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Daily Blog Archive March 5 through April 6, 2009

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

April 6, 2009

Well, the fat lady is singing, which means the B.A.S.S. Elite Series Dixie Duel is over. It was an awesome experience. Rick and I will certainly be monopolizing conversations telling tales of our trip for a long time to come. Here's a shot of Rick, and the smile that never left his face the whole time we've been down here in the "Heart of Dixie."

A look that appeared on many of the Marshal's faces here at the Dixie Duel in Decatur, Alabama.

Our routine hasn't changed since we've gotten here. We got up before 5:00 am and got ready. We drank our coffee, donned our rain gear, and headed on down the road to Decatur. We parked the truck, and then waited for our pros to arrive. Once they did, we would put our stuff in their boats and then hop in their trucks. We backed them into the water, parked their rigs and walked down to the staging area. The pros all had at least forty-five minutes sitting in the water getting their gear ready for the morning.

The Top Fifty Get Ready for Action

Ike and his wife, talking to his marshal.

The ESPN Chopper taking pictures Sunday

Some pros had their gear out on deck, while others left it in their rod lockers so no one got an eye full of what they might have tied on for that morning. They're all buddies, but they are fierce competitors vying for a $100,000 prize.

Not only do the anglers have to prepare for the day, but tournament officials are very busy making sure things run smoothly. Here is a shot of two of them with the box of floats that they will pass out as anglers go through the official morning check in. They will hand them a float, a bass tracks phone, check their livewells, make sure their lights are in and working, and they have them pull their kill switch to ensure that it is functioning properly.

B.A.S.S. Officials Ready for Action

As you might expect, there were many more spectators on the weekend, and that adds to what the pros have to do in the morning. They were, to a person, very generous with their time. They signed autographs, and took pictures with many fans. I never heard one of them grumble or look like it was a bother to do it. They treated their fans with the utmost respect. It was impressive to me to see how caring they were.

Not only did the pros have to deal with all the fans, but the leaders were also barraged by reporters and TV cameras.

Biffle being interviewed by ESPN's Mark Zona

Once the hoopla of the morning was over, it got serious in a hurry. The boats lined up in the 1-50 order and the two Sunday flights prepared to get it on. Here's a picture of Rick and Alton Jones moving out.

Alton Jones and Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner

Moving through the official take off line.

You make your pass by the officials and they check you off and announce you to the crowd. The announced the pros name along with the marshal's name. From that point it's a short idle out to the main lake, and your hammer down from that point.

Hammer Down Time!

Running toward the dam on Wheeler

Casey Ashley

I rode with Marty Robinson, a rookie on the tour this year. He decided to make a run down to the dam end of the lake. We made the 30 minute run at full speed. Most of the pros have single consoles so the passenger gets the full effect. The wind noise at 70 mph is deafening and tends to give you a headache after a long ride. You really should have ear plugs in, or wear a helmet, as many pros and riders do. If you don't wear a helmet or face mask, you have to at least have sunglasses on to protect yourself from a bug in the eye. You had also better have a strap for your glasses. At seventy mph, if you turn your head, you can say good bye to your eye wear. Forget about leaving your hat on as you run. You had better take care to have it stowed. Your pro isn't going to like having to stop and turn around to retrieve your cap, and it can be a long day on the water without that visor shading your eyes. I always carry at least one spare hat in my boat.

Marty Robinson Running Lake Wheeler

Once we made our long run, we pulled in to one of the many pockets off Lake Wheeler. Marty picked up his jig rod and began pitching it to the bank. He fished out deeper than the other pros I rode with did. He was pitching a green pumpkin jig with a texas craw colored pack-a -chunk as a trailer. It wasn't long until, "Fish On."

He sweeps, he sets, he scores!

The swing is key in fishing as well!

Marty pitched his jig under a number of docks. Down south they call them piers. Two of my pros said that the sweet spot on a dock is where the walkway meets the larger section of dock.

Keying in on the sweet spot of a dock.

Docks sometimes give up a big one!

We fished several of Marty's spots up by the dam. We ran in to Kenyon Hill at the mouth of one of the cuts. At the end of this slough, there was a point that ran out quite a ways covered with rock. Kenyon was fishing it looking for a smallie. He had caught a four plus pounder there the day before.

Kenyon Hill Looking For A Big Smallie

Marty fished his dam cuts until noon. He kept talking about wanting to run back down river to his shallow stuff where he hoped to find a couple of big fish. After some pitches around where Kenyon was, he locked his poles down on the deck, and we were off and running once again.

We ran almost back down to the launch site. We pulled into a backwater area that Marty had shared with Alton Jones a couple of days earlier. Alton had caught seventeen pounds there the first day, including his seven pound big bass. I think I'll file that spot away for the future. With my brother-in-law living here in Athens, it makes it pretty convenient for me to bring my boat down. Now that I'm retired, I hope to be getting down to fish Wheeler much more often.

Marty fished an area of pad stems, lilly pads that have died back and haven't yet grown their new green head gear this year. He swam a big jig trimmed with a blue trailer through the stems. He said he had been catching his better fish this way the past couple of days. He fished it for several hours without a bite. He did pick up one fish on a buzz bait. He culled with it, but it didn't add much more to his total weight. It wasn't the big bite he needed.

Marty Robinson with a Buzz Bait Bass

Marty was disappointed that he didn't get the kicker fish in his afternoon spot. I wanted to suggest he move real shallow and fish the buck bushes. Biffle had found that pattern the day before and did very well. However, as a Marshal, I cannot say a word to the pro about fishing lures, spots, etc. He couldn't ask either, because the pros cannot seek any help whatsoever from anyone except a fellow competitor. During the last day they may not even talk with any of the other pros that didn't make the cut either.

We fished as late as we dared and then ran for the ramp. The pros changed into their pro jersey's and tournament officials brought them a bag for their fish. The top twelve pros lined their boats up separately for a drive up weigh in. The rest of the fifty anglers carried their fish to the aerated tanks behind the stands and awaited their moment on stage.

The pros carry up their catch to the backstage tanks.

ESPN has been doing a great job with their coverage on the internet. There is a lot more to it that doesn't get broadcasted though. It is quite a show and many of the area fans came to watch participate in all the action.

Marty Robinson Up on Stage

Casey Ashley was one of the pros that was down the list coming in to the final day. However, on Sunday he caught himself a bag! They have a Toyota Tundra up near the stage with a boat seat in the bed where the angler that is leading sits. Casey took his seat early. Angler after angler weighed in, and he remained in his seat. It wouldn't be until the final angler weighed, that he would have to give it up.

Tommy Biffle, my Day 2 pro, caught himself another good sack of fish back in the same spot we had fished the day before. He won it going away and is now $100,000 richer! Here are some shots of the final weigh in.

Ike in line waiting for his turn on stage.

Ike lights up the crowd with that big smile.

There weren't many anglers there that got as much attention as Mike Iaconelli. He knows how to electrify a crowd, and the crowd loves him. Each day when his name was called, and he stepped out on stage, he got the loudest ovation.

Tommy Biffle waiting confidently for his time to shine.

Tommy flashing a $100,000 smile. Way to go!

I was very happy for Tommy. I went to get some pictures of him before he went up on stage and he saw me and said that he had caught em. I knew at that point that I had rode with the Alabama Dixie Duel Champion. It was quite an honor and a tremendous thrill for me. I also learned a lot from this B.A.S.S. Millionaire's Club angler. I am going to be spending much more time perfecting my flipping and pitching.

I'm running out of time as usual. Rick has already left to go pick up Lanny. He will be returning shortly to hook up the boat and we'll load the truck and begin our trek back up to Michigan. I'm stopping for sure, whether it's for the night, or for a long dinner to watch Michigan State play tonight. Go Spartans!

It was certainly a great trip, and we're pretty tuckered out. In fact, here's the parting shot of the day. It was a picture of Rick from last night after we got back and had a chance to kick back. I do believe that's a smile on his face, and I'm sure he's dreaming about what has been a dream filled trip. Don't forget to check out all the information about the Dixie Duel on Bassmaster

Rick VanWinkle

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

April 4, 2009

"They call him mellow yellow, quite rightly..." Yep, that's what the pros are calling Rick now that they have gotten to know him and is best buds with KVD. He's the only one there with a bright yellow rainsuit. If you're watching on Bassmaster Live or go to the Bassmaster Photo Gallery keep your eye out for Rick "Mellow Yellow" Skinner.

Rick and I got down to the launch early today. Rick was anxious to meet up with his new bowling buddy, KVD . As it turned out, Kevin was just dumping his boat in as we walked up to the ramp. Many of the pros just back their boats in and drive off leaving them floating. When they return from the parking lot, they just get someone to take them out to their boat.

