Dan's Bloggin, Bass Fishing Info. Page

Email Me With Your News or Comments

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

Archived Blog Entries May 31 - June 30, 2007

Archived Blog Entries July 1 - July 31, 2007

Archived Blog Entries August 1 - August 31, 2007

September 29, 2007

"Thirty days has September, ..... only one more day and I break the blog for the new month. Four months in the bag already. My how time flies. Believe me I know how fast the years go by. I quit looking in the mirror even to shave, because I don't recognize the person I see there.

Just spent an hour or two working on the Classic article. Should be done this weekend. It takes me longer than you would think to write a couple of pages and format it. It was a kind of painful article to write as well.

Here's a teaser picture from the Classic. It's a picture of the Traverse City team of Brian Macdonell and Wes Herndon.

Someone smell Bacon? Some real pigs here!

Cruised the net and didn't find anything too exciting. Just the FLW reminder that FSN will be televising the second half of their Forest Wood Cup program. I plan on watching.

I also plan on going to the GVSU football game today. They play Wayne State at the Whitecaps Fifth Third Ball Park. It's a sell out crowd and should be a good game. Going with John Baker a friend of mine that I hunt and fish with. John is a member of the West Michigan Walleye Club . I went to a meeting with him a couple weeks ago. They have between 60 and a 100 people show up for their meetings! Got to be one of the biggest fishing clubs in the state. A lot of good information exchanged at the meeting.

Was scrolling through some of my saved sites, favorites, and spotted the Western Bass Videos site. They have a ton of info in video form right here on the net for you. The link above takes you to one they have on senko fishing. Senkos have got to be one of the top go to baits that almost everyone uses nowadays.

Haven't heard from Don yet about the "Fishing with the Pros" event that he is helping with as we speak. Looks like they have some very nice weather for the event. If you're interested in it the link is in yesterday's blog.

I need to get going, so here is the parting shot for the day that I modified a bit because it's from a fly fishing guy. "More than half the intense enjoyment of bass fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings that Michigan's Great Northwest Corner has to offer. There's the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease of life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant reflections of all one has seen, heard and done. A modified quote from Charles F. Orvis.

Enjoy the weekend!

September 28, 2007

Good morning! Got a phone call this morning from my good buddy Rick Skinner. He was inquiring about the Hawg Hunt that they hold up on Duck and Green Lake in Interlochen. Mentioned it yesterday, and according to Tear Drop anglers Chris Mieras and Harry Swank, it will be held this year on October 14th. Starts on Green at 7:00 am and then moves over to Duck in the afternoon. I believe it's a $100 per boat. If I'm not mistaken it's put on by some of the guys in the Cherry Capitol club up in the Traverse City area. Don and I are planning on returning. We got a little of their money last year. There's a picture in the opening slide show of our fan from winning last year's Hawg. Here are some pics from last year's event.

Don Was On Fire That Day

ZZ Top, Tony DeFilippo, Brian Wilson, Matt Kaiser, Were All There

The Tally Board - Winner Takes All

I worked on the Classic article last night and have it about half way done. I was hoping yet to get Josh's mom's pictures she took from Green Lake. I called and left her a message and hopefully when she gets home from work, she's the County Clerk in Lake County, she'll send them out to me.

Not a whole lot happening right now on the B.A.S.S. or FLW pages. There is a reminder on the FLW site about FSN televising the final day of the Forest Wood Cup this coming Sunday. That was the $2,000,000 tournament that Scott Suggs won the $1,000,000 first prize. I missed the first half, week one show, because I was fishing. Wish I had TVO so I could record these things. Here is the FSN Schedule . I know my cable has it on at 11:00 am on Sunday mornings.

Speaking of Sunday mornings here is a pretty good golfing nun joke. "A nun walks into her Mother Superior's office and plunks down into a chair. She lets out a heavy sigh of frustration. "What is troubling you, Sister?" asks the Mother Superior. "I thought this was the day you spent with your family." "It was," sighed the Sister. "And I went to play golf with my brother. We try to play golf as often as we can. You know I was quite a talented golfer before I devoted my life to Christ." "I seem to recall that, "the Mother Superior agreed. "So I take it your day of recreation was not relaxing?" "Far from it, "snorted the Sister. "In fact, I even took the Lord's name in vain today!" "Goodness, Sister!" gasped the Mother Superior, astonished. "You must tell me all about it!" "Well, we were on the fifth tee... and this hole is a monster, Mother - 520 yard par 5, with a nasty dogleg left and a hidden green....and I hit the drive of my life. I creamed it! The sweetest swing I ever made. And it's flying straight and true, right along the line I wanted.... and it hits a bird in mid-flight not 100 yards off the tee!" "Oh my!" said the Mother. " How unfortunate! But, surely that didn't make you blaspheme, Sister! "No, that wasn't it," admitted Sister. "While I was still trying to figure out what happened, this squirrel runs out of the woods, grabs my ball and runs off down the fairway!" "Oh, that would have made me blaspheme!" sympathized Mother Superior. "But I didn't, Mother! sobbed the Sister. "And I was so proud of myself! And while I was pondering whether this was a sign from God, this hawk swoops out of the sky and grabs the squirrel and flies off, with my ball still clutched in his paws!" So that's when you cursed," said the Mother with a knowing smile. "Nope, that wasn't it either," cried the Sister, anguished, "because as the hawk started to fly out of sight, the squirrel started struggling, and the ball popped out of his paws and rolled to about 18 inches from the cup!" Mother Superior sat back n her chair, folded her arms across her chest, fixed the Sister with a baleful stare and said..."You missed the damn putt, didn't you?"

Have a good day!

September 27, 2007

Well, after doing some problem solving I finally got the pictures I took from up north in a format that I can deal with. I still have to try and get the pictures that Josh Meyers, mom, Shelly took up at Green. As I said, I borrowed my son's camera and when I went to use it at the weigh in I found that the new camera had a small memory card and would only hold a hand full of pictures. Here's a picture of the smallie I caught on Long Lake Friday. Again, the picture does not do the fish justice. I caught a 5-3 on Green Saturday and this Long Lake fish was broader and fatter.

What Pigs Look Like In MI's Great NW Corner

I also thought that I would try and take a panoramic shot of what the colors were doing up North for those that might be planning a color tour, or at least using that as an excuse to travel north to do some fishing. Here's a shot from the "Scenic Overlook" just south of Cadillac.

Color Tour Update as of September 25th

Talked to Dandy Don yesterday and he was planning on prefishing today in the Traverse City area in the Fishing With The Pros charity event that they have up there every year. It costs $1250 per person which includes three nights of Lodging at the Great Wolf Lodge, all meals, and two days on the water with one of the pros they have. Don fished it last year along with Tony DeFilippo from Lake Ann. Tony has fished the Tear Drop and the last couple of years he has been fishing the FLW Tour. Hopefully, I can get Don to take some pictures, so we can have some reports, first hand, from the event.

While I was up north having coffee at the Na-Tah-Ka and they had the satellite TV on and low and behold there was Seth Burrill from Ax Fishing . Remember, Seth is the one that has the drop shot video that you need to buy. It only costs $20, and it is a two DVD set. It seems lately if you're not drop shotting, you're not fishing. His tips and "secrets" that he includes in the video are worth every penny. In any case, it was great to catch his show. It was on the Sportsman's Channel.

The parting shot comes from Grenville Kleiser, "There ae fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is surely yours is the present, hence this is the the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others. Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of someone less fortunate. Today you can make your life - significant and worthwhile. The present is yours to do with as you will."

September 26, 2007

Good Morning! I'm kind of sputtering and spitting this morning because I left the power supply for my son's camera in the camper. First I leave the download cord at home and can't upload the pictures, now I leave the power supply that the download cord here at home plugs into in the camper. I can't win for losing, and no pictures until I can go back up north. I might be able to get my brother-in-law to stop by the cabin and get it for me when he goes up to his place to pat hunt. By the way, he's been flushing quite a few birds and beginning to see woodcock coming through. Looks like a good year for pats.

Got some info on the Duck and Green Lake Hawg Hunt. Each year some of the Traverse City guys have a "Hawg Hunt." They fish each lake for four hours and each team of anglers weighs one fish off each lake. The biggest two fish sack takes all the money. Last year Don and I won the event and split $1200. This year they will be starting on Green Lake from 7-11 and then move over to Duck for the last half. I don't have any contact information and I'm just relaying the information from Chris Mieras and Harry Swank who fished the Classic and were the Tear Drop Anglers of the Year.

Talked to Cy Ruel yesterday, and he's going over to the Lake Ovid Great Lakes Bass DK Open Saturday. If you haven't been to the GLB forum page, you need to check it out. Lots of good conversation and a forum type page that's as good as they get.

