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Gift #7 for the Bass Fishing Rube in your life!
2008-12-24 17:57:00
It is getting to be crunch time to find and you running out of time to get a good stocking stuffer for your favorite bass angler.  This is a sweet little product that you can sneak in their stocking that will save them a ton of time and a bunch of money over the next year.Click here to see the first look video Mend It! VideoMend-It! is a great solution that acts like a glue when used to bond soft plastic baits and swimbaits back together, but does not stick to you or your other stuff.  The great thing is, it brings your favorite, expensive and hard to find colors and baits back to life, which means you can spend more time fishing and less time shopping for new baits.  And more time fishing, means more fish in the boat!!!You may have heard that this stuff dries up to fast, but they have revamped the packaging and now it lasts much longer and you are most likely to use it up before it stiffens up.  I used Mend-It! last year to fix my swimbaits, my ring frys, basstr...
More About: Life , Fishing , Gift , Bass

Gift #8 for the Bass Fishing Rube in your life!
2008-12-24 17:57:00
Alright, if you have not bought a fishing gift yet for your favorite angler, you are just about out of time by now, but it is not too late......Gift cards from a fishing or outdoors store is a great gift.  Many of you do not like buying gift cards, because you think its taking the easy way out or not thoughtful enough, but I do not know any of my Bass in' Buddies that would not love a nice gift card that will let them buy some great stuff for themselves.Many fishermen are a picky breed when it comes to buying tackle and gear, often times they prefer to do their own shopping, which makes gift cards a great option. Not to mention a few great online retailers offer electronic gift cards, so it means you can get them instantly and no shipping!!!  Here are a few places to get them.Bass Tackle DepotBass Pro ShopsLandBigFish.comMonster Fishing TackleNationwide TackleHope this helps you out of a last minute bind!!!  Also, Merry Christmas and hope you all have a safe and very ...
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Gifts #6 for the Bass Fishing Rube in your life!
2008-12-18 17:55:00
The shopping season is dwindling down, so its time to ramp up the Gift Ideas for bass fishing anglers in our lives!!  In my mind, nothing says happy holidays, like the gift of Tungsten Baits utilizing tungsten, help anglers catch more fish and lure with tungsten, do not contain lead, so they are better for our lakes & rivers.  So if you give your favorite angler a little tungsten in his/her stocking, you can feel good for 2 reasons!  So here are a few ideas of some great ways to give the gift that keeps on giving.The new 4" Tru-Life swimbaits are the hot ticket right now, big enough to put big bass & pike in your boat, but not too big to sacrifice bites.  The thing that makes this bait very unique, is the adjustable weight and sink rate system created by the removable tungsten balls that can be put in or taken out on this bait.Another new Innovation is the Tru-Tungsten soft plastics worms that already have tungsten powder in the head or tails of the worm ...
More About: Gifts , Fishing , Bass

Gifts #5 for the Bass Fishing Rube in your life!
2008-12-11 17:52:00
This gift idea entry is actually going to be a 3 in 1 combo platter because the guys at Secret Weapon Lures have too much cool stuff to just list one thing!!!  Also, I have attached a person 30% off coupon code at the bottom of this entry for you being a reader!!!  This coupon code is good for buying single spinnerbaits & buzzbaits as well, so if you are already a SWL fan, you can use it to stock up! Gift Idea #1: Recoil Rig? Gift Pack Need the perfect gift to thrill an angler who seems to already have everything? This gift pack supplies special tools an angler can use to coax the biggest bass out of the thickest cover.   Bring your drop shotting and finesse presentations to a new level. Keep your bait back where the biggest fish lurk. Twitch, shake, shimmy, splash, and tremble it until a trophy-size bass, snook, walleye, trout, or musky can't stand it any longer, then hold on! The secret in this weapon is the Spectra?-wrapped latex shock cord that stretche...
More About: Life , Gifts , Fishing , Bass

