6-30-08:  Pipestone Lake was the location for the Monday night Liars tournament this week.  Pipestone is a small weedy lake that has the potential to give up some hogs.  Kelly and I fished docks for the first 30 minutes of the tournament and we managed to catch three quality 2-3 pound bass.  After I skipped every dock on the lake I fished a deep weed edge with a jig and caught our fourth bass.  It was another 3 pounder.  Our final fish was caught with a top water frog in the middle of the lily pads.  We ended up with a little over 12 pounds but it wasn't enough for first.  Brian Spear and his son Justin won with 13 pounds of largeheads.  Big Bass honors went to Scott Davis who weighed in a 4.5 pounder.

6-26-08:  The big bass bite has been on fire at Paw Paw this year!!!!  I fished there again this afternoon for a couple hours and whacked a handful of giants.  I caught a couple 4 pounders with a jig n pig and a monsterous 5 pound 6 ounce hog with a carolina rig.  The big females are all over big balls of bait fish that are crusing the weed edges.  If you can find the bait then you've found the big bass.

6-23-08:  I fished a LIARS tournament alone tonight on Paw Paw Lake from 6-9:30.  I had a chance to weigh in the biggest bag of fish I've ever caught.  I started the evening checking spots where bass school up during the postspawn.  I would drive over them and see if there were any fish arcs and bait on them.  The firstt spot I checked was loaded with activity.  I threw my first cast and locked horns with a giant.  It jumped and I thought it was at least a 6 pound largemouth.  I fought it all the way to the boat and it jumped again while I was getting the net and it came off.  I was ticked and whipped another cast out to the spot.  My bait settled to the bottom and another hog drilled it.  I fought it all the way to the boat and then my line broke.  I had just lost 11 pounds in two casts!!!!

I tried to regain my composure but I couldn't do it.  I had two more giants fish come off.  I can only estimate that I lost around 18 pounds of bass in the first hour of the tournament. :)

I knew it couldn't get any worse so I kept on fishing hard.  There were still arcs all over my depth finder and big arcs resting on the bottom.  I was finally able to land my first bass at 7:15 pm.  It was a monster 4 pound 6 ounce largehead that was 22 inches long but as skinny as could be.  Shortly after that I caught back to back 4 pounders that were short and fat.  I finished my limit around 9:00 pm with two more chunky 3 pound largemouth.  It was a great night of fishing and I couldn't believe the amount of big bass that were in the area I was fishing.  I ended up winning first place with 17 pounds 9 ounces and big bass.  I was still disappointed because I could have had over 20 pounds if I could have landed my first four bass.

6-22-08:  I fished Muskegon Lake with John Gipson Jr in a BAU tournament today.  There were only 17 boats that showed up to fish but it was a strong field.  It was a windy and stormy day but the bass were eating up everything in sight.  At least the 15 inch 2.5 pounders were.  John and I caught 40 some keepers fishing a flat with vaious presentations first thing in the morning.  We also fished some reeds that produced our bigger fish in the afternoon.  We just couldn't find any upgrades.  We ended up getting 5th place with 12.50 pounds.  Other notables were John Gipson Sr and Tony Oliver with 13.20 pounds and a third place finish.  The champions were Ron and Randy Nelson with 13.70 pounds.  The also had a 4.06 pounder that won them big bass.

6-19-08:  Kelly and I caught every fish under 14 inches in Diamond Lake tonight fishing an NBAA weeknight tournament.  We fished shallow, we fished deep, but all the fish were small.  Well.... Except one.  I caught a 14 inch largie on a drop shot.  Also, Kelly had a 5 to 6 pounder try and eat a 12 inch bass she was reeling in.  It was hitting right next to the boat.  So there are big fish in there.

6-18-08: I started at 9:00 am and fished until 12:00. It was only 55 degrees and the water temp dropped to 73. There is still bass spawning here and there in the channels but most are guarding fry. I didn't mess with them though. Instead I fished for post spawner that were situated around weed clumps in 20-25 ft. Jav1 the post spawn funk is over because they were hungry. I landed 15 keepers and the best five went 17 pounds. My biggest was a toad over 5 pounds.

6-15-08:  John Gipson Jr and I teamed up to fish a BAU tournament on Magician Lake this Father's Day morning.  Basically, we whacked'em all day long fishing deep structure.  We caught fish on cranks, jerks, and Flick Shakes.  We caught about 16 keepers between the two of us.  Our best five weighed just under 12 pounds and our big bass was 2.82 pounds.  I caught the big bass while I was rest on top of the motor.  Since John's motor is set back about 12 inches I couldn't make it back to the boat to fight the fish.  I fought the fish from the motor and ended up landing it.  I was pretty lucky if you ask me:)  We ended up getting first place and big bass honors.  We also locked in our spot to fish for a boat in the BAU fall classic.  

6-12-08:  My fantastic wife Kelly and I fished a Division 8 NBAA tournament on Paw Paw Lake tonight.  There were 18 boats fishing and it was a very competitive field.  The water was 75 degrees and it was about 90 degrees outside.  My plan was to fish for spawners and fry guarders to fill our limit.  I had a couple big 4-6 pounders picked out and started by fishing for them.  I had two of them on right away but they ended up throwing my jig.  I sucked!!!!!  After we fished for them for about 1 1/2 hours before we headed to the channels to fill our limit.  We managed to catch 9 decent males casting wacky worms around.  Kelly caught our biggest bass. 

Kelly and I ended weighing 10 pounds and getting 4th place.  Mike Rappette and Steve Ficke came in second place with 11 pounds.  John Gipson Sr and Jr teamed up to catch just less than 14 pounds.  The champs were Chad Worvey and Jim Horn with around 15 pounds.  Big bass honors went to Terry Blythe and Rick Lasota with a 4.70 pound largehead.  

6-11-08:  I fished an NBAA Singles tournament on Magician last night with 8 boats fishing.  The water temp was 75 degrees and the water was crystal clear.  The bass were in a funk for the most part.  I skipped docks for 2 1/2 hours and didn't get a bite.  I changed it up and fished a drop off for 30 min and I caught 3 nice keepers that weighed 5 pounds.  Jim Weaver came in second place with 6 pounds and John Gipson Jr. caught 4 bass that weighed 7 pounds for the victory. 

6-5-08:  Kelly and fished an NBAA tournament tonight on Fish, Finch, and Saddlebag Lake in Marcellus.  The water temp was up to 74 degrees and it was 85 degrees outside.  We skipped docks most of the evening and we only managed two small keepers.  I had one big one break me off under a dock but that happen sometimes when you decide to fish around metal.  It was a tough night and four bass that weighed 7.99 pounds won it. 

6-2-08:  Mike Rappette and I fished a small tournament on the Benton Harbor stretch of the Joe tonight.  It was a wonderful evening although things didn't go our way.  We were able to get quality bites but we weren't able to land them.  I had one that jumped over a rope and hung itself but we couldn't get to it.  We only weighed in three smallies that went 7 lbs.  Brian Spear and his son Justin weighed in two 4 pound smallies to get second place.  A father and son team came in first place with a limit that weighed around 10 lbs.  Nice job guys it was a fun tournament.