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Daily Blog Archive February 4th, through February 28th, 2010

February 28, 2010

Well, I lied. Yesterday, I said I was heading down to D&R Sports Center with my camera in my pocket. Rick and John did come, and we did leave, and we did go down to D&R, but the camera was not in my pocket. I left it sitting right next to the computer where I set it after I thought I would put it in my jacket pocket instead of my jeans pocket. Drats! I was not a happy camper when I realized that I had made that mistake.

Fortunately for me, almost the first person we saw when we got to D&R was Rick's friend, and fellow Tear Drop competitor, Brian. Rick asked him if he had a digital camera, which he did and also retrieved after a dash to his truck. Brian saved the day! However, he won't be able to email me the pictures until tomorrow. Which means that today you are going to have to do a lot of visualization.

I'm typing this morning literally at the crack of dawn, because I set my alarm for a little before 7:00 am. Early for us retired city slickers, for me anyway. I got up to make some coffee and some breakfast for Rick and I only to discover that his truck was already gone. I called him and he was almost to White Cloud. He said he woke up at about 4:50 a.m., and he was on the road shortly thereafter. So, I made coffee and decided to get on the computer.

There were no new emails, so I checked a few sites. I read a little bit about the Outdoorama in Lansing where Lt. Dan Kimmel, from greatlakesbass.com , Dr. Fish, or otherwise known as Wayne Carpenter, from Xtreme Bass Tackle , and the boys from Nemesis Baits to name just a few are hanging out this weekend in Lansing. The show is still on today if you get a case of cabin fever and want to head over.

I've been wanting to hear Wayne Carpenter's new smallmouth seminar, but I guess I'll have to wait until they are here for the Grand Rapids' show in March. I have too many things on the plate to go today.

Yesterday, I was telling you about my son's tale of whoa as he tries to make his way home from Texas. I was telling you about my brother-in-law driving from Northern Alabama to West Memphis, AR to pick him and his truck up. Well, they got there, and they got the truck up on the trailer, but... on the way back east the truck slipped off the trailer! When my brother-in-law called to tell me that, I of course thought he was kidding, because that would be something he would do. However, he was as serious as a heart attack this time.

The good news was that no one was hurt, and as it turns out there wasn't as much damage as I immediately imagined. I still really don't know exactly what all went down, but they are back in Alabama and my wife is flying out today to go down to see if she can be of any help and comfort. I'm going to stay here with gramma.

We both love going down to Alabama and have visited there many times. We get along great with my wife's sister and Charles, my brother-in-law. Charles is one of my favorite southern rebels. The two of them are just good people, and we love spending time with them.

I remember our first trip down with our boys when they were little. They had a hard time understanding that talk that they do in the south. We all pretty much understand the y'alls and yantos quite well now. In fact, it takes us a few days to sound like Yankees again once we get home.

This is a good spot to segway back to D&R, because when Matt Herren started talking down in Kalamazoo yesterday, one of the first things I thought about was my brother-in-law. In fact, the two of them look similar.

Matt is an Alabama boy as well, and he's an expert on those southern impoundments where they fish "the ledges." He gave an hour long seminar on how to fish those flooded rivers that are so prevalent in the south. We're talking the Tennessee River system, but it applies to all man made reservoirs.

Matt started by saying that to become proficient on these systems you really need to rely on good electronics. (We attended Bryan Plenzler and Mike Elkins Humminbird Hands On seminar just before listening to Matt.) It also helps to get a mental image of what we're really talking about. That is, you need to visualize the original river before the dam was built and the banks were flooded. The ledge becomes the old river bank.

Matt said that most of those impoundments flood to a depth of about 10-15 feet. So that's what you're looking at just about everywhere except in the old river channel. You therefore need to move out to that old river channel and cast to the old bank. That's where those fish will be the majority of the time. They're there shortly after they spawn in the spring and stay until they follow the shad out to the creeks in the fall.

Matt went on to talk about the importance of finding the spawning flats. Especially those that host a bunch of fish in the Spring. Next, start with your topo map along with your electronics and follow the route those school followed out of the creeks to the main river. Those bass, once they are on the move, will use cover for stopping and staging as they make their way back to the river. It's important to cover water and look for those intersections of creeks, those inside and outside bends in the creek channel especially areas near them that have some kind of cover.

Matt emphasized that you shouldn't get too hung up on the intersection of two creeks, but rather move up and down near the intersection until you find cover. That's where the fish will be.

As the fish make it back to the river, then it's pretty much the same scenario. You look for areas where creeks intersect the main river and look for areas that will hold fish in the current breaks. Those breaks don't always have to be stumps and rocks. Often, what you want to look for are depressions where the fish can lay and watch the food come overhead. This is especially the case on those outside bends where the current will sweep out and provide a steady stream of food. Looking for those balls of shad at that time will tell you where the best bends and areas will be. He really stressed covering water and that most of the time you won't be fishing, but cruising looking for multiple arches. You're hunting schools not individual fish.

He mentioned that often on these old creek bank, ledges, when you find a transition from a sloping bank to a vertical bank, that it can be key. He likes those steep banks because bass will be able to adjust to conditions simply by moving up and down those vertical walls.

Another piece of structure that is critical to look for in the south are the shell beds. The mussels draw in a variety of fish and especially bass. If you don't have the experience with the sonar to find them, Matt recommends a tungsten weight and a ten inch worm as a search bait. When you find those mussel bars, he says it will feel like your dragging that weight over a grate. Often times you'll catch a mussel as well. They sit down there open and when you drag your weight through they'll shut and latch on. Those beds can be the ticket for big sacks of bass.

Matt said he keeps his color choices simple. Reds, green pumpkins, and black and blues. Baits of choice for the ledges are crankbaits, a jig, ounce to ounce and a half spinnerbaits, and ten inch worms. He also will stroke a spoon on those ledges.

Kelly Jordan, fishing on Kentucky Lake in the Ultimate Match Fishing competition, probably brought this technique to the fore more than any other. He whacked the bass on it, and made many an angler very curious about this technique and lure. Here's a look at the flutter spoon that Jordan used.

I remember watching that Joe Thomas show and thinking that these spoons mimic quite well the alewives we see here in the north. If you live in Michigan, you know that the Great Lakes and connected waters have an up and down population of this prey species. Most often salmon guys pay more attention to them, but in connected big lake waters you know the bass are eating them too. I would bet there is a time of year when these spoons could be quite effective.

Matt talked for quite a while, and I know I'm forgetting much of what he talked about. One of the other things I didn't bring along with my camera was my notepad that I usually carry. I had to rely on my memory which is not always that reliable.

As I mentioned earlier, we also attended the Humminbird seminar, lead by Bryan and Mike. The new Humminbird side imaging technology has revolutionized the sonar arena especially for bass anglers. You could literally spend a day or two going over and learning all the finer points of the electronics. The Humminbird is set up to be user friendly. One of the best aspect of this product is that you can always stay in the forefront by uploading all the upgrades each year to your machine. Mike was saying he had a 2007 unit that was in every way a 2010 unit in terms of software. I really liked that. If I had the money there would be two Humminbirds on my boat.

I have always liked my Lowrance, but this side imaging is such an advantage that if you compete, and want to be competitive, you had better have one.

We got down to D&R too late for Stephen Browning's seminar. I got to talk to him for several minutes and found him to be very congenial and willing to answer questions.

The Elite anglers are heading out to California next for two tournaments. One is on the California Delta and the other is on Clear Lake. Browning has finished in the top ten out there before, and we will be watching both he and Matt, along with the Kalamazoo Kid, and hoping they do well this year. We will be seeing them again down in Alabama on Pickwick and Guntersville at the end of April and first of May.

One of my favorite lures for a long time is just a curly tail four inch grub. Mike Iaconelli, went what he called "Old School" during the recent Classic and caught the biggest fish of the tournament on a grub. Here's an article about The Classic Grub Hubbub . I'll try and put the pictures up that I took yesterday at D&R when Brian sends them to me tomorrow. Before I close, I just wanted to remind you that this evening you can listen to the "All Outdoors Radio Network" at 8:00 pm to an interview with KVD that they're doing on the Classic. Just go to the websie and click on "Listen Now" If you have a question for Kevin you can call this number, 888-344-1170 starting at 7:45 p.m. Also, don't forget to sign in each day and enter the Bassmaster Gear Up Giveaway . As I was winding up here, I was listening to North American Fishing Club on TV. They're the guys that run the "Knot Wars" contest. Each week they match the winning knot from the previous week against a new contender. Evidently last year the winning knot was the Fishing Fool . The hot link that I just put up for the knot will take you to a homemade video that shows quite well how to tie it. You might want to give it a try. They say it's the winner for the year.

The last cast for the day is a quote from Johann Goethe who live back in the mid 1700's, but what he had to say way back then resonates well today. He said, "Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything." Take care and try and not get too frustrated with the TV progamming today. Olympic hockey on at the same time State plays Purdue!?! Going to be a lot of flipping back and forth.

February 27, 2010

Another snowy day in the neighborhood this morning. Rick "The Cementman" Skinner woke me up early to say he was going to head down to meet me so we could drive down to D&R Sports Center in Kzoo to take in their Bass Saturday event. We're going to miss the first seminar, but should be able to make the Humminbird demo and the Matt Herren seminar. John "Walleyed Again" Baker is also going to drive down with us. Should be a good afternoon!

Rick was going to drive down last night, but got hung up around the homestead and then the weather closed in and he decided not to come. The road reports this morning were a little better so he's making his way south.

Coming the other direction is my number three son. He's been working down in Texas for about two years now. The economy down there is starting to slow down work wise as well and he's getting a little homesick so he decided to come back north.

Before he got too far, Waco, TX he hit a freakish Texas snowstorm and they closed the expressway so he had to get off and spend the night at a motel. He got up the next morning and made it just before dark to West Memphis, AR. Just as he was pulling in to town his truck started making noises. Turned out to be his transfer case. He had to find a place to stay again and wait till morning to call a transmission repair place. As luck would have it he met a couple whose husband was a mechanic and they were stranded on the road with transmission problems. They recommended a place for him to call in the morning. To make a long story short, despite the best efforts of Allensworth Transmission Repair they couldn't find a transfer case that would work in the time frame we had. To the rescue came my brother-in-law from Alabama. He's driving from northern Alabama with a car hauler to pick my son and his truck up. Man, I'm going to owe him big time. It really saved our buckets.

