Bass Pundit Preach

Mike Hart Convicted

2011-12-20T01:57:00.001-06:00

From WONnews.com: Mike Hart Case Closed, Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor

My Commentary: Actually it's impossible to know if justice was served in this instance. It is possible, but I think unlikely, that this was the first and only time he tried to cheat. In that case he probably got what he deserved. However if he cheated more than once and profited from it, which I think is more than likely, than justice would only be served if he got the full force hammer blow indicated in the article. I am pretty sure a $1000 bucks is pretty meaningless to this guy, really a paltry slap on the wrist. The only true punishment is the disgrace he brought upon himself and the fact that he will probably never be allowed to fish a bass tournament again. But there is one caveat to my thinking on that. Most bass tournament organizations are secular in nature and are under no obligation to be forgiving. However, I do not believe the same holds true for Christian faith based tournament organizations. With that type of tournament trail or club, if there is evidence of true repentance then I think those trails/clubs would be betraying their core principles if they did not offer forgiveness and a path to reconciliation. I think that fact puts the Christian trails in a very tough position. On the one hand I think it would be wonderful if Mike Hart could find some measure of redemption for himself, but on the other hand the guy should man up and reap what he sowed. He doesn't deserve the privilege of the pursuit of the passion because criminal fraud is just not acceptable; it should be one strike and your out. I really hope he doesn't seek out a Christian trail to fish, but I think seeking to fish in a small Christian fishing club along the lines of the Fishers of Men Fishing Club would be ok, in fact would be a good thing.

A Song For Nate Wellman

2011-09-07T08:04:00.002-05:00

Mea Culpa/Remember me by Undercover

"Dock Fishing" Angler Rights in Minnesota

2011-04-27T01:58:00.001-05:00

Came across an excellent article spelling out the legal issues involved in fishing other people's docks from a boat in Minnesota.

Dock Fishing Rights and Obligations

I have been harassed by dock owners 5 different times, although the 1st time my fishing partner kind of had it coming. So far the people on Platte/Sullivan have all been cool, knock on wood.

M Ward Fisher of Men

2011-04-10T06:06:00.002-05:00

Nice little tune.
Hmmm apparently you have go to listen straight from Youtube. Go do it, it's a good song.

GoD and DoG by Wendy J Francisco

2011-04-06T06:10:00.002-05:00

Good Advice!

2011-03-08T00:49:00.003-06:00

3. Examine your self-esteem. Most of us look to please others or feel good about ourselves based on our performance. Negative self-talk feeds off of both of those. The truth is this: We are all immensely valuable creatures no matter what happens while we are fishing. In fact, fishing should have no negative impact on how we feel about ourselves at all. It is meant to be fun, therefore it should be like icing on the cake of life, not life itself.
From Advanced Anglers.com blog Mental Fishing by Charles Plott post The Voices In My Head

Ha!

2011-03-06T20:42:00.002-06:00

The Up to Date Story of Kistler Rods

2011-02-14T07:57:00.000-06:00

Hat Tip TipsNbass History of Kistler Rods Go read it.

I have never owned a Kistler and thus am not a Kistler guy, so I didn't know any of this stuff. I would guess most people don't know what has gone on. I am glad to hear they seem to have weathered the rough patch. I wish them success.

If this is it...Stay with me

2011-02-11T12:10:00.003-06:00

This essay was written by my youngest brother Todd as a Facebook Note

If this is it...

Stay with me.

Take a moment to breathe that in for a moment. What if there is no life beyond life? What if all life is simply survival of the fittest? We are born, live in any way we see fit and we die and no longer exist except we turn to soil and feed for worms? What if that is it? Don't just push this away as a God vs. No God argument. Step in to life and death and a conversation about more...

I have been thinking about it for awhile for several reasons, but I will share one.

First, foremost, I learned recently of a friend who's wife died several months ago. I felt bad that I had not seen any post for months as he has been sharing his very raw journey as life as a single dad. I went back in his FB posts to find out more.(is that FB stalking?) I went back several months to when the posts rolled in from his close friends about their condolences. What really got me thinking was seeing the post a day or two before. It read something to the effect "I'm packing up work for the week and excited to put our son down early and watch a movie with my lovely wife." Life one moment and life gone in the next. I stared at that post and was reminded that no one knows the hour of their death. It comes and takes us all away. I thought for awhile, not too long, about what if this had happened to me. What if one day I was posting and the next people were sending me their condolences. What if I lost one of my wife or a daughter?

I spent time dwelling on the following question:

What if there was nothing after this life?

My conclusion:

Life would be a fricken rip off! It would be bullshit! Screw this place! It only took a minute to realize that nature would only be a cruel joke. That I am just blip in time and so was my marriage, child, my life. A blip and all I got out of it was 12 years with my wife, or all I got was 6 years with my daughter. Enough time to love something beyond understanding only for it to just pass to dust? If this is it, we got screwed by nature. If this is it? There is no hope. Sit on that for awhile.

If dust is all we become what is worth putting our hope in? More money, a few more toys to play with, an 117 year life? Hope in a really good beer? An excellent pasta dish? To travel to all 50 states? I hope I can make it to see the MN Twins play in Fenway Park? Wow, that is something to live for...

But aren't there things to aspire too? Live a good a life, leaving the world a better place than you found it? Good for you. In less than 250 years the chances that your blip has any meaning is not high and in reality your blip will only be in a history lesson. Why, because the past is somewhat meaningless because nature doesn't care(why should we? Problem is we do care down to the very depths of our being and what does that say? Certainly does not point us to the way of nature). All nature is doing is evolving, it will continue to move forward. If it does not it will die. Lovely picture isn't it?

Here is the part you won't expect. Let's not talk about faith because it is too much of a roadblock, just keep your thoughts in the realm of "Hope".

Too choose to accept that we are just a blip in the ride of evolution is a choice that I personally cannot accept.

I choose to believe in "HOPE". To not believe in hope is to accept an awful fate. I want a life after this because when the day comes and my heart is ripped out by a loss of magnitude of someone I love so deeply like my wife or children.(or their life is ripped to shreds because of my death). I choose hope. I choose to hope that one day I would see them again. You can keep your life as dust because I am going to believe big!

To my children and all those I love, but mostly this is for my children.

Choose HOPE! And I will see you again.

-Daddy

Pastor Greg Boyd on Faith

2011-02-01T07:05:00.006-06:00

Video Here...

I have a great deal of respect for Pastor Greg Boyd and to his Church for a couple of years before I had my heart attack and moved North. I think he is a true giant of the Christian faith in terms of apologists. I think this is a message helpful to all Christians and non-Christians alike in terms of putting faith, doubt, truth, and the Bible in a proper perspective.

"What do I want from this life?"- 41st Birthday Lament

2011-01-03T01:19:00.004-06:00

Warning: This is a long autobiographical look at my life's ambitions and difficulties. Not particularly inspirational reading. I am not really sure why I wrote it or why I am publishing it, but I think I should.

This year for Christmas the blogger Fisherbabe was inspired to write a rather introspective post for the holiday's. This particular paragraph really hit me:

This holiday season, it is my wish for all of you, that you ask yourself the question, "What do I want from this life?"...and that you give yourself a truly honest answer. You may be surprised at what flows forth from one simple question.

For whatever reason I feel compelled to write out an answer to the question for myself.

I read the question "What do I want from this life?" and started thinking about my answer. My first thought was that I don't want or expect much from this life and that is just the way it is for me. However, I didn't stop thinking about the question with just that and pondered of myself a little further.

What do I really want from this life? Then something from out of my past stuck out clearly in my minds eye. What I really want from this life is to be used by God. Was not that what I really want?

While on a youth group mission trip to Puerto Rico in 1986, at the age of 16, on clear starry night at the top of a small mountain, while all alone, I committed my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; I vowed to serve God for the rest of my life. And for the next few years I prepared myself to do just that with vigorous immersion into Bible study, prayer, Christian community and ministry. I went to Northwestern Bible College in St. Paul MN to study the Bible and Youth Ministry which I thought was my career soul-mate/calling. I took my studies seriously and was a dedicated student. At this time things were for the most part going very well in my life and it seemed that my dreams were within reach and would all come true. I graduated with honors and immediately got the job I wanted with a company out of California that put on multi-media assembly programs in schools throughout the country. I thought this would be a fun job before I got into the business of full-time church Youth Ministry.

The job was great and one night before I went to sleep I started thinking about a girl who went to Northwestern College. I didn't really know her well, but I found her quite attractive physically. On a whim I wrote her a letter, not knowing if I would ever hear back. Sure enough she did write back and I came to find out that she also had admired me from afar. I was going to be in the Twin Cities in a couple of weeks and so I asked her out on a date, and she enthusiastically accepted.

October 10th finally came and I took her out to eat at a place I loved, the Lido Restaurant where I worked all four years of college. Within the first half hour of conversation I was hopelessly in love and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was the woman I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my life with. I silently pledged to myself to do everything I could to make that happen. The date went extremely well and we went out the next day as that I would be leaving town, not to be back until Thanksgiving. While on the road we wrote many letters back and forth getting to know one another and often bearing our soul. Through the letters and phone calls I was growing to love her more with every interaction. Thanksgiving time came and I had to drive across Wisconsin in a nasty storm to get home, so I could see her again.

The day after Thanksgiving I drove to Glenwood City WI, so I could meet her family and go on our 3rd date. Things went very well and that night under the stars we kissed for the first time. And if it wasn't true yet, I was now passionately in love with this girl. On the way home I literally cried with joy for at least 15 minutes for having met someone so totally wonderful. Once again for me it was life on the road with a courtship of phone calls and letters. I was on top of the world, life had never been so good and I had a pretty awesome experience my last 3 years of high school. Christmas break finally came and I headed home where I would spend as much time as possible with her. We went out multiple times on day long dates either up with her family in WI or down in the Twin Cities.

On New Years eve 1992 I drove to WI to pick her up to take her back to cities where we would spend the night together at my parents house in Bloomington. On the long drive to Bloomington we reflected back on the year; I think it was she that asked me what was the highlight of my year. I told her it was graduating from college, which wasn't true meeting her was the biggest highlight. I asked her the question back and she responded that meeting me was the highlight of her year. I was "over the moon," never had anyone spoken to me something so wonderful. We held hands and all was right with the world.

We brought in 1993 in each others arms and we ended up sleeping together, fully clothed people, down stairs in one of the rooms in the basement. The next morning we finished a book I had been reading her and she got quite emotionally distraught as she shared with me the pain she and her family had gone through before her dad had come to Christ when he serially cheated on her mother. I comforted her the best I could and we talked on a deeper level than we had ever before and we had been plenty deep with each other before this point. My heart was now broken for her and I knew more than ever there was no way I would ever want to live my life without her in it.

Things settled down an eventually we went downstairs and started making out, which is something we did frequently when we were together ever since that first kiss. It was during this time that I could not hold it in any longer and I told her I loved her. She asked me if I was sure and I told her I was and we went back to an intense session of making out. Later on in the afternoon I took her back to WI and this would be the last time I would be able to see her until late May because my next job tour would be on the East Coast. Before she got out of the car we prayed together kissed one last time and then she was gone.

1992 was the best year of my life, 1993 would be the worst.

