In this episode I interview tournament angler Rich Lindgren 
You can also check out Rich's sponsors that he mentions in this episode here

Played: 0 | Download | Duration: 00:18:02

        

So I fish in my first Five Alive Bass Tourevent this Tuesday July 1st with Sport Smith Sport and I pre-fished on Wednesday through the time we would be fishing the tournament which is 5:30-9:00pm.  We have both fished this lake before and the spots we knew produced some fish and then we discovered some new water as well which actually produced a few better fish.  We are estimating needing a 14-16 lb bag to be in the hunt for the top spot in this team format. 

We left the lake with confidence in what we were throwing and also the water we are fishing.  So we have a plan set for the first two spots we'll hit and then a couple of spots once we've rounded out our five fish limit to go hog hunting. 

Then last night I was at the pre-tournament meeting for the Minnesota Jr BASS State Tournament of Champions.  It is always exciting to be at a Jr BASS event because the youth are really competitive and know how to fish.  I was able to spend some time with the Gopher Jr BASS members who I am the youth director for and they were feeling confident with their pre-fish and the spots they've found. 

I really would like to take a moment to encourage all of you to get involved in a youth fishing program.  It is the future of our sport and getting young people outside away from video games and tv is a great way to get them exposed to important issues related to conservation, the outdoors and the great sport of bass fishing.

I would also like to thank the great sponsors of the Minnesota Jr Bass State TOC - Gander Mountainin St. Cloud, MN, Cabela's, Gopher Tackle, andMG Lures.  They all supplied equipment for the youth and also a free seminar from Gopher Tackle founder Conrad Peterson on jig wormtechniques.

I just finished recording the Bass Fishing in the Midwest Podcastepisode 4 on fishing the post-spawn with special guest Rich Lindgrenlook for that to be up here and on itunes next week.

Have a Great Day on the Lake!

My Website
john@johnhaynesbassangler.com

Sunday the 22nd I fished in my third club tournament of the season.  I did not have time to pre-fish for this tournament so I was reliant on my partner for spots to fish.  I was gone on a work trip right up until tournament time.  I drove 7 hours straight to get to the tournament so by the time I hit the water I was pretty whipped mentally and physically.  Not in the best place to get my head in the game but I decided not to let that bother me and truly I don't think it did.  I fished hard the entire time.  Having missed the tournament the day before and blanking on the 2nd club tournament put me low in the standings and to have any chance at a decent end of season finish in the club I needed to come in with at least five decent fish.  I figured 10lbs would at least keep me in the running for making the State team for 09 since I was already in for 08.

We started on a spot where my partner had caught some pretty good size smallies.  He picked up one keeper there but it didn't seem very active so we moved to another spot.  We saw some fish on beds so we targeted rocks and some grass clumps.   I pulled all three of my keepers from the same area, though nothing spectacular weight wise.  I caught one on the texas rigged Zoom baby brushhog in green pumpkin and the other two came off a drop shot with a Gulp wacky crawler rigged wacky.  So I finished the day with only 3 fish 2 shy of a limit and not much size to them.  You can check out my homepage for all my tournament results. 

So with 4 tournaments left I really have to have a strong finish.  To stay in the running to make State for next year I will need to average about 12 lbs per tournament.  The good thing is we are going to Lake Minnetonka and Pokegama which are both capable of producing 20 lb bags for five fish.  I will need to really take some time and pre-fish both lakes and have a strong game plan ready for tournament day.

I am excited to start fishing the Five Alive Bass Tournaments on July 1st.  This is a team tournament format and I am splitting fishing the tournaments with Sport Smith and Dave Larson.  They have fished two events so far, so I am excited to participate in my first event on Clearwater Lake.  I will be pre-fishing this week with Sport and then I am headed up to the Minnesota Jr Bass State Tournament of Champions on Serpent Lake in Crosby, MN Thursday and Friday this week. 

So look for my pre-fishing reports from Clearwater and also my post Jr State TOC report later this week.

