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Daily Blog Archive September 2nd to September 29th, 2008

September 29, 2008

Another break in the blog for a few days. Don and I went over to Detroit to prefish for the Super BFL that was held this past Saturday and Sunday.

Don had to leave early so that he could take his boat to Rose Marine in Algonac.

Don had been asking about where to take his boat and was told by several St. Clair/Erie veterans that Rose Marine is the place to go if you need some work done.

Rose Marine - Algonac, MI

I left to go over to Trenton on Thursday. I met Don at the Best Western in Woodhaven where we like to stay when we fish out of Elizabeth Park. It's always a popular spot, and many of the BFL anglers stay there.

We got up Friday and Don had to go check on his boat, which was still at Rose's. We had hoped to get out prefishing, but it was not to be, as we waited until around 5:00 pm to get the boat.

When we left Rose's we had to hope for smooth sailing and no expressway delays, so we would be on time for the mandatory BFL meeting at the Wal Mart near the hotel. We had called ahead and reregistered so we didn't need to be there until 7:30 when the boater/coangler draw occurs. We ended up making it with time to spare.

I'll stop there, and save the rest of the tournament story for the article that I am planning on doing tomorrow. I will though, give you a look at the Live Target perch crankbait that caught me some Lake Erie smallmouth this past Sunday.

Live Target Perch Smallmouth Getter

I had a list of jobs to get done today, and I didn't have much time to surf the net for the latest highlights in the fishing world. I did happen across an article that was quite interesting on Michael Bennett's FLW Cup win. It was done by his hometown newspaper the Sacramento Bee . You can read about Michael, and about his brother RJ, who recently finished third in an FLW event. The two brothers use to compete together, but RJ took some time off from fishing to work for his dad. Michael went on to earn enough money to buy out his dad.

Another article I ran across hit home because of this weekend's tournament. If you're fishing St. Clair and Erie you better be sure to have some Berkley Gulp . You can use this link to take a look at the hype and expectation dealing with these new baits.

One last article that I came across on Bass Fan, was their featured story on Greg Hackney . One of the things that interested me was his discussion concerning some of the favorites for the upcoming Bassmaster Classic in Louisiana. He mentions Jamie Laiche, who I met when I went down with Don to the Federation Nation National Championship last November. Jamie is in the hunt for a repeat trip to the Classic through the Federation. What a thrill it would be for him to become the second Federation angler to win the Classic.

Louisiana's Jamie Laiche

That's it for today, which means it's time for the parting shot of the day. It comes from an old politician, Thomas Jefferson. He once said, "Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances." Take care and make sure you take time to enjoy your day.

September 24, 2008

In my internet surfing today, I ran across a couple of interesting things that I'm going to share this morning. One is a new bait that Rapala is coming out with called the "Clackin' Rap" . If you use the hot link here you can link to a short video which shows you the features of this bait. Looks like it's got the potential to be one of those that ends up in most peoples' tackle boxe. It's rattle and sound chamber certainly appear to create a lot of noise, and being fatter it may cause more vibration in the water, and its front hook looks mean. Check it out.

I also ran across something that you may either want to put on your Christmas list, and or purchase it for a gift for one of your fishin' buddies. It's a movie that recently came out called Bait Shop . It stars Billy Ray Cyrus and Bill Engvall and is suppose to be a pretty good comedy along the lines of the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour." There is a description of the movie on the webpage of the aforementioned link. It looks like something to put in the DVD player and just kick back and get a few laughs with.

Moving right along from laughter to pain is a look at an article that Berkley has up on its site that talks about "Do Bass Feel Pain?" . As an angler concerned about protecting the resource, I'm sure we have all had this question run through our minds at one time or another. We also all have had that experience, especially in the spring, where you can release a fish caught from a bed, and it will come right back and bite again. If you have Kim Stricker's "Smallmouth Neighborhood " DVD, you have seen that segment where the largemouth and smallmouth compete for the lure and the largemouth is caught and released only to immediately bite again. And, this is a shot of a fish that 's not on a bed. So, do bass feel pain? Check out the article and I think it answers the question quite well.

One of the things that I hope to do today is get that Tear Drop Classic article done. I haven't started it yet, but I have spent some time resizing pictures for the article. Here are a couple more teaser shots of some of the nice limits that were caught.

Chris Mieras of Reed City

Jeff and Fred Brauneck of Manistee

That's going to be it for today. I have a bunch of errands to run and things to do today. The parting shot for today comes from M. K. Soni and is quoted as saying, "Action is the strongest enemy of worry. An idle mind is the abode of worry." Heaven only knows that there are many things all of us encounter that cause us to stew and worry. That feeling doesn't leave unless we make an action plan. Even if you're not entirely sure if your plan is the correct one, when you're working toward a solution, you'll feel much better. Take care and make sure you take time to enjoy your day.

