BassFan Blauket OP-ED BassFan Feedback Responce Rant.

This letter to editor/BassFan Feedback was posted on the Futurebass.com forums and this was my responce to the LTE at Futurebass.com.

Ken Bragg of Fayetteville, WV writes:
Randy said it well and to the point, but there are a couple of points that should be made:

1. The sponsors a few years ago were small tackle companies – rod and reel manufacturers, boat manufacturers, etc. And their customer base was local fishermen and in large part Federation anglers with hopes of reaching the big leagues. Now the sponsors are mega tackle companies, food and sunglass manufacturers and drug makers and the local anglers have in large part been forgotten by most in the boating and tackle industry as well as BASS and FLW, even though our purchasing of fishing products have made it possible for the pros to do what they do.

I don't know a lot about the sponsorship history of bass fishing before the days of FLW but I think it is flat out ridiculous to claim that the common bass angler "has in large part been forgotten by most in the boating and tackle industry as well as BASS and FLW." If it were not for them marketing directly to the wants and needs of the common bass angler than they would be completely out of business. With that said I think it is just stupid for instance to blame the people at Ranger for the fact that the housing market imploded, then the economy tanked and thus the boating market landed softer than a Denny Brauer flip into the water next to some cover.

2. The attitude of boat, motor and mega tackle companies – that fishermen will pay whatever they ask for their products – has backfired and caused many to leave the sport and the younger fishermen are finding it difficult to make a living, much less afford a sport that used to be a sport for average-income anglers but now is limited to those with larger incomes...

I wonder what proof this guy has that tournament bass fishing as a sport was more popular in the past than it is now. Maybe the Federation aspect is smaller, but I think there are many more options today in terms of clubs and circuits. I'll give a big "We don't know that!" to the notion interest in tournament bass fishing is in decline. And even if it is in decline the major reasons behind the decline could be different from what he suggests. Without a scientific survey there is no way to know.

I would say with the advent and popularity of Co-Angling that tournament bass fishing has never been more accessible to average-income anglers than it is now.

...The tackle industry is as much to blame as anyone with their foreign-made tackle, rods, reels and electronics.

How do these companies expect people to buy their products when they themselves deny workers of good-paying jobs here in America. Don't they teach economics in college these days? It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that yes, it may be cheaper to make a product in China or Korea, but if there's no one who can afford to buy it, then what did you accomplish?

I don't really know what this has to do with anything but then again I never took economics in college. Apparently the boating industry gets a pass on this one yet it seems they are the one's in the worst shape right now.

The boating and fishing industry has created this monster and now they're going to have to figure it out unless the good ol' boys in Washington decide to bail them out with taxpayers dollars for their own greed and stupidity.

I think this last paragraph is stuck on stupid.

Does Bass Fishing Cost too Much?

Vagabond Persimmon Seed #21 $68.99

Yesterday on Facebook one of my friends wrote:
The economy continues to wreak havoc on the fishing industry but it seems people in the industry just don't get it. Come on $20 crankbaits, $70k boats! The average angler is being hurt the worst.

Several people clicked "Like" or commented in agreement. I ,however, was the lone dissenting voice when I wrote:

Sorry but I disagree, I think at no time in history has it been so easy to get quality equipment at a reasonable price thanks to the very large Internet inspired new and used marketplace.

I think at the outset it might be a good idea to make a distinction between an "average" bass angler and an "average" bass tournament angler because I don't think the Joe average bass fisherman is necessarily a tournament person. To be a tournament fisherman generally is going to require a financial commitment to equipment that is completely unnecessary for the basic task of having a good time by catching a few bass as a hobby.

For the guy that just wants to go out on a regular basis and bust a few bass it most certainly does not require "$20 crankbaits" and "70K boats." Any suggestion that this is the case is ridiculous. There is no doubt in my mind that right now and into the foreseeable future the average fisherman will be able to acquire quality equipment that will bring plenty of bass fishing success even on a tight budget.

