Wood, weeds, rocks, or pads.........

     With the impending high water looming in the back of my mind, I figured I had better get on the water before the water rises and the islands start to disappear. So, I decided to take a day off and hop in with a father/son duo and fish pool 10 on what turned out to be a beautiful June day. Terry and Ryan picked me at the ramp, and as I quickly loaded up my gear, I got to hear about the success they'd had the first hour of the morning as I was busy driving to the ramp. They both had good fish off Bandit crankbaits and River's Edge swim jigs. As I looked over the photos that were barely an hour old, my anticipation grew as we quickly made it to our back water destination.

     Terry positioned the boat 20-25 yards off a weed chocked shoreline just off the main channel. The water had already risen over the past few days so we had lilly pads and grass on both sides of the boat in water ranging from 2'-6'. Ideal early morning conditions for a Pop-R, Buzz bait, or any top water lure. However, as we spent 30+ minutes throwing these lures, we failed to entice a single blow up. Collectively, we noticed the water color was significantly stained the more we wondered through the pad field. So we decided to head to the opposite shoreline, which was dominated by fallen trees and brush, and leave the grass and pads behind. This proved to be the right call very quickly as I hooked into a small bass after only a few casts of an RC Tackle 3" black with red flake tube. And a few casts later, landed a solid 2.7lb largemouth off another lay down. Ryan began catching fish off a swim jig swam slowly around and through the flooded timber lining the bank. In roughly 300-400 yards we'd each caught several fish apiece off soft plastics and slowly swimming a jig. But none of the fish were better than the 2.7lb largemouth, so we decided to head north in search of consitently bigger fish.

     Our next spot was a bit of a disappointment to say the least. I knew the mouth of this cut would have dirty water, but expected it to clear up as we moved toward the secondary lake in the back. We burned almost an hour trying to find clean water, and as we covered water with multiple lures, I began to regret my choice. Terry, Ryan, and I all agreed we should find another stretch of bank similar to the one we'd had our previous success on so we once again strapped everything down and headed further upstream.
     Terry dropped the boat down in the mouth of a cut just off the main channel, and we immediately began catching fish off the wooded bank. The current was significantly stronger than what we'd been fishing most of the day, however, the bass seemed to want the comfort of limbs, logs, and thick brush around them. In general, these fish were eager to bite, but we had to put our lures as closed to the lumber as possible. If you made an accurate cast, it usually resulted in a hook up. As we worked up the wooded shoreline, and finally reached a rocky culvert with 8'-12' of water, I switched to a Rivers Edge flipping jig while Terry threw a deep diving crankbait and Ryan threw the same swim jig he'd been catching fish off of all day. As we worked the deeper water without any luck, we turned our attention to the shallower flooded timber on the opposite shoreline with almost immediate results. Ryan had a fish crush his swim jig and come off shortly after the initial hook set. Usually, that's the end of the story for a particular piece of cover, however, Ryan threw back into the same spot and bent the rod over on a solid 2lb largemouth he quickly got to the boat. It was the bookend to a good day of fishing the quickly rising Mississippi river.

     Two things were clear during this day of fishing............One, the bass wanted the comfort of logs, and laydowns. They were crushing our lures if we got it in the strike zone. And second, Ryan had put on a clinic with the Rivers Edge swim jig. He caught fish at almost all of our stops slowly swimming the jig in and around whatever cover we could find. And what makes this even more impressive is the fact that Ryan was in the middle of the boat with little casting room, sandwiched between two other fisherman who were struggling to keep up with his catch rate.
.........................The old guys appreciate the lesson Ryan.... :-)

Where for art thou...........

     As with every tournament, a good prefishing strategy can help you eliminate water, and make your tournament day efficient and effective at filling the live well with quality fish. But when your prefishing strategy only eliminates water, and leaves both you and your partner scratching your heads the morning of the tournament, your bound to feel less than confident when the day starts. That's how Rick and I felt the morning of our most recent upper Mississippi river bass team tournament. I had spent Thursday prefishing with two barely legal keepers to show for 8+ hours of fishing. Rick spent an equal amount of time on the water Friday and had similar results, and collectively, we spent the second half of the final practice day on the water without a keeper in the boat. As Rick and I spent the eve of the tournament discussing all the variables we'd fished through the last few days, we couldn't pin point the reasons why we'd struggled to put together a pattern over the last three days. Decreasing water levels, various stages of spawning bass, and other species, water clarity, vegetation growth, and weather conditions all played a factor in the puzzle we couldn't put together.

     Regardless of our struggles, we would have to fish hard and put together a limit for this tournament to even have a chance to compete for a check. And ironically enough, Rick and I drew boat number one, which is a stark contrast to our normal boat draw of last or very close to it. So, as the time drew near we decided to start where we'd caught the most fish, regardless of size, and hope the bigger ones would have the feed bag on first thing this morning. Rick dropped the Champion down in a shallow back water lake with emerging lilly pads and an extending weedline coming off the shore. The Motorguide went down and we got right to business throwing a buzz bait and a Stanley Ribbit frog. It was a beautiful morning with no clouds and very little wind, so our top water lures seemed to have the ability to call fish from all over the backwater. But as we made our way down the bank, the top water bite wasn't producing a single blow up. As Rick continued to throw the buzz bait, I switched to a Rivers Edge White and Chartrusse swim jig that Rick makes himself, and spent the next hour casting out both sides of the boat trying to locate active fish. It was a painful first hour or so as neither one of us had a bite over the course of 300-400 yards of shoreline. 

     We decided to narrow the focus and switch to a wooded bank not more than a half mile from our current position. This was a narrow cut leading to deadwater, which, given the recently dropping water, should be a highway for bass receeding back to deeper water and current. A few casts into the shoreline timber and Rick set the hook on our first keeper of the day. A solid 2lb largemouth planted along side a laydown that took his small soft plastic beaver. It gave us hope we'd found some fish, and possibly a pattern. I picked up a 3" black with red flake RC Tackle tube and began flipping to every piece of cover I could find. And after a while, a few bites began to come, but they were only dinks finding my tube. However, after another 20-25 yards down the bank, Rick set the hook on another keeper using the same presentation. And shortly after Rick had the fish in the live well and had made a few more cast, I boated another keeper, although barely legal, and we collectively decided to back down this bank and try and get a few more keepers. The theory was sound, but the fish did not cooperate as we killed another hour trying to duplicate our first pass. So, we decided to head down river and hopefully improve our luck. 

     As we began fishing another area, we immediately noticed the water color, which was brown and stained, and instantly felt like this was an issue. We'd make it a few dozen yards down the shoreline before Rick decided that he'd break up the bordum with a 10+lb flathead catfish near a log jam that took his soft plastic beaver. After netting and releasing the catfish, we started up the big motor and quickly drove to another spot further back into the cut in search of cleaner water. We where not alone as other bass boats where also searching for cleaner water and consistent fish. The water was almost instantly cleaner and shallower with emerging vegetation everywhere. Rick began throwing a swimbait, and I picked up the swimjig quickly followed by the spinning rod and a sinko. It only took Rick a few casts to catch our fourth keeper of the day that quickly went into the live well with little pomp and circumstance. My only contribution during this stretch was a solid bass that bit my swimjig and decided I needed it back before he made it into the boat. It's hard to see a quality fish like that come off anytime, let alone the afternoon of a tournament. But I've learned over the years that will happen and not to get to caught up in losing a fish. 

     After thoroughly covering this area, we decided to head back up river closer to the weigh in and fish the remainder of the day. However, it wouldn't result in a keeper and we would end our day without a limit to weigh in. It wouldn't be from a lack of having lines in the water as we fished hard from the first to the last cast. And as we idled into the boat ramp for the weigh in, I was curious as to how the other competitors fared in these conditions. 