I fished the Spring DK Open with the GLB guys and gals, but have already made plans to go to the GVSU football GVSU football game. However, when I called for tickets to the game, all they have are lawn seating, which is standing room, for $15. May have to rethink that plan.

Cy was telling me also about Bass Zone , a website that keeps you up to date as to what's happening in the fishing world. Went there looking for some Toho information. I may go down for the Nationals. I have never been fishing in Florida, nor have Don Fowler, my buddy, who will be representing Michigan will be heading down for the November 6 and 7th prefishing days. From this moment on he can't receive any info from anyone except for public information. He didn't say, but I assume that the internet would be as public as you can get. The Bass Zone site had a wide variety of information including some video interviews and reports. Looks like I'm going to have to add it to the list of sites that I check every day.

Just had an idea about pictures. I can take the memory card up to the local Rite Aid and have them put them on a CD. I can then transfer them to my computer and not have to wait to get them. Should have some pictures up tomorrow or maybe even later this afternoon.

So, I have things to do and people to see. The parting shot comes from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland: There is no use trying, said Alice; one can't believe impossible things. I dare say you haven't had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Always be a dreamer, because who knows, maybe someday we can break the four minute mile. In any case, it always seemed impossible.

September 24, 2007

Back healthy after a viral duke out and best of all I'm back fishing! Spent three days up at Interlochen. Had a great time! The Track'n Trail Tear Drop Tournament Series, had its $5,000 two day Classic up on Duck and Green in Interlochen.

We got up on Thursday and picked out a camp site in the State Park there. We chose site number 49 which is just off the lake and at the back of the campground. It's a large site with no one behind you. It cost $19 a night with a 30 amp electrical hookup. If you're driving one of those rock band busses and need 50 amp service they have it for a little more each night.

After setting up camp, which isn't much work with the pickup camper, we had dinner, built a campfire and enjoyed the evening. We got up Friday, hooked the boat up and headed north to Gramma's Kitchen for breakfast. It is a great breakfast spot with good food reasonably priced.

Next, we headed north again toward Long Lake. I had had trim motor repair and trolling motor work done so I wanted to be sure I was back up and ready to run for the upcoming tournament.

I managed to just miss the West Long Lake Rd. sign, and with the boat on the back, there weren't any easy turn arounds, so I decided to just head on in to Traverse City. We needed to pick up some things there.

In Traverse, we stopped for food and went in to MC Sports . Don needed me to pick up a Lake Leelanau map, and I wanted to touch base with Dick Wilson, the store manager there. I fished the Tear Drop Host Tournament with Dick.

The MC store in Traverse, has a great tackle and sporting goods section. They have a huge power bait selection. I chatted with Dick a while and then we went to gas up and headed back to Long. This time I was ready for the turn, and we found the ramp.

The ramp is a poor one for such a large lake. It's a small lot, and you have to back across a busy two lane road to dump your boat in.

My wife, who has only ridden in the boat twice, went with me. I had assured her it was only going to be a short test run. I dropped the trolling motor and proceeded down the shore throwing a spinnerbait. I didn't go but a hundred yards and I hit a fish. Didn't think it was a very good one until it got near us, and it decided it might not want to see the insides of my boat. My wife was on the phone, so I dug out my net with one hand hoping that the fish would stay buttoned up. It was really pulling hard and when it dove under the boat I got a good enough look at it. It was most certainly the biggest smallie of the year for me. I handed the net to my wife who, gave me a questioning look, but I encouraged her to scooped it up. It was a pig! Of course, I had forgotten to get a new nine volt for my scale and couldn't weigh it, but it would have pushed six pounds real hard! The picture the wife took of me and the fish doesn't do it justice. (She took 4 pictures she thought, but didn't push the button in all the way. When I looked at the camera there was only one there.) It was one of those famous northern Michigan footballs. Very broad across the back and almost as fat as I am.

We continued on down the shoreline and watched an eagle swoop down and try to pick off a duck on the water. The duck sensed its presence and dove under water. The eagle hovered and tried several times to grab the duck when it surfaced. It even went into the water up to its wings. Never witnessed any thing like that before. Pretty cool.

I ended up fishing for about an hour and caught another nice largemouth and a good size pike.

The boat ran fine and so we loaded it up and went back to Interlochen.

Ron, my fishing partner, got up to the campground Friday around 5:00 pm and we went for a bite to eat. We transferred his gear and talked a little strategy and went to bed early. The wind was howling and rain was forecasted. Not what I wanted to hear the night before the tournament.

We got up Saturday and drove over to the west side of Green to the public launch there. The rest of the guys were pulling in and we wandered around in the dark meeting and greeting. We put our money in for the big bass pot and a critter pot that they decided to have. No entry fee because this was the Classic.

With only 12 boats there was a shotgun start , and we headed north up the lake. For some reason, I got a little turned around in the excitement and early morning darkness and pulled in one bay shorter than I wanted to. Several boats stopped at the same spot, and we all started throwing topwater. Wes Herndon and Brian McDonnell caught one right away, and we caught a couple of shorts as well. The fish seemed very active. We topwatered for a bit and then headed down to where I originally wanted to start. We fished there a while with no luck. We then went around the big point and back south to a weed bed that Ron liked. He stuck a big smallie right away, and we had the skunk out of the boat with a nice kicker fish well over four pounds. Then the lights went out and the fish quit biting. We went several hours without a fish.

I have fished Duck and Green for years and have caught fish almost everywhere so we made our rounds to the favorite spots. We ended up on a flat where I caught another big smallie that eventually was big bass at 5-3 lbs. We caught fish but struggled to get the fifth keeper. We didn't get it until the final 15 minutes of the day. We ended the day in third with almost 16 lbs. Dennis "Cookie Man" Cook fished by himself and was the day one leader with over 17 lbs. Rickie Skinner also fished by himself and had around 15 lbs. There were, as always on Green, some nice fished weighed in. Dennis had a big largemouth that looked like it would be big bass, but fortunately for us it wasn't and we collected the $120 big bass pot.

I won't get in to the whole story on the Classic and will hold the rest of the Day 2 information for the Classic article which should be up in a day or two.

I have misplaced my digital camera and had to borrow my son's. I forgot to bring the cable to off load the pictures so I couldn't post any here.

The parting shot for today comes from a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success." Have a great day!

September 20, 2007

I finally made it up to the cabin, and hopefully we can get all the chores done around here and get the camper on the truck so we can head up to Interlochen this afternoon.

For those of you who have never been up to Interlochen, you're missing a good trip. The state park there is one of Michigan's nicest. You have some good eats nearby in the Hofbrau and Boone's Long Lake Inn . There is also all the possibilities that Traverse City has to offer: MC Sports, Gander Mountain, casinos, movies, shopping, restaurants, golf, etc. Traverse is only about a 20 minute drive. There are also a bunch of great fishing lakes around to keep you busy besides Duck and Green. There's Long Lake, Lake Ann, Spider Lake,Crystal, both Bays, Lake Leelanau, just to name a few. These are great bodies of water that hold trophy smallmouth.

Here are some links for a map of Duck and Green . I purposely used two different map sites so you can see a couple, and if you prefer one over the other, you have them. Interlochen, is in Grand Traverse County, which is information that saves you time when looking up a map.

I talked to Don, Mr. Northern Divisional, wire to wire, winner yesterday and he said there is a rumor that the Nationals will be in South Carolina. I was hoping for Alabama. Don is looking to prefish Leelanau for the Bass Anglers United tournament for a boat. We may head up there Monday after the Classic to fish a day. I don't know when his off limits is though.

The leaves are beginning to change around the lake. Lots of acorns are on the ground. A good mast crops always bodes well for the deer. I have never seen as many deer up around the cabin, as I have this year. Probably the most in 20 years! I need to get the bow out and start shooting 20 arrows a day. October 1 is coming fast. With the bow sights they have nowadays, once you get them zeroed in, it doesn't take long to get back to a tight group.

Well, I am anxious to get going this morning so I will make this entry a short one. I did do a little surfing and Bass Fan has a continuation piece on what worked for the 4th and 5th place finishers in the Toho event.

I also have a parting shot that's not a quote and not really that funny of a joke, but it does remind me of some guys that always come in to the weigh in thinking they have a killer bag of fish. Here it is. "A small town Doctor was famous in the area for always catching large fish. One day while on one of his frequent fishing trips he got a call that a woman at a neighboring farm was giving birth. He rushed to her aid and delivered a healthy baby boy. The farmer had nothing to weigh the baby with so the Doctor used his fishing scales. The baby weighed in at 22 lbs. 10 oz." Have a great day!