I think the same pretty much holds true for Joe average bass tournament fisherman, because Joe average bass tournament fisherman is a club guy fishing for little to nothing beyond bragging rights, a trophy and maybe few hundred up to maybe a couple of thousand dollars at the high end. Bill Ludenia, who is a guy in my bass club, is a perfect example of a guy who has been a very successful bass tournament fisherman who doesn't see a big need to "keep up with the Joneses." He keeps it simple, fishes to his strengths and gets the job done.

To my comment someone replied with this:
Pretty hard to get a used BDS 4 spring craw. Used boats time is now but who has the cash, half price may as well be full price.
(Note a BDS is a Lucky Craft Crankbait that retails for $15-$17 depending on size, spring craw is a color pattern)

Well obviously is someone is dead set on getting a specific Lucky Craft crankbait, finding a good deal on it may not be possible. Heck the notion of "good deal" and Lucky Craft crankbaits is probably an oxymoron to the average Joe bass fishermen who probably gets bye just fine with a few Bandits or Bombers out of the bargain bin.

Owning a boat is nice but not a necessity. With the Internet it is easier than ever to get connected with people who have boats or find out about local opportunities to catch bass where a boat isn't even necessary. If you are in the market for a watercraft as long as you have a couple of hundred bucks you should be able to find something between Craigslist, Ebay, and local fishing forums.

Does bass fishing cost too much? No! Lack of money is not much of an excuse.

No Matter Where You Go, There Are You

You must go, follow your star
No matter where you go, there you are
No matter where you go, there are you
So don't let go of what you know to be true

This is the chorus from a truly great song, "No Matter Where You Go, There Are You," by Irish Guitarist Luka Bloom. The story is about a Muslim who flees Algeria and ends up settling in Ireland due to the way Irish music moves him. Full lyrics here.

I think the song works because on a deep level it connects with the inner humanity with it's longing for nostalgia, beauty, music, freedom, and liberty. However, with all that said I am conflicted about the last line in the chorus.

So don't let go of what you know to be true

The problem as I see it is that there is no way around the fact that pretty much all of humanity is deceived in one way or another and "what you know to be true" might be anything but true. I hold to convictions that a great many people outright reject as false and vice versa. Are my convictions really truth or am I just another of the many deluded and deceived? I think I am with most people in the fact that I would prefer not to be deluded or deceived. However, we live in a time and a place where it is an open question whether or not truth exists or matters. Who is to really say if knowing what is actually true is better than being deluded and deceived? Maybe whatever floats your boat is as good as your gonna get, so why not just go with that right or wrong.

You must go, follow your star
No matter where you go, there you are
No matter where you go, there are you
So don't let go of what you know to be true

Are We Bass Fishing Millionaires or Billionaires or More?

At the BassNblog Bass and Me, which I just found, blog author Nitewraith has a post entitled: Fishing Has Made Me Wealthy. He starts out by saying;

As I sat today waiting for my Fraternal Order of Eagles district meeting to start I had time to contemplate my life, and I came to the following conclusion — Every man or woman, rich or poor, who has fished is a “millionaire.”

Now you might think to yourself, “What in the blue blazes is he talking about?” And normally you would be right, but think about it this way. It may not be reflected in the fishermen’s wallet or checkbook and you may have a poor credit rating, but even the modest fisherman is a millionaire — his wealth is in his heart and in his experience.

The sentimentality of that may be right on, but how about a literal interpretation.

How much is the real worth of time spent in the pursuit of bass?

I suppose one might answer that this is mostly a subjective question because Rich Lindgren will give you one answer and Paris Hilton would probably give you another and every individual would probably appraise the value differently.

I suppose if I were a trained economist, accountant, statistician or mathematician I could run the available numbers in a scientific manner and give answers that would have an heir of objectivity. Since I am none of these things I have a few very unscientific approaches as food for thought.

On the long drive up to the cabin one night in the 1990's I thought to myself about how much someone would have to pay me an hour for me to give up my time fishing. I thought the answer to this question could determine the value that I placed on my fishing. I remember that after some thought the answer I came up with was a minimum of $30 per hour. Nobody at that time or since has offered to pay me $30 an hour to work instead of fish and the fact of the matter is I have placed fishing as a much higher priority in my life than making myself rich with material goods.