     Rick and I loaded the boat, bagged the fish and weighed them in. As we turned in our weight, and began talking to the other fisherman, it was as we expected, a tough bite for a lot of the field. Limits where caught but consistently big limits where not, so the overall winning weigh was off by roughly two pounds from the year before. Rapidly dropping, and dirty water, coupled with post spawn timing made for a tough tournament. Our hats were tipped to those who found and caught quality fish on this particular day. 

bass on the down turn.........

     In early March, I found water temperatures in the high 50's and lower 60's in dead water lakes, backwater sloughs, and parts of the main channel of the upper Mississippi river. The metabolism of the bass had gotten a kit start and the bass fishermen were reaping the rewards of the beautiful spring weather. However, reality had to set in eventually and the few days leading up to Easter weekend saw night time temperatures around the freezing mark coupled with little to no sunshine during the daylight hours. Obviously the water temperature couldn't hold its higher than normal temperatures and this would be the question mark we would have to deal with on our Good Friday battle for bragging rights on pool 10. Friends Terry and Ryan, fresh off their victory over us last week, were looking to make it two for two as Rick and I tried to even the score with a big bag of early season largemouth.

     As we launched the boats, the temperature read a blustery 31 degrees, and the frost on the shoreline was a sure sign of the cold boat ride ahead of us. As the Mercury outboards warmed up, and we bundled up, the last minute trash talking finished up, and we were off. After a short, but face stinging boat ride Rick dropped the Champion down on a wooded back water shoreline and we began our day.

     It only took a few casts before the first fish of the day hit my Stanley Vibrashaft spinner bait, followed shortly there after by our second fish of the day. This second fish, a borderline keeper would prove to be a mistake after I through it back without measuring it, saying "I don't plan on needing that fish today". Regardless, we kept fishing down the shallow back water shoreline putting a few more shorts in the boat before our first keeper of the day started a flurry of action around an old beaver dam. I tossed a jig at the front of the log jam and after a few short hops, set the hook on a 2.98lb largemouth. As I was just about to make my first return cast, Rick landed a solid 1.93lb keeper flipping a 3" watermelon beaver to the cover. These two keepers would be all we could pull from the congregation of wood, but it gave us hope the low 50's water temperatures hadn't put lock jaw on the bass. After roughly an hour fishing in the shade, the sun had started to peek over the tree tops and started to warm everything up, including the thick, snow looking frost that covered some of the shoreline. We decided to keep moving in pursuit of consistent fish so we packed up and headed to another backwater pocked only a short ride away.

     Rick and I found the next hour or so very disappointing as we threw a combination of baits at some very bassy looking cover with little to show for it. However, we rolled up on a the beginnings of a beaver dam protruding off the shoreline and the action would begin to pick up. Rick was alternating between a spinner bait and a rattle trap trying for a reaction bite, and I was combing the timber with a white and chartreuse spinner bait with a Colorado blade. As I made my first cast to the center of the beaver dam, my spinner bait was inhaled almost instantly by a 2.03 lb largemouth for our third keeper of the day. We had both switched to flipping jigs and plastic at the cover with only a few dinks for our efforts, So we turned the boat around and decided the bank looked two good to not try it again. This time Rick started chucking a swimjig and I decided to throw a Rapala jerk bait with surprising results. Two casts into the bank I landing a short and the third cast of the jerk bait, I had a 2.33lb largemouth smack the bait as it sat motionless in the water. Our forth keeper of the day got us wondering if we shouldn't have been throwing jerkbaits earlier in the day. So Rick tied on a jerk bait and we thoroughly covered the next 150 yards of bank without a fish. Disappointing to say the least after the first three casts produced two fish, however, it might have been a case of being in the right place at the right time versus uncovering a pattern that worked in other areas. So, in an effort to get our fifth keeper before time ran out, we decided to try a few places with more current and access to deeper water.
     As it turned out, the current areas only produced a few shorts and our final flurry came in a back water section of boat docks were Rick went back to back casts with 13-3/4" fish off a spinner bait. It was a sinking feeling as time ran out on us and we headed back to the boat ramp knowing our competition, whom we hadn't seen all day, would probably have at least a limit.
     The boats were loaded with little talk of fish or weights, so I began to think four fish might actually hold up and win this two boat fish off. After loading the boats, driving to the restaurant, and gathering around the boat, Rick and I were handed the bad news by Terry and Ryan. They had had another good day with their best 5 fish weighing12.62lbs compared to our 9.02lbs in four fish. It would have taken a big kicker for us to even have competed against that weight but that didn't stop my partner from reminding me that i'd tossed a potential keeper away early in the day without measuring it. So, as the rules dictate, we picked up the check for lunch and tucked our tails between our legs and headed for home. Two weeks in a row, Terry and Ryan have come out victorious with good bags of fish in increasingly tougher conditions.

early season bass..............

     The unseasonably warm weather has attracted an earlier than usual congregation of bass boats to the upper Mississippi river as of late. And spring fever hasn't been wasted on me, as a group of us decided that Saturday would be a good day to chase the green fish on the big river in a simple winner take all two boat contest. Rules are simple, biggest 5 bass wins, and the losers pick up the check for a late lunch. This would be a warm up for our annual Good Friday tournament, but a must win none the less. So Nate and I meant Terry and his son Ryan at the ramp around 7 am, quickly launched, and headed for our first spot.

     We've seen record highs in the last few weeks and the water temperature had ballooned to between 62-64 degrees. But a few cold, rainy, sunless days has driven the water temperatures down to the low 50's. Regardless, we dropped the trolling motor and a few casts into the wooded shoreline, we had our first fish. A dink caught on a Stanley vibrashaft spinner bait. Unfortunately, it would prove to be the only fish on this stretch of bank, so we quickly headed around the back side of the island where the water was deeper and has proven to hold early spring time bass. We quickly dissected the new shoreline with Bandit crankbaits and Stanley spinner baits and were just as quickly disappointed in the result. So an hour or so into our day, we had no keepers and a a pretty good chill going due to the wind and the 44 degree air temperature. We made a decision to go into a nearby bay that held fish in the late fall and early spring.

     As we entered the bay, I noticed we were not alone, as our competitors for the day were rounding the corner. Nate and I fished our way up to them and I couldn't resist asking how their morning was going. As much as I like to mess with my fishing buddy's, I expected to get the same in return, so I wasn't sure what to think when Terry said they had a good bag already anchored by a 3.89lb kicker. Hearing that, I quickly decided that honesty was probably the better plan so I told them we didn't have a keeper yet, and the news was recieved with cautious optimism. As Terry and Ryan headed to the back of the cove, we pounded the shoreline point with cranbaits, rattle traps, and jigs with our first keeper coming off a Rivers Edge custom jig with a Netbait trailer. This 2.07lb laregemouth would begin our comeback for the day. As our competition exited the back of the cove, we made our way into the back of the cove and Nates first cast with a weightless Sinko produced our second keeper of the day weighing 1.58lb. As we continued to catch fish, we never managed another keeper from this area and decided to head up river in search of some consistently larger fish.

     We hit a few spots on our way up river without much luck finally settling into a wooded shoreline leading to a backwater lake. Nate had been conistantly throwing a chatter bait while I was throwing a spinner bait. After about 50-75 yards up the bank, I'd been pulling in a few fish but Nate hadn't been bit yet. So he changed over to a white and metalic blue Stanley spinner bait and with the very first cast caught another of our keepers for the day. This proved to be the key for the rest of the day as we combed both shorelines tossing to every piece of wood we could find. We managed two solid fish in this stretch, a 2.73lb and a 2.34lb, and many between 1-1/2 and 1-3/4 lbs. As the time began to run out on our day, we made a quick run to another shoreline near the ramp with only short fish to show for it. So, our best efforts where going to have to hold up against our competition as we meant them at the ramp and loaded the boats.