September 19, 2007

I had a chance to talk to the Vawter Boys yesterday. Talk about great young men, these guys are class acts. Brent was up on Duck and Green in a tournament this past weekend and despite some lower unit problems they did quite well.

Great Northwest Corner Largemouth

Brent with Another Great Northwest Corner Fish

Brent's brother has a bear permit and his hunt starts this week through next Monday or Tuesday. They've been seeing some tracks and hope to lure one in close. I hope this hot weather doesn't confound things for them. They take a lot of pictures, and they said they would share them if they're successful.

Talked to Lee from Ken's Auto Parts in Muskegon. Lee and his girlfriend Heidi, cleaned everyone's clock up on Cadillac and Mitchell in the Tear Drop this year. Lee also fishes with a guy named E.B., and the two of them have done very well together up north here and on the Canadian Circuit. E.B. has moved to Texas and they are now fishing the Skeeter Bass Champ Trail down in the Lone Star State. Lee has to fly down, but he doesn't seem to mind. He was telling me in one tournament, on Lake Fork, that on his first cast he caught a 9 pounder and ended up with almost 30 pounds, and came in 26th?! Their 9 pounder wasn't even one of the top two bass! Took 42 pounds to win it!

I have mentioned a number of weeks ago about the McDonalds' Big Bass Splash events that are held down in Texas and in several other Southern states now. In these events, you weigh fish every hour for cash and prizes. Big Bass of the tournament wins a H2 Hummer and a fully rigged Triton bass boat. One of these events just concluded, and Lee said E.B. competed in it. ESPN did an article on it. Steve Ovilla caught a 10.62 lb. largemouth to win the whole thing. The beauty of these tournaments though, is that they pay out every hour to about 12 places and give away multiple boats and other prizes. I sure would like to put the Lake Fork event on the schedule and get a bunch of us northerners to drive down for it. It's a three day party with a big pay out.

By the way, I have ordered car parts from Ken's Auto Parts before and they are a top notch organization that can find you whatever you need. My partner Ron spends some time at Northern Auto Body in the winter and they get many of their parts from Ken's. If you need some automotive parts be sure to give them a holler.

Another Bass Fan article is out this morning detailing the winning patterns from Bill Smith Jr. and Brent Chapman in the Lake Toho Elite Series event that just concluded. It's a quick read and one that guys like Dennis Cook, our Tear Drop Director, who is going down to Toho this winter needs to read.

Hate to beat a dead horse, but I'm telling you, you want to get this DVD set on drop shotting. When that technique wins tournaments on Erie to Toho it better be one that, north or south, you need to have in your repertoire if you're going to be a serious contender.

Hopefully, I can be packed and on the way up north tonight or tomorrow morning. Need to look at a used car for my son this evening and then we plan on heading up. If I'm lucky, I might find some kind of internet connection to post some blog info on while I'm up there. Well, have a great day!

Here's a parting shot from Grenville Kleiser, and with a name like that I can see why his quote has to do with being funny, "Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment."

September 18, 2007

I thought today I would go through the steps you need to get hooked up to free podcasts. People still are at all kinds of stages when it comes to technology. I really enjoy listening to podcasts when I walk or when I'm in the car. You don't need to have an MP3 player or iPod to get them. If you are online reading this then you have what you need.

First of all go to apple.com. Click on the box at the top of the page that says "iPod + iTunes." Next in the right hand side of the page it will say iTunes 7, Download Now. (If you already have iTunes you can skip this step.) The iTunes download is FREE. Once you click on the "Download Now" it takes you to a screen and on the left side you have to choose the type of system you want. I'm a Mac person, and if you own a Mac, then just click on that choice and follow the directions. If you own a PC then you have to scroll down to the bottom where it says iTunes for Windows and click on it, and , again just follow the download instructions.

Once you have the iTunes screen, go to the left menu bar and click on iTunes store, if you are not already there. Once your at the iTunes store look near the upper left and there is a box called "iTunes STORE" and under it there is the Podcast choice. Click on it. The window doesn't look like it changes, but you should see some references to Podcasts. In the box marked "CATEGORIES" on that screen, select "Sports and Recreation." Once there, go to the box on the left margin that has the title, "More Sports and Recreation and select "Outdoor."

Now your in a section that has a variety of "FREE" outdoor podcasts that you can subscribe to. For the bass fishing podcasts go up to the very top right hand corner to where it says "Search iTunes Store." Type in "Bass Fish" and hit return. (Make sure when you hit return that there is a blue circle around that oval selection box. If there isn't just click on it with you mouse.)

You should now be looking at a screen that has a list of things related to "Bass Fish, ." You should see Bass Edge, Bass Feed, Bass Champ Journal, and Black Water Bassin', among other things. I have listened to all of these, and the first three cover a more general and are very good. Black Water Bassin' is good, but is much more specific in its coverage of bass fishing. Just click on the subscribe button for whatever program you want. You may be offered to select those shows already available. If so, just click on them. Once you subscribe each new show will be sent to you automatically.

Now, if you want to listen to the shows on the computer just click on them. If you want to put them on a CD, follow these steps.

In iTunes, go up to the "File" pull down menu and select, "New Playlist." It will pop up in the left margin under "Playlist" as an "untitled playlist." You can click on that and type in the name of whatever it is you may now want to call it. I used Bass Fishing Podcast. You should still see, in the main window, the list of podcasts you have subscribed to. If not, go under library and hit "Podcasts." Now click and drag the show you want to your new playlist, whatever you named it. You can put about an hour on each CD. Click on your playlist and check to see that the program is there. At the bottom of that window, it tells you the number of items and the total time. The program I selected was 49 minutes long so it would not hold another show. To the right, in the bottom right corner there is a button that is called "Burn disc." If you have a CD in your computer drive, just click the button and it will burn the disc. Once it's done, takes about two minutes, you'll here a little twinkling tune telling you it's finished. Just pop it out and you're ready to play it in your car on your CD player.

If you have an iPod, I bought an FM transmitter for my truck. It charges your iPod on the road and also docks with your iPod and plays whatever is on your iPod over your cars radio. This FM transmitter works well away from big cities. If you use it in town, there tends to be some static you need to contend with because of FM interference. You should now be good to go, but if you have any questions or problems email me. The bass podcasts are really good and you should give them a try. Remember all the podcasts are free and there are many topics to choose from besides fishing.

Not much happening on the tours today. There is a new article on Bass Fan talking about Matsubu's winning strategy on Lake Toho. Pretty good article.

I have been looking for a used vehicle for my son, and so I have to get going today to make an offer on one. Hopefully, tomorrow or Thursday I can get up to Interlochen and start preparing for the Tear Drop Classic this weekend.

Here's a parting shot from Shaquille O'Neal - "I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, and wear Reebok." Now right there, that's funny! Have a good day!

September 17, 2007

Good morning! Was reading about the B.A.S.S. Elite Series win yesterday on the Kissimmee Chain, Lake Toho. Ben Matsubu won going away by a 14 lb. margin. He weighed 25-5 lbs. the last day, more than those who made the Top 50 cut in two days. For the tournament, he weighed 66-8 lbs.

Ben was dubbed the "Nice Guy" who might finish last because of two gracious moves on his part. First of all his buddy, Takahiro Omori, needed to catch some good fish to make the Classic cut and Ben shared his best spot with him. On the second day, he drew Mary Delgado, Bryan Velvick of "The Bachelor" program's wife or girlfriend (can't remember for sure) and she wasn't catching much so he tied on one of his crankbaits for her and she caught 14 1/2 lbs., twice his weight for the day dropping him from 3rd to 7th going in to Day 3. (Also prior to that Harry Potts, the winning coangler also fished with Ben and clinched his coangler win.) Those moves could have cost Ben $100,000, but maybe Karma does factor in and doing nice things does pay off.

Matsubu made some TV history, they say, by catching his kicker fish a twenty-six inch 8 lb. 13 oz. largemouth on film. They played the catch on the streaming video yesterday and he, as you could probably guess, was quite animated as he fought the fish for over three minutes to the boat. Locals say the fish probably would have went 13 lbs. if it had been caught in the Spring.

Bass Fan Picture of Matsubu on His Winning Spot

Ben caught his fish out in open water off an area where there were large mats. He was out on a weedy little point just off a shell bed. He credits his purchase of a Humminbird side imaging unit for helping him find his spot. He's not sponsored by Humminbird, but bought the unit at a Bass Pro Shop to use down on Toho.

Ben threw a Lucky Craft florescent R.C. 1.5 crankbait and a carolina rigged junebug worm, he bought locally, to catch his fish. The crankbait worked when the fish were cruising above the grass, but he would have to go to the carolina rig when the fish hunkered down. Here's the article from Bass Fan if you want to read the whole thing.