Another approach to think about is a quantification of the value of my fishing equipment from a historical perspective. The richest man in the world 100 years ago could not with all his money buy the fishing technology that I have at my fingertips right now. Every Caesar in all the splendor of Rome never once was able to cast a Team Daiwa X-103 HSPF. The craftsmanship and engineering precision that goes into a stock $7 Rapala crankbait is something on par with the works of master artisans of ages past. I have some pretty nice fishing equipment; It's better than most but not nearly what many others have when you factor in the big retail items like boats, motors, tow vehicles, high end fishing electronics, and the highest end fishing tackle. From a historical perspective what I do have puts me and thousands of others in a state of incomprehensible wealth to hundreds of previous generations of the human race.

Or how about this angle: Forbes can tell you about the net worth of the richest men in the world. I wonder who has the highest net worth in terms of fishing equipment at their disposal and what kind of astronomical sum there collection of toys might come to at retail value. Now I would assume that whoever the person with the highest net worth in fishing equipment loves fishing and gets a great deal of enjoyment out of their pursuit of fish. I will presume to say however that this persons love and enjoyment of the sport does not far surpass my own. In fact when it comes to the payoff from our equipment we may very well be equals, therefore what I have is to me worth equal to what the richest man in fishing has spent.

And the last angle to be considered for now is specific to bass fishermen. Take the top money making bass tournament fishermen in the coarse of a single year with all they have earned in paybacks and add to that all they have paid in entry fees and put the two together; Then divide that by the number of hours spent in angling tournaments and you could come out with the value of spending an hour on the water bass fishing for any given year. Once again this conclusion is reached by the equating of the pleasure of the experiences between bass anglers being somewhat close to equal no matter if they are fishing a tournament or not. This one, however, is probably the weakest angle because it is almost certainly true that the pleasure derived from catching fish in the clutch while in the crucible of high stakes professional tournament angling is a rush unmatched in your average catch of a keeper bass, but then again maybe not. You can decide for yourself on the merits of these ramblings.

"I'm either on to something, or I'm on something" as the Dan "The Common Man" Cole would say.

Bass Tournament Fishing from the Back of the Boat (Co-Angling)

Over at the Bass Fishing Forum of FishingMinnesota.com Carl Spande of Carl's BassAckwards Fishing Blog asks this question.

Co-angler Tournament Strategies

I'm thinking about fishing a few circuits as a co-angler this upcoming season, and I'm curious what pros and co-anglers alike recommend for co-angler tournament strategies. For example, lure selection, bait placement, and other things that will help a co-angler be as successful as possible when competing against other co-anglers in other boats.

This past year with the Baxter Bass Snatchers I was fishing the tournaments as if I was a Co-angler and I only took time at the front of the boat when my partner needed me to run the trolling motor as they had something else they needed to do. I think I fished from the back of the boat fairly successfully, but how well I did from the back of the boat is difficult to measure against others because some and possibly most of the non-boaters took half the day at the front of the boat as is their right according to the club by-laws. I do know if it was Co-Angler vs. Co-Angler that I would have been 1st at Serpent Lake and second to last or last at Big Birch.

My thoughts on tournament fishing from the back of the boat:
I think your main goal from the back of the boat should not be to win the tournament, but to try and get a limit by catching as many fish as you can. You do this by throwing baits you are comfortable throwing and that you think will catch fish in the environment to which your boater brings you. It is definitely helpful if your boater gives you a general idea of what kind of water you are going to be fishing for the tournament day, but you do have to be prepared to be flexible as the boaters plans might change. I think fishing from the back of the boat is a test of your flexibility and adjustment abilities as an angler.

I don't think you should have any hard and fast rule about not throwing the same thing as the angler in the front of the boat. You throw what you want to throw and what you think will work but you definitely want to be in tune with what the guy in the front of the boat is doing to give you input on what might or might not be working. If something they are doing starts working and it is practical for you to do the same thing than you might want to make that switch but the beauty of it is you don't have to. I want to emphasize again, do what you think will work. If the guy in the front of the boat proves you are around fish than you probably should keep making adjustments until you find something that works.

