It's that time of year again. Yep, the Elites are back in town with official practice beginning Monday morning. A stop down to the junior state tournament event revealed a few of the Elite guys already in town. Crochet, Hite, Chapman, and Tietje were at the tanks and in the weigh-in crowd. It appeared that the kids were really enjoying having those guys around and chatting with them as they waited at the tanks. It's nice to see anglers of that caliber taking a little time to make the day for some idolizing young teens. I'm pretty sure they won't forget this state tournament for quite some time.
Monday will mark the first day of practice for the Elites and Torry Rhoades and myself will be riding with and documenting a day of practice with a couple B.A.S.S. pros. Torry will be with David Walker and I will be riding with the "Cajun Baby" Cliff Crochet. The purpose of our ride-alongs will be to document a day of practice from take-off until the boys put the boats on the trailer at the end of the day. Our focus will not be on the lures they throw or the techniques they use, but more so on the way they break down a body of water and the decisions they make over the course of the day. How fast can they develop a pattern? Do they pick apart an area or do they run and gun? These are just a couple of the questions we hope to have some perspectives on. After the tournament concludes we'll be posting about our experiences on the water and likely will have gained some valuable insight into tournament preparation. It should be an interesting day and I'm really looking forward to it.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Day Two Sturgeon Bay...Sometimes it Blows
For day two of our River Road clubber to Sturgeon Bay we faced a significant change in conditions. The temps dropped into the 40's with a stiff northwest wind at 20+mph to start the day. Any hopes of running north to those pre-spawn fatties from the day before had vanished and now the plan was to figure out what to do without leaving Sturgeon Bay. For this day I drew Kevin Herlitzke. Kevin had spent the day before fishing in and around Sturgeon Bay so we had options. The flats were out of the question to start the day as the wind was blowing straight in, frothing up the shallows with 4 foot waves. After a short bit messing around on a flat in the channel the decision was made to run to Sawyer Harbor.
Getting to Sawyer Harbor on a good day is a piece of cake. (If I had to guess I'd say it's 2-3 miles from the shipping canal.) But on a day with 4-5 footers blowing straight into your face, I promise you, it will make you pucker up tight. Especially for guys like us who don't spend a lot of time on Great Lakes waters. Once we got there it didn't take long to start putting fish in the boat. Kevin hooked up first on the Flash Mob Jr. Not long after, I boated one on a spinnerbait. For the next four hours we worked a portion of flat that had weed clumps scattered throughout it. Those fish were definitely relating to the weeds. Any time you pulled your bait through a clump you'd get bit. The wave action had really dirtied the water up, but it didn't seem to bother the fish. We probably caught 30-40 fish from that particular area and we weren't the only the boat there. The size didn't match what I caught the previous day, but that was to be expected as the majority of these fish were post-spawn. Not catching the same weight really didn't bother me. It was a blast having jacked-up smallmouth crushing a spinnerbait. It's been a while since I've had that happen. The umbrella rig was by far the best producer though. Kevin put on a clinic with that thing and caught more and bigger fish than I did on the spinnerbait. I threw it a little bit, but I get bored chucking that thing out there.
At a little after noon the wind began to settle a bit and it looked like we'd have a chance to fish the Sturgeon Bay flats. We made our way across the bay and set up on a rock ridge that had some bedding fish up on top. Kevin picked up the A-rig and I picked up the jerkbait again. I didn't get three jerks in and I was hooked up. Soon after the fish was able to shake the hooks and was off. I immediately fired the bait back out there and jerked twice and I was hooked up again. This time with a fish close to 3 pounds. I was able to cull with this fish and with the quick action, thought I'd be able to cull out my entire bag. That didn't happen, but we did pick up a handful more as we worked that area. With about a half hour remaining the wind really laid down and we were able to look at some on beds. It was difficult to see the fish and how they were relating to our baits, but we did put a hook in a few.
At the scales I managed a measly 13.5 pounds while Kevin weighed in over 15.75lbs. Neither weight was enough to make the top five on this day.
Top Five Finishers
1. Jamie Nichols 19.06lbs
2. Andy Smith 17.67lbs
3. Ryan Geister 17.07lbs
4. Kyle Schauf 15.92lbs
5. Dave Snyder 15.85lbs
Big bass honors went to Kevin Herlitzke with a personal best 5.17 pound smallie.
1st Place finisher Jamie Nichols
My closing thoughts on Sturgeon Bay are that it's an amazing fishery. The long growing seasons we've had the past few years, coupled with the population explosion of the goby have created one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the country. I don't know if the weights will continue to rise like they have the past few years, but if they do the next world record smallie will likely come from the Bay of Green Bay. This I do know, I will be spending the first few weeks of the fishing season next year looking for one of those 8 lb giants.
Getting to Sawyer Harbor on a good day is a piece of cake. (If I had to guess I'd say it's 2-3 miles from the shipping canal.) But on a day with 4-5 footers blowing straight into your face, I promise you, it will make you pucker up tight. Especially for guys like us who don't spend a lot of time on Great Lakes waters. Once we got there it didn't take long to start putting fish in the boat. Kevin hooked up first on the Flash Mob Jr. Not long after, I boated one on a spinnerbait. For the next four hours we worked a portion of flat that had weed clumps scattered throughout it. Those fish were definitely relating to the weeds. Any time you pulled your bait through a clump you'd get bit. The wave action had really dirtied the water up, but it didn't seem to bother the fish. We probably caught 30-40 fish from that particular area and we weren't the only the boat there. The size didn't match what I caught the previous day, but that was to be expected as the majority of these fish were post-spawn. Not catching the same weight really didn't bother me. It was a blast having jacked-up smallmouth crushing a spinnerbait. It's been a while since I've had that happen. The umbrella rig was by far the best producer though. Kevin put on a clinic with that thing and caught more and bigger fish than I did on the spinnerbait. I threw it a little bit, but I get bored chucking that thing out there.
At a little after noon the wind began to settle a bit and it looked like we'd have a chance to fish the Sturgeon Bay flats. We made our way across the bay and set up on a rock ridge that had some bedding fish up on top. Kevin picked up the A-rig and I picked up the jerkbait again. I didn't get three jerks in and I was hooked up. Soon after the fish was able to shake the hooks and was off. I immediately fired the bait back out there and jerked twice and I was hooked up again. This time with a fish close to 3 pounds. I was able to cull with this fish and with the quick action, thought I'd be able to cull out my entire bag. That didn't happen, but we did pick up a handful more as we worked that area. With about a half hour remaining the wind really laid down and we were able to look at some on beds. It was difficult to see the fish and how they were relating to our baits, but we did put a hook in a few.
At the scales I managed a measly 13.5 pounds while Kevin weighed in over 15.75lbs. Neither weight was enough to make the top five on this day.
Top Five Finishers
1. Jamie Nichols 19.06lbs
2. Andy Smith 17.67lbs
3. Ryan Geister 17.07lbs
4. Kyle Schauf 15.92lbs
5. Dave Snyder 15.85lbs
Big bass honors went to Kevin Herlitzke with a personal best 5.17 pound smallie.
My closing thoughts on Sturgeon Bay are that it's an amazing fishery. The long growing seasons we've had the past few years, coupled with the population explosion of the goby have created one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the country. I don't know if the weights will continue to rise like they have the past few years, but if they do the next world record smallie will likely come from the Bay of Green Bay. This I do know, I will be spending the first few weeks of the fishing season next year looking for one of those 8 lb giants.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Day One Sturgeon Bay Whackfest
So it's been a while since my last post. I apologize for that, but the last couple weeks have been extremely busy. During Memorial Day week I went to Open Bay Lodge in Ontario on our annual family fishing trip followed by three days of work and then right back on the road to Sturgeon Bay for a two-day club tournament. I'll get back to the Open Bay trip later this week, but today I'll fill you in our River Road trip to Sturgeon Bay.
If you've never been to Sturgeon Bay, it's a trip you have to make if you're a serious smallmouth fisherman. I've never been to a place more loaded with 4-5 pound fish and it has the ability to kick out true monsters. You have a legitimate chance of catching smallies over 7 pounds. Earlier this spring during the annual Sturgeon Bay spring open, two fish over 8 lbs were weighed in with many fish over 6 pounds weighed. Big bass honors were taken home with a fish weighing 8.45 pounds pictured right. WOW!!!!! While we didn't bring in any giants of that magnitude, one member of our club did manage to catch two fish right near that 6 pound mark.
The Sturgeon Bay area of the bay of Green Bay is an interesting fishery in the spring. From my experience there over the last three years, I've come to the conclusion that there are three different spawning periods that occur there, four if you count the Lake Michigan side. The first areas to fire up in the spring are the areas in and around Sturgeon Bay, including Little Sturgeon, Riley's, and Sand bays as well as Sturgeon Bay itself. The water warms in these areas the earliest and seems to kick out the biggest pre-spawn bags. Once these fish start to spawn, however, your best bet is to begin moving north from Sturgeon Bay. That's not to say that you won't catch a ton of fish around Sturgeon Bay, but once the spawn starts it's much more difficult to find and catch the giants. As you move north you'll find colder water and more fish in that pre-spawn mode. Areas to check out here are the points that extend out into the bay of Green Bay along the Door County peninsula, as well as, the bays including Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Eagle Bay and Sister Bay among others. These waters I would put into the second wave of spawning activitiy. As these areas start the spawn, it's time to move out into the Bay of Green Bay itself, looking for humps and island that will still have cooler water and the last of the spawning waves.
