Current News

Blog Archive for July of 2009



A Year of Archived Blog Entries - May 07 up through May of 08

A Year of Archived Blog Entries - May 08 up through May of 09

Blog Archive of the B.A.S.S. Elite Series "Dixie Duel" on Lake Wheeler


July 31, 2009

I'm going to sneak another July blog entry in here quick, because these summer days are slipping through my fingers far too quickly, "Like sand through the hour glass, these are the days of our lives.

Last Monday night a group of guys in the Jenison area that all associate in one way or another with Ron Harig, took a bunch of kids fishing. The trip was a reward for a 12 week program that the kids all worked hard in to learn their multiplication facts. Their teacher, Ron Harig, dubbed it the "Multiplication Boot Camp."

Ron and I have a history in that we both taught in Jenison, were both in the National Guard, and both enjoy the outdoors, especially fishing and hunting. Ron is an avid deer hunter and loves to put panfish in the freezer. I take that back, he loves to take them out of the freezer and fry em up. Bluegill fillets do make for some good gummin'.

Ron admittedly had difficulty in elementary school and was, and is, dyslexic. Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes it difficult to make sense out of written symbols. (That is a very simplistic definition and if you do the investigating you will find the definition can be much more involved.) Learning to read, memorizing math facts, etc. can be especially difficult for individuals that have this affliction.

Research shows dyslexia is not associated with an intellectual deficit and people of all ability levels can suffer from it. There are many accomplished individuals that have had to deal with this problem in their lives. It can, however, be devastating from the standpoint that school becomes a significant hurdle. The daily struggle to make sense of things can be overwhelming and impactful in terms of self concept.

If you suspect that your child may have a specific learning disability make sure you insist that your school system has your child evaluated by a psychologist, and if you are not happy with the school diagnosis, make sure you pursue an evaluation of your own from an independent psychologist. Many family health insurance programs will pay for an exam of this nature. Getting a diagnosis early, so that your child gets the specific instruction they need, can make a huge difference in their lives.

Now before I go any further, I do not mean to imply that the kids who participated in Ron's Multiplication Boot Camp are dyslexic or learning disabled, they were kids who simply wanted to get past that memorization hurdle and commit those facts once and for all to long term memory. Dyslexia plays a part only because Ron knows first hand how hard getting these facts down can be and how important it is to learn them. He's a very inspirational teacher and the kids love him.

The students in the program came every Tuesday night to Ron's classroom at Maplewood School, which a I mentioned earlier, is part of the Jenison Public Schools. They worked there with a program Ron has developed for about 45 minutes to an hour. Ron was there early each day so that those who had a time conflict could drop in earlier and work with him and get homework assignments. (I should also mention that this class was free and Ron volunteered his own time and money for it.) He had regular drills set up and incorporated a number of fun and challenging activities, a favorite being a dash for cash using dollar bills he gave out.

The program was very successful and Ron ended it with a fishing trip for all the kids. He contacted Grayson Wilson at the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison, for some help getting equipment and finding boaters that would be willing to give up an evening to take the kids fishing. Grayson got on board quickly, and lined up with Ron about 10 men with boats that would take the kids out fishing.

This past Monday night they met at the Jenison High School parking lot and caravaned out to Miner Lake. Here's a shot of the group before they left.

Multiplication Boot Camp

The Multiplication Boot Camp Kids and Friends



The kids were very enthusiastic about getting to ride in some pretty fancy fishing boats and couldn't wait to get out on the water. Some of the students had fished before, but there were a number that hadn't ever made their first cast and a couple who had never been out in a fishing boat before.

As you can see from the picture above, most of the participants were boys, but there were a number of girls on the trip as well. I had two of them in my boat, Tiffany and Carol. Tiffany has been out fishing with her dad before, but this was Carol's first time. It turned out to be a case of beginners luck, for she ended up with the most fish between the two of them, not that they were counting or anything.

Multiplication Boot Camp

My two young lady anglers catching Miner Lake gills.



The girls did so well that it wasn't too long before their mentor Mr. Harig and another Jenison staffer Craig Westra came by to check out the action and anchored on our hot spot.

Multiplication Boot Camp

Captain Ron and his Lieutenant Craig



My two girls seemed to really enjoy themselves, and I know I had a great time. Ron is already making plans on next year's Boot Camp and hopefully my schedule will be such that I can again help in the classroom and take another bunch out on the water as well. I know Ron has thanked all those that participated, however I'm sure he would like me again to express his gratitude for all those who showed up to take kids fishing. Thanks guys!

Trying to catch up with all the goings on in the bass world gives me pause at times, but for the next couple of days it is rather focussed on what's happening in Pitsburgh with the Forest Wood Cup. I should have used my built in segue way from the last topic to this by again mentioning that one of my old Jenison students, Nate Wellman, is participating, for the second year in a row, in the $1,000,000 Forest Wood Cup.

I almost started here by saying the FLW pros starting Day 1, but I guess I can't say it is just the FLW pros because several B.A.S.S. Elite anglers, like Tommy Biffle, Ron Shuffield, and Mike Iaconelli, to name a few, have also qualified for the event. They qulaified through the FLW Stren Series. Consequently there is a mixed bag of "Elite" anglers fishing from both the major pro tours.

The 2005 Bassmaster Classic was fished in the Three Rivers area and the weights were very light with the big fish for the whole tournament, I believe, only 2-15 lbs. Yesterday's results were on a par with these relativiley low weights. Dave LeFebre came in with a bag that weighed 8-13 to take the Day 1 lead by an ounce over David Curtis. Here is an article from Bass Fan with the scoop on LeFebre's Day One Leading Sack .

