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2021 JAMES GANG MLF RECAP

6/16/2021

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2021 JAMES GANG BASS INVITATIONAL

18 ANGLERS PARTICIPATED IN THE OLD ABE MLF EVENT IN 2021

The Event Begins......

The long-awaited 2021 James Gang Bass Invitational was an exciting event for us, since we were forced to cancel all of our 2020 events due to COVID scheduling conflicts. The 18 anglers that showed up on May 22 at Old Abe Lake in NW WI made up for it, with positive attitudes and smiling faces in incredibly comfortable fishing weather. I chose CEO Alex James as my fishing partner, hoping that the soon-to-be 13 year old could finally land himself a Kid's Big Bass Award in his final event before he would no longer be eligible. I began the early spring by scouting new areas to us in the Cobban Bridge area, using our side-imaging to mark ledges and visually look for eddies from the current that is pretty consistent on this body of water. We have fished this flowage many times during the 2000's, but felt the last 5 years that the fishery was losing its ability to produce quality fish. Several outings from 2015-2019 were terrible outings, failing to hook into or even see a single legal bass in all of our trips. Word around the area the last few years was that Old Abe was alive and well, full of the girth smallmouths that attracted us anglers. We thought we would give it a go and prove or disprove what the fisheries status really is.

6 AM equals "LINES IN"

All of the anglers showed up early, giving us the ability to start the event 30 min early at 6AM. We were hoping to see a hot morning top-water bite, as the water temperatures were hinting that we were around the annual spawning season for the local smallmouth bass. Our strategy was to run up river to the previously scouted Cobban Bridge area, as we assumed the bulk of the field would hammer the dam and islands areas close to the boat ramp. To our surprise, not a boat was in sight when we launched our boat! We decided to improvise and simply start fishing at the boat ramp. I began throwing a James Gang Spitter Pop, a heavy duty, hand-carved wooden popper for top-water success. Six minutes into the day, our FISHDONKEY app began blaring a donkey noise, as Doc Gilles registered the first 12+" smallmouth bass of the tournament, weighing in at .75 lbs. This fish put Doc & his partner Todd Lundquist in the lead. His lead would be passed up moments later, when David Xiong boated a 15 oz fish at 6:25 am to take the lead over Doc.

DOC GILLES & TODD LUNDQUIST START THE DAY WITH THE LEAD ON OLD ABE LAKE

ALEX FINDS A POTENTIAL WINNING PATTERN EARLY

JAMES GANG FISHING CEO ALEX & I had prepped our rods with multiple James Gang Fishing lures, as well as a Strike King Rodent 3" and a Strike King Rage Craw in Ned size. Alex had discovered a unique way to rig the Rodent a few years ago while catching nice largemouth on Rock Lake by Bloomer, WI. He found that a VMC HD weighted swimbait hook, with the hitch hiker screwed into the bottom of the front point, gives the rodent a keel shape, resulting in an aggressive walk-the-dog presentation. Even though he knew he had that trick to rely on, he started off by dead-sticking the Rodent (soaked in JB'S FISH SAUCE Pinch O' Garlic mist) in 2' deep spawning areas. It created a reaction quickly, as he began catching quality smallmouth bass on beds right at the boat launch area. at 6:26AM, Alex had landed his first legal bass, a 1.38 lb smallmouth that put him in the lead. 3 minutes later, the FINDONKEY app woke up the lake as Brent Forsman and his 14-year-old son Matthew began finding a strong pattern for themselves, taking over the early lead and the temporary BIG BASS lead with a 2.13 lb smallmouth.

TEAM FORSMAN GOES WILD!

14-YEAR-OLD MATTHEW FORSMAN AND HIS DAD TAKE A COMMANDING LEAD

Brent Forsman and his son Matthew went on an absolute fish-landing frenzy the following half hour. With every check of the FISHDONKEY app, their lead grew, fish after fish, with some quality bass in the 2+lb class. By 6:53 AM, Team Forsman was feeling comfortable with just over 12 lbs verified with the lead. Most of the field was at 1 lb or less. Then 12-year-old Alex began producing a quality fish, as he took his time working the prime areas producing a strong fish here and there. At 6:32AM, he boated fish number 2, a 2.25 lb bass once again on a Baby Rodent.13 minutes later, a Rage Craw Ned in black and blue was fired up near a log, and as his line tightened up he gave the bass a perfect hook-set, and a fight was on. I reminded him to keep pressure on the fish and make sure he doesn't point the rod at it. As I scooped up his girthy giant of a 16+" bass, the weight pushed him to the top of the BIG BASS lead, at 2.81 lbs! Alex single-handedly put us halfway to the Forsman's weight, and high above the other 14 anglers in the field when the first hour of fishing was complete.

BRENT FORSMAN IS PUTTING HIS TEAM ON A GREAT PATTERN

THE REMAINING FIELD COMES IN TO PLAY

CODY SCHEIDLER PUTS THE PRESSURE ON ALEX WITH A 2.44# SMALLMOUTH BASS

As the Alex vs. Forsman show fizzled out for a few hours, the remaining field began registering some fish, including several in the 2 lb class that made it appear that Alex would not retain the lead for 8 hours. We really believed a 3lb bass would be needed to win the Daily Lunker Award for the biggest bass of the day. Just before 8AM, Jon Small and his son Wesley made us very nervous as they put themselves on the board and nearly took the BIG BASS lead with a very thick 2.56 lb bass. 17 minutes later, Cody Sheidler and his partner Shawn Malison put a bass in the boat near 2.5 lbs as well. A little over an hour later, James Buresh and his son Cody put a very nice 2.63 lb smallmouth up towards the top for Big Bass. Team Buresh jumped up the scales at 6.45 lbs and were in contention with as as we tried to gain ground on the Forsmans. Sneaking in the background was a team from Cumberland, slowly edging their way up the entire time, as Jonathon Howell and his partner Dustin was nearly tied with the Buresh team trying to run down the top team with us and Team Buresh.

DUSTIN & HIS PARTNER JONATHON HOWELL OF CUMBERLAND WORKED THEIR WAY UP THE LEADERBOARD THE ENTIRE EVENT

BRENT & MATTHEW BACK IN THE GAME, BUT SO IS ALEX!
10:30AM UPDATE

ALEX PIONTEK WAS A CONTENDER FOR THE WIN AS HE CYCLED THROUGH HIS PRIME LOCATIONS AND STEADILY PRODUCED QUALITY SMALLMOUTH BASS

By 10:30AM, Brent and Matthew Forsman decided to make the tournament ridiculous, as they once again boated fish after fish, constantly updating the leaderboard. As they broke the 20lb mark, Alex was occasionally catching large fish, and kept our team in the game. I honestly felt like we needed to focus on Big Bass and keep him doing what was working, and would be happy with at least a 3rd place payout position by the end of the day. But with each pass of our "milk run," Alex was getting good ones in the net. At 9:33AM, Alex hooked another bass that looked huge, another girthy 16.5" bass weighing 2.81 lbs, tying his BIG BASS lead! As we pulled up to our hot spot near the boat ramp on the third pass, I hooked into another bass appearing to be close to 3 lbs. Alex was struggling to get the net in position as I fought the strong beast for quite a while at the bow of the boat. Alex placed the net near the fish and the fish was able to free itself and swim away. Although we were bummed out, the very next cast, I hooked into another fish at exactly 2 lbs, and this time Alex did some crazy net trick as the fish took me to the dam bouy rope and wrapped me up. He was able to net the fish and almost lost the entire net. We managed to lose 2 more fish at the net, but Alex redeemed himself with a 2.38 lb and a 2.75 lb smallmouth. The pounds were adding up so quickly on just a few fish that we realized this game was not over and we were on the winning pattern! Cody & Jim Buresh jumped up to 3rd place. Our 2.75lb smallmouth put us in the lead at 21.77 lbs as the Forsmans hit a wall and were stuck at 20.91 lbs for a long period of time.

LEADER'S NAP TIME???

BY 11:43AM, ALEX PIONTEK PUT US IN THE LEAD. "WELL, I GOT BIG BASS IN THE BAG, AND THE LEAD, SO I THINK IT'S TIME FOR AN HOUR NAP!"

