RB Whitefish Chain July 2011

The second and third tournaments of the Renegade Bassers season were back to back out of towners on the Whitefish Chain in northern Minnesota.  Most of the guys headed up Friday morning to do a little prefishing. Unfortunately I had work to get done so I could only take a half day off and headed up after noon with my friend Nick. We headed straight to Whitefish and got his boat in around 3pm. We started working some pads right by where we put in and didn't have much success.  Just as we were getting ready to move, Nick managed to hook a couple keepers. We pulled out of there and idled over to a deep weedline. Nick was throwing a jig and I was using a texas-rigged beaver and we managed to scrounge up a couple more, but nothing of any size. We jumped around a couple more spots, but never found anything impressive. We decided to make a long run and about halfway across the lake the lower unit went out. Never a good thing, especially when you're running 45mph across the lake.  Dead in the water we dropped the trolling motor and started the long ride back. Luckily we were able to get a hold of one of the other guys in the club and he managed to pull us back in. Thanks Chris.  Saturday was our first tournament and I was fishing with Jason. As this was my first time on Whitefish, I had to rely on Jason and his spots for most of the day. We started off and the wind was blowing 25mph - not a good time to be on the main lake. Unfortunately, that was our best spot to start that day. We both were throwing jigs on a deep point but didn't have any luck. We probably should have known better since we could hardly control the boat. After fighting the wind for an hour, we decided to find something a bit more protected. We started working a shoreline throwing spinnerbaits and buzzbaits and I managed a couple of small keepers there. Jason also got a couple there.  After working that area for quite a bit we moved over to a deep weedline and Jason managed a couple more there. We were really struggling so we decided to move and hit some pads and thick mats. We punched and frogged the rest of the day and Jason managed to put together a limit for 6.25lbs to finish 12th. I was having a hell of a time hooking up with fish in the pads and lost a few.  I finished the day with 2 fish for 3.3lbs. Congrats to Chris who won that day with 5 fish totalling 11.69 pounds.

The second day (Sunday) we started at the Cross Lake side of the chain and I was fishing with Ozzy.  I was excited because Ozzy put  a limit over 11lbs the day before for third place. After a long run to start the day we began by throwing some topwaters. Ozzy was able to put 3 in the well fairly quickly. We made a small run.  I was throwing spinnerbaits and chatterbaits catching pike, but couldn't find any bass. Ozzy was able to find another one, but that was about it. We made a long run to a spot Ozzy knew well, and he managaed to fill out his limit. I struggled all day and had caught only one little 6" bass by this point. I started getting pretty frustrated and started to lose the battle mentally. Unfortunately, I left my confidence baits and started throwing everything but the kitchen sink trying to find something that would work for me. We moved a couple more times and I finally managed to hook a keeper, but lost it right at the boat. Unfortunately, that was the only keeper I hooked into all day. Ozzy managed to cull his way up to a limit of 8.72lbs which got him 6th place. I unfortunately ended with a big fat zero for 14th place. Congrats to Chris who won again on day 2 with a total of 12.91lbs. While this day was definitely my most disappointing of the year, it wasn't a complete loss as I did learn something. You've got to stay cool and keep your wits about yourself. If I would have stuck with my confidence baits and maybe asked some questions the results may have been different. I've also learned more techniques this past year. So, I'd definitely like to go back to Whitefish with my new knowledge and try it again.

January 2012

Managed to get out fishing on Saturday. It wasn't as warm as the last time, but it was still pretty nice out. Nick and I got out about 12:30 and on his first cast Nick had a nice smallie. As I glanced over to watch Nick pull in his fish, I noticed my bobber quickly disappeared, unfortunately I hadn't been paying close attention, and missed it. We were both pretty stoked though and thought we were in for a good day. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. We both struggled for a while so Nick moved further upstream. He managed to catch a few more ending with five for the day.

I hadn't gotten another bite and was getting pretty frustrated so, since no one was downstream from me, I just opened my bail and let my bait drift. About 75 yards down, my bobber plunged under the water so I flipped the bail and set the hook hard. It felt like I just set the hook into a stump. After pulling hard, I was finally able to get my line to start coming back upstream. As I was reeling hard against the current my mind started to race about what could be on the other end of my PowerPro braid. It felt heavy and was pulling hard and pictures of a monster smallie or big pike started running through my mind. I was ribcage deep in the water so I figured I'd better move in a bit shallower. I kept reeling and walking at the same time trying not to stumble on the rocks and fall on my ass in the water. I finally got to knee depth water and finished reeling in. My bobber was only 5 feet away but I still couldn't see the fish. I moved a little shallower, got a glimpse of the fish, and started laughing. The guy fishing next to me looks over and says "catfish huh." To which I replied, "yeah it is." He looks back over at me with a big smile on his face and said" thought it was a smallie didn't ya." Yeah, I did" I said and we both had a good laugh. It ended up being a 24" channel cat (about 6-8lbs). Honestly, I think it was the first catfish I've ever caught.

