Hey anglers, time to stock up this weekend! 20% off of Bass Tackle Depot is like saving 25-30% over your local retailers, free shipping over $50, no sales tax and no gas spent driving around. Get stocked up for next season or get your Christmas shopping done early! I am pretty sure I am going to order one of the new Skeet Reese rods!
http://www.basstackledepot.com/fall09.aspx
Great selection of rods, reels, hard to find swimbaits and tackle.
All posts by hellabass
Brutal Day of Fishing
At some point before I went fishing, I had convinced myself it would be a good idea to fish in frigid temperatures on Mississippi River Pool 2 with buddy John Haynes. I have been out on Pool 2 five times this year, two of those times were my two worst days of fishing. The first time was a skunk and this time I managed one tiny largemouth on a Scrounger Headed Fluke and Haynes got a White Bass on a DT4. Tough for 5 plus hours of fishing. Thankfully the other 3 trips were pretty good!
Oh well, the Vikes steamrolled the Rams, did not miss much there. I can now feel my fingers again, I do have a tournament on the 24th, who knows that the weather will do for that tourney….
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
ABA releases 2010 Schedules for Weekend Series
Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series 2010 Season Details
ATHENS, AL – American Bass Anglers announced today the 2010 The Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series operated by American Bass Anglers schedule and details. The series in 2010 will feature the same 21 divisions, 105 events as in 2009. Information on the series and the 2010 season will be available at www.weekendseries.com.
“This year the anglers gave us great feedback and we have integrated many of their recommendations into the 2010 season. To insure we continue to offer a guaranteed purse one enhancement to next season will be a guarantee of $2500 first-place for the Co-angler to accompany the $5000 guarantee for Boaters based on a minimum field of 100 boats,” said ABA President Morris Sheehan. “The boaters will also be eligible for $5,000 in Triton/Mercury/MotorGuide bonus money at each qualifying event and a $205,000 first-place payout at the no-entry fee Championship plus the ultimate prize of an entry into the Bassmaster Classic®. This is the simplest and best method for the weekend angler to qualify for huge paydays and the Bassmaster Classic.”
First place at Divisional events can pay as high as $11,000 and $14,000 at the divisional championships. The total purse at the divisional qualifying events will be as high as $50,000 and $71,750 at the divisional championships. The payouts — plus Triton, Mercury Marine and MotorGuide bonus money — makes it easy for weekend anglers to cash in some huge paydays for one-day, low-entry fee tournaments.
Priority registration for the season begins Oct. 26, 2009, at 8 a.m. CST. For more information, visit www.weekendseries.com or call toll free (888) 203-6222. As a special bonus, members signing up for during early registration package will receive a Freedom Pass free of charge.
ABA continues to focus on building better schedules for the weekend angler. Entry fees remain the same for 2010 season for both qualifying and Divisional Championship events. Payouts are spread over 20 percent of the field. The top-40 Boaters and Co-anglers from each division advance to one of the no entry fee Regional Championships, where all anglers compete both days.
At the Regional Championships, the first-place boater will win a Triton/Mercury boat package. The top 50 Boaters and Co-anglers will advance to the no entry fee, $680,000 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship. The Regional Championship locations and dates are: Tensaw Delta, Oct. 22-23; Lay Lake, Oct. 15-16; DeGray Lake, Oct. 15-16; and Kerr Lake, Oct. 15-16. The Series Champion will advance directly to the 2011 Bassmaster Classic, which will be in New Orleans Feb. 18-20, 2011.
The relationship between ABA and BASS allows both organizations to introduce more anglers to competitive bass fishing. BASS and ABA lifetime members, as well as Federation Nation members and Triton Boat Owners receive priority registration into the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series.
