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Late Fall Fishing & WI Gun Deer Hunting

11/27/2019

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SUNRISE ON THE 2ND DAY OF WI DEER GUN SEASON 2019

SHORE FISHING, BOAT TROUBLES, AND PRIME FALL BASS FISHING

GOOD BUDDY ZIM FINDS HIMSELF A FLAMBEAU RIVER SMALLMOUTH WITH GORGEOUS LOCAL COLORATIONS IN LATE SEPTEMBER

Its been one difficult year for us in our fishing adventures, as we once again found ourselves with major outboard issues. We attempted to replace our original 1976 Evinrude 40 hp with an 1987 Force 35 hp, and after we had our hopes up and did our best to replace bad electrical parts and make adjustments, the end result was an absolute disaster. To make things worse, a nagging arm injury basically put us in a position to skip nearly the entire open water season of bass fishing in 2019. We did manage some very fun shoreline trips for the 2019 WI Riverbank Rally, and had fun on one panfish trip in Rusk County mid-summer. For the lost time and challenges we faced, fortunately our pro-staffers picked up the slack and had an excellent year. Our riverbank guys like John Beaudette lit up the cats and suckers throughout the summer. The few times Kevin Rogalski got out, he was successful finding some decent bass, but he was consistently beat out by his high school daughter catching crazy awesome largemouth bass on their favorite lakes. Jaz Duncan started off the year hot with an outstanding opening day, and later teamed up with Mat Eichinger in a CWBA event on Miller Dam Flowage landing themselves in the payout with a limit of bass in very tough conditions. Mat had an excellent year himself, as he found himself quality bass on about every trip out this year, and his little side-kick Alayna also smashed it when she hit the water with a spinning reel. Not to forget, Mr. Doc Gilles, who had the best year of his life, and what is more impressive is he got it done primarily on the riverbank fishing bass crankbaits for smallmouth bass, muskies, walleye, and nice northern pike. Doc managed to land his biggest smallmouth bass to date, and Tim Danielson was able to mount the fish for him with beautiful and accurate smallmouth artwork. Doc also got into his biggest musky, and even though our fall was iced over extremely early, Doc found himself some great pike action once again from his riverbanks in open water all the way through the WI Deer Gun Season. Thank you to all of our pro-staffers for supporting James Gang Fishing Company and for picking up the slack during our difficult season. We have decided for the 2020 season, Alex will be getting a brand new 2020 Mercury 40 EFI for his Crawfish Bandit General Lee Lund, and our worries and lost time should be in the past. We will also take that opportunity to begin boater's safety and try and obtain his boaters license. We will look into electronics upgrades and a trolling motor upgrade as we attempt to get our hands on a new Humminbird Helix 12 Mega GN2 for better fish locating, and a Motorguide Xi5 80 trolling motor with anchor mode and 24V operation for longer battery life. Currently our 55# transom mount is really struggling with battery life and efficiency. I feel like with more reliable equipment, we will have the tools to expand on new bodies of water and continue to teach ourselves where fish locations are during different seasonal patterns and condition changes. Enjoy our pictures below of our awesome pro-staffers lighting it up with passion and success in the unusually cold early fall conditions during water temps of 45-50 degrees.

GOOD BUDDY ZIM WITH A SOLID 3.5# SMALLMOUTH BASS ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER

ALAYNA H. WITH A THICK 16" SMALLMOUTH BASS IN 45 DEGREE WATER TEMPS

MAT EICHINGER & ALAYNA LAND 8 SMALLMOUTH BASS FULL OF GIRTH AND BAIT

DOC GILLES & ZIM ARE DIALED IN AND ON FIRE THIS FALL IN 48 DEGREE WATER TEMPS ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER IN THE SNOW IN MID-OCTOBER

DOC GILLES WITH A 37" NORTHERN PIKE IN NOVEMBER IN 33 DEGREE WATER TEMPS

TIM DANIELSON PERFECTED THE TAXIDERMY OF DOC'S 2019 5# SMALLMOUTH

THANK YOU PRO-STAFF FOR A FANTASTIC YEAR!!!!

2019 WI GUN DEER OPENER SUCCESS

Our young 11-year-old CEO of James Gang Fishing Company, Alex James, entered his 3rd attempt at the WI DNR mentorship program, hoping to harvest his first wild animal. Alex was close to taking a shot at a doe at 20 yards in his first season at 9 years old, but the doe had some brush in the way and he was instructed to not force a shot, as we were more concerned about preventing wounding deer than filling tags. In year 2, 10-year-old Alex didn't have an opportunity to fire a shot as failed to see deer on the first day and chose to not sit the second morning, when the deer happened to show up. So this year Alex was committed to sitting longer and at the peak times in hope to finally get his chance to hang his first deer on the meatpole.