Some leaders take naps in tournaments. When they wake up, they are still in the lead. At least if you are Alex Piontek. After Alex woke up from his snooze, some other anglers were nearby. To throw them off from our pattern, we decided to make a run to a new area and switch lures. We switched to a black and blue JAMES GANG FISHING BABY SQUID BAIT in 1/4 oz. On the first cast, a giant, possible 4 lb class smallmouth drilled the lure right under the boat, failing to get a hook in its face. As I worked the shore line I hooked into a few under-sized bass, and a few pike. After silence from the Forsman team for FOUR hours, they came back to life with a 1.6 lb bass that made the FISHDONKEY do a "HEE-HAW" and put them back on top. We fired right back with a 1.44 lb smallmouth caught on the Baby Squid as well as a 12" bass weighing 0.69 lbs to put us back on top at 1:04PM, with a daily weight of 23.90 lbs. With "Lines out" at 2 PM, we knew that we needed about 2 more fish to keep the win over the Forsmans. As we finished the day with our-back-and-forth battle with the Forsmans, Chad Ducommun and his daughter Tenielle began hammering legal fish, after a slow and steady struggle the first 7 hours of the day.

THE FINAL HOUR - WINNERS & DAILY LUNKER

In the final hour, 4 teams battled out for the 3rd place finish, which was the final payout. Cody & Jim Buresh landed three bass in a short time around noon, but couldn't get back on them in the final hour. They registered 9 fish throughout the day for 12.64 pounds. Team Ducommun was able to boat 5 keepers in the final hour to make their push to the 3rd place finish with a red hot pattern late in the event. In the final hour, Shawn Malison & Cody Sheidler charged very hard, boating two bass over 2 lbs and a 12" bass to finish the day with 5 fish at 9.13 pounds. Team Buresh saw their paycheck slip away as Jonathon Howell & his partner Dustin pulled off a 3rd place upset with a giant bass in the final 8 minutes of the day. Jonathon reeled in a 2.75 lb smallmouth that was only 2 oz short of the BIG BASS lead at the final moments. This beautiful bass put Team Howell at 14.58 lbs on 10 registered fish. They received the final payout as the 3rd place winners in a final push at the end. Great job Jonathon & Dustin for not giving up and pulling off a beauty in the final minutes!

3RD PLACE WINNERS - JONATHON HOWELL & DUSTIN OF CUMBERLAND, WI

FORSMAN VS. PIONTEK, WHO IS IT GOING TO BE????

BRENT FORSMAN LANDS A 1.43LB SMALLMOUTH BASS UNDER PRESSURE

As we landed our last fish around 1:04PM, we had a choice to make. Do we run the "milk run" that produced 18 lbs of fish for us on three passes for a 4th and final visit, or do we work the latest shoreline where we saw a 4 lb class fish and boated a few smaller fish, including two legals? We couldn't fish both, simply because we were breaking in a brand new outboard and had to run half throttle, and work through a nasty gravel bar without damaging our lower unit to access the latest area. We played it safe, and chose to fish the "milk run" one last time, which would put us near the boat ramp in the final minutes for some desperation casts. As we cast towards our targets running our earlier patterns, we failed to feel any sort of bites or pick-ups. The Baby Squid Bait, Strike King Rodent, and the Rage Craw Ned were not giving us anything. There was no time for second guessing as the time was running out. At 1:28PM, the FISHDONKEY APP informed us that Brent & Matthew had taken the lead back. We had just seen them for the first time of the day as we fished our "milk run" point near the dam. Brent hooked his fish in the bay of stumps very close to where Alex lost a possible 3 pound bass early in the event. We cast and cast and cast until time expired, and checked the app at 2 pm. Brent & Matthew beat us by 0.05 lbs, or roughly ONE OUNCE! It's amazing that a tournament can come down to an ounce during an 8 hour event. The pressure and intensity was so exciting, and we couldn't be happier for the 2021 James Gang Fishing Bass Invitational Champions, BRENT & MATTHEW FORSMAN!!!

1ST PLACE - BRENT & MATTHEW FORSMAN - 23.95 LBS ON 12 FISH

2ND PLACE - ALEX & JESSE PIONTEK - 23.90 LBS ON 12 FISH

DAILY LUNKER AWARD - ALEX PIONTEK
2.81 LBS

FINAL STANDINGS

THANK YOU ANGLERS! PLEASE JOIN US AT LONG LAKE, NEW AUBURN SAT SEPT 25, 2021!!!!

CLICK HERE FOR JAMES GANG FISHING MLF LONG LAKE INFO

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24/7 BAIT & TACKLE VENDING BLOOMER, WI / JAMES GANG LURES IN MERCER, WI / PRE-SPAWN IS HERE!

5/19/2021

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NORTHERN PIKE LANDED ON A 1/4oz JAMES GANG FISHING BABY SQUID BAIT

24/7 BAIT & TACKLE COMES TO THE BACK 40(BLOOMER, WI)

JAMES GANG CEO ALEXANDER has made a business decision to re-locate his top-of-the-line vending machine to the Back 40 Dining & Cocktails, near. Bloomer, WI on the intersection of Hwys 64 & 40. After his first year of vending business, he learned from his customers what to stock the machine with, and how to manage vending live bait efficiently. Our summer season in 2020 was a great success, as crawlers, leeches, and cat fishing equipment led the way. Ice fishing started off strong at first ice as the crappie ,minnows were the big hit. We have improved our transport equipment and feel very dialed in on the minnow vending process after some experimenting with cooling and packaging. Our minnows are now sold in clear containers, and we made it through the winter with ZERO customer refund requests for minnow quality. We are frequently re-stocking and changing out our live bait, ensuring customer satisfaction. Our new location will feature: cat fish dough bait, dip bait, crawlers, worms, leeches, sinkers, bobbers, trailer bearings, trailer grease, 2-cycle oil, bug repellent, flashlights, fishing line, top-quality lures, hooks, live minnows, deer hunting equipment, JBs Fish Sauce, and more. We accept credit or cash 24 hrs of the day. We are located north of Bloomer, convenient for the anglers of the Island Lake, Long Lake, & Chippewa County forest regions, as well as Rock & Marshmiller lakes. The Back 40 serves EXCELLENT food as well as drinks and hosts private parties in addition to a farmer's market on weekends. Check them out and stock up on your fishing essentials any hour of the day at the Back 40 vending location!!

JAMES GANG FISHING LURES AVAILABLE IN MERCER, WI

The TURTLE RIVER TRADING COMPANY has began selling our Nest Invader weedless skirted jigs in 3/8 oz sizes. These jigs were our top fish producer in 2020, and worked well at the Turtle Flambeau Flowage near Mercer, WI. Turtle River is carrying 6 hot colors for their customers, as well as a great assortment of major name brands in addition to live bait. Check them out if you are in the area and Scot will give you the latest fishing report on the flowage.

PRE-SPAWN IS HERE!

CRAPPIES, BASS, & PIKE have been picking up in Wisconsin, and our next warm weather is sure to put the bass on their beds. Crappies showed themselves well in the shallows recently, and pike top what they normally do, harass fish around vegetation. Kaeden, Easton, & Nicole Brandner found some crappies in a river in NW Wisconsin while fishing from a bank. Uncle Jesse found a few bass and northern pike, while scouting out some new bodies of water near New Auburn. Pro-Staffer and Kayak guide Chang For used his James Gang Lovertail 2 to expose some bass and pike on a tougher day of fishing. And pro-staffer Doc Gilles pulled up a limit of smallmouth bass while pre-fishing for his next tournament.

THE BRANDNERS BROUGHT HOME A MEALS OF RIVER CRAPPIES

UNCLE JESSE SCOUTS SOME NEW WATER FOR BASS & PIKE ACTION

CHANG LOR PUTS HIS FEELFREE KAYAK TO WORK, LANDING SOME LT2 FISH

STAY TUNED FOR THE 2021 JAMES GANG INVITATIONAL RESULTS ON OLD ABE LAKE, WI!!