2010 Divisional Schedules
Alabama North Division – 1
3/06 Guntersville Lake
4/17 Wheeler Lake
5/22 Neely Henry Lake
6/12 Weiss Lake
9/18-19 Guntersville Lake
South Alabama – Division – 2
2/06 Lake Eufaula
3/20 Lay Lake
5/15 Alabama River
6/19 Logan Martin Lake
9/25-26 Lake Martin
Arkansas – Division – 12
2/06 Lake Ouachita
3/06 Dardanelle
5/01 Greers Ferry
6/26 Millwood
8/28-29 DeGray
Florida – Division – 6
1/23 Kissimmee Chain
3/06 Harris Chain
4/24 St. John’s River
6/05 Harris Chain
9/18-19 Kissimmee Chain
Georgia – Division – 8
1/30 Lake Sinclair
3/13 Lake Lanier
4/17 Lake Eufaula
6/12 West Point Lake
9/11-12 Lake Oconee
Kentucky – Division – 15
3/20 Kentucky/Barkley
5/01 Kentucky/Barkley
6/19 Kentucky/Barkley
7/24 Kentucky/Barkley
8/21-22 Kentucky/Barkley
Louisiana – Division – 13
1/30 Atchafalaya Basin
2/13 Toledo Bend
3/20 Red River
4/24 Pearl River
9/04-05 Red River
Maryland – Division – 21
5/01 Anna
6/12 Potomac River
7/17 Potomac River
8/14 Potomac River
9/11-12 Potomac River
Missouri – Division – 16
3/27 Lake of the Ozarks
5/15 Table Rock Lake
7/10 Stockton Lake
8/14 Truman Reservoir
9/11-12 Lake of the Ozarks
Minnesota/Wisconsin- Division – 17
4/25 Pools 7, 8, 9 Mississippi River
6/13 Pools 4 & 5 Mississippi River
7/25 Minnetonka
8/22 Chippewa Flowage
9/18-19 Pools 6 & 7 Mississippi River
New York West – Division – 22
6/19 Chautauqua Lake
7/17 Cayuga Lake
8/07 Onondaga Lake
8/28 Oneida Lake
9/18-19 Chautauqua Lake
New York East – Division – 23
6/12 Lake Champlain
6/26 St Lawrence River
7/10 Lake George
8/14 Lake Champlain
9/11-12 St Lawrence River
North Carolina – Division – 5
2/27 Lake Wylie
4/10 High Rock Lake
5/22 Kerr Lake
7/10 High Rock Lake
8/21-22 Lake Norman
Oklahoma – Division – 14
4/17 Grand Lake
5/15 Tenkiller
6/12 Ft. Gibson
7/17 Arkansas River
9/25-26 Eufaula
Ohio – Division – 20
4/17 Rocky Fork
5/15 Indian Lake
6/26 Grand Lake – St Marys
7/31 Mosquito Lake
9/18-19 Ohio River, Manchester
SC – Division – 9
2/13 Lake Murray
3/27 Santee Cooper
5/01 Lake Hartwell
6/26 Lake Wateree
8/28-29 Clarks Hill Lake
Tennessee Central – Division – 3
3/13 Percy Priest Lake
4/24 Center Hill Lake
6/26 Old Hickory Lake
7/17 Kentucky/Barkley
8/28-29 Old Hickory Lake
Tennessee East – Division – 4
2/27 Guntersville Lake
4/10 Chickamauga Lake
5/08 Ft. Loudoun-Tellico
7/31 Watts Bar Lake
9/25-26 Guntersville Lake
Texas Southeast – Division – 10
3/13 Sam Rayburn
5/08 Toledo Bend
6/19 Sam Rayburn
7/10 Sam Rayburn
9/11-12 Sam Rayburn
Texas East – Division – 11
2/27 Lake Palestine
3/27 Lake Tyler
4/10 Richland Chambers
5/22 Cedar Creek
9/18-19 Lake Tawakoni
Virginia – Division – 19
3/27 Lake Gaston
4/24 Kerr Lake
6/05 Smith Mountain Lake
7/24 Kerr Lake
9/25-26 Kerr Lake
Regional Championships (No Entry Fee)
Tensaw 10/22-23 – AL North, AL South, LA, FL, GA
Lay Lake 10/15-16 – AR, KY, TN Central, TN East, SC
DeGray 10/15-16 – OK, MO, TX East, TX SE , WI/MN
Kerr Lake 10/15-16 – MD, NC, NY West, NY East, OH, VA
National Championship (No Entry Fee):
Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama 10/31 – 11/06/2010
Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama 10/31 – 11/06/2010
The 2010 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series is sponsored by: Toyota, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Early Times Whisky, Royal Purple and Probass Networks.
