Don't Forget this Important FALL BAIT

The season of fall has tried to settle in here in Iowa, but the warm fronts just won't let go.  Tonight, as I type this, I was fishing in shorts and short sleeve shirt tonight, it just doesn't make sense.  Water temperatures are still in the upper 60's just about anywhere you go here in Northeast Iowa, again delaying the fall fishing that can be so good.  I really enjoy the fall fishing season because it allows me to fish so many different types of baits.  Jerkbaits and spinnerbaits are a couple of lures that don't see much action from me in the summer months.  I love fishing both of them in the fall no matter where I am fishing.  Another bait that I love to throw in the fall, pretty much exclusively is a lipless crankbait.  

A lipless crankbait is a bait that fish love to react to.  It is a mix of a loud crankbait and a sinking jerkbait.  However, that really does not explain it perfectly.  A lipless crankbait will catch fish on days that every other bait in your boat won't even get a bite.  A lipless crank is great for pressured bass (human pressure) and also for extreme temperature changes.  A lipless crank is one of the loudest baits you can throw, and it offers a "dying action" like no other.  The fish just can't resist it under tough conditions.

I had just the type of experience last weekend, anglers all over the place hitting the common areas, it was a beautiful day so I am glad so many people were out enjoying it!  I hit a few areas with no bites, then caught a couple small bass.  I was about to go to a large backwater area but decided to try an old fall favorite, the lipless crankbait.  Although the water temperatures are not saying it is fall, the length of day is, and that is also key to the fall bite.  Short days tell fish that the ice is coming, and in turn they start eating.  First cast...no lie...BOOM, a nice largemouth bass.  I just my head thinking about how I wasted two hours of my day being stubborn.  Oh well, I continued to fish the lipless in a variety of cadences and picked up another ten or so bass before I had to hit the road.  All the bass were of "keeper size", once again telling me that I had the right bait.  Even though the water temperature wasn't yelling FALL, the bass are.  Tie one on, it might make a bad fall day of fishing a good one!

Final event of 2026 for the Indee Bass Club at Lake MacBride

Memphis and Brayton with the WINNING BASS

 Lake MacBride near Solon, Iowa was the venue for the last tournament of the Indee Bass Club season.  Rain was in the forecast for the event but things went as scheduled with no lightning in the area.  Ten boats with twenty anglers and their ten captains took to the water at 7am trying to find a limit of five bass by the 1pm check-in time.  Anglers can use any artificial bait that they want to catch fish throughout the day.  After a long wet morning, the sun did come out for a couple of hours making the end of the tournament very enjoyable.  This tournament was a big one for the club, anglers receive points for weighing in their fish according to their tournament rank.  This tournament would decide what angler would be crowned the 2026 Angler of the Year and what team would take the honors of the TBF Indee Trail Team Champions.    

When the scales were turned off and the numbers sorted, it was Will Clark and Aiden Svoboda in sixth place with 3.96 pounds with four bass, captained by Jeff Heinze.  In fifth place was Mason Ristvedt and Preston Mohlis.  They weighed in four bass that weighed 5.62 pounds, captained by Todd Ristvedt.  In fourth place was Colton Cameron and Jackson Beatty.  They had five bass that weighed 5.62 pounds, captained by Cyrus Butters.  In third place Keegan King and Landen Putbrese, they had five keepers that weighed 7.83 pounds, captained by Dave Wilson.  This duo caught most of their fish on Chatterbaits and Texas-Rigged plastics.  In the Runner-Up spot was Noah Cruz and Andrew Lewin, they have 4 bass that weighed 8.32 pounds, captained by Jerry Steigleman.  This pair reported using Whopper Ploppers and buzzbaits to fool their bass.  The MacBride champs were Memphis Peyton and Brayton Kuhse.  They had a limit of five bass that weighed 10.25 pounds.  They reported using wacky rigged sticks to catch a few dozen bass on the day.  Memphis also caught the big bass of the tournament, a beauty weighing 3.92 pounds!  Their captain was Bo Peyton.

2026 Angler of the Year: Colton Cameron

A lot of bass were brought to the scales at Lake MacBride and some valuable points were accumulated by anglers.  Winning the Indee Bass Club Angler of the Year was Colton Cameron.  This is his third time winning the award.  In his four club tournaments, he won two of them, placed 4th and also placed 3rd.  In the Runner-Up spot was Jackson Beatty, he collected a win, a 4th place, 3rd place and another 4th place finish on the year.  In the third spot at Angler of the Year was Will Clark, he won one event, and finished 2nd, 5th and 6th in the other three events.  It was a very close race between these three top anglers and it all came down to the last event, well done everybody!