I took my video camera today and shot a bunch of video as I walked down the walkway to find where my boater, Tommy Biffle parked his camouflage Ranger.

The launch is a real hoot. It's a time of high anxiety to be sure, but the pros are so relaxed with one another that it is almost a party atmosphere.

This morning there were all 100 pros and not quite all 100 marshals plus a bunch of curious onlookers. Being Saturday, there was a large number of people checking out the goings on. Here are some pictures from this morning's Dixie Duel launch.

Day 1 Leader Alton Jones getting his camera inserted on the back seat post.

The boats begin assembling for Saturday's launch.

The Other Mellow Yellow Man, Skeet Reese

Takahiro Omori getting ready for Day 2

Lining up for Saturday's take off

While we were getting in line, we were boat number 28 and in the second flight, I turned around to see that the other "Kalamazoo Kid," Luke Gritter was behind me. One of Luke's sponsors is Garneau Baits . I know Ted and Bernie from Garneau, and I told them I would keep an eye out for Luke. He's a good kid, and I talked to him a number of times over the past three days. Fishing against the top 100 on the Elite Trail though, is going to give Luke a run for his young money. I wish him the best, and we're all rooting for him. He's one of two Michigan anglers and all us Michiganders have him on our home team list Here are a couple of pictures as Luke was heading out this morning.

Garneau Baits, Luke Gritter

Luke representing with the "Old English D"

As I said, I rode with Tommy Biffle , and when we took off he ran to a spot that he has been catching fish in. No secret there I guess. I don't think that while the tournament is going on I can feel right about disclosing information about techniques or spots. I can say though, that Tommy caught them big time! That ole dog can hunt! He ended the day with 19 lbs. 14 oz., and has about a two and a half pound lead over Takahiro going in to day three. Here are some shots that I can show you featuring Mr. Biffle.

Day Two Started in the Fog

Day 2 ended with Mr. Biffle on stage in first place.

Me and My New Bowling Buddy

After Tommy had weighed, and I pulled he and his boat out, I hustled back to the stage area. I had to take the long way around because there was a big crowd there for the weigh in.

Decatur's Dixie Duel Supporters

I wanted to get back to the the booths at the weigh in area because I had heard that Ray Scott and Jimmy Kientz were there. Last year at this time, I had the chance to go down to Ray's with my buddy Dandy Don Fowler, and we spent the night at his house and fished his ponds. It was a trip of a life time. I might also mention I won the ten dollar pool for big bass of the day. The big bass I caught there is the fish at the top of the "Daily Blog" page.

Ray, Jim, Don Corkran, Don Fowler, Ray's Son Wilson

I introduced Rick to Ray and Jim, and we purchased some hats from them that they sell to support our troops. Here are a couple of pictures of Ray signing autographs.

Ray Scott -The Man Behind Professional Bass Fishing

Now that's a Bass Fan

I forgot to mention earlier that while we were waiting in the boat after we came in today, Mark Zona came and talked to Tommy. I had chatted with Mark in the morning and got both he and Tommy Sanders autograph on my hat. Zona is a wild man, and I love his World's Greatest Fishing Show. He's going to be airing this season's contest at Ray Scott's place in a couple of weeks.

Tommy Biffle fending off Mark Zona

If you haven't had the chance yet make sure you check out the Story for Day Two that Bassmaster has on its website. For the real story though, stay tuned and in a few days I can tell you what went down.

It's bed time for me. The blog is another late night endeavor. After eating Charlie's shrimp boil, and watching the Michigan State Game, go Spartans, I'm still banging on the keys it's now after midnight. So take care and do something today that puts a smile on your face.

April 3, 2009

It's Friday morning in Alabama and that means that lucky son of a gun Richard "The Cement Man" Skinner is off to meet KVD and spend the day with him. That's the good news. The bad news is we got to the launch site and after a series of delays they canceled day two. It wasn't completely bad news though because they are fishing a full 100 boat field tomorrow and our partners stay the same.

Backing up a bit, Tommy Biffle called Thursday night, and we talked about where we were going to meet Friday morning. We met at the ice machine at 6:30 am, and I jumped in and dumped he and his boat in the channel where all the boats staged.

Rick was doing pretty much the same thing with KVD. Tommy and Kevin tied up pretty close to each other, so I strolled down to see how Rick and Kevin were getting along.

Rick and his new bowling buddy.

Rick said Kevin was every bit the epitome of the gracious champion that many of us fans know him to be. Rick said KVD went out of his way to make him feel comfortable. He was also every bit the task master and spent his time organizing his gear and making sure he had things ready. He left nothing he could control to chance.

While he worked in the gray light of dawn fans would stroll down the walkway, and when a man asked if he could get a picture of Kevin with his daughter, Kevin jumped up out of his boat and knelt down beside the little girl so her dad could take her picture with the Angler of the Year. KVD is a class act!

As the time ticked away toward the 7:15 am start time, announcements were made that started a stir among the anglers. Trip Weldon, B.A.S.S. Tournament Director, was saying that it look like they would fish today, but there would be a delay until 8:00 am. Almost immediately the pros began to gather in small groups and you could hear the frustration in their voices. They wanted to fish, and they felt that conditions were not that bad.

Trip had to be sure though that safety came first. He took several boat rides out of the channel and into the river. The wind was blowing hard against the current. This caused waves to form in the four and five foot class that had very narrow troughs. These waves, when they form with wind going directly opposite of the current, are very dangerous because you tend to go over one and immediately spear the second. There were a number of pros, at the registration dinner, that said Wheeler was the body of water that they feared the most when the wind blew.

With the weather forecasted to settle down as the day wore on, the start time repeatedly was pushed back, until finally, at around 10:15 am, the tournament day was canceled. When the announcement was made, Trip said that the full field would fish Saturday with the same pairings of pros and marshals.

When Rick heard that the day was going to be scratched his heart sunk. However, when he heard that he would have the same partner for Saturday his spirits soared. He had gotten to spend quality time with Kevin and now was going to get a whole nother day! Back on cloud nine for another twenty-four hours.

Here are some pictures from the morning.

Friday's Dixie Duel Launch

Dean Rojas' Wrapped Truck

Alton Jones - Day One Leader with 17-12

Kalamazoo's Luke Gritter

Looking out at Lake Wheeler from the launch site

Once the final call was made to cancel the day the race was on to pull the boats out of the water. I jumped in Tommy's tow vehicle and Rick got in Kevin's truck. Here's Rick picking up Kevin.

Rick in his new ride.

Rick picking up Kevin's boat.

After we left the launch site, Rick and I drove back up to Athens and stopped at the Cracker Barrel there to get some breakfast. We had just gotten our coffee and in walks Skeet Reese and two other Elite Pros. Man can't these guys give us a break! We try and get away from the spotlight and here they come following us around. I hope you got the tongue'n cheek tone, because I don't want to in any way offend the pros I got to spend time with these past two days. They have been more than friendly, and when I have bothered them for autographs on my hat, most thanked me for asking them. No kidding!

My marshal's hat slash autograph book.

Right Side

Left Side

Notice on the front view of the hat above that I even got Mary Delgoto's autograph. I may of mentioned that yesterday. I did make sure I completed that couple by getting Byron Velvick's signature. He signed it under the brim though, so you can't see it. I have to take stock of the autographs and try and get a few more "John Henry's" tomorrow.

After we ate breakfast, we drove down to West End to get a Lake Wheeler map. We saw Scott and Jerry two of the mainstays of West End. As we were talking with them in walks Aaron Martens and Todd Faircloth. Man, these guys just won't leave us alone!

It really has been a blast down here, and Rick and I have been enjoying ourselves big time. You can't get the opportunity to meet and talk with this many fishing greats in any other place. This morning I must have talked to 30 pros. I even chatted with Rick Clunn, who's fishing this year in a 17 foot aluminum boat with a 150 on it. He's fished all the tournaments this year in it. I've heard he's doing it to make himself travel less and fish slower.

Rick Clunn and this year's boat he's using.

You can read the write up that Bassmaster did on today's effort using this Duel Delayed Article link . Once you have read the article make sure you check out the Photo Gallery . Well that's it for today, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

April 2, 2009

I have spent the evening grabbing Skinner by the ankles and pulling him off the ceiling. He has been flying high ever since he heard about his draw for tomorrow in the Dixie Duel at Decatur. He drew Kevin Van Dam! The phone hasn't been out of his hand since he checked, and rechecked and then had me recheck the pairings board. As if he wasn't excited enough, during dinner Kevin called him. It was a nonchalant, "Hello Kevin," as he saw who was calling. He said Kevin was very gracious on the phone, offering him any gear he might need for tomorrow. As I said, it's been me pulling Rick down from cloud nine by the ankles.

