. Once you've made that calendar commitment, once you've penciled in things you want done you are way more likely to get at them. We have been up to the cabin more during the time when we were working than since we've been retired.

Tonight is the Michigan Lottery Mega Millions drawing, and the jackpot is, I believe, $328 million! I don't usually buy tickets, but that insane amount of money draws us lottery winners out of the closet. Yes, we have won some serious money in the lottery, $10,000. It wasn't life changing money, but it pushed us off dead center and was the impetus for our cabin purchase twenty-five years ago.

Winning the $328 million would sure be fun. It's fun just dreaming about who you would give some of it to, and what you would buy in that first frivolous spending spree. I know I'd have a new Bass Cat Jaguar to cruise around in.

Bass Cat just unveiled it's revived Bass Cat Jaguar line (Scroll down on the link to the Bass Cat section). I have an old Bass Cat Jag, and it is one great boat. Talk to any Bass Cat owner, and you will hear nothing but praise about how they are treated by the company, which is the Pierce family. The service is legendary as is their owners tournament down in Mountain Home, Arkansas every year. Check out the link above and watch the short little video clip. The only thing I didn't care for was that clam shell look on the front of the console. The rest was sweeeet!

I'm still suffering from a bit of anxiety concerning Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner and my trip down to Alabama next year to Marshall in the Guntersville and Picwick Elite Series event. I had to call B.A.S.S. yesterday to make sure we were indeed signed up and tried to weasel out of them whether we were in the first 50 to register or not. If we are, we get to ride the third day. When you sign up, you are only guaranteed two days, and that's weather permitting. If they were to cancel a day due to inclement weather you could loose a day. If you are considering signing up, here is the link to their Marshall registration , which you can now do over the phone. You need to be a B.A.S.S. member and fork out $100 per tournament. I met one guy there last year that signed up to Marshall in every event. Just to entice you a bit further here are some of the pics from the "Dixie Duel."

Rick testing out the big stage feel!

The mornings were hectic but very exciting!

Just another day at the office for the "Cement Man."

Me and my new bowling buddy Tommy "$100,000 Richer" Biffle.

My number one Dixie Duel souvenir!

Speaking of big B.A.S.S. events, the biggy, the TTBAOY Champions Week, is coming up fast. It is, of course, getting a lot of advance publicity and Bass Fan has a good feature article on it today. Here's their Analysis of the Championship Field story.

When you talk about Championships you have to roll in a mention of the $2,000,000 Forest Wood Cup just because of that prize package. The Forest Wood Cup will air on television this Sunday on the Versus Network at 12:30 pm.

Before I forget, Sunday, for those of you who live in southwest Michigan, they are having the "Taste of Saugatuck" in Saugatuck . It's a summer celebration with all the local restauranteurs handing out samples of their best dishes. You buy tickets and then meander down the street that is lined with vendors and sample their wares. They have music in the bandstand, and it's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Here's some pictures to maybe motivate a trip.

These guys sounded like a Madi Gra band!

The area is very scenic!

Come prepared to eat! You won't go away hungry."

Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the music, the view, and the food!

My buddy John "Walleyed Again" Baker is heading down Sunday, and he's also making a stop just off the Saugatuck Exit at Spectators . Clare and Pat, who own the Sports Bar and Grill, will of course be serving their famous ribs down at the "Taste," but they also have their all the king crab you can eat Sunday special going on at the restaurant. You may recall me mentioning it, in fact it's in the blog entry below. I had my fill last weekend. It's not those skinny little legs either. It's the big king crab mommas.

Maybe I shouldn't cause a flood of coupons for Clare and Pat, but they do participate in a program at a coupon site called Restaruant.com . You can use the link provided here to the coupon site and or surf over yourself. Once at the site enter the discount code "Taste" and you get 80% off on your coupon purchase. The deal is this. You buy a coupon, and (for three more days) you get 80% off, so it cost you $2.00 to purchase a $25 coupon. You have to spend at least $35. So, you pay $12 for a $35 meal, which is your $25 discount. It's a very good deal and my wife and I have bought and used the coupons for Spectators (scroll down on the link to Spectators) , and for restaurants in Denver, Milwaukee, Ludington, Grand Rapids, etc. We bought a bunch with this 80% off promotion. You just can't pass up a bargain like that. Plus, Spectators has some of the best food around. It is our favorite place for prime rib. They also have the little things like home made potato chips, pita chips, salsa, and a huge chocolate cake dessert. You need to try it.

Well, it is one of those days where if I don't start working on my list, nothing much gets done. Kind of a gray ole day here weather wise. The kind of day that can make you lazy. Before I get going though, here's a link to a pretty good article by Denny Brauer on Flipping and Pitching . This article caught my eye because when we go back to Alabama next year, we will have three days to fish in between tournaments. This past spring I got to ride and learn from one of the legends of the flipping game, Tommy Biffle. I'm going to be on his Wheeler spot next April to see if I can duplicate some of his big bass catches. I will be reading Denny's article, and I'll be in the front yard practicing that pitching stroke. Sweet beaver here I come!

The parting shot for today comes in the form of a reminder to be vigilant. The MDNR has a posting on its website discussing how VHS was found in a Michigan inland lake . The virus has been compared to the human ebola virus and has the potential to kill everything that swims in a body of water. The initial scare, a couple years back, set in motion a number of precautionary laws. Along with following those laws, it is very important that when we trailer boats from lake to lake that we take some time to rinse out your livewells with hot water and remove any weeds that may have gotten caught on the trailer. It does take effort, but if you are a responsible angler you work to protect the sport. The little extra effort is not only helpful, but necessary, if we want to continue to pursue our sport on some of the most productive waters in the country.

Take care and make sure you take time out of your day today to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 23, 2009

It's Monday, and the sun is shining once again. Southwest Michigan has been shrouded for several days with heavy clouds that periodically have been devulging their contents. It's been, what I would think, a good growing year. Cooler that normal and we've been getting regular rains. I'm not sure where we're at with summer rain totals, but we must be somewhat above normal.

Yesterday, my wife and I met my sister Sue, her friend Clare, and his grandson, to go pick some peaches at Crane's Orchard just west of Fennville .

Clare and his partner, Pat, own and operate Spectator's Sports Bar and Grill which is just east of Saugatuck a great place, by the way, to eat. It's where we met to go picking fruit and it's just 8 or 9 miles down the road from Crane's U-Pick operation. No ladders needed and the fruit is primo and easy pickin'.

Crane's Orchard in Fennville, MI

The u-pick 'em was fast and easy.

As the saying goes, "As pretty as a peach."

Clare and his day glo. He was easy to keep track of.

Sister Sue and her picking buddy.

After we picked our peaches, we also picked some of the early rippening apples that are ready now. The trees are loaded with beautiful ripening apples of all varieties. They told us that they thinned 70% of the fruit on each tree in the whole orchard. This makes for big and juicey peaches and apples. Clare told me that the place is packed come apple season, with many out of towners driving from near and far. He said many Chicagoans come every year to get their fruit.

After we picked our apples and peaches, we went to Crane's Pie Pantry to get something to eat. I had sampled my share of apples and peaches in the orchard, but I decided to order a dessert as well and had a caramel apple sundae.

The restaruant that they have on site has a full menu. You can't, however, get any pop to drink, but believe me you wouldn't want that beverage anyway. They have their own cider they serve, with free refills, that you have to try. On your way in or out of the restaurant, you pass through the pantry where they sell whole pies and cider donuts. You can get ready to eat pies or take them home frozen to bake later.

Crane's on site Pie Pantry Restaurant

Mmm Pies, Which one do you take home?

We made one more fruit stop on the way back to Spectators to pick some blueberries. We have a bunch already in the freezer, but wanted just a few pounds to sit out to eat. It was the last day for blueberry picking, at the place where we stopped. The southwestern Michigan crop is just about done.

When we got back to Spectator's I was pretty surgared out and was ready for protein. Lucky for me Clare had an all you can eat King Crab special.

These were not the skinny little legs you sometimes see. These were the big momas! They came with a salad and potato, but my focus was on crab. I unashamedly lost count of the refills, I never had to wait on them either. Time after time, as I had the last leg hot tubbing in the butter, our waitress had the next plate ready. You know me by now as either fishing or eating, and today it was definitely the latter. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the "Deadliest Catch," I guess I had other things on my mind.

Moving from food to fishing isn't too hard, especially if I connect with my ice cream eating partner, Dandy Don Fowler. As you have been reading, Don and my other old partner Ron, just finished fishing the B.A.S.S. Northern Open on Lake Champlain, in Plattsburgh, New York. I had seen where Don really bombed on Day 2 bringing in only one fish after catching a limit on Day 1. I figured something must have gone wrong weather wise or mechanically. Don called Sunday while driving home and said that his boat had a recurrence of a problem that he had paid some pretty big bucks to get resolved earlier in the year. The boat would be in neutral and suddenly jump into gear. It then would not respond when you tried to take it out of gear. So, from the get go on Day 2, he was relegated to a trolling motor only.

