Bloggin Ramblin Bass Fishing BS

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Just thought I would put up a page for short blurbs of information, opinions, comments, etc. If you have something to include or add, email it in to me, and I'll include it in the blog.

Archived Blog Entries May 31 - June 30, 2007

Archived Blog Entries July 1 - July 31, 2007

August 31, 2007

Just climbed out of bed and was greeted with five deer in the cabin yard. One was a dandy little six point buck. He was still with a group of does that had a couple of fawns. One fawn was running around bleating for its mother. My truck in the driveway must have made them all nervous.

Yesterday morning I was gone, but my wife and granddaughter watched, probably part of same group come through the yard and down to the beach to drink out of the lake. I had driven in to Cadillac to do some things with Don. On my way home down M55 I got stopped in construction traffic. As I sat waiting for the flagman to release us a big ole black bear came high balling it across the road just down from the flagman. When I passed the construction worker a few minutes later, I rolled down the window and asked if he'd seen the bear. He nervously smile back and said that indeed he had. The Cadillac area has a pretty good population of black bear.

Last July we had a bear under our bird feeder here at the lake.

The traffic moving north is by now starting to build. I'm glad we got up early. Here's a Michigan Department of Transportation, MDOT, report for the Grand Rapids area.

The weather looks like it's going to be fantastic.

The lake is dead calm and I just saw minnows skipping across the surface on the edge of the lilly pads trying to elude one of the lakes carnivores. Probably Mr. Bass.

Speaking of Big Bass, the Tear Drop Tournament Trail Big Bass Lake article is done and up on the web site. I've had a history theme running through the articles this year and tried to include a little on Big Bass Lake as well.

I was reading on Great Lakes Bass.com a thread dealing with knots. I have a couple of websites that I have found that show how to tie a number of fishing knots. Here they are: Grog's Fishing Knots , NetKnots.com .

Don was telling me about a tournament group that looks very interesting it's called Bass Anglers United . They seem to have a large area of opportunity from SW Michigan up to Traverse City and then over to St. Clair. Giving away a Triton at their Championship. From what I hear, Randy Van Dam is involved as either an organizer or sponsor. If so, I'm sure it should be a good thing to get involved with. I see Chris Schalk, a member of this year's B.A.S.S. Federation State Team is fishing the Traverse City tournaments that this trail puts on. I don't know Chris personally, but for those of you that do he could be a contact concerning the series of tournaments. I think Chris frequents GLB so if you are on that forum you may be able to reach him there for questions. I'm sure if you have questions you could use the contact form at the web site, but talking to someone that is a participant can really give you the up to the minute low down.

Well, I got a bunch of things to do today so I'm getting off the net. Take care and be careful on the roads!

August 29, 2007

Good morning! Actually, I guess it's just about afternoon. Had to take the wife's car in for service at the crack of dawn.

Found a couple of fall smallmouth articles that may be of interest to some. I read them over and as always, some interesting ideas. The problem is trying the techniques out. If you're like me you get out on the water and spend way too much time on your favorite stuff. I was reading an article some time back where KVD talked about prefishing and he said he makes himself move or try a different bait every ten minutes. Seems like a short time, but time on the water can pass by quickly. I've got to get myself more flexible when it comes to prefishing and try more lures and techniques when I'm out prefishing. Got to do more than just read the articles. Here are the two articles. Drop Shotting Deep Water Smallmouth , Smallmouth Worm , Downsize for Fall Smallmouths

One of the things I have heard about, and am going to try the next time out when I'm tube fishing, is to stick a small piece of Alka Seltzer into the nose of your tube and then jam a piece of cotton ball soaked in fish scent in as well. The bubbles represent those given off by crayfish. The scent is something I am a believer in and use most of the time.

I have had this site posted before, but it's a good one. It has a bunch of fishing videos that you can select covering a variety of topics. Here is one they did on Fall Jig Fishing . Now this is "Western Bassin," but those Western guys catch the same fish as we have here and do pretty darn good on the pro circuits so should be worth checking out. I just listened to the video again and the title was "Fall Jig Fishing," but in the video they say they are fishing postspawn. I guess Fall is post spawn, right. Any how it's a good site for some video info.

Got to run today and get a new gas grill. Take care, only a couple more days till a long weekend.

Ain't it the truth..."Smoked carp tastes just as good as smoked salmon when you ain't got no smoked salmon."  Patrick F. McManus

August 28, 2007

Tuesday and I think you could officially start the countdown to the Labor Day weekend. Not much happening. I have to get a hold of Joe K. and try and set up a time for him to come over to the cabin and help me take a look at my Cat. There appears to be a trim motor switch sticking causing the trim motor to run in the down mode constantly. I also have a cable problem with the trolling motor. Got to get things taken care of so I can start prefishing for the Classic up on Duck and Green Lakes in Interlochen.

For you BassCat guys, there is an owners tournament Saturday on Muskegon Lake. If you need more info. email Ed Opalek at oppiebass@verizon .net. Ed runs Shoreline Bass which is a series of tournaments that fish some of the same water as the Tear Drop. Looks like a good group of guys. Don't know if they have any gals fishing. I didn't see any at the Hamlin event.

There is a pretty good article that they did on Boyd Duckett's recent Legends win called "Fish Whisperer" . The last Elite Major will be on Lake Toho in two weeks. The last chance for KVD to catch Skeet. You gotta bet Skeet is hearing the footsteps or in this case the whine of KVD's motor as he runs and guns.

There is an FLW Tour Series event coming up on September 5-9 on Lake Champlain. They just finished up an FLW Stren event on the Detroit river. Here's a link to the article that summarizes that event.

Ordered a tool from D-barb today. I've talked about this before. I am a believer that you need to get those hooks out of fish. Just cutting the line is, in my opinion, not the way to go. Check out this article and see if you don't agree that a tool like this is a must. For the money, it is worth the effort, to look for tools like this. I'll let you know how it works.

Still promising that the Bass Lake article will get done soon. I really do have it almost finished. It's becoming an albatross around the neck though. One of those things that I know I have to do, but can't seem to make myself do. In any case, got to go. Peace.

"Just as in cooking there's no such thing as a little garlic, in fishing there's no such thing as a little drag." H.G. Tapply

August 27, 2007

Hey it's a Monday.., I think. The hardest part of being retired is figuring out what day it is. I had to add some distance to the walk this morning. Spent the day eating my way through the "Taste Of Saugatuck" festival. Ribs, and more ribs, chicken pasta salad, two slices of saganini (fried goat cheese), margarita chicken, turtle sundae, carmel corn, and a variety of beverages, and I'm sure I forgot some of the other things I ate. Whew! Thank goodness for elastic waist bands.

Downtown Saugatuck is a really nice quaint artsy town nestled up against the river leading out into Lake Michigan. Lots of pleasure craft to look at as they motor past in the river. They also have several blocks of shops of all kinds to peruse. If you have never been there you should schedule a side trip. While you are going in or out of town stop at Spectators and see Pat and Clare. They have a sports bar there with great live music on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Great food and great music! Try the grouper and the portabello fries. That's right stopped on the way out of town after all that food downtown. We got there at 2:00 pm and stayed till the band quit at Spectators at 10:30 so I got a little hungry. Listening to music and taking in scenery does that to me. Here's a few pics from the visit.

