GPS Coordinates the Social Security Numbers of the Online Fishing world

GPS coordinates are the Social Security numbers of the Fishing world. Any online fishing organization that wants to collect GPS Location information from anglers needs to inform its user's information is secured and unusable but also be able to prove it is secure and will not be used.

Any tournament organization's director or employees with privy to such secure information would then need to be banned from fishing any online tournament they work for and any other online tournaments in that region. This is so the GPS locations they have collected cannot be used or shared with fellow employees. Why? They now have more knowledge and access to water then the customers they serve.

Anglers strive so hard to protect their spots, so GPS numbers are access to an angler's sensitive data and make no mistake this is sensitive client data. Directors and employees would have to ban themselves from their own tournaments in the same way as contest and lottery employees.

A common belief is a big percentage of anglers would no longer join tournaments with the risk of their spots at stake. These anglers might return with their dollars for live or site-specific online events. This could have an effect on an organization's bottom line over time. However with the sport growing there would be new anglers never knowing the freedom of fishing where they want and keeping their spots safe.

The online event was created to capture a new demographic and their fishing dollars with the promise of fishing when and where they like on a budget. Fishing is famously known for keeping spots secret. After all, a secret spot is secret by its very nature. There are many reasons fishermen have these secret spots. The largest consequence of a mismanaged or shared data leak followed by overpressure and harvest and the death of the spot or body of water especially in smaller waters or cities and states with poor fish management programs.

Do these organizations really want to send a message to their customers that they do not matter by giving themselves an unfair advantage, bad reputations, and not meeting the client's expectations? With so much cheating being found, organizations will have to walk a fine line with their rules and the client's experience. This is a business, and the product is client based angling experiences. Some directors have forgotten that this business is a business with clients that need to be served and the user experience as their end product. If they have a poor experience they will move on.

Not all leagues are created equal. Some are trying to keep up with the curve with participants in mind. Some fishing leagues have a lot to learn and prove in the future to hold on to angler dollars. Hopefully, there will be a place for GPS mandatory and nonmandatory tournaments in the future. This would satisfy the new high money events and the fun affordable fish your own honey hole on your own time experiences.

Summer Bass Kayak Tournament Fishing Ends with Great Results

Summer Bass Kayak Tournament Fishing Ends with Great Results

With August closing the doors on long hot sun lit days also came the end of my competitive summer bass fishing for 2017. I could not be happier with my results.

 The first of these two tournaments was the Kayak Bass Fishing August State Tournament. I finished in sixth place. This was not bad since I only fished half as much as previous months. I watched the weather closely and went to water I knew well and fished hard, very hard. There was no one pattern that did the heavy lifting this month. To be honest, I do not like to fish a single pattern if I do not have to. I have a stack of rods with me with different rigs and I like to use them all when possible. My best day came using my Ardent elite reel and Kovert Denali Rod. I was rigged with a Shur-Set Bladed Purple and black jig and a Crabby Bass Lure black/white belly frog body combo. This rig lit them up when my surface frog bite died. I managed to have a 20 fish day when I watched other fisherman come and inform me they had a tough time.(click on images to preview)

The second of the two tournaments was the KBL Trophy Bass Challenge. This was a season long tournament for the longest combined length of 5 fish. My biggest was a mammoth toad caught in my first week of competition. She was 22 inches long and was tricked into a massive strike with a Roxanne crank-bait from Aurora Lure Co. Three out of the remaining four Smashed into a Colorado bladed spinner-bait. The last destroyed a Shur-set bladed Jig and Big Hammer combo. I also lost four fish during the season that would of moved me forward, one which was heart breaking and I believe would of been my personal career best. The great beast launched itself skyward and tossed my spinner bait back at my yak. I will tell my kids how it winked at me right before it went back to the depths. I finished in second! (click on images to preview)

I fished 7 online tournaments this season so far and finished in the top ten of 6 of them!!! Below are my stats so far for this season.

I could not have been this successful with out my family and a team of great sponsors supporting me. Without whom I would not be so dialed in this season. I would like to sincerely thank all of you.