He said they used the trolling motor to move out of the harbor area past the off limits and on his first cast he caught a four pound largemouth! He thought maybe things would be okay, but as it turned out that would be his only fish of the day. Double drats! Mechanical failures are never a pretty thing, but to have them when you're hundreds of miles from home, competing in a big tournament, is more than frustrating.

Don's looking to get the boat fixed asap because he plans on fishing the Elizabeth Park BFL next weekend. I have really thought about getting in to that event as well, but I think that I'm going to hold off and make plans for next year's BFL Michigan Division Circuit. I may, if the stars align right, sneak down and prefish a day with Don.

The last real biggy of the professional bass fishing season continues to be fuel for the fishing site essayist. The Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Championship Week is ramping up. The event starts September 10th on two venues, Lay Lake, and the Alabama River down in the Montgomery area of Alabama.

Today on Bass Fan, they had an article entitled, VanDam Still Best In The World By Far . It talks about how KVD has been ranked number one in the world seven out of the last eight years! He's also closing in on $4,000,000 in career winnings! Phenomenal!

If you are involved in fishing, or for that matter, sports of any kind, you know how hard it can be to win a single tournament let alone perform at the highest level winning year in and year out. Van Dam, like a few of the greats, has that tenacious drive and overiding will that seems to drive him to perform at a level that not many can not match. It will certainly be interesting to watch how he does during Champions week. As our Michigan rep, in the professional sport of bass fishing, we need to all be sending him our best Karma.

Not only did the recent B.A.S.S. event on Oneida determine the twelve TTBAOY Champions Week contenders, but it also determined a number of the Classic contenders, and was the last shot for those that hoped to requalify for the 2010 Elite Series. Here's an article from Bassmaster that talks about those 37 That Qualify for the Bassmaster Classic . Well, that's it for today's blog entry. I have some work to do today on my camper. Developed a roof leak that I hope to track down. So, here's the parting shot for today. I'm not sure who to credit for it, but it's a belief or philosophy that I certainly think is ture. "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 21, 2009

Hang on to your hats, two blogs in two days. Wholley molley Olley! I got up again early for a semi-retired guy. I knew I had to get Mr. Vawter's blog account of the Ice Mountain Tear Drop Tournament Trail, Cadillac/Mitchell event up for viewing today. Well with no further ado, I give you the pride of South Texas, Mr. Nick Vawter, and his Tear Drop on the spot report from Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell.

Wait, wait, just quite not yet. I need to come up with a title because he sent it titless. Is that how you spell it? Maybe saying it came without a title would be better. What came to my mind after reading his account of the weather that morning is a line from a song by the group Train. Their song is entilted "When I look to the Skies" and the first line seems like a good title or segway to his story. It goes, "When it rains it pours and opens doors and floods the floors we thought would always keep us safe and dry..." The song isn't a fishing tune, but keeping everyone safe on the water is always a major concern. Wear those PFDs and put on the sun screen! Now it's time for El Anciano Vawter.

Lake Cadillac and Mitchell Ice Mountain Tournament Trail Stop #6

Last stop on the Teardrop Ice Mountain Anglers Tournament Trail was August 9th at Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell . Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell are very popular hotspots for fishing and boating enthusiasts alike. You can use Michigan Interactive Inland Lakes Maps link to get maps of many of Michigan's lakes. Tournament anglers are mapaholics. The new cards for the GPS units that adorn many of the boats now have detailed contour maps of just about every puddle from here to Timbuktu.

The tournament day started out rather threatening. Upon arriving at the launch around 5:30 a.m. we were welcomed with heavy rains and a brilliant lightening display. Dennis Cook, our tournament director, was calling for weather reports and made the decision to delay the start of the day's event until 8:30 a.m. in hopes of safer conditions. It was really the only decision he could make with the lightening that was still flickering across the sky.

During the weather delay, several of us headed over to Big Boy for some coffee and eats. While sitting there for about an hour we noticed that it was letting up. Of course, once you get a few guys talking fishing, you can lose track of why you were all together in the first place. That's right, we had a tournament scheduled for today. Time to get a move on. The group scurried back to the launch in hopes that everyone else would return early with the rains ceasing. After a short morning meeting, the first boats were blasting off by 8:15 a.m.

The majority of the anglers made the move for Lake Mitchell, moving through the Clam Canal, to start their morning. My partner, my son Brent, and I lined up with the convoy of boats idling through the canal.

After about an hour, I got a bite, set the hook, and held on as my drag screamed. As quickly as the excitement had come, it was gone. Whatever picked up my lizard let it go just as fast. That was the first time this season I have had any fish pull hard enough to engage my drag. We worked the area over a little more and moved on. The rest of my day didn't get any better. I didn't catch a keeper all day. My partner put all our fish in the box. However, I'm a good netter. My son and I have this arrangement. It's more like an incentive to catch fish. Whoever puts the first three keepers in the live well gets his sandwich made by the other. I've made sandwiches all year! You might wonder why we wouldn't make our sandwiches ahead of time? Well, because it's kind of like the Visa "Priceless" commercial. It's a who's the man now kind of thing, bragging rights. It's the kind of comraderie, the banter back and forth, that friends and family that fish together have. It's really what getting out in these tournaments is all about. So, if and when you see me dancing a jig on the back deck you'll know Brent is making MY lunch.

The sun made one or two attempts to peek out Sunday, but by and large it was a dreary day. We motored back to Cadillac for the last couple hours hoping to cull out at least one fish. We ended up near the launch with several other boats plying the depths to get that tick on the line that hopefully would end up being the kicker fish for the day. It wasn't meant to be for us. However, we were in a spot that gave us a ring side seat to watch and listen to Josh and Kasey pull up, what ended up being, big bass of the day with only 30 mins or so left. We could hear the whooping and hollering for quite a distance. That fish, more than likely, was the one Josh and Kasey needed for their first place victory. It gave them 16 lbs 10 ounces for the day. They placed nine ounces ahead of the Nitro team of McMichael and Wilson, who had also had a heavy sack of Lake Mitchell green fish which weighed 16 lbs. 1 oz. Their bag won them a nice $250.00 check and a free ride into the Classic.

Coming from eleventh place in the overall standing prior to the days start, was the team of Kaiser and Kozak. Matt and Joe must have hand picked the fish they brought to the scales. Not only did they take third place and $120.00 with their hefty 13 lb 11 ounces bag, they also advanced from a tie for twelfth place in the overall standings up to tenth place to secure a place in the Classic.

Chris Mieras and Harry Swank were the meat in the sandwich this time, finishing two ounces behind third, and 1 ounce ahead of fourth. They weighed in a nice sack of Lake Mitchell fish which tipped the scales at 13 lb 9 ounces. They won $50.00 and will also be fishing in the Classic.

Rounding out the cash awards with a fifth place finish and $50.00 was the team of Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner Sr. and his happy go lucky partner Craig "Back up and Dump" Stumbrie. These guys battled hard all year to come from behind after a tough start in the first tournament. They showed some spunk during the last several tournaments coming up just a few points shy in the Classic standings.

Each week since the start of the season some lucky team got a set of gift cards from the Na-Tah-Ka . The first tournament the cards go to the first place team. Second tournament they go to the second place team and so on through the six tournaments and the Classic. This week the Na-Tah-Ka gift cards went to the sixth place team of Machiela and Weener.

There was the normal shuffle in this last regular season event for those final coveted Classic spots. The AOY standings through the year are in a constant state of flux. Positions 7 through 10 are always up for grabs come that last tournament. However, there always has to be a place to stop and take measure. Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell was that place. Some moved up and some very talented anglers slipped back out of the top 10. Given one more event you would surely take witness to yet another change in the top group for that long awaited ride to the Classic.

At the conclusion of each year's events, a wild card draw takes place for those anglers in the club who fished the complete season. Tickets are issued for a drawing and one lucky team gets a ride in to the Classic, This year the team of Rick Rowe and Allen Pike were drawn. Congrats! Also, an automatic berth is given to the tournament director for all his hard work through out the year. The Tear Drop has always been a 100% plus, payback so it has long been felt that the Tournament Director would be rewarded for all his efforts by an automatic entry. It is also important for him to be there in case rule decisions have to be made. This makes for a total of twelve boats and a friendly battle for a piece of that $5,000.00 Classic Pot. All twelve teams will get a piece of the pie depending on their two day total. Good luck to all!

A very special thanks to this tournaments lake hosts Da Dawg House and the Na-Tah-Ka .

