The Older You Get The Faster Time Goes

Where have the days gone?  Another fantastic summer has come and gone and we are in full swing of fall and preparing for ice fishing already.  

It seems the older I have gotten the faster the days and years go.  The seasons are just stacked in on one another.  Seems like just last week Dustin Byfuglien and I were preparing to head to Sturgeon Bay for our annual May fishing trip that encompasses a couple great bass tournaments.  

I am sitting here looking back on yet another great guide season and summer.  The smallmouth fishing was second to none, and the tournaments treated me above average.  Fished the inaugural year of the Classic Bass Champions Tour and qualified for the championship which was held Sep 1st at Lake Pokegama in Grand Rapids MN.  It was a great event, although I didn't get the finish I was looking for.  

As soon as I got through the last few events and guide trips in Sep, I was off to British Columbia to visit good friend Steve Yanish and take in my first ever moose hunt.  This trip had been on my list for many years and finally this fall I made it come to fruition. 

It was a great canadian moose, and my first ever.  I can tell you that BC moose hunting was a bigger adventure then I ever expected, but I recemmond to everyone out there looking at doing a trip like this to just make it happen.  Steve Yanish and Alpine Valley Outfitters did an amazing job and are a first class operation.  

Wild On The Water

Wild on the water is in the books and what a great event on Lake Mille Lacs it was. Our team consisted of Kyle Rau, Tony(from Budweiser), and myself. We weighed 3 smallmouth for 13.5lbs and were able to take home the win. This event was for charity and raised a lot of money for the Wild foundation. With our win we were able to donate $5k to the charity of our choice.
You will see some highlights in the above video and see the fish we brought to the scales.

Not So SMALLmouth

The past few weeks have been some amazing smallmouth fishing from Sturgeon Bay WI to Lake Mille Lacs we have had so many epic moments and memories made I can't even begin to tell you. I have to thank all the folks that joined me on the water, it was a May and June that I will never forget.

I capped it all off with a 2nd place finish this past weekend on Lake Mille Lacs in the first ever Champions Tour event presented by Classicbass!

I am now back in the metro running trips on Lake Waconia, and Lake Minnetonka. I have some openings yet if you are looking to get out for some great largemouth fishing in the metro. If you have the smallmouth bug, then we can head north for Mille Lacs. Until next time, Fish On! Get out and stretch the string.

Lips Like Sugar

Sugar Lake Mexico has changed my fishing career forever and has wrote it's own chapter in my life. 

Winter has come and gone and I was so busy that I didn't even find time to share some ice fishing adventures with you all.  

This past week I was able to take a few days to head south to Falcon Lake Texas and Sugar Lake Mexico to fish bass and crappies, and that is when all things I knew about bass changed in my life forever with the catch of a lifetime.  

Only fished Falcon Lake part of a day before heading to Sugar Lake Mexico.  It was my first day on Sugar Lake with 2 of my good buddies when my bass fishing career was changed forever.  We had spent much of the day fishing deep when late in the day we opted to move up to some shallow cover and rocks.  My buddy Jeff stated he thought it would be a good idea to throw a Strike King 3XD and it sounded like a great idea.  I put the boat in about 8-9 FOW and started throwing a SK Chili Craw 3XD on 12lb fluorocarbon.  It was only about 15 minutes into running down a stretch of water when I set the hook on a fish that pushed slack into my line.  

I had no idea what was really on the other end of my line.  My first comment to Jeff was, "its not a turd burgler".  I was simply referring to the fact that it felt "decent".  After I battled for only a short time the fish I was hooked up on came up and tried to jump and breached the surface exposing how big she really was.  At that time I realized I had a fish of a life time on and was only focused on trying to get it to the boat.  At the same time Jeff and Nate saw the giant bass and confirmed with me it was large.  After a short fight and it going under the boat it finally swam out and tried to jump again.  Jeff made an attempt to get it in the net and it crawled out, but on the second attempt he got it in the net and we all could breath.  

After much exuberation with the guys, they got me calmed down and we opted to take weight, length, and girth on the beast so I can have a replica made.  This Largemouth bass weighed in at 11lb's 12oz's.  It measured in at 25.5" long and a girth between 19-20".  This fish was short and fat.  It tried to go 11.13 but eventually settled at 12 oz.  After a few pics I released the fish to fight another day.  I will be getting a replica mount for my office so I can tell this same story for many years to come. 

This trip also produced many other great fish and lots of laughs and lasting memories.  I willbe reporting back with many more stories and outings soon.  Until then, Fish On!  Get out and stretch the string!