The article contains some first day information about who's doing what, but it doesn't get in to any specifics, and when there is that much money on the line it only makes sense that the anglers aren't giving anything away. At the end of the article, you can see the complete standings. Two of my other favorites besides Nate are, Tommy Biffle and Mike Iaconelli. They are definitely in the hunt to make the top ten. It would be great to see them both there.

Nate, looked like he had a tough first day and only brought in two fish for two pounds. They say the fishing in the area is as tough as it gets, but I know Nate is a very good angler and can compete with these big guns. I hope he finds a honey hole and weighs a big Day 2 bag.

The weighin today is at 5:00 PM and you can see it on FLW Live .

I took some time away from the blog the last few days because my son and his fiance were here visiting. They are planning an October wedding and things are beginning to happen pretty fast in terms of preparation for the event. It's going to be a magnificent event and one that we all are certainly looking forward to.

I have some other blog things on the back burner, but already my "Today's To Do's" are calling and I will have to make sure I get back on later tonight or early tomorrow morning with Nick Vawter's Tear Drop report from Hamlin Lake and a couple of other tech tips, if I can call my attempts at mechanical work "Tech Tips."

Today's parting shot comes from Shirley Abbott. She once said, that "We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies."

Take care and make sure you take time out of your day today to do something that puts a smile on your face.

July 25, 2009

Attention Ice Mountain Tournament Series Tear Drop Anglers

Because of a competing trail fishing Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell, using the same ramp, and starting and stop times, Dennis Cook has decided to switch the Cadillac event with the Hamlin tournament. This means that on July 26th, 2009 you will be fishing Hamlin Lake and then on August 9th you will be on Cadillac and Mitchell. Because a Tear Drop member had scheduled a company tournament on Hamlin on July 25th, there will be no off limits for the Hamlin event.

Walleye Walkotten

Jeff and Wayne on Erie, Turtle Creek, OH



I hope I don't get too redundant with the reminder about the Hamlin tournament, but I guess by the very nature of the beast, a reminder is redundant.

The picture above is one that my buddy John took on a recent outing on Lake Erie. I have mentioned before, that John has a trailer down in Turtle Creek, OH and spends quite a bit of summer time down there chasing and catching walleye. He has guest come down frequently and is the consumate host. He's been catching walleye limits almost every time out. On his most recent trip they also caught a good number of smallmouth as well. They have been trolling hard baits and the smallies have been hammering them in about twelve feet of water. Here is a picture of John with the walleyes that they got on another recent trip with his walleye colleague John Otto.

Baker's Walleye

John and some nice Erie eaters!



Just before this last trip to Erie, John and his wife drove out to a cabin of theirs near Estes Park, Colorado. He sent me these pictures of the elk that roam freely through Estes Park, munching on the towns, bushes, trees, flowers, and shrubs.

John's Elk

A bold Colorado bull elk.


John's Elk

Some Este Park marauders.



The Forrest Wood Cup starts next weekend and the $1,000,000 contest will be garnering the media attention for a number of days. It's a big event and the biggest when it comes to fishing tournaments. The contest is taking place on the Tri-River area of Pittsburgh. The rivers involve are the Allegheny, Monongahela, and the Ohio. It's the same venue, for the most part, as the 2005 Bassmaster Classic.

That year in the Classic the big bass of the contest went two pounds fifteen ounces. It was primarily a smallmouth bite and those were tough to come by. The forecast is for another tough tournament. There are some favorites coming to the fore in tournament preview. Dave LeFebre, Mike Iaconelli, the TBF Champion, Bob Harkness, and Carl Wendlandt, to name a few.

For the first time in a long time the TBF Champion who has to make his way through all the local, regional, and national competitions has a real shot at winning. Harkness is an Ohio River rat who has spent quite a bit of time in the Three Rivers area getting ready. He had a recent major set back in that his father passed away after a very short illness, but he seems to be on track again and committed to the task at hand. He's going to certainly be someone to watch and for us federation anglers our hometown hero.

Another "hero" of sorts, in my opinion anyway, is Mike Iaconelli. Mike is a B.A.S.S. Elite angler that qualified for the FLW event through the Stren Series last Fall. I like Mike. Having met him in person several times, I have found him to be a very genuine person who goes out of his way to be nice to people. I like that and you have to love his credo, "Never and give up!" Here is a preview article from Bass Fan on how "Ike Mostly Idled For Steel City Pre-Practice ."

Even though the next week or so is going to be dominated by the Forest Wood Cup, I thought, if you haven't read the recent KVD "How To's" you ought to take the time to read them. Here's part one of at least a three part series, called "Power Fishing with Kevin Van Dam ."

Time for the parting shot of the day. The quote comes from Longfellow. He said, "In this world a man has to be either an anvil or a hammer." I would think deciding when, and which to be, is the difficult part. Take care and enjoy your weekend.

July 23, 2009

Attention Ice Mountain Tournament Series Tear Drop Anglers

Because of a competing trail fishing Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell, using the same ramp, and starting and stop times, Dennis Cook has decided to switch the Cadillac event with the Hamlin tournament. This means that on July 26th, 2009 you will be fishing Hamlin Lake and then on August 9th you will be on Cadillac and Mitchell. Because a Tear Drop member had scheduled a company tournament on Hamlin on July 25th, there will be no off limits for the Hamlin event.

Ross's Big Fish

A Personal Best Largemouth



I got a text message from a very excited young man the other night. It was from Dewitt High School Senior Ross P. He relayed his excitement with a message that said he had just caught his biggest bass ever! It's a dandy to be sure, and he said he caught it on a Spro Frog . It's getting to be that time of year in Michigan, and all over the country for that matter, that Rojas's Kermit starts kicking butt.

