I am going to the 2018 KBF (Kayak Bass Fishing) National Championship!

I have just earned a slot at the 2018 KBF (Kayak Bass Fishing) National Championship!  

The event will take place on Kentucky Lake next March, where anglers from around the country will battle for the chance to win for $100,000!

I started this season with only one goal to see if I could earn my place to compete at this event. I decided to take three different paths to get there. I have been fishing the KBF, KBL, and GLKFS.

In my first four online tournaments I finished in the top ten three times. 7th in the KBF April Challenge, 4th in the KBL Midwest Bass Battle for May, and 3rd place In the KBF May State Challenge. It was this 3rd place finish that did the trick!

I put a lot of miles on my vehicle, a pile of hours fishing, and had some obstacles to overcome. I really think my faith played a huge role as well. Today I feel very blessed!

Click on the image to preview

I have to thank my sponsors who without their products this would of been harder to achieve.

Diablo Paddlesports

Gillz

Ram Mounts

Pivothead Glasses

Denali Rods

Ardent Reels

MythicGear Drysuits

SoftscienceShoes

NotchGear

Shur-SetTackle

CrabbyBass Lures

DavesTangle Free

Beardhead Hats

FroggToggs

Aurora Lures

KAYAK WARS FISHING TOURNAMENT RESULTS for 2016!

I am excited to announce that I placed First in the NORTH CENTRAL REGION FRESHWATER KAYAK WARS FISHING TOURNAMENT for 2016! 

Our Team KBL Club Took second place in the North Central Region as well!

Kayak wars is the world's largest multi-species kayak tournament. Individuals and Teams of five catch a huge variety of species in a gauntlet of competitions every year from February 27 to December 18. Every species caught has to be a certain size and is given a point value. Team members submit their catches over the season and the team with the most combined points wins! 

To win kayak wars it takes a huge amount of angling knowledge of many species and the determination to find the fish that will give you and your team the points it needs.  A major key to success is knowing where point size fish are in your area and being able to capitalize on those opportunities. A fish that counts for points is not a small specimen for that species.

The amount of combined hours competing on the water is just staggering as this is not your one or two-day species specific tourney. It is basically a year month after month of snow, cold, wind, sun, heat, waves, illness, rain, ice, sore muscles, cuts, bug bites and darkness. However, with this tournament comes great freedom. The freedom to fish when, where and what you fish for. It works on any schedule and family commitments. The one-time fee fits any budget. Anyone can be a tournament fisherman with Kayak Wars and fish with their own goals at their own pace.

First I want to thank my team for fishing so hard and putting up with my obsession. Joshua Bennett, Tony Lam, Titus Dominguez, and Scott Shaw.

I also need to thank my sponsors!!

Thank you - Pivot Head - Your glasses let me record lifelong memories of my fishing success and failures. I will be able to share my videos and passion with anyone at anytime.

Thank you - Mythic Gear - Your drysuits kept me safe when my kayak cracked through thin ice in the spring and filled with snow in fall.

Thank you - Beardhead - Your fun hats and beards kept my face warm in harsh cold winds.

Thank you - Gillz Wear - Your shirts and masks kept me cool, breathed and protected me from the sun in hot sweltering days of summer. They also kept bug hatches out of my nose and ears!

Thank You - K-1 Baits -  Your baits and flavorings kept me on my main target fish. They were responsible for bigger and higher hook ups this season.

Thank you - Crabby Bass Lures - The plastics you made to my specs helped me catch up when I was behind on all those dark early mornings before work this summer.

Thank you - Dave's Tangle Free - Your weights worked flawlessly as promised and helped with not 1 or 2 or even 3, but 4 species.

Thank you - Notch - Your hats steadily kept the sun out of my eyes. They also kept me at ease on the calm days sight fishing bass and carp.

Below are some stats and tournament related images.

Fishing's Magic Armor from Sun, Heat. and Invaders

Fishing's Magic Armor from Sun, Heat. and Invaders 

 I am glad to see the awareness of being prepared while fishing and being safe has taken a big stage on the angling scene. Protection from the heat and sun have always been important for your health. But the fishing world is finding that the right protection not only protects but can help you score more fish on any outing. When it comes to having the right protection there is one simple truth. If you are NOT hot, wet, and tired you fish longer. This translates in to more time on the water, more casts, more opportunities, and more landed fish, of any species! 