About an hour after that, Nick was out of bait and took off and many of the other fishermen left too. I moved upstream a little bit determined not to leave until I caught at least one smallie. Finally, almost an hour later, my feet and hands almost numb, I got a bite. The whole time I was reeling it in I was saying "please be a smallie, please be a smallie." I knew I had to get going and needed to get warmed up so as I reeled it up and finally saw the fish I was pretty happy. It wasn't a big one, but at least it was a smallie.

After I struggled to get the hook out, I knew I was done for the day. It was a grind of a day, but at least I was out fishing.

Smallie Fishing December 2011

I can't believe how nice the weather has been here in MN. Christmas was such a busy time for us this year with our 10 month old daughter. So, when my buddy Nick called to see it I wanted to get out fishing one more time in 2011, I said "hell ya, let's go." It was nice to find some open water and catch a few smallies. It was only the second time I've been able to fish like this with Nick (last time was February 2011 and I didn't own a pair of waders then). The last time we tried this, I was stuck casting from shore and had to endure watching him catch a dozen nice smalllies out in his waders before I finally said "screw it" and went home. So, I talked my wife into getting me a pair of waders (thanks, babe) for Christmas. By the time I got out there, Nick had been fishing for a few hours with quite a few caught already. I was only able to fish for a couple of hours and I only caught one, lost one, and missed two. They weren't biting like gangbusters while I was there, but Nick was able to catch three or four (and miss a few more). Even though fishing wasn't great, I was glad to get out on (or I guess I should say "in") the water for a couple of hours. If it stays nice, I hope to get out again this winter before everything freezes up.

RB Maple Lake - June 2011

My first club tournament with the Renegade Bassers was on Maple Lake on June 5th. I was pretty busy with my new baby daughter so I didn't have a chance to do any prefishing, but luckily I'd been on the lake a few times and was paired up with John who knows the lake really well.  Since John was driving, he recommended we start off throwing some frogs. So, we headed into the slop and John was quickly on fish. I hadn't tied a frog on so I was struggling throwing some other stuff. After 5 minutes of hauling weeds I figured I'd better try something different. John offered me one of his frogs, but I was being stubborn and declined. I started digging through my tackle bag trying to figure out what I could use and came across a frog that I had forgot about. I quickly tied it on and was in business. Right away I had a couple of blow ups on the frog, but got too excited and pulled it out of their mouths. John gave me a couple of tips and the next one I put in the livewell.  Once I started getting the hang of it, I realized that I really like throwing frogs, but it's a lot of work and the hook up ratio isn't great, but man is it cool when a bass blows up on a frog. We finished up froggin' and we pulled away with 8 fish in the boat. John had 5 and I had 3. We then moved to a shallow flat that led to a small drop and began throwing some soft plastics and spinnerbaits but couldn't find anything there. So we moved across the lake and began working a deeper weedline that John knew of. I threw everything from a crankbait, to spinnerbait, to Texas-rig but couldn't get any bites other than a pike. We worked that for quite a while and John managed to pull a couple more out and was able to upgrade a bit. John recommended we try another area, so we moved and started fishing a reed line. I was able to pull another one out from under a dock on a senko, but that was it for that area. So we went back to the deep weedline and I started throwing everything but the kitchen sink. John was having some luck with some soft plastics so I went with a Texas-rigged Sweet Beaver and was able to catch another one to fill out my limit.  John and I were running out of ideas and time so we went back to the slop and threw frogs to see if there was anything left in there, but didn't really catch anything to speak of.

For my first club tournament I didn't have a lot of weight (6.73 lbs) but was able to turn in a limit of 5 fish and placed 12th out of 15 so I felt good about it.  John finished 5th (9.85 lbs) and Pat had the heavy bag for that day (14.19 lbs - more than 3lbs over 2nd place.) Congrats Pat. One of the most important things I learned that day is to put away your ego and pride and if someone offers their help, take it. I always used to think bass fishing was pretty easy - just go throw a spinnerbait and you'll catch them, that definitely isn't the case. I had gotten a taste of what tournaments are like when I fished the Viking in 2010 with Nick, but that was a team tourney. This was my first individual tournament and I realized it's a lot harder than what one would think. The pressure of a tournament is a lot different than just going out fishing. I learned that I have a lot to learn to be a successful tournament bass fisherman. Without listening to John that day, I wouldn't have put a limit in the boat. So, thanks John for all of your help. I truly appreciate it.

