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Archived Blog From April 2 - April 30, 2008

April 30, 2008

Last day for some April showers. I'll be looking forward to the May flowers, and for some early spring smallmouth action. Speaking of action, the B.A.S.S. Elite Series anglers begin another round of competition on Clarks Hill, in South Carolina. The lake is on the border of Georgia and South Carolina and has suffered from the lack of water that that area has experienced over the last year. It's about seven feet low.

The lake is one of those that have blue back herring and when you find the blue backs you usually find the big bass.

I looked on ESPN and could not find a link that was current for the live weighin which I suspect will begin at 4:00 ET.

Davey Hite is one of the favorites. He's a local boy who won the tournament in 2006. Davey, however, will certainly be looking over his shoulder to see where Mike McClelland is. McClelland won last year, and is leading right now in the Toyota Angler of the Year contest. He's been red hot of late and although no one has ever won back to back Elite events, McClelland just may be the first to do so on Clarks Hill. Stay tuned, so they say, and look for the live weigh in around 4:00 pm tomorrow.

Check out this short Bass Zone video out. They give you a preview of Clarks Hill.

I got a couple more emails today. One is from T. Cook, and he sent in a picture of a couple of five poundas that came out of Lake Michigan. Here's Tim with a couple of dandy green fish.

Yes there are Lake Michigan Smallies!

The other email was from Rick. He answered a reply I sent to him. Knowing he got those nice smallies and walleye I wondered how his new Humminbird Side Imaging unit he just had installed. He said the unit is everything they say it is. Here are some pictures he sent me from his unit while on the Hardy Dam backwaters. I'm not very familiar with Hardy, so I don't know where this old bridge is, but I'm sure some of you Hardy fans know the area.

For a sonar unit the pictures are very clear.

One more view.

I talked to Don tonight, and he had the Tear Drop flyers in hand and said that they looked very good. They will be showing up in businesses from Traverse City to Kalamazoo. As soon as I get one I'll scan it and put it up on the site here.

With the opening of Michigan's early catch and release season it pays for us all to be as safe as possible on the water. The water temperatures this time of year make it very dangerous for anyone ending up in the water. Here is a boater safety article that you should take the time to read just so it stays foremost in your mind.

Here's another Bass Club Digest article on electronics. It starts out with the Biosonics unit, that KVD said made a difference for him in his win down in Florida earlier this year. I don't know anyone personally that has one that I could get a direct feel for the units use and effectiveness. I believe, though, that KVD usually tells it pretty straight, and if he says the unit has has its purpose and specific uses, that's good enough for me.

Looks like tomorrow I will be breaking the blog for the new month. The month of May brings about the first year anniversary of the blog. I started it toward the end of May last year. Time flies when you're having fun.

The parting shot for the day comes from Carl Buechner. He said, "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." Can't argue with a statement like that because I've been on both sides of that statement. Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 29, 2008

Procrastination has to be the name of the game lately for me. I have just too many dang sticks in the fire. Most of the time when that happens I spin my wheels for a day or two before I develop a time line to get everything done. You know what they say about work, it will always expand to fit the amount of time you give it. Consequently make a list, dedicate the time, and go to it. Just like the parting shot said a few days ago, "Don't start your day until you finish your list."

I checked my email today and found that Rick Mast had sent me some pictures of an outing he had with Grayson from The Outdoorsmen Pro Shop . Rick and Grayson had a pretty good opening day for walleye and catch and release bass. Here are the pictures he sent me.

Rick's 2008 Smallie Opener

Grayson's Opening Day 08 Smallie

A limit of opening day walleye!

I also got an email from Dennis Cook, the Tear Drop Tournament Trail Director, and he said that the 2008 flyer is just a proof read away from being ready for distribution. He also interjected that Rosie, his wife for those who don't know her, had her surgery and is creeping her way back to normal. We all wish her a swift recovery!

There seems to be a little bit of a flap brewing over a protest made during the recent FLW Lake Norman event. Someone claims to have seen Greg Pugh in an off limits area and claimed he was fishing. Bass Fan dug into the incident and has this "Pugh Says No Casting Took Place in Off-Limits" story up on its site about the incident.

Bass Zone has its last day video from Lake Norman up on their site. They're short little vignettes that interview the contenders and give the Zone's tournament take.

An article that I like to read because of all of the "tell alls" on a tournament is the FLWs "Quick Bites." Here is the Day Four Quick Bite for the Lake Norman FLW Tour event.

Our FLW Fantasy Fishing League has Rick Mast making a move on our GVSU Laker Zach Stroh. Zach has held the top spot for the last two tournaments. It's tough to beat those young college guys.

I moved up a few spots in the standings with my Jim Moynagh pick. If I cold have only picked a couple more of those top ten guys. I'll give it another shot on Beaver Lake which is the next FLW Tour stop on May 15th.

While we were in Athens, Alabama on our recent road trip we made a dedicated stop at West End . I've had it linked on the blog a number of times, and I'm sure it will be up again because every time I visit my sister and brother-in-law's I'm in the shop about half a day and end up leaving a half a weeks wages in the store.

All Lucky Craft Baits on the Left!

What's your guess as to how many dollars they have hanging on that left side of the aisle where all the Lucky Craft baits are? I can only imagine what this little gas station/ bait shop has in inventory.

I know Don was hunting for a particular Zara Spook color that he has been looking for all over. He asked about it, and the next day they had a dozen in for him.

While in West End, I gave a close look at the new Sebile hard baits. I hadn't seen one yet. They have some very unique designs, but the really interesting part is that a number of models have clear sides and inside is a fluid that shifts about that has glitter in it. It's kind of like shaking one of those musical Christmas globes with the snow. These, however, wobble on the retrieve and the fluid shifts and the glitter flashes like crazy. One of the models has a red liquid with glitter. Very interesting and a quite a novel design.

Well, it's almost midnight again and I'm still typing away. Bedtime cometh, so I guess it's time for the parting shot of the day.

This particular quote by Harvey Mackay reminded me a bit of Ray Scott. "Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life." Ray is 75 years young and he is in his office as the sun rises every morning. He has a zest for life and it is infectious. When I asked Jim, Ray's personal assistant, how he came to work for Ray, he told me the story of how they met, and how one day Ray just said to Jim, "Why don't you come to work for me Jim, we'll have fun." And, from what I saw they do. Make sure you take time to enjoy your day.

April 27, 2008

Hey were back! What a trip! Special doesn't describe the opportunity we had. I consider myself very lucky to have had such an opportunity. I plan on writing up an article about the trip that will be a stand alone to the blog. For now, suffice to say, we had a great time!

Mr. Scott, his family, and every one of his staff treated us like sitting presidents for whom they have entertained. In fact, Don and I stayed in the guest house and slept in the rooms that both George W. and George Sr. have slept in.

Ray devoted a day and a half out of his busy schedule to make sure we had a good time. He was most sincere, and he often talk to us with his hand on our shoulder, very personable, straight from the heart. He is a fun loving guy and has a great sense of humor. We laughed a lot!

Don and I caught at least 100 largemouth Friday, but I really wouldn't have minded not fishing at all! We had the best time sitting and talking with one of the all time greats, Ray Scott.

He has written several books, and from the time we spent intently listening to him, I know he has enough material for several more.

What a wealth of knowledge and expertise. I have never met anyone that can deliver a story or message any better than he can.

I can assure you, that Ray has a genuine and tenacious concern for the federation angler. Guys like Don and I, that just love to fish and spend time with our friends talking about fishing when the day is done. His invitation to Don and I, in my opinion, was a generous gesture to honor federation anglers. Time and time again we heard him strongly advocate for the "bowels of B.A.S.S." the federation angler. Don and I will long remember our time with the "Bass Boss."

Dan, Ray, Don, and Don

We listened to many a great story!

We're on the water looking for the big one!

Don mining the "Clunn Hole."

Just one of the nice 60 plus fish we caught!

Ray's Whitetail Institute's letterhead buck.