On the weekend of June 1st and 2nd our club planned a two-day outing that launched from Sturgeon Bay. Having just returned from our trip to Canada it was time for me to get some work done and I didn't get any time to practice. I drew Torry Rhoades as a partner for the first of our two tournaments and he was able to practice the weekend prior. His plan was to spend a day north and I had him check some water that I had done well on in the past. There were fish on the chew up there but he didn't catch any monsters. He also reported back that he hadn't seen any bedding activitiy going on up there yet. That was the key in my mind. No beds means pre-spawn fish. Just what I was looking for. As the tournament edged closer some other guys from our club began heading up and reports started trickling back about all the beds in the southern bays and reports of some guys having 100 fish days which was another plus because I knew that they would have a hard time leaving all those bedding fish to look for bigger ones. Who could blame them? 100 fish days? Geez. As we showed up the night before the tournament the dock talk going around was that they weren't catching any big fish north. Of course this was dock talk, but we're a pretty open club when it comes to information sharing. Even so, I thought there might be some sandbagging going on and with the reports that I was hearing I thought that the northern stuff should be ready to explode. Luckily, I had drawn Torry and he was eager and willing to make the run north.
Tournament day greeted us with light winds which is a God-send when you're traveling 30 miles through the Bay of Green Bay. The trip was a breeze except for the fact that I managed to get a jerkbait hooked into my rain suit within the first three minutes. When we arrived we pulled up on the main point leading into one of the bays. Water temp was in the low 50's which means perfect jerkbait temps. It didn't take long and Torry was hooked up with a nice 4+lb fish. Then another. And another. During this time I caught two small keepers. It was one of those times where you knew it was pointless to put them in the box, but I did just in case. From there we began working down the flat in about 6 ft of water. We continued to catch fish but there weren't any big ones coming aboard. From there we moved out to the second break and focused on area in about ten feet of water with a mixture of sand and rock. These areas I had done well on in the past, but Torry hadn't checked them so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't take long and I was able to put one in the boat around five pounds. That was really all we needed to see so we spent the next 5 hours working this area. By 12:30 both Torry and myself had the weight that we would end the day with. I was unable to make a cull after 10:30. At 12:30 we decided to run off shore to check some water out there. We found a bunch of fish but neither of us were able to upgrade our catch.
Our primary techniques for the day consisted of jerkbaiting with a little umbrella rig action to mix it up a little bit. I was able to land a few on the A-rig but none that I eventually weighed. The jerkbait carried all the weight for both Torry and myself. When it was all said and done our boat brought in 10 fish for over 46 lbs with the top six finishers all catching bags over 20lbs.
Top Five Finishers
1. Nathan Ranallo 24lbs 3oz
2. Ben Potaracke 23lbs 4oz
3. Torry Rhoades 22lbs 2oz
4. Jim Tomsovich 21lbs 9oz
5. Dave Snyder 20lbs 5oz
Big Fish honors went to Ben Potoracke with a 6lb 1oz brute.
The strangest thing about fishing the Bay of Greenbay is that even with over 24lbs of smallmouth in the box, I never felt comfortable with my weight. Any other place I've fished I wouldn't have questioned having enough to win, but I know what that place can produce having gotten my butt whipped in the Open over the past few years. Our Day Two tournament would be a different story as the weather was about to take a change for the worse. I'll tell you more about it my next post.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Q&A with Rich Lindgren on the BFL 5-18-13
Today, I bring you a Q&A session I had with sixth place finisher Rich Lindgren. Rich is a
tournament bass angler living in Lakeville, MN chasing bass all over
Minnesota and its adjoining states. Bass blogger, podcaster and fishing
promoter. You’ll see him fishing the Minnesota bass tournament scene
representing krugerfarms.com and Dobyns Rods among others. You can
follow him on Twitter (@HellaBass) and like him on Facebook (facebook.com/bassinblog)._________________________________________________________________________________
Q: Talk about your previous experience fishing Pools 7, 8, and 9 and did that experience help in preparing for this tournament?
Rich: My previous experience on these pools goes back to over 10 years where I fished a few small club tournaments, but there was a gap of close to 10 years from then until just last year, when I came down for the Sunday of the Elite event (outside of a Weekend Series out of PDC, where I locked up to Pool 9). I also fished the Everstart as a co-Angler and fished the TBF northern divisional last September. Last year's tournament experience gave me the familiarity with Pool 8 so I could get around and gave me confidence in areas where I felt quality fish lived and I felt I just had to refine those areas for spring.
Q: What were the river conditions like?
Rich: For the tournament, I believe the stage was around 8.7', water temps were 62-65F, and water clarity was around a foot in most areas that I fished.
Q: How did your practice period go?
Rich: Practice was limited and I really only found 1 decent area with about 3 spots. I spent about 5 hours on the top of Pool 7 the Saturday prior because of a small window I had. I fished 7 again from 4-8pm on Thursday night on my way down and after that I had one small area where I found a few decent largemouth. Friday morning, I fished from 6am - Noon out of the Stoddard ramp. It was hit & miss, but I found an area where I got 2 good largemouth bites, a bank with some bedding smallies and then finally a staging spot that seemed pretty loaded with fish. From 1pm until the meeting I fished back up by Clinton street looking for backup water, that only eliminated more water for me.
Q: Based on your assessment, what stage do you believe the majority of fish are in right now?
Rich: Great question on what stage the fish are in. Well, I can say that I found a few smallmouth and largemouth on beds in the tournament & caught some of each on Saturday. The weird thing for me, is that I fished a closing dam near my spawning bank, which I thought would be loaded with pre-spawn fish, but while a few fish were chunky, about 80% of them were long and thin, and looked worn out, which would suggest a bunch of post-spawn fish. So I guess, there are fish in all 3 stages, but my guess going in, it would've been mostly pre-spawn with the spawn just starting. For the next few weeks, I think you can fish for both bedding fish as well as spawners, but I think the safer bet would be to target the schools coming and going.
Q: What pattern(s) did you establish in practice?
Rich: Not sure I really ended up with a pattern, as much as I found a really good spot and two areas with some better single fish on beds.
Q: On tournament day, did you catch what you expected to?
Rich: I think I did expect to catch what I did in practice, but thought I would have got more fish off the beds, but ended up getting most of my quality fish off the staging spot. I caught a few quick fish off the spot in practice and left to find more, but when I fished it hard the morning of the tournament it quickly became apparent this spot was loaded. In hindsight, I wish I would have spent a little less time on the first spawing bank with smallies, many had left overnight, also spent time catching two bedders that were too small. Maybe I could have caught a bigger largemouth that I ran of time on.
Q: Any closing thoughts you have about this event?
Rich: Overall, pretty pleased with a 6th place finish in a May BFL. Outside of a dead fish that cost me 5th, I think I could have gained a few ounces to a pound by sticking with my primary spot, but I left to fish for a big upgrade looking for largemouth. It didn't work, but that is what I needed to do to have a chance at a win.
_________________________________________________________________________________
I'd like to say thanks to both Kyle and Rich for sharing their BFL experiences with us and hopefully we'll hear from them again in the future. Friday, I'll be making a trip to one of my favorite spring smallmouth lakes and hopefully I'll have some pictures and stories of giants to share with you.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Great Lakes Division BFL La Crosse, WI 5-18-13
Saturday brought the first BFL Great Lakes Division tournament of the 2013 season to La Crosse. While I didn't fish it, I was able to get reports from a couple different anglers. I will be posting these reports over the next couple days. Today, I'll bring you the first of these updates with a guest blog post written by Kyle Schauf.
In His Words
Fish to win. Fish to
win. Fish to win. It’s pretty easy to say, rolls right off your
tongue, but when it comes to tournament day it is a lot harder to do than you
think. I haven’t always done it; it’s
something that in the last couple years I’ve really tried to focus on
learning. Prior to that, I’d be happy if
I got a check. Aim small, miss small,
right. Don’t get me wrong, the W’s
aren’t flying my way, but it’s a lot easier to swallow when I miss first by
ounces and land in the top 5, than it is to miss a check and land in 60th. Fish to win!
You have to practice the same way, eliminate areas and patterns that
aren’t holding the winning fish. So I’ve
learned…sometimes you just don’t find the winning fish.
The BFL Great Lakes Division made its first stop of the
season this past weekend here in La Crosse.
For me, practice started last Tuesday evening. Prior to practice, I had yet to catch a bass
on pools 7, 8, 9…so it was basically a fresh start from scratch. I started my search on pool 7, Lake
Onalaska. Grass where I could find it
was sparse and submergent. The rest of what I found was dirty, cold water and a
few short bass. A far cry of where I
thought it would be, and at least a month behind last year. So I abandoned the lake for the day and head
out to the river in search of some brown ones.
Umm, not a bite. When you get a
bite you can start to piece things together, when you get nothing…as expected
not much to go on.
Wednesday night was much of the same, a night on the lake in
all new areas with a few smaller fish. I
was definitely eliminating water but still really hadn’t gotten any clues to
what was actually going on. Thursday,
finally a full day on the water; surely I could piece it together, after all, I
had a full 12 hours on the water ahead of me.