Great Live Music All Day

Beautiful River Walk

Spectators Rib Booth

Days End "When the Saints Come Marching In"

I see on BassFan.com that Boyd Duckett, this year's Bassmaster Classic winner, came from behind to beat Dean Rojas in the Legends tournament down in Arkansas on Lake Dardanelle. He won a nice little $250,000 in a no entry fee tournament. He won a free pass into the three Majors this year because of his Bassmaster Classic win. KVD had the biggest sack on the final day fishing a six hole course that's set up for the top six anglers after Day 1 and 2.

If you checked out the web article from the BassFan website you saw Boyd getting chummy with my new best friend Ray "The Legend," Ray "I'm invited down to his home," Ray " I get to fish in his private 50 acre lake," Scott. Ray was probably pumping Duckett for tips and secret baits. Won't do him any good. Don and I intend to show him what we got, and it's plenty! ( I sure hope VanDam comes through with some pointers for us and my map I sent to Hank Parker comes back mark with some honey holes. I know Hank and Kevin have fished Ray's lake before.)

I was looking at ESPNoutdoors.com and they have a series of short "Hooked On" videos that are pretty cool. There are 16 of them so make sure you scroll down because only two show up on the initial screen.

Looks like that's it for today. Have a good one! Here's a quote that I thought was pretty good: "The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them."  John Gierach

August 26, 2007

Suffering from a little bit of blog withdrawals. Haven't been able to spend too much time blogging, I've been fishing! First things first! I also forgot my iPod when I left the cabin last time up. I use the iPod as an external hard drive for transferring the html for the blog to the laptop when I travel. I had the latest chunk of blog on the laptop so I was able to continue by sliding it off on a CD so I could transfer it to my desktop. However, in getting ready to go back up to the cabin Thursday, I needed to do the same thing in reverse and couldn't find a blank CD. So, I couldn't work on the blog for the last couple of days while up north.

To catch up, Don, Dennis, and Ron had a roller coaster weekend at the Michigan B.A.S.S. State Championship on Lake St. Clair. Dennis started off well with about 17 lbs. on day one. Don started Day 1 losing his GPS. He said it just went to a black screen and that was that. Don has been over on St. Clair and had a number of spots on a "milk run" that he had scouted with his aqua view and was confident on doing quite well on. He did his best without the GPS to find the rock humps he had marked, but it was like looking for that proverbial needle. He ended Day 1 with only two fish. Ronnie was a nonboater, and he couldn't talk his boater into going upriver the first day. He caught one fish. Dennis, Day 2, got pushed off his spot which was just a small area on the river where it swept up on a small piece of sand. It's a one boat spot. When he got to it, his nonboater from Day 1 was sitting on it and Dennis tried to fish around it, but it's a spot on a spot. He saw the nonboater catch three fish from it! That's why guys don't like draw tournaments.

Ron got his ride up the St. Clair River on day two and caught 18+ pounds and his boater caught 19+. Don drew a Day 2 nonboater that was in contention so he told him he would fish his spots. They didn't pan out and Don only had one or maybe two fish Day 2. It took 28 lbs. to make the State Team. Ted Prisbe was the overall winner. As you may recall, Ted was the Captain of the Divisional Team that just fished down in Ohio. He was the overall winner in the State Tournament last year as well, which makes him a back to back winner!!. Ted lives on Harsens Island which is in St. Clair. Home lake advantage for sure, but there always seems to be that home lake jinx to contend with as well. He definitely was "The Man" again and had an impressive couple of tournaments. I would bet no one has went back to back in the State Tournament before!

Next year's State Championship is up on Lake Charlevoix again. We are going to put together a Tear Drop State Team and if you're interested in being on it, all it takes is some payolla. You have to be a B.A.S.S. member and pay the state dues as well. If you get the Bassmaster's magazine then you already are a national member and would just have to pay your Michigan dues. Next you would have to come up with a fee which includes your State Championship entry fee. That fee would include some money to pay for some gas for one of us to drive to Bass Pro Shops in Detroit 3 times. One of the rules for having a team, is that you need to make a minimum number of Michigan Bass Federation meetings. The meetings are held in a meeting room at Bass Pro Shop. I would guess you're talking about around $200 give or take $25 to be on the Tear Drop State Team. If we sell raffle tickets, we get money for each ticket sold to either off set that individual fee or buy State Team shirts. Let me know if you're interested. It use to be only x number of guys from your team could go to the State Championship, but this past year anyone on your roster could go. I suspect they will continue that for this upcoming year. We also need an equal amount of boaters vs. nonboaters. Great way to go fish without a boat and maybe learn a little from a good draw.

I went up to the cabin late Thursday night with Matt H. and we went over to Hamlin to prefish for the Shoreline Bass Tour . We had a great prefishing outing. Checked out a variety of spots and left some of the spots alone. The bad news about the prefishing day was that I didn't bring a rainsuit. The weekend before I had loaned my spare suit to Ricky S. at Bass Lake. My 100 MPH suit was still in the cabin where I had left it to dry out. Consequently, with two, actually three rain suits, I didn't remember to get one of them and I got SOAKED!

Saturday, tournament day, the sun never appeared until around 10:00. It slowly got light and burnt its way through the drizzle and gray skies.

We started the tournament on a topwater spot. Matt caught a nice fish and I had a good one half in the net that got off. We left the that spot after one drift to fish a sand drop and limited there in about an hour. We then hit a couple other spots and and culled once. We then had about 10 lbs. and felt we needed at least 14 lbs. We left to go find some big fish shallow and just before we did, Matt asked what that funny noise was he was hearing. It turned out to be the power trim had turn on and the motor trimmed down on its own and the trim motor wouldn't shut off. It appeared one of the four switches shorted out. I had to call Dennis at Track 'n Trail Marine . He was great and talked me through how to find the fuse that I needed to pull that shut the trim motor off. Unfortunately, without that fuse in the big motor wouldn't run. So, we had to pull the cowling and put the fuse in and out whenever we moved. It prevented us from getting shallow. The big motor would have stuck in the sand. We could fish some semishallow stuff, but then the double whammy hit. The trolling motor cable went foul and you couldn't turn with the foot control. You had to turn the head and manually steer. We gave it a good try, but the boat problems really affected our effort and mental mind set. Had a great time though and it's always fun fishing Hamlin and I enjoy fishing with Matt.

Saw several familiar faces on Hamlin. Jason Ammerman and his partner were there and I got a chance to catch up with him. Jason married a girl that was in one of my sixth grade classes. He's a good fisherman and had 16 pounds on Hamlin, which I think was just ounces out of first.

Cy Ruel, from GLB, was there and he had 14 lbs. and placed up in the standings.

Josh Meyers and Matt Kaiser from the Tear Drop were there and they were one place out of the money with 11-4 lbs.

I didn't get a chance to take pictures. It was raining all of Friday and half of Saturday and then with the boat problems at the end of Saturday it just kept me too busy to get the camera out .

We did see something that you could say was unique. We were up shallow when we saw a squirrel way out in the water on a log. It was reaching out for an acorn floating in the water when a big ole bass came out of the water and pulled the squirrel under. We looked at each other contemplating what we had just seen, when the water swirled again where the squirrel had been. While we were watching that big bass brought another acorn up to the log. That was really a story that Forest L. Wood told while I was watching the FLW, Detroit River, event that Steve Clapper won on TV this morning. They had the first two days on, and next week they'll show day 3.

Visited Bassfan and saw that Dean Rojas was in the lead going in to the final day of the Bassmaster's Legend Tournament down in Arkansas. KVD is in fourth. Rojas is legend for using the Spro Frog . Looks like Kermit is running hot again for him. Should be an interesting last day.

