The Last Time on the Boat for 2024

 

Today marked the last time in the boat for the 2024 season, I think.  The winter weather is forecasted to come in very quickly on Wednesday and remain cold and windy throughout the 10-day forecast.  I am a bit sad, like all years to put the long rods away for the year, however I am so ready for the ice fishing season.  The last ice fishing season was the shortest of my life, lasting only 6 weekends.  Hopefully this year will be much different and "back to normal" with 3 months of ice fishing here in Iowa.

The day of fishing went about the same as a typical late November day on the Wapsi River.  Fishing slow and catching smallmouth bass around rocky structures.  I caught a few nice smallies on a homemade finesse jig and the others on a leadhead with a small plastic trailer.  Nothing fancy, but it is just what the smallies want this time of year.  It always amazes me how much these smallmouth bass fight.  I caught several pike and five walleyes on this day too.  In the matter of second or two, I knew when I had a smallie on.  Even with the water temperature at 46-degrees, these brown beasts just keep on fighting.  It was a great day, but sadly the last chasing these fish for awhile.  Hopefully, I will be on to ICE FISHING soon!

The Fall Bite

A Strike King shallow running
crankbait on a Lew's KVD
Cranking Combo

 Each and every year I anticipate the season of fall, not to hunt, like many outdoors people, but to fish the fall bite.  I enjoy fishing river systems throughout the year, but there is no better time than fall to hit them.  The water becomes clear, the current is moderate and typically the water levels are stable.  All of these factors help the fish to feed up before WINTER appears.  You can catch bass on a lot of different baits this time of year, however as that water temperature dips below 50-degrees some baits fade off into the tackle box not to be seen until spring.  As of writing this, water temps are hanging just above the 50-degree mark in area rivers.  The warm sunshine and moderate nighttime temperatures have not started a big cool-down yet.  This will most likely happen this coming week, if the forecast holds.

Lately on the rivers a few baits have really shined, crankbaits and jigs.  This 1-2 combination has been great for smallmouth and largemouth bass, as well as the occasional walleye and pike.  The next time out I expect the crankbait bite to disappear as the water temperature dips below 50 degrees.  This isn't a definite, but a trend I have seen in the past.  Sunshine and wind plays a big role in the bite this time of year too, as both really tend to fire fish up to feed during this cold weather.  Jerkbaits, swimbaits and finesse style baits will take the place of crankbaits as the water temperature dips into the forties (a jig and Texas-Rigged tube are always on my boat this time of year).  Paying attention to water temperature is only 1 key to success this time of year.  You must pay attention to the fish, how they bite, where they bite in relation to the structure.  Taking in all these considerations will put more fish in the boat this time of year.  

Get out there and enjoy the fall, there may only be a week or two left until the "winter" temperatures appear.  

Accidental Walleye catches sure make
a great meal this time of year.

  

Indee Bass Club Finishes up the 2024 Season

(Written for the Independence Bulletin Journal) 

Jackson Beatty is the 2024
Indee Bass Club Angler of the Year

Another bass fishing season has come and gone for the Indee Bass Club.  This club was started back in 2017, it is hard to believe that this group has been getting kids out on the water for eight years.  Volunteer Coach Todd Reed has been there for every step of this journey for the area club.  "Each and every year has brought many opportunities for kids to learn about the sport of bass fishing, safety, DNR laws, tournament strategies, rod/reels, baits, tackle and fishing techniques.  The monthly meetings are informative and allows the student led club to vote on where they want to fish tournaments throughout the year.  Eight years, countless meetings, a dozen or so seminars, and thirty youth club tournaments, I'm almost done with the planning for the 2025 season."  said Coach Reed.  I guess time really does fly when you are fishing and having fun.