Opening day was a decent day as we saw a fair amount of does, fawns, and a one year old buck. Unfortunately our shots were not clear enough so was avoided attempting any poor shots at any animals. We heard Uncle Doug fire off a shot opening morning as he successfully shot his first buck in many years, a nice buck weighing 160# dressed out. The afternoon hours were very disappointing as all the hunters saw very little to no deer in the second half of the day. We were down to one final sit on Sunday morning, as I had been schedule to work Sunday night and needed to leave the woods by 11 am. Cousin Cody fired a shot around 10 am and shot a small-bodied 8 point buck. The buck didn't go far as Cody's .308 Winchester hit the heart on a quartered-away shot and left quite a trail of blood out its sides through the grass.

ALEX GETS IT DONE

ALEX GIVES HIS "THUMBS UP" AS HE REGISTERS A LARGE DOE ON SUNDAY

After Cousin Cody fired a shot, several deer came crashing through our area, all does and fawns. Minutes later a healthy doe appeared giving Alex about a 50 yard broadside side. Since Alex was shooting accurate at 100 yards with his .243 Savage Axis Youth rifle, I told him to put the crosshairs on the vitals and pull the trigger if it looked like the brush was not in the way. Alex pulled the trigger and the large doe never flinched. I looked closer and saw that their appeared to be some branches and twigs and maybe his bullet deflected. I attempted to re-load the bolt action for him, and I heard a "click" as we found that the second bullet never loaded. We finally got the next bullet loaded and the doe ran off full speed. Alex felt relieved as we heard two fawn bleats nearby and realized this doe had two needy fawns running with her. In the end he was glad this doe survived. Not much longer, another large doe came through. This one presented Alex an open, quartered-away angled shot. He put the crosshairs on the vitals and pulled the trigger. The doe ran away with its tail down and ran away at a strange angle, so I believed it was hit. As we got down on the ground, Alex found his first blood trail......

ALEX'S FIRST BLOOD TRAIL

AT THE END OF THE BLOOD TRAIL...........

PROUD YOUTH MENTOR HUNTER

PRO-STAFFER KEVIN ROGALSKI WITH A PUBLIC LAND WI BUCK

HAVE A SAFE HUNTING SEASON, AND CHECK OUT OUR DEER HEART RECIPE BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW, ALSO A GREAT RECIPE FOR BACKSTRAPS OR ANY RED MEAT STEAK ON A GRILL OR OVER A FIRE!!!

DEER HEART RECIPE

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MLF REDCREST, 2019 RIVERBANK RALLY WINNER, PRO STAFFER'S ARCHERY SUCCESS, FALL FISHING IS HERE!

10/9/2019

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JAMES GANG FISHING CEO ALEX JAMES HOLDS A REPLICA FLORIDA STRAIN BASS AT MLF REDCREST IN LACROSSE WI

FIRST MLF REDCREST IN LA CROSSE, WI

2019 was the first year for the new Major League Fishing PBT. The year-end championship was held here in Wisconsin. Alex and I made the trip to check out the final event of the season, as we mingled with pro anglers and had lots of laughs with the funny people in the pro bass scene. Here are a few pictures that we took at this event:

BASSMASTER CLASSIC WORLD CHAMPION OTT DEFOE

ALEX AND OUR GOOD BUDDY, FUNNYMAN JAMES "WORLDWIDE" JMFW WATSON

KEVIN VANDAM, JEFF SPRAGUE, SHAW GRIGSBY, SKEET REESE, TIMMY HORTON, JUSTIN LUCAS, BRITT MYERS, MIKE MCCLELLAND, AUSTIN FELIX, CODY MEYERS

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING REPORTER ALY AKERS-ATKINS

ALEX & HIS GOOD BUDDY MIKE IACONELLI

BAYSINGER WINS THE 2019 JAMES GANG WI RIVERBANK RALLY!

TIMOTHY BAYSINGER RECEIVES HIS RIVERBANK RALLY TROPHY AND A "THUMBS UP" AFTER BEATING OUT ALEX WITH a 50.25" LAKE STURGEON IN THE EVENT

ALEX JAMES FINISHED 2ND OVERALL WITH THIS 14" LAKE STURGEON

BRANDON WEDLUND TOOK 3RD PLACE, BUT DID BATTLE THE BIGGEST FISH OF THE EVENT, ONE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN WELL OVER 60 INCHES LONG!!!!

TIMOTHY BAYSINGER WITH THE WINNING LAKE STURGEON

COOLER NIGHTS BRINGING ON FEEDING FISH

JESSE JAMES WITH A 12.5" BLACK CRAPPIE CAUGHT USING JB'S FISH SAUCE ON LAKE ALTOONA IN LATE SUMMER

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER WITH A WELL-FED 3LB SMALLMOUTH BASS CAUGHT ON A VIBRATING JIG SMOTHERED IN JB'S FISH SAUCE IN EARLY FALL

EICHINGER SEARCHING OLD PILINGS AND COVERING WATER TRYING TO SEARCH FOR FISH LOCATION IN COOLING TEMPERATURES

EICHINGER FINDS ANOTHER BASS WITH A FULL BELLY IN BRUTAL FISHING CONDITIONS OF COLD RAIN AND HEAVY WINDS, THIS ONE ON A SPINNERBAIT

"PAPA STEEB" FINDS SOME DINNER AFTER AN EXPLOSIVE BITE ON A MOULDY'S HAWG WOBBLER ON A VENTURE FOR MUSKELLUNGE ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER

EICHINGER ALSO FINDS HIMSELF A "SNOT ROCKET" WHILE OUT LOOKING FOR SMALLMOUTH BASS AGAIN IN CHIPPEWA COUNTY. "SHOUT OUT" TO THE PIKE LOVER KEVIN ROGALSKI ON OUR PRO STAFF AS JEALOUSY WILL SET IN SOON.