September 22, 2008

Well, I'm back from a couple of days of fishing. It was some tough work, but someone has to do it. I left Friday and headed up to White Cloud to pick up Ron. In true fishaholic style, Ron left home with the roof off his house. He's doing some major rennovating and is going up a floor. He's a contractor by profession and so he's doing the work himself. The roof is off and he had about 5 sheets of OSB on the second floor joices. He checked the weather and worked as long as he could and then jumped in the shower and we headed north with our fishing poles. He was hoping the weather man was right calling for no rain over the weekend, so "Where's he at? Gone fishin'" is what the song says.

Before we left Ron's, the Vawters, Nick and son Brent arrived to pick up their boat which they had left at Ron's after fishing both days last weekend on Hamlin in the monsoon we had. If you recall that weekend it rained, and I mean rained, all weekend nonstop. Anyway the Vawters, who were also fishing this year'sTear Drop end of year Classic, would be caravanning up to Interlochen with us.

The plan was to head up to my cabin to put my pickup camper on and to pick up my Basscat. We got there just as it was getting dark. As luck would have it, as we got out of the vehicles, Nick and Brent heard an unfamiliar noise coming from the boat and looked to see that their motor was trimmed all the way up and the trim pump was still whining. They had to disconnect the battery to get it to stop. I have had that same thing happen while on the water before and know that there are two solenoids (I think that's what they're called. ) that sit side by side inside the engine cowling and control the motor trim. Any way, after messing with them, and switching them around they started working again. Nick is going to get a new one though, and after having that happen twice to me over the years, I'm also going to take the hint and buy a spare.

We decided because of our late start, that we would just stay at the cabin and make the hour drive to Long Lake in the morning.

We got there and all crowded in to the poor excuse for a ramp at 6:30 am. There was another small tournament group of around six boats that were already there and with our 12 boats the parking was creative.

We launched just as the predawn light was crawling over the eastern tree line. It was a bit cloudy, but warmer than I thought it would be for that time of year. Water temperature was still around 65 degrees. I'm not going to let any more cats out of the bag for this year's Classic because I will be doing an article on it in the next couple of days and will put it up under "2008 Articles" on the Home Page. I will say this though, I believe it to have been a record setting event. Here's a peak at what was brought to the scales. Not quite 40 pounds but close!

Long Lake - Brian Miller and Tony Maddox

Duck Lake - Tony Maddox and Brian Miller

I am bone dead tired tonight and trying to get this finished. I got home from the Classic at 11:30 pm last night and found out my youngest son Nate is heading to Galveston TX to help in the rebuilding. We had to take him to the train station this morning at 7:35 am, and as I type, he's heading south to Houston, a big adventure to be sure, but that's what life's all about. I'm praying for his safety as well as for the safety of those he will encounter that have been going through another one of Mother Nature's ordeals.

I did a little surfing today and found an article on one of my favorite anglers, the Ikester, Mike Iaconelli. He's holding down the top spot in the Stren Series Kerr Lake event down in Henderson, N.C. Here's the article that will give you the low down on the "Runnemede Kid" .

Another interesting article that I ran across today chronicles the year of Takahiro Omori . I found it to be quite interesting, and it really gives you some flavor for what some anglers do in order to fish the big time.

In a week, a little less actually, on September 28th, the 2008 Forest Wood Cup will air on FSN. I hope I'm fishing Sunday, and will have to rely on someone recording the TV show for me. The Super BFL, down in Elizabeth Park, starts Saturday and the full field, after Saturday, is cut down to the top 20 who will then be fishing on Sunday. That could be me. It would be wild if it was because it means I got into another good batch of big smallies.

Well that's it for today. The parting shot comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He once said, "Others will underestimate us, for although we judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, others judge us only by what we have already done." I like ole Wadsworth. I betcha he was a fisherman! Take care and make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

September 18, 2008

It's almost time for me to start packing for the trip up to the Traverse area to fish our Tear Drop Classic this weekend. We'll be fishing Long Lake Saturday and Duck Lake Sunday. I have fished the area for years. Last year in the Classic, my partner Ron and I, came within a hare's breath of winning it. We only came up with four fish on the last day and lost by less than a pound. If we could have just wrangled up that one last limit fish. Oh well, that's how it goes, and we'll give it another shot this weekend.

I don't have the experience on Long that I would like to have. I've fished it only a few times. We're going to have to rely on our past knowledge of what the smallies should be doing up there at this time of year. Hopefully we can get on them.

Our nemesis from last year's Classic was the Traverse City team of Wes Herndon and Brian Macdonell. Couldn't have been out done by two nicer guys and might I say, two excellent anglers. They are pretty tough to beat on smallmouth waters.

Besides being smallmouth aficionados the duo are both avid hockey players and fans. Check out these pictures that I'm sure are headed for a big frame on both of their mantels.