Charlie is the man when it comes to fixing all things mechanical. He also is one of those kind of guys that will drop what he's doing and be right there if you need him. I know that my son will be in good hands with Charles and as I said, I'm going to owe him big time.

I'm going to go get some coffee cups ready, because I expect JB and Rick to be here any minute. I have my camera in my pocket and will try and get back on later today to give you a report from down at D&R Sports. I half expect to see KVD down there. I'm pretty sure he's back from the Classic.

February 25, 2010

Steve's Trail Cam Picture of the Week

Another great trail cam shot from Mr. Block up in Manistee, MI. A bobcat came in to the road-kill deer. Each time Steve sends in a picture from his Cuddy Cam, I'm more and more impressed with the quality of the prints. I don't have a trail cam, but would like one. When I'm ready to get one, I will be thinking about getting a Cuddy Cam though.

I logged on to Bassmaster Gear Up Giveaway again today. Haven't won anything yet, but I don't care as long as I win the new twenty foot Skeeter in the end.

Tonight AL & Bob's on Division in Grand Rapids is having a "Private Valued Customer Sale." The sale is from 5:00 - 9:00 pm tonight. They have drawings, refreshments, seminars, and sales on a variety of outdoor merchandise.

In the same vein, this weekend, there is the Outdoorama in Lansing. If you decide to go look up Lt. Dan Kimmel at the Great Lakes Bass.com .

I'm going to be heading down Saturday to D&R Sports Center for their Bass Weekend. I'll be wearing my usual red Vicious Fishing shirt.

When I mentioned Outdoorama and greatlakesbass.com (GLB) I thought about a post that was on the site concerning scams on the internet. My son recently was contacted via email about a vehicle he had for sale. It seemed very fishy and I sought some advice from the knowledgeable group on GLB. Here's some very good advice for most anyone on the net to read. Again this comes from a post on greatlakesbass.com .

"I was talking to Dan and he mentioned the number one rule that if everyone followed all the time, 95% of the scammers would stop making money - "If it sounds too good to be true, it (probably) is."

The scammers are mostly dumb as rocks, but devious in a way that seems smart at times. There is an element though that is getting increasingly sophisticated.

Here's the first rule I follow ALL the time when I receive email from anyone no matter how sure I am about the authenticity of the email:

DON'T CLICK ON ANY LINKS IN THE EMAIL!

The visible link can say anything, but it is the code underneath that will get you in trouble. You can always open a new window and type the visible link by hand, BUT if it looks like it is not the main domain of the legitimate site, don't type it (or copy and paste it)!! For example:

Code:

www.paypal.com/otherstuff?dosomethingokay

This is probably okay because the domain is paypal.com right before the first forward slash.

Code:

www.paypal.bd.com/otherstuff?dosomethingbad

This would be a no-no because it will actually take you to a web site bd.com not paypal.com because bd.com is the domain (right before the first forward slash). A bad, bad person just put the word paypal in as a subdomain to confuse people. A subdomain is any word left of a period in front of the main domain and TLD (.com is a generic TLD - top level domain). www is actually a subdomain that most persons use to signify the worldwide web.

Definitely don't click on a link, or even type one in, if it has an IP address instead of a domain word. 99.99999999% of those are bad, bad, bad. Something like:

Code:

www.71.238.249.141/paypal.com/verybadthing?dontclick

I guaranty you will regret clicking on one like that most of the time. There are very limited, special uses for that type of addressing that most regular web users won't be involved in. Though you will get some legitimate links from legitimate sources sometimes that are really long with a lot of letters and numbers, this is also how bad persons try to trick you too with a bunch of slashes and even code since coded characters can be used that actually spell out a different word or command. Just look for the first forward slash from the left and see what is just to the left of that, but when in doubt AT ALL:

You can usually forward it to the company you think it is from and ask them if it is legitimate before trying anything in it. Many large sites have a 'spoof' email address like spoof @ paypal.com for this purpose. This web site sends out a number of automated messages too, sometimes with long addresses."

Great advice and if you ever have any questions about the validity of a site or email make sure you check it out before you click on anything in the email.

I did a bit of reading about the recent Classic. They are going down the list of contestants and talking about what each of them was doing. Here's "Lane Surges Too Late" , an article from the Bassmaster site.

I may be back blogging later today, but for right now I've got to take care of a few sticks that are in the fire.

Back again for a few minutes. Did some odd jobs, and I got four miles in on the treadmill.

I forgot the other day to let people who might not of heard that KVD is going to be on a call in radio show on Sunday. The show will be aired from a California station, but you can log in to the "All Outdoors Radio Network" and then click on the button for "Listen Live." The show airs from 4-6 PST which would make it 7-9 p.m. ET. Kevin will be on from 8:00 p.m. till 8:45 p.m. our time. You can call in, (using this number: 888-344-1170) with questions starting at 7:45 p.m. our time.

The last cast for today is going to be a "You Tube" video featuring Tommy Biffle. If you know Mr. Biffle, he's one serious dude. His stare can make your knees quake. Now knowing that, you can kind of figure what it must have taken to get him to do this video. Any how, it's kind of funny. Here it is "The Tommy Biffle Bathtub Video" . Take care and have heart only one more day till the weekend!

February 24, 2010

I'll start off this morning by saying that I'm going to make this a true "Daily Blog" in that I plan to spend all day adding to it. Sometimes my day doesn't set up so that I can do the whole thing at once, consequently I'll be at it piece meal today.

First of all, I want to remind people of the event down at D&R Sports Center in Kalamazoo, MI this coming Saturday. They are calling their event "Bass Saturday." They are advertising some special prices on baits and tackle, and they are having a number of pro seminars featuring Matt Herren, Stephen Browning, Jonathon VanDam and Bryan Plenzler.

Bryan is a rep for Humminbird and will have twenty stations that you will be able to sit down at and actually run through what the new Birds are capable of. That seminar starts at noon, and with only twenty spots open, you had better get there plenty early if you actually want to sit down with a machine.

Matt Herren is a Elite Series pro who I had the good fortune to spend the day with last April down on Lake Wheeler in Decatur, AL. He has only been fishing the Elites for a year. He use to be an FLW pro. You may have seen his face on the TV screen this past weekend. He finished seventh in the Bassmaster Classic! I'm looking forward to chatting with him down at D&R. I am bringing him a bunch of pictures that I took of him and the rest of the Elite field from the Dixie Duel contest.

One of Matt's culls from pitching a dock.

Matt working the docks in a slough off the main lake.

While Matt was fishing, I was studying and taking a boat load of pictures. We were down near the dam on Wheeler, and he was sharing the area for a time with Stephen Browning. Here's one of the pictures I took of Steve.

Elite Series Pro Stephen Browning on Wheeler in Decatur, AL

Both Matt and Stephen will be giving seminars at D&R along with KVD's nephew Jonathon VanDam. Jonathon you may recall, won the Northern Open event on Lake Erie last September. He also placed in the top three down on the St. James River in a Southern Open a few years ago. He's a pretty good up and coming young gun cut out of the same cloth as his uncle. Not too many pros want to hear that another VanDam is on the way up.

If you're heading down to D&R like I am Saturday, make sure you watch the weather and the road conditions. South of Grand Rapids, almost all the way to Plainwell, there are large open areas that the wind blows across causing dangerous icy stretches of expressway. I make that drive quite a bit and it can get hairy.

With the Bassmaster Classic still fresh in everyone's mind, and with Bass Saturday being held down at KVD's brother Randy's store, there undoubtedly will be that Classic buzz going on. I half expect to see Kevin make a guest appearance Saturday. KVD was on the local evening news and they were filming from D&R Sports. He's home so maybe he'll be out at the show. It would be great to see him Saturday!

Just to get your KVD fix, you may want to look at this ESPN Post Classic Video Interview with KVD .

He still is mind boggling to me! He's truly a dominant angler. When you go to these Elite events, and see the high level of competition that he contends with, you can only respect his dominance that much more. Simply put, he's the greatest.

I'm off to shovel the drive and plan to be back on the blog a couple more times today. Check back for more later.

Well, I'm back for a little bit. I just read an article about what Beeswax Creek was like the day after the Classic anglers left. Beeswax Creek, th hot spot for the Classic, with the top three contenders fishing it was quite crowded with locals on Monday. Here's an article that reads well and quickly on "Beeswax Creek the Day After" .

KVD is one dominant competitor. You have to feel a bit for some of his competitors. Jeff Kriet was fishing along with Todd Faircloth in Beeswax. Both anglers have a not so good past with KVD. Kevin bested Faircloth in a very close AOY race in 2007, and he has battled Kriet several times in Elite Series events and got the best of him as well.

I just finished reading an article that Bass Fan did on Kriet's efforts in the Classic. Kriet had a stretch of Beeswax that was a little further out toward the main lake. It had a ridge that moved out into the Creek pretty much perpendicular to shore. The ridge had some deeper grass and stumps on it that the fish positioned themselves on. Each day of the three day event was a little bit different, and the fish moved around on the ridge each day. Kriet said that he couldn't catch them throwing his rattlebait directly down the ridge. He had angles that seem to be the key to his best bites.

The second day of the Classic, Kriet found the fish at the end of the ridge and caught eight in a row there. Kriet also said that if he and Faircloth had not shared the area that one of them would have won the event. Each needed the others water to let their areas rest. On the last day of the Classic, Kriet had about 14 lbs. in the well, and he was hoping that it would be enough to win. At that point though, he said it hit him like a ton of bricks, he thought about that he hadn't seen Kevin running around at all. That meant he was catching them good, and that sent a creepy chill over Kriet. Here's the article if you care to read it. It's entitled "Kriet's Area Was Strong, But He Couldn't Hold Off KVD "

Before I forget, make sure you log on to Bassmaster Gear Up Giveaway again today to increase you chances of winning. Also, at Woot.com today they are having a "Woot Off." A Woot Off is where they put sale items up every so many minutes. The Woot site normally has only one item up for sale a day. They have some very good buys and I've bought many things from the Woot site. They have a "Kids Woot" and a "Wine Woot" that you will see along with "Sellout Woot" when you go to the Woot hot link above. If you wait to long, and they sell out, you are out of luck. If you snooze on Woot, you lose.