Fantasy Fishing gets Richer
2008-12-11 17:52:00
WORLD'S RICHEST FANTASY GAME JUST GOT RICHER MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FLW Fantasy Fishing , the world's largest and richest fantasy sports game, announced it is substantially increasing its prize pool from $7.3 million in 2008 to $10 million in cash and prizes in 2009 with a guaranteed $1 million cash winner, plus six guaranteed $100,000 cash winners. Additionally, FLW Fantasy Fishing is offering a $3 million cash exacta and a $5 million cash exacta, plus over 2,500 other prizes including new Ranger boats, a Chevy SUV, four-wheelers and hundreds or thousands of dollars in free cash cards and Walmart gift cards.FLW's Player's Advantage membership is the unique tool that offers many advantages to its members, which include the all-important winning edge statistics that players will need, including the history and statistics of all the competing anglers, up-to-date information on the tournament fisheries, weather conditions at and before tournament time, the hometown favorites and their re...
More About: Richer

Hackney dominates at Falcon Lake!
2008-12-09 17:52:00
Last week FLW held their FLW Series fish-off at Falcon Lake in Texas.  The Fish-off format is interesting in the fact that it seed anglers from the FLW East & West series in a head to head format to make the Forest Wood Cup, but there is a overall winner as well and Greg Hackney put up a sick 3 day weight of 109-06.  He was just a few ounces from breaking the FLW 4 day record in a 3 day event.  So that is 15 fish for over 109lbs, quick math gives him a 7.3lb per fish average.Greg caught most of his fish on the new Strike King Anaconda 10" worm, fishing pretty deep along an old road on a bluff edge.  You can find a lot of good info and detail in this BassFan.com story.  One thing that is somewhat strange, is while Hackney was off the charts, man anglers struggled to put 5 fish in the well every day.  That may be because guys were going for big fish, knowing they needed 5 big fish a day just to keep pace. Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob NewellAlso, welcom...

Blog entry over due!
2008-12-09 17:52:00
Man, it's been way too long to get this entry up.  I took this fishing trip the day before Thanksgiving, I usually pride myself on timeliness of my fishing entries.  Oh well.....So Dave Cindrich and I walked the banks of Mississippi in search of cold weather bronzebacks.  We started slow, as we each missed several bites on different soft plastics (grubs, tubes, craws, etc)  I finally got the hook into a few on a LFT Fork Craw rigged on a 3/16oz Picasso Shakedown head.  I usually throw a green pumpkin tube about 99% of time this time of year, but wanted to try something different and hope to draw a few bigger bites.  After losing a couple shake down heads, and wanting to save a couple, I went back to my usual 1/8oz tube head with a 3" Power Tube and caught many fish.  I believe Dave caught most of his fish on a 3/16oz head and a Strike King Coffee Tube.Not many pics, this is one of the bigger fish caught, probably around 2.5lbs, caught a few this s...
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Gift #4 for the Bass Fishing Rube in your life!
2008-12-02 17:49:00
All anglers and outdoorsman for that fact really need a good set of polarized glasses.  First and foremost, to protect your eyes from wind, bugs, stray hooks and lures, dust and dirt and numerous other potentially damaging UFO's.  Let's face it, most if us would struggle to enjoy life as we know it without our eyes and likely the set you have is the last you will get.The most important factor of sunglasses is fit, if they are lightweight and fit well, you will keep them on and they will protect your eyes, if you don't wear them, they do you know good.  The next most important feature is quality optics, low quality optics can strain you eyes in many ways and actually make your eyes tired after wearing them.With all this said, I trust my eyes to JKruz Eyewear.  My personal choice for cloudy days is Tortoise Storm frames with amber lenses and on bright sunny days I go with my Riptide carbon frames with green mirror tinted lensesThese glasses are high quality at a...
More About: Life , Fishing , Gift , Bass

Gift #3 for the Bass Fishing Rube in your life!
2008-11-29 17:47:00
As I type my wife and her sister are fighting the crowds of Black Friday, hopefully you are at home reading my blog and shopping online or watching DVR'd bass fishing shows like I am For the third item, we will pick something a little more affordable for those not looking for big ticket items.  This Rapala Clackin' Rap is a brand new bait that is priced right for a stocking stuffer or something you can buy 2 or 3 of in different colors and it makes a great gift. New for 2009The lipless Clackin' Rap creates a distinctive sound and vibration profile that allows fish to zero in. The uniquely designed sound chamber features a single steel ball and external metal discs that transmit a distinctive clackin' sound with maximum vibration. The translucent textured body with internal holographic foil creates an extremely seductive flash. Simply cast, allow to sink to desired depth then steadily retrieve. TECHNIQUE: Casting & Trolling RUNNING DEPTH: Topwater LENGTH: 3...
More About: Life , Fishing , Gift , Bass