Life on the road started out well as I basked in the glow of love. However, for her trouble would soon rise as she began to struggle with the question of love. She wrote to me that she promised herself when she was young that she would never tell a guy she loved him until she was absolutely sure. She wrote that she cared for me more than any guy she had ever met, but she couldn't yet say she knew me well enough to say she loved me. I wasn't bothered by this as all and was satisfied that she obviously cared deeply for me. I was in no rush for her to do anything as I was sure she would come around to the point where she could say she loved me in time. In a letter she questioned how it was I could say I loved her and I answered her back trying to make her understand. My love for her was more than a feeling, but a deep conviction within my mind, heart, and soul. My answers did not satisfy her and one night in late February I got a call and she was in tears over this question. I don't remember what I told her, but apparently it wasn't right and soon she would grow distant and her letters stopped coming. After what seemed like an eternity I reached her by phone and we agreed that she needed some space to work things out. The phone calls would stop but I could still write her letters, though I shouldn't expect any back. I was obviously troubled by this but not to deeply as I was confident this was a difficulty that could be overcome. I was certain it was God's will that we be together and nothing can stop that right? The next few months were tough, but I had a deep hope that things would work out when we could get together and talk things through face to face when my tour was over.

Another thing that happened during this time was that my dream Youth Ministry job, Jr. High Minister of Youth at Hope Presbyterian (my home church), had opened up and I went through the interview process. The people involved in the search were intimately familiar with me because we had worked closely together for several years when I was in college volunteering and interning with this youth program. Much to my dismay I didn't get the job. The significance of this would weigh on me much heavier later on down the line.

In addition to candidating for the Hope Youth Ministry position, I applied to be a Camp Counselor at Camp Shamineau near Motley MN. To this point my experience with Church Camps was with Camp Ojibway, a small camp owned by Hope Presbyterian. I thought working at a massive camp like Shamineau would be great Youth Ministry experience. I was familiar with Shamineau because some of my friends from high school went there and/or worked on staff as Jr. Counselors. Also the women of my dreams had been a counselor there for the two previous summers. I got the job and unbenounced to me a few weeks later the women of my dreams once again applied and got a job as Camp Counselor there.

When I found out she would also be working at camp it was just confirmation to me that God had a plan and this relationship was meant to work out. Finally after 5 long months my tour was over and I was back home. After a couple of days I called her up, so we could meet and talk face to face. Seeing her again was all I could think about for those 5 months and I thought it was a good idea that we clean the air before working together all summer. She didn't want to see me or talk. For the first time I was really hurt and realised there was a serious problem.

Orientation in preparation for camp started and at long last I saw her beautiful face again. Finally one afternoon we got a chance to talk and she explained to me where her head had been. She told me that she learned I wasn't the person she thought I was and that was her problem. Frankly, I just ended up very confused by what she told me. I didn't know what to say as that when I was with her I was never more myself, my best self at that (Note- that is the truth and hurts to write). She also told me that she and a person that counseled her when she was struggling came to the conclusion that telling her that I loved her was "wrong" because it put her in a bad position. Apparently, despite numerous reassurances to the contrary by me, she believed my declaration demanded that she respond in kind forthwith. For me almost nothing was resolved and I just had more questions with which to wrestle. Camp started and I threw myself into it but it was hard and many nights I would silently cry myself to sleep. I was confused and didn't know what to do, but pray, lean on my faith, and be at my very best so she could see me for who I really was.

The summer was emotional agony as I was so close to her and she showed herself to be everything I knew her to be, entirely beautiful both inside and out. I was hoping and had some conviction that working so closely she would realise I was a good catch and she would come around. The summer went by and towards the end we had a couple more talks and it was becoming clear that she wasn't coming around and things were not going to work out in terms of a romantic relationship. I was deeply disappointed, but I had tried my best and it was what it was. We talked and I told her because I cared so much for her that I wanted us to be friends and I meant it. I guess I was naive because in my experience there were girls who liked me that I wasn't interested in with whom I had built very good friendships. To me that was normal.

The Summer at camp finally ended and at first I was just dazed and shocked that things didn't work out. But soon the shock gave way to the sting of rejection and I began to hemorrhage hurt and shame. I went into deep depression and was emotionally shattered into a million pieces. My heart was broken and there was nothing to soothe the pain. I did attempt to build a friendship with her but she was cold and I thought she was annoyed with the whole situation. Even though it hurt enormously I knew I had to say goodbye for good. I didn't tell her what I was doing, but I made one last phone call and that was my final goodbye.

I basically mourned my loss hardcore through the Fall, Winter, Spring and into the next Summer. I was in dire need of friendship and even professional counseling, but I hid my deep hurt and suffered mostly alone crying out only to God.

"What do I want from this life?"
I wanted to love and serve and minister to L.E.N. every day of my life and I wanted that more than anything I have ever wanted or will ever want. And it didn't happen. The whole experience wounded and changed me and I don't know of one good thing that has come of it.

Still while the most important, this wasn't my only dream

"What do I want from this life?"
Wasn't what I really want from this life is to be used by God? Despite the emotional blow of that relationship failure my commitment to God remained firm and in the Fall of 1994 I once again pursued the calling of a career in Youth Ministry by registering to go through the 7 week Tentmakers Youth Ministry training program. That Tentmaker training experience was good and in many ways healing to me, but the truth was I still needed a lot more healing; I had fissures that would only grow as the strains of ministry took their toll.

My first official full-time paid Youth Ministry position was at an ELCA Lutheran Church in Canby, a small SW Minnesota town just a few miles from the South Dakota border. The Church was not the best fit for me as that I didn't grow up in a small town and thus have a feel for what it is like to live and grow up in a small town. In some ways the culture, especially that of older teens was foreign to me and thus a challenge to fit myself into. I had a much harder time building relationships with the youth than I had ever previously experienced. Also my background is not with the Lutheran Church and I don't share the theology of infant baptism, which is important to ELCA Lutheran's. With Tentmakers you sign on for a two year commitment and it was pretty clear to me early on that the position would probably not grow into something more long term beyond that two years.

My time in Canby had it's high's and low's and I lasted 2 years and 4 months, but as the last 12 months went by things progressively got more difficult personally and professionally. I didn't go out on my own terms or from my perspective particularly good terms for the Church as a whole. Frankly the situation sucked for a couple of different reasons. Without going to far into the weeds, the Church had a pastoral staff of two, the Sr. Pastor and I. About a year in for me the Sr. Pastor retired and so the Synod brought in an interim Pastor while the church conducted it's search process for new leadership. The interim Pastor was fantastic and became a much beloved mentor to me. The biggest suck at the end was the lousy position the interim Sr. Pastor was put in by the Church. The Church board rejected his advice about how to best handle my situation and it was he that got hung out to dry because of it. He had to soldier on alone in a very demanding position for another year after I left because several consecutive Pastoral prospects fell through and they kept having to totally restart the search process.

I had hoped to stay on at the Church through the end of the Summer and for the sake of Pastor Cy I would have been willing to stay on longer because there definitely would have been a need. As it was the Church dumped me at the end of April. It seemed to work out well enough for me, at least at first, as I moved into my families lake cabin near Annandale MN and I fished all summer into the Fall while applying for a few different Youth Ministry positions. In early September the A-Frame Cabin that was to be my parents retirement home, which sat on the property where I now live, was destroyed by a tornado. I then spent quite a bit of time here helping to clean up the mess.

I didn't get any of the ministry positions that I was interviewed for and so when the weather got to cold at the Annandale cabin I moved back in with my parents in Bloomington. It wasn't long before I started to get very depressed that I wasn't getting any offers for a new ministry position. Once again my dream job of working at Hope Presbyterian had it's whole Youth Ministry staff open up; I got a short letter thanking me for my interest and informing me I wouldn't even get an interview. I was extremely hurt by that development. As the winter wore on I got extremely depressed. Personally I was living a very isolated existence having lost touch with friends from high school and college. I didn't get involved with Christian fellowship anywhere in the anticipation that a new church position was forthcoming and that is where I would plug in again. However, I think it was in March or April that I attended my first meeting of the Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities)

Winter turned into Spring without any offers and few interviews. Early in the Summer I voluntarily assisted Tentmakers Youth Ministry for the first two weeks of the 7 week Youth Ministry Training. I hoped that experience might turn into something more, but it didn't and I just got more depressed when no offer was forthcoming. It was into September and I was extremely discouraged when I got a call for an interview with an Evangelical Free Church in the NW Suburb of Rogers, MN. The position looked great as I think the Evangelical Free Church is one of the best Church denominations out there. The interview process went well and they offered me the job starting in October. I quickly found an optimal housing situation for me and my dog Soren and things seemed to be really clicking. Obviously things were happening in God's timing and I was the happiest I had been in a long time.

I wasn't in the church very long before I felt right at home and I thought that this was a position that I could see myself in for a long time. The longer I was there the more comfortable I felt and things seemed to be going well. In March I was to have a 6 month evaluation, but it didn't happen until mid April. I was given a form to complete evaluating how I thought my performance had been in various areas and what I thought could be improved. I filled it out, turned it in to the people responsible for doing the review. I was quite positive about how things were progressing. Within a few days I met with the Pastor and a couple of Men from the Church Board for my review.

I was 100% blindsided by what they told me. In their view my performance was unsatisfactory and there were a number of problems which needed immediate attention. To say the least, I was shocked. They basically put the ball in my court giving me a few days to think and pray about it and get back to them. I went to my parents cabin near Annandale to get away and I fell apart. It was like getting rejected by her all over again and all those those feelings of inadequacy that had been dogging me ever since the breakup came to the surface in wave after wave. After about a day of that I went back home and sought counsel from several people about just what I should do. My ministry training said something was seriously wrong with the picture and I was in an impossible situation where the chances of me turning things around were quite low. The only people that counseled me different from that conclusion was the couple at the Church I was closest to on my ministry team. I decided it was best if I resign, which I did as gracefully as I could.

Once again my heart was broken and there was no fix. After that fiasco, no church in their right mind would hire me and I had 100% lost the ambition to ever try and be a Youth Pastor ever again.

"What do I want from this life?"
I wanted to be a Youth Minister serving my God for life, but when it came right down to it I obviously wasn't very good at it. Epic Fail!

But on the bright side at least I had my Norwegian Elkhound dog Soren and I had found spiritual kinship in the Fishers of Men Fishing Club.

"What do I want from this life?"
That's a hard question when your two biggest dreams in life die a miserable longsuffering death. Some people are very resilent and they quickly find new motivations, they find new dreams. I haven't. I just try to survive and am glad at this point the severe emotional pain has mostly gone away.

"What do I want from this life?"
I could still be used by God, wasn't that what I really wanted and had commited my life towards?

I stayed on for a while in that Church because I liked the people and the kids, but eventually I started to get disillusined with and bitter towards the Pastor. I decided it was best that I leave the Church at that point. Turns out the Pastor didn't last much longer at the Church after having served in it about 20 years.

I ended up losing my ideal housing situation in the Spring of 2000 and then bounced around in a few that were less than ideal for the next couple of years. I had a job at Gander Mountain which I enjoyed but it didn't pay very much and I found myself sinking deeper in debt; A problem that had started back in Canby when I got sick and my medical insurance was insufficient and I didn't think to ask the Church to step up. I probably had the chance to advance with Gander, but I wasn't motivated to do it. I got a 2nd job working nights in a Schwans warehouse that paid better, but then I was to tired to work at Gander, so I had to quit.

Right after 9/11 I ended up moving in with a good friend from high school. He lived in an apartment in South Minneapolis that didn't allow dogs, so my dog Soren, much to my dismay, had to go live with my parents. After coming home one weekend from being up North fishing I got back to find a note from my friend saying he was skipping town and I was on my own. Fortunately the landlord was an understanding guy and was going to let me stay there until I could find a new place. As it turns out I would fairly quickly find a great situation with a awesome group of Christian guys in a house that was much closer to my job and took dogs, so Soren was back with me.