PRO STAFFER'S ARCHERY SUCCESS

MAT EICHINGER SUCCESSFULLY HARVESTED THIS BUCK WITH ITS UNIQUE BROW TINES AND BEAM SHAPE AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF PURSUIT. CONGRATS!!!!

ENJOY THE FALL BITE AND THE ARCHERY DEER SEASON!!!! PLEASE SEND US YOUR JAMES GANG FISH PICTURES AND THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US!!!

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Riverbank Shore Fishing, Ducks, Deer, Rally Scoreboard Update

7/22/2019

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ALEX JAMES FEEDS SOME WILD DUCKS WHILE FISHING THE 2019 RIVERBANK RALLY

MID-SUMMER = RIVERBANK FISHING

When anglers think of mid-summer, they think about fishing deep clear water structure, shallow lily pad froggin' fields, on shore fishing the riverbanks. The James Gang has chosen to spend some time on the banks, and in our limited time of fishing, we found some success with bass, musky, and some accidental baby sturgeons. Our anglers in our 2019 WI Riverbank Rally Tournament are catching a few here and there but have struggled to get time in with the constant storms and high-waters in the rivers. Daniel Easland registered a very nice 24" sucker, and is trailing category leader John Beaudette by only 1.5". Ryan Vreeland is also trailing Beaudette in 2nd place, but in the catfish category with a 29" catfish on the board. James Gang CEO Alex James and I hit up the Chippewa & EC River today but were disappointed when we arrived to a very fast current from the EC River. We didn't manage any fish but were able to feed quite a few ducks to pass the time on a gorgeous evening on the water. The cooler , low-humidity weather was a nice break from the 122 heat index we experienced a few days earlier. Even when the fish aren't hooked up, it is always a relaxing time fishing from a river bank.

RYAN VREELAND'S 29" CATFISH IN THE WI RIVERBANK RALLY

ANY TIME SPENT OUTDOORS DESERVES A "THUMBS UP!"

RIVERBANK GAME FISH BITE IS ON!

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER DOC GILLES WITH A RIVERBANK 45" MUSKY

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER WITH A TOPWATER LARGEMOUTH BASS CAUGHT WHILE WORKING A LOCAL RIVERBANK

YOUNG KALEB & FAMILY DOMINATING BASS IN MISSISSIPPI

KALEB G. OF MISSISSIPPI STILL CATCHING GIANT BASS, AS USUAL

KALEB'S FATHER, MICHAEL, JOINS IN ON THE FUN ON A HOT MISSISSIPPI BITE

TORI R. WITH HER BIGGEST BASS TO DATE!

20" LARGEMOUTH AT A THICK 4 LBS 4 OZ! WAY TO GO TORI!!

MEANWHILE DAD KEEPS HOOKING THE PIKE.......

THE DEER ARE MOVING......

Wilderness Walk - Hayward, WI

BEST OF LUCK TO JAMES GANG PRO STAFFERS MAT EICHINGER & JAZ DUNCAN AS THEY COMPETE IN THEIR FIRST BASSMASTERS OPEN NEXT WEEK!

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GILLES'S TROPHY SMALLMOUTH, RIVERBANK RALLY UPDATE, MLF NEENAH, STEADY WEATHER FRONTS = GREAT FISHING, DUNKIN FROG SALE

7/8/2019

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JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER DOC GILLES CAUGHT HIS BIGGEST SMALLMOUTH BASS THIS JULY AT 20.5" AND 5 LBS ON A RIVERBANK

GILLES BROUGHT THIS FISH OF A LIFETIME TO HIS FAVORITE TAXIDERMIST. THE LURE USED WAS A BRIAN SNOWDEN DESIGN BOSS HAWG CRANK BAIT FROM PROFOUND OUTDOORS

