Bass Fishing in the Midwest

Bassmaster Weekend Series Event #4 - Lake Vermillion 8/23/08

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:07:27 GMT

I was excited to fish this body of water knowing that it held some big fish. The boater I drew was on a largemouth pattern on the west end of the lake. We made the run in the morning and the wind was just starting to pick up when we arrived.

We fished several points and weed lines and had some success. I boated a limit and culled up twice. My largemouth came off of a point with a hard weed edge. I was throwing a mojo rig with a green pumpkin pachinko from MG Lures

And I culled my smallest largemouth with a nice smallmouth that I caught throwing a Lake Fork Craw Tube in green pumpkin. Though I missed cashing a check I was happy with my 14th place finish. This moved me from 18th to 13th for the year to date standings.

The last stop on the Bassmaster Weekend Series Tour in Minnesota is Lake Minnetonka on Sept 27 and 28.

Gopher Bassmaster Wrap-up

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:07:27 GMT

So the regular season with the Gopher Bassmasters BASS Federation Nation Club wrapped up on Pokegama Lake on August 16th and 17th. Our last regular season tournament of the year is always on the waters we will be fishing next year for the state tournament of champions. We split the waters between the two days.

Day one we fished the river. My partner and I ran a long way on the river stopping in a few spots along the way. We stopped and fished some slop in little Jay Gould before entering the river and I missed one on a frog and my partner missed two on a buzzbait on the edge of the pads.

We stopped on our first spot on the river and my partner boated one fish there and I didn't get a bass bite only Northerns throwing a black and blue swim jig. We finally made it to the spot that my partner was sure we would catch fish on . It was some thick cane with a hard edge and some eel grass out in the flow there was an open channel between that with a sand and rock bottom and you could actually see the bass moving between the grass and the cane. I was fishing from the back deck most of the day and flipping a 1 oz. tru-tungsten flipping weight with a green pumpkin/red Zoom Super Hog. I was dead-sticking it after flipping it and managed to catch 3 nice fish....though 2 short of the 5 fish limit I was still able to weigh-in 8.07 pounds.

Day two we fished the main lake and my partner and I started on a point. I was throwing a mojo rig and he was throwing a swim jig. I switched to a swim jig and picked up a small keeper. He picked up three keepers off this spot and then moved to another spot that I had fished a few weeks before but it produced nothing which was pretty disappointing. We then moved back to a shallow flat near the point where we started that had some pencil reeds and deer tongue scattered throughout. I was throwing a texas-rigged Lake Fork 4" Ring Fry and picked up my last three keepers there. I ended up weighing in 4 fish for 7.24 pounds.

So overall I had a less than stellar year with Gopher. I had wanted to finish in the top 8 but ended up finishing 15th on the season. I had some tournaments where spots I had did not hold up and my partners spots weren't producing decent keepers. Mentally I know I didn't always execute well enough, so I will look forward to next year and plan to make some adjustments.

We have one more tournament left with Gopher and that is our team tournament Fall Classic. Check back for the report from that tournament in Sept.

Bassmaster Weekend Series Event #3 - Pokegama Lake 8/3/08

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:07:27 GMT

My partner and I started out on the main lake and his plan was to stay there unless we weren't catching quality fish. The first point we stopped on allowed me to boat two keepers but they were only 12 inches and I knew I would need better fish to cash a check. We then moved to a causeway bridge and I lost one right away on a jig and then did not get bit again. My Boater picked up a limit there and then we spent the rest of the day running various docks on the lake.

Throwing a tru-tungsten jig I was able to round out a limit and cull up one of my small fish.

I finished 34th with a 3 fish limit for 5.61. Again another disappointing outing for the weekend series as I again missed the money.

The next day Rich Lindgren and I drove up to Lake Vermillion which is the next body of water for the weekend series and found a shallow water pattern for largemouth and some smallmouth. I felt pretty good after we fished there having never been on the lake before.