It started out well, first stop, one keeper, then another, and
another. Ok, well this area is holding
some fish, only problem they aren’t of the winning kind. So I leave, head to a spawning area, the
water is warming and there is an approaching spawning moon. I pull into the shallows of the bay and see
lots of spawning activity. I found a lot
of smaller bucks, building, cruising and even saw a bit of bedding activity. However, everything I could see was small,
maybe keeper range or slightly bigger and certainly not what I was looking
for. So I pull off the shallow weed
edges to work them over. The females must
be close, the edge, the drop, the deeper ditch.
With a forecast of warming temps, I could almost visualize the females
pulling into the shallows by tournament day.
My search of the weed edges and drops, gave me nothing, not a bite. Where are they? It’s early afternoon…and I’m still
looking! I pull into another shallow
area and find 2 big fish on beds. The
kind I’m looking for pushing five pounds each.
I backed out and left them.
Friday brought rain and a dip in the thermostat. I decided to go back out to the river to see
if anything changed. The water was
falling, the flow was increasing, but the water was surprisingly cleaning
up. I checked the smallie spots I had looked
days prior and sure enough, I shook 4-5 bites and pulled up a decent one.
My plan was formulating, despite the dip in temps I still could see the
females moving in.
Tourney day, boat 132 of 139, not really the draw you want in any tournament. My plan was to see if I could put together a limit of males while I waited for the females to push into the areas I had found and of course pull the two big females off the beds where I left them. I figured if I could catch those 2 big girls plus 3 other decent ones, I would position myself for the win. Fish to win.
Tourney day, boat 132 of 139, not really the draw you want in any tournament. My plan was to see if I could put together a limit of males while I waited for the females to push into the areas I had found and of course pull the two big females off the beds where I left them. I figured if I could catch those 2 big girls plus 3 other decent ones, I would position myself for the win. Fish to win.
After missing the first lock, I pulled into
my first area and caught a keeper or two on a Senko. It was by no means fast and furious but by
about 9:00 I had a small limit. I left
my primary shallow flats in search of the bigger fish. Once again I probed the edges of the nearest grassline,
ditches and closest deep water; I
alternated thru the spectrum of traps, vibrating jigs, spinnerbaits and
flipping baits but nothing
prevailed. By noon the sun was high and
warm. I had upgraded my limit a couple
times but it was only by ounces. It was
time to make a move. I headed over to catch the big girls off their beds. The sun was high and they should have been
set up perfectly. I approached silently. As I arrived I couldn’t tell if they were home or not because of the shadows. After a half dozen casts I realized that they
had vanished. I am not sure why they
left, by virtue of nature or at the hand of an angler, but they were GONE. Considering this was a key part of my fish to
win program, much of my hope to win vanished right along with the big females
off their beds. Put it behind me.
I still had a plan to upgrade.. I headed back to my starting area, where I
upgraded about 5-6 times, again only by ounces with each cull. By one o’clock I knew this wasn’t going to be
the way to make a run at the top spot, so I decided to make a run to check out
the brown ones I had found the day before.
My hope was that the 4-5 bites I shook the day before would be bigger
upgrades to my largemouth. When I
arrived at my smallie area I pretty much could tell it wasn’t going to
happen. The flow had increased pretty
drastically and I only managed a couple of small buck males. It was about 2:00 when I made the lock back
down and had a little time for some last minute upgrades before the 3:00 check
in. I made a couple stops on some
current points and eddies, but was unable to find a keeper bite. The day was done.
At the scales I weighed in five large mouth for 10lbs 8
oz. The winner had a bag of 5 good
smallies for a little over 16lbs.
Despite my mid pack finish I still felt that I made decisions to fish to
win. I basically caught the fish I found
in practice and never got the big bite that I was hoping for. The females are not “there” yet. With the full moon this week, stabilizing
water levels, and some sun…I fully anticipate some big waves of spawning
females will make a move into the shallow flats. If you’re going to fish the Miss pools 7,8,9
for spawners, tie up a Senko, put on your Solarbats shades, because in my
opinion…This week will be THE WEEK!
Monday, May 13, 2013
First stop on the River Road tournament schedule---Pool 5A
Pool 5A of the Mississippi River was our first tournament on the River Road schedule for 2013. Saturday brought gale force winds and high water but no worries.....the fish would bite.
Most years our first tournament of the year is either held on Pool 9 or 10. This year we decided to mix it up and fish some waters at different times of the year. I have had very little early spring experience on Pool 5A so I decided to spend a couple days there to practice. The first practice day brought
a slow, steady rain all day long. It wasn't very nice to fish in but the fish bit well and I was able to locate a couple areas that were holding fish. The key for me was finding points that led into spawning areas protected from the main current flow. This was no easy feat with the water as high as it was. Most places the current was flowing through the trees. I also caught a giant walleye pitching a pit boss to a flooded tree line.
The second day of practice brought blue skies and tough post frontal conditions. In five hours on the water I got only two bites, one small male and a nice 4lber. I had three primary areas to fish and planned on spending my entire tournament day in those areas.
Tournament day brought brutal conditions. The temperatures dropped into the 40's for take-off and the winds picked up throughout the day and would gust up to 40mph. The good news was the fish were biting. My first stop landed myself and my co-angler two beautiful 4.5 pounders, one each. From there I moved to a secluded cut where I had found some smallmouth on beds. They disappeared, but a bunch of largemouth moved in. I was able to finish out my limit in there and make a few culls as well. My co-angler picked up three more himself. It was shaping out to be ok. My last stop of the day didn't yield any upgrades and I ended the day with 12.5 pounds and finished fourth. I needed a couple more like this one and I'd have been in the hunt.
The top three had 17+, 16+, and 15+lbs respectively. The guys at the top focused on current areas which turned out to be the smart move. I think a lot of fish haven't made it to the back of the pockets yet, though the 4.6 that I weighed did have a beat up bloody tail and she was shallow. I think some spawning has happened but the recent weather has them a little messed up. The following link will give you a look at what the leaders did to catch their fish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=83reQlIvxws
The weekend of May 18th will bring the BFL to La Crosse. I won't be fishing it but I'll try and bring updates back with results and a recap of the action. I owe my wife a weekend home before the next flurry begins.
Most years our first tournament of the year is either held on Pool 9 or 10. This year we decided to mix it up and fish some waters at different times of the year. I have had very little early spring experience on Pool 5A so I decided to spend a couple days there to practice. The first practice day brought
a slow, steady rain all day long. It wasn't very nice to fish in but the fish bit well and I was able to locate a couple areas that were holding fish. The key for me was finding points that led into spawning areas protected from the main current flow. This was no easy feat with the water as high as it was. Most places the current was flowing through the trees. I also caught a giant walleye pitching a pit boss to a flooded tree line.The second day of practice brought blue skies and tough post frontal conditions. In five hours on the water I got only two bites, one small male and a nice 4lber. I had three primary areas to fish and planned on spending my entire tournament day in those areas.
Tournament day brought brutal conditions. The temperatures dropped into the 40's for take-off and the winds picked up throughout the day and would gust up to 40mph. The good news was the fish were biting. My first stop landed myself and my co-angler two beautiful 4.5 pounders, one each. From there I moved to a secluded cut where I had found some smallmouth on beds. They disappeared, but a bunch of largemouth moved in. I was able to finish out my limit in there and make a few culls as well. My co-angler picked up three more himself. It was shaping out to be ok. My last stop of the day didn't yield any upgrades and I ended the day with 12.5 pounds and finished fourth. I needed a couple more like this one and I'd have been in the hunt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=83reQlIvxws
The weekend of May 18th will bring the BFL to La Crosse. I won't be fishing it but I'll try and bring updates back with results and a recap of the action. I owe my wife a weekend home before the next flurry begins.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Drastic Changes
It's amazing the difference a week can make. This applies anywhere in the sport of bass fishing, but even more so this week in Wisconsin. Last Tuesday brought high's in the mid-80's and by Thursday the snow was flying. Some areas received 15+ inches, while most areas around La Crosse got just a few inches. With the snow came the drastic drop in air temps which in turn dropped the water temp of the Mississippi River by nearly 15 degrees in some areas. Main channel areas dropped from the low 50's to the low 40's in the matter of just a few days. This made for some particularly interesting conditions for the second tournament of the season.
Saturday brought the first of three MSBC tournaments to pools 7, 8, and 9 of the Mississippi River. I was once again fishing with Torry Rhoades. Last week had shown some good staging action for largemouths and with no time for either of us to pre-fish for this tournament, we were winging it. We decided to return to the same areas that we fished the week prior. We knew that the conditions had changed drastically from the week prior, but we felt that the fish would likely still be in the same areas. While our assumptions were probably right, the fish did not want to cooperate. We managed a nice 4 pounder early in the day, but only managed to pick up two other small keepers in the morning. We decided to make the move north and try and pick up some smallmouth with only a few hours left in the tournament day. Our efforts didn't pay off and we only caught one more keeper the rest of the day. The reaction bait bite has yet to really turn on. Typically lipless cranks and jerkbaits shine with these water temps, but it seems the only bites we can get are with slow moving plastics. The decision to look for smallies was the right one, but with no practice we were really fishing history. Smallies dominated this event with an awesome bag of nearly 25 lbs for six fish took top prizes. Check out the following link to hear what the winners were up to.
http://northrhoadesoutdoors.com/
Next weekend we head to pool 5A for the opener of the River Road season. The weather is looking promising, but with rising water from the recent snow melt, conditions should be interesting.