Life in this house was very good for me as I was surrounded by great fellowship. I got involved with a good church and one morning while I was reading my Bible and praying I had a mystical experience; A brilliant white light came to me and spoke and it was as if all the pain I had been carrying was taken away. Once again I started to experience real profound joy, which was something that had escaped me ever since my heart was broken the first time. I was on a real "spiritual high" for at least six months. But then my job situation started to sour as the company wasn't keeping it's promises to me. I started getting physically fatigued. I went on vacation and didn't return until a couple of days after I was suppose to be back. At that point the company owed me a raise which I hadn't seen in more than 6 months; I figured they owed me. They didn't see it that way and I was fired.

I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do next and very half heartedly looked for new employment. Pretty soon I started getting very discouraged again. I began slipping spiritually, emotionally, finacially and, as I would soon find out, physically.

I had been unemployed for about 6 months when on March 14th, 2003 I woke up with the flu. It was awful. I also developed a nasty pain in my upper back between my shoulder blades. I had been experiencing similar pain after playing broomball games that winter but I thought it was just a chronically pulled muscle. That morning the pain became excruciating at some points and I thought I was getting cramps from dehydration as I couldn't keep anything down. Eventually I called my younest brother ,who didn't live very far away, to come and take me to the hospital so I could get an IV. I was miserable and the pain was highly intense. I got to the emergency room and was admitted. I'm surprized I didn't pass out while being admitted, I was in bad shape.

The doctor came in my room and immediately zero'ed in on my shoulder pain and brought an EKG into the room. Upon getting the readings he knew I was going through something more serious than the flu. They wheeled me out of the room and gave me morphine which just made me feel even worse as it tightened my already badly nauseated stomach. They also gave me nitro pills. Another doctor showed up and they informed me I was having a heart attack and would be immedietely ambulanced to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids where there is a Cath lab.

"What do I want from this life?"
While I waited for the ambulance to be ready I was in so much pain I just wanted to die and was totally at with peace with it.

Well as that I am writing this now, I obviously didn't die, which is a bit surprising because my problem was in the "widowmaker" where a blockage often means you don't get to write a blog about it. I had an angioplasty with a stent put in and then I was taken to Intensive Care. When I woke up I was already feeling better and the nurses were fabulous and all good looking which helped my mood;). Eventually I was soon moved to a regular hospital room.

The day of my heart attack my Mom started heading home to Pennsylvania where her Mom was dying. Upon getting the news about me she immediately headed back to Minnesota. I think my Grandmother died the same day I was moved into the regular hospital room. Since it was clear I was out of the woods my Mom headed back to Pennsylvania to be with her family there. The people of the Church where my youngest brother was a Youth Pastor were wonderful and I was visited several times by one of their pastoral staff; I was given a prayer shawl knitted by the ladies of the church, which was for me a real comfort.

"What do I want from this life?"
How about my medical bills paid?

One night while lying awake alone it hit me that I was already beyond broke, without insurance, and I would have no way to pay for this. It was very depressing and I cried myself to sleep that night. As it turns out I was visited the next day by someone who inquired about my financial situation, which I laid out. This person assured me that things would be taken care of and that I didn't need to worry. I don't remember if I believed him very much.

I wasn't in particularly good shape and when it came time to leave the hospital later in the week I went to stay at my youngest brothers house. The Iraq War started and I watched "Shock and Awe." I think it might have been the second night when my youngest brother, his wife, and I were watching TV sometime after 10PM, when we got a call from my Mom asking us to pray. Her only remaining sister, of two, was unconcious and my Aunt's heart had stopped. My Mom is a nurse and had been giving her sister CPR until the ambulance came. My Aunt was pronounced dead either in the ambulance or at the hospital, I forget which. Needless to say it was a nightmare of a week for my mother.

It became apparent quickly that my heart had suffered major damage, but it would not be fully clear how bad until another 6 months out. While at my brothers I got a letter in mail that informed me that all my medical bills would be paid in full by the hospital and the people of the great state of Minnesota. When I saw just how much it was I was in "shock and awe" along with being very grateful. THANK YOU Allina Health Systems and Minnesota!!!

Since I was weak and we didn't know just how bad my heart would be, the decision was made that I would move in with my parents at their place on Platte Lake in Central Minnesota. Upon moving in with them I started cardiac rehabilitation therapy at the local hospital in Onamia and started regaining some physical strength and endurance back, but I needed to sleep a lot. I fell into chronic depression, but it wasn't as bad as it might be because of having my Mom and Dad so close and of coarse there were our dogs.

After 6 months it came time to get checked to see just how bad was the damage done to my heart. The results were not encouraging. I think my ejection fraction was down around 20 and 55-75 is considered a normal healthy heart. My cardiologist told me sometime in the future, but there is no way to know how long, I will go into congestive heart failure and will probably need a heart transplant. Also I am at high risk for the development of a fatal irregular heart beat, so it was recommended that I get an Internal Cardio Defibrulator, which I had put in right before Thanksgiving.

"What do I want from this life?"
I just want to go fishing.

I have been lucky my heart function has actually improved with time and now my ejection fraction is around 30, which is still pretty bad but way better than a 20. With the bad news of 20 I dragged my feet but would eventually decided to start the long process to apply for Social Security Disability about a year later.

Despite having my medical bills paid, with no income and little to no prospect of income in immediate future my finanicial situation was hopeless and I filed for bankruptcy, which was quite depressing. Pretty much the only assets I had were my fishing equipment and my truck; I got to keep those because they were such small potatoes.

I was physically able to become more independant, but I started running into conflicts with my mother over some things. My Mom and Dad were worried about my mental health, specifically with my depression. They strongly suggested that I get counseling, which I did. I didn't tell anyone but I started having strange mental symptoms and at times I thought I was going crazy. I was put on medication for depression but I don't think it helped and my mental health was actually deteriorating. I started showing symptoms of bipolar disorder, but I kept that hidden for the most part at least to the people physically around me. The people at the Internet message board RealityTVPlanet.com got to witness some of my erratic thoughts as I would go through manic phases.

By the end of the cardiac rehab in the Fall of 2003 I had regained a fair amount of physical stamina and was able to go fishing for extended periods. I contintued to be involved with the Fishers of Men Fishing Club. In 2004 I joined a for cash bass fishing club with the sponsorhip of my oldest brother and his wife. I volunteered with Great Expectations Ministries or GEM, which is a fishing ministry to mostly underprivliaged and inner city youth that is based out of the Twin Cities. GEM runs Summer camps around greater Minnesota. In November of 2004 I started my blogging career.

Something that surely did not help matters in terms of my mental health was that on December 15, 2004 my dog Soren suddenly and unexpectidly died at the young age of only 8. In his last couple of years Soren had developed a series of health issues and apparently there was something more serious going on than we or the vets knew. Looking back I think I handled it somewhat well. I always knew my time with Soren would be limited; I just didn't know how long. As it was, I easily could have died before Soren. While Soren was alive I loved and enjoyed the dog about as much as I could. Losing Soren was tough, but not wretchedly painful. I have a strong conviction that there is an afterlife and I believe dogs make the cut.

"What do I want from this life?"
Soren to visit in my dreams, and from time to time he does.

On September 26th of 2005 my deteriorating mental health came to a head and I had a psychotic breakdown. I was hallucinating and I had all kinds of distorted thoughts which I was acting out on. It was very strange and I remember most of it, literally I had gone crazy. My parents called for an ambulance and their Pastor. I was completely out of my mind. The Pastor showed up as did the first responders and then the ambulance came. I was coaxed into the ambulance by a good looking parametic and maybe a good looking first responder too. I may have been out of my mind, but not so far as to not be a sucker for a pretty girl. I was taken to the Onamia Hospital emergency room where I was sedated and stabilized until they could find an open Psych Ward where they could send me. After a number of hours and a visit from my youngest brother the Youth Pastor, I was sent to a Hospital in Duluth MN. By the time I had talked with my brother I was returning to normal but medicated. When I got to Duluth I was able to calming explain everything that happened and what I had been thinking.

As you can imagine this episode significantly frightened my parents and family. I stayed in Duluth for a few days of obersvation though I think I was back to totally sane before I went to bed that first night. I had daily meetings with the staff Psychiatrist and group therapy sessions with some of the other "guests". In a few days I was cleared to go. My mom wasn't so sure as I don't think she had been given a good explanation and was not assured it would not happen again. Dad drove me home on a beautiful Fall day.

"What do I want from this life?"
After that experience, just being in my right mind would be nice.

I was put on medications by the Onamia hospital Psychiatrist and got a different psychologist who was better equiped to deal with my case. The medications seemed to make a positive difference and my new therapist and I got along really well. In addition to being a licenced psychologist, he also had a Master of Divinty which I think helped immensely because spiritually we were eye to eye. Eventually my parents came to a few therapy sessions and I think that was really good for them and our relationship. My parents understood me better and what I had been and was going through. I think they felt a great deal more compassion for me, especially my Mom. In time it seemed that my counseling sessions had run their course and so we stopped but I don't remember exactly when that was.

"What do I want from this life?"
I just want to go fishing, but soon I didn't even want to do that much.

In the Spring and early Summer of 2006 when it was hot I started to develop an aversion to the heat. I was getting fatigued much more quickly and for a longer duration. It may very well have been a side effect of my psychiatric medications. On July 8th early in the morning on my way to a bass club fishing tournament about 20 minutes into the trip I hit a deer with my truck and pretty much totaled it. Amazingly I was able to turn the truck around and limp it home. Dad wanted me to take his truck and go to the tournament, but I was bummed out by this development and just went to bed. I went into a heat fatigued fueled depression and never fished another tournament with that bass club. The only thing I blogged the whole month of July was about hitting the deer. On August 23rd I blogged:
Ever since I hit that deer, I have had very little interest in fishing. I've only been on the water twice since; Both trips I was fishing with someone else or I wouldn't have bothered. Since I've had no interest in fishing, there has been no interest in blogging about fishing or anything else. I guess the BP is just drowning in the dog days of summer.
I didn't blog about a single thing in Sept 2006, the only month I haven't blogged anything since starting the Bass Pundit project in November 2004. Slowly my desire to fish and blog have come back, although ice fishing and Fall walleye trolling on Mille Lacs no longer annimate me like they had previous to the breakdown.

"What do I want from this life?"
To be used by God, isn't that what I really want?

After the breakdown, I got actively involved with a Christian Missionary Alliance Church in Garrison, MN. That was good for a while, but in time I ran out of inspiration to be involved there and after about a year and a half of attendance I just stopped going. I haven't made any attemps to find a new church since. My participation with the Fishers of Men Fishing Club and with GEM would soon start to diminish significantly as well. The fact is my desire to be used by God has become seriously sapped out. I still acknowledge God with my head and still pray occasionally but my heart is far away. Spiritually speaking my heart is cold and indifferent.

With blogging and fishing in time my desires to do those things have returned, will I ever find desire and passion for God again?

"What do I want from this life?"
I want to love the Lord God with all my mind, heart, soul, and strength. But with what I've been through, right now I just can't seem to find much love. My mind seems dull, my heart is cold, my soul is in the wilderness and my strength has failed me. Even still I believe God has great love for me even though I really just don't understand it.

In Psalm 73, one of my favorites, it is written:
"My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Ha!