Rick and I got up this morning at 5:00 am and were on the road a little before 6:00. We met our pros at 6:30.

I left Rick to find his pro, and met Matt Herren, my Elite angler for the day. He had a big Chevy duelly that he uses to haul his rig. I dumped him in, and then met him at the dock. We mingled for about 45 minutes. Matt Herren bumped and banged his way through the boats cajoling with his buddies. It gave me a chance to shoot a bunch of pictures. Here are just a couple.

Matt Herren mixing it up on day one.

Ingal's Harbor Ramp, Decatur, Alabama

Casey Ashley

Jared Lintner

Aaron Martens

Shaw Grigsby

Todd Faircloth

Who's the Pro in the yellow rainsuit?

We bobbed around for a while while announcements were made and some pump you music blared across the water. Hope the neighbors have thick walls. The tournament officials played the National Anthem and then started lining the boats up. We were in the second flight, boat number 36.

The National Anthem Just Before Blast Off.

Last Minute On The Water Check In

As you motor through the single file check in a tournament official acknowledges you and then announces the pro and the marshall. Live wells and kill switches are checked, and you're reminded to be sure your life jackets are securely fastened whenever the big motor is fired. They also give you a float with your boat number on it. At the end of the tournament, you have to hand it in as part of the check in. They have a box where all the floats are placed to make sure they can check to see that everyone has checked back in. If someone isn't and hasn't called, they send out the calvary, or maybe it's the Coast Guard.

Once all that is taken care off, you are literally off to the races. Those pros know only one speed and that's wide open. When you're fishing for $100,000, you don't want to waste a minute with a line out of the water. If you have never experienced 70 mph on the water at dawns early light, I can tell you it is exhilarating

As my fingers hovered over the keyboard, I began thinking about what to say about my day with Matt. I thought that I had better not talk to specifically about techniques or show you pictures of where Matt fished. Who knows what sort puruse the internet in search of classified information. I can say, however, that we traveled over 50 miles during the course of the day, and that is a conservative estimate. After the tournament, I'll show pictures, talk about baits and presentations, and show you pictures of where Matt fished.

I have to say that what Matt and Boyd Duckett said about Wheeler getting rougher than a cob certainly is true. Toward the end of the day, the wind came up and the rain came down! On our way down, the river which was a forty minute run, Matt's strap on his trolling motor broke, and he had to jury rig it to keep the trolling motor secure during the beating in the four footers . We had to stop several times to resinch it.

We headed in to the weigh in a few minutes early because of the thunder and lightning booming in the distance. No sooner than Matt weighed his fish, it commenced to come down. It rained hard! Hard enough that sitting inside the truck and looking out toward the front, you couldn't see the end of the hood.

After a bit, it slowed up enough that I could transfer my stuff to Rick's truck. Matt had backed his truck and boat up into the tech lot. They have trailers from all the manufacturers, Mercury, Yamaha, Lowrance, Power Pole, etc. at each big Elite Series event. They fix up the pros stuff and keep them on the water.

Rick's pro Brody, didn't have a very good day. First of all his dad just had a heart attack, so he was needing to constantly check by phone on his condition. With that weighing on your mind it's tough to concentrate. Secondly, just after take off, the trolling motor went on the fritz. They were already way up river, so they had to motor a long way back to the ramp. A lot of time spent with no line in the water. Rick said that the technicians were waiting for him though, and it only took them twenty minutes to put on a whole new trolling motor! Consequently, with all those issues he only weighed in four fish.

You can check on the pros weights for the day one by clicking this hot link for Day One Dixie Duel Standings . Alton Jones is leading thanks to his big bass of the day that went seven pounds! Here is one of the stories out covering the tournament. It's from Bass Fan, and is entitled Jones Catches 17 lbs. Alone

Make sure you check out the Bassmaster Photo Gallery . They have some great photographers and they have a lot of pictures cached. One more link that I'll add is the one to the Bassmaster Live Coverage page that you can use to log in and watch the updates and live weigh in.

Well, both Rick and I are looking forward to tomorrow! If you can ever get the time, this is a great deal. $100 will get you a minimum of two days with two different pros. If you register early enough you will get three days and a few lucky souls will get four days. The first two days they need 100 Marshals. Day three they need fifty and day four they only need six. I don't think you will regret the investment or the time away from work.

I am plum tuckered out tonight. Everybody here has been in bed for quite a while. I need to hit the sheets very soon. I have to proof read this, spell check it, upload the pictures, upload the new file, check the blog to make sure all the pictures are placed correctly and that all the hot links are accurate. Just a little work yet, but I'll get er done.

I am not going to take time again to look up a parting shot of the day, so I'll just use an old Confucius saying. " Man who draws KVD, has trouble keeping feet on ground." Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

April 1, 2009

April Fools day, and Rick tried to zing me with a cotton mouth over yonder while we were fishing this morning and I fell for it. I had forgotten about it being April Fools Day.

Rick and I got up this morning and headed over to Wheeler intending to put at the Elk River. We stopped at West End on our way out, and I dropped off some Poor Boy Baits and three DVD's that Seth Burrill at Angler's Experience has put together. I've mentioned both Poor Boy Baits and Seth's Drop Shot, Knot Tying, and Secrets of Locating Big Fish DVD's several times in the blogs. Make sure you check both sites out. Straight up, the sites have excellent information and products.

We dropped the Ranger in the Elk River and put the trolling motor down almost immediately. I started throwing my chrome trap, and it wasn't long and I had five fish. Three were pretty small, but I had two that were keepers. We fished the shoreline and stayed in about four feet of water casting up to shore. We worked the bank down toward the Tennessee.

After a couple hours, we headed up to Anderson Creek which is the first Creek back up the Elk River. Rick stuck a nice fish there and another on down the shoreline. Again, we were in that four foot of water along shore. I also lost two fish and caught another keeper in Anderson as well.

Rick fishing Anderson Creek

Rick said I had to take a picture of him in his new glasses.

We put the boat back on the trailer at about 1:00 pm. We needed to head back to Paula and Charlie's and get ready to go to the Marshal's Registration in Decatur. We got there at about 3:10.

Registration at the Holiday Inn in Decatur

We signed in, and they asked us if we were available for Saturday, and of course we both said yes. They gave us a couple of bags of goodies. There was a Bass Marshal hat, a white short sleeve Marshal's shirt, a $25 Bass Pro Shop gift card, and a bunch of other stuff.

We headed from there to a meeting room to await our briefing. It was a large room with a sliding divider. The pros were meeting on the other side of the divider. Once they gave us our instructions they opened up the wall and began announcing the pairings.

The Pros and Marshals awaiting the pairings announcement.

I had a chance to meet Luke Gritter from Kalamazoo. Luke is a rookie on the B.A.S.S. Elite Tour this year. He's a born and raised young gun from Kalamazoo. He knows JVD, Jonathan Van Dam, as well as some mutual acquaintances, Kendall Ulsh and Mike Elkins. Kendall and Mike were guys we met while fishing last season's Michigan BFL's. br />
One of Luke's sponsors is Garneau Baits . I had talked to Bernie, one of the co-owners of the company earlier in the week and told him that I would be sure to look Luke up. I'll have some more info on Luke, and maybe spotlight him on a blog, in the near future.

Luke Gritter, the Garneau Young Gun From Kalamazoo

I drew Matt Herren from Trussville, Alabama. Rick drew Brent Brody Broderick . Brody, as he's called, had to leave right after meeting Rick. His dad had had a heart attack, and he needed to make some phone calls to check on him. Rick then held up a wall for a while, as I met with Matt and had some dinner that had been catered in. Skinner, being the picky eater that he is, turned his nose up at the buffet. They had chicken tenders, two stations of carved roast beef, salads, cheeses (Rick's favorite, not!), and sundry other items that I had to sample.

I sat with Paul Elias, Boyd Duckett, Herren, Gerald Swindle, Jimmy Mize, and Jeff Reynolds. The group talked about the fishing, and they also talked about how bad Lake Wheeler can get when it blows. They all agreed they would rather be on Lake Erie when it's rough than Wheeler. Herren said it was the only body of water that scared him when it got bad.

Oh well, we came down for the excitement, and if the weather that they are predicting really arrives, we may be seeing some forty mile an hour winds, and that certainly would be interesting and probably very exciting! Batten down the hatches matee!

The Infamous Rick Clunn

After the particulars were exchanged with our pros and I had dinner, Rick and I headed down to Ingall's Harbor to check out the ramp and stage area.

