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Daily Blog Archive June 1, through June 28th, 2010

June 28, 2010

After a wet and wild weather weekend for many, the work week is back upon us, and of course it's a beautiful day. I don't know why I say us. For me, it's the weekend every day. In fact, one of the hardest things about being retired is knowing what day it is.

I received a report from the Tear Drop crowd on their tournament yesterday up on Duck Lake in Interlochen. They decided late to forgo Grand Traverse Bay because of the weather forecast.

Dennis called me on Saturday to have me put a notice in the blog, that they were switching ramps. They would be going out of the ramp on East Bay that is located on the peninsula. Rick Skinner called me later that night to say that he had received information that they had indeed scratched the Bay in favor of Duck Lake.

Rick called me again as he was driving home from the tournament to say that he and his partner Craig had caught a small limit, and that Nick and Brent Vawter had won the event. However when I was emailed the links for the standings, it showed that Ross Machiela and Jesse Weener won it. The Vawters came in second. When I went to check the overall after Duck, the link showed the Cadillac results. I emailed Dennis about it, so we should get the correct overall standings link up and posted soon.

Dennis did tell me that the Vawters took some more good pictures, and as Nick's work schedule allows, he'll undoubtedly get a story to me soon. You can see Nick's first two stories by clicking on the "2010" button on the main page.

Nick Vawter, for those of you that don't know, lives in South Texas. He flies up here for each of the Tear Drop events. For all that effort, I understand that he and Brent drew the lucky number for the third tournament in a row. that won for them the honor of starting last and sending the boats out. Can't say as I've ever heard of anyone having to send the boats off three events in a row. That's usually my kind of luck. I'm sure Nick will have something to say about that in his Duck Lake article.

Well, both the B.A.S.S. and the FLW have finished their regular season. If you haven't heard Brent Long won the FLW Guntersville event this past Saturday. It was the first check that Long cashed from the FLW this year. He picked a good one to take to the bank though. $125,000 can make a season turn on the proverbial dime.

Taking big checks to the bank, if I'm not mistaken, is how the G-Man met his wife. He was taking a big check from a tournament into the bank, and the good looking teller asked what he did for a living. A discussion ensued and it ended some time later with a wedding.

I believe I have been in the area that Long won the event in. I saw a couple of photographs of him catching a carp, and if that is his "Honey Hole," I believe I know where he was. On my third day of the B.A.S.S. event on Guntersville, I Marshaled for Britt Meyers, and he fished a bridge in that area. When the event airs on television I'll get to see if I'm in the right area.

Britt Myers and myself at Guntersville

The reports are that Long stayed on one spot all four days to win the tournament. Guntersville is a big reservoir, and you would think you could easily find an out of the way spot and camp on it. Incorrectomundo! The lake gets heavy fishing pressure. During these pro events the locals are out in droves. They don't hesitate to move in to test the spot when the pros leave to go to another either.

When they do find a good spot, a number of the pros will camp on it, to protect it.

My first day pro, Cliff Crochet, did that. He hit his first spot of the day, and it was on fire. He caught one fish after another and had his limit in thirty to forty minutes. He then sat down and was in a quandary as to what to do. He had several locals watching him, and he didn't have many good spots already located, so he decided to camp on that spot. He tied on a big worm and just explored the area with it the rest of the day. Once late in the day, he couldn't resist throwing his big crankbait in to his sweet spot to see it they were still wanting it. It only took a couple of casts to hook up on a good one.

A shot of Matt Herren as he fished around Cliff's spot.

One of Cliff's crankbait fish.

When I rode with the four different pros on Guntersville, two of the four had some tense moments with other competitors as they jockeyed for spots. If you remember last year on Guntersville, Boyd Duckett had an incident occur with Kevin Langill , that deteriorated rapidly to the point where local law enforcement were called. Langill ended up getting booted from B.A.S.S. for the remainder of the season.

These guys have a lot at stake and when the water gets fished hard, boundaries get pushed. Who owns a spot on a piece of water is a matter of who gets there first. The pros generally know where each other are at and work out how a particular spot gets fished or shared. They don't always agree, and I know that this year at Guntersville, Trip Weldon had to hand out some penalties for those having difficulties sharing.

If you haven't read any of the final wrap ups on Long's victory here is one from Bass Fan entitled, Slams Door With 19 Pounds - It's A Long Victory By A Large Margin .

The last few major tournaments have been all about ledge fishing with deep diving crankbaits. To get an overview of crankbait fishing Mark Davis is not a bad reference. Here is an article, with links to several other articles, that focusses on crankbait fishing. It's from Strike King and is called, "Mark Davis on Crankbaits" .

The two crankbaits most often talked about lately are from Strike King. They are Strike King's Pro Model 6XD and the NEW Strike King® Kevin VanDam Silent Stalker Crankbaits . The XDs have rattles and like Mounds Silent Stalkers don't.

I know I try to stay away from fad baits until they really seem to prove themselves over time. I've seen and heard enough about these baits to know that I'm ready to buy some to try. I can think of several impoundments, and a couple of Lake Erie spots, where these baits could be effective.

That's going to be it for today's blog. The last cast of the day comes from none other than Ann Landers. She once said, "Know yourself. Don?t accept your dog?s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful." Sounds like some sage advice. Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day today to do something that puts a smile on your face. It's good for the soul.

June 26, 2010

It's a busy Saturday, but I'm going to try and get a quick blog up with some IMPORTANT NEWS.

Dennis Cook, the Tear Drop Tournament Trail Director, just called me to say he was changing the ramp for tomorrow's tournament on Grand Traverse Bay. They will be launching from the ramp on East Bay out on the peninsula. If you click on the MDNR link above you need to find where it says "East Bay" and then when you click on "Map It." It's in very small letters. Once you do you'll see the gears grinding. Once it's done, scroll over to the right to "Get Driving Directions," and that will get you door to ramp directions. (I tried this and it wouldn't give me door to ramp directions. It does give you a detailed map that you can follow. Maybe on your machine it will work.)

Secondly today, I have a pretty good offer for you from Bass Tackle Supply . If you have been reading the blog lately, you have heard me talk about the Ustream video that Michael Bennett has been showing. He's been streaming his practice, and has also gotten permission from FLW Officials to stream his tournament efforts as well. It was fun to watch. While you viewed his efforts, you could chat with the other viewers .

I got to chatting with Aaron from Bass Tackle Supply, and he said that they would offer a discount equaling Michael's last tournament weight. So, for the rest of the weekend, you can get a 16% discount ! You will need to enter this promo code during the checkout process: MBGUNT10 .

I am taking advantage of the offer to buy a new spinning rod. It's a Skeet Reese Wright - McGill rod. I have had several opportunities to hold and inspect the rod. I also got to hear Skeet, in person, talk about the rods. I was impress with them, and I am happy to be getting one to try out. I bought the 7'2" dropshot rod. With the discount, and after paying shipping, it was about $84 total. That's cheaper than I've seen them anywhere.

If you haven't been following the FLW Tour event on Guntersville, then you can still watch the weigh-in today at 5:30 ET. Brent Long, riding a wave of 25 lbs. sacks, has a 8 lb. lead. Long has not made a dime on the Tour this year and he's got to have a case of the nerves vying for $100,000 today. Here's the Bass Fan article talking about what happened on Day 3: Thrift Clinches AOY - Long Hammers 25 Again, Now Leads By 8 3/4 .

David Fritts had a great day on Saturday and weighed 28 pounds to move in to the top five that are fishing today. Fortunately, I have Fritts on my FLW Fantasy Fishing team. Presently though, I'm getting my butt kicked by my youngest son. He's in first in our league in this event. Should make it close too in the overall standings for the year.

I'm in the midst of a massive "Honey Do" list today, so I have to get going. Enjoy your weekend, and as my buddy Don always says "Watch your bobber."

June 25, 2010

It's Day 3 for the FLW Tour Pros on Lake Guntersville. Brent Long hoisted a 25 lb. bag on the scales yesterday to put himself in first place by just over a pound. Mark Rose, who sits in second, had just about 25 pounds. He was just 8 oz. short.

The top nine contestants all had 20 + bags yesterday. Here is an article from BassFan that gives you a pretty good account of what has been going on fishing wise. At the end of the article, it gives you the complete standings: Long, Rose Pull Away; Thrift Closes On AOY Crown .

Bryan Thrift just needs to catch an average size limit to pretty much seal the deal for the AOY Title. He still has a great shot at making the top five which qualifies him to fish tomorrow, which would slam the door on the title. He's had one heck of a year, almost as good as Skeet.

I still occasionally go to Skeet's Website just to practice up on my intimidation stare. If you go to the site you can see why I've been saying that the reason for his record setting pace this year is due to a deal he made with the devil :) .

I have been following Michael Bennett's live stream broadcast of him fishing on Guntersville. If you haven't seen it yet, you can click on the link above or go to Bass Tackle Supply and click on the link there. If Michael catches a 5 lbder., the folks at Bass Tackle Supply said they are going to offer a 20% discount for the day. If they do, I'm going to buy me one of Skeet's Wright McGill spinning rods. I've held one, and for the money it's a great feeling rod.