Another big prize was on the line at Lake MacBride too.  The TBF Indee Team Trail Championship was a close race. The top three teams coming into the event were separated by only two points.  Aiden Svoboda/Will Clark, Landen Putbrese/Keegan King, and Jackson Beatty/Colton Cameron all had terrific years on the Team Trail.  The Indee Team Trail tallies the top three events throughout the year to crown the Champions.  At the end of the day, Keegan King and Landen Putbrese came away with the 2026 TBF Indee Trail Team Championship.  This title not only got them trophies, it also got them an invitation to fish in the 2027 TBF/MLF National Championship on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina next June.  What an exciting finish to the year, congrats to the top three teams for having a great season!

2026 TBF Indee Team Trail CHAMPS

There is so much to celebrate this year for the Indee Bass Club.  We had more new kids involved than any recent year, educational seminars and classes, new equipment for the kids; including rods/reels, lifevests, tools and tackle.  With the generosity of our sponsors we were able to do this with no cost to the children or families.  A huge thank you goes out to them; Colony Plumbing/Heating/AC, Smith D&L Insurance, Cy & Charley's, Tim Reed State Farm, BankIowa, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Shay's Minn Kota, Rona Memorial, Hilltop Motors, SCHEELS of Cedar Falls, Lew's
Fishing, Strike King Lures, Hot Rod Baits, The Rod Glove, FishRx, and X-Zone Lures.  

If you would like more information about the club, which is open to any 7-12 grade student in Independence, find us on Instagram, Facebook or search up our website @ Indee Bass Club.

Time to EAT...a "HOW TO" with Northern Pike

 

Northern pike are very prolific in many rivers here in Iowa.  They grow quite rapidly and make for a great fight while out fishing.  Pike can grow up to 24-inches in their third year of life, which is also the year that they start spawning.  Not only are pike fast growers and a great fight, they are fantastic on the table as well.  Pike will hit a variety of lures.  They are ferocious eaters and will chase crankbaits, soft plastics, topwater baits, and bladed jigs, however I believe their favorite is a spinnerbait.  They are a fun fish, and the patterns on their skin can be quite remarkable...like the one pictured!  

A lot of people catch pike but rarely keep them.  You do need a large livewell to keep them alive or a large cooler to keep the meat fresh during the day.  It is well worth it though, the meat is really one of my favorites... they make great sandwiches!  Pike have a bad rap because they are hard to clean.  I was fortunate enough to learn from my grandparents an easy way to clean pike when I was in my teens.  With a limit of three northern pike a day on interior rivers and a limit of five on the Mississippi River, you have a lot of opportunities to catch and clean these great tasting fish.  The 5-piece method is the one I have used for decades, it is a great way to clean them and avoid those pesky "Y-bones".  Here is a video of the same method that I use to clean northern pike: (I fillet the whole piece off at the tail on each side)

He uses an electric knife, I prefer to use a regular fillet knife, but to each their own.  I feel that when I use a regular knife, I can "feel" the bones better.  If you are new to cleaning Pike, I would start with a knife.  Skinning them with an electric knife does save some time.  This is called the 5-Piece method for Northern Pike, but you do come away with 6 pieces that are boneless, due to splitting the top small section in half.  I have named the pieces just to help me keep track of things while cleaning the fish.  I took some pics the last time I cleaned some pike, hoping that they help you to enjoy this great tasting fish. 

This is what you should have when getting the meat away from the carcass.

I always cut them into smaller pieces so they are ready to cook.
I would cut the "Loins" in two smaller pieces too before cooking or freezing for later.

Hitting Targets

 On a recent trip to the river I was reminded how bass fishing is more of a game than other kinds of fishing.  I was fishing a flat (2-3feet of water) with scattered weeds all around.  If I made a good cast to avoid the weeds, I was rewarded with a bite here and there.  If my bait landed in the grass, or retrieved into the grass, that turned the fish away quickly.  I was using a buzzbait on this morning to fire up the largemouth and trying to make lang casts, as the water was quite clean.  As I fished around these scattered weeds and grass my accuracy got better and better, as a result, the bites became more frequent.  Fishing, at least the part of throwing baits accurately is certainly a game.  That morning reminded me how important it is make good casts.  