February 22, 2010

Wholly, moly, Ollie, KVD, that's Mr. Kevin "Invincible" VanDam wins his third Classic! A feat that just two days ago the "Bass Reporters" said would never happen again. The reason they said Kevin wouldn't win another Classic was not for lack of expertise, but because when he fishes there are just so many boats that follow him around. When he leaves a spot they even move in and fish it behind him. For that reason they said it would be just too difficult for him to win B.A.S.S.'s biggest event again. Well...it didn't take long for KVD to put that story to bed. Not only that, but he slammed the door on the "Squirrel" and the rest of the contenders or should we say pretenders.

I do feel sorry for Jeff Kriet, A.K.A. "The Squirrel." Kriet and KVD have been locked in some battles before, and Kriet has even had some words for KVD, but the Kalamazoo Kid has never left him a nut or ever a morsel. And, I think that's why Kevin calls Kriet "The Squirrel."

Kriet made light of it on the Classic stage saying things like he wished Kevin would just go away. He was tired of working hard and coming in second to him.

During the last day, when the pressure had to be almost debilitating, Kriet could hear the spectator boats cheering each time Kevin caught a good one. Kriet said that next time he was going to wear ear plugs because despite what he was doing, he could hear the roar of the crowd for Kevin and it was unnerving.

Kriet, Faircloth, and KVD were only separated by three measly little ounces going in to the third and final day. Kriet was two ounces ahead of Kevin. Hardly enough to be considered a lead, making it a virtual three horse race.

Kriet and Kevin went back to their same spots that they had been fishing the previous two days in Beeswax Creek. Faircloth fished it as well on Days 1 and 2 and some on Day 3, but he gambled and went elsewhere for part of the day. That ended up being a mistake and of the three hopefuls that started almost tied, he weighed in the least on the final day. Still enough to remain in third though.

Kriet did his darndest, but it wasn't meant to be for him this time. He weighed in 14-05 lbs. to Kevin's 19-07 lbs. You could really see how disappointed both Kriet and Faircloth were up on stage.

On the other hand, I watched the weigh-in online, and KVD looked quite subdued when the final weight was read. The way they seated the final "Super Six" you kind of figured Kevin was going to win it. He appeared not to be sweating anyone's total. He knew what the others had and his big bag was a stopper to be sure. He had plenty of time to let the victory sink in before it really became official. He did comment afterward that he was overjoyed to win the Classic again even though there was no jumping or fist pumping this year. He said he was simply drained from the long week and the exhausting final day.

Kevin and the rest of the contenders relied heavily on what up north we call a rattletrap. They are fond of referring to it as a lipless crankbait on TV. Kevin fishes for Strike King, so it's little wonder that he used a Strike King Red Eye Shad almost exclusively during the three days on Lay Lake.

KVD has won several tournaments on that bait before, probably his most recent and notable was his B.A.S.S. Elite Series on Lake Toho. After I read that tournament report, I bought a couple. The claim to fame, so to speak, with the Red Eye Shad is that when you kill the bait it will flutter down, belly down. Instead of heading for the bottom nose down and falling on its side when it hits, the Red Eye flutters and settles on the bottom on its belly. That difference is what KVD likes, and it obviously was something the fish on Beeswax Creek liked as well.

Beeswax Creek was where the take-off ramp for the tournament was located. It's a popular ramp used by many local tournament groups. Consequently, it's an spot where a lot of bass are brought in for weigh-ins then released. It also had the shallow structure that the fish liked and one of the few areas that had quite a bit of coontail weed growing. Couple that with the fact that it had the warmest water of any of the creeks running into Lay Lake, and it became the favorite spot for quite a few of the Classic contenders.

After the first day, the anglers that were fishing Beeswax garnered their own little areas or territory that the other competitors respected. Kriet was considered by many to have the best stretch of bank because of the structure it provided.

KVD had the honor of leaving number one on the first day because of his status as the Angler of the Year. He could have jumped on Kriet's spot but opted to go further back in the creek to a large spawning flat. Kevin had found the spot in 2007 when they last fished the Classic on Lay, the year Duckett won. Kevin finished third that year and commented that because of the warmer weather then, it scattered the fish and made it a little more difficult to win on. This year, with the colder water, the fish remained bunched up more and made them easier for Kevin to pinpoint.

This year Kevin marked a number of areas on the flat he was fishing in Beeswax that had stumps and or shell beds. Kevin said he caught seven fish off just one of the stumps. Early in the contest, Day 1, he said that he probably threw back 15 lbs. of fish. He didn't try to save any fish each day and took what it offered not knowing what the next day may bring. Fortunately it was the type of area that replenished well enough with the numbers and quality of fish that he needed to win.

The crowd of boats that followed him around was said to be his biggest disadvantage became somewhat of advantage. Fishing where he was, in the back of the creek, boats couldn't come from that direction and the flotilla of fans pretty much cordoned off the creek in the other direction, and when other Classic anglers came by and thought about fishing, they would see this sea of boats and go elsewhere.

The only angler that did fish the area with KVD was Takihiro Omori. Tak fished it with Kevin for a little while late on the first day. Tak left the area after a while, and Kevin said after the weigh-in on Day 1 that Tak came up to him and said he never realized that that area held that many fish. Tak also told Kevin he wouldn't encroach on his water on Day 2 and went elsewhere, knowing that he had every right to fish it as well. He gave KVD that much respect and courtesy, admirable! It tells you a lot about the class of the B.A.S.S. Elite anglers.

As you might guess, there are no shortage of articles about "The Man" this morning. I have read three, and they all have some interesting bits and pieces about the last three days of the Bassmaster Classic. I'll link them here, and you can decide if you want to read one or all of them. The first report is from Bass Fan and is entitled, "Van Dam Stuns Birmingham, Sacks Shocking 19 1/2 ." The second article is from the Bassmaster website and is entitled, "Unflappable VanDam Wins Third Classic ." The third article is from Bass Zone and is entitled, "KVD Wins The 2010 Classic."

If you read the articles, or if you don't, I would think you would like to look at the Bassmaster Photo Gallery . I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I think the photographers for B.A.S.S. are some of the best. They take some great pictures.

Now that the Classic hoopla is winding down, all that's left really is to sweep up the confetti, you will want to make sure you take some time each day to log in to the Bassmaster Gear Up Giveaway . They're giving prizes away daily through March 18th, and then they're giving away a new decked out Skeeter that I'm going to win. When I do you will all get a ride!

I almost forgot that if you want several little video segments of on-the-water reports from the Classic, Bass Zone has several archived from their Wide Open Video Reports . You may need to scroll over to view and or select segments.

On Sunday, I wasn't able to follow the final day on the computer, because we had an 80th birthday party for my mother. It was a surprise party that truly caught her off guard. We had a great time at the party, and I saw old neighbors, friends and relatives, some that I haven't seen in probably twenty or more years. It really was a great time. My mom couldn't stop crying all day. She was really happy, and it was good to see her able to enjoy, what in our senior years, is sometimes a not so welcomed birthday. Here are just a couple birthday party pictures.

Gramma and her high school cheerleading buddy.

My son and nephew chowing down on the barbecue.

My son's and nephew's better halves.

With the snow this morning, I'm going to need to get out the "Big Dog" and clear the driveway. I've been out once already when the kids left to go home, but the plow came through since then, and I have to clean that up plus I usually do the neighbors driveway.

The last cast for today is from football's Ahmad Rashad. What he said about sports in general, I feel, is especially true about anglers. "Sports can unite a group of people from different backgrounds, all working together to achieve a common goal. And even if they fall short, sharing that journey is an experience they'll never forget. It can teach some of the most fundamental and important human values: dedication, perseverance, hard work, and teamwork. It also teaches us how to handle our success and cope with our failure. So, perhaps the greatest glory of sport is that is teaches us so much about life itself." Take care, and make sure you take time out of your work day today to do something, even if it's just for a few minutes, that puts a smile on your face.

February 20, 2010

There was a certain nervousness to my sleep last night. I kept thinking I read somewhere that the coverage for the Classic started this morning at 6:00 am. I know before I went to bed, at a little after midnight, that I had checked ESPN2 and saw that they weren't airing the Day 1 Classic until 10:00 am. Anyway, I woke up several times and decided to get up around 7:30 and went out and turned the TV on. English League Soccer....not what I was hoping for, or even close for that matter. (Never been a soccer fan. Wrong generation.) I debated on whether to go back to bed. The thermostat was still programmed for a chilly 60 degrees and there wasn't any coffee made, so I was leaning heavily in that direction. I actually made a move to go back to bed, but halfway down the hallway I decided what the hey, I'll stay up.

We've been buying coffee beans and grinding our own coffee each morning. Yesterday we went to Cosco to stock up for the weekend company that's coming and we bought some of their medium roast coffee. The wife thinks the last batch of Rwandan coffee we bought brewed too strong. So, the coffee is brewing, the sun is shining, and I'm plunking on the keyboard.

Last night we went to my mom's fake birthday party. She turned 80 yesterday, and we're having a surprise party for her on Sunday, an open house at an FOP Hall. We decided that if we were going to keep the Sunday party secret, we had to have a little get together on her birthday. My siblings gathered at her house, and we ate way to much and laughed a lot at her cards. We didn't stay late, too many things yet to get ready for the weekend.

My nephew was going to head out from Des Moines last night, but as they were packing the car it started raining and freezing. The news was broadcasting a "No Tow" warning, so if you headed out and got stuck you were really stuck. He called to say that they would probably leave in the morning. I'm not quite sure when number two son and his beautiful bride are leaving Wisconsin. I expect them sometime early afternoon. We're really looking forward to it.

Since I've been up, I watched a couple of videos online of the Classic. If you haven't heard by now, KVD is in first place after the Day 1 weigh-in!! Here is a link to the Classic Standings After Day 1 .

Hey, the coffee's done. I'll be right back. Aahh, the new stuffs okay. A little bitter,and it doesn't have the bite of that dark roast. Alton Brown, not to be confused with Alton Jones, who had a bad Day 1 Classic, says to add salt to the grounds before you perk it. It's suppose to level out the bitterness in coffee. Next pot I'll give it a try.