Gift #2 for the Bass Angler Rube in your life!
2008-11-27 17:46:00
In my mind, Item #2 is a can't miss for any bass fishing person you know.  Shimano released their newest version of the highly regarded Curado baitcasting reel.  The newest version is the Curado200E7.  All reviews I have read have been showering praise for this sweet little green reel.  I believe it won best in show at ICAST show this past fall and many other awards! The new Shimano 200E's are smaller than 100's with the capacity of a 200 series with an all Aluminum Frame. It has Lightweight Graphite Sideplates (Aluminum Handle Side on 300 sizes) and a Recessed Reel Foot. Listed below are more features found in the Shimano 200E series High Efficiency Gearing (HEG) Super Free Bearing Supported Pinion Gear System (SF) A7075 Aluminum Magnumlite Spool Dartainium Drag 7 Bearings ? 1 S A-RB BB ? 5 Shielded Stainless Steel BB ? 1 A-RB Roller Clutch Bearing Variable Brake System (VBS) with Reduced Mass Hub Super Stopper II Assist Stopper Drilled Handle ...
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ima EMAILER ~ October 2008
2008-11-27 17:46:00
Welcome! to the ima EMAILER ~ October 2008 Issue The IMA EMAILER brings you news from ima pros Michael Murphy, Fred Roumbanis, Bill Smith and ima pro staffers across the USA and worldwide. ima Pro Michael Murphy Connects the Dots for Fall Fishing As children, we probably all have played with connect-the-dots books. Each page starts as a puzzle, and by connecting the dots, a pattern appears. Fall fishing can be the same way, puzzling at first, but by connecting the different parts, successful patterns emerge. The Drawdown Connection  The first factor I'd like to discuss for the fall time of year is drawdown on drawdown lakes. Most common occurrences from my knowledge of drawdown lakes are from Missouri east to North Carolina, south to South Carolina, back across to Texas and about everything in between. In other words, the Midwest and Southeast, (with the exception of Florida). However, I presume a lake could be drawn down most anywhere there's a way to do that an...

Gift #1 for the Bass Angler Rube in your life!
2008-11-27 17:46:00
2 years ago, I made a gift list for bass anglers before Christmas.  It was also a list I shared with my family as gift ideas for myself.  So I though I would revisit this and try to sprinkle in 10-12 gift ideas for the bass fisher people in your life.  It may give you ideas to buy others or maybe send links of items that you like as hints to people who may be shopping for you.  Since Black Friday is quickly approaching, I thought it was time to start this series.  If you are like me, let the wife & kids head to the mall and I will start my christmas shopping online and avoid the crowds.So here is idea #1:The Booyah FlipstahI first say this in my Bass master magazine.  They said it was a Bass ProShops exclusive, so I head out to Basspro.com to get more info. ''The Booyah Flipstah will take your casting skills to a whole new level. Whether you're a beginner or tournament angler, the Flipstah is a must for every fisherman.''Alton Jones 2008 Bassmas...
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2009 Bassmaster Classic Field Set
2008-11-21 17:44:00
Roughly three months away from the, The Super Bowl of Bass Fishing, the 2009 Bassmaster Classic , the full field of 51 anglers was finalized Saturday. The 39th edition of the Classic will be held February 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, LA.  Here are your angling contenders, in alphabetical order:1. Casey Ashley Donalds, SC2. Kim Bain-Moore Alabaster, AL3. Ken Baumgardner Monongahela, PA4. Michael Burns Plano, TX5. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS6. Rick Clunn Ava, MO7. Mark Davis Mt. Ida, AR8. Boyd Duckett Demopolis, AL9. Jay Evans Corvallis, MT10. Edwin Evers Talala, OK11. Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX12. Terry Fitzpatrick Waukon, IA13. Jami Fralick Martin, SD14. Shaw Grigsby Gainesville, FL15. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA16. Matt Herren Trussville, AL17. Kenyon Hill Norman, OK18. Davy Hite Ninety Six, SC19. Randy Howell Springville, AL20. Timmy Horton Muscle Shoals, AL21. Bryan Hudgins Orange Park, FL22. Michael Iaconelli Runnemede, NJ 23. Alton Jones Waco, TX24...
More About: Field