 Lets talk about your torso and face. T-shirts work on mild days and some vitamin D is good for you. But if your going to be out for hours you need something better. I got involved with GILLZ because I sweat like crazy and being Irish and pale my first few trips I tend to burn. i needed to cool things down. Their Tournament Shirts have built-in Cross-Breeze VentilationTM. These mesh side vents run on the inside of the sleeves and down the side of the shirt, keeping you dry and cool – even on the hottest days. I wore my GILLZ shirts on a bunch of trips in a row. One day I just grabbed one of my black guide t-shirts. Once the sun came up I could not figure out why I was so hot and sweating like a sprinkler. I realized the GILLZ shirt made a huge difference especially when the breeze came by! Man I missed those vents!!! 

 The GiLLZ mask is vented as well and has front breathing mesh! Everyone is selling buffs these days and they do protect from the sun. However I wanted more function. I am always wearing Pivothead glasses and with the other face buffs the glasses always fogged. They may look nice but they are thicker and hotter. During a bass competition I found just how good my mask was. The tourney was hot, no wind, and there was a bug hatch that day. I quickly learned to cover my nose and tuck the mask in my shirt after a few unwanted visitors invaded!!. I locked those little jerks right out. MY EYES, EAR, NOSE, and NECK were totally protected. Lastly I should mention the stain protection of the GILLZ products. I go after slimy carp and cut bait for cats for 6 hours at a time. All stains, especially the shoulders were I wipe my hands came out!! I would recommend these products for any angler. 

 Stay cool and don't let bugs in your nose.

 http://gillz-gear.com/

Kayak Bass Tournament Angling Adventure

My First Kayak Bass Tournament of 2016

After a fantastic kayak season last year including a huge Kayak Wars win, I decided I was going to mix things up this year. Try new water and experiences. So I decided to join the Kayak Bass League. I will be fishing four tournaments this year just for bass which is not the multi-species experiences I have become accustomed to.

I was a hardcore bass fanatic in the past but since I have not been chasing them constantly I was honestly nervous about my ability to go toe to toe with guys living and breathing bass.

The tournament was at Jim Edgar Panther Creek. I was hoping to practice with a day of pre-fishing but a better option came along as I watched my beautiful little niece get her first communion. Our family are Irish Catholics and this is not a thing you miss.

My good friend Josh was fishing the tourney as well and we decided we would fish together and share and info that may give us an edge on the competition. Josh got the chance to pre-fish an unfortunately found the fish to be on beds and not in a biting mood. After I got this bothersome news I stopped at a sports store and bought baits for us we thought would help in this situation.

I drove the three hours down to Panther Creek the night before and we stayed at a wonderful lodge called Ghost Hollow Lodge. Jc a staff member for KBL hooked us up with this wonderful place only minutes away from the launch. We spent the night laughing and trading stories with the KBL guys. Including the story of the snake that visited Josh's kayak!! Which he thought was no big deal. I DID.

We had our morning checks and meeting and we left for the farthest corner of the lake. With my asthma going against the wind, paddling long distances, and being able to keep up is becoming an issue so peddles or a trolling motor may have to be a change I make if I continue to fish big water. I am not getting any younger.

We were pre-pared to fish bass beds the whole day every rod rigged differently with the same goals either to get them mad or get them to remove our baits off their clean nesting spots. However a strange thing happened our beds were empty!!!

What the heck do we do now? Josh started throwing a small crank and scored several fish with just 2 just big enough to count. Then I started finesse fishing plastic and started catching fish I caught about thirteen for the day on this technique seven or 8 came on a Crabby Bass Lures Zipper Worm! But they were all just to small.

We looked back to the beds and a few fish were back! But for some reason they wouldn’t stay on them. It was like the were just swimming by every few minutes to check on them. These big fish were not playing today and refuse to even notice anything we put out.

I decided to go up into the shallowest water with piles of dead wood and weeds. On my way I fan casted with a custom chatter frog keeping it just under the surface. That is when I struck gold! SMACK! “Fish on!” I yelled. I grab the net frantically and landed the 16.75 inch bass as fast as I could. Things happened so fast I forgot to turn on my Pivothead Glasses! Another couple of casts and in less then a foot of water SPLASH!!! A second 16 inch fish came shooting out of the water!! After that fish I made so many casts I broke a blood vessel in my finger.

We ran out of time and each with only two fish we thought we would be at the bottom of the leader board. When they said bring in your fish I noticed not many guys walked up and yet I thought I would be the last. They called the second place winner and called my name!! Holy %$#@!!! I GOT SECOND!!!!  It was awesome!!!

What is great about Kayak bass tournaments is you don’t need thousands of dollars in boats and motors. The average angler can afford a kayak and for a small entry fee can go get their own tournament angling adventure.