I can't think of too many anglers that would say fishing a topwater frog through the slop and lily pads isn't a heart stopper. When those fish blow up on it, it is very difficult to not react and jerk the frog away before the bass has a chance to eat it. It takes some practice to get your hook percentage up with this bait. It is fun, but it can be very nerve racking if you're in a tournament.

Ross emailed me a couple more pictures, but he didn't give me much background information. I'm awaiting a second email with the particulars. Here's the other two pictures I have featuring Ross's big bass.

Ross's Big Fish

I think this fish got Ross a little excited!



Ross's Big Fish

Looks like a six pounder to me!



No matter what town you drive through during this time of year you see restaurants advertising all you can eat fish and chips. If you read the blog you know that I love to fish, but I also love to eat. So, when I saw this post for "Fish and Chips" it caught my eye. It turns out though, to be an article by Rick Clunn, on an event he's participating in where 50 top pros from the Elites and the FLW are competing on the water, and on the felt. They will be fishing with an amateur partner, then competing in a Texas Hold'em poker tournament. I guess they could have called it "Fish and Felt," but I think "Fish and Chips," leaves a better taste in your mouth. Here is Bass Zone's "From the Front Deck To the Felt" article on the event. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

A few days ago I put up a Bassmaster link to their new 2010 Elite Series schedule. If you read the article, you may have picked up on the Bass Marshall registration dates. There is an early registration for those that qualify, and then a second date for those who don't. Here is a link from Bassmaster on the 2010 Bass Marshall's Registration dates . If you have an inkling that you would like to give the Marshall program a try read the archived blog account of Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner's and my trip to Alabama for the Dixie Duel. Just click on the link at the top of the blog page. Rick and I are planning on at least one more Marshall event next year and probably two. We're keeping our fingers crossed. We had a great time this spring, and Rick now has a new bowling buddy by the name of Kevin Van Dam. (Check out Rick's outing with Kevin in the June archived blog up above.)

I signed up today for the FLW Powerhook game. The "Powerhook" game is a version of the FLW Fantasy Fishing fun, but in this event you pick five anglers rather than ten. The payout for a team finishing in the order that you picked them could win you $3,000,000. Yep that number has six zeroes in it. You can still sign up even if you haven't been playing right along. Here is some info, that you can use to link then click your way to The FLW Powerhook Game .

The FLW doesn't have the only game in town. There is another contest which gives you the opportunity to go fishing with one of the true legends of sport Jimmy Houston, Bill Dance, or Roland Martin. Here is the link to the Outdoor Legends Energy Sweepstakes .

You may as well sign up. They have to give the prize away to someone. Speaking of prizes, check out Jason Wilbur's spot on the map in the 2009 Season Winners' Map . Jason is on our Tear Drop Bass League and was a seventh place finisher in the overall FLW Fantasy Fishing contest in the Lake Champlain event. Click on the winner's dot in Michigan and check out what Jason won.

I had coffee with Rick this morning and he said he's heading over to Hamlin Lake to do some prefishing today. From there he's going over to fish the Thursday nighter that's at Manistee tonight. I, unfortunately, can't make the Thursday nighter. We are up at the cabin, but have to go home this afternoon. Rick, by the way, is looking for information on what a 1966 40 horse Perkins might be worth. If you have any idea or a place to check give me a shout and I'll relay it to Rick.

Dandy Don and his bride are over camping on Hamlin and he's undoubtedly out on Hamlin as I type prefishing for this Sunday's Ice Mountain Tournament Series event there.

Well that's it from the north woods this morning. The parting shot comes from George Bernard Shaw. He once said, "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

July 19, 2009

Attention Ice Mountain Tournament Series Tear Drop Anglers

Because of a competing trail fishing Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell, using the same ramp, and start and stop times, Dennis Cook has decided to switch the Cadillac event with the Hamlin tournament. This means that on July 26th, 2009 you will be fishing Hamlin Lake and then on August 9th you will be on Cadillac and Mitchell. Because a Tear Drop member had scheduled a company tournament on Hamlin on July 25th, there will be no off limits for the Hamlin event.

Now that the important announcements are out of the way, I had a couple of things that I thought were noteworthy that have come up over the past several days. The first is that the schedule for the 2010 B.A.S.S. Elites has been posted. They have cut three of the tournaments that they had originally posted and are going to continue there new "Dash for the Cash" format for the top twelve at the end of the season. Here is the link from Bassmaster on the Revised 2010 Bassmaster Elite Schedule .

The next thing I wanted to comment on was the outstanding performance of Jason Willbur, from Commerce, MI in the recent FLW Fantasy Fishing contest. Jason is a member of our Tear Drop Bass FLW Fantasy fishing team. He came in 11th overall in the Lake Champlain event! Way to go Jason! He was right there knocking on the door of some serious cash. As it was, he won a Lowrance H20 C iFinder. There were a number of Michiganders on the prize list, which you can view online. Norman Greene from Grand Haven, MI won a $1,000 Walmart gift card for his seventh place finish. Remember, it cost you nothing to enter, and as you can see you could be one of over 300 people to win prizes, and each tournament the top prize is $100,000. One person at the end of the season will win $1,000,000! Here's a link to Fantasy Fishing, and if you so choose, to Players Advantage. You can still get in on the final Forest Wood Cup contest coming up soon. Join our league using this number, 10569, with the password Michigan.