As I was saying, I watched a couple of video interviews, and one was from the "Bass Reporters" . They were commenting on the Day One action and Harry Stout said that he had made a comment a while back that KVD wouldn't ever win another Classic!?! His premise for the prediction was that Kevin has such a fan base that it really prevents him from fishing clean. With fifty to a hundred boats following him place to place, and moving in on his spots as soon as he leaves, it makes competing very difficult for him. Friday, Day 1 of the Classic, they were saying KVD had about 25 boats around him on his starting spot just 150 yards from the ramp in Bees Creek. They went on to say that today there would be more with people off work for the weekend and the weather is suppose to be warming. A nice day will bring out even more fans. We'll see if Kevin can manage the crowds and whether or not he has enough spots that haven't been jumped by over eager fans.

Just like yesterday, I'm going to leave the blog open ended and upload every little bit adding to it as I read and watch TV coverage from yesterday, and follow the tournament today online.

I just checked the Bass Blog and it has Kriet leading with Faircloth in second, and then KVD in third.

KVD is starting once again right at the ramp in Bees Creek. They don't have him down for a fish yet. I'm going to leave the computer running and check back during the commercials, but at 10:00 a.m. ESPN2 is going to air Day 1 coverage.

If you have time, give the B.A.S.S. Photo Gallery a look see. They have some of the best photographers and always have great pics. It's off to the TV for me with KVD yet to boat a keeper as of 9:47 a.m. Think positive KVD thoughts!!

As of 10:05 Jeff Kriet is leading the pack with Takihiro making a big move with a big 6-11 lb. monster. The pros seem to be catching fish on lipless crankbaits and shakey heads. The water is cold, around 47 degrees in the creeks. We'll see if the fish keep coming up shallow with the sunshine or if someone finds them deep. One thing for sure is that the flippers aren't catching them. Denny Brauer who lives to flip came in with zero on Day 1.

The TV coverage of Day 1 is entertaining and as soon as the commercial's over I'm back watching it.

I did take a look this morning at my B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing Score . I'm at 1261 I think. Close to that score. I looked first thing this morning and don't quite remember for sure. Last night, after the weigh-in, they didn't have the info updated. Even late last night nothing was up yet. This morning, however, they had the Day 1 points up. Remember if you didn't sign up, you can still can. It is very easy to do and only takes literally seconds. There are a few people in our Tear Drop Bass League. I see Matt Kaiser, one of our up and comers on the Tear Drop Tournament Trail. Kaiser and Kozak are a team that have figure the tournament scene out. The first year or two they were feeling their way, but now they've got it dialed in and have been up in that top ten regularly. Couple of nice guys that always seem to have a smile on their face.

Looks like at 12:19 p.m. that VanDam is boating some fish and is still up near the top of the leaderboard. Jeff Kriet looks like he's the hot hand at the moment and is unofficially in first place.

I've been waiting to watch MSU on TV, but they were suppose to start at noon on CBS and North Carolina and Boston College are on. Can't find MSU on any of the channels so I'm off to do an errand.

As of 2:00 p.m. they still have KVD in third behind Kriet and Faircloth. Hopefully he'll find that kicker fish this afternoon.

If you're treading water like I am, watching some Olympic coverage and checking the internet for updates you could read the piece that is on Bass Zone called VanDam Thaws Lay Lake on Day One . It gives you a pretty good summary of Day 1.

Don't forget, if you signed up for the Gear Up Give Away , you need to go back to it daily to increase your chances for winning prizes.

While I was looking for the link for the Gear Up Giveaway I found a page that has a bunch of fishing games you can play. Here's the link to Bassmaster Games and Contests . I haven't tried playing the games. I'm not much of a video game player, wrong generation. I might check them out though and see if they work well. Maybe the granddaughter would like to play them.

B.A.S.S. announced today that in 2012 the Classic will be held once again on the Red River, in Shreveport, LA. If you recall, the FLW was suppose to begin its 2010 season on the Red River but had to cancel the tournament due to weather. Hopefully it will be better in February of 2012. Next year the Classic is in New Orleans. They have had the Classic in New Orleans before, but I don't remember much about that particular Classic. I'll have to Google it to see who won it.

Not much on the Bassmaster Blog. They're saying the afternoon bite, which was pretty good yesterday, doesn't seem to be developing today. They're also saying it looks like it's going to take about 13 pounds to make the top 25 cut which will take place at the conclusion of today. Poor Denny Brauer is still showing a goose egg again today. That can't make one of the world's best fisherman very happy.

Don't forget to make sure your computer is set to be able to stream the weigh-in at 5:30 p.m. today. I wasn't able to watch it yesterday and I might be able to today. Depends on what my hosting duties will be with our company that should be here any minute. The weigh-in is on ESPN360.com .

February 19, 2010

It begins! They are out on the water as I type. I hope you picked your B.A.S.S. Fantasy Team, because it's too late to do so for the Classic. You can still sign up for the rest of the tournaments though.

At this moment they have Pam Martin Wells in the lead with the first limit in the boat. It appears the guys have been sandbagging in that there are a number of fish being caught. You can follow the minute by minute Bass Blog by clicking on this Almost Instant Classic Info link.

I'm going to be at the computer all day long checking in and out. I'm going to be uploading segments as I find info.

You can watch the live weigh-in today at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN360.com . You may have to download players, like Adobe Flash Player, etc. These downloads from Bassmaster and ESPN take only a few seconds. I just downloaded the two I needed when I went to these sites to be sure I'd be ready to watch the live weigh-in today.

Just went back to the "Live Blog," which is hot linked above under the "Almost Instant Classic Info.," and they have KVD in first place with 11-2 lbs.!!! Go KVD!!! As they say, "You can't win the tournament on the first day, but you can lose it." So far it looks like KVD is positioning himself well.

Well, it's 11:35 am now and Takihiro Omori has taken the lead and Boyd Duckett has blown an engine. I came within a hair's width of puttin Tak on my Fantasy Fishing team. I do have Duckett and of course KVD (Or did I edit Duckett out and pick Ike. I can't remember.). Hope they get another boat out to him soon.

They take care of anglers well that way in the B.A.S.S. tournaments. I really don't know if there is a plan or rule that covers what happens with an engine failure. Hopefully, they have backup boats available. I do know that they have technicians from all the major brands there.

Just an aside, I have been posting some great trail cam shots that Steve Block has been sending in. I thought today I would post my trail cam from the city shot. Here it is.

What city folk find on their trail cams.

As of noon Tak is still in the lead, with 14-12 and KVD just behind him with 13-10. A one pound lead with a little than half of the day to go still makes this a pretty close horse race.

I have found another freeby to sign up for. It's a contest set up by Bassmaster and starts today with the Classic. It's called Gear Up Give Away . Once you enter, and it's very fast with nothing really to do than click a button, you can go back daily to enter again for daily prizes and a chance at the grand prize, which is a new Skeeter. Like I've said before, "Someone has to win it."

There is one more contest that I signed up for yesterday. I really hope I win this one. Humminbird is putting it on, and it's called, Van Dam Your Boat . Entering this contest could win you a couple of Humminbird Side Imaging graphs for your boat. I would really like one, but two, wow!

February 18, 2010

One of the biggest of the biggest days in the bass fishing world dawns tomorrow morning when 51 boats will crank it up for the Bassmaster Classic!

The Elite anglers will be in their boats early. Some will still be messing with rods and tackle and others will be just chillin', literally in their boats trying to stay relaxed as fans and media people stream by seeking interviews and autographs.

Once the boats begin to line up in take off order, their exhaust will be hangin' in the air, creating a stage like effect. At this point the game faces are acquired, and as the boats pass by the starter, the anglers will be wondering who might be sitting on their starting spot, or second guessing just which one of their areas will provide the best potential.

They pros know one speed and that will be wide open. When you're running in a open cockpit bass boat, there is a roar of the engine which is almost drowned out by the roar of wind running into your hood and around your ears. There is, even in the smoothest riding boats, vibration that joins the wind and engine noise to give you a real feeling of speed. If you hit a few boat wakes, and at the start the area is pretty riled up, it can get quite bumpy causing you to grip the wheel a little harder. The throttle never moves off the hammer down mode though and soon you're up and running on the pad and things settle down. That's when the cold will start seeping in to your suit, and if you're not wearing a face-mask or helmet it will be cold. The temps down on Lay that first morning will be in the mid thirties. When you're running on plane at 60, 70, plus mph there is significant wind chill!

One tip that I use, winter and spring, to stay warmer is to wear a pair of latex surgical type gloves under my regular gloves. You would be surprise at how much warmer your hands stay. The gloves fit so tightly that they don't impede your feel, and if you have to stick your hands in the water to lip that fish, you have that water barrier that really keeps you from dwelling on the cold.

Most anglers have a long history with the outdoors and don't have much problem dressing for the cold. About the only difference I see with the group is their decision to go with a face mask like the Fish Hedz or with a more traditional Fishing Helmet .

I like the Fish Hedz style, and I could see that in the summer when it's hot, they would be much more comfortable. However, when I have tried a helmet before, what I really liked was having that covering over your ears to eliminate the constant air noise. On the bigger lakes and impoundments, you have runs that are a half hour or more. That constant loud rush of air is deafening, and having a helmet on provides a much quieter, headache free ride. Plus, if you are ejected from a boat, the helmet offers protection that the fish hedz style doesn't. After riding on Wheeler, in the passenger seat, in rough river water, with a wide open throttle, the thought of some added protection went through my mind more than once.

Remember that you have just today left to put a B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing Team together. It doesn't take long at all. There is not nearly the work involved as with the FLW Fantasy Fishing because you are limited to three sets of anglers. You have to select two anglers from a top group, two from a middle group, and one from a rookie group. Once you have selected your team you can choose to join a league or multiple leagues. I have set up a Tear Drop Bass league and it's "Public" so anyone can join.

Speaking of joining, I received an email recently informing me of a Gear Up Give Away that ESPN is running. It doesn't start until tomorrow, so you can't sign up till then. Once it starts, you may sign up daily. Lots of prizes and someone's got to win them.

If you're looking for your daily Classic fix, here's an article that gives you some pretty up to date info concerning the latest practice reports. Here's the link to the Classic Scouting Report . If you want a quick up to date report in a video format check out the Wide Open Classic Report from Bass Zone.

Well, I'm going to take a break from the keyboard and try and get back later with some more blog material. For now, take care and only two more days till the weekend!

February 17, 2010

I made it through Valentine's Day unscathed. I didn't screw up too badly. We went to a magic show with the Bakers and then out to dinner.