Supposedly, if Michael takes his green hat off, and puts on a black one, that it signifies a 5 lbder. in the box, making the discount available.

You can watch the FLW's weigh-in live streamed at 1:30 CT, 2:30 ET. The weigh-in tomorrow is at 4:30 p.m. CT making it 5:30 p.m. our time. They will cut to the top five after today.

The Tear Drop anglers are going to be on Grand Traverse Bay Sunday trying to find some bedded smallmouth. The spawn is early this year, and the smallmouth have been spawning in the shallow flats near town already.

The moon is coming full, and they say that should help bring up another wave of fish. The spawn starts in the south end of Grand Traverse Bay and then moves north. There should still be some good spawners to be had if you can locate them.

One issue for the Tear Drop anglers will be the weather forecasted for this weekend. There is a 70% chance of rain, and if the wind does come up and whips up the Bay, they are going to use Duck Lake at Interlochen as the blow off lake.

If you need some up to date weather information concerning Great Lakes waters, you can click on this Buoy Site . Once you do you can click on the buoy of interest and get some of the information offered.

I don't have much time today for blogging, so this is going to be it for today. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day to do something you enjoy and that puts a smile on your face. Maybe that might just be sneaking out a bit early to start the weekend. Suppose to be a rainy weekend, but it's still the weekend.

June 23, 2010

The FLW Tour Pros are out on Guntersville today. It's suppose to be mega hot, in the mid 90s. When Rick "The Cementman" Skinner and I were there in May, it got up in the 90s. They were saying that the water temp today was also 90 degrees. That's some hot water!

The pros are taking off from the State Park. It's a good size ramp area with some surrounding smaller ramps that can also be used. You can, of course, camp at the state park. The campground is right down near the docks. You can also stay at the State Park Lodge. I'd highly recommend at least one night at the lodge. In May, when we were there, they offered a very good deal Monday through Thursday. I think it was around $85, and that included dinner for two. They have a very nice restaurant in the lodge that I would call upscale. Rick and I had lunch there, and it was very good. The lodge is very nice, one that you could talk your wife and kids in to going to easily. They could lay about the pool while you did a little fishing.

The pool at Guntersville State Park Lodge

You can see how close the campground is just behind Browning's boat.

The panoramas in the mornings were spectacular.

Check out the hat that Steve Kennedy wore.

This morning I have been following the action from the FLW Live portal. Several of my FLW Fantasy Fishing members have limits already. That's a good thing. Now I need them to catch a big kicker.

I have also been watching some live stream action that Bass Tackle Supply is offering. They have Michael Bennett hooked up with a camera much like B.A.S.S. does with their Bass Cam. You can watch the live stream at UStream . Just click on the UStream link and check it out. You can also chat with viewers while you watch. Bass Tackle Supply has a rep that will talk with you, and when I chatted a bit with them they offered a 15% discount on their site to anyone on the blog today. Just type in GUNT623 in their promo code section when you go to check out at basstacklesupply.com .

Just a F.Y.I. concerning the weigh-in today. FLW officials have changed the weigh-in to 1:30 this afternoon out of concern for the health of the fish. With the extreme temps they don't want to stress the fish any more that they have to. They also started early today at 6:00 a.m. You can watch the Live Weigh-in at Guntersville by clicking on this link. Remember it will be at 1:30 CT 2:30 our time.

I've been watching the USteam link while I've been typing the blog. There are times when the video link goes black. Guntersville is down in a valley and they probably have signal problems in some areas. If you leave the link up and turn your volume up on your computer, you'll hear the chatter when the video link is running again.

Too many things on my "To Do" list today, so I'm going to have to make this a short blog today. The final cast is going to be a quote by the late great Sam Snead. He once said, "The only reason I ever played golf in the first place was so that I could afford to hunt and fish." Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day today to do something that puts a smile on your face.

June 22, 2010

The Summer Solstice arrived yesterday at 7:28 a.m. Consequently, yesterday was the longest day and shortest night of the year. It's officially summer wahoo!

The Summer Solstice has been celebrated by groups of people for eons. The Druids, in England, claimed the day as a festival and revered it as a day when the Heavens married the Earth. That's where the belief of a lucky June wedding comes from. June is the month that still has the most weddings.

Pagans of that era called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.

Explaining the seasons to kids at school was always fun. Most people probably still believe that it's warmer in the summer because we are closer to the sun. Point of fact, our distance to the sun plays a very small part in determining how warm it gets. The real reason is due more to the 23.5 degree tilt of the earth. The tilt of the earth is continuous throughout the year with the axis pointing almost at the North Star year around. This time of year the earth is tilted so the rays of the sun are more direct, and consequently it's warmer in the northern hemisphere while the Southern Hemisphere is colder.

Welcome to Guntersville

Well, from the summer solstice we move to the summer haunts of largemouth bass on Lake Guntersville. When I was down on Guntersville this Spring, a local was telling me that you don't see many smallmouths in that part of the Tennessee River System. You do, however, see some big ole largemouth though.

A big ole bass Clark Rheem caught on Guntersville

Clark put several Guntersville hogs in the livewell.

The FLW Tour pros will take off from Guntersville State Park tomorrow morning. It will be the last tournament of the 2010 regular season for the FLW Tour. The pros will be scrambling for points needed to qualify for the Forest Wood Cup.

A view from atop the mountain where the Guntersville Lodge sits.

If you take a look at the picture above you'll see one of the community holes that had six or more Elite pros sitting during their event. The spot is between the end of the point and that first little island almost dead center in the picture.

The State Park docks where the FLW pros will be leaving from are right below where the picture is being taken from.

I spent some time this morning trying to pick my FLW Fantasy Fishing team. If you haven't picked yours yet, you have only until midnight tonight. You may want to read this report on Guntersville that was just posted on the FLW site before you pick your team: Getting in the groove at Guntersville .

I don't have too much more blog time this morning. My wife is redoing a bathroom, and she has a list of things that she feels I need to help with. I did want to post a link before I quit that has a video of the recap on Ft. Gibson Lake where Tommy Biffle just won another 100K. The video has an interview with Tommy and Matt Herren. It's pretty good, but it is about a half hour long. Here's the link: The Lake Ft. Gibson Day 4 Post-Game Show

That's going to be it for me today. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day, even if it's just for a few minutes, to do something that puts a smile on your face.

June 20, 2010

Hey, hey, hey, Tommy Biffle takes on all comers on his home lake, Ft. Gibson, OK, and he led it wire to wire notching his fifth B.A.S.S. Elite Series win. Another $100,000 this year will book end his bankbook with the $100,000 he won last year on Lake Wheeler.

Biffle used his Gene Larew Biffle Bug on a hinged football head. The swivel type head allowed for a lot more movement as Biffle reeled it almost crankbait like, across rocky areas.

Tommy said he fished fairly shallow in depths from two to ten feet. Here's a link to some video interviews Mark Zona did with Tommy showing his rods and the Biffle Bugs that he had tied on: Bass Cam coverage of the Biffle Bug . You can also scroll over and watch several other clips. One shows Biffle going Ikey after landing a five pounder. Well, not really Ikey, but as wild and crazy as the somber Biffle gets.

The slumbering Skeet Reese came out of his two tournament slump to finish second. Pat Golden finished third, Matt Herren fourth, Rick Morris fifth, and Kevin Van Dam sixth. Here is the complete standings: Elite Series Sooner Run Final Standings .

There will undoubtedly be a series of articles this week on a variety of sites breaking down the tournament and focussing on some of the more successful strategies and baits. Here is the story from B.A.S.S.'s site that came out immediately following the weigh-in : Tommy Biffle Takes Fifth BASS Victory .

Now that this final Elite Series event is in the books the focus turns toward the FLW with their Tour event on Guntersville starting this Wednesday, June 23. Don't forget to select your new team of anglers for your FLW Fantasy Team .

I spent some time today working on converting a report that Nick Vawter did on the Tear Drop Tournament Trail Stop Number 2 on Crystal lake. I know I've said it before, but I do plan to have the tournament articles available off the main page under the "2010 Articles" button. Until that gets constructed here is the article.

2010 Tear Drop Tournament Trail

Crystal Lake, Beulah, MI

June 13, 2010

Written by Nick Vawter

Meyers and Kuyser Post Back to Back Wins

The second stop on the Tear Drop Tournament Series was Sunday, June 13 on Crystal Lake in Beulah.(When the map of Crystal Lake pops in you will need to scroll down to see the lake.) Beulah is in Benzie County, which is in Michigan's Great Northwest Corner.

Crystal lies just a stones throw from Lake Michigan and is the eleventh largest inland lake in Michigan at 9,869 acres. It has about 20.8 miles of shoreline! It is a deep cold water lake catering to species that like the depths and cold water. Consequently, if you are after bass you're going to see pretty much all smallmouth.

There is only one public ramp that I know of. The DNR also lists just one ramp, and that is at the end of Clark St., in downtown Beulah, at the extreme east end of the lake. The ramp is a bugger! If you back in too far you hang up on the end of the ramp. The ramp is steep which makes it very tricky when you try to put the boat on the trailer. If the wind is out of the west with any force, you can easily swamp and sink the back of your boat while trying to get it on the trailer.