Evan William's Dixie Duel in Decatur

Rick making his way to the microphone.

Back stage at the weigh in tanks, tournament eve.

We met a fellow Marshal while cruising the grounds and checking out the layout of the staging area. Here's a picture of Rick, Dave Barrett, and an unknown college kid who just happened to be walking by.

Rick, Dave Barrett and the unknown college kid.

We left Decatur and drove back up to Athens. We stopped at the Walmart to get sandwich supplies for tomorrow. On our way out of Walmart, my phone rings, and it's my brother asking me where I was. I told him Alabama. He said, "You're kidding," and that he was on his way down to Gulf Shores with his gal Char and a van full of Lady Golden Hawk softball players. They were heading to Lawlers and were only a mile away. Since we were just a half mile away, we met them there, and we sat with them while they ate. I don't know why I didn't remember to take a picture, but a group shot out in front of Lawlers would have been cool. Oh well.

Don't forget to check out the articles that will be appearing on the sites featuring the B.A.S.S. Dixie Duel in Decatur . Here's a short video from Bass Zone .

Also, don't forget to take a look during the day tomorrow at the Live Coverage from Decatur on Bassmaster.com.

Well, once again I'm burning the candle. It's 11:56 pm, and the alarm is set for 5:00 am. I have to get to bed! Take care, and make sure you take some time out of your work day tomorrow to do something that puts a smile on your face.

March 31, 2009

Haven't heard any banjo music or had any moonshine offered to me yet down here in the "Heart of Dixie, but I have had the chance to eat some good ole southern barbecue on two different occasions.

I ate lunch today at Lawler's Barbecue and had their pulled ham. I had never thought to try pulled ham until a friend of my brother-in-law's talked me in to trying it. It's the only thing I get when I go there now. It has a very unique taste, delicious!

The second barbecue stop was for dinner in Decatur, AL. My brother-in-law, Charles, my sister-in-law Paula, and my buddy Rick, and I ate at Big Bob Gibson's BBQ . I've been to Big Bob's before and had a sampler plate, so I already had an idea of what I wanted. I chose the barbecue brisket, potato salad, and baked beans.

The beef brisket has that crusty barbecue outside and the meat is permeated with hickory smoke. It was lean and mighty tasty. You don't find any gristle or fat in it at all. Traditional southern barbecue isn't cooked in sauce, but Big Bob's has a white sauce and a tangy red sauce on the table, if you want to try some.

Lawlers is on AL 72 Athen's Exit off I65

Athens is the second exit in to Alabama on I65

Lawlers is just east of I65 on AL72. Seventy-two is the second exit for Athens. It is an easy on and off the expressway if you're heading south. Decatur is where Big Bob's is located and it's on AL31 which parallels I65. You get off 65 at Decatur on AL67 and take it west to 6th St. and then back north just a short way, and Big Bob's will be on the west side of the street. It's not a swanky place. You eat off from styrofoam plates, but the food is award winning!

Big Bob's Decatur, Alabama

Rick, Charlie, and Paula and Big Bob's Trophies

Big Bob's Brisket, Beans and Smothered Potato Salad

Me Getting "Vicious" With Some Brisket

I kind of jumped ahead to our barbecue day today, but yesterday Rick and I decided to head over to Guntersville to see if we couldn't catch us a big one. Our hopes were tempered a bit, because of a strong front that moved through the night before we decided to make the trip. When we got up Monday morning it was 34 degrees. You don't get down this way often, so we decided to go for it. Besides up North 34 is warm for this time of year.

It took us about an hour and a half to drive to a section of Lake Guntersville called Goose Pond . We bought our licenses which cost $26 for a seven day out of state license. We paid our $2 launch fee, and I dumped Rick and his Ranger in the lake.

We had decided to stay right in Goose Pond and after talking with a couple of guys learned that David Fritts had won the first FLW tournament this year at the bridge that we could see from the marina.

We had gotten some information, but it's always hard to meld all the intel and to apply it on a new body of water. We went looking shallow, and found bays with pad stems where we hoped to find some fish. We came up blank in a couple of coves, and we also zipped fishing lay downs and shoreline rip rap.

I hit my first fish along some rip rap under a bridge, but lost it halfway to the boat. That was after several hours of fishing and I was hoping that fish wouldn't be my only chance for the day, but the way things were going....

A short time later, we came upon an old set of bridge pilings in a neck area between two bays, and saw shad busting. I tossed a shakey head worm up against an old piling and let it sink in the sixteen feet of water. I never felt a tap just weight, and when I set the hook, I was into what would become our first fish of the day. We continued to fish the area and caught seven or eight more fish. We then started working our way back and Rick caught another nice fish along a section of rip rap. We didn't catch any killers, but would have culled a limit. When we got back to the dock we talked to several anglers that had blanked for the day, so we felt pretty good to have boated what we had.

A fat little keeper on Guntersville

Rick with a nice Guntersville Black Bass

Another Guntersville Beauty - No, Not You Rick!

The Marina at Goose Pond, Lake Guntersville

We didn't catch the monsters that we had hoped to at the Big G, but we can say we caught a limit and that we've fished one of the fabled bass lakes of the south!

Storms have been moving through the south all month. Monday night more rain and thunder storms moved through. We decided not to risk getting Rick's Ranger wet fishing Monday, so we cruised around and checked out a number of launches on Wheeler, then checked in at the Holiday Inn (Elite Tournament Headquarters for the Dixie Duel), and then drove over to visit with Rick's buddy Lanny.

Our first stop, as I said above, was to check out the first ramp off AL72 where it crosses the Elk River. The Elk River enters the Tennessee/Wheeler Lake, just below First Creek. There were seven Bass Pros who had their rigs parked there.

Checking Out the Wrapped Rigs

Terry "Big Show" Scroggins' Rig

Another one of the wrapped rigs at the Elk River

The Elk May Be A Winning Spot In the Dixie Duel

The Elk River this time of year just may be a spot where some of the experienced pros may meander up and catch them a win at the Dixie Duel.

The Elk Runs south into Wheeler near the dam end of the impoundment. The next arm up from the Elk on the same side of Wheeler is First Creek. Joe Wheeler State Park is on First Creek. We drove in to Joe Wheeler, and there was only one rig there. It belonged to Paul Elias.

I really don't know why we didn't drive just a few more miles up AL72 to Second Creek, but we got to talking and just got back on 72 and headed back in to Athens.

That's when we decided to pick up a few supplies at Walmart and had our lunch. After lunch, we drove down to Decatur which is 13 miles away. We stopped in at the tournament headquarters, which is the Holiday Inn in Decatur.

We asked at the desk about what time we needed to check in tomorrow, Wednesday. They were very helpful and gave us some paper work which told us all we needed to know. Registration begins at 3:00, and the mandatory meeting is at 4:15 pm. There will be a hospitality reception for Marshals and Pros afterwards. Needless to say, we're getting geeked up and ready to get the show on the road!

We left the Holiday Inn and headed east down AL67 to check on Rick's friend Lanny, who had ridden south with us, and was staying with relatives about 20 miles out of Decatur.

Lanny with his Aunt and Uncle

Lanny's relatives live way up on a mountain top. A beautiful spot providing us with an ultra scenic drive to get there. However, we would have been totally lost without the Garmin GPS Rick had brought along on the trip. I don't know how we would have found Lanny's Aunt Belle's place without that sultry gal inside that little box telling us which narrow little lane to turn down.

Well tomorrow, we thought we might drive over to Pickwick near Florence, AL and try to find some big smallmouths. However, it's a little farther than we wanted to travel. We didn't want to get that far away and have a breakdown and not make our meeting tomorrow. So, we're going to get up and put in at the Elk River ramp. I've fished some of that area before. We'll see what we can find there, and we'll also check out First and Second Creek. Hopefully, I'll have time tomorrow night to put up another blog entry. It is certainly going to be an interesting next few days!

Bass Zone has the best article up right now previewing the B.A.S.S. Elite event on Wheeler . Check it out, and remember you can watch the weigh-in on the computer if your internet provider subscribes to ESPN360. Go to the B.A.S.S. Site , and see if you can log on. Hopefully you can, and you'll see ESPN's coverage of the event.

It's now 12:35 am, and Rick has been in bed for two hours now. I need to head that way myself. He's going to be up and at em early, so I'm setting my alarm for 6:00 am. Consequently, I'm not going to look for a parting shot and simply wish the best for all of you still up in that Michigan snow. Wish you were here!

March 29, 2009

I hear Willie in the background singing, "On the road again... and that's where I've been with Richard Skinner, and that's Rick "The Cement" Man Skinner, from the Irons, MI area. We left Michigan yesterday morning at about 7:30 in Rick's Chevy pulling his Ranger. We headed toward Chicago to pick up I65 which takes us the whole way south to Athens, Alabama.