Only Smallmouth Nuts Would Use Lord Stanley's Cup for Fish Structure

Brian, Mike Stapleton, Dallas Drake, Wes

Mike Stapleton played for seven different NHL teams, the Blackhawks, Penguins, Oilers, Islanders, etc. Stapleton was drafted in 1984 and played 697 NHL games. Mike also worked as the assistant to Scott Gardiner the NAHL's Traverse City North Stars during the 05-06 season before becoming an associate coach of the OHL's Erie Otters.

Dallas Drake is a retired Canadian winger who played in the National Hockey League for several teams, the last one being the Detroit Red Wings. He now lives in the Traverse City area and I'm not sure but maybe Mike does too.

A couple of great pictures and this coming weekend I'll be seeing Brian and Wes and be sure to get the low down from them on how they were able to take the Stanley Cup for a ride in the Basscat.

During the BFL out of Metro Beach on Lake St. Clair, Chip Harrison sacked a big bunch of smallmouth and won the tournament. He has remained pretty hot and won the FLW Eastern Series event on Lake Champlain.

Iam's Pro Chip Harrison

Chip talked about his winning strategy on Champlain and it involved drop shotting a Poor Boy mango darter and a C-Flash crankbait. I too, have caught some nice smallies on the Poor Boy darters, but I don't have a C-Flash. They are so dar n expensive, about $22 a piece.

With several tournaments on the horizon yet this fall, I have been drawn to read some late season smallmouth articles. I found one written by Dave Wollak. This article had a double draw because Dave is on the Pro Staff of Finn Tech. You may have noticed that I have had my IT son Nick rearrange the bottom of my home page. The Finn Tech button has been there, but there are a couple of more that have been added. I'll get some more info on those button choices written up in the next couple of blogs. As an F.Y.I., Finn Tech is a company that has some pretty unique designs in terminal tackle. If you haven't looked at the site check it out. Their football jigs have been in the tubes I have been throwing in the BFLs. If you stick one of the football heads in a tube you get a look that has a strong resemblance to a goby. I would urge you to check out the Finn Tech site and read Dave's article Making the grade on multiple choice waters. .

I have a couple other blog agenda items that I have ready to go, but I also have a number of things I have to do to get ready to leave for this weekend's tournament. I may have time, depending on when Ron is ready to head north, to get another blog entry in before the weekend, but then again I man not be back on till Monday. So, this is going to be it for today.

The parting shot today comes from John Tillotson. He once said, " A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing." Take care and make sure you set aside some time to enjoy your day.

September 16, 2008

Good morning! Looks like we're finally drying out up here in the north country. There have been reports from down TCook's way of 12 inches of rain having fell. Reports have us, in the Grand Rapids area, with around 5 inches.

I did my usual surfing this morning and found an article on Bass Fan's site which deals with the 40th Anniversary of Bass. The article titled The First B.A.S.S. Champ has Ray Scott talking about one of the early bass legends, Carl Dyess. If you read the article, you get a flavor for what Ray's book, B.A.S.S. Boss is like. I read the book before going down to Ray's last April, and I found it to be interesting on several fronts. Ray is an accomplished business man and devised early on in his career a specific business scheme that he details in his book. You not only get to hear his biography and the history of B.A.S.S. , but you get a very good "How To" business lesson as well. If after reading the B.A.S.S Boss you want more, Ray has a book entitled "Prospecting and Selling -From a Fishing Hole to a Pot of Gold" that you can also order. He gave me a copy when we were down there and it too is a must read.

An Unforgettable Evening With The Boss

Me Trying On One of Ray's Chapeaus

On the Bassmaster.com website today I opened up a PDF that they have listed that shows off the magazine Fishing Tackle Retailer . It's a magazine that has a bunch of the new lures for 2008 from ICAST. It was certainly interesting to look at and there are some intriguing looking lures. One of them was a unique tube designed by Tommy Biffle and marketed by Gene Larew called the Biffle-O . I don't believe I've seen a tube design like that before. Use the link above for a look at it.

I had a branch fall on my truck this weekend. It cracked my windshield, dented my hood, whacked my mirror off, and mucked up my windshield wipers. I called my insurance and then took it locally for an estimate. Almost $1600 worth of damage. I made arrangements to have the local company do the work, but last night I talked to my buddy Ron up in White Cloud. He reminded me that Northern Auto Body in White Cloud advertised in our Tear Drop Flyer, so I made some calls and am having them now do the work. They will do it for the same price as they quoted me locally, plus they'll give me a car to drive while the work is being done. Sounds good to me.

Well that's going to have to be it for today. The parting shot comes from inspirational speaker Jim Rohn. He has said, "Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want." Take care and make sure you reserve some time out of your work day to do something you enjoy.

September 14, 2008

I took off some time today from my ark building to write up a blog entry. With all the rain we've been getting, I figured I had better start building a boat and collecting pairs of animals.

It's been raining hard for a day and a half and they say we won't see a let off until tomorrow when it's suppose to clear up. There are certainly going to be some wet basements and flooding in the area. After such a dry August, we sure are making up for it in a big way.