Mike Meysar, one of the Tear Drop contenders, had beached his boat at the end of the day instead of putting it on the trailer. There isn't much parking at the Crystal ramp so many of the anglers just pull their boats up on shore to off load their catch for the weigh-in. While Meysar was weighing in his big bag of fish his boat got swamped with water. Rick Skinner Jr. was frantically bailing with a motorcycle helmet while Mesh was scooping with a cooler. They were able to just get it on the trailer before it took on too much water.

Waterlogged and almost down.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself here so let me get back to the beginning of the day. Sunday's weather looked favorable with the forecast of a maximum 5 mph NW wind. There was significant cloud cover, and when the sun did manage to peek out, you got toasty in a hurry.

My partner and I are on a roll. Not a Meyers and Kuyser roll, I guess you would call it an inward roll. We have fished 2 tournaments this season and have drawn the launch boat both times. Each tournament numbers are drawn and the team with the highest number acts as the starting boat. Boats are started two at a time with a few seconds between to help insure a safer start. As I mentioned, we launched everyone at Cadillac and Mitchell and again at Crystal. We're thinking there should be a automatic Classic berth in the Classic if "some" unlucky team ends up launching 3 times in a season!

Prior to tournament day the fishing reports were mixed as to whether the fish were still going to be on the beds. As it turned out, most all the fish that were caught were pulled from beds.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, my partner and I have this incentive to catch fish. We bring out lunch meat, bread and condiments. The first one to put three fish in the box gets his lunch made. Until Sunday, I have made my son's lunch for 3 years straight. However, in our Crystal Lake adventure, the table was finally turned. I had the first three fish in the box, and with that feat I was awarded one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten. I even had him make me another even though I wasn't that hungry. We were hoping that my finally winning our lunch contest might be a sign of our success for the tournament, but alas, like so many times before, we couldn't find that big fish we needed.

We are having a bit of an unusual start to our season. We started off in the top ten Classic spots, and even after a 13th place finish on Crystal, we are still in the top ten. Usually we are outside the Classic cut off and have to work our way in. Hopefully we can stay there. There are a lot of great fishermen in this group and the competition is rugged.

Over the winter Josh Meyers became a proud papa. The baby must have needed a new pair of shoes, because once again first place went to Josh Meyers and Kasey Kuyser. That's back to back first places finishes to start the 2010 season. To claim their $500.00 payday they brought in a nice sack of fish which weighed 19.8 lbs. on the new scale system Dennis Cook, our Teardrop director, just bought.

A pic of the new scale display and sign.

The new scale weighs fish to the hundredth of a pound, instead of the previous pounds and ounces. This should make ties a rare experience. The scale locks in the weight after a couple seconds of a steady basket. The weight is displayed on our new sponsor advertising board. Quite the system, and with one more piece of equipment it will automatically input the weights into the club's laptop and have a complete tally instantly. Maybe Josh and Kasey could help fund that since their fish use more of the scales LED's.

Second place went to a local that summers on the lake from Holland, MI Ross Machiela and his partner Jesse Weener. These guys won a load of Teardrop cash last season, and it looks like they want more. Their 18.83 lbs. of smallies won them $250.00 that they can use to pay the tip at the Natahka because they also won two free dinners there for taking second place.

Second Place Winners Ross Machiela and Jesse Weener

Third place went to the father and son team of Dan Warner Jr. and Sr. of Ludington. The Warners are long time Tear Drop anglers who always seem to be on fish. Dan Jr. runs a Thursday night circuit in the Ludington area. It's a three hour tournament and I believe the entry fee is around $30 per boat. Dan and Pop Warner weighed in five nice Crystal Lake smallmouth stretching the scale to 16.83 lbs. and that won them $120.00 and some good Classic points.

Third place went to the House of Flavors Team of Dan and Pop Warner

Coming in fourth was Mike Meysar and Ricky Skinner Jr. from Ludington. Their big bass of the tournament a 4.70 lbs. smallie, helped them them tip the scales with 16.66 lbs. Their weight and finish really helped them to advance six positions in the Classic Standings.

Before the Thursday cut off for this event, Mike found this big fish pre fishing and marked it. Nowadays, electronics plays a huge roll in tournament fishing. With side imaging and GPS you can locate fish and mark them. On tournament day you can head directly to your GPS waypoints and be on fish in a hurry. In a bed fishing tournament electronics are crucial, because conditions don't always allow you to easily spot the fish visually. If the sun is not overhead, or if there is a lot of wind sight fishing is tough. Having the GPS waypoints allows you to get right on the spot to maximize your chances at seeing it and catching it.

The $200.00 Mesh and Skinner won for big bass and the $50.00 they pocketed for fourth place should be more than enough to install an automatic bilge pump.

Ricky Skinner and Mike Meysar of Ludington

The final money spot this week went to Jared Stumbrie and Brian Tagg. These guys were whistling a we're in the money tune and both were sporting big smiles at the weigh-in. Their fish weighed in at 15.75 lbs. and won them $50. More importantly they too advanced about six slots up the Classic leaderboard. Good job guys! You can check out the individual lake totals and the cumulative standings on the main page under the "Rules and Info." button.

The fifth place team of Brian Tag and Jared Stumbrie

A very special thanks to the sponsors of this event, Richmond Drug in Bear Lake , and Swaffer's Toyota in Cadillac . Please be sure to check out the Tear Drop flyer on the main page, and give the folks listed there the first chance at your business. You won't be disappointed.

The next tournament is on Grand Traverse Bay. We are scheduled to launch out of Elk Rapids . In the event of high winds and a blow off is declared, the event will move to Duck Lake in Interlochen. P.S. Watch out for sharks in West Bay .

Until then...keep a tight line.

The taller half of the Vawter and Vawter team, Brent Vawter.

Ryan VanDeBurg and Douglas Hall of Hudsonville.

Chris Mieras and Harry Swank

Larry King and Ken Winters

Matt Kaiser and Dave Yeager

The Braunecks and their support crew.

Mark Ayers and Aaron Fasel

Kyle Bonter and John McMichael

Jack Kowalski and ? Brown

Another nice report from Nick Vawter. Nick and his partner and son Brent also took the pictures. Good job guys and thanks.

If you missed the notice on an earlier blog entry, Dennis Cook, the Tear Drop Director, has set some boundary limits for the next tournament on Grand Traverse Bay. Here is what he sent me. "Boundary waters for the Grand Traverse Bay tournament are as follows. You must stay south of these boundaries. On the west side of the bay, where Leelanau State Park is, will be the northwest boundary point. The northeast boundary runs on a line west to east from the Leelanau State Park to where it would meet the southern boundary of Charlevoix County . This line will be the northern most limit that you may fish. If you have any questions please contact me at 231 690-2605."

June 19, 2010

If you have been following the Elite Series Pros, you know that they got flooded out and off the Arkansas River. Tournament officials made the decision to change the venue to Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma.

Consequently, the guys only got about a half day of practice. Most ran around looking the lake over, but Tommy Biffle mowed his lawn. You see, Biffle lives on Ft. Gibson Lake. Going out fishing would have only provided others with a heads up on his honey holes.

Biffle didn't miss out by not practicing, and he backed up his lawn mowing decision with a 19-11 lb. bag the first day to lead the tournament. Day two, yesterday, he followed up with an 18-09 lb. bag giving him an almost two and a half pound lead going in to Day 3. Here is a link to Bass Fan's Day 2 story: Biffle Ups Lead to 2 1/2, Hasn't Touched Best Stuff .

Last year I drew Tommy down on Lake Wheeler in Alabama. I got a flipping and pitching demonstration from a guy some call the "Father of Pitchin'."

Mr. Biffle won on Wheeler fippin and pitchin to bushes.

Tommy caught this good one on the last cast of the day.

Biffle evading Zona's questions about where he was fishing on the final day.

Tommy up on stage showing off a $100,000 smile. I think that's a smile. He's a very serious looking competitor.

Biffle is going to have to put the pedal to the fiberglass to hold off the likes of Pat Golden and one hot KVD. Biffle claims he hasn't touched his best stuff yet, but with KVD lurking in the shadows he'd better start. Should be an interesting final two days.

The Day 3 weigh-in will be today at 4:30 ET. Check out the pictures from Ft. Gibson with this link: B.A.S.S. Sooner Run Photo Gallery .

I have been reading for some time now that Ray Scott has opened his estate and specifically his Presidents Lake to anyone who is willing to part with the chunk of cash that it takes to fish there. Here is the link to an article from Sports Illustrated which talks about this new opportunity on Ray's little piece of heaven: "BASS founder lures guests to personal fishing hole."

A few years ago now, I got to go down to Ray's place to fish against Ray and Don Corkran. Don Fowler and I spent the night in Ray's Presidents cabin adjacent to his house. Several presidents have spent the night there. Ray's son grilled steaks for us, and we ate dinner with Ray and his personal assistant Lt. Col. Jimmy Kientz. Needless to say we had a great time and caught a ton of fish. I had two doubles on a crankbait I was using. Here are just a few of the pictures I took when we were down in Pintlala, at Ray's.