We would also like to make sure we provide you with some links to the various Tear Drop sponsors in the Cadillac area. Be sure that if you are shopping you check out our flyer on the main page, or pick up a copy at area merchants and give the Tear Drop ad supporters a chance at your repeat business. All of them come from Tear Drop angler contacts so you know that they are folks that do you right. Here the rest of the links to our Cadillac area supporters: Ice Mountain , Pilgrim Village , Cadillac Tire , Swaffer's Gateway Chrysler , 4 Season Ford , Swaffer's Toyota , and once again Da Dawg House . This year's 2009 Classic event will be held on Long and Green lakes in Interlochen. Dennis announced that starting the Friday before the Classic there would be an off limits period for this year?s tournament. The winners will be determined by a two-day total from both lakes. My partner and I were lucky enough to secure a slot so I will be able to give a first hand account of events.

Until then, keep a tight line.

Another nice job by mi principal hombre, Mr. Nick Vawter. Thanks Nick, and I'm already anxious to read your account of the Classic up on Long and Green. Maybe, I'll even get the chance to get up there and camp that weekend.

It's been another one of those days with me starting the blog early in the morning and I find myself still on the piece at 11:50 pm. At midnight I never know what character I'll turn in to so I had best push on.

I checked the B.A.S.S. site earlier to see how Don, Ron, Nate, Mike and Kendall did in the Northern Open on Champlain. Don didn't have a very good day. In fact, it look like a swing for the fences that resulted in a K. He only had one fish today. Ron had two, Nate missed the cut by four ounces, and Mike looks like he's in it for day three in 28th place. Kendall came back strong today with 14 plus pounds. If I know Kendall, he told his boater that he could put them on fish and since it was Day 2 the boater capitulated and went to Kendall's spot. Kendall, Kdawg on his website, prefished with Mike and the two of them are good sticks. Unfortuneately that first day zero that killed his chances of making the cut. I will be watching tomorrow to see if Mike can have his biggest bag yet and maybe, just maybe, jump up in to that top twelve. What a rush that would be. Here is the B.A.S.S. Northern Open link to the story for Day 2. Here is also the link for the Standings through Day 2 . As always the B.A.S.S. Photo Galleries are top notch. I think that maybe in the first picture on the first gallery that's Mike Elkins on the end of the dock. I'll email Kendall at his Kdawg website to see if that was Mike or not.

Day 3 of the Northern Open continues tomorrow with the top thirty pros and coanglers fishing. My best wishes go out to Mike Elkins of Kalamazoo. Let's root him on and hope he cashes a big check.

It's getting late and well past the bewitching hour and I still have to post the pictures for the Ice Mountain Tear Drop Tournament Trail Cadillac stop. So, here they are!

The winners Kasey Kyser and Josh Meyers.

Brian Macdonell of Traverse City

Craig "Back Up and Dump" Stumbrie and Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner

Jeff and Fred Brauneck of Manistee

Classic contenders Team Kaiser and Kozak

Cadillac natives Marty Williams and Don Fowler

Mike Meysar and Noah Laird

John McMichael and Brian Wilson

Waiting at the Weighin. Who's Classic bound and who's not.

August 20, 2009

"You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time? Back home to the escapes of time and memory." This is a quote that the character George Webber makes in Thomas Wolf's novel You Can't Go Home Again. I was trying to think of a lead for today's blog and that came to mind, because we had to come home from the cottage for a few days. We got home last night, and so I'm sitting at home typing this morning, almost in the dark, because it is very cloudy and drippy. There were some major storms last night down around the New Buffalo area. It really didn't get too bad here though, just a good soaking rain. Now that we are home, I hope we can get things done here and head back north. We'll see, it seems like an easy thing, but it often gets complicated with committments which seem to keep us in the city.

Last Monday, Steve Block, one of our Tear Drop buddies from many years ago, called and wanted to know if I wanted to go out with him to try and catch some salmon. He had been out from Manistee a couple of times and had caught fish and thought we should give it a try Monday evening. I told him I was good to go, and so the wife and I made arrangements to stay at the casino in Manistee for the night. Steve, who doesn't live far from Little River, said he'd pick me up there. So, at 5:30 pm Steve and I were heading to the pier heads in Manistee.

They have a large parking lot there with room to launch at least 10 rigs at a time. Steve, being an avid duck hunter, had his duck boat with a 40 horse Merc on it. He's mounted an electric downrigger and four rod holders. It is a boat that you wouldn't want to be out on the big water in if there was too much wind. The weather Monday, was a bit iffy as we readied the boat to launch. The winds were forecasted to lay down and so off we went. It wasn't bad at all and the boat handled the water beautifully. It always pays, however, not to be overly confident in any craft when you're on the Great Lakes.

Fishing salmon on the big lake this time of year isn't a guarantee, but almost. You head straight out of the piers for about two miles till you come to the shelf. It's not hard to find, because the depthfinder reads around 40 feet for a long ways, until you hit the shelf, where it drops very quickly to 100+ feet. You really don't even need a depthfinder because once you get to the shelf there are boats galore stretched along it. You pick your spot and set your rods.

I have had very little experience salmon fishing, so Steve did all the rod preps. The rod whose line was rubber banded to the electric down rigger was set at about 100 ft., and on it we trolled a green and glo j-plug. Steve also put down a fly on a rod that had wire line and a dipsy diver. If you are a novice like myself, and want some pretty extensive information on Great Lakes Salmon fishing, check out Lake Michigan Angler by clicking on the colored link.

As we trolled at about 2-3 mph, Steve watched the sonar for balls of bait fish and salmon. He said as it got closer to sunset we would begin seeing more bait and salmon. Sure enough, as the sun dipped low in the horizon, big balls of bait began showing up, and with the bait balls, came the larger arcs that were the salmon. We watched a number of boats reeling in fish, which caused us to do some maneuvering. In the excitement, several boats veered off "the line" and threatened to cross our lines. The boats are much tighter than you would guess for fishing 3 miles out in to Lake Michigan. Often, guys would be hollering at one another as they navigated along the shelf break, worrying that a boat with its steel cabled cannon ball lowered would intersect their lines and cut them off. You really need to pay attention to what's going on. Here are some pics of Steve setting us up for action.

Setting lines at about 100 ft.

Checking the dipsy rod.

It was just as it was getting dark when the rod on the cannon ball went. Steve handed me the rod, and I spent the next 10-15 minutes fighting the salmon. Once hooked, there isn't much headway made, and you really just keep tension on the line. Thereafter you pump and reel working the fish to the surface. This fish stayed down all the way to the boat, and we never got a look at him till he was in the net. As you can see from the picture below it was a nice fish. No twenty-five pound monster, but it would provide some very good eating.

Captain Steve with a nice Lake Michigan salmon.

One of the nice things about fishing out of Manistee is that the launch provides a cleaning station. Your five dollar launch fee is a real bargain. Anglers take their catch to the tables and filet it. There is even a guy there that will filet your catch for two dollars a fish. We watched the guy, who Steve says travels around the country doing this sort of work. He fileted one salmon after another in an amazingly fast and efficient manner. Whether you hire it done or clean the fish yourself, you leave with a large ziplock or two of delicious salmon filets ready for the grill or smoker. No fush and no mesh later at home.

A sharp knife, some smooth strokes, and you end up with a bag of filets.

Steve had some fish from a previous outing, so he gave me the fillets from our salmon catch. We would have liked to have caught a few more, but as if was getting dark it looked like a storm could be heading our way so we left to be safe rather than sorry.

Just about a week earlier, Steve, who is a Manistee County Marine Officer, participated in a rescue near Manistee. Several salmon fisherman capsized a small boat and spent the night in the lake. One of the men died in the accident. Steve pulled two of the survivors out of the water and later took part in recovering the body.

One lesson that stands out in these unfortunate situations is that many anglers spend quite a bit of money on boats, poles, lures, etc. and then have some cheap vests in the boat that meet legal requirements that get stowed away and not worn. Steve and I both wore approved PFD suspenders from the time we left till the time the boat was loaded on the trailer. The new models are lightweight, comfortable, and will float you face up even if you're unconscious. They cost almost $200, but when you need them the money quickly becomes some of the best you've ever spent. Here's a link to Mustang Inflatible PFDs .

I once asked a salesman at a bike shop how much I should spend on a helmet. His reply was, "How much is your head worth?" Same goes for PFDs. If you spend any time on the water you should have one, and it shouldn't be the kind that gets stowed away and not worn. It shouldn't be the last purchase you make either. If you're planning to spend any time on the water then the Mustang type suspender PFD should be your first consideration.

I haven't been the only bass guy on the water lately after salmon. Nick Vawter sent me a bunch of pictures of his sons Brent and Bryan. They too had taken their small flat bottom Monarch out of Port Sheldon after salmon. Here are the Vawter boys with their day on the water catch.

Whether it's deer or salmon these boys get 'em.

Brent with one of the brutes from salmon night

Brent and Bryan just before the filet work started.