2011-01-01T19:50:00.002-06:00

A Good Word From Al Lindner

2010-12-29T02:05:00.001-06:00

You Are The One- By Jason Castro

2010-12-27T03:29:00.004-06:00

To Boyd Duckett (and Kevin Short): I Disagree

2010-12-11T02:39:00.002-06:00

On his two blogs (Boyd's Blog, Boyd's Biz Boyd Ducket writes a blog post entitled: "To Kevin Short: I agree" or at Boyd's Biz: "Dear Kevin Short — I agree with you"

Boyd is responding to Kevin Short's essay found on the blog Bass Parade entitled Short Challenges Duckett, All Elites

Boyd writes:
...But let me address another thing that Kevin said, because he made a great point. He said he would be happy if we, the pro anglers, could receive no information at any time about the bodies of water we’re going to fish. No help from locals, in other words.

I agree with that 100 percent.

I think a “no help rule” would be outstanding — a great thing for our sport.

I think Boyd and Kevin Short are 100% wrong about this. One of the greatest things about the sport of fishing, any kind of fishing, is that the sport is heavily built upon personal relationships. Ray Scott had it right in the beginning when he recognized that bass fishing could and should be a fraternity. Getting help from others when it comes to fishing is a feature, not a bug. It's a feature precisely because it builds relationships and community and isn't that what we claim is important? I believe a "no help rule ever" sends the wrong message to bass anglers everywhere. The flip side of you can't get help, is that it is wrong to give help. There is already too much of that kind of attitude when it comes to bass tournament anglers as it is now.

I've seen it on Facebook where Professional anglers due to "no info rules" have basically had to tell someone to shut up and keep it to themselves when offered a simple helpful suggestion. Shutting out others especially with the technology we have at our fingertips now is the wrong way to go, period.

I add more thoughts at Futurebass.com Forums...

"Like"

2010-11-05T15:18:00.002-05:00

"Christianity is my faith, fishing is my religion"
Keith Wiley on Al Lindners Facebook in an answer about why fishing is important to him.

My Thoughts On Six Idea's

2010-08-19T02:49:00.002-05:00

BassFan Editor-In-Chief Jon Storm wrote an Op-Ed entitled "Upon the Cliff" where he threw out 6 ideas that he would like to see implemented by the new management at BASS and FLW.

Here are the 6 ideas and my thoughts.

1. The sport needs a unifying championship to survive. Period.

I guess a unifying championship would be OK, but I don't think it's something that is vital. Also I wonder exactly what Storm has in mind as there is a lot of different ways you can go with this. It isn't clear to me what a unifying championship would look like.

2. The sport needs a joint conservation, youth and legislative body to take on the antis and polluters. We must ensure there are players and a playing field for the sport in the future.

I view this one as another nice, but not necessary. It is not clear to me that having one big centralized initiative is better than having a diverse coalition of smaller initiatives of varying sizes.

3. Tours should be exclusive, not inclusive. Billy Joe shouldn't get to fish against Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese or Brent Ehrler just because he's got a trust fund or a gas well in his backyard. Make it tough to get on a tour and demand a multiyear performance level to stay there.

On this one I think there are Pro's and Con's for both approaches. Obviously the Elite Series is more exclusive and the FLW Tour is more inclusive. I think there is room for both models.

4. The sport needs to ditch its focus on 1st-place payout and balance the payout down the field. Once you pay your dues to reach a tour, it should be a profitable or break-even venture to stay there. And fans simply don't care how much a pro athlete wins at an event.

I tend to agree with this point as I think it's something that will make the sport more sustainable for those trying to live the dream.

5. Outlaw made-for-TV events and formats, like the BASS post-season or the FLW Tour cut to the Top 5.

Obviously there are serious flaws with the BASS post-season that need to be addressed and scrapping the thing wholesale might be the answer. As far as the FLW cut to 5, I'm not really sure why he singled this out. Cut to 5, Cut to 10, Cut to 12 whatever cutting the field down makes sense to me.

6. Distribute house money fairly. As BASS stabilizes, it should use sponsor money to cut entry fees first, boost purses second. Same for the FLW Tour. But also, performance should dictate who gets FLW sponsor-team deals, not who you know, what you look like or which boat you drive. And FLW team money should go to tour pros only, not co-anglers.

I was right with this one until he advocated cutting out the Co-Anglers. As I've made clear on many occasions, I believe Co-Anglers are good for the sport. I think it is a feature that bass fishing has an avenue open for fans to fish with the Pro's while in serious competition. I think Co-Anglers should have a shot at incentives and a piece of the pie. This kind of gets to one of the Cons about making the sport more exclusive. I think as you make professional bass fishing more exclusive you limit the overall outreach potential of the sport. Kevin Van Dam can only be in one place at a time. More people are on the radar screen when you have an army of Tami Curtis's, Chris Ricci's, Matt Peters and Ashley Rae's. I certainly think more can be done to promote Co-Anglers and to get Co-Anglers out promoting themselves and the sport.

Mike Hart Cheating Scandal- My Thoughts

2010-07-23T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am not really sure if I even have a dog in this fight. On the one hand I have and do fish bass tournaments, but on the other hand I never have been very serious about it in terms of monetary investment and probably never will get to that point, so basically there is no chance that I have or will get swindled personally. Whether I have a dog or not here are my thoughts.

I think this guy Mike Hart as a bass fisherman is the worst kind of cheater you can get and is total scum for it. Not only was he into ripping off people but he did it in such a way that I think was harmful and cruel to the fish. And while I don't know the science, I would suspect stuffing ounces of lead into the bellies of bass who could possibly go on to survive for long periods of time with the lead in their belly after the deed would create a lead poisoning risk for humans who might eat the fish. I hope he gets charged for environmental damages beyond the obvious fraud involved.

My second thought on the matter is that I am pretty sure this was not the first time he has commited the fraud. Those weights looked to be specifically made for the purpose by which they were used and the system was so slick that a the Co-Angler in the boat wouldn't and didn't even notice anything suspicious. On bass fishing message boards I have seen it documented that this guy has won thousands upon thousands of dollars in tournaments over the past several years and from what I understand he has been a highly successful tournament fisherman for more than a decade. I think all of that "success" gets called into question. I think he needs to come clean about the scope of his cheating and should at a minimum pay back entry fees of all the anglers he has defrauded over the years. Short of that I hope there is enough grounds and legal standing for civil liability to force the issue if he isn't forthcoming.

My final thought is that Mike Hart seems to have been a very very good fishermen seemingly without "the need" to cheat to do well for himself. The cheating on top of that, however, would often be enough to push him over the top from an OK finish, right into where the big money comes into play because of the way tournament dollars are allocated in a top heavy manor. This gets us back to my second point in that I think he owes a lot of people their money back. I don't know Mike Hart's financial situation but I hope he can afford to be "generous" in his contrition. If not, bankruptcy isn't too large a price. You have to feel for his wife and family, but that is true for all innocent familial relations of criminals.

Pete Peeve 2

2010-05-23T23:01:00.002-05:00

Pete is a friend from the Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) that is in the Minnesota National Guard. Pretty much every month when he does his Guard drilling he leaves his dog Sandy with us and then when the drill is over he stays for several days, sometimes more than a week. Pete loves to fish and so do I, but not necessarily with Pete; He can be a real buzzkill at times.

Tonight Pete and I were out on Platte Lake fishing for pike and I was constantly reminded of another reason, he is a pain to fish with. He is a constant and demanding back seat driver when I'm in control of the boat. He is constantly demanding adjustments of coarse and suggesting were we should fish. When he makes a demand about where to go and we get a fish off of it he just gets arrogant and even more demanding. Tonight the fish bit good so I had to constantly deal with this kind of BS.

Both times fishing with him today, there were times I just wanted to be somewhere else.

Sorry about the whining, but sometimes you got to vent.

Pete Peeve #1 here...

Minnesota Closed Bass Season, More Thoughts

2010-05-09T01:25:00.000-05:00

As happens at this time every year there is a lot of chatter on Minnesocold fishing forums about our closed season for bass. Guys are upset that they see people out fishing for bass when they shouldn't be. And guys like me are upset that catch and release bass fishing is against the law to begin with. And yet other guys are quite happy with the way things are and don't want to see any change at all.

Fishingminnesota.com/hotspotoutdoors.com has an interesting thread this year discussing the closed season entitled "Bare with me" The guy who started the thread tends to favor keeping the status quo.

The question is asked:

Do you feel that there is a connection between our great fishing and having a closed season.. or is it more a matter of us having more water and less pressure than other states..

Personally I don't see a connection between great fishing and a closed season or even great fishing and less pressure. In Minnesota we are blessed with lots of water that features ideal habitat for bass and thus we have a robust bass fishery. If you look around a little you see that bodies of water like Kentucky Lake or Gunterville that have absolutely phenomenal bass fishing that is arguably far better than anything Minnesota can offer and they are bodies of water that have no closed season and have tremendous fishing pressure applied to them. What do Kentucky Lake and Guntersville have that allows those fisheries to be so good? The simple answer is good habitat for bass. If you have the good habitat, and we do, than nothing else matters because bass are a prolific species. I think this conclusion is pretty clear cut.

Towards what is currently the end of the thread someone floats the idea that Minnesocold should have a special early season bass catch and release stamp that people can buy that would allow them to pursue bass pretty much any time they want. I am 100% for the idea and would be willing to pay a significant amount of money for such a stamp. As it stands right now, I could care less if someone is fishing for bass in the closed season because I think it is a lousy law and I don't think any real harm is done. Put a price on it and allow catch and release fishing, then I would care about people fishing bass if they didn't pay for the privilege. I'm funny like that.

That's A Lot of accidents!!!

2010-04-18T23:00:00.001-05:00

Minnesota has a closed season for largemouth and smallmouth bass and according to MN fishing regulations "You may not intentionally fish for any species during it's closed season." As you may know I hold this law in contempt.

Anyway I had a thought the other day, that touches on this issue.

I wonder just how many bass are caught in Minnesota by accident before the bass season opens? I think the number is probably is probably well over 100,000 and could conceivably be more than a million bass getting caught accidentally in the closed season.

The question then occurred to me, when something becomes a frequent occurrence at what point does it stop becoming an "accident" and instead enter the realm of being an expectation?

I think it is not so much an accident but instead is more of an expectation that out of season bass will be caught while fishing for panfish in the Spring. For instance when I fish at the GOMH for crappies I would be shocked if some bass were not mixed in with the crappies; It is the nature of the location both species are there schooled together. Growing up fishing for crappies on Sylvia/Twin lake in Wright County it was the exact same thing. You never knew if the next bite was a bass, crappie, or sunfish. I am sure there probably are places where you do not have such intense intermingling of species such as these examples. For instance the North end of West Rush Lake in Chisago County comes to mind. For some reason the panfish load in thick on that North end, but bass not so much.

If it can be established that it is an expectation that closed season bass will be caught by people after panfish than it is an awfully thin line that separates legal fishing from the illegal fishing of intentionally fishing for a species during it's closed season. If there is an expectation of something happening, than I would say there IS an intention to see that thing happen if you are engaging in the activity that brings the expectation. When you intentionally go fishing for bass there is always the expectation that you will catch them, whether you do or not.

Is it really possible to have an expectation about catching fish, without the intent too?

Pete Peeves

2010-03-03T22:15:00.000-06:00

This is really more of a whine fest than Rant.

Pete is a friend from the Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) that is in the Minnesota National Guard. Pretty much every month when he does his Guard drilling he leaves his dog Sandy with us and then when the drill is over he stays for several days, sometimes more than a week. Pete loves to fish and so do I, but not necessarily with Pete; He can be a real buzzkill at times.

Anyway one of my Pete Peeves has to do with how he gets ready for our fishing trips. Often times he has really nothing else more important to do around here than get his act together, so we can go out fishing. Often times I drag my feet and we don't get out until later in the day. Despite the fact that Pete often has all day to get ready he is almost never ready to leave when I am and I have to wait for him to finish getting his stuff together. Sometimes the wait is around half an hour but often it is longer than that, sometimes much longer when taking his boat is involved.