Bill Smith Jr., the guy that lost a fish while bagging them at the dock on Day 3, finished second and took home $31,000. It was kind of good news bad news for Bill all week. His finish tied him for 84th place, the last of the requalifying spots for next year's Elite Series, but he lost the tie breaker. This means he will have to requalify next year to fish the Elites. He did say, before the tournament, that he was going to take next year off and spend more time with his young family. He also has a tackle shop that he said he needed to spend more time at.

Here's the list of Angler of the Year races in both the FLW and the B.A.S.S. circuits.

I have been interested in getting some of the new Berkley Gulp leeches. I have called and looked around the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo area and there doesn't seem to be any. Jann's Netcraft has them online. They also have some kits for shakey heads and drop shotting that look interesting.

If you have been following the Toho Tournament you read how many of the pros were drop shotting for those largemouth on the Kissimmee Chain. I have mentioned this a number of times, and, I will again because it is the best drop shotting instructional DVD set you are going to find. Seth Burrill has a two DVD set for about $20 that is something you should really consider purchasing. Scroll down on his main page and you will see the DVD set. While you're there be sure to check out his demo for a "Rapalla Knot." You will see how well he explains his knots and techniques.

Here's a parting shot from Winston Churchill that really applies to fishing. "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." I remember back when Skeet Reese was hanging his head because he just couldn't break through with a win. Well, after working hard and sticking to it, he's now the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year. As another great angler says, "Never give up!"

September 16, 2007

I'm ALIVE! About darn time! I'm beginning to send this virus packing. I haven't had to pump in any tylenol at all today, knock on wood, so far anyway.

Go Lakers! Back to Back National Champions!

Went to the Grand Valley game last night with John. While we were waiting in line to buy tickets a guy name John, who pastors out at GVSU, gave us some extra tickets he had. Good seats and at the right price, free.

Findlay, Ohio started out running all over the Lakers and I thought at first that I was going to jinx their 30 game win streak. GVSU stopped them inside the five yard line and Findlay kicked a field goal. From that point on, however, it was all Grand Valley. By the end of the third quarter, it was 35 to 3 and GVSU was substituting. Findlay scored on their subs, but it was another fairly easy win for the Lakers.

They are a fun team to watch! Wide open football with all kinds of action. The Lakers are in the midst of the fourth longest winning streak in Div. II. They have won their last 87 out of 92 games and haven't lost since November 27, 2004. Like most things, that you might want to see some video on, "You Tube" seems to have it. A pretty good up tempo piece you'll have to check out at this GVSU video link.

Called Don today, and he was recuperating from several days of fishing up on Charlevoix in the C.A.T.T. Series Northern Classic. They fished the second day and caught a couple fish, but knew going in they would have to catch them big to have a chance at the boat. Don gave the drop shot a work out, but found that a tube actually was the bait of choice. The had about 9 inches or so of grass on the bottom and it seemed the drop shot would have been perfect for that. The fish, however, didn't agree. They appeared to be wanting a tube popping out of that grass.

A place you wouldn't really associate with the drop shot rig, Lake Toho and the rest of the Kissimmee Chain, seems to be giving up fish to that technique to the 12 pros fishing the last day of that event.

When you think of fishing that grass and flats of large mats, you envision the guys out there with heavy flippin sticks and 65 pound braid. According to what the pros are saying though, most of the fish are coming on finesse rigs and lipless or shallow running crankbaits. There have been fish pulled out of the mats, but it hasn't been the most consistent pattern. This article from ESPN asked the remaining pros what they plan to use on their final day to try for that big win.

Bill Smith Jr. who led after Day 1 almost didn't make that final 12 cut. When he was getting his fish out yesterday, a two pounder slipped out of his hand and flipped out of the boat! To add insult to injury he was almost DQed after he made a cell phone call on the water to his wife. The B.A.S.S. rules say no cell phone calls except for an emergency. B.A.S.S. felt the call did not give him a fishing advantage and fined him $500 for the infraction. If he would have called a B.A.S.S. official first, he would have been okay. He had called his wife to let her know he was coming in early. They have a baby that he didn't want to have out in the sun any longer than need be. It has been in the 90s down there.

They are having a longer live stream today. At 3:00 they will have a special Angler of the Year show and following that they will stream the final weigh in.

I was able to watch most of the weigh in yesterday and got to see Skeet get his AOY award. Man, he was really emotional. It was obviously a big day for him. He was going to be hosting a party last night and I bet it was a ticket a lot of people wanted to have.

Next Sunday on Fox, the Forest Wood Open where Scott Suggs won $1,000,000, will be on. I know on my cable it's Channel 48 and begins at 11:00 am Sunday. I'll be up on Duck Lake for Day Two of the Tear Drop Classic.

Speaking of Duck, Don was saying that some guys who were fishing the CATT, left after Day 1 and went to fun fish Duck. One of the guys called Don and wanted to know if he was ready for some breakfast bacon because he had a hog in his livewell. Supposedly the guy had a 6+ pounder in his livewell, and unfortunately he was taking it home to mount. I have mounted fish before, but never again. I'll be taking measurements and pictures and getting a fiberglass reproduction done. They look just as good and last much longer. Gotta let those big females go!

What's the chances of the Lions winning again today. They're on at 3:30 pm. I'm watching the Colts and Tennessee right now. Good game.

Well take care the live stream is starting right now. Gotta go. Have a great day!

September 15, 2007

Move over Mr. Big Time, the weekend has arrived! Can't dance too much today because this dang cold, flu, crud, whatever, is still clamp down on me. Caused me to cancel my prefishing plans up on Interlochen. However, I am finally feeling like I am on the offensive and starting to climb out of the viral basement.

The weather for Interlochen looked too darn cold to throw my recovering body into. Besides the weather for next week is suppose to be in the 80s again and the fish would be all screwed around any way. I plan now to just go up to the Classic early and fish Long Lake, down the road from Duck and Green, and see what the fish are doing there.

Talked to Fowler. and their CATT tournament is not going well for them. The weather was extreme with wind, rain, and cold temperatures up in Charlevoix. He said a couple of teams though manage 18 pounds, but he also said more than half of the field blanked. I know from first hand experience that it can really be tough up there this time of year. The fish seem to be in tight groups over isolated cover. Most of that lake is one big sand flat. Tough to find those sweet spots.

Talked to Ron about prefishing Duck and Green, but he's been laid low with a bug as well and besides he said he had promised his son that he would take him on the youth duck opener that starts this weekend.

The Vawter Boys (Brent and the Old Man this weekend) are up on Duck and Green for a small work tournament. They said last weekend that they caught some nice fish on Green, but found Duck tough. They are good anglers and should kick butt this weekend.

Can You Tell Yet If Skeet Clinched AOY

The above photo from ESPN leaves little to the imagination. Reese is obviously a very excited guy! Van Dam gave it a good shot. Reese was talking about just cruising now that he has the AOY wrapped up and not even trying to make the top 12. He's got a big party planned for tonight he said, and he just wants to celebrate. Can't say that I blame him there. He gets his Toho check plus $125,000 for Angler of the Year. Van Dam received a bonus too with the "Heaviest Sack" award for catching the most weight for the season. He got $15,000 for that.

I don't know if any of you are having difficulties with the live streaming of the weigh ins, but my connection just isn't allowing me to watch much. Very jerky and it stops all the time. In any case, the live coverage begins again today at 3:00 pm.

Brent Chapman pulled ahead of Bill Smith by 8 oz. for the Day 2 lead. Here is an article summarizing Day 2 . The article talks about how the "G" Man Gerald Swindle lost a seven pounda in the last 15 minutes of the fishing day and broke his rod in frustration. In the process though, he hurt his hand. Gerald is in a spot where he really has to do well to make the Bassmaster Classic. Knowing the competitor he is, and to lose a big fish like that. has to really make you sick.

As I said a couple days ago, partridge and small game open today. I went to watch my nephew play high school football last night, and his dad Neal, was heading up after the game to run the dog and hopefully shoot some birds. The Fall chill is definitely in the air and the leaves are starting to change. During this time of year many anglers are met with the old, do I hunt or do I fish, or what the heck try both, conundrum.

Went in to the local tackle shop, the Outdoorsmen Pro Shop , and they were busy fletching arrows and readying the store for the upcoming bow and gun seasons. They still have a great supply of fishing gear if you're ever in the SW Grand Rapids, Jenison area.

Going to meet my buddy John and go to the Grand Valley Sate University game against Findlay tonight. Figured if I was in town I might as well make the best of it.