That KVD is a machine. He just always seems to be in contention. He's has a new web site that I signed up on and he has a online store where he sells his new hat. Going to have to get one.

I've got to get off this machine and get ready to go to the "Taste Of Saugatuck." My sister's friend has a restaurant and has a booth where my nephew and brother are helping out making ribs. Looks like I'll be eating my way through yet another day.

Take care and the Bass Lake article ought to get done and be up late tonight early tomorrow.

August 22, 2007

Couldn't get at the blog early today. Was up at 6:00 am to drive up to a funeral for a cousin of mine that lost a five year battle with cancer. Cancer is a terrible disease, but my cousin never let it get her down. She lived every day without letting the cancer dictate it. She lived her life to the fullest and will be missed by many.

Talked to Don and Ron today. They were headed over to St. Clair to prefish for this year's B.A.S.S. Federation Nation State Championship. When I talked to Ron he was near Grand Rapids and trying to get a hold of Don so they could hook up. Well... Ron lost an axle on his boat trailer and it ruined the tires and the rims and trailer even skidded on the spare ruining it as well. Ron is one of those guys that can fix anything. So, after calling his insurance company they went about putting it back together. I don't know where and when Don came along and found him, but it was good they got together.

They had to get parts to fix the axle and then buy tires and get them mounted on new rims. I talked to them again at about 7:00 PM and they were just getting to the motel. Not much prefishing for them today. They still have tomorrow, but will have to be off the water in time to register at the banquet at six. Dennis has to be at the President's Meeting at 4:00. They usually have a good banquet and give away quite a few things in the drawings they have. It's a good time to meet and greet. The social aspect of fishing is as much a part of fishing as the hooking up with fish is.

Word has it that this time of year you need to be up the St. Clair River. Usually way up the river near Fawn Island. I have fished that area before. The year that Ron came in second over in the State Championship he took Matt H. and I to his river spot after the tournament was over. Hammered the 4-6 lb. smallmouth all morning. It was a memorable day! A riot!

One problem anglers may encounter this year on the river is that after all this rain we've been having will muddy up the river, and when that happens the bite shuts down. If we don't dry out some contestants just may want a main lake back up where they can find some clear water. I hear Anchor Bay around Race Marker A wouldn't be a bad spot to try.

As I was purusing the net today, I found an article that may be of some interest to the guys over on St. Clair this week. (The anglers will fish Friday and Saturday with Sunday reserved for a blow off day.) On the FLW site, there is a "Crankin' Smallmouth" article done by some hot sticks on St. Clair.

Checked the Bassmasters Elite Index and saw where Skeet Reese is number one in the Toyota Angler of the Year race with 2,579 points. He's leading the Kalamazoo Kid, KVD, who has 2,472 points. Kevin does have Skeet in the Berkley Heavyweight standings. Kevin has 362-04 lbs. and Skeet has 347-07 lbs. They have one more Elite Series Event on September 13-16, the Sunshine Showdown on Lake Toho in Florida. Kevin keeps saying not to coundt him out. He can and just may come back and grab the title. Before they go to Florida for that last series event they will be in Russellville , Arkansas for the last Major , The Legends Tournament. That starts August 23.

BassFan has a world ranking system and VanDam is still in the lead on that system.

Did I mention again that I have a new best friend. Here's a picture of my last year, first day, partner in the State Championship, Larry Baker with my new best friend Mr. Ray Scott.

Larry and My Buddy Ray

Hopefully I'll get to work on the Bass Lake article today. I'm going to try and get it done and upload it tomorrow.

In the morning be first up, and in the evening last to go to bed, for they that sleep catch no fish. -- An old English proverb. Have a great day!

August 21, 2007

Finally able to get back on my computer. A whirl wind of activity here lately. After, the weighin at Vermillion we went to Cedar Point. My son and his girlfriend were there and we decided to stop so we could see them another time. We hadn't seen Nick in a year, and really miss him, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a little more time with him. We first stopped at the Econo Lodge, where we knew they had booked a room. We got the last room there, which happened to be right above them. We got in to Cedar Point on their evening rate which was about $26 a piece. We went into the park and got in line for the Raptor. It's one of those rides that you feet dangle and they loop and spin and dive you throughout the ride. Well.... we found out that being older the body just doesn't take all that high speed spinning. The up and down is all right. The spinning left us both with a dizzy nauseous headache, and it was the first ride. We went on the Blue Streak next. It's probably their oldest coaster and pretty mild compared to their new rides. We then walked around the park trying to decide if we could literally "stomach" another ride. We thought we would just take a relaxing ride on their big ferris wheel and take some sunset pictures. It was the longest line yet and just as we were getting on a car we saw Nick and Stacey so we scrambled under all the line fences and caught up with them. We spent the remainder of their night with them and had a great time.

Saturday we drove back, because I had to go up to the cabin to retie lines for our last Tear Drop event on Big Bass Lake, Sunday. I got to the cabin at 10:30 and put line on six reels. It was raining and the forecast was for continued rain and thunder showers. When I got up Sunday morning it wasn't pouring, but it wasn't drizzling either. I ran my gear out to the garage, but because it was raining, I put my stuff in the trunk of my wife's car to back up to the garage which is a ways back on the cabin property. I loaded the rods, and was getting the boat ready, when Ron, my partner, arrived. While talking with him and hooking the boat up I forgot to get my hook box and my lure boxes for Big Bass out of the trunk. I left without them and consequently didn't have any of the soft plastics that I had picked out especially for the lake, nor did I have my hook/weight box! I had to borrow stuff from Ron, but didn't have the new jigs I stopped and bought at D& R Sports Center on the way home. Murphy's Law strikes again!

I knew Big Bass Lake would be tough. I was confident in a dock pattern, but the rain wouldn't suit that strategy. I was hoping for a sunny day to drive the fish to the shade. We hit the docks anyway and caught probably 30 bass, but none kept. We started frogging the slop and caught about 10 more, but again no keepers. Finally, we hit a another dock and Ron pulled out a 14 incher. Not much,but on Big Bass which is recovering from Largemouth Bass Virus, LMBV, it was enough for fifth place and a little cash. I will have the article and pictures for Big Bass Lake up on the web site soon.

If you have been reading the blog you know about Don winning the B.A.S.S. Northern Regional down in Vermillion, Ohio. This link is the latest B.A.S.S. article on the Federation web site.

As they say, "There's no rest for the wickedly hot bass catching machine, Fowler" and he went straight from Vermillion to St. Clair where he had a largemouth only tournament on Saturday and the final CATT Series, Johnson Shootout Division tournament. He and his partner Dave Brown from Cadillac, won the Angler of the Year trophy. They finished first in that Sunday tournament. Man he's on a roll! So much of a roll that he's in bed today with a bout of vertigo. He's had occasional bouts of this condition over the last year. He's flat in bed and gets sick to his stomach with any type of movement. He's hoping to get in to see the doc and get over this before the Michigan B.A.S.S. Federation State Tournament. Don is on fish in St. Clair and that's where the tournament starts this Thursday. Unfortunately for me, I will not be fishing it this year. Had to cut some expenses now that I'm on a fixed retirement income. I have fished the state championship for several years in a row and am sorry to miss this one. Dennis Cook, Ron Hicks, and Don from the Tear Drop are planning to fish it. If you are interested on getting on the Tear Drop, State Tournament team give me an email. We'll be putting together a team for next year. The nice thing about this next state tournament, is that the 2009 Divisional will be on St. Clair. So, if you make the team in 2008, you will fish the 2009 Northern Divisional on Lake St. Clair.