Play Fantasy Fishing for Millions


A few days ago I made sure I put up the winning pattern information on the last FLW event on Lake Champlain. Don and Ron are fishing the B.A.S.S. Northern Open there and I thought I would put up some more information on that lake for them. Here is the link to an article that was up a short time ago on Bass Fan and covers what the 2-5 place finishers did. The article entitled Two Fished Brown Fish, Two Fished Green Fish , gives you an idea of what strategies were employed as well as what they felt their performance edge was. It's worth the read whether you are heading to Champlain or not.

If you have been reading the blog, or surfing the fishing sites, you know that the ICAST venue this year is down in Orlando, Florida. Outdoor manufacturers introduce all their new lures and products for the 2010 season at the show. Very fun to see what stuff is coming out and to hear the various pros and outdoor writers comments on the new products. Here is a video link to a video look at the pros picks at ICAST .

That's going to be it for today. The parting shot for the day comes from a podcast that I recently listened to involving Elite Pro Kenyon Hill. He was talking about what part luck plays in fishing and his response was, "Luck is nothing more than the intelligent use of experience." Take care and have a great day!

July 18, 2009

Hey, hey, hey, I finally got someone to send me some Tear Drop pictures. Nick Vawter, who has been fishing the last few years in the Tear Drop with his son Brent, has sent me not only some pictures, but a write up as well. If you remember from a few months back Nick sent some pictures of a big fish he caught down on Lake Falcon in Texas. He also sent a write up with those pictures as well. He does a nice job and will be a guest blogger today. Here's a picture of that big fish Nick caught on Falcon, followed by his Portage Lake Tear Drop article and his pictures. Thanks Nick!

Vawter's Monster

Nick's Lake Falcon, TX Monster



Let me take a moment to preface this short article that you are about to read. I'm not that guy, that handsome, silver tongued, verbally articulate guy. The guy who has provided you with the colorful text, endless factual fragments of local history, and testimonials to the local cuisine. The guy I'm not is Dan Shine.

As all of the Teardrop anglers (and blog readers) are aware, Dan decided to take a little hiatus from the tournament fishing scene this season. He claims he took the break to start, or finish some home projects that may or may not have been getting done in the last 20+ years he has fished with this group. I for one have missed his absence this year. I hear the same comments from the crowd in the morning pre-launch meetings and at weigh in time. If he makes good progress on his honey do's, then hopefully he will return next year. However, if he doesn't, then it wasn't the fishing season that was his problem. So you all should start sending your emails to him around the first of the year to egg him on.

Dan nominated me to give some feed back on the remainder of the Teardrop events. I'm the "guy" that was asking you all for a picture at the weigh in. I'm the guy who Dan has made several references in the past articles he has written, as the "old guy." Fact is, Dan has me by a couple months. Dan and I go back about 26 plus years, pre-Tear Drop. He implies that I may have gotten him introduced into the Teardrop. Although I can't recall that as a fact. If you are able to call Dan your "friend" then you are the lucky one.

I do recall when Josh was a younger guy, with a snoopy pole, and when he needed a note signed by his mom to fish. Just kidding Josh, I hold Josh's fishing talents in high regard.

I have fished the Teardrop on and off for many years. When residing in Wyoming, MI I'd make the trek north to try and find waters not so crowded. I stumbled upon the group somewhere along the way and was invited to attend. I was taken to school by the locals up north. I donated consistently, never doing too well against the "northern locals." But I always had fun. I fished back in the day with legends Matt Roark and Pop Brown. Back when Big Bass Lake was fun to fish. Back when gas was about $1.25 a gallon. Back when a good limit at Hamlin might weigh in at 20 lbs. Oh wait, that's when we had a ten fish limit and the legal length was 12 inches.

I made a move to south Texas a few years ago. I left my boat behind so my two sons could continue fishing the Teardrop events. a couple years ago, my son Bryan decided to focus on his continuing education, so I decided to partner back up with Brent and fly back for all the events.

I'm not nearly as polished as Dan, nor do I know all the guys competing as well as Dan. So, if you guys can give me some feedback after your successes, I'll be sure to include them in the following articles.

Let's talk a little fishing. The preceding night was a bit nippy to say the least. My son and I spent the night at our cabin in Woodville. It was a bit stuffy Saturday evening so we cranked up the A/C in the partitioned bedroom area and hit the sack early. When we awoke and stepped out into the non-air conditioned portion of our cabin we were dancing to get our warm clothes on. It had dipped into the mid 40's. On our one hour and forty-five minute ride to the water, we heard on the radio that some area cold temperature records were broken. We were hoping to break some records of our own with a big sack of fish on Portage.

We pulled in to the City Ramp in Onekama for the July 12th Tear Drop stop number four just as the sun was starting its ascent accentuating this beautiful piece of God's creation in Michigan's Great Northwest Corner.

Portage Lake is a 2,110 acre lake that has Lake Michigan access. Anglers know it for its bass, walleye, perch, and pike fishing. For years, it has been one of the top stops on the Tear Drop Bass Tournament Trail.

The day started with a slight cloud cover and a hint of a breeze. We were able to boat a limit by 8:00 a.m. However, we knew none of these fish would help us place at the end of the day. We really didn't struggle too much for fish, we boated 19 keepers, but just couldn't manage anything in excess of two pounds. We culled up to a bag of 12 pounds 2 ounces, which left us exactly in the middle of the weigh-in board.

Top honors, and a cash prize of $525.00, went to the team of Chris Mieras and Harry Swank. The duo brought in four real nice smallies and a largemouth to tip Mr. Hicks' new digital postal scale at 17 pounds and 8 ounces. That nice bag of fish made the dinner check at Mr. C's, one of Onekama's downtown eateries, a mere pittance. Their catch also helped them climb from a three way tie for ninth, to a solid sixth place overall.