I got up this morning and checked out Dan Kimmel's blog he wrote for the TBF Northern Regional on Lake St. Clair. The Michigan Team smoked the competition by over 80 pounds and took the overall top spot. Here is the the entry Dan wrote in his greatlakesbass.com blog.

After you read Dan's blog, you may want to check out the article that is on FLWoutdoors that talks about the winner Derek Cummings' day. They also give you a brief synopsis of some of the other top finishers. Remember that the TBF Northern Regional was restricted to American waters only.

I checked yesterday to see if Bassmaster was on ESPN2 was on, and it wasn't. Must be in that dry spell after the regular season and before the Classic.

This morning on FSN they are airing a walleye tournament. Walleye?? Oh well, it's fishing and I love eating those walleye. Most of my walleye fishing is done on the ice. I have a nice stringer mount of some big walleyes I caught jigging.

A couple of walleyes that are on my wall.

Three more months and.... ice time.

While watching the FLW walleye show they did a very brief spot on Lance Valentine . I met Lance last winter at a workshop that he held at the Outdoorsman Pro Shop . It was a seminar on how to use your GPS unit. I was a bit skeptical when I signed up for the class wondering if we could really spend eight hours just on using your GPS. Well, I didn't need to worry because we were there beyond the eight hours and I could have stayed longer. It was an exceptional opportunity to really see the power that you have at your disposal if you know how to use the capabilities of your Lowrance. Lance really knows his stuff.

My walleye buddy John has been down to Lake Erie where Lance holds weekend "How To" walleye seminars. You spend a day in class and then the rest of the time is on the water. At the end of the seminar, the participants share waypoints and come home with not only a lot of how to catch them knowledge, but a list of waypoints to try on future trips.

John just came back from his place near Port Clinton, OH. The weather was a factor, but he also said that when he went out that it was like trolling through olives. The algae bloom was very bad. John and his quests have boated over 500 walleyes this year, and this was the first time that he made the trip over this year that he had gotten skunked. With the water condition being what it was, and with the bad weather moving in, he decided to come back home. He'll go back over soon enough though and we'll report on on how he does.

John heading to the Erie walleye hole.

Yesterday was like Christmas for me as the mail and Fed Ex delivered several packages. The first one was my line I ordered from Vicious Fishing . I got 800 yd. spools of 8 lb. and 15 lb. fluorocarbon line. I am going to be respooling in advance of my next weekend trip to Long and Duck Lake for the Tear Drop Classic. I'll let you know how it performs.

Also in the mail yesterday, was a package from my young buddy Ross. Ross found my website and began emailing me last winter. He and his dad met me at a Spring sport show, and we got to meet for the first time there. As it turned out, his grandfather has a home on the same lake that I have my cabin on. We then hooked up this summer, and as luck would have it, he fished his first mini tournament with me and we won. Later in the summer, Ross has fished two Tear Drop events with his buddy Eric. Needless to say, he's hooked on bass fishing, and is now saving for his own boat.

Ross sent me a nice letter and a lure that I'll be using to hopefully do well in the Classic with. The lure is a nice one , but I really appreciated the letter. I'll keep both for a long time.

One other package that arrived with the other two was one that my son sent me. It was a video player that my iPod connects to. The unit will play my music and videos on its seven inch screen. My son got it off a neat website that he has me looking at every day called woot.com . The site offers one deal a day on electronic devices. My son says he has made a number of purchases on the site. The player he sent me works great! We'll use in the camper, and my wife can watch movies on it as we travel.

Not only did I get all that stuff yesterday, but I also got a card from a fishing buddy in Illinois, Larry Coleman.

Larry Coleman and "The Man" Ray Scott

Larry was the Illinois Champion and competed in last November's B.A.S.S. National Championship. I made a hour long DVD of our trip down to the Nationals and sent a copy to Larry. He liked the music I selected for background tracks on the DVD, so I later sent him copies of that as well. He sent me a nice card and, and, and, a number of raffle ticket entries to the 2008 Illinois B.A.S.S. Federation Nation annual raffle.

Larry is one of those guys that once you meet him, you got a friend. He's always got a smile on his face and is the life of the party! I hope to be able to hook up and fish with him soon.

A big thank you to Ross, Larry and my son Nick, for giving me Christmas in September.

Well that's going to be it for today. The parting shot is a simple one, but it makes a lot of sense. It comes from Woody Allen. He said "Eighty percent of success is showing up." Take care and make sure you take time to enjoy your day.

September 12, 2008

I got up this morning after spending an uncomfortable night because I pigged out at a barbecue we had. Our family got together to spend time with my oldest sister who was visiting. She relocated with her husband two years ago to Gulf Shores, Alabama and works down there as a registered nurse. I have a big family that is very close, and we get together often. We have a good time and enjoy each others company.

One of the first things I did today was to check to see how the TBF Northern Regional was going. The tournament is on the East side and the anglers take off out of the ramp at Selfridge on Lake St. Clair.

