Brant Brothers Claim Top Spot!

Generally here at Josh Douglas Fishing I don't go to far out of my way to promote other anglers, it kind of defeats the overall purpose of a self promotion website. With that said I have always prided myself on giving credit where credit is due, especially when the credit goes to my team tournament partners and very close friends.

Ryan Brant and brother Corey Brant found themselves both in the number one spot of the Silverado Angler of the Year standings when the season ended on Lake Minnetonka earlier in the month and both got to fish together in the year end Shoot Out!


The season had lots of ups and downs but both managed to make all the right decisions and in the end where better than all the rest. "I don't think we could have scripted it any better", said Ryan on being paired with brother Corey for the Shoot Out. Ryan contributes his success to long hours on water that he wasn't all that familiar with. Corey, who fished on the Am side, gave his pro's the credit on finding good areas but also on the time he spent himself perfecting different patterns form the back of the boat. I personally have said this since the beginning of the year, it's hard to find a better Am to have in your boat than Corey and I guarantee any of his Pro's would say the same!

Hat's off gentleman!

Denny's Super 30 Shootout

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

I hurried home from the river with just enough time to line up a few rods, get some baits prepared and get ready to take to Tonka for the year end Denny's Super 30 Shootout. After talking over the game plan with team tournament partner Ryan Brant, we came to a very specific pattern that we felt would give us the best shot at taking the two grand first place prize.

Tournament morning started slow with our first couple spots not producing anything. Even our third spot was getting a bit depressing until we came to a small isolated area that always looks good but never seems to produce for me. I even made a comment to Ryan that we never seem to catch anything off this when all of a sudden I get a nice bite. I quickly set the hook on a giant 4+ pound largemouth and as I was getting it to the net it just came off. I couldn't believe it! This has been a thorn in our side on this lake all season. If it isn't me than it's Ryan and if it's not Ryan dropping a big one than it's Corey. I'm sure it's starting to sound like a broken record but sadly it's true. I guess we should just chalk it up to a type of slump, like when a NFL running back gets a case of the fumbles, but believe me this is a slump that will end soon. We all put way to much effort into finding good schools of fish that we just CAN NOT drop the big ones when we hook up. If I sound a bit annoyed it's because I am, unfortunately this wasn't the only big one that we dropped in this tournament. Luckily though, before we could let it get us down Ryan hooked into a nice one that definitely got into the livewell. I managed a few smaller ones and before we knew it, we where well onto our way of filling a descent limit.

We caught fish through out the day making small culls here and there. As the day was starting to get long and the images of dropped fish haunting our thoughts, we decided to call an audible. I told Ryan that not far away was a spot that fishes small but produces good ones. In fact I've fished this area 10 to 12 times and only caught 2 fish of it but both where over 5 pounds. We worked the area and as we where about to leave Ryan sets on what ended up being big fish of the tournament at 5.05 lbs. In fact we made another nice cull like this within 20 minutes and where within sight of winning this thing.

Unfortunately time wasn't on our side and we weren't able to make any more culls to help our bag. We we're one of the first to weigh in our 8 fish limit which came to a solid 23.10 lbs. and landed us in third place with big fish honors when it was all said and done. We where both more than thrilled with the outcome. It was an up and down season but we where consistent enough all year to make the top 12 and in the end walked away with the much needed $1000 dollar pay day plus another $300 for big bass!


Now I'm planning to take a week or so off from fishing and start getting things ready for the upcoming Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional Championship held on Old Hickory Lake, just outside Nashville, TN. I've been doing all sorts of research trying to put together as much useful knowledge of the lake before I head down. Though it calls for an extremely hard bite, my anticipation level is through the roof. I really feel like this tournament could set up well for my strengths. I'll try to put up a prelude entry to the event before I go. Tennessee here we come!

BASSMASTER Weekend Series Tournament

Mississippi River Pools 3, 4 & 5, Alma, WI

It was important going into this event for me to have a strong showing. There's multiple reasons for this, one being that because I missed the last tournament out of LaCrosse due to conflicting tournament schedules with the Silverado, I would have to have a strong finish to assure I made divisional's held on Old Hickory, in Hendersonville, TN. Before the LaCrosse tournament I was sitting strongly in 5th place in the Angler of the Year standings, but after I missed an entire event I dropped like a rock and was sitting in the low 40's.

Another reason I was looking for a strong finish was more of a personal one. I really like fishing the river and my favorite time of year to be down there is definitely during the fall. Although in the past the river hasn't been very accommodating to me during this time of year. Last year I put in lots of time preparing for the MN State Federation Championship held nearly at the same time. What ended up being one of the best practices of my life quickly turned into a nightmare on all sorts of different levels. Day one of the tournament my engine's impeller quit causing me to overheat before I could even get to my starting spot, eventually causing a DQ because I had to be trailered off, I never even made a cast. The next day after getting my engine fixed, we all sat due to fog, during this time I received a call from my wife Bri that our four year old rottweiler Kairo who had been diagnosed with lymphoma cancer a few weeks prior, had just taken a major turn for the worse. Then after the 3 1/2 hour fog delay I got to my spot and was able to finally start catching some good fish, on the way back to weigh in one of my injectors popped. So with this all said, it was personally real important to me to have a better outing down here this time around.

I spent almost all of my practice focusing on pool 5. After two solid days I was able to come up with what I felt was going to be a solid game plan and I had multiple spots that held both quality largemouth's and smallmouth's. I spent a few hours on pool 4, mainly finding areas that had potential for a good fish or two and where located close to the weigh in site, somewhere I could spend my last 45 minutes in the day. When I went to load my boat to get off the water I thought of an area much further north (30 minutes or so) that always has good smallies on it this time of year. I only had an hour before I had to be off the water for registration so I trailored my boat to the closest ramp and launched again. On my second cast I hooked into a 3 1/2 pound smallie and the best part was that shad was flickering all over the place, a key ingredient for this place to be on.

All night I rigged rods wondering what I should do, If I ran up river it would take 30 to 40 minutes in perfect conditions and then take at least 45 minutes to get to my second spot and that's if I could lock straight threw without waiting on a barge. After going round and round I finally came to a commitment that I would make the run, I mean I had to, I always live by the no risk no reward philosophy, it's just not always a bullet proof way of thinking though.

After a nice run, I made it to my first spot and on my second cast throwing a Amp Lures Pop (Parrot), I put a nice 3 pound smallmouth in the boat. The shad started blowing up everywhere but the problem was I couldn't get anymore bites. There was a nice school of smallies there but they where way more content chasing around real food and wouldn't commit to anything I was throwing. I did manage a few but they where all just an 1/8 of an inch short of the mandatory 14" size requirement. Finally afternoon was really starting to close in and I had to make a decision, I had managed one more 15" smallmouth, it was either stick out the day up here and maybe run to a couple more mediocre spots and scratch out a limit or make the run back down river and lock threw to pool 5. I decided it was time to go.

After the 45 minute run back to lock I was devastated to find three barges sitting at the lock. I come to find out that the lock has been down all day because a barge had broke down inside the lock. Being that I spent all practice in pool 5 I had to come up with a plan quick. I decided I would just slowly pick apart the area that I had planned on saving for the last 45 minutes and just spend 4 hours there and try scratching out a limit. After two hours quickly went by with nothing more that a few shorts, which I might add where again an 1/8 of an inch shy, I finally hooked up with a quality largemouth going about 4 pounds. This really put the fire under me because if I could manage to just fill a limit than I would have a nice day 1 sack and haven't even touched my stuff on pool 5. Although I gave it my all, the small area that I had to fish just didn't have the quantity or quality needed for me to put together a limit and I ended day 1 with 3 bass for roughly 9 pounds.

Going into Day 2, I had a slightly different agenda, I found myself way out of the money, but my day 2 Am partner Jeremiah, was sitting in 4th place after he had a successful day 1. My goal instead turned on making sure he got a check as well as showing face and putting together a nice limit of my own. After an up and down day, we where both able to catch fish and in the end Jeremiah was good enough for a solid 5th place finish. I myself ended in a tough 41st place, though with that said it was still a good enough showing to make divisionals, believe me when I say I can't wait to get to Old Hickory!!