About American Bass Anglers
American Bass Anglers is the largest tournament organization for the weekend angler. American Bass Anglers operates the American Fishing Tour, The Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series and the American Couples Series. Each tour is designed specifically for the weekend angler, offering low-cost and close-to-home events where anglers can qualify for a larger championship. For more information on American Bass Anglers, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
American Bass Anglers is the largest tournament organization for the weekend angler. American Bass Anglers operates the American Fishing Tour, The Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series and the American Couples Series. Each tour is designed specifically for the weekend angler, offering low-cost and close-to-home events where anglers can qualify for a larger championship. For more information on American Bass Anglers, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
Don’t Be Alarmed
I will be traveling to Spain for about 2 weeks, so no blog entries for awhile. I will leave you with a few pics of my fun fishing outing last Sunday with my Dad.
4.86lbs Largemouth on my hand scale, finger courtesy of my Dad 
Also, check out the great looking cover in this new lake that I had never been to before!! I will return!!!
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
This should have me caught up….
Last Saturday we stayed at a friend’s cabin on Thunder Lake near Remer MN. Got to go fishing for about 3 hours in the afternoon, it was the first time that I went fishing this year that I was not filming, practicing for or actually fishing a tournament. Wow, how time flies during our short summers. I ended up catching 7 largemouth, 1 smallmouth and a bunch or Rock Bass in that short time. Most fish came on a Ring Fry around reeds, with a couple coming off the deeper drops on a mojo rig. Kind of nice, just to go fishing, no strings attached other then an early curfew 
As for this weekend, I was planning to fish the last Bassmaster Weekend Series tourney out of Alma, then last minute decided not to. Got a ton of stuff going on at work and big family vacation to Spain right afterward. So this weekend will be preparation for that and probably another short Fun Fishing excursion on Sunday. Possibility to shoot some more footage for “All About Bass”.
For those of you still looking to score some sweet deals on some great baits. Check out the following offer.
Every Saturday night from 8 PM to 9 PM Central time on its Website (www.secretweaponlures.com), Secret Weapon is running a one-hour “Saturday Night Special.”
What is Secret Weapon’s Saturday Night Special? It’s outrageous savings. Give-aways. Special offers. Remarkable rebates, cut-rate baits, and insane discounts. New bargains each week, with prices slashed up to 100%!
No advance notices… no clues… Each week is a totally different offer, and each one runs only for one hour, so unless you drop in between 8 and 9 PM, you will miss the deal. They also re-run the deal on Tuesday nights at the same time. Rumor has it, that one week they just gave away free spinnerbaits!!!!
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
MN BASS Federation Nation Tournament of Champions – Pokegama
I got back into Grand Rapids right before the pairings meeting after taking two days to work and skipping a day of practice. Gopher Bassmasters, my club, was the host club this year and ran our annual raffle and raised about $4,300 for local 2nd Harvest Food Bank & 4h-Club. My drew boat 44, my partner was Nick Madison from Golden Hook for day 1. We were greeted by a 3 hour fog delay on day 1.
The first area we hit was a stretch of docks, it yielded one 12″ fish for me and a nice 2lb fish for Nick out of a patch of reeds. We then hit two weedline areas and I caught a couple more small largemouth. I then hit a few other docks, where i was able to get a nice 3lb largemouth and then another good keeper on weightless ring frys. It was finally good to get a couple good fish in the box.
