Gearing up for the BASSMASTER Classic!

The top 51 bass anglers along with Louisiana's Red River are getting ready to throw down this weekend at the BASSMASTER Classic. The Classic in my mind is the most prestigious bass tournament available. We're talking about the best going against the best and there is no better place to do it than the Red River. I'm expecting the weights to be pretty high for this tourney. The time of year is setting up a great prespawn bite and reaction style baits should just be the thing going. Consider those two alone and it should be obvious that the big girls will be biting. They are reporting a pretty dramatic cold front moving in but I see that as only helping insure bigger stringers. Anglers are reporting some good fish being caught shallow, showing that indeed the first wave of spawners are moving up. When this cold front moves in I would bet that they move back out to deeper water. The front won't be drastic enough to effect the deeper fish, meaning the bite should be steady and all the good ones will be schooled up together waiting to move up. Get on a good school and the possibility of a 20+ stringer becomes a lot more likely.

Going with that way of thinking, I have selected a pretty solid group of power fisherman to lead my Fantasy Fishing campaign. Of course I sold out and picked Kevin Van Dam as my first pick. I'm a firm believer in the phrase,"the numbers never lie". Take into consideration that KVD has finished no worse than 5th in his last 5 Classics, that includes to seconds and a first. Not to mention he's coming of his 4th season as Angler of the Year and not only has the one Classic win from '05, but also has another one from the '01 Classic on the Louisiana Delta. I'd be stupid not to have him as a starter. I'm expecting KVD to contend for this years title. The scary part for the other 50 is that, he expects to win it.

I also added Mike Iaconelli to the starting roster. Ike has both an Angler of the Year and a Classic victory to his resume. He's no stranger to winning big events and Louisiana seems to set up nicely for the New Jersey native. ESPN reports that he's claiming he's on 'em good, even going as far as saying he has a "magical area". This doesn't fair well with his competition, because a confident Mike Iaconelli is a tough one to beat. I'm sure we'll be hearing A LOT of what Ike has to say this weekend!

I also went with Lake Fork's own, Kelly Jordan. Kelly is a great fisherman, that often excels in deeper water but he's also known for catching big ones in and around the spawn. Plus he quotes the Red River as "being in his own backyard". Jordan is one of my favorite anglers on the tour and I'm thinking we will be watching him put in work on the final day.

When I think of Louisiana and bass fishing the name Greg Hackney instantly comes to mind. You would naturally think the Red River would be considered his home lake, that isn't the case at all. In fact he has spent very little time fishing this body of water. Don't let that fool you, he still knows Louisiana fishing, and the Hack Attack also knows how to work a jig for gorilla bass. Add in a cold front and schooled up toads, you can expect the bayou fisherman to have heavily stuffed livewells.

My dark horse pick goes to Iowa's Terry Fitzpatrick. This is a river rat true and true. Terry qualified through the BASS Federation Nation, and although this is the biggest tournament he has ever been involved in, I expect to see some surprising results. He understands current and he's proven at running extensive backwaters in search of good fish. If he keeps his nerves under control I wouldn't put it past Terry to contend against the very best.

Also for those of you that are not signed up yet be sure you do it very soon. Click here to be directed to the BASS Fantasy Fishing Page to register and put in your starting lineup. Also once registered look for teams like Tackle Warehouse to join. Their giving away tackle, rods, reels, and gift certificates. Be sure to tune into ESPN2 on both Saturday morning and evening for highlights of both days 1 and 2. Then absolutely make sure your tuned in Sunday evening for the third and final day highlights and see who gets to be titled World Bass Champion!

Tackle Update: Tacklesmith.com Introduces their New Tungsten Football Jig

I'm really excited about the new products that have recently been added to the Tacklesmith line of products. www.Tacklesmith.com is a tackle distributor that only sells non lead based lures. They carry companies like Tru Tungsten, Keitech, Zappu Inchi, and River to Sea, but to be honest, it's their own line that's getting all the buzz. I recently started employing the Tacklesmith Tube Jig for all my tube style applications for smallmouth bass. Instead of using lead, a known toxin to our waters, they made them from a bismuth/tin alloy. More often than not you fish these rigs with the hook exposed and considering that most of the good smallie areas are on beautiful rock piles, snags are going to be inevitable. I can't even imagine how many lead jigs are scattered across the rock flats on Lakes Mille Lacs, or worse yet, Lake Erie. By using bismuth, tin and tungsten in their products they are doing there part to insure our lakes and rivers stay healthy.

Anyone that's read my blog knows that I'm a giant fan of tungsten in my baits. Tungsten just offers so many advantages when fishing. It's a harder and heavier metal, that offers smaller profiles, while also producing more noise underwater attracting fish to the bait. The only downfall is the price and with the addition of companies like Tacklesmith the price is starting to come down.

Very recently Tacklesmith added a tungsten composite 1/2 ounce football jig to their lineup. This is something I have been begging for in the past and was just shocked that no companies could put two and two together. Until now. The Tacklesmith Bronzeback Football Jig is the first I have found of it's kind. I recently received one to try out and am really excited about the possibilities this jig will provide. I throw football jigs as often as possible, pulling up giant bass form the deeper depths. The key is feeling the bottom for key changes in the structure. A lot of the times I'm looking for small rock piles that are holding schools of lunker largemouth and smallmouth bass. The key is to finding the sweet spot. The advantage of a tungsten head over lead is the head of the jig is smaller than your average lead jig of it's same weight, producing less hang ups. Also there is much more density to tungsten, this produces more sensitivity making it easier to feel the bottom and detecting subtle bites.

The jigs comes skirtless so you can easily thread up a double tail grub. I took the liberty to tie up a custom skirt made of silicone and round rubber. I also added a tungsten rattle and a Gary Yamamoto Double Tail Grub. The results are great. I can't wait for my upcoming trip to Grand Lake, Oklahoma! These jigs are going to cash me some serious paychecks!