Winter is Here, too early to start talking Fantasy Bass Fishing?
2008-11-21 17:44:00
As I drove around near my home last night, I saw that one of my favorite lakes (Crystal Lake) was starting to ice over and the car thermometer read 29 degrees Fahrenheit, winter is definitely here and no more trips out on the boat unless I go south until probably April 2009 when I will likely hit the Mississippi river near Wabasha or Red Wing.  It got me thinking, how am I going to keep my sanity through the long Minnesota winter again this year.First off, if you look to the left side bar, you will see a new logo under the Sponsor section.  I want to welcome Bass Tackle Depot as the newest partner of my Bassin' Blog.  So when you get a chance, visit their site, they have some great prices on hard to find tackle and they offer free shipping on orders of $50, when don't you spend $50 at your local tackle shop, and it does not cost any gas money to get on your computer!!I recently got a reminder about FLW Fantasy Fishing .  After last year's success, and all ...
More About: Winter , Start

Name That Rig Contest & A Free Spinnerbait
2008-11-15 17:42:00
NAME THAT RIG ? Incredible products deserve unforgettable names. Our new rig was formerly marketed as the "Wiggle Rig,? and it really deserves better. That?s where you come in.... Give it a better name.  Unless you are scared!--------------------CONTEST RULES:1. Learn about these amazing products on the SWL Website. Watch the videos and think up a perfect name for these rigs. (For example, since this rig was invented and perfected an Alabama, could we call it the "BAM!-a-Rig"?)2. Enter as many times as you like. All suggestions must be emailed to contest@swlure.com by midnight on Sunday 16 November.3. On 17 November we will select the winning entry. If more than one person submits that suggestion, one of them will be drawn at random to receive the prize.    The winner may choose either the SpecTastic ProPack or $40 credit to the SWL online store. In addition, every person who enters will receive a 20% discount code that can be applied to any fishing lure or component ...
More About: Contest , Free

Bassmaster Elite Series Marshalls Program
2008-11-08 15:28:00
Bassmaster finally unveiled the details of their new program that replaces the co-anglers at the Elite Series level of competition.  You can read the details here.Here is my summary:$100 gets you a minimum of two days as an observer with Elite anglers, 3 days if you are one of the first 50 to sign up.  So its like a 2-3 day guide trip that you don't actually fish for $100 or like living a "Day on the lake" episode for 2-3 daysYou will also get a gift pack (Jersey, hat, sponsor gifts) that are valued at more then $100Sounds like observers will be outfitted with special cameras and cell phones to provide real time updates and coverage that will be used for online coverage during the tournament.So this is kind of similar to the observers they had for the old Elite 50 events, except those were $300 to participate, but I think you had a chance to win a boat.  But the cool thing is the added technology which makes the Marshall an integral part of the online coverage at Bas...
More About: Program

Vote or Don't Complain!!!
2008-11-06 15:27:00
This will be as close to a political message or rant as you will ever see on this blog.  I will keep it short......Get off your duff & VOTE!!!!Don't just sit at home and gripe, make the effort and vote.  Also, encourage your friends and family to do so as well. Message specific to MN outdoors people, please vote on the Clean water, land and legacy amendment.  I don't care which way you vote, but just be informed and make a vote, that is all I ask!!!  A non-vote, is a no vote, so make a vote.  Find info on this amendment here.  RichRichLindgren.com Rich's Bassin' Forum Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
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MN Fall River Smallies
2008-10-30 15:15:00
This past Saturday looked to be one of our last truly semi-warm days here in Minnesota.  So my bass fishing pal, Josh Douglas, and I decided to chase some cool water bronzebacks.  Josh & I got on the river a little before 10am, it will still plenty cool, probably 45 degree air temps and water temps hovered around 48-49 degrees.Our first quick stop around a bridge did not produce any bites.  We bounced down to our second area and I quickly caught a nice 2lb plus chunk of a smallie on 4" Green Pumpkin Copper Flake Mizmo tube rigged on a 1/4oz Bite Me Rattle head.  I then got excited and launched it into the trees   I then had another fish on with a baby ring fry that came off.  Josh then caught a smallie on his 3" Yum Tube, he ended up catching a couple in a row.  Early on we were getting several bites, but not getting hooks into the fish, kind of a finicky bite.We then decide to try the opposite bank where the sun was hitting it and hopefully wa...
More About: River , Fall