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HOLIDAY SALE @ JAMES GANG FISHING PREMIUM HAND-CRAFTED LURES! ICE FISHING TACKLE IN OUR 24/7 VENDING MACHINE - HOLCOMBE, WI

12/8/2020

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LOVERTAIL 2, BEE WHACKER, & MUSKY LURES ON SALE TO DEC 31! FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED! ALLOW 2-3 WEEKS FOR BUILD & DELIVERY

ICE FISHING TACKLE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR 24/7 VENDING MACHINE IN HOLCOMBE, WI

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Fall Jet Boats, Philadelphia History, Riverbank and Mid-Fall Success

11/1/2020

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MAT EICHINGER, UNCLE JESSE, & NORB ROEGER HAD A BLAST FISHING WITH ALEX & ALAYNA IN 49 DEGREE SMALLMOUTH WATERS IN MID-OCTOBER

EDUCATED IN PHILADELPHIA

MIKE BREEDING OF GRATEFUL GUIDES IS A FANTASTIC TEACHER & BRINGS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE ON THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER IN HIS CUSTOM JET BOAT

FISHING THE ULTRA-CLEAR SUSQUEHANNA RIVER

As an aspiring fishing guide in the very near future, I planned on educating myself by hiring some of the best guides in the country, watching closely as they use their personal teaching methods, as well as understanding how each guide has a unique way of locating fish for clients, and how they handle the stress of a tough bite as they try to present a successful day for their customers. I feel very blessed to have shared the boat with Hall of Fame angler Dale Stroschein of Sturgeon Bay, WI few years back. The knowledge gained during that trip was huge, as we analyzed our extremely tough day that resulted in several trophy smallmouth by sunset in late-October. Also a treat with a highly-respected and high-priced guide in combination with their knowledge is the fact that you get to use top-notch boats and equipment. Dale has worked so hard over a legendary career to land a solid sponsorship with Nitro boats. Being in his 450 hp Nitro SZ-21v is such a treat on the brutal waters of the Great Lakes. An extra deep walleye boat design such as his can handle the rough waters so well, and the huge outboard can push his heavy boats at high speeds. At the opposite end of the spectrum is riding in the custom jet boat owned by Grateful Guides guide service of Hanover, Pennsylvania.

GRATEFUL GUIDES TREATS THEIR CUSTOMERS WITH A 250 HP INBOARD JETBOAT

As a a long-time avid Mike Iaconelli fan, I have always enjoyed his work on tv, such as CITY LIMITS FISHING, GOING IKE, & FISH MY CITY on the major tv networks. One episode really caught my attention, as Mike fished the Susquehanna River with professional guide Mike Breeding and Bassmaster Elite Fletcher Shryock for smallmouth bass in a jet boat. I have never experienced riding in or fishing from a jet boat, and with the multiple rivers present in Wisconsin, it is something that I am interested in learning about. My expectations for the Susquehanna River was a dirty, or stained river around 8-12' deep running through a small village town out in the country. The education started as I neared the Capitol City of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, to meet Mike. I felt like a fool not knowing that I was fishing the capitol of the state in ultra-clear and super shallow waters. A lack of rain had brought the average depth of the river down to around 1 foot deep! The river is fed from the crystal-clear waters of Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, NY. I have never seen a clear river before. It was very intense flying across 1 foot of water in a large boat and not hitting bottom. It was actually an absolute blast! I found it very hard to believe that these waters could possibly hold smallmouth bass in such low depths. Mike handed me some finesse plastics and we got to work. We fished a short time and Mike had a very nice 3 lb class smallmouth bass to the back of the boat, that threw his lure. Seeing a bass in this shallow water gave me the confidence to cast anywhere he instructed me to knowing that we were around them. Mike said to expect a brutally tough day in the low water conditions. He also spent the majority of the day focusing on teaching me how to read river currents, looking for very subtle structure changes my looking at the differences in bubbles on the surface near eddies and underwater cover such as rocks and boulders.

FISHING SUPER TOUGH CONDITIONS CAN PRODUCE QUALITY BASS WITH PATIENCE AND AN ULTRA-FINESSE PRESENTATION - THANK YOU GRATEFUL GUIDES!

Mike and I cycled through a few finesse plastics, and one that I was very excited to throw was one of my confidence lures - a plastic jerkshad. Mike said that there wasn't much for wood cover present in the main river, so nose-hooking the lure is a better choice than fishing it weedless. I began casting and didn't take long to hook up on a quality Susquehanna River smallmouth bass.

MY FIRST OF 8 QUALITY SMALLMOUTH BASS BOATED WITH GRATEFUL GUIDES

As we continued covering some key locations, we found it very difficult finding a pattern or a school of fish. It seemed that the fish were holding very tight to hard bottom with very minor depressions in the super shallow water. Mike pulled up to a grassy flat and instructed me to cast as far as I could across the river channel, and I instantly hooked up to a very nice fish. We didn't bother to use a scale or ruler, but I would guess throughout the day we landed several fish around or just over 3 lbs, and this one was approaching closer to 4 pounds.

OUR BIGGEST CATCH OF THE DAY - A NEAR 4 POUND SMALLMOUTH BASS!

After flipping from a swing shift at work, and the late-night flight from Minnesota to Philadelphia International Airport, I was feeling absolutely exhausted through the later part of our day. We had a stretch of a few hours without a bite, then Mike turned it around by finally getting us on the board with our 10th smallmouth bass of the day. Minutes later, I thought I felt a tiny bump on my lure as it hit the surface. I looked up and saw a boil where I had casted and felt sure that there was a fish present. I began to twitch the jerkshad as erratic as possible. I thought I may have felt another light bump so I kept the jerkshad darting at a high speed. Finally, my lure was absolutely clobbered as I pulled back and stuck the hook into the roof of the bass's mouth. The fish was probably our second biggest of the day and easily over 3 pounds, giving me an awesome battle all the way to the boat. Within a few casts, Mike hooked up on a smaller bass that would end up being our 12th and final fish of the day.

THANK YOU MIKE BREEDING & GRATEFUL GUIDES!

Fishing with Mike Breeding was an absolute treat! Mike has a lot of enthusiasm and makes your fishing outing feel like a party as he is out for a good time. But he also is a very talented angler and really understands his water in which he runs his guide service. Mike has spent 17 years running the Susquehanna River in his jet boats and has very strong teaching skills. It was quite the experience being in such clear water with super low levels. And riding over that in a jet boat was so fun! Thank you Mike for helping this Wisconsin boy boat 8 of your prized beautiful smallmouth in conditions that most anglers wouldn't understand where to begin or how to generate a single bite all day. I understand why Mike Iaconelli chose to feature your service on his tv show and I was extremely impressed with the entire experience. Mike has very affordable rates for his top-notch, unique service, and you can find more information by clicking on the button below.

CLICK HERE FOR GRATEFUL GUIDES INFO

ATTENDING BASS UNIVERSITY WITH IKE LIVE'S BTC & PETE GLUSZEK

UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY, MARYLAND

3X BASSMASTER CLASSIC PRO PETE GLUZSEK & IKE LIVE PRODUCER BRIAN "THE CARPENTER" ARE HAVING FUN CRACKING JOKES & CATCHING BASS

THE CAST OF IKE LIVE: DAVE B, MIKE I, BECKY I, PETE G, BRIAN THE CARPENTER

During the past several Bassmaster Classics, legendary world champion and world-famous "goof-ball" Mike Iaconelli has hosted an "after-party" after the champion had received their trophy. I was privileged to find vacation time for a 46 hour experience in 2019 to fly to Knoxville and watch Ott DeFoe become a world champion, and attend the IKE LIVE-sponsored party after the event. I was very excited to mingle with some professional anglers that I followed on ESPN for so long, people that I also had previously met briefly at weigh ins in the past. What I was excited the most for was to meet the Ike Live crew for the first time, as I had been a fan of since the beginning in 2013. As expected, Mike was super busy giving time to every single attendee and finding ways to interact with all of them. I had a lot of fun chatting with Brian "The Carpenter" and Pete Gluszek as we talked about fishing in Wisconsin and the local fishing scene near New Jersey. I asked Pete about his guide service availability on Lake Champlain and the Upper Chesapeake Bay. He told me that late April is prime for giant largemouth bass, so we agreed on a future trip in 2020. When the time was near, the trip was booked for both Pete Gluszek's Guide Service & Grateful Guides. As COVID19 hit the world news, we felt forced to re-schedule for a fall smallmouth trip to avoid any travel bans or restrictions. Finally October arrived and I was able to travel to New Jersey and fish my two guide trips planned so long ago. Brian took time out of his very busy schedule to join us on the water as he accepted my invite. With the crazy year and hectic schedule, the two friends hadn't had an opportunity in 2020 to get in the boat together and were very thankful that I got all three of us to line it up for the day of fun.