On the Road Again... I65 South

We intended to spend a night on the road, but we made great time, and decided to push on all the way to Athens. We even had enough time to make a stop in Nashville and it wasn't at the Grand Ole Opry. Rick made me drive into the Bass Pro Shop there, despite the fact that they had a tornado watch out.

An I65 Pit Stop

Springtime in the South - Gotta Love It

It did take us some time leaving Nashville. Once we left Bass Pro and got back on the expressway, we heard on the radio that there was a tornado warning in the area. The storm was moving north, and we were heading south so we made a run for it. We got caught in some heavy rain, hail, and strong winds, but when we broke through it the roads were soon dry, and we were booking it south.

We dropped Rick's buddy Lanny, who road with us south, off in Decatur, and we were back up to Athens by 8:00 pm. My brother-in-law Charles and my sister-in-law Paula, had a t-bone steak dinner on the table waiting for us. It was delicious!

Sunday morning, we got up and after a bit, headed over to Decatur which is thirteen miles from where we're staying. We checked out the Holiday Inn where our Wednesday meeting will take place, and then headed down the road a short distance to Ingall's Harbor. There weren't any competition boats at the park, and we suspected the reason was that the river was still off limits. The competition waters have an off limits period for x number of days before the contest starts. We then drove back past the Holiday Inn where we saw one pro boat in the lot. It was Matt Sphar's "Alphabet Killer" wrapped boat.

Matt Sphar's boat with the Decatur Bridge in the background.

Rick Checking out the Alphabet Killer

The Holiday Inn where Sphar's boat is parked is just a stone's throw from Wheeler Lake. In the picture above you can see the 31 bridge in the background. I65 parallels AL 31 which runs straight south out of Athens.

The Tennessee River, which is impounded by Wheeler Dam, pools up to the 31 bridge. From the Dam to the bridge, is what they call Wheeler Lake. As I had said before, it's really the Tennessee River.

My brother-in-law Charlie decided we would head back to Athens and then down 72 toward Florence and check out Joe Wheeler State Park to see if any pro boats were there. Just on the west side of Athens, on the way to Wheeler Dam, is my favorite tackle shop, appropriately dubbed "West End." It's a Chevron Station that has one of the best tackle shops for miles around, including Huntsville and Decatur. We had to stop, because most angler's vehicles just naturally turn in to the parking lot as if drawn by some strange power.

West End - A Must Stop Tackle Shop

Rick, just before entering the utopia of bait shops.

Bernie Schultz, Kenyon Hill, and Peter T. at West End

Once inside West End, I headed down an aisle loaded with more Lucky Craft, RC's, Jackalls, and Sebille baits than you're going to see at any Bass Pro or Cabellas. As I was purusing the aisle I came face to face with Peter Thliveros, Kenyon Hill, and Bernie Schultz. I recognized Peter T. right away, and knew the other two, but couldn't come up with their names until I got a little help via greatlakebass.com . I have to admit, I stalked around the store on the opposite side of the aisle and listened to them talk amongst themselves about all the baits. I noticed that they had started a pile of baits on the counter, and as they moved back and forth, I took me a little peak at the pile. I just so happen to have a few of those baits myself now. Duplicates just happen to fall into my cart. Just in case I might draw one of these gentlemen, I don't think I should divulge what baits they bought. I can say, however, they were very interested in Kopper's Crank Baits .

Kopper's Crank Baits at West End

The clerks at West End said that several other pros had been in earlier in the day. They also said that they intended to be very busy next week. They said they would be open from 4:00 am until 9:00 pm all week. West End is on AL 72 and is about halfway between Decatur and Joe Wheeler State Park. Pros will be trailoring their boats up from Decatur to check out the dam area instead of running up all the way on the water.

Joe Wheeler State Park has a ramp right in First Creek, an area that will have a number of anglers in it checking for fish moving shallow. Both First and Second Creek will have their share of pros plying their depths.

It was exciting to take a look at the tournament site, and it was really cool to talk to Peter T. and Kenyon. Bernie was pretty serious about his shopping, and I didn't get to say much to him. I wouldn't mind Marshaling with any of them.

The weather today was quite windy and cold. Temperatures were in the low to mid forties. Tomorrow, and the rest of the week, is suppose to warmer. They are forecasting some rain for Tuesday, so we are planning on making a road trip to Guntersville. It's about an hour and a half from here. We've been told to go to Goose Pond and use the launch there. We're going to look shallow and throw, rattletraps, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and if the wind is down we'll try some topwater. Hopefully we can get in to one of those infamous Guntersville sows.

I'll be taking pictures, and if we're home early enough, I'll get another blog entry up.

Today in the Bassmaster Diamond Drive on Lake Dardenelle the Bass Elite pros concluded their second stop. Mark Menendez won the event fishing out of a 17 foot aluminum boat with a ninety horse Yamaha on it. The smaller, lighter boat allowed him to get way back in to areas that others couldn't fish. Here's a short piece that was up on the Bassmaster website about Menendez's Win . If you're interested, here are the standings from the Dardanelle Diamond Drive . KVD finished second today, and he's racking up the AOY points. Luke Gritter, the other Kalamazooian came in 82. Luke is Jonathan Van Dam's buddy, and is one of the newest young guns on the Elite trail this year. Best wishes to both of our Michigan representatives on the tour.

I took the parting shot of the day from something that Ted Hughes once said about his passion. "Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self. " Take care and go Spartans!!

March 26, 2009

Wow! Time is flying by, and I still don't have my things completely packed for our road trip to Alabama. I have been in the basement going through tackle and pretty much have it sorted out into two large tackle bags. I'm going to take seven rods. I probably don't need that many, but Rick has room in his Ranger for that and more.

I put some new Vicious Line on all the rods. I have some 14 lb. and 12 lb. mono on a couple of baitcasters. I put fluorocarbon on three of the baitcasters. I think, it was 14 lb. fluorocarbon. I put 8 lb. and 6 lb. fluorocarbon on my two spinning reels. I then gave everything a shot of KVDs line conditioner, so I should be good to go.

Rick will be here tomorrow around 5:00 pm, and he'll spend the night here. We'll hit the road south early Saturday. We plan on spending the night somewhere south, perhaps in the Bowling Green Kentucky area. We'll get in to Alabama Sunday. We'll fish Monday and Tuesday and maybe Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, we have to be in Decatur for our B.A.S.S. Marshal's meeting. Thursday and Friday we'll be riding with a pro.

There is a possibility, that we will be able to also ride with one of the Elite guys on Saturday. If not, we'll go fishing Saturday and part of Sunday. We want to be sure though we see the final day weighin on Sunday.

We will more than like head back north Monday morning early. As I said before, I'll be taking a laptop and will be blogging while we're on the road. I'll have my cameras, and I'll be taking a plethora of pictures to be sure. We can't take video in the boats with the pros, but they do allow still shots. It should be fun.

The Elite pros, by the way fished today in the second stop of the Elite Series tour on Lake Dardanelle, in Arkansas. Here is an article from Bass Fan that talks about Day One on Lake Dardanelle Brent Chapman is the Day One leader, but there are some big guns hot on his heels. KVD and Skeet are just ounces apart and only about 4 lbs. off the lead. The other Kalamazoo Kid, Luke Gritter, only boated two fish today, so he's well back, but still ahead of some very famous bass anglers. Sixteen pros only had one fish today, so two in the boat isn't so bad. Let's hope that the Kalamazoo Konnection does well tomorrow.

I wanted to make sure that I acknowledged some of the other folks that I saw last weekend at the Ultimate Sport Show at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.

The DeVos Place On Monroe Ave. In G.R.

There were several of the Pro Staff from Vicious down at the show. One of the Vicious Pro Staff Members, Kendal Ulsh is also on the Koppers Live Target Pro Staff.

Kendal Ulsh BFL Coangler Points Leader 2008

Live Target has, as I have mentioned several times this year, several new patterns of crankbaits out on the market. You really have to check these exceptionally crafted baits out. Looking at them on a website just doesn't do them justice. I have purchased a number of the baits and caught some good fish on them. I have also lost about half a dozen already, and will be replenishing my supply very soon. I plan on picking up some of the new colors and styles of crankbaits. The Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison has Live Target lures. D&R Sports in Kalamazoo also carries the baits.

Another long time acquaintance and fellow teacher that had a booth down at the show was Denny Geurink.