MN & WI Weekend Series moves back to Sunday!!!
2008-10-28 15:15:00
ABA recently released an updated Minnesota & Wisconsin 2009 Schedule, they made on change on bodies of water, which I am guessing was due to permits.  Also, they moved two tournaments from launching on the MN to WI side, also probably because of permit issues and costs.But the most notable change is that the first 4 events have been moved to Sunday .  I know several guys that would have fished more or all the events last year if ABA would not have moved them to Saturday.  This allows anglers to prefish on Saturday without taking off of work, plus removes conflicts with other major tournament circuits such as Silverado, BFL's & Fishers of Men, which will allow more anglers to fish multiple circuits.  ABA also has a thing called a BASS Pass that allows you to purchase it and allows you to have a sub at the tourney meeting, so if you can't make it to a pairings meeting because you are fishing a different tourney on Saturday, that is...
More About: Series , Weekend , Back , Moves

Ish wins on the Delta
2008-10-21 16:01:00
Ish wins on the Delta Ish Monroe hoisting the $125k!!! Fish Harder Companies, LLC wants to take this opportunity to congratulate Ish Monroe on his recent win in the Wal-Mart FLW Series tournament on the California Delta. Monroe credited Tru-Tungsten for his win.  "I started off with a frog bite but as the weather deteriorated I switched to flipping matted grass with a Sweet Beaver and a Tru-Tungsten 1 1/2-ounce weight with Power Pro braid line. I pegged my tungsten weight with a Tru-Tungsten Peter T Smart Peg, armed my Sweet Beaver with a 5/0 Youvella flipping hook and tossed everything with a Daiwa Steez 8-foot flipping stick. "Quality tackle that gets the job done is the first step in putting together a winning pattern. My equipment let me get by bait down to where the fish were, feel the bite, set the hook and get them into the livewell. That's about as good as it gets!"Also note, that the 4" Tru-Life Swimbaits are now available for Pre-Order!!!Check out the Video of...
More About: Wins

New Cure for Winter Bass Fishing Blues
2008-10-19 15:57:00
I just picked up a new bass fishing game for the Nintendo Wii.  Its the new Rapala Fishing Frenzy game.  I thought this would help me get through another long winter.  Check out the trailer for the game....Also, I got a few screen shots for you to look at.... I have not had time to actually play it, but I did open the box, its nice that it comes with an adapter to fit the existing Wii controller, so you do not have to actually buy a specific controller for this game, a big plus in my book.As soon as things slow down and cool off outside, I will fire it up and give a full review!!!!RichRichLindgren.com Rich' s Bass in' Forum Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
More About: Blues , Winter , Cure

Lake Minnetonka - Bassmasters Weekend Series Tournament #5 - Sept 27-28th,
2008-10-06 03:51:00
Well the final two day event of the MN Bassmaster Weekend Series was finally upon us.  I was able to get out on the lake one last time the Wednesday before for about 7 hours.  Spent most of that time check some deeper rock areas and a few weedlines and flipping milfoil, none of which produced.  Found a few new docks holding fish, but they were not close to my other areas, so who knew if I would get to them.I drew boat #32 out of 36 and Mark was my partner.  I did not really care about my draw, because it would not effect where I would start.  Mark & I spent the morning working shallow milfoil, pads, sea walls & docks in the Excelsior area of the lake not far from Maynard where we took off from.  Things started slow for me.  Mark was able to get a quick keeper on a black spinnerbait.  I had a few bites early, but they must have been short striking my offerings, as I never hooked up.  About an hour & a half in, I was swimmi...
More About: Sept , Lake , Tournament