GVSU has had a hammer lock on the Division 2 National Championship the last several years. They are a fun team to watch. A wide open offense and a tenacious defense. We'll probably only be able to get standing room tickets. They sell out most games. Here's a shot I took last year down in Florence, Alabama when they won the National Championship again.

GVSU National Champs, Florence Alabama 2006

As I said, it's Saturday, and there are a few things that yet need to get done before nap time or the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game - which ever comes first. Here's a parting shot from the Maestro of the Mississippi, Mark Twain - "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

September 14, 2007

Again, there is no good morning here. Got up late again because of this stinking cold. Just feel lousy. Should be up prefishing Duck and Green, but I'm a wimp.

Tomorrow is a big day for the upland bird hunters. Partridge season opens, and I know my brother-in-law Neal will be out with his Weimaraner, Shreck, trying to knock down a few birds through the foliage that is still thick on the trees. I use to love to pat hunt, and it's one of those outdoor activities that I have just not done in a while. Maybe I'll bug Neal to tag along in the next few weeks. Woodcock doesn't open until the next weekend, on the 22nd, and from all the reports I've read there should be good numbers of both species. Don't reckon the flights of Woodcock will be moving through quite yet though.

When Herman and Tim were up to fish Cadillac, they said Herman had stopped to pick up his new Mathews bow. I just may get together enough energy to shoot a few off the deck with my PSE that I got from Fowler. He use to be a Pro-Staffer for PSE and is a crack shot with a bow and a gun. Speaking of Donny Boy he's out on Lake Charlevoix, as we speak, fishing for a boat in the CATT Series Northern Championship with Matt Brown, from Cadillac. Their prefishing days did not go very well, only a few keepers. I gave them a spot to try that had some fish a few years ago during the Federation State Championship, but for those of you that fished that you remember a sizable portion of the field blanked that tournament. It was tough, tough, tough, especially when they made GT Bay off limits. Hopefully, they find some fish today and tomorrow and bring home a new boat. Here's an old 2005 picture of the State Team from Charlevoix. Hey, isn't that Paul Sacks?

B.A.S.S. State Championship Team Lake Charlevoix 2005

You probably are already up to snuff on the Toho event, but for those of you that are not, KVD came in 18th Day 1 and Skeet came in 16th. Doesn't look good for KVD in the AOY race, but he can still catch em today and win it. He had an early limit today, and Skeet limited a little later around 9:00 am with three quick bites. Here's the "On the Water" link they update by cell phone from the camera boats. From the articles that I read on yesterday's fishing guys are targeting early schooling bass with lipless crankbaits. When the bass quit busting they are going to big worms and crankbaits. It appears the bigger fish are coming on the big soft plastic worms under the schooling fish. There are some big fish coming out of the mats that guys are pitching to. A coangler had the biggest sack Day 1 at 20 -8 lbs. Bill Smith Jr. leads it on the pro side with 18-6 lbs. He's from Kentucky, Terry Scroggins, a local favorite, is in second with 17-13. Quite a number of the big names were in the bottom of the bunch after day one.

Bryan Hudgins, a rookie on the Elite Trail, got DQed after Day 1. He let an angler prefish with him that had fished two BFLs on the Kissimmee Chain. They considered the prefishing partner an "expert," and according to the rules you cannot receive any input from a so called "expert" during that official prefishing time. According to Hudgins, he really didn't know the guy he took out well, and had asked him if he new much about the lake. When the guy said he didn't, he figured he was okay to take out prefishing.

Yesterday, I tried to watch the streaming video of the weigh in, but for some reason it just wouldn't play well on my computer. Kept it on, but it just wasn't watchable. They will again today have the live coverage of the weigh in starting at 3:00 pm. Here's a shot off the ESPN site of KVD as he was getting ready to head out. I need to get me one of those shirts. They sell other sports jerseys, and I would bet KVD could sell a bunch of his.

First Light on Lake Toho

Take care and the weekend has arrived! Here's a parting shot from one of the old guys, Aristotle - "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

September 13, 2007

I'm up and at em early, naw, got up at 10:00 am. I said yesterday I wouldn't whine too much about this nasty bug I seem to have picked up. Hopefully, I can start getting on top of it. In any case, I opened up my email to check and see if I had gotten any replies from the various Northern Divisional states that I sent emails to looking for their team pictures and any photos for my Divisional iMovie. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ron Moses from Indiana and Paul Becka from Minnesota responded right away. Ron directed me to a team picture off the Indiana web page and Paul is sending 75 digital pictures. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!

After checking the emails, I jumped right on the ESPN site to catch the buzz on the Toho tournament. I found the hook up for the live coverage of the weighin today. The weigh in begins at 3:00 pm ET.

While I was at the site I read the article that went with this picture. I thought the picture was very unique. Here's the article. I thought it was very entertaining. Especially Swindle's peanut butter line.

ESPN's Ultimate Angler

On the Tear Drop web page, there is a weather link. I typed in Orlando, Florida and got a weather forecast for the Toho event. The temperatures are going to hover around 90 degrees and there is at least a 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms every day.

There is an "Audio Blogs" page that I listened to Skeet and KVD describe their last prefishing day. KVD sounds confident and Skeet sounds like he's just going to cruise and shoot for a limit each day to put him in the top 50. If he does make the cut, he's probably got the AOY locked up.

I just found an article that updates by the minute almost, with cell phone updates of how Kevin and Skeet are doing. Kevin had the first limit early, by 9:00 and has around 9 lbs. Skeet also has a comparable limit. Kevin is out throwing the "kitchen sink." Skeet started with a carolina rig. Here is the link that follows Skeet and KVD on the water.

I'm going to get off the blog so people can follow the tournament. Before I sign off I'll put up the Indiana Northern Divisional team picture and Gerald "The G-Man" Swindle's peanut butter quote.

Indiana's Northern Divisional Team for 2007

"I feel like I got double-dipped in peanut butter and rolled down a dirt road," he said at the weigh-in. "I don't want to go back out there. I don't care if I ever see Townsend. If I had a house there, I'd burn it down and move back to Alabama." Now that's telling it like it is! Have a great day!

September 12, 2007

Good morning, although by the time I'm done with the blog entry today it's going to be past noon. I promise not too much whining, but I have got a terrible cold, sore throat, ear ache, etc. We were planning on heading up north today to take the camper up to Interlochen, but that's on hold. Got to fight with this bug first.

Matt H. called me this morning and said on the Versus Channel Roland Martin was fishing my new best friend Ray Scott's lake. He said it also showed them digging and readying another pond/lake on Ray's estate. Matt said they showed them catching some real pigs. I've had the Versus channel on this morning to see if they were going to replay it, but it doesn't really say on their on-screen programming guide. I have been pinching myself that this trip is really real and hope that nothing interferes with our being able to go down. I just got a memory stick from Paul Sack's, the Michigan Federation President, and on it was a MPEG of Ray inviting Don down and Don pointing at me in the crowd and saying that I would be the one he was bringing down to Ray's place!!

Here is a picture of the Michigan B.A.S.S. Northern Divisional Team. I am putting together an iMovie incorporating my video and still shots I took down at the final day weighin. I got this picture and several others from Paul and would like to get some on the water pictures to put in the DVD I'm making. If anyone knows any of the Divisional guys that would share some pictures I'd love to get them.

MI B.A.S.S. Northern Divisional Team

Well, it's almost time for the last Elite Series event down on Lake Tohopekaliga, a.k.a. Lake Toho down in the Sunshine State. In 1977, Toho hosted the seventh Bassmaster Classic which was won by Rick Clunn with 27 lbs. 7 ounces. The next time B.A.S.S. was back on Toho for a Classic was in 2006 and Clunn was back as well for his, get this, 30th Classic!! Luke Clausen won the event with 56 pounds 2 ounces. That was also the event that Preston Clark set the new B.A.S.S. big bass mark with an eleven pound 10 ounce largemouth.

The Sunshine State's Lake Toho

As you can see Toho is just south of Orlando. It's a 18,810 acre lake that is part of the Kissimmee Chain. I tried getting an aerial picture from Google Earth , but because it's a streaming video I wasn't able to copy the picture. If you haven't played with Google Earth you need to try the FREE download from the link above. Just type in Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida, and you get a shot from space that you can explore and blow up even further. A real fishing tool!

Here is a map of the the Kissimmee Chain and a link that describes the lakes in the chain.

Kissimmee Chain

Tomorrow is the start of the tournament and I'll have the link to what I suspect will be the live coverage. I surfed to find it today and only could find an old link.