Diablo Paddle Sports
Gillz Fishing Apperal
Pivothead Glasses
Denali Rods
Ram Mounts
Frogg Toggs
Crabby Bass Lures
Shur-Set Tackle
Notchgear Hats
Mythic Gear Drysuits
Beardhead  Head Wear
Softscience Shoes
Daves Tangle Free Weights
Aurora Lures

Spring Cold Front Flood Bass

Spring Cold Front Flood Bass

It is May, the temperature is 43 degrees and falling (Beardhead weather to be sure), wind is 20 mph and we have seen more rain then we have in a few years. Everything in my body was saying, stay on the couch and binge watch some Netflix. The problem was I was bored out of my skull. 

So I figured I would just make a fast run over to a local lake. This lake I fish often when I have little time. It use to be great but after years of no management and poachers it is just the shell of it's former glory.

I knew the fish before the storm were building beds. But now after all this water and cold where did they go and were they even thinking of feeding again?

When I decide to go on a quick trip I usually grab one or two rods and one or two presentations. I like to see if I can guess a pattern before I leave my garage. Sometimes I am right on and other times I am the Mayor of Skunkville. So I grabbed my swim jig rod and a worm rod, both armed with new Ardent Reels. I brought a Shur-Set Tackle Shimmy Jimmy white and blue bladed Jig with a white swim tail and a shaky head with a 7 inch black worm.

My hope was the fish put the feed bags back on and moved in close to shore to get the yummy morsels the flood water was bringing into the lake. But lets face it with a major cold front, rain, and dropping temps, bass having a case of lock jaw was just as possible.

So I threw the blade bait along the shore as tight as I could and moved it fast looking for reaction strikes. It paid off big. I landed 4 of 6 of my fish on the Shur-Set Bait. This bait will SHUR be a go to from now on. I picked it instead of a standard chatter bait because the Shimmy Jimmy's profile was broader and its wiggle was wider. I added the largest swim tail I had to make the bait more visible and put off a wider wake n shake in the chocolate milk I was fishing in.

Whenever I came to brush or even a stick in the water I flipped the shaky head black worm combo. I like black in any situation but most of all in stained water. This presentation scored me two more fish and one lost.

It just goes to show no matter how crazy the weather you can still have an awesome Angling Adventure. 

Shur-Set Tackle can be found here: http://shur-set.com/
Ardent Reels can be found here: https://ardentoutdoors.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.

A Guided Fishing Birthday Party?

I got a call from a family friend; her son had gotten the fishing bug and really really wanted to learn more. He wanted a fishing party for his birthday! I had never thought of guiding a party before.

So the plan was made. Immediately fishing with children brought up some new challenges I had not faced before. Kids won’t get up at four, they cannot fish late, they actually need to catch something (the nerve), and fishing in the weeds and hidden spots is not a great choice. However they are an absolute blast to fish with!

Another very good friend in a neighborhood close to the birthday boy allowed us to fish the private lake behind his house. So we had facilities for the boys if needed or shelter if the storms from that morning returned.

I was nervous because the rain was fast and furious until right before the party. The temperature made a 30 degree swing as well. Even for a private pond a temp change like that is never good for fishing.

This pond has nothing but bass and smaller bass. We set up two rods per little fisher kid. We used several different kinds of floats and bobbers. For bait we had large minnows and Golden Roaches (a large minnow species). The bite was not what anyone would have wanted but we caught some fish. The Birthday boy caught two. One boy caught his first fish ever!!!! It was the coolest feeling to knowing I helped that happen.

We had fun laughing and making jokes. The younger boys ran around the trees and explored. It was a great experience.

So from this moment on DuPageFishing Guide Service will be offering The Fishing Party!

Also I have been thinking (I know dangerous) I have a 15 year old with autism who hates fishing however I know some people with disabilities that love it. So also new DuPage Fishing Guide service will be more than happy to take out anyone one with a Disability.

There will be lower pricing for starters and we will work it out. Even if it means we sit with our feet in the water and eat gummy bears, it may be nice to get out. If we sit on a pier we sit on a pier. But taking you or your child out will be a pleasure no matter what.