I have to apologize to Nick Vawter for not getting his article that he wrote on the last Tear Drop event up on the web. I told him I'd have it up days ago. I'm way off my timeline for getting that done and once again I will say I will try and have it up very soon.

I think I mentioned in the last blog or two that one of my old student's Nate Wellman came in second in the last FLW Eastern Series tournament. He won around $47,331. Here is the article that was up on the FLW site talking about the event, "Vatalaro Victorious At Dardanelle" . Just prior to that contest Nate won $10,000 in the Forest Wood Cup. Checking the web today, I see that he is also fishing the B.A.S.S. Northern Open on Lake Champlain out of Plattsburgh, New York. The boy has been on a tear and I hope his good fortune continues. He is sitting 28th today just four pounds out of first.

Along with Nate, there are some other friends of mine fishing that Open. Dandy Don Fowler (138th Day 1) from Cadillac and Mike Elkins (56th Day 1) from Kalamazoo are boaters there. My old partner Ronnie Hicks(101 Day 1) and buddy Kendall Ulsh (175th Day 1) are fishing on the coangler side. Jonathon Van Dam (105 Day 1), KVD's nephew is also representing Michigan on the boater side. Here is the article that Bassmaster has up on Day 1 of the B.A.S.S. Northern Open .

I talked to Ron today just after the weigh in and he said he had three fish get off today that would have boosted his standings considerably. He has drawn a boater tomorrow that caught 16 lbs. of fish today, so he should be in a boat that will be around fish.

I don't know who Kendall rode with today, but I know whoever it was didn't give Kendall much to work with. Kendall is a good stick, and I'm sure is not too happy tonight with having blanked today. When you go to these events as a coangler you are at the mercy of the guy in the front of the boat. Sometimes it can be very frustrating sitting back on empty water. Hopefully, tomorrow the fishing spirits will shine our Michigan buddies and they will all bring in good limits.

When I looked at the coverage for tomorrow's event it does say there will be live coverage starting at 2:05 pm ET. Check out this Northern Open Weighin Link for tomorrow.

I looked over the photos from Day 1 and didn't see any of our guys, but they always have great photographs in the B.A.S.S. Photo Gallery , so check it out.

It's been a busy day today for me. I started the blog entry this morning at 9:00 am, and after a few trips here and there and a get together for dinner, it's now 11:40 pm, and I'm just now ready for the parting shot of the day.

I have never found the author of this quote, but it is one of those that I have always like for its simplicity. The quote is, "The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." Take care and make sure you take some time today to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 17, 2009

I would have liked to went over to the Na-Tah-Ka for coffee this morning, but after a week's worth of company I decided I had better spend the time blogging.

Scarey thing about my family is that we all get along so well. We have a great time getting together, and it's always the more the merrier philosophy. We play cards, almost every card game there is, euchre, set back, pinochle, cribbage, bridge, poker, you name it we play it.

We're also pretty competitive in the outdoor games as well. My sisters and my mom are as skilled and competitive as the guys athletically, so it makes for some interesting competitions. Nobody gets over zealous and we just have a lot of fun and eat way too much.

The majority of the company went home on Wednesday. With our gaming options limited by numbers, we decided to go in to Ludington and see a movie. We saw the Meryl Streep movie Julie & Julia . It was entertaining and I would guess Streep is going to win some awards for her amazing portrayal of Juliet Childs. In terms of the movies out there right now, it is one you would find worth your time and money, although $10 for a bag of popcorn and a pop! Come on! It's not a movie the kids would be interested in, and it does have a few choice pieces of profanity. Kids should probably be in line for "G Force."

After the movie, we went in to downtown Ludington, almost to the lake, to the House of Flavors to get something to eat. The House of Flavors is noted for their homemade icecream and at one time they had quite a chain of shops in Michigan. For whatever reason, they now only have the two shops in Ludington and Manistee. The one in Ludington's food and ice cream is considerably better than the one in Mansitee. Someone was even telling me that it's not even House of Flavors ice cream in Manistee. The one in Ludington has a turkey roasting on a spit and the smell smacks you a good one when you come in. Needless to say, their turkey sandwiches and dinners are very good. I had a hot turkey sandwich and I would go as far to say that it's the best I've ever had. For dessert, I had what I feel is their best specialty sundae, dubbed the Hokey Pokey. Nothing hokey about this stainless steel bowl of delectable calories. It is on the menu as being made with vanilla ice cream, however they substitue, at no additional charge, butter pecan. That's where I start. Then they add hot fudge, carmel, whipped cream and a load of salty pecans. The thing I like about the House of Flavors is that they don't skimp on the toppings. I like about 50/50 ice cream to topping, almost that anyway. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't take my camera to the movie, so I didn't have it with me. However, we went back the next day after a computer modem for Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner. This time I had my camera.

The House of Flavors downtown Ludingon

My House of Flavors Monte Cristo sandwich!

When we were there after our movie, it was fairly late, about 9:30 pm. When we got to the restaurant we could see a line that extended well out the door and around the corner. There had to have been forty people in line for cones. We went around to the restaurant end and walked right in without a delay. I wonder if those people in line knew you can come in and sit down and order just ice cream? In any case, as I said, I ordered the hot turkey sandwich and after the waitress left, I noticed that they had a Monte Cristo on the menu. I hadn't seen that on the menu during my many trips there to eat. I sometimes get the turkey reuben, and their perch dinner is excellent, but a Monte Cristo is a sandwich I have always enjoyed. So, on this return visit that's what I ordered. It's a rather unique sandwich. It has ham, two kinds of cheese, and that fresh roasted turkey. It is served on french toast and has strawberry preserves served with it. Doesn't seem like that would be the right combination of meats, cheeses, toppings and bread, but if you haven't tried one you're missing out. I tried to take a few more pictures of the interior of the restaurant. The picture above does not do the place justice. They have huge murals on the wall of actual pictures taken when the operation was in its fledgling ice cream shoppe stages. The pictures look to date at least to the 50s. There are three separate dining rooms and then the ice cream case section where cone buyers line up. My camera battery died after taking the two pictures above. Just as well, because you would have been drooling on your keyboard if you had seen the desserts.

I broke from tradition this second time there and got a sundae with there "Ultimate Peanut Butter Brownie" ice cream with their peanut butter fudge topping. The ice cream was a peanut butter base with ribbons of caramel and chunks of chocolate brownie. The topping was very different from any I've had before. I asked how it was made, and the waitress only could tell me that it had peanut butter, hot fudge, and marshmallow whipped together. It was excellent! If you are up fishing Hamlin Lake and want a good meal and top notch desserts, check out the House of Flavors, a.k.a. HOF.

Speaking of fishing, Rick and I went out on Hamlin Saturday morning. We launched the Bass Cat at Wilson Hill Park, which is at the end of Jebavy Drive. Jebavy runs north and south and crosses US10 just west of where old 31 butts into it. There's a Mancino's on the corner and there use to be a Burger King there, but a couple of years ago they relocated it.

We started the morning throwning some topwater and the action was super slow. We chucked some spinnerbaits and pitched a few baits shallow for a while and then decided to leave the north end for the narrows. We ran the sand line in the narrows and picked up a couple of decent largemouth. It usually is a better spot for a smallie, but not that day. We then ran over to a spot Rick likes by the dunes. We caught a couple other ok fish there. The biggest being a largemouth around sixteen inches. Next, we ran the flat down near the dunes and I caught a 17 1/2 inch smallie and another that was about 15. We then ran to the extreme south end and caught several more smallies and largeheads. Nothing real big, but if you have ever fished Hamlin you know for some reason the fish there just pull hard. Sounds crazy, but they just do. Hook a 13 incher there and you would bet you have a three pounder. The fish on Hamlin are fatties and maybe that's why even the short fish fight so hard. We moved back up the south end just past the North Bayou and caught a half dozen more fish, all largemouths. We were only going to fish till noon, but ran the clock until almost 1:30 pm before we were off the water. Here's a picture of the smallie I caught.

A nice Hamlin Lake smallie.

On our way home, we went down US 10 and Rick showed me an old boat that he has on the road with a "For Sale" sign on it. It's a boat that is 43 years old and has only been in the water, I think he told me, 12 times. Rick bought it from a guy that bought it from the original owner, who like I said only used it a few times. The farmer that bought it had it for 17 years covered in his barn before he sold it to Rick. Rick has had it in his pole barn ever since. It's a pretty neat little fiberglass boat. The interior and front deck are red fiberglass, and it has an old Perkins 40 horse on it.

Rick's antique Aristo Craft that's for sale.

A unique little red and white fiberglass beauty.

The boat has a fiberglass topper that Rick says can be removed, but I think it looks cool with it on. The red fiberglass interior and seats are accents that really make this a one of a kind boat. If you're in to antiques and want something to show off on the lake then give Rick a shout. Just send me an email to the website using the "Contact" button. I'll also be putting the pictures and a brief description under the "For Sale" button on the main page of the site.