Have a great day on the Lake
http://www.johnhaynesbassangler.com

                                               



In this latest Bass Fishing in the Midwest Podcast episode I interview Josh Douglas and get his insight into the process of tournament preparation that will make your tournament experience a successful one.

You can also listen to, download, and subscribe to this podcast for free at iTunes

Played: 213 | Download | Duration: 00:20:00

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So the first Weekend Series Tournament is over for the Minnesota Division.  I was unable to pre-fish for this tournament though I had fished the lake previously.  I knew the lake would fish differently in terms of the past two years because the deep weed lines had not really developed as fully as they had in the past at this time of the year.  Fishing as a co-angler pretty much means I will go where they go and fish where they fish.  I was confident going in that I would do well in this tournament.  I had three techniques that I thought would work in most places we were going on any of the lakes on the Le Homme Dieu Chain.  I was planning to throw a lipless crankbait, texas rigged soft plastics, and a jerkbait, with a spinnerbait and mojo rig as back-ups.

We drew the 11th spot out of 47 boats that day.  We ran to Lake Carlos and started on some reeds in shallow water.  We were both able to pick up our first small keepers along that shoreline.  There was flowage into the lake and this seemed to be where the fish were mainly concentrated, however they were only 12 or 13 inchers which we knew was not going to be the size we needed.  So we moved back into a channel but nothing there.  Coming out of the channel we noticed what looked like a decent flat with some pencil reed growth.  Within about 10 casts we both had a limit in the live well including what I thought was about a 3 pounder and one 2 pounder but I still had the 12 incher I needed to cull, it was a three fish limit for co-anglers.  We spent quite a bit of time on this flat since it was producing fish and we had our limits in the boat by 9:30am.  When we began fishing the area it was cloudy and then not more than 30 minutes later the sun began to come out and the bite shut down.  So we spent the rest of the day moving around to different areas and had some luck on another flat on the main lake but I was still unable to catch another fish larger than the 12 inch fish I had in the live well. 

I had predicted that it would take 6 pounds to be in the money on the co-angler side and sure enough I was right.  They paid down 9 spots on the co-angler side.  I weighed in a total for three fish of 5.93 lbs with my biggest fish weighing 2.79 lbs.  I ultimately finished in 10th place and missed a check by a few ounces, 9th place weighed in 6.06lbs.  I knew that small fish would come back to haunt me and it did.  However on the bright side I have started the series strong with a top 10 finish on the co-angler side, because in addition to cashing a check at each tournament my other goal for this series is to make the regional tournament on Kentucky Lake in the Fall.

So all in all I feel like I had a successful outing and now I am looking forward to my upcoming club tournament on Green Lake on June 22 and then on to The Whitfish Chain for the Weekend Series on July 19th and in between those times I will start fishing the Five Alive Bass Tournament on Tuesdays and the Pan O Prog on July 13th.  So the fun and busyness of the tournament season is upon me.  You can keep up with all my tournament progress at my website www.johnhaynesbassangler.com

Have a Great day on the Lake
john@johnhaynesbassangler.com
myforum.johnhaynesbassangler.com

Well the Bassmaster Weekend series, Minnesota Division, starts this weekend in Alexandria on the LeHomme Dieu Chain of Lakes.  I will be fishing as a co-angler for the third year in a row and this year I am heading into this tournament circuit with more confidence than ever.  I believe it will take 9+ pounds for a three fish limit to win as a co-angler this weekend. 

This past Saturday I went fun fishing with Sport Smith , but it was not LeHomme Dieu.  We had some great success with largemouth and smallmouth on the lake.  I went back to my old standard the texas rigged Zoom Baby Brushhog.  I caught quite a few fish on this bait (see pics below) as it is one I have major confidence in.  I also fished a Tru-Tungsten 3/8oz jig.  I been trying to fish a jig more as it is a technique I have not had much experience with until last year.  I did catch a couple fish on the jig and it helped me to gain some more confidence.