Though I have not cashed a check on the weekend series at this point I have caught a limit for every event this year and my year to date standings put me in 18th place.

Lake Minnetonka - Gopher Bassmasters Two Day Tournament - July 26/27

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:18:02 GMT

Day One

My partner Corey Brandt and I started on the west end on a sea wall and stretch of docks we fished in practice and each of us picked up 2 keepers along there. I was throwing a tru-tungsten 3/8 oz. green pumpkin/brown jig. We then moved to a point that was a mix of weeds and rock. We caught solid 3 pound bass on this spot in practice but were unable to catch that same quality of fish on that spot during the tournament. We then moved to another point where Corey caught a four pounder in practice and on his first cast caught a 4.6 pound largemouth which ended winning big fish for the tournament.  We then started hitting some more docks and another point and I was able to pick up three more keepers to round out my limit.

I was disappointed because the fish we had caught in practice were all in the 3 to 4 pound range so I had figured being able to bring a 15 plus pound bag to the scales but only ended up with a little over 7 pounds and finished 19th.

Day Two

My partner Frank Whiteside and I started out on a large weed flat that we fished in practice and found some 2 and 3 pounders.   We spent about 2 hours there and only boated one keeper a piece and they were not the size we had caught in practice. We then moved to our secondary spot which was some thick milfoil and did not catch a keeper there. We then moved to some docks and I was able to catch three more fish to bring my total to 4. I got a 5 plus pounder to the boat on my jig and it came unbuttoned as I was getting it to the net.  That was a heart breaker. This was one of those moments that every bass angler faces where a lost fish can effect you mentally especially when you are so close to boating it. I had a difficult time shaking that off and then could not round out my limit.

I had another disappointing day with only 4 fish for 7.6 pounds and finished 13th.

So overall the Minnetonka Tournaments did not go as expected.  I have the Gopher Bassmasters Tournament on Pokegama in July.

Five Alive Bass Tour Update- Green Lake and Waverly Lake

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:37:04 GMT

Five Alive Bass Tour Update

Green Lake - Isanti County, MN
Dave Larson and I took to Green Lake for the 5th tournament in the team series Five Alive Bass Tour. This lake was filled with matted millfoil and had some docks. We started on a point and fished around until I saw some docks that looked promising. I was throwing a 3/8 oz. sunfish tru-tungsten jig with a YUM Crawdad colored Craw Papi trailer. Dave started throwing a frog and then switched to a jig once we hit the docks. We stayed on the docks for most of the night and I picked up four of our five keepers on my jig and Dave picked up one. We went back into the millfoil but nothing we caught would help us to cull. We ended up weighing 5 fish for 9.49 pounds and finishing 5th.

Waverly Lake - Waverly, MN
Sport Smith and I took to Waverly Lake where Sport had pre-fished about a week before. We decided to start on docks and were told a 20 plus pound bag won on this lake in an 8 hour tournament last year. We were in a three hour night tournament and figured we needed 14-15 pounds to win. I was skipping a
3/8 oz. tru-tungsten green pumpkin jig with a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver Infection colored trailer. Sport was skipping a weightless worm. We each picked up some nice keepers off the docks including our big fish which I caught on my jig that weighed 3.61. We moved off the docks after rounding out our limit and started fishing some millfoil clumps that we saw heading over to the blast-off area after we launched the boat. We culled up about 3 times there. I was switching between my jig and my texas-rigged Zoom green pumpkin baby brushhog using a 1/4 oz. tru-tungsten worm weight and force bead. I also pegged the weight with the tru-tungsten smart peg system. We ended up weighing 14.58 pounds for a 5 fish limit taking second place with the winning bag being 5 fish for 15.6 pounds. So we were one good cull away from winning the tournament.

Our team is on second place overall for the tour only 7 points out of first place.