So please contact Pondboy at 630-518-1872 or visit www.Dupagefishingguide.com for your own Angling Adventure. If you would like photos from www.sunshinephotography.net My friend josh can be there to capture the moments as he did on this trip.

Pondboy's DuPage Guide Service Has Great Time Ice fishing

 I received a message from an old high school friend John M (DuPage Angler Member) and he let me know that his nephew, an avid fisherman had never been ice fishing before.

I called DA Member Dark Star (Jason) to give me a hand. My shelter will only hold two cold anglers at one time. His Frabillshelter and ice fishing skills would be a big help.

This ice fishing season has been sort of hit or miss and only a few honey holes have been regular producers. We picked a lake we call Star Trek because this lake has been a constant producer the whole season despite temps or time of day. My client John wanted crappies but I had to be honest with him that that they had been inconstant, but the lake I would bring him to had some beautiful gills.

DS and I arrived on the lake at O’dark thirty and started searching for fish after digging out his vehicle from a snow drift, which sucked, because I snapped my shovel digging him out.

Our first area in the middle of the lake, we were counting on being loaded with fish, was a blank wasteland so we drilled and parked on a sharp break that went from 4 FT to 10 FT very quickly. Both of our fish finders lit up like Christmas trees so the choice was an easy one.

Our clients arrived, got stuck in the snow as well, and then we started at it. My client’s nephew fished with me and John with DS. The young kid really seemed to like fishing with the Fish TV. Well lets face it, TV fishing is just pretty damn cool! The catching started fast and furious and I could not even set a rod up for myself the first hour as the young gun pulled fish in on almost every drop.

AuroraLures Magic Maggies caught quite a few gills and bass! A couple came on dead stick rods, and the rest jigs, waxies and spikes. The red spikes out produced their natural counter parts two to one. This winter, the red spikes have been working better everywhere we go.

The frigid morning started cold in the teens, but as soon as the sun rose it warmed up nicely and we now had perfect conditions. Layers and gloves came off and everyone was fishing in comfort. Thank God man, Finally no sub-zero crap to fight with!

The bite slowed but the fish would constantly come through about every ten minutes or so. As a matter of fact, anytime I would mention moving a few more would be caught and it became a running joke. DS and I switched partners because our techniques are very different. I was in a ShappellS3000 with a nice floor coupled with a Lowrance 4x color elite along with the Fish TV. Dark Star was in a brand new Frabbill with nice bucket seats coupled with a flasher color video combo.

John and I traded stories and threw the bullshit around about high school and common friends it was a GREAT time!

If you want to learn to ice fish and have a similar experience to this one please contact Pondboy’s DuPage Fishing Guide Service. I would love to hang out and fish with you! You can fish and create an AnglingAdventure of your own!!about high schoolaab have been regular producers. We pick a lake we c

Crabby Bass Lures Score Big With New Swim Jigs

Armed with one rod and two of Crabby Bass’s new swim jigs, I went out in cold front conditions not expecting much as it was windy and the temp had dropped over 10 degrees overnight. I decide that I would take a blue/white bait and a chart/white bait out with me. I paired them up with Big Hammer swim tails. I casted often and moved quickly. My goal was to cover as much water as I could and find the most active fish. It really paid off!! I land seven fish and lost 3. One I lost broke my heart. It was really heavy and it ripped drag and broke off before I could say oh Sh_T.

The Crabby Bass Jigs worked better then I ever could of expected. They are well made and held up to me slamming then against rip-rap for a couple hours.

They offer football jigs in 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 oz. Swim jigs are available in 5/16, 3/8, and 1/2 oz.

Colors include the following:

Brown-brown head
Green pumpkin-GP head
GP/purple-GP head
Blue/white-White head
Chart/white-Chartreuse head
Brown/orange-brown head
Brown/chart-watermelon red head
Black/blue-black head
CK special-GP head
Bluegill-GP head

The hooks are sweet and the skirts are solid

They are selling them at a good price for $4.00 each.

Please visit CrabbyBasslures.com and try some of their new jigs!!!