Lesson Learned
Never fish history. Even if you have lots of local knowledge, you won't be able to compete with the guys who put their time in. Work hard or stay home.
Saturday brought the first of three MSBC tournaments to pools 7, 8, and 9 of the Mississippi River. I was once again fishing with Torry Rhoades. Last week had shown some good staging action for largemouths and with no time for either of us to pre-fish for this tournament, we were winging it. We decided to return to the same areas that we fished the week prior. We knew that the conditions had changed drastically from the week prior, but we felt that the fish would likely still be in the same areas. While our assumptions were probably right, the fish did not want to cooperate. We managed a nice 4 pounder early in the day, but only managed to pick up two other small keepers in the morning. We decided to make the move north and try and pick up some smallmouth with only a few hours left in the tournament day. Our efforts didn't pay off and we only caught one more keeper the rest of the day. The reaction bait bite has yet to really turn on. Typically lipless cranks and jerkbaits shine with these water temps, but it seems the only bites we can get are with slow moving plastics. The decision to look for smallies was the right one, but with no practice we were really fishing history. Smallies dominated this event with an awesome bag of nearly 25 lbs for six fish took top prizes. Check out the following link to hear what the winners were up to.
http://northrhoadesoutdoors.com/
Next weekend we head to pool 5A for the opener of the River Road season. The weather is looking promising, but with rising water from the recent snow melt, conditions should be interesting.
Lesson Learned
Never fish history. Even if you have lots of local knowledge, you won't be able to compete with the guys who put their time in. Work hard or stay home.
Monday, April 29, 2013
The tournament season is underway
This past Sunday marked the kickoff of the tournament season for myself and Torry Rhoades. It's been nearly six months since the last tournament of 2012 and it couldn't have come soon enough. Tournament waters were pools 7, 8, and 9 of the Mississippi River and we launched out of Clinton Street on pool 8.
Fishing had been tough as of late and Saturday would be our only day of practice. We took the divide and conquer approach with Torry checking pool 7 and myself spending the day on pool 8. Bites were hard to come by. Typically this time of year the water temps are in the high 50's everywhere with the shallows pushing into the 60's. This year with the late spring, morning temps didn't hit 50 in a lot of areas. Bigger fish usually are stacking up on ledges and the males are flooding the shallows. Our practice didn't show that. Torry picked up only a few small bites all day on pool 7 and I didn't fair much better on pool 8. I did manage to pick up a handful of decent bites on the flats and that became our game plan for tournament day.
Tournament day brought mild overnight temps and I was hoping that those fish on the flats would still be fired up early in the day. I don't typically like fishing flats this time of year, especially in the mornings. Water temps usually drop more drastically there overnight and it usually slows the fishing down. And, of course, that was the case for us. We made a couple passes through the most productive area first thing in the morning and only managed a pike and a few shorts. After an hour, we decided to pull out to a nearby ledge and let those flats warm back up a bit with hopes that the bite would turn on later in the day. During practice I picked up a single keeper fish on this particular ledge but when there's one, there's always more. Not long after making the move, we began picking up fish. It wasn't fast and furious, by any means, but the bite was consistent and the quality of fish were better than I had caught the day prior on the flats. We made the decision to spend the day camped on that ledge with the hopes that more fish would filter in throughout the day.
When it was all said and done, we pulled in about 15- 20 keepers and our best eight fish weighed 23.58 lbs. Not bad considering how tough practice had been. It was good enough to capture second place overall. The winners had a massive bag totaling 28.68 lbs anchored by a 5.04 lb kicker. The funny part about this story is that when we left that flat early in the morning there was just one other boat fishing there, and yes, it was the eventual winners. They stayed all day and the bite obviously did turn on. I have to be honest though. I had no idea the quality of fish that were there. My best five fish the day prior wouldn't have broke 12 lbs, so knowing that, I still would have made all the same decisions that I did.
The rust is off. The season is underway and the prespawn action is just heating up. If you're getting the itch to fish, now's the time to make a trip to the river.
Fishing had been tough as of late and Saturday would be our only day of practice. We took the divide and conquer approach with Torry checking pool 7 and myself spending the day on pool 8. Bites were hard to come by. Typically this time of year the water temps are in the high 50's everywhere with the shallows pushing into the 60's. This year with the late spring, morning temps didn't hit 50 in a lot of areas. Bigger fish usually are stacking up on ledges and the males are flooding the shallows. Our practice didn't show that. Torry picked up only a few small bites all day on pool 7 and I didn't fair much better on pool 8. I did manage to pick up a handful of decent bites on the flats and that became our game plan for tournament day.
Tournament day brought mild overnight temps and I was hoping that those fish on the flats would still be fired up early in the day. I don't typically like fishing flats this time of year, especially in the mornings. Water temps usually drop more drastically there overnight and it usually slows the fishing down. And, of course, that was the case for us. We made a couple passes through the most productive area first thing in the morning and only managed a pike and a few shorts. After an hour, we decided to pull out to a nearby ledge and let those flats warm back up a bit with hopes that the bite would turn on later in the day. During practice I picked up a single keeper fish on this particular ledge but when there's one, there's always more. Not long after making the move, we began picking up fish. It wasn't fast and furious, by any means, but the bite was consistent and the quality of fish were better than I had caught the day prior on the flats. We made the decision to spend the day camped on that ledge with the hopes that more fish would filter in throughout the day.
When it was all said and done, we pulled in about 15- 20 keepers and our best eight fish weighed 23.58 lbs. Not bad considering how tough practice had been. It was good enough to capture second place overall. The winners had a massive bag totaling 28.68 lbs anchored by a 5.04 lb kicker. The funny part about this story is that when we left that flat early in the morning there was just one other boat fishing there, and yes, it was the eventual winners. They stayed all day and the bite obviously did turn on. I have to be honest though. I had no idea the quality of fish that were there. My best five fish the day prior wouldn't have broke 12 lbs, so knowing that, I still would have made all the same decisions that I did.
The rust is off. The season is underway and the prespawn action is just heating up. If you're getting the itch to fish, now's the time to make a trip to the river.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
First day on the water
Yesterday marked my first day fishing on open water for the 2013 fishing season. If you're from the south you may find this ridiculous, but this year has been the coldest spring that I can remember and the ice has just recently left the river. Ice reports from the northern part of the state are still showing numbers in excess of 20 inches. Yikes. (This year's statewide opener may not happen as planned.)
I launched from Clinton Street on Pool 8 of the Mississippi River. My goals for the day were to make sure that my motor had made it through the winter unscathed and to try and find some walleye for dinner. With water temps around 36 degrees, I felt walleye were probably my best bet at success for the day. Not so much. I spent the first 3 hours of the day fighting 20mph winds only to land a few small walleyes. I didn't catch any saugers which was surprising to me.
I then decided to venture into some popular spring largemouth areas to throw a few baits around. I have to be honest. I didn't expect to get a bite. I've never caught largemouths in water that cold, except through the ice. My plan was to slowly drag a beaver around and hope that one would pick it up. It didn't take long until a got what sure felt like a bite. I set the hook only to come up with some grass on my rig. Even though, I'd convinced myself that I'd been tricked by the grass, I threw back into the same spot. As I S-L-O-W-L-Y dragged my lure back to the boat, I felt the telltale thunk on the end of my line. This was definitely a fish. I set the hook and brought a beautifully colored 3.5 pound largemouth to the boat. Success!!! Normally I wouldn't have gotten excited over a single fish, but this was the first largemouth of the year and I did it in ice water. (Actually saw some gulls perched on ice flows.) I threw back to that same spot multiple times and was able to land two more nice fish. The rest of the area didn't produce any bites. Oh well, it was still a good day. A day that I needed after such a long winter.
Lesson Learned:
No water is too cold to catch a bass. They will bite. Suck it up and figure it out.
I launched from Clinton Street on Pool 8 of the Mississippi River. My goals for the day were to make sure that my motor had made it through the winter unscathed and to try and find some walleye for dinner. With water temps around 36 degrees, I felt walleye were probably my best bet at success for the day. Not so much. I spent the first 3 hours of the day fighting 20mph winds only to land a few small walleyes. I didn't catch any saugers which was surprising to me.
I then decided to venture into some popular spring largemouth areas to throw a few baits around. I have to be honest. I didn't expect to get a bite. I've never caught largemouths in water that cold, except through the ice. My plan was to slowly drag a beaver around and hope that one would pick it up. It didn't take long until a got what sure felt like a bite. I set the hook only to come up with some grass on my rig. Even though, I'd convinced myself that I'd been tricked by the grass, I threw back into the same spot. As I S-L-O-W-L-Y dragged my lure back to the boat, I felt the telltale thunk on the end of my line. This was definitely a fish. I set the hook and brought a beautifully colored 3.5 pound largemouth to the boat. Success!!! Normally I wouldn't have gotten excited over a single fish, but this was the first largemouth of the year and I did it in ice water. (Actually saw some gulls perched on ice flows.) I threw back to that same spot multiple times and was able to land two more nice fish. The rest of the area didn't produce any bites. Oh well, it was still a good day. A day that I needed after such a long winter.