Derek Cummings, and his roommate for the tournament Mark Modrak, are now sitting first and second in the event. The Michigan team is 50+ lbs. ahead of the rest of the Northern Divisional state teams. Once again Berkley Gulp and crankbaits seem to be the baits of choice. Today is the final day of the event.

On the ESPN Bassmaster site they have an article on "The Quest for a Record Smallmouth" . I love to fish for smallmouth so I rarely miss reading anything that pertains to them. The article is a bit dismaying in the sense that it relays the possibility that the gene for the really big smallies on Dale Hollow may have been lost to over harvesting. Hopefully, that is not the case.

I have fished Dale Hollow just last October. It's a fabled fishery and it is one of those bodies of water that I would like to revisit.

Wear your PFDs

Ramping it Up

The Water Level Was Down A Lot

We can't leave this topic area without a link to the Smallmouth Guru's blog and read what he has to say on "Two Fall Patterns."

In my web surfing I came across an article on a relatively unknown, at least to me, angler, Fred Contaoi . Fred has been fishing the FLW Tour and sponsored by none other than the zaney folks at "Orange County Choppers." The article is an interesting one and references a movie that Contaoi has been a part called "Cast." As I read about the flims content it appears to be an account of what it's really like on a day to day basis fishing as a bass pro. It certainly has piqued my interest and will be on my Christmas list.

Yesterday as I ended the blog, I posted a link to a tribute video I found on YouTube concerning 9/11. I watched it again this morning and it lead me to another video that elaborated on 9/11 called "The Falling Man" . I started to watch the hour and eleven minute film and became engrossed in it. The 9/11 tragedy was awful and this video does not gloss things over. It will take you through the day even deeper than you may want to go. Have the kleenex box nearby. You'll need it, should you choose to view this documentary. It provides an in depth look, and explores the media's roll in portraying the events of the day. Just be prepared if you decide to view the video, it is quite intense.

Today's parting shot comes from probably America's greatest writer, Mark Twain. He once said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Take care and make sure you take time to enjoy you day, even if it's just a few minutes of dreaming.

September 11, 2008

Good morning. It's one of those mornings that once you're up and realize the date it immediately takes you back to where you were on this terrible day in history. For me, it was in the classroom. As I taught my class of sixth graders, I got wind from staff members of something going on. My room was right next door to the teacher's lounge, so as the day went by I was able to get into watch the TV coverage during prep times and recess breaks.

The news was almost surreal, unimaginable. Trying to figure it all out was not going to happen that day, so we had to decide what to do with the students. Being an elementary school, it was decided not to say anything until the end of the day. However, some distraught parents came to pick their kids up to take them home early, and it was hard to conceal what was going on. We didn't want to alarm students and we had almost a full day of school ahead of us yet. Besides, we didn't really know which child might even have relatives that were directly involved in the tragedy, etc. We did know, however, that by the end of the day an announcement would have to be made. We didn't want kids going home to empty houses, and turned on the TV, to face the news on their own.

For all any of us knew, the nation may be under attack, and hearing people talk like that is frightening for an adult, let alone a child. Also many of the younger kids will view something like that happening in New York and mistakenly think that it's happening right here in their own town.

By days end. a carefully scripted announcement was made throughout the school. School ended, for many of us, in a haze. Anger, fear, frustration, and a terrible sadness hung like a shroud around us all.

The loss of life looked to be unthinkable. It was a terrible day, and I remember it all too well despite the seven years that have passed since then.

I had thought about not even having a fishing entry today, just a tribute to those who died and left loved ones and even strangers grieving the loss. However, one of the things that has come out of the event, is that we can't let a group of madmen change the way we live as free Americans. They're not going to make us live forever in the shadow of the fear they randomly create. That after all, is part of their goal, to disrupt and challenge our American way of life.

We need to pursue and hold accountable those that planned and carried out this cowardly act, but we also must persevere and go about our business, that business and day to day activity is what keeps America strong. So, on this day of mourning I will certainly end with a tribute, but I will also persevere, and that means carrying on as we do every day in this great nation.

Dan Kimmel and the Michigan TBF State Championship team are on St. Clair today fishing the Northern Regional. They are catching some huge sacks of smallmouth. Being on that side of the state, during this time of the year, the smallies can wear you out!

Here's the TBF Northern Divisional article. Kimmel is doing a blog on his greatlakesbass.com website that you can access, and I'll also try and keep you posted as to how Michigan's team is doing in this blog.

I had coffee with my buddy John yesterday and brought him one of the new Kopper Crankbaits in the matte finish perch pattern for him to try down on Lake Erie for walleye. He has a trailer down in Turtle Creek, Ohio and keeps his boat moored down there. He's boated over 500 walleyes this year already. He's going to try the Kopper's lure and let me know how those Lake Erie walleyes eat it.

I noticed in the TBF article above, that Modrak was tossing a crankbait for those Erie smallmouth. I can't wait to try the Kopper crayfish and perch when I go down in a couple weeks.