BRIAN GOES "DOUBLE-UP"

Before our day began, I had told Pete that I was a very weak crankbait angler, and wanted to work on crankbait fishing if the bite presented itself. Pete is a very skilled angler in multiple categories, and crankbaits is one of his strongest methods he uses to catch fish. We started out throwing crankbaits near points, rocks, rip-rap, and wood cover. Pete and Brian were very good at using their time efficiently, covering high-percentage areas with fast and slow lures, then moving on quickly as they searched for fish. They definitely chose to not waste time fishing "dead" areas void of fish. As more time went on, Pete decided to hang it up and make a long run with his 250 hp Bass Cat 21' boat to some other areas that he had found success on in the past. As we pulled up, we switched over to some ultra-finesse soft plastics. It wasn't long and I hooked into a young smallmouth bass. But as I got it to the side of the boat, a school of better bass were with it trying to steal the lure. Not wasting an opportunity, Brian quickly dropped his favorite ned rig set up and hooked up with a quality smallmouth bass. We reeled both of our fish up at the same time, making Pete proud as we smiled with the first two fish of the day. That area remained hot with the finesse bite, and we continued to catch numbers of smallmouth bass, some of them in respectable sizes.

PETE GLUSZEK PUT BRIAN & I ON A SOLID SMALLMOUTH SCHOOL IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY

BRIAN BOATS THE BIGGEST SMALLMOUTH OF THE DAY, REDEEMING HIMSELF AFTER LOSING A BIGGER ONE AT BOATSIDE EARLIER

ONCE AGAIN BTC PULLS HIS "DOUBLE-UP" TRICK TRYING TO STEAL THE SHOW

After we burned out the school on multiple presentations, Pete shot us across the bay looking for more schools of feeding fish. Brian landed another smallmouth bass near a log that Pete instructed me to cast to that I kept missing as I battled the wind with poor casts. We continued on, covering points, small bays, and grass edges, with no luck. Pete and Brian gave me the option of running to areas in which they believed a mix of largemouth and smallmouth were present, and I agreed we needed to keep moving. But before we would leave the area entirely, we had to try and land one more smallmouth from our previously "hot" area. We failed to land a smallmouth, but were surprised as I boated a largemouth before we bailed.

I LANDED MY FIRST LARGEMOUTH BASS OF THE DAY ON A SLOW-SINKING WORM THAT SLOWLY SUNK BTC'S DAY. JUST KIDDING BRIAN....

We made a move to fish a heavily-pressured area of wood cover, and saw boats everywhere. It was a windy day and this area was protected and calm. Bass boats, jon boats, and a kayak were all hitting the wood cover hard. As Doctor Kayak rounded the corner, I had began casting in the open shallow flats next to the wood cover and began catching some more largemouth bass on the slow-sinking worm. Pete decided to join the party as SENKO CLAUS landed his first bass of the day!!

GETTING EDUCATED BY THE DEAN OF BASS UNIVERSITY TV, PETE GLUSZEK

We made the final run to the area where smallmouth and largemouths would be mixed. This is another area Pete was confident that I could generate a crankbait bite. Immediately after my cast towards the rocks, I hooked into a possible largemouth bass of a lifetime. Halfway to the boat, I lost the fish as I fought it with 100% of effort.

Both Brian & Pete were awesome as they watched my mechanics and coached my many flaws in casting as well as my issues losing fish on the retrieve. I hooked into a ridiculous battle on a crankbait, and right away we knew it wasn't a bass. In end result was a common carp snagged in the tail by the DT-Fat crankbait.

A TAIL-SNAGGED BATTLE WITH "BUGLE LIPS" WAS A FUN FIGHT!

Moments later, our favorite podcast producer hooked into a bass fishing near some docks. It appeared that a lot of baitfish were busting near the surface and the area was full of life. As we fished the area with multiple presentations, Pete caught himself a striped bass on a crankbait. We were running out of time when I finally hooked into a largemouth bass on crankbait as we ended our day on the water.

BRIAN GIVING ME STRAIGHT UP CHIP DIAMOND DISRESPECT BUT I KNEW DEEP DOWN HE WAS A PROUD MENTOR AS I FINALLY CRANKED UP A LARGEMOUTH

A SINCERE THANKS.....

The time spend on the water with Mike, Pete, and Brian was very special to me. I know that Mike Breeding and Pete Gluszek felt humbled that I would make a trip so far to fish with them, and it was totally worth the time spent traveling to climb in the boats with such elite anglers in very unique fisheries. I learned so much as I was exposed to such a different atmosphere from Wisconsin waters. We made a lot of great memories and had many laughs in the boat as I studied the fishing game and the guiding styles of these fine professionals. Thank you Pete, and I will be rooting for you in the coming years to win another Bassmaster Open to send you into another Bassmaster Classic. Thank you Mike Breeding, I have intentions on returning in a few years with my son to fish the river with you once again. Thank you Brian, your support, trash-talking, fishing tips, and the time out after fishing- it was truly appreciated! You are a casting machine, by the way. I hope an opportunity comes along in the coming years that you guys can fish the premium waters of Wisconsin with me and find ourselves some under-pressured slobs in the lily pads, under the trees, and in the eddies.

ENJOYING THE GREAT HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA

INDEPENDENCE HALL, BIRTHPLACE OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

THE ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS LIBERTY BELL

ENJOYING A PHILLY CHEESE STEAK

CRANKIN' THE FLAMBEAU RIVER IN MID-FALL

We took to the Flambeau River the day after I returned from New Jersey, to chase some fall smallmouth on crankbaits. Pete told me during the guide trip to keep crankin' and keep learning as I add them into the mix more frequently. The DT6 Demon, a Cotton Cordell Deep custom painted in "Doctor Craw" and a Rapala Scatter Rap did a lot of damage on this fine outing in 48 degree water temps. James Gang Fishing Company CEO Alex Piontek boated all 4 smallmouth bass that bit his crankbaits on this day, as well as a very nice 12" yellow perch. His top two bass of the day are his new personal records, the biggest weighing 3 lbs 8 oz at 17.5"! Alayna H. landed an absolute giant at 16.5" that broke the 3# mark with a huge belly on it. Norb Roeger used his trusty jig around deep wood cover and boated another girthy sow over 17" as well. Pro staffer Mat Eichinger landed the heaviest bass of the day, a 3 lb 12 oz beast around 17.75"

DOC & ZIM SHOWING US ALL UP AGAIN

GOOD BUDDY ZIM HAD FUN CRANKIN' A 20" & 18.5" SMALLMOUTH BASS ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER

CONGRATS TO ZIM FOR CATCHING HIS BIGGEST SMALLMOUTH TO DATE!

CAN YOU SAY "WOW!" A TIGER MUSKY CAUGHT FROM SHORE, TROY LINDNER STYLE

PRO-STAFFER DOC GILLES WITH A HUGE-BELLIED NORTHERN PIKE AT 35"

SUPER PROUD DAD MOMENT! WAY TO GO ALEX!

THANK YOU CUSTOMERS & LOOK FOR OUR NEXT VENDING MACHINE UPDATES......

ICE FISHING TACKLE & LIVE BAIT COMING SOON!!!!!

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DROPPING WATER TEMPS/FISHING REPORTS, HUNTING SUPPLIES IN VENDING MACHINE, BASS ANGLER MAGAZINE, INTRO TO FISHING BOOK ON AMAZON

9/22/2020

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THE JAMES GANG ALWAYS APPRECIATES MOTHER NATURE'S BEAUTY IN FALL
FLAMBEAU RIVER, WI

DOOR COUNTY - NASTY AT TIMES, BUT REWARDING

UNCLE JESSE WITH A DOOR COUNTY 17.25" SMALLMOUTH WEIGHING 3 LBS 9 OZ

Mother Nature decided to remind the anglers of Door County Wisconsin recently that she can be wicked when she doesn't want boat traffic out on the big water. I had an opportunity to hop in the boat with local anglers Eric VanIten & Matt Liebeck for a few hours 2 days in a row in mid September, as we battled heavy winds and obnoxious rain during our fishing trips. The rain wasn't near as wet as the waves we were "eating" approaching 6' in height, as the five footers were trouble enough and pushed us into areas that were tolerable. Cousin "Herb" and Matt taught me how the new Garmin LiveScope works, as I have never seen this new technology before. It was quite a difference-maker, as you can skip many areas if you don't see fish present. Seeing fish on the LiveScope doesn't guarantee bites, but eliminates a lot of time "dead water" when an angler is on the search for key areas.