Welcoming Home the Newest Member of the House, Kigen

Finally! He's here. Last Monday, Bri and I picked up our new puppy, a 9 week old rottweiler named Kigen. Kigen is awesome! He's been adjusting great. Bri has got him on an all raw meat diet. Something that is proven to help the age long health of dogs. I do encourage any dog owners to take a look into it sometime if they haven't already.

With the new addition I haven't had the chance to get out fishing, which worked out perfectly since the high all week has been hovering right around 15, but that's all about to change starting tomorrow when it's supposed to hit 40 and then is offering highs in 30's the rest of the week. I'm planning on heading up to northern Minnesota for a largemouth slug fest on open water! A warm water discharge keeps the water from freezing so don't think I sold out to drilling holes!

After talking with my buddy Rich Lindgren about the ridiculously good outing he had there last weekend, I decided to put down my light smallie gear and bust out the serious ammo. In Rich's most recent blog entry, he talked about sticking quality largemouths with baits like Tru Tungsten Jigs, Basstrix Paddle Tail Tubes and even Tru Tungsten swimbaits! Not many people can say that in Minnesota, at least not in February when 99% of our lakes and rivers are covered in at least 2 feet of ice. So after listening to all that non sense I was quickly making plans to do just the same. I mean come on, it ain't no fun if the homies can't get none, right? I'll be sure to give a full report when I get back.

I also plan on getting out and exercising some smallies on Sunday. Last Saturday, Seth Fieder and I caught somewhere between 75 and 100 quality smallies in just a few short hours of fishing. We didn't even make our first casts till right around 11 in the afternoon. We caught our first dozen using tubes, grubs and darters. Later in the afternoon we revived the bite by throwing dropshots rigged with 4" Jackall Cross Tail Shads (Green Pumpkin). As the afternoon wore on I started nailing the bigger schools with a Biovex Real Craw (Green Pumpkin) and 3" YUM tube, rigged with an environmental friendly 1/8 oz. Tacklesmith Tube Jig, made of bismuth. We never did catch one over 4 pounds but we did get real close a few times. Hopefully on Sunday I'll get a 5! Wish me luck.

For more information on raw diets for your dogs, please feel free to email myself or Bri at Josh@JoshDouglasFishing.com, or if you live in the Twin Cities here's a link to Raws for Paws.

Slinging Grubs for Schooling Smallies

With day time highs not breaking zero degrees and night time lows hovering around - 30, the only thing I've had on my mind is fishing. When the forecast showed a few days of almost 30 degree weather, I instantly tied up a couple spinning rods with a few select baits and headed to my favorite winter smallie water. I tied on a Biovex Kolt Grub (Green Pumpkin), with a 1/16 oz. Kalin's Jig Head and on another rod I went with a Yum Tube (Green Pumpkin), rigged with a 1/8 oz. Kalin's Jig Head. As far as line I used 8 lb. Vicious Fluorocarbon, and spooled it onto a Shimano Stradic 2500FH with a G Loomis 6'6" IMX meduim action rod and a Shimano Sustain with a G Loomis GLX 7'1" medium acton rod. These setups are perfect because they have the sensitivity to pick up those delicate cold water bites, yet have the backbone to get good hook sets and play the fish, as well as the length to be able to cast light weight baits as far as I need to.

Unfortunately because of other obligations I was only able to get out for a few hours in the afternoon. We arrived at around 1:30 and I instantly started throwing my tube to select rock piles in the area. After about 30 minutes with only one missed bite I moved along and started fishing some small points. Being that the current goes only one way, this set up the points to be the perfect ambush areas for small schools a good sized smallies. The current carries sediment that causes there to be a shallow and deep side off the points. The deep side is going to be on the down river side of the point, and that is exactly where I ended up finding my smallies. I started by throwing my tube and caught a couple nice two pound fish, but I was getting hung up frequently in all the debris, so I switched to the 1/16 oz. Biovex Kolt Grub and was rewarded with more and better quality fish. I would throw the lightweight bait up stream and let the current push it across the point like an injured baitfish and the smallies would come up from the deeper water and grab it.

Unfortunately for me I had to leave early as well to give a lesson on pouring soft plastics otherwise I may have stayed till after dark trying to coax smallies into biting. So at around 4 o' clock we headed back to the cities. I had caught ten good smallmouths with two of them being over three pounds. It felt good to get out there and set some hooks. Although the next week is looking mighty frigid, however next weekend is shaping into a pretty nice one. I'm looking forward to getting out yet again soon. If anyone is interested in going on a winter guided smallmouth trip please don't hesitate to email me at Josh@JoshDouglasFishing.com, to book your trip.

Speaking of guided fishing trips, I was recently contacted by Sport Smith, of http://www.sportsmithfishing.com/, to help him with a corporate ice fishing trip on Lake Minnetonka. After hearing the details I was more than excited to help out and for good reason. Sport put on one heck of a guided trip. We spent the better part of the early morning setting up a nice big tent to house all the guests, than drilled the holes and set up the heaters. There was plenty of room for everyone to move around and mingle and of course, catch fish. Everyone one was furnished with panfish set ups in the tent and then we set tip ups around the house for northern pike. Sport picked a great dropoff on the weedline that hosted all sorts of different fish species from bluegill to crappie and even largemouth bass and pike. Inside the tent was coolers full of water, soda and beer, along with more than enough coffee and hot chocolate. Sports father Bill was a great grill man, serving up hot dogs, burgers, and chicken kabobs, along with baked beans, potato chips and even cookies. John Haynes, Sport and myself stayed busy helping people land fish, taking pictures, and keeping bait on hooks. It was a blast for everyone involved! What a great way for a company to give back to their employees, have some fun and most importantly, create some some quality team building time. Please email me at Josh@JoshDouglasFishing.com, for more information on our corporate ice fishing events. Great Job Sport!

On another note, I am very excited about a new line up of hooks that are hitting the markets this winter. Youvella USA has teamed with Fish Harder Companies and is getting ready to start sending out their new edgy products in the next month or two for public purchase. A rep with Fish Harder Co. has informed me that they will be available to local tackle shops as well as big box retailers like Bass Pro Shops as soon as February. I'm particularly excited about the release of the Little Flip Hook and it's bigger brother the Pro Flip Hook. The Little Flip was designed to flip and pitch finesse plastics with heavy gear and in heavy cover. The unique pro designed hook keeper keeps today’s soft plastics firmly in place. The Pro Flip was designed to keep the soft plastics perfectly in line with the hook point for optimum penetration. The pro designed hook keeper keeps plastics from sliding down the shank, helping you fish harder, longer. Look for more innovative and efficient hook designs to come from this company in the future.

**From left to right: Youvella USA Little Flip Hook and the Youvella USA Pro Flip Hook.

I recently read a great article on BassZone, about a persistent pro named Mark Burgess and his determined drive to make it to the top level of bass fishing. It goes to show that with hard work and endless determination dreams can come true. In fact it's the only way they will.

Schooled by Denny Brauer

With the day time high floating around 15 degrees, Rich Lindgren and I decided to head over to Warner's Dock in Wisconsin for a seminar by the BASSMASTER legend, Denny Brauer. Denny has always been a role model of mine, mainly because of the style fishing that he excels at, he's the master of flippin' and pitchin'.

There's good reason why we would venture all the way out to Packer land to hear Denny speak. Please keep in mind I hate the Packers, but Denny has got a long list of credentials that should make any die hard fisherman sit and listen. Starting his list of accomplishments is his 16 wins on the BASS tournament trails, where he has totaled well over two million in tournament earnings. He is the 1987 BASS Angler of the Year, as well as the 1998 FLW Angler of the Year and his most notable victory has got to be his 1998 BASSMASTER Classic win on North Carolina's High Rock Lake, where he beat out second place finisher George Cochran by a whopping ten pounds!

During the seminar Denny broke down some of his basics to fishing shallow water. Gave some tips and techniques to flippin' and pitchin' and also went through some of the equipment that works well for him on the tournament trail. Given that he spends a vast majority of his time in shallow water working isolated cover, he was eager to show off a new Ardent reel that he help develop, the F500 Flip-N-Pitch. Being pretty much a Shimano snob myself, I have to say that reel intrigued me. It is the first reel on the market to not employ a star drag system or a levelwind guide. Ardent has factory preset the drag on the reel to a hefty 22 pounds and when your main duty is pitchin' a few feet of line at a time there is no use for a standard levelwind, in fact it would only complicate the reel. Tackle Tour recently did a great article on the new Ardent F500, if interested click here to check it out.

The second part of the day included a Lowrance seminar put on by walleye pro and fishing electronics expert, Doc Samson. I personally am going to sign up for an advanced class to better help me understand my Lowrance units and be sure I'm getting the most out of them. There's so much out there in the world of fishing electronics that the more I can learn the more successful I will be.

I also learned today that the BASSMASTER Elite Series has dropped three tournaments next year on Pickwick Lake, Big & Little Bay de Noc, and Lake Champlain and instead added a no entry postseason for the top twelve in the Angler of the Year race. Though the biggest change has got to be the $25,000 dollar entry fee cut. Instead of the standard $50,000 dollar entry for the season, BASS has cut it back to $25,200 in hopes of helping the anglers financially in these current rough economical times. So far there has been no changes to the already set 2010 season.

That's all for now, hopefully the upcoming weather will be sympathetic and give me the chance to get out and jerk on some smallies! I mean seriously, is asking for 25 degrees to much? I'd also like to thank Warner's Dock for putting on such a educational free seminar! Tight Lines!

Tackle Update: Introducing the Shimano Chronarch D

I am proud to inform that Shimano has set a date this upcoming March to release the new Shimano Chronarch D. Being that I'm a die hard Shimano junkie, this has got me trying to think of the many reasons why I need to get a couple of these for this upcoming season.

Personally my favorite reel on the market is the Shimano Core, followed closely by any Chronarch ever made, and the great thing about this reel is it's a hybrid of both. It wears the exact frame of the Core but instead of magnesium, the new Chronarch is made of lightweight aluminum. Another new feature I'm excited about is the CH100D7 is the first Chronarch offered in a high speed 7.0:1 gear ratio,making catch up time minimal on those giant hook sets! The CH100D5 will be offered in a 5.0:1 gear ratio, sure to be one of the premiere crankin' reels on the market.

Tackle Tour recently posted an excellent review of the new Chronarch D, offering the first inside look at what is soon to come. They do a great job explaining the differences and similarities of the current and past generations, as well as highlight some of it's key new features.

Shimano has consistently pumped out the best the fishing industry has to offer and after the success of the new Citica and Curado, you can be rest assured the Chronarch D will be everything it's cracked up to be.

Out with the Old and In with the New

Only a day away until we look back at 2008 and look ahead to 2009. I for one am really looking forward to the New Year.

As you can now see the new version of JoshDouglasFishing.com is up and ready to rock. We followed a lot of the same guidelines that the old version went by, but with the help of Roth Knight, and his company Cantankerous Design, we put a whole new and improved face on it.

Some new features to the site is you can now subscribe to my blog. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on the appropriate link, fill out the information and then you will receive a email when I have submitted a new post.

Another nice feature to the blog is the archive, where you can look back at older posts a lot more efficiently by looking up by month and year.

Some other changes for the new year is the sale of Stick 'Em Lure Company and Guide Service. Because of this, I will now be doing guided bass trips under the name Josh Douglas Guide Service. Look for the link to the guide service on the home page. Trips are starting to book up quick for next season so please contact me soon to set up your next fishing outing.

The bad news is the extended forecast isn't ringing in the new year in the way I would have hoped. Instead of day time temps in the 30's, it's more like the teens. Making fishing close to impossible, unless of course I wanted to go ice fishing, which most of you know just isn't my thing. I'd rather hook up the boat and head south for a bassin' get away. Which this year looks like it won't be until the first week of April, when I head down to Grand Lake, in northeastern Oklahoma. I am very much looking forward to this trip, Grand has been good to me in the past and is quickly becoming one of my favorite fisheries.

I also have been using this down time to get ready for next season and get my tournament schedule all figured out. It's sure to be a hectic one. My tentative plans are to fish the Silverado Tour, the BASSMASTER Weekend Series MN/WI Division, the Denny Super 30's, the Denny's Wednesday Nighters, and a few solo events like the Pan O Prag, St. Jude, MN Federation TOC, and more. As well as some of the Gopher Bassmaster events. My plans are to start to prepare for 2010 when I plan to be competing in the BASSMASTER Opens and FLW Stren Series to continue my push to fishing at the Elite levels of both BASS and FLW.

I would like to hear people's feedback on my newly updated website. Feel free to send me an email by clicking on the Contact link of the website or by simply emailing me at my new email address of Josh@JoshDouglasFishing.com.

That's all for now. I'd like to wish all a safe and wonderful new Year! See you in 2009!

All I Want for Christmas is the Chance to GO FISHING!

First off I need to apologize for the lengthy amount of time since my last blog entry. I usually am a lot better at keeping up. This is the time of year for me to catch up with some things that get put on the back burner during the lengthy fishing season. I usually spend a lot of time chasing around cold weather smallies, but I think I have only been out once or twice since mid November, due to the horribly cold weather we have been having. Trust me, I'm no fair weather fisherman, but when the temp dips under 25 degrees, standard fishing becomes impossible because of line and spool freezing and it's been hovering steady around 0 degrees!! It simply makes it impossible to cast and reel in, especially when a slow retrieve is standard this time of year. So instead I've been saving some money, doing some sponsor work, getting in my entry forms for next years tournaments, and most importantly spending some quality time with my wife Bri and dog Madison. Bri and I are also getting ready for the new member of the family to be able to come home, our new rottweiler puppy! He should help make sure the rest of the winter flies by.

I also have been doing a little equipment upgrading. I recently just got a few of the new Shimano Curado reels in and I have to say that they are even nicer than I was expecting. I'm also real excited about getting my new Power Pole installed. I just know it will compliment my style of fishing so much by the versatility and anchor support it will provide.

On another note, hopefully some of you are making plans for your winter get away. My good buddy Chris Campbell just got back from a business trip to Palm Beach, FL and was able to sneak out one morning for a guided trip on one of Florida's world class bass fisheries. Chris hooked up with Captain Art Canahan, who with his brother Doug Kimball run a very successful guide operation for largemouth bass, peacock bass, and also saltwater species like snook and tarpon. Chris, who is an avid basser himself said that this was the best guided trip he had ever been on, if not one of the better fishing outings to date. They caught both size and numbers of both largemouth and more notably, the beautiful peacock bass. If planning any trips to the South Florida area, give either Doug or Art a call for a awesome day on the water. http://www.palmbeachbassin.com/

I am excited to share that www.JoshDouglasFishing.com is currently being reconstructed and so far the results have been awesome. I have teamed up with Cantankerous Design and we're hoping to have the newly upgraded version up by very early in '09. I will post a link in the near future. Also look for my 2009 schedule to be updated soon. It's already looking to be an exciting season.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday. Merry Christmas!!

Tennessee Valley Adventures

Kentucky & Barkley Lakes, KY, TN

On a recent trip to Kentucky Lake, I got the honor of meeting Mr. Randy Nichols and his wife Nora, owners of Tennessee Valley Adventures. My wife Bri, my dog Madison, and myself got the opportunity to stay at their fully furnished lodge, while I was competing in the BASSMASTER Weekend Series Regional championship. Even though Randy was so busy taking people out on guided fishing trips, we still had time to get to know each other. Randy takes southern hospitality to the next level. Every night I would get home from a long day on the water, the gate to the backyard was open, the grill was already burning, and the delicious smell of Nora's freshly baked brownies and cookies, were just the things needed after a long day. There is a lot of hotels and lodges in the area, but none that can even come close to competing with the service provided, and that are as affordable as they are.


**From left to right: The lodge living room, kitchen, a private backyard with more than enough boat hookups.

Tennessee Valley Adventures offers everything from hunting turkey and ducks to world class fishing trips for crappie, largemouth & smallmouth bass, and stripers. Day after day, Randy had his clients on fish and not just numbers but giants as well. I couldn't believe the size stripers they were bringing in. I just recently talked to Randy by phone and he had just got off the water, with his clients catching slab crappie, one after another. Randy could easily be touring the U.S. competing as a top level bass pro, heck he used to, but he enjoys taking people out on guided trips more. That says a lot about a guy, he turns every client into a fisherman with just one outing. Something very important in keeping our sport healthy for years to come.


**From left to right: Your guide Randy and some of his client's awesome catches.

If your planning a hunting or fishing trip to the Kentucky or Tennessee area, I highly recommend you contact Randy and set up not only an awesome guided trip, but an experience of a lifetime. Combine one of the best lakes in the country with one of the best fisherman in the country and your sure to have an action filled trip. I know for a fact that I will be back to Kentucky Lake for many more tournaments in my life and not only do I have a Kentucky Lake connection but I also acquired a new friend for life. Thanks for everything Randy!

Tennessee Valley Adventures
Specializing in Fishing, Hunting & "Adventures"
Randy Nichols (618) 315-5058 or email him at TVAdventure@Yahoo.com

Chasing Fall Time - Small River Smallies

With my tournament season slowing down for the winter, I have had a lot more time do get out and do some fun fishing, chasing Minnesota's smallmouth bass. This time of year the smallmouth action can be at it's best and small rivers can be one of the best places to get out and really whack 'em. With Fall upon us and the water temp falling the smallies have been starting to bunch up and prepare for the upcoming winter. When I say bunch up, I don't mean four or five fish schools. I'm talking twenty or thirty good sized hungry smallies.