     As it turned out, this frigged Saturday was more productive for our opponents than for us. Terry's assessment of their morning catch proved to be accurate as they amassed a 12.41lb bag anchored by Ryan's 3.89lb largemouth. Nate and I managed a 10.56lb bag with the 2.73lb fish being our largest of the day. Therefore, as the rules of the game dictate, we got the check for lunch, as we were filled in on how and where they caught their winning bag. It turns out the location versus the patterns and techniques proved to be the deciding factor for the day. Congratulations to Terry and Ryan for handing us the first, and hopefully only,  defeat of the season.

let it begin.......

     I cannot remember a St. Patrick's day weekend where I had opportunity to spend an afternoon on the water with 80 degree air temperatures and between 62-64 degree water temperatures. With the expectation of getting on the water on Sunday, I spent Saturday getting all the yard work (possibly a bit premature), out of the way so I had zero guilt spending Sunday on the water. It was everything I hoped it would be with the exception of a 15-25 mph south wind which at times created issues with boat control. Regardless, it was great to be on the water and getting my Rivers Edge custom made jig hammered by some hungry largemouth bass.

     Immediately upon dropping the trolling motor I was surprised to see the water temperatures hovering around 62 degrees. I expected 55 degrees or less, but regardless, I almost immediately found eager fish. I crossed over a small channel and into 6'-8' of water with a slopping rock and wood bank. I started throwing a medium diving Chartreuse Bandit crankbait but after about a dozen casts, decided to slow down and throw a jig. It was roughly 3-4 flips into the bank before the first 1.9lb largemouth thumped the jig in about 5' of water. It was a nice way to start the day and shake off the winter rust. I continued to pitch to the shoreline slowly working the jig along the bottom back to the boat. By the calendar date, I would assume the bass would still be in deeper water, but since the water temperature was so high this early in the spring, I didn't want to rule out the bass moving shallower. It was another 20 yards or so before my next fish, a small dink that bit in 2' of water or less near a rock covered bank. Not two casts later another solid 1.7lb largemouth ran off with the jig almost directly under the boat in about 8' of water. So at this point I'd caught fish at three different depths, so decided to continue working the jig with a Net Bait brown and orange craw trailer completely back to the boat. 

     As the wind continued to howl across the water, I decided to go back over the 200 yard stretch I'd caught fish on and change jig colors to give the bass another menu option. However, I hadn't even turned the boat around and caught another 1.5lb bass off a large laydown I'd thoroughly fished not 2 minutes before. So, I decided not to switch jig colors and fished up the bank to wear I'd began. This proved to be good move as I managed to catch two other fish along the way roughly the same size as I'd caught over the past hour. 

     I decided there was one more rocky point I'd seen a 3+lb largemouth caught on last year early in the spring. The sun had been on the rocks all day and the water depth was 2'-4' around the point entering a shallow spawning bay. As I reached the point, I was torn between a swim jig, a shallow crankbait, or the jig in which I'd caught all my fish on to this point. So I decided to stick with the jig, and it paid off. A couple casts onto the rocks and I set the hook on a 2.35lb largemouth that was already in mid season form with the fight he put up.  

     It was a great ending to a surprisingly productive afternoon on the water in early March. I hope the weather continues to hold its pattern and the fish continue to cooperate this early in the year. 

Why I do what I do..........

    When I'm asked how I became so passionate about fishing, the answer is always the same. But to be honest, I never get tired of answering the question. My grandparents owned a home in Harpers Ferry, Iowa and I spent almost my entire summer on the Mississippi river from age three on up. With a guide like my grandfather, I had the luxury of being asked what I would like to fish for that day. And as a youngster, my answer would vary from bobber fishing live bait for bluegills and crappies, to throwing big spoons and giant Mepps spinners for northern pike. But it didn't take long before I discovered that bass fishing, specifically the wide variety of baits to fish them with, grabbed my attention, and started a passion that hasn't let go to this day. I cannot truly express the gratitude I have for all the time and patients my grandfather showed me. I can only hope to follow in his foot steps and teach my children the simple joys of fishing, and hopefully install in them a life long passion for spending time on the water.
     My daughter Kennedy (9), and my son Grant (5) have been around the world of bass fishing by default. Listening to dads stories, viewing pictures, and coming to weigh in's has exposed them to tournament fishing and to dad's competitive nature. I cautiously view this as a positive, simply because I want them to experience fishing for the simplicity that it is. I remember Kennedy's first really fishing trip to the river, in which she simply couldn't keep her line in the water because the bluegills where bitting so quickly it was only a matter of dropping the line in the water. I was thrilled as a father to watch her smiling face as she kept pulling bluegills out of the water, showing the same suprized expression every time she caught one. To add contrast to this story, I can remember Grants first trip fishing as being a dull waiting game with few bites and no fish. As a parent I was robbed of the joyful expressions I expected to see in Grants face, and was left reassuring him that fishing doesn't always mean you will be catching. Needless to say, I didn't have Grant running to the vehicle the next time I said, "hey lets go fishing".

     But that is what the simply joy of fishing is. Not seeing the whats under the water, not knowing if you will catch any fish that day, the size, the species, ect. Just hoping for a good day on the water was enough for me as a child and I hope that is enough for my children as they continue to grown and develop as individuals. As a parent, I have always embraced technology and the educational properties inherent in today's electronic world. So in my quest to expose my children to the world of fishing, I have used this to my advantage on the water and at home. The other aspect of fishing that echos today's culture, is the competitive nature inherent in our children's lives. I'm not one who shy's away from competition, in fact, i'm actually a proponent of it. I believe the challenges that come with competition bring out traits and character in people they never knew they had. But competition at an early age is a delicate thing, that needs to be monitored. That's why I don't let them see me get too high when i do well in a tournament, and I don't get too low when i do not do well in a tournament.
     It's comforting to see all the friends I have in the bass fishing tournament community talking from time to time about taking their children out chasing the little green fish, or fishing in general. I see more and more father and son/daughter teams on the various tournament series and open tournaments around the upper Mississippi river valley. I'm anxious to expose my daughter and son to the bass tournament world, but want to keep in mind why I fell in love with fishing in the first place. If they have that foundation to build on, they can pursue anything they want on the water, as long as it brings them the same joy and satisfaction that I get from our sport every time out.
   

Bass Boats: What you want vs. what you need....

     It's rare these days when a person can afford to buy the exact bass boat they would like to have. The want versus need concept comes into play, usually in the form of the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. The devil saying "buy it, you only live once", while the angel is saying "you cannot afford that boat. And its more than you need anyway". I'll admit, I've been listening to that dialog for approximately two years now. And that's just about how long ago I decided its time to buy the bass boat I want.
     I've been fishing tournaments, club or money, for over 20+ years, and this has allowed me to fish from some of the finest bass boats the industry has to offer. Some of my favorites include Ranger Boats, Triton Boats, and Champion boats. There are other models and brands including, Nitro, Bumble Bee, Bass Cat, and Tracker boats, which all have both positive and negative attributes. However, in my modest opinion, Ranger, Triton, and Champion boats have been supplying quality bass boats year after year. With that being said, fishing from a fully loaded Triton Tr-20X with dual power poles, 250 Mercury Optimax, Minnkota trolling motor, and Lowrance electronics can set the bar very high and spoil a person for the next time they get in their grandfathers flatbottom with a 25 hp Evinrude, a plywood front deck and a hand controlled 30lb thrust trolling motor.  Which finally brings me to the point of this article. Buying what we "need" versus what we "want" can still help us reach the practical goal of getting to the fish, quietly finding the fish, and keeping the fish alive and safe until weigh in. At the practical level, which I consider most tournament trails to be anymore, there are no extra ounces added to the weigh in slip for style points. Being seen at the ramp launching a brand new 20' Ranger from a brand new Chevy Silverado, is no different from the 1987 Ford F-150 driving down the ramp launching a 1990 Champion bass boat. Both individuals or teams still need to find and catch a tournament winning bag of fish. Sure, the new more advanced rig will be faster, have better fuel economy, more advanced electronics, coupled with a few more bells and whistles designed to make time on the water more comfortable. However, if that team didn't put the time and effort in to finding the patterns and locations of the fish, their boats make little difference in the outcome.