FREQUENT WEATHER FRONTS=AGGRESSIVE FEEDING

JAMES GANG CEO ALEX WITH A 12" BLACK CRAPPIE, HIS BIGGEST TO DATE

With the frequent storms fronts and off and on rain in 2019, the anglers of Wisconsin couldn't be given much more opportunities than what they have been given this year. With the beginning of each front, a feeding frenzy seems to be occurring it seems on a weekly basis. Also with the rise in local river levels from rain, the fishing seems to be easier with the increased currents. Our buddies at Small Craft Outfitters, Tyler Theide and Chang Lor, have been catching fish steadily all season. Tyler even brought KBF tv personality CHAD HOOVER to the region as they explored our local rivers for smallmouth bass. Chang has had a great year, catching fish on a variety of lures, including his favorite topwaters, on our James Gang Bootykicker, and on our Lovertail inline spinners. James Gang CEO Alex made a trip out for panfish near Chetek, WI last week in between storms, and found the fishing so hot that he was hooked up within seconds on most of his casts. He found a pattern on lily pad points where the panfish were stacked up and feeding so aggressively that their fins were actually sticking up out of the water. We saw a huge musky jump, bass jumping all over, crappie boiling on baitfish, and constant bluegill surfacing as he caught a quick meal for us and his great-grandmother in a very short time. The bluegills were in the 6-8" range, and he managed to land a 12" crappie in the mix as well, his biggest one he ever caught in his 10 years of age.

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING BPT COMES TO NEENAH, WI

MIKE IACONELLI POINTS AS HE PULLS INTO THE POST-GAME RECAP

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING, STAGE 8, came to Neenah, WI in late June. Our buddy, Mike Iaconelli, had a fantastic event, as he beat out the entire field in the first 4 days of competition and moved up to 12th in AOY points, qualifying him for the 2019 Redcrest Championship. Alex and I had a great time hanging out with the pros of MLF, and spent a considerable amount of time with the Iaconelli family, which Alex greatly appreciated. Gerald Spohrer, Marty Stone, JP DeRose, Kevin VanDam, Brent Chapman, & Josh Bertrand all gave us a moment of their time as well. "G-Man" Gerald Swindle filmed a new intro for the Alex Fishing Show for the 2019 season and was his goofy self like usual. Thanks again to all that gave us their time at this event!

THE IKE FOUNDATION-SPONSORED ALEX SPENDS TIME WITH MIKE, BECKY, STELLY, & VEGAS IACONELLI AT THE MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING BPT DAY #1 RE-CAP

ALEX ALWAYS HAS FUN WHEN HANGING WITH HIS GOOFY BUDDY MIKE

ALEX & GERALD SPOHRER. THANK YOU FOR THE FREE T-SHIRT BUDDY!

ALEX & BRENT CHAPMAN

ALEX & KEVIN VANDAM

JOSH BERTRAND & ALEX

WORLD FISHING NETWORK TV PERSONALITY JP DEROSE & ALEX

WEDLUND & THE BAYSINGERS KEEP CATCHING FISH!
RIVERBANK RALLY UPDATED

SUZETTE BAYSINGER REGISTERS A 20" CATFISH IN THE 2019 RIVERBANK RALLY

As the summer rolls along, and the weather fronts pass through, the river levels rise and fall and the riverbank anglers chase their prized fish. The Baysingers (Timothy & Suzette) have been consistently catching and registering fish the past few months, and even got into some trophy smallmouth bass on accident during their quest to qualify for the Championship round. Timothy, who was the current leader in the smallmouth buffalo category, pulled ahead of Paul Fankhauser recently as he took over the freshwater drum category. If the tournament ended today, Timothy would be double-qualified for the championship round. Last night Brandon Wedlund squeaked past Trevor Meeks with a 30.5" common carp, surpassing Meeks by only 1/2 of an inch! John Beaudette continues to hold the lead in the sucker & redhorse category with a 25.5" as the sucker run is well past its peak from spring warm-up. Beaudette is also still clinging onto the catfish lead as he too would be double-qualified if the tournament ended today, but with the healthy catfish population locally, it is highly likely that a catfish around 3+ feet long should be caught within the next month or two as the dog days of summer are here. Thanks to all 33 anglers for participating in this fun event, and keep pounding those riverbanks!!

BRANDON WEDLUND TAKES THE CARP LEAD AT 30.5"

TIMOTHY BAYSINGER TAKES THE SHEEPSHEAD LEAD WITH 22"&21" FISH

DUNKIN FROGS ON SALE!!!

CHECK THEM OUT IN 2 COLORS IN OUR ONLINE STORE NOW!!!!!

HAVE A SAFE AND FUN SUMMER!

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2019 James Gang Bass Open - RED CEDAR LAKE recap!!!

6/11/2019

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DOUGLAS S. & HIS PARTNER STAN MILLER ARE READY TO GET THE 2019 JAMES GANG BASS OPEN STARTED

19 BOATS, 38 ANGLERS, (7 CHILDREN) TAKE ON THE CHAIN OF BALSAM, RED CEDAR, & HEMLOCK LAKES IN OUR 5th MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING EVENT

38 ANGLERS ON TEAMS OF 2 ARE FISHING FOR THIS TROPHY IN A MLF FORMAT CATCH-AND-RELEASE TOURNAMENT

In our fifth Major League Fishing event that we had organized, we chose to return for redemption on the body of water in which it started - RED CEDAR LAKE, WI. In a typical spring, the smallmouth bass are spawned out around Memorial Weekend, and the largemouth are on their beds at that time. In 2017 when we scheduled our event on Saturday of Memorial weekend, we had an unusually cold spring and the water temperatures were way below average. This led to a delayed spawn and a very tough bite for our field of 13 anglers in our only single-angler, non-team events. I knew how "willing to bite" the bass on the Red Cedar chain typically are around post-spawn, so we knew we needed to give it another shot in 2019. When choosing a date, we chose to go later to guarantee a post-spawn bite. What is extremely crazy is that the spawn was even later this year than in 2017, but as fish were finishing up the spawn or even abandoning their beds in this event, there was no doubt that they were feeding across the chain and that this event was going to be extremely competitive.