No time to rest though, I'm off to Minnetonka tomorrow for the Denny's Super 30 Shootout Championship. Wish me luck!!

Denny's Super 30

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

The pressure was really on for this tournament largely because it was the 5th and final Super 30 of the year, with the exception being the top 12 in the AOY race will get to go at it next week in a one day year end Shootout. A no entry fee, 5 grand for first showdown between the best teams on Tonka. Corey and I found ourselves sitting in 13th place, one spot away. We figure we need to at least make the top 10 today if we where going to make post season play.

Our plan of attack was to go after big fish, we where truly looking for 8 good bites. We had a lot of water to run but figured we'd let the first few spots dictate how we fished out the rest of the day. Our first area worked well when I was able to boat a solid 4 pound largie within the first half hour. Area two was almost as good when I added a 3 pounder to our bag. Our third area proved most productive when things really started hitting the fan. Corey went back to back on two nice 3 pounders and I managed to ad a few small ones to round out our limit.

With an already good bag with only two hours down, we knew we had put ourselves in perfect contention to go for the win. We knew we need 2 more solid culls and we'd have a sack. Fishing started to slow a bit, which we knew would happen but we said we'd stay patient and look for those big bites. Finally Corey set into a donkey of a largemouth and as he was fighting the fish to the boat he switched sides with his rod and we managed to catch the rod into the landing net and the fish come undone. Not exactly the team work we had come accustom to and to make matters worse Corey got another big one caught up and unfortunately for us that one got off to.

We ran water the remainder of the day and both managed to make a few small culls, but still had a few small two pounders left when it came time to weigh. Our sack put the scales to 23.01 lbs. on a 8 fish limit and in the end we finished two spots from the money in a solid 10th place. Because of our effort we where able to move up one spot to take 12th in the Team of the Year race and hold the last spot in the Year End Shootout. It's going to be a blast!

Up next I'll be headed back down to the Alma, WI for the final Bassmaster Weekend Series two day event on the old Mississippi River. I am very much looking forward to this event, I really like fishing the river in the Fall. Wish me luck!!

Silverado Pro Am Bass Tour

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

I've been really excited about this tournament for some time now, that I did everything imaginable to get ready for it. I found time to practice and put in hard work 8 of the past 14 days. I knew that because of my 49th place disaster last month, I would have to finish at least in the top 3 to have a legitimate chance at making the shootout. Even more importantly, I consider Minnetonka my home lake and would love to notch a win here in such a big event. It would just mean a ton to me personally. I've only been fishing the lake for 3 years but since then I have put in my fair share. In my defense Minnetonka can be real addicting, it's got some really nice fish in it, four pounders are the norm here.














**From left to right: A few pics from practice of me rigging up some tackle.

At take off I was pretty confident. I had a good practice and was really on some nice fish. The fishing wasn't fast but the quality was there, when I'd get bit it was a good one. I was able to put together around 15 or so spots that where more than productive in the weeks heading in but the problem was that I couldn't pattern when they would be there. I would check them periodically through practice and found that one day they would bite in the morning and the next day not until late afternoon. So my plan was to milk run these spots and at least try to fish everything twice. The bad part was that I was on the move a lot but the good part was that every cast I made I knew I had a legitimate chance to catch a four pounder. It's not every tournament a guy gets that opportunity.

The tournament started out great with a quick limit and a nice nearly 4 pound largemouth hitting the livewell. I decided to go check a small isolated spot that I knew had great potential. It didn't take but a minute and I hooked into a solid 5 pound fish just to have it come to the surface and spit my bait. It got off!! Man, I can't even begin to explain how much that hurts when that happens.

As the afternoon wore on the fishing really started to slow and I just wasn't able to get enough of the big bites that I needed to put together a winning bag. In the end I weighed a limit of 6 bass for a total weight of 12.93 lbs and a disappointing 28th place finish. Although it wasn't the outcome I was looking for, I was still somewhat happy in that I worked very hard and was extremely prepared for this tournament. Frankly I just didn't get the bites needed, but I put myself in the best position to win. If I can continue to prepare for all my other tournaments like I did this one, I'll have a very highlighted future. It's going to take a ton of self determination, but that's the challenge I live for.

A sincere congratulations to my two real good buddies and my team tournament partners, Ryan and Corey Brant, who after a very successful year both found themselves on the top of the Angler of the Year points. Ryan finished 1st on the Pro side and Corey ran away with the honors on the Am side and now the brothers are paired together in next week's Shoot Out. Way to go guys!

Gopher B.A.S.S. Federation Club Tournament

Lake Minnetonka, Twin Cities, MN

Tonka, Tonka, Tonka. In the next couple of weeks, I could be competing in four different derbies that will combine for a total first place earnings at 70 grand, all of which are being held on none other than Tonka itself. Needless to say that I jumped all over the chance to join my MN Federation Club, the Gopher Bassmaster, for a weekend throwdown.

It has been decided by the MN B.A.S.S. Federation that next years venue for the state Championship will also be held on Lake Minnetonka. This is an event I am extremely looking forward to. Since the tournament is local, I figure it gives me the best chance at advancing myself to divisionals and make a run at the BASSMASTER Classic.

Being that Minnetonka is only 15 minutes from my house, I've been spending every extra second out there, trying to put in my time and piece together a solid pattern before the Silverado lands there in two weeks.

I was out there both Thursday and Friday before the club tournaments and managed to locate good fish relatively quickly. Since the lake is being divided in half each day I spent most of Thursday on the east side and friday on the west. I checked a few spots that had help me secure a solid 7th place finish last year on Minnetonka for the Bassmaster Weekend Series, but more importantly I spent a vast majority of my day trying to locate new areas. All in all, I was very pleased with the outcome and was pretty excited to get out there Saturday morning and start filling up livewell.

Unfortunately, because of these big tournaments that are coming up in the next few weeks I really can't get into many details on what worked and what didn't. Saturday we awoke to our first cold night, touching the high 40's. Although the bite was really tough, I managed to use my patience to help me to a awesome 2nd place finish with a total of 5 bass weighing 12.59 lbs.

Sunday's Tournament, held on the lake's east side, started out even more chilly with overnight low's in the low 40's. Again I was able to put together a solid game plan and rode it to a very gratifying 1st place finish with a winning weight of 16.32 lbs.

Although I have lots of work to do, I can't help but to be excited.

Check back soon!

Denny's Super 30

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

After a rough finish at Saturday's Silverado tournament at Lake Minnewaska, I was anxious to get out on Tonka and get that bad taste out of my mouth. Pairing up for this tournament was my buddy Corey Brant.

We managed to get out on Sunday to practice and found the fishing to be great. The big ones where biting and we didn't even fish any of our tried and true spots. Instead we searched new water and where able to find some nice areas holding good schools of fish.

Tournament morning went very slow and we left some of our best areas with not even a single bite. After fishing about three productive areas with nothing to show, I knew we needed a change. We've found that power fishing some of these areas proves to be most effective, but after these tactics weren't producing, we needed to scale back and throw a bit more finesse at them. Being that my boat was in the shop, I didn't have the proper tackle along so I made the suggestion to Corey who was obviously thinking the same thing. It wasn't two casts later and Corey sets the hook. We managed to put a small limit in the boat and things started turning for the better, so much better that Corey managed to get a solid 4 1/2 pounder safely in the boat after it was completely pinned down in the thickest milfoil and he was only using 8 lb. line!! It was sick. That's just not how it happens, but things started going our way.

We weighed in with 8 largemouth's going 23.10 pounds, good enough for a solid 9th place finish. Unfortunately they only paid out 8 spots, but we moved up from 20th to 13th place in the Angler of the Year points race and are only sitting one place outside the top twelve who all get invited to fish in the no entry shootout.

I'm excited because next week Bri and I are taking the dogs up to the cabin for a fun relaxing weekend. Then when I get back it'll be nothing but Minnetonka, with a lot of big events taking place there next month I need to be sure to be a top my game. I'm really looking forward to it.