Van Dam's average finish on Toho is 14th and Reese's average finish has been 67th. Kevin will need to finish in the top group and Reese will have to have the bottom fall out, but anything is possible. Should be interesting. Here's an article from Bass Fan that gives you the preview lowdown on the Toho event.

Wednesday is only three days from Friday so have heart and don't disparage the weekend cometh. Take care.

"When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out." Casey Stengel

9/11, 2007

Need we be reminded not of this day. I'm sure you all can remember where and what you were doing when our nation suffered this cowardly attack. I was teaching school. I taught next door to the teacher's lounge where there was a television, and as we heard the news, I was able to get brief snippets of what was going on. None of us could really fathom it, or understand completely the horror we saw unfolding that day. The principal called us all out of our rooms, and it was decided we wouldn't say anything to the students until the end of the day. Parents who came to pick up their children early, were asked not to say anything to any other students. I taught in an elementary building and it was felt it would not be appropriate to get in to the details of the day sooner than need be. A succinct announcement was made at the end of the day, and we handled it in our rooms as best we could to prepare the students so that if they were to go home to an empty house, they wouldn't be too alarmed about what they might see on TV.

The events of that day have changed us all forever. May God bless those that were taken and may our prayers and thoughts be with their family and friends.

If you're interested in going back to reflect on that day, you may find these articles, and audio memoirs helpful. I'm sure you can surf to find many more. "How 9/11 Changed Us" , "A Hole In Manhattan's Heart"

Moving on is the only thing one can do. Putting one foot in front of the other and hoping for a brighter tomorrow is how we all must deal with sadness and crisis in our lives. With that being said I'll move on as well.

Paul Sacks the Michigan B.A.S.S. Federation President sent me a memory stick today which contained a bunch of pictures and a couple of MPEGs from the Northern Divisional. Here's a picture of Paul, "The Bass Boss" himself Ray Scot, Don Fowler, and Brian Feutz from the MI Team.

The Bass Boss and the Boys In the Divisional Hood

I'm still looking for any pictures I can get from the Divisional Team if they're reading the blog. I'll use them and send you the resultant iMovie. Should be a good one. I have over 30 minutes of video and still shots.

Went to the Cubs game at Wrigley yesterday. It was a 2:30 pm game against St. Louis. The Cubs spanked them 12 to 3. It was a make up game from a rainout August 19. What a ball park! From the ivy, planted by Bill Veeck on the outfield wall, to the statue of Harry Carry out front, the place reverberates with history. It's where the Babe called his infamous shot, where Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run, where Pete Rose got his 4,191st hit to tie Ty Cobb. It was also the site of the only double no-hitter for nine innings ever. A true pitching duel between the Cub's Jim "Hippo" Vaugn and Fred Toney of the Reds. Both had no-hitters going through the ninth when the Red's legendary Olympian, Jim Thorpe, got a base hit in the top of the tenth and the Reds went on to win.

At Wrigley, the huge score board in center is still changed by hand, and, by the way, has never been hit with a homer. A few legendary hitters have come close, but the only one to ever hit it was Sam Snead who teed up a golf ball at home plate and launched a drive that reached the scoreboard.

After every game at Wrigley, a flag is flown. A white flag with a W is flown for a Cubbies win, a blue one with a L signifies a Cub's loss. The park was opened in 1914 costing $250,000 and seating 14,000. With renovations, it now seats 41,418 rabid, wild, exuberant Cub's fans! Don't take my word for it, you gotta go and have a cold one, garnish up a Chicago dog, and experience it first hand.

"Take me out to the ball game..."

I'll throw in a little fishing info with all the rest of today's news. The Bargain Cave at Cabela's is full of goodies that you might want to spend your lunch money on. One other item that I am off to buy today, because mine has wandered off to whose boat I can't remember, is a Bag-em cull bag. These look like miniature weigh-in bags that you use to cull with. I have found them to be the REAL deal when it comes to saving time culling your fish. You put the fish you want to weigh in the small black bag and then hang it on the scale. Way less stress on the fish. The fish doesn't flop off the scale hook and end up all over the bottom of your boat. When you are sorting fish, the fish stays put in the small bag and doesn't lose any of its protective slime coat flopping around your boat as you dig out another fish from the livewell to compare it against. One of the best buys I have made in a while. Gander Mountain, and Cabellas, both carry them.

Well, take care, and I'll leave you with these last few words from a man known for his brevity of speech, and great leadership.

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." - Abraham Lincoln

September 10, 2007

Well, I'm up and at em this morning despite trying to fight off this lousy cold. We have to get to the UPS terminal to pick up a package that we have been waiting for for several days. My son sent his grandmother a laptop and included in the box Cubs tickets for an afternoon game to be played today. They were rain out tickets from when he was here visiting. When he sent them he forgot that the UPS shipment would encompass the Labor Day holiday and almost got the tickets caught up in transit. So, we're off to pick them up and then heading to Chicago for the game.

Tim, and Don both called me yesterday and told me about the Bass Anglers United tournament they both fished in. Tim and Herman came in first edging out Don and his partner Matt Brown. Five ounces separated the two teams. Tim said they got several fish on topwater early. He also said that Herman lost one that would push five pounds. The smallie hit Herman's chugger and Herman thought he missed it, but the smallie had it and swam right at the boat. Tim said it came up out of the water four feet and just tossed the lure and was gone. They did catch another four pounder that ended up being big bass.

Yesterday, I mentioned Seth Burrill's Drop Shot Secrets DVD set. I found another drop shot article on Bass Fan written by Aaron Martens. After reading his article, I wondered if he had Seth's DVD set. Sounded like he might have.

Was reading a couple of different articles online that referred to Berkley's new "Chigger Craw" . I use to throw a pig and jig with a craw trailer much more than I have in the last couple years. I know I got waxed by one in the Cadillac and Mitchell tournament. Lee Whipple put a hurt on us using one to catch over 18 lbs. After that tournament, I went out jig shopping. This "Chigger Craw" looks like it would make a great trailer and the video looks like it's also a pretty darn good stand alone bait.

Netbaits "Paca Craw" is another sweet bait that I have caught some nice smallies with. It is actually a tube bait. You need a real short shanked lead head for it though. If you don't the claws, which flap a lot imparting some very enticing action, get hung up on the hook.

Looks like it's going to be a pretty nice week weather wise. Just a slight chance of rain. Temps look cool with Wednesday being the warmest day at 70 degrees. That should get the Fall fish bite going! Take care and enjoy the day.

"You do not cease to fish because you get old, you get old because you cease to fish!" Unknown Author

September 9, 2007

It's morning and I am moving sluggishly. Have the classic symptoms of a doozy of a cold. My wife is just getting over one that put her in bed for several days so I hope I can avoid that.

Drove back from the cabin yesterday and ran a few errands and then went to bed. I did spend a few minutes checking out the FLW site to see who won on Lake Champlain. I would have bet it would have been one of the smallmouth guys, but it was Guido Hibdon . The article is one of those "old guys rule" pieces which appeals to an old guy like me. At 61 years old Guido is showing the "young guns" that he's still in the game. The article talks about how much Guido and his wife have been helping out some of those young guys and it leaves you feeling like, way to go Guido!

Tim from GLB gave me a call and said he was coming up to fish the Bass Anglers United tournament on Cadillac. I had told him, when we fished together this spring on St. Clair, that if he was ever up in Michigan's Great Northwest Corner that he could stay at the cabin. He and his buddy Herman came up late Friday and even though they had to get up early to prefish we talked till 2:30 in the morning. Talk about young guns, these two guys are fish frenzied and it was great to talk with them. Tim brought up a copy of the FLW Detroit River event, and I was able Saturday to watch the second half of their coverage of Clapper's win on Erie.

Before I crashed last night I checked out ESPN's BassMaster's Elite section and the excitement is certainly building for the final stop on Lake Toho. Can KVD catch Skeet Reese and who will be there collecting enough points to make the cut for the BassMaster's Classic! Making the Classic is what it's all about and following all this hoopla of course is our own local hopeful Dandy Don Fowler who gets to fish in the Nationals this November for his own spot in the "Big Show." Here's another of their articles and the main page for you to peruse.

In reading an article from one of the bass sites Fin-tech jigs was mentioned and it caught my attention so I checked out their site. They definitely have some interesting new jig designs. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have an online store for me to order some jigs. I did see that Lunkers down in Edwardsburg, MI carried their products so I went to the website hoping to find them. Nada, not any in their online store. I will do some surfing and see if I can find them.