Monday, we went out to the airport to meet my brother's plane coming in from Florida. As I said the other day, his over fifty softball team went down to Winter Haven, Florida to play in the Senior Softball National Tournament of Champions. Teams were there from around the country. They had no real idea going down how they would do. My brother said he was hoping that they could at least win a couple games. No need to worry, they did great, and they walked away National Champions!

I don't have a team picture yet, but I did get a picture of us greeting him and the team at the airport.

My wife and I, my brother, my sister, and my mom.

They were kind of lucky my brother said, in that they drew a bye for their first game. They then went undefeated through the tournament beating teams from Texas, Florida, California, and Arizona. They all get rings for winning and were fitted down in Florida. It will be cool to see what they look like. They are custom made so they won't get a good look at them for several weeks.

Tuesday we went up to Cadillac to get a lens for my wife's glasses. We were going to meet the Skinners for lunch, but that didn't work out. We did end up eating with the Fowlers at the Timbers.

Before we ate, I was able to run over to Pilgrim Village on the shore of Lake Mitchell on South Lake Mitchell Dr. I got a chance to talk for a while with Steve Knaisel who owns the shop along with his wife Sue. Pilgrim Village is one of the best tackle shops in Michigan's Great Northwest Corner. They pretty much have it all if you're a serious angler and they have way more than you need if your not.

Steve was telling me he was going to be taking a day off on Wednesday, so he and some friends could head over to Crystal Lake in Beulah to catch some smelt through the ice. A buddy of his has done really well the last two trips over. Rick Skinner has also made two trips to Crystal this season and did well the first trip and not so well the second.

Steve told me that they have been getting a lot of nice pike through the ice on Cadillac and Mitchell and he also said that they have gotten more walleye this year than they have gotten in several years. Check out his fishing report on the Pilgrim Village website hot link above. Here's some pics I took outside Steve and Sue's Pilgrim Village tackle shop and cabins.

Looking West at Lake Mitchell from Pilgrim Village

The Tackle Shop at Pilgrim Village, Cadillac, MI.

In talking with Don over dinner, he told me he was contemplating going over to Lake St. Clair to do some ice fishing. A fishing buddy of his lives over there and says that in Mitchell's Bay they are getting great catches of perch in only three feet of water. A nice fresh perch fillet dinner sounds pretty good.

I need to get up to the cabin and cut some holes. This next month for ice fishing, in my opinion, is the best. In early March to ice out is when the big perch and walleye come in and are a tad bit easier to catch.

One guy that I know, Steve "Rico" Block is a good resource for anything outdoors, and he says so far the walleye fishing has been slow. Steve did send me another trail cam picture. It's a night time shot of two coyotes checking their backs.

Steve's Trail Cam Shot of the Week

Man, I love these trail cam shots that Steve has been sending in. I am amazed at the quality of the pictures. These trail cameras have gotten to be pretty technically sound units. Thanks again Steve.

I'm going to do another one of those blogs that I piece together as time allows. I am going to try and add some other things that I have a little later today. For now though, take care.

Well, I'm back for some more Wednesday info. I was surfing for a few minutes today and noticed an announcement that BassCat has been secretly working on a new hull design and are building a new line of Cats around it. The new boat line will be called the BassCat Eyra .

The new Cat is suppose to have a hull that will make the speed demons happy while still keeping those that want that smooth performance and wide casting deck content as well. BassCat has redesigned the deck and console as well.

If you're on Facebook, and I'm not, you can access more pictures than the link above shows. The Pierce family who owns BassCat will be taking prototypes of the new boat to the Classic. The new Eyra is not in production yet. Looking forward to seeing it up close and personal. I have an old BassCat Jag and love the design of that boat. You can't beat the way it handles in rough water and it's a pretty fast hull. Fast enough for me anyway.

I just got done watching Facts of Fishing FYI and the guy that thought these short video vignettes up deserves an at a boy, because they are short, informational (sort of) and funny. I have had one or two hot linked before, but if you haven't seen one yet, take about three to four minutes and click on the hot link above. It should at least put a smirk on your face.

Another thing I watched for a bit today was ESPN's Lunker Cam . They have a large tank with some lunker bass and you can watch the bass interact and feed. They announce the feeding times. Today it was 1:00 p.m.. It's kind of like watching paint dry, but the feeding was kind of cool.

If you haven't signed up for the B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing contest, you may yet want to. If you do, or if you have already, you may want to read this article where the B.A.S.S. pros do some Elite Prognostication . I know I went from reading the article to the B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing Site and did some switching around of my bottom pick. Remember as well, that I have a Tear Drop Bass League for the B.A.S.S. Fantasy and FLW Fantasy Fishing Contests.

The last thing for today is I'm going to add a hot link for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic Photo Galleries . B.A.S.S. photographers do a great job, so if you have some time, look them over.

Instead of a quote being the final cast of the day I decided to include some Olympic trivia instead. Here it is. "The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana, and are interconnected to symbolize the friendship to be gained from these international competitions. The colors were chosen because at least one of them appeared on the flag of every country in the world." Take care and have a good day.

February 13, 2010

It was looking like a trip for donuts and then a walk through at the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop . It just so happens that my favorite Grand Rapids (Jenison) donut shop is within fifty feet of my local outdoor shop. However, I messed around this morning and it's getting to be too close to the start of the Michigan State Vs. Penn State basketball game which is scheduled to start at noon today. I just may have a blog that I post in pieces today.

I have several items that I need to get posted. One is to announce that Dennis Cook, The Tear Drop Tournament Trail Director, wants to get all the ads in for the 2010 flyer. He really would like to get the flyer out soon. So, if you have an ad please make sure you contact him. You can call him at 231-690-2605 or email him at teardropbassclub@charter.net.

If you would like to look at a flyer, the 2009 flyer is on this website's main page. It's on the left side of the main page and has it's own button. Just click on the various pages.

If you are thinking about fishing the Tear Drop, they have been giving a discount on your membership if you send in an ad. Ads go for $100 a square, or you can buy a "Host" ad for $200. If you buy a Host ad, you are then invited to fish a half day tournament with a Tear Drop angler. If you and your Tear Drop partner win, you get your $200 back as prize money. They also have a luncheon after the tournament that's always a good time and good eats.

Another post I want to make on today's blog are some more pictures from Jeff "Hard Water" Brauneck. I have to resize them yet to fit the format requirements for the blog, but I plan to get to it today after the basketball game.

There are a couple of other items that I would also like to address. One is some more information on the Asian Carp story. My buddy John "Walleye" Baker went to a workshop in Muskegon this past week. He brought me some material that I have yet to go through. Hopefully, I can do some reading and synthesizing and get that info up.

Another short blurb for later has to be some discussion of the official practice down on Lay Lake for the Bassmaster Classic. Yesterday was the first day and they got hit with several inches of snow!

Come back later, probably around dinner time and I should have time to get some more of this stuff on the blog.

Well, I'm back and it's after dinner. I had some of my venison brats that I cooked and then sliced thin and put in some spaghetti sauce with some sauteed mushrooms. I had the sauce over some boiled cabbage. It was very good. If you have never tried some thinly slice cabbage steamed and used instead of spaghetti, you will have to put it on your culinary list. You don't miss the spaghetti at all.

I resized the pictures that Jeff sent me from a recent ice fishing outing with his dad, Fred. The two fish together a lot and compete in the summer together in the Tear Drop Tournament Trail. They were out a few days ago on a little private lake that Jeff calls a secret spot. I can definitely relate to secret lakes and spots, and my lips are sealed. Here's a little bit of the email that Jeff sent me where he talks about the outing that resulted in some big gills and one super jumbo perch!

"Hey Dan I've been logging on to Dave Genz's website because he took a picture of me at that Whamplers Tournament with layers of ice on my jacket and bibs. He said it was a great testimonial to the quality of the Ice Armor Suit I was wearing.

Pop's and I fished a small lake close to home last weekend. The lake is known for its large gills. We spread out with our Vexilars searching for fish. Pop's found the fish first, pulling out a nice 9 inch gill and 12 inch perch. I drilled a hole nearby. I dropped my Wolfram Jig down to the fish I was marking. I was working one that was about 3 feet off bottom, when I saw my spring bobber jump. I set the hook and thought I had a bass on. It was stretching my 2 pound fluoro to the max. It was a long fight, pulling it up from over 30 feet. When it came through the hole Pop's and I were both in awe. It was a 14 inch perch with a 11 1/4 inch girth! It weighed over 1.75 pounds. Pop's said it looked like a 2 pound smallie. We continued to catch a hand full of nice gills before dark. I had caught a 15 inch perch out of this lake before, but it was not nearly as impressive because it was a male. This mamma was FAT! The fish is now at the taxidermist."

Jeff and his dad are two really good fishermen. The thing that impresses me most about them is not just their outdoor skills, but how well they are respected as just good people. Jeff's mom is included in that circle as well. (She makes some great tasting cookies that have made the rounds at our campsites.) Here are some of the pictures that Jeff sent. Disregard the date. They really weren't taken in June of 2010.

Some good looking panfish for the table and one dandy perch for the wall.

A great mess of Northwest Corner panfish.

One word, Wow!

That's going to make a great looking mount!

Jeff said an 11 1/4 inch girth! I believe it!

Has to be one of the biggest perch I've seen!

Thanks Jeff and Fred for sharing your outing. Keep the pictures coming!

I've mentioned before that Jeff calls Manistee his home town. I have fished the area for a good number of years as well. I've only fished Manistee and Portage Lakes and haven't ever been to smaller lakes in the area. I ran across an article today that sounded like good news for the Manistee area. The article was from the Ludington Daily News reporting that Manistee Gets a $329,000 Grant to Improve Fishing Access . Use the hot link, and it will take you to a short article that details where the money is going to be spent.

Before I forget, I wanted to say that I signed up for the B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing program. I haven't participated in the B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing in a couple of years. Like the FLW Fantasy Fishing program, they have made significant changes to how their game is played. It's pretty simple to sign up and pick your team though. I have set up a league or "Group" as they call it. Once you sign up, type in Tear Drop Bass for the group. With the Classic less than a week a way you don't have a lot of time to join.

Speaking of the Classic, I did some searching today and found a page that has the TV coverage printed out. Here's the link to the Bassmaster Classic TV Schedule .