In my earlier post I misspelled Don Corkran's name. My apologies! Don is the Federation Nation Director. He will be the featured speaker at this year's State Championship banquet.

Here are a couple of more pictures from the Northern Divisional.

My New Best Friend

Northern Divisional State Representatives

Final Day Boats Arriving

I talked to Paul Sacks today about getting more of the pictures he has from the divisional. I am planning on putting the video and pictures together in an iMovie that I can then give to the State Team members. I'm hoping to get some of their pictures as well, so that I can get a complete story from practice to final weighin. I'll let you know when it's done. I'd be happy to make a DVD for you if you would like one.

Paul was in a real dither. He is trying to get ready for Thursday's State Championship. He said he just called the caterer to give her a final head count and he found out she just went out of business. That news came on the heals of finding out the new scales were not in yet and were delayed. He really has a ton of work he does to get this all together and with most jobs like this, he does it because no one else is doing it. If you know him or have a chance to email him at the Federation make sure you give him is due which is a huge thank you!

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." -- John Buchan

Have a great day!!

August 17, 2007

Can't say good morning even though I'm typing this at 9:00 am because I can't get on the internet to upload till probably later tonight. I'm in Detroit, Southfield actually, spending as much time as we can with my son and his girlfriend. Went out to see the new Bourne movie last night with them. Great movie, very intense and action packed. My son Nick and Stacey left this morning headed for Cedar Point.

I have a wife that indulges my fishing fever and has agreed to drive down to Vermillion to watch the day three weighin of the B.A.S.S. Northern Regional. As you have read below, Don Fowler, our Track'n Trail Tear Drop Tournament Series and Michigan Team representative is in first place after two days of fishing. I talked to him a second time last night and he said he has been a tad bit excited and has not slept much. Dreaming of what might just be I suspect. Don has about a one pound lead over his roommate and Michigan teammate Ted Prisbe from Harsen's Island. Harsen's for you West Siders is a beautiful spot on, or should I say in, Lake St. Clair. Ted smoked the field last year on the Saginaw River in the Michigan State Championship fish off.

Last year our Tear Drop team went over and practiced Saginaw Bay which is where most anglers felt the tournament would be won from. As luck, and the weather would have it, both days of the tournament it, "came up a cloud," and the Bay was declared off limits. The field was confined to the River, which frustrated many who already had spots marked out in the Bay.

None of us had prefished the river and just had to go fish. Dennis Cook, our current Tear Drop Director, had a super first day and was the tournament leader going in to day two. I drew Larry Baker who had an 18 ft. Ranger and had decided to spend a week fishing the Saginaw River, because he didn't want to go out in the Bay with his shorter boat.

Saginaw Bay can be treacherous. There are many areas with big, eat your lower unit up, rocks and shallow reefs. The waves on the bay can build quickly and it's no place to be if it blows.

Larry and I fished bridge pilings and rip rap. He put me on fish. However, I broke off on the first two or three fish. I foolishly thought the cause of the break offs were from abrasion with the cement chunks we were fishing. It wasn't till that third fish broke off that I tested the line to find I had spooled some new line the night before that turned out to be trash. I learned that if you take line and tie it like you are tying your shoes, (that first under over pull before the bow), and give it a quick pull it should knot up, but not break. I check all my new line that way now. It's a quick, easy, and accurate check of your line's strength. Once I respooled I boated three keepers off a sand bar that Larry found prefishing. It was loaded with smallies and he caught his limit there. If I had boated those earlier fish I too would have had a limit and been a contender for the team, because Sunday I caught several larger fish and weighed in a nice limit.

Don, "Mr. Lucky" Fowler drew a young guy that lived on the Saginaw River and fished it daily. They both boated a small limit the first day. Don was down the list a ways on day one whereas, as I said, Dennis was numeral uno. Second day, Don went back and caught another limit. Nothing huge, but catching a limit both days did the trick for him and vaulted him to 13th overall and put him just an ounce or two ahead of Dennis whose spot the second day was not honored and was invaded by a number of boats. Don became the alternate on the State Team, and when one of the 12 state team members had to bow out because of work reasons, Don was moved on to the team for the Regional event. Now he's number one after two days of fishing against 96 other anglers from eight different states!!

Did I mention that day two of the tournament was his wedding anniversary! His beautiful wife Darlene is a saint, and Don's going to have to come up with something special to make up for missing their anniversary.

I asked Don about his second day and he said early in the day he hooked a fish and by the way it acted, he assumed it was a drum. Fishing for smallies on Erie is often a matter of sorting through drum and white bass. He told his boater who had the net in hand to go back to fishing, just a drum. However when the fish surfaced on it's side next to the boat he saw it was no drum, but about a five pound smallie. By the time he hollered the smallie finally figured what was going on and went crazy and came off. If he had boated that fish he would have went in today with a six pound lead instead of one. He said Erie was rather calm with only one to three footers. He also said that each morning he has been using the "Dial a Buoy" number and said that the information concerning the weather and conditions on the lake have been spot on. I gave the link to "Dial A Buoy" back on the August 15th blog entry.

The Michigan Team fell from second to fourth on day two despite having team members in the number one, two, and ninth positions.

The first place team in the regional gets a fully rigged Triton, second gets $12,000,third $6,000,fourth $3,000, fifth $2,000, sixth $1000, and seven and eighth get $500.

I googled the directions to the Red Clay on the River Restaurant where the weighin was to be. We made the trip over in about two and a half hours and found the restaurant without any problems it is a beautiful spot.

Weighin Site

When I got to the restaurant I began to worry about having fresh batteries so after ordering my food and checking with the waitress I headed out to the nearest store. Got back and ate a couple homemade fries and dressed my burger, but the boats were starting to come down the river from the lake. I didn't want to miss Don coming in so I left everything with my wife and took the cameras and went outside. It wasn't long and I spotted Don coming in.

...The Wait Begins

Right away they tagged Don and shuffled him off to the holding area. Being the Day 1 and 2 leader they would weigh his sack last.

High Anxiety

Ted Prisbe, Don's teammate and roommate was just 15 oz. behind Don after day 2. Friday, however, Ted had a tough day and only managed I believe one fish.

That pretty much put a hammer lock on Don taking the team lead which he needed to move on. The drama then went to did he have enough to win the whole thing!!

To make a long story short, Don ran away with it by almost two pounds.

Don Fowler Northern Divisional B.A.S.S. Winner

While up on stage with Ray Scott, Ray asked Don if he like all the others who were coming up on stage caught his fish on a drop shot. After some cajoling by Don, about how he used a bait designed by Ray, he did in deed say that's how he caught his fish. Ray then invited Don down to his place near Montgomery AL to teach him the technique. He told Don to bring a friend, and at that point , I was in the front row waving my cameras and hands. Ray asked Don who he would take and he pointed at me and said he would be taking me! Wholly Cow!!!!

Mr. Ray Scott, The Legend Himself and Dandy Don

Don Corkran came over to me then and told me to be sure Don called him and set up the trip. He said all we needed was to get to the airport and they would pick us up and take care of everything else.!!! A chance of a life time!!

I'm hustling like crazy to get this piece done. We have to be out of the motel room in ten minutes, and I have to go down to the lobby and use the net there to upload this.