     In years past, I have competed in club tournaments from a 14' flat bottom Alumacraft with a 25 hp Mercury outboard with a Minnkota trolling motor and actually won a few small tournaments. Now, buying what you "need" doesn't mean you have settle for a 14' flatbottom or utility boat. However, boats today, such as the Tracker Grizzly 1648 aluminum are better suited to accomplish all that a bass fisherman needs for a small local tournament. V-front hull design, tilt and trim motors, steering wheels, and manufactured casting decks. If you are interested in simply getting time on the water chasing large mouth and smallmouth, these boats can serve every purpose needed for this sport. As a matter of fact, just last season, more than one flatbottom cashed a check in some of the smaller money tournaments I fished.
     With that being said, the want versus need debate can be simplified by asking yourself some of these questions. What do I want to accomplish with my fishing boat? Do I want to be the one getting passed at the start of the tournament, are do I want to be the one passing people. Do I want a larger boat for the room and the stability, or do I want a smaller boat to save on gas, and sacrifice comfort during those long runs in choppy water? Simply put, most fisherman will tell you an 18.6' bass boat with a 150 hp motor will serve almost every practical purpose a tournament bass fisherman will need. But I continue to wrestle with this concept. Do I spent the extra money and get the bass boat I want, and possibly be the guy who owns a great looking rig, but cant afford to put the gas in to tow it and drive it. Or, do I cover the necessities I need in a quality used bass boat paying attention to price and the practical applications in which i will be using it. Do I listen to the devil on my left shoulder or the angel on my right shoulder...... :-)

October 2011 Season Finale Tournament..........

     A fellow tournament angler, Eric Brockmeyer and I decided to start, what we want to become, the October Season Finale bass tournament on the upper Mississippi river. With some quick organization we started to promote our tournament in early October and by tournament day we had 15-18 verbal commitments. Not bad considering nobody knew of the tournament 3-1/2 weeks before we hit the water. With some collective early morning efforts, Eric and I had the check in table set up, the rules sheets ready to go, and the coffee flowing. As the tournament anglers started to arrive in the marina, they were greeted with some chili morning temperatures, windy conditions, and a light mist. Not the best late fall conditions, and as the smart phones started to dial up the local weather forecasts, the optimism that the conditions would improve diminished quickly. Regardless, the boats continued to arrive, the rules meeting took place, and I dumped my partner for the tournament Rick and his Champion into the water. As the last of the boats staged, I began sending them off into the morning mist in search of a tournament winning bag.

     Rick and I volunteered to take off last in order to be the tournament starters, so we began following the boat wakes up the river to our first spot of the day. Needless to say late fall fishing can find bass congregated in specific areas, and this day was no exception. Approximately half of the field of boats arrived in the same general area we intended to start our tournament. So, as we've done in other crowded situations, we dropped the trolling motor and began fishing as close to our target destination as possible. This meant tossing shallow crankbaits into a dead and dying lilly pad field bordering a deep back water wintering hole. It only took a few casts before Rick had our first keeper which passed the 14" limit but had little weight to it. Regardless, it was a fish in the live well and we continued further into the bay changing from crankbaits to spinner bait, to swim jigs and top water. The baitfish were exceedingly congregated during this time of year so the bass could be anywhere chasing their favorite food. For us, this meant covering water quickly in an attempt to locate tournament competing bass.
     As the time passed, and the dinks kept adding up, I finally managed a keeper from another dead lilly pad

field on a Mann's -1. It was very similar to Rick's first keeper but helped lighten the mood as the morning mist turned to a full on late October rain. Rain gear on and hoods up, we came to a 4'-8' sloping bank with boat docks stretching 50-75 yards down the bank. As we both switched to medium diving crankbaits, Rick boated another keeper, with this 2+lb fish adding some weight to the livewell. We completed the bank and circled around for another pass. As we reached the section where the depth slowly creeped into shallow water again, our biggest fish of the day, a 3.14lb largemouth swallowed my Bandit crankbait and attempted to put up a fight only as Rick attempted to net the fish. No matter the weather conditions, when you land a quality fish like that in a tournament, its gets the blood flowing. We made another pass through the area completely blanketing every piece of cover and banging the bottom all the way to the boat. During this time a few boats left the area so we decided to pull up the trolling motor and head to our original starting spot.
     As we approached the small rock entrance into the bay we immediately noticed two things. First, there were bait fish everywhere and there were fish actively feeding on them. Secondly, we were not alone!! There were a dozen boats all within site of each other, all pulling fish. It took Rick all of two cast with his crankbait before boating a nice 2-1/2lb largemouth that very quickly went into the live well without a cull tag to ensure Ricks quick return to the casting deck. This began a series of casting and catching that went on for 3-4 hour in a cold Halloween weekend rain storm. Collectively, Rick and I caught 20-30 fish apiece, and periodically we needed to stop and weigh and cull our fish to ensure we kept every ounce of weight we could. As we fished and culled, fished and culled, we where passed by anglers leaving the area and new anglers arriving. The disheartening news came about noon when one of the boats in our tournament passed us and announced they had between 17-18lbs. At that point we new we'd better start searching for bigger fish if we were going to compete for a pay check. So we headed down river to a few spots we knew had the potential for bigger fish.

     As optimistic as we were, the next few spots produced nothing that could help us compete with some of the big sacks we anticipated were going to be brought in. So as the clock quickly ticked away on our tournament day, we made a final cast apiece, packed up our soggy equipment, and headed back to the landing to get the weigh in station set up.
     With the boat out of the water and the equipment set up, the anglers started to arrive at the landing as check in time approached. Rick and I weighed in our days efforts and couldn't complain about 13.05lbs. However, we knew there were going to be bigger bags of fish yet to weigh in so we kept our optimism to a minimum. As the sacks of fish began arriving at the weight station, it was apparent the fishing was good despite the weather conditions. Big bass for the tournament was 4.11lbs with second big bass weighing in at 4.03lbs. Both were beautiful fish. The winning team was Marty Mayne and Troy Berntgen with 17.04lbs. The second place team of Eric Brockmeyer and Kyle Wegmann brought in 16.02lbs and the third place team of Dan Parker and Jim Klemp caught 14.11lbs.
     Even though the weather was not ideal, the competitors were all first class fisherman and the results of the tournament showed exactly that. Congratulations to the winners and we look forward to seeing everyone back next year for the second annual October Season Finale Tournament on the Mississippi river.

apologies for the delay..................

Apologies to all my readers. I've been away for a while and will have the finale of the 2011 season updated shortly. Then we will proceed with some product reviews, 2012 preseason check lists, and some early season smallmouth and largemouth techniques. Please remember to click on the "older post" icon to read all of the 2011 articles. Thanks

.................away we go!!!!!!!!!!

Chris

On the water with RC Tackle

     After almost a complete season of tournament fishing, and running into each other on and off the river, Glen Walker from RC Tackle and I were finally able to get together for a day on the water. With the last club tournament of the season only a day away, Glen and I decided to try and find some of the aggressive fall bass bite on the upper Mississippi river. Originally we planned to fish the bottom of pool 9, but the forecasted wind would have made fishing that open water a challenge, so we decided to focus on pool 10. I meant up with Glenn at his place in Prairie Du Chien, which coincidentally was only a short distance from a conveniently located public boat ramp. We quickly loaded the boat with my gear, drove the short distance to the ramp, and dropped Glen's Ranger into the water. The breeze had already started blowing across the water, but the sun was helping to reduce the cool temperatures of this colorful fall morning.