A view across Ray Scott's famous President's Lake.

The four of us in Ray's office.

Ray's guest cabin.

Inside the main room of Ray's guest cabin.

After dinner, we listen to Ray spin some yarns.

Getting ready for our day on the lake.

Don looking for a big one at the "Rick Clunn Hole."

Ray, Don Corkran, Don F., me, and Jimmy Kientz who was there to cater to whatever was needed.

I was lucky enough to reel in the big one of the day.

Ray's back yard.

Well, that is going to be it for today. Enjoy your weekend and congratulations to all the dads on Father's Day eve. For all the dads here is a quote from Ann Geddes, "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad."

June 15, 2010

Good morning! First off today is a reminder that you need to be thinking of picking your Elite Series Fantasy Fishing picks for the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Oklahoma . The tournament starts on the 17th of June which is just a few days from now.

This contest is going to be huge for a number of anglers. There is a group that will be hoping and wishing and fishing hard to make the post season. There is another group doing the same thing hoping to move up in to the top 37 for the Bassmaster Classic. Making the Classic is ultra important for the Elite Series anglers. It makes or breaks their sponsorship chances. Some may qualify for the Classic through the Opens, but that is a rough road to hoe. Only the top two anglers from each of the three Opens will get Classic invites. If there are double qualifiers then they go deeper in to the Elite standings.

Early reports on the Arkansas is that it's high and muddy. It could fish very small and very tough. If you want to hear some discussion about that Arkansas competition, and a recap of Kentucky Lake, you can watch Mark Jeffrey's and the "Legend" Harold Allan on their Wide Open Kentucky Lake Post Game Show . It's about a half hour long so make sure you have the time if you click on the link.

In the Bass Zone recap, they discuss the Elite Series Post Season. Kentucky Lake really shook things up. Skeet had a 268 point AOY lead that is now down to about a 70 point lead. Van Dam looked to be out of it for sure, but now is sitting in eighth place with a shot to repeat as the AOY, especially if he cranks a good finish out on the Arkansas. As I type, I know KVD is side scanning that river looking for some sand bars with grass. Here is an article on the AOY race from Bass Fan: "Analysis: Kentucky Re-Shuffles Points Race."

Also during the show that Jeffrey's and Allan did, they talked at length about the new Strike King 6XD Crankbaits that Kevin threw to win the event. One had a rattle in it, and he would use that until the bite quit, and then he would throw a similar bait that didn't have a rattle. He also up-sized the hooks on the baits to 1/0 Mustad short shanked trebles . You can bet your last dollar that those baits will be flying off the shelves. The trebles are already tough to find in stock. Kevin was throwing the crankbaits on 12 lb. fluorocarbon line. I doubt he'll get to use the XDs on the Arkansas, but I would think that KVD will be psyched up and fishing hard.

Dennis Cook the Tear Drop Tournament Trail Director sent me an email and asked if I would put some information about the upcoming Grand Traverse Bay Tournament on the blog. He asked me to put it word for word from his email, so here it is: "Boundary waters for the Grand Traverse Bay tournament are as follows. You must stay south of these boundaries. On the west side of the bay the point where Leelanau State Park is, that is the northern boundary. On the east side of the bay, if you draw a line straight across from Leelanau State Park it runs right into the southern border of Charlevoix County . This will be the northern most limit that you may fish. If you have any questions please contact me at 231 690-2605."

I copied the email and then added two map links. You will need to do some scrolling to zoom in and out, but I think the maps will give you an idea of the area Dennis is referring to.

Dennis also sent me some new links to the results for the past two tournaments. They are up and under the "Rules and Info." button on the main page.

Dennis went on to say that a couple of guys had some difficulty with keeping their boats afloat at Crystal. Actually Dennis didn't tell me, but I kind of heard it through the grapevine. It seems that Dandy Don Fowler, who already had a reputation for being a submariner, tried to run silent and deep by not putting in his plug. He noticed it after they had already parked the truck, with the plug in it, in a downtown parking lot. He used his periscope from his previous underwater adventure on the Detroit River to put the boat back on the trailer.

It seems that another boat belonging to one Mike Mesyar and copiloted by Ricky Skinner Jr. got swamped by west wind waves during the weigh-in. That ramp in downtown Beulah is not good to begin with and add a stiff west wind and it can cause problems, right Mesh?

Waterlogged and almost down.

I spent some time yesterday converting Nick Vawter's Cadillac report. I'm waiting for my son to install a button on the main page for it, but until he does I'll paste it in here to see what it looks like.

2010 Tear Drop Tournament Trail

2010 Cadillac and Mitchell Tear Drop Champions

Josh Myers and Kasey Kuyser

Well it?s is that time of year again, bass season is officially open in Michigan , and on Sunday May 30th, 19 teams kicked off the 2010 Teardrop Tournament trail at lakes Cadillac and Mitchell . It was nice to see familiar faces along with some new ones. Each year we seem to lose a team or two only to gain a new one or two. Opportunities for new friendships abound. It's a friendly group and the events are open to any one who wants to have some fun on the water. Check out the "Rules and Information" on the main page of this site and check out the flier that is published each year which is also available on the site.

This Memorial Day weekend was much different than last years. Most of us last year were wearing our warmest hunting attire with morning temps near 32 degrees. This year temps were running at or above 90 degrees for several days prior to Sunday's event. The weather for this opener was quite balmy with little to no breeze, making one sweat like a day of outdoor yard work. We did receive a small gift on Sunday, an unexpected 10 + mph breeze which helped keep most anglers cool.

Keeping the fish cool is also a priority during a tournament. Obviously the warmer the weather the more of a concern there is for the fishes well being. The link above has some very good suggestions. When you have fish in your livewell you should run your aerators continually. If the water temperature is above 70 degrees you should also be adding ice to cool the water 5-10 degrees. Replace half of the water in your livewell every three hours. A half gallon milk jug of water frozen will weigh four pounds and you should put in 8-9 lbs. of ice during a tournament day. The frozen block will last longer than cubes. Two half gallons of frozen water should do the trick. Stick them in your cooler to chill your lunch then add them to the live well as the day goes on.

Another thing that you can do for your fish is to add non-iodized salt. You need to add 1/3 of a cup for every 5 gallons of livewell water. This will mimic the salinity level found in the bass's blood, which is .5%. Fish experiencing stress absorb excess water, diluting body fluids below levels necessary for survival. Maintaining the salinity of livewell water to that of fish body fluids minimizes effects of stress. Pre-measured amounts of salt can be carried in ziplock bags.

Many anglers use products like Please Release Me , and or Catch and Release and those can and should be used along with the salt.

Remember that half the water in your livewell needs to be drained every 3 hours to reduce the ammonia levels. The more distress a fish is in the more ammonia it produces. Dead fish should be removed from the livewell and put on ice.

Another livewell additive that some anglers use is hydrogen peroxide. Because of its chemical nature it helps the oxygen level in the livewell. Check out this video from Doug Hannon on using hydrogen peroxide . One last thing is to try and handle the fish as little as possible. If your are holding fish for a picture, hold them by their bottom lip and support the belly of the bigger fish so that you don't break their jaw.

On opening day the Shoreline Bass Club had a tournament on these same waters with 40 plus boats. Some of the Teardrop anglers participated in that event and took home a little prize money. That tournament, however, didn't seem to have much impact on the fishing for Sunday. Most anglers brought in limits of green fish with a few scattered smallmouth.

Normally, the tournament waters are off limits to Teardrop anglers two days prior to the Sunday event. However, when anglers find themselves wanting to fish in another event during this time our tournament director will usually waive the off limits regulation, and allow all Teardrop anglers the opportunity to fish both tournaments.

Well I?ve never been to a horse race track before, but if there was ever an opportunity to place a wager on one of the Tear Drop teams to win, place, or show, I?d have to place some of my hard earned cash on the team of Meyers and Kuyser. These guys placed third in the Shoreline tournament the day before, and were the Teardrop A.O.Y. and Classic champs last year.

Josh and Kasey not only won the Tear Drop event with 17 lbs. and 1 oz., but they also had the big bass for the day which was a nice 4 lb. largemouth. Ryan VanDeburg and Douglas Hall from Hudsonville returned this year to kick start their season with a second place finish with a bag that weighed 15 lbs. 11 oz.

The next two boats tied in weight at 14 lbs. 14 oz., but Brian Macdonell and Wes Herndon broke the tie and earned the 3rd place finish with a bass weighing 3 lb. 6 oz. It was one ounce more than Larry King and Ken Winters big fish leaving them with a 4th place finish and $50.00. Rounding out 5th place, which is the last money spot, was my father/son team of Nick and Brent Vawter taking home $50.00 worth of gas money.

Special thanks to this tournament's sponsors Bruce Mitchell Refrigeration and Cooling in Ludington and Da Dawg House in Cadillac.

The next tournament is June 13th on Crystal Lake in Beulah. See you there.

Thank you Nick Vawter for another great report. Following are pictures that the Vawter team took and sent to me. If you have time give this video on Livewell Fish Care a look see. It's pretty good and we all need to be reminded periodically of our responsibilities to protect our catch.