Continuing with the Classic, this coming Tuesday KVD will be the keynote speaker at this year's Bass Fishing Hall of Fame dinner. The Hall will be inducting five new members. Long time B.A.S.S. competitor John Powell, Woo Daves who won the 2000 Classic and fished in seventeen Classics, Irwin Jacobs who was the CEO of the recently bankrupted Genmar Corp., Tim Tucker a long time outdoor writer, and another journalist Steve Price. Both John Powell, and Tim Tucker will be inducted posthumously.

The Classic this year, as was mentioned, will be taking place on Lay Lake in Alabama near Birmingham. The 51 competitors will be minding their Beeswax. They're taking off from the Shelby Alabama, Beeswax Creek Boat Ramp in Columbiana. Maybe with the snow they've been getting down there, we'll have to ship them down some Ice Armor suits. It could be a White Classic . Check out the aforementioned link and the pictures that are there from the last couple of days of the official snowy practice.

I got a call from my brother today from down in Polk County, Florida. He's there participating in the Senior Softball Tournament of Champions . He called to say that they won their first two games beating teams from California and Texas. They have a real shot at a National Championship, especially if they win there next game tomorrow morning. I wished him good luck, and I will be thinking positive thoughts.

My brother is in the back row far right with the sun glasses.

I'm calling it for tonight even though I didn't get to the Asian Carp info that I have, but the Olympics are on, and it's already after 10:00 pm. Before I end though I wanted to say that I did watch MSU end their three game skid today. Kind of feel sorry for Penn. They have yet to win a league game. The Big 10 has some tough teams. We'll see how many get in to the NCAA tournament. Hopefully they'll represent well.

The final cast of the day comes from the American Statesman Bernard M. Baruch. He once said, "The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them." Take care and enjoy the weekend!

February 12, 2010

I was on Dan Kimmel's forum site today and there is a Humminbird Rep, Bryan P. that posted a note about a seminar down at D&R Sports , Saturday, February 27th. The seminar date is not on the D&R Sports website yet.

Bryan said that Matt Herren and Stephen Browning will be there giving seminars. Bryan will be doing a "Hands On" Humminbird tutorial that I'm sure will also be very popular. I plan on going, and it looks like a few friends like Rick "The Cementman" Skinner, and Craig "Back Up and Dump" Stumbrie may be driving down from the Northwest Corner to attend as well.

You may remember, I know I've mentioned it more than a couple times, that I rode with Matt Herren when I Marshaled down in Alabama on Wheeler last April. Here are some of the pictures from that day.

Matt Herren loosening up down on Wheeler in April of 09

Matt motoring out of a honey hole.

This dock produced several nice fish!

Here's one of the bass he upgraded with.

In the first picture above, to the right of Matt, I believe that is Stephen Browning, his seminar partner for the February 27th D&R Sports Fishing Weekend. It should be fun to have a chance to reconnect with Matt. I have a bunch of pictures to give him.

I just checked my email and there was a message from Jeff "Manistee" Brauneck. He's been promising to send me some pictures from the ice fishing tournament he fished a few weeks ago. The event, The Midwest Open on Whampler's Lake near Brooklyn, MI, had a $12,000 first prize. I tried to add a hot link for the tournament site, but there was a problem with the site, and it wouldn't load. I'll try again, and if it comes up I'll put it in the next blog.

I haven't gotten an official okay from Jeff yet concerning uploading his email about the tournament to the blog, but I'm making the assumption that he won't mind. Hope I'm right. Here's what he sent.

"Hey Dan,
The tournament at Wamplers was fun. We figured we didn't have much of a chance but they had so many prizes they were giving away, even to the teams finishing lower in the pack, we thought we would try our luck.

The tourney drew some pretty good teams that ranged from local fanatics to pro teams from as far as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. My partner, Teardrop Bass sponsor, Brian Worch and I made the trip down to Brooklyn early Saturday morning. He misread the map and we drove about 25 miles out of our way. That gave us a late start for our prefishing. We prefished for about 4 hours with no real hot spot found. We caught a few nice bluegills and redears, but the crappie were hard to come by.

The tournament rules allow you to weigh 8 crappie and 8 bluegill/sunfish. We found one deep hole that was about 30 feet deep that had very small crappie. I tried GPSing the spot, but the unit would not acquire its position and after 30 minutes I gave up on it.

After our less than exciting practice day, we figured we would just fish with the crowds and hope for the best on Sunday. We headed in to get lunch and drop some things off at the hotel before our rules meeting.

The rules meeting was neat. They drew entry numbers for a ton of prizes. They gave away a dozen shanties, augers, and numerous rod/reel combos. Our number was never drawn, so we settled for a Vexilar hat. Dave Genz, "icefishing legend," was introduced at the rules meeting as well. He would be the MC for the main event.

We woke at 5:00 am on Sunday to find cold and windy conditions. We made the short drive from the hotel to the launch and unloaded our equipment. They said that you could head out on the lake as early as 7:00 am, once your equipment was checked, even though you couldn't start fishing until 8:00 am. We were stuck in line until 7:45 am, and were still setting things up after the 8:00 am start.

Our first spot was a bust. We caught only one small gill, although I saw a really nice crappie down the hole. My partner and I both had Vexilar flashers and an Aqua Vu camera. I found it easier to just lay on the ice and look down the hole though.

Most of the crowds were concentrated on thick weed beds in 5-8 foot of water. We ended up moving 6-7 times and cutting literally hundreds of holes. We never got on the good fish though. We caught our limit of 8 bluegills several times over, although they were all relatively small. I also managed to scrape up 2 crappie.

The tournament went until 1:00 pm, but we came in about 30 minutes early to get pictures and chat with Dave Genz. I was able to get my picture taken with him just before the batteries on my camera gave out.

We ended up with 1.99 pounds for 83rd place. The winners had over 6 pounds. Gotta go meet some friends for dinner. I have more pics and a story to send you about this past weekend. I'll get that to you as soon as I can.
Jeff"

Wow, great summary right there, and he's says there more to come. I can't wait to get the whole story and more of the pictures. Here are some of the jpegs he sent me with this email.

Looks like they came prepared to do battle!

Jeff's Tournament Partner, Brian Worch

Sleds, Four Wheelers, and Contestants on the Move

How many will be trolling?

Jeff and Ice Fishing Legend, Dave Genz

When I get the rest of the story, as ole Paul Harvey might say, I'll put it up on the blog. Right now though, I guess it's time to take a look at the first day of practice for the Bassmaster Classic.

The weather in the South has set some all time records for being cold and snowy. They had four inches of snow yesterday in Dallas! My brother-in-law Charles, has lived in Alabama all his life, and he has a hard time remembering when it has stayed this cold for so long. That being said, here's part one of a three part "Classic Field Report" from "sweet home Alabama."

That's it for today. The parting shot, or final cast, I never can decide which to call it, is a quote from Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi. He once said, "It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you're not a winner." I don't want to underscore once again that I'm getting quite old, but I can recall watching the Packers led by Mr. Lombardi in the first Super Bowl. They didn't have to worry about any wardrobe malfunction during the half time of that game. They simply had dinosaur races. Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day, even if it's only a few minutes, to do something that puts a smile on your face.

February 10, 2010

Man, it's hard to think I can be this busy and really have nothing to do. I've been taking care of Valentine Day goodies for all my Valentines. I have a new daughter-in-law and my granddaughter, wife, mom, mother-in-law and it takes time to get everything in the mail.

I also spent a good deal of time preparing my roster for the first FLW Tour event on the Red River. I probably spent at least 3-5 hours of monkeying around researching, sending reminder emails, etc. Then after all that work was done, I read on the net that they had cancelled the event.

I can only imagine what kind of grief the organizers probably took for shutting down the event. I was down in Decatur last April and was sitting in Tommy Biffle's boat when they cancelled Day 2 of that event. Whoa, there were some unhappy campers. However, the Red River conditions were much different from what we had in Decatur.

Reports from Shreveport-Bossier City had the river seven to eight feet higher than it was last year during the Bassmaster Classic, and the river was high then. The current flow was 10-12 mph and there was only the main ramp that was open and able to launch or pick up boats. The area ramps were all unusable due to the high water. Many channel markers, in a dead head filled river, were under water. The water temperature was in the high 30s to low 40s, so anyone falling in would be in serious trouble from hypothermia in literally minutes. There are areas where if you lost your big motor you wouldn't be able to gain enough power over the current with the trollilng motor to avoid going over dams.

Like it or not, the tournament organizers, in my opinion, made the right call. There were some, like Jimmy Houston, who felt they should have fished. His attitude was, "If you feel it isn't safe then don't fish."

I don't agree. Tournament organizers are responsible to use good common sense when it comes to conditions. They need to provide a venue that is, at the very least, not dangerous. Letting individual anglers decide if they want to fish would probably be okay in a one day event where there weren't any tournament trail points involved. Even that would be a big maybe. However, if an FLW Tour angler missed one tournament you are pretty much out of any end of year AOY or Championship Event. They would almost have to fish despite the conditions and or dangers.

Anyway, all the work I did to put together my Red River roster is out the window, because they will not be rescheduling the tournament. They have decided to shorten the schedule to just five events.

So, you have until 11:59 pm on March 2 to pick your team of ten anglers for the Table Rock Lake, tournament. (Here is a link to the schedule for the remainder of the 2010 FLW Tour events)

Some of you may have gotten FLW Fantasy Fishing reminder emails from me yesterday. I also tried to follow those up with a FYI concerning the cancellation.

Now that we have some extra time, and you haven't already, you can join our league if you would like. If you participate in FLW Fantasy Fishing ,it's free so why not, you can join as many leagues as you want. The rules are such that you have to use the same team roster, but you can join multiple leagues.

I am in our league and one that Tackle Warehouse runs. Tackle Warehouse throws in additional prizes so I'm in for those freebies.

If you haven't signed up for Fantasy Fishing, it doesn't take too long. Use the link above to go to FLW Fantasy Fishing. Next fill out the short form. Don't worry about putting in that FLW member ID. If you are a FLW member then you have a number, but you don't need one. Fill out the security box and check the "Terms of Use" box after you've read the policy. (Like anybody really reads it.)

I don't really remember what the next screen is, but I think it takes you to a page where they have a team already picked for you. Use the buttons on the top of the page and select "Create/Edit" your team. Each tournament, you use this page to pick your roster. You do that by using the mouse to click on the red X next to one or more of your anglers. That removes that angler. I deleted all the ones that were prepicked for me.