     After a short run, Glen shut down the Mercury and dropped the Minnkota just below a shallow point on the intersection of two merging secondary channels. I started throwing a shallow running crankbait and Glenn tried to invoke some top water action. We fished the bottom of the point thoroughly with nothing to show for it, but as we turned up the west shoreline we started to get bit. The fish we were catching, as small as they were, seemed to be concentrated on the shallow flat shoreline just up from the point. Glen was consistantly getting the top water bite to pay off while my shallow crankbait was also producing fish, however, he was able to occasionally pull in a solid chunk largemouth while most of my fish were short and skinny. The boat traffic was once again intense, so we decided to head down stream and start hitting some areas before the shorelines got to dirty from the constant waves.
     After a brief boat ride, we started pitching tubes and jigs at 3'-5' shoreline littered with brush and thick timber. And after only a few casts, Glen set the hook on a nice largemouth who thumped his black and blue 4" tube. As Glenn was releasing his fish back into the water, I hooked up with another fish small fish sitting between two intersecting logs close to the shoreline. As we continued around the corner the shoreline cover started to dissipate and the water depth increased. A few casts into this sandy transition with a Rat-L-Trap and I had brought a nice 2lb largemouth into the boat. This fish simply laid on the bay and as I felt the rod get heavy, realized I had a more than a clump of ell grass. After releasing this fish, and covering the remainder of the bank, we decided to start working our way north. The next area was one of my favorite spots on this pool based solely on the fact that its always good for at least one keeper. As we approached the rocky bank, Glen continued to try the top water approach as I again started tossing the shallow crankbait. We almost immediately caught fish, but they were not the size we were looking for. Short and skinny largemouth were all we could manage out of this area, so my theory on always catching a keeper seemed to have some holes in it.
     After we fished a few spots with limited success and no solid keepers, collectively we decided to start fishing a stretch of shoreline we knew would be crowded with pan fisherman, but was always filled with shad this time of year. It was exactly as we anticipated, crowded, but we managed to slip into the fray and began fishing. We fished a combination of crankbaits, rattle traps, plastics and jigs as we combed the shoreline structure. Ironically, we found good fish on a do nothing stretch of bank opposite the visually attractive shoreline. In several casts Glen had boated three solid largemouth and I had added another using tubes and jigs in about 3'-4' of water. As we continued up the "do nothing" bank, the structure started to increase and our bite slowly stalled with the exception of a school of smaller largemouth feeding on a school of shad near a sandy point. As we discussed the game plan, Glenn suggested we try a few points up another secondary channel, so we strapped the gear down and headed out.  

     We fished our way through a few points on our way up river finally arriving at the spot Glenn had in  mind. The only issue when we arrived was the the condition it was in from an entire season of flooding. The water depth and drop offs were the same, but the shorelines and the primary cut Glenn was planning to fish had no vegetation, thus nothing to hold the fish to. Regardless, we threw lures at the swift current drop off with no luck until Glenn set the hook on a solid 5lb.....5lb......??.......walleye. If was 15-20 seconds of excitement with the expectation of a football shaped large or smallmouth bass. Regardless, a 5 lb walleye is a beautiful fish so we admired it, and released the fish back with no harm done. As we did so, we both commented on the increasing winds and decided to work our way back toward the boat ramp fishing as long as time would allow.
     The waves on the main channel were as expected, with white caps all around us. So, as we approached the cut leading into a secondary channel we'd fished earlier in the day, we decided to stop and fish the mouth. This time, our approach was different as Glenn worked the rocks slowly crawling a creature bait along the bottom and I threw the Rat-L-Trap. It wasn't more than a cast or two and Glen had reared back on another chunky largemouth just outside the mouth of the cut. Once we had sufficiently covered the mouth of the cut, Glenn guided the Ranger into the cut and down the shoreline. After about 50 yards without a bite, and with Glenn retying a rod, a school of shad began to get chased in the middle of the cut. I quickly tossed out the Rat-L-Trap and Glenn began splashing water with his top water lure. In a quiet swirl just off the front of the boat, Glenn's began his battle with our largest fish of the day, a 3.2lb largemouth. As the fish was caught, weighed, and released, I continued to fish but couldn't manage anything of that quality. The feeding frenzy on top subsided, so we continued down the cut another 40-50 yards and found ourselves on a bend with some ridiculously aggressive largemouth bass. These fish were not quality tournament winning bass, but they were so aggressive and fun to catch it was hard to stop fishing them. A conservative estimate would be 8-10 consecutive casts Glenn hooked into a fish feeding on his top water popper. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, you wouldn't think of top water as the lure of choice, but how can you put it down and fish another lure when these fish were hitting the popper with absolute recklessness. Regardless of how fun this last spot was, reality had to set in as both Glenn and I had appointments to keep, so we needed to get back.

     Over the course of our day we had managed a large quantity of fish, and in between the small to average size fish, would have managed a good bag if this were the tournament day. The lures varied from top water and crankbaits, to tubes, jigs, and creature baits. As it was the previous day, it was hard to find good concentrations of large fish, making it a grind to put together 13-15lbs of bass. The day had passed by quickly as a fun day of fishing always does. Once again, I learned more about the river than I knew the previous day and had a solid anticipation of what to expect for the following days tournament. I appreciated the opportunity to fish with Glenn Walker after such a long season of trying to get on the water together. We approach the river in much the same way, so fishing with Glenn was a pleasure and I hope to get the opportunity again.




   

Fall fishing at its best.............

     It never gets old saying this, but a bad day of fishing still beats a good day at work. But when you get a good day of fishing, on your vacation day, it makes it that much more satisfying. Terry, a long time friend, and I spent Friday on pool 10 of the upper Mississippi river fishing the aggressive fall shad bite. For me, it was the beginning of a three day stretch of fishing culminating in the final club tournament of the year on Sunday. So Terry and I decided to leave work behind and spent the day pre-fishing pool 10 despite the forecasted 20-30 mph southwesterly winds. We wasted no time at the ramp putting on the boat lights, dropping the boat in the water, and heading out into the morning chill.

     As we settled into our first spot of the morning, we noticed we had an excessive amount of boat traffic all around us. Including one boat who decided that 20 yards away from our boat would be a nice place to drop anchor and start casting to the same piece of cover we were currently fishing. Now I've seen just about every version of inconsiderate stupidity this sport has to offer, but this person was pushing the envelope. Terry and I were hooking up with a fish on crankbaits every third or fourth cast, so it was obvious we knew where they were sitting and casting directly to the spot. This individual decided he could reach that spot with a little extra effort on the cast and started pulling fish as well. I could see after a while this as getting under Terry's skin, despite the fact we were also catching fish. No big fish, but decent. So collectively we decided to move on to our next spot and leave this area to our very special "Guest".