If you have been following the various professional trails these past few days you may have already heard that the first event in the B.A.S.S. Central Open on the Red River was won by Billy McCaghren Jr. of Arkansas. McCaghren led it all three days. Here's the ESPN B.A.S.S. Central Open article .

If you're interested in looking at some photos of the event here is the Photo Gallery link.

I have been following the Bassmaster blog of the "Smallmouth Guru." He has a new entry which he calls the "Zen and the Art of Jig Fishing" . You can't get too much information on those darn smallies.

The Central Open wasn't the only show in town the last few days. The FLW Tour event on Lake Norman in North Carolina concluded today with Sean Hoernke taking home $150,000.

Going in to today's final, there was only about nine pounds separating the top ten anglers. It was anybody's ball game right to the end. Check the link out to read the article and once there you can check out the standings to see how your Fantasy Anglers or some of your home state buddies did.

It's been a busy day for me today. I am still recovering from car lag after 11 hours on the road yesterday. So, I going to end the blog here. I need to do some prep work for my job assignment tomorrow.

Be assured that there will be more to come about our recent trip as well as more about the Case Plastics and Poor Boy Baits that worked well for us in Alabama .

The parting shot of the day comes from Albert Schweitzer, "Sometimes our light goes out, but it's blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes our deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light."

Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 23, 2008

On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again....Willie sings it better than I type it believe me. Don picked me up around 7:30ish. We pointed the van south and we were off. We debated about stopping at the Michigan City, IN Bass Pro Shop, but Don said the exchange at 94 and 65 was all tore up so we snaked our way around it, and consequently didn't pass by BPS.

We made good time and had smooth sailing. We ended up at the Bass Pro Shop in Nashville at about 7:30 pm ET.

Our only pit stop off 65 on the way to Ray's

We spent about an hour up and down the isles of the fishing department. I used a gift card to cut the cost on a new Shimano Saros and picked up some some Rage Shads, Red Eye Shads, Strike King Sexy Shad cranks, and a few packages of secret, only in the south can you find them, baits. We tried to hurry ourselves through BPS so we could get back on the road for the last hour and a half of our ride down to Athens, AL. We finally pulled in to Paula and Charlie's at about 8:30 CT, which is an hour behind us.

I have always enjoyed my time in Alabama and Paula and Charlie are great people and more importantly, family. Charlie told us that he was trying to work out a trip out of Orange Beach, AL to do some deep sea fishing on the Gulf. He didn't know if it was going to happen, but told us to be prepared. He might be picking us up in Montgomery for another big adventure.

I have never been deep sea fishing and according to Charlie, if the trip works out, we would be spending two nights out about 100 miles in the Gulf catching yellowfin tuna, amberjack, cuda, king mackerel, etc. We'll see, stay tuned.

I got up this morning while Don got in his beauty sleep. I cruised the net a while and had to figure out how to transfer the pages from their desktop machine to my laptop. I really didn't want to disconnect their ethernet cable and mess with their stuff, so I'll have to get online and upload this later in the day. McDonalds here in Athens, has wifi.

One thing you see a lot more of in the south is snakes and bugs. Neither are my favorites. Maybe snakes on the brain is why this video of Alton Jones caught my eye. It's a pretty funny video and doesn't take very long to watch. Here's the link to Alton's Snake .

On Bass Fan's site I see they have another contest that you can sign up for. You have to be a member of the Bass Fan Army, but it's free if you want to sigh up. The contest may win you some baits from Open Water Custom Baits . All you need to do is send an email to memberservices@bassfanarmy.com and tell them that the Huzzie Worm comes in 10 different colors.

Speaking of contests, today is the last day to pick or edit your Fantasy Fishing Team . They still have a lot of money they're giving away, and you might as well take a free shot at winning it. $100,000 is not chump change, and it's just might be enough for that new bass boat.

If you're a FLW member you can watch the FLW Tour live weigh in tomorrow from Lake Norman.

Don and I have our picks in, but if you look at our track record you can probably see we're not a real threat.

My old sixth grade student, and now a GVSU freshman Zach S., is leading the pack in our Fantasy Fishing League. Hey Zach, you haven't sent me any new pictures lately. I know you must have been up after some steelhead.

Here is an article that Larry Nixon , last year's Lake Norman winner, wrote on how Norman was shaping up this year.

I mentioned the Professional Angler's Association, PAA had their Toyota Texas Bass Challenge down on Lake Fork last week. The 26 teams of four pros each caught, as you can well imagine, some pretty good sacks of fish. If you use this link you can listen to a radio interview that Bass Zone did with Chad Brauer who fished with the second place team in the PAA event.

Well Don is finally up and done with his morning primping, so we're going to head off to the barber shop, West End for some more tackle, and then to Lawler's for some barbecue for lunch. Paula is planning a shrimp boil for dinner. Sounds awfully good. Just low calorie meals for Don and I.

Hey, we're back again from our out on the town in Athens. Don and I went down to the town square and got our hair cut. We left there and made a wrong turn on 72 and headed East instead of West toward the West End Tackle shop. So, we went to Lawler's first and pigged out.

You have to try Lawler's Barbecue pulled ham!

After we were stuffed to the gills after some great southern barbecue , we headed to the "West End" of 72 to spend more of Don's money on tackle. I've had West End on the blog before, and it's one of those diamonds that you run across every once in a while. You don't find the selection of baits much better at Bass Pro or Cabellas. Check out these isles of baits.

Those are all Lucky Craft lures on the left!!

I can't really guess how much this gas station/bait shop has in inventory. It is always a stop I make when I'm in Athens. In fact, I'm usually there once a day when I'm there.

April 21, 2008

The bags are packed and Don will be picking me up in a matter of hours now. We plan to hit the road and head south tomorrow by 7:00 am. We're going to drive straight through to Athens, Alabama. We hope to get there by early evening.

It's a good eleven hour drive and that's not stopping to go in any where to eat. So, it's fast food and gas station goodies tomorrow.

Don was able to get a van to drive down so we could lessen the pain at the gas pumps. Don knows Kris and Rose Swaffer, and his whole family drives Toyota's from Swaffer's Toyota . I too, have met both Kris and Rose, and I've bought two vehicles from their Swaffer's Gateway Chrysler dealership in Clare. If you're in the market for a vehicle you can't go wrong at either of Swaffer's dealerships.

I almost forgot to pick my Fantasy Fishing Team . The FLW pros will be at Lake Norman, NC on April 24, which is this week Thursday. I made my picks, and I'm sure I'm going to be the next $100,000 winner.

The Elite Series pros are off yet, but the Central Opens kick their schedule into gear on the 24th as well. They will be fishing Louisiana's Red River.

There's a $45,000 purse that goes to the winner, but if you read the article, you will see that there really is a lot more at stake for the anglers participating in these Central Open events.

The Professional Anglers Association (PAA) crowned their champions in the Toyota Texas Bass Classic . Kelly Jordon, Lance Vick, David Walker, and David Smith won the event. Bobby Lane caught big bass and won a new Toyota Truck and a $6, 000 cowboy hat to go with a pair of $6,000 cowboy boots. The link above is from Bass Zone and although it is fairly lengthy, it's a good article.

I've been cruising my usual sites and forums and came across this Parasite Weights site. They have some interesting clips and rigs. A curiosity or maybe a great new product for you to try out. I don't know if I'll send for any or not, so if you have any prior experience with them and give me an email. If I find that people like them I may have to pick up a few more pop cans and buy some.

When I got home from work tonight I had an email from a Mr. Jonathan Gray, President of Xtreme Glove . He had read a reference that I had made to using the glove. A while back on the Blog I had commented and added a hyperlink to the Xtreme glove site after watching Trip Weldon using it on stage at the Bassmaster weigh ins. I thought maybe we should get a couple for our Tear Drop weigh ins. Jonathan reminded me in the email that the glove is designed to be worn while you fish as well as during weigh ins.

Xtreme Glove has become a sponsor of B.A.S.S. and Jonathan had met Don Corkran through that connection, and when he saw we were heading down to Ray's to fish against Ray and Don, he said he would hook us up with a couple of gloves to try.