The key to catching them is to first find them and then trigger them to bite. A lot of the times if I can get one to bite, that will literally start a feeding frenzy. The bass will actually compete over my lure. It is non stop fish catching action. However the second I let one get off, it's over. The bite will shut down just as fast as it took off. Usually, I count on a finesse presentation to get the job done, as 95% of the time it will do just that. Although just a week ago, I can remember fishing with my buddy Rich Lindgren and doing better by doing just the opposite. I remember I went from 8 lb. fluorocarbon to 16 lb., setting my spinning rod down for a 7ft. heavy casting stick. Rich was throwing a 3/8 oz. Tru Tungsten Jig (Sunfish) and I was going between a NetBait Paca Craw (Green pumpkin) and a Biovex Real Craw (Real Zarigani), with a 3/8 oz. Tru Tungsten Sinker (Green Pumpkin). We went from a relatively slow day to a great afternoon.


**From left to right: Me with a nice smallie caught on a Biovex Real Craw and Rich with another beauty

To find these schools I usually start with throwing a mid running crankbait until I locate the school, then I'll position my boat so that I can make long casts. My proven cranks are a Rapala DT-6 (Red Craw), Storm Wiggle Wart, and a Biovex Amp and Mid Runner (Fire Tiger, Ayu). Once fish are found there is no better way to catch them then by slowing down and casting small soft plastics on light line. The last couple of days I've done really well by casting a 3" Biovex Real Craw (Green Pumpkin), a Biovex Kolt Grub (Watermelon Seed), and a YUM tube (Green Pumpkin). All of which I was applying with 8 lb. P Line Fluorocarbon and light wire Gamakatsu hooks.


**From left to right: Weapons of choice, Biovex Real Craw in the water (there's nothing more realistic), and the go to setup for hog smallies

When the fish are real active I usually do well catching them off shallow rocky flats that are close to deeper water dropoffs. Once the bite slows down and the shallow bite dies, I'll start working the dropoffs. I also look for wingdams to hold both good numbers and quality sized bass. Topwater can also prove extremely productive in the Fall, given the right conditions.

Well as I'm writing this the snow is already starting to fly here in Minnesota. The extended forecast looks very favorable for some quality smallmouth fishing. I'm also trying to get out to Lake Minnetonka a few more times before it ice's over for the winter. I'll post a report next week. I also may be heading to South Dakota to do some pheasant hunting next weekend. I don't get out hunting to often it usually conflicts with fishing, but one of my good buddies promises an awesome time so wish me luck! Or better yet, I think it's the pheasants that need the luck!

BASSMASTER Weekend Series Regional Championship

Kentucky Lake, Kentucky Dam Village, KY

Kentucky Lake. I have dreamed of fishing this lake since I was a little kid. So it should be more than obvious that I was extremely eager to get to Kentucky and start practicing for the BASSMASTER Weekend Series Regional Championship, a tournament I qualified for by finishing second overall in the 2008 Angler of the Year points race, in the Minnesota pro division.

The first day of practice I decided to fish Lake Barkley. I started by fishing some main lake points and secondary points, figuring that it was going to be an early fall bite and the fish were going to be starting their push from the main lake summer areas to the backs of the creeks. I started by throwing a Lucky Craft Sammy (Citrus Shad) on the main lake point but had no success. I switched to a Jewel 1/2 oz. Football Jig (Peanut Butter and Jelly), again nothing. I worked the bank into the secondary point where I instantly noticed bass blowing up on schooling shad. This time I threw a Zoom Baby Brush Hog (Green Pumpkin) with a pegged 1/4 oz. Tru Tungsten Sinker, and hooked up with my first Lake Barkley bass. Not the best sized bass but it was a start. I moved back up the bank and was quickly hit by a good solid four pounder but it came off at the boat. That one was sitting in a brush pile that was in about 10 feet of water, just off the bank.

I thought that I might have a pattern going but never managed to catch a keeper bass the entire first day. I did catch a lot of 12 - 14 inch bass but none of the minimum size limit of 15 inches.



After not having much success on Lake Barkley I decided I would give Kentucky Lake a try. My research told me that unlike Barkley, there is grass in Kentucky Lake. I thought that would set up better for me in helping find the better schools of bass. I knew that the further south you go on Kentucky the more grass you find. I decided to launch the second day of practice out of Aurora, Kentucky. I figured I would run down to Paris, TN and start fishing my way back up in search for some good water.

Right away I ran to a small creek channel that comes off a big main lake flat. I managed to catch a couple shorts right away on a Biovex Amp Mid Runner Crankbait (Wakasagi Ghost). As I head into the creek channel I noticed some patchy milfoil and a little coontail sitting on the bank in about 3 feet of water. I made a few pitches with the Zoom Baby Brush Hog and boated a nice 17" largemouth. I worked the cove for about an hour periodically getting bites but managing to shake them off and hopefully save them for the tournament.

I tried to duplicate the pattern in similar creeks and coves but just managed to catch fifty or so small schoolers. Again after spending all day on the water I only caught one keeper and countless shorts.

The next day I awoke to a nasty weather front moving in. It had been sunny and 85 degree's the first two days and now it was 45 degree's and down pouring. My morning started very slow but around mid afternoon it started picking up. The weather stayed pretty nasty for the vast majority of the day, but the fishing was red hot. Again for the exception of that they where all small ones. Looking back I spent way to much of the day trying to chase around schoolers that where blowing up little threadfin shad. The problem was that they were everywhere, but for every fifty dinks there would be only one that would keep, and even the keepers where barely bumping the 15" mark. I could see that many of the other competitors where also chasing around those fish which made me think if I could find a school of bigger bass, I may have a great opportunity to win this thing.

The last day of practice I decided that the best fish that I could find where in the the hydrilla that was mostly around Paris, TN and further down lake. I launched in Paris and headed south in search of some real good grass and indeed found it. I found some great main lake areas that had perfect matted hydrilla in about three feet of water that also had the main river channel come right up and bump the weedy flat. There was a lot of baitfish activity in the area and the presence of gizzard shad helped to assure the bigger fish where in the area. I started by throwing a Heddon's Mega Moss Boss (Black) and was instantly awarded with a nice quality keeper bass. I switched to a Gambler Cane Toad (Green Pumpkin) and again another good keeper. I started flippin a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver pegged with a 3/4 to a 1 oz. Tru Tungsten Flippin' Weight and managed to pull on a few more quality bites.