Gopher Bassmasters Fall Classic - Lake Waconia - September 21, 2008
2008-09-27 00:38:00
Saturday I was out on Minnetonka again, trying to get dialed in for the Weekend Series tourney this weekend.  I cannot say that I found anything that great, guess I have a couple 3-4 new areas that have some 3lbs plus potential, and I will need plenty of those for this 2 day tournament format.  My best fish came on 3/8oz Tru-Tungsten Jigs and soft plastics.Sunday was our 4th annual Gopher Fall Classic for the club.  This is our one tournament that is more fun, as it does not count towards standing and its a team format.  I was on the winning team the prior 3 years, so I had high expectations for Frank & I.  Another unique thing, is that we do not find out the tournament site until 2 days before the tournament and there is no practice allowed.Frank has had some prior experience on this lake, and I have been on it a couple times, but never really this time of year.  We started in the reeds, Frank caught a small keeper on a Power Slug and lost one on a...
More About: September , Lake

Tonka practice update
2008-09-20 12:36:00
I did get out to Lake Minnetonka on Saturday this past weekend with fellow Gopher Bassmaster Dave Cindrich.  We were greeted with mostly cool air, wind and drizzling rain all day.  Spent a little time fishing some old areas and looked for some new stuff.We only got one decent bite fishing deep, that was a 3lb fish on baby creature bait.  I also got tagged really hard on a 5" Original Optimum swimbait in Sunfish color, but missed the fish.  I feel confident it was a bass, because there were no teeth marks in my bait.  We caught a lot of fish, mostly less then 2lbs.  I got one big bite, that being a 4lb fish swimming a 1/2oz Green Pumpkin/Brown Tru-Tungsten Jig around some shallow grass.  It was a little too wet to get the camera, so no pictures.  Now that I think of it, I should have weighed or measured her for the BP Bass Derby.....For the most part the bite was spotty.  We also caught our fair share of northerns on swim jigs.  ...
More About: Practice , Update

ABA Announces 2009 Bassmaster Weekend Series Schedule
2008-09-13 12:34:00
Breaking NewsABA Announces 2009 Weekend Series Schedule Thursday, September 11, 2008 Photo: ABAAmerican Bass Anglers (ABA) today announced the 2009 Bassmaster Weekend Series schedule with 21 divisions for 2009. Here's an overview. Four of the current divisions will be combined into two divisions. Wisconsin and Minnesota will become a single division with all 2009 events held on the Mississippi River. Also, the two South Carolina divisions will be combined into a single division. ABA noted that "These consolidations will allow more anglers to become involved in the new divisions as they work toward the goal of qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic." The league also stated: "The 2009 Bassmaster Weekend Series schedules have been created with an emphasis on reducing travel for the weekend angler as much as possible. ABA will continue to offer the $5,000 boater 1st-place guaranteed at each divisional qualifying event. This guaranteed payout is over and above the regular p...