There was a slugfest for the second place slot. The Nitro team of John McMichael and Brian Wilson tied the Basscat boys, Gary Baker and Dave Evans with two nice bags of fish weighing in at 15 pounds 10 ounces each. Whenever there is a tie, the breaker comes down to who had the bigger bass in their sack. John and Brain's 4 pound big bass edged out Gary and Dave's 3 pound 14 ounce big fish to earn them the 2nd place prize of $252.00. John and Brian also received a nice bump from a 12th place tie to a tie for 8th place with yours truly. Gary and Dave received $125.00 for third place spot and advanced a notch to 7th place in the Angler of the Year standings.

Fourth place went to the Ludington team of Mike Meysar and Noah Laird who had a 13 pound 10 ounce bag. It was like Christmas for them, receiving $50.00, the Na-tah-ka gift cards, and a notch in their overall belts to end up in 11th place in the AOY standings.

Finishing up in fifth place was House of Flavors Sundae Team of Dan Warner Jr. and Sr. They had a nice 13 pound 8 ounce total that not only won them a little money, but moved them closer to the angler of the year. They moved to fourth place overall.

Big bass for this day went to the team of Ryan VanDeburg and Douglas Hall from Hudsonville, MI. They brought in a dandy 4 pound 8 ounce largemouth to the scales which ended up garnering them $210.00. It just edged out Chris and Harry's 4 pound 7 ounce smallie.

At day's end, there was the usual shuffle in the AOY race, which also serves as the Classic Standings. Wes Herndon and Brian MacDonell finished one ounce out of the money, but advanced to the number one slot in the tight Angler Of the Year race. They are closely followed by Josh Myers and Kasey Kyser from Irons. It seems that these two teams end up jockeying for that pole position every year.

A special thanks goes out to our hosts for this event, Brian"s Superior Sealcoating of Manistee, and 4 Seasons Ford in Lake City. Make sure you also check out the Tear Drop flyer that you can find in many of the businesses in the northwest corner as well as online on the main page of the this site. Just click on the "Tear Drop Flier" button.

The next Teardrop event will be Cadillac and Mitchell Lakes on July 26th. If you find yourself enjoying one of the beautiful area campgrounds or going for that Sunday afternoon ride in northern Michigan Sunday July 26. Stop by the weigh in at the N.E. end of the lake at the City Ramp, around 2:30 p.m. and bring your hands together for those more fortunate fisherman of the day. Until then, keep a tight line.



Mieras and Swank

Portage Lake Winners Chris Mieras and Harry Swank


Vawters

Brent and Guest Writer Nick Vawter


Craig and Rick

Craig "Pinless" Stumbrie and Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner


Baker and Evans

Dave Baker and Gary Evans


Fred and Jeff

Manistee's Fred and Jeff Brauneck


Tony

Tony Maddox of Miller and Maddox


Bruce Mitchell

Bruce Mitchell of Mitchell Heating and Cooling of Ludington


Josh and Kasey

Josh Myers and Kasey Kyser


John and Brian

John McMichael and Brian Wilson


Ryan and Doug

Ryan VanDeburg and Doug Hall


Jared

Jared "Driveway" Stumbrie


Dan and Pop

Dan Warner Jr. and "Pop" Warner



That's going to be it for today, although I may get on later tonight and put up some information on trailering a boat safely. It appears that at least one Tear Drop angler had his Reese hitch come out of the sleeve while towing his boat to Hamlin Lake this week. It seems that someone who goes by the handle "Back up and Dump" forgot to put the pin in his hitch and drove about 15 miles with it that way until he bounced across a set of railroad tracks at 55 mph. At that point the sleeve slid out leaving his boat dangling behind the truck. Fortunately there wasn't any damage, and he was able to used some 4 X 4s to get it back up on the truck. Last I heard he was muttering something about it was his son's fault. In any case, I'll see if I can find some trailering tips to post.

I want to thank Nick Vawter again for the great Portage Lake article and hope that he continutes the trend with some pictures and write up on Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell.

The parting shot of the day is a quote by Confucious. He once said that, "Man who forget hitchpin can be left on side of road fishing shallow." Take care, and Skinner made me do it.

July 15, 2009

I got a call from Don Fowler yesterday reminding me that doe permit applictions go on sale this morning. As soon as I'm done here on the blog, I have to get up to the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison and see about sending in the application. It cost $4.

I got an email from the Tear Drop Tournament Director, Dennis Cook, last night. He sent the link for the Portage Lake results. They are now up on the site under the "Rules and Info" button. The overall results are also current.

I also got an email from a greatlakesbass.com forum member asking about Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell. I told him that I really couldn't help him out a bunch because the Tear Drop was fishing the lake during the time he was asking about. Come to find out the Mid State Bass Tournament guys will be out there using the same ramp at the same day and time as the Tear Drop guys. You'd better get there early, however, the City Ramp has a sizable parking lot that should accomadate the 50 some boats between the two groups.

Getting back to the Tear Drop Portage Lake tournament, as I had said in an earlier blog, Harry Swank and Chris Mieras won the event with 17-8 pounds. Then next two teams tied in overall weight with 15-10 pounds. The places were decided on the basis of big bass. Second then went to John McMichael and Brian Wilson because of their 3-14 big fish. Third then, was the team of Gary Evans and Dave Baker. Mike Meysar and Noah Laird from Ludington were fourth with 13-10 pounds and the House of Flavors team of Dan Warner Jr. and Sr. took the last money spot with 13-8 pounds. Big bass was my buddy Ryan, down the street here in Hudsonville. He connected with a fish using a spinnerbait that was cruising in a foot of water. So, Ryan Van Denburg and his partner Doug Hall took home the big bass money. It was their first time ever fishing Portage Lake.