One of the things I've been reading about in terms of crankbait fishing is that to maximize the action you should be tying a loop knot. If you're not familiar with the knot there are a bunch of sites that will give you a one dimensional tutorial, but if you want to build skills in the knot tying area make sure you go to Seth Burrill's Anglers Experience website and order his DVD on knots. The small cost of the DVD will, in my opinion, be invaluable. Terminal tackle and those knots that get the big one to the boat and in the boat is critical.

One of the articles that I read while cruising the bass sites today is one that Bass Zone did on Mike McClelland. If you recall, Mike started the season in Florida on fire and continued to do very well through the tournament year. The McClelland's Perfect Season is albeit one of the longer articles, it does read quickly and is quite interesting.

Just as an F.Y. I. , I finally got the Hamlin Lake Tear Drop article done. It can be found on the home page under the "2008 Articles" button. You have to check out the "Lone Ranger's" win.

I'm getting a tad bit nervous about all the tournaments that I have coming up. I love the prospect, but fear the cost. I'm fishing the Tear Drop Classic up near Traverse City, a several hundred mile overnight round trip. I then go cross state to Detroit, well Trenton, on the very next weekend to fish the two day BFL Super tournament. That's quite likely going to be a four day excursion with miles of boat and truck gas. Then its back up to Lake Leelanau for the BAU Classic on the 11th of October, and the 12th is the Interlochen Hawg Hunt on Duck and Green. Then there is the BFL Cherokee Regional. It is quite possible that four of us will be qualifying and going down there for that three day event starting the 16th of October. Realistically, it's going to be a real challenge financially for me to fish them all. I shudder to think of the over all gas bill, especially now that the barrel price has continued to drop and gas just went up yesterday here thirty cents a gallon! I'd better start picking up more pop cans.

Well, I have family in from out of town and we're having a get together today, so I had better get a few things done. I've been trying to get 10,000 steps in a day to bring down the old weight and have been getting that four miler in almost every day. It's a real time commitment. It takes me almost an hour to walk/jog (mostly walk) the distance. Then you have a 20 minute cool down and shower, etc. so you really have to plan for a hour and a half out of your day. It's very easy for me to blow to not work out. It's more fun just to eat. I've always said the hardest thing about exercising is putting on your shoes. Once you have made that decision to commit it's not all that bad, but fighting all the excuses not to go is really the tough part.

I mentioned above that I would end today's blog with a tribute to the 9/11 victims. I found this short video on YouTube that does a pretty good job of not letting us forget while paying homage to those we lost on that day. Take care.

September 8, 2008

Yes it is Monday. I had a busy weekend and the week looks just as busy. One of my weekend activities was attending the GVSU football season opener against Indianapolis. Grand Valley looked sharp and had 28 points in the first half, before going on to win 49-21. It looks like it's going to be another very good year for the Lakers.

I spent some time this morning ordering some Vicious fluorocarbon line. I ordered an 800 yd spool of eight and 15 pound line. I have Seaguar on my spinning reels right now and I have not had one break off. I could hardly break it off on purpose when I got hung up on the bottom of the Detroit River. The problem with Seaguar is that it cost $75 for a 1,000 yd. spool, more than twice as much as the Vicious.

I should have the Vicious line in a few days, and I plan on using it to prefish for the Tear Drop Classic event up in Traverse City on Long and Duck Lakes. I fish the Classic on the 20th and 21st of September, and then the weekend after that we're down in Detroit again at Elizabeth Park for the BFL Super Tournament. I should, with a little luck, and a good draw, stay in the top 40 in the BFL. That will qualify me for the Cherokee Lake, TN Divisional in October. With these events coming up, I'm going to need to respool a few times and 1600 yds of Vicious should last for a few weeks.

I did a little surfing today, and over the weekend and purused the major bass fishing sites. Bassmaster.com had an interesting article on the negative effects of catch and release on some lakes. It talks about how slot limits have not been working to build trophy sized bass because anglers are too in to catch and release. The lakes are getting over populated causing the fish to become stunted. It's an interesting article and a quick read.

Another article that was interesting was one on Bobby Lane the Rookie of the Year winner in the B.A.S.S. Elites. Bobby was in the top 50 seven times and the top ten twice in the 2008 season. Lane has fished the FLW Tour in years past, but he made the jump this year to B.A.S.S. The article goes on to talk about his season and about the confidence Bobby has going in to the February Bassmaster Classic on the Red River in Louisiana.

I talked to Don this morning about his weekend event in the Fishers of Men tournament. He said it took 23+ lbs. to win it and that there were several 20 pound sacks of fish.