Denny Geurink of Outdoor Adventures

Denny use to be a P. E. teacher in Jenison, and switched careers becoming a writer for Field and Stream. He was one of the first outdoor writers to get invited in to Russia and has been booking hunting trips to Russia for about 17 years now. You can always find him in a show because he has a ten foot tall Russian brown bear that he sets up at his booth. It towers over everything. If you're interested in what would be an ultimate hunt, check out Denny's Outdoor Adventures website. Even if you're not interested in going to Russia you have to look at the pictures of the bears from some of Denny's trips to the former Soviet Union. The moose and the red stag that they have taken are incredible as well. Unbelievable!

On my way out of the show I ran into an old friend Jeff Helms.

Jeff Helms of Camp and Cruise in Marne

Jeff sold me my first boat, a JC Pontoon boat. It was my first bass boat. I had three little boys back then, and I couldn't justify a typical bass boat, so we purchased the pontoon from Jeff. He helped me set it up with swivel seats up front outside the "fence." The boys would play with their Legos inside the rails while I fished. I had a trolling motor up front and a livewell mounted on the back pontoon. I would fish around the lake with the boys and they could fish, play with the Legos, or munch goodies. I even used the pontoon boat for several bass tournaments on our lake.

At the time I purchased the pontoon boat, Camp and Cruise carried Bass Cats. I drooled over them but I had to bide my time. Eventually an opportunity came up for me to get a new Skeeter, and so it was that a Skeeter became my first real bass boat.

I now have a Bass Cat, and Jeff is selling Skeeters! How funny is that. I love my Cat, but I also had a lot of fun, and I fished many a tournament out of my Skeeter. I am going to take a cruise out to see Jeff in Marne and look over one of the new Skeeters. I just may be tempted to spend some of that retirement account before I lose it all in this lousy stock market.

Jeff has been one of those guys I have been amazed by and envied. He always remembers my name, my wife's name, and all my kid's names as well. I only see him maybe once or twice a year! I always tell him that he should have run for Congress. He's just a great guy with a great personality. Make sure you stop in and see him at Camp and Cruise in Marne.

Well it's time for bed. I have to work tomorrow and it's 12:11 am, and I have the alarm set for 6:00 am. Blogging and watching basketball. Where does the time go?

The parting shot today comes from Harold "The Legend" Allen. The Legend and Mark Jeffery's do the video work for Bass Zone. I listened to their preview coverage of the B.A.S.S. Elite Tournament on Lake Dardanelle. The Legend said, and you have to read it with a thick southern drawl "The water on Lake Dardanelle is dirty! I mean it's so muddy that you bait bounces several times when it hits the water." Now that's muddy, and funny! Take care and make sure you take time out of your day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

March 23, 2009

Well, it was an interesting weekend. I didn't get to spend as much time down at the Ultimate Sport Fishing Show as I had thought I would. I had some family commitments that took precedence, and as I get older the importance of family becomes more and more significant. In my younger days, I tended to blow off some family events, but I have come to value them much more with age. They are opportunities I now guard when it comes to time commitments.

I did get to spend a pretty good chunk of the day Saturday at the show. I got to meet with a bunch of people that I always like to check in on to chat and sample their wares.

One of my first stops is always with Captain Wayne Carpenter at his Combat Fishing booth. I had to get my hands on a few big bags of Wayne's new "Great Lakes Perch" tubes. His "Great Lakes Craw" was a big hit, and a hard to come by bait during certain times of the summer when guys were stocking up on it.

Captain Wayne Carpenter and I

The New Great Lakes Perch Tube

It's really hard to get a good picture of a bait without natural light. I'll apologize to Wayne ahead of time. It is pretty close, but you are going to want one in your hand to appreciate the triple laminate job on this great looking tube. Pictured is the 4 inch and the drop shot tube. There is also a five inch tube.

Justin, Myself, and Cy & Son

I also met Justin, Cy and Cy's number one fishing buddy, who were down working with Wayne. I've fished with Justin a while back, and Cy and I talk regularly. The two of them are very skilled anglers. Justin, by the way runs a Monday night bass tournament in the Grand Rapids area if anyone is interested. I know I have his tournament info. somewhere, and I'll post it soon. Justin also builds and repairs rods.

Just down the aisle from Wayne's booth was the TBF of Michigan's booth, and there I found greatlakebass.com's Dan Kimmel. I still attribute our early catch and release fishing for bass in Michigan to Dan's tireless work. He's a very knowledgeable outdoorsman and some say an accomplished angler. I haven't had the chance to fish with him yet, so I'll have to wait to pass judgment about his angling prowess. Just kidding Lt. Dan. Just needling you in to trying a few of the great Northwest Michigan lakes for smallies with me in June.

Greatlakesbass.com's Webmaster Dan Kimmel

For those of you interested in starting or joining a TBF team check Dan's site that I have linked above, and you'll have all the information you need. The TBF State Championship is on Burt and Mullet the day after the 2009 Michigan BFL on June 7th. Just so happens to be the first day of the full moon. The smallies will be going gang busters up there. It just may take a 30 lb. stringer to win it.

There are two state parks up there you can camp at. One park is on Burt and the other on Mullet. I prefer the one on Mullet. They're both great spots to camp and enjoy some premier, numeral uno smallmouth fishing. Check out the article on last year's BFL on Burt and Mullet on the main web page's left index.

Another compadre that I ran in to at the show was Jason Frolenko from Strike Zone Charters . Jason is an old Tear Drop Bass Tournament angler, and we've known each other for a number of years. Jason does charters for Lake Michigan salmon, steelhead on the Manistee River, and walleye on Saginaw Bay. Jason's been guiding for a number of years now. He's a good guy and can put you on the fish. Check out his link and pick a date because they go fast.

Jason Frolenko of Strike Zone Charters

I have several other people to feature on the blog from the Ultimate Sport Fishing Show, but after having a few phone calls tonight, I'm just running out of time, and 5:30 am comes awfully early. I'll try and get another post up on Wednesday with the rest of the pictures and links. Tomorrow is my wife and I's 37th year anniversary, so I will be taking her out to dinner nixing any blog opportunities for tomorrow.

The parting shot of the day comes from an author that I frequently quote, Edgar Allen Poe. He's known for being a bit dark, but I think this quote of his shows the sunshine within. He once wrote, "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." Take care and make sure you take time each day to enjoy the moment and maybe the fact that Michigan State made it to the "Sweet Sixteen."

March 20, 2009

I have 21 minutes before I have to leave for work, so I'm going for the fastest blog entry to date. Hold on to your hats.

As you probably know, the Ultimate Sport Fishing Show is taking place down at the Devos on Monroe downtown Grand Rapids. It's the biggest outdoor show around and takes place through Sunday. KVD, Wayne Carpenter, Lt. Dan Kimmel, and a host of other top pros will be down there giving seminars on bass fishing, and of course, there will be pros talking about those lesser known fish species, walleye, salmon, etc.

KVD is always a good seminar, and he seldom covers the same thing twice. Wayne and Dan are smallmouth experts, and if you haven't attended one of their seminars, make sure you do.

Of course, there are plenty of vendors down there. Denny Geurink, and my buddy John Baker, will be down there with Denny's seven foot grizzly selling hunts to Russia. I've seen Denny's photos before, and if you're in to that type of outdoor activity, this would be the pinnacle in hunts.

Wayne Carpenter has an Xtreme Combat Fishing booth, and if you haven't used Wayne's plastics on St. Clair, then you're not using what many are using to load the boat. Every year, I make his booth a must stop, and I always hide the receipt from the wife.

Don't forget to check out what Poor Boy Baits has to offer while you're there. I caught some of my biggest smallies on St. Clair and Erie last year using Poor Boy gobies. You can find a good selection of Poor Boy baits at the Outdoorsmen Pro Shops booth.

One other item to look for while browsing the Outdoorsmen's booth is Vicious Fluorocarbon Line . I began using Vicious line two years ago. You've probably tried fluorocarbon so you know how expensive it is. You can buy Vicious at a third to a fourth of what you spend on other brands, and quality wise, it stacks up exceptionally well. If you see me down at the show, I'll have some samples of 100 yd spools so ask me for some.

When you go downtown the best parking, or I should say the cheapest parking, is on Monroe north of Michigan. If you're standing at the front door to the show, and look north down Monroe, you'll see the overpass just beyond the light at Michigan. The parking meters on the west side (river side) of the street, are twenty-five cents an hour for up to ten hours. Make sure you're on the west side because the meters on the east side are different.

Also, while you're down at the show, and want something to eat, they will hit you up big time inside the DeVos. Directly across the street, in the Calder Plaza Building, you'll find Taco Bob's and Nunzia's . One, obviously is Mexican food and the other Italian. Good fast food at a very reasonable price. For six bucks or less, you get a complete meal there. If you're in the show and want them to deliver it to you, they will if you call this number, 458-1533.