If your boater is catching fish and you are not it is easy to get frustrated. You can let the frustration be a negative that wrecks your confidence or you can let the frustration be a positive and allow it to motivate you to think and be more creative. One of the big keys is not to let your frustration distract you, but channel it to become more focused.

Focus is very important for the Co-Angler because when an opportunity prevents itself you have to be ready to take advantage of it. In tournament bass fishing you are only as good as you are successful at taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves during the tournament day. You may have lots of opportunities in a given day or you may have no opportunities if you are unlucky and over water all day that doesn't hold any fish. More likely than not you are going to have an opportunity to catch some fish in an 8 hour day.

As a Co-angler you don't have to allow your mind to be caught up in the decision making process that goes along with deciding where you should be fishing and not fishing at a given moment, this is the boaters burden. Your focus needs to be on trying to make the best presentation possible in the water that is available to you. It is up to you and you only to make the right call on presentation and that is what your sole bass fishing focus should be directed towards.

The two big questions:
Are you throwing the right bait in the right place? Are you going to be aware if a bass bites? I think that is your world as a Co-Angler

BP on Dogfish (Bowfin) Fishing

First a Little History: When I was young, even into being a teenager, dogfish freaked me out; I actually had nightmares about them and carp. One time I caught a 3 pounder in the "Back Bay" at our lake cabin on Sylvia/Twin. The Back Bay is a muck bottomed boat channel that was on the back side of our property. The Back Bay always seemed to have a dogfish or two roaming around. Growing up we considered dogfish a trash fish and would kill every one of them we caught. I netted this 3lb dogfish so as not to touch it and removed the hook with pliers. I then took the dogfish about 20feet up the shore onto the edge of the road and left it there to die. About 15 minutes later I heard something in the grass by the water. Sure enough it was this dogfish slithering like a snake back to the water. I did nothing to try and stop it, I was totally freaked out.

Another time when I was a little older I was fishing out of a boat on one of my favorite spots on Twin Lake that I call "My Island." It is a shallow weedy and sandy spot that holds bass and the occasional dogfish. I don't know what the deal was but this five pound dogfish surfaced about 8 feet out from where I was standing in the boat. I swear this dogfish was staring me down. After about 45 seconds the dogfish accelerated straight ahead and rammed itself smack dab into the side of the boat right at my feet. I was both shocked, freaked, and slightly amused, what a crazy fish!

As I got a little older and became more mature as a fisherman I lost my fear of the things but I didn't like catching them much. They can be tackle destroyers and can be unruly to get off the hook if you don't play them out before you land them. (TIP: Always play dogfish out for a few minutes before you try and land them) Sometimes I would throw them back and sometimes I would kill them.

Epiphany: In June of 2003 I fished a Minnesota Pro/am bass tournament on Leech Lake as an amateur. I drew Joel Stokka, current tournament director for Excel Bass, as my partner and we prefished together. While we were prefishing we spotted a big dogfish. Joel immediately tried to hook into this monster, but was unable to do it before the fish swam away. I inquired to why he wanted to catch that thing and he told me all about the Minnesota Bowfin Club and their annual Bowfin Tournament. Joel said Spring dogfish angling was a great way to legally use your bass gear before the bass season opened. I had never thought of that before and after a little reflection my viewpoint on the value of dogfish was transformed.


My First Minnesota Bowfin Club Grand Championship: I decided that in the spring of 2004 that I would try and win the MBC Grand Championship and for the first time in my life started fishing for dogfish on purpose. One day in mid-may of 2004, after the MN fishing opener but before the bass opener, I went fishing for pike and dogfish with a trusty white spinnerbait with white colorado blades and a white pork trailer. I was fishing in "Loon Sex Bay" when a big dogfish struck and rocked my world. This 30 inch fish put on an excellent fight, but I was able to net it. This was by far the biggest dogfish I had ever caught in my life and it was full of eggs to make it that much fatter. On my Rapala spring scale it weighed in at 9.5lbs. I registered it with MNBC and sure enough it was the 2004 Tournament Winner.