The next area was rock and weed area with a good drop off. After a few casts I hooked and landed a big smallie on a Baby Fork Creature. That did not yield any more bites, so I tried a 5″ Gulp Leech on a drop shot, on my first cast I caught a 3lb smallmouth. I was able to catch another nice smallie and Nick caught a 4lb smallmouth on a leech i hooked him up with. The bite quite, so we went to try some of Nick’s water.
The long and short of it, we tried some of his water and mine and caught no more fish that we could use. My total bag ended up being 15.34lbs anchored by my first smallie at 4.25lbs. That put me in 3rd place after day 1. I was very happy with the day, but a little irritated I could not get a cull in the last 2 hours of the tournament.
4.25 Smallmouth on left
Day 2 my partner was in 11th place coming into the day. To make a long story short, we both only managed 4 small fish each, fishing both our best water all day. We simply just did not get the bites. I am still scratching my head to what happened, the bite seemed so tough for us, yet other people caught plenty of fish. My 4 fish weight a little over 6lbs and I slid back to 28th place, well out of the top 12 that was my main goal. All i needed was 9lbs. I think this is the first time i ever caught less then 10lbs on this lake.
Oh well, time to move my focus forward. Congrats to those that caught them, see full results here.
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
Pokegama TOC Practice Report
I am actually blogging from the road right now as my club member Henry navigates 169. Overall I had a pretty productive practice over Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Getting plenty of bites, catching a few and pulling on most fish. I found fish from a foot deep to 15ft, plenty of fish biting soft plastics and Tru-Tungsten jigs, but no huge concentrations of fish, so I have a lot of areas to run and gun come tournament time. I found lots of good keepers in the 1.5 – 2lb range, with a few big ones, hopefully the bite holds for tomorrow and Friday, should be a very good tournament.
Here are a few pictures from my practice, check back soon for tournament report, hopefully another Top 12 and trip to divisionals is in my future.
TIght Lines!
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
Minnetonka Gopher Bassmaster Club Tournaments
This past weekend we had our last two regular season club tournaments on Lake Minnetonka, we fished the West side on Saturday and the East on Sunday as two separate events. There were quite a few things on the line this weekend. I was in the final four for our Match Championship, I was leading the Angler of Year by a tiny margin and in position to be our State Team Captain and guaranteed boater next September at the MNBFN TOC on Lake Minnetonka.
On day 1, I had practiced one day the previous weekend and tried to find some deeper fish on the west side with my partner Henry. We caught some fish, but nothing consistent, big or schooled. With the mostly unproductive practice and my limited knowledge of that side of the lake, I decided to stick to my strength and fish shallow with a jig for the majority of the day. I caught about 15 keepers, one on a black Secret Weapon Lure Buzzbait and the rest all came on various 3/8oz and 1/2oz Tru-Tungsten jigs flipped around shallow cover. I varied the colors and trailer based on the color of the water and depth I fished them in. The result was 14.24lbs and it was anchored by a hefty 4.63lbs largemouth bass.
Another Big Bass that could not resist my Tru-Tungsten Jig!
My win stretched my lead in AOY standings with one tourney to go and advanced my past Ryan to the finals of match fishing. I was feeling pretty good, because traditionally I had done better on the east side.
Day 2 I decided to try 3 deeper weed edges in Wayzata Bay, I spent about 2.5 hours fishing those spots and only one 13″ bass, not what I had hoped, I had a limit by that time on Saturday. Time to run to my favorite shallow areas, I put together a pretty quick limit and culled once by about 11am. I caught several more keepers that day, but they were all 13″ fish and I could not improve my weight, very frustrating not to get any quality bites. Hindsight, I wish I would have started shallow, I think I would have done a little better then 9.03lbs. Turns out it was just good enough to hold on to Angler of the Year, but I got edged out by Corey Brant in Match Fishing, nice job Corey!
