Category Archives: Youth Fishing

Tournament Info, Youth Fishing

Lake O’dowd Gopher Bassmasters Jr. Tournament – June 15, 2008

We had our first Jr Gopher Bassmaster Club event on O’dowd in Shakopee this past Sunday.  I was available to be a boat captain, and I always like to fish these when I can.  This tournament, we had one adult club member acting as captain and a jr. angler to form teams.  It was a shared 5 bass limit, but the catch was, that the adult angler could only weigh a maximum of 2 bass.  I drew Cody Sieben who is a very accomplished youth bass angler, he has 2 state titles to his credit along with many other wins and high finishes.

I had been on the lake once before earlier this spring, so we started near one of the island working topwater, I started with a Vixen and Cody a buzz frog.  Nothing happening, we try some adjacent vegetation and pads, one little dink on a ring fry.  We then moved to a small section of pads and I catch a solid 2lb fish on a floating frog and Cody gets a good one keeper on a green pumpkin jig.  We continue working shallow vegetation, trees, & docks.  Caught a couple shorts and missed a few decent bites.  We thought about trying some deeper weed edges, but being unfamiliar with the lake, we decided to stick with the frog.

Not long after we went to the other side of the lake and the frog bite started to pick up.  Cody & I each caught small keepers on frogs and then I jacked a very nice bass to cull out my smaller keeper.  I then had Cody step to the front of the boat and I ran the trolling motor while standing behind him.  It did not do me much good to pick of fish in front of him, because he still needed that 3rd fish.  So picked up my flipping stick and dropped a craw into the milfoil pockets while he worked the frog.  With about 15 minutes to go, Cody slammed the frog into a really nice bass and after a good fight he boated a 3lb plus fish.  We had time for a few more casts and we headed to the landing.

Our 5 fish total was 11.4lbs, which was 1.5lbs better then the next team.  My big fish was 3.6lbs and Cody’s weighed 3.2lbs.  Not too bad considering one of Cody’s was just a squeaker and would not have weighed a pound.  Had a good day, most of the kids caught fish.  Can’t wait to do it again!!!!

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

Announcements, Youth Fishing

Physh Ed Continues to “Hook” Young Anglers

Physical education teachers encouraged to apply for fishing and boating grants

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — One of the ways the Future Fisherman Foundation aims to reconnect today’s youth with the outdoors and nature is through the Physh Ed National Fishing and Boating Grants Initiative.

Physh Ed provides grants to kindergarten through grade 12 teachers to implement fishing and boating units in their physical education (PE) classes. For the 2008/2009 school year, the Foundation is offering individual grants of $2,500 to qualified PE teachers.

Grant monies can be used for fishing and boating equipment, field trips, curriculum materials and other resources to assist instructors in carrying out fishing, boating and conservation education. Grant recipients also receive an intense week of training in fishing and boating techniques.

“Physh Ed is an excellent way for school-aged youth to gain hands-on experiences with fishing and boating activities they can enjoy for a lifetime,” Anne Danielski, acting executive director of the Future Fisherman Foundation, said. “The school environment encourages the integration of the hands-on elements that fishing and boating lessons offer into other subject areas such as science and math.”

The Physh Ed program is a partnership between the Foundation and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF). Since 2004, the Foundation has awarded over $1,000,000 in grant funds to public, private and chartered institutions introducing over 48,000 students in 39 states to fishing and boating. The goal for the upcoming school year is to engage over 10,000 students nationwide in fishing and boating activities.

“Changing social patterns mean that we must find new ways to introduce kids to boating and fishing,” Frank Peterson, RBFF’s president and CEO, said. “The Physh Ed program, which lets physical education teachers integrate boating and fishing activities into their curriculum, is one of many things we’re doing to foster youth participation in the sport.”

Applications must be received electronically via email on or before Monday, January 21, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. EST. To obtain grant application forms or for more information on the Physh Ed National Fishing and Boating Grants Initiative and other angler education programs and services, please visit www.futurefisherman.org or contact Acting Executive Director Anne Danielski at [email protected] or 703-519-9691, extension 254.

All applicants will be notified of the status of their grant applications by March 30, 2008. The Future Fisherman Foundation and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation provide a wealth of information on where to fish and boat, how to get started, how to obtain a fishing license and local fishing and boating regulations on their respective websites. For more information please visit www.futurefisherman.org and www.takemefishing.org.