Don and his partner Dave Brown stayed in the Detroit River and their spots ended up giving them a mediocre bag of fish. They weighed in a 13+ lb. bag. Others who Don saw fishing the river caught much bigger sacks. Sometimes it's funny how you can get on a certain spot and catch all four pounders and other times get stuck on 2-3 pounders. Don and Dave qualified for the Fishers of Men Classic which fishes for a boat and motor. Both Don and Dave can catch them, and they know the area quite well so maybe their skill and luck will align in the Classic and they can win a boat.

Yesterday I watched the conclusion of the FLW Tour Detroit River event on FSN. It was interesting to watch the guys on a body of water that I'm somewhat familiar with. I recognized several spots, and I have a pretty good idea of where Shaw, Vatalaro, and J.T. Kinney were fishing. One of J.T. Kinney's spot's on the Detroit River, was a spot my boater and I fished near in the last BFL. While my boater, who fished the Tour event also, and I fished a stretch of river he remarked, that he saw J.T. fishing across the river from him. While we were in the same location there was a boat on Kinney's spot, and I saw them boat three fish. Don't know how big they were, but they were certainly getting bit. I can't wait for the BFL Super Tournament so that we can get back over to the East Side and whack some more smallmouth.

I just made a mad dash up to the Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison to check out the info on the doe permits that went on sale today. They said that the permits that are offered for private land today are those belonging to Zone 3, which is roughly south of a line between Muskegon and Pinconning. Private land only doe permits go on sale in the "Purple Zone 2" on September 17th. In Zone 3, you can get up to five doe permits. In Zones one and two, you may get "two." Check out the MDNR's Antlerless Deer Hunting Guide for particulars.

Well the day has got away today and it's 3:00 pm already, so I had better get off the net and let the computer cool off.

The parting shot of the day today comes from Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She has said that, "People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." Take care and make sure you make time to enjoy your day.

September 6, 2008

I'm back on the blog after few days. I have been working for two days to finish the Elizabeth Park, Detroit River BFL article. It takes longer than one might expect to research the links and then physically put the html together so the page looks decent. I think the article came together well, and I had some pictures that turned fit in and added to it. It's up on the Home Page under the BFL button, Detroit River.

I'm listening and watching with one eye, to the Tommy Sanders, Mark Zona B.A.S.S. show that's on ESPN2 every Saturday morning. They're airing the Tennessee Triumph from Old Hickory Lake, Henderson Tennessee. It turned out to be Kevin Wirth's turn to win one, but 61 year old Rick Clunn was knocking at the door. He's been in the top ten several times this past season. He's my hero, and at age 61, he's still out there competing and giving fits to the young guns.

Clunn had an article on Bass Fan that I read last night where he talks about the decision by B.A.S.S. to do away with coanglers. Rick says that he has that perspective that age and experience gives one that's long in the tooth and disagrees with the majority of the Pros feeling that they shouldn't have gotten rid of the coanglers. He makes some good points, and if you read the article, it certainly does give you a different perspective.

KVD has been doing a series of short articles after his AOY win put him smack dab in the spotlight once again. I've put in a link to his first two articles, and here is the KVD and the Competitive Edge, Part 3 article.

Speaking of the Kalamazoo Kid, when Don and I were down to D & R Sports just recently, we spent some time talking with RVD and JVD (Kevin's brother Randy and nephew, Jonathon) . They talked to us about Kevin's recent trip to Grand Traverse Bay to film a TV show. Jonathon said that as he was waiting for Kevin to complete some filming, he was floating nearby and drifted off into some 90 ft. deep water. He noticed some fish on the bottom and decided to feed them his drop shot rig. Lo and behold, he had a flurry of activity landing several whitefish and lake trout. He said he had a ball.

Fishing the BFLs over on St. Clair and Erie have given me more of an opportunity to expand my drop shotting skills, and if you haven't given this technique a try you should. I know I have alluded to Seth Burrill's drop shotting instructional video , but it is without a doubt, what you need to buy if you're looking to learn the technique or to refine it. You will learn something from this two DVD set, I promise you.

Dandy Don is fishing a Fishers of Men tournament today over on the Detroit River today. I know he'll be using a drop shot along with a tube and some other soft plastics and most assuredly, some crankbaits. We both have made some purchases at D& R Sports recently and have in our tackle boxes some of the hottest crankbaits going, Kopper Live Target cranks. You may want to give them a look. They sure are pretty, and what's even better is that they are catching fish. I'll definitely be talking with Don tonight to see how he and D. Brown did over on the sunrise side of the state.

I'm going to end the blog here today because I still have to work on the Hamlin Lake article and get that up hopefully this weekend. My weekend is a tad bit busy. One of my weekend agenda items is a trip to Grand Valley State University's football field to take in the season opener tonight at 7:00 pm. GVSU has a good football program and they are a fun team to watch. Their offensive scheme makes for some wide open football.

The parting shot today comes from "The Man" himself KVD. He ended the article I linked above with this thought, "There is no such thing as bad luck and no such thing as a slump; every cast is a new opportunity." Not a bad thing thing to keep in mind on the water, and actually, it can provide direction to your day to day activities as well. Take care and make sure you take some time out of you work day to do something your really enjoy, even if its just for a few minutes.

