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Well it is now the time of the year to start working on your vocabulary for next season. So the next time you get a big one on here are some possible choices to yell. Thanks to our man John Crews.

If this doesn’t make you want to put off winter than go buy Golf clubs.

So gitty I can hardly take it. I am signed up to be one of the Bassmaster Elite Marshals when they come to the River Rumble in Ft. Madison Iowa. What this means is I get to spend 3 days riding in a boat watching a pro’s every move. It is gonna be great. You can read more about it here:

BASS Unveils New Marshal Program
for Bassmaster Elite Series
An exclusive opportunity to ride along with the world’s best bass anglers

Continuing with its firm commitment to provide opportunities for BASS members to learn from the best, BASS announced details today regarding its Bassmaster Elite Series Marshal program, which will allow BASS members to ride along with Bassmaster Elite Series pros during competition throughout the 11-event Elite Series season.

Upon registering for the exclusive opportunity to learn a lifetime of bass fishing tips and techniques from the best in the business, Marshals will be expected to become familiar with tournament rules and to help ensure the integrity of the highest level of professional fishing by reporting rules violations to BASS tournament officials. Thus, they will be required before each event to attend a registration and briefing by BASS officials, who will provide them with copies of BASS rules. During the briefings, Marshals may ask rules-related questions.

As an added bonus, Marshals will also have the opportunity while on the water to operate technological devices that will enhance the sport, including BASSTrak, a cell-phone based scoring technology, and BASSCast, an onboard camera developed by ESPN Technology, which will broadcast to Bassmaster.com so fans can see more up-to-the-minute action from the top bass fishing pros in the world.

Similar to the popular “Day on the Lake” feature in Bassmaster Magazine, Bassmaster Marshals will witness first-hand a full day of tournament fishing from the best seat in the house. In addition to the experience, Marshals will be provided with official Bassmaster Marshal apparel and will be allowed to attend exclusive social functions with the Elite pros. Marshals will also receive products from BASS sponsors.

“One of the main objectives of the Marshal program is to provide a unique, fun experience that will resonate with members,” said Tom Ricks, vice president and general manager, BASS. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to get up-close and personal to the only true professional fishing league.”

BASS members who are interested in becoming Marshals can register at Bassmaster.com. The enrollment fee is $100. Starting on Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. ET, BASS Federation Nation, BASS Insider and BASS Life members will be able to sign up at Bassmaster.com, and on Nov. 18 beginning at 1 p.m., all other BASS members will be allowed to enroll in any of the 11 Elite Series events. View the complete 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule.

Elite Series Marshals will only participate on the first three days of Elite Series competition. Elite pros will be joined by a cameraperson for the final day of competition. In instances where more Marshals register than the number of Elite pros, BASS will keep an alternate list and spots will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

This will be the inaugural season for the Bassmaster Elite Series Marshal program, created to replace the co-angler division at Elite tournaments. Each day, Marshals will be randomly paired with Elite pros. Family members of Elite pros can participate but will be restricted to ride along with Elite pros to whom they are not related. Members must be at least 16 years of age to participate.

I wanted to get out and try my hand at some fishing in late fall. And late might be an understatement. We woke up to temps in the 20’s with some good snow falling. We started out at about 8 and we were going to fish for about 4 hours. Again tough for me to not be chasing ducks but I rose above it. Today in my presence were again Brandon and Mike. They didn’t have school today and wanted to get one more crack at it before heading to their deer stands the next day. I had done my homework the night before looking on a map I figured fish would be deep near winter holes. We drove up to a spot with a nice sharp break and as we went over it shad scattered and I dropped a buoy marker. We fished around that marker for 10 minutes and I had fish on. I thought it was a small bass that had fallen victim to X-rap in Glass Ghost. However it was a decent sized crappie that went in the box for my tummy. A few casts later I caught another smaller crappie too small for the box. And then in the next 10 cast I caught another keeper crappie and 2 keeper walleyes all going home for a meal. Although this was a nice bonus it didn’t make any sense that we weren’t catching bass. As the snow fell the shad were busting all over the surface. I knew they had to be near. As most fishermen are object orientated we moved closer to the bank and after Mike had some tangles with an aerator and a broken rod later we were back fishing. We moved down the bank and as someone else was running the trolling motor I rigged up a strike king Z Too in Smokey shad a fluke style bait. I made a cast out towards shore and I saw the infamous tick in the line I set the hook on the first bass of the day. Cast back out and another one and the third cast also reaped a bass. By this time Brandon and Mike were re-rigging intensely. Luckily these are the 3X plastics so they last a person a life time. We pounded that weed edge for about an hour catch fish here and there with even a few doubles. It was not fast action but pretty constant I wondered if this same thing could be duplicated in deep water. We head back out to the deep and we were sitting in 32 feet of water and we started catching bass. They were schooled up and all right around 2 lbs. pretty good time. We all went home with stink on our fingers this time and we were cold.
One observation I notice throughout the morning is that the fish bit better the worse the weather got. Snow falling made for good pictures though.