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Tournament Info, Youth Fishing

Gopher Bassmasters Jr. Tournament – Bald Eagle Lake – August 25, 2007

I served as a boat captain in one of our Jr. Bass Club tournaments this past Saturday.  I believe there was a total of 4 boats and 7 youth anglers.  I had only a single youth member, Zach Martens.  I had not been on the lake in about 10 years, and Zach had never been on the lake.  We decided to start in the slop right next to the access.  I let Zach use on of my baitcasters that was spooled up with a braid and had a black Optimum Furbit floating frog on tied on.  He had a few bites there and even caught a small keeper on it.
 
We tried the cattails for a bit, but nothing happening.  Zach then said he wanted to try some docks.  I brought him to some docks that I had caught fish way back when.  He started throwing a Watermelon Red Flake Yum Dinger he soon lost one and caught another small keeper.  He was then out of dingers, so I dug threw my plastics and let him choose from stick baits that I had in the boat.  He chose to go with a dark green Exude Comida.  He caught two keepers pretty quickly on that as well as a few shorts.  Zach was now sitting with 4 fish.

The next area we went to had some docks leading up to the pads, so he made a long cast with the Furbit and a nice bass sucked it down.  Zach did a good job of winching the fish to the boat and I scooped it into the net.  That ended up being the big fish of the tourney, it was somewhere around 3lbs.  We fished a few more docks, and Zach lost two and made a two upgrades on the Exude Comida.

His final weight was 8.0lbs even, and he weighed the only limit out of 7 anglers.  Considering the algae green water and the high sun, the anglers did a good job getting the fish they did and everyone weighed fish.   Our club had a banquet and we had a good time.  The person that dropped me in the water, accidentally left my keys at their house when they went home during the tourney, so I got to go fishing for about 90 minutes or so.  It was kind of fun just to go fun fishing.  It has been awhile since I had been out fishing when I was not practicing for or fishing a tournament.  Don’t get me wrong, fishing is always fun!

I went out and worked docks the whole time, I ended up catching 12 or 13 bass most of them keepers, all on a 3/8oz Fall Craw Tru-Tungsten Jigpaired with a black neon chunk.  It was a good time!  On Sunday, I went down to prefish Pool 4, so check back tomorrow for that report.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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General, Youth Fishing

Killing Me

Man, work is killing me.  Travel to Charlotte, NC.  The weather is beautiful and Lake Wylie is just minutes away!
No time for any fun stuff, the Lake just sits there and torments me.  I am also 30 minutes from a nice big Bass Pro Shop, but dinner obligations prohibit a visit.  Is there no justice in this world?

Here is a cool site, that I have been meaning to feature – CarpBusters.com
You may ask, why does Rich care about Carp?  He is a die hard bass rube….
This is a group that holds tournaments & events for fishermen and bow fishermen in non-release events for carp and other exotic species.  So they make sport out of reducing the number of carp in our fisheries!  Here me knocking now?  Tell all your buddies that have bows and go out and shoot some carp!!!

On another note, all you that have young fisher people that you know.  Our club is holding a BASS CastingKids event at Gander Mountain in Lakeville this Saturday 10:30am – 1:00pm.  Free, kids from 7-14 welcome, they all learn a little about flipping, pitching & casting and win some great prizes!  More info @ GopherBass.com

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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> Performance edge – “My depthfinder on the bow, just because I was able to keep the front of my boat right over that edge, and know where to throw. And I think they ate that jig pretty good too. I think they’d eat just about anything, but I had a lot of confidence throwing that football-head.”

BASS Tour, General, Youth Fishing

Jottings from Presidentts’ Day

Where to start, where to start….

Congrats to the Jr. Anglers who are World Champs!!!  South Africa’s Jeffrey Toplis (14 years old), and Kentucky’s Kalem Tippett (17, pictured to right) persevered through Sunday’s less then optimum condistions at Alabama’s Logan Martin to win their respective age divisions at the 4th annual Junior World Bassmaster Championship. With the win, each angler took home a fully rigged bass boat & $5,000 in scholarship money & a trip to Disney World.  Unfortunately the qualifier from my jr. club did not have a great, did not weigh a fish, buts sounds like he learned a ton from fishing two days with Mike Wurm and look forwards to watching the rest of the Classic events this week.  Knowing Cody, this will not be his last trip to the JWC

Also, congrats to Aaron Hastings on his big win at Lake Travis this week, I believe this is his first major victory, I hope to have pattern & lure information later this week.

BassFanArmy.com opened its registration for FREE Life Membership, better check it out….

My FLW Fantasy opener was solid, 7th in my group and 700 something overall, I look to build some momentum going forward

Also, finally some info the WBT on the winning pattern from Amistad:
It sounds as though Juanita Robinson caught here monster bag to make the come back by casting a JDC Gibroni (Senko Style Bait in daiquiri and watermelon). across a channel that dropped into 22ft of water, the Gibroni was paired with a 1/32oz Parasite Weight Clip to get it down to the fish.  The previous days catches were on Vertical Lures Tube-X (grn pumpkin) and Lucky Craft Pointer (chart shad) and all her baits were doused with CB’s Hawg Sauce.

Until tomorrow….
Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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BASS Tour, Youth Fishing

JWC Updates & Skeet Reese Terminated

Got a phone call last night from our Gopher Jr. angler (Cody Sieben) who is competing in the BASS Jr. World Championships today, he is fishing with Mike Wurm.  They practiced yesterday and found some fish and is feeling confident and caught some fish on the Ikey Ball Buster Heads that I gave him before he left.

Also, on Bassmaster.com today, there is a preview of the tourney and Arkansas’ Mike Wurm said Dan Swenson and Cody Sieben “will be challenging the Elite Series pros in a few years.”  Wow, what a compliment!!!

Also newsworthy, Rapala who recently dumped Skeet Reese from the Terminator team, it was said hey needed to trim their budget, but I am guessing because Lucky Craft is one of Skeet’s main sponsors, they are a direct competitor to Rapala.
 “It’s a brand I believe in, and it’s the first time I’ve ever lost a sponsor,” he added. “It feels weird. I’ve lost sponsors by my own choice, but this is definitely the first time I’ve ever been let go from a deal.”

And one last note, my fantasy team did not surge like I had hope, shaping up for a very mediocre finish.
Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Youth Fishing

Tournament Schedule, FLW Fantasty Bass Fishing and more

First of all my 2007 Tournament Schedule is pretty much set, got all the entry fees sent in, except for the Pan-O-Prog, they have not opened registration, but in checking their website, they have finally got last years pictures up, so I added them to my Tournament Entry from the Pan-O-Prog.  Anyways it looks to be another ambitious year on the water, but that is a good thing.

CLARK WENDLANDT got off to a great start on FLW Season Opener on Lake Travis, TX.  He established a nearly 4lb lead.  Its not clear how he caught, but he made it sound as though he did not burn his fish and that only calm winds would hamper his bite.  I am glad Clark is anchoring my fantasy team.

Place Pro Angler Feb 15, 2007 Place FLW Standings Total Points Last Tournament Points
1     CLARK WENDLANDT  1  –  0  0
2     ANTHONY GAGLIARDI  84  –  0  0
3     DAVID FRITTS  56  –  0  0
4     RAY SCHEIDE  107  –  0  0
5     SHINICHI FUKAE  43  –  0  0

Its a solid start, but nothing fantastic, if Clark can hold on and some of other guys make a surge I could have a nice finish on this tourney.

None of our MN anglers faired well on the first day:

123 JIM MOYNAGH CARVER, MN 2 5-07     2 5-07              
141 CHAD GRIGSBY MAPLE GROVE, MN 4 4-08     4 4-08              
168 KAREN SAVIK ST. LOUIS PARK, MN 2 2-11     2 2-11              

I also talked to one of MN’s JWC qualifiers, Cody Sieben, he has had a rough early practice, but seems upbeat and I advised him to soak up as much info as he could tomorrow when he is out practicing with one of the Classic qualifiers.  I think if his Pro can help him and his partner get around some fish tomorrow he has the skills to catch them, he used a drop shot to qualify for this tourney and that should serve him well with the 45 deg water temps on Lake Logan Martin.