Second MN Bowfin Club Grand Championship: In 2006 I regained the title of Minnesota Bowfin Grand Champion and became the Clubs first two time Champion. On April 26th I headed to Mille Lacs lake to do a little crappie and dogfish fishing. I knew a little spot in Isle Bay that had held dogfish in the Spring. I had seen them in there while fishing for Crappie on a couple of different occasions. I call this spot "Dogfish Nirvana." I headed into the little cut and sure enough I spotted a big dogfish just sitting there. I threw a white jig with white pork trailer right next to it and hopped it a couple of times. Sure enough it struck and I hooked it. In the cold water this Dogfish did not put up a fight and I quickly landed it. This fish measured 30 inches just like my first MN Bowfin Club Grand Championship winner. The fish was not as fat and probably weighed less than 9lbs. I didn't have a camera with me, so I did not get a picture of the fish. It was a dark one with a white scar at the tip of it's snout. I registered the fish and it won the 2006 tournament.

Fishing for Dogfish: Being a two time Bowfin Grand Champion I suppose that makes me some sort of expert at the pursuit of dogfish. However, There is a lot I don't know about them and I get skunked more times than I catch them. Here are my tips:

In the winter I know dogfish hold on fairly shallow weed flats where the water has just a little more depth to it than the surrounding area. In the spring dogfish can be found in the same dark bottom bays that hold panfish, bass, and pike. I think the dogfish are in those area's feeding up and soaking in the warmer water just like all the other fish. . Old weed growth and emerging weed growth are things to look for. I don't think dogfish are very active until the water temp is over 50°F and the warmer the water the more active they get. I think the peak time to get into dogfish is when the water temps get into the 60's. I think that once you find a spot that holds dogfish you can count on it to draw them in year after year.

In water that is sub 50°F the best way to fish for dogfish is to sight fish them with a white colored bass jig or big black worm or tube. The dogfish will sun themselves in fairly shallow water around old weed growth at this time. They are not apt to chase, so looking for them on sunny calm days is best. At all times during the spring, summer, and fall sightfishing is a great technique because dogfish get big and their dark bodies can stick out in clear water.

Once water warms up into the 50's you are as likely to catch them blind fishing as sight fishing. I recommend using white or pink colors. Spinnerbaits, swim jigs, jerkbaits, buzzbaits, and Spooks are all good choices. One thing I like to do is to cover water with topwaters or by "bulging" a spinnerbait or swim jig looking for a dogfish to make a wake while in pursuit of the lure. Once you find one you know where it lives and can work it over with fast and slow presentations.

That is pretty much the the extent of what I know about how to catch them.

The Critics: Fishing for dogfish in the Spring with artificial lures is not without it's controversy. Minnesota has closed seasons for Bass and Pike well into May and there is a regulation that states: "You may not intentionally fish for any species during its closed season." There are a number of people who consider dogfish fishing to be total BS and a automatic violation of the prohibition against intentionally fishing for bass and pike (mainly bass) in their closed seasons. I have argued with these critics in online fishing message boards. Not only do I fish for dogfish, but I question the very validity of a fishing regulation that I believe to be seriously flawed. This absolutely drives some people nuts and I have been called quite a few names.

Here is the thought process of one of the more thoughtful critics:

Are there any lakes that have a fishable population of dogfish?

I'm all about giving people the benefit of the doubt. But I cant stand it when people fish for "dogfish" and happen to catch 20 bass and no dogfish. It bugs the tar out of me...

I respond that any body of water that contains dogfish has a "fishable population" just as any body of water that contains muskie has a "fishable population" of muskies. Some bodies of water have more dogfish than others or bigger sized dogfish on average than others just as some lakes have more bass than others or bigger bass on average than others. Dogfish are not some special kind of fish that is radically different from the rest. However, dogfish are more like a muskie than they are like a pike or a bass or panfish. Pike and bass tend to be a more prolific species than a dogfish or muskie thus it is easier to catch bass and pike than it is to catch muskies and dogfish. There are plain and simply many more bass and pike swimming around than there are dogfish and muskies. I have at times caught both bass and pike nearly cast after cast but I have never had anything close to that happening with muskie or dogfish.