Silverado Pro Am Bass Tour

Lake Minnewaska, Starbuck, MN

This whole tournament was a challenge for me literally from start to finish. Two weeks prior to the actual tournament I put aside a couple days to get out there and practice. Being that I had never even seen the lake before, I wanted to at least get out there for the weekend and check things out, get a good feel for the fish and more importantly get familiar with the lake itself. Unfortunately, an hour after I launched my trim went out completely on my motor and instead of figuring out the mystery of Lake Minnewaska, I was forced to limp back, load up and head back home to get things patched up.

Once tournament week came around I was charged up and ready to go. I got a new trim motor put in my Evinrude and it was running great. I was able to practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and it wasn't until mid afternoon Friday that I finally found a few good schools of fish. I didn't have a backup plan at all but if this pattern held up it could produce winners. I've never had this challenging of a practice and worse yet, had never felt this uncomfortable about my opportunities get a check.

Well to make a not so long story even shorter, my pattern definitely did not work out. After four straight days of sun, tournament day gave way to stormy and cloudy skies which definitely effected my fish. I struggled half the day to even coax a single bite and when I finally wised up and made the proper adjustments I dropped the few good fish needed to fill a nice limit. Instead I managed to only weigh in three bass for a total weight of 4.56 lbs. and took 49th place, dead last. I once said after winning the first event of the 2009 Bassmaster Weekend Series, that in order to actually win one of these tournaments everything has got to go right, from practice all the way to the the weigh in. The competition is just too stiff and someone ALWAYS manages to catch them. On the other hand, to finish last, most everything has got to go wrong.

Although very disappointing, I've still managed to learn a very important lesson that will make me an even better tournament fisherman. I've learned to be a bit more humble. In only my second season fishing at this level, I've been so fortunate to have had the success's that I have. I've done this by putting in my time and trusting my own decisions on the water. This tournament I didn't listen to the voices in my head telling me I needed to adjust, instead I was stubborn and didn't make the proper changes until it was to late and then panicked and didn't stick with the adjusted game plan long enough to make it work and it resulted in my worst performance by far. Someone once told me to be a true winner you must first learn what it's like to loose. Point taken....

Congrats to my good buddies Ryan and Corey Brant for their strong finishes, 3rd and 7th respectively. Hats off gentleman!

Japan to Hold New World Record Honors?

I've waited a few weeks to post about this topic but as more time goes by it seems all things are legit and George Perry's tanker 22.4 lb. largemouth bass that held the world record for the past 77 years is on the verge of being trumped. Manabu Kurita, 32, has reportedly caught a reported 22.5 lb. largemouth from Lake Biwa in the Shiga Prefecture of Japan.

Early reports where that Kurita caught the giant early afternoon on July 2nd using livebait, a species similar to a bluegill. The Deps pro also caught a 18 lb. largie a few years back on a swimbait.


Lake Biwa, the largest lake in all of Japan, is known for it's beauty and and it's depth, bottoming out at a gnarly 300 feet. Despite all the giant bass that Biwa holds, Japanese officials have been working to oust largemouth bass from the lake, trying to eliminate all invasive (non native) species from the lake. Even the Lake Biwa Museum Restaraunt serves black bass on it's menu.

With Japan leading the way in the bass tackle industry, it seems fitting that they may now hold the big bass honors. Although with all the giants coming out of California in the past decade, I feel it won't be long until the record gets toppled once again.

Congratulations to Manabu Kurita and his awesome catch. In my humble opinion it's by far the most prestigious record to hold in all the world.

BASSMASTER Weekend Series Tournament

Mississippi River Pools 9 & 10, Prairie Du Chien, WI

What a tournament. Literally from the beginning of practice this was a grind it out type of event. The venue was the Mississippi River Pools 9 and 10, which borders both central Wisconsin and central Iowa. I have never been to this stretch of the Mighty Miss before and wasn't sure what to expect. I had a very hectic week before with sponsor meetings and guide trips and was only able to allow myself two full days of practice. Being that I don't know the water at all and have limited time to prepare, I decided to cut out pool 9 all together and concentrate on only pool 10. I figured since the tournament blast off was on 10, it made more sense for me to stay there and not waste valuable fishing time locking threw. Plus from the internet research that I did, it didn't sound like any one pool was much better than the other.

I got on the water early Friday morning and quickly starting running south figuring I would slowly make my way back north as the day wore on. Six miles down river and all of a sudden my run came to a quick stop when I spun the hub in my prop. Surely there is worse things that can happen, but annoying and a waste of time none the less. As I crawled my way back to the boat ramp fighting current and going no more than 5 miles an hour, I was able to get a hold of a traveling partner and fellow competitor Brian Brown. Luckily for me he was only about 7 miles from me and was happy enough to come down and lend me a hand. After about an hour or so I was back in business and on my way. Fishing though was slower than expected and finding keepers was next to impossible. I found areas that I knew had to hold fish but couldn't get bit to save my life. This was discouraging because I knew the conditions where perfect for catching fish. It was mildly hot and we where dodging thunderstorms all day. Literally the bass should have been jumping in the boat and from what I was told from other competitors they where having awesome days on other stretches of the river. Finally around 5 o'clock I was forced off the water when all hell broke loose and a mother of a storm was headed straight at me packing baseball sized hail, lighting and flood producing rain.

The next morning I found out that local highways where closed due to mudslides and knew for certain that this would drastically effect the river's water clarit, making finding clear water a challenge. When I launched, I instantly noticed the main river channel was already getting muddied up. Despite all this my last day of practice was a huge success. I was able to find a nice area that offered deep water and had some great laydowns and the key was it maintained clear water. I flipped a Tru Tungsten Jig (black and blue) to the timber and and on the first flip caught a chunky three pounder. Two flips later to a different piece of brush and out came a 2 1/2. I continued a ways pulling on what had to be around 15 to 20 nice bites.

I decided this would be a great place to start and then headed out to find a secondary spot. I figured since the conditions where going to set up right that I should look for some slop areas that I could finish my day on. It didn't take long at all and I found a few key areas and also as equally important when river fishing, I found my routes in and out of these areas. By about 4:30 it was time to get off and head over to registration where I again got a bad boat draw and was in the third flight, boat number 55. The good thing was that I knew I was fishing two solid areas both having the potential to produce winners.

After take off I arrived at my first spot and was disgusted to see the water had turned to chocolate milk. I knew this would effect the bite but wasn't sure how bad. After three hours of fishing lets just say it was horrible and I finally called the areas quits leaving with one 14" largemouth. Leaving this area and heading to my back up area I was a bit discouraged but knew I still had about five hours of fishing and knew I wasn't out of this at all.

My second area started no better for me and after a couple hours I was yet to catch a keeper sized bass. I was mainly throwing a 1/4 oz. Super K Swim Jig, a Sumo Frog (black) and flippin' almost everything. I must have tried 15 different plastics trying to get bit. A few other guys where saying how the bite in this area really died down and that it was much better earlier in the morning. This was discouraging to hear, but as long as bass are in an area I'm determined to catch them. Finally after about and hour or two I caught my second keeper, a descent 16" largemouth on the rat.

With only about a half hour remaining before I had to check in, I was really starting to get anxious. I had only about 20 minutes of actual fishing time because of the 10 minute boat ride back to weigh in. Finally the slop exploded and within seconds I had boated my third keeper. Feeling I had an outside chance now to get a much needed limit I called an audible and shot to one last small area that I knew could have two keepers on it. The area was a nice little point that was surrounded by pads and duckweed. After a few casts with the rat a nice bass came flying out the water missing my frog all together. After a few more throw backs with the frog and a Sweet Beaver, I decided to move on, I only had a minute or two before I absolutely had to get back. A few more casts and I whacked another keeper! That made 4. Now extremely determined to catch a limit I swung back around and made a few more casts at that nice one that had blew up on my frog and wouldn't you know it, on literally my final cast it inhaled my frog and I put my fifth in the boat, a nice largemouth going about three pounds.

I raced back to barely make it in on time and weighed in at 10.78 lbs, good enough for 21st place. I generally would be disappointed with this kind of finish. I fish these events to cash checks, but I couldn't help but happy with the outcome. EVERY tournament angler will have bad days, days they will not come in with a limit. Leaving I felt this should have been one of those days, however I impressed myself by staying focused and using every available second I had to put a limit in the boat. Probably the biggest part of being a successful tournament fisherman is to develop mental toughness and today I feel I took a step in the right direction.