If you have been following the pro circuits, then you know the B.A.S.S. regular season concluded Sunday with the Champion's Choice Lake Champlain event.

A rookie, by the name of Chad Griffin, won the event. He lead every day except the first day. He weighed just over sixty-five and a half pounds and beat second place Jeff Kriet by two pounds.

Griffin is a rather "exceptional" angler in that he grew up in a state that reportedly doesn't have any bass, Alaska. He followed the professionals on TV and read Bassmaster magazine and had KVD as an idol. He told his parents, "a bass fisherman I'm going to be," and by golly if he didn't put a exclamation mark on that statement with his win on Chaplain.

I remember Chad from down at Decatur earlier in the year. He had some boat problems and had to scrounge a different boat to use for the "Dixie Duel" event. He was hanging around with another rookie on the tour, Luke Gritter. Luke is a Kalamazoo kid and just completed his inaugural year on the Bassmaster Tour.

Griffin, according to what I've read used a topwater bait to target smallies in the grass. Now I'm not sure what that mean by "smallies in the grass." Is it grass that is matting on the surface or the short grass that covers some flats. I guess when the televised version of the show comes out we'll see. Bass fan, has as per usual, has a great write up on the event called "Griffin Slams The Door With 15-10 Final-Day Bag" . In their article, they also give you a link to the top 12 Angler of the year contenders. The first of the last two Championship Week tournaments begins September 13. The top twelve will spend two days on Lake Jordan and two days on the Alabama River. Both events are in Alabama, and as I said, run on consecutive week ends. It should make for some good TV and that's what ESPN has in mind with this new Angler of the Year format.

Before wrapping up today, here is a link to Bassmaster's Champion's Choice Photo Gallery . I am going to work later today on getting the Cadillac and Mitchell Tear Drop article of Nick Vawter's up on the site. Barring any unforseen problems, that will be up on tomorrow's blog. I'll also try and separate out the articles Nick has contributed and put them in a separate spot on the site so that the three Tear Drop articles are easier to access.

The parting shot today comes from John Quincy Adams. He once said that "Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air." Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 13, 2009

If Mr. Rogers was rolling over and happen to get a peek at the weather we've been having, he would have certainly would have been waxing his famous "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood," phrase. Except for a couple of days, the weather has been idyllic here in Michigan this summer. It sucks to live elsewhere. Well, maybe come February, I could be talked out of that boast.

The Tear Drop guys (no gals in the past couple of years) finished up their 2009 season on the Ice Mountain Tournament Trail. They fished Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell this past Sunday. Kasey Kyser and Josh Myers from Irons, won the event with 16-10 lbs. Josh is a Big Bass Lake rat who we've watch grow up over the years into one of the northwest corner's premier anglers. He's been teamed with a couple of different partners and has year in and year out been at the top of the Tear Drop leader board and has a corner on the Angler of the Year trophy. He's won, I would think at least four out of the last five years. It's probably been more, but I don't have the stats. He certainly has the mojo going on these northwest corner lakes. He has grown up with the outdoors in his backyard and a fishing rod in his hand. I have seen him persist when he was a youngster fishing his first couple year's of tournament fishing and struggling to put a limit together. That didn't last long and it isn't much of a struggle any more for him to put a whooping on those he's fishing against. He is one of those anglers that just has the knack for finding fish and putting them in the boat on a consistent basis.

I hear tell he's going to be a father soon so look out tournament anglers, because there is going to be another Meyers taking your money! Here's a shot of Josh and his partner Kasey Kyser with check in hand from the Cadillac and Mitchell event.

The "Tear Drop Terrors" taking everybody's money one more time!

Nick Vawter has been doing the write ups on the last two Tear Drop tournaments, and sent me a batch of picture,s of which the one above was a part of. He's working down in Mexico and said that he should have some hotel time where he'll be able to work on the next account of the fishing on Cadillac and Mitchell. I'll put the article up as soon as he sends it to me. I don't want to rush him because they do take time to write. I certainly can attest to that. Just downloading, resizing, and lightening Nick's pictures he sent me took almost an hour, and that was only about 15 pics.

Speaking of pictures, I think you may have noticed that the slideshow that begins when you open the site contains new pictures. Those pictures, so as not to slow down the site loading time, are done in "Flash," and I don't have the program or know how to upload them myself. My son Nick, who designed the site, and helps me maintain it, just loaded the new pics. We are going to try to put new ones up more frequently. I like to take pictures, and have a bunch that I think people might like to see.

I talked to Dandy Don Fowler yesterday. He was on the road and heading to Lake Champlain in New York, to fish the second event in the B.A.S.S. Northern Open Series . Don is currently sitting 50th in the points after the Chesapeake Bay tournament. There were over 150 entries. I'll be giving him a call from time to time during the fifteen days that he's going to be gone. His wife is with him so maybe she'll take some pictures. Don always says he will, but never does.

Cruising the sites I found that Bass Fan had an article on the newest technique/bait craze that has become pretty popular, and almost, what you would call a mainstay with many of the pros. It's one of the technique's that has immigrated from Japan. The lures and terminal tackle used, are marketed here by Jackall . I was interested to read this Flickshake System Review by Bass Fan's editor John Storm because the last time I was at D&R Sports I bought some of the worms and jigs. I think you will find it interesting. We'll see if they become a mainstay in my boat.

One last item today is just an announcement. Jason McKinley, whom I don't know, sent me an email saying that he was putting on a tournament on Cadillac and Mitchell on September 19th. His contact numbers are 989-202-2053 or 989-915-7436. His email address is fatbassman3@yahoo.com. As I said, I don't know Jason, so I can't really give you much more than a heads up on this contest.

The parting shot of the day comes from a guy by the name of Bob Moawad. He said, "The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it." Take care and make sure you take time out of you work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 9, 2009

Well, it's lucky that I have a big boat because I have been loading animals two by two. Talk about getting some heavy rains. I can definitely relate with Noah.

My wife and I came up to the cabin to get it ready for my sister who is using it next week. We haven't been up much and have some major cleaning and repair work to do. It's an old cabin, and if you are there regularly, the usual to dos just keep stacking up.

We have an old hot tub that we stained and then I had to fix. A compression ring fitting cracked and has been leaking for some time. We thought we had gotten the right part from the Spa store in Grand Rapids, but unfortunately it was the wrong size. I talked to Craig "Back up and Dump" Stumbrie and he clued me in on a Fernco rubber boot type fitting that he uses a lot on his lift station pumps when he's putting in septic systems. I got one from my favorite place to shop, the Dublin General Store . They not only have all your hardware needs covered, they have a meat counter that doesn't quit. All their Deli meats are $3.99 a pound all the time. Can't beat that price! They also have the best fresh packaged meat going. They are famous for their jerky, and they just recently started pit smoking beef and pork. You can get a BBQ beef or pork sandwich from their deli case for a buck! It's piled high with the tastiest meat going. I was hooked on the pork till I tried the beef. Very tasty! If you get up near Irons, Michigan, which is about halfway between Cadillac and Manistee, just south of Wellston on 115 you had better plan on stopping at the General Store. I know it is a destination for many.

I have been experiencing some website problems. My computer guru son Nick, has been trouble shooting for me, and he hopes he has it fixed. I know several of the sites I frequent have been getting attacked from some outside source lately. If you see a problem with the site please email me so we can get it fixed up. Thanks!

I mentioned Craig Stumbrie up above, and he's out with the rest of the Tear Drop anglers this morning fishing lakes Cadillac and Mitchell. We had talked at coffee on Friday morning at the Na-Tah-Ka , and he seemed pretty confident that he was on some good fish and could do well in the tournament. I hope so. He fishing with Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner and they both are great guys that I would like to see do well. Rick and I have signed up for the two B.A.S.S. Elite Series events to Marshall. Can't wait for that!

Rick and Craig called me Saturday. They were on their way to Cadillac to pick up some fishing goodies they needed. I was in Cadillac at the time, on a quick run for hot tub parts. I wanted to check out a plumbing supply there to see if they had the compression ring I needed. They were closed, but before we left my wife and I stopped for breakfast at Da Dawg House .

Da Dawg House - Just North of Mitchell State Park on 115 in Cadillac

One of those destinations you have to set your Garmin for!

You know by now, if I'm not fishing, I have my sights on the best eating place around. You can't go wrong with the Da Dawg House. Ed, one of the owners, chatted with me as we ate our breakfast goodies at the counter. The place was full as usual, and we were in a hurry, so we ate where the first seats popped up. We often like sitting at the counter to watch all the goings on behind the scenes on the grill. You also get more of an opportunity to talk with the staff which is always fun and leads to a few tasty samples.