Well, I'm already past my 21 minute blog deadline, so here's one quick article link dealing with the FLW's recent event down on Table Rock. In the article they discuss Five Winning Patterns the pros down there used.

Well, my blog time is up for the day. I hope to make it down to the show tonight, and for sure tomorrow, and hopefully Sunday as well. Take care and make sure you take time, even if it's just a few minutes, to do something today that brings a smile to your face.

March 15, 2009

We've had sunshine in the morning for the past two mornings and those warm rays reach all the way over to my computer desk and man they feel good.

I'm beginning to see some open water on the ponds and lakes that I pass by when traveling south toward Kalamazoo. I haven't had the chance to head north in quite a while, but I suspect there is probably some pretty solid lakes up that way. Once that ice starts to go though, warm winds can clear a lake in just a couple days. I have watched it go on our little lake, Big Bass Lake, from a solid block of ice, to open water in an amazingly short amount of time. It does my fishing soul wonders knowing it won't be long now till we're crankin' the big motor.

My FLW Fantasy Fishing Team that I selected for the Table Rock contest that is in its last day today, had great potential. It actually garnered me some points this go round. Early in the event I was third in our league competition behind Jeff Brauneck and Charlie Heintz. Jeff and his dad were new Tear Drop competitors this last season, and I know Charlie through work. Charlie also runs a Charity Tournament in the Spring Lake, Muskegon area.

When you play FLW Fantasy Fishing you select your 10 anglers from a list given to you of those pros fishing the event, and then you place them in order 1-10, in the order you hope they finish. You get points for their place of finish each day. You receive bonus points for your anglers that make the top ten and big bonus points when those top ten anglers finish in the place you picked them. That is really how you collect the big number of points. I don't have a shot of my number one winning, but I do have a chance at my nine and tenth place picks finishing in that order. Currently they are eight and nine. I picked Chad Morgenthaler to finish first, and he currently is sitting tenth.

Jeff and Charlie are positioned well with their picks and just may collect some big points and who know hopefully some nice prizes.

I'm just glad I pulled ahead of my ole buddy Hoogie. Not really, Matt's a good friend, and we enjoy talking fishing regularly. We've been on the phone several times already discussing our fantasy teams.

If you are interested in reading about the tournament to on the Rock, here is a story from Bass Fan that gives you the low down going in to the final day on Table Rock .

The FLW has some pretty good coverage of their events, and unlike B.A.S.S., you don't have to have ESPN360 to watch the weighins or the video they have of the events. Check out this site for some good video from Table Rock On Demand .

Not too far down the road from Table Rock on Bull Shoals, the TBF National Championship was unfolding this weekend as well. The Michigan Team was well represented, and was leading the whole shebang early. The tournament concluded yesterday and one of the Michigan contingent, Mark Modrak, came in second. Here is an article from FLW on the TBF National Championship that features Mr. Modrak.

There was another Michigan angler, Derek Cummings that was doing well, but when I did a little surfing to see where he was as a boater, I came up empty. I'll investigate further and see what happened to Derek.

While I was surfing for TBF information, I ran across a posting about a battery charging system. I have been struggling with battery issues for several years now. Last year, I bought all new batteries, and two years or so prior to that I bought a new charging system. The system I bought was called the Stay'n Charge. It wasn't a battery charging system as much as a computer switching system. It would send power from my truck as I was traveling, or my boat engine when the big motor was running. I had hopes of this working like my buddy Don's Stealth Charging System did. I have fished a lot with Don in his boat, and there have been many days when after fishing for 10 plus hours we would get back to the motel, and he would check his batteries and they would be fully charged. While we ran on the big water, the Stealth monitored the batteries and charged them on the go. I was very impressed with it and wanted one. Being frugal, however, I looked around and found the Stay'n Charge System at a lower price. So, with high hopes I bought it. It never really charged my batteries to there peak, and I always had to put a portable charger on each battery which was a pain. I liked the charge on the trailer feature until my plug broke when I forgot to unplug it when I launched one day. It took forever to get a replacement and I could never get a timely reply from the company despite repeated attempts. Therefore, I'm ripping it out this Spring and will be buying a Stealth Charging System . I'll keep you posted on how the installation goes, and if it performs like I know it will.

Danny working on Don's Boat

Danny From Stealth Explaining the Science Of It All

Danny, the owner of Stealth, told us that it is very important for the longevity of your batteries to keep them as fully charged as possible. It's important to cut down on the number of charges where your battery is almost totally depleted. With the Stealth System, whenever you crank that big motor you're building those batteries back up, and you're never charging at night from a depleted battery. If you have a system like Stealth's, it will extend battery life considerably. Therefore in the long run you, you will need to replace your batteries less often saving you dollars and making the switch to Stealth a very cost effective one. Sounds like a commercial, and I guess it is, but I don't have any product endorsement deals with them. So, it simply becomes a testimonial.

I get a little more preoccupied with the FLW tournament because of my Fantasy Fishing connection, but the B.A.S.S. boys are down on Lake Amistad right now duking it out as well.

Alton Jones, is currently in the lead, but Jason Williamson who almost won last year's event, plopped a 33 lb. sack on the scale vaulting him from 38th to 3rd place. Another bag like that and he could walk away with a big check. Jason seems very confident in his spot and feels like it hasn't been pressured much. At 4:25 pm today, you can supposedly watch some video on BASS's Hooked Up page.

You can read B.A.S.S.'s latest article on the event by clicking on this Amistad hotlink. You can click, while in that page, to see the Current Standings for the Duel on the Border or click on the hot link to go directly there.

After the Amistad Event, KVD who's currently in the top ten on Amistad, will be booking it back to Grand Rapids to show up at the Ultimate Sport Show which starts Thursday downtown at the DeVos Place. I'll be heading down for at least one day, and I may yet end up doing a little work at the show which may see me down there for all four days.

Time to head to the TV and check out some basketball. Still bummed that Michigan State didn't show up in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championship. Oh well, maybe they'll use the loss as impetus for the NCAA tournament.

Take care and make sure you spend some time each day, even if it's just a few minutes, to delve into something that you love to do.

March 10, 2009

I had a great day working with the kids today. They're making good progress, and they got me coming in to work even when I don't get paid. The little buggers get under your skin in a hurry. Either my wife or I need to go in each day, but many of the days we both go because it's hard to stay home when you know you can make a difference.

Saturday, I went down to the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop for their Spring Fishing Open House. They had some walleye and big lake seminars and the store was crowded with the angling community trying to get themselves out of their winter funk.

I ran into several old acquaintances, met a few new people, and saw some of the guys I regularly commiserate with. I tried to keep my purchases small, but I left the store with my usual sack full of tackle.

Bill and Grayson will undoubtedly be down at the DeVos Place at this year's Ultimate Sport Show . Stop in and check out their booth area. I may be hanging around helping out. Still have to check the schedule and check with Bill and Grayson.

As you may remember from previous Sport Shows downtown, my nephew Bob has a Taco Bob's franchise right across the street, just a few steps from where you enter the Ultimate Sport Show. I have an obvious bias in terms of the quality and taste of the food at Taco Bob's. You won't find a better value and meal in the proximity of the Sport Show or even beyond. Monday night Bobby invited a bunch of us down to an opening of another eatery he's franchising just upstairs from Taco Bob's featuring Italian food. The restaurant is called Nunzia's. Here are a couple of pictures, and one is a shot of the front of the building where you can find both Taco Bob's and Nunzia's.

The Crew at Nunzia's Hard At Work

A Great Menu

Located on Monroe in the Calder Plaza Building

Right across the street from the Sport Show Entrance

You won't go wrong if you head down to the show and stop in to eat. Just walk directly across the street from the entrance to the Ultimate Sport Show, and you'll have your pick of Mexican or Italian fare. It's quick, very tasty, and way cheaper than buying food inside the show.

I did a bit of cruising tonight and found that the Bassmaster sight has the second part of that two piece story on fishing bedding bass . It was kind of interesting to note that it was written by Ish Monroe. Ish got his butt in a sling recently because he got into an argument with a tournament official and used some language he shouldn't have. It was over being hassled about having a copy of his boaters insurance on him. It seems that in some tournaments some boats are required to show it before take-off. Ish had left his in his truck, which was parked across the lake from where the take off was. When they put the pressure on him to produce the paper, he took off across the lake and blew through a no wake zone. When he got back with the insurance paper, they DQed him for breaking the speed limit zone. Ish got quite upset and words were exchanged. B.A.S.S. had an article about the incident up on its site, but it was removed after Ish complained about its inaccuracy. Right now B.A.S.S. and Ish are trying to mend some bridges.

