Well the 2013 fishing season is just around the corner for me, but Mother Nature is still trying to keep us in the Midwest locked into winter with another winter storm heading our way, it looks like my yard will be white again, ugh!
This past off-season was one of the busiest ones I have had, but it was very beneficial for me and my sponsors. I enjoy helping spread my knowledge and passion of the sport of bass fishing on to others and love throwing fishing stories around with show goers.
Now on to the fun stuff, FISHING! This tournament season I’m very excited about for several reasons.
The first is that Nick and I will be fishing the St. Jude Bass Classic on the Mississippi River, May 4-5 out of Wabasha, MN. Last year fishing this event for the first time, we finished in 27th place, but more importantly we helped fund raise over $100,000 for St. Jude’s Children Hospital.
This event will set up different from last year, with a colder spring and possibly higher water, regardless though it is a fun event and for a good cause. If you are able to help support us in our fund raising cause, please go to, https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?userId=761668&programId=901&eventId=348022 and click the ‘donate now’ button, any help would be greatly appreciated.
In June (27-30), I will be fishing the FLW Tour Event on Lake Chickamauga, in Tennessee. This will be a great learning experience for me, as I will be pre-fishing with an FLW Pro for three days and then have two guaranteed tournament days, and hopefully make the top 20 cut to fish the third and final day!
My tournament partner, Nick Gross and I will be competing in the North American Bass Circuit (NABC) this season. This is the third year of this tournament trail being in existence and in that time it has grown to be one of the most popular and well run team circuits in the Midwest. Of the four events, we’ll be fishing three of them and hopefully qualifying for the Tournament of Champions (TOC) being held in October.
The first lake we’ll be stopping at (June 1st) for the NABC is Lake Pokegama, which is in Grand Rapids, MN. With the cold and slow start to spring we are having this event will more than likely be a pre-spawn bite for both largemouth and smallmouth, with the possibility of some spawning largies.
Making a stop on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, WI, July 20th is going to be right in my comfort zone, as I spent a lot of time on Pools 7-8 last year and will be fishing the Walmart BFL the week before the NABC event, so I’m hoping for two solid back-to-back events on the Ole’ Miss! Water levels will dictate a lot, but a typical summer river bite should be in full swing with Snag Proof Frogs and Texas-rigged plastics and jigs being my key go to baits.
We’ll have the month off from the NABC circuit and in September (20th) we will again be heading north to Leech Lake in Walker, MN for a big fish or bust event. Flipping the HEAVY remaining vegetation will be a key pattern. Nick has done well at Leech before, so hopefully we can connect the dots at this one.
After these three NABC events, the hope is that we’ll be in the top 20 in points and qualify for the TOC being held October 11-12 on the Chippewa Flowage in Hayward, WI.
Besides fishing these keynote events, I’ll again be fishing several BFL’s, including one on my home water of Pool 10 on August 24th, this is an event I cashed a check in last year and hope to improve my placing this year.
To see my full tournament schedule and see the results, check out my schedule page.
After each event, I’ll be recapping it for you, along with some possible video blogs.
