Old School

I was born and raised in Independence, IA and lived there for about 22 years.  I then moved to Marshalltown for the next 17 years and finally made it back to Independence with my family last summer.  In the world of fishing, moving to Marshalltown taught me 2 things; first, how to fish lakes/deep water and secondly, I really love river fishing.


Last summer was a blur with moving and adjusting to a new job, so fishing was put on the back burner.  However, this summer things are back to normal.  The past couple of weeks I have had the chance to "go old school" and fish the Wapsi a number of times in my river boat. (a 14-ft flat bottom rigged up much like a bass boat suited for the shallow waters of the Wapsi)  On my latest trip on the Wapsi, it wasn't the fancy Ranger boat, but instead I chose to use the river boat.  Things are just easier and more accessible with this boat.  Mid-way through the morning fishing trip while driving to another area of the river at a top speed of about 20 mph, I thought to myself...this is exactly what I was doing about 25 years ago.  At that time I was in my dads flat bottom boat with no-doubt a spinnerbait and a Texas-rigged plastic.  On this day, my own "fancy" flat bottom boat, a better trolling motor, but the same 2 baits tied on, a spinnerbait and a Texas-rigged plastic.

There was no doubt my mind wondered that morning, back to the good 'ol days of mowing lawns, playing baseball and catching fish out of the Wapsi.  Today wasn't much different, tossing baits around the lay down logs and rocky banks...shoot I'm still in love with the same girl I was back in those good 'ol days.  Thus, to put it simply, the Wapsi has always been home for me and I am once again enjoying the time I have with this beautiful little river.

As for the fishing, it has changed a lot the last 20 years.  The entire river system has changed a lot in the last 20 years.  Some areas that used to be great are now a sandbar, areas I have never fished have become my go=to areas now.  Rivers change daily, and if anglers put in the time to learn the current and where these fish locate any small river in the state will allow you to catch a variety of fish, especially bass!  It has been a great homecoming, and I am loving getting out on the Wapsi once again and getting some "old school" fishing in.

Hot Rod Baits Bass Series Stop #2

This past weekend my partner Brian Bowles and I headed north to figure out the bass on Pool 9 of the Mississippi River.  It was our second tournament of the three tournament series.  The first tournament was a disaster...and we did everything we could not to repeat that.  We put in two days of practice on the water which led us to plenty of fish, both smallmouth and largemouth.  After the two days we decided to focus our efforts on the south end of the pool and if that didn't pan out, we would run north for a backup plan.  Throughout the 3 days of fishing we caught fish on just about every lure we threw; jigs, tubes, sticks, swim jigs, spinnerbaits, craws and crankbaits.   Ounce you found the bass, they didn't seem to be very picky as to what they ate.  As always some baits worked better than others to pick up the larger fish.  The biggest of the weekend came on an Optimum Baits Ima square bill crankbait.  Bouncing this bait off the rocky banks was a great way to fool the bass, this big "brownie" loved it (pic).  We ended up fishing 4 areas Sunday, all of which contained rocks.  The bass were feeding up on crawdads, so most of our baits mimicked them once the tournament day rolled around.
Throwing a Hot Rod Baits Wig's Jig with a Hot Rod Baits chunk was the main bait for me Sunday.  Brian was throwing the craw bait from Hot Rod Baits in various colors.  We were both using 7-foot 6-inch Quantum PT flipping sticks with PT reels.  High speed reels were important today as the fish would take the bait and start swimming, you really had some line to reel in as you set the hook.  The tournament went well for us and we knew as noon rolled around that we were sitting pretty good.  However, we both knew that we needed that "one more big one" to help move up in the standings.  We finished with 17.12# of largemouth bass and ended up in 4th place out of the 20 team field which spans all over Iowa and into Nebraska.  The complete results can be seen HERE.  A big thanks to all competitors at Pool 9, some impressive numbers for the river; 108 bass were weighed in for an average weight of 2.44#.  The best fishery in the state proved itself once again!

A huge thank you to these great companies; Quantum Rods/Reels, Hot Rod Baits, Optimum Baits, Vexilar Electronics, TimReed State Farm Insurance/Bank, Bill's Pizza, and The Iowa Sportsman Magazine.  Let me know if you and questions about these fine companies and the products/services they provide or click their link on the side of the page.

Independence High School Bass Fishing Club

This past weekend marked a first for Independence, IA.  I have had the honor to lead and advise the Independence High School Bass Club the last few months, and this past Saturday was the first ever high school bass tournament in this area.  This wasn't the first organization I have helped out, many years ago a few students from the Iowa State University came to me for information and leadership to start that club, which is still going strong.  All my life, when I see someone with a similar passion as I have for fishing, I have tried to help out as much as I can.


So far this year during our bass club meetings the students have learned about water safety, DNR rules, being a steward of our resources, and general tips for choosing the right gear for bass.  However, a day ago it was time to put their gear and knowledge to the test to see if they could trick some local Wapsipinicon River bass.

The tournament was open to any student in grades 7-12, and 19 students showed up to fish out of 10 boats to try their skill on the Wapsi.  The weather was perfect, fish were caught; many northern pike and a few bass.  Like any tournament on any body of water, someone always seems to find the active fish and they rise to the top.  The team of Tayten and Brennan weighed in two keeper bass for 3.45 pounds to take the win.  Congratulations to them and all anglers that made it out to fish this inaugural event!