Congratulations to my boy Brian Brown for his outstanding first place finish and big bass honors. Since he plans on buying a house down in Kentucky in the next couple weeks I'm sure that 10K payday will come in real handy for him and his wife. Congrats Buddy!!

Silverado Pro Am Bass Tour

Le Homme Dieu Chain, Alexandria, MN

Today was the second stop of the Silverado Tour held on the Le Homme Dieu Chain, in Northwestern Minnesota. After a solid sixth place finish here last year in the BASSMASTER Weekend Series event, I was more than eager to get back up there and try to do even better.

During practice I was having no problem catching fish and was able to catch them both deep and shallow. Big fish where few and far between though and I could tell right away that it wasn't going to take a giant sack to win this event. In fact, I figured everyone was catching them and it would take about a two and a half pound average to be at the top. If I could manage to put a true four pounder in the boat and a bunch of two's, I would be in great shape.

It wasn't until the day or two before the tournament when I was out practicing with my wife Bri that I found a couple areas that where holding some quality Le Homme Dieu keepers. I was getting plenty of good bites and even hooked up with a solid four pounder and Bri managed to boat a nice three pound largemouth on a Biovex Stangun Omega Spinnerbait (Bluegill). I knew if I was lucky enough to get an early boat draw, I would be in the driver seat the rest of the day. I don't want to get into to many specifics on the bite but let's just say my number one pattern fit right into my wheel house.

The unfortunate part was that my confidence quickly took a blow when I found out at registration the night before the tourney that I drew boat 49 out of 49. I was dead last to go at take off. Usually I wouldn't be so bummed about this but the way the lake was fishing, I knew that the areas I wanted to fish weren't any secret and was certain that I was going to have sloppy seconds once I finally managed to get there. Despite all this, I knew this area was holding winners and was still committed to getting there.

After take off I quickly discovered that I wasn't getting left sloppy seconds at all, no it was more like thirds or fourths. I did manage to put a few keepers in the boat, but we're talking about text book peanuts here, aka dinks, going all of 12.5 inches. With my mind starting to scramble a bit I just started running to all kinds of water, anywhere that I had gotten good bites during practice. I caught fish all day, some pretty good ones and even made plenty of culls, but in the end I still had three 13.5 inch bass in the well and knew that wouldn't be enough to get a check. I weighed in at a not so hefty 10.66 pounds, only good enough for 25th place.

I hold myself to such a high level that I couldn't help but be disappointed in the outcome, though I know I did with what I could. I'm probably fortunate to finish as high as I did. On the upside I only dropped three spots in the Angler of the Year points race and am currently sitting 19th with 2 events left. With the top 14 getting invited to compete for a brand new Ranger Boat in the Silverado Shoot Out, it's more than important that I finish strong the rest of the way.

Looking ahead I get only a day or two off and I'll be headed down to the Wisconsin/Iowa border to compete in the third stop of BASSMASTER Weekend Series going out of Prairie Du Chein, WI. Being that I've never been there before I have no idea of what to expect. I'd like to say that I'm just fishing this one for the points but the competitive side in me won't settle for much less than the win. I guess that's why I live for this, wish me luck!

BASSMASTER Weekend Series Tournament

Mississippi River Pools 3 - 5, Alma, WI

After winning the first event of the 2009 BASSMASTER Weekend Series last month, I was more than stoked to get back on the Mighty Miss and attempt to go back to back. Since my 29th birthday is only two short days away I couldn't think of a better birthday present for myself.

I was able to get out and give myself ample practice time and really felt I had found some good areas. The other thing I spent time on was learning the vast backwaters that line the main river channel. Running these areas can be as difficult a task as actually locating and catching fish. A guy's really got to know where he's going when running at high speeds and idling isn't always an efficient way to get around. It just simply takes to long to get from one area to another and makes it actually impossible to get into some of the best areas. Since the backwaters are littered with sand humps, stumps, weeds, wing dams, rocks and whatever else floats down river, it's essential to know what your doing.

Every day of practice I was able to locate good fish but finding them grouped up was a bit difficult. I did manage to catch good largemouth and smallmouth each day and figured I would just have to run lots of water and I'd be in good shape. I didn't have any one lure that was always working and I was truly junk fishing the entire time. At one point I counted 21 rods on the deck of my boat all equipped with different lures that where all somewhat catching fish, everything from topwater to bottom baits and everything in between. Do you have any idea how much Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon I went through preparing my rods for game day? It'll make you cringe, but better safe than sorry. Good thing it holds up for a long time and I won't need to change it until my next major tourney.

Unfortunately I drew boat 72 out of 78 and was forced to wait a while tournament morning before I could got to work. My plan was to lock down to pool 5 right away and try to be back to pool 4 by 11 o'clock. Since I was one of the last to take off, I wasn't able to lock through with the first group and had to burn even more time waiting to get into pool 5.

Finally I got through and quickly arrived to my first stop. On my second cast I loaded into a nice smallie going 3 to 4 pounds, but because of a bad hookset the fish came off. Not the start I was looking for, but before that smallie could get back to the school and snitch me out I made another cast and hooked up with a nice smallie that weighed 3 pounds 11 ounces. That got me back on track and after a few more casts with no results I headed to another spot that I had caught some real good ones at in practice. One my first cast I managed to hook up with a HUGE smallie going well over 5 pounds and after about a good 30 second fight my line snapped and what was easily the biggest smallie I have ever been hooked up with disappeared. This was a hard pill to swallow, not only would it have been a personal best but it would have really put me in awesome shape to repeat a win. I looked at my line and saw it was tattered up and looked like shredded cheese, I had been fishing around rock and shells and must have had my line pretty beat up before I even made that cast. I maybe break off a fish once or twice a year, sure they get off but they don't break my line that often. I should have checked before I ever made that cast, but lesson learned, it was just horrible timing, but I can easily say that I won't make that mistake twice.

I needed to build some momentum so I decided to go do some flipping for largemouth in an area not to far from where I was and attempt to put together a quick limit. After loosing two giant smallies in the first half hour of actual fishing, I needed to start going in the right direction. It didn't take long and I put a 16'' largemouth in the box. I also caught a few more but they where in the 13" range and where not past the mandatory 14' mark to keep. After about an hour or so of flipping I decided to head back to my spot that I broke off that toad. I was able to catch a nice 17" smallie but that was all. I guess when you send the queen of the school back with a hook still in her mouth, things tend to get a bit "spooky" in that area.

At about 11 o'clock it was time to lock back through to pool 4. I had a few areas that had coughed up a couple 4 pound largemouths in practice and figured this would be a good area to fill a limit. I knew I had to fish fast and just started chucking and winding a Super K Swim Jig and was able to fill a respectable limit.


I weighed in at 12.42 pounds and tied for 27th place out of 78 boats. Not horrible but disappointing none the less. I couldn't help but think what could have been had I landed those two smallies early in the day. I was less than a pound away from cashing a check as it was and with those two I would've had the chance to take the win. But what if's surely don't cut it and I tilt my hat to those that made it happen. To be at the top of the leaderboard in one of these events means you had one heck of a good day on the water, limited your mistakes, and was better than the rest. Congrats to those that did!

I'm currently sitting in 4th place in the Angler of the Year points with the next stop in July at Prairie Du Chien, WI. I can't wait!

Congrats to my good buddy Rich Lindgren for his solid 8th place finish! That a boy Rich!

Tackle Update: Super K Swim JIgs

Over the last two years swim jigs have become a staple for me on waters in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. Known largely for it's effectiveness on river systems, I've found it to be equally productive on our lakes as well. When worked correctly, the swim jig comes through the thickest of vegetation when little or no hangups and at the same time offers a very unique subtle presentation.

Since swimming a jig is generally known as a shallow water technique, this subtle presentation becomes even more important. Most "weekend anglers" are shallow water fisherman and the shallow flats on heavily fished waters get very tough. There are always a good number of big bass shallow but these fish simply see a lot of flamboyant baits like frogs, spinnerbaits, and big jigs. Swim jigs on the other hand can still be power fished and move water quickly, but also offer that finesse factor to get shy bass to strike.