I would maintain that angling for dogfish is a lot like angling for muskie. If you catch 1 in a day you have done great. If you catch two or more in a day than you have done phenomenal. Obviously things are much different for the prolific bass; One bass in a day of fishing is considered to be quite slow and extremely poor fishing.

There is at least one big difference between muskie fishing and dogfish fishing and that is in the baits best used to pursue the quarry. "Legal" muskies are big fish that often require big baits that will select against most smaller fish striking them. Meanwhile dogfish are more modest sized fish and are most efficiently pursued with baits that are symmetrically equal to lures that select for largemouth bass. This is the fact that fixates the critics. Dogfish techniques are the exact same as bass techniques and dogfish lures are bass lures. I'm sure to make matter worse in the eyes of critic dogfish location overlaps pretty much perfectly with bass location. If you are going to catch a dogfish, you are most certainly going to catch many more bass than dogfish in the process due to the simple biological realities. The critics pretty much believe these facts prove dogfish fishing is nothing more than a thinly veiled cover for fishing for bass out of season and thus dogfish fishing is de facto breaking the law.

The big problem with that theory is that dogfish fishing is 100% legal according to MN state fishing regulations. If you are a licenced angler the pursuit of dogfish, which have no closed season, is 100% with in your legal rights. If your intent is to catch a dogfish than any bass you catch in the process is an incidental catch and temporarily permitted under the law. How many bass you catch or don't catch incidentally or how many dogfish you catch or don't catch doesn't change that fishing for dogfish is absolutely allowed under the fishing regulations. The thoughtful critic referenced above goes on to succinctly state: "Rules are Rules, if you don't like them.. tough!" The rules about fishing for dogfish are clear, they have no closed season and so fishing for them is perfectly legal.

It's no secret that I don't like the fatally flawed regulation about angler intent and closed season fish. The refrain that I have heard from my critics on that matter is that if I don't like the law, than I should get it changed. Well I think the critics on the matter of dogfish fishing are in that same boat. If you don't like dogfish fishing than get the law changed so that dogfish have the same season as bass. But hey, why can't they just let the rules be the rules. I have a better suggestion, instead of trying to get a dogfish season that aligns with bass it makes more sense to just open bass up to catch and release fishing when they are not in season. CATCH AND RELEASE FISHING DOES NOT HARM THE RESOURCE IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY!!! Get this kind of regulation passed and we can both be happy.

Update: Cyberfish is trying to take some credit for my conversion on dogfish. Funny but I don't remember any of that. What I do remember is Cyberfish trying to convince me about the merits of catching big ole carp. I have never really bought into his enthusiasm on that subject. Carp just don't annihilate a lure like a dogfish can.

"Go to" Lure

"Go to" Lure

Every year it seems that the tackle industry comes out with a plethora of new lures to fool the fish. And every year it seems like I have to add at least one of these lures to my tackle box. The hope when I try the new lure is that it will become a "go to" lure. Of coarse a "go to" lure is a bait that you can count on to produce fish under conditions that you face commonly.

The new lure for me this year was the Rapala X-Rap Subwalk. The Subwalk is a fishy looking fat cigar with with a couple of small wings; It is designed to "walk the dog" subsurface. I have found this lure to be tricky to control, but it does catch fish. It is close to being a treble hooked version of my "go to" lure the Zoom Super Fluke which is a soft plastic jerk bait. I don't think I will count on the Subwalk, like I count on the Super Fluke, but when smallmouth are around you can bet I will throw that Subwalk some.

My last Newsletter article was titled: "The Art of the Lost Lure" and was about losing and maybe getting back a lost lure. I have a lost lure story for the Subwalk:

I was fishing from shore and had a pike bite off my white Subwalk. Several days later when I was able to get out in a boat, I made my first priority on the water going to see if I could find that Subwalk as that it was bit off in a place that wasn't very deep or weedy. Sure enough when I got into the area it was bit off I spotted it and retrieved the lure. I proceeded to use the lure to catch several more bass before a pike bit it off a second time. This time the water was deep and weedy and so my white Subwalk was lost for good. Easy come, easy go!