I had to get off the water pretty early in the afternoon to be sure to get to registration in time. I was really starting to build some good confidence and felt I had a good game plan to not only catch a limit, but figured I could catch a solid limit. I was going to make the 65 mile run south of Paris, and start with some early topwater and spinnerbait and try to limit quick on the shad bite, then as the sun got high start flippin' the mats for a few key culls. I filled my boat with gas and headed to the registration meeting.

After the meeting I got back and instantly got to re tying and gearing up for the big weekend. I opened up my front rod locker and was instantly met with the powerful odor of gas. It was the worst I have ever smelled gas before. Worried I opened my battery compartment and the smell intensified. Figuring I had a leak I tried for hours to find the problem and fix it, finally figuring that the tank itself had the leak and was spilling gas into the hull of the boat. Unfortunately for me I had to disqualify myself from the tournament. It's better to be safe than sorry. I wanted to fish this tournament so bad, but logic told me that I would rather be sure I'll be able to fish many more. This was a very disheartened decision to make, but most likely the smarter one.

I ended up having a bad seal on my starboard side gas tank that was spilling gas into the hull of the boat. I major problem to say the least. One spark from all the electrical wiring that runs through the boat and that could have been my very last tournament. Looking back I'm obviously more than bummed about the outcome, but I know I will be back to Kentucky Lake many many more times and now I have a much better understanding for the lake, which will only play as an advantage to me in the future. I had a great time and learned a ton. I just can't wait to get back down there!

BASSMASTER Weekend Series State Championship

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

Finally it's here. When I saw this tournament on the 2008 schedule, it ended up being the deciding factor for fishing this entire series. The weather has been starting to change over from summer to fall. The leaves are changing, the weeds are dying, the water temp along with the air temp is starting to descend, and the bass are leaving their summer haunts and starting to put on their feed bags in preparation for the upcoming winter. Being that "Tonka" is close to my house, I was able to get out there a few times and prefish. The first thing I noticed was that the water had quickly dipped into the high 60's and that the emergent vegetation was starting to back track already. I started by fishing some of my deeper summer areas that had been going good for me months and even weeks earlier. I was catching fish but the size changed from 3, 4, and 5 pounders to 1 and 2 pounders. Worst yet, at times, I wasn't even getting any bites off the structure. I decided right away that these fish were not going to do it for me and began searching for new water for bigger bites.

The day before the tournament, I had found some real good water that had both abundance and quality size. I felt even more confident because I had found some deeper water and some shallow water that were both holding the fish needed to do real well in this tournament. I planned to start focusing shallow and if for some reason the bite slowed I could still put together a good fish out on some of the deeper weeds. I figured this would end up being a junk fishing tournament for me, and I prepared by lining up about 15 or 16 rods ready to go for what ever the day could bring.

Day one of the tournament and I was in the last flight to take off. I was hoping for an early take off as I had a few "solo fish" spots that I wanted to get to right away. It is sort of like sight fishing. I had a few very quality fish that I had pulled on in practice and was very careful not to hook. Being that they were hiding up in some shallow cover be it boat docks, a clump of pads/milfoil, tree laydown, stump or reed patch, I figured that there was a good chance that fish would still be there the morning of the tournament and I wanted to be the first one to them.
I started on a small riprap edge and managed to miss one on my first cast. I headed to a stump that was previously holding a good fish and flipped my jig to it. Almost instantaneously my line started running off to the side and I set the hook....missed again. Frustrated, I continued on with no bites.

After about an hour or so I caught my first keeper, a small 14" largemouth that fell for Swim Jig by Davis (Green Pumpkin). I headed for another riprap shoreline and put two more in the boat. I arrived at a good stretch of boat docks and quickly managed to throw together a quick limit of fish on a 3/8 oz. tru Tungsten Jig. I went back to one of my "solo fish" spots to see if this time anyone was home and instantly was awarded with a solid 4 lb. largie.

At about 11:30, I decided to leave my better areas and head out to some of my backup areas. Being that I had a good limit and that I was only one or two good culls away from a real nice limit, I decided to save my fish for day two. I figured that I could definitely make at least one more good cull, in not two or three, and not risk burning any more good size fish from the water I would go all or nothing from tomorrow. Well, things don't always go as planned and I never made another cull. I weighed in at 11.91 pounds and sat in 13th place. I was a little disappointed in my decision making, looking back, it's easy to say now that I should have given it a little longer and try to get my bag up in the 14 or 15 lb. range before heading out. Although because I left so early I knew that I had the potential to sack a HUGE bag the next day and instead I set my sights on doing just that.

Day two, I drew boat number 11, in the first flight. I drew Dalon Schmidt, and he was sitting in third place on the non boater side. So needless to say we were both looking for big days. At take off I headed straight for a very small milfoil clump that had been producing in practice and managed to swing a solid two pounder in the boat. After a few more pitches to the milfoil I headed over to that same stump that I missed on yesterday, and this time I set on a quality three pounder. I pitched back to the stump and again caught another one but it was only about 13 inches. With three down and two to go, I headed over to a nearby boat slip and managed to fill my limit, with one of them being well over four pounds.

On my way through a long no wake zone, I noticed the wind was pounding in on some reeds and decided to start chunking and 3/8 oz. Amp Lures Musashi Spinnerbait (Sweetfish), and was able to cull out one of my dinks for another three pounders.

