Contests, Product Reviews, Sponsors

Anybody need some free fishing gear?

Been a crazy week, lots of travel and other stuff going on, been neglecting the blog.  Congrats to Arizona Pros Dean Rojas & Cliff Pirch for both notching tour level wins earlier today.

Not too long ago, I got a nice shipment of new Akinetix gear in, they make some very affordable and functional polarized fishing sunglasses, including youth & woman’s models, definitely worth checking out.  They even have floating shades for those of us that our clumsy.

They also have some nice moisture wicking gear and other gear.  So to celebrate spring, I am running a little contest, on my Facebook Page, so just follow this link to enter.  You have until Sunday April 24th to get entered.  So head over and enter to win some free gear and check out the Akinetix website as well.

The Akinetix Shield sunglasses pictured are what i have been wearing on the water!
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-94890693937055_2119_884935


Announcements, Conservation, General

Minnesotans for an Early Bass Fishing Season

The great majority of Bass anglers in Minnesota would do just about anything to get an earlier bass season in some form, whether it be experimental regulation lakes, catch & release season or just an earlier start date.  Well time to organize and unite, check out this Facebook Group and discussion board, time to get involved if we you want to see this become a reality.
http://www.mnearlybassseason.com

I am totally behind this idea, here is my general stance on the situation:
“I believe the only way this changes is to convince law makers that we
are losing money to WI & IA because of our long closed season. Tons
of guys travel out of state, spend money on licenses, gas, food &
lodging to fish bass legally, not to mention, potentially the state
could save money on trying to enforce the extended close season or use
the resources to enforce poaching or exotic species issues.

Not
to mention, an earlier season extends our tourism season, more
opportunity for more anglers to travel to MN and spend their money in
our local economy.

So in the end, we need to put a business case together!”

Hope you are interested in joining the cause!


General, Product Reviews

Sights from 1st Day of 2011 Northwest SportShow

Made it down to the Minneapolis Convention Center to take in first day of the best Sport Show in Minnesota.  This is kind of the official start of spring for most of us anglers, we should have ice out just around the corner, so this is the last show to get some last minute tackle or get that boat ordered so it gets here for opener!

Here are a few highlights that I found on my first walk through:

Nice Selection of Dobyns Rods at this booth, only a few store like Capra’s carry them in Minnesota, so here is your chance to feel what every body is raving about on the forums

Or better yet, check them out at Capra’s booth & buy one, they have a show special, you can save 20%!!!


The Legend Boat Alpha is worth a stop to check it out, very nice boat and when you are done checking it out, enter to win the free drawing for a Lowrance HDS5 at the very same Simply Fishing Extreme Marine booth!


Seems to be some Steam around the new HAVOC baits, saw them at Capra’s, Joe’s & Reeds, sure a few others have them too!  I think you get a free hat with purchase of 4 bags, which will cost you about $12


These 2 Phoenix bass boats are probably the biggest surprise to me this year, I’ve known about the brand, but had no idea anybody carried them up here, turns out Southside Marine out of  Waseca, MN just started as a dealer for 2011.  These boats are pretty cool, worth crawling around in.  I got more pics showing storage of this boat and other stuff at show here on my Facebook page, check it out!

I will be headed back on Saturday, so expect another update on Saturday evening, plus you can watch my Facebook Fan Page & Twitter feed for updates from the floor as I walk around.

Last tip, FREE BEER samples at the Northern Beer booth, don’t ever say I don’t bring value, LOL.

Leave comments if there are things you want to see or saw at the show I should check out,

Thanks!


Announcements, Bass Basics, General

Some upcoming events

In case it has creeped up on you and you dind’t realize it, next week is the Northwest Sportshow.  If you are a serious bass angler, it is clearly the best show all year around this area.  I will probably go one of the first evenings and most of the day on Saturday.  I plan to bring my camera & video camera, hopefully capture what’s new & cool, then bring it to you here on the blog. 

Here are a seminars that could be helpful to us bass anglers:

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
7:00 pm Fishing Electronics Made Simple Scott Petersen Room 101 H
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Friday, April 01, 2011
1:00 pm Fishing Electronics Made Simple Scott Petersen Room 101 H
Saturday, April 02, 2011
4:00 pm Bass Fishing Tips and Tricks for River Fishing Brad Leifermann Room 101 H
7:00 pm Bass Fishing Tips and Tricks for River Fishing Brad Leifermann Room 101 H

When:              Wednesday, March 30                1:00-9:00p.m.
                       Thursday, March 31                     1:00-9:00p.m,
                        Friday, April 1                              11:00a.m.-9:00p.m.
                        Saturday, April 2                          10:00a.m.-9:00p.m.
                        Sunday, April 3                             10:00a.m.-5:00p.m.
 
Where:            Minneapolis Convention Center
                       1301 Second Avenue South
                       Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
Tickets:           Adults (16 and older) $10; Senior Day, (Thursday, March 31st only,
                       62+) $5; Children (15 and younger) FREE
 
Advance tickets can be purchased online at NorthwestSportshow.com 


Web:               Visit us at NorthwestSportshow.com, on Twitter @NWSportshow, or 
                        find us on Facebook

Also of note, a fellow bass buddy of mine, Glenn Walker, has a bass fishing basics seminar on April 9th at Belzer’s down in Lakeville.  Looks like fun stuff, some giveaways, I think I will probably drop in for this one as well.


Announcements, Fantasy Bass Fishing Corner, Product Reviews, Sponsors

Beaver Lake & St. John’s River Fantasy Winners

Just shipped some prizes today.  Congrats to Carl Spande of MN for winning the prize for Beaver Lake event.  Because Carl is a Facebook Fan of this blog, he brings down a pack of Optimum Double Diamond Swimmers.  I think Carl will find these great as a swimbait or large swim jig trailer!