Lesson Learned:
No water is too cold to catch a bass. They will bite. Suck it up and figure it out.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Where we went wrong
If you read my previous post on why fish bite our lures, you might be asking yourself how it's possible that we could be wrong for so long on this basic principle of fishing. I believe there are two main reasons for our false reasoning. The first is the idea of anthropomorphism. (Big word but has simple meaning) The second is our inborn need to know why something happens. These two combined create the perfect environment to breed misinformation.
Let's start with the term anthropomorphism. The definition of this term is the attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. In other words, we try to explain and justify what a fish does based on how we act or make decisions. This is a big problem that we need to overcome if we're going to have any chance of understanding fish behavior. A fish's brain is much different than ours. We make our decisions based on the process of reasoning. Fish don't do that. They are purely reactionary creatures. They don't think. When a fish sees a potential food item it triggers an instinctive feeding response. Some days these triggers are different than others and each fish may have a different set of triggers that set them off. These triggers can be influenced by the weather, the time of year and the need to protect, amongst others, that I don't believe we truly understand yet. These reactionary responses aren't limited to the fish's feeding behavior. They play a big part in how a fish responds to danger and how they respond to changes in their environment. If we can understand how a fish's brain works, it well help us to stay out of the anthropomorphism trap.
The second major player that has led us down the wrong path is our unending need to know why something happens. This is a trait that is unique to humans and plays a huge role in the process of reasoning. This trait is something that we are born with. It's not a learned trait. If you have young children you know this to be the case. Not long after our kids learn to talk they're favorite word becomes "Why?" "Why dad?" If you have children you know what I mean. They often times ask why when you've already explained why. It's how our brains work. How does this play with fishing? Before the age of the internet, our information gathering mechanisms were limited. Everything we learned came from either personal experience or from limited traditional media. Our questions were answered by a select few experts in the field and being experts they had the answers. When asked why fish bite our lures it was natural for them to assume and then pass on to us the idea that it must be because they're fooled into thinking it's something that they already eat. No one would question these guys at the time because they were looked upon as gods of fishing. And they were gods. We all have certain figures embedded into our memories from our youth that were larger than life to us. How could you question someone with vastly more experience and knowledge than you, even if it didn't make perfect sense? You couldn't and it became "fact".
We came to a fork in the road some 100 years ago, or so, and we went down the wrong path. From then on, we've been trying to find our way out of this maze not knowing that we made a wrong turn. The key now is to backtrack to that fork in the road and take the correct course. When we do that I believe we'll unlock new opportunities that we don't even know exist. It will allow us to open a new way of thinking and with the information gathering capabilities we have now, maybe we can master the sport of fishing.
Let's start with the term anthropomorphism. The definition of this term is the attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. In other words, we try to explain and justify what a fish does based on how we act or make decisions. This is a big problem that we need to overcome if we're going to have any chance of understanding fish behavior. A fish's brain is much different than ours. We make our decisions based on the process of reasoning. Fish don't do that. They are purely reactionary creatures. They don't think. When a fish sees a potential food item it triggers an instinctive feeding response. Some days these triggers are different than others and each fish may have a different set of triggers that set them off. These triggers can be influenced by the weather, the time of year and the need to protect, amongst others, that I don't believe we truly understand yet. These reactionary responses aren't limited to the fish's feeding behavior. They play a big part in how a fish responds to danger and how they respond to changes in their environment. If we can understand how a fish's brain works, it well help us to stay out of the anthropomorphism trap.
The second major player that has led us down the wrong path is our unending need to know why something happens. This is a trait that is unique to humans and plays a huge role in the process of reasoning. This trait is something that we are born with. It's not a learned trait. If you have young children you know this to be the case. Not long after our kids learn to talk they're favorite word becomes "Why?" "Why dad?" If you have children you know what I mean. They often times ask why when you've already explained why. It's how our brains work. How does this play with fishing? Before the age of the internet, our information gathering mechanisms were limited. Everything we learned came from either personal experience or from limited traditional media. Our questions were answered by a select few experts in the field and being experts they had the answers. When asked why fish bite our lures it was natural for them to assume and then pass on to us the idea that it must be because they're fooled into thinking it's something that they already eat. No one would question these guys at the time because they were looked upon as gods of fishing. And they were gods. We all have certain figures embedded into our memories from our youth that were larger than life to us. How could you question someone with vastly more experience and knowledge than you, even if it didn't make perfect sense? You couldn't and it became "fact".
We came to a fork in the road some 100 years ago, or so, and we went down the wrong path. From then on, we've been trying to find our way out of this maze not knowing that we made a wrong turn. The key now is to backtrack to that fork in the road and take the correct course. When we do that I believe we'll unlock new opportunities that we don't even know exist. It will allow us to open a new way of thinking and with the information gathering capabilities we have now, maybe we can master the sport of fishing.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Are we really fooling the fish into biting?
In the world of fishing there are "rules". Things that we are taught that basically build the foundation for our advanced understanding of the sport. These are things that we don't really even think about because, well, EVERYONE knows them and every piece of media out there reaffirms them. One of these "rules" is that our lures must be made to imitate natural forage. A crankbait looks like a shad. A jig looks like a crawfish. A frog looks like....well... a frog of course. This all makes perfect sense right? If you're going to try to catch a fish what better way than to mimic it's natural food sources. The problem with this theory is that we in no way actually achieve this goal. Not by look, sound, vibration, taste or by any other means. All those that have taught us this are wrong. That's right. Everyone's wrong. The world is not flat.
Ok. So it's one thing to say that everyone's wrong but what evidence do I have to back this up? The same evidence that you all have. Let's start with the most obvious the crankbait. The idea behind the crankbait is that it mimics an injured baitfish. Yet the bait doesn't really swim like a live baitfish. With a little imagination maybe you could say that it does. Our crankbaits are packed with rattles and create a huge disturbance under the water, yet a live baitfish doesn't sound or feel like that to a bass. Common sense tells you that. Some of the best selling crankbait colors on the market don't look anything like the real thing and even the most expensive custom painted crankbaits, while they make us feel good, don't really produce any better than the standard colors. And last but not least, let's not forget that to get a bass to eat a crankbait we need to crash it into something or it just won't work. Hmmm......
Not convinced yet? Let's move on to the spinnerbait. This one really takes some imagination to see the resemblance to a live shad and yet that's what we believe. All the same things apply to the spinnerbait as far as sight, sound and vibration go. No where near duplicating the real thing. But wait the blades give off flash that resembles that of a shad and that's why they eat it.....yet they rarely try to eat the blades and yet eat the skirted portion. ( It would be an awfully frustrating bait to throw if they continually tried to eat the blades.) Add onto that the advice of all the best spinnerbait fishermen on the planet...."Always use a trailer hook". Why do we need to do that if the fish are convinced that the bait is a shad? Hmmm.......
Still not convinced???? How about the jig? Well that, of course, looks like a crawdad. Duh.... Unless your fishing it around bluegills....then it looks like a bluegill. Or if you're swimming it then it looks like a shad. Interesting. Just by looks it doesn't really look like a crawfish. I mean really, if I held up a jig for 1 second in front of 1000 bass anglers not a single one would be confused into thinking it was a crawfish. Right? We drag it on the bottom which is where the crawfish live, but that shouldn't automatically mean that the bass believe it's a crawfish. Yet that's what we assume. You know what they say about ASS U ME.
I could go on and on with virtually every lure known to man. A red crankbait is considered crawfish pattern even though I've never seen a red crawfish besides on the dinner table in the bayou. Smallmouth love pink flukes because.....I have no idea. A senko looks like a dying shad fluttering to the bottom....Sure.. A spook, a jerkbait, a crankbait, a spinnerbait, a swimbait, a fluke, a spoon, and a buzzbait are all supposed to imitate the same natural forage yet none of them look, sound or feel alike whatsoever. There is a definite err in our judgement.
If we're not fooling the bass into believing our baits are natural forage then why do they eat our lures? The answer is simple. Our lures appeal to the fish's senses for what they are....a potential food source. Do you think that smallmouth on the Great Lakes had to figure out what a goby "looked like" before they decided to eat one? They don't know what a crankbait is but it's making noise and swimming through their environment banging into stuff so they react to it the only way they know how by eating it. A worm has a seductive tail action that looks alive so they eat it. A frog dancing above their heads means an ambush is likely to be successful so they attack..sometimes. Even though our intuition tells us that our baits don't look like the real thing, we still need to try and figure out what it looks like or we simply won't use them. Tune ahead to the 1:04 mark of this video with Mark Zona for a perfect example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz4q-isT6S8&feature=youtu.be
You may be asking yourself if they are reacting to our lures as a potential food source, then how can I be so sure that they don't think they're native forage? That video for one but also this became clear to me on an outing last fall on the Pool 8 of the Mississippi River. The backwaters were full of shad and bass gorging themselves. Fish were busting bait continuously in about 6 feet of water. I threw literally every "shad imitating" bait that I had and was only able to coax a few fish into biting. Traditional wisdom would lead you to believe that by mimicking natural forage I should have been able to clean house, but that wasn't the case. Later that day a buddy of mine was in the same area and he too went through the same ritual of switching "shad type" baits trying to get bit with the same results. However, the guy that he had fishing with him tied on a dropshot with a pink roboworm and started wrecking them. Even though the fish were clearly feeding on shad not a single shad style bait tripped their trigger, yet a 6" pink wacky-rigged roboworm smashed them. That's not a unique experience. It happens all the time, all over the country, but we have this idea that we need to match the hatch to get bit. That cemented the skepticism I had about our lures actually tricking the fish. I believe that certain baits on certain days simply appeal to the fish's senses more than others. Not because they're more realistic but because of some reason that we simply cannot understand. This explanation might not be appealing to our psyche but I believe it to be the case.