Second Place Finishers

Ryan VanDeBurg and Doug Hall

Third Place Finishers

Brian Macdonell and Wes Herndon

Fourth Place Finishers

Larry King and Ken Winters

Fifth Place Finishers

Nick and Brent Vawter

Jack Kowalski and Allan Pike

Mark Ayers and Aaron Fasel

Gary Evans and Dave Baker

Jeff and Fred Brauneck

Bruce Mitchell and Dennis Cook

Don Fowler and Marty Williams

Jesse Weener and Ross Machiela

Matt Kaiser and Dave Yeager

Chris Mieras and Harry Swank

Craig Stumbrie and Rick "The Cementman" Skinner

Dan Warner Jr. and Dan Warner Sr.

That's going to be it for today. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day to do something that feeds your soul and puts a smile on your face.

June 12/13, 2010

Who owns Kentucky? Well, it sure does look like its a tall lanky Michigander that goes by the moniker KVD! Kevin went in to this final day of the Elite Series event with a three pound lead. I have been on the B.A.S.S. site off and on all morning and the texts that the live reporter was getting stated that Kevin had a limit. A bit later, another text came in saying he was on fire and catching them in bunches. He reportedly has several good size fish. I'm rooting for him and would certainly like to see him representing Michigan in the post season Angler of the Year competition.

On the Bassmaster site this morning, they have been running some live interviews and accepting online questions. They have, as I have mentioned, been getting texts from their on the water photographers concerning the leaders and how their catch has been.

Cliff "The Cajun Baby" Crochet was on, and I listened to his interview for about a half hour. I rode with Cliff Day 1 on Guntersville. He's an Elite Series rookie, and did not make the final day this week. In the last event on Clarks Hill, Cliff narrowly missed winning by 2 ounces.

Cliff Crochet, the "Cajun Baby"

Elite Series Rookies Cliff Crochet and Bradley Roy

Cliff swinging in a Guntersville largemouth

Cliff and Me

Eventually, I'm going to have the rest of the story from Guntersville up on the blog. I have a quick version up on our "Red Ranger Adventure" which is archived at the top of the blog page. Once you click on the archive copy just scroll down until you see "Thursday at Guntersville."

I'm doing pretty well with my Kentucky Lake Fantasy Fishing picks. I have three in the top 12: VanDam, Evers, and Quinn. Maybe I can make some ground up in our league this event.

I didn't have time to complete, and post, yesterday's blog, so I'm picking it back up this morning.

Last night we all went to my nephew's wedding. It was a very nice event and most all of the family was there. I forgot to take my camera, so at the moment no pictures of the new bride and groom.

I didn't get a chance to check the computer to see how KVD did until I got home at around 11:30 p.m. I pretty much expected to see that VanDam had notched another victory, and he didn't disappoint! He won rather handily by about 6 lbs. Kelly Jordan, his nearest pursuer going in to the last day, actually did a crash and burn and fell to seventh with only a ten pound day. Edwin Evers had a good day and moved all the way up to second. Ever's brother-in-law, Terry Butcher, came in third, and my other Fantasy Team contender, Jason Quinn came in fourth. Here's Bass Fan's KVD Story .

KVD literally owns Kentucky Lake. In the past four years, he's had two firsts, a second, and a third. That's fishing against the best in the world and on a lake that gets unbelievable local pressure.

Kevin has a flotilla of boats that follow him from spot to spot. Not all of them constantly follow him, some stay and fish his area after he leaves. That pretty much puts the kabosh on being able to have a milk run of spots which you cycle through in a day. Check out these short videos that are on Bassmasters and you can get an idea of what KVD has to contend with. Bass Cam Footage

Kevin's finish on Kentucky Lake moves him all the way up to eighth in the AOY race. There is one more event to go and that's next week on the Arkansas River. The Elite anglers haven't competed there before on the Elite Tour, so the track record is going out the window.

I know, from following KVD's exploits, that he has been out there already this season and did some Humminbird scouting. Knowing Kevin's intensity, he's going to be in the hunt out there. Here is a B.A.S.S. article that talks about the AOY race: "Some secure but postseason berths will go to wire"

There will be a raft of articles about Kentucky Lake coming out tomorrow, and I'll try and stay on top of those and post some links. For now, you can't quit talking about KVD's feat until you've looked at all the pictures that the great B.A.S.S. photographers take. Here's the link to the Kentucky Lake Photo Gallery .

The Tear Drop anglers are out on Crystal Lake in Beulah today. I have had the Cadillac and Mitchell story and photographs for several days, but haven't gotten them up yet. I have been waiting for my son to build me a button for the Tear Drop lakes. Hopefully that will happen this morning, because I have him here from California, and in the house as they say. We are going to be doing some family things today because he and his wife fly out tonight, and we won't see them for a while. If I can't get a button on today, I'll paste the article and pictures here in the blog.

Time for me to fix breakfast, so adios. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and remember to try and spend some time each day doing something you enjoy, something that puts a smile on your face, even if it's for just a few minutes.

June 10, 2010

KVD is back! It sure looks like it anyway. He sits atop the heap in the Kentucky Lake, Tennessee Triumph Elite Series event with 25 lbs. Rick Morris is just an ounce behind mainly because he had a nine pound kicker fish, the big fish of the day. In fact, Morris would have been in first, but had a fish die which cost him 8 ounces. Here's a link to the Day 1 story: VanDam Bolts To Front With 25-Pound Sack . As always B.A.S.S. has some great Day 1 photos on their site that you can access with this link: Day 1 Elite Series Photos .

Remember, you can watch the weigh-in live at 4:30 p.m. today using this Live ESPN Weigh-in Link .

My Fantasy Fishing picks for Kentucky Lake are doing okay. I had Van Dam and Reese in the A Flight, Edward Evers and Jeff Kriet in the B Flight and Jason Quinn, was my C Flight pick. All but Kriet and Reese are in contention. Kriet is down in 66th place, and Skeet sits just outside the cut at 48. My guys have to catch em today in order for me to make up some serious ground in our Fantasy League.

The other day I read Don Barone's article "Thousand Voices," and felt compelled to throw my two cents worth in. The article made a connection with me in that I feel strongly about helping kids with distractibility issues. Toward that end here is a bit of commentary.

Wow, I just had to comment on this piece for several reasons. First, I have been impressed over and over by he staff writers and photographers at BASS. This particular piece by Barone was masterful. I enjoyed it immensely! What insight! Being able to capture the essence of a person only comes from looking beyond the surface clutter. Barone certainly did that.

I'm a retired school teacher who took great pride in looking beyond the behaviors that others found disruptive or different. I often found a gem in the rough when I took the time to really look.

School is often an unpleasant place to be for 50% of all kids. It's something they'€™re just not good at. Each day, while struggling with their work, those kids get reminded of the fact that they are not very successful, and the damage to their self esteem can be devastating. School is a place where children, often 30 or more at a time, are asked to learn in a room, that by its very nature, is incredibly distracting. I often would tell the kids that they would never be asked to work in a situation like this once out of school, because adults couldn't be productive in such an environment. Can you imagine yourself in a business setting working at arm's length from 30 other people?

It is my opinion, that the single biggest difference between kids in school isn't necessarily their intellect, but the degree to which they can focus and sustain attention. Toward that end, there is often little classroom work devoted to developing focus. I tried every day to address this issue with some best practices that are embodied in this acronym S.L.A.N.T. Sit up, lean slightly forward, actuate, note take, and track the speaker.

The sit up part is not a postural thing. I used a driving analogy to explain it. When you get tired while at the wheel, the first thing you usually do is rearrange how you're sitting, and in holding yourself differently it helps you focus.

Lean slightly forward, is along the same lines. If your head is on the desk, or if you're leaning way back, the lazy boy position, you have a much more difficult time with focus.

Actuation is a pivotal skill and involves "thinking" about what the speaker is talking about. You would think that this would be obvious, but it is something students need to be frequently reminded of and actively practice. While the teacher is talking the students should be taught and practice how to associate prior knowledge, make connections, and how to question. They also need to feel secure enough to admit they don't understand, and seek help. These skills take nurturing and encouraged daily.

Note taking is something research says will improve focus. Just doodling while listening has been shown to increase attention. Learning to take notes is a lifelong skill that also will transfer directly to informational writing, which is the type that will be used most frequently as they grow older.

Tracking the speaker is one of those things that is very important in developing focus and sustained attention. In studies of successful students, it was found that successful kids seem to practice this skill naturally.

Observing successful students is how all of these techniques were isolated. Observers detailed the behaviors and these strategies were noted as the most prominent. It goes without saying that if kids that are focussed, on task, and doing well, are exhibiting these behaviors, then teaching other students these techniques could make them more focused and more successful. These S.L.A.N.T. strategies aren't all that novel, and most appear as common sense types of things, but reinforced daily, they can be very effective in helping distractible people have more focus. I say people because anyone can employ these strategies in order to process material more efficiently. There are a percentage of kids that slip through the system, by well intended adults that have their hands full trying to meet curriculum standards which are getting increasingly more demanding every day. We just can't teach academics and meet every child's needs.