A huge thanks to the all the boat captains that drove the boats around for the students at this event.  Without them the event would have never been able to take place.  Also, Hot Rod Baits was a monetary sponsor for the event to eliminate all costs for the students, as this event was free for them to participate in.  They also donated many prizes for the kids too.

I write this with much pride that this club has taken off and I hope the future is bright for this student club.  I will do my part to keep things going and I hope many more students will be able to enjoy the the world of fishing and create many friendships as this great sport has done for me over the years.
A huge thanks to my partners too, without them I couldn't do what I do for the sport of fishing; Quantum Rods/Reels, Hot Rod Baits, Optimum Baits, Vexilar, Bill's Pizza, Tim Reed State Farm, and The Iowa Sportsman Magazine.

If you are interested in helping this group grow, please contact me personally via email; treedbass@yahoo.com.   Please "like" the Independence High School Bass Club on Facebook or click over to their website:  https://sites.google.com/a/independence.k12.ia.us/indeebassclub/ to keep up with all the action.

Passing it on

I had the opportunity to present to about 125 students this week during their annual Fish Iowa field trip.  Just seeing all those kids walking around nature and enjoying themselves was quite a site, but to be able to teach them about some advanced fishing skills was even better.

First, a little history on the Fish Iowa program.  This is a curriculum designed by the Iowa DNR to bring awareness of fish and the opportunities available here in Iowa.  This program is designed for all ages, but 5th grade really seems like a good fit to fully jump into the program.  This curriculum has many different levels and teachers can cater their instruction to as little or as much as they would like to include.  Here in Independence they conclude their learning a with field experience, some hands on activities, and many experts in the field of fishing.  If you have younger kids in school, you may want to ask if their teachers have ever heard of it...it might just hook them into trying it with your kids.

It was my honor and privilege to be a part of this and pass on some knowledge about the advanced techniques, rods/reels and baits anglers can use to catch fish here in Iowa.  Other stations kids visited were about fish identification/laws, erosion, pond fishing, and water safety.  The kids were great and the many community volunteers and DNR employees made the day very educational for those 125 kids.

Hot Rod Baits Bass Series: Tourney #1

The Hot Rod Baits Bass Series started this past Sunday.  It was bittersweet for me, as I spent all day Saturday at a grad class in Des Moines, but I guess that "real job" of mine is pretty important.  Either way, all the prep for the tournament as the director and an angler was ready to be put to the test at Hawthorn Lake.

First, a little about the series.  This was a brainstorm of mine several years ago. I wanted to create a bass-club-like feeling but elevate the competition to a state level.  This also elevated the entry fees and payouts too.  I wanted the series to be able to still use the many lakes of Iowa as well as the Mississippi River.  Each year the series visits 2 lakes and a pool on the Upper Mississippi River.  The series has visited areas such as: Rock Creek Lake, Little River, 12-Mile Lake, Lake MacBride, Pool 10, Pool 9, Belva Deer Lake, Brushy Creek, and West Lake in Osceola.  Each year 3 events are chosen and a maximum of 20 teams are allowed to enter the series.  The unique part about the series is an "all or nothing" entry fee.  One payment is good for all three events, big bass and Team of the Year prize money.  It was a first of its kind and members of the series have really enjoyed it.  This year the series capped out at 20 teams and a few were turned away.  I feel that this number is a good limit at this time with the support staff I have to lean on.  Things have run smoothly and participation each year has steadily gained.  A big draw for that is the over 90% payback that this series offers, another first for bass tournaments.  All entry fees paid upfront, no jackpot anglers at specific bodies of water, over 90% payback, and a club atmosphere mixed in with some extreme competition...it doesn't get any better than that!

Hawthorn Lake Champions

Lake Hawthorn is a smaller lake for the state, around 200 acres is all it is, however it is full of largemouth bass.  Well, that was the plan and reason for choosing a lake on the smaller side of the scale.  With so many bass and so many good areas for fish to be, 20 boats won't be a problem at all.  Now that the event is over, 20 boats wasn't the problem, it was the bass.  For one reason, or many the bass didn't show up for this tournament like many had hoped.  The bass seemed to be scattered all over the lake, and even when the fish bit, it was a half-attempt many times.  Cluing anglers in that something was amiss with the ecosystem.  Either way, someone always finds them, and they sure did on this day.  Holst and Brown came away with the victory easily with the only limit of the day weighing in at 16.68 pounds.  2nd place was Heim and Elm who also had the big bass for the day.  They caught three keepers weighing in at 8.52 pounds.  The tournament went off without a hitch, as for my partner and me...we were one of the many teams that couldn't put the pieces together on this day.  Full results HERE

2nd Place and Big Bass

Congrats to all the anglers who toughed it out at Lake Hawthorn.  Spring bass fishing really hasn't taken off for the most part around the state, but May is just around the corner, what I believe to be the best month for bass in the entire year!

Thanks to all my sponsors that make it possible for me to enjoy time on the water, teach others about my passion and share the best fishing tools on the market with others.  QuantumPT, Optimum Baits, Hot Rod Baits, Vexilar, State Farm Insurance, Bill's Pizza, The Iowa Sportsman.  Please click the links provided to learn about these great companies, or better yet, get a hold of me with any questions you may have about what these companies offer.