I headed out another riprap stretch and started flippin' my Tru Tungsten Jig (Fall Craw), along the steep edges of the rocky shoreline. I caught a couple of shorts and then hooked up with another good three pounder just to have it come off at the boat. In my mind you shouldn't loose a fish when you stick them with a jig. If you hook up they should get in the boat. I was only a hour or two into the tournament, and already had a good bag but that one stung a bit. I fished some pads and docks with nothing. At least nothing for me, my non boater Dalon, couldn't say the same. He had two 12 inch dinks in the boat, when we came across this weed infested jet ski lift. I pitched my jig in there first with no prevail, and then Dalon placed a perfect skip under there with a 7" YUM Dinger and out came a giant 5 to 6 pound largemouth. Unbelievable! He wouldn't eat the jig but took down the senko with no hesitation at all. Of course I wish I had hooked up with that one but it goes to show you that sometimes you need to offer the fish a few different presentations to trigger a strike and if it wasn't for Dalon's perfect skip there would have been no bite at all. Dalon is a real good stick and a great guy to have in the boat with you. I truly couldn't have been happier for him. That put us both with a good limit. I managed to make one more good cull and then time ran out.

Back at weigh in, the buzz, was that over all, the bite was a lot tougher for people and that worked out for both Dalon and myself. I managed to weigh in with a good bag of 15.90 pounds, and with a total two day weight of 27.81, I walked away with seventh place and a five hundred dollar check. Dalon won the non boater side with a good day two bag, anchored down with a hefty 5.6 pound lunker, which was also big bass of the whole tournament. Congrats Dalon!

I managed to finish in second place in the Angler of the Year race. Which is awesome being that this was my first year fishing this series. Next up is the BASSMASTER Weekend Series Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake, near the border on TN and KY. I'll give a full preview on that shortly. Until then I'm spending a little time fun fishing for Fall smallies and hanging with my lovely wife Bri.

Gopher Bass Fall Classic

Lake Waconia, Waconia, MN

I have been looking forward to this year's Fall Classic for quite a while now. It's a true "just for fun" tournament, that has absolutely no meaning except pure bragging rights and of course a few dollars for the top dogs. The name of the game is that you get randomly paired with another member of the Gopher Bassmasters and compete as a team, trying to best the field with the biggest 6 fish limit. Also every member of Gopher votes for a lake that he would like to fish. The top nominations are put to a random draw, with this years pick being Lake Waconia. There is also no prefishing allowed. This posed to be a little difficult being that I have never been to this lake before.

I drew Cody Seiben, a member of our junior club, but don't let that fool you, this kid's one heck of a good stick, with already an impressive tournament resume under his belt. Lucky for me he had been to this lake a couple times in the past and new of some pretty good areas for us to start.

At take off we headed straight to a shallow weedy flat that we thought had to hold some nice Fall time bass. I started by throwing a 3/8 oz. Amp Lures Killa Buzz (Ninja Black) and was quickly rewarded with a quality 15" largemouth. After a dozen or so more casts with the buzzbait with no more bites I picked up a 3/8 oz. Tru Tungsten Jig (Green Pumpkin/Brown), with a 2.75" Yum Chunk (Green Pumpkin) and started fan casting it across the flat. I managed to catch a couple more bass going about 13-14 inches. Cody was pulling a topwater frog across some floating vegetation, when suddenly he was blown up by a big bass that managed to quickly come unbuttoned. I picked up my Scum Frog (Black) and also started throwing it across the veggies and was awarded with another bass about 13 inches. We tried working some boat docks in the area but nothing was going. I came to a nice wind blown section of reeds that sat right off the end of a point and started swimming my jig threw them and managed to catch two more small bass to fill our limit.

We worked some more boat docks and after again no bites, I decided to head for some deeper water in search of some bigger bass to start the culling game. I found a nice point that had a great weedline full of milfoil and coontail and started throwing both a 3/8 oz. Tru Tungsten Jig and a 1/2 oz. Tru Tungsten Jig on the deep weedline in about 8 - 12 feet. Cody and I both got a couple real quality like bites but were unable to hook up. A little frustrated we left and headed back to our weed flat. This time we pulled back in about 5 feet and started throwing everything but the kitchen sink trying to find some good bites. I was throwing a Biovex Amp Shallow Crank (Bluegill) and an Amp Lures Musashi Spinnerbait (Sweetfish), but only managed to catch a couple short fish. Cody started tossing a jig and quickly set into a good fish but again it managed to come loose. Seeing this I grabbed my Tru Tungsten Jig and quickly set on a nice 14" bass culling out our almost 12 incher. Giving up on the reaction bite I started throwing a 7" Berkley Power Worm (Motor Oil) with a 1/4 oz. Tru Tungsten Slip Sinker (Green Pumpkin), and on the very first catch I hooked up on a real nice bass but my line managed to wrap around the tip of my Carrot Stix and the bass came off. I continued to throw the worm for a good half hour but no more takers.

With only ten minutes to go I started aimlessly throwing my Scum Frog to any sort of vegetation that I could see and all off a sudden a real nice bass jumps out at kermit, missing it all together. I put my trolling motor on 100 and got over to the area and started pitching a Berkley Chigger Craw (Black Neon) with a 1/2 oz. Tru Tungsten Flippin' Weight (Black). On the third flip, with only minutes to get back to weigh in, the bass bit, and I flipped in a quality 3 1/2 pound bass into the boat culling out a small 13" bass.

With only minutes to spare, we raced to the weigh in. There were some nice bags weighed in and some not so great, which was expected given there was no pre fishing. The team of Ryan Brant and John Haynes won the tournament with an impressive 6 fish limit weighing 17.82 lbs. Second place went to the team of Dave Cindrich and Jason Elmes with a weight of 15.60, and Cody and I took third place with 13.66 and a much needed pay day!

Next on the agenda is the anxiously awaited BASSMASTER Weekend Series Championship on Lake Minnetonka. This two day event has a lot riding on it. I'm currently sitting in third place in the Angler of the Year points with this one event to go. Also I would like to bank a nice paycheck to take down with me to the Divisional Championship on Kentucky Lake, KY. Not to mention, I spend a lot of time fishing Minnetonka and a good showing would mean a lot to me personally. I'm going against some of Minnesota's best anglers on one of Minnesota's best fisheries, it's setting up to be a great event. I can't wait!!!!