I got a chance to shake the hand of the Michigan State Team and will be writing a complete article for the web page once I get home and download more pictures. Here's the state team.

Michigan's Northern Divisional State Team

One last shot of Don hefting one of his new trophies.

The Champ

August 16, 2007

Update #2

Hang on to your seats folks this is going down to the wire!! Dandy Don is still in first place after day two down in Vermillion on Lake Erie. He weighed in four smallmouth for 16-15 lbs. today. He went back to his starting spot today and there were sixteen boats there. Yesterday there had been only six! When I called him he was pulling out his boater so I didn't get a chance to talk to him for very long.

He did say that Ray Scott came up to him and introduced himself and gave Don an autographed copy of his book. He also said George Cochran has approach him two days in a row and wanted pictures of he and Don holding some of Don's fish.

Don said at the weighin that they were forecasting bad weather for tomorrow and if it came up a cloud and got too bad they were going to have to call the tournament, in which case Don would be the winner.

Ted Prisbe, of Harsen's Island, is in second overall. Ted is on the Michigan team so it sounds like there's a chance the Michigan Team did well again as a group. Yesterday they were in second place team wise, about eight pounds out of first . One of the Michigan team members blanked yesterday and another had 4 lbs. Hopefully, they had a meeting and clued those guys in. It could be those guys were the other two nonboaters and had to go where there boater went. In that case there catching fish is really a matter of how good the boater's spots were. Don has been fortunate both days that his boater has taken his advice and fished Don's spots.

Would have to be a pretty dumb boater to have the tournament leader in your boat and not go to his spot, duh.

I'll keep searching the net and try and find some more ink on the tournament. Keep your fingers crossed that Don and the Michigan team kick butt tomorrow!

August 16, 2007

News flash as of Aug. 16. Here is an article on Don and his day one leader's sack down in Vermillion, Ohio in the Northern B.A.S.S. Regional. Don's Northern B.A.S.S. Regional stage picture and article. They are still on the water and as soon as I get a call from Don I will update the blog.

August 16, 2007

Hey, Hey, Hey!! Guess who is in first place leading the pack in the B.A.S.S. Northern Regional? None other than Donny Boy Fowler!! As I mentioned a few days ago, Don made the B.A.S.S State Team last year in Saginaw on the river. Don and the Michigan team is down in Vermillion, Ohio fishing against eight other state teams. When I talked to Don, as he left the ramp, he hadn't found out how all the guys on the his team did yet, but did know two had around 20 lbs. If the others got close, it would put the Michigan team up there at the top. Go get 'um guys!

Don, as you might guess, was on cloud nine. He said he was getting interviewed by BASS Times and several Ohio papers. He had two smallies that were over five and a half pounds. He said that the bites were few and far between, but did cull two fish to get his final limit. They fished with the winds out of the northeast in three to four footers. Calm for Erie.

If I remember correctly, if you place high enough as an individual you go on to one more divisional and if you have a good outing there, you're off to the BassMaster Classic. Man, would that be something! Here is an article that was in the Vermillion, Ohio newspaper discussing the tournament. Later today they should have yesterday's results.

I went to the Michigan BASS Federation web page and they haven't posted anything yet. They need a daily blog. Don said he would call again tomorrow with an update, and I guess we'll all have to wait until then.

Went out fishing on Big Bass again. It was a long morning. It was so bad, when I went to use the outhouse at the public access I backlashed the toilet paper roll. My son Nate caught a couple keepers, but he fished from six in the morning until dark. He's a fishaholic. I asked him for some information and he sent me to this guy.

He's Not Talking

I have been enjoying the company of my son and his girl friend the last two days. It's been great spending time with them. They may be going down to Cedar Point Friday and that just might give me the excuse I need to go down to Vermillion to watch the weighin. In any case, let's all keep our fingers crossed that Don and the Michigan guys do well today and Friday.

"Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are made for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration." Izaac Walton.

Have a great day!

August 15, 2007

Got out again on Big Bass and caught only one more keeper. It's going to be interesting Sunday. There are some legal bass in the lake, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised that there is a two pounders swimming around some place, but it's going to be a right place, right lure, right spot, kind of deal. Bring your rabbits foot, lucky horseshoe or quarter stick of dynamite.

ESPN BassMaster site has a section of tips from weekend anglers. Some pretty good tips. Check it out here .

Remember today is the last day to apply for a doe permit .

Tomorrow, Scott Suggs the first million dollar winner of a bass tournament winning the Forest Wood Cup down in Arkansas on Lake Ouachita, will be on the "Best Damn Sport Show Ever." It's a Fox Network show and comes on at 11:00 PM.

The FLW's Stren Series has a tournament out of Elizabeth Park on the Detroit River which begins tomorrow. Wonderland Marine West had a tournament there last weekend and the winners had a sack of 25+ pounds. That's a five fish limit! Should be some big weights coming in.

Next year I am going to put together a rendezvous over on St. Clair. Fishing the big water can be intimidating, but if you go over with a few other boats you can stay within ear shot and take advantage of each others knowledge or lack thereof. It is an awesome fishery and always is a big adventure.

Have a great day.!

"Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job." Paul Schullery

August 13, 2007

Rainy days and Mondays... as they say. However, the weather has certainly tempered itself heat wise. I'm up at the cabin and the temperature on the shores of Big Bass Lake this morning was a nippy 51 degrees. I wore a flannel shirt and a jacket when I went out this morning prospecting. No gold or green fish to be had though. I caught a bunch of shorts, but nothing of legal size. Spent the morning checking out old haunts, throwing topwater and plastic and a crankbait. Caught something on everything but the crankbait. Yesterday I actually caught a 14 and a quarter in fish!! It was a legal bass but probably weighed 10 oz. It is certainly going to be tough come Sunday. Danny Warners Thursday night group will be on Big Bass this week. We'll have to get a report from Danny or one of the Skinners. I won't be able to fish it. Have company coming.

Chased the loons around for a bit this morning trying to get a good picture. The two young ones are almost as big as the adults now. Mom was catching and feeding the chicks and the male was in the vicinity but off on his own. Here are a couple of picks of the family group. First one shows mom underwater fishing with the chicks trailing.

Mama Loon and Dependents

The Proud Papa

Well you probably know by now, that Skeet Reese led all four days on the Potomac Elite Series event. He won by over eight pounds. Here is the BassMasters site article on the win. The article talks about how Reese now has just over a 100 point lead over KVD in the Angler of the Year race. They have one more Elite Series event on Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Toho, yet to go. Don't count KVD out because Reese has had that many points once before and lost to Van Dam. They fish Toho September 13. The Potomac tournament that Skeet won is scheduled for this Saturday the 18th on BassMasters ESPN TV.

Talked to Don again and he said that Lake Erie has been taking its toll on boats. Guys were losing trolling motors, graphs, etc. I have ridden with Don in rough water and he can handle a boat in the waves. He went on to say that they have not found the real hot spot yet. The Michigan Team is all down there for a week of scouting before the Northern Regional kicks off next Wednesday. I wish them luck and semi smooth water.

Talked to Ron and they were down in Pike County Illinois checking trail cameras to see what kind of monster bucks they can look forward to this fall. Remember, if you're interested in some primo hunting give me an email and I'll put you in touch with Ron and he'll get you set up to hunt.

I had better get back to work. Got to spruce the place up for company. There goes my fishing time, but I don't mind a bit. My son, Nick, is coming from Lake Tahoe, California for a visit. I haven't seen him in almost a year. Can't wait.

"Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn."