Bassmaster Weekend Series Event 2 - Whitefish Chain of Lakes - Pine River, MN

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:29:08 GMT

Bassmaster Weekend Series Event 2 - Whitefish Chain

The second stop on the Minnesota Division of the Bassmaster Weekend Series took us to Pine River, MN and the Whitefish Chain of Lakes. I was fishing as a co-angler and was drawn in boat number 2. Being that we were out 2nd we decided to make the long run to Pine Lake on the chain. We started on clumps of millfoil there and I picked up a small keeper and my boater picked up two small keepers. Within 30 minutes there were 4 other boats in that area including the boater who won the tournament. I didn't think we thoroughly fished the area before we left but it wasn't my call in this tournament, since the boater goes when and where he wants. This is something I have learned...don't leave fish to find fish. We weren't catching big fish but they were there. I don't think we took enough time to try different techniques. I caught my first keeper on a Secret Weapon Lures quickstrike spinnerbait with a Tennessee Shad Skirt and a no. 3 gold and no. 4 nickle turtle back blade.

We then moved onto the main lake and started fishing docks where I was skipping a 3/8 oz. Tru-Tungsten green pumpkin brown jig with a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver Infection colored trailer. I picked my second and third keepers up on this under docks and had two smaller keepers and one a little over 2 pounds. My partner was not as adept at skipping docks so we moved off there to some more millfoil clumps and I was pretty much back-boated for the rest of the tournament. I was able to get one more decent keeper and cull up a little. But in the end I finished in 32nd place with only 5.35 pounds for a limit of 3 fish.
I left that day somewhat frustrated with my performance.

Pan a Prog Bass Tournament Lake Marion

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:25:12 GMT

                                        Pan o Prog Bass Tournament

Josh Douglas and I took to Lake Marion on July 12th for the Pan o Prog Bass Tournament. We had pre-fished a couple of times for this tournament and the pattern we decided to start on related to docks. Josh was skipping and pitching a 3/8 oz. green pumpkin/brown tru-tungsten jig and I was skipping a weightless Lake Fork green pumpkin ring fry.

We started on a set of docks and in an area with weeds and rocks across from the launch and boated two keepers right away. We continued to other docks and had 5 of the six fish we needed for a limit all solid keepers at that point. We then moved to an area of matted grass and pads and started throwing frogs. Josh picked our 6th fish up on a Spro Bronzeye Frog. The final fish was the smallest in our bag and we hit the docks again searching for a kicker to cull out the 2 pounder. We figured we had a little over 16 pounds at that point and would need around 19-20 to win. We were unable to come up with one more quality fish by the end of the tournament and weighed 16.26 pounds to yield us a 6th place finish. Our goal was to beat the team of Rich Lindgren and Ryan Brandt, which we did as they weighed 16.00 for an 8th place finish. Our other goal was to finish in the money, which we also we achieved.

3rd place the hard way

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:18:25 GMT

So Tuesday night Sport Smith and I hit the water on North/South Center Lake in Center City, MN for the 4th tournament in the Five Alive Bass Tour. After finding some quality fish in practice we went into the tournament feeling confident with our plan. As happens in tournament situations you need to be willing to improvise. We started on a set of docks in South Center Lake and when we pulled up there was already a boat on them from another tournament that was also underway. We started on the far end of the row of docks and Sport hooked a bass on the first dock while fishing a jig but it jumped out of the water and shook the jig. The rest of the docks did not produce any bites.

We then moved across the docks to an area of slop and reeds and a boat was already there on the far end. So we started on the other end and I picked up our first keeper throwing a texas-rigged Zoom Speed Worm with the paddle tail dipped in red. We moved from that spot to a reed point that the wind was blowing in to. We rounded out our limit there and and culled out our small fish and then planned to hit a section of slop with some bigger fish but when we got there the area had been harvested and was clean. So we had to improvise and moved to another area of slop but unfortunately we were unable to get any bites and it was time to weigh-in.

We had just under 7lbs which put us in 3rd place. The winning team of Josh Douglas and Ryan Brant had a five fish limit for a little over 13lbs.