If you go to Xtreme's website via the link above they have a video which shows the glove and its features close up. Looks like a great product. I'll let you know how it feels and functions during our upcoming outing.

I appreciate the emails that I have gotten wishing us a safe and enjoyable trip. Looks like the weather is going to be great, and knock on wood, I hope we make a clean trip vehicle wise. As I have said, I will be posting to the Blog whenever I can get an internet connection for the laptop. There is a lot of WiFi available now so I don't anticipate any uploading difficulties.

The parting shot today is going to be an excerpt from Ray's book, "Bass Boss." Years ago,Ray was in Chicago doing some business and trying to promote the first Bassmaster Classic on Lake Mead. He decided that Playboy should send a reporter to the event so he went over to the Playboy headquarters and walked in with his usual cowboy attire: hat, boots, etc. He announced that he was Ray Scott from BASS. The secretary, dressed in bunny attire, gave him the once over, but then took him to the advertising department. While meeting with the exec there, the executive told Ray that the secretary probably wouldn't have sent him through except she thought he was from Bass Shoes!

Well, it's after midnight already and time for me to hit the hay. Make sure you make time tomorrow to enjoy the day. As you do, ponder my favorite quote of all time, " Not in the clamor of the crowded streets, nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but within oneself lies victory and defeat."

April 19, 2008

Have I mentioned yet that Don and I are going down to Ray Scott's to do a little fishing? I don't want to appear as though I'm in the name dropping mode, but did I say we were going to meet up with Don Corkran, B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Director while we're at Ray's? I might have mentioned, but I'm not sure, that I said that Jim Kientz has offered to give us a tour of the Scott's Whitetail Institute of North America on Saturday before we head back. Just wanted to make sure that I hadn't missed telling anyone that we're going to Ray Scott's in three more days!

By the way, who needs Falcon or Amistad. Ray's pond has produced a 13 pounder of its own. Man is the excitement building or what!! I am getting the opportunity to fish with a bass legend and mix it up with some all around great guys. I haven't had a chance to meet Jim before, but I have had the pleasure to shake hands with and talk with both Ray and Don on several occasions.

I've been doing my homework for the trip. I used Google Earth to check out the lay of the land at Ray's estate. I've read quite a bit of what's on line about Ray. I also have been reading his book. Did you know the first time the Bassmasters Classic was in South Carolina, site of this year's Classic, there were about 30 anglers and Ray provided meals and the nightly entertainment? In that first South Carolina event they had a barbecue for the evening meal, and part of the entertainment was capturing a greased pig. I would love to see some footage of Ray trying to grab that greased up hog.

Country singer Roy Clark performed for the anglers and their families. Knowing that Ray's Bassmaster organization was tight on funds Roy refused to accept any money for his performance. Ray insisted on giving Roy his best cowboy hat and Roy traveled all around the world with that hat.

I plan on finishing Ray's book "The Bass Boss" before I go down. The stories he tells are great. Hopefully though I'll be able to get a few more good stories from Ray himself over dinner.

I spent the day today with my wife's side of the family. We had a little birthday get together for her sister. I got a chance to go for a walk to the park with my niece's 3 year old daughter, Chase. I had a great time with her, she's a cutie. I remember,however, when her mom was that age. Time sure does fly. That's why I'm always ending the blog with "make sure you make time to enjoy your day." Each 24 hours is a precious chunk of time.

It's always nice to be able to share time with family members that you haven't seen in a while. I know that tomorrow we'll say goodbye, and also comment on how we need to get together more often, but you know how that goes. The older I get the more I realize that if it doesn't get written on the calendar the chances of it occurring are slim. Where's that pencil?

I talked to Ed Dyer via an email. He told me about what he and his buddies did when they went down to Table Rock over Spring break. The water down there, Ed said, was 12 feet over full pool and it looked like coffee with heavy cream. Water temps were in the mid 40s. They did figure out how to catch some fish though. They boated a number of smallies, some largies, and a few nice Kentucky Spotted Bass.

They're planning another group outing for May to target some smallmouth in the Arcadia/Benzie area.

I sent Ed a quick email about a program that I heard about today on a podcast from BassFeed.com . Grand Goldbeck was the guest and toward the end of the podcast he and host Billy Raymond talked about an organization called FutureFishing.org . This group has grant money available for teachers to incorporate fishing and boating skills into their curriculum. There is a $2,500 grant available for teachers and a week long class this summer to go over the curriculum materials. The bonus is the class is in Traverse City. Do a little class work during the day, and fish for smallies on the Bay in the afternoon and evening. If I was still teaching full time, I would definitely be looking into it.

I have been talking with Don about putting together a few guys to form a club for the State B.A.S.S. Federation Nation. We need six guys. To become a member you must have a subscription to Bassmaster Magazine. If you don't already have it, you can get it online for $14.95. You would also have to pay $25 to the State Federation for the state membership and another $20 to the National Federation. Becoming a member would then qualify you for a number of things, chief among them would be you could fish the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation State Championship. That's how Don got to Vermillion where he won the Northern Divisional and moved on to fish down in the National Championship on the Kissimmee Chain in Florida.

Once you make the State Team your expenses are pretty much covered the rest of the way by the Michigan State Federation. This year the State Tournament is on Lake Charlevoix and then the Northern Regional is on Lake St. Clair. You don't need to be a boater. In fact, Don won the three day Vermillion tournament as a nonboater. We would have to send equal numbers of boaters and nonboaters to the State Championship though. We are pretty confident that we can easily get six guys or gals to fish, but if you want to join the group give me a shout and we can add you to our roster. If you want to be a boater though you would need to find a nonboater to join with you. The State Championship is a two day tournament and cost $100 per person. That does include a dinner the evening before the first day, and they usually provide a lunch at the Day 1 weigh in.

I mentioned in my last post that I would be including in subsequent posts information concerning fish care. Here is an interesting article that talks about clips that are used to help fish that have been brought up from deep water equalize their swim bladders, decompress so to speak.

Here's another good article on fish care during tournaments. It would be good for those who put tournaments on as well as participants. It covers some very important bass tournament fish care tips.

It behooves all of us who love the outdoors to become good stewards. Taking care of the resource has been a hallmark quality of all true anglers and hunters. Make sure you take the time to know what you should be doing to keep those bass alive, so that they get returned back into the water to procreate and give others the opportunity to know the thrill of the catch.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic has been going on down on Lake Fork in Texas for the last couple of days. (Don't look now but KVD's team is in last place. I would bet he's not a happy camper!) The Toyota Texas Classic has a unique four man team format that is used. I'm not sure if I can properly explain it in a few words here, so you'd be better off accessing the link and reading about the event yourself. The top five teams fish for the trophy tomorrow.

I watched Zona on the "World's Greatest Fishing Show" today fishing with Aaron Martens. They were fishing with Aaron's bait he developed called the Scrounger . They were rigging it with a fluke type bait and letting the design of the jig give the plastic all the action it needs. They did very well on the rig and caught a bunch of fish.

They said it's a great head to use for kids or first timers because it catches fish with little more than a chunk and wind approach. I have looked this head over before, and it intrigues me. I going to give it a try.

If you haven't watched Zona's show on Saturday mornings at 8:30 on ESPN2, you have to give it a look. He puts together a great show. It always makes me laugh.

Times up for the day so here's the parting shot. I don't really know who to attribute this quote to so here it is, "Time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." Simple enough, true enough, so taking time to enjoy your day really does become "the present." Take care.

April 17, 2008

One week from today and Don and I will be pulling in to Ray Scott's estate. I googled the weather for the Montgomery area, and it's calling for temperatures in the low 80s with a possible chance of thunderstorms. Rain or shine it's going to be a great trip!

It will not only be a trip of a lifetime fishing in Ray's "Presidents Pond," but to be able to talk with a man with such a wide background in the outdoors will be an exceptional opportunity. For instance did you know, Ray at 13 years of age played quarterback on a youth team? One of his lineman was none other than Bart Star!