August 11, 2007

Well, Skeet did it again! Caught 14-14 to remain in the lead after day 2 of the Elite Series on the Potomac. I was able to catch most of the live weighin and when KVD came on the stage he said he was getting the bites he needed to do well, but wasn't getting them in the boat. He said not to count him out. He also said he was a good friend of Skeets and the night before they at sushi together. Friends, yes, but you know they are both out there doing all they can do to get that Angler of the Year title. Here's a Bass Zone article that summarizes day two and also gives a list of the current standings. As we speak they are out there again and by the sounds of it, if you don't get 'em early it can be tough. The live weighin coverage starts again today at 3:00.

The FLW Stren Series is gearing up for a tournament out of Elizabeth Park on the Detroit River August 15. Their last event was out of Smallwood Park on the Potomac where the Elite Series is fishing right now. Bobby Lane won it with a four day total of 65-14. Flipping seemed to be the pattern of choice

I talked to Don last night down in Cleveland. He said Erie was rough, but not too bad. He said you had to leave your bilge running continuously with water coming in over the back end in the waves. Don said the bites were good ones, but few and far between. I gave him the info on Dial-A-Buoy . You can access that information from your phone and get some immediate information on weather on the water. Here's a map of the buoys and weather centers for the Eastern Great Lakes , and here is the map of the Western Great Lakes buoys . Then you need to take a look at the modis software that gives you actual photographs of the Great Lakes. Here is Great Lakes MODIS Imagery page. Anglers like this view especially on Erie to see how the wind is stirring up the mud.

I'm going to be out on Big Bass Lake tomorrow morning doing some prefishing for the Tear Drop Track'n Trail Tournament Series. Ron and I have caught a limit in all the tournaments so far this year and it has us now in 7th place overall. We need to stay in the top ten to fish for a share of that $5,000 in the Classic. Big Bass should be a tough one to limit out on. Because of a bout with largemouth bass virus, there are lots of small fish but not that many 14 inchers. Why fish Big Bass then? Big Bass Lake is a tiny 280 acre lake that we fish because the area has a number of important sponsors for our trail. In its day, Big Bass Lake was a premier bass lake. Back in the days of area legends like Matt "Sly Old Fox" Roark and Richard "Pop" Brown, a limit of bass with a couple of kickers was necessary to come close to winning. Here's a picture from 2001 of my son and I when we won on Big Bass.

With Stars in Our Eyes

I don't look to see a limit winning on the 19th, but it will certainly be a day for us to see how the fish are coming back on the lake.

If you are a hunter interested in a doe permit you have four more days. You have until August 15.

Time to get some work done. I've been typing and watching the BassMasters on TV. Couple of hours of good bass fishing TV. Take care, and have a good day. We'll finish this piece with a great quote from a great philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, " Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it's not fish their after."

August 10, 2007

Were you watching last night? Yes, that was the Lions holding on and winning a game. They had something like 500 yards passing. They played the Bengals, and the Lions actually looked very good. They kicked an onside kick and recovered it and scored! I'm not going to complain about the Lions. I'm not going to complain about the Lions.....Maybe, just maybe, this will be their year.

Didn't get home in time to watch the BassMasters Potomac River Elite Series live weighin. Checked the leader board though and I was thoroughly disappointed. Skeet Reese, nice guy, but he's just a hand full of points ahead of the "Kalamazoo Kid," Kevin Van Dam, in the Angler of the Year race. Skeet caught 20 lbs. 5 ozs. today and KVD only managed 12-2. Gary Klein also caught a twenty pound bag with an eight pound two ounce largemouth! Check out this link for the day one article on the Potomac bass masters. I guess we'll have to stay tuned to see if Skeet can keep it up. He came in second on the Potomac last year. Looks like he's got it dialed in. Gotta believe KVD is just lying in the weeds for him. Tomorrow he'll have a huge sack of green fish.

Hoogy called me tonight from out on the water. He was on a charter trip with Jason Frolenko on his Strike Zone boat out of Manistee. They loaded the cooler up with salmon. My son is coming home for a short visit with his girl friend and I'm thinking of giving Jason a call to see if we can go out this coming Tuesday or Wednesday night. Check out Jason's site from the Strike Zone link and give him a call yourself. It's a good way to load up the freezer with some great salmon steaks.

I was email chatting with Mark from Kelloggsville Church Sportspersons Club and he asked me if I would put up a link about a charity tournament that they are having to help out a gal who has cancer. The charity event is going to be up on Hardy on August 25th. They will have a portion of the entry fee going to the family, and the rest will go to pay places and big bass. If you have the date open, it may be something you would want to do to have a day on the water chasing bass while helping out someone in need as well.

Don called me on his way down to fish the Northern Regional on Lake Erie and I put the hammer lock on him to take some pictures. He carries a camera, but never takes pictures! He said he took his video camera with him and promised he would shoot some film up. I'll be calling him to see how his practice is going and remind him that we expect pictures. Word has it the smallmouth bite is all east of Vermillion.

If you are around your computer tomorrow afternoon, the BassMaster site says they will be streaming video starting at 3:00 pm. I'll be checking it out to see if Reese can continue catching those big ones.

Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley. Have a great day!

August 9, 2007

The "Dog Days" are definitely upon us. I always assumed that the "Dog Days" label just pertained or described the way dogs laze around on a hot summer day. However, like most things it goes much deeper. Sirius, the "Dog Star" rises and sets with the sun from July 3 to August 11. Being the brightest star, and its relationship to the sun at this time of year, led the early Greeks to believe the two caused a rise in temperatures. So, they named this hot summer period, twenty days before and after the conjunction the "Dog Days". Of course, we all know that the heat is really caused by the earth's tilt. We know it has little to do with the revolutional path, or orbit we take around our sun. It's all in the lean.

It's that time of year during the fishing season, when equipment starts to have problems. My buddy Don has a trolling motor part he needs for his Motorguide. I googled Motorguide for service and parts in Michigan and the list from the link popped up. If you have a Minn Kotta, there is a guy up in Kingsley (You Northern Michigan guys probably know him already) . His name is Tom Soltow, and he's on 119 E. Main St. in Kingsley in the laundromat building. His number is 231-263-5998. For the Grand Rapids area Minn Kota repair, there is Great Lakes Communication on West River Drive. Their number is 616-647-9990. Southwest Michigan guys can contact Vern's Sport Shop at 269-964-2024.

I got on Bass Fan today, and they had a good article on Suggs. As the days go by, after an event, the writers seem to be able to bring everything together better because this was the best article I have read so far on the Cup. Here is the link to the David Suggs article .

I also read a continuation piece on "New Bass Gear" from the 2007 ICAST Report. It was a pretty good article, nothing too great. Another article from Bass Fan that caught my eye was one on suspended smallies. Don Fowler is heading down to Erie today to fish in the B.A.S.S. Northern Regional as a Michigan team member. Hopefully I can get Fowler to take some pictures down in Ohio. I'll see if he's up for a few phone interviews so we can follow the progress of the Michigan team and Don's own personal totals each day. Donny Boy may just be looking at a few suspended smallies down on Erie, and it just so happens that that there is an article from Bass Fan with John Murray featured. Murray just finished in third place on Erie near Niagara. The article talks about how he did it catching suspended smallies.