I understand if you think I'm crazy for going against the grain on what's believed to be one of the simplest rules of fishing. I'm sure you're not alone. It'd likely take someone far more influential to make these assertions before it would become the mainstream way of thinking. In my future blog posts I'll talk about how I believe these misconceptions came about, as well as, what it means for the way we fish and potential lure making opportunities in the future.
Think I'm crazy? I want to know what you think. Feel free to comment in the section below.
Ok. So it's one thing to say that everyone's wrong but what evidence do I have to back this up? The same evidence that you all have. Let's start with the most obvious the crankbait. The idea behind the crankbait is that it mimics an injured baitfish. Yet the bait doesn't really swim like a live baitfish. With a little imagination maybe you could say that it does. Our crankbaits are packed with rattles and create a huge disturbance under the water, yet a live baitfish doesn't sound or feel like that to a bass. Common sense tells you that. Some of the best selling crankbait colors on the market don't look anything like the real thing and even the most expensive custom painted crankbaits, while they make us feel good, don't really produce any better than the standard colors. And last but not least, let's not forget that to get a bass to eat a crankbait we need to crash it into something or it just won't work. Hmmm......
Not convinced yet? Let's move on to the spinnerbait. This one really takes some imagination to see the resemblance to a live shad and yet that's what we believe. All the same things apply to the spinnerbait as far as sight, sound and vibration go. No where near duplicating the real thing. But wait the blades give off flash that resembles that of a shad and that's why they eat it.....yet they rarely try to eat the blades and yet eat the skirted portion. ( It would be an awfully frustrating bait to throw if they continually tried to eat the blades.) Add onto that the advice of all the best spinnerbait fishermen on the planet...."Always use a trailer hook". Why do we need to do that if the fish are convinced that the bait is a shad? Hmmm.......
Still not convinced???? How about the jig? Well that, of course, looks like a crawdad. Duh.... Unless your fishing it around bluegills....then it looks like a bluegill. Or if you're swimming it then it looks like a shad. Interesting. Just by looks it doesn't really look like a crawfish. I mean really, if I held up a jig for 1 second in front of 1000 bass anglers not a single one would be confused into thinking it was a crawfish. Right? We drag it on the bottom which is where the crawfish live, but that shouldn't automatically mean that the bass believe it's a crawfish. Yet that's what we assume. You know what they say about ASS U ME.
I could go on and on with virtually every lure known to man. A red crankbait is considered crawfish pattern even though I've never seen a red crawfish besides on the dinner table in the bayou. Smallmouth love pink flukes because.....I have no idea. A senko looks like a dying shad fluttering to the bottom....Sure.. A spook, a jerkbait, a crankbait, a spinnerbait, a swimbait, a fluke, a spoon, and a buzzbait are all supposed to imitate the same natural forage yet none of them look, sound or feel alike whatsoever. There is a definite err in our judgement.
If we're not fooling the bass into believing our baits are natural forage then why do they eat our lures? The answer is simple. Our lures appeal to the fish's senses for what they are....a potential food source. Do you think that smallmouth on the Great Lakes had to figure out what a goby "looked like" before they decided to eat one? They don't know what a crankbait is but it's making noise and swimming through their environment banging into stuff so they react to it the only way they know how by eating it. A worm has a seductive tail action that looks alive so they eat it. A frog dancing above their heads means an ambush is likely to be successful so they attack..sometimes. Even though our intuition tells us that our baits don't look like the real thing, we still need to try and figure out what it looks like or we simply won't use them. Tune ahead to the 1:04 mark of this video with Mark Zona for a perfect example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz4q-isT6S8&feature=youtu.be
You may be asking yourself if they are reacting to our lures as a potential food source, then how can I be so sure that they don't think they're native forage? That video for one but also this became clear to me on an outing last fall on the Pool 8 of the Mississippi River. The backwaters were full of shad and bass gorging themselves. Fish were busting bait continuously in about 6 feet of water. I threw literally every "shad imitating" bait that I had and was only able to coax a few fish into biting. Traditional wisdom would lead you to believe that by mimicking natural forage I should have been able to clean house, but that wasn't the case. Later that day a buddy of mine was in the same area and he too went through the same ritual of switching "shad type" baits trying to get bit with the same results. However, the guy that he had fishing with him tied on a dropshot with a pink roboworm and started wrecking them. Even though the fish were clearly feeding on shad not a single shad style bait tripped their trigger, yet a 6" pink wacky-rigged roboworm smashed them. That's not a unique experience. It happens all the time, all over the country, but we have this idea that we need to match the hatch to get bit. That cemented the skepticism I had about our lures actually tricking the fish. I believe that certain baits on certain days simply appeal to the fish's senses more than others. Not because they're more realistic but because of some reason that we simply cannot understand. This explanation might not be appealing to our psyche but I believe it to be the case.
I understand if you think I'm crazy for going against the grain on what's believed to be one of the simplest rules of fishing. I'm sure you're not alone. It'd likely take someone far more influential to make these assertions before it would become the mainstream way of thinking. In my future blog posts I'll talk about how I believe these misconceptions came about, as well as, what it means for the way we fish and potential lure making opportunities in the future.
Think I'm crazy? I want to know what you think. Feel free to comment in the section below.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Bass under attack once again
This past week the MN DNR has decided to ease the smallmouth harvest regulations on one of the midwest's greatest trophy smallmouth waters. While Mille Lacs is best known as a walleye fishery, the fall survey numbers are showing a drastically shrinking walleye population especially in the smaller year classes. So what better way to deal with this situation then to blame the lake's trophy smallmouth fishery. That's right. The smallmouths are eating all the walleye. C'mon man.
It seems that whenever there is a short-coming in the DNR's management strategy, the blame gets pushed to other outlying factors. Let's blame the tribes, the cormorants, the smallmouths, the largemouths, global warming, etc. You get the picture. The real problem is the DNR trying to have their cake and eating it too. They want to create a trophy walleye fishery by imposing slot limits to protect the bigger fish, but what this does is focus the harvest on the smaller fish. Eventually when those older, larger fish die and you've harvested far too many smaller fish you're left with the crash that we're seeing today. Is this a surprise? Common sense people.
Smallmouth and walleye have thrived in harmony in many of the best fisheries in the country. Lake Erie, the Bays de Noc, the Bay of Greenbay, and yes Mille Lacs all have had robust fisheries for both species. You don't see efforts on these other bodies of water to remove the smallmouth population. Why? Because smallmouth aren't the problem. You need to address the real problem which is the management plan. Let 'em go and let 'em grow. Remove the slot limits. Create a minimum size limit of 14-15 inches. Supplement with stocking when needed. Stock larger numbers of prey species. Adjust harvest quota's regularly. All of these would allow for greater harvest and happier anglers. I know it may be hard to admit that a specific management plan isn't working, but I think we've seen these restrictive slot limits have their downfalls. It's time to stop playing the blame game and go back to the drawing board.
It seems that whenever there is a short-coming in the DNR's management strategy, the blame gets pushed to other outlying factors. Let's blame the tribes, the cormorants, the smallmouths, the largemouths, global warming, etc. You get the picture. The real problem is the DNR trying to have their cake and eating it too. They want to create a trophy walleye fishery by imposing slot limits to protect the bigger fish, but what this does is focus the harvest on the smaller fish. Eventually when those older, larger fish die and you've harvested far too many smaller fish you're left with the crash that we're seeing today. Is this a surprise? Common sense people.
Smallmouth and walleye have thrived in harmony in many of the best fisheries in the country. Lake Erie, the Bays de Noc, the Bay of Greenbay, and yes Mille Lacs all have had robust fisheries for both species. You don't see efforts on these other bodies of water to remove the smallmouth population. Why? Because smallmouth aren't the problem. You need to address the real problem which is the management plan. Let 'em go and let 'em grow. Remove the slot limits. Create a minimum size limit of 14-15 inches. Supplement with stocking when needed. Stock larger numbers of prey species. Adjust harvest quota's regularly. All of these would allow for greater harvest and happier anglers. I know it may be hard to admit that a specific management plan isn't working, but I think we've seen these restrictive slot limits have their downfalls. It's time to stop playing the blame game and go back to the drawing board.
Monday, March 18, 2013
FLW vs. B.A.S.S by the numbers
I've heard the question asked many times, "Which ones better, FLW or B.A.S.S.?" There's been varied response to this question. Some say B.A.S.S. is better for sponsorships but FLW is better as far as the money goes. It's tough to get an accurate answer when it comes to sponsorships because it's really unknown to most how FLW works its sponsorship contracts for anglers. As far as the money goes, well, that question can be answered. I ran the numbers from the 2012 season and this is what I found.