Not only did Ray start the Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society and the subsequent Bassmasters TV show and magazine he has also been very involved in developing and managing ponds, and he personally started the Whitetail Institute of North America . Ray's two sons, Wilson and Steve, now run the Institute's business and have developed some pretty amazing products. If you are a deer hunter who plants or would like to plant a premium blend of perennial clover, read up on the Institutes Imperial Blend. The institute will send you samples of a variety of mixes they now have and a video. All you pay is the shipping of $8.95. Check out the Institutes link above and a "pop up" of with the samples should appear.

Before we head back home on Saturday, the plan is to get a tour of the Whitetail Institute. I'll be sure to take a bunch of pictures. I can almost bet Fowlers 80 acres he has for hunting will have some Imperial Blend food plots going for the Fall.

Moving back north now for some discussion about fish care. I have been to several St. Clair tournaments where guys are catching smallies in deep water during hot weather. I can remember two distinct weigh ins where there were some pretty big fish that died. Myself and others were certainly very concerned and wondered if it could have been avoided. Our tournament groups are pretty fanatical about taking care of fish, and we always need to continue our vigilance in this area. On some of the forums of late the discussion has been about the fish that died after the recent Lake Falcon Tournament in Texas. The criticism of the event by some, has been loud. However, as bass anglers we know that there will be some fish die and that there is probably some latent mortality after the release. The fact that some of these fish die is disheartening because we're sportsman. If we weren't in tournaments however, many more of these fish may have ended up in the freezer. There are plenty of meat anglers that keep every fish. In Lake Falcon for instance, on the Mexican side, they are using gill nets to harvest bass. Bass tournaments release 100% of their catch. While the fish are in the aerated, recirculated livewells, anglers add ice and use chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, salt, and commercial products like Catch and Release . If some of the fish die, that's not because an effort wasn't made to take good care of the catch. In the next few days, I'll post a series of articles I have on fish care. Along with that list though, I'll also include some good recipes. We certainly need to be all about fish care, but eating a few fish isn't out of the question and can be anticipated.

One of the fish care items that I have recently purchased is the D-Barb . I have long carried side cutters in the boat to cut the barb off hooks that bass take in the gullet. I don't for a minute believe that those hooks rust out. I have caught a bass early in the spring that had a small ice fishing hook protruding from its anus that didn't look like it was anywhere close to being even tarnished. The D-barb allows you to not only clip the barb of the hook so you can easily back the rest of the hook out, it has a magnet that "catches" the barb after it's cut. I plan to have it in my tackle bag when we go down to Ray's.

A few days back, I provided a link to the Ultimate Bass Site's Part One article on reel care. Today I noticed the second part to that article on what not to do in terms of reel care was up on the site. It was a good read, and who hasn't been in a boat before with a reel dunker, and what about that can of WD-40 that's in everyone's garage. Well the article will set you straight on both of those discussion points as well as several others.

KVD has been tearing them up on a crankbait he dubbed the "Sexy Shad." I was at the D & R Sports webpage and noticed that they had them in, and that they have the full complement of sizes. Just in case any of you need a couple more crankbaits.

I haven't heard from Ed Dyer yet about his Spring Break trip down to Table Rock. He sent me a couple of pictures, but I need some explanation to go along with them. I also haven't heard from Larry up at the Na-Tah-Ka . I'm wanting to hear more about the pictures he sent me from South Padre Island in Texas, names, etc. Here's another picture though of his son Gregory with a nice Redfish.

Gregory's South Padre Red

With the temperature here today currently at 74 degrees, I need to get outside and do some lawn work. That means it's time for the parting shot of the day. This one comes from Jim Rohn and it has to do with time management. It has been my experience that your work will always seem to fill the time your have unless you learn to manage that time. With that, here's Jim's advice, "Don't start your day until you have it finished on paper first." Simple but very good advice. Make sure you take time to enjoy at least a piece of every day.

April 15, 2008

I talked to Don several times today trying to sort out the particulars for our trip down to the Bass Boss's, Mr. Ray Scott's estate down in Alabama. We will be leaving a week from tomorrow. We plan to drive down to northern Alabama and stay Wednesday night at Paula and Charlie's, my sister and brother-in-law who live about 3 1/2 hours from Montgomery. We'll leave from their house and time our arrival for early afternoon at Ray's.

Don has been talking with Jim Kientz, who is Ray's business manager. He's exchanged several emails with him, and Don talked to him directly today on the phone. Don says he's a great guy, and he has gone the extra distance to take care of us. He's a retired military investigator, and with Don being a retired State Police Detective, they have a lot in common, which helps break the ice.

After watching Zona's Flamich Cup on ESPN2 the last couple of Saturdays, I think our little tournament should have a name as well. Dove tailing Zona''s Florida/Michigan event dubbed Flamich, we could call ours the "Alamich Cup." You can bet Don and I will be reminding each other often by declaring "Remember the Alamich!" Maybe I should get a coonskin cap for Don.

I received a package of baits today, for our gift box we're taking to Ray, from Tom at Case Plastics . He sent about 15 packages of baits and an O-Wacky Tool . If you don't have one of these gizmos you need to get one. It's a simple little device that allows you to quickly and easily place an o-ring in the center of a senko. You can then slide your hook under the o-ring allowing you to catch a bunch of fish on one senko. No more ripping the senko in half because the hook pulls through the senko and breaks it. I've been using one now for two years and it saves me $.

I also got three different DVDs from Seth Burrill to take to Ray and Don. Our trip down to Ray's was initiated because of Don's drop shotting win at the B.A.S.S. Northern Regional at Vermillion, OH out on Erie. Ray invited Don to come down to show him the finer points of drop shotting. Seth Burrill's drop shotting instructional video is the best I have ever come across. Besides his original "Drop Shot Secrets Revealed", he now has a DVD called "Secrets to Locating Big Fish Revealed" and Knot Tying Secrets Revealed." A great series of videos that are very well done and stuffed with very useable knowledge.

If you haven't been to Seth's website take a few minutes and check it out. It's at AxFishing.com . He is starting, what he calls the "Ax Video Gallery." For roughly $35 you get access to a ton of information and online videos. Check that program out, and if you decide to sign up mention you heard it here first, and the website gets $5. It'll help pay for the domain name and the yearly hosting fee.

It's getting late. I procrastinated most of the evening and was debating whether I would even do an entry tonight. Don't know why, just couldn't get motivated. Now it's 12:28 a.m., and I'm running out of gas. However, there is a picture that my wife was given up north last weekend from a friend of ours, that I wanted to put up. Pretty neat shot of a piebald deer. Here's the picture.

We've seen several piebalds around the Iron's area.

I may open up the blog again tomorrow morning if I get all my jobs done. For now though, it's time for the parting shot of the day. I try to make it a point to greet most every one I pass by with a smile and a hello. It's just a little thing that I can do that I think makes a difference. If not to the greeted it does to the greetee. I doubt that's a word, but you know what I mean. In that vain, I like this quote by Brian Tracy. "In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with." Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 14, 2008

Another Monday, which means I worked today. I teach an art therapy class to four sections of kids in Jenison's Autism program. April is Autism awareness month, and this coming Saturday they have an Autism Walk at GVSU. They will have activities there for families, and one and all are welcome to come out to the GVSU Field House and join the festivities.

During my years of teaching, ( I have four special education endorsements) I worked in Jenison's program for Autistically Impaired youngsters. I did that for eight years. During that time I was involved in the Michigan West Shore Chapter - Autism Society of America . As part of our chapter work we started our own group home that operated in Holland and housed six young adults.

Jenison, at the time I joined the program, had one of three classrooms in the state for those affected with autism. I remember at that time, the incidence of autism was I in every 10,000 live births. Now the epidemiological studies project that the incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders is 1 in every 160 live births. Using the most conservative estimates still spins the statistics at a ten fold increase to as high as a 20 fold increase. The rise in numbers has been scary and very concerning. Here are a couple of web sites, if you're interested, with more information: Fighting Autism , Autism Society of America .