I have mentioned Da Dawg House before and remarked not only on their great food, but the uniqueness of the place. You can see the carving Ed had commissioned over the front door. Inside there is more of the same, as well as some beautiful fish mounts. Ed just got back a 13 pound walleye that he caught through the ice up on Lake Charlevoix. It's beautiful. The paint job on it is perfect.

Da Dawg House was also known for its waterfall. In the "Mens Room," they had built a waterfall that you could just stand and add to the flow. When I went in to use the bathroom on this trip I noticed it was gone. Ed said the good ole State of Michigan didn't know what to do with this one of a kind convenience, so instead of setting a precedence, they made him disasemble it. Too bad!

Well the food is the number one draw anyway so back to the menu. I had a pecan roll that was warm and smothered in pecans and cinnamon sugar. I should have taken a picture of the pecan roll because words don't do it justice. It was the size of a dinner plate. After eating what two people should order for a sweet treat, I had an order of biscuits and gravy. I then helped my wife with some of her bacon and half of a pancake. I guess I can quit wondering why I have trouble losing weight.

I would think that a few Tear Drop guys will be stopping in after their tournament today. There isn't a ton of parking for trucks with boats, but there is a hotel across the street where semi drivers park and walk across to eat. There is also a side street behind the restaruant where you could park on the side of the road.

This last Tear Drop event in Cadillac will determine the fate of several Classic contenders. You can check out the current standings by clicking on the "News and Info" button on the home page. We'll be getting today's results from Tournament Director Dennis Cook in a day or so.

A few of the Tear Drop guys have been doubling up tournaments and have fished the Mid Michigan Basser's trail this summer. Craig Stumbrie and his son Jared just won their last event up on Duck Lake. They are currently sitting third overall. Harry Swank and Chris Mieras, from the Tear Drop are in first, and I believe that Josh Meyers and Kasey Kyser are in second. That's the first three spots, all held down by Tear Drop guys. Believe me, I know from experience, that there are some of the best anglers around that fish the Tear Drop circuit!

Another tournament that took place yesterday was the St. Clair BFL. I really enjoy fishing the BFL's, and I especially like the three they have on St. Clair and Erie. I didn't fish them this year, but I plan to put them on my schedule next year.

My nephew Kevin's buddy, Jay, has been fishing the BFL's this year and has been in the money two out of three. He has to be fairly high in the overall points on the coangler side. The standings are out for Saturday's St. Clair event , but the story the FLW does is not on their site yet. The winning coangler Saturday is a regular on greatlakesbass.com . I don't know him personally, but will try and contact him on the site in hopes that he has some pictures that he would email me. Congrats to Brian!

We are going to stay up here at the cabin for a few days and company has now arrived, so I had better close the blog for today. The parting shot for today comes from Sir Edmund Hillary. He once said, "All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

August 4, 2009

@!**&%$&!!... That kind of describes my last hour and a half. I got up early at 7:30 am this morning, to be sure I was online early enough, and had all the information I needed, to sign up for the B.A.S.S. Marshall program. Richard "The Cement Man" Skinner and I wanted to sign up again for the 2010 season for the back to back tournaments down on Pickwick and Guntersville, in Alabama. We had a great time last year and want to double up this year with these two fabled bass lakes. This year's B.A.S.S. Elite Series slugfest on Guntersville was phenomenal with unbelievable limits coming from the Elite pros. They didn't fish Pickwick last year, but it is a famous Alabama smallmouth fishery, and it should be fun.

My brother-in-law lives almost dead center between the two lakes or river impoundments. We'll try and stay with him most nights down there on the trip. We may have to get a hotel room for the Pickwick event, because it's a little further away, and we might not want to make that drive each day.

My consternation this morning stemmed from not being able to register online. I'm guessing they had a glitch in their system, because once I exhausted attempts online I tried to call B.A.S.S. There phones were jammed, and it took me an hour and a half to get through to Dennette who then took care of Rick's and my registration over the phone.

To register today, you have to be an B.A.S.S. member and either be a Life Member, or a Federation Nation member or a Bass Insider member. I signed Rick and I up as Insider members which you can do for 30 days free. After 30 days, you either drop your membership or pay the $35 yearly fee. If you're not prequalified for the early registration you have to wait until the end of August to register. You still must be a B.A.S.S. member though.

It cost $100 per tournament to sign up. You do get a hat, shirt, and last year Rick and I got a $25 Bass Pro Shop gift card as well. In my opinion, and I know Rick would concur, it is a tremendous experience. To participate in a large tournament as an angler is always a blast, and to go as a Marshall in a big pro event is as much or more fun. Granted you don't get to fish, but, actually I enjoyed not having that pressure to perform and the liberty to sit back and take pictures and just enjoy the moment. It's all about the adventure. Or as the Bass Zone moto says, "It's all about being there."

It would even be more fun if we had some more guys to head down there with. We could have ourselves a convoy. I can't offer up any more space at my brother-in-laws, but if you and a buddy or a couple of buddies decided to drive down and share costs it wouldn't cost as much. You could stay for both the tournaments, which are on back to back weekends, or you could just come down for one. Think about it!. Read my blog archive of the Dixie Duel trip from this past April. It's at the top of the blog. Just click on it. It should get your big adventure juices flowing.

I didn't get a blog up on the site immediately following the Forest Wood Cup finale, because I figured if you had been following the contest you would have tuned in to see who won by now. If you didn't, it was a B.A.S.S. angler Greg Hackney who won the contest by the narrowest of margins over my man Mike Iaconelli.

Hackney won the event with a two day, I'll repeat that, a two day total that went 9-09 lbs! He beat Iaconelli by 2 ounces. Mike could only manage four fish on day three and that ultimately cost him the tournament. Ike came in second earlier in the year at the Bassmaster Classic as well. Two huge career changing events that he lost by a combined weight of less than a pound. So, the next time you're felling bad about just missing out, you can find some kind of solace in remembering Mike's 2009 season.

Mike, however, isn't looking at the season as a glass half empty, he won $100,000 in this year's Cup and coming in second in two of the most prestigious events, up against the world's best, isn't too shabby. I like Mike. If you get a chance to shake his hand, I think you will see even in that short moment, that he is a class act. Yes, he's intense, but he is genuine and treats people with respect.

Here is today's Bass Fan article about Hackney's Cup Strategies . PS...If you do decide to sign up for the Marshall's Program, I would recommend you sign up for the Bass Insider as your early entry option. Next, have your B.A.S.S. membership number (If you don't have your wallet card the number is on your Bassmaster Magazine label. It's a nine digit number and it has six numbers precding it and one number added on the end on the label.) your name, address and two phone numbers ready, along with your date of birth and your social security number. Why they need the SSN, I don't know, but they do. I think it's because it is the same registration process that you use to sign up for a tournament, and they would then need it to file a tax statement, if you won money. Remember too, that if you are one of the first fifty to sign up you have priority for Day 3. If you are not one of the first fifty you may still have a chance to ride on that third day, but your registration only guarantee's two days. I'm not sure what would happen if there were a serious extended weather cancellation, but think positive.

I'm going to quit for today. I've been up early trying to take care of things and need to get some other jobs done as well. The parting shot today comes from one of the greatest college basketball coaches that we unfortunately lost way too soon. Jimmy Valvano once said, "I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said well, I think you stink, and he gave me a technical foul. You can't trust 'em." That quote, for some reason, reminds me of a funny quote I heard some years ago that W.C. Fields made in a movie clip. He was sitting in the back seat of a car with a beautiful lady who leaned over and asked W.C. if he read the Bible, taken aback a moment, he went on to reply, "Why yes I do my dear, but only for loop holes." Take care and make sure you take some time out of your day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

August 2, 2009

I watched the entire Forest Wood Cup weigh in at Pittsburgh online yesterday. They did a good job recognizing people before the weighin started. Forest and his wife Nina were inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. They appear to be genuinely nice people and very well thought of. They have a storied history when in comes to bass fishing.

The coangler contest showed how tough fishing conditions in the Three Rivers area is. I believe only one limit came to the scales. That was brought in by a young guy by the name of Brad Roberts from Nancy, Kentucky. He was paired and fished with Mike Iaconelli, and as he weighed in he sang high praises for my man Ike. Brad's coangler win at the Cup was the first time he had ever won any level any kind of fishing tournament. He picked a great time for his first win and took home a $50,000 check.

They spent some time awarding the prizes for the top ten Fantasy Fishing anglers on stage yesterday. If you watched, you may remember seeing Jason Wilbur from Michigan announced. He finished seventh overall and won an ATV. Jason was on our Tear Drop Fantasy Fishing team. Congrats Jason! I am going to try and shoot him a congratulatory email. I would also like to see if he has any pictures to share that I can put on the blog from his experience at the Forest Wood Cup event.