Also one more important note from BassFan.com:

KVD = Toyota 2/15/2007

A lot of BassFans probably remember Kevin VanDam fishing in a Chevy bowtie jersey. Those days are gone, of course, because Chevy pulled out of BASS sponsorship a few years back. Chevy does sponsor FLW Outdoors now, but VanDam fishes only BASS, and he hasn’t been associated with a motor company since that time. That all changed an hour or so ago when Toyota announced that it had signed VanDam, the No. 1 ranked angler in the world, to its Tundra team.

I suppose that is enough excitement for one entry, tight lines all and Good Luck Cody!!!

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Announcements, Conservation, Federation News, Youth Fishing

Minnesota bass anglers crowned top Federation for 2006

Minneapolis -­ February 7, 2007 ­ Minnesota bass anglers crowned top Federation for 2006.

 

The Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation was named Federation of the Year at the recent B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship held in Gadsden, AL. The prestigious annual award goes to the state organization that best puts together a well-rounded program involving conservation, youth and community service.

 

“This is really a great award and we are honored to receive it”, said Federation president Paul Becka. “Our goal was always just to run the group as professionally as possible in a politically difficult year, but it is also nice to get recognition for our youth and conservation activities.”

 

The Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation is compromised of 400+ amateur bass anglers of all ages and genders from Minnesota and bordering states. Besides fishing competitively, its members participate in a variety of activities that benefit the outdoors.

 

Federation regional director John Murphy, “It was quite an honor to accept this award on the behalf of all my fellow members.” Murphy represented Minnesota in Gadsden.

 

The Minnesota Federation hopes to leverage this award and publicity into augmenting efforts that are already in place focused on growing membership. Membership is the key to being able to do more and bigger projects.

 

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release visit www.mnbf.org

 

About Minnesota Bass Federation:

The Minnesota BASS Federation Nation is committed to promoting fishing for all ages and skill levels. We offer our assistance to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to improve fishing opportunities, habitat, water quality and preservation of public access to Minnesota¹s waterways. We work with state and local government, lake associations and other outdoor organizations to protect our fishing heritage. Through our youth initiatives, we provide education and on the water experiences to foster youth involvement and sustained interest in our sport. Skeeter Boats, Fig Rig Rods, and Lowrance are major sponsors of the organization.

 

Contact:

Rich Lindgren, Marketing Director

Minnesota Bass Federation Nation

http://www.mnbf.org

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Fun Fishing, Tournament Info, Youth Fishing

Gopher Jr. Club Tournament – Clearwater Lake – August 27, 2006

This past Sunday we had the 2nd of our two Jr. Club events.  The first event was Prior Lake back in June, where the kids fished two to a boat with a boat captain who did not fish.  This second tournament was a team format with one Jr. Angler partnered with an adult boater as a team.  A shared limit of 5 fish and the Jr. angler must catch at least 3 of the 5 fish.

I fished with Cody Sieben who is the current MN State Champion and is headed to the Jr. World Championship in February on Lake Logan Martin.  He and his father had been prefishing and I had not been on the lake in several years.  Somehow my cell phone alarm failed me and I was 15-20 minutes late, so they started fishing out of his father’s boat and had 1 keeper in the boat on a spinnerbait our of the reeds when I picked him up.

We continued fishing the reeds he was in, and as I was digging a rod to rig up out of my rod locker he got another keeper on a Green Tree Bronzeye.  I soon got my act together and caught two keepers on a Ring Fry and he missed one on the frog.  He also got a couple short fish on a white Fluke and lost one on the Fluke.

We hit another reed area and we each missed a fish and the sun was getting high so we went to check a weedline of Cody’s.  I caught a couple short fish on a Ikey Head and DT6, Cody then got a keeper on a drop-shotted Sour Grape Baby Ring Fry.  He then got another on the Ring Fry which was a nicer fish that culled.  We then moved to the docks and we each caught several fish, Cody got them on the Fluke and I got mine on Pumpkinseed Ring Fry and a Fall Craw 3/8oz Tru-Tungsten Jig.  He caught better fish then me and we ended up keeping 4 of his fish and only 1 of mine.

