Here is a bonus catch on Old Hickory, too bad it was not a keeper.  We had interesting weather in TN, every day was different.  During prefishing, we caught better fish every day, thinking that 12 pounds per day would not be an issue.  Wind, rain, and cold weather really changed the area that I was fishing...day one only produced 3 very small fish and 3 more on day two.  Still a great trip, we caught a huge variety of fish (bluegill, catfish, white bass, stripe bass, sauger, small mouth, large mouth, spotted bass, gizzard shad, and some other species of shad, one that was 14" long)

Minnesota State Tournament gets hit with heavy fog on day one, I only weighed (2) fish for 7.93 pounds, making a long run was a bad idea.  The fog lifted at 10:30, taking the first 3 1/2 hours of the day from all angler.  Day two was a better start with no fog, so I again made the long run and it paid off.  Weighing the largest bag of the entire event with 19.55 pounds of largemouth, for a total of 27.48, this moved me into 6th place and earned a spot on the Minnesota Team.  The next event is in Michigan, the location does not sound final.  Meet the MN 2009 State Team.

Atomic Tackle Company Jigs now available, as well as Falcon Rods, Lake Fork Tackle, Chompers, and Tournament Tackle's own line of GREAT bass baits.

See More products on the Tournament Tackle page

 Minnesota Bound Youth Event (First Place)

Working clumps of weeds was the ticket for Austin and Neil as they took first place at the Ron Schara Invitational Youth Event.  Using Tournament Tackle craw tubes and an Outkast RT jig with a Yomamma trailer in clumps of cabbage produced 3 nice bass weighing 7 pounds.  Neil also took big fish honors with a nice 4 pound fish.

September 2008

Bob Perkins takes home a top 5 overall finish and a 1st place MN team finish, fishing at the TBF Northern Division Tournament on Lake St Clair. Taking the number one spot for MN  advances him to Nationals.  More details can be found at www.bassfederation.com and follow the links to results from the Northern Division.  Here is a nice smallmouth brought to the scales on day one, which was 5 pound 8 ounces and day two was 5 pound 7 ounces. The Nationals will be on Bull Shoals.

My objective is to enhance the sport of fishing and share experience with others, through education and participation.  Tournament fishing can be quite rewarding, while many may think it is only a monetary reward, there are many other incentives in this sport.  For example, encouraging our youth to join fishing clubs or just taking them out fishing.  Other items, like fishing in charity events, donating time and money to local lcubs like Lion's, Camp Confidence, and a few others.  This year Excel Bass donated to our local foodshelfs in two events, the response was awesome, so this has been expanded to more 2008 events.  Whether it is your own "personal best" moment or if you helped create this moment, do it out fishing.  It is an environment like this that makes a sport great. 

Please take a look at my sponsorship page and support our local businesses. If you are looking to upgrade your boat, check out www.buyarangerboat.com and www.rangerboats.com   this will show you why Ranger says "We Still Build 'Em One At A Time So You Can Fish Hard, Run Strong, And Rest Easy."