First Tournament of the Year

Tomorrow is the first tournament of the year for the Fishers of Men. Steve and I are hoping to better our 3rd place finish of last year. We prefished last Saturday and did OK. The weather looks good for most of the day. So its time to get it done. I will post our results and tactics next week.

Wisconsin Opener

Lake Owen Smallie

Friday night April, 30th Guy and I headed for Wisconsin for the opener. It rained most of the way up there. We made the stop in Hayward for minnows and headed for Saz's cabin at the Nam. We were up early Saturday morning and greeted with winds that would not die down all weekend. So we dumped the boats and headed for the usual spot. It did not take long to get our 2 fish limit. We moved around a bit and the fishing just died. So we loaded up and went in for lunch. In the afternoon we went to "Secret Lake". Guy and I headed to the bass spot right away. To bad it was in the windiest part of the lake. On Guy's first cast he set the hook into a dandy but it turned out to be a toothy critter about 8 lbs. we then started to catch some bass. The Sunfish R.T. Jig was the ticket. Boat control was really an issue so we only made 2 passes before we had to move. We did catch fish in our other spots, just not the quality. Sunday was more of the same with the wind. We did the "Nam" in the morning and in the afternoon we hit Lake Owen. Lake Owen is really clear and deep. we got the boats in and Guy and I just dropped the trolling motor and started fishing. Guy got it started with a largemouth on a jerk bait. I followed shortly with a smallie on a Red Eye Shad rattle bait. I caught 4 more in short order then the sun went behind the clouds and couldn't catch any more. We moved down lake and started fishing wood. Guy caught 5-6 off one tree on an R.T. jig and I caught a couple on a tube. Jimmy and Mark caught a 22" walleye. Monday was travel day so we just went to the "Nam" to finish the weekend. Got our 2 fish limit and then packed up and headed for home. It was a great trip again this year. The wind really hampered what we wanted to do but we made the most of it. Thanks again to John for opening the cabin to us. It was nice too see the crew: Saz, Dewey, Mark and Jimmy again. Can't wait for the first Saturday in May 2011 to do it again.

Outkast Pro Swim Jigs

As I have fallen behind on posting I remember that I had not posted the new colors for the Outkast Pro Swim Jig. The one on the left is Sexy Shad and the one on the right is Glitter Shad. Both colors are now available online from Outkast and if you are in the Metro area. Cabelas has them in the store. I usually put a Outkast Fat Tail Grub on as a trailer and fish it like a spinner bait. Just reel it in pumping the rod tip a few times to create an erratic motion. It is great for fishing through cabbage and over the top of coon tail. It also comes through pads with ease. I fish it on a 7' med rod with braided line so when you hook up it cuts through the weeds and you can get the fish out. If you have not tried a swim jig yet you are missing out on a new technique that puts fish in the boat. Take a look at Outkast website for all the colors and sizes: http://www.outkasttackle.com/product_pages/proswim.html and for the Fat tail Grub:
http://www.outkasttackle.com/product_pages/fatail.html. Give it a try and weigh the results. Remember to use the Outkast offer and get 10% off.

Kentucky Lake

I have been so busy that I have been letting my posts slip here. I need to take a few days and catch up on these reports. On March 30 6 of us left for Kentucky Lake. Pat P, Ken K, Guy K, Chris M, Steve and I drove the 12 hours to New Concord, KY. We stayed at the Missing Hill Resort right on the lake. Kentucky Lake is a huge body of water with tons of places to fish. We started out in the cove where the resort was located. Steve was the first to boat a Kentucky bass and I caught a gizzard shad. We were throwing a bunch of different lures just seeing what they wanted. Steve was getting bit on the Zoom lizard texas rigged and I was having success with the Zoom magnum finesse worm in Green pumpkin on a 1/8 oz Outkast Money Jig. We caught fish everywhere we stopped. We just could not get the bigger fish to bite. We basically ran that pattern all 3 days we fished. We would catch a few in the backs of coves on spinnerbaits but they were not all over it like they were the soft plastics. All in all it was a good trip. I did catch a Largemouth, Smallmouth and a Spotted bass on the trip. I think we were a week or two ahead of when the lake would have been on fire. I hope at some point to get back there it has so much potential and with the numbers of smaller fish we caught it should stay in good shape for years to come.

Getting Ready

The countdown is on. My 2010 fishing season will star next Wednesday on Kentucky Lake. 5 of us from the Renegade Bassers are hitting the road for a 4 day trip. I have been busy getting rods and tackle ready. It will be a quick trip but worth it to be on the water. The reports are starting to look like we might hit it at the right time to catch some fish. The water is warming and fish are moving up. I hope to post some pictures and a report when I get back.

Mn Bass Federation Seminars

It's that time of year again. Waiting for the cold and snow to go away. On January 16th the Mn BASS Federation is presenting free Bass fishing seminars before the meeting. January's speakers will be Randy Wilcox and Jeff Gilmer, they will be talking about Lamiglas Rods who just became a Federation Sponsor. Then at 10:15 Rapala Pro Mark Fisher will be talking Lake Minnetonka. Minnetonka is the site of the 2010 MNBFN State TOC. What a way to spend a Saturday morning talking fishing. The Fed meeting will then start at noon. The seminars will be held at the Medina Entertainment Center just west of Plymouth on Hwy. 55. Hope to see some of you there.

Fall Fishing

The fall fishing has been spotty this year. After a really cold and rainy October November has been really nice. I have had the chance to get out a few times for a few hours at a time and done well each time. The above photo is from 2 weeks ago on short trip with Brian and Evan. I caught this one on a Leena Lures spinnerbait that really has been the go to bait this fall. On Sunday I hit a small local lake for smallmouth bass. I usually try and hit it a few times in the fall. I launched the boat and saw the water temp was still 43-45 degrees. I started throwing the Finesse jig as that usually gets them turned on. But not a bite. I then picked up a tube and on the first cast had one break me off. Retied real quick and got bit again. This time a 15" smallie came aboard and it was on. I caught close to 20 fish over the next 2 1/2 hours. The biggest was 18 1/2". Not a bad way to finish the year. I brought the boat home and winterized it as it was such a nice day. Better than when I usually do it in the cold and snow. So my year is complete unless I can find someone that has not put their boat away and wants to take me fishing. Now the task will be to get the boat cleaned out and start going through and organizing tackle for next year. I will post through the winter on new lures and fishing products that catch my eye. I do know Outkast has two new color swim jigs that are coming out in December. I will put them up when I get a few. Have a great winter season. The Bass opener is only 6 months away.........