Well how about that epistle. Sometimes it's hard for me not to get up on the soapbox once in a while.

I am on road this morning, and am typing this while eating breakfast. It's about time to continue my journey to Midway Airport. Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day today to put a smile on your face. It's good for the soul.

June 9, 2010

How about this, two days of blogging in a row. I just checked the B.A.S.S. site to see what was happening this morning as the Elite anglers took off from Paris Landing State Park in Tennessee on Kentucky Lake.

When I checked to see if there was any live information via Bass Trak, it said that because the cell phone reception was so poor in that area, that they would not be using that technology. I guess that leaves it all on the water until 4:30 p.m. when they will have the Live Weigh-in .

Another thing I did today was to go to Google Earth , and I flew over both Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. If you haven't downloaded Google Earth, you are missing out on a great fishing tool. Plus, it is just fun to be able to travel the world and look at places at the drop of a hat.

Some of the areas on Google Earth, you will find the zoom in feature results are grainy, but other areas have updated satellite images which allow you to zoom in and see a particular dock on the lake with very good clarity. You really need to try it out.

If anybody is in need of any baits, I'll be driving by both the Cabela's, Hammond, IN and Bass Pro Shop, Portage IN stores tomorrow as I head in to Chicago to pick my son up at Midway. Call my cell phone and give me an excuse to stop and shop.

I have read about an opportunity for some young guns to get out and live the dream. Mike Iaconelli is putting together a reality TV show that would pit anglers, from the ages of 18-25, against one another for a chance to win a paid entry in to a top pro level tournament. You would also be given a boat to use etc. If you are interested, you would need to put together a 3 minute video of you catching a fish on your favorite lake while explaining how you have what it takes to compete at the highest level. If you don't have the video expertise, I may be able to help with that. In any case, check out Mike's announcement on his website at this address: Mike Iaconelli Begins Casting For A New Reality Fishing Television Show! .

Last night, I got a bunch of pictures and a write up on the Tear Drop Cadillac and Mitchell tournament. I resized and worked on the pictures, and I will be putting a link on the main page with Mr. Nick Vawter's report. It should be up in a day or two. I have to format the main page with a button etc. which takes some extra time, and maybe a call to my computerized son.

I have been reading posts on Great Lakes Bass about the recent Michigan Division BFL tournament up on Burt and Mullet Lakes. Chad Pipkens from Holt, MI won the event with 27-10 lbs. of smallmouth. Chad has owned Burt and Mullet the last few years. He is the Burt/Mullet Jedi Master. He caught his bedded fish on Burt in ten to fifteen feet of water.

Concentrating on the deeper beds usually means bigger fish and fewer people messing with them. Deep bedded smallies are tough to spot and often go unnoticed as people concentrate on the more obvious shallow beds. Here's a very brief FLW account of the event: Pipkens Outfishes BFL Field on Burt-Mullett .

When I checked the coangler results for the tournament, I saw that Jay VanDyke from Wyoming, MI came in fourth overall. Jay is a young college sophomore who is a good friend of my nephew. The year that I fished the BFLs he stayed with us at Burt and Mullet. He's been fishing the BFL series ever since high school. He's cashed a number of checks, and regularly finishes quite high in the overall yearly standings. Congratulations Jay and check out Iaconelli's opportunity.

If you had a buddy fishing and wanted to check and see how they did, here is the link to the overall standings. Make sure you click on the boater or non-boater button at the top of the page to select the category you want to search: Michigan Division BFL Standings from Burt and Mullet Lakes . Speaking of top contenders, last year I was able to go see a young friend that I have met through the blog. His grandparents have a cabin on the same lake that I do. We have been corresponding for a couple years now. Last year I put some pictures up of Ross as a high school junior competing in the State Championship Track and Field Events held in Zeeland. Last Saturday, Ross once again competed in the elite event as a Senior, and lo and behold he won the State Championship in both the 100 and 200 yard dash! Hopefully, I can get him to send me some pictures. His dad is like I am and takes lots of pictures, so I'm sure they have some digital images for me. Ross will be running track at Central Michigan University next year. Congratulations Ross!!

Well, I'm at the end of my blogging time this morning. The final cast of the day is going to be another Dave Mercer Facts of Fishing video.

Have a great day and make sure you take some time during your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face. It has curative powers.

June 8, 2010

Good morning Michiganders and any other unfortunate souls from out of state. Just an F.Y.I., make sure you pick your new B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing for the Kentucky Lake event which starts Thursday, but you can't wait till then to pick your team.

Many of the pros both from FLW and BASS fish the B.A.S.S. Opens. Recently the Southern Open was held down in Shreveport-Bossier City, La. and Chad Brauer knocked it out of the park, winning the three day event by 16 lbs. Now that is one of the largest margins of victory that I can recall in a Tour level event. On the last day of the tournament, which fished very tough for the majority of the field, Brauer brought in over 21 lbs. If you're interested in the story, standings, or in some of the great photography on the from this Red River event you can use this link: Brauer Masters Red River .

The Tear Drop has its next tournament up on Crystal Lake in Beulah. I have gotten a few reports that the fish are still on the beds. With this latest cool down I would suspect that the new moon which occurs this weekend should brink some new fish up.

I have also heard that the fish are already on the beds on Grand Traverse Bay. That would be almost three weeks early! I was planning to head up there toward the end of the month which should be the normal spawn window coinciding with the full moon. I hope that there will still be some stragglers that are further north will stick to the old schedule. This year's unusual early April hot stretch sure has gotten things all fouled up.

I've been reading some accounts from this past weekend from some contests up on Duck and Green Lakes in Interlochen. Guys were connecting up there on senkos and drop shot rigs. The mayflies were hatching making that slow fall with the senko quite effective. There were reports that some fish were still on the beds there.

I don't have a lot of time this morning, but I would ask you to read Don Barone's recent piece on Bassmaster.com. The piece is called "Thousand Voices," and is about Aaron Martens. I found it to be masterfully done. Excellent! The article hit home with me because, in my 34 years of teaching, it was always one of my goals to connect and get to understand the Aarons of this world. I plan on commenting more on this piece either later today or tomorrow. I just don't have the time right now. I did try and put my two cents worth in the comment section that's attached to the article. For now though I have to go. When I read Barone's article one of my favorite quotes came to mind. It's from Wadsworth and it goes, "Not in the clamor of the crowded streets, nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but within oneself lies victory and defeat." Have a great day.

June 5/6, 2010

Saturday morning and all is well. Rain is still less than a 50/50 proposition, so it looks like outdoor efforts should meet with pretty good success.

I just got off the phone with by walleye fishing buddy John, who has a place just east of Sandusky on Lake Erie. He gets down there frequently and is spending another week or so there. He's been limiting out regularly, and has only been chased off the water by storms a few times so far this season. He's got a couple of buddies that were almost down to his place this morning and was out readying his boat when I called him. He said he'd try and take some pictures for the blog. Hopefully, I'll have a walleye report soon.

I'll have to shoot Steve, my Manistee buddy an email to see how he did this Spring on brown trout and turkey hunting. He has one of the sweetest brown trout mounts on his wall that you're ever going to see. Steve was the one who sent me the trail cam pictures during the Winter.

I thought today I'd try and get some of the pictures from our "Red Ranger Alabama Adventure" on the blog. My second day down on Pickwick during the Elite Series, Alabama Charge was spent with Kenyon Hill. Last year, when we were down for the Wheeler Lake tournament we saw Kenyon stocking up at West End with Bernie Schultz and Peter T.

Bernie Schultz, Kenyon Hill, and Peter T. at West End

Kenyon is a known flipping secialist. I was looking forward to getting a look at how he put fish in the boat. I have had a chance to see another great flipper, Tommy Biffle in action when the fish were up in the bushes and was looking forward to seeing Kenyon's approach.

As I mentioned before, after Day 1, they post your Day 2 pro along with their personal cell phone number. In our registration meeting, they ask you to please delete their numbers after you call them or they call you. Kenyon ended up calling me before I had a chance to call him. He told me when and where to meet him on Friday morning, and I made sure I was there bright and early.

My Day 2 Pickwick pro Kenyon Hill.

Kenyon's boat is wrapped by Smith and Wesson , and it has several of those decals that look like bullet holes on it. Like many of the Elite anglers, Kenyon loves all things outdoors, so the Smith and Wesson wrap is a good fit.

At 5:30 a.m. in early May, it's still quite dark. When we arrived at McFarland Park each morning it was strictly flash photography which means you can't shoot things very far away. As it got light, I often tried to shoot without the flash and then spent some time doctoring the pictures on the computer, so I could get more depth of field.

Waiting at the docks Friday morning at Pickwick.

One of the first things you discover when you meet Kenyon is that he lives life large. He has a smile on his face all day and likes to kid and cajole. Here's Kenyon, yucking it up before take off with fellow competitor Randy Howell.

Kenyon throwing a few barbs Randy Howell's way.

Each day there is that hurry up and wait time in the morning. During that early morning time loud speakers blare rock music and Keith Allen meanders up and down the docks talking to people. You can hear what he has to say over the PA system.