Equipment: X-rap gear – 6’6” Gander Mountain I.M. 8 Rod M.H. with a Quantum tour edition P.t. and 14lb XL.
Z Too – 6’8” St. Croix SCII M – Gander Mountain spinning reel with 8lb Vanish transition

On day 2 of MEA we were heading to THEE River. Around here when we say the river it is known that you are heading to the daddy of all rivers the Mississippi. We got there in the morning and we were welcomed by God with Rain and wind. After some time the wind left but his friend the rain didn’t. Today in the boat we had Mike and Brandon two fine fellows that help me beat the banks of Rochester and know their way around my boat as well. We started chunking topwater on wing dams as this was going really good the last time I was on the river. I had a couple follows and a few misses on a Spook but no takers. We tried one other spot that on the map looked good but was a failure. As we floated down stream we discovered a little point and as we drifted by we had a double. Mine on my favorite swim jig and Brandon’s on a Jointed Shad colored Shad Rap. We kicked the trolling motor back up and we had discovered a honey hole. This was just one of those spots that the fish were there for one reason and that was to eat. The current was bringing food by and the rocks were blocking the current so these fat lazy largemouth could sit there and just eat was came by. At this point I was convinced that it didn’t really matter what you were throwing it was more where you were throwing it. Your lure had to be right on the rocks or they wouldn’t eat it. They weren’t moving far to eat but they were eating. Fish were caught on Senkos, swim jigs and one on a Strike king series 3 in sexy shad. Brandon caught the biggest one of the day at just over 3lbs.
In all this mess however Mike didn’t boat a fish. Now he had several on and had teeth break him off but my heart went out to the guy. He fished the hardest that day and he went home without stink on his fingers. Sorry Mike.

Growing up i had always duck hunted Mea - not that those years are behind me but i bet the fishing is better over MEA than the hunting is we shall see…

So I had some ambitious students who wanted to get out over MEA so we went no matter what the weather. First day of MEA we went to Lake Lura. This lake is known for hawgs not numbers. I warned all the students (Josh, Brandon, and Tanner) that they might not catch a lot of bass but that they would probably catch a big one if they caught one at all. My wife and i fished a fun tourney here this summer and we only had 9 bites all day but caught a couple of pigs.
click here for tourney results

We hit the water at 8 and it was cold air temp was 27. This lake is only 9 feet deep at most and the water temp was 49 when we started. I figured the bite wouldn’t pick up until afternoon. We fished the first 4 hours without a bite and I caught the first 2lb bass on an edge on my favorite purple swim jig. We went another 3 hours or so without a bite. We tried deep, shallow, slow, fast and everything in between. It was just slow. So we went to a proven bank that had been getting sun soaked all day and we pounded it and I had switched to a green pumpkin swim jig. After about a dozen casts I hooked into a good one I politely asked for the net and Brandon netted it like a champ, a few moments later we had one in the boat that was 4-11 on the Berkley digital.