Now it’s time to turn my focus to the MN Federation Nation Tournament of Champions on Lake Pokegama in Grand Rapids. This is one of my favorite lakes, i am excited for this event. I really would like to win this tournament, and will be disappointed with anything less then a Top 12 finish and a return trip to Federation Nation Divisionals.
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
Federation Nation Northern Divisional – Final Day
Day 3 greeted all anglers with morning wins and myself an 8lb deficit. I decided to write off Big Bay de Noc and stick with Little Bay and south of Escanaba. My plan was to try an area north and then head down to the Ford River area where I caught a quick 13lbs the day prior. We had 5 foot waves right away at the mouth of the harbor. We managed a few followers early, but could not convert them on spinnerbait and jerkbaits. My partner had one area to try up there, caught a pike and had another follow.
By the time we got back down past the harbor, we were now looking at 6 foot plus waves, the interesting thing about this area of Lake Michigan, is we never had clean swells, they always had chop all over them and were breakers, which made running large waves particularly difficult. It took us about 30 minutes to go the 8 miles, we were able to tuck in behind some shoals, which made the area very fishable. Long story short, we never got any sun, and it turns out we needed that for these fish, 4 hours, a couple shorts and a few follows. Sound like musky fishing 
On the return trip, waves were exceeding 8 feet and we had no fish, what a great feeling. We got back a little early and ducked into a pocket of water behind the harbor, I actually was able to catch a 15″ largemouth on a tube in a small clump of pads. That was it, kind of a disappointing end of my tournament. I ended up in 39th place and the team was 6th out of 8.
Congrats to Randy Wieczorek our National qualifier from Minnesota and Wes Haney, overall winner from WI. Truthfully, anything less then a trip to nationals would have been disappointing. Oh well, at least my boat did not end up like the pictures below, those large waves broke a lot of stuff on day 3. This Wisconsin boat had its jackplate shear off while riding the waves back from Big Bay.
One other note, the America’s Best Value Inn (formerly Travelodge) of Escanaba was a great host to us tournament anglers, outlets all over the place outside, bag lunches for tournament days and spaghetti dinner on the final night, awesome to feel appreciated and welcomed as a tournament angler!
TIme to start preparing for TOC on Pokegama, so I can return to divisionals again and start this process over again.
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog
Federation Nation Northern Divisional – Day 2
Day 2 brought a little more wind, so we had a good 3-4 foot chop for my 23 mile run to my first area in Big Bay de Noc. It took around 40 mins. I had told myself the way to get back into the tourney was to bust a big bag with the swimbait. The bite I found on Monday had turned into nothing but short fish and few follows. We fished Big Bay until about noon and neither my partner or I had a keeper fish. I decided it was time to hit the panic button and run to an area around Ford River that I had found fish around on Tuesday. It took about 45 mins to get there.
When we got there, it did not take long before we found a large group of fish. My partner caught a quick limit and I caught a nice limit on a SWL QuickStrike spinnerbait. Being able to easily swap blades on my spinnerbait this week was a big deal, you really needed to burn your spinnerbaits, so matching smaller blades with heavier heads was the ticket for catching a lot of smallmouth. I also caught a few nice fish on a Gobie colored Sweet Beaver. With not much time left, I decided to give my Optimum Swimbait a whirl for a bigger fish. It only took a few minutes to raise a big smallie that nosed my swimbait, I threw back with the Sweet Beaver and caught a nice 4lb smallmouth. We each caught a few more fish, but nothing that helped, it was time to head back, we had about a 10 mile run north back to the harbor.
I ended up with 13lbs plus, but still lost ground to the team lead. I was about 8lbs out, which is a lofty mountain, but it could happen if I could catch a decent bag, as many people caught 20lbs on day 1 and only weighed a single fish on day 2, so really anything could happen. The fishing was pretty volatile through practice and the tournament thus far.
Rich
RichLindgren.com
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog