Stop #1 on the Hot Rod Baits Bass Series

 Lake Okoboji was the opening stop on the Hot Rod Baits Bass Series for this year.  I absolutely love this lake during every season of the year, I wish it was much closer to home.  Spring time bass fishing on the Okoboji chain of lakes is hard to beat in this state, and perhaps all of the Midwest.  The really unique thing about this lake system is that no matter what kind of bass angler you are, or what strengths you may have you can put them to use here.  When most people think of bass fishing on Lake Okoboji they think of 15 feet of clear water and fishing deep.  That can be the case, but there is a lot more to the Okoboji chain of lakes than that.

Friday, my partner Brian Bowles and I decided to fish West Lake Okoboji, the biggest of the five lakes and by far the lake with the most clarity.  We found hungry bass hanging on the main lake docks as well as the canal systems which are shallow with water much dingier than West Lake.  The size was good, but it wasn't great.  The next day we focused on some areas of the three small lakes in this system; Upper Gar, Lower Gar and Minnewashta.  These lakes look much more like the lakes scattered around the state and even resemble the waters of river systems too.  If you do not like the clear water, these are the places to focus in on.  We fished pretty quick through these, but found some good quality bass roaming and hitting baits.  

On our way back to the cabin we discussed our game plan for the next day, as the tournament director there is no extra time in the morning so planning ahead is vital for a good start to the day.  We were going to focus on West Lake Okoboji for a limit of fish and then go to Upper Gar and Minnewashta to try and upgrade our limit of six bass.  The plan seemed simple, but with 21 boats in the event and several other club tournaments going on we knew it would be a challenge.

Tournament day rolled around and the derby got started without a hitch.  Our plan was clicking along and we caught our 14# limit pretty quickly on main lake areas, mostly using drop-shot and a wacky-rigged stick baits in various Hot Rod Baits colors.  We decided to head to the smaller lakes and try to upgrade, we knew we would need at least a 3-pound average to be even close to the top 5.  We used several reaction baits in these lakes but a homemade bladed jig seemed to be what they wanted.  We caught our biggest fish, 4.08# and three other big ones to upgrade to 18.28# for our 6 keepers.  With weeds and dock poles present I choose to throw the bladed jig on 30# braided line on a Quantum Smoke combo.  I like the 7ft model with a Medium action to allow a little give when leaning into the fish with braid.  It works very well for me as I can feel every pole, pieces of grass and the vibration from the blade.  We felt good as we packed things up to take care of the weigh-in, we met our expectations for the day and we never lost any fish.  Although we fell short of the Top 5, we weren't very far off with an average keeper weighing 3.04#.  What a great system of lakes to go fishing on, get there if you have never been there!

As a whole the event really showed what the Okoboji Chain of Lakes has to offer bass anglers.  Here are what the top five teams were able to bring to the scales:

Place

Anglers

#Bass

Big Bass

Weight

AVG Bass

1	King-King	6	**6.70**	31.04	5.17#
2	Halverson-Halverson	6	5.32	24.67	4.11#
3	Ehlers-Wirtz	6	5.39	22.29	3.72#
4	Heim-Paulson	6	4.75	21.09	3.52#
5	Steffen-Northway	6		20.68	3.45#

2021 Iowa High School Bass Team Championship

 There are many opportunities for kids these days to get in boats and have a full experience in a bass tournament.  Most of these opportunities are for students that join a club, or are part of a high school club.  However, this event which debuted in 2019 is open for any student in Iowa.  This years event included students from West Delaware HS, Center-Point Urbana HS, Benton Community HS, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS, Solon HS, Independence HS, Waukee HS, SE Warren HS, Washington HS, and ADM HS.  40 students participated with their 20 captains in this event held at Pleasant Creek Lake near Palo.  

Scheels of Cedar Falls was once again the Title Sponsor for the event, along with others including; Quantum Fishing, The Rod Glove, X-Zone Lures, Cliff Keen Athletic Clothing, and Hot Rod Baits Bass Series.  Students placing high in the event were able to take home over $1,500 in fishing gear and trophies.

May 8th greeted anglers with a huge cold front to Eastern Iowa which included a little frost on the morning of the event.  Mother Nature didn't stop there, she added an easterly wind from 10-15mph wind for most of the event.  Some anglers reported catching dozens of bass per boat and it seemed like all sorts and styles of baits were catching bass.  A total of 62 bass made their way to the weigh-in scale for this event, an all-time record for this annual tournament.  Every boat but one was able to weigh fish in!

The anglers of John, Kole, Charlie and Noah were able to bring in 10 keeper bass that weighed 17.08# to claim the 2021 Championship for Washington High School.  This school also won in 2019, with Marion as the winner from 2020.  John also weighed in the biggest bass of the event; it weighed 4.18 pounds.  In second place on the "Team" competition was the team of Remy, Grady, EJ, and Sam from Independence.  They weighed in 8 bass that weighed 11.54 pounds. 

The individual tournament Top 5 are as follows:

• 1- Washington HS- 9.78#
• 2- Solon HS- 8.65#
• 3- Center-Point Urbana- 8.57#
• 4- Independence HS- 8.38#
• 5- Washington HS- 7.30#

Complete standings of this event can be found on the event website: Iowa High School Bass Team Championship

It is an honor to be able to work with sponsors, especially the Title Sponsor of this event; Scheels of Cedar Falls to bring this event to Eastern Iowa.  This event allows any student in the state of Iowa a chance to compete and participate in a professionally run event for only $10 an angler.

Congrats to all the students that fished this event, I hope we can do it again next year!  

Spring = WIND

 Spring time in Iowa is purely a mystery.  I have been in a boat in early February, and other years I have been ice fishing in the first of week of April.  There is one thing, no matter what year it is, we can always count on here in Iowa...WIND.  

Whether you fish from shore or a boat, the wind can be your friend.  The wind will push bait to the windblown banks and the bass will follow.  When winds blow 20+ mph it does limit most anglers in their bait selection.  When the wind blows that much some baits just won't be efficient.  My favorites when these conditions hit are dragging jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits.  With these three baits I feel that I can cover the water column effectively and offer many different colors at the same time.  

Besides a 3-punch strategy of baits, it is vital to have the right rod and reel combos working for you.  One of the many reasons I like Quantum reels is that they are so easy and quick to adjust to changing conditions.  A quick click or two on the magnetic controls on the sideplate and I am ready to for any wind that Mother nature throws at me.  

Hit the windy banks this spring and you will find more bass!  

Indee Bass Club April Tournament on the Wapsi

1st Place: EJ and Sam with 10.95#

 The Wapsi River near Independence has been in excellent shape all spring long.  The river has not been over three feet high all spring which is very rare, allowing students and adults to enjoy a lot of fishing this month.  That is the good Mother Nature can give, but then she deals three straight days of below freezing temperatures the week before the first youth event of the year, NOT NICE Mother Nature.  

The water temperatures were in the mid-upper 50s the weekend before the Indee Bass Club tournament, those same waters were showing 48-49 degrees during the tournament on April 24th.  One thing bass do not like in the spring is a massive decline in water temperature, and that is exactly what the club members were up against.

Saturday morning saw temperatures right at 45 degrees at the 7am blast-off, chilly no doubt.  As the morning progressed to the noon weigh-in the wind picked up and the real-feel never really felt any warmer than 45 degrees.  To say the least the kids had to battle the cold weather, wind and a river full of bass that were not in the mood to eat.

One thing I have learned in my 25+ years of fishing bass tournaments is that someone always finds some active fish, today was no different as 15 students battled the weather and the Wapsi Bass.  Two different teams were still able to bring a tournament limit of 5 bass to the scales.  EJ Miller and Sam Hamilton brought 5 nice smallmouth bass to the scale that weighed 10.95#, including the Big Bass of the event by EJ that weighed 2.29 pounds.  Their captain was Brian Miller.  They were able to find a school of smallmouth bass feeding in once general location on the Wapsi for the victory.  EJ reported that a Texas-Rigged Craw was the hot bait for the day.  Randy Toale was the captain for Jackson Toale and Dalton Hoover, they too had 5 keeper bass and placed 2nd with 6.00#.  In 3rd place was a pair of 7th graders; Ranger Reed and Carter Cameron had two keeper largemouth bass for 2.59#, the captain was Todd Reed.  Fourth place went to another Junior High team of Cal Sweeney and Remy Ressler.  They had two keeper largemouth bass that weighed 2.38#, their captain was Dan Sweeney.  Fifth place went to Zach Sidles with captain Landry Jones, Zach caught one nice largemouth that weighed 1.86#.  Kegan Postel and Jackson Wold teamed up for sixth place with one chunky largemouth that weighed 1.81 pounds.  In 7th place was Caleb Weber, Teegan McEnany and their captain Keith Corkery with one largemouth that weighed just under a pound.  The weigh-in went smoothly for Coach Todd Reed and his volunteers Randy Toale and Dan Sweeney.  All bass were released back to the Wapsi to be caught another day.  The weather was cruel, the students were cold, but seven teams were able to bring bass to scales to be weighed in, congratulations to all that braved the weather and caught some Wapsi Bass.

A huge thanks goes out to the club sponsors; Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Bank Iowa, Klever Concrete, Scheels in Cedar Falls, Hank's Bait and Tackle, Quantum Rods and Reels, The Rod Glove, Strike King and Hot Rod Baits.  With the contributions of these sponsors over $700 of prizes and fishing gear were given away to students at this event, nobody went home empty handed.  The next event for the Indee Bass Club is an away event at Big Woods Lake near Cedar Falls.  You can find out more about this youth club on Facebook, Instagram and their WEBSITE LINK.

Pitching to Perfection

Pitching is by far one of the most popular way to fish for largemouth bass.  No matter what tournament report you read, TV show you see, or YouTube series you may watch, Pitching is a staple in the world of bass fishing.  Recently I visited a lake for the first time this year after a huge cold front.  I had two rods on the deck, one rigged with a jig and the other a Texas-Rigged Tube.  Both of these are my favorite things to pitch into cover and along rocky shorelines.  I have used the same rod/reel type for this presentation going on about 10 years.  It is effective and it simply works for so many different situations.  

ROD: Quantum 7ft 2in Medium/Hvy Power with a Fast action tip

REEL: Quantum Energy with a 7+:1 Gear Ratio

BAIT: Hot Rod Baits 4-inch Tube

LINE: 15# Monofilament

The fast action tip allows me to make long and more precise pitches into cover such as limbs and laydown logs.  It also works well to skip baits under trees and docks.  The fast ratio reel allows me to pick up line quickly for a new pitch or when that bass starts to run at the boat.  This either saves me time or allows me to catch a couple more fish each time out.  

If you are pitching baits and missing fish, or fish are coming off after the hookset, don't be afraid to change things up.  This Quantum combo has worked for many years in a variety of models for me, however each person fishes a bit different from the next guy.  Mix things up and I hope you can get a "Pitchin' Combo" that serves you as well as this one has for me.