Sorry I just had to vent.

Bassmaster Classic: The Dream That Never Was

2010-02-28T03:31:00.000-06:00

During this past Bassmaster Classic week I heard several different fishermen from Federation anglers to Elite Series pro's express the notion that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic was a lifetime "dream come true." A couple of times I heard it said that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic is the dream of all tournament bass fisherman. I must be an odd case then, because I can't say that fishing in the Bassmaster Classic has ever been one of my aspirations.

Growing up my family had a cabin on Lake Sylvia/Twin (now East & West Sylvia) near Annandale in Wright County Minnesota, which is about an hour and a half NW of Minneapolis; The two lakes are prolific largemouth bass fisheries. I was taught to fish at a very early age by my Dad, Grandmother Maas, and my Mom. Dad was my main fishing tutor and while he liked to fish, he was not overly serious about the sport, more of a casual weekend warrior type. Dad was much more serious about cars and Ham radio. Our fishing boat was late 1960's 14 ft Alumacraft with bench seats and a 5.5 horse Johnson motor. We also had a pontoon boat we would use for fishing. However, most of my early fishing was done off of our or our neighbors docks.

Of my 3 brothers and me, I was basically the only one to be badly afflicted with the fishing bug. I have just always loved to fish and we were up at the cabin frequently in the summer, so I got to go fishing often and as I grew older my love for fishing just grew and grew. My first exposure to fishing outside my family came from TV shows by Virgil Ward, Roland Martin, and Bill Dance. My first exposure to the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society probably came from commercials while watching fishing shows, but I also distinctly remember looking at Bassmaster Magazine at the Barber Shop in Annandale when I was probably around 8 years old. I remember thinking B.A.S.S. was the coolest thing and I wanted to join, but my parents didn't pursue it for me. I don't know when I was first made aware of tournament bass fishing, but I don't think it was until I was a teenager that I ever heard about the Bassmaster Classic and the information I heard about it was pretty scant. When it came to fishing I was much more interested in learning how to catch fish than I was interested in hearing about tournaments.

It wasn't until I was out of college and in my early twenties that I gave much thought to tournament bass fishing. In the 90's Lake Minnetonka used to be the site of a prestigious bass tournament called the Don Shelby US Invitational that drew in some of the big names of B.A.S.S.. The "Shelby" had a $50,000 top prize, which was big for those days. I was just astonished by how big a sack of bass it took to do well in that tournament. Sylvia/Twin is a peanut factory where 3lb and up fish are rare, and these guys were bringing in sacks with close to or over a 4lb average per fish. Also for the first time in my life I had cable TV and so I could watch the Bassmasters TV Show and I think I joined B.A.S.S. in 1993. In 1995 I went to see my first weigh-in ever at the Bassmaster Top 100 that was held on Lake Minnetonka.

I did not fish in my first bass tournament until 2 years later in 1997 when I was 27 years old; That summer I fished as a non-boater in 2 Military Bass Angler (now ABA) at Clearwater Lake in Wright County. I got skunked in my first tournament but did manage to catch a couple of fish on my second try. Looking back at it now, I had very little clue as to what I was getting myself into when I fished those tournaments, but despite the poor results I did enjoy myself and wasn't all that discouraged. In 1998 I joined The Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) which is just a fishing club, not a bass fishing club. It was not until I was 31 when I started fishing bass tournaments with any seriousness.

I think because I wasn't brought up with it and didn't start tournament fishing until well into adulthood is probably why the Bassmasters Classic for me is the dream that never was.

FLW Tour Red River- Was Canceling the Right Decision?

2010-02-11T01:51:00.000-06:00

It has now been 24 hours plus since the cancellation of the FLW Tour Tournament at the Red River out of Shreveport Louisiana. As the dust has settled some anglers have come out and voiced disagreement with the decision to cancel.

The first instance that came to my attention was BASS Elite Series Pro Edwin Evers in the cancellation story on BassFan.com. In BassFan Dock Talk Elite Series Pro Steve Kennedy had remarks voicing his disagreement with the decision printed. And in one more instance yesterday on Facebook Jimmy Houston changed his mind and second guessed the decision after having initially said he thought the right thing to do was respect the opinion of the anglers who said it was too dangerous to fish. (Note- It is unclear whether or not a majority of the FLW Tour anglers were in favor of the decision to cancel, but according to the rumor mill at Bass Fishing Home Page it was close to around 100 anglers that wanted a no go.) FLW Tour angler Scott Canterbury seemed to indicate he agreed with Jimmy Houston on Facebook.

Here is an excerpt of what Jimmy Houston had to say when he changed his mind:
...No one ever forced us to fish and everyone had the option to quit if it got to tough or scary for them. A group of fishermen that were too afraid of the river, after spending three days practicing on it, should not penalize the rest who were willing to compete. I've heard the rumor that some fishermen did not want to compete because they were not catching fish. I hope this was not true. As a group, the FLW fishermen are exceptionally talented and extremely good fishermen. Every angler has the right to pull out and go home if they fear the water or weather but it's not right to force their opinion on the field.

On this matter I think Jimmy Houston and the others who voiced their displeasure are 100% misguided. I have looked into the matter and it is pretty clear to me that conditions were indeed hazardous, and in case of an emergency downright dangerous. Apparently the river was under a hazard advisory and the Coast Guard had pulled it's boats from the river.

It is no secret to tournament fisherman that events have been held many times, at pretty much every level of the sport, when conditions were indeed hazardous. It is just a fact of life that if something important is on the line than some competitors will push things beyond the limits of reasonableness and safety. I have heard horror stories and have seen pictures and video of boats and anglers in distress. Some problems may indeed be chalked up to gross angler negligence and stupidity but sometimes conditions are hazardous and accidents just happen.

There is little doubt in my mind that there has been real negligence and stupidity on the part of tournament organizations that have basically forced anglers to take risks when conditions are hazardous. I for one don't think it is good enough to say, if you don't like it you can just throw your entry fee and crucial championship and Angler of the Year points away. Often times too much is at stake for anglers or tournament organizations to let discretion be the better part of valour and that is NOT good for the sport. I for one don't think the upper echelons of the sport, be they anglers or tournament organizations, set a good example when they go ahead when conditions are clearly hazardous. That said, some conditions such as storms with gusting winds and lightening are more unpredictable and thus harder to take into account in advance.

In the case of the Red River you had a combination of high fast flowing frigid water on a river known for wood and other potential hazards. Jimmy made the argument that if you practiced in it than it was clearly fishable. But the fact is there is no time limit or pressure to go 100% wide open on a practice day. Obviously lots of anglers did not care for what they had to encounter in practice and saw the potential for things to go wrong. I think the fact that plenty of anglers were out in it and thought it was not acceptable trumps the you practiced in it, you can fish it argument. Dave Lefebre thought he was on the fish to do very well, but was 100% behind putting the safety of everyone first and that speaks volumes to me.

I think it unfortunate that FLW didn't foresee the potential for this to happen and have a back up plan just in case, but obviously I believe FLW did the right thing by the anglers and the sport.

So do you agree or disagree with me? Leave a comment.

BassFan Blauket OP-ED BassFan Feedback Responce Rant.

2010-01-18T01:04:00.000-06:00

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?

2010-01-06T02:57:00.000-06:00

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

2009-11-19T06:11:00.001-06:00

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?

2009-03-19T02:28:00.000-05:00

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)

2009-01-15T00:34:00.001-06:00

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

2008-12-04T23:48:00.001-06:00

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, former 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.

After the 2009 Season it seems another excellent dogfish lure is a black and red bass jig with a black and red jig trailer. In 2009 I caught 2 dogfish on this combination while blind casting including one that would have won the 2009 Minnesota Bowfin Club Grand Championship, but I caught it on June 16th a day after the tournament deadline. One nice thing about a bass jig is they tend to be able to hold up under the pressure of a big dogfish.

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

2008-06-16T22:27:00.000-05:00

"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!

The Art of the Lost Lure

2008-05-19T02:59:00.000-05:00

If you are not losing fishing tackle than you probably don't fish enough. This past 2008 Minnesota Fishing Opener at the Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lake on my very first cast of the new season I backlashed which cut my line at the spool, and sent the Purple Perch Husky Jerk, that was so productive last year, hurling into the darkness never to be seen again. I had not dialed in my reel so it was ready to cast. Easy come, easy go!

I have bought a number of reels off Ebay this spring and of coarse was eager to try them out ASAP. One particular reel came with what looked to me like 30lb braid. Instead of putting new line on I left the braid there. The reel performed just fine and I caught several fish. However on two occasions I backlashed which the knot tied to a spinnerbait could not take and so two productive spinnerbaits went to the bottom of the lake. I am not using that reel again until I get some line on there that I have a clue about.

Fortunately, not all lost baits are lost forever. This first week of open season I found that a watermelon Bass Pro Shops Monsoor Swim Jig with a green grub tail was something that the Pike around here dig. Along with several hammer handles I caught one around 30inches. I have been fishing from shore and certain areas of the shore I am fishing are lined with Cattails. Wouldn't you know it, I got my swim jig caught into a cattail and my line was not strong enough to get it back and broke. The jig was stuck out over the water in the cattails. I was bummed but determined to get this productive lure back.

The next day I returned to the spot with chest waders and high hopes that I would find the lure and be able to get it before I sank to deep. I didn't have to wade in far and the lure was visible. I inched in just a little more and retrieved my "lost jig." Since that recovery I have nearly lost the jig twice more. Easy come, easy go, sometimes comes back.

Written for the Fishers of Men Club Twin Cities Newsletter.

Bearing False Witness

2008-03-26T02:41:00.000-05:00

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"
Exodus 20:16

This Email about the BP was sent to the Baxter Bass Snatchers, by a false accuser and coward (I don't know any Jon Beaupre):

-----Original Message-----From: Jon Beaupre [mailto:fishincops@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 7:23 AMTo: Subject: Dave Maas-KNOWN CHEATER

If you have allowed Dave Maas into your club, you better think again!

He has a history of pre-fishing the morning of a tournament, fishing off limit waters during a tournament and knowingly fishing for bass out of season.

Here is proof of his pre-fishing on the day of the tournament (cheating) from his own blog:

______________________________________________________
posted by Basspastor 6:49 PM 0 comments
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Proof Positive that BP is a bass tournament cheater: http://basspunditthq.blogspot.com/2006/03/team-bass-guygal-sylviatwin-july-23rd.html

http://basspunditthq.blogspot.com/2006/03/team-bass-guygal-sylviatwin-july-23rd.htmlDoes this make me a Bass "Perp"?????
_____________________________________________________

Now, he says that "he didn't think it mattered", but he took second place, cashed a check and was subsequently asked to not return to the club.

Here is the quote from his blog: "Technically I think this was against the rules but it's the guy/gal tournament and so I didn't think it mattered. I wasn't pre-fishing. I knew this spot holds bass in the early morning and that I would not visit the spot in the tourney, and probably nobody else would as well."

The Team Bass club rules specifically stated that there was no pre-fishing the day of the tournament and just the fact that it helped him pattern a bite makes it cheating in most books. How did he know that no one else would fish that spot? It is just a bad excuse for his cheating.

Read the link and make your own decision!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have already once blogged about this "Cheating" accusation here. I also responded to the "Cowardly Lion" in the comments section of a blog post.

In this email that was sent to members in my new club, there are two outright bald faced lies.

I have never fished "off limit waters during a tournament."