The Tear Drops next event is on Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell on July 26. If you head up that way be sure to see Steve Knaisel at Pilgrim Village . He has the best little tackle shop in the Great Northwest Corner. Steve is very knowlegable about the lakes in that area and can offer up some great advice.

Also if you are in the area stop in at Da Dawg House . It's just past the State Park entrance a very short distance, on the left going north. Some great food and teriffic desserts.

As I mentioned yesterday, in my last post, ICAST started today down in Orlando, Florida. Here's an ICAST link that you can use to check out some of the new products for the upcoming 2010 fishing year. Some pretty neat stuff!

For Don and Ron and others that may be fishing the B.A.S.S. Northern Open, Bass Fan had an article up on Scott Martin's winning tackle and techniques. Here's the link to that Lake Champlain piece called, "Martin Cranked, Crawled Through Missisquoi Milfoil ."

I wanted to know if my old student, Nate Wellman made another Forest Wood Cup, so I checked out the Angler of the Year Standings and low and behold he's 42nd! In an article I read recently, it looked like the Cup cut off would be at 52. Congratulations Nate!

Well that's it from me today. The parting shot is coming from one of the Marx brothers, Groucho. He once was quoted as saying, "Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." That quote goes along quite well with what I hope we all do at least once every day and that is to spend some time, even if it's just a few moments, doing something that puts a smile on your face. It's more than therapeautic, it's contagious. Have a good day!

July 13, 2009

The FLW pros finished their last regular season event yesterday on Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain is sandwiched between the states of New York and Vermont and is bordered by Canada in the north. On March 5th 1998, President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927 making it the sixth Great Lake. The lake itself is 110 miles long and as wide as 12 miles. It's a long narrow lake. It pales in a size comparison to the other Great Lakes. It has 435 square miles of surface area and that's almost 7,000 square mile less than the smallest of the other five Great Lakes, Lake Ontario at 7,340 square miles. Lake Champlain connects to the other Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Sea Way.

A quick aside here is that Dandy Don Fowler and Ronnie Hicks will be heading to Champlain to fish the B.A.S.S.'s Northern Open , stop number two, which begins August 20th.

If you use the Lake Champlain link above you can do some real searching with Google Earth. If you haven't tried it, make sure you do, because it is a very valuable tool for checking out lakes and especially the larger ones.

If you were a Fantasy Fishing contestant, you probably followed the Lake Champlain tournament day by day. I have been trying to catch ole Jeff Brauneck, who is a small pile of points ahead of me, in our league competition. I had high hopes that some of our Michigan guys like Kevin Vida, Chip Harrison, and Nate Wellman might capitalize on their smallmouth experience and crack the top ten. Chip won an open event there last year. I believe the three of them all did cash a $10,000 check for a top 50 finish, but none made it to the top ten cut.

The event, being the last regular stop, was going to determine who won the Angler of the Year race. Two of the top pros, Luke Clausen and Carl Wendlandt battled it out until Luke stumbled on Day 3 and opened the door for a come from behind move from Wendlandt to capture the title.

Wendlandt had been making a 70+ mile run each day to the south end of the lake near Ticonderoga to fish grass matts for largemouth. Clausen had decided to stay north and focus on smallies. This was Wendlant's third AOY trophy . No one has won it as many times.

The winner in the Champlain contest was Roland's son Scott Martin. Scott made this two consecutive tour level wins on Champlain. The win was emotional for several reasons. The biggest was that just prior to the start of the tournament, his maternal grandmother passed away. His gramdma was the one that took care of him while both his father and mother were off pursuing their own pro fishing careers.

Scott decided not to go back home to be with the family after his gram passed. He dedicated the tournament to his gramma and said that he really felt at peace with his decision, knowing is decision is one that his gramma would have wanted him to make. He also said he felt her presence, and that there were a number of instances during the tournament, where things just went his way, when they could have went south, and he reasoned it was her guiding force.

You can check out how the other anglers faired using this FLW Champlain Standings link. You can also view pictures from the contest at this FLW Lake Champlain Photos site.

I thought it a bit interesting to note that next year's FLW Schedule is pretty much a deep south tour. About as far north as they will be coming is Table Rock. The economy is dictating many things. Travel is a major expense that the pros have to contend with, and to keep the full fields, they have to cater to where most of the anglers are coming from. It will make it hard on those coming from the north. Maybe some will be taking up residence in the south for part of the year like many of the California pros have been doing for a few years now.

Coming up in a few days in Orlando, Florida is one of the biggest events is the fishing industry, ICAST. New products are unveiled and heralded with a lot of fanfare and hoopla. Kevin Van Dam, for instance, has an unveiling of a new treble hook he has been experimenting with for his crankbaits. There will be a plethora of new products that should be on the net soon for us to look at and spend some of our tough economy dollars on. Just what we all need is a few more boxes of bait in the boat. However, like many of the baits we all have, they're made to catch anglers as much or more that they are to catch fish with.

Here is a Berkley sneak peak at what's coming up at ICAST .

The Tear Drop anglers fished Portage Lake in Onekama yesterday. I talked, via the phone, to a couple of the contestants, and I was told that Harry Swank and Chris Mieras won the event with around 15 pounds of fish. Dennis, as of 11:00 am this morning has not sent me the link to the standings for me to post. I'm sure he'll have it here soon. My ole buddy Nick Vawter, said he would take some pictures at the weigh in and send them to me. I'm told he in deed took some shots, and I'm sure I'll be hearing from my globetrotting friend soon. I'll post some snapshots from Portage, hopefully, tomorrow.