Randy Wieczorek edges out Andy Nitchals to become the Minnesota Bass Federa
2008-09-11 12:33:00
Randy Wieczorek edges out Andy Nitchals to become the Minnesota Bass Federation Nation State Champion 2008Wabasha, MNRandy Wieczorek wins 2008 Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship, September 4-5, 2008 on Pools 4 & 5 of the Mississippi River.Minnesota?s best amateur bass anglers tackled the sprawling waters of the Mississippi River for the Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Tournament of Champions. Day one went like clockwork; all the anglers were on the water by 8:00 a.m. The perfect weather proved to be an advantage as the many bags of both largemouth and smallmouth bass brought to the scales prove the Mississippi River is a diverse and fertile bass fishery. Brian Brown of Breezy Point, MN led the pack on day 1 with 4 nice bass weighing over 12lbs, followed closely by Sport Smith of Maple Grove, MN. The field was very tight and most anglers in the Top 50 were in striking distance after Day 1.Day two, the weather changed overnight and anglers were met with a dense...
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MN Bass Federation Nation TOC - Mississippi River Day 2 - September 5, 2008
2008-09-11 12:33:00
Well, my partner for Day 2 was Paul Perovich and he was able to utilize a Skeeter iClass 20 footer with a 250VMAX, so we had the means to run the lake and that was the plan.  Paul had weighed 2 fish the day before, so he said we could fish my fish.  We had some intense fog on day 2 and did not get to take off until about 10:20am opposed to out 7:15am scheduled take off.We were in the 3rd flight and boat #45 on day 2.  It took less then 20 minutes to make the same run today, as we averaged about 71.5mph in the Skeeter opposed to the 57mph in my Aries the morning prior.  I started in the same area as day 1 and was able to get a similar start, as I boated a 16" largemouth on a Black Yum Tube.  I also caught a short smallmouth.  We went to area #2, I caught several short smallmouth on a fork craw and Paul was able to boat a keeper largemouth on a junebug swimjig.I went to area #3 where I had caught and released the one 15" smallmouth on day 1.  Things ...
More About: Mississippi , River , Nation , Bass , September

MN Bass Federation Nation TOC - Mississippi River Day 1 - September 4, 2008
2008-09-11 12:33:00
Per the usual the pairings meeting occurred the night before day 1 of the tournament.  We had a nice meeting, dinner and raffle to raise some money for the local food shelf of Wabasha.  I even won two spools of 17lb Vicious Fluorocarbon, which is a line I use all the time!  My day 1 partner was a young guy named Josh from the host club, Zumbro Valley Bass masters out of Rochester.  This was his first state tournament and we were boat #31 in the 2nd flight.The weather forecast looked very good wind wise to fish Lake Pepin both days, so I was pretty excited about that.  When our boat number was let out, we turned the bow north and ran up the river and lake to the tune of a 25 minute run up Lake Pepin.  We got to my first area all, no other boats.  I caught a 16" largemouth on a 3/8ozFall Craw Tru-Tungsten jig with a green pumpkin Rage Tail Chunk and my partner got a 15" largemouth on a 7" power worm.  I also caught two short fish as well.On ...
More About: Mississippi , River , Nation , September

Mississippi River MNBF TOC Practice Aug 30-Sept 1, 2008
2008-09-11 12:33:00
It would take too long to break down every day of practice in to a separate entry.  So I will bundle all the practice into one entry and then each tournament day will get their own entry.Day 1:I left my house in Lakeville at 5:30am and met fellow club member John Fairbanks in Lake City.  I figured I would start my practice on Lake Pepin since it was on the way to Wabasha and it would save a little time & gas.  We spent the early part of the day checking spots that I have had success on last Sept ember during the Weekend Series tournaments.  The water was quite a bit lower and the current way slower then last fall, so I was anxious to see how that affected the fish.  The first stop resulted in each of catching a nice largemouth and we pulled on a couple more bites.  The next stop produced just one keeper smallmouth bite, not so great.  The next smallmouth area produced a 15", 18" & 20" smallmouth, time to leave there.  The next area...
More About: Mississippi , Practice , River , 2008

BASS Federation Nation Northern Divisional - Winneconne Chain - Practice Da
2008-09-05 12:32:00
First off, I brought my laptop along intending to blog while I was there, but left my charger at home   Sorry for that, but I intend to bring you all up to speed quickly, but if you cannot wait, check out bassmaster.com and look at the results under Federation Nation .Ryan Brant & I got on the water at about 10:30am on Saturday morning.  My intention was to spend a day fishing the south end of the Wolf River and around Poygan and some of those lakes so that I would have water in that area if my partner took his time over there.We started fishing the lower Wolf, we caught several short smallmouth and largemouth.  I did get one nice keeper largemouth on a black blue fleck tube on some eel grass near a cut. We then ventured out in to Poygan, we fished a cut on the north end and I got a keeper largemouth on a Stanley Ribbit using the new 4/0 Tru-Tungsten Hack Hook.  We got a couple more bites theres in the duck weed, but that was it.  We then headed to Willow...
More About: Practice , Bass , Northern , Chain