CHILD 12 & UNDER PARTICIPANT, CHAMPION, & KIDS BIG BASS TROPHIES
DESIGNED BY 10-YR OLD JAMES GANG CEO ALEX JAMES

FOLLOWING A MAJOR TOURNAMENT..........

JUNE 8 CWBA LAUNCH - PHOTO BY JASON LANGOSCH

There was some concern about how well the bite would be, as the Central Wisconsin Bass Anglers (CWBA) held a tournament on June 8th, the previous day to our event. The talk was that the weigh in was incredible, as anglers brought in limits of extremely impressive smallmouth compared to years past, and typical CWBA winning weights for this chain was lucky to even earn you a 6th place check. The winning team of Pat Schlapper & Wade Rickey weighed in an average of basically 4 lbs per fish! With a 40-boat 80 angler field that excelled in their tournament, the pressure would make one to believe that our MLF event could be majorly affected. But we found out by the end of the day, that it would not be the case as this body of water was ON FIRE! If you would like more information about the CWBA, click on the button below. They are ran by Craig Kloth of Medford, WI, and it is an outstanding tournament with a great group of guys competing in it!

CLICK HERE FOR CWBA INFO

CWBA ANGLER AND JAMES GANG SPONSORED SCOTT WILCZEK WITH A LIMIT OF GORGEOUS RED CEDAR LAKE SMALLMOUTH, GOOD FOR 18# AND A CHECK

6 AM "LINES IN"

5 YR OLD HENRIK S. & HIS PARTNER NEIL SANDFORD ARE READY TO START THE EVENT

The anglers arrived at Cedar Lake county park to launch between 4:30 AM - 5:45 AM. When they received their PIN cards and conversed on any confusion with the unique format, they were free to open up their throttle for a drive-around and claim their starting spot. They were not allowed to start casting until 6 AM. As the tournament director, I drove my vehicle to the launch, handed out the PIN cards and backup scorecards, and then drove to our camper on Balsam Lake, where "Papa Steve" was waiting on his boat lift to fire up the trolling motor and begin casting. We began fishing around Balsam lake around 6:15 am with no sight of bass present and no bites. We chose an early start time in hopes of a hot topwater bite early morning, and during our pre-fish there was no slime or algae present in our starting area. We rigged up with treble hooked topwaters, and found that the conditions changed drastically from the previous week, as the wind blew slimy debris all over our starting area, killing the action of our lures. We had to adjust, and I went to a Flappin' Jig vibrating jig and a slow sinking senko-style worm. As we covered hot areas of the past, there wasn't anything positive happening. The amount of muck present made it appear to be non-spawning areas. I felt that we were covering areas too fast with my vibrating jig approach, and I really wanted to walk-the-dog. Since treble hooked walking baits were a no-go, I switched up to a presentation my little boy came up with last year that worked well for largemouth - a beaver bait on a weighted VMC hook. With this lure I was able to walk the dog and have a weedless setup. I used a green pumpkin/chartreuse setup to mimic baby bluegills, craws, or frogs. As we entered the channel to the main lake - I felt a bite. With a fast hook set, we had a 13" bass ready to weigh.

MY FIRST OF 6 BASS I WEIGHED - 1 LB 2 OZ

FEEDING FRENZY!

5 YEAR OLD HENRIK S. WITH A 3 LB 5 OZ GIANT SMALLMOUTH EARLY IN THE DAY

As I entered my first catch in Scoretracker Live, we were shocked to see 5 year old Henrik & his partner Neil Sandford already in the lead with 12 lbs! The young angler already had a 3 lb 5 oz smallmouth on the board and was off to a record-setting pace of weight. Our previous record of the 4 past events was 37 lbs on Rice Lake in 2018 by Doug Helmuth & Zach Nelson. Half the field was already on the board, and as I boated 2 more bass in the channel, our position on the leaderboard was all over the place. We would bump up to 9th, then after even the smallest dry spell of 10 minutes, we would already lose 5 places. It was crazy, intense, and a blast. We had largemouth bass charging hard all over after our beaver bait, and unfortunately northern pike were keying in on it as well. We came out of the channel with about 10 strikes on the lure, and we ended up boating 4 bass and 11 northern pike. By the time we entered the main lake, we had once again moved back up to around 9th place, and we were entering an area that I felt we could find some 2-3 pounders as all of our fish were around 1 lb 2 oz in the channel. We made our run around the bay and had no sign of life, besides a beat up 2.5 pounder i grabbed from the top of the lake that looked very ill. The fish slipped out of my hands but I don't think cheating by noodling dying bass would count (or even help) in this fast-action event (joking!) As we finished the bay, we dropped towards the bottom of the standings once again, but we knew our presentation was hot. We just needed to find the right location to put it to work and catch them as the bass were viciously attacking it in the channel. A final look on Scoretracker live, and 8 year old Beau D. weighed in a 3 lb 3 oz smallmouth, to propel him and his partner to the top of the leaderboard, neck and neck with Neil & Henrik. This was going to be a heavyweight shootout as the fish numbers were just steadily increasing.