ERIC VANITEN WITH A 17+" SMALLMOUTH BASS CAUGHT IMITATING A GOBY

MATT LIEBECK LANDS A 2 LB SMALLMOUTH BASS, AS HE TRIES TO LOCATE A SCHOOL OF BIGGER FISH WITH HIS ELECTRONICS IN DOOR COUNTY

We started of with a lot of bites from juvenile bass, as well as a goby. The boys were looking for some structure off shore that were holding schools of 3 lb or better sized smallmouth bass. With the tough weather conditions, the fish were in a negative feeding pattern, and very hard to coax a bite off of. Ultra-finesse tactics were the only way we were producing bites during the two days, and many times the fish ignored or swam away from our presentations, even in deep water. I managed a few small bass by using the Storm Arashi Spybait on 6 lb flourocarbon on an Ardent Finesse rod & reel setup. I would let the lure sink with its natural "shimmy" close to the bottom in 12' of water, then reel it back as slow as I could, trying to run the bottom of the water column. I switched to "cracking" a tube, a method that I learned off Bass University TV by Mark Zona. I actually used his giant tube jig design and his Strike King goby colored tube. I managed to hook up one fish in about 14 feet of water, unfortunately it was a large goby that grabbed it. I played around rotating through jerkbaits, Baby Squid Baits, and swimbaits, which all are my top lures in Lake Michigan. This time was all a "no-go" as they weren't aggressive enough to chase. The following day I switched over to a drop shot that I poured at home with a kiwi iridescent discontinued color and as I dropped my rig on top of a bass in LiveScope in 25' of water, I immediately felt weight. I assumed it was a snag as I had fished so long in two days with very little action. The fish put up a fantastic fight on 6lb flourocarbon on an Ardent Finesse rod. When Eric netted the fish, it looked huge due to its healthy girth. I was hoping it was 18-19" on the bumpboard, but it measured at 17.25." Its healthy body added several ounces to a fish at that length as it weighed over 3.5 lbs on a scale. A great fish for sure. Healthy, thick fish like this, 3 lbs or more are common in this area. When you are lucky enough to hook into Door County bass pushing 20-23," the potential for 5 or even 6 pounds is realistic. On occasion a 7-8 pound smallmouth is weighed and verified in this area in professional tournaments. It did feel tougher than usual, as this area has received so much pressure compared to years in the past. With the Canadian border closed to American anglers due to COVID19 regulations in 2020, and the increased amount of tournaments, these fish are showing some signs of conditioning and not quite as easy to fish without more finesse techniques. Using small, slow moving lures combined with scents are a great way to fish this area. And ideally a 25" transom super-deep walleye boat is the way to challenge these waters when the waves get nasty.

JAMES GANG FISHING PRO STAFFER KEVIN ROGALSKI WITH A DOOR COUNTY SMALLMOUTH

JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY HAS ADDED HUNTING SUPPLIES IN THEIR HOLCOMBE, WI VENDING MACHINE ON HWY 27!!! DOE ESTROUS, BUCK BOMBS, GRUNT CALLS, FIELD DRESSING GLOVES, AND MORE!!!

EICHINGER SCORES BIG FROM THE BANKS OF WISSOTA

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER WITH A 18+" SMALLMOUTH BASS OFF THE BANK

KAEDEN B LANDS HIS FIRST MUSKY!

DOC GILLES IS THE CRANKBAIT MAN!

ENJOYING THE 55 DEGREE SUN IN ALGOMA, WI

"DOCTOR CRAW" IS AVAILABLE FOR THE EARLY TO MID-FALL BITE!

WE ARE NOW OFFERING THE BLACK & RED COMBO CALLED "DOCTOR CRAW" IN OUR JAMES GANG BASSJERKER SUSPENDING JERKBAIT. THEY ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT $10 PLUS FREE SHIPPING. THIS COLOR WILL BE RED HOT UNTIL THE WATER TEMPS DROP BELOW 50 DEGREES AS THEY SIMULATE A CRAWFISH IN STAINED WATERS. QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED, CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW TO ORDER!!

DOCTOR CRAW BASS JERKER 3.25"

BASS ANGLER MAGAZINE FALL ISSUE NOW AVAILABLE!

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF BAM! I wrote an article about catching late fall smallmouth in water temps from 40-49 degrees near reservoir winter holes at the heads of dams. Its an easy way to fish that can catch you trophy fish! James Gang Bootykicker Swimbaits, Baby Squid Baits, Deep-Diving Crankbaits, blade baits, 1/2 oz bladed jigs, and finesse lures can really catch them this time of year. Thank you for everyone's support!

BEGINNER's BOOK ON FISHING AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM

This internationally-published book is aimed to adult beginners and kids middle to high school age. If you need to know the simple basics, this book will get you started. Bank fishing for rough fish, bluegill fishing with bobber and worm, to bass, and more. I set the price to be extremely affordable at minimal profits and have proudly donated several copies to veterans with PTSD so they can cope with their challenges by enjoying nature. Click the button below to order your copy!!

FISHING BASICS BOOK

ENJOY THE EARLY FALL WEATHER, AND TAKE A KID FISHING!!!!!

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LATE SUMMER REPORTS, WI SLAY NATION, RIVERBANK RALLY WINNERS, LOCAL ANGLER WINS BASSMASTER NATION NORTHERN CHAMPIONSHIP

8/31/2020

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LOCAL ACE PAT SCHLAPPER IS NORTHERN BASSMASTER NATION CHAMPION

Pat Schlapper of Eleva, WI has dominated the local fishing scene for years. He has now gone for the leap to fish the top level of bass fishing. He is currently sitting in the top bracket in the Bassmaster Opens, hoping to qualify for the Bassmaster Elites in 2021. He has also made it to the Bassmaster Nation championship rounds from his outstanding finishes in club tournaments. His recent trip to the regionals on Lake Vermillion was not suprising to anglers in Western Wisconsin, as the hard-working Pat that puts in hours and hours as he studies lakes looking for winning fish found himself another victory. He is the Northern Region champion and will move closer to qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic world championship. The button below will bring you to the official coverage of Pat's victory.

Bassmaster.com Schlapper Vermillion

KINSEY B CATCHES A GIANT BASS IN OCONTO COUNTY

MIKE PIONTEK IS PROUD AS HE WATCHED HIS GRANDDAUGHTER KINSEY LAND A 21" BASS WEIGHING 4 LBS 2 OZ. THE BASS ATE A SMALL BLUEGILL KINSEY HOOKED.

BROTHER COLTON LANDS A BASS AS WELL

PRO STAFFERS EICHINGER & DUNCAN SHOW UP WELL AT MILLER DAM

WATSON USES OUR NEST INVADER FOR KBF TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

WI RIVERBANK RALLY IS READY FOR STURGEON CHAMPIONSHIP

AIDEN LEIPNITZ TAKES THE LEAD ON 2 CATEGORIES AT THE END OF THE WI RIVERBANK RALLY SPECIES CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

TASHA LUNDERVILLE TAKES THE SUCKER CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE FINAL DAYS AND ALSO EXTENDED HER COMMON CARP LEAD WITH A 33" FISH IN THE FINAL WEEK

STAY TUNED FOR THE STURGEON CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND OF AIDEN LEIPNITZ, TASHA LUNDERVILLE, AND PAUL FANKHAUSER ON SATURDAY SEPT 5!!

WI SLAY NATION FINISHES SEASON #1

The small boats Slay Nation series finished up its 2020 season. This series is aimed towards smaller, more affordable watercraft, such as jonboats, kayaks, canoes, and small aluminum boats. Outboard motors are not allowed to be used in this series. Travis Gasper had a very strong season, catching a high number of nice sized largemouth bass on multiple lakes. He was barely beat out by young Alayna and her partner Mat Eichinger for AOY points but it was close all year. Each team won events in 2020 on some fantastic lakes. The final event was won as Doc Gilles stole the show catching solid smallmouth bass on Red Cedar Lake in up to 31' of water on his DT6 Ike's Custom Ink Demon crankbait (in its face!) Jesse James threw a James Gang Fishing Double Lor Buzz to win the Big Bass award in the final event, a 17.5" smallmouth that was hiding under the deep end of wood cover. It was a fun season, as Jesse & his gorgeous wife Angela took 2nd place on Staples Lake earlier in the season. We are hoping that the WI Slay Nation expands in 2021 and we are able to fish in future events. Entry fees are very low and the prize giveaways at each event from sponsers are fantastic!!