While we did not catch the size fish we wanted we felt good about not letting the set backs take us out of it mentally.

Have a Great Day on the Lake!

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2nd Place on Clearwater and on to the next

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:13:51 GMT

So last Tuesday Sport Smith and I took to the water on Clearwater Lake in Annandale, MN for the Five Alive Bass Tournament. It is a team tournament, five fish limit. The tournament is a night tournament so there is only three hours to fish; 6-9pm.

We started out on a patch of weeds in about 5-7 feet of water that we found during practice the week before. I caught the first fish on a texas-rigged Zoom Baby Brushhog in Green Pumpkin. Sport was throwing a jig worm and picked up the next two keepers. Believing that my brushhog might be falling to fast I switched to a Flick Shake rig from Jackall Lures and picked up another keeper right away. We rounded out our limit there and continued to fish and we were able to cull out the small keeper I caught initially.

We checked another flat that was about the same as the one we started on but it did not produce any fish to help us out. We then moved to an area with pads and some matted weeds. I was throwing a Spro Bronzeye Frog and missed one good fish on it. I am still working on my ability and confidence with a frog. Sport was able to catch a couple fish that upgraded us a little and then we had to head back to the weigh-in.

We ended up with just under 11 lbs for the tournament and took 2nd place which meant we were in the money.

This weekend Sport and I pre-fished our next lake that we will be competing on this Tuesday and found several quality fish in about 4 areas on the lake. We were able to establish our strategy for Tuesday night. So I don't tip our hand I will give details in the post-tournament blog on Wed or Thu.

Also I wanted to congratulate Lucas Lindgren of the the Gopher Jr BASSteam for taking first place in his age category at the State Tournament of Champions on Serpent Lake.

Have a Great Day on the Lake!

My Website
My Bass Fishing Forum

Bass Fishing in the Midwest Podcast Episode 4

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:09:20 GMT

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

Five Alive Bass Tour and Jr BASS state Tournament of Champions

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:59:57 GMT

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

Green Lake Tournament Gopher Bassmasters Club

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:51:45 GMT

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

Bass Fishing in the Midwest Podcast Episode 3 - Tournament Preparation

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:41:07 GMT

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

Website

Top 10 Finish on Le Homme Dieu

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:36:15 GMT

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

The Weekend Series Begins

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:30:45 GMT

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

Bass Fishing in the Midwest Podcast Episode 2

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:25:12 GMT

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 and Deer Lake Tournaments

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:01:02 GMT

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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Bass Fishing in the Midwest Podcast Episode #1 - The Co-Angler

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:51:35 GMT

Now available on iTunes

Deer Lake Chetek, WI - Pre-Fish Report

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:47:47 GMT

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.

Bone Lake Chetek, WI - Pre-fish Report

Bass Fishing in the Midwest — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:04:38 GMT

So I was finally back on the water Friday and couldn't have been happier. It was nice to be in a boat casting and hunting for the elusive springtime bass. My tournament partner and I got on the lake early morning and spent about 8 hours on the lake. I have never fished Bone Lake but he had a few years ago for a tournament.

We started out on some spots he remembered from his last trip there and then we ventured out to scout some locations that looked like they could be productive. We were able to eliminate some water and we were able to catch a few bass and establish a pattern related to depth, structure, lure type, presentation, and color.

I was able to try a new finesse worm technique that turned out to be productive and also found a good crankbait pattern as well. I have been trying to improve my ability to fish a jig so I forced myself to throw a jig for a good portion of the day after establishing the above patterns. I am getting better at learning the feel of the jig in the water and also recognizing what can often be a subtle strike.

I left the lake Friday afternoon with a sense of accomplishment and confidence for next weekends tournaments. Next stop is Deer Lake in Chetek, WI on Sunday to round out my pre-fishing weekend.

Good Luck to all of you getting ready for your tournament season to start and those of you lucky enough to live in warmer climates well your season is well underway.