8 YR OLD BEAU D. WEIGHS IN HIS BIGGEST SMALLMOUTH EVER - 3 LBS 3 OZ AND FINDS THE TOP OF THE LEADERBOARD ABOUT EVEN WITH TEAM SANDFORD

SMALLMOUTH BITE FOUND TO BE SLOW, SUCCESSFUL ANGLERS SWITCHED TO LARGEMOUTH

8 YEAR OLD GAVIN D. PUTS HIS TEAM ON THE BOARD WITH ONE OF HIS 4 BASS HE HOOKED AND BOATED HIMSELF FOR TEAM DUNCAN

As many of the experienced anglers started their days in pursuit after the quality smallmouth in Red Cedar that it is known for (and were caught the previous day) a few were landed and then the anglers watched themselves fall right down the scoreboard as they failed to find bites. Some stayed committed for a short time, but the very experienced anglers knew that they had to adjust or lose this event, so many of them made the switch to largemouth. Even though the smallmouths were hard to convince to bite after the big CWBA event, a few anglers such as Team Eichinger the Team Small were able to coax a few into biting. Mat & Crystal started off the day with a steady start on Balsam Lake, keeping themselves a little above us in the same area. While we were catching small largemouth in a channel tight to shore, Mat & Crystal were focusing on gravel points and cover with reaction baits. After being stuck at 5 pounds for a while and falling down the standings, Mat & Crystal made an adjustment and went to some community holes on Red Cedar fishing some of the extremely pressured areas from the previous day. They found success as both of them were able to catch a few here and there throughout the day, starting out with this beautiful 17.5" smallmouth bass!

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER WITH A 3 LB 3 OZ RED CEDAR BASS

As we monitored Scoretracker Live, we assumed the high numbers of 1 pound class fish were people hammering smallmouths, as this chain is known for quality largemouth, not as much for 1 pounders. So we stuck with our plan and continued fishing Balsam Lake. My dad kept with the beaver bait presentation and I pulled out my trusty James Gang Bass Jerker, my #1 all time lure for this lake. Unfortunately, the action was dead. I was not getting any bites or follow ups. I then switched over to a slow sinking worm as we fished cover with finesse. My dad threw a beautiful cast tight to a laydown tree trunk near deep water, and he had a great bass bite. I had a good look close to the boat as he opens his mouth and the lure flies out, hook still "texposed" in the plastic. Unfortunately this was more than likely a 3 lb largemouth, no doubt at least 2.5 lbs minimum. It would have shot us up several places at the time but probably would not have overtaken Henrik's big bass at the time. We shook it off and continued to cover water. My dad landed about a 1lb 2 oz largemouth but then we once again failed to find action. We then had to make a move and run a different shoreline, and were amazed that the usually reliable deep wood cover was not producing at all on this day. We did our best to "fish the moment" and not worry about history as with the live updates it was very obvious the fish were biting and the other teams were on high concentrations of them.

12 YR OLD DOUGLAS S. & HIS PARTNER STAN MILLER ARE FINDING THINGS STARTING TO CLICK AS THEY MOUNT A COMEBACK THROUGH THE LATE MORNING AND ARE NEAR THE LEADERS IN A HIGH NUMBERS BATTLE OF BASS-CATCHING

ELK MOUND HIGH SCHOOL ANGLERS JAMES JAVANOVICH & BLAKE ROSENTHAL ARE IN THE BATTLE DURING THE FIRST HALF LINGERING AROUND THIRD PLACE IN A BAY LOADED WITH LARGEMOUTH BASS AFTER THEY STRUGGLED WITH SMALLMOUTH

LANCE & DEB SPITLER REGISTER A DECENT BASS IN THEIR FIRST MLF TOURNAMENT

THE FIELD SEPARATES MID-DAY

A clear shift occurs in the standings around 10 am. Several teams that were keeping with the flow of catches suddenly ran out of productive locations and were not able to recover. Other teams made a few location changes and found flurries throughout the day. And then the top teams made several changes and decisions and continuously boated bass throughout the event and remained consistent during the mid-day all the way to the end. As we continued to struggle to find biting fish locations, I visually saw a largemouth follow up my lure in a shallow spawn-type area between shore and weed cover. I threw back past the fish once more time, walked the dog and watched it smoke my lure. I set the hook and we registered bass #6 as we rose back up to 9th place of 19 teams. This was our biggest one yet, unfortunately just 2 oz more than the others had been.