Over the past year or two, I have experimented with all sorts of different swim jigs and quickly realized that they are not all created equal. I've found that a little tackle manufacturer out of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, has got it down to a science, Super K Swim Jigs. Their superb design of the bait starts with the perfect cone shaped head that insures the bait slips right through the grass. You can throw this bait anywhere! It also comes standard with a hand tied skirt and is offered in many bass catching colors. The best part of this jig is in the business end, Super K Swim Jigs come standard with a stout 5/0 Gamakatsu hook. Fish bite and don't come off!

Please feel free to visit Super K online and see for yourself just how many more strikes you'll get!

www.SuperKFishing.com

Denny's Super 30

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

Today was the second tournament of the Denny's Super 30, held on Lake Minnetonka. This is a team format tournament, which consists of Myself, Ryan Brant and Corey Brant. Being that we all are in other tournaments we split up the events. The first tourney held last month was taken by Ryan and Corey and this month was Me and Corey. At the end of the year the top 8 teams qualify for the Shoot Out and compete for an additional 5 grand and even last place takes a check.

I was able to get out on the lake on Friday morning and all day Sunday. I found the fish to be scattered. I stayed away from any of my good water and instead looked for new areas, I just didn't want to stick any good sized fish a day before the tournament as I knew I would be fishing there no matter what.

I did find a new area that was holding some good smallmouth. It wouldn't be a winning spot but could definitel cough up a couple nice 3 pound smallies. With an 8 fish limit those could be crucial.

Most the bass seemed to be scattered anywhere from a foot of water to twenty feet, it was just hard to nail down a solid pattern. Although at the end of the day Sunday, both Corey and I where pretty confident in our game plan. The fishing was going to be hit or miss for everyone and it was just crucial to have a solid three pound average when we took to the scales. We knew we had a lot of water to fish and made the commitment to run and gun, spending no more than 15 minutes at any one spot without catching a keeper.

The weather tournament day was great. It was sunny and 80 degrees with a nice 5 - 10 mph wind. Corey and I managed to put a limit in the boat rather quickly but size was an issue. I did haul off and put a quality 4 pounder in the boat right away in the morning but all the rest where between 1 pound and 2 pounds. We made plenty of culls throughout the day. I was pretty much power fishing, while Corey was following up with more of a smaller finesse presentation. I think this is important at times. When some bass are active and others are not, having a one two punch like this can really be beneficial. Corey was catching fish all day but the size really wasn't there. None the less we where culling, even if it was only for an ounce or two at a time.

With about an hour left it was beginning to be crunch time for us to make a move. It was starting to cloud up so we made the decision to head shallow and try to pop a couple good ones. I was able to catch one more solid keeper a nice 4.8 pound largemouth, that ended up being our big fish and culled out a 1.7 pound peanut.

We weighed in at 20.3 pounds only good enough for 18th place, about two pounds out of the money. We did manage to move up a few more spots in the Team of the Year race though. In the end we where one big fish or two descent fish away from cashing a check.

Next tournament is the second stop of the Bassmaster Weekend Series held back on the Mississippi River. After winning the first event last month, I'm really looking to back it up with another strong finish. I'll have plenty of days to practice so if things go well it should be a great birthday for me! Wish me luck!

Denny's Wednesday Nighter

Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN

Tonight's tournament was the second time I've been on Tonka this season. With other tourneys I haven't even been able to get out on one of my all time favorite bodies of water. The sad thing is Minnetonka is one of the best bass fisheries in all the Midwest and it's only a half hour from my house. And I've only been out there twice?? Well, needless to say that will change now that summer is officially here. I'll be spending every available second out there sticking 5 pounders from the abundant vegetation that amasses the lakes interior.

Fishing these with me is my good friend Joe Perez from Mobile Marine Pros. We where able to get out and practice last Sunday. Fishing was poor for the most part. We fished deep, shallow and everything in between and just weren't able to put together a good pattern. The fish seemed scattered and inactive. We probably caught 10 at the most but I did manage a nice 4+ pound largemouth, but most all the rest where just peanuts. With limited practice we decided we would just go by the seat of our pants and hope some older areas worked out. We figured I would power fish from the front and Joe would size down and try to pick up the inactive fish with some well known Tonka finesse presentations.

At blast off we headed to one of my favorite deep spots. On my first cast I boated a nice largemouth weighing just shy of 4 pounds. That really gets the blood flowing, but we still knew we had a lot of work to do. On Tonka you have to almost always have nothing but a 4 pound average if you want a legitimate shot at taken first. We continued to work the area for the next hour and Joe did manage to boat a small keeper.

After fishing another hour with not even a bite, Joe recommended a very obvious spot, that I think most people overlook, including me. We caught a lot of small bass under the 12" mark and I did manage one small keeper on a drop shot.

With three in the box, I decided to try some shallow water that has worked well for me in the past. I managed to boat two more around the three pound range and unfortunately dropped another solid three after an awkward hookset.

With only 45 minutes remaining we headed to the first area we started. I did manage to make one small cull before time ran out. We only weighed 11.53 oz. and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. Dean and Ted Capra won the tournament by almost 3 pounds with a weight in the mid 18's.

The weather forecast calls for plenty of sun and temps in the 80's. The hotter the weather, the better the fishing! See you on the water!

Silverado Pro Am Bass Tour

Green Lake, Spicer, MN

Today was the first stop of the 2009 Silverado Pro Tour. For the past few years I have been looking forward to being apart of this tour as it's probably the top tournament circuit in the mid west. So naturally you can see why I have been so eager to get out and prove myself amongst the best bass fisherman this area of the world has to offer.

The first stop was to Green Lake, a clear and rocky lake that's chuck full of smallmouth bass. This lake also offers a fair amount of largemouth bass, but generally if your targeting them in a tournament your most likely missing the boat all together. What the lake lacks for in vegetation, it more than makes up with it's abundance of off shore structure and shallow rocky infested flats.

Being that I had only been to Green Lake for a total of maybe 10 or 11 hours last year, I knew I had a lot to learn. I was able to get up there around 5 pm on Wednesday evening and quickly launched my boat. I used what little time I had left in the day to just get a feel for the lake. The water temp was in the low 60's, making me believe that the smallmouth had to be in the heart of the spawn and with the full moon approaching figured I would spend all day Thursday searching out shallow area that held a good number of spawning fish. I was able to catch a few nice sized smallie's by burning a spinnerbait and also managed to catch a 4 pound largemouth on a jig. Remember what I said in the last paragraph? Now that's great. Just another thing to get in my head while trying to piece together a quality pattern.

Thursday brought sunny skies and relatively calm winds. Perfect for searching for bedded smallies. I found them pretty easy to catch and was able to mark anywhere from 50 to 60 beds. They could not stand a 3" Biovex Real Craw in their face. I rigged it on 8 lb. Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon and secured it on a Tacklesmith Banana Jig XL (3/32 oz). I also was able to catch a few by simply chucking a 3/8 oz. Biovex Stangun Spinnerbait (#10 White Chartreuse).

On Friday I was able to get out with Aaron Teal. He was my Am partner and was paired with me for this event. Aaron is one heck of a good stick, he understands how to break down water and has all the mechanics to fish both shallow and deep water.

I had my mind made up that I was going to use this last day of practice entirely to searching out some deep water areas. I wanted to find some good pre and post spawn fish that could give me a winning sack. It didn't take long and Aaron sets the hook on a nice 4 pounder. I worked with that and headed to another area that looked relatively the same and like clock work I caught a nice 3 pounder. I continued to do this all over the lake and the fishing was fantastic. I would simply pull up to these deep rocky areas and catch a fish, all around 3 pounds and a couple in the 4 pound range. Literally I'd catch one on my first cast, way point it and leave.

This left me in a pretty good position. I had both a shallow and a deep pattern that was catching good numbers and good sized fish. Even though the forecast called for high winds, I made the commitment to stay deep instead of joining the crowds by fishing for bedded fish. It was just icing on the cake when I found out I drew boat 47 out of 49 for take off.