I would like to thank my sponsors Pivothead, Notchgear, and Daves Tangle Free Weights and for this adventure a special thanks goes to GillzFishing Apparel and Lori Gosewisch for getting me my custom jersey just in time ! I LOVE IT!! Also to Crabby Bass for always coming through and catching fish even if they were short. I caught a decent amount of fish when many fisherman came up empty.

Pondboy and Team win Worldwide Freshwater Kayak Fishing Title!

I am very please to announce that our team Trout Mafia has placed First WORLDWIDE FRESHWATER KAYAK WAR FISHING TOURNAMENT! Kayak wars is the worlds largest multi-species kayak tournament. Teams of five catch a huge variety of species in a gauntlet of competitions every year from Feb 14 to Dec 14. Every Species caught has to be a certain size and is given a point value. Team members submit their catches over the season and the team with the most combined points wins! I would like to thank Tom, Mark, Kalvin, and Mike for allowing me to be part of Trout Mafia for 2015. 

These guys are the top 1% of multi-species kayak fishermen! To win kayak wars it takes a huge amount of angling knowledge of many species and the determination to find the fish that will give your team the points it needs.  A major key to success is knowing where point size fish are in your area and being able to capitalize on those opportunities. A fish that counts for points is not a small specimen for that species.The amount of combined hours competing on the water is just staggering as this is not your one or two day tourney. Snow, cold, wind, sun, heat, waves, illness, rain, ice, sore muscles, and darkness were all taken in stride by team Trout Mafia this angling season.

Our team also won First in region 6 of the United States. This was a region of 11 states. (click on image to enlarge)

We won First in all freshwater for the USA (click on image to enlarge)

We won First in all Fresh Saltwater Combined for the USA (click on image to enlarge)

I Placed Fourth as an individual for region 6! (click on image to enlarge)

TEAM STATS (click on image to enlarge)

I would like to thank some of my sponsors for their support this season! 

I could not have done it without your products!

Pivothead Advanced Camera Glasses

Mythicgear dry-suits

Beardhead Amazing looking Hats to keep you warm and Awesome

Aurora lures crankbaits that score

Crabby Bass Lures personalized plastics for success

Blaf - Gillz apparel for the hottest days

Notch Gear hats made for fishing 

Fall Kayak Crappie Fishing

Fall Kayak Crappie Fishing

After a long season of awesome Yarpin (Kayak Carpin),  the water cooled and the carp and catfish stopped biting the way they had all year. I stubbornly went a few more times then I should have because I had such a great year. It was time to switch gears. Jc Crappie of JCs Castaway and Aurora Lure Company said “You need to change what you’re doing and stop being so stubborn!”

So I switched species to crappie and we made a plan to get some.  Crappies we know will bite in colder conditions so we just had to prepare. Before we did anything we made sure we were safe in our yaks. We had our pfds, safety equipment, proper layers of clothing, and dry suits from Mythic Gear. The saying is dress to swim and rig to flip.

We used an arsenal of baits. I wanted to catch some numbers so I had to be prepared. These fish at this lake are bigger than most ponds in our area. The lake is catch and release, this has kept most of the poachers away and the fish have grown to 7-12 inches. I know dozens of crappie ponds but most have small fish not much bigger than your hand. A 9-12 inch fish is huge for the suburbs of Chicago. Had these fish all been tiny, ice jigs with plastics and tiny minnows would be all I needed. Since these fish were larger this allowed us to use full size crappie baits. We used cranks from Aurora Lures, Tubes, Lake Fork Shads, Large Minnows, Crawlers, Crappie thunders. I used all light or ultra light rods with 4-8 lb line. About half of my fish came on a double minnow rig under a Thill float. I caught several on a white crappie thunder as well. 

I also did something a bit different, since we were drifting slowly across the lake and not anchored I brought a straight line ice rod with a 1/16 ounce silver cicada. This worked magically! I caught crappie, gills, and a bass on it. It was a breeze to use while watching my floats drag behind my kayak. I went two mornings in a row and I ended up with at least 4 dozen hook-ups. Jc had a great time as well. I will definitely fish vertical from my yak more often.

So it’s not too late to go out. Dress warm and don’t be stubborn as I was and switch species and spots when you should. I hope you all have some Great Fall Crappie Angling Adventures!!

Mythic Gear Dry Suits and Safe Kayak Fishing

I am getting older and smarter and realized that I was pushing my luck kayak fishing in the spring, fall, and winter amidst the frigid waters. I now have the Mythic Gear ENKI Model Dry Suit. Named after a god in Sumerian mythology. He was the deity of crafts, mischief, water, seawater,lakewater, intelligence, and creation.