FLW Everstart Central division
Entry fees in 2012 were $1000 for pros and $400 for co's.
Pro division payout was 126%
Co division payout 135%.
Each division paid out to approx. 33% of the field.
Bassmaster Opens
Entry fees were $1250 for pros and $350 for co's.
Pro division payout was 97%.
Co division payout of 141%.
Each division paid out to approx. 40% of the field.
FLW Tour Opens
Entry fees were $4000 for pro and $700 for co's.
Pro division payout was 131%.
Co division payout was 99%.
Each division paid out to approx. 48% of the field.
FLW Tour Majors
Same entries as FLW Tour Opens
Pro division payout was 131%.
Co division payout was 102%
Each division paid out to approx. 41% of the field.
Bassmaster Elite Series
Entry fees $5200
Payout was 124%
Payouts to approx. 51% of the field.
Based on these numbers I'd have to conclude that FLW and B.A.S.S. were very similar. FLW got the edge with payout percentages, however B.A.S.S. paid deeper into the field at the highest levels.
It's worth noting that some significant changes have occurred for the 2013 season. FLW has changed it's format for the top level and have done away with the Open/Major format and gone to a single six tournament tour schedule. The payout structure has stayed much the same as in previous years. B.A.S.S, however, has made some drastic changes to the Opens. Entry fees have risen by $250 for the pro division and payouts have shrunk noticeably.
Bassmaster Southern Open #1
Entry fees are now $1500 for pros and $425 for co's.
Pro division payout dropped to 79%.
Co division payout dropped to 95%.
Payouts still go to top 40 anglers.
These are significant changes. If the rest of the Opens follow this same trend it will result in a $580,000 rake imposed by B.A.S.S on the Open competitors. Is this a sign of troubled times? Or is it a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" scenario? Either way, I think it's short sighted and ultimately will damage B.A.S.S.
DDFKXE93PZDW
FLW Everstart Central division
Entry fees in 2012 were $1000 for pros and $400 for co's.
Pro division payout was 126%
Co division payout 135%.
Each division paid out to approx. 33% of the field.
Bassmaster Opens
Entry fees were $1250 for pros and $350 for co's.
Pro division payout was 97%.
Co division payout of 141%.
Each division paid out to approx. 40% of the field.
FLW Tour Opens
Entry fees were $4000 for pro and $700 for co's.
Pro division payout was 131%.
Co division payout was 99%.
Each division paid out to approx. 48% of the field.
FLW Tour Majors
Same entries as FLW Tour Opens
Pro division payout was 131%.
Co division payout was 102%
Each division paid out to approx. 41% of the field.
Bassmaster Elite Series
Entry fees $5200
Payout was 124%
Payouts to approx. 51% of the field.
Based on these numbers I'd have to conclude that FLW and B.A.S.S. were very similar. FLW got the edge with payout percentages, however B.A.S.S. paid deeper into the field at the highest levels.
It's worth noting that some significant changes have occurred for the 2013 season. FLW has changed it's format for the top level and have done away with the Open/Major format and gone to a single six tournament tour schedule. The payout structure has stayed much the same as in previous years. B.A.S.S, however, has made some drastic changes to the Opens. Entry fees have risen by $250 for the pro division and payouts have shrunk noticeably.
Bassmaster Southern Open #1
Entry fees are now $1500 for pros and $425 for co's.
Pro division payout dropped to 79%.
Co division payout dropped to 95%.
Payouts still go to top 40 anglers.
These are significant changes. If the rest of the Opens follow this same trend it will result in a $580,000 rake imposed by B.A.S.S on the Open competitors. Is this a sign of troubled times? Or is it a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" scenario? Either way, I think it's short sighted and ultimately will damage B.A.S.S.
DDFKXE93PZDW
Monday, March 11, 2013
Scale fraud in B.A.S.S.?
This weekend I read an interesting post from Timmy Horton on his Facebook wall. It was vague but it suggested that there needs to be a change in the scales that B.A.S.S. uses to weigh fish because there's the possibility of hacking into the system. He contends that because the scales are digital and the fact that the current system allows us to see the anglers next to weigh that there is time for someone to hack into the system and manipulate weights. Either that or he's suggesting that the weights could be manipulated by B.A.S.S. staff which is an even more scathing charge. You can read his post in its entirety on his wall from March 6th. https://www.facebook.com/TimmyHortonBass?ref=ts&fref=ts.
I don't know what you think, but I've got to call this one of the most far-fetched charges I've seen in the world of professional bass fishing. Do the anglers really have nothing else more pressing to worry about? Is there that much distrust in the B.A.S.S. organization? I don't think so. I think some guys are suffering from a severe case of paranoia. I wonder if some of these guys making these charges also suffer from the munchies. That would explain a lot. Or maybe this is just their way of explaining KVD's dominance. Either way I think they're barking up the wrong tree here.
I don't know what you think, but I've got to call this one of the most far-fetched charges I've seen in the world of professional bass fishing. Do the anglers really have nothing else more pressing to worry about? Is there that much distrust in the B.A.S.S. organization? I don't think so. I think some guys are suffering from a severe case of paranoia. I wonder if some of these guys making these charges also suffer from the munchies. That would explain a lot. Or maybe this is just their way of explaining KVD's dominance. Either way I think they're barking up the wrong tree here.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Can made in the U.S.A. tackle companies survive long term?
If you read yesterday's post, you know that the majority of bass fishing tackle in our big retailers today is manufactured overseas. Why do companies look to manufacture their products 6,000 miles from there intended consumers? To gain a competitive advantage that's why. What does that mean? Let's look at how the tackle buying system works.
All the large tackle retailers in this country have tackle buyers. These tackle buyers purchase the product that will be displayed on their store's shelves. They make these decisions based on a couple key points. Is there local demand for the product? How much can they mark it up? Is it affordable? Does the product have broad market reach? Boil this down and you're looking for a product that is relatively inexpensive and has been marketed to the largest amount of people.
Labor costs, in many industries, are the largest expense that companies have. How do we cut labor costs? Find a country with lower labor standards and you can lower your production costs. How much cheaper is it abroad? Let's look at China as an example. The minimum wage in China varies from around $90-$180 a month. Chinese workers put in 50 hours a week or more. 200 hours a month making less than $180. That puts the hourly wage at somewhere between $0.50-$0.95/hr. Federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25/hr. That's a cost savings of over $6.25/hr or an annual savings of $12,500+ per employee. Of course, the shipping costs and taxes associated with shipping the goods over seas are higher, but in the grand scheme of things it's a no-brainer cost wise.
Now they have a product that they can offer at a lower price and extra money to spend on marketing it. Lots of extra money. More exposure in the media = more retail locations and on goes the cycle. What does that mean for the companies manufacturing in the U.S.A.? It means that cost will likely not be their competitive advantage. It means that most will need to find a place outside the "big box" stores. It means that they will have to learn to compete with one arm tied behind their backs. What's the best way to survive in a sea of sharks with one arm tied behind your back? Don't try to swim with them.
All the large tackle retailers in this country have tackle buyers. These tackle buyers purchase the product that will be displayed on their store's shelves. They make these decisions based on a couple key points. Is there local demand for the product? How much can they mark it up? Is it affordable? Does the product have broad market reach? Boil this down and you're looking for a product that is relatively inexpensive and has been marketed to the largest amount of people.
Labor costs, in many industries, are the largest expense that companies have. How do we cut labor costs? Find a country with lower labor standards and you can lower your production costs. How much cheaper is it abroad? Let's look at China as an example. The minimum wage in China varies from around $90-$180 a month. Chinese workers put in 50 hours a week or more. 200 hours a month making less than $180. That puts the hourly wage at somewhere between $0.50-$0.95/hr. Federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25/hr. That's a cost savings of over $6.25/hr or an annual savings of $12,500+ per employee. Of course, the shipping costs and taxes associated with shipping the goods over seas are higher, but in the grand scheme of things it's a no-brainer cost wise.
Now they have a product that they can offer at a lower price and extra money to spend on marketing it. Lots of extra money. More exposure in the media = more retail locations and on goes the cycle. What does that mean for the companies manufacturing in the U.S.A.? It means that cost will likely not be their competitive advantage. It means that most will need to find a place outside the "big box" stores. It means that they will have to learn to compete with one arm tied behind their backs. What's the best way to survive in a sea of sharks with one arm tied behind your back? Don't try to swim with them.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Do you know where your baits are made?
If you've spent any time watching the news lately, you'd have seen
the scrapping in Congress over this country's financial situation. It
seems that the only thing Congress can agree on is that we need to
create more jobs. We know that the economy has sucked the last few
years, but where did all the jobs go? They've been out-sourced. No,
not just the large Fortune 500 companies in the tech industry, but also
in the very companies that play such a large role in what we love to
do. What I didn't know was how prevalent this trend had become.
This past weekend I decided to do a little research at the local Gander Mountain store. What I wanted to find out was how many of the brands on the store shelves were made in the USA and how many were made elsewhere. What I found was really disheartening.