I was in Gander Mountain a week or so ago and they had some close outs going on. You could buy two bags of Poor Boy Golbys and get four bags free. Well, it didn't take me long to capitalize on that bargain. That Poor Boy goby is the one Dandy Don Fowler used to win the Northern Regional on Lake Erie with. If you have a Gander Mountain by you, you may want to stop and see if they have the same "green tag" event going on.

Another bargain that my wife has been capitalizing on is a deal from restaurant.com . The site allows you to put in a city or a zip code. When you do it then displays area restaurants that participate in their program. If you find a place that you like on their list, you can purchase certificates for some pretty substantial discounts. Right now they are offering 70% off their regular fee. A super promotion! You can get a $25 coupon for $3. The $25 coupon has to be applied to at least a $35 purchase. So, in the end, you would have spent your $3 for the coupon and the $10 (to meet the $35 total requirement) for a total outlay of $13 for $35 worth of food. Doing the quick math that's a $22 savings.

We have bought coupons to use in Denver, Milwaukee, Ludington, Saugatuck, and Grand Rapids. The coupons are good for a year. If you are interested, go to the site using the link above. Choose your state and city, and it will give you a list of participating restaurants. Click the restaurant you are interested in and "Add To Cart." Go to checkout and you will see a box that says "Promo Code." Enter, in all caps, the word "SEVENTY." Next you go to "Checkout," where you will have to register, which only takes a second and requires very little information from you. Once you pay for the coupon you can print the certificate at that time. They will also send you an email with the coupon that you can print whenever. This is a legit deal. We have a friend who owns a restaurant that participates and it's a program designed to bring in new guests. The 70% is a limited time offer, and we haven't seen it before, so now would be a good time to try it.

Well that's it for me today. I'm off to get some work done before heading out to a dinner for a friend who got axed, because of the public school where he worked, privatized the custodial service forcing him out of his job. It's a tough world right now job wise.

To end today's blog here's a life is tough quote from the raucous, but funny, comedian George Carlin. He once said, "The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy retirement. You raise cain and get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating ... and you finish off as an orgasm." That's life and death according to George.

Take care, and make sure you take time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

July 8, 2009

Summer days, you gotta love 'em, and they have been beautiful. The weather of late has been ideal! It really has been some ideal days for angling. I still am having difficulty getting out and fishing as much as I would like, however, I'm always hopeful!

The Tear Drop anglers are fishing Portage Lake in Onekama this weekend. The weather looks like it should be almost perfect with low winds and partly cloudy skies.

Portage is a great fishing lake, although it can get tough during the summer months. Spinnerbaits, tubes, senkos, and a topwater bait ought to be some good choices to connect with some of the lakes largemouths and smallies.

The lake has several areas of shoreline pencil reeds that will attract fish. There is also a major point on the west end of the lake that always is a great place for fish. On the Southwest end of the lake, the shoreline is strewn with boulders, and it's a good smallie hangout. I have a number of Portage articles on the webpage, if you're interested in past results.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has a map online and that you can view or print using this Portage Lake Map link.

I haven't been blogging, as you have seen if you have been visiting the site. Therefore, I wasn't Johnny on the spot with the preview of the FLW Tour Lake Champlain event. I barely got my team picked on time. My son missed signing up by two minutes. He was bummed. Whether you've signed up for the chance at the $100,000 in FLW's Fantasy Fishing or not, this article entitled Champlain Bite Strong, But Lake a Little Behind , should get you up to speed on what the FLW pros are doing. . Now that you have that article digested, here is an article that is up this morning on the FLW site. It's called "Champlain: grins and fins" It talks about where the fish that are needed to win may be, and who may be making the 70 mile run down to Ticonderoga in hopes of locating a hole like Timmy Horton found a couple of years ago during a B.A.S.S. event. Horton found a rock pile that produced a big limit within the first half hour on the final day. He packed up and went back to the dock and slept and ate pizza while waiting for the weighin. I'm sure that there are a number of FLW anglers hoping for just such a honey hole.

If you read the preceding article then you saw the link to FLW Live where you can watch the weighin and check written, on the water reports, throughout the day. The weighin is at 2:30 ET.

A while back, my son came over from Milwaukee on the Lake Express Ferry. On his trip over he sat next to Dan Small , host and producer of WMVS-TV's Outdoors Wisconsin. Dan was coming to Grand Rapids for an outdoor writers convention. My son is quite verbose, so it wasn't surprising that a conversation was struck up right away. It wasn't long before they were talking fishing and Dan told my son about a partnership he has with Ben Hobbins. Ben, is an innovator and has come up with an award winning idea . Popular Science recognized him as one of their Top 10 Inventors for 2009. Ben used technology from the medical field to incorporate a mesh in his soft plastic baits that make them "Iron Clad." Once you insert the hook it stays put, period. You can't even back the hook out so you just leave it rigged and tie it on again and again as needed. You cannot pull on the plastic and break it. It ends up being like a hard bodied bait in that regard. It takes a lick'n, so you can keep on pitchin'.

Another claim to fame with this bait is that it is eco friendly. The materials used degrade safely over time if they end up in the bottom of the lake. Many of the plastics currently used give off toxins as they degrade.

Here's a picture of Tom Diehl, co-owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show, (He's also a trustee on Lake Delton, a lake that is being restored with Ben Hobbins, and Dan Small's help.) Governor of Wisconsin Doyle, Ben Hobbins, and Dan Small.