I was not "subsequently asked to not return to the club"

As for the charge of "knowingly fishing for bass out of season," this has been thouroughly vetted on my blogs and it is neither illegal or unethical to catch bass out of season provided that you are legitimatly targeting a species of fish in it's open season. Do I catch bass trying to catch Dogfish and Crappie and Pike in the Spring? Yes, but so does everybody else who legally targets those species. The "Cowardly Lion" obviously cannot let a settled issue rest.

As for the "Cheating" at the Sylvia/Twin Guy/Gal tournament and the so called getting kicked out of the Team Bass Club. I think a further apology on my part is in order.

The Team Bass Club 2005 Guy/Gal Tournament was held July 23rd at Sylvia/Twin Lake in Wright County MN. My family had a cabin on Sylvia/Twin until I was 31 years old and is the lake I know better than any other and have fished more than any other. On the morning in question I arrived at the access early and headed to a shallow flat rocky point that doesn't have any pronounced drop off located on a weed flat. I went to this spot because I knew it held lots of little bass that bite on topwater in the morning before the sun gets up to high. I have fished this spot many mornings with buzzbaits and other topwaters and I can't remember ever catching a fish bigger than 12" off of it. The Guy/Gal tournament got off to a late start at 8AM or maybe it was 9am and by that time the little bass scatter from the exposed rocks and go onto the weed flat. The notion that I was establishing a pattern is ludicrious, there isn't another spot on the lake like it.

My plan for the day and what we did was fish Slop for 95% of the day. I did catch 1 keeper bass off a point but that point doesn't have rocks, isn't part of a weed flat, has a very sudden and distinct drop off, was wind blown, and I have caught many bass over 12" off of this particular point. That is 5 distinct differences between the two "points"

The Guy/Gal tournament does not count for any points in the Team Bass Standings and was a tournament I thought the club did for fun and trophies. I did not know money was on the line until we were at the weigh in and they handed out checks to the winners. Had I known money was on the line and someone would be hyper anal rententive about it, I would not have gone out and fished for fun early. There literally was nothing for me to gain by doing what I did except to enjoy myself and that is what I did. I probably caught a dozen 7-10" bass just like I thought I would. The spot has been consistant that way and I am willing to sacrifice size for topwater when I'm fishing for fun. I used a topwater popper to catch all of these little bass. I did not use a topwater popper at any time during the tournament. Yet another gapping whole in the theory I was "pre-fishing" to pattern fish.

How does my "sticking" little bass the morining of a tournament in any way benefit me for the tournament day?

The place I was fishing that morning was directly between the public access and the place where we headquartered the tournament in an area where the lake narrows down. While I was fishing I waved at several club boats as they passed by. I am sure at least 3 tournament boats saw me, and no protest was filed the day of the tournament. My sister-in-law Erin and I came in 2nd place and won a whole $100 and two trophies. I believe the "entry fee" to fish the tournament was under $20. In Team Bass you pay a flat fee at the beginning of the year and that is divided among all the tournaments.

Apparently the "Cowardly Lion" learned about what I did because they read my blog about it. This person obviously reads my blogs even though they hold a grudge against me. "Know your enemy" I guess. The "Cowardly Lion" has never addressed me directly but annonymously went to the Tournament Director Dale Glader and filed a protest months and months after the fact. I assume it is the same coward who sent the email to my new club. The Team Bass Tournament Director got my side of the story and did not DQ me and ask for the money back. If that would have been the punishment than I would have paid the money back. I was "punished" by not being allowed to fish the first tournament of the next season in WI. The Tournament Director was aware that I had no intention of fishing this tournament and so the actual punishment was less than a slap on the wrist.

As I noted above it is a bald faced lie that I was "subsequently asked to not return to the club." I fished two tournaments in 2006 and was headed to my third at the Horseshoe Chain in early July when I hit a deer and totaled my truck. I no longer had my vehicle to get to the tournaments and so I didn't go to any more tournaments that year. In 2007 I elected not to rejoin the Team Bass Club on my own, I was never asked to leave.

Since the "Cowardly Lion" still frequents my blogs, why don't you show a little courage and admit who you are and renounce the lies you have told about me. I want to hear about this incident where I fished on "off limit waters" during a tournament. I am not gonna hold my breath, but I am gonna say this:

The Guy/Gal tournament is supposed to be a for fun and money just happened to be on the line. My actions were predicated on the fact that I did not take that particular tournament seriously. I think your attitude and actions make you a Grade A Royal Prick, "lighten up Francis."

BTW "C.L." the guys who got the email think what you did is bush league and they have made up their minds and have allowed me to join the club.

The real Bass Poachers

2007-05-26T20:49:00.001-05:00

Today is the 2007 MN bass opener, the day that the annointed self righteous sportsman of the world stop complaining about those that they perceive as fishing for bass during the closed season. The bitch fest happens every year on FishingMinnesota.com, which I have documented on my blogs.

In addition to following the whining and complaining this spring I have kept a close eye on the DNR Conservation Officer Reports. From following these reports I've learned that people keeping bass out of season is a fairly common infraction with which people are getting caught. I would bet a dollar to donuts that most of these lawbreakers are really fishing for fish that are in season and get the bass as an incidental catch, but the temptation to keep all that meat is just to much.

How much talk do these poachers get every spring? NONE

How much talk should they get. Well from the frequency of the infractions I would think this would be on top of the annointed self righteous sportsman's radar. This is just one more reason for me to hold these "do gooders" in contempt.

2007-03-15T23:27:00.000-05:00

Proof Positive that BP is a bass tournament cheater: Monday, March 27, 2006
Team Bass Guy/Gal @ Sylvia/Twin July 23rd

Does this make me a Bass "Perp"?????

BP's Philosophy of MN Closed Bass Season

2006-04-19T22:13:00.005-05:00

For those unaware, Minnesocold has a time from late February to late May, when it is illegal to not only keep, but even fish for largemouth and smallmouth Bass. The Minnesota regulation for fish "out of season" is this:

You may not intentionally fish for any species during its closed season.

Updated to add: The actual rule/law is 6262.0100 GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON TAKING FISH Subp. 5.B Possession of fish while on state waters, which says:

"A person shall not angle for, including catch-and-release, or reduce to possession any species during its closed season."

I have all kinds of issues with this particular regulation.

#1 I think it is immoral for the state to make catch and release fishing with artificial baits illegal

I do not believe the state has a compelling interest in prohibiting catch and release fishing. Catch and release fishing has proven itself not to be harmful to a fisheries resource. If there is no harm done than the state should not be able to regulate against the activity, PERIOD! This regulation is a very mild form of tyranny that prohibits the God given freedom and rights of man.

#2 Any law or regulation that depends upon a subjectively derived "intent" for enforcement when it could use an objectively arrived at standard is bad law.

In other words, this law should not be allowed on the basis that it is vague. If the state is going to by default ban certain fishing techniques than they should be named, not left to be guessed at. Sure the regulation book would get bigger, but it would also get better because the CO would then have something that could be specifically and objectively enforced. To ban specific lures would show in fine detail that the regulation is indeed heavy handed and overly restrictive of an anglers freedom.

#3 The problem of cross species "targeting."

FYI-In Minnesocold this regulation is often paraphrased thus: "It is illegal to target an out of season fish."

Now any fisherman worth half his weight in twister tails and tube baits knows that fish of all shapes and sizes will bite a variety of the same baits. I've caught panfish on bass spinnerbaits, crankbaits, plastics and jigs. I guarantee that bass will bite on every lure designed to catch panfish; Add to this another fact any fisherman will know about how fish of all shapes and sizes will share the same habitat. Thus in the general area where there will be panfish there will be bass and where there are bass there will be panfish.

These two facts together bring us to the inescapable conflict that fishing for fish that are "in season" means you will catch out of season fish whether you intentionally try to or not. Still some people insist on the artificial notion that you can "target" your species outside of sight fishing for individual fish. The regulation is based on an angling lie that defies common sense and experience. If you intend to catch panfish you will undoubtedly catch bass as well. Therefore, everyone who fishes for panfish is in reality also targeting bass albeit for catch and release purposes. The logic of this reality is inescapable.

Caveat: Now it is true that you are more likely to catch a bass on a 1/2oz jig than a sunfish or crappie, but it is not necessarily more likely that you will catch a crappie or sunfish on a 1/32oz jig than a bass.

#4 As long as you are fishing for a species that is in season than it is allowable that you can catch and release fish that are not in season.

Point #4 follows on the heals of point #3. If targeting legal fish than one is allowed to catch fish that are not in season all one wants and still be fishing within the law. This is a loop-hole that shows the law is absurd on it's face. During the Bass closed season it is completely legal to intentionally fish for panfish and roughfish including dogfish. After the 2nd weekend of May a licensed angler can also intentionally fish for pike, and walleye. If you target a legal species and you catch bass as a "side effect" than your angling is on the up and up, otherwise all anglers fishing during the bass closed season are guilty of breaking the law.

#5 It is an economic injustice that fishermen of means can fish bass legally in the river or other states, while the fisherman without means is stuck without remedy for being able to angle bass.

The argument is made that fishing for bass out of season is inexcusable because other options exist for fishing bass legally by visiting the river where there is no closed season or other states where bass season is open. Obviously not everyone has an equal opportunity to take advantage of the other options due to financial concerns. The law should avoid creating such inequalities if possible and in this case the remedy is possible without negatively effecting the natural resource.

In summary I have 5 reason's why I find this regulation to be bogus.

Because of this regulation the conversation starts again every year. The self appointed defenders of all that is holy writ in Minnesocold Fishing Law get on their moral hobby horse and condemn all those that would defy the law as they see it.

...As the season gets closer to opener More and More boats and more and more fisher People Are fishing for Bass. (I’M TALKING ABOUT THE WALLEYE OPENER NOT THE BASS OPENER!!!!).how do they call themselves sports men in one breath and a outlaw in there actions . what is the boards view on Targeting fish that are out of season?

THANKS
Chisago Docksitter

My response to the Docksitter is that he should mind his own business and let other people mind their own business in return. A sportsman will do what he can to see this bad law changed. Those who know my history know this bass fishing out of season controversy is what contributed to the Banned Pastor, BP designation, as well as other various creative name calling.

The genesis of my passion for this issue goes back to me being falsely accused and harassed by some jerk when I was fishing for northern pike, not bass. My beliefs on the issue have evolved and strengthened the more I have thought about it.

Do I Cheat the Law?

I speed from time to time.

Ohh, you meant "do I intentionally fish for bass out of season?"
If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one there to hear it, did it make a sound? Unless I say something is my intent and actually mean it, there is no way to objectively gauge what my intent actually is on the matter. You will NEVER here me say that my intent is to catch a bass during it's closed season.

Also I do believe non-violent "civil disobedience" is a proper response in redress of bad government in an otherwise worthwhile governing system.

In addition to those considerations, at all times in the Spring while fishing during the bass closed season I have the very deliberate intent to catch a species that is legally in season whether that be panfish or dogfish. I believe this fact settles the issue once and for all. In reality I do not "cheat the law," because I am FISHING LEGALLY.

The only issue with some resonance from FM.com

It's not fair that the majority of us follow regulations

It is to some degree true that those who fish for bass before the season opens are doing something that is unfair to all other anglers. What they are doing is educating the fish which makes them harder for others to catch. Of coarse that means it's making them harder to catch for meat fisherman. Also fish that can be educated are desirable stock for the future of a fishery as well as for the section of the economy based on fishing. This issue is at best a push when larger questions are considered.

FYI-Permission is granted for anyone who wants to copy and paste this response all or in part to the WHAT ARE Sportsmen to do ? thread at FM.com

Now I must get back to my hunt for the state record dogfish.