Kairo Douglas: 9/17/2003 - 9/5/2008

Kairo Douglas
9/17/2003 - 9/5/2008

The Rainbow Bridge

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them; who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to break away from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Author Unknown.

MN B.A.S.S Fedration Championship

Mississippi River Pools 4 & 5, Wabasha, MN

I have been anxiously awaiting the start of the Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation T.O.C. since I saw that it was picked to take place at the Mississippi River, over a year ago. I don't have a lot of experience on this stretch of river, but unlike Spring, I tend to do pretty well this time of year. I made a point to cover a lot of water in the few days we had of practice and be sure to have good stuff in both pools. I was able to find new water that harbored both smallies and largemouths and also found that a lot of the water I had done well on in the past was also still holding good fish. I was real confident heading into the first day and I really felt I had a better than not shot at making the top twelve and qualifying for the Divisional team. This tournament brought a bit of a twist to the table in the fact that it was a no cull style tournament. The state law in Wisconsin states that you may never cull a smaller fish with a larger one and once you establish a fish as a keeper by placing them in your livewell, it has to be weighed in. Since this stretch of river shares water with both Wisconsin and Minnesota that law has to be enforced. Because of that this event was made to be a five fish limit but only the best four would be weighed. That way you could still be able to insure a limit and play a gamble on the fifth fish. Once all five are in the box, there is to be no more fishing. This made things a little tougher but I thought with the size fish I had going in practice that it may actually play out in my favor.

This was a draw style tournament, where partners were randomly selected. All 150 participants were fishing for the same goal, making the top twelve and moving on to Divisional's, and getting a shot at competing in the BASSMASTER Classic. Each person is allowed four hours on the trolling motor to run their water. This was one reason why I made sure to cover a lot of water in practice, so no matter where I was fishing, I would have an idea of what would work in that area.

Day one I drew Nate, from Range Bassmasters, and we both agreed to take my boat for day one. We drew boat number 39 and was first boat out in the third flight. Right at take off we headed straight for the dam and was greeted with a barge. Knowing this would take a while we ran some water that was close, killed some time and after a good hour headed back to the dam. After locking threw, I noticed my boat wasn't spitting any water and my heat gauge was quickly rising. As I began to take off to head to my honey hole, my boat instantly started beeping that it was way to hot and my gauge was going through the roof. Not the start I was looking for. For the next two hours we sat there trying to get the boat to work and was completely unsuccessful. We got on the phone with the tournament director and he sent a car down to pick up my partner so he could go back and get my truck and trailer, so we could tow it back and get into Nate's boat and try to fish for a miracle. After wasting hours and hours we were finally back on the water with a very limited time to catch some fish. With not enough time to head back to my water we fished some stuff that was close by. We both caught some short fish going a bout 13 or so inches, not big enough to cross the 14" line and also managed to miss a couple. Way to quickly time ran out and we both put up a big zero for day one. I was very disappointed to say the least. Back at weigh in, I was made aware by the boys at Mobile Marine Pros that my engine was fixed. They drove all the way down from the Cities to fix my boat to make sure I was on the water the next day. The reason for the break down was a broken impeller key, that would not allow the impeller to spin and pull water through the engine, resulting in overheating. Tough break but all part of the game.

Going into day two, I knew I had no real shot at making the top twelve, instead I put my focus on helping my team, the Gopher Bassmasters and going for the big fish pot, and I also have to admit that I still held out little hope of a Tiger like comeback. I drew Steve from Zumbro Valley Bassmasters and after not having a great first day he agreed to go with me to my water that I was unable to fish the day before. At launch we were held up more than three hours because of fog. Right before we were about to finally take of, I received a call from my wife Bri, that our four year old rottweiller, Kairo, had just took a major turn for the worse. Kairo was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer about a month prior and wasn't expected to be around much longer. Hearing news like this shattered me. Kairo is much more than just a dog to me, he's my best friend and a son. I knew I had to fish and Bri told me that I just had to go out there, give it my best, and hurry home so I could be with him and the family.

Finally at about 10:15, we took off and I headed straight for the lock, and again was forced to wait for another barge locking through. After about an hour and a half we were through the lock and had arrived in my best area. I didn't take long and I caught a 16" largemouth on a texas rigged Berkley Chigger Craw (black neon) and a 1/2 oz. pegged Tru Tungsten Flippin' Weight (black). After a minute of contemplating, I decided to throw the fish back. I figured I had absolutely nothing to loose. I was working some deep emerged vegetation (pads, arrowhead, elephant ear, and cane). I power fished a Scum Frog (Black) and then would slow it down with the Chigger Craw. I managed to miss a couple good bites and also let a couple bush me in the thick weeds. Then I got one of my best bites yet, and set into a nice fish going all of four pounds, and some how managed to snap my G Loomis GLX in half and eventually lost the fish. Man, let me tell you........ahh never mind, I'll keep this blog clean!

After brushing that one off, Steve and I finally started boating some bass. This time I played more for the team and my sanity and started putting all eligible bass in the livewell. I caught a couple 14.5 inchers and another 16 inch. Then I caught a good 3 pounder. With about five minutes to go before we had to leave for our long ride back to weigh in, I hooked up with another good one about 17 inches but a bit skinny. We luckily made it through the dam without a hitch and had a good ten minutes to make it back to weigh in, when wouldn't you guess, I blew the powerhead in my engine. Are you serious? Some how, Steve and I made it back to the weigh in with only seconds to spare. Steve weighed in at an impressive four fish for 8.06 pounds, and I with 8.63 pounds. Not bad for only getting two or so hours to fish. It was one of the stronger bags brought in that day, but with a zero the first day, I finished with a very disappointing 79th place. I really felt I had a chance to not only qualify for Divisional's but maybe even win the whole thing. I know boat issues are part of the game, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

As soon as my boat is back in action, I will be right back at it, looking for some revenge at the BASSMASTER Weekend Series two day event on Lake Minnetonka.