I got an email today from R. Mast and he's been out doing some crappie fishing and putting time in mapping some local bodies of water using his new Humminbird S.I. unit. He's still all complements concerning the new technology. I haven't heard anyone with one disparaging word about the new unit. Man, I wish I had some extra cash lying around.

Yesterday, I had an article up on the blog about jig fishing. Today, I read an article on yo-yoing lipless crankbaits. Here is the piece that Jared Lintner did called, "Yo-Yo Mo' Bass .

While I cruised other sites on the net, I came across the latest article on the Amistad tournament done by Bass Zone . They go in to some pretty good detail and cover a good number of the final twelve that battled it out in hopes of pocketing that first place check.

Also up on Bass Fan was their final day Wide Open Video and their pictures from the photo gallery .

The tournament action takes a bit of a hiatus for a few days. The next event is a Central Open tournament that starts the 24th of this month. Here's a list of the B.A.S.S. Tournaments for 08 .

I talked to Don tonight, and we have decided to drive down to Ray Scott's. We have been checking out air fares, and with all the cancellations of late, we decided cost wise and dependability wise to drive. Driving will also enable us to take all the gear we want and not have to worried about the airlines losing anything. We'll be leaving in about 9 days. It's about a 12 hour drive, around 850 miles. A piece of cake when you're driving with a retired State Trooper. We'll probably drive with the lights and sirens cutting that drive time considerably.

Kim and Shawn from Poor Boy's Baits/ Lure Craft sent me a big ole box of goodies to take down and give to Ray. I am a Poor Boy fan, and I have used their Erie Darters and done very well with them. The smallies love em. Poor Boy has come out this year with a Fat Darter, and I'm definitely going to be tying one on down at Ray's. Their Silly Rabbit and Silly Bunny swim baits will get a try down there as well. A big thank you to Shawn and Kim for their contribution to the Ray Scott's gift box.

Time for the parting shot of the day and it comes from one of the really old guys, Aristotle. He wrote, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Fits well with one of my old favorites that practice doesn't make perfect, it simply makes what you do permanent. So, one needs to be sure to practice perfectly. Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 13, 2008

The Lonestar Shoot Out down on Lake Amistad is now in the books. Sitting in eighth place and 8-11 lbs. behind going in today's final Todd Faircloth didn't really feel like the win was within his grasp. However, using his "magic tree" he ended up with the heavy weight bag of the day, 29-14 lbs. That catch shot him from eighth place all the way to number one and the $100,000 first place check. His three day total of 15 bass went 76 lbs. and 15 oz. and was just 12 ounces better than Fin-Tech's rookie Clark Reehm who weighed in 76-3 lbs. for the three days.

Faircloth came in fourth in last year's Amistad event and had a tree which produced well for him. He went back to that same tree late on the final day to catch two big fish, one of them an 8 lbs. and 6 oz. toad which was the big bass of the day. Here is the ESPN article about Faircloth's win . Here is the final day leader board from Amistad, and click on this link for the photo gallery for the tournament.

One of the baits that was instrumental in many of the Amistad anglers was the swim bait. The Yum money minnow was one of those swimbaits used by "E Squared" Edward Evers. Here's an article that talks about the baits and equipment used to get the top 12 anglers to the final day.

Another bait that came in to play the last two elite tournaments, and in the FLW Series event down on Wheeler in Alabama was the jig. Here is a pretty good jig article that talks about the different ways these baits are used in the north vs. the south.

It is getting closer and closer to the opening of this year's catch and release season for bass. As you go about the business of getting all of your gear and equipment readied, you may want to read this article on trailers to be sure you don't end up in a "Trailer of Tears" .

I hope to be getting some pictures from some of the guys who went south for some fishing over spring break. I also was hoping to get some pictures from Rick Mast. I know he's not been south, but he's been boating some of the spring run walleyes in some good action for these tasty toothy critters.

I did get some pictures from Larry Bender, the proprietor of the Na-Tah-Ka up on Big Bass Lake/Loon Lake. Larry and family spend a lot of time down in Texas, on South Padre Island during the winter, and being the avid outdoorsman that Larry is he got out in the Gulf to catch some fish on several occasions. His son Gregory went along and reportedly showed dad how to catch some big ones. I'm waiting to get some names and info to go with several of the pictures, but here's one of Gregory with a big ole fish.

Gregory's Gulf Catch

Hopefully, Larry sends me some of the particulars for the rest of the photos. I'm sure many of you may be interested in a charter down there when you see who the captain and first mate are.

Time for the parting shot of the day, and it comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them, and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life." Good advice Ralphy. Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 12, 2008

I got lazy yesterday and didn't end up making a blog entry. We made it home from the cabin and I had my own computer with high speed so there was no other excuse.

I did spend a couple hours watching the weighin from Del Rio. The Elite Anglers got to start their wind delayed tournament on Lake Amistad's bonanza bass water. With Day 1 being canceled some of the pros whiled their time away pulling pranks with fake snakes and or taking a day trip into Mexico. While in Mexico several of the pros, with guide Byron Velvick, who is considered a local their after opening a lodge on the lake, bought wrestling masks which they wore to the start of yesterdays tournament. Check out the photos . They're pretty funny.

Kurt Dove is the Day 1 leader and seems to have figured out how to get the big bite. The pros were saying at the weigh in that there were an abundance of small fish, and they were seeing bigger fish, but they just weren't getting the big bite. Here's ESPN's Day 1 Amistad story, and the Day 1 Leaderboard .

After checking out the written stuff, it's always fun to watch Bass Zone's Wide Open video clip .

Don't forget that if you want to watch the live streaming video of the Day 2 weigh in on Amistad, it begins at 6:00 pm ET.

While I was up North, Dave the "Reel Man" Valentine sent me my 5 reels back after cleaning them and checking them over for me. He had them, maybe a couple days, and already back and ready for another season. He's got my recommendation if you need some reel advice or just want to maintain your high dollar reels. It pays to keep them serviced. Here's his email: devalentine@auburngear.com, and the address that you ship the reels to, The Angler, 7430 S. SR 327, Hudson, IN 46747.

If you are interested in a good article on reel care check out this one they have on the Ultimate Bass Fishing website.

As I mentioned earlier we spent the week up at the cabin. We got there last Saturday, and the lake was still iced over. There was a little open water around my dock, but I couldn't see any other open water around the lake. By Sunday, at 4:00 pm the lake was completely free of ice. There wasn't even any left that had gotten blown up against the shore. The ducks were certainly happy and I saw woodies, mallards, and several flight birds that I didn't recognize. I did see several loons already. They nest on a little island in the south end of the lake.

I didn't see any fish activity up shallow yet. It won't be long though before our north end bay with its dark bottom warms up and draw fish in. Usually when that happens a floating rapala will catch a bunch of bass. It won't be long until targeting bass will be legal during the early catch and release season which opens the end of this month.

Here's a prespawn article that does a pretty good job in clueing you in to a basic approach for finding these early fish.

Well I'm going out to eat with my buddy John Baker. By the way, he was down putting his boat in at Turtle Creek on Lake Erie last week, and got blown off, so no early walleyes yet for him.

The parting shot for the day comes from Pat Riley, "There are only two options regarding commitment; you're either in or you're out. There's no such thing as life in-between." Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 10, 2008

I take back all the mean things I might have said about SBC. They sent out a technician, after I called them again today, and he came out and spliced a new piece of phone line in under my bridge. He didn't have the right piece of cable and hopefully the splice will hold until he gets back with a more permanent fix.

I have dial up again, but I don't know about using it versus heading over to the Na-Tah-Ka and using their high speed wireless. I don't know if I'm patient enough to use it anymore.