Appendix FM: (A compilation of FishingMinnesota.com bulletin board threads on this topic that is if I can ever re-find the links now that the board has been changed and everything has a new url. Much of the time "Anonymous" is the Banned Pastor but not always)
"RE: Largemouth Bass"
"Whats With All The Talk About Fishing Out Of Season" (10 pages of comments)
Regulations... clarification?FishingMinnesota.com archives (I didn't actually participate in this thread where I was slandered)

"To bad all people who fish don’t have that attitude."
You don't like my attitude and I don't care for the attitude of the self-righteous chumps that presume a person is breaking the law or doing something wrong when they are not.

Did you see the thread "Basspoacher tries to strike again." Same place, same baits, same time of day and all I got was those crummy Crappies and Sunnies some of which I kept to eat (Yum Yum). Fishing is that way a lot of times and people who accuse others for "targeting" out season need to be a little more liberal with how they regard what is proper and what is not. People have gone out of their way to accuse me of breaking the law and being unethical so I go out of my way to be provocative on this issue to piss you Pharisees off.

When someones intent is to catch fish period and would be as happy with a bass as a crappie does not mean they are breaking the law or doing anything wrong. Cyb had a blast catching all those bass, but was disappointed that he didn't get any nice crappies or bigger gills. Had he fished the same spot a week later it looks as if the results would have been different from what I caught.

That's fishing.

excerpt from Keeping BASS Dilemma Fishing Minnesota archives (4 pages)

How many more days till the Bass opener?? (thread has 11pages, many of which contain BP posts.)

Seasonal Ethics

Dark Christianity and Rick Clunn

2006-02-10T20:23:00.000-06:00

In an interview with BassFan Rick Clunn talks about the "Dark Side of Christian Spirituality" as he terms it; Rick Clunn is a bit of an individualist maverick when it comes to spirituality, especially in the conservative evangelical dominated world of Professional Bass Fishing. As examples of this "Dark Side" he talks about how in his youth his sister was condemned to hell for being a ballet dancer and how that moved his family away from their church and away from Christianity; Clunn also references F.O.C.A.S. (Fellowship of Christian Angling Society) and how some people within this group have used what he considers negative and coercive peer pressure tactics, as well as how he believes they had distorted his own beliefs.

My response to Rick Clunn:
It is impossible to deny that Christianity has a "dark side." But "Christianity" as Clunn uses the word is nothing but a multifaceted institutionalized ideology acted out in the lives of individual and corporate human lives. The clear lesson of history and immediate human experience is that human beings are all morally flawed and prone to mistakes ranging from the individual occasional minor offense all the way to mass directed grievous evil. If one wishes to focus on the negative and problems than they will find them without much effort when human conduct is considered.

Clunn obviously considers himself a self-enlightened individual, but that self-enlightenment obviously contains a prejudice against evangelical Christian's and evangelical Christianity. The majority of Clunn's opinion has apparently sided with the negatives of "Christianity" so that the positives are discounted. Just as Clunn judges the arrogance of Christian's so he is condemned by the arrogance of his own enlightenment which surely is not without this significant flaw. Rick Clunn may be the "Greatest Professional Bass Fisherman ever, a great father, husband, and generally be a pretty good guy, but he is not without his issues and flaws. I know that because I know myself and I know all beings have issues and flaws either real or imagined. Clunn obviously has some issues with Christian's that appear legitimate, but I question whether his consideration of Christian's and Christianity is deep enough to have merit. For if I were to discount all of Clunn's accomplishments because of his failures and mistakes than I could esteem Clunn negatively and that with ease. But why would I choose to do such?

Well actually I wouldn't, because I have a great deal of respect for the guy as a man and as an angler. Obviously if I were a P.E.T.A. believer than I would have a different view. Consider that.

The race of Aragorn and Faramir

2005-11-14T23:43:00.000-06:00

Numenorean

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

Since I'm too lazy...

2005-11-09T17:42:00.000-06:00

to post something of my own. I am outright gonna steal a post from the Blog Running on Coffee.

Here is The Fishing Lesson.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005
The Fishing Lesson

My grandfather fought in two wars in his time in the Army, WW2 and Korea. He was wounded 5 times between the two wars. He held the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. I want to share something my sister wrote shortly after our grandfather passed away last year. With Veteran's Day approaching, I thought it appropriate.

The Fishing Lesson

I could never figure out as a child why my grandfather loved fishing so much. It was fun to go with him as a kid every now and then, but I could never understand why he went day after day. It wasnt until I went fishing with him last April that I finally knew. It was a cloudless day the last time my grandfather ever went fishing. I had promised him two years earlier that I was going to take him fishing. He couldnt go out on his boat by himself anymore and so he did wait patiently for two years for me to come home. The last time I was home, before we even knew he was sick I knew in my heart that I had to take him. My grandfather, my dad, my nephew and I spent four hours on that lake that day without a single nibble all day long. Not a tug, not even a little pull on our lines. The one thing I do remember about that day is how the water was so calm. It was like glass all day long. It was calm and serene and I cant remember a day in the last seven years of my life that was so calm and peaceful. There are two things that I could never figure out about my grandfather. One was his love for fishing and the other was that besides a few comical antidotes about his wartime experiences you would have never known that he was on Normandy beach that day in 1944 and later went to Korea. He was never sad like a man who had seen so much war. I saw only a glimpse of war in 1999, 2002, and 2003 and it still makes me sad sometimes. I realized that day, that he fished not for the chance to catch anything, but for quiet, still moments like those we shared that day. And I also realized that he wasnt sad because he had us, his family. His family had been his salvation all of those years. I knew this because of all of the veterans in the VA hospital he was one of the few that had family next to him every minute of every day. After fishing my grandfather dropped all three of us off at the dock so we could prepare the truck to put the boat back on it. He trolled away from the dock, and as I thought he would turn the boat around to come back in he kept trolling out past the buoys. Once he got past the buoys I saw him turn his hat backward and open up his boat for the last time. Maybe he knew in his heart too. And so for a few minutes he sped across the lake all while a gorgeous Texas sunset was fading behind him. There were no boats on the water that day, and he flew across the calm water with nothing in his way. It was just him and his lake. Thats how ill always remember him. I wont remember him with all of the tubes coming out of him, or his lack of hair from the chemo. Ill remember him teaching me a lesson that day. To remember whats important and why I do fight all of these wars, and what will take me through my nightmares and memories. My family.
We didnt catch anything that day, but it didnt matter to any of us.
We were together and no big bass can ever beat that.
My grandfather passed away on Saturday. Called back to duty by his commander in chief in heaven.

Theres no doubt in my mind where he's at right now.

Hes on lake.

Fishing.

hooah, grandpa.

Misc. Stuff from the BP

2005-10-10T23:40:00.000-05:00

Dang Spam Bots!

I have been busy beating them back in the comments section. Looks like I need to find that Blogger code to stop em.

Also I have an Apology and Wrap Up of 2005 over at The BP Fantasy Bass Fishing HQ

The Tournament Report is up for the Team Bass Horsehoe Chain of July 9th and I do plan to give reports for the rest of the season as I have time. I also hope to update the Fishing Log Blog some from 2005 as well as Bass Pundit Preach and B.P. vs. Cyberfish. We didn't face off much this summer and our last outing we both got skunked. Before that Cyb shived me at Mille Lacs during the Sept. full moon. He was ON FIRE that nite reeling in the piggies, thanks to my boat control and that Firetiger HJ.

Anyway soon I should be blogging again on a regular basis.

Coming Soon... a pic of a real Toad I caught in September.

Note: Even though the weather has been great in October, I've had issues, which I will get into in another post, that have kept me off the water this month, and when I have been out it has been whiff city even though the weather has been about ideal.

Oops this was meant to go over @ the main BP site. Ohh Well. The "more the merrier" and anything new content wise on any of the Franchise's is a welcome site to me anyway.

Broken Rod Stories

2005-04-06T03:17:00.000-05:00

Didn't know where else to put this for right now. It is a long post for the WWW.lakestatefishng.com message board. Fortunatly I copied it just before sending because that site is on the fritz. I plan to put this on in the Log Blog and main BP eventually but I needed a warehouse and this seems to be the best fit.

St.Croix has terrible service!
I broke a rod I bought after 2000 and they told me I was wrong! And the rod was over 15 yrs old lmao! 15 yrs ago I was using a Fenwick with a Mitchell 300 I never even heard of them 15 yrs ago.
And for the price? They are not all they are cracked up to be, they break like any other cheap rod. I went to Jarvis Walker made by Penn, I have had great luck with them and if I break one? They are under 30 bucks.

I broke a 7'3" Avid Flippen stick while swinging a hog into the boat that had a bunch of weeds on her. St. Croix replaced it no problem. I am surprised Tim had any problem, St. Croix, Fenwick, and Shimano are known for their willingness to replace rods.

Here's my favorite busted rod story. Pilgrim/Cyberfish can verify the first part. I was using a 7'6" Fenwick HMG at the Golf Park Dam at on the Pike Creek in Kenosha County WI during the fall Salmon run. About 5 away from the face of the dam and about 4 feet off the waters surface is a railroad trestle for the Golf carts to cross. You can either fish the tail out side of the trestle, on a ledge under the trestle's North side or the dam side and I was on the dam side which gives you very little wiggle room for fighting and it's kind of a treacherous little spot as well. I got dialed into something a started fair hooking salmon regularly on Mepps Spinner. I had landed several nice Chinook's in a row and then I hooked into a really spunky 4 to 5lb Coho. I really wanted to catch it, cause it was a very pretty fish and also that size Coho is a great fish to eat.

You guessed it, I wasn't paying attention while fighting the fish, the rod tip got stuck in the trestle and broke. I was pissed at my stupidity and then tried to yank the coho out of the water. As I was doing that, the line broke down by the spinner and the fish flopped back in the water before I could grasp it. Not only had I busted my rod, but I lost the hot bait and it was the only one in that size and color and that was the only one the salmon wanted. I melted down at that point pretty good, I was one pissed off dude.

Anyway I sent the rod back to Fenwick and they replace it no problem even though it was obviously my fault, so now I had a brand new 7'6"MH Fenwick HMG Spinning rod. Fast foreword to the next years Fall Run, same pool of water except I was fishing the tail out on the other side of the trestle. I'd had a couple of phenomenal days in a row having that spot almost all to myself and had caught dozen of Kings, Coho's, and even a couple of small steelhead, some of the Kings were 20lb plus monsters.

It was now the weekend and the hole was modestly crowded with maybe 10-12 people, but not super crowded like it can get with 15-20; that hole is really only suited to fish 7 or 8 to allow decent room. I didn't get there early enough and so I decided to wait for my spot to open up and went to the business of netted peoples fish. By doing that you get on peoples good side, which is always a good idea when "combat fishing," and they get to a limit quicker, so they tend to leave quicker. Anyways after netting several Salmon for the guys who staked out that North Side of the hole, one of them stepped aside to sit for a while and let me into fish.

For those of you who have never done it, combat fishing a hole full of Salmon with other guys fishing lines in the water is not a game of finesse. If the fish are really going you may have fisherman with multiple hook-ups fighting fish at the same time and guys will continue fishing while a fish is being fought because it can be a long time between hook ups and you want your line in the water as much as possible. That Fenwick HMG is the perfect action rod with plenty of muscle and I was using 20lb Trilene XT Solar which is excellent line for that environment cause it's tough and everybody can see the line and where a fish is heading.