California pro Rusty Salewske, who just squeaked in to the Top 10 by a mere two ounces, is now sitting after Day 3 in first place. The Californians have been putting a whooping on the Cup competition. You may recall it was another Cali guy, by the name of Michael Bennett, that won last year. It really is still anybodies fishing tournament, with the weights as low as they were on Day three. Salewske's Day Three weight was only 6-06. The top seven anglers are only separated by two and a half pounds. One fish today in the finals could make that gap up. There haven't been many big fish caught, but Dave LeFebre brought in only one fish yesterday which went 3-15.

The consesus yesterday was that the rivers were muddied up and there was significantly more current flow. It was also a fairly sunny day. Today is forecasted for showers in the morning and given a day for the river to clear up we'll see if the bite improves. Here is an article that Bass Fan put together that covers Day Three better than I've found on any of the other sites. Bass Fan's Day 3 of the Forest Wood Cup .

I did look at the pictures from Pittsburgh that the FLW site has up. There some good shots, and it looks like it would have been a fun trip to have made.

Once again you can watch the weigh in today at 5:00 PM ET on FLW Live . They will also be showing the event on TV on the Versus Network on Sunday, August 30th, at 12:30 PM.

I was surfing the net a couple of days ago and I read something about a new split ring shape that was supposedly to be much better than the conventional O ring style. Here is a link to one that is made by X Calibur . I think I'm going to be giving these a try.

Another interesting little diddy that I ran across was a fish finder for $20. It operates on 4AA batteries. You throw a cable out, with a float attached, that contains the "puck." It sends a sonar signal which shows up in a hand held screen. Check it out. It's on selloutwoot . I regularly check www.woot.com for their deal of the day, and I have bought a number of items from woot and sellout woot. Both sites only have these deals up for a day and then they're gone, so if you are reading the blog on Monday the fish finder won't be there.

While I have been typing I watched the FLW Kentucky Lake event on Versus. David Young, a local pro, did most of his damage on a spoon. I've often wondered how they might work up north here. He used a Spait Spoon as did several of the other pros. Might be worth spending a couple bucks on.

Well that's it for today. The parting shot today is a quote from Forest Wood. He made it down on the stage at Pittsburgh while receiving his award. He said, "Without a dream there's no need to work, and without work there's no need to dream.'" Some wise words to be sure. Have a great finish to your weekend!

August 1, 2009

A beautiful Saturday morning! The temperature this summer have been record breakingly cool. Having temps in the high seventies and low eighties during the day and dropping into the sixties at night have been idyllic. I really can't remember a more comfortable summer. It will be interesting to see how these temps affect things as we move into the fall. When the water cools in the fall the fish start on a winter feed and we may have a longer open window into the sometimes short Fall fishing bonanza.

If you watched the Forest Wood Cup weighin, you saw that there was definitely a "Hack Attack." Greg Hackney weighed an eleven pound plus sack that contained two three pound smallies! For the water they are fishing, that was a huge sack! Here is the article from Bass Fan that talks about Day Two, and it also gives you the complete standings for The Second Day of the Pittsburgh $2,000,000 Forest Wood Cup .

The Cup field will now be cut the top ten and their weights will be zeroed for the final two days. Everybody is back at square one with an empty livewell. It literally becomes anybodies ball game. If Hackney slams another eleven pound bag, or for that matter if anyone does, it may be game over. It's not an area where that kind of weight can be expected. Maybe Greg has found a hot spot and can duplicate that bag. We'll see.

Dave LeFebre sounds as though he has some karma going. He's wear a Steeler's pin and a Penquin's pin and hoping those championships will generate some good vibes for a fishing championship for another Pittsburgh local. According to what I read, LeFebre stayed off his best spot on Day 2 and just fish near it. He and Larry Nixon are fishing the same stretch of water, so it may be tough for Dave to move around too much if his fish shut down. It does appear as though he's committed to that spot which will makes it hard for him to leave when and if the bite shuts down there. Today's weighin will certainly be interesting. Again you can watch the live weighin on FLW Live

at 5:00 pm ET today and tomorrow.

My old student and friend Nate Wellman had a much better day two down in the Cup Chase in Pittsburgh. He jump all the way up to 40th, and took the last $10,000 spot. It's not where he wanted to be on Day 2, but to make the move he did, and take home a $10K check is pretty darn good. He's a young gun, and all of this fills his resume and builds his experience level. He'll be back and will be a contender.

Another friend in the Pittsburgh Cup fray is coangler Ron Fabiszak. I met Ron down in Florida as he fished Lake Toho as Indiana's State Champion in the B.A.S.S Federation Nation National Championship. I had first run across Ron down in Vermillion, Ohio at the B.A.S.S. Northern Regional where Dandy Don Fowler narrowly beat Ron for that championship. Ron is currently third in the Coangler Forest Wood Cup Standings .

The Coangler title will be decided today as the top ten cos fish for that crown. Ron has drawn Scott Suggs, who hasn't been on quantity but quality fish. That may not bode well for Ron, but fishing is "... like a box of chocolates. You just don't ever know what you're going to get." I'll be rooting for Ron on the coangler side, and Mike Iaconelli on he pro side.

As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to get the write up on the blog that my good friend Nick Vawter authored on the recent Ice Mountain Tear Drop Tournament Series Hamlin Lake event. So without further ado here is Mr. Vawter's write up.

Ice Mountain Tear Drop Tournament Series Stop Number Five - Hamlin Lake

Hamlin Lake (After clicking on the link you will need to scroll down to see the map of the lake.) is a 4,990 acre lake that might be called a swollen river mouth (Check out the special drop shotting regulations for swollen river mouths in Note 3 Page 8 of Michigan's fishing regulations.) because it is fed by the Big Sauble River and empties into Lake Michigan. The Hamlin Dam is located in what is called "Lower Hamlin" past the beach at Ludington State Park .

As you can see on the lake map from the link above, the lake is really divided into two sections. The lower and upper stretches are separated by "The Narrows." Be careful as you run through the narrows! It is very shallow on either shore so stay in the middle. Especially don't swing too far north because there is a big sand flat there that gets extremely shallow.

The lake has four bayous. Indian Pete Bayou is in Upper Hamlin, and then in the lower lake you have North, Middle and South Bayou. The North Bayou is a stump filled son of a gun so be very careful as you move into it and through it. The lake is a true multispecies lake and attracks panfish, walleye, pike, as well as bass afficianados.

July 26th found twenty Ice Mountain Tournament Series Tear Drop teams fishing the fifth, of six events. They would be plying the waters of Hamlin Lake looking for that limit of what usually is a mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Each team searches for that select couple of bass that are needed to win this event. Hamlin has a long history of producing good quantities of bass that seem to have come from a fish mold. The greater majorities are either in a group that is one-quarter inch shy, or one quarter inch over the fourteen inch limit.

Most tournament anglers are tickled with the ones that stretch into the fifteen inch to sixteen inch class. To win, however, you have to find at least one of the lakes four or five pounders.

With respect to the weather, the day didn't start out too bad. The sun was trying to poke out from time to time but eventually gave up.

My partner and I started out in Upper part of the lake, and when we made the decision to give the lower end a try, we decided it was best to put the foul weather gear on for the run. We both commented that it might not be a half bad idea to stow a couple stocking hats in the boat in the future. Needing a stocking cap is something you never think about needing at the end of July, but it is Michigan. As we ran bundled up against the weather toward the state park, we passed Brian Miller and Tony Maddox and they were dressed like they were on a November duck hunt.

Ross Machiela and Jesse Weener found the fish they were looking for on Sunday. These two guys have been on fire this year. In the past five events, they have taken a first place three times. They settled for a fourth place finish once. One would almost think that we Teardrop anglers are footing the bill for Ross's upcoming wedding next month. Did I mention this event was the third first place finish for the "Flying Dutchmen" of Holland?

Ross and Jesse weighed in five fish topping the scales at eleven pounds and fifteen ounces. The $500.00 they took home, plus the Pere Marquette Sports Center gift certificates will undoubtedly cause these guys to be checking that "seafaring and farming" box on their Federal tax returns this year.

Right at their heels, with a second place finish, and garnering a $250.00 prize was the team of Josh Myers and Kasey Kyser with a sack of upper Hamlin fish weighing eleven pounds and thirteen ounces.

Josh and Kasey are currently in first place in the AOY chase, holding a three point edge over Ross and Jesse. You can be pretty sure if you are sitting at the top of this field of Tear Drop anglers, that you have have been doing one nice job catching bass. Josh and Kasey have taken home some nice cash in four of the events thus far.

One other team that have notched back-to-back third place finishes thus far are the Basscat boys Gary Baker and David Evans. They pocketed $125.00 for the five fish they brought to the scales which weighed weighing eleven pounds and four ounces. This was the third time this season that Gary and Dave have gone home with some cash, and something tells me it won?t be their last.