Live coverage from the BassMaster's Elite Series Potomac River Tournament airs today at 6:00 pm. Should be an interesting event with Reese and Van Dam in a down to the wire showdown for the Angler of the Year. The paper coverage so far says the fishing is going to be real tough. The weeds have taken over the Potomac and they soak up a lot of heat from the sun, causing the water temps to climb off the charts. I'm not going to complain about the heat. I'm not going to complain about the heat. I'm not going to complain about the heat.....

Have a good day and remember, "A sparrow that flies high can't build a dam with a beaver's tail."

August 8, 2007

I'm not going to complain about the heat, I'm not going to complain about the heat, I'm not going to complain about the heat.....Good Morning! Actually almost afternoon. I have been up and at 'em since 5:30 and it wasn't anything to do with fishing. Not good! I did have a chance to stop and eat at one of the best breakfast spots in Grand Rapids, The Real Food Cafe just south of the Alger and Eastern corner. Bar none the best breakfast place in town. Not very big, but Frank can cook and dream up some great breakfast combinations. I also went downtown yesterday to 250 Monroe between Pearl and Michigan and ate lunch at Taco Bob's . Great Mexican fast food. When you go down to the Sport and RV show you walk right by it. It's just across the street from the convention hall.

I was cruising Great Lakes Bass forum and saw a link to KaRu Lures . It looks like a chatterbait with a blade. They're $6.99 a piece and $5 for shipping. I have always liked how that front blade on a chatterbait makes it move so erratically and putting that willowleaf on gives you the attractant and erratic movement that may elicit a strike. If anyone is interested in getting some, email me. I am going to order a couple and we can save shipping if we order together.

The Hamlin article is up on the web page. I forgot to mention that Wendy and Terry Johnson won a $50 gift certificate from Pere Marquette Sports Center for coming in sixth Sunday. I'll try and add that to the web page today.

Terry and Wendy put together a family oriented tournament group based out of Ludington this year. If I knew the name of it I would put it up, but I don't. If you are interested, email me and I'll try and put you in touch with them. Wendy is on Great Lakes Bass often, so you could contact her there.

On Bass Fan , they have a pretty good article up on how the top guys caught their fish on Lake Ouachita in the $1,000,000 Forest Wood Cup. If you get some time, it's worth checking out.

The Bassmasters Elite Series Capitol City Clash starts tomorrow on the Potomac. Skeet Reese will try and hang on as KVD comes from behind and snatches the Angler of the Year Award away from him. Go get 'em KVD! Check out the web article linked above. You can watch the live weigh in starting tomorrow at 6:00 and I did double check that it was ET so I'm not off an hour this time.

Time for me to get some work done so have a great day!

August 7, 2007

Good morning! Well I'll start moving backwards from today back to the 3rd where I last left off. Friday I went in for an acid study. Chronic heartburn, it's the pits to get old. They scope your esophagus and place a small transmitter at the end of it as it meets your stomach. You then have you carry around a small receiver. The receiver records time and pH levels. You keep a detailed diary of when you lay down, belch, eat, you name it. After 48 hours the recorder stops and you take it back to the hospital with the diary, and they download it into a computer. Some time in the near future you get the results. Didn't have a clue what the "acid study" entailed and fishing was on tap for the 48 hours that I wore the monitor. They told me to be careful with it because it cost $7,000. I was wondering if that would be the jinx that would put me out of the boat and into the water. I have come close many times to going in, but actually have only fallen out once. By the way, if you ever do fall out getting back in can be tough. Especially if you're an old guy. A good way to get back in is to get to the back end and use the motor. Step on the lower unit and use your trim switch to tilt the motor and it will literally lift you out of the water.

After I came to in the hospital Friday, I went home and painted a bedroom. We then packed up and headed to the cabin. We got there after midnight, and I set the alarm for 4:30 am. I would be getting up to go fish Hamlin with my buddy Matt Hoogerhyde.

I met Matt at Tiny's Trading Post , our local bait shop, and we left for Hamlin. We got to Hamlin just as it was breaking daylight at about 6:00 am. There was another tournament leaving out of Wilson Hill Park, but we got one of a few parking spots that are nearest the ramp. While out on the water we heard some guys we talked to that another tournament had taken off out of the State Park. It was the Kelloggsville Church Sportspersons Club , and they had 40+ boats. Even with the 60+ tournament boats there was still plenty of water to fish.

Matt and I went south and got on some smallies right away. After catching a few, we went and checked out three other south end spots. We caught some fish in only one of those spots, and they weren't very big. We then went back north and Matt hooked up with another smallie that came unbuttoned halfway to the boat. We then went looking for largemouth again and caught some up in the north end. We left around 11:30. The trip Saturday really helped me finalize a plan. My only hope, and fear, was being able to find that kicker fish that you desperately need on Hamlin to win money.

Matt and I decided that we wanted to fish together some more, and are hoping to again fish Hamlin in the Shoreline Bass Tour on the 25th of August.

Ron and I were optimistic Sunday, as we headed out drawing the number 7 take off number in event number five of the Track and Trail Tear Drop Tournament Series. We knew there would be lots of limits, and we were hoping to get that big one early to anchor our sack. As luck would have it, we had our opportunity with a big smallie on and to the net only to break it off just as I was loosening the drag. We got our limit, but just couldn't really needed that big fish. The Hamlin article will be up hopefully tomorrow. The results are already up on the main page under "Rules and Info." Here is a picture of the winning team Josh Meyers and Kasey Kyser.

Myers and Kyser

That brings us to Monday, and I started the day with a quick trip to Metropolitan Hospital to dropped off the monitor and diary for the acid study. They said they didn't have many of these units and needed it back first thing Monday morning. I then headed over to Krispy Kreme for a hot glazed donut and coffee. Next stop the Apple Store in Woodland Mall to get a new mouse for the computer. While I was there, I got to play with a new iPhone. They are a gadget guys gadget. I want one.

I fell victim to impulse buying while I was there at the Apple Store and got a bass screen saver. It's okay, actually it's pretty good. Looks like footage from one of the bass fishing XBox type games. It's from www.aquazoneshop.com .

The richest bass tournament ever, the Forest Wood Cup down on Lake Ouachita, Arkansas ended Sunday with Scott Suggs from Arkansas taking home the $1,000,000 first place check!

The Michigan anglers that fished the Cup must have literally and figuratively been floating through the week. With a chance at a pay day like that and to become part of history, wow! On the pro side, Kevin Vida finished16th and won $15,000, Art Ferguson III finished 56th and won $1,000 and Kevin Long was one place down from Art in 57th and won $1,000. On the coangler side, Trevor Jancasz finished 27th and won $475, Ron VanGordon came in 57 and won $250 and Tom Trombly came in 68th and won $250. Congratulations guys!! I'm sure they are a little disappointed that they were so close to some serious money and came home with less than they had hoped, but to qualify for the championship is a true accomplishment and one I'm sure they are proud of.

Have a great day and remember, "Fishing would be better if fisherman had longer arms."

August 3, 2007

Waiting for some more information on the Forest Wood Cup I ventured off into cyberspace and looked up the time that the Best Damn Sport Show Ever is planning to air their live onstage episode at Lake Ouachita. The show will air on August 16. While checking out the time for the show, I saw where Best Damn has a MySpace page. Use to think that My Space was a teeny bopper site, but it looks to be turning more and more mainstream. Gary Shiebler, "World's Greatest Fishing Band" has a My Space site, my son's band has a MySpace site, and now Best Damn Sport Show Ever.