When I was talking to Tim and Herman up at the cabin we got to talking about line knots. I was telling Tim that I had order Seth Burrill's Drop Shot Secrets and told him that the two DVD set that he sells is probably the best instructional DVD I have in my library and on a very important technique that is very hot right now. Seth shows you a bunch of stuff and covers drop shotting thoroughly. He gives a very good set of instructions for the double uni knot. You need to buy this DVD. Best $20 you will spend. Here is a knot site that also shows the double uni double uni, but Seth's DVD set goes way beyond just learning a knot. By the way, if you click on his site, check out his hats. They are one of my favorites. Don't know where he gets them, but they fit and look just the way I like them. I have two of them.

Got to get going. Hoping to watch the Lions kick some butt against the Raiders today. Can you believe it, they're favored! Have a great day!

"Anglers, no matter what supreme good fortune befalls them, cannot ever be absolutely satisfied. It is a fundamental weakness of intellect." Zane Grey

September 7, 2007

Good Morning! I'm at the cabin this morning. My buddy John just woke me up with a breakfast invitation, but he's in town and I'm up here.

I was planning on getting up and getting going early any way. I have a short list of things to do today.

It's raining pretty hard here as I type at 8:00 am. Looks like it's been raining a while.

Spent yesterday running around trying to get the boat fixed. I was up to Kingsley early to see Tom Soltow who is an authorized Minn Kota and Cannon service center repairman. He's right downtown next to the railroad tracks in the Laundry Mat building, 119 E. Main St. downtown Kingsley (Kingsley is just 15 miles south of Traverse City between M37 and US 131.) He had diagnosed my problem as a screw loose. More than one person have diagnosed my problem that way. In any case, he took the plastic cover off and unhooked the wiring. He continued to take the whole head off and the midshaft donut so the shaft would slide, and when he slid it up a little set screw fell out. There are two screws that screw in to the top of the shaft and one of these had worked its way out. He put some lock tight on it and put it all back together and I'm back in business, trolling motor wise. I still had to get the trim motor on the outboard fixed so I headed from Kingsley to Cadillac.

On the way, I called Mr. Fowler to see if he was out of bead and ready for breakfast. He said he was up and out in the yard and didn't answer the phone right away, but I think he was still laying in bed. Retirees....

I stopped on the way to his house to talk to Denny at Track'n Trail . I was told that he was on vacation. He was grass drag racing snowmobiles in Wisconsin. - Man, it's pouring outside right now! - So, I decided to just get a solenoid and try and fix it myself.

I had talked to Paul Sacks, the Michigan B.A.S.S. Federation President, about getting some pictures from him that he took at the Northern Divisional, and in our discussion my trim motor problem came up. He told me that he thought it was the solenoid and to switch them around. They're two little black square box shape items about an inch square that sit side by side either on top or on the side of your motor. He's had a couple go out on him over the years when he's been out on the water. He has just switched them around in order to use the good one to either lift or lower the motor to get back in from out in the lake. Well... I bought the part at Track'n Trail and went over to Don's and we put it in and sure enough the trim was working again.

I was a little leery, because the trim motor originally had just kicked on while we were fishing and I was wondering if after a bit it would again. However, after three hours, it was still operating the way it should so I hope that was indeed the problem, and it wasn't one of my five switches that control the trim shorting out. It would be just my luck to have it kick on after a period of time and burn the trim motor out.

A number of years ago, I had a solenoid on my old Skeeter go bad as well and I replaced it. In that case I couldn't get the motor trimmed up. After replacing it, I thought I'd better always carried a spare. They cost about $20 and a good item to have in the boat just in case. I hadn't bought one for this boat, but will definitely be back to Track'n Trail to buy another just for that purpose.

If you haven't noticed, the blog skips to September 1. I came up to the cabin and didn't bring the cord I need to connect the iPod to the laptop. I use my iPod as an external hard drive and transfer files between my home desktop machine and the travel laptop. I have two of the cords, but instead of putting one in my wife's laptop carry bag I stuck it in my pocket. Scoured the cabin thinking I might find it, but both cords are home. I'll just have to upload this and then save it to her hard drive, and when I get home transfer it back and everything should be in sequence again.

I mentioned I was in Cadillac and at Don's. Yesterday's Cadillac News had half of the front page of the "C" Section devoted to reporting Don's win in the Northern Divisional down in Vermillion, Ohio. A nice article with two big color pictures. Everywhere we went Thursday, it took us much longer because people were stopping to congratulate him.

His win was a decisive victory over 95 other very accomplished anglers! When you lead it wire to wire in a three day tournament that is saying something! Quite an accomplishment!

It looks like the last B.A.S.S. divisional is being fished the week of September 22, so when that has concluded they should announce where the Nationals will be held.

B.A.S.S. has a President's Cup, and I'm not really sure what that tournament is. I think it's an event that they came up with last year when they were revising their whole Federation Nation structure. It appears that the guys from last year can qualify through the Presidents Cup to also fish in the BassMaster Classic. In any case, I have been calling it the President's Cup when it is simply the Nationals that Don will be competing in.

Watched some of the FLW Series Lake Champlain live weigh in yesterday with Don. Lake Champlain was rough yesterday, and the weights reflected it. The smallmouth officianatos were the anglers weighing the bigger bags yesterday. Guido Hibdon led day one with largemouth. He dropped out of sight on Day 2 and said he hated smallmouth fishing. Sounds like a southerner.

Steve Clapper, who won the Detroit River event, struggled to find the smallies though. Larry Nixon also had a tough time. The weighin today, which you can watch live at the link above, starts at 3:00 and will determine which 10 anglers will fish Saturday in the final. After Day 2, it was looking like the to be in the top ten going in to day three you needed about 16 lbs. a day average. Here's a link to the Day 2 story from Lake Champlain.

I was listening to a podcast on the way up to the cabin yesterday and they talked about a company that was making a long shank spinnerbait and buzzbait. The company had a booth at the Las Vegas tackle show, ICAST, and Billy Raymond thought they were up and coming company with a pretty good idea. Their spinnerbait has a tungsten head, and no matter what weight spinnerbait you choose, the heads were all the same size. The weight difference was made up with a chunk of material that is placed on the wire and covered by the skirt. The hook is extended back, voile the long shank, so it extends well beyond the skirt eliminating the need for a trailer hook. According to the company, the spinnerbait runs straighter and has a better hook up ratio than traditional spinnerbaits. It's certainly worth taking a look at. The company is simply called The Longshank . Make sure you play their video on the site.

Took a blog break and went up to the Na-Tah-Ka for coffee. Discussed the ills of the world with some of the locals and showed off Don's newspaper write up. Beth Ruby, who is a coffee regular, asked me where the word blog came from. Beth's a retired MSU prof. whose family has lived in the area for years. I told here I didn't know, but thought you could Google it , which I did. The aforementioned link is Wikipedia, a grass roots built encyclopedic internet concoction.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia that details how the word "blog" came about. " The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on December 17, 1997. The short form "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999. This was quickly adopted as both noun and verb ("to blog," meaning to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog"). You can find almost all the answers to your questions floating around in cyber space.

Half the day is gone without too much being accomplished on my job list today, so I had better get going.

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

September 5 , 2007

Good Morning! What's so good about it? Well they say every day above ground.... There's a tournament up on Cadillac and Mitchell this weekend, September 9th, put on by Bass Anglers United . You can see from the schedule that they pretty much cover the state and provide anglers with the opportunity to fish for a boat. I know a couple of guys fishing. Should be interesting on Cadillac. The lake gets pounded, but seems to always give up a pretty good limit to the winner. If you get 12-15 pounds you ought to do all right.

The Bass Pro Shops Clearance page on the net has some pretty good bargains. There is some Supreme line by Shakespeare that I have use this year for the first time and it did a good job for me. Only $1.47 a box.

What do you think of KVD's new hat ? An interesting design. I wonder how he came up with the design and what it stands for? I need to pick one up so the next time I run in to him at one of his seminars I can get it signed. He and Skeet are about to battle it out on Lake Toho in Florida next week in the last Elite Series event. Bass Fan has an article comparing the two and hyping the upcoming duel. Here's a link to the article.

Remember that today starting at 3:00 PM there is live coverage of the weighin for the FLW Series Lake Champlain event.

Heading up tomorrow to see Tom Soltow in Kingsley. Tom is the owner of a shop up there that repairs Minn Kota's. He diagnosed my problem over the phone and said he would fix it while I waited. Should take about an hour. Some of our Tear Drop guys have already been up to see him this year. Both Rick Skinner Sr. and Josh Meyers have had work done by him and speak very highly of their experience. His number is 231-263-5998 and his address is 119 E. Main St. P.O. Box 77 Kingsley, MI 49649. He and his wife run a laundry mat at that address as well. He is an authorized service center.

Time to go see Paul the "Barberian" and get my hair cut. Have a great day!