Making a good cast is more than just throwing your bait out there and hoping.  Also, no matter how perfect the cast was, there is no guarantee that a fish will hit your lure.  There are many things that go into making a good cast.  First and foremost is practice, people that are good at hitting a ball, shooting a basket, rolling a strike and hitting a perfect forehand all have one thing in common, they practice.  This always brings me back to when I was in high school and I would practice pitching jigs in my basement throughout the winter.  Practice will help any angler become a better presenter of their lure.  Another major factor in casting is your rod/reel setup.  On this day I was throwing a1/2oz buzzbait to maximize length on my casts.  I was using a Lew's Custom Lite 7 foot rod, Med/Hvy action with a fast tip.  I paired this rod with a Lew's Speed SpoolRX reel, featuring 8 bearings.  Bearings on a reel are everything, the more bearings, the smoother the reel will function.  The Med/Hvy rod with a fast tip allowed me to get a lot of distance out of my casts, yet keep the accuracy consistent on repeated casts.  This combo is well balanced, another key to making good casts.  Another major factor when casting is using two hands.  One hand obviously on the reel to control the line and the other should be on the butt of your rod.  Two hands are better than one for distance and accuracy.  Finally, one last tip, wait for the lane.  By this, sometimes you are better off waiting another second or tow for the boat to be at that perfect angle to make a cast.  Many times anglers rush a cast just to make another cast.  Find a good lane and work that lane to perfection!  

It turned out to be a great morning of topwater action, clouds in the area allowed me to catch fish on a buzzbait past 10am.  The key that morning was hitting those open lanes between weed patches for smooth retrieve that the bass couldn't resist.  I hope this gives you some ideas "to up your" casting games and help you catch a few more fish the next time you get a chance to get out. 

One of a few dozen bass that fell to a buzzbait on this morning.

 

Indee Bass Club July Bass Scramble

Will Clark and Colton Cameron

    The annual Indee Bass Club Scramble took place on the Wapsi River here in Independence on July 8th. This event is unique as anglers and adult boat captains are randomly drawn just minutes before the start of the tournament. It provides anglers a chance to fish with different students and different adults. This allows for additional learning for students as they all work together to catch a three bass limit. After four hours of fishing everyone makes their way back to the boat ramp to weigh in their fish to see who has caught the biggest fish of the night.

    Seventeen kids from around the area signed up for the event ranging from 7th graders to Seniors in High School. It was a beautiful afternoon as we launched the boats at 4:30pm, but storms were in the forecast. Anglers found out soon that the fish were hungry on the front of the impending storm. Of the eight boats, seven brought in fish to the scales. Of those seven, five boats brought in their limit of three bass. Coming in with one bass was Antonio Moore, Tate Brown, Ty Hansen and their captain Bo Peyton, it weighed 2.53 pounds. In 6th place was Captain Tony Delgado, Baren Alexander and Cal Sweeney. They had two bass that weighed 3.49pounds. Captain Todd Ristvedt, and anglers Aiden Svoboda and Memphis Peyton brought in three keeper bass that weighed 3.94 pounds, good enough for 5th place. In fourth place was Jackson Beatty, Mason Ristvedt and Captain Dave Wilson, they had three bass for 4.97 pounds. Third place was secured by Captain John Malek, Ranger Reed and Keegan King. They had a limit of three bass that weighed 5.93 pounds. This group reported catching their keepers on Texas Rigged Rage Craws, Hot Rod Baits Tubes and spinnerbaits. In second place was Brayton Kuhse, Andrew Lewin and their Captain Jackson Toale. This group used white spinnerbaits to get a 3 bass limit that weighed 6.84 pounds. This events top prize went to anglers Will Clark and Colton Cameron, with Captain Todd Reed. They caught their winning 3 bass limit weighing 9.39 pounds using hollow-bodied frogs. Colton Cameron also caught the big bass of the tournament, a 3.33 pound Largemouth Bass. Congratulations to all the anglers on this night that caught some bass. Eighteen bass were brought into the scales just before the storm hit Independence, and all eighteen bass were released alive back into the Wapsi River to be caught again. Trophies, fishing gear, lifevests, gift cards and four rod/reel combos were given out after the weigh-ins as usual.

    A big shoutout to captains that took kids out for the evening and the crew that made this tournament possible; Club Coach Todd Reed, Tournament Assistants Randy Toale, Dan Sweeney and Jeff Heinze. The Indee Bass Club is a volunteer-led club for Independence and St.John's students. The club operates on donations and sponsorships of these fine organizations: Colony Plumbing/Heathing/AC, Smith D&L Insurance, Rick Wendling Memorial, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, BankIowa, Tim Reed State Farm, Shay's Minn Kota, Hilltop Motors, SCHEELS of Cedar Falls, Cy and Charley's, Strike King Lures, Lew's Fishing, Hot Rod Baits, FishRX Custom Lures, The Rod Glove, and X-Zone Lures. The Indee Bass Club has two events in August, one is a typical bass tournament on the Mississippi River and the other is a virtual event. Check them out on their socials to find out more details of these upcoming events, Facebook, Instagram and their website.

INDEE BASS CLUB WEBSITE LINK