Next, scroll down the page and you will see a list of all the anglers that have signed up for that event. The names are in alphabetical. Click on the green + sign and it will add that angler to your team. Continue doing that till you again have ten anglers on your roster.

Next, you then pick one of those ten anglers that you think will win the whole shebang. Then the last thing you have to do is enter an accumulated weight total. That's it. You are registered.

Now, if you want to join a league go back to the top of the page and find the button that says "League." When you do, there will be a list of options and one is "Join League." When you click on "Join League" you will see two boxes. One for "League ID #" and the other for the "Password." To join our league you put in 10569 and the password Michigan. Once you do that you can then go to the "League" button and go to League Standings, and there you will be able to see your competition. Once the tournament starts you can check out everyone's roster to see who they picked.

If you want, and you might as well, sign up for another league, the Tackle Warehouse League. Go back to the "League" button again and click "Join League." but his time put in the number 11230 and the password basser. Now, you double your chances of winning freebies.

That's pretty much all you have to do. If you forget to update your roster for each subsequent event, your old roster will be used. I change my roster for each event.

I use the AOY (Angler of the Year) standings that you can find on bassfan.com to research my teams. The standings give you a who's hot list, and you can click on each individual name to get even more information on each angler, including a list of tournaments that each have fished and how they did.

With the Red River event cancelled, the focus shifts toward the Bassmaster Classic down on Lay Lake in Alabama. The official practice period starts the 12th, Friday.

The South has been experiencing their coldest winter in a long time and many are wondering what this weather will do to the bite. Here's an article that's up on the Bassmaster site called, "Classic Chill" .

I just checked my email and I got some news from Jeff Brauneck, telling me that he has some pictures and a story about that ice fishing tournament at Whamplers. He said he would send it all in a day or two.

I also heard from Steve "Reno" Block. Both Manistee guys in one night! Steve has a "Trail Cam Pic of the Week." It's another great shot! Keep em coming Steve!

Another super "Trail Cam Pic of the Week" from Steve "Reno" Block

That's it for today. Too many things to do starting with shoveling three driveways. We got just a tad over 10 inches of snow last night.

The last cast of the day belongs to Henry David Thoreau. He once said, "None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." You might be long in the tooth, but that doesn't mean you can't still get excited and start high fiving when you land that big five pound smallie. Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

February 6, 2010

It's Saturday, I think, yes it's Saturday. One of the hardest things about being retired is remembering what day of the week it is. I came to know it was Saturday, because the alarm I set for "Matteson's Marine" Open House went off and reminded me to get up and at em this morning.

I headed out about 9:30 am, and it took me about forty-five minutes to get there from Hudsonville. From the front door I headed over to the homemade cinnamon rolls. Yep, they were there again this year and as tasty as I remembered them.

Next I saw Mike Elkins doing his thing over at the Humminbird Booth. Mike and Kendall "Kdawg" Ulsh traveled together in 2008 when Fowler and I fished the Michigan BFL circuit. We all made the Regional and went down to Cherokee Lake, TN. We ended up staying at the same motel. In talking to Mike, he said he was going to fish the B.A.S.S. Northern Opens again this year. Last year he and Kendall travelled to the Opens as well. Kendall isn't fishing them this year. Mike also is fishing some local events and is cherry picking some BFLs. If you're interested in Humminbird products, Mike certainly knows his way around a side imaging unit. He also can sell you a boat. He works with the folks from D & R Sports . He'll be down at the Grand Rapids Boat Show , so look him up.

Mike Elkins spreading the Humminbird Word

While I was talking with Mike, I saw Ed Dyer walk in. Ed teaches in Kellogsville, and is a long time wrestling coach there. He also was a guest blogger a while back. You might recall the piece he did for the blog on a muzzle loader hunt in which he harvested a big buck. Ed is a long time bassmaster as well and when he's not in the gym coaching, he's out fishing or hunting. We had a chance to catch up and maybe hatch some plans for some spring bass fishing.

After talking to Ed, I went in and listened to Joe Balog's seminar. If you're not familiar with Joe, he's a smallmouth expert and often owns St. Clair and Lake Erie tournaments. He and Steve Clapper are what many may call legends on that side of the state. Here's a few of his accomplishments. Joe was the 2004 Michigan BFL Champion, the 2002 Michigan BFL Super Tournament Champion, the 2001 EverStart National Champion, and a former Ohio Bass Federation Regional Champion. Pretty good credentials right there and that's not the complete list.

Joe Balog giving his seminar at Matteson's Marine

I have attended one other Balog seminar, and I was very impressed with the aquired knowledge he has garnered from many years of fishing especially for smallmouth on Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. His degree from MSU in fisheries science certainly adds to his credibility as well.

In the first seminar of his that I attended a few years ago, he talked about fishing spots on spots. He fishes for individual fish, and he is not a devotee of the Erie drag method (He details why in the article below.). He rigs his buoy markers so that he can drop them on a particular spot and know that they are dead on. He uses specially made bouys to accomodate particular wave heights. He also paints them so that they aren't quite so obvious to passerbys.

When you're out on Erie or St. Clair, you often will see guys coming from way off, and they will run by your spot fairly close and GPS it. To protect your areas you need to get creative.

I found an article that Joe did for "In Fisherman" that sums up that first seminar rather well. It's called "Trophy Bass, Today and Tomorrow?" . Make sure you find time to read the article. It's particularly good for several reasons.

Another article that is a must read that Joe did was one on rigging your boat in preparation for the riggors of fishing the big water of the Great Lakes. It's called "Rough Water Boat Rigging" . It's a piece that regardless of the size of the puddle that you are going to fish, you will learn some important boat rigging tips. Some that can be litterally life savers.

Saturday, I walked in just as Joe was talking about a method that he has for finding and catching smallmouth. I'm always interested in the strategy aspect of the hunt and was particularly interested in learning what his approach was.

He began the seminar talking about equipment. He definitely felt longer rods were critical. He's a deep structure expert and has found that rod length gives him more control over hook sets. The longer rods were also instrumental for making those long cast which are a must for smallmouth fishing. He likes a rod that bends about four to five eyes in to the rod. Any more than that and you loose the backbone you need for hook sets. So, he often chooses a medium heavy action rod. In terms of baits, he has a core group with just a couple of colors of each. The lure choice melds with his rod selection in that he's looking for baits that he can cast a long ways. He wants a flashy reaction bait that he can work fast.

In terms of crankbaits, he likes a DT 16 . Along with the crank baits he will tie on a chartreuse and white or all white spinnerbait. He will also have a rattletrap type bait ready to go, and a ISG Dream Tube (Joe helped design them.). Like all St. Clair and Erie anglers he will also have a drop shot rigged with Gulp or a Poor Boy Golby . Joe says that the best hook for the drop shot is a Gamakatsu 1/0 . In his years on Erie, he's found he looses fewer fish on them.

I found another one of Joe's articles where he talks about these very things. The article is called, "Picking the Perfect Tube Jig" .

When Joe was talking about the drop shot rig he referred to Gulp baits and their penchant for drying out and or having the containers that they come in tip over spilling the scented liquid all over your boat. Plano, he said, has recently come out with a new storage system specifically for Gulp. Here's a You Tube introduction to their new container systems, which they call Liquid Bait Lockers .

I would have like to have seen Joe's seminar be a day long event, but he was under time constaints and only had time to cover probably half of what he had planned. If you get a chance, and he's at the Grand Rapid Show in March, be sure to sit in on his seminar.

Some old guy and Joe "Big Water Smallies" Balog

After the Balog seminar, I went back out to the lobby area and had a couple hot dogs, chips, and just a small half of another cinnamon roll. I purused the show room and look at a few of the many boats that Matteson's has. They carry all kinds of fishing boats from small 12 footers up to twenty foot plus Rangers or Lunds. Boy would I like a new Ranger. I'll have to start buying lottery tickets and hope.

The West Michigan Walleye Club had a booth in the showroom. They were looking to sign up new members into what is already the largest walleye club in the state.

Some of the boats in Matteson's Showroom

The West Michigan Walleye Club Booth

I also spent some time jabber jawing with the guys from Garneau Baits . I have a connection of sorts with them. I once spent a day during one of the Michigan Federation State Championships on St. Clair fishing with the company's founder. I like to fish with paddletails and Garneau makes several baits with that kind of tail. You can't always find baits in that style. They are certainly an up and coming company and one that you need to keep an eye on. They have some good stuff.

Garneau Baits

Speaking of past State Championship fish offs, I was watching Mike Iaconelli's "City Limits" on Versus today while typing. They happened to be fishing the Detroit River. Ike's partner for the day was Scott Moody. I fished a day with Scott in a state championship, and we ran from Charlevoix to the tip of the peninsula in Grand Traverse Bay. Ended up blowing the motor up on the way back to Charlevoix.

Scott is a biologist, and he loves things that slither and crawl. He works for Bass Pro Shops in Auburn Hills and is responsible for their aquarium there. Nice guy, and I enjoyed fishing with him.

Anyway, (after that quick off topic sidebar) I then went to the seminar that two timed Bass Master Classic and FLW World Championship winner George Cochran was giving.

"Mr. Money" Arkansas' George Cochran

George has been fishing professionally for a long long time. He says he's retiring in two more years and because of that is opening his seminars up to include some of his biggest tricks and secrets.

George feels that bass, especially in the South, have seen lures so many times that things like big spinnerbaits are becoming less effective. He likes to call his favorite baits, "Mr. Money" baits. He has a small squarebill crankbait and a downsized spinnerbait that he claims result in more fish for him nowadays than the bigger versions of the same baits.

He is also very big on making sure that the crankbait is bouncing off objects. The deflections trigger bass. In the same vein, you never simply reel in a spinnerbait. Make it jump, flutter, and act eradically. He said he learned to do that from watching three to five pound bass in a pond in a hatchery that he worked in as a kid. They use to feed the bass live bait once a week. George would watch the bass gorge themselves and then watch as a few would hang around lethargically. They wouldn't budge as full as they were, even when a live shad swam right in front of them. However, he observed many times that those same fish would hit a wounded or dying baitfish that was acting eratically. They woud eat it and then spit it out. If that shad would come back to life it would get hit again by one of the satiated fish. Once it quit fluttering the bass were no longer interested in it.