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER ANDREW DRAPER JUMPS PAST US WITH HIS PARTNER TIM LEHR WITH MULTIPLE FISH CATCHES MID-MORNING TO MID-DAY

ANDREW DRAPER'S TEAMMATE TIM LEHR HAS HELPED HIM JUMP
UP TO 9 LBS 1 OZ WITH THEIR 6TH BASS

Jon Small & his wife Shannon started off with the slow smallmouth bite ,as did several others, so at 11 am they switched up to largemouth bass. This was a great move as they were able to get steady bites for about an hour before they ran out of prime location of feeding bass. They jumped up in the standings during this hot hour and slowly fell back in the afternoon. Once we went a long period on Balsam fishless, my dad and I tried a few spawning type areas looking for gravel and smallmouth bass. We came upon one 2 lb quality bass on its bed and I was able to get a strike on the first cast with the beaver bait but missed the hookset as it immediately blew out the bait. Things were getting very frustrating as most of the field was completely off of Balsam and the Scoretracker was on fire. We knew we had to make a move to Red Cedar and cover some areas for big largemouth or rock reefs and points for smallmouth bass.

MATT PROSEK & JEREMY MOLDRUM HAD A GREAT SHOWING WITH 14 BASS WEIGHED IN ON SCORETRACKER LIVE

CORY JASKIERNY & RYAN VREELAND WEIGHED 5 FISH FOR 8 LBS 8 OZ

FINAL DECISIONS & AN INCREDIBLE SHOOTOUT

AFTER MULTIPLE DISMAL PRACTICE TRIPS, JESSE GOSS & SHAWN MALISON HAVE ABSOLUTELY FOUND THE MONEY SPOT IN THE RED CEDAR MLF EVENT

AARON KNUTSON & HIS 13 YR OLD PARTNER GABE FOUND SOME SMALLMOUTH BASS SIGHT FISHING NEAR THE END OF THE DAY ON BALSAM LAKE AS THEY PASSED 3 TEAMS ON SCORETRACKER LATE IN THE DAY

We presented multiple lures in a bay of Red Cedar and were able to attempt some sight-fishing, with multiple follow-ups but no solid commitment in clear water. At one point I saw a nice 3 lb largemouth, so I cast past it and right when my lure hit its general area I hooked up. I was pumped as I thought it could challenge the big bass. Unfortunately a different fish moved in for my lure out of nowhere as I boated our 12th smelly northern pike of the day. As he flopped on the boat deck, the pike puked out about a 3" yellow perch, so apparently he was hungry eating our lures with a mouthful of bait. We hit some well-known points on Red Cedar and fell to near the bottom of the scoreboard as time was getting late. We focused then on a big fish bite as the lead was way out our our hands. 3 teams were battling each other in the final 2 hours, including Stan Miller & 12 year old Douglas, Chad Ducummon & 8 year old Beau, and Neil Sandford with 5 year old Henrik, who had held onto the tournament big bass lead most of the day. As the Scoretracker bounced back and forth between these three teams, we decided to head back to Balsam, look for a big bass bite, and prepare to load the boat with the trophies and prizes. Out of nowhere, Matthew Timmers and Tiffany Haines, who fished similar patterns in the morning as us, made a move to a channel loaded with largemouth bass, and shot up the scoreboard from the bottom half with around 20 lbs of bass just in the final hour! Aaron K. & his partner Gabe (13 years old) spent most of the day struggling on Red Cedar Lake, so they made a late-day move to Balsam Lake, where they were able to pull a few smallmouth bass off their beds sight fishing. They were way behind in the standings as it was too late for a giant comeback, but they had a blast and were able to blow past the bottom three teams and lock into 16th place in the final hours. Luke & Tyler Krumenauer, our 3rd place team from the 2018 Rice Lake event, found a solid pattern very late in Hemlock Lake, and ran out of time to mount a comeback that they needed to land in the top 5. The brothers ended up catching 13 bass and lost a few more at the boat, as they weighed 15 lbs 10 oz, good for 12th place.

LUKE & TYLER KRUMENAUER DITCHED THEIR EARLY SMALLMOUTH AFTER CATCHING THIS LAST ONE AND FOUND STEADY ACTION ON HEMLOCK, BUT WAY TOO LATE IN THE DAY!

MATTHEW TIMMERS & TIFFANY HAINES FOLLOWED A SPECIFIC WATER TEMP PATTERN FROM BALSAM LAKE AND CARRIED IT OVER TO HEMLOCK LAKE AND WEIGHED 20 LBS OF BASS IN THE FINAL HOUR! HERE IS A QUALITY BASS TIFFANY FOUND PRE-FISHING.

8 YR OLD GAVIN D. BOATS 4 FISH HIMSELF AND HELPS HIS PARTNER (JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER JAZ DUNCAN) GAIN GROUND ON MAT & CRYSTAL IN THE FINAL HOURS WITH OVER 18 POUNDS OF BASS!