These are truly dry suits for the masses. Never has there been dry suits the average guy can afford on a tight budget. These are made like tanks, solid material, and awesome craftsmanship. The zippers are the toughest I have ever seen. When I put it on, the dry suit will puff up with air, that is how sealed my body is. I open the zipper to get the extra air out.  I was stepping over a guard rail with my yak to get to my put in and fell hard. The kind of hard you don't see coming over the rail and on my knees on a gravel covered bike path! The suit didn't have a scratch all though my ego was damaged.

The temperature has swung from 15 - 60 over the last few weeks and I have been Yarpin - Kayak Carpin. I have had 3 based layers underneath the suit and it has done the job nicely.  Actually with out the suit I would of had more bulky layers on and would of been uncomfortable and I do not think I would of toughed it out on these windy cold days with out Mythic Gear.

helpful articles:

Cold Water Danger Not Limited to Hypothermia

Wetsuits Versus Drysuits

Behold the Yellow Bass

Behold the Yellow Bass

In the 90s The Fox Chain and Fox river were loaded, I mean Loaded with yellow bass.

What's a yellow bass?

" the yellow bass or barfish, is a species of temperate bass native to the south and Midwestern United States. It is an inhabitant of lakes, ponds and areas of large rivers with reduced current such as backwaters and pools. This species can reach a length of 46 centimeters (18 in) TL though most are only around 23.9 centimeters (9.4 in). The greatest recorded weight for a specimen of this species is 11 kilograms (24 lb). This species is sought after as a game fish.[1]

Though sometimes confused with white bass or striped bass, it is distinguished by its yellow belly and the broken pattern in its lowermost stripes. It can also mate with the white bass."

It was the best ice fishing I have ever witnessed. They were the species of my first ice fishing trip! 100-200 fish days were common place. This was with dozens of fisherman! They are all muscle, the size of decent bluegill but twice as strong. It is my opinion that they are the best fighters of all the pan fish. 

Then the fun came to an end. A massive die-off like nothing I have ever seen. Thousands of dead fish lined the fox river. Gone were the fall days of wading for the yellow brutes and destroying my cheap ultra reels I bought when i was young. What happened? This is the best explanation I have seen:

"Yellow Bass and White Bass – The yellow bass decline continued from it’s high of 54% of the catch in 1988 to 4.3% of the catch in 2001. This dramatic restructuring of the population has reduced competition with other species and benefited the overall fishery in the Fox Chain O’ Lakes. Ice fishermen enjoyed the fast paced action of the late 1980″s and early 1990′s but their over-abundance was not sustainable and resulted in poor condition (a starvation state) which opened the population up to naturally occurring pathogens and the massive die offs."

So now to current day, a great winter group on Facebook, ICE JUNKIES OUTDOORS had some members that live on a 300+ acre private lake that had been over run by yellow bass. They asked for volunteers to come and fish them!!! With memories of the good old days I was not going to miss this. The first occasion was a casual group fishing for fun, the second a mini tournament with most fish winning, and the third was a full blown derby with raffles, chili, and hot dogs!!!!! I had a blast and caught a ton of fish with fellow dupageangler.com members Sooner Bass well as members from the Kayak Bass League and Aurora Lures.

Most ice fishing tactics worked on the fish. Jigs tipped with waxies, spikes, and pieces of yellow bass belly work well. JC(my buddy Chunsum) caught everyone of his fish on Magic Maggies from Aurora Lures. I used small spoons of all kinds tipped with the baits mentioned above. Minnows also caught their fair share as well as a bunch of crappie.

I fully understand these guys wanting to thin them out to protect the other species, But I personally would love there to be a couple lakes with a yellow bass problem. Lakes I could go to every winter and just crush these under rated yellow fin fighters. I would like to thank all the guys from ICE JUNKIES for letting me experience the gold rush once more.

If you want to experience ice fishing adventure or learn to fish, you can contact me at DuPage Fishing Guide Service

Kayak Cats

Drift Fishing Small-mouth and Catfish using Raven Tackle with DuPage Angler

I got a chance to go fishing with Marty Rogers founder of DupageAngler.com. I was excited because he is always crazy busy and fishing with him is always full of laughter.

We met way before sunlight and headed out west to a small creek that was finally not running high from all the spring rain. Our plan was to wade and drift fish for catfish and smallmouth using Raven floats, live bait and long rods. For more information on how we drift fish click HERE. The one thing I can say about Raven Tackle as it has dialed in our technique and our catch numbers has sky-rocketed.