I was back on ESPN's Bassmaster web site today and there is truly no rest for the wicked. The Elite anglers have been on Lake Amistad, down in Del Rio, Texas for the last several days practicing for the next "Battle on the Border" clash which officially begins today. Here's a preview article on this year's Lake Amistad tournament. The guys are complaining that the big fish are really scattered and are very tough to find. Who knows what the real story is and we'll have to see what tomorrows 5:50 pm ET weigh in shows. These guys don't want to set the hook too often for fear of sore mouthing fish and hooking fish in front of their competition. Derek Remitz gave his account of his practice, and if you believe what he's saying in public, while trying to keep his spots to himself, it's only going to take bags of 17-20 lbs. to win the event.

I can't let all the smack, the "oh whoa is me," talk rest just on Remitz's shoulders. Here's a Bass Zone article where several of the top pros give their lamentations of Amistad's practice period.

A couple of days ago during the Lake Falcon tournament, I mentioned that Trip Weldon was wearing a weigh in glove to protect his hand while lipping all those bass. I wasn't quite sure what the name of it was, but I found it today. It's called the "Extreme Glove" and with shipping it would cost you about $14 to have one.

The Homeland Security folks have been bantering about the new regulations and they, as usual, have everyone in a dither wondering what is going to be the final word. Yesterday the Detroit Free Press had what looks to be the semi last words on the subject.

Dennis Cook emailed me today saying the Tear Drop Bass Tournament Flyer is at the printers. He also told me that I made another error on the 2008 schedule. The Classic lakes are on the site right now as Duck and Green. They should read Duck and Long Lake. Long Lake is just north of Duck and Green about 5 miles. A great body of water with some good walleye and bass, but it has a lousy ramp. The parking lot only holds a hand full of boats and you have to back across a busy two lane road to dump your boat in. Hopefully, my IT son will make the correction on the schedule soon. He's also going to change the banner a bit and put up some new pictures. Because of the new layout, I am not able to make the changes myself, but I hope to get the low down on how to safely change the style sheets so I can get my independence back.

The pros are having their fun landing those toad largemouths, but soon we'll be able to get out after some football sized smallies during the early catch and release season which opens the last Saturday in April for most lower peninsula inland waters. Here's the opening dates for the various species. I am also including this pdf file from the MDNR for my buddy John on the walleye regs for St. Clair, the Detroit River and Erie.

Time for me to head back to the cabin and get a job or two done. Don't forget you can watch the live weigh in from Amistad today at 5:50 pm ET. (Please Note: I came back on the net when I found out that the Day 1 had to be cancelled today due to 25-35 mph winds. They will try again tomorrow.)

The parting shot for today comes from another Brit, Winston Churchill, "Continuous effort--not strength or intelligence--is the key to unlocking our potential." It has been my contention after 34 years of teaching that it is not intelligence that defines individual success, but it is the degree to which one can focus and sustain attention that makes the biggest difference in students. Fits right in with Winston's continuous effort.

Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 9, 2008

It's an up north blog entry from the Na-Tah-Ka on Loon and Big Bass Lakes. Larry Bender, the proprietor, has wireless now and so when I come up for coffee I can hang out and use the high speed.

They still haven't fixed our phone line at the cabin, and I don't know if they will be here today or not. SBC said they would be here by Wednesday at 8:00 pm, and they are pushing it right to the last day. When I initially contacted them, you get an automated recording and have to leave your information without talking to a live person. I'm going to try some other numbers today to see if I can talk to somebody that's warm blooded.

We ate lunch at the Na-Tah-Ka yesterday, and we always enjoy their food. We split a chef salad and had some chips and cheese. The make a bleu cheese dressing that is delicious. We left the Na-Tah-Ka and went back to the cabin and saw that Don called, so I called him back and we made plans to meet he and Darlene for dinner at a new place in Cadillac called, "Da Dawg House."

Da Dawg House is on 115 just north of the State Park, right across the street from the water park. It's in an existing building, but the new owners have completely remodeled it and it is very nice. They have a full menu and make their own pies! I had a turkey reuben with onion rings, my wife had a french dip and chips, Don had a bacon cheese burger, and Darlene had what they called a turkey delight. The burger was huge, and all of us thought what we had ordered was excellent. Verna, our waitress, wanted me to be sure to mention her. Make sure you ask for her if you eat there. Hey Verna!

After our meal we all had dessert. Don and I had raspberry pie ala mode. Darlene had the chocolate peanut butter brownie and Jude had a hot fudge sundae. Darlene and Jude's desserts looked good, but the raspberry pie was awesome, and I did mention it was homemade. I have a number of spots in Cadillac that I like to eat at, but it is going to be real hard to drive by Da Dawg House without stopping.

I haven't had as much computer time as I'm use to so I haven't been surfing as much to look for good blog fodder. I did find a new mapping site from a post on the Great Lakes Bass forum.

The site is called Angling Technologies Mapper . I've only had a limited amount of play time on the site. It looks to be a very well thought out and designed site with a lot of possibilities. One thing I like, is that you can get contour lines on most if not all the lakes you're interested in looking at. Check it out and see what you think.

I read a Bass Fan article on Paul Elias and how he approached Falcon and wound up winning the tournament ending his five year winless drought. He, for the most part, used shallow and deep cranking to pick off the larger bass on Falcon. He also credits his ability to make extra long cast as his performance edge.

Bass Zone had it's Day 4 Wide Open Video on Falcon up on its site. They're always short little pieces that are fun to watch.

I hit the FLW website and saw where they awarded their second $100,000 check. Man it seems so easy, and if you're not signed up you had better make time to do it, unless there's no room in your wallet for $100K. Here's the article interviewing the newest $100,000 Fantasy Fishing winner. Lake Norman is coming up next, so start researching your picks. I think maybe I spent too much time on mine and to no avail. I'll be looking for the big bucks on Norman though.

When we got up to the cabin on Saturday the lake was completely iced over. It wasn't any ice you would find yourself walking on, but it was covered. By Sunday at 4:00 pm it was completely ice free. Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell were starting to open up. Mitchell didn't have any open water yet, but Cadillac had areas that were ice free. It won't take long though for that ice to go. Here are a couple of pictures of Big Bass Lake.

Big Bass Lake April 6, 2008

The ducks are happy the ice is gone. Me too!

While I was at Don's yesterday, he emailed Dennis about the Tear Drop flyers. He got a reply that said they should be done any day now. He went on to say that Rosann has been in the hospital. At first they thought it may be cardiac related, but now are looking at her gall bladder. They're doing some nuclear medicine testing to try to pinpoint the problem. She spent several days in the hospital and several of those in ICU. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Rosann and the Cook family. We certainly hope she's back feeling better soon.

Time to head back to the cabin before they put me to work here. The parting shot for the day comes from Benjamin Disraeli. It reminds me of some folks that I know that seem discontent with things, but really don't do much about it. Disraeli said, "Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." Make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 6, 2008

If you read yesterday's blog, you found that I never got back to finish it yesterday. We drove up north yesterday afternoon to the cabin. I tried to get online via our dial up and found out that we had no dial tone. I did some investigating, and the phone wire that goes under the bridge, leading to the cabin, had been chewed up in several places by some critter. When I called AT&T I got an automated answer and they said it may be as late as Wednesday, before a field agent comes out to fix it. So, I'm now at the Little River Casino in Manistee using their wireless connection.

Yesterday our lake was still covered with ice. There was about 20 yards of open water along my shoreline, but that was all the open water I could see around the lake.

I worked on getting the leaves off the lawn today, and it was beautiful. I worked all day in a short sleeved shirt. By the time I quit, the lake was showing open water out in the middle and there was another 20 yards clear off shore. The ice is going fast. I would bet by Tuesday we'll have open water on the whole lake.

I talked to Don last night, and he and Tony are on Lake Norman in North Carolina. Despite more rain, they were catching quite a few fish. Most of them were coming off beds. They planned to fish again this morning and then head for Michigan. I'll probably run over to Cadillac to have dinner with Don and his wife Monday or Tuesday.

I spent several minutes when I first got here checking out the results from down on Lewis Smith and Falcon.