Another thing that George talked about was another one of his long time go to big bass baits. He said one of his most effective top water lures was a number seven Rapalla. He also stressed that when he fished these that you had to have the "patience of a 50 year old." You need to cast them and just let them sit for at least ten seconds and then, when you do move them, you just barely twitch them so that they roll on their side. He went on to say that when these baits first came out you had a hard time buying them because they were so deadly. Marinas would let you rent them with a substantial security deposit. They've always been a great bait and one that maybe we've ignored some with the advent of all the flashy marketing of newer baits. I'll have to be sure to cast them more this summer.

There are several good aticles that cover some of George's strategies and techniques on Strike King's site. Here's one of the articles that gives you a pretty good look into George's mindset. It's called "How Mr. Money Finds Bass in Three Stories of Water."

George Cochran and Mr. No Money

I didn't hang around for the walleye seminar by Mark Martin. I have heard him speak before though, and he certainly knows his walleyes.

Martin marking up a Muskegon Lake map for some hopefuls.

Before I wind up this Saturday excursion report I have to include a shot of Mr. Dan "Peacock Bass" Kimmel who runs the best forum site around, greatlakesbass.com . Dan and I share a love of fishing and eating. The homemade cinnamon rolls have been mentioned a time or two lately on Dan's site. There was no shortage of the homemade goodies at Matteson's. They had several always full trays in the lobby and had another tray in the seminar room where I saw Mr. Kimmel piling on.

Lt. Dan Kimmel from Great Lakes Bass

Dan recently went down to South America peacock bass fishing. He has some great pictures and commentary on his site. Use the link above and check it out.

That's going to be it for today. I have been plunking along on this piece all day, and it's time to put it to bed. Getting close to heating up the Super Bowl goodies time in advance of the big game. Like I've said before, if I'm not fishing I'm usually eating.

The parting cast of the day comes from Dwight D. Eisenhower. He once said "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done." Well I hope our Congress gets a sense of humor soon, because they need to get something done. Lots for them to do and petty politics is starting to get very old. Enjoy the game tonight!

February 4, 2010

Things are moving pretty slow these last few days. This stretch of time from now till April can drag its way along. I haven't been able to get out and do much in terms of outdoor activities, so cabin fever has really started to become a reality. I have been able to do some indoor things that needed to be done, so it hasn't been a total waste of time, but it would be nice to do a little fishing through a six inch hole.

I am leaning toward a trip down to Matteson Marine Saturday morning. They have an Open House from 9:00 am till 4:00 pm.

I've mentioned it on the blog before, but I will mention again that George Cochran, Joe Balog, and Mark Martin will be there to give seminars. Cochran has to leave early on Saturday. His slated seminar is at 12:00 noon and Balog's is scheduled for 11:00 am. I'm not sure When the walleye guys will have their seminar with PWT pro Mark Martin. It wasn't listed on the seminar list when I checked.

Matteson Marine is about seven miles east off US 131 north of Grand Rapids, about halfway to Kalamazoo. You would take Exit 59 off 131 toward Shelbyville. You merge onto 12th Street. Turn left at 124th St. and then turn right on Patterson Rd. You then continue onto Marsh Rd. and Matteson Marine will be on your right. The address is 12001 Marsh Rd., Shelbyville, MI 49344, for you Garmin navigators.

One thing I can tell you about Matteson's is that they typically have a great food spread for folks attending. When I was there last, they had these huge, homemade, warm, delicious cinnamon rolls. Worth the trip just to eat the cinnamon rolls! Maybe I'll see you there.

I got an email from Ed Dyer yesterday concerning FLW Fantasy Fishing . He wanted to know if I had a league set up, and I told him that I did. For those of you who were in the league last year, and for anyone else that may want to join, you have until February 10 to make sure you fill out your roster. If you are not signed up on our league and you want to, here are the particulars. You use the link above and go to Fantasy Fishing. If you are already signed up from last year enter your email address and your password. For the newbies, go through the sign up rigermaroll and then when asked, put in this number, 10569, and the password, "Michigan." If you have any trouble just email me and I'll see if I can give you a hand. Remember, the first FLW event begins on the Red River in Louisiana February 10th. You will need to fill out a roster by then.

I see that my old student Nate Wellman won $5,550 in the recent FLW Eastern Series event on Lake Okeechobee. He came in 30th place. Scott Martin, Roland Martin's son, won the event with a huge come from behind last day surge. If you're interested in reading the recap of the event here's the link to Okeechobee Winning Pattern .

I got a call today from Dandy Don, and he is recovering from Mohs Surgery . He had some skin cancer removed in a 4 1/2 hour surgery that is done under local anesthesia. He said that over that course of time he had 32 shots to numb the area. Sounds like some pretty painful surgery. Don said he'll need to go back in April for some more cutting. He's had this surgery several times already on different areas of his body, mostly on his face. Being a red head, and fair skinned, he's pretty susceptible to sunburn. The Doc, of course, tells him to stay out of the sun. Being an avid golfer and fisherman that's pretty tough for him to do. He does, most times, remembers to put sun screen on. I highly advise all you young and old guys to fish in long sleeve shirts, wear protective head gear, sun glasses, and never skimp on the sun screen.

I received another call today from the Cementman, Richard "Great Grampa" Skinner. He wanted me to email him the pictures of the smallmouth that he's having mounted. He wanted to be sure that the taxidermist had a picture to paint from. He also wanted to look closely at the eyes so that he could order the correct color of red eyes. Here's a couple pictures of two nice smallies he caught during a few of our excursions this past summer. I'm not sure which one he's having mounted.

Not a bad Northwest Corner smallie eh!

Almost looks like the same fish, but it was a different day.

Michigan's beautiful Northwest Corner!

Just took a minute to check my email. In it, I found there was a note and a picture from Steve "Reno" Block. He has several trail cams out, and he put one up on a recent road kill he found. Pretty cool pic of what came in to scavenge the carcass! Thanks Steve! Great picture! Keep them coming, and we'll have a "Trail Cam Picture of the Week."

Wow! That is really cool! What a trail cam shot!

As you are probably already aware of, I split the blog each month, archiving each subsequent month at the top of the blog form. You can reference the last two and a half year's worth of blogs, month by month up above. For today though, this is going to be it.

The parting shot of the day is a quote from Herm Albright. He once said,"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." I think I like Herm whoever he is. Some say he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post, but not much is on the net about him. Any how, take care and have heart, only one more day till the weekend, and, and it's Super Bowl weekend!

January 29, 2010

Pretty morning this morning. Cold, I have 14 degrees at 8:00 am.

Jeff Brauneck emailed me today. He's another Manistee outdoor fanatic cut out of the same cloth as my ole buddy Steve Block. Must be something in that Manistee water that grows outdoorsman. If it's not the water then it could be that it's just another one of those beautiful northwest corner areas that provides so many opportunities for outdoor adventures.

Any how, Jeff sent me some more pictures of his ice fishing outings. He hooked up on some more steelhead and also caught a few nice gills. One of the gills was a real dandy, a ten incher.

Some more nice steelies caught through a hole in the ice.

Now that's a nice gill!

I would definitely say that is a photofish.

It's got the length and the girth!

Jeff says that he has also been catching steelies in the river. He puts on the waders when they shut down through the ice. He also told me that he is planning to go down to Brooklyn, MI to Wampler's Lake for an ice fishing tournament, the Midwest Open , that has a $12,000 guaranteed first place prize. He's going to prefish with a buddy on Saturday and then fish the tournament on Sunday. If you think that you might want to join Jeff, forget it if you haven't already registered. The tournament has reached its limit of 150 2-man teams. I asked Jeff to take some pictures and hopefully he'll have time to take some and send us his story once he gets home. Good luck Jeff, with $12,000 in your pocket you could buy dinner at Rico's.

I didn't mention the other day that Humminbird is suing Lowrance for patent infringement on its side imaging unit. Earlier in the week, there was an announcement that Humminbird was granted the patent and within a day or two the law suit was announced. It will be interesting to see what transpires.

The FLW Eastern Series opener was on Okeechobee on Wednesday. After day one, there were a lot of big names in the top ten. The leader Day 1, however, was a local making his debut in the Eastern Series. John Cox weighed in a 25 lb. sack. Cox continued to dominate on day two bringing in a limit that went 22 lbs. and change. He was said to be sight fishing. The Day 3 article is not up yet, but should be soon. We'll see if the rookie can hang on amidst the throng of big name pros barking at his heels.

While I was reading about the Day 2 results on Okeechobee, I found some ramblings about how the pros are using some "gafs" on the Big O. Some of guys are using 10/0 hooks! They also mentioned that they were using the new razor sharp TroKar hooks.

These Trokars are top dollar hooks and out of the package are extremely sharp. Some reviews on these hooks agree that they are the sharpest, but after they get dulled up on rocks or logs, and you touch them up, they aren't nearly as sharp as the out of the package models. Makes sense, but you may want to try some and decide for yourself if they hold their edge long enough to make the extra cost worth it.

Speaking of worth it, Mike Iaconelli did a piece for Berkley on a technique he calls "The Wet Noodle." Ike now has Pure Fishing as one of his major sponsors so it's hard to discern if this is just a promotional pitch or a technique he actually relies on in a tourament situation. It's just a short piece so it is certainly worth the read.

I also read an article today by Boyd Duckett. He wrote a piece about his new microguide rods. The article talks about why he decided to have the rods made in China. According to Duckett 98% of the rods sold in the USA are made in other countries. Duckett says he struggled with the idea of outsourcing and wanted to keep as much as he could in this country. If he did produce the rods in the states the price of the rods would have had to focuss on high end buyer. Having the rods made in China, and keeping the price per rod down, according to Duckett, would allow him to increase the size of his company distribution wise in Demopolis, therefore actually hiring and maintaining more workers. Sounds like a pretty good job of rationalizing a move for offshore production, but I am no economist and am not in a position to make an informed opinion yet.

If you are interested in reading the article here is Duckett's piece called Boyd's Biz .

That's going to be it for today. I'm running short on time and don't really have a good quote handy for a parting shot. So, I have another You Tube video that does a good job talking about Vicious Line . It in a remote way is like a last cast, and it was something I could lay my keyboard fingers on in a hurry. Take care and get ready to enjoy the weekend. Oh, by the way GVSU won last night. They beat Michigan Tech rather handily. It was fun getting out to watch them again.