     The move turned out to be a good strategy for us as we dropped down near a secondary point and immediately began catching good fish. Terry hooked into a pair of solid 2lb largemouth on back to back casts and I began a stretch where I either got bit on every cast or managed a fish of a variety of sizes to the boat. This shallow point was a typical fall spot where the bass where holding in shallow water just off the main current flow. It was still early enough where I expected to get a top water bite, especially with how shallow the fish were holding, but couldn't manage a single taker on my pop-r. We continued to catch fish for about a half hour longer and slowly, but surely, the bite slowed and finally shut off. The boat traffic was continuing to pick up and the waves flowing over the shallow water was probably a factor in the equation. As we fished this spot, I was eyeing another spot just across the river and as soon as the poles and trolling motor were pulled up, we headed to it.
     This spot was considerably deeper but had a nice combination of wood and current. So as Terry threw a deeper crankbait, I started throwing a Rivers Edge Jig. After a few yards of bank, I had the jig swim off and set the hook on a chunky 2-1/2lb largemouth. This fish came out of about 6'-7 of water and away from the shoreline which was in direct contrast to how shallow the fish were on the first two spots of the morning. As I continued to get bit on the jig, Terry started to pull a few fish with his crankbait. As we turned the corner, we noticed another bass boat fishing the bank toward us so we saddled up and headed up river to another secondary cut with lots of timber and a few points. As we quickly figured out, the fish were almost everywhere they should be this time of year. Points, back water cuts, in a variety of depths in the water column. The real trick to figuring this puzzle out was finding the bigger bass in a sea of 1lb to 2lb fish. As Terry and I continued to catch fish in almost every spot we stopped, we began tossing different lure combinations trying to see if the profile of the bait or the action would trigger larger fish. But we couldn't manage any fish larger than 2-3/4lbs to 3lbs. And these size fish were inconsistent at best.
     Overall, it was a short, but productive day on the water. The bite remained the same as the day progressed and we caught fish on a variety of lures. The fall bite is in full swing and the information gathered today will aid in my decision making process over the next practice day and the following tournament day.

NEIA Bass Anglers September CLUB tournament Pool 10

     As I drove to Guttenberg Sunday morning for our September club tournament I was feeling some regret knowing it was the last of my three straight days on the river. This time of year is some of the best fishing the upper Mississippi river has to offer, and I want to spend as much time on the water as possible. Eric and I would be fishing together for the third day in a row, and having found fish the two previous days, I was eager to see how the day would pan out. I knew from our launch ramp in Bussy Lake we'd have a cold run regardless of where we started. Late September mornings are known for brisk air, and this one was no exception. So we wasted little time launching Eric's Triton, staged near the ramp for a short period of time, and away we went.

     As we made our way through a few cuts and turned the corner to our first spot of the day, Eric barely let off the gas as we kept going right by the spot and the bass boat that was sitting on the weed line we had intended to fish. I knew where Eric had in mind next so after a slightly extended run, we dropped down and started our day. We began by flipping a wooded bank with slight current and subtle changes in depth. I expected our first keeper of the day would come at any time during this first stretch, but it never happened. Eric quickly redirected the boat to the other shoreline, and almost immediately caught his first keeper of the tournament. A long skinny largemouth that was the kind of fish you want to catch when having a golden ruler paper tournament. The fish went 2.2lbs on the board and was quickly released back into the water. As we continued up the bank, I set the hook twice on bites but didn't make any solid contact. We began fishing out of both sides of the boat as the cut narrowed and after a few casts with a crankbait to a baron stretch of shoreline, I hooked my first keeper of the tournament. This small keeper got the adrenaline going and put the cold weather in the back of my mind for the rest of the day.

     As we approached the top of the cut, we came upon a large brush pile with faster current bouncing off the outside. I dropped a jig along side the outside log, and after a bounce or two set the hook on a solid 2lb largemouth. Eric and I agreed the fish seemed to be more active earlier in the day than they had been the two previous mornings. So after we fished the cut out, we strapped everything down and made our way to the next spot. During our trip we were reminded by the bass boat traffic that there were a few other club tournaments going on this weekend so we knew we were in for some tough fishing pressure. Eric set the Triton down below the top of an island he'd found fish on previously, and we began tossing a combination of jigs, spinner baits, and crank baits. After about three cast with my jig, I hooked another solid keeper which was exciting to both of us because we hadn't even made it to the area we thought the fish would be concentrated in. However, after dozens of casts by both of us we moved to the other bank disappointed in the result. Both areas looked good so we wondered if the fish had moved up the bank further to ambush bait fish from more defined structure. We both caught dinks almost immediately, but no keepers blessed our efforts, so we packed up and headed to yet another spot similar to this one.

     This next area was one that could be fished in a variety of ways so we both started throwing different baits at different angles. It didn't take long for Eric to load up another keeper off the end of a brush pile using a crankbait. But as he was measuring the fish, we both heard the familiar sound of bait fish shipping across the surface trying to avoid disaster at the hands of a school of hungry bass. Eric quickly spun around and fired his lure at the target, and almost immediately upon impact was again hooked up with another nice keeper. I made a cast of my own, but had no takers on my first pass. My second pass through the area was greeted with a short but aggressive bass which I quickly discarded and returned to the water. As quickly as the school of bass appeared, they disappeared. But not before Eric hooked into a nice 3.2lb largemouth that we both thought was bigger when it first breached the surface. Regardless, a fish that size will help any tournament angler increase his or her total weight for the day. We spent another half hour catching dinks and fishing this area thoroughly and finally decided to head to our next spot.

     As we dropped down and began fishing the next spot, I was eager with anticipation because this area had all the component needed to hold good numbers of quality fish. However, looks can be deceiving, and on this day, at this time, we finished the area with only a few small fish and a head scratch or two. So, not wanting to waste valuable time, we moved on to our next location slightly down stream. The current was moving swiftly regardless of where we went, and the variety of vegetation floating in the water was making it increasingly harder to fish moving baits. But we continued to fight through it, and very quickly started catching fish, good fish, with regularity!!! Eric had made a cast to a discolored patch of water on a shallow flat and hooked into a 2.9lb laregmouth, followed shortly by another 2.2lb fish. It was an ambush spot a school of bass where using to dart out into the current and feed on whatever was passing by. It was an awesome hour of fishing as we culled fished repeatedly gaining a few ounces here and there until 2lb fish no longer helped either of us. It was a hard decision to leave such good fishing, but as Eric and I discussed, we both needed bigger fish and the real quality fish where not coming often enough.
     We headed down river and covered a few new spots with nothing that would help us, and as we did, were reminded that we had less than an hour of fishing left in our day. So as Eric turned the Triton around the bend on a familiar curve, I knew where we were going to finish our day. It didn't take long to start catching fish once again, but the first few were shorts and not very encouraging. Suddenly, as my crankbait rod loaded up, that all appeared to change as I was having trouble turning this particular fish toward to boat. Eric got the net and from under the boat the reason why became clear. A 1.9lb largemouth had eaten the back hooks on the crankbait, while a 2.8lb largemouth had eaten the front hooks. It had been a few years since I'd had a double, and never two fish of this size. As I spent entirely two much time and blood pressure trying to unhook these two fish from one crankbait, Eric was continually catching fish on this stretch of bank. Once I had managed to get the fish weighed and the mess straightened out, I returned to fishing and observed as Eric caught several fish within the last few minutes of our tournament day along a wooded stretch of bank. It was the kind of area and time of day in which you didn't want to leave the fish because they were eager to bite. But we reluctantly strapped everything down and raced back to the weigh in.
     It was a great fall day on the water to cap a fun three days of tournament fishing. Eric and I had used a variety of baits in a number of situations and caught a 24+lb bag of fish to end our weekend. Which happen to be good enough for a first place finish. It was one of those days where you hated to quit fishing because when you found the fish, they were starting to bunch up, feed on shad, and were eager to chase moving baits. You know its been a good tournament day when you catch a bass roughly two pounds, look it over, and decide it wont help your overall weight. That's why Eric and I both agreed if we had more day light, and a little less of a boat ride, we'd have headed back out to enjoy some of the great fall fishing on the Mississippi.

NE Iowa Bass Anglers....Guttenberg Open Tournament

     The morning of the Northeast Iowa Bass Anglers Guttenberg Open didn't start off with a beautiful sunrise complimented with idling bass boats eager to blast off in search of large bags. Instead, as we all rigged our equipment and staged our boats, we were greeted with colder temperatures and rain. However, it didn't dampen the spirits of the 25+ teams signed up for the tournament. As some members of our club signed up late arrivals, others started directing traffic near the boat ramp, and I checked live wells and informed the teams of the staging area, limits, and check in time. Eric, a fellow club member, was my partner for the tournament and as the last of the boats put in, we joined the masses waiting in the marina for take off. Within minutes of putting Eric's Triton in the water, our number 14 was called and we were quickly heading down river to our first spot of the morning.

     After a short, but somewhat chilly ride, we entered a secondary channel only to find another bass boat sitting on the spot Eric had in mind to start on. So, with a slight change in plans, we headed to a wooded bank and began our tournament day. It was a quiet first 20-30 minutes as we tossed crankbaits and spinner baits at the cover, and followed up those baits with jigs and tubes. Eric managed our fist keeper of the day, a cookie cutter 14-1/2" largemouth, after about 10 casts at a terrific looking brush pile. Regardless of its length, it was a keeper and the skunk had left the boat. After a few more bites that didn't materialize into fish and 75 yards of bank behind us, Eric and I decided to move to another area close by with shallow wood and less current. It was only seconds after we dropped the boat down and removed our life jackets when a boat who had been fishing just upstream from our starting spot, blew by us and headed to the back of the cove. Normally this wouldn't bother me but he had made the pass a little closer than edicate dictates.

Regardless, Eric and I began fishing a fairly open looking bank on our way up to a narrow shoot buried in timber. But we began pick up fish every few casts and had a total of three keepers in the live well before long. We both had high hopes for some bigger fish as we inched closer to the timber in the back of the shoot.
     I wish I could say we finished our our bag in this area with 3lb largemouth, but as we all know, fishing doesn't go to plan very often. We did however, fill our our limit very quickly and caught a great number of fish from 8"s to 14"-15"s. Long and skinny seemed to be the type of fish in this area and they were hungry biting on tubes and other plastics as well as crankbaits, spinner baits, and rattle traps. Regardless of how good the bite was in this area, Eric and I both agreed we needed to find bigger fish in order to compete for a check in this tournament. So we packed up and headed to a few other spots close by. As we covered water, we couldn't seem to catch the fish we needed to increase our weights. The fish were were they were suppose to be, but the big ones seemed to be playing hard to get. We did manage to cull a fish or two on these short distance spots, but only gained an ounce or two per fish. As the morning quickly got away from us, we decided we needed to make a run in order to fish completely different water to try and find a few heftier bass that could put us back into contention.
     As we dropped down into some deeper water with heavier current, Eric immediately caught a smallmouth that was legal, but not enough weighed to help us. This was a positive start to this spot, but this late in the day, we were both sure this area had seen its fair share of pressure throughout the morning. After a 20 minute stretch without a bite, we decided to move across to the other side. As Eric lifted the trolling motor, a situation I had not had the pleasure of experiencing unfolded. One of Eric's rods had gotten lifted up with the trolling motor and fell over the side of the boat. As quickly as the rod fell into the water and started to sink, Eric reached overboard for the rod and tumbled out of the boat. The saving grace in this situation was the fact that he had not let go of the side of the Triton and as the current brought him toward the back of the boat, Eric tossed the rod back into the boat and I pulled him out of the water. This was one of those situations where you know something unthinkable could have happened, but at the same time, I couldn't help but get a slight grin on my face as my partner sat on the front deck of his boat totally soaked in 59 degree water from his neck down. The fact is he was safely back in the boat but was going to fish with a slight chill for the remainder of the tournament. Possibly holding that rod a little tighter than he had before. :-)
     Knowing Eric like i do, I knew the competitor in him would brush that insident off and get right back to finding fish. So, once he was dried off, we headed out to find a few last minute fish that could help our overall weight. We both agreed we should check a few spots we'd caught fish earlier in the day to see if the bigger fish had moved up. But as we fished some of these spots, we quickly figured out the same size fish were still there and eager to bite. Regardless of the location, the fish were certainly active, eating both plastics and hard body baits. With time running out we made our last stand on a shallow point that had all the characteristic of great fall fishing. But with a dink here and there, and time runnning out, we had to pack up and head to the check in.
     Being as competitive as we both are, it wasn't the bag we wanted to bring in, but it wasn't from a lack of effort. We had fished hard and made decisions that helped us find and catch fish, however, they just weren't the quality we needed. As our bag of 11+ lbs of fish quickly got left behind as the bigger bags came in, Eric and I both agreed we'd done all we could to compete. It just wans't in the cards for this particular day. I had a great time fishing with Eric as we have the same fishing styles and competitive nature. So, it wasn't the easiest pill to swallow as we watched the weigh in, but regardless of the out come, we both learned more about the river and the crazy fish we chase than we did before the day started.

Fall Iowa Bass Federation State Tournament Day 2

     Day two of the Iowa Fall BASS Federation State tournament had me pair up with Rob Smith, a previous regional qualifier who has been a long time Federation member and state tournament participant. We had meant the night before at the meeting and briefly discussed the next days strategy which once again, had me pleasantly surprised to be staying on pool 12. I met Rob and his Express pair with a 200 HP engine in the parking lot of the ramp, were we loaded up, prepped the boat, and launched. It was going to be another beautiful day with temperatures in the high mid to high 70's, and a light wind out of the northwest. My only concern was the fog. Most people who locked north on day one ran into a fog bank and it was set up to happen again on both pools. We had drawn seventh in the take off order and as quickly as the names were being called out of the bull horn, we were off and down the river.