Morning started out windy from the get go and the temp was in the very low 40's. The high was called for around 45 to 49, down from 75 the days before. The forecast also called for plenty of rain.

Catching fish was really not a problem at all. I easily a had a limit within the first hour and a half and a good one at that. The problem was all the fish where around the same size. All where right in the 2.5 to 3.5 pound range. I caught all my fish on a Tacklesmith Tungsten Football Jig, which worked perfectly for those deep water smallmouths. I never broke one off, it came through the rocks perfectly. Aaron was also catching them by employing various soft plastics.

The wind was definitely an issue though when it came to efficiency. When your fishing for schooling smallmouth it's important to stay on top of the school. They're so competitive that they almost get to easy to catch once you fire up a school. Usually once you hook into a good smallie off of structure like this you want to get your bait back down there right away. Usually I wouldn't even put the fish in the box before I would make my next cast. This proved to be a problem in that the wind was so strong it would blow me 100 yards away from the spot before I could even get the bass unhooked. Not to mention fighting wind like this all day really wears on the boats batteries. My Minn Kota 101 was able to keep up but my cranking battery was really taking a load being that I had multiple Lowrance Units on, running livewell to rejuvenate these deep fish and a constant bilge pump to get rid of all the water that was coming overboard by both the rain and the three foot waves. Seeing that my battery was really running low I decided it was important to get to the other side of the lake where if something happened I would be within trolling motor distance of the weigh in site. When points are critical a disqualification due to late weigh in can be devastating.

With an hour or so to go in the tourney, I decided to work a shallow flat out in front of the loading docks. I caught a few more that weren't able to cull on the Biovex Spinnerbait and did manage one more small cull by sight fishing a nice smallie off her bed.

I knew I had a solid limit but didn't know if it was worthy of collecting a check. I knew I didn't have the fish to win it but thought a top 10 was possible. After it was all said and done I was disappointed to find out that my limit of 17.53 pounds was only good enough for a 16th place finish. I didn't get a check but a top 20 is very important in the long run. It's not a sprint it's a marathon and after the first stop I'm in great shape at making the top 20 and fish for a brand new Ranger in the Shoot Out this September.

Up next is the Denny's Wednesday Nighter in a few days. Ahh finally, I get to get out on Tonka! I hope they're biting!

Also please check out the article on my win at the BASSMASTER Weekend Series, on the American Bass Anglers website.

http://www.abaproam.com/newsdetails.php?news_id=177

Happy Fishing!

BASSMASTER Weekend Series Tournament

Mississippi River pools 3 - 5, Hager City, WI

Today was the first stop of the 2009 Bassmaster Weekend Series MN/WI Division. After finishing second last year in the Angler of the Year points, I was more than eager to get this year under way. Although honestly, I didn't know what to expect this year. I always hold myself to high standards but have to admit I was pretty nervous on how I would perform now that all the tournaments are being held on various pools of the Mississippi, as opposed to different lakes in northern Minnesota. Since my desire is to compete in more upper echelon national level tournaments, which are mostly held on some sort of river system throughout the south, I figured this would be great preparation on understanding current and other various variables that rivers provide.

I was able to get out the weekend prior and do some much needed practice. The tournament was held on a considerably large portion of the Mississippi so I had a lot of water to cover. First day I headed to the St. Croix and the upper portion of pool 3. I fished some new water and also fished a few areas that I had done real well on a couple years back in a club tourney. With the water temp in the low 60's, I figured the smallmouth in this stretch would be preparing to spawn. It didn't take long to locate fish but size was an immediate concern. Most bass where under the mandatory 14" minimum and if they where larger it wasn't by much. I was locating fish by throwing a Biovex Intro 50 Minnow Jerkbait (Ayu) and a Super K Swim Jig (White Flash), and followed them up with various soft plastics. I did notice some nests and figured that by tourney day the big girls could possibly move up and join the little bucks that I had catching.

The next day I headed to the southern part of pool 4 and also checked out some areas of pool 5 that have been good for me in the past. I got a special treat in that my wife Bri joined me to help insure I had a good practice day. Hmmm, I wonder if the 80 degrees and sun had anything to do with it? Fishing for us was fair but the fish where scattered. Putting together a solid pattern down there was a real challenge. I caught a good largemouth early on a flat with a 6" Basstrix Paddle Tail Tube swimbait and also a good smallie on a rip rap bank on a Super K Swim Jig (Tequila Blue). I also managed a few more small keepers on a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, but although I did manage a limit, I never managed a good pattern. The fish where random with no two bites coming on the same lures or same locations. Since the run alone from take off would be no less than 25 miles with the possibility of over 60, it just wasn't worth the loss of fishing time without a more confident pattern.

Since I felt I had something going on pool 3 and the St. Croix I decided to recheck those areas. I got out early Friday morning and was able to catch a limit within the first hour. The big ones where starting to do just what was expected and where moving up on to the shallow ledges, preparing to spawn. I was also able to duplicate the pattern in other areas giving me more potential of finding the fish needed to bring a winning sack to the scales.

Since I was committed to my pattern, I used Saturday, the last day of practice on figuring out my route and finding some good areas around the lock and dam. Since we where launching in pool 4, I had no choice but to lock through to pool 3. Lock and dams can be a disaster when fishing a tournament if you don't manage your time well. Barge traffic always takes rank and can at times take up to 2 hours for a single barge to get through the lock, so it is critical that I gave myself ample time to lock and not risk be disqualified because I couldn't get back to weigh in on time. Weigh in was at 2, so I wanted to be back to the lock by at least 11:30, which meant that I would need to have some good fishing areas on both the north and south side of the lock, but not much more than a mile away.

I caught some good post spawn smallies along some rip rap on a Amp Lures Midshooter (Ayu), and also had a couple good ones following my swim jig along a wingdam. I checked some backwater and pulled on a few pretty good largemouths as well. All in all, I was confident in my pattern, although I knew there where other possible patterns out there, all of which could potentially win this tournament.

On tournament day, I drew boat 9 and had an early 5 am take off. I headed north and when I came to the lock, I noticed it was holding a barge. For 45 minutes, I fished some rip rap and random lay downs and just as the lock doors where opening for us to enter I caught a nice 17" smallmouth.

After a long run, I finally arrived at my first area that had a few nice beds that I had marked the other day. I had a couple good bites but missed them all together. I guess I had what is called a case of the jitters. I decided to go check some other stuff and give that area a chance to calm down. When I returned the wind had picked up and I wasn't able to see the beds but still knew where they where, which actually proved to be helpful in that I stayed back and made longer casts to the area. On the first cast I hooked up with a nice 3 pound smallie. Then on the next cast I duplicated it by boating another solid 3 pounder. I had really sized down my presentation and went to a 6'8" medium heavy G Loomis GLX Spinning Rod and 8 pound Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon. I set the drag low on my Shimano Sustain 2500 to insure that the fish wasn't going to be able to get awayf.

After a good start, I decided to check out some random marinas but only managed to catch a few small ones, nothing worth keeping. With three solid fish in the livewell, I started making my way back down river stopping at a few other areas that had the same type of structure. At 2 of the 3 stops I managed to catch two more good smallies, one was my biggest 3.7 pounds, which I might say put up one very nerve racking fight until finally giving in. I am very fortunate to have been using 16 pound Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon, because without it there's a good chance that fish would have broke me off.

I made it back to weigh in and was one of the first to take to the scales. My five smallmouth went 15.25 pounds and I was able to take over the lead. I anxiously waited while all 80 some pros weighed and in the end no one was able to take it it away from me. I can't even begin to explain how much this win means to me. I was able to overcome some unfamiliar water against some of the best fisherman in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. My beautiful wife Bri was there along with her whole family and even our two dogs and with all that I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of the first place 5,000 dollar check! There's truely not a better feeling in the world!















With the second place finish on Okoboji earlier in the month I've managed to gain some good momentum and hope to continue right along for the upcoming Silverado Tournament on Green Lake, in Spicer, MN. I have a couple days to relax and enjoy this win but then it's time to get back to it. Look for a full report soon. Happy Fishing!!