We had the holy trinity of live bait crawlers, leeches, and minnows. For some reason the minnows just were not getting hit but the leeches were. Usually it is the other way around and in a hurry we will pass on the leeches.

This creek is very dynamic and spring rains design a new creek each year. Most years holes that are filled in by flooding are replaced by some new ones. This year there was only one new hole but many old holes were gone for good. We got on fish but had to fish twice as far as we usually do. This broke my heart a bit as three of my favorite holes were either half the size or non existent.

Marty and I fished and laughed and caught a ton of fish most small and not picture worthy, but great just the same. It definitely was a fun angling adventure.

Finding New Carp Spots In the Suburban Midwest

Finding New Carp Spots In the Suburban Midwest

Carp by far have had a bad rap in the US. Sure the big head and silvers need to go. But the common carp has been around for years and is not going anywhere. So since it is staying around you might as well swallow your carp suck state of mind and start fishing for the brutes. I am a multi-species fisherman and I can tell you that carp whether I like it or not fight harder than almost all of the other species. 

While I have been out bass fishing or crappie fishing I have seen carp, especially on those rainy days. I am sure that many of you have too. The majority of retention ponds in my area have some carp. Some lakes have more than others. The cool part about this is; is that most of these lakes the carp is completely un-pressured. So a little recon, prep, and planning and a lake you hardly fish can become a hard fighting carp battle arena!!

I wanted to prove this new carp spot theory so I went back to visit this corporate lake I had only caught a few bass in. This lake since I had never done well bass fishing was on my D list. However I did see carp there once.

The night before my first trip I walked the shoreline that had two pipes and chummed three cans of corn and about a quart bag of corn boilies. The second trip when I met some DupageAngler.com members I did about the same thing. 

I arrived armed with my Pivothead glasses, rods and net. We used float set-ups with Raven floats and some others as well as fished the bottom with a simple slip weight rig. I used supplies from Big Carp Tackle.com. I used hair-rigs some I purchased and some I made myself. One of the float rods I used high viz yellow Raven float line so I could see it in the low light before sunrise. The baits we used were bread, corn, and boilies. The boilies that worked best were the corn, pineapple, and strawberry flavors.

In these two trips to a lake I had never fish for carp before we landed and lost several big carp!! It was 
a blast!! Below is a video of those two sessions and a video where I catch a fish one the fish josh lost 
about a half hour later.

Wear Polarized Glasses a Fishing Parody of Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen

If you have ever watched any of my videos you will notice I have a tendency to change the lyrics of some of my favorite songs to be about fishing while I fish. So I made one on fishing Advice, it is a parody of Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen. I have to say it is my favorite thus far.

Kayak + Carp = Yarpin 3 Days of Great Yarpin

Kayak + Carp = Yarpin 3 Days of Great Yarpin

Usually in the spring I am bassing and bassing it hard. But with the longer winter, weird spring, and constant rains I have turned my sights to carp. I have been fishing them harder and longer then most seasons. I have introduced the art of hair rig fishing, new chumming techniques, and help from BigCarpTackle.com

After several sessions of shore fishing successfully for carp this season, DuPage Angler JC Crappies (Chunsum, co-owner of Aurora Lure Company) and I decide to try something we had never done before and that was kayaking for carp.

We picked an un-assuming muddy farm pond we have bass fished and that I had carp fished from shore once and got a few fish. Each night at dusk I would arrive at the lake and chum with corn and handfuls of boilies before fishing the next morning.

The cool thing about Yarpin is I do not have as much tackle as if I when I am bass fishing. We carried a couple rods, floats (both Raven and others), rigs, pliers, and the very important net. Armed with a pile of offerings and our Pivothead glasses we went to work.

JC Crappies(Chunsum) is awesome to fish with. We met on DuPageAngler.com and through my guide service and became fast friends. He is a fisherman, photographer, blogger, coach, pro-staffer, and a programmer. He is also a giant smartass.

Early when the fish would approach the surface into the chum line of floating bread we would only be fishing a foot down. When they backed off we went to 3 feet down. The lion’s share of fish came on a break that came from a large 2 foot deep flat into a 7 foot hole. The boilies played a larger role at this time. Although I had a half dozen flavors corn, pineapple, and strawberry worked best.

Chunsum did a great job of capturing video of this awesome carp fishing from a kayak (Yarpin). He composed this in 3 episodes please watch and enjoy.