As the 2024 year came to an end the annual bass club banquet took place to look back at the year in fishing and celebrate the many accomplishments of the students.  This years' banquet had a record crowd of kids, parents, family members and captains in attendance.  The banquet started off with cookies and milk for the crowd to enjoy.  Soon after the awards began.  Coach Keith Donnelly started the awards off by honoring five captains.  Randy Toale, Dave Wilson, Brian Miller, Todd Reed and Dan Sweeney were given the "Captain's Cup", honoring any captain who has helped at ten or more events.  The bass club had 19 volunteer captains this year helping at our 5 different events.  Without the volunteer captains many students would not be able to fish in the tournaments.  After this the 2024 Limit Medals were given out.  These are earned by students who catch a limit or bass during a club tournament.  Each tournament has a maximum number of bass each team can bring in to the scales, either three or five bass.  This accomplishment is not an easy task, but was earned by the following group of students: Colton Cameron, Carter Eddy, Keegan King, Will Clark, Aiden Svoboda, Christian Simmons, Cal Sweeney, Gable Eddy, Ranger Reed, and Jackson Beatty.  

The awards continued with the Big Bass Award, this is given to the student that weighed in the largest bass over the entire year.  The 2024 Big Bass Award went to Cal Sweeney, he caught a 4.70 pound largemouth bass at the Okoboji Lakes in April.  Next up were the awards to the top three anglers in the club.  Each event that anglers fish they can earn up to 10 points for winning the event.  Nine points for second, eight points for third and all the way down to 1 point.  At the end of the year the points are tabulated, and the Angler of Year is crowned.  This year, Gable Eddy, winning two events and taking second in another took third place in the standings.  Ranger Reed was the Runner-Up angler, he won one event, came in second once, and placed third two times.  Jackson Beatty was crowned the 2024 Indee Bass Club Angler of the Year.  Jackson won two events and placed second in the other two events...what a year!  The Angler of the Year award has been given out for the past four years, each to a different angler; in 2021 Jackson Toale won, in 2022 Ranger Reed, in 2023 Colton Cameron, and now yet another student Jackson Beatty.  Who will it be in 2025...the schedule awaits and it is up for grabs starting in April.  

The Indee Bass Club is open to any student in the Independence Community School District.  It is free for students to participate in the events, including the state tournament.  Sponsors of the club make the entries free to students, as well as all the awards and fishing gear handed out during the season.  Sponsors include: Colony Heating/AC, Klever Concrete, Tim Reed State Farm, BankIowa, Hilltop Motors, Shay's Minn Kota, RONA Memorial, Cy&Charleys, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, SCHEELS of Cedar Falls, Hank's Bait and Tackle, Lew's Fishing, Strike King Lures, The Rod Glove, Hot Rod Baits, X-Zone Lures.   More information can be found on the club website, Facebook or Instagram.

Big Bass of the Year

Try Something Different to be Better

 

EJ with a nice Smallmouth caught on a JIG

I have been bass fishing seriously for about 30 years.  Over those years I have been able to fish with a lot of different people, many older than me and some younger too.  The sport of fishing has always enthused me, even from an early age...the thought of finding where a fish lives or is feeding, then giving them an artificial bait that they think is real is an awesome felling.  It is a thrill that I still get excited about.  Along the past few decades I have learned so much about the different bodies of water in Iowa, rods and reels, techniques and the many...many different baits out there for anglers to use. 

 Learning...that is what is important in fishing.  When you stop learning things, you will plateau as an angler.  Sure, you will continue to catch some fish, but as fishing pressure increases and fish get smarter (yes, I do believe in this hypothesis) anglers must get better to improve their game.  This can simply be trying a lure that you may not have ever caught a fish on.  It may be trying new areas of the lake or river, a place you have never been fishing before.  Both of these situations can be learning experiences.  When you learn, you become a better angler, perhaps not on that day, but down the road on a different day or body of water that lesson or technique might be key.  