Keith Allen spends some banter time with Kenyon.

As 6:00 a.m. nears, the boats start jostling around to get in their assigned number order and they move along the dock to the various inspection and check-in spots. At 6:11 a.m., it was our turn to head out of the marina and put the boat up on plane.

Daylight in the swamps, and we're ready to rock and roll.

Moving out of the marina and into Pickwick itself.

You may find it hare to believe, because I had a hard time thinking how far the water can rise in this system. On the final day of the tournament, the storms that flooded Nashville, hit and closed McFarland Park. The water was up over the rip rap you see in the right of this picture!

You don't need a cup of strong coffee to get you bright eyed on tournament day. That blast off each morning will wake the dead! As you proceed through the various check out stations, the excitement builds, and then you head out past the "No Wake" buoys, and the hammer goes down. I know many of you who read this have ridden in a bass boat before and can relate to the exhilaration and excitement that blast off and that initial run gives you. The roar of the engine, the wind waffling the skin on your face, and the spray from the wakes coming up to say good morning!

Most pros have a single console boat. That gives them the most room for negotiating those harried fish landings. However, it also means, that the coangler or Marshal has an open cockpit. The boats travel over 70 mph, and if the water is anything but glass smooth, you get buffeted pretty good. As I ran down the lake on the various mornings, I often wondered what was going through the heads of Marshals that have never done such a thing before. If you haven't been wide open in a bass boat, make sure you prepare well for the trip. You should take your own favorite life vest. I like and used a Mustang Inflatable . You should also have eye protection in the form of sunglasses, a helmet with a visor, or a Save Phase shield. And, above all else be prepared to hang on. It can be a wild ride, and last year several Marshals literally were bounced out of the boat!

Friday morning the moon was full and the ride was smooth.

Everybody is up and running hard.

Kenyon ran up to just about where I had started on Thursday with Dave Wolak. We were just shy of the Natchez Trace Bridge. Kenyon started throwing a 3/4 ounce brown jig. He only had two poles out on the deck, and both had jigs tied on them. One was a brown jig with a whippy dual tailed trailer that he used as a swimming jig between targets. His jig he used to pitch at lay downs, etc. was the same color, but it had a big bush hog trailer.

As I said, we started just short of the Natchez Trace Bridge which is part of the Natchez Trace Parkway System. If you have time, reading about this historical pathway is very interesting.

The Natchez Trace Bridge

In the picture above, you can get an idea of some of the barge traffic that moves up and down the Tennessee River. That tug was pushing six or more large barges. It must have to get lined miles before they run under bridges. I know the locks they pass through are large, but they must have to send only a few barges through at at time. They must dock them, load them a couple at a time in the lock. and then line them all back up again to continue the trip.

Kenyon started on a shady bank and preceded to pick it apart lay down by lay down.

Kenyon Hills Pickwick Lake starting spot.

One of the things I notice about Kenyon is that he not only hit the shallow cover, but would often bring his jig out much farther than what I probably would have.

Patiently flipping a jig

It didn't take him long to connect.

Kenyon boat flipped a number of his fish.

Kenyon was one of the anglers I rode with that weighed each fish.

This next picture shows a bend or point if you will, that we worked down to. Kenyon caught a number of fish that were out on the flat ahead of the point. He continue to use the pig and jig and never threw another bait all day. The day before Wolak used just one bait, a shakey head, all day as well. It surprised me that each would rely so heavily on just one bait.

The point that had a flat that ran out into the river.

We stayed in sight of the bridge most all day.

Kenyon caught a bunch of fish, sorting through the little ones to find some good keepers.

He caught a nice kicker fish off a bluff wall.

These were the kind he was after.

Late in the day, we ran up past the bridge to an area where several other anglers were fishing. It was a shallow flat off the main river that had a lot of wood on it. It had gotten quite windy, and I could see most anglers were throwing spinnerbaits. Kenyon. however, never brought out another rod and stuck with his jig. After fishing some shallow wood, Kenyon also fished a rocky reef smack dab in the middle of the river. He caught several smallies there, but none helped.

Fishing a main river shallow rocky reef.

When we moved back to the bank we saw Mike McClelland.

We also watched Kelly Jordan catch a keeper.

Jordan doing a bit of culling.

It was an interesting day. I didn't really get to see a lot of different techniques or really anything that I didn't already know about flipping and pitching. I did take away the fact that I probably use too light of a jig. I hardly ever throw anything in the one ounce to 3/4 ounce size. Several of the pros that I talked with used that size exclusively. Another thing that I observed was that the first two days the pros stuck with one bait and technique, and they used it all day. It certainly says something about commitment. Maybe I switch baits and techniques too often.

Kenyon was a riot to ride with. He's real talkative, and we talked about everything under the sun. One funny part of the day involved him dropping me off on the bank so he could float down the river a ways to take a dump. As I was standing on the bank twiddling my thumbs, I began to wonder what was taking so long. I took a quick glance over my shoulder and there was Kenyon with his butt over the edge of the boat. I had to laugh it was a very comical sight. I could have made some money with that picture. In fact, before Kenyon dropped me off, he asked if I was going to take a picture, and I assured him that I would respect his privacy,.I did say that if I did take a picture that I probably could make some money off it. He thought about it a second, and then said that maybe we could split the money. Like I said, he was a rambler, a gambler, and a sweet talking ladies man, one funny dude.

Returning for the weigh-in.

In the picture above, you can see the float that they give each angler as they leave in the morning. When you return, you toss the official your float, and he puts it in a box numerically. At a glance, they can tell which boats are in and which are still out. They don't want anyone left out on the water at the end of the day that isn't accounted for. Just one of the many safety measures they employ.

Docking boats at the weigh-in.

Marshals are in the long sleeve blue shirts.

The picture above gives you a little perspective at McFarland Park. They have two major ramps, each capable of launching multiple boats. One is off the picture in the foreground and the other is way in the background. Most pros used the one way in back. More parking was available there.

Over the course of days that we were there, we got to meet a number of the Marshals. One that we talked to frequently, and who was also at Guntersville, is in the foreground of the picture above. His name is Steve Herrin from Mississippi. Like most people you meet at fishing events, he was a great guy and fun to talk with. Hopefully, we will cross trails with him again. He has emailed me to say that he would send me some of the pictures he took.

Here's a shot of Kenyon on stage with Keith Allen and Tournament Director Trip Weldon. I can't remember what Kenyon weighed Day 2. I tried to look back and find it, but I didn't have any luck. I think he weighed about 16 lbs.

Kenyon center stage at the Alabama Charge on Pickwick.

Day 2 on Pickwick found Rick "The Cementman" Skinner riding with Live Target's pro Stephen Browning . Rick and I had a chance to listen to Browning at Randy VanDam's D & R Sports this past winter.

Browning, Me, and JVD

Live Target's Stephen Browning and the Cementman

Me with my eyes closed and Kenyon Hill

Some day I hope to draw my buddy Ike

Well that about wraps up Day 2 at Pickwick. If you hang in there, I'll have days three and four up soon. Day 3 got a little dicey, and the weather added some real excitement to the end of the day, but more on that later.

Take care, and enjoy the last bit of weekend. Hopefully the rain will be minimal today so you can get outdoors. Enjoy.

June 4, 2010

It's Friday! I used an exclamation mark because it marks the end of the work week, not that a work week means much to me any more. Not too much excitement here at my end so the exclamation mark is no wahoo moment, but it is Friday.

I'm still taking care of home front issues that keep me tied pretty close to the hacienda. Not what I want, but it is what I have to contend with, so I try to put into effect the old adage that says, "When life gives you lemons, learn to make lemonade." Some days I feel a little sorry for myself, but it really doesn't do any good, and nobody wants to hear about someone else's problems. So, with that bright sun shiny intro, let's talk some fishing.

Checking the B.A.S.S. site, I see that Day 1 of the Southern Open down on the Red River is in the books. Texas pro Russell Parish is leading the pack with 18-10 lbs. Only about 30 of the 157 anglers had limits, and from looking at the standings I would have to say that way more than half of the contestants had one or two fish. Evidently the practice was terrible and the water is low, falling, and very muddy. There are only some back sloughs up river that have clear water and those spots are pretty congested with competitors. One thing that caught my eye is that there is a gal in 11th place. ( Click here for Standings ) Her name is Diana Clark and she's from Bumpus, TN. Maybe we'll have a B.A.S.S. Tour rookie female next year.

If you're interested in reading the story on B.A.S.S. site, here is the link: Bass Pro Bassmaster Central Open #2: Red River, Shreveport-Bossier City, La. - June 3-5 .

If you are in the B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing League you only have a few more days before the start of the Kentucky Lake contest on June 8th. If you are not in the Fantasy Fishing contest, it only takes seconds to join and the new format at B.A.S.S. makes selection of your team quick and easy. You may be out of the overall points, but you can still win prizes for each event.

When I surfed through the FLW site, I see that on Sunday, June 6th at 12:30 p.m. on Versus, that they are airing the third event of the 2010 FLW Tour season. The tournament took place on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes in Knoxville, TN.