SLAY NATION RED CEDAR LAKE 2020

BIG BASS AWARD WAS 17.5" SMALLMOUTH CAUGHT ON JAMES GANG DOUBLE LOR BUZZ

DOC GILLES LAID THE HAMMER DOWN FOR A 5 FISH LIMIT USING IACONELLI's DEMON DT6 & JB'S FISH SAUCE

FIRST PLACE & BIG BASS $170 WINNERS

DOUBLE LOR BUZZ AVAILABLE 24/7 AT JAMES GANG VENDING IN HOLCOMBE WI

GOOD LUCK FISHING IN SEPTEMBER FROM CEO ALEX AT JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY!!

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SUMMERTIME BASSIN'

7/22/2020

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Warm water and hot bass fishing!

Another year and another series of twists by Mother Nature as the weather remains strange and unpredictable as it usually is in the Midwest during the Summer months. This year is leaning towards a hotter year, with water temperatures reaching crazy highs on the surface! Many local guides are reporting water temps in the mid to high 80s! This isn't Florida, isn't this Wisconsin?

Several Musky experts in the region made the bold decision on their own to cancel their musky trips for a short period of time, waiting for these crazy water temperatures to cool. Much respect should be given to the anglers that made this very unselfish choice in personal fish management, as they are saving the lives of many trophy caliber fish. A long fight with a musky is very exhausting to a large powerful fish full of energy. The warmer the water, the higher their body temperature, and the more likely that the fight to the boat will actually be fatal, as it is not as easy to recover without cooler temperatures. Hat's off to these sportsmen and women for doing the right thing without a law or agency forcing them to do so!

PRO STAFF MAKING THINGS HAPPEN

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER JAZ DUNCAN WITH TWO OF HIS BIGGER BASS

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER HAS ANOTHER FUN TOURNAMENT DAY

James Gang Pro staffers Mat Eichinger and Jaz Duncan caught several bass in the 2020 CWBA Opens on Lake Chetek, landing a few worthy of a livewell and a cull. Congrats Pat Schlapper & Wade Rickey for winning yet another event in NW Wisconsin!

SMALL WATERS, BIG RESULTS!

FISHING HARD-TO-ACCESS PONDS & SMALL LAKES CAN LEAD TO GREAT FISHING

Local SLAY NATION competitor Travis Gasper teamed up with Uncle Jesse to try out some fun fishing in a deep, spring-fed, clear natural lake in NW Wisconsin. As always, Jesse was mainly looking to expand by learning in a different situation, and build on for his future guide service. Upon arrival, the small body of water looked very different. With recent flooding, the 10-14' clarity was reduced to about 3-5' clarity. The heavily-stained water also rose a few feet about average. With water temperatures around 83 degrees at the surface, Jesse assumed that the fish would be relating to deep off-shore structure, something he wanted to learn more about. With his brand new Hummingbird Helix 12 Mega, he and his fishing buddy for the day set out on their adventure at sunrise.

Typically this small body of water is only known for producing larger-than-average fish, with minimal encounters of juvenile bass. The "memory" spots that produced previously were full of aggressive juveniles this trip, throwing Jesse for a complete loop. Typically the offshore rock points underwater, as well as ledges, and deep wood cover is where the damage gets done. On this day, these places were pretty much worthless. A few hours in, the entire north half of the lake was unproductive. Not even a strike or a follow-up. More amazingly, not even a stinky northern pike was sniffing around our lures. As we continued to graph and cover water with side-imaging, we continued to fail marking fish.

We gave up on fishing "memory" spots and decided to change things up. We focused on a rock reef offshore looking for suspending bass, and Travis hooked up with his bluegill-colored jerkbait.

We continued working the rock reef and began marking and seeing some fish. Typically an area for smallmouth bass, we were suprised to see multiple larger largemouth bass in shallow harassing baby bluegills. We failed to get any of them to strike, so we worked the shoreline drop offs of wood cover and lily pads. Travis missed a very good bite on a thick log on a ledge, using a bluegill-colored 1/2 oz homemade jig. We continued on and Jesse snagged a lily pad with his favorite lure, a James Gang BASS JERKER suspending jerkbait. As he tried to snap the lure free several times, the water erupted! He began reeling and to his pleasant surprise, he caught his first ever "LILY PAD" smallmouth bass.

Moving along the shoreline, Travis and Jesse seen a few smallmouth harassing some baitfish near wood cover. Jesse was able to boat a few very young smallmouth on his Bass Jerker in this area, but the two big fish would not cooperate. Instead they teased us and swam under and around the boat to "rub it in" that they were there and not going to bite. Jesse decided to make a run back to the rock reef and was immediately bit off by a strong, toothy pike. As he was tying on a second BASS JERKER, two smallmouth boiled next to the boat chasing either a baitfish or a dragonfly. The Helix 12 Mega showed several suspending bass on both sides of the boat suspended in 10-12 feet of water on this rock reef. The aquatic world was alive here! Jesse finally cast his new Bass Jerker and immediately hooked up, with a 16.5" largemouth that ended up being the biggest of the day.

At this point, Jesse had boated around 14 fish, while Travis only had about 8. Travis wasn't liking that at all. We both worked some previous shorelines that produced smaller fish earlier in the day, and couldn't find any activity. It was time for another move. Travis wanted to fish an entire new area with flooded vegetation. Immediately he hooked up on his Berkley Pit Boss, and he was excited.

Jesse switched over to a James Gang firetiger LOVERTAIL 2 and immediately had blow ups and misses in the lily pad pockets. After several missed bites, he switched to a Red & White Dunkin' Frog. Multiple hits took place on that lure as well, then one took the double-hooked lure in the mouth, and with a Greg Hackney-hookset, that fish was done for. This fish was around 14," and the juvenile-bass fishing was done for the day. As Jesse made a run to the ramp with his 36V Motorguide at 4 mph, Travis continuously would cast his Pit Boss ahead of the boat and hook up! Each fish was in the 14-16.5" range, all decent quality fish that fought hard.

After several laughs and celebrations, Travis landed his 7th fish on the way back, his best of the day around 16-16.5." The boys loaded up the General Lee "CRAWFISH BANDIT" boat and headed back home after boating 30 bass up to 16.5." As usual, a lot was learned during the struggles early on, but after the patterns were discovered, many fish were caught. The mid-day rock reef bite produced multiple quality fish on the Bass Jerker covered in PERCH JUICE JB's Fish Sauce Mist, and the second pattern was the final flooded vegetation bite on the Pit Boss and James Gang Dunkin' Frog. A hollow-body frog would have also worked very well in that final part of the day.

GASPER GETS REVENGE

Apparently tying someone with 15 fish makes Travis upset. So the following Sunday he came back to this place by himself with some freshly tied 1/2 jigs that he had made. He fished the "memory spots" that I referred to from the past of deep wood cover on ledges, as well as some drop-shotting for multiple smallmouth catches. On his best moment of the day, Travis set the hook on his jig in the deep wood cover and his lure was engulfed by the biggest bass of his life! This beautiful TROPHY largemouth was 22" long, and weighed 5 lbs 10 oz fully spawned out! There is a very good possibility that this fish was a 6 lb class fish during its peak in 2020! Fish like this are extremely rare in Wisconsin, and this is why allowing them to grow old in hard-to-access lakes is so important. Travis took a few pictures of this "fish-of-a-lifetime," then released the trophy to continue to grow and fight some more! Congratulations Travis and much thanks for releasing such an incredible fish!!

1/4 oz DOUBLE BUZZBAIT AVAILABLE SOON!

