squid

I was on Kentucky Lake fishing against the owner of the trail I fish in and work for(big tournaments only), caught an 18" showed his oldest son, who was in our boat, and tossed it back into the water....lol. I have no idea who was madder...me, or his son. The owner was in another boat with his partner and his youngest son. They beat us by 1/2 lb...lol....oops.

I like Animalpaintball. They do an awesome job and much cheaper than Gemini. But if you do not know how to set up your shirt, then Gemini is the way to go. They have the best set up to help the first time buyer of tournament shirts.

Mine is displayed out in the garage. :-X can't say anymore on the subject...lol

Humm...not much about Patoka Lake here or on their website. Also looks like the locals don't like tournament anglers. Should be fun.

Good luck tomorrow. Gonna start out cold, but should get up into the 50's. Air temp that is.

...the new Obama health care plan covers choking

Sfritr, be nice to me now...lol..I will be one of the Staff signing you up on registration day..lol. Thanks for all the info guys. I will do what I always do. Drive around one day and sleep the next...lol. I will try all that you have recommended. I did hear that you can not fish Marina's, is that correct?

thanks for the info

Need some help on this lake. I will be down there the last week of April for a big tournament and I have no idea what this lake has to offer. What works best this time of year?

When to start bass fishing in Michigan......when DNR is not around...lol If so you better be fishing for walleye or gill fish. Never use more than 1 hooked bait if before catch & release. DNR will know your are targeting bass out of season. Just use your head when on the water. 8-) :

I heard that Jonathan VanDam won a Northern Open this past weekend on Erie. Great Job JVD. It is so wierd to watch a kid grow up, then get his name out there. Gotta give him some credit. I just hope he comes to my open this weekend....lol. Hope his head hasn't gotten to big...lol. He needs that money for school anyways...lmao.

Most guys start their own club and get info on tournaments and then get it set up that way. If I had more info I would leave it here for you. MSU and UofM both have teams. Just call their Athletic Directors for the info. They might be able to help. I think Western Michigan has one too.

Hillsdale, Branch and Calhoun counties seem to be doing well with LM. Went to a tournament where 5 for over 19lbs were caught in a 3hr tourny.

For those of you who fished this event this year, here are some of the results posted by Dan Kimmel. I and my partner did not do so very well, although we had fun, we did catch a limit for 11.74: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Clauser and John Robiadek won the NBAA Detroit River today, June 20, 2009 with 5 smallmouth bass weighing 21.86 pounds good for $5,000. They also took 2nd big bass with a 5.41 pounder good for another $200. Roy Randolph and his partner took 2nd with 5 smallies for 20.57 pounds to take $1,500. Don Fowler and partner finished 3rd with 5 smallies for 20.15 pounds - I think they won $700 or $1,000. They also took 3rd big bass good for $170 with a 5.15 pound toad. Overall big bass was a 5.45 pound smallmouth bass. The top 12 finishers took money for the 89 boats that braved the rain and wind today. 12th place was 16.58 pounds. Another dozen teams or so had 15 pounds and up. Full results and pictures should be up on the www.nbaa-bass.com web site soon. Doug and I finished in the mid 20 places with just over 15 pounds despite the wind and missing or losing a good number of pecking bass. Though St. Clair is a great place to fish, it was a little squirrelly today, but still a pretty good day of fishing that started with my hooking a keeper on my first cast of the morning as soon as my bait hit the water... before I even had my hand on the reel handle This is a cool tournament with lots of future potential. The weigh-in was held right at St. Jeans ramp this year, but NBAA is looking at working with the city of Detroit closer again next year. Negotiations are ongoing.

Since I have been weighing in fish for tournaments now for 5 yrs, I have gotten really close. And yet, when I catch one, that looks big I still assume mine is bigger....lol

Check the club rules first. I own an aluminum 17' Triton with a 115 merc on the back and I have been beat by a team in a 14ft boat with a 25hp reach behind. As long as they have a working live well of some kind, should be ok. Like the other youngster said. Be a co-angler first, then jump into it.

On Wed, we finished 32nd and 8th in big bass, out of 139 boats. I did not fish on Thurs, but still had to get up to park the trucks and check the fish in the afternoon(all 3 days). Did not enjoy getting up at 3am when I didn't have to fish...lol Came in with 2 fish on Friday for 67th place. My cousin got a small check on Wed, nothing on Thurs, and 1700 on Fri. 4th place

This is always a good tournament, for a good purpose. Casting for a Cure! The Lady Bass Anglers of West Michigan will once again be putting on the Casting For A Cure special event. This annual charity Bass Tournament will take place June 14th on Gull Lake and proceeds will go to The Association for Large Nevi & Related Disorders. Please support this worthy cause and join in on a great time out to Gull Lake. If you'd like more information on this event please contact Shannon Ertner @ (269) 808-4504 or print out a registration form below. Casting for a Cure Registration form: http://www.nbaa-bass.com/plugins/casting_for_a_cure.pdf

Did either of you fish up at Houghton Lake this year for the Championship?

Ha, you guys are funny. If you notice that my original post on this was back in 2005 when it was the price I said it was....lol ;D

10"...... ....I would have a limit every tournament if that were the case in Michigan, but then so would everyone else....lol

I have given out more than I won.... In a small tournament, winning 1st place I think my buddy and I won just under $200. In a tournament that I put on I paid out 90% with a total of $952 total payout for 14 boats

Club, or trail? You have all kinds of opportunity in your area with BASS, NBAA, and Midwest Sportsman are a few that I know. I do not know the websites for the Mich BASS, and the Midwest one is still not updated yet. If you are looking for some tournament dates, send me a private message and I will give you the NBAA website. You also have little clubs that gather too, but I do not know all of them.

Depends on where you want to drive to I guess. Coldwater Lake has some nice smallies in it, but you have to find them.

You couldn't be more correct!!! They called Bobby Lane and Steve Kennedy rookies when they joined BASS and they've been killing on the FLW trail for years. These "rookies" have been fishing Opens, Federation, or other trails for a long time. I view them as rookies on the Elite Tour, but they are not a true rookie in the sport by any means!! See, now that is what I did not understand. Those guys have been called pro's for years. They should have never been labled a rookie. And there are others. I can go over everyones resume and tell you who I would rather sit with. I would sit with JVD. He is a funny, soft spoken kid, who will dominate when he gets his chance. But also cause he and I can make fun of each other in the boat...lol ;D You know...he is fishing and I am sitting >....lol