The Ludington team of Mike Mesyar and Noah Laird gave five fish a ride to the scales which weighed in at eleven pounds and an ounce. This was also another back-to-back for this Tear Drop team. Finishing fourth in the last two events gives them a bunch of points for the Classic and this week it won them $50.00 and a Pere Marquette gift card.

Rounding out the field of winners this week was the team of Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner Sr. and Craig "Back Up and Dump" Strumbrie, who brought in five fish weighing eleven pounds even to weighmaster Ron Hick's scales.

Rick and Craig found themselves in upper Hamlin just after noon trying to get out of that bitter wind that had kicked up an hour earlier. That decision and a 10? Berkley powerworm led them right to an exceptional Hamlin largemouth weighing in at three pounds and eight ounces. That big fish of the day won them $200.00 to go with their $50.00 fifth place finish, and a nice pair of Na-Tah-Ka .

I heard a rumor that Rick was running low on those Berkley power worms and earlier in the day was just gently reeling in his fish for Craig to net so he wouldn?t rip up his worms. With this weeks winnings I hope he re-stocks his tackle bag.

Well, the Angler of the Year race is on full tilt. With one event left to go, there are only three boats in contention for this honor. With only a five point spread between the three teams, Myers and Kyser, Machiela and Weener, and Herndon and MacDonell, will decide who will be top dog for the 2009 season when they compete on Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell in two weeks. The rest of us are just trying to fish our way in to the top ten so we may attend the year end Classic at Long and Green lakes in Interlochen.

A very special thanks to our lake hosts for this event Pere Marquette Sports and the Na-Tah-Ka. Be sure to give the following Ludington area merchants a chance at your repeat business. They are supporters of the Ice Mountain Tear Drop Tournament Series and the Tear Drop anglers our proud to have their support: Hamlin Sport Center , J.C. Marine , House of Flavors , Car Care Center , Schmock's Landscaping , Vander Haag Car Sales , Hamlin Grocery , Urka Auto Center , Stephen's Funeral Home , and Bruce Mitchell Heating and Cooling .

The sixth and final tournament in the TearDrop Ice Mountain Tournament Series will be held on Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell on August 9th. Hope to see you there. Until then...keep a tight line.

Wow! Another great guest blog entry by Nick Vawter. Thanks Nick!

That's going to be it for today. Take care and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

July 31, 2009

I'm going to sneak another July blog entry in here quick, because these summer days are slipping through my fingers far too quickly, "Like sand through the hour glass, these are the days of our lives."

Last Monday night a group of guys in the Jenison area that all associate in one way or another with Ron Harig, took a bunch of kids fishing. The trip was a reward for a 12 week program that the kids all worked hard in to learn their multiplication facts. Their teacher, Ron Harig, dubbed it the "Multiplication Boot Camp."

Ron and I have a history in that we both taught in Jenison, were both in the National Guard, and both enjoy the outdoors, especially fishing and hunting. Ron is an avid deer hunter and loves to put panfish in the freezer. I take that back, he loves to take them out of the freezer and fry em up. Bluegill fillets do make for some good gummin'.

Ron admittedly had difficulty in elementary school and was, and is, dyslexic. Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes it difficult to make sense out of written symbols. (That is a very simplistic definition and if you do the investigating you will find the definition can be much more involved.) Learning to read, memorizing math facts, etc. can be especially difficult for individuals that have this affliction.

Research shows dyslexia is not associated with an intellectual deficit and people of all ability levels can suffer from it. There are many accomplished individuals that have had to deal with this problem in their lives. It can, however, be devastating from the standpoint that school becomes a significant hurdle. The daily struggle to make sense of things can be overwhelming and impactful in terms of self concept.

If you suspect that your child may have a specific learning disability make sure you insist that your school system has your child evaluated by a psychologist, and if you are not happy with the school diagnosis, make sure you pursue an evaluation of your own from an independent psychologist. Many family health insurance programs will pay for an exam of this nature. Getting a diagnosis early, so that your child gets the specific instruction they need, can make a huge difference in their lives.

Now before I go any further, I do not mean to imply that the kids who participated in Ron's Multiplication Boot Camp are dyslexic or learning disabled, they were kids who simply wanted to get past that memorization hurdle and commit those facts once and for all to long term memory. Dyslexia plays a part only because Ron knows first hand how hard getting these facts down can be and how important it is to learn them. He's a very inspirational teacher and the kids love him.

The students in the program came every Tuesday night to Ron's classroom at Maplewood School, which a I mentioned earlier, is part of the Jenison Public Schools. They worked there with a program Ron has developed for about 45 minutes to an hour. Ron was there early each day so that those who had a time conflict could drop in earlier and work with him and get homework assignments. (I should also mention that this class was free and Ron volunteered his own time and money for it.) He had regular drills set up and incorporated a number of fun and challenging activities, a favorite being a dash for cash using dollar bills he gave out.

The program was very successful and Ron ended it with a fishing trip for all the kids. He contacted Grayson Wilson at the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison, for some help getting equipment and finding boaters that would be willing to give up an evening to take the kids fishing. Grayson got on board quickly, and lined up with Ron about 10 men with boats that would take the kids out fishing.

This past Monday night they met at the Jenison High School parking lot and caravaned out to Miner Lake. Here's a shot of the group before they left.

The Multiplication Boot Camp Kids and Friends

The kids were very enthusiastic about getting to ride in some pretty fancy fishing boats and couldn't wait to get out on the water. Some of the students had fished before, but there were a number that hadn't ever made their first cast and a couple who had never been out in a fishing boat before.

As you can see from the picture above, most of the participants were boys, but there were a number of girls on the trip as well. I had two of them in my boat, Tiffany and Carol. Tiffany has been out fishing with her dad before, but this was Carol's first time. It turned out to be a case of beginners luck, for she ended up with the most fish between the two of them, not that they were counting or anything.

My two young lady anglers catching Miner Lake gills.

The girls did so well that it wasn't too long before their mentor Mr. Harig and another Jenison staffer Craig Westra came by to check out the action and anchored on our hot spot.

Captain Ron and his Lieutenant Craig

My two girls seemed to really enjoy themselves, and I know I had a great time. Ron is already making plans on next year's Boot Camp and hopefully my schedule will be such that I can again help in the classroom and take another bunch out on the water as well. I know Ron has thanked all those that participated, however I'm sure he would like me again to express his gratitude for all those who showed up to take kids fishing. Thanks guys!

Trying to catch up with all the goings on in the bass world gives me pause at times, but for the next couple of days it is rather focussed on what's happening in Pitsburgh with the Forest Wood Cup. I should have used my built in segue way from the last topic to this by again mentioning that one of my old Jenison students, Nate Wellman, is participating, for the second year in a row, in the $1,000,000 Forest Wood Cup.

I almost started here by saying the FLW pros starting Day 1, but I guess I can't say it is just the FLW pros because several B.A.S.S. Elite anglers, like Tommy Biffle, Ron Shuffield, and Mike Iaconelli, to name a few, have also qualified for the event. They qulaified through the FLW Stren Series. Consequently there is a mixed bag of "Elite" anglers fishing from both the major pro tours.

The 2005 Bassmaster Classic was fished in the Three Rivers area and the weights were very light with the big fish for the whole tournament, I believe, only 2-15 lbs. Yesterday's results were on a par with these relativiley low weights. Dave LeFebre came in with a bag that weighed 8-13 to take the Day 1 lead by an ounce over David Curtis. Here is an article from Bass Fan with the scoop on LeFebre's Day One Leading Sack .

The article contains some first day information about who's doing what, but it doesn't get in to any specifics, and when there is that much money on the line it only makes sense that the anglers aren't giving anything away. At the end of the article, you can see the complete standings. Two of my other favorites besides Nate are, Tommy Biffle and Mike Iaconelli. They are definitely in the hunt to make the top ten. It would be great to see them both there.

Nate, looked like he had a tough first day and only brought in two fish for two pounds. They say the fishing in the area is as tough as it gets, but I know Nate is a very good angler and can compete with these big guns. I hope he finds a honey hole and weighs a big Day 2 bag.

The weighin today is at 5:00 PM and you can see it on FLW Live .

I took some time away from the blog the last few days because my son and his fiance were here visiting. They are planning an October wedding and things are beginning to happen pretty fast in terms of preparation for the event. It's going to be a magnificent event and one that we all are certainly looking forward to.

I have some other blog things on the back burner, but already my "Today's To Do's" are calling and I will have to make sure I get back on later tonight or early tomorrow morning with Nick Vawter's Tear Drop report from Hamlin Lake and a couple of other tech tips, if I can call my attempts at mechanical work "Tech Tips."

Today's parting shot comes from Shirley Abbott. She once said, that "We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies."

Take care and make sure you take time out of your day today to do something that puts a smile on your face.