JAMES GANG FISHING DOUBLE LOR BUZZ

The Double Lor Buzz by James Gang Fishing is in its final test mode at the moment and should be available online on this site as well as in our 24/7 Vending machine in Holcombe on Hwy 27 at Big Minnow Bar & Grill by Mid-August. This high quality lure will be selling for $10 with free shipping. Multiple colors will be available as well as custom options. Stay tuned!!

GOOD LUCK FISHING!!!

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JAMES GANG FISHING BRINGS 24/7 BAIT & TACKLE VENDING TO HOLCOMBE!!

6/27/2020

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IN THE FINAL WEEK OF JUNE, JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY CEO & FOUNDER ALEX HAS INVESTED IN AND ACTIVATED THE HOLCOMBE AREA'S FIRST 24/7 BAIT & TACKLE VENDING MACHINE. THIS MACHINE IS STOCKED WITH LEECHES, NIGHTCRAWLERS, MINNOWS, WAXIES, LEAF WORMS, AS WELL AS TACKLE & SUPPLIES FOR THE ANGLER ON THE GO!

OTHER TACKLE & SUPPLIES AVAILABLE NOW!

Besides hooks, slip bobbers, sinkers, and other terminal tackle, Alex also included some much needed items for the river anglers, boaters, and even drivers with trailer issues. The machine is stocked with 1" wheel bearing kits as well as marine-grade grease for the unfortunate trailer breakdown. Remember this is 24/7 service, so if you are within a reasonable distance of Holcombe, WI at any time, this is available to you. Sunglasses, bug spray, river sinkers, flashlights, glow lights, JB's Fish Sauce, carp boilies, catfish bait nuggets, James Gang Fishing hand-crafted lures, and fishing line are all available at your convenience in this great location on Hwy 27 at the Big Minnow Bar & Grill. The available items will be seasonal, as sporting goods relating to the hunters and ice fisherman will replace the summer angling items in the fall through winter months.

MINNOWS IN A BAG? HOW DOES IT WORK??

We are sure anglers are hesitant when hearing that minnows can be purchased without aeration in a minnow vending machine. Believe us, WE WERE TOO! But after talking to actual vending machine owners instead of sales pitches, we found that this system of minnow sales is successful and works very well. The key is to use the correct packaging, use top quality bait, treat the water correctly, and sell them in small quantities to preserve the oxygen. In this refrigerated machine, the amount of oxygen needed is reduced, and will give the lively minnows 7+ days of life in the vending machine. We are labeling a "SELL BY" date on all of our minnow vends so that the angler will know that the minnows are still alive. In the case of any spoiled live bait of any kind, James Gang Fishing Company will definitely work with the customer to give them a FULL REFUND if they clearly were sold spoiled bait. We will be checking our stock frequently as we refill our inventory, and we will make sure to inspect our live bait during each visit.

WHERE IS THE MACHINE'S PHYSICAL ADDRESS??

BIG MINNOW BAR & GRILL is open 6 days a week, Tues-Sunday from 10 AM to Bar Close. They have fantastic food at affordable prices and a large variety on their menu. Their staff is very friendly and the local crowd is a very fun one that is mainly composed of anglers and people visiting the lake, their cabins, or their nearby campers. Big Minnow has been legendary in the area for decades, and the owners that took over a few years ago have done a fantastic job keeping the place performing at a high-level after the original owners had retired. Stop in for a burger, ask the locals about the fishing reports, and fill your boat up with gas across the street.

PAYMENT METHODS ACCEPTED IN VENDING MACHINE

JAMES GANG FISHING's 24 hr vending will accept cash up to $20 bills, and a credit card reader will be enabled around or before the July 4th holiday weekend.

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Slay Nation #1 complete! Nest Invaders on BACK ORDER, LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP FOR 2020 WI RIVERBANK RALLY!

5/26/2020

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STAPLES LAKE, WI - SLAY NATION EVENT #1

The first event ever in the WI Slay Nation series took place on a fantastic lake in Western Wisconsin. Staples Lake, near Cumberland, WI, produced a lot of quality largemouth bass for the event, and several trophy-sized fish showed themselves while the males were fanning beds for the upcoming spawn. The pattern that seemed to produce was a deeper, 3 foot area in which you could not see the fish present. What was difficult was seeing large bass all over in 2 feet of depth, which led to constantly presenting lures to them sight-fishing most of the day.

9-YR OLD ALAYNA H. PUT HER TEAM ON THE BOARD WITH THIS 16.5" BASS

Over halfway through the day, we failed to land a single bass. We only had one bite, a very nice sized largemouth that hammered a 3/8 oz James Gang nest Invader, but on a moderate taper vibrating jig rod, I failed to get the hook to show itself. The fish threw the lure after a few seconds. As we ran into Mat Eichinger and his partner Alayna, we found that they had boated 5 bass, 3 of them counting in the event. We discussed the struggles of sight-fishing, and they had said that power fishing chatterbaits and jerkbaits produced their fish in weedy flats. We decided to give up on the constant large bass fanning their beds, and headed to the wind-blown side of the lake to try some different finesse presentations. We threw the James Gang Baby Squid Bait and the Dirty Dave hair jig, and instead of largemouth bass, we were just pounded fish after fish by psychotic crappies and aggressive pumpkinseeds. The crappies hung on, while the pumpkinseeds failed to get hooks in their tiny mouths. Angela Piontek landed one on a 4" zoom jerk shad, and I was getting bites on the Lovertail 2, along with the other two bass lures I discussed.

20 BLACK CRAPPIES BOATED IN A BASS TOURNAMENT IS NOT GOING TO WIN MONEY

As we cycled through presentations all day, including moving baits and finesse lures, we bumped into a pike that throttled a James Gang Baby Squid Bait in the wind-blown shoreline that had a green algae bloom washed up. We worked the shoreline down towards the starting boat ramp, and ran into fellow competitor Travis Gasper. While we closed in towards him to ask how his day was going, we noticed he had a very nice largemouth around 18" in his hands. We captured a quick pic with him and he told us that he already boated 25 largemouth bass in that wind-blown area using his favorite finesse presentations! What surprised us was that he was basically doing the EXACT same thing that we were doing, except a foot deeper. He was not targeting bedding fish in 2' of water sight-fishing. Instead he was blind casting staging bass that were actively feeding in the wind-blown algae bloom areas. Once again, a tough day for us turned into a learning experience. My partner this day, my wife Angela, decided to throw her soft plastic Yum craw in the 3' area after talking to Travis, and immediately hooked up! She reeled in as I grabbed the net and we put a 17.5" largemouth bass on the board!

LATE IN THE DAY TRAVIS GASPER IS WELL INTO THE LEAD WITH A LIMIT OF 5 BASS

JAMES GANG FISHING CO VICE PRESIDENT ANGELA PIONTEK WITH A 17.5" BASS

THE COMPETITION HEATS UP IN FINAL HOURS

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER & WI SLAY NATION TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR MAT EICHINGER LANDS A QUALITY LARGEMOUTH AND IS IN 2ND PLACE

With only 2 hours remaining, we didn't feel comfortable trying to fish an area that someone else had hit hard for most of a tournament day. We decided to venture to the opposite side of the lake with our Motorguide 36V troller (no outboards allowed in Slay Nation) and risk losing fishing time to try and present our lures a little deeper in areas of trophy fish present. At the time, Travis had the big bass lead with an 18.75" fish, and we knew that we tangled with some 19-20" class fish on the opposite side in shallow spawning areas that would not bite. As soon as we arrived and began casting a little deeper, we hooked into a feeding fish. This was a better quality fish with a lot of girth, and after my wife netted it we placed it on the Ketch board and found a 17" beauty for the scoreboard. Minutes later, I hooked up again on my Mr Twister black/blue plastic craw, and this one, though shorter at 15," would put us in contention with Mat and Alayna for 2nd place. We felt like we finally figured out the pattern late in the day. As time was winding down, we only had one hour left and a decision to make. Do we make a long run with just a trolling motor to fish a shallow reed area full of bass and waste fishing time? Or do we continue to hit the same areas we pressured all day? We decided to gamble, attempting to pass Travis with the potential of a Big Bass Award and make the time-consuming run to fish the point of reeds with limited time. As we arrived, I threw a cast into an area full of crappies. Immediately I felt a bite in deeper water and set the hook hard, figuring I would quickly get rid of the crappie. To my pleasant surprise, this was not a crappie battling me. Another bigger largemouth bass was battling me through the reeds with my drag screaming. As we scooped it in, we registered our 4th and final fish, a nice 16" bass. We felt very good about our average sizes and thought that we could challenge Mat & Alayna for 2nd place at the end of the day. We were out of time and had to head back and throw a few quick casts near Travis's prime area leading to the 3 PM cutoff. We barely squeaked out 2nd place by just a few inches on our 4 fish bag, and Travis took both first place with his 28 fish boated and also big bass at 18.75!" Congrats to all that came, as every angler boated at least one quality fish. It was a very fun format not using any outboards, and I actually chose to leave my gas tank, gas line, and Helix 12 at home for this one.

