Goaltender

For those not knowing, The American Bass Anglers (ABA) is a national tournament trail for the weekend angler. We are a singles trail, no need to find a partner to count on. We are a DRAW trail, meaning we are open to boaters and co-anglers alike. Boaters - if you bring a boat, you are fishing from your boat. Many times throughout the year you will fish by yourself. Don't have a boat, or never fished in a bass tournament? The the ABA is perfect for you! Before take off at each event we hold a quick tournament meeting and afterwards we draw names first for boaters take off position. Next we have the co-anglers draw a boat to fish from. High School students - this a great way to expand your tournaments! Please call/text with questions. Mike (708)514-7258 (tritonmikehhbc@gmail.com)

The 2015 IDNR fFishing handbook hit the streets yesterday. The newly imposed 12noon deadlines for tournaments to be complete in July and August. I also recently found that Iowa has a 2pm curfew for the same months for tournaments. I can honestly say this is a complete surprise to me. I understand the thinking behind it as they claim fish mortality is high with the increased temperatures. Any other states have these summertime bans? What are your thoughts on it?

I am actually doing a "teach the club" this month on this topic. Bass mortality increases greatly from stress. Stress can be caused during the fight/landing the fish - by this I mean taking too long to land the fish. Improper handling by removing slime coat or by holding the fish from the jaw incorrectly will increase mortality. You can break a bass' jaw (and not even know it) by holding them from the jaw without supporting them from their belly/tail causing them to not be able to feed. Stress within the livewell also increase mortality. Low oxygen levels is the biggest contributor. Saturated oxygen levels in water drop considerably as the water warms. Dropping livewell temps 10 degree's increase oxygen levels. That's why ice is recommended once surface water temps reach 75 degrees.Other tricks include installing an aerator, adding hydrogen peroxide, and there are oxygen pellets you can buy to drop in your tank that will release oxygen into the water for up to 9 hours. Studies show highly stressed fish may live 6 days or more before finally perishing. Amonia levels within the livewell also contribute. I learned water should be changed 2-3 during an 8 hour tourney. University of WI did a study following six bass tournaments and saw mortlaity after 6 days of up to 35% on poorly treated fish that were caught, kept in a livewell, and eventlaully released. There is some GREAT reading throughout Bass Resource on this subject!

Bassmaster Elite shows are on Sunday mornings ESPN2 @ 6am. They have been running regularly now for about 4 weeks. FLW I don't think starts on NBCS until June for some reason.

I speak from experience on this topic! I fish the Lake of the Ozarks and last year decided to start fishing tournaments. Because I had limited space to keep my boat on the water I had to keep my boat under 18' and 6' wide. I found an excellent boat - an aluminum Sea Nymph with a 90HP set up just like a bass boat. The tournaments I fished had on average 60 boats. I fished 8 events and on only one occasion was there another aluminum boat. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little embarrassed but I fished them anyway. I ended up finishing 16th overall for the year and by the end I met some great guys. And yes vanity got the best of me - I sold the Sea Nymph and bought a Triton TR186 with a 150 Merc. I don't fish any better but I look AWESOME!

I'm heading down as well. I going the 1st week of April, fishing a tourney the 3rd & 4th. What's new on the Lake since the Bassmasters? They still prespawn? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

I was getting ready to leave the dock for a tournament on Lake Winnebago in WI when a terrible fog rolled in. This was prior to GPS. The fog was so thick you couldn't see more than 20ft. My navigation was a map with compass points on it and the boat's compass. We followed to the shore line nearly running into docks time and again. What it made most un-nerving was that we could hear other boaters screaming down the lake!

IMOO I think the $400.00 HydroWave "ignite a feeding frenzy" is one of the biggest marketing ploys of recent history. These devices have been produced on and off over the past 30 years yet they have never been proven to work.

I fell in love with St. Croix. In Jan/Feb they run a special that if you buy 3 rods (greater than $300) they send you one free. I understand they run this promo every year. I bought an Avid and a MOJO, and got a Rage (for free). I was SOLD. All great rods and fell in love with the Rage. Since I have bought a few used Premiere rods from the sites flea market forum. Before this I bought the $50 and under rods and now I get why you spend the extra $$$. I don't know about the Fenwick line up but if you extend yourself to $150 - go RAGE! Otherwise watch the flea market forum - I've had nothing but good experiences from it so far - you find what your looking for and save some cash.

The bait monkey got me good! Just bought a 2002 Trion TR-186 and I love it! The boat has built in plano box holders in 3 of the storage boxes and above one of them was a 4" deep removable tray. I was wondering if any of you know where I could find 2 more? Triton said the company that made them went out of business so the search is on. Let me know if you have any you'd like to sell or where I might find some. Thanks!

I had a bass puke up a shrew (mouse) last year when I was trying to remove the hook.

I have a Lowrance Elite 5 DSI and I am thinking of buying this map software for my unit. I really only fish the Lake of the Ozarks but really need help finding good fishing spots (ie:brush piles). Does anyone own this product and do you like it / was worth to cost? I don't want to waste the money on basically the same thing that came pre-loaded the unit when I got it.

Well my 1st tournament is in the books. It did not go as well as I had hoped. The plan to fish points early was killed to high wind and boat traffic. Moved to the boat docks with no success, then back to the points @ 2am. Caught a lot of fish but only two keepers, a 2 and 4 pounder. The results aren't official yet but there were LOTS of limits and teams over 17 pounds. The Hibdon's also fished the tourney which made it both cool and intimidating. Sooooo, after watching Ike's video, I'm going practice drop shotting the next week to see if I can find the big boys.

I had a 15' smokercraft fiberglass bass boat with the same issue. I ended up selling it. The link below is for the Toho-Rig and was the best aftermarket livewell I could find. http://www.basspro.com/TohoRig-Livewell/product/883/

The Lake of the Ozarks Mid-Lake has been on fire the last 2 weeks (5-17 thru 5/27) for me. A Carolina rigged senko in 2-6' on pea gravel humps has been the best. Rage Craw, rattle trap, and top water poppers also produced. Caught 50+ large and spotted over 5 days. Most were males 1-2lbs but hitting like freight trains. Had 4 over 3lbs and a PB 6.5lbs! Going back 6/6 and hope the bite is still on!