"My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it." Koos Brandt. Now tell me a guy that fishes that can't relate to that quote!

September 4 , 2007

No more mention of holidays for a while. Not at least until we start shopping for a turkey. There is always those "mental health" days that are sometimes a necessity in these stretches, especially with the bass entering that period of fall feed up. Plus the weekends just don't always align with the fickle Fall weather, and sometimes you just got to go fishing!

I read one of the better articles that I have come across lately. It was one that a GLB forum member posted concerning Lake Erie. The article isn't particularly informative in terms of fishing tips, but it was certainly an article that was well written for entertainment purposes. It had a couple o names, but Billionaire Bass Club was the one used on the ESPN site.

Checked at Tackle Warehouse for my paddle tailed tubes order and it looks like they are still not available. In any case they don't show any being in stock yet and it appears I'm in a back order holding pattern. I sure would like to get some to try in the next couple of weeks.

Doing some more searching I found another site that has some pretty interesting baits. It's called Action Plastics . Another site I liked even better was Canyon Plastics. Canyon Plastic lures are made by Garry Garland the brother of the guy that originated the gitzit. Check it out, I think you'll like the baits you see.

One last lure site for today has one of those tough guy names, The Mangler . It's an interesting take on a spinnerbait/inline spinner. According to the article I was reading, they really do catch fish. You got to be careful because a lot of these manufacturers design baits to catch fisherman instead of fish. This one is so different that it might be one that does both.

Remember, that tomorrow at 3:00 there is live coverage of the FLW Series Event on Lake Champlain

Guess I'd better get going this morning. Need to make calls to schedule the boat to get it fixed, mow the grass, and do some errands. Have a great day. By the way, it's the first day of school for the kids around here. Being a retired teacher it stirs some old emotions and juices. I do miss the give and take, but it is an enormous amount of work. Have a great day!

"You can observe a lot just by watching."  Yogi Berra

September 3 , 2007

The last day of the Labor Day weekend and summer is easing itself out of the picture 3 minutes each day.

My oldest son had a crew up to the cabin and they had a good time around the campfire and in the hot tub. Fixed a big breakfast this morning and have been just enjoying the day.

I took a part my trolling motor yesterday in hopes of seeing something obvious - no such luck. Also pulled off the front panel to take a look at the trim switch up front. It looked good, but what do I know about how switches are suppose to look. Only four other trim switches to check and then try and see if it's the solenoid. I am laughably nonmechanical and am usually relegated to getting coffee for people I'm working with in such projects. I give it a try at times, but usually rely on a competent mechanic. Looks like it's time to make the call.

Spent a little time surfing and read an article on the history of Labor Day. The day was born out of the labor unions and there is some argument as to who gets the credit for its creation. It boils down to a Maquire and a McGuire, one from New Jersey and one from New York. The first celebration though was in New York on September 5, 1882 by the Central Labor Union. Federal legislation was passed on June 28, 1894 giving nationwide credence to a day set aside for the American worker.

Checked out the FLW site and read an article on "Fall Patterns" . It''s definitely starting to switch from summer to fall temperature wise, and there are a number ot trees that are beginning to show the wear of summer and showcasing their fall colors. It's even beginning to smell like fall. Here's another link from Ultimate Bass that not only talks about the upcoming season but provides a number of other articles on Fall fishing.

September 5, which is rolling around pretty quick, is day 1 on Lake Champlain in the FLW Series. They will have live coverage of the weighin starting Wednesday.

Well time to take the granddaughter out to get a donut. Have a great day and make sure you're careful on the roads coming home in that Labor Day traffic.

I wondered, at first, about this quote from John Gierach, but after digesting it a bit, I can relate. "I think I fish, in part, because it's an antisocial, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution."

September 2 , 2007

Saturday and day number two of the Labor Day weekend. I guess that makes it time for another fishing joke. I read a few and this one wasn't fall out of the chair funny, but it did get a chuckle out of me. One day while driving home from his fishing trip in the pouring rain, a man got a flat tire outside of a monastery. A monk came out and invited the man inside to have dinner and to spend the night. The stranded motorist gladly accepted the monk's offer. That evening the man had a wonderful dinner of fish and chips. He decided to compliment the chef. Entering the kitchen, the man asked the cook, "Are you the fish friar?" "No," the chef replied, " I'm the chip monk." "Now, that right there is funny."

I was reading in the Grand Rapids Press about how the proposed changes in the hunting and fishing license fee package have enough bipartisan support to pass right now, but because the legislature wants to act on the budget as one package it will not likely happen until the state figures out what it is going to do fiscally. That means that if there is nothing passed by October 1, then the DNR is planning on closing up shop. They are planning on closing down everything except some fire suppression personnel and Report All Poaching , RAP, operators. The day-to-day operations, however, will cease. That means no COs patrolling, campgrounds will be closed, etc. Hopefully Lansing will get its act together by Oct. 1.

The early Canada goose season began yesterday. You can sure see why they have an early season. There seem to be large numbers of geese wherever there's a little puddle of water. They are sure a pain at the cabin. They are pooping machines! They really can make a mess of the lawn. When they have my yard on their daily route you can't walk in the year with or without shoes! "Slip sliding away," takes on a whole new meaning.

September 10th bear season opens. I know Brian V. got a permit, and I'll try and keep in touch with him to see how his hunt goes. Ron says that there are still some shotgun licenses left for Pike County, IL. If you want to go on a hunt in some prime big buck territory get in touch with him. You can email me here at the website and I'll give you his number.

Ron's been going down to check out their leased land, set stands, etc. and he always comes back stoked by what he has seen in terms of trophy deer!

"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong."  John Gierach

September 1, 2007

Month number four of the daily blog. A lot of chit chat in the books already. I hope people are finding my ramblings and net surfing for outdoor material interesting. I have been trying to tailor the blog so that people, on a lunch hour, can take a few minutes to log in, and without having to do much surfing, can find topical outdoor information. I have split the blog up into monthly sections, so if there is ever anything you need to go back for, click on one of the links above.

Pretty chilly up at the cabin this morning. The outdoor thermometer reads 53.1 degrees at 8:00 am. The lake is without a ripple. Only saw one pontoon boat out fishing when I let my son's dog out. I'm sure once eleven o'clock rolls around and the no wake is off that the lake will be buzzing with all types of water craft.

Probably too much activity around last night for the group of deer we've been seeing regularly to mosey into the yard. There's been a skunk slinking around at night and I sure hope this dog doesn't meet him.

My middle son's, girlfriend's birthday is today. We sent her some flowers that I hope look as good as the florist described. I'm always a little leery of sending flowers using out of town florists. I did try and do some investigative surfing to be sure I was dealing with a reputable vendor.

When my son was here a couple weeks back visiting, he and his girlfriend were going to go back through Chicago and stop for a Cubs game. Unfortunately, the game got rained out in the third inning. Fortunately for me, living in California, he can't go to the postponed game and is sending me the tickets. Here's a picture from a couple weeks back of the two of them out fishing.

A Big Bass Lunker

Last night I did some painful net surfing. No, didn't break any ribs net surfing like I did out in Huntington Beach the last time I tried buggy boarding in the surf. Painful, only because this dial up at the cabin is soooooooo slow. I did run across an article on the ESPN site that showed and discussed the new California state record smallmouth . Caught it just southeast of the Sacramento area. My son lives about two hours from Sacramento up in Toho. Next time I go out I may have to see if I can hook up with a guide to fish the delta or one of the impoundments they have. I would love to try and catch me one of those monster Sunshine State fish.

I also was reading an article done by Kevin Wirth. He's a jockey gone fishin' pro. He likes to modify crankbaits. He holds the plastic over steaming water and bends the lips either up or down to change the depth of the lure. He said he usually bends the lips up which makes them dive a few feet deeper. He also shaves the edges of the bills to change the wobble. He then tries them out and throws away those that don't catch fish and wears the paint off those that do. This time of year is when I really start looking for fish with the crankbaits. Seems just after the spawn when the bluegills are bedding and now are the best time for me using the crankbait.

Read another article, yep it was painful, but i'm an addicted surfer, about: modifying jigs. Instead of paraphrasing this one you need to take a look at it because it gives you a picture and step by step directions on how to make these Bill Lowen "doughball jigs."

Time for me to jump in the truck and head over to the Na-Tah-Ka and have coffee with the locals. Relax today it's the weekend and a long one at that!

One last parting shot. I don't know if I believe this quote but... William Sherwood Fox wrote:  "Of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy." Okay Fox, but it's been my experience that this adage is pretty accurate. "You know how to tell if an angler is lying. Watch their lips. If they're moving they're lying." Have a great day!