Anyway, I hooked into a mid-teen King that was hot and was pressuring it hard, from the back of the tail out. It seemed like it was wearing a bit and was almost in netting range and so I pressured it harder, the fish made a burst and my rod exploded, it sounded like the crack of a rifle. Everybody in the hole including myself was just stunned and gapping, including me. Amazingly enough, even though the rod broke in 4 places, the line held and I caught the fish. I thought the rod exploding like that was the greatest thing ever, I've never seen or heard anything like it.

I suppose I could have sent the rod in to Fenwick again, but I figured I'd gotten my money's worth and didn't bother. That rod is more valuable to me as a souvenir anyway. I still have the handle section but unfortunately lost 2 of the pieces in the process of moving and I cannibalized the tip to use on another rod.

I also inexplicably had a Fenwick Techna Av break on a cast, which they replaced no problem.

(Man that's quite a story, I'll have to get a pic of the rod and then put it up on my blog.)

Open Letter to Senator Norm Coleman

2005-03-10T03:52:00.000-06:00

Well a little Bass Pundit/Bass Pastor blogizan activism on the upcoming vote on new bankruptcy legislation that looks like it will pass. Honestly I don't have the answers, but I am very suspicious of the wisdom of this legislation and am quite skeptical as to whether or not a problem even exists that needs to be fixed or if it does that this legislation will do the job. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe not.

Senator Coleman,

I am writing regarding the upcoming vote on the bankruptcy legislation as a semi-concerned citizen. I say "semi-concerned" because I am not well versed on the bill or the issues involved. Also I am pretty sure that the ramifications of this bill will not effect me as that I have recently been Discharged of Debts under Chapter 7 and don't plan on ever putting myself in a position again.

Having gone through the bankruptcy process I am thankful that it was available and am also grateful that it was a relatively easy and painless process. Filing for bankruptcy was not something I am proud of or really wanted to do, but was the first good financial decision I've made in a long time. I recognize that I made a lot of poor and plainly irresponsible financial decisions along the way, but there were also significant contributing factors that were beyond my control. In addition, I think a strong argument in my case could be made that the Credit companies made poor and plainly irresponsible financial decisions that were about equal to mine.

I guess I am worried that the legal process might not really be broken and therefore might not need to be "fixed." Or if the law does need to be reformed, I am concerned that at the end of the day the only real winners will be already wealthy lawyers, and corporate interests while the people who are like me who really need relief will be left with a process that is far more difficult and expensive. Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but if it's a direct choice between subsidizing of the rich vs. subsiding of the poor, than I think you must side with those who "have not" over those that "have" provided of coarse you are not destroying the "haves" economically to do it because that really doesn't redound in benefit to anyone.

Please understand, I am not necessarily anti-lawyer or corporations as that I obviously had help getting the bankruptcy from an attorney and my oldest brother is employed by American Express here in Minnesota; American Express also happened to be the the credit lender that I owed the most money, therefore was the biggest loser when my discharge was granted. I recognize that corporations like American Express do a tremendous amount of good by employing thousands of people. I know the banking industry plays a key role in extending opportunity and economic prosperity and growth that benefits all of society.

At the same time however, I recognize that the banking industry is highly susceptible to the temptations that come from having immense institutional power and a concentrated focus on wealth which can lead to a pursuit of courses of action that are ethically questionable or sacrifice larger long term benefits for short sighted gains.

Here's the questions that I think you should answer before voting in favor of this upcoming legislation:

1.Specifically what about current bankruptcy law is a problem?

2. Who specifically is it a problem for and why do they need the reform?

3. What is the cost benefit analysis of the current law vs. a cost benefit analysis of the proposed law? Noting who benefits and how much under each legal paradigm.

4. How will the proposed reform effect everyone in the equation ie: lenders, debtors, lawyers? Noting both probable intended and possible unintended consequences?

5. Is the Credit industry currently profitable? If so how profitable and is this level of growth most likely sustainable under the current system?

6. If the Credit industry is the major benefactor of the proposed reforms than what steps are they taking to get their own house in order where they have contributed to the problems that they are seeking to address?

If it can be shown with a commitment to intellectual integrity that the proposed reforms are win/win/win situation than I think you should vote in favor of the legislation. However, if it only benefits lawyers and bankers than I believe the only choice is to vote NO!

I don't have the answers, but I think this issue is important and requires your careful deliberation because this is a vote for which I believe you may be held accountable by a Higher Authority than me at some point.

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
Proverbs 14:31 (New International Version)

Thanks
Dave Maas

Pharisee Nation by John Dear

2005-02-16T02:41:00.000-06:00

I made the mistake of running into a political blog yesterday called The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ. Where I found a bunch of what passes for thought and theology among the hardcore pro-gay and anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-everything else left. One of the pieces was this rant called Pharisee Nation by a passivist Jesuit Priest named John Dear

I just had to reply to such self-righeous utter non-sense.

"I believe war, weapons, corporate greed and systemic injustice are an abomination in the sight of God. They are the definition of mortal sin. They mock God and threaten to destroy God’s gift of creation. If you want to seek the living God, you have to pit your entire life against war, weapons, greed and injustice--and their perpetrators. It is as simple as that."

Dude, you need to Love the Lord thy God with all your mind, because when you do I think you will discover that your condemnation can never be so cut and dried in a fallen world among a fallen humanity. If it is so cut and dried than why are these pronouncements yours and not directly uttered by Jesus himself? I would submit much of your Bibilical interpretation is wishful thinking more than serious hermineutic. Jesus himself said render unto Caeser what is Caeser and the God that which is God's. A Christian cannot simply avoid civic responsiblity for wishful thinking of their own making. That is not true faith, but foolishness.

"War, weapons, corporate greed, and systematic injustice (What?ever that is) are certainly inevitable necessary evils. These things probably in FACT have redemptive qualities or uses by God that accomplish good and restrain evil along with preserving grace and creation in some kind of pragmatic manor that is beyond our comprehension. The weather is not evil and yet it kills, steals and destroys as if at times it is authored by Satan himself. I would submit that "war" (conflict), "weaponry" (the sword), "corporate greed" (economics), and systematic injustice (political and civic instituitions) are all similiar to the weather as that they are a law unto themselves in a fallen creation and therefore are NOT automaticaly abominations as you claim.

"We have to resist this new American empire..."

If you think "American Empire" is bad, who would you prefer to be ruled by? A totalitarian Soviet/Communist one? A totalitarian Islamic one? A fascist Nazi one? An Imperial Japanease one? A totalitarian Pan-Arab one? A truely brutal pagan Roman or Mongolian one? How about a truely fucked up French Imperial one? Or do you favor some other small time authoritarian despot, kingdom, tribe or fiefdom?

From where I sit the best Empires in the history of the world are British and by extension it's successor the American one. That is an objective judgement that is pretty easy to make.

...as well as its false spirituality and all those who claim to be Christian yet support the murder of other human beings.

This statement is about as morally obtuse an argument as I've ever seen. The options are not simply American empire vs. the utopia of the Kingdom of God. So the American Empire goes away and then What? Are you saying that the majority of people in Iraq where better under Saddam and the Bathists than they are with a true opportunity for self-determination and radical liberal democratic reforms?

It's not that we support murder, but that there is a difficult and real problem somewhere that involves us and we are trying to do as nation what we can to set things right and doing that means engaging in a violent struggle. Avoiding the problem won't make it go away or make life better for one single soul in Iraq or the USA or anywhere else in the world for that matter. There is a time for war and a time for peace, a time to throw stones and a time to gather them in.

We have to repent of the sin of war, put down the sword, practice Gospel nonviolence, and take up the cross of revolutionary nonviolence by loving our enemies and discovering what the spiritual life is all about.

I don't recall Jesus or the Apostles speaking of a "Gospel of nonviolence." Jesus was not a prophet or martyr for any so called "gospel of nonviolence." I don't recall converted Roman soldiers and commanders being commanded to resign and renounce their position. I think this Gospel you speak of is not "Gospel" at all and should not be accepted uncritically and without serious reservations.

I especially have a problem with this:

put down the sword

The secular/political authority commands those within it's authority and has not only the right but the obligation to bear the sword. Jesus and his followers understood this, but you seemingly do not. If commanded by the political authority to bear the sword to not obey could be to disobey God and promote evil rather than discourage it. That is good Biblical theology, your position however is not.

take up the cross of revolutionary nonviolence by loving our enemies and discovering what the spiritual life is all about

I reject the notion that too unilaterally disarm, which is essentially to hand your enemy the gun with which an evil enemy will then summarily shoot you in the head consitutes what Jesus meant with the line about "loving your enemies" "taking up the cross " or has anything to do with discovering what "the spirtiual life is all about" unless reaping the the consequences of stupidity is a spiritual discipline we are to seek.

Wake up from your delusions and enter the world of angels/demons and men.

"My Lethal Weapon's My Mind" Ice-T

2005-01-22T04:58:00.000-06:00

If I'm evangelizing for the blogosphere, Does that fall under theology?

I think Yes therefore this post lands here first, this ditty "My Lethal Weapon's My Mind" was written in responce to a internet message board question:

SUBJECT: # 41653: How do you get to be a prostaff team member?

From Bass Fishing Home PageTM Web, whatever! And whatever that thing is, it shure catches Bass Fisherman.

Here is my answer to the ? in full tricked out blog-o-link mode which that Uglo Klunklosaurus of an interface I wrote the original on can't pull off:
(BTW, do you think it is it a wee arrogant to myself in this way? Rhetorical Question or begging for comments? You decide!)

I have an alternative plan.

Get in on the ground floor of a revolutionary new media tool and have it revolve around the sport of Bass Fishing (we are quite campy, you know.) I have founded my "Blog Franchise Empire" and will continue to grow the thing and build momentum, networking with every bass fisherman who catches the blogging fever.

If you like Bass Fishing, tournament or not, and are on the internet, you should not only be writing in these message boards, but blogging. It's easy, it's fun, and you can link to your favorite message boards, you can "blogroll" the BP and/or link to Korean blogger bass fisherman Gar "The Bass Hole"'s: "Fishing Girl of the Week."

Did you know Time has now added a "Blog of the Year?" In 2004 it was
Powerline.com. Did you know ABC named Blogger's as their 2004 "People of the Year?"
Where else but on the bloggosphere does a bass fisherman from Minnesocold get to connect and share his passion with an aspiring female astronaut from Kuwait. The bloggosphere has a Kuwaiti Astronaut Diva and has plenty of room for Fishing Diva's too. (Check out Maryam's Blog "So I want to be an Astronaut" and leave her a comment telling her you like to catch those weird "green fish" and wish her the best in making her dreams come true; be sure to tell her BassPundit says hello.)

The objective is to become the Instapundit of the Bass Fishing niche within the bloggosphere. Once a hundred or so Bassin Blogger are networked with me and I'm gettin' several tens of thousands of unique hits a day, the fishing companies will start emailing me. And if I am not already into their product than I'll tell em': "I'll give it try and if I like it than YOU CAN BE ON MY PRO STAFF, DUDE!"

The BP
it all begins here

Yeah Baby! Time for BassCenter !!!!!!!

Sometimes it will come in my own words, not now.

2005-01-22T01:07:00.000-06:00

Pronunciation: 'prEch
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English prechen, from Old French prechier, from Late Latin praedicare, from Latin, to proclaim publicly, from prae- pre- + dicare to proclaim--more at...

Preach (in part) according to Merriam-Websters

I was born a child of grace
Nothing else about the place
Everything was ugly but your beautiful face
And it left me no illusion

I saw you in the curve of the moon
In the shadow cast across my room
You heard me in my tune
When I just heard confusion

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am... I am
from All Because of You by U2

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
Psalm 73:25 New American Standard Version

My flesh and my heart may fail...
Psalm 73:26&28 New American Standard Version