A few casts later I tagged into one that was 3lbs. By this time everyone in the boat was chunking a swim jig. Josh caught one little one making him the winner of the student trophy that day. So much for all that talk about only catching good ones. Good times but not the bites we were wanted. Day 2 Mississippi River…

We were the last boat in the draw for take off but we didn’t think it would matter because we were going to start out deep and we figured most guys would beat the banks from start to finish on this one. We raced one other boat there and as it turns out it is one other guy who found the same spot as us in practice. We got bit on this spot in practice but couldn’t get them to commit and we never landed one. As it turns out our waypoints were within a cast of each other and Brent the captain of our boat put one fish in the box but wasn’t the quality the other boat had found the previous day.
During prefishing everyone works as a team to find the fish but during the tourney it is every man for himself. This has its positives and negatives but more on that later.
We left our deep spot for another deep spot and Brent landed another keeper. We then headed to another deep spot but on the way we hit a milfoil patch that was near by. Brent landed yet another keeper this time pulling a swim jig through the cover. When we arrived at our 3rd deep spot I quickly hooked up on a good fish but in 14 feet of water any fish feels good. And as it turns out it was just an ok fish right around 2lbs on a footbal jig. We hit a stretch of milfoil Brent cranked while I threw a swim jig and I boated 3 non keepers quickly. Brent switched from cranking a Sexy shad to his swim jig and boated a keeper right away. At this point I am wishing I was in front of the boat, but with the amount of money one pays for a rig this nice he indeed has honors. We then got to the first dock that was on this long milfoil patch, Brent skipped in a Gitzit Tube and the line took off. I quickly helped him net it and it was his best fish yet. As he was getting situated I boated 2 more non keepers on the swim jig. At this point I know he is going to probably chase bigger fish and this is where it becomes a disadvantage to be in the back of the boat. We were zooming in between docks and I was burning the swim jig as fast as I could but when the boat is moving a little over 3 mph you are casting and reeling as fast as you know how. I picked up another keeper this way nothing much but he will measure. And by now he was no longer swimming a jig in the milfoil and was leaving them for me. He picked up another fish on a dock and he told me to go to the front so he could cull. I thought this was my big chance but nope just a couple more runts. We then circled back around to where we started our day on the deep stuff. But the spot was already taken. So we hit some milfoil nearby and Brent caught another keeper off of a dock. I get the front while he culls and this time I capitalize. The fish came on the deep edge of the milfoil. And it was a fish that wasn’t quite 2 lbs. We then went back to the long stretch of milfoil and Brent again cranked it while I fished a swim jig another couple of little guys until we got to the dock and then I caught one keeper casting straight out the back of the boat on a swim jig. Brent hooked up on a good fish under the same dock he got his biggest one on. Again I netted and Brent was grateful. Brent asked me at this point what I was thinking. All I was thinking at this point was how I would love to have my 5th fish. We then flipped a huge milfoil flat where we had gotten 2 bites that we shook off the day before. Nothing, not a tap. At the end of the flat there was a big pontoon and we thought while we are there let’s do it. Brent flipped in and wacked the pontoon with his tungsten weight. It was loud! He reeled in gave himself a little pep talk and flipped in there good. Only problem was he was over the pontoons gas lines and you would guess it we watch the line go ‘thump’. He hooked into a good one and let it hang over the gas lines while we motored up to it. It was a dandy fish. It turned out to be his big one of the day 3.15. It came out of 18 inches of water. We flipped a few more docks and Brent caught a few more keepers but none that helped him. By this time we were deep into some pads and I wanted to put a frog on but no time. We were hauling through the area. We finally got down to the last stretch of docks before it was time to go in. And Brent asked if there was anything else I would like to do in the last 45 minutes. I said I didn’t know because what I wanted and what he wanted were 2 different things. He needed a 5lber and I need a 12incher. Right as I said I didn’t know the rod loaded up and it was over I caught my 5th and final and smallest keeper and took almost all day to do it. Brent ended up taking 4th on the day and became our state team captain and I took 15th with 7lbs.
It took 15 lbs to win and winner caught 4 of his fish swimming a sprofrog on the inside edge of pads.
Here is what I learned. Don’t let anyone talk you out of what your gut tells you. There were some areas that I thought looked mint for top frogs and I was talked out of it. Also I would have made a few suggestions on fishing an area a little slower. There was an area that still had some really green milfoil in 8 feet of water and we just burned through it. Other than that I was proud of myself for doing a good job scrapping behind a very good fisherman.