I doubt very much that a guy like Steve Clapper has a MySpace page, but who knows business is business. I mention Steve again because I like the guy. Never met him, but I like him. I read a FLW Reel Chat interview that was done after Steve won the FLW stop on the Detroit River. Well worth the read! The part that I like the best is toward the end when they asked Steve if he was now going to go out and fish the FLW Tour, and his reply was, "No, I'm not. I'm going to stick around the area and maybe travel to one or two of the major tournaments next year. But I have four grandchildren, and three of them are ballplayers, so I plan on being here to see their games. These years, I'll never get them back if I'm away from home fishing. I guess Grandpa just wants to see his grandchildren play." Now that's a classy guy!

Well, the first day of the Cup is in the books. Originally they said that the coverage would start at 3:15 or something like that, and then today it was changed to 5:00 Central Time. So finally at 6:00 our time the live weighin coverage began. I wasn't able to watch all of it. I got to see about half of it. The first day leader is Bryan Thrift with 15-7 on the pro side and David Hudson finish first with 11-09 on the coangler side.

The Michigan pros finished as follows: Kevin Vida 11-14 was 8th, Kevin Long 8-12 was 30th, and Art Ferguson 6-7 was 45th. Here are the weights for the Michigan guys on the coangler side: Ron VanGordon 3-8 was 24th, Tom Trombly 2-9 was 44th and Trevor Jancasz 1-3 was 63.

None of these guys are out of it especially on the coangler side. Fourteenth place on the co side had two fish and it went down from there. It all depends on what kind of draw they get tomorrow.

Kevin Vida in eighth has a real shot if he can continue to catch fish on his pattern. The coanglers will compete again tomorrow in a full field and then cut to ten anglers and clear the weights for the final day on Saturday. Here is a link to the FLW write up for the coanglers.

I'm not sure on the pro side how the cut is going to work. I assume that it will be a race tomorrow to end in the top 50 with a cut to ten after Saturday and then the final ten fish off on Sunday.

That million dollar first prize, I learned today, is contingent on whether or not the winner is Ranger qualified. If they aren't they only get a measly $500,000. Here is a link where the FLW writers talk about the event from the pro side.

Come pay day, if you are a pro, checks go down through 81 places with $10,000 going to 40th place. The coanglers get some pay through 81 places as well with twentieth place getting $1,000. First place on the co side is $50,000.

I am heading up north tonight and hope to be on Hamlin Saturday to prefish and get ready for the tournament on Sunday. Have to go in for an out patient procedure today. They're going to do an acid study to check on my chronic heartburn. They attach a small capsule in your esophagus and then you wear a monitor for several days which records the information from the capsule. The capsule detaches by itself and works it way out. No dumpster diving to retrieve it, thank heavens.

I'll try and keep up with the Blog even though it gets frustrating at the cabin with dial up. If you can, get out of town it's Friday!

An early morning update on the Cup pairings for today. Ron VanGordon drew Matt Herren who is currently 16th. Good draw. Trevor Jancasz drew Mark Davis who sits in seventh and is a great draw. Tom Trombly drew Koby Kreger who was in 71 place after day one. According to the reviews the lake is a crystal clear lake and standing timber seems to be the early key. The top pros mentioned deep grass patterns as well as fishing the suspending fish in the timber. We'll see what day two brings. Got to make that 50 cut.

August 2, 2007

Today's the day they hit the water in the 2007 $2,000,000 Forest Wood Cup. Unless you are a very early riser, they are on the water as we speak. What about the size of that total purse!! We are talking some real serious money here! A million dollar first place check! How could anyone sleep with the thoughts of that kind of cash dancing around your head. It's got to be especially tough because the fish have had lock jaw. According to the articles on Lake Ouachita, it can give up 20 lb. sacks, but come the dog days of summer with them pulling a lot of water the fish go deep and suspend. I can't help but think that would in itself inspire panic and cause one to fish way too fast and give up way to soon on a particular pattern. Here is a pundits picks article. You can read what the so called experts have to say on who they think will become a millionaire. The last time the FLW fished Ouachita was in February of 2002. Wesley Strader won the event then. That's back when KVD was fishing the FLW. The Michigan anglers that us Michiganders are rooting for are Art Ferguson III, Kevin Long, and Kevin Vida, on the pro side. On the coangler side there are three from Michigan: Trevor Jancasz, and Tom Trombly. Woops, after checking both lists again there is another coangler from Michigan that I missed yesterday. The last coangler is Ron VanGordon . Here's hoping we'll see one or more of these guys at the weighin with a good sack of Ouachita bass. Remember, the weighin is 3:15 on FlW Live. The link and necessary downloads are in the thread from yesterday.

Okay time for some humor. Try this joke on for size. I found it on one of the many fishing jokes that are, believe it or not on the internet. The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After their tent is all set up, they fell sound asleep. One hour later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemo-Sabe, look towards sky, what you see?" The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars." "What that tell you?" asked Tonto. The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute, then says, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially millions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?" Tonto is silent for a moment, then says, "Kemo-Sabe, you dumb ass. Someone stole tent." The joke comes from www.landbigfish.com .

Set your alarm for the 5:00 PM weighin and Hi Ho Silver away!!

August 1, 2007

A change of plans for me today. I was going to head up north tonight and then get up and out on Hamlin tomorrow. I got the email from Dennis about the no limits being lifted for this tournament so I changed my week up. I went out and picked blue berries to freeze and did some other honey do list items. Man was it hot picking blueberries even though I got out early!

Had to get a tire repaired at Wal-Mart, and of course while I was there I had to pick up some hooks, line, and a package of Gulp worms. When I was reading about Steve Clapper's win on Erie he commented that he used Gulp products and liked them. He's probably a Berkley sponsored pro, but in any case it was enough for me to give them a whirl. You don't want to leave a Gulp bait on your line rigged up overnight. Those things get hard as rock and you can't get the hook out with out some cutters.

As you can see I broke the blog up and archived July. It gets too unwieldy. When I go to spell check it each day, the longer it gets the longer it takes to run through it with the checker. The a href links that you use as part of the html code for web pages are the bugaboo and throw the spell checker into overdrive.

Got a postcard hand written from Gary Shiebler, leader of The World's Greatest Fishing Band . If you have never listened to any of Gary's fishing songs, I think you would get a kick out of them if you try them. His original 4 cd set has some of his best songs. I did get the new cd where he's compiled a bunch of fishing songs done by other artists. I will be getting this new "Thursday Night Fishing Club" CD as well. Fits right along with Danny Warners Thursday night tournaments. He had better get it and play it during the weigh ins. He's got a My Space page where you can go to and hear a few of his songs. Here's the link, to Gary Shiebler's My Space Page

While I was cruising Shiebler's site he has a link for an Outdoor Chef TV show. I picked around on the site and they have a list of recipes that look pretty good. Can't pass up good eats.

The Forest Wood Cup kicks off tomorrow. As I said yesterday I would link to the stats pages for the Michigan guys fishing that $2,000,000 event. Here is Kevin Vida's FLW stats page, and here is his his personal web site Here are the angler profiles for Michigan's two coanglers fishing the event: Trevor Jancasz and Tom Trombly

Here is a link to an article that talks about the upcoming tournament and the trouble the anglers are having catching fish there right now. Here is another link that details the Forest Wood Cup daily schedule . If you are going to be around tomorrow and have computer access you can watch the weigh in live on FLW Live . You may need to download Flash Player and Windows Media Player if they're not on your machine. They are free downloads available on the FLW Live link.

It's time for me to get going on a project, so have a great day and stay cool.