Next: Whitefish Chain in July

Fall/Winter 2010

After fishing the 2010 Viking Bassmasters Invitational, I was all pumped up to go bass fishing.  Nick and I were able to get out a couple more times before the ice took over. As a matter of fact I caught this fish on opening deer hunting. It was cold and blowing, but we decided to see if we could scare a few bass up.  We met our club pres. John out on Bebe Lake.  He was slaughtering them - some really nice sized fish, but Nick and I struggled.  John had to take off early so he gave us a couple of tips and Nick and I tried them out.  The result was this big 4+ pounder, but it was our only one on Bebe. 

I was rubbing it in and Nick was pretty frustrated so we headed over to Maple Lake where Nick proceeded to kick my ass. He must have caught 20 - 30 bass on a jig and I don't think I even caught one on Maple. I think he might have been "front-ending" me, just kidding. 

Anyway, that was my last day out in 2010 and the winter was pretty tough for me.  With this new bass fishing addiction setting in, all I wanted to was start stock piling new lures and gear.  Having a baby on the way made that pretty difficult.  Besides, I still didn't really know what lures and techniques I liked so I had to take it easy.  Luckily there were a few nice days and Nick found some open water on the river so we could chase some smallies and have some fun.  I had never really been river fishing before so I struggled, but it was pretty cool watching Nick working a tube and being able to pull in them smallies.  It was definitely a learning experience for me.

Then in March, my daughter Emma was born and my life changed forever (for the better of course) and fishing was put on the back burner for awhile.  Luckily, taking care of her and momma took up the rest of my winter and spring and the next thing I knew it was bass season in MN and I was getting ready for my first club tournament.  I just have to say one thing, my daughter is truly amazing and I can't wait to take her fishing some day.

Viking 2010

Nick and I submitted our entry to the 2010 Viking Bassmasters Invitational late so we ended up launching toward the back of the pack. We headed over to the bay that we had been practicing in on Thursday, but there were already a couple of boats in ahead of us.  We decided to give it a shot anyway. A couple of casts in Nick had a fish nail his line. He started cranking it in and instantly felt a good sized fish on the end of the line. Our adrenaline was pumping, but as it got closer we saw it was a small muskie.  So, it was a bit of a let down. We kept working along that weedline and down a few docks and Nick ended up catching a couple of smaller largemouths but nothing great.  We decided to jump to a different part of the lake and started fishing weedlines in bays. By 10am Nick had 5 fish for us, mostly caught on jigs. We had a couple of decent ones around 2 - 2.5 pounds each, but too many little ones to really do well. We kept grinding it out looking for some decent fish and a kicker.  I managed to add another 2 pounder on a spinnerbait. Nick threw a jig most of the day and I bounced back and forth from a spinnerbait to a senko not really sure what I should be doing. So Nick recommended I keep throwing the spinnerbait and use the senkos around the docks. I caught a couple of small ones and a few pike, but nothing else that would help. Nick did manage to catch a few more that helped us out, but it was by ounces and not pounds. It turned out to be a grind it out kind of day, but we ended up with a bag near 12lbs that landed us in about 15th place out of 80+ boats.  I had also caught a 7+ pound northern that we thought would help us in the big pike pot, but it ended up being the 3rd largest pike turned in and it was beat by nearly 3/4 of a pound.  All in all, we had a decent day and I really enjoyed my first bass tournament, not to mention, our buddy John was the guy who turned in big bass for the day - a nearly 7lb largemouth that was truly impressive. After that day I knew I had to do this again, so I joined the Renegade Bassers and 2011was my first year fishing tournaments in the bass club.

How it all started

So, I figure I should probably start out with how I got into this addiction called bass fishing.  I've loved fishing for as long as I can remember. As a kid, we never fished for a specific species; we just trolled around and whatever we could catch was great.  As I grew older and busier, it seemed like fishing just wasn't a priority anymore. I enjoyed it, but just didn't make the time to go. I'd go fishing with my family, but it was usually only a couple times a year.

After my wife and I got engaged, we started going camping with her family. That led to more time to go fishing. I talked with my mom and talked her into letting me use my grandpa's old 14' aluminum fishing boat. That worked for a while, but I really wanted something more than that little 6 horse motor. Then, in 2010, my wife and I found a great deal on a nice little 16' Starcraft and getting out on the water became a priority again. Usually it was during camping trips and man did we go on alot of camping trips - almost every weekend that summer.  At the end of that summer, a co-worker of mine that is also a fishing guide and I were discussing some of those trips and some of the catches we had that year. He hadn't realized how much I loved fishing so he asked if I had ever been bass fishing. I hadn't so we went out a couple times. After he saw I was interested, he asked if I wanted to fish a charity tournament with him. Of course I agreed. So, the first Sunday in October, 2010 we fished the Viking Bassmasters Invitational and the addiction started.