September 2, 2008

Another week off with no blog entry. This shouldn't be happening too many more times unless the fishing gets hot. As you can see I broke the blog entries for the month and have started September's entries. All the preceding months are archived above.

I left last Wednesday to head down with Don to prefish for the Elizabeth Park Michigan Division BFL. Don had to stop first at D&R Sports to take back his Motorguide that he just bought. They didn't have one to replace it , but Don had left his old trolling motor there when he bought the new one to have them fix it for a spare. So, they put the repaired motor on, but once on, they tested it only to find it would only produce half the power it should have.

After that disappointing news we decided to go get lunch as they figured out what they needed to do to get Don going. He was a tad bit frustrated and needed a sandwich and a sundae to calm his nerves. Things just weren't working out and this was the third half day we had spent there.

Miles, D&R's Service Manager was doing all he could, but the motors just weren't working as they should have.

When we got back from lunch they had reinstalled the new motor after taking it apart and making some minor adjustments. The hot caramel and butter pecan sundae did its work and with calmed nerves Don and I were back on the road by about 2:30, heading to the Woodhaven, MI Best Western. We got to the motel at about 5:30ish and checked in. Don wanted to go check out some spots close to Elizabeth Park, so we took off and fished until dark. We caught a number of smallies, but only one in the 4 lb. class.

We got back to the motel and went to their restaurant only to find that the kitchen was already closed. No dinner for us. We hit the sheets and planned an early morning wake up to head out to really give the area a once over.

The morning dawned cloudy and a bit foggy. We put in at Elizabeth Park and headed upriver toward St. Clair. We stopped along the way and fished a river flat. I had brought a baitcaster that had a buzzbait tied on already, and I was going to take it off and put on a spinnerbait, but thought maybe I'd throw the buzz some. Second cast it sounded like someone threw in a bowling ball as a big ole largemouth clobbered the bait. Here's a picture of the 4 pounder.

Detroit River Buzz Bait Largemouth

We didn't stay in the river long and headed out to fish some of Don's hopeful Lake St. Clair spots.

Elizabeth Park is at the south end of the Detroit River and you can see Lake Erie once you leave the dock and go under the bridge. Going north, the river is about 30 miles long and takes you to Lake St. Clair. You pass under the Ambassador Bridge and travel past Joe Lewis Arena and all the buildings of downtown Detroit and Windsor. Here are a few pictures of downtown which is at the north end of the river near the mouth of the Lake St. Clair.

Approaching the Ambassador Bridge

Downtown Detroit from the Detroit River

Windsor from the Detroit River

We ran the length of the river and then out about 12 miles to some spots Don had GPSed. We fished drop shots and tubes. Occasionally, we threw some body baits and some senkos. We caught a number of fish with an occasional nice one mixed in with some 2 lbders. Here's a shot of my big one for the day.

My Biggest Prefish Smallie 5+lbder.

We caught a bunch of fish along with some redeyes, big perch, pike, and Don caught this small muskie.

Don's Little Smallmouth Eating Muskie

We fished all day till dark and headed back to the motel, and this time we weren't depending on their grill staying open so we stopped at KFC.

I'm going to leave the rest of the BFL weekend for the BFL article. Sufficed to say we left Detroit about 8:30 pm Saturday and drove back to Grand Rapids to get my truck and then headed north for the cabin because we had our last Tear Drop Tournament at Hamlin Lake to fish in the morning.

Again, I'm not going to get in to that season ending tournament because I have to write up that article and all the details will be there for your perusal. I will give you a preview picture though.

Tear Drop Director Dennis Cook

Down in Detroit this past weekend we got to inspect the new 09 Minn Kota. What a beautiful looking trolling motor. Machined aluminum, with a new mount that allows quick and easy exchanges if you need to use your back up motor. If you are in the market for a new trolling motor make sure you wait to look at these 2009s. They're not out yet and even D&R said that they probably wouldn't get one until after the first of the year.

Another interesting thing we ran in to was a new crankbait series by Koppers . Their baits are very realistic looking and seem to be a hot new bait on the market. I already have mine on the way.

Well, that's it for today. I've been gone and have a lot to do here at the home front. I just received two Loomis rods that I ordered with Loomis' Expeditor service. If you have a broken rod, you call them and make sure they have it in stock, and then they bill your credit card $50. They then send out the rods right away. Within two to three days you get the replacements, and when you do, you simply put the damaged rods in the tube and send them back with their prepaid label. So, I'm off to Fed Ex to mail the old rods in.

The parting shot today comes from Thomas D. Murray. He said, "When the plumbers want to be philosophers, forcing the philosophers to do their own plumbing, we will arrive at a place wherein neither the plumbing nor the philosophy holds water." Take care and make sure you reserve some time out of your work day to do something you enjoy like going fishing or the next best thing buying some fishing lures like those Kopper crankbaits.