Check back next week to see my report from LeHomme Dieu.

Have a great day on the lake!


www.johnhaynesbassangler.com

Played: 148 | Download | Duration: 00:10:50

In this episode I talk with Sport Smith, tournament angler and guide about finesse fishing. 

Also, don't forget you can listen to, download, and subscribe to this podcast at iTunes

Bone Lake Tournament-Wisconsin - Saturday 5/17/08

So this week it began, another season of tournament bass fishing.  Saturday morning as we launched the boats for the tournament the weather was much nicer than we had during pre-fish.  Water temperature was around 51-53 degrees in most spots and it was partly cloudy with the sun coming out from time to time and some scattered showers later in the day. The temperature ended up being around mid 50's most of the day.  My partner and I started on a weed line in about 8-10 feet of water where we had caught some keepers in pre-fish.  We each caught some small fish, the minimum length for this tournament was 14".  The wind was whipping pretty good as the day went along so I abandoned my finesse worm technique and started cranking with a DT-6 Rapala in Parrot color which had also produced some fish in practice.  No keepers came on that choice so my partner and I decided to move to check shallower water.  There was some grass in about about 2-5 feet of water and we started there. I was throwing a texas rigged Zoom Super Hog and my partner was throwing a texas rigged Lake Fork 4" Ring Fry.  Both in green pumpkin with a little chartreuse on the tails.  The second shallow spot we went to was the spot where all of our keepers were caught for the day.  Wisonsin is no-cull, so for this tournament we were weighing our best 4 fish which allowed us to have some wiggle room with our fifth keeper.  I changed over to a Ring Fry once I saw that keeper fish were not biting on the Super Hog.  So I ended up weighing 4 fish for 6.8 pounds and finishing 12th and though I would like to have had bigger fish I was glad to have weighed a limit.


Deer Lake Tournament - Wisconsin - Sunday 5/18/08

So day 2 and the weather was much colder than the day before.  Mostly cloudy with water temps around 50.  The air temp was around 37 when we took off at 7am and got up to high 40's as the day went on.  Mainly the wind made it cold for us and it was whipping around pretty good which made boat conrol out in open water a little bit of a challenge.  My partner and I started near the launch on a grass flat and threw spinnerbaits and a Mojo Rig.  I was throwing a small profile Secret Weapon perch colored spinnerbait with double colorado blades silver and gold.  A few small fish came from that and then I moved to the Mojo Rig with a Zoom Super Hog Between my partner Josh and I we caught around 40 bass off this second weed line we went to.  Unfortunately they were all 12-13 3/4 inches long and as I mentioned above the minimum length was 14".  We started fishing docks and Josh ended up getting a 2 1/2 pounder off the corner of a dock.  I was unable to put a keeper fish in the boat all day and was frustrated with the number of shorter fish I caught and not one that kept.  This tends to be the norm for our first tournaments in Wisconsin.  So given a zero for Sunday I ended up 14th over all for the club and only 9 pounds out of first place. 

So onto June....The Bassmaster Toyota Tundra Weekend Series begins Saturday June 7th and more club tournaments on Saturday and Sunday June 21st and 22nd. 

Another podcast will be posted soon so check back and don't foget you can subscribe to this blog to get updates.  Want to discuss a topic just go to my forum. 

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Played: 115 | Download | Duration: 00:08:48

Now available on iTunes

I just got back from fishing Deer Lake today and it was not unlike it was two years ago when I was there.  Cold, Coudy and windy were the flavors of the day.  It was about 36 degrees when Josh and I launched the boat.

We went to a couple spots right away that we knew about and didn't really catch much except for small ones.  Then we started moving around and looking for what we thought would be productive water.  We found a couple productive spots where fast and slow fishiing techniques caught fish.  It is possible that this tournament will be tough unless it warms up a little. 

I can't wait for the actual tournaments.  I feel good about I am doing and believe it will get me to the scale with something to weigh.