Locally, the BFL Northern Division opener takes place this weekend up on Burt and Mullet Lakes. It should be a bed fishing slugfest with several 20 pound sacks, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a 30 pound stringer make its way to the stage.

Yesterday, I spent some time resizing a bunch of pictures from Day 2 on Pickwick Lake. I spent that day riding with Kenyon Hill. Although I'm out of time this morning, I hope to get those pictures up and an account of my day with Kenyon sometime today. We'll see though.

I did put the standings for the Cadillac and Mitchell Tear Drop Bass opener on the site. That information is under the "Rules and Info." button on the main page. For now, I'm off and running. I'm meeting my sister for coffee this morning and then off to pack up a mobile home that I hope gets sold today.

June 1/2, 2010

I have been busy archiving not only last month, but last year as well. If you're interested in any of the blogs from the past you can access them above. Sometimes, articles that I have linked from other sites will take down their stories so that when you try and access them at a later date, they are no longer available. Pictures, and anything that I have control over will still be retrievable.

I was doing my usual cruising of sites this morning and read an article that is up on BassFan that talks about the general state of professional bass tournaments. As you know, the economy has dictated that both the FLW and B.A.S.S. scale back their tournaments. There have been some pretty big decision centered around the Genmar bankruptcy (Irwin Jacobs, Range, et.al.) and the more recent news that ESPN will no longer be broadcasting hunting and fishing programs. The only outdoor program that will remain on their schedule will be Bassmaster tournaments.

For many, the decision by ESPN to discontinue their outdoor programming, is a disappointing one. Some feel the move underscores rumors that ESPN is looking to sell B.A.S.S. There has been some speculation that the Outdoor Channel is interested in buying B.A.S.S. In any case, there seems to be a cloud hanging over the Elite Series anglers. Uncertainty of this sort has to be disconcerting for them, but many of the pros outwardly show a devil may care attitude. They love the outdoors, their hunting and fishing is a way of life. They feel that there will always be tournaments somewhere and that's where they will be. If you're interested in reading the BassFan article, here's the link: The ESPN Pullout: Many Pros Seem Numb To Catastrophic Change.

As sometimes happens, I started this yesterday, and I am going to try and finish it up today. I spent some time yesterday afternoon resizing pictures for a Dave Wolak Day. I rode with Dave on the first day of the Elite Series Alabama Charge on Pickwick Lake in Alabama.

Elite Pro Dave Wolak and Me

When you Marshal an Elite event there is often times quite a bit of hurry up and wait. Your alarm rings way too early and you hustle around getting ready and packing your gear bag for the day. You jump in the truck and make sure that you get to the ramp not only on time but early.

The night before you have a chance to talk with your pro about the next day. He tells you when and where to meet him at the ramp. Some pros like to put their own boats in, but most will have you jump in the truck and dump them in. That's what I did for Dave. We then had about a 40 minute float waiting for take off.

In the Elite events, there are usually three flights. The flights take off one right after another, but they check in 15 minutes apart. The last flight gets an additional 45 minutes. To make sure no one has too much of a time advantage, the flight order is reversed on the second day. That's all done to help slow down the weigh-in so the fish aren't stressed.

While waiting in the boat with Dave, I watched him take care of some early tackle preparation. He was going to be using a shakey head, and he had green pumpkin pepper colored straight tail worms that he doctored by coloring the tail with a chartreuse marking pen. He had the worms all laid out in a tupperware container on what looked like hotel washcloths. He was using what looked like an eighth or maybe a three eights ounce shakey head.

After he had his poles and baits ready, he gave his wife a call. They talked for several minutes. Dave and his wife have a four year old little boy, Jake, that is the center of their lives. I listened to him talk to his wife about reminding Jake that Friday would be "Show and Tell" day at preschool. Later he told me that Jake really loves "Show and Tell." Being a retired teacher and father of three boys, I too know the importance of "Show and Tell."

As we sat in the boat waiting for take off, Dave talked about a couple of other passions he has in his life. One is baseball and the other is skiing. Dave played some high school and college baseball and is a dyed in the wool Yankee fan. In fact his rookie season in the Elites, he fished unsponsored and always wore a Yankee's hat which garnered him a lot of attention from the media, whom he spent some time with on his way to winning the coveted Rookie of the Year title. Winning that title launched Dave's fishing career and brought some affirmation to his decision to quit a well paying steady job in order to fish professionally.

Ageless Elite Series Pros Zell Rowland and Denny Brauer

Thursday morning, Day 1 Elite Series Alabama Charge

The Cementman's Thursday Pro, Bobby Lane

Dave was all business as the take off time approached. We had our live-wells inspected, kill switch checked, and were reminded of when we were due back in. Dave took a right out of the marina at McFarland Park, and we ran the river west toward the Nachez Trace Bridge.

Pickwick is really the Tennessee River. Between each dam on the river they call the sections lakes. Turning left out of McFarland Park leads to the Wilson Lake Dam. Like I said Dave ran downriver to a pocket off the main river where there was a strip of gravel along the shoreline that ran out into the river. There, he started exploring with his shakey head.

Smallies and gravel. Like cookies and milk.

I saw a number of homes like this on Pickwick.

Dave started catching fish right away. He was catching numbers, but wasn't happy with the size. He continued working the area fishing shoreline structure and dock structures. He commented that in practice he had caught some nice smallmouth along this area. Today, however, the area held primarily largemouth.

Dave fished some vertical walls.

In the picture above, you can see a green float in the water. Catfish anglers use these. They bait a hook and suspend it from one of these floats. They release dozens of the floats and then chase around the lake checking on them. Sometimes they lose one.

Moving down the wall to a innocuous looking stick in the water.

Moving down the wall there was a piece of brush in the water with just a piece of it sticking up. Dave pitched his shakey head up there and wham!

Fish on, and it feels like a good one!

No nets allowed in the Elite Seres events.

One nice largemouth for the livewell.

After spending some time in his number one prefish area, Dave decided to move across the river to an area of shoreline that was all riprap. He said the area had produced a couple of good fish in practice. He used a small crankbait, and on his first cast caught a small fish. It looked promising, but it only produced a couple of dinks. We soon went back across the river to make another pass through his number one area.

Dave moved across the river to a area lined with riprap.

Using a crankbait, Dave catches one on the first cast.

Dave moved back across the river and started to refish his number one prefish area. He was catching a lot of small fish and having to weed his way through them to catch the better fish he needed.

Along the bluff wall again and he scores!

One of his better largemouths.

One of the activities that each pro looks forward to doing is culling. You are allowed five fish in the boat. Actually you may have six, but you cannot make a cast until you cull one out. If you forget, like Tommy Biffle did during the post season last year, you have to report to the Tournament Director who then removes the largest fish from your livewell. Culling means that you are upgrading your catch, and that's good. What isn't good, is that while you're culling you're not fishing.

It takes time to sort through your catch to make sure you are releasing your smallest fish. Some pros will weigh each fish they catch. The only pro I rode with that did this was Shaw Grigsby. The rest usually relied on memory and had to reach in and find what they remembered to be the smallest fish. Some guys will even take all their fish out of the livewell and lay them on the floor to find the smallest. If two fish are very close they will use a balance beam to choose. Once they have their smallest fish determined they will cull it and then place a clip with a float in the mouth. I like to use the Bag - em , miniature weigh-in bag on the balance beam and when I weigh individual fish. It really prevents having to poke more hooks in the fish and it quiets them so they don't flop as much. It really speeds up the culling process.

The balance beam determines who goes and who stays.

We spent a good chunck of time during Dave's day fishing boat docks. We caught lots of fish around them, but again had to work hard to get the bigger fish that Dave would need to compete.

The area still had a few bedded fish and docks were opportunistic spots.

Most of what we suspected were bedded fish were small males.

Dave sorted through about 50+ bass during the course of the day. He had a couple of good largemouth that would keep him in the hunt to make that top 50 cut and help him earn that $10,000 check for making the cut. We headed back to the weigh-in site to see what the final tally was.

Once back at McFarland Park Dave ran in to his buddy and traveling partner, Clark Rheem.

Dave checks in with his traveling partner Clark Rheem.

This shot gives you an idea of gas and diesel prices.

Pros start docking to weigh in.

At the very last minute, the Cementman shows up with Bobby Lane.

Dave checking in just before Skeet Reese

Dave weighing his 16 lb. bag on Day 1.

It was a fun day, and I got to see quite a bit of Pickwick lake. At the end of the day, tournament officials post a list of all the pros and the Marshal that has been assigned to them. When I checked the list, I found I had drawn Kenyon Hill. I had seen him during the day while fishing with Dave. Kenyon has the reputation for being a flipper so I felt like I'd be seeing the same section of river and would be pounding the bank. The second day on Pickwick, detailing my ride with Kenyon will be coming to the blog soon.

The last couple of pictures are ones that Rick and I took with Bobby Lane.

Bobby Lane and Rick "The Cementman" Skinner.

Bobby Lane and Me

That's going to be it for today. Even though it's a rainy ole day here I still have to get a few things done. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day today to do something that puts a smile on your face.