Ben Hobbins

Ben Hobbins with Wisconsin Governor Doyle, Tom Diehl, and Dan Small



I'll be reporting on the baits that Ben gave me to use, and let you know how I find their fish catching capabilities. Currently they manufacture, soft plastic jerkbaits, tubes, stick baits, trick worms, shrimp, etc. If you're interested in getting some of these baits email me or go directly to Ben's Irocnclads site.

For all you hunters, you can now purchase rods that are camoized. Use this link to USA Rods to check out what they are offering. They look pretty nice and even come in pink camoflage for the gals.

Cy came over last night and bleed my hydraulic steering for me. He has an automotive hand vaccum pump that he uses. His cohort, Justin, has made a funnel with a screw on fitting that fits the the oil reservoir that helps you keep the reseroir full as you bleed the lines. There are bleeder fittings on each side of the motor that you use. A 3/4 inch wrench opened the valve and Cy then hooked his vaccuum pump up to each and extracted a cup or so of fluid along with some big air bubbles.

The repair went without a hitch, and I certainly do appreciate Cy coming over and performing his mechanical magic. For those of you who are mechanically impaired, like I am, here are some pics of the console oil fill and one of the two bleeders located on the left and right side of the engine.

Hydraulic Steering

The fill port on the console for the Sea Star hydraulic fluid.


Hydraulic Steering

The left side bleeder for the hydraulic steering.



There is some good and bad news associated with the job. The good news is the steering is much more responsive. The bad news is that, if there was air in the lines, then how did it get there. I may have a leak in the system that I will have to track down.

We recently purchased a netbook computer. These small computers don't have much if any hard drive memory, nor do they have a CD/DVD drive. They are used primarily to play games or to surf the internet. There is a Eee pc netbook on selloutwoot.com for $169. Not a bad price and it looks just like the one we just purchased from Best Buy for $250. Might be worth a look, if you're looking to travel with a laptop. There is also a more souped up netbook today on woot.com

That's if for today. The parting shot comes from Martina Navratilova. She once said, "The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else." Some words of wisdom from a tennis great who is still playing competitive tennis.

Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day today to do something that puts a smile on your face.

July 2, 2009

Happy birthday to my oldest sister down in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I called her, and she says she sometimes reads the blog so here's a second opportunity to wish her a happy birthday.

As you can see I broke the blog and have archived June up above. With this latest month in the books I'm already into the third year of blogs!

The Tear Drop anglers fished Grand Traverse Bay this past weekend. The results can be read by clicking the "Rules and Info" button on the main page. It's the top button on the left.

Ross Machiela and Jesse Weener won the event with 18.01 lbs. It looks like they also had big bass at 4-14 lbs. Second place with 16-11 lbs. was the team of Don Fowler and Marty Williams. The home town favorites Brian Macdonell and Wes Herndon came in third. As I said, you can check out the complete standings using the aforementioned button.

From the reports I received concerning the tournaments were pretty much centered on the weather. There were three to four footers all day on the Bay. In a bed fishing tournament, that's going to make fishing very tough. The smallies were in deed still bedding pretty much throughout the lower half of the bay. Spinnerbaits were the obvious choice due to the weather circumstances. Soft plastics still played a roll as well. It was nigh on to impossible to scope out deep beds and tough at best on the shallow ones. Noone sent me any pictures so once again I can't showcase any one. Oh well.

Charlie Heintz has been sending me his tournament results for a regular series of contests that take place in the Muskegon area. They just fished Duck Lake over in that neck of the woods. I am not familiar with where that lake is. There next event will be launching out of the Bruce's Bayou West Launch. To get there take M-104 East to 144th Ave., then turn right taking 144th to Leonard Rd. and turn left. Take Leonard to 138th (which will be the next road to the right) and turn right. Take 138th to Cypress (which is the next road to the left and is gravel). Take Cypress to the launch. If you want more information on Charlie's Charity Tournaments call him at 616-389-9938. You could also email him at charityfish@att.net.

Last week I talked to Duane Bethke from greatlakesbass.com . Duane is connected with Optimum Bait Company, and has been using one of their line through swimbaits on St. Clair and Erie for smallies. The bait was originally designed for some West Coast uses. However, it is almost a dead ringer for a goby. Duane persuaded Optimum to add a new color to this line of baits for the Great Lakes. Duane says the Jackson Trout is another great color for the the Great Lakes. If you click on the link above you'll get a look at the bait.

Duane was headed up to Little Traverse Bay in Petoskey last weekend where he was planning on trying the bait. Second hand I heard he had a good trip and caught some bedded fish that were in the three to four pound class, but the big ones evaded them. The weather wasn't the most conducive this past weekend. There was a lot of wind, and the bays can really whip up in a hurry.

I'm going to have to order some of the swimbaits and give them a try. Here is some pics that I got from Duane.

Optimum Bait Goby

One of many Great Lakes Gobies.


Optimum Bait Goby

Optimum Baits New Goby Imitator



If you have been reading the blog regularly you know that one of the anglers I like on the pro level is Mike Iaconelli. Ike has been in the news of late for several reasons. The Men' Journal has done an article on Mike that is called "The Art of Bass Fishing." It's a quick read and is worth the time. Another endeavor that Ike and Pete Gluszek are involved with is a renewal of the old "Bassmaster University" series of seminars. Mike and Pete are going to call their events by a similar name dubbing them Bass University seminars. Here's the article concerning their new project from Bass Fan's Iaconelli article .

Looks like I'm going to have to get going on some projects on the home front. Hopefully, once those are done, I'll actually get to go fishing.

The parting shot of the day comes from Aristotle. He long ago said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.