Still waiting to hear from my Harris Chain winner, but Cody Salzmann (Facebook Fan) of IL almost won the whole thing, not quite, but he still wins an IMA Roumba wake bait.  I think Cody will find this a super product bait once the bait get shallow for him this spring!.

In other news, check out the great bass Cory Cook has been catching on his IMA Flit jerkbait that he won from an earlier tourney, also a Facebook fan.

Maybe Cory can get his mug in the next pic, ha!  Thanks for the pictures Cory!   You have set a standard for future winners!

Bass Fishing Podcasts, Fantasy Bass Fishing Corner, FLW Tour, General, Multimedia

Hartwell Fantasy Fishing Picks

If  you haven’t made your picks yet for FLW Tour on Hartwell, better get on it, they start fishing in the morning.  Gonna try pasting my picks from FLW site, see how it works below.  Prizes for Beaver & St. Johns will ship soon, still trying to get a hold of Harris Chain winner….

Lake Hartwell

SELECTED WINNER

Winning Weight
(4 Day Cumulative):
76lbs. 8oz.


Listen to the Fantasy Fishing podcast here, special guest this week is Brett Ehrler, he talks about his preference on drop shot setups, his practice & favorite RoboWorm colors…

Anybody of my fellow Minnesotans excited for next week’s Northwest Sportshow?  I think I am actually going there this year with a purpose, camera & video camera in hand, try to do some blog recaps on what is cool & new this year!

Hey – are all you readers subscribers?  If not, why not drop your email in the upper left corner of my blog & click subscribe button, they you can get my blog right in your inbox moments after each entry!

BASS Tour, Multimedia, Product Reviews, Sponsors

Waiting for ice to melt

We are close to losing all this damn ice and then it will be game on soon enough. In the mean time, been listing some bass fishing goodies on my Bass Fishing eBay Store.  I am even starting to thinking about rigging my rods for practice of my first tourney in May already….

Congrats to Edwin Evers, nice come from behind victory at Citrus Slam (St Johns River) by Power Pole today.  Gotta feel good to punch his ticket to 2012 Bassmaster Classic, now he can fish stress free.  Double E is quickly becoming one of the sport’s elite, it would be cool to have Evers challenge KVD & Skeet for the AOY this year!
Photo: B.A.S.S./Gary Tramontina

Also, check out this quick video about the IMA Square Bill crankbait featuring Matt Paino from the recent Fred Hall show in Long Beach, CA!

 
My fellow MN anglers, stay strong, we are almost there!


Bass Fishing Podcasts, BASS Tour, Fantasy Bass Fishing Corner, Multimedia

St. John’s River Fantasy Picks

Been too busy to blog lately, been to Mexico and back this week already.  Still manged to get the podcast done, sorry for short notice, talked to producer to work towards publishing by Tuesday of tournament weeks.  So go here to listen to Podcast.

Otherwise, my picks – KVD, Big Show, Bernie Schultz, Chris Lane, & JVD.  BTW – what does JVD gotta do to get his face on the Fantasy Game?

I saw that JVD got some of KVD’s cookies, so I am convinced he is good to go this week!

Also, got some goodies on listed in my Bass
Fishing
eBay
Store

Fantasy prizes coming soon for Beaver & Harris chain, still need to hear from Harris Chain winner….

Fantasy Bass Fishing Corner, Sponsors

February Fantasy Fishing Winners

The February prizes are in the mail, and final results from Beaver Lake should be ready soon as well.

In both leagues, our winners also won league prizes, so the Bassin’ Blog prize slid down to next finishers.  Congrats to Jeremy White as he was the best picker in all the lands for the Bassmaster Classic, he will enjoy a $1000 gift card to

BassPro from BASS.  So he didn’t feel to bad seeing his prize go to the next in line, so our Classic prize winner was Kenneth Grover of Decatur, AL.  Kenneth did not seem to be a fan of the Bassin’ Blog on Facebook so he will get some left over finesse worms from last year.

Glynn Brown was the best from our group for Lake Okeechobee on the FLW side, but he did so well, he got a nice Walmart gift card, so once again, to spread the wealth, the prize slides down.  Cory Cook of Carrolton, KY won an IMA Flit Jerkbait because he was a fan on facebook.  Thanks to IMA Lures for helping out with this week’s prizes!

So hopefully lesson learned, it pays to become a Fan on Facebook to get the bigger prizes!

Still time to join my leagues and compete for prizes at each event!

BASS Tour, FLW Tour, Multimedia, Tips and Techniques

Winter Fishing Rod Maintenance

This post may be a little late for you anglers down south, but there are many of us that have plenty of time to clean up our rods and get them ready for spring fishing.  I was cleaning up a few rods to sell on my Bass
Fishing
eBay
Store and the rest to clean them up for spring.  Once cork handles get super dirty, then tend to get slippery and lose their grip, which is not a formula for success when fighting big fish in the rain.

So while cleaning my rods, I made a quick video.  Click here if you don’t see it on page.

Hope some of you find it useful and make sure you follow my tip on not using your spouse’s good towels

As long as we are watching videos, here is an extended clip of Kevin VanDam’s post Bassmaster Classic press conference in case you missed streaming live on the internet.  KVD shares some really good nuggets about how he adapted and outfished some of the best anglers in the world. 


Click here for video

Also, congrats to Bryan Thrift for his FLW win on Beaver Lake today.  He is quickly becoming the biggest name on the FLW tour.  Thrift and Ehrler are pretty equivalent of what KvD & Skeet are on the Elite Series.

Stay tuned for Elite Series BASS Fantasy Fishing picks for the Harris Chain early this week!

Bass Fishing Videos, News, Tips, Tricks & More from HellaBass