UNCLE JESSE WITH A 16" BASS LATE IN THE DAY TO HELP HIS TEAM CLAIM 2ND

TRAVIS GASPER STOLE THE SHOW WITH 28 QUALITY BASS, AND THIS 18.75" MONEY WINNER! CONGRATS FOR THE WIN & BIG BASS AWARD!!

JON BOAT, CANOE, KAYAK, TINY BOATS? COME JOIN US FOR AN AFFORDABLE, FUN TIME! CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW TO BE LINKED TO THE WISCONSIN SLAY NATION!!!

CLICK HERE FOR SLAY NATION INFO

ENTRY FEE ONLY $50/BOAT. CAN FISH SOLO OR AS A 2-ANGLER TEAM. ANNUAL REGISTRATION IS $60 AND INCLUDES A FREE SLAY NATION PERFORMANCE LONG SLEEVE JERSEY

FUN TIMES CAMPING FOR THE EVENT IN TURTLE LAKE, WI

RED HOT NEST INVADERS ON BACKORDER!!

NEST INVADER 3/8 oz swinging weedless swimjig

$12.00

2 PACK swinging weedless jigs, with a premium skirt, a Mustad 4/0 EWG hook, and a premium James Gang Fishing Bootykicker trailer injected by lethal Baits Soft Plastics. This lure can be used as a swim jig or drug on the bottom in cover such as rocks with its football head shape. Skirts are replaceable with the banded type on the market. Jig is powdercoated to match the skirt and trailer color. FREE SHIPPING, typically ships in 1-3 weeks.

Shop

Our hottest lure of 2020 has been by far the NEST INVADER weedless swinging skirted jig. Our 3/8 size heads are currently on backorder from our supplier. Our 1/4 oz versions are ready to order, however. We will continue to run our promotional sale on these until the end of June! Please click on the SHOP button above to order from our online store! FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED!!!

MAY 31 is 2020 WI RIVERBANK RALLY ENTRY CUT-OFF DATE!!! ONLY $10 TO JOIN US!!

If you are a fan of fishing from the river bank for suckers, carp, catfish, sheepshead, or buffalo, come join us for only $10 as we compete for the biggest of each category all summer long! Entry fee taken online at the link below!!!!

2020 WI RIVERBANK RALLY INFO

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TURTLE FLAMBEAU FLOWAGE MAY 15, 2020

5/21/2020

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Welcome to the Turtle Flambeau Flowage!

The Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Northern Wisconsin is a very special place for anglers. This wild body of water stretches a total of 12,942 acres, but doesn't feel like big water when navigating. This is due to the 195 islands, as well as bays and points all over the place. 66 island camping locations are scattered over the flowage for free by the WI DNR. The shores are 90% state-owned and undeveloped, creating the wildest lake in Wisconsin. Wildlife is abundant, and the population of common loons is unheard of. Floating logs are everywhere, jammed into the corners of bays or sunk to the bottom. Combined with stumps and boulders, this lake has the perfect habitat for an extremely healthy population of well-fed girthy smallmouth bass. There are high populations of walleye, big crappies, and muskies as well. All sections of the Flambeau River seem to produce unique, orangish-colored smallmouth with extreme girth. I believe the root-beer colored water gives them their awesome tint. Dominated by the rusty crawfish, these fish have no problem finding food to grow. On May 15th I explored some new areas of the flowage and struck some gold early on, before losing a set of bearings and damaging a hub on our trailer. The weekend vacation ended short of 2 outings, but in the limited time I boated 4 very healthy smallmouth bass, 1 northern pike, and also had on two trophy class bass, one around 4# and one quite possibly the biggest I ever hooked into in the 5-6 lb range! Black and Blue seemed to be the color and the hot lure was the "Mississippi Mayhem" James Gang Nest Invader in 1/4 oz size. A James Gang Baby Squid Bait in the same color landed my final quality fish of the trip.

FISH #1 BOATED, A GIRTHY FLAMBEAU BEAUTY AT 2 LBS 14 OZ

FISH #2 at 18" WEIGHING 2 LBS 15 OZ, THE LONGEST FISH OF THE STAY

FISH # 3 A 14" SMALLMOUTH BASS CAUGHT ON A PLASTIC CRAW

FISH #4 A NORTHERN PIKE ON A JAMES GANG SPITTER POP WOODEN LURE

FISH #5 BOATED - A 16" SMALLMOUTH BASS OFF SHORE ON A POINT CAUGHT ON A JAMES GANG BABY SQUID BAIT

JAMES GANG NEST INVADER WEEDLESS JIG, SPITTER POP, AND LUNKERHUNT CRAW WERE THE SUCCESSFUL LURES OF THE TWO OUTINGS

SCENIC MERCER, WI

The Turtle Flambeau Flowage Scenic Area is not only beautiful on the water, but off the water as well. Windy roads through thick woods, fog covered lakes, with lots of wildlife all over. The trip into Mercer included a stop to view the LAKE OF THE FALLS incredible dam, which feeds the flowage. Also a stop at the Turtle River Trading Company was had to stock up on a few finesse presentations and a custom made musky bucktail by a local 11-year old tackle crafter named Ben. Its a quiet town that will offer lots of scenery and relaxation. I chose to stay at a local small campground this time, to utilize electricity to charge my 36V trolling system. Campgrounds are rare here as most of the shore is undeveloped, and the 66 campsites are accessible on the islands for free. Joe Miller's Cottages was a very nice stay with friendly people owning and working the property. Their property includes a private ramp and your own dock with your stay. They had several people-friendly wild deer walking around through the sites near the evening hours, which were a lot of fun to interact with. The water level runs high at about 6 feet up during the spring full pool, this offers your peak chance at prime bass fishing as they relate to wood cover tight to shore. These places end up out of the water as the level lowers throughout summer into fall. I highly recommend checking this place out in mid-May to late June while the fishing is much easier. Enjoy the pictures of the great TURTLE FLAMBEAU FLOWAGE!!!

PAINTED TURTLES DRAWING IN HEAT FROM THE SUN

VISITATION FROM WILD DEER IN THE CAMPSITE

EARLY MORNING FOG LIFTING FROM THE WILD WATERS

PUTTING THE SUBARU WRX TURBO AWD TO THE TEST ON THE WINDY ROADS WITH GENERAL G-MAX RS05 STREET RACING TIRES

TURTLE RIVER TRADING COMPANY HAS A WIDE SELECTION OF UNIQUE TACKLE AND LIVE BAIT FOR THE FLOWAGE

JOE MILLER'S COTTAGES IS A GREAT PLACE TO STAY IF ELECTRIC IS NEEDED

BACON & EGGS SHORELINE BREAKFAST

HARD TO BEAT OLD-FASHIONED RUSTIC ISLAND CAMPING!!

LOG JAMS, ISLANDS, FLATS, AND SLOUGHS GALORE!!

LAKE OF THE FALLS IS A MUST-STOP PLACE TO VIEW!

IF YOU ARE HEADING THROUGH PHILLIPS, WI ROSS'S SPORT SHOP WILL MEET YOUR FISHING AND BOAT EQUIPMENT NEEDS!!

THANK YOU FOR VIEWING MY PICTURES OF MY TURTLE FLAMBEAU TRIP! I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO INVITING YOU ALL OUT ON MY ADVENTURES AS MY NEW GUIDE SERVICE LAUNCHES IN 2021! STAY TUNED FOR UNCLE JESSE'S RIVER & RESERVOIR ADVENTURES!!

TO ORDER OUR HOTTEST LURE OF 2020 ONLINE, THE JAMES GANG NEST INVADER, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW! THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY!!!

NEST INVADER 3/8 oz swinging weedless swimjig

$12.00

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