Click here to view the full tournament results.

Gopher B.A.S.S. Federation Club Tournament

Mississippi River Pool 2, St. Paul Park, MN

Today was the first tournament of the year with the Gopher Bassmasters. In practice I was finding largemouths in much of the river's backwater areas. Catching wasn't much of a problem, with most largemouths coming on anything from jigs and tubes to spinnerbaits and swim jigs. Smallies where also abundant and I was very pleased to find a few areas that where consistently holding good ones in the 4 pound range. Most of these quality smallmouth came off rock that had just the right amount of current sweeping past it and wasn't to far off the main river channel. I felt pretty confident heading in and knew I had that right areas to produce a winning bag.

There was one interesting twist in that this pool of the Mississippi is strictly catch and release. Which meant that this would be a paper tournament and whoever you got paired with would verify the fish's length. Since the other angler is technically fishing against you as well, you know it makes for an honest competition. Then back at the "weigh in", the tournament director uses a conversion formula to get the fish's weight, which then gets added for your 5 fish total. For this tournament I drew first year member Paul Coffey.

My first stop of the tournament was to a shoreline that had a lot of laydowns and was holding both largemouth and smallmouth. After making a few flips with a 3/8 oz. Tru Tungsten Jig with no results I picked up a 1/4 oz. Super K Swim Jig (Tequila Blue) and quickly stuck my first bass, a 14.5" smallie. Continuing to work down the shoreline, I came across a nice laydown and pitched my jig and instantly noticed a nice bass roll on it. After a poor hookset, I carefully managed to get the nice 4 pound largemouth to the boat but as I was reaching for her she came unbuttoned. That stung a bit but I convinced myself it was still very early and new I would have more opportunities at a few more that size.

After a few more casts I started seeing more and more tournament anglers working into that area and since Paul and I only had one bass a piece after a good hour I decided to split and run to another area that held some real nice smallmouth.

I pulled in and quickly starting casting a tube up to a nice rock wall. After a few casts I hooked up with another 4 pound fish except this one a bull smallie. As I was getting the fish close to the boat I saw her come up dance around and spit my hook. Without even a moment to think about what just happened I quickly grabbed my Super K Swim Jig and fired it back to wall before that bass could get back to the school and snitch on me. As soon as I starting winding in the jig my rod loaded up and again I was hooked up with another 4 pound smallie. I get this one to the boat quickly and just as the fish was all but in the net I saw my jig pop free of it's mouth and the smallie dive back out of sight. Ouch. That stung. I really don't loose fish that often, in all of last year I can remember loosing fish like that maybe only twice. Never two in one tournament.

After talking a second to regroup and let the area die down for a minute, I made a few adjustments to my tackle and far more importantly my attitude and went back with the thought now of just putting together a limit.

I caught four bass in the next hour, 3 smallmouths and 1 largemouth, with one smallie measuring 19" and change. Paul also managed to boat some key keepers but really couldn't seem to get that big bite to really bring together a solid limit.

As the sun got higher the smallmouth bite slowed and instead fish like sauger, crappie and drum moved in. With only an hour or so left in the day I figured the largemouth bite would be heating up so we ran back to the original area that we started. I quickly managed to boat a nice 16.5" largemouth on a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and culling nicely by getting rid of a small 14.5" bass that was really hurting my overall bag. On my very next cast i noticed my line cutting to one side and instantly set the hook into another good one but before I could manage that thought my lined snapped! When it rains it pours.

Back at weigh in I totalled 13.89 lbs and finished in 6th place. A respectable finish but I couldn't help feeling pretty disappointed in the outcome. If I could have boated three of those four fish, I would have had the winning bag. In the end, "what ifs" don't cut it and the best learn to overcome it. Hopefully I got it all out of my system for the year. Paul finished in a very respectable 8th place, even better considering it was his first tournament with the club. Paul also managed to throw a couple nice bass, one being a toad largemouth that surely would have moved him up a few spots in the final standings.

Up next is the first stop of the Bassmaster Weekend Series held on Mississippi River Pools 3 thru 5. I plan to get out there a few times in the next week to get in some good practice and hopefully piece together a winning pattern. After that I head straight out to Green lake in Spicer, MN for the first stop of the Silverado Pro Tour. I can't hardly wait!!

Okoboji Open

Lake Okoboji, Spirit Lake, IA

Finally the first tournament of the 2009 season! The forecast called for higher temps in the mid 60's along with plenty of sun. Ryan and I got on the water early on Saturday and started in some of the areas that we had caught fish the weekend before. We had decided that we where going to target pre spawn largemouth and had a few areas we thought would produce some solid keepers. We also made the commitment to not burn any fish by actually hooking them. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Although it may have proved very successful. I made three casts and got three real quality bites and where able to shake all of them off without actually hooking any of them.

After a quick start, we staring moving around and dissecting similar areas, again finding a lot of nice bites. For the most part we where targeting transitioning largemouths that where moving back toward the shallow flats to spawn. The odd part was that we where getting bit all morning but couldn't buy a bite after 10:30. I'm not exaggerating either, literally that was it, just like an on/off switch. So around 2:00 in the afternoon we decided it was best to get off the water and get an early start on preparing our tackle and making a game plan for the next day. We decided that we where going to live or die in our few areas we had that we knew held quality keepers. This time of year big bass are all bunched up and if a guy can figure out a way to get them to bite, a big stringer can rack up relatively quickly.

At take off we headed straight for our most productive area and quickly discovered that we weren't the only one's who where going to be starting there. In fact we actually ended up sharing the area with 4 or 5 other boats, which just made us work even harder and since the bite seemed to fade in the early afternoon, we found it even more crucial to put together a quick limit.

It just goes to show that a good game plan can really go along way, because I manged to catch a 3 1/2 pounder within the first half hour of fishing and it got even better when I stuck a jig into the mouth of a quality 4 1/2 pound largemouth just 20 minutes later.

After making the first set of rounds we decided to go back through the area and work it a little more slow and thorough. That again played into our hands when I added a nice 2 1/2 pounder on a swim jig. Shortly after, Ryan gets in the action and boats a solid 3 pounder on a hand tied Ryan Brant custom tungsten jig.

It was about 10:30 and the fishing was really starting to get tough. We where one shy of a limit and bites where getting few and far between. When we did manage to get a bite they where all to short to keep and I was starting to get a bit nervous. I knew that the bite was only going to get tougher as the skies got higher and really knew we had to get that crucial limit fish into the livewell. Feeling the pressure, Ryan and I decided it was time to make a move. We headed for another area that proved pretty productive in practice. We came to a nice dropoff that fell from two feet to eight and formed a perfect drop just before a subtle shallow flat. I pitched my jig to the drop and instantly set on a nice largemouth, she rolled once for me and then come off. Before I could get overly disappointed I pitched right back to the drop and set again this time on a short fish. Now pretty determined I made another pitch to the same location and managed to catch a squeaker of a 15" largemouth, just long enough though to round out a nice limit. Then wouldn't you guess? We where never able to catch another keeper big enough to cull for the next four hours. Ryan did have a couple real good bites but neither managed to make it in the boat.

We weighed in at 15.38 pounds and held the lead until the last boat in the tourney knocked us off with a winning weight of over 19 pounds. A tough pill to swallow but second place finish is a very strong showing for our first time fishing there. We also managed to cash a nice paycheck to hopefully jump start an awesome season.

With the first tourney of the year in the books, my anticipation level for the rest of the season is through the roof! Like I said before it has been way to long of a winter and I don't want to have to tough through many more of them. Bri and I are really looking forward to moving to the Nashville, TN area sometime in the very near future and our starting to make plans to get our house ready to be put on the market. Hopefully if all goes well and things manage to fall into place we will be making the move in the next year or two. Until then though I have a lot I'm looking to accomplish here, starting with strong showings in both the Silverado Tour and Bassmaster Weekend Series. Practice starts now for the Weekend Series held just across the border in Wisconsin on Pool 4 of the Mississippi River. Traditionally I haven't done all that well fishing this stretch of river in the Spring but I'm hoping to change all that and I think some extra practice days will be very beneficial for me to find some quality areas that hold good fish.