Let's start with crankbaits and spinnerbaits:
Booyah spinnerbaits Mexico
Z-man Chatterbaits China and USA
Rapala Estonia
Terminator Spinnerbaits China
Excaliber China
Bandit China
Strike King Costa Rica
Bomber China
Spro China
Rebel China
Heddon China
Storm China
Luck-E- Strike China
Manns USA
Jigs:
Terminator Vietnam
Strike King Costa Rica
VMC Phillipines
Booyah China
Plastics:
Zoom USA
Reaction Innovations USA
Yamamoto USA
Strike King Dominican Republic and USA
Berkley USA
Big Bite Baits USA
Trigger X Taiwan
Line:
Berkley USA
Power Pro USA
Suffix Taiwan
P-Line Japan
Seaguar Japan
Sunline Japan
While these are the products in my local store, I think you'll find this trend in "big box" stores across the country. Only one USA made crankbait company made it to the store shelves. Tomorrow we'll talk about why this is so.
This past weekend I decided to do a little research at the local Gander Mountain store. What I wanted to find out was how many of the brands on the store shelves were made in the USA and how many were made elsewhere. What I found was really disheartening.
Let's start with crankbaits and spinnerbaits:
Booyah spinnerbaits Mexico
Z-man Chatterbaits China and USA
Rapala Estonia
Terminator Spinnerbaits China
Excaliber China
Bandit China
Strike King Costa Rica
Bomber China
Spro China
Rebel China
Heddon China
Storm China
Luck-E- Strike China
Manns USA
Jigs:
Terminator Vietnam
Strike King Costa Rica
VMC Phillipines
Booyah China
Plastics:
Zoom USA
Reaction Innovations USA
Yamamoto USA
Strike King Dominican Republic and USA
Berkley USA
Big Bite Baits USA
Trigger X Taiwan
Line:
Berkley USA
Power Pro USA
Suffix Taiwan
P-Line Japan
Seaguar Japan
Sunline Japan
While these are the products in my local store, I think you'll find this trend in "big box" stores across the country. Only one USA made crankbait company made it to the store shelves. Tomorrow we'll talk about why this is so.
Friday, March 1, 2013
I don't care who you are this is funny
An old man rocking on his porch sees a young kid and his fishing pole walking down the dirt road. "Where you goin' with that pole?" he calls. "Gonna git me some fish with this here fishing pole!" answers the kid. Sure enough, as the sun is setting the old man sees the kid going home with a bucket of fish.
Next day, old man rocking on his porch sees the kid walking down the dirt road with some duct tape. "Where you goin' with that?" he calls. "Gonna git me some ducks with this here tape!" answers the kid. "You can't git no ducks with tape!" hollers the old man. But sure enough, as the sun is setting the old man sees the kid going home with the tape strung out behind him and ducks stuck all over it!
Next day, old man rocking on his porch sees the kid walking down the dirt road with some chicken wire. "Where you going with that?" he calls. "Gonna get me some chickens with this wire!" answers the kid. "You can't get no chickens with wire!" hollers the old man. But sure enough, as the sun is setting the old man sees the kid going home with the wire strung out behind him and chickens stuck all through it!
Next day, old man rocking on his porch sees the kid walking down the dirt road with some pussy willows. "Now hold on just a minute" calls the old man, "wait while I get my hat!!"
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sponsor brown-nosing at it's best.....or worst.
If you're a BASS geek like myself, you were likely glued to your computer screen for much of last weekend. Coverage on Bassmaster.com was good this year though the BassTrakk numbers were usually not very accurate. It made for an interesting weigh-in each day trying to figure out what anglers were sandbagging or low-balling their weights. If you were watching the weigh-ins you were likely well aware of the long, grotesque, and quite frankly, awkward sponsor plugging that was going on by most anglers. Some were so involved and lavishing that it amounted to a virtual sponsor reach-around. When I see these scripted theatrical presentations on stage, it makes me uncomfortable. Do the anglers think that we care what line they used to finish near the bottom of the field? When they say "the key" was a "such and such jig" fished slowly on the bottom, yet they didn't catch a limit, do they think that is convincing enough to persuade us to purchase product? Do the sponsors themselves not feel, atleast somewhat, embarrassed for making the viewers sit through that nonsense? Do the sponsors believe that those ramblings provide a financial return? I know that sponsorships are part of the game, but c'mon guys....use some tact.
If you missed the weigh-ins here's kind of how the speeches went......
"I tell you what Dave...I've got the greatest sponsors in the industry. I got up this morning at the Holiday Inn and was taking the trip to the lake in my Toyota Tundra powered by a 5.4 liter V6 pulling my Triton TR-21 with a 250-horse SHO on the back I thought to myself man I'm a lucky guy. I get to fish the Bassmaster Classic. I get to throw my new prototype Smithwick Rogue on 10-pound Sunline Sniper on a Castaway rod with the new EXO reels attached while most guys are at home working. The temps were cold this week, but thanks to my UnderArmour Base layer followed up with my Lee Dungarees and over that my Simms Rainwear I thought it was summer in Florida. Things started out slow this morning but about mid-day I decided to have a Diet Mt. Dew and put some KVD endorsed Fish Stix fish attractant on my clown-colored Smithwick Rogue and that did the trick. The fish started crushing that thing. It was incredible. One last thing Dave...I have to thank my Lord and Savior, sweet, snuggly 8 pound 6 ounce baby Jesus. For without him I wouldn't have been able to catch my 11 pound bag and I likely wouldn't be sitting where I am in 41st place."
(That example is purely fictional but I think you get the picture.)
Not all of them made it sound that ridiculous. Some anglers thanked their sponsors broadly or not really at all. As spectators that's what we deserve. Real commentary not a sales pitch. I think anglers should spend more time addressing their sponsorship roles like PGA golfers do rather than imitating Nascar drivers. JMO
If you missed the weigh-ins here's kind of how the speeches went......
"I tell you what Dave...I've got the greatest sponsors in the industry. I got up this morning at the Holiday Inn and was taking the trip to the lake in my Toyota Tundra powered by a 5.4 liter V6 pulling my Triton TR-21 with a 250-horse SHO on the back I thought to myself man I'm a lucky guy. I get to fish the Bassmaster Classic. I get to throw my new prototype Smithwick Rogue on 10-pound Sunline Sniper on a Castaway rod with the new EXO reels attached while most guys are at home working. The temps were cold this week, but thanks to my UnderArmour Base layer followed up with my Lee Dungarees and over that my Simms Rainwear I thought it was summer in Florida. Things started out slow this morning but about mid-day I decided to have a Diet Mt. Dew and put some KVD endorsed Fish Stix fish attractant on my clown-colored Smithwick Rogue and that did the trick. The fish started crushing that thing. It was incredible. One last thing Dave...I have to thank my Lord and Savior, sweet, snuggly 8 pound 6 ounce baby Jesus. For without him I wouldn't have been able to catch my 11 pound bag and I likely wouldn't be sitting where I am in 41st place."
(That example is purely fictional but I think you get the picture.)
Not all of them made it sound that ridiculous. Some anglers thanked their sponsors broadly or not really at all. As spectators that's what we deserve. Real commentary not a sales pitch. I think anglers should spend more time addressing their sponsorship roles like PGA golfers do rather than imitating Nascar drivers. JMO
Monday, February 25, 2013
Pace wins the Classic as expected....kind of.
While it ended up being a nail-biter, Cliff Pace did pull-off the 2013 Bassmaster Classic victory. Though this outcome was expected, considering he had a 7-pound lead going into the final day, what wasn't expected was his total lack of excitement with his accomplishment. Brandon Palaniuk was on the verge of tears and nausea with the mere thought of winning the Classic while sitting in the hot seat. Yet Cliff barely broke a smile when he was handed the Classic trophy and $500,000 tournament paycheck. What gives?
Cliff's peers talk of him as being all business. Dave Mercer nicknamed him "Game-face Cliff Pace". He's known to not be excited by the pageantry associated with the Classic. He's also known as someone who just loves the fishing and competition itself and would be much happier without the cameras and spectators watching him.
What I believe we saw yesterday was Cliff Pace realizing that for the next year or more he will not get to "just fish". He's going to be completely bombarded by the things he likes least about the sport of professional bass fishing. Endless photo shoots, countless interviews with the media and the relentless scrutiny of being in the public eye are all on the menu for Cliff the next year. While most anglers would relish the opportunity to do these things, I think Cliff is dreading it. I even wonder, if on some level, he was hoping he wouldn't win. I know that sounds crazy to most of us, but I don't know how else to explain his reaction. At least he has $500,000 to help ease the pain.
Cliff's peers talk of him as being all business. Dave Mercer nicknamed him "Game-face Cliff Pace". He's known to not be excited by the pageantry associated with the Classic. He's also known as someone who just loves the fishing and competition itself and would be much happier without the cameras and spectators watching him.
What I believe we saw yesterday was Cliff Pace realizing that for the next year or more he will not get to "just fish". He's going to be completely bombarded by the things he likes least about the sport of professional bass fishing. Endless photo shoots, countless interviews with the media and the relentless scrutiny of being in the public eye are all on the menu for Cliff the next year. While most anglers would relish the opportunity to do these things, I think Cliff is dreading it. I even wonder, if on some level, he was hoping he wouldn't win. I know that sounds crazy to most of us, but I don't know how else to explain his reaction. At least he has $500,000 to help ease the pain.
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