I'll start with the results from Lewis Smith. A Californian by the name of Mike Bennett won the event and here is the FLW's Quick Bites Summary of how the top pros did.

If you didn't use the link from the Quick Bites article to take a peek at the results, here is a direct link to the final Lewis Lake Standings . Here is a short video from Bass Zone from down on Lewis Smith. Fishing for spots in an Alabama reservoir can be some hit and miss action, but the pros down on Lake Falcon weren't missing much. They were having career days.

I was on Bass Zone and watching their Wide Open video and they said after three days on Falcon, Trip Weldon, the weighmaster, loaded over 10,000 lbs. on the scales!! That was only after Day 3.

I've been anxious to hear how Aaron Martens, A-Mart, and Byron Velvick were doing on their spot that they have been sharing. When I watched the Photo Gallery from Bass Zone, they were sharing a spot all right, they looked like they could have been tied together. According to the article on ESPNs Bassmaster's Site, A-Mart left their honey hole and fished new waters and still was in first place going in to the final day.

A-Mart has had some heart breaking finishes and Falcon ended up slipping away from him on Day 4 as Paul Elias hung around and ended up beating a surging Terry "Big Show" Scroggins by 4 ounces. Where's the justice in that. Elias and Scroggins each weighed over 132 lbs of bass for four days of tournament fishing and one beats the other by just four measly ounces, 132-8 lbs. to 132-4 lbs. Byron Velvick passed Martens as well with 131-15 lbs. and A-Mart fell to fourth with 129 lbs. and change. Here is the Final Standings for the tournament on Falcon.

Here's the link to Bass Zones "Wide Open" from Falcon. There were quite a few Falcon articles, but none that seemed to feature Elias the winner. Maybe it will be up tomorrow. Here is an article that talks about Scroggins almost come from behind bid to steal the tourney.

That Lake Falcon is amazing. I talked to Brent V. in an email about it. His dad, and long time friend of our family, is living not to far from Falcon. Brent and I are talking about getting together a convoy and heading down there for next March. Man, that would be some trip.

Speaking of trips, the once in a life time opportunity is drawing nearer, and my excitement level is building. A trip to Ray Scott's estate. I can't believe it's happening still.

Here's the link to Zona's "Flamich Cup" that was filmed down at Ray's. The first half of the show was on Saturday, and the second half will be on ESPN2 next Saturday. If you saw it, you would have to agree it was great. That Zona is a natural at hosting this type of fishing show. It's hard to imagine that Don and I will be down there in just a couple more weeks.

Well, I'm signing off for tonight, and I really don't know if I will have a blog up tomorrow or not. Depends on if the phone company gets out to repair the line, or if I find a wireless link somewhere.

The parting shot for the day comes from Margaret Thatcher, "Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing, it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it!" Take care, and make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

April 5, 2008

Did you get up and watch Zona today? It was the "Flamich Cup" and not only was it fun to watch the interplay between Zona and KVD, getting a chance for a glimpse at what we'll soon be seeing and fishing was very exciting. They were fishing head to head and had, like we will, a no cull rule. Deciding which fish to keep becomes a real roll of the dice. KVD and Zona ended up with 23 lbs and change and Rolland and Shaw had 26 lbs. and change. The tournament continues for them next week. Another chance for me to log some spots and zero in on some baits.

The FlW and B.A.S.S. pros are on their respective waters today, and it's starting to get really dicey. The clock is ticking the field is narrowing, and there can be only one winner. The points accrued for Angler of the Year races is certainly important, but only one angler in each of the two events will be banking the big check and walking away with a swagger. Check out these two short videos. The first is from Lewis Smith Day 2 and the other from Day 2 on Falcon . We'll have to wait until later this afternoon to get the Day 3 reports.

For those of you who fish the East Side, St. Clair and Erie, here is another article in the latest on the issues involved with Homeland Security and the Canadian/US Border crossings .

I have been looking religiously for the new Casey Ashley, Fisherman Song, to show up on iTunes, but so far nada. I did find a copy of the whole song on You Tube . If you haven't had a chance to hear it yet, check it out. They wrote a great song and Casey has some pipes, man.

With all that's been happening, I haven't spent much time exploring new baits. Bass Fan recently had up on their site a new frog that may take the short strike problem out of fishing the bait. Anybody who has thrown them long has messed with hook setups to try to maximize hook ups with the bait. They are notorious for being the type of bait that bass often short strike. Having this frog with transparent legs may be the answer. Somebody at Secret Lures has been thinking and came up with an interesting new wrinkle on the topwater frog.

Another bait company that you should be looking at is Poor Boy Baits . They have some great looking plastics, and I have a bunch in my boat.

I plan on heading up to the cabin for some time either today or tomorrow, so I had better run for now. I'm going to leave the blog open here and I should be able to get back to it tonight after the FLW and BASS guys weigh in.

April 4, 2008

Well our Michigan guys didn't fair too well. Nate Wellman did the best of the three with a 50th place. The best part of 50th place is that it is the last $10,000 spot. That's three tournaments in a row Nate fished that he cashed a $10,000 check. Good job Nate!

Don had a disappointing tournament blanking both days. He sounded pretty disappointed on the phone.

Don fished with Dave LeFebre today who sight fished which left Don sitting in the back for as long as an hour at times with nothing to do but hold on to brush to keep the boat from moving in the wind so Dave could throw at the bed. Needless to say, he wasn't thinking he wanted to fish from the back of the boat again any time soon.

Tony caught three fish each day and finished about middle of the field. I didn't get to talk to Tony, only what Don relayed as we talked on the phone. Tony and Don were on the road right after the weigh in heading to Lake Norman in North Carolina the site of the next FLW Tour event. The weather report they were getting as they were driving about Lake Norman was that they had tornado warnings up and tomorrow there was a 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms. Don wasn't too fired up about another day of rain and wind. Sunday is suppose to be partly sunny, and it's the last day they can fish before the tournament cut off. They'll head back home on Sunday night. It's about an eleven hour drive for them to get to Cadillac and another hour for Tony to get to Traverse.

Here are a couple of the articles on Day 2 down on Lewis Smith from the FLW site. The first is the "Quick Bites" that the FLW site does on each of its tournaments. The second article is the featured article from Day 2 of the FLW Lewis Smith event. Here are some of the photo logs .

Meanwhile, the B.A.S.S. pros are down slaying some hogs down on Lake Falcon in Zapata, Texas. They have been posting some incredible weights topped off by a two day catch of 79 lbs. 13 oz. by the Day 2 leader Aaron Martens. Martens is sharing a spot with second place Byron Velvick who weighed in a two day total of a paltry 76 lbs. 9 oz! Again these two guys are sharing a small area and both have some monster bags of bass. Each of their coanglers have been catching 20+ pounds of bass from the back of the boat as well. So far, to make the top twelve, you need more than 57 lbs and 15 ozs. The top fifty cut sits at 49-7! Here's the leader board from Falcon. Check out some of the monsters from this photo gallery . Here is the featured article for Day 2 in the Lone Star Shoot Out , or should we call it the Monster Fest.

KVD is in 35th place with 52-5. Mike Iaconelli is sitting in 5th place with 66-5, and I heard him say that on Day 1 he caught between 80 -100 bass! Falcon Lake is crazy! I can't wait to watch the TV coverage.

Speaking of TV coverage, Saturday morning April 5, Mark Zona on his "World's Greatest Fishing Show" is going to be doing a program from Ray Scott's estate. He is calling it the "Flamich Cup." He and KVD are squaring off against Shaw Grigsby and Rolland Martin in Ray's pond. That's the same pond that Don and I will be fishing on in just three weeks. I can't wait. Zona is filming two shows down at Ray's. The second half of the show will air on the following Saturday, April 12th. The show can be seen on ESPN2 at 8:30 am ET.

Well that's it for me tonight, and I'll be up early watching Zona. Can't wait. The parting shot for the day comes from Jim Rohn, "You don't have to change that much for it to make a great deal of difference. A few simple disciplines can have a major impact on how your life works out in the next 90 days, let alone in the next 12 months or the next 3 years." Sometimes we fail to make a change thinking it has to be a big thing. I really think that simply picking a small goal and making that your will lead you to big things and a lot of personal satisfaction. Make time to enjoy your day.