I'd also like to congratulate Dave Ham and John Fairbanks on their impressive win this year at the Okoboji Open. I really thought we had won this one until you guys strolled up and smacked us all! Nice limit guys!

Setting Sights on Okoboji

This weekend I will be heading down to Iowa to compete in this year's Okoboji Open, an annual team tournament held on Lake Okoboji. Teaming up with me for this event is my good buddy Ryan Brant. Being that neither one of us has any experience on this body of water we decided to head down for a little pre practice and get and idea of what this lake is all about. Lake Okoboji is actually a chain of lakes located in northwestern Iowa and is known for it's good population of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. West Okoboji is made up of deep rocky structure, while East Okoboji and other lakes in the chain are far more murky and shallow.

Last weekend Ryan and I where met with some very difficult weather that made fishing a little on the tough side. We did manage to catch a couple quality bass though and have a pretty good idea of what we need to do to catch a good sack of money earning fish. The key now is to locate enough of these quality areas to help insure us the fish needed to cash a check.

Over the last few weeks I have managed to get out a few times to Pool 2 on the Mississippi River to do some fun fishing but also prepare for an upcoming club tournament that will be held there in the middle of May. I was really excited when this stretch of the mighty Miss was selected because I had never been there and I knew it held an excellent population of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Better yet, it's only a 15 minute drive from the front door of my house to the boat ramp. I've been able to locate some good fish, but some days are far better than others. I'm starting to figure out that's just how the river works. I figure if I spend some extra time fishing this stretch of river it will help me get an even better idea of how bass operate on other pools further south. Hopefully this added knowledge will help me to another successful year competing in the Bassmaster Weekend Series MN/WI Division, held solely on none other than the Mississippi River.

Well all for now, I have a lot to get done before I leave town to fish Iowa's Big O. Wish us luck!

Grand Lake, Vinita, Oklahoma

I recently got home from a trip to Oklahoma's, Grand Lake. This was my third time there in the past three years and I have to admit my expectations where real high. Every trip I take to this lake seems to getter better and better and this year couldn't have followed suit any more perfectly. I was joined by a bunch of good buddies Cris Campbell, Jamie Short, and Ryan Brant. Also we were met by two more friends who tugged their Ranger over from Colorado, Chris Beddow and Brandon Jensen.

The first day we awoke to balmy and cloudy weather. When we launched I instantly noticed the water temp in the low 50's and the water wasn't nearly as dirty as last year. Ryan and I started by working from the back of the cove out to the main lake, it didn't take but a few casts and I stuck my first bass, weighing just shy of 5 pounds. Awesome! After catching a couple more good sized fish, Ryan joined in the party by boating a solid 5 1/2. What a nice fish! We where quickly developing a pattern, before we got here the water temp was pushing 60 degrees and the bass where getting prepared to spawn. A cold front moved through the area and knocked the water temp back down, which in return pushed the bass back into a holding pattern, just waiting to move up and spawn. We where able to find most fish off drops in 8 - 15 foot of water, close to spawning areas. Shallow fish where few and far between and high winds kept us off a good majority of the main lake. On our way back in to the cabin, Ryan and I where pretty pumped about the remainder of the trip. We where on fish and good quality ones at that. I decided I would try the same spot that I caught the 5 pounder in the morning. I tossed a 1/2 oz. Tru Tungsten Jig (Peanut Butter and Jelly) to the ledge and as soon as it hit bottom I noticed my line running off to one side. I set the hook and was instantly stopped dead in my tracks, the fight was on and after a not so graceful landing I had a awesome Grand Lake toad in the boat. She weighed in at an astonishing 7 lbs. 13 oz. and after a few pictures I released her back unharmed for another angler to one day enjoy.





Campbell and Shorty also had a good day but found success a little differently than we did. They caught some good ones by cranking Norman crankbaits on secondary points. They said they seemed to hit on the stop and after looking at the proof on Jamie's camera, you could guess that I would have a similar crankbait tied on as well.

The next day the forecast called for a stormy front with lots of rain and much cooler temps. Ryan and I started by following the same pattern that worked so well the day before. We caught a lot of fish but better yet the overall quality was a little better than the day before. Surely we didn't catch any more 7 pounders but pretty much everything was a solid keeper with a few real nice ones as well. The best part was we really got dialed in our pattern and were able to look on our map and jump from spot to spot knowing which areas had the most potential for quality fish.

After the front moved through it left us with cool temps in the 50's and low 60's and bright bluebird skies. It was nice to enjoy the sun after a long Minnesota winter but the fishing got tougher. We still found success with jigs like the Tacklesmith Bronzeback Football Jig, but we also had to employ the skakey head to just barely catch keepers. Ryan and I both had the spinning gear and light line in our hand's for a good majority of the trip. I found success going back and forth between an 1/8 oz. Reaction Innovations Screwed Up Jighead with a 4" Zoom Brush Hog, on a 7' medium heavy action Carrot Stix spinning rod, with a Shimano Sustain and 8lb. Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon and a 1/4 oz. Reaction Innovations Screwed Up Jighead, with a Amp Lures 6" Mimi shakey worm, with a 7'1" medium action G Loomis GLX spinning rod, Shimano Sustain and 10 lb. Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon.

Campbell and Shorty also had to slow down their techniques, they started really catching them good by following our same pattern but instead tossing Berkley Chigger Craws on 1/2 oz. Picasso Shake Down Jigs.












All in all it was a great trip. "Flipping Jigs and Drinkin' Beers" was the motto of the week. We fished hard all day and kicked back at night. I enjoy fishing more than anything, but between guiding, tournament practice, and the tournaments themselves, it's very rare to have a stress free, relaxing and just plain fun trip like this. Although believe me, I can't wait for the next major tournament to come to Grand. Where do I sign up?

Headed for Open Water!!!

Finally it's time! I'll soon be headed south for Oklahoma's well known, Grand Lake. I have been doing a lot of homework in preparation and am really liking what I'm learning. I've been to Grand the past two seasons and found success in a lot of different ways. Two Springs ago we where met with a record breaking cold front. It was sleeting and 30 degrees the first day and the high never went above 40 the whole week. Weeks prior to then the average high was 70 - 80 degrees, making fishing more than difficult. The spawn was already over and a vicious cold front mixed with a post spawn funk, made bites few and far between. Although it did take some work I ended up doing alright. The size was never there, with most all fish weighing about 2 to 3 pounds but the quantity was great. I found most fish on main lake points in 10 to 20 foot of water, throwing 5/16 oz. finesse style Jewel Jigs.

Last year the weather still was a bit cooler but it was a pretty chilly Spring all together. The lake had seen record rainfalls and the water level was very high. This also made the water color very dark, almost the same color as chocolate milk. With the water up in the trees it didn't take long to get bit by pitchin' a 1/2 black and blue jig to the timber. I would average 10 or so bites a day, but almost all of them where over 3 pounds, with most being 4 and 5 pounders and a 6.1 pound toad just for kicks. Almost all the bass came on the jig but the big fish came on a 1/2 Jewel Football Jig on a main lake point that has always proven good for me down there.

This year we are looking at a pre spawn bite with the spawn right around the corner. I'm expecting males to be attacking anything shallow and the females just waiting to move up. The water temp is pushing 60 and the week forecast calls for lots of sun and highs pushing 70 degrees. One day will be a bit chilly and lots of rain but to me those are the best days to catch big females. With the warmer days and nights and a full moon on the way, I'm hoping to see a good bed bite by trips end.

I'll be sure to give a full report as soon as I get back. With all the rain we've been getting here in the cities I'm expecting ice out on most metro lakes to be right around the corner. Hopefully before I get home. I'll then be headed down to the Mississippi to get tuned in with those river smallies. Follow this link to know when your favorite lake is officially ice out!













On another note, I'm just got my 2009 tournament jersey's in the mail and I am more than impressed. They look awesome thanks to the people at Gemini Sports Marketing, who were more than helpful and the best part is I got to design it myself. These jerseys are made of the best high grade material on the market. Not only do they offer protection for your skin but also breathe better than anything on the market. I've used other companies in the past but have to admit Gemini knows their stuff. See you on the water!!