I was reminded of this "learning" recently when I was a captain for a HS team during a tournament.  Ranger and EJ had their limit of bass in the first few hours, but really needed a couple bigger ones to move up the standings.  EJ, in the boat with me for the first time ever asked what I would be throwing in the later hours of the event to try and get something bigger.  It took me a half of second to answer that question; "a jig".  I knew my son Ranger had never caught a bass on a jig and he was using a Texas Rigged tube, a great bait in itself for bigger fish.  EJ, the other student said "I have never caught a bass on a jig before."  "I would be throwing one right now if I were you", I replied.  I grabbed my jig box, EJ  picked out a nice crawdad imitation colored jig, tipped it with a craw and he was fishing a jig.  We talked about specifics of the bait, bite tendencies and the overall feel of the bait.  It wasn't long after that, EJ did something for the first time ever, he caught a bass on a jig.  Guess what...it was their biggest bass of the day too!  

Learning...a little lesson that the boys probably won't forget anytime soon.  Baits matter, technique matter and rod/reel/line setups matter too.  It was a fun ending to the event with the boys, they both learned a few things, something I try to do every time out too.  They ended up 2nd out of 19 teams, which might help them remember that good day on the water too!  To be better at something, you must continue to learn and study the topic of importance.

Coincidental or not, one of my podcasts had this same message on this morning.  If you like short podcasts you have to listen to "Catch a Better Life" on YouTube with Jimmy Houston (He also has a book).  Jimmy Houston is fishing legend and a spiritual man.  He combines fishing with a biblical message every single day on his YouTube channel.  It is typically 10-minutes long and always has a great message to start your day off on the right foot. (he records them at 6am each morning)  He has a quote from the bible, how he lives his life and always a fishing tip for the time of year you are listening.  Give it a listen, I have found it to be a great way to start the day.

Link to Book

LINK TO YOUTUBE Channel

Indee Bass Club September Pool 9

Gable and Jackson are the Pool 9 Champions

The Indee Bass Club traveled to the far corner of Northeastern Iowa to visit the Mississippi River this past weekend. Lansing, IA was the destination, arguably the best pool for bass fishing in the state. The water was at normal pool and the flow was great for the event, leading to a lot of bass for the kids in attendance.

 
Finishing in third place at this event was Clinton Junk and Christian Simmons. They had three keeper bass that weighed 8.00 pounds, this team was captained by Dave Wilson. Clinton was able to catch the big bass of the tournament, a huge largemouth that weighed 4.51 pounds. Clinton caught that giant on a Texas-Rig plastic in the Junebug color. 

Coming in with second place was Cal Sweeney and Ranger Reed. They caught about 10 keepers on this day and their limit of the five biggest bass weighed 11.36 pounds, their captain was Todd Reed. They caught their fish on a variety of baits, including a Wopper Plopper, Texas-Rig Hot Rod Baits Tubes, and bladed jigs. 

The Pool 9 Champions were Gable Eddy and Jackson Beatty with their captain Jeff Ferris. These two anglers caught 13.14 pounds of smallmouth and largemouth bass, a great limit for the Mississippi River. This team also used a variety of baits to catch their limit; Chatterbaits, frogs, crankbaits and swim jigs were all used to get to that thirteen pound limit culling a small keeper one time. Scheels of Cedar Falls had gift cards and fishing gear for the top three teams while Hanks Bait and Tackle took care of the Big Bass prize full of lures for the big bass winner, Clinton Junk. 

This was the last regular season tournament of the year for the bass club, however the state tournament is this coming weekend and the Eastern Iowa Bass Club Battle, an event where the Indee team will compete directly against the Cedar Falls Fishing Team and the Cedar Rapids Prairie Fishing team, will take place on October 12th at Lake Delhi. This event has been won by the Indee Bass Club the previous two years. 

All anglers took home prizes at this event for competing that included a Lew's baitcasting combo, fishing tools and many, many fishing lures.  All of these great prizes are possible due to our fantastic lineup of sponsors, they include; Colony Heating/AC, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Klever Concrete, BankIowa, Tim Reed State Farm, Shays Minn Kota, Cy & Charley's, Rona Memorial, SCHEELS of Cedar Falls, The Rod Glove, X-Zone Lures, Lews, Strike King, Hank's Bait and Tackle and Hot Rod Baits.