April 3, 2008

Woke up to some nice sunshine today, and got outside and did some yard work. I also went up early and UPSed a box of reels to the "Reel Man", David Valentine. I sent my reels to Dave last year and was thoroughly pleased with the work and service. He really knows his stuff. Best "Reel Man" I have used over the years, and I highly recommend you send your reels in if you haven't already. You can ship your reels to Dave at this address: The Angler, 7430 S. SR 327, Hudson, IN 46747. His email address is devalentine@auburngear.com. I usually don't wait this long to send my reels, but this year the time just got away from me.

I'm typing this at 3:03 pm and waiting for the live streaming video to begin from Lewis Smith Lake. Don will be one of the first few anglers to weigh. He drew boat #8 today and is riding with Randy Morris. Tony drew #102 for take off. The later flights ought to be better, giving those anglers a shot at more fish that might be moving up as the day warms.

Don called me twice last night while he was at the pretournament meeting. He talked to a number of the pros, and Jimmy Houston came over to him and shook his hand. That had to be cool.

Remember if you are not an FLW member you won't be able to view the live streaming video for this Tour Event. You can still watch the Series and below events, but not the Tour level events. Make sure if you are a FLW member that you have signed in ahead of time with your membership number etc. so you're ready to go. Here is the link for the FLW Tour weigh in . They will be weighing in at 4:00 pm ET.

The BASS Elite anglers are down on Falcon fishing as we speak, and by all accounts, the anglers there have been catching monster record setting kind of bags during practice. We're talking five fish bags that reach into the 50 lb. range!!.

The Elite Series Anglers on Falcon will be begin their weigh in at 5:50 pm ET. Here's the link for the Live Streaming Video from Falcon . The folks at ESPN don't have any membership requirements to view their streaming video. I am going to leave the blog open at this point and will return to it later after I have watched the weigh ins.

Well, the weigh ins are over and it wasn't great news from our Michigan duo, Don Fowler and Tony DeFilippo, or for my Fantasy Fishing team. Don's pro Randy Morris wasn't on fish and blanked and so did Don. Tony scratched out three fish for a little over 5 lbs. which put him in at 114th place. Nate Wellman did much better and had a limit that went a little over eleven pounds and is in 31st place. My highest finishing Fantasy Fishing team member was 42nd. Sick.

Quite a few of the anglers said they caught their fish using a shakey head. Many of the earlier flight boats picked off fish on beds. However, with a 200 boat field there weren't enough fish up spawning for the later flights to have much to pick off. So, guys like our Nate Wellman caught fish out deeper using drop shots or shakey heads cashing in on the prespawn fish. Nate didn't really say he was out deep, but did say on stage, that he got his fish drop shotting.

Here is a short video from Bass Zone with some Lewis Smith Lake information. The video was shot prior to day one.

FLW presented this article that covers Day 1 on Lewis Smith . Here is a second article that includes a short piece on Dave Lefebre , the pro Don drew for tomorrow's Day 2 competition.

The action on Lake Falcon down in Zapata, Texas where the Elite anglers are is really unbelievable. Aaron Martens leads the event with 42 lbs. That's an eight pound average for five fish! It took over 33 lbs. to make the top ten. KVD is in 40th something place with 25+ lbs. Here's an ESPN article on the event.

Here are the results from Falcon . Take a look at some of the photos of Day 1. Check out the bellies on these bass. Despite what one would think, these fish haven't spawned yet.

That's going to be a wrap for today. Here's hoping our Michigan anglers do well at Lewis Smith and that KVD catches 45 pounds tomorrow on Falcon.

The parting shot for today comes from Mark Twain. "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." Make sure you take time to enjoy your day.

April 2, 2008

What a great day. The sun is shining, and I don't have to work today. Sounds funny for a retiree I know, but in order to retire when we did we knew we would still need to work some until Social Security kicked in. That won't be for several more years yet so, it's the subbing life for me for a time. Fortunately though I have been trying to get in as many days during the frozen water period so when the lakes open up pretty darn soon I can fish most days. Up in Cadillac at Pilgrim's Village , Steve has it in his lake report that the ice is no longer safe. It won't take long for the ice to go once we get a little open water. By the way, if you have never been to Steve's Fishing shop at Pilgrim's Village you're missing the best stocked store for fishing supplies between Grand Rapids and Traverse City. It's a small shop, but Steve is up to date with what anglers are using and has his walls and aisles are packed with what's hot. You can't beat the rates on his cabins there either. Check it out.

As you have already noticed, I have broken the blog so that I can archive March. All the March entries are in the above archived section.

Don and Tony have the day off today. They can't be on Lewis Smith Lake, Smith Lake as it is also commonly referred to, until tomorrow when the tournament begins. They're undoubtedly readying the boat and reboxing tackle with the lures and terminal tackle that they feel will be most productive. Here's the latest article from the FLW site with some tournament forecasting by Greg Pugh and Sean Hoernke.

F.Y. I., You have until midnight tonight to firm up your Fantasy Fishing roster. As far as I know, you can join at any time, and I hope that you are aware that FLW is giving away $100,000 each tournament to that tournaments Fantasy Fishing winner. Once again that's $100,000.

I googled the Weather Underground forecast for Jasper, Alabama and today it looks pretty nice, but again the FLW won't allow the anglers on the water the day before the tournament begins. Tomorrow there is a 30% chance of rain, 10-15 mph winds, and a high of 72 degrees. It's going to be a crap shoot as to where the fish will be. There most certainly will be fish moving shallow to spawn, but how many is the question. Smith Lake is known as a spotted bass lake and holds the Alabama record at over eight pounds. Spots spawn, like smallies, before the largemouth typically do and in deeper water. Those beds, despite how clear Smith Lake is said to be, are going to be difficult to see. Wind and rain should obscure them completely. If guys have them GPSed, it will be the only way to locate them. We'll keep our fingers crossed that Tony, Don, Nate, and the other Michigan anglers, get on some fish.

Tomorrow both the FLW and The BASS sites will be streaming video of weigh ins. The BASS Elite Series will be down in Zapata, Texas for the Texas swing on Falcon Lake. If you use this hyperlink you'll see that the temps there are forecasted to be in the 90s!

I opened up Google Earth and used it to take a look at Falcon. The lake is northwest of McAllen TX and southeast of Laredo on the US, Mexico border. It looks to me as if most of the lake is actually in Mexico. Supposedly, Homeland Security issues with crossing the border while you're fishing aren't as stringent as they are on St. Clair and Erie.

Here's a preview article from ESPN on the Lake Falcon event. Alton Jones is guaranteeing that the winner will need triple digits, that's 100 plus pounds of bass! He says 40 lb. bags are not out of the question!! That weigh in ought to be very interesting. The weigh ins from Zapata will start at 5:50 ET. Here's the live streaming video hyperlink for tomorrow's BASS event.

The Lewis Smith Lake FLW weigh in should be at 4:00 pm ET tomorrow. In regards to that weigh in, I got an email telling me that a new enhanced FLW Live video player is going to be used, and I will need to register at FLWOutdoors.com. They say to go to the site and then click on "Create an Account" which is in the upper right hand section of the home page. Next you simply follow the instructions to register. I know if you are a member you have to enter your membership number. Members should have gotten the same email as I did with the instructions. Visitors, it says, can also register, but cannot view the live streaming for Tour events. They highly recommend that you register well before weigh in time.

Once registered, you can go to the FLW Outdoors.com site within an hour of the weigh in and click on the red banner or the FLW Live tab.

Time for me to get some work done around the homestead. Need to jump in the truck and do a few errands and maybe stop for some Chinese food for lunch.

The parting shot for today comes from J. Donald Walters, "Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances." Sounds good to me! Don't worry be happy. Make sure you take time to enjoy your day.