The Long Haul

Brent Long is waking up this morning a 2 time FLW Tour Champion and I couldn't be happier for him. Back in 2010 when I fished the FLW Tour I spent many of days on the water with Brent. I was also fortunate enough to call Brent my friend outside of fishing. We traveled, ate, and spent many days just going over lake maps and tackle. Brent was there for me when I had questions and I was there for him when he needed to borrow my boat one time. All in all it was a pleasure getting to know this family man and all around great person. At times it felt as though he would have taken his shirt off his back for anyone that needed it.
Brent is a humble man with great fishing prowess, and he showed it once again this week on Table Rock Lake in MO where yesterday he finished off his 2nd FLW Tour level victory and is headed home $125k richer...never hurts. I couldn't be happier to see Brent win his second tour level event. He is deserving and has now put his name on a short list of anglers that have ever won 2 tour events. Many guys are still just trying to get there first "W". Below is a short video from a day on the water back in 2010 with Brent. We were flipping shallow on Fort Loudon-Terllico in this video, which is the same pattern he used to earn the "W" this week at Table Rock. Congrats to Brent!

Another one of my good friends and travel mates Troy Morrow contended for the win at Table Rock but he came up just a little short and finished in 3rd place. A rather amazing feat considering he was in 97th place after day one. He made one of the biggest comebacks in tour history(if not the biggest) and was right there contending for the "W" after 4 days. Happy for Troy and his great family as well; always deserving. Troy works hard as any one on the water and is one of the nicest guys away from the lake. So happy to get to call both these men my friend and look up to both of them with much respect.

Who Wants One?

I have a Vexilar Double Vision for sale. This unit has both a FL-20 and a DTD Scout Camera in the bottom of one carry case.  I am selling the whole package for $800. Retail is $1150.  Used 4 times. If you don't want the Vexilar head unit you can buy the camera and carry case for $425 and put your own head unit in it.

Slab Season

 It is that time of year again; slab season.  The ice fishing season has come and gone and once again we have open water.  With that comes the shallow spring crappie action. Hit the waters of Lake Minnetonka on Friday and found the lake to be much warmer than expected. Water temps were in the 50's on the main lake and at times over 60 in the coves we were fishing.  

I wasted no time hitting the soft water only days after the ice went out and found the crappies were willing to cooperate. It felt good to fish with a rod that was longer than 30" for the first time in many months.  This was the spread of fish I filleted up on Friday for our Lenten feast! All in all the action was pretty good with lots of fish in the 9-10" range but we could sort through them and we finished with 14 fish over 10 1/2" with the biggest being almost 12".  Hopefully this is a sign of what this early spring/summer is going to be like-great weather and great fishing!  

If you need to get on the water or would like to try your luck at landing a few fish for the oil, feel free to contact me.  Until next time, Fish On! Get out and stretch the string!

The Man Behind The Lens

This is a short story and a few photos that good friend and photographer, Joe Ringus, took with me shortly after I got my new boat.  I have had the honor of fishing with Joe numerous times and he always finds a way to shoot a great photos - and this trip was no exception. I appreciate his work and look forward to getting on the water with him again in the near future.  Take a minute and check it all out here.