Equipment used –
Swim jig gear – 7’0” SCIII MH fast, Diawa tournament reel, 20lb Power pro, 3/8 oz. Custom swim jig in purple/Black

Football jig gear - 7’6” Batson flipping stick IFT 905 og, Quantum Tour Edition PT Burner, 17lb Vanish transition Fluorocarbon, ½ oz unknown brand jig in black and brown, Chomper DT skirted grub in watermelon seed

Although this is all i caught fish on this day i had 10 rods on the deck and they all saw use. Happy readings let me know if i can answer any questions. ike

We left early Friday morning for some pre-fishing. I met a fellow club member at 4:30 a.m. to make the drive to Lindstrom. We met up with a few more club members in Cannon Falls. When we arrived at the landing it was a steaming 40 degrees outside. This was the coldest I had fished in sometime when it wasn’t ice fishing. We started out hitting some pads by the access and found nobody home. We gave it some thought and figured that the fish probably weren’t up shallow yet due to warmer temps out deep. So we hit some deep stuff and nothing but a few taps and swing and misses. We then went to the north end of north center and immediately we started popping fish on swim jigs and spinnerbaits. Only problem was the size. We caught maybe 10 fish and 2 of them would have been keepers. So we set off in hopes to find bigger fish. We tried pads, milfoil flats and we had nothing going. We pulled up to one rock point in the afternoon and caught a decent keeper on the rocks. Then we flipped some more pads and more milfoil and we shook off a few bites in hopes they would eat it again tomorrow. Overall numbers producer was my favorite swim-jig but the size came on a Mann’s Hardnose Junebug worm. We continued to fish with very little luck and before we were done for the day we decided to retie in preparation for tomorrow and so we didn’t have to do it in the dark later. We had high hopes for the next day but with 10 rods on the deck you know things can’t be good.

On Saturday we headed to a known hawg producing lake and it didn’t disappoint. The last time I was there we caught two fish over 5 pounds and not one fish less than 2 pounds. It made for a good time. I did well last time on a swim jig so I started with that and the northerns really liked it and it was my last one of my favorite color (but have gotten more since then here is a picture sorry for the cell phone quality) We turned the corner of a spot and Jason missed one a spinnerbait so I flipped in with a Booyah jig and berkley beast trailer WHAMO it crushed it. Fish went 5 pounds and an ounce. After catching about half dozen other fish we went back to the access for a food run. I messed around by the access while Jason went for grub and had one blow up on a horny toad and that was it. We then headed to the far side of the lake. We pulled up to a shore and talked to a few other fellas and they had just fished the shore. They told us they caught nothing but a couple of 2 1/2 pounders. We fish it anyway and about 20 minutes later Jason dropped his northland reed runner spinnerbait or as we like to call them Fleet farm specials in front of the right fish and CRUNCH. 5lbs 9 oz A very nice fish.
We fished a few other spots and only one small fish and then off to home. The lake wasn’t as good for numbers but didn’t disappoint with size.

peace out,
ike

We arrived to the south access of South Center Lake at about 8 a.m. I was fishing with Jeremy’s (CEO of www.ajrodsandtackle.com) brother Jason. Jason just bought a new (to him) bass boat. It is pretty nice and I would take it any day. I wanted to start on the north Center and then slowly work my way back to the access as the day went on. We started on the islands and the long point on the east side of the north lake and Jason quickly boated a couple of nice northerns on a spinnerbait but no bass to speak of. We slowly made our way out to deeper water. The wind had really picked up. The lake is quite low and what the map said would be 5 feet of water was more like 2-3 feet of water. We threw across the rocks with spinnerbaits, wigglewarts, and Booyah Jigs but nothing to show for it but one small keeper coming on the wart. We then tried chasing some fish in deep water that we didn’t know if they were bass or not we each had one bite. Jason on a craw, and me on dropshotted ringworm. However we failed to connect on either. We then went into the northern part of the north lake. There was already a boat in there so we kept our distance but as we rounded the point I pulled a swim jig over a clump of coontail and POW a fish hit it come out of the water while striking. Fish weighed a little over 3 pounds. We fished areas the rest of the day trying to duplicate this type of area only to find little fish. I hope I learn more fishing it again the day before the tourney. I am pretty pumped because I am fishing with “Mr. 45” The guy that took 45th in last years Bassmaster Classic.
Peace out
ike