     As we made our way down river and around a few turns, we suddenly ran into a patch of fog that stopped most of the field dead in its tracks. We set down almost instantly as did most boats, but we could still hear a few running through the fog trusting the GPS with their lives. As Rob idled a short distance in the fog, we made the decision to head toward a cut and start fishing versus taking our chances in the fog. Its wasn't more than a cast or two into the first log jam just off the main channel and my tube was inhaled in a swirl of water. I set the hook and swung a nice keeper into the boat for the first fish of the day. The current coming off the main channel, coupled with deeper water shortly off the shoreline, set up the scenario nicely. As Rob and I fished the first few lay downs we came across, the bites started piling up. But the keepers did not. We both caught a few shorts on the first bank before switching over to another, larger brush pile on the opposing shoreline. A few casts into the structure and my tube started running off toward deeper water. I set the hook on my second keeper of the day, a 2lb largemouth that had once again taken the black with red flake RC Tackle tube. Within moments of putting a cull tag on that fish Rob loaded up on his first keeper of the day, another good largemouth. Its was a good feeling having three keepers in the boat a half hour into the day after fishing for 5-6 hours the previous day without a bite. But that's fishing, and that's why we do it.
     After thoroughly fishing this tree, Rob and I made quick work of the bank below us and came to a fork in the current which lead down stream in the main cut, or into a shallow back water. We fished the point with only shorts to show for it and decided to head into the shallow back water fishing the immense amount of lay downs and shallow stumps lining the shoreline on both sides. Rob had made his first cast to a small patch of logs and had a nice keeper explode on his swim jig. With his second keeper in the live well, Rob moved us quickly down the entrance to the back water and into the shallow water lake. It was quiet and peaceful, but it was alive with bait fish and movement if you kept your eyes on the water. Its wasn't a cast or two along the first shoreline before Rob had his third keeper of the day. The whole shoreline was set up like the first 10-15 yards I was excited to see what this could produce. We continued to get bit over the next 50 yards flipping to every piece of cover, but could only manage shorts. Although Rob got relieved of his lure by a toothy critter during this stretch. As we came to a subtle point on the shoreline, Rob hooked his fourth keeper of the day next to a patch of tiny limbs from an small tree that previous flooding had left in the water. The fish in this area were coming anywhere from 4'-5' off the shoreline, to inches from the shoreline. But they were next to cover regardless of where they was in the water column. Shortly into our second pass I caught my third keeper of the day, which proved to be the last fish we'd take from this area. So with the fog lifted, we decided to head to Rob's original starting spot to see if we could finish out our limits.
     As we arrived to the secondary channel spot, Rob set the boat downstream and dropped the trolling motor down to start heading back up stream. Not because he wanted to fish it that way, but because there was already another tournament angler on the top section of this area. Regardless, a few casts into this area, Rob finished out his limit with a nice largemouth holding on a current break. With one limit secured, we continued fishing but could not manage another keeper out of this stretch. So Rob put the trolling motor on high and we headed to a small point with some isolated lay downs just off shore. After a few cast in front of the tree, my first cast behind the tree was greeted with a smack and I reeled in my fourth keeper of the day. Once the fish was securely in the live well, we spent another 10 minutes on this point and headed down stream a 100 yards to fish some channel structure. It wasn't long before Rob started catching keepers, but nothing that would help him. The current was stronger on this cover, but the bass were holding and feeding none the less. After a few more shorts and sheephead that I thought was my fifth keeper, we decided to head back up stream and hit a few more spots.
     After a short boat ride, we set the boat down in a narrow wooded cut with water between 2'-5'+. It was after lunch and it was getting down to crunch time so my nerves were getting to me. I told Rob it was easier for me to be sitting on three fish than four. Sometimes the fifth keeper seems to be the hardest fish to catch for me. We fished every piece of wooded structure on both sides of this cut and hadn't gotten a keeper until we had almost reached the top of the cut. I tossed the tube over the side of a log sitting in four feet of water and tic, the line bounced and I set the hook on my final keeper of the day. As I put the cull tag on the fish and placed him in the live well, I was filled with a great sense of relief that we both had our limits on a pool that wasn't notorious for giving them up that easily.
     We continued up the shoreline and made our way out of the cut where it meant the secondary channel. Rob made a cast in front of a lay down in heavy current and quickly set the hook on a keeper, that after a few minutes with a scale in his hand, turned out to gain him some valuable ounces. After dissecting this area, we made our last run up river closer to the weigh in and finished the day out fishing deeper water in heavier current. We had conversed with a few other anglers who had reported some tough fishing for the day. Which made us all that more excited about having two limits to weigh in. We decided to head in, get the boat loaded up, and start the weigh in process.
     Rob and I found a parking spot, a couple of weigh in bags, and loaded our fish up. As we walked to the weigh in there were mixed reviews by the other anglers on the days results. Some looks of disappointment, and some heads held high with double digit weigh in slips. Rob weighed in 10+lbs and I weighed in 11+lbs. Not bad for a 3 hour fog delay that prevented Rob from getting to his preferred starting spot until late morning. Overall, it was another great day on the water. Rob and I both caught a number of fish and in the end had respectable weights for pool 12 and the pressure its received over the last several days. I had been blessed both tournament days with anglers I would fish with any time they asked. The weather was beautiful both days, I learned a lot about pool 12 that I had not learned prefishing, and made some new friends along the way.

Fall Iowa Federation State Tournament Day 1

     This years fall BASS Federation State Tournament was held out of Dubuque, Iowa where the boat traffic is heavy and the fishing can be tough. Once again, I was blessed to be partnered with two great boaters for Saturday and Sunday and the weather couldn't have been better with the exception of a few patches of fog each morning. As the tournament approached, I had all but convinced myself whom ever I drew for a partner would either lock up into pool 11 or lock down into pool 13. Pool 12 was not yielding a lot of weight in recent practice sessions so I guessed most fisherman who prefished pool 12 were experiencing the same results. I was pleasantly surprised when my partner for the day, Jerry Mundt from the Northeast Iowa Bass Anglers (My club) said we were staying in the pool. As Jerry and I launched the boat in the caous of everyone using the same launch ramp, I was excited to get the day started and catch some fish.

     After our brisk morning boat ride, we set down and Jerry began laying out the situation. Basically a secondary cut with a weedy shoreline varying from zero water to 3' to 6'. The weeds where just thick enough to make a buzz bait and a pop-r impossible to fish, but almost immediately Jerry had a blow up near the boat swimming a jig just below the surface. He and his prefishing partner had found fish on this stretch during the week and they were good fish, so we knew there couldn't be any mistakes once we got the fish to bite. We continued to throw a variety of baits along this bank and it became apparent the fish were not holding to the weed line in any great quantities. After about an hour of flipping the weed line Jerry smacked his first keeper of the day, a solid 2lb largemouth. As the cull tag went on the fish, I notice a few hundred yards above us on the opposite bank we had another boat fish the weed line. Honestly, Jerry expected this place to be crowded, but gratefully, it wasn't. We continued up the initial bank and as it came to a point, we continued across the open water to the bank on the upper side. This had a similar set of structure with a sharp weed line and access to deeper water. Shortly into this stretch Jerry had his second keeper of the day, again off soft plastic, and again, a solid 2lb largemouth. To this point, I had yet to have a bite. It appeared we would have to grind the day out pitching and flipping to weed lines and the occasional small brush pile or fallen log.
     We decided to start slightly further down from out starting point and work our way back up the bank hopping to grind out a few more fish. This produced one more keeper for Jerry and sent us to the adjoining bank with hopes of finding fish on some untouched water. After about 50 yards up this new bank Jerry hooked into a solid 2-1/2lb largemouth on the outside of the weed line in about 5' of water. It was clear that the few fish we did have were sitting in water deeper than three feet. So we decided to keep searching for weed lines that had that kind of depth. As we skipped over to the the point we had already fished that morning, and approached a single patch of three little pads against the weed line Jerry noticed a swirl underneath one of the pads. He quickly tossed his soft plastic on top of the lilly pad and let it drop over the side into the water. The line quickly swam off and Jerry set the hook as I dropped my rod and got the net. The 4-1/2lb largemouth came into the net easily and we both stood there in awe over the size of this bass. That was a nice way to book end a limit for the first day of the state tournament.
     As the sun got higher and the time shorter, Jerry and I decided to head up river a little and fish a stretch of bank that had weeds and some good size stumps bordering 8' of water. Initially we didn''t get bit, but as we started our second pass down the bank, I set the hook on a chunky 3lb largemouth that bit my tube as it fell down next to the stump. Finally, I had the monkey off my back and a reason to get a weigh in bag once we returned to the boat ramp. However, a few stumps later I had the exact same response when my tube hit the log and disappeared along side of it. Another solid 2-3/4lb largemouth. This got my adrenaline going after almost six hours with only a few bites. We fished this spot for the next hour, but couldn't recreate the quick action of the first two fish. And as the time grew later, Jerry and I decided to head back closer to the ramp and fish a few spots along the way.
     As we stopped and made a few cast along the way, we passed a number of fellow tournament anglers fishing every point, log jam, and rock bank up and down pool 12. This late in the day, everyone was scrambling to improve their day one sack before weigh in. Jerry and I ended our day on a stretch of main channel bank that produced a few small fish and a lot of boat traffic waves that made the experience rocky to say the least. As Jerry dropped me off at the ramp to get his vehicle I noticed a great number of fisherman were already weighed in and either rigging their boats or standing around the leader board. We made quick work of loading the boat, got our weigh in bags, loaded the fish and stood in the line to see what we had. After the dust had settled, it turned out Jerry's 13+lbs of fish was leading day one of the fall Iowa State tournament. My meager 5.98lbs in two fish was not what I was looking to bring in, but I was grateful to have the fish I did. Between Jerry and I, we collectively had 12-15 bites all day. Jerry made the most of his bites and it paid off. It was a fun day on the water fishing with a fellow club member who I was genuinely happy to see have the day one lead.