We won with 5 fish 9.7lbs, it was close all 5 teams had their 5 fish limit and all between 8 & 9lbs!  Did I mention I fell in the lake at our first spot adter 15 minutes of fishing, I slipped on the landing net, that is the fun story!!  I also caught a fish on Cody’s Bronzeye right at the landing after the weigh-in while waiting to load the boat.  Jr. Tournaments are always fun

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Blog

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Sports blogs

Youth Fishing

2006 MN JUNIOR B.A.S.S. FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

On June 30, junior anglers from around the State of Minnesota came to compete in the 5th Minnesota Junior State Championship on Lake Washington. 47 junior anglers from 6 different Minnesota Junior BASS Federation clubs participated in this year,s championship tournament. The participating clubs were the Fairmont Junior club, Red Lake Bass Busters, Bassinators, Gopher Junior Club, Bassin Boys, and Granite City Jr Club. Junior anglers were paired together with an angler from a different junior club. Their adult boaters were from the clubs that attended the state tournament and members of the Board of Directors from the Minnesota Bass Federation Nation.

Push off was at 6:00am that morning out of Westwood Marina. The junior anglers were greeted with clouds, moderate winds, and temperatures in the lower 60’s. The clouds were a factor till 10:30 that morning and then the sun and hot weather arrived. The majority of Jr anglers concentrated on the bulrushes, lily pad fields, and docks. They were all catching fish, but the key was finding fish around the12” minimum length that was required. Talking with many of the Jr. Contender’s and their boat drivers after the tournament, the bite was not consistent on any one key pattern for a majority of the junior anglers.

The weigh-in site was the Westwood Marina on Lake Washington. Parents, friends and guests were on the docks and shores watching the boats arrive for the 2:00pm check in time. After all anglers were checked in, the weigh in began. The Jr. angler’s from each boat were brought up to the scales. Vern Wagner, the Minnesota Bass Federation Nation Conservation Director was a boater that day and the MC of the weigh in. Vern talked with each contestant about their day on the water and their techniques. The leader board changed several times during the weigh-in for top weight and Big Bass for each age group. The awards ceremony was very exciting because the weights were so close in both age groups.

The TOP HOOK award went to Derek Jacobson of the Bassin Boys (15-18 age group) with a weight of 11.32 pounds. This was for the best overall weight from the tournament from either age group. At the pre-tournament meeting it was announced that Derek would be 19 before National tournament cut off date, and if he won he could not advance the Junior World Championship. The 2nd place winner in the older age group would advance the JWC if Derek won his age group. Derek just wanted to fish and end his Junior Bass career with a bang. He did just that. Best weight for the tournament and Top Hook. The Top Hook award is a memorial award in memory of Tom “GRAMPA” Nelson who passed away 3 1/2 years ago after a battle with cancer. Tom’s wife Carol and their children were there that day to present the Top Hook award to Derek.

1st place for both age groups were announced. Cody Sieben (11-14 age group) from the Gopher Jr. club with a weight of 8.30 pounds and Derek Jacobson (15-18 age group) from the BASSIN BOYS with a weight of 11.32 pounds. Cody Sieben advances to the 2007 Junior World Championship.

2nd place went to Mark Shirley (11-14 age group) from the Granite City Jr club with a weight of 7.02 pounds and Tom Gomez (15-18 age group) from the Bassin Boys with a weight of 9.42 pounds. Tom Gomez advances to the 2007 Junior World Championship in place of Derek Jacobson .

3rd place went Ben Brown (11-14 age group) from the Fairmont Jr. Club with a weight of 6.56 pounds and Aaron Jorgensen (15-18 age group) from the Fairmont Jr.Club with a weight of 8.84 pounds.

Big BASS of the tournament went to Ben Brown (11-14 age group) with a 4.08 pound Bass and Aaron Jorgensen (15-18 age group) with a 3.84 pound Bass.

In the inaugural Top Club Team award, Gopher Junior Bass took honors with a combined weight of 22.96 pounds. Team members were Lucas Lindgren, Cody Sieben, Matt Veech Don and Rick Brenhoffer.

There were a total of 164 largemouth bass brought to the scales that day with a total of weight of 227.58 pounds for the tournament. This is the largest creel in the tournament’s 5 year history. The bass were released back into the lake.

Tom and Cody along with their families now advance to the 2007 Jr. World Championship on February 17th on Lake Logan in Alabama. They will be paired with another Jr. Angler from a different state for a two day event. Their boat driver will be one of the 2007 Bassmaster Classic contenders. They will fish a one day pro- am with that angler and then the next day the boys will be on their own. They have an adventure ahead of them that they will not forget. Good luck to our National Team, Tom and Cody.

Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com

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