Today, Tuesday I checked out Woot which is a shopping site. It has one deal a day on it. I've ordered a number of things from Woot. Today they had two Stanley 20 piece socket sets for $12.99. That's two sets of brand new sockets for $12.99. Woot only charges $5.00 for shipping no matter what it is they have to sell each day. Some days it may be a deal on a 42 inch flat screen and it is still only $5.00 shipping. The deals are just one day deals and once they sell out they're out, and you're out of luck. I check it every day. New deals are posted each day at 1:00 am our time.

Before I go much further don't forget to pick your new team for FLW Fantasy Fishing . The FLW anglers are going to be down on Missouri's Table Rock Lake . The FLW Table Rock Tournament will begin on March 12 and run through the 15th. You usually have until midnight of the day before the tournament to complete your team. Good luck! I'm out to get you this time Hoogie!

One last article that I found that is worth a few minutes of your time is one on Babying Big Bass .

We all covet those times when we boat a big fish and usually we spend more time than we should admiring it and taking pictures. This article gives you the low down on how to handle those big females so that we make sure they get back into the water in good health in less than 30 seconds.

Please don't hold those big fish up with one hand. If you don't support the fish with your other hand you can quite easily dislocate or break its jaw. This is not always a visible injury, but it is one that will most certainly cause the fish to die a slow death. As sportsman we have an obligation to the fish and animals we pursue.

That's going to have to be it for tonight. I have to get a box ready to ship some reels out to Dave the "Reel Man" Valentine at The Angler in Indiana. He does a great job on reels. I've talked about Dave before, and he has given me permission to include his email on the blog. Here it is: devalentine@auburngear.com. If you have a reel question or you need any kind of reel repair or cleaning he's your guy.

Take care and make sure you find time each day to pursue your dreams, even if it's just pondering your summer fishing schedule during a brief walk outside. See ya.

March 6, 2009

My wife and I went down to Edwardsburg and stopped in at Lunker's for their 2009 Fishing Extravaganza. We got there around 12:30 pm and as we pulled in to the parking lot, we met my buddy John who was just leaving.

After chit chatting with John, my wife went into the store. I hadn't been down to Lunkers in a number of years and was looking forward to checking it out. I cruised the isles and picked up a few things.

Lunker's - Flocks of geese and walls full of tackle

They had a ton of my favorite Poor Boy baits.

After doing some shopping, we headed to the restaurant that they have in the store. They can seat a bunch of folks, and while you're waiting you can watch one of the many TV screens or enjoy the 20 plus aquariums that line the perimeter of the restaurant. I ordered a fish basket of Alaskan Scrod and my wife had a french dip. The food was excellent.

Lunch at Lunkers

When we got home, I check my emails and saw that I had one from Mr. Mast. I had seen Rick earlier in the week, and he told me he was heading down to the St. Joe River to do some walleye fishing. As promised, he sent me some pictures. He and his buddies boated seven nice eaters. They also pulled into a slough off the river and caught a mess of crappie. What a great way to enjoy this early spring warm up.

A nice St. Joe River Walleye

Rick, with two nice eaters.

The crappie were schoolin' with the warm weather.

Rick said that he used the outing to try some Vicious Fluorocarbon . He spooled up with ten pound and said the guys in the boat were getting mad at him because when he snagged up, he was pulling the boat over the fish because he couldn't break his jig off. He remarked that he should have used eight pound to break off easier in the snag filled St. Joe. It's one tough line. When I spool up this spring, it's going to be Vicious fluorocarbon. The Outdoorsmen is carrying it now, so stop by and pick some up.

It really won't be long now until we're all out there on our favorite lakes chunkin' and windin' and enjoying the summer sun. I can begin to see the light, or is that the sun, at the end of the tunnel. Daylight Savings Time comes tonight and not soon enough because I think were all getting a bit stressed from a heavy dose of cabin fever. Don't forget to spring ahead tonight with all your time pieces.

You don't always have to rely on the weather though to let you know it's getting close to soft water fishing time. You can just watch for all the spring fishing shows like the one at Lunkers going on right now.

Another fishing celebration that's a bit closer to home, and where I'm heading in the morning, is the one they're having at the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison. Saturday, tomorrow, they have seminars scheduled, and there will be a bunch of reps in to show you the new tackle for the 09 fishing season. You might as well "pack up the baby and grab the ole lady" and head on over. I don't think my wife will want to spend two days in a row with me at a tackle shop even though she went to high school with one of the owners of the Outdoorsmen, Bill Lowing. I'll just be cruising over solo, after I watch Zona on the "World's Greatest Fishing Show." I'll also check out what Bassmaster is airing, and if it's a rerun I'm out the door and heading to the Outdoorsmen for a coffee, donut, and some jaw jackin'.

I tried surfing to find out what went on today in the Central Open down on Toledo Bend. Bassmaster.com didn't have anything up yet. We'll have to wait till tomorrow to see who is leading that event.

That's going to be it for today. Take care and make sure you take some time out of each work day to enjoy one of your passions. It's a good time to take that pitchin' rod to work and practice tossing a few jigs into a coffee can in the parking lot.

March 5, 2009

I couldn't believe it when I walked out the front door this morning. What a change in temperature! It had to be already in the 50s. Maybe this heat wave will finally clear the ice off my driveway.

Yesterday I stopped in at the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison and talked with Grayson, Bill and Nate. Also Rick Mast and his brother Randy stopped in a minute, and I chatted with them. Rick was planning to head down to the St. Joe River to do some walleye fishing. He said he'd send me some pictures.

Rick told me he was in the shop ordering a new Lowrance HD. He was showing me what it looked like, and for those jig and dropshot guys, this unit sure looks like it has some fantastic detail. Remember if you have not yet tried drop shotting for bass, walleye, you name it, you need to check out Seth Burrill's "Drop Shot Secrets Revealed" . It's the best technique video I've seen. For twenty bucks, you get two DVDs with a lot of info for multispecies fishing with the drop shot rig.

The Outdoorsmen is having is 31st Anniversary Sale this weekend. They have seminar speakers scheduled for Saturday for big lake anglers and walleye guys. We'll have to give them some grief about no bass representation on the seminar list. If you have a chance stop by. There should be some pretty good deals and besides my favorite donut shop is one door down from them. Maybe I'll see you there.

My wife and I headed south for a get away, and I may talk her into driving to Edwardsburg and stopping in at Lunker's for their 18th Annual Fishing Extravaganza. My buddy John is heading down that way on Friday as well. He's been looking for some good walleye baits. He's especially interested in finding some Rattletots. They don't manufacture them any more, so if you know of anyone that would like to sell theirs, John would probably be interested.

Today B.A.S.S. Central Open Tournament One was scheduled to take place down on Toledo Bend. Winds were forecasted to be as high as 35 mph and with all the stump fields on that huge river impoundment, it made it an easy call for the tournament director, Chris Bowes to nix fishing for the day. The article hot linked above is one where James Niggemeyer's take on the Texas bass factory, and lets us know what he plans for Toledo Bend. It wasn't long ago that Toledo Bend gave up a 15 pounder, and it wasn't even during the spawn. Could be some big fish coming in during the next few days of weigh-in which you can watch at this Central Open Day 2 weighin link at 3:30 pm each day.

I talked Wednesday night to Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner who is just returned from ten days in sunny Florida. We're planning our trip down to the B.A.S.S. Dixie Duel in Decatur, Alabama at the end of the month. We're both really looking forward to that trip. We get to hob knob with some big names, do some fishing, and enjoy the hospitality of my sister and brother-in-law. I always really enjoy visiting them. They are just good people.

My brother-in-law Charles, reminded me to have Rick put a shotgun and some coveralls in the truck because turkey season opens the first of April down there. Looks like we'll get to go on one of those cast and blast trips.

As far as the fishing goes, KVD said at his recent seminar that he thought the fish should be on the spawn about then. Could be very interesting with lots of fish catching possibilities.

When you think of bed fishing there are a few of the big names that really excel at that technique. Here's a pretty good article from one of my favorite anglers, and maybe the top sight fishermen, Shaw Grigsby on bedding bass . The article is the first of a two parter.

While I was cruising the net today, I saw an ad for a rod rack for coanglers. Because of my tour of coangler duty in the Michigan BFLs last year, I had to dig a little deeper and find more out about this gadget. It looks like something that could really be a boon for those of us relegated to the back of the boat. I was very intrigued by the prospects of this uniquely designed coangler rod rack . Check it out. Coangler or not this rod rack has some real promise.

Well, time to watch American Idol. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day for a little self indulgence.