12 YR OLD DOUGLAS S, IN HIS FOURTH JAMES GANG MLF EVENT, IS FISHING "LIGHTS OUT" WITH HIS PARTNER STAN MILLER IN THE FINAL HALF OF SUNDAY'S EVENT

ALL THE FANCIEST ELECTRONICS, BOATS, OR EQUIPMENT IS NO MATCH AGAINST A CRAFTED VETERAN ANGLER LIKE STAN MILLER, WHO MADE THE CORRECT ADJUSTMENTS AND KEPT DOUGLAS BUSY WITH NON-STOP FINAL HOUR WEIGHT ENTRIES ON A EXPLOSIVE TOP-WATER BITE IN HEMLOCK LAKE

DOUGLAS & STAN STOLE THE SHOW IN THE FINAL HOUR AS TEAMS SANDFORD & DUCUMMON TRIED RUNNING THEM DOWN.

"Lines out" was scheduled for 1:50PM, and the payouts were scheduled at 2 PM at the ramp. In the final hours, Malison & Goss, Timmers & Haines, and the top 3 teams all lit it up. Unfortunately the bites died off fast for several others, but a few were able to find some last-minute heroics and move up a few spots before the end of the tournament. Jon & Shannon Small, who started on smallmouths and went to largemouths, found their 2nd pattern die so they returned back to smallmouths and boated a few more late in the day. Then the Elk Mound High School team of James Javanovich & Blake Rosenthal found money in the final minutes on a last fish that bumped them up to 6th place in their first-ever MLF event. The Elk Mound duo weighed in 21 lbs on 14 bass. As 5th place was the final payout, they saw their cash prize stolen by the incredible hour put on by Matthew Timmers & Tiffany Haines, as they finished with 32 lbs on 25 Bass!

ONE LAST BASS IN THE FINAL MINUTES MOVED ELK MOUND ANGLERS JAVANOVICH & ROSENTHAL TO 6TH PLACE IN THEIR FIRST MLF EVENT

JON & SHANNON SMALL WEIGHED A FEW SMALLMOUTH IN THE FINAL HOURS

LINES OUT! WE HAVE A WINNER!!

We met up with the anglers after 2 PM for the payouts, and we couldn't have been happier with the outcome. The top 3 teams in the event had children on them, and we verified with Neil Sandford that 5 year old Henrik S. did end up holding off the field with the biggest bass! Now what is really special about this is that we have gone to a unique Kids 12 & under Big Bass award, separate from the overall adult "Daily Lunker" award for the tournament big bass. Here this little boy won BOTH awards as his 3 lb 5 oz smallmouth was the heaviest bass weighed out of our new record 280 BASS! Our previous record was 112 bass weighed in an event. Henrik was so proud as he accepted his IKE FOUNDATION HAT, a gift pack from JB'S FISH SAUCE, a Kids Big Bass Trophy, his "Daily Lunker" big bass plaque, and in the end he also helped his partner take third place, so his three cash prizes equaled $300!!!! Chad Ducummon & 8 year old Beau slipped ahead of Team Sandford by oz in the final moments, and Stan with young superstar angler Douglas held off the field with non-stop topwater action for the victory! Stan & Douglas managed to weigh 56 lbs of bass with 37 fish, and said they lost around 8 more fish in the final hour (in addition to the crazy amount they did catch!) Shawn Malison & Jesse Goss put out an incredible performance as well, as all 4 of the top teams ALL beat the all-time weight record of 37 lbs of fish weighed!! Malison & Goss weighed in 45 lbs of bass on 34 fish! Great job by the top 5 teams as they all continued to catch fish under pressure in the final hour!

5 YR OLD HENRIK S. - WINNER OF BIG BASS & 3RD PLACE IN STANDINGS $300 CASH

FIFTH PLACE

MATTHEW TIMMERS & CRYSTAL HAINES $60 CASH

FOURTH PLACE

SHAWN MALISON & JESSE GOSS $80 CASH

THIRD PLACE, "DAILY LUNKER" & KID'S BIG BASS

NEIL SANDFORD & HENRIK S. (5 YRS OLD) $100 CASH / TROPHY / PLAQUE / IKE FOUNDATION HAT / JB'S FISH SAUCE PRIZE PACK

SECOND PLACE

CHAD DUCUMMON & BEAU D. (8 YRS OLD) $140 CASH

2019 JAMES GANG OPEN CHAMPIONS

STAN MILLER & DOUGLAS S. (12 YRS OLD) $484 CASH & TROPHIES

RECORD-BREAKING CHAMPIONS STAN MILLER & DOUGLAS S. (56 LBS 7 OZ)

RESULTS / IKE FOUNDATION & FISHER'S OF KIDS

THANK YOU ANGLERS FOR DONATING $2 PER ENTRY FEE TO THESE FINE ORGANIZATIONS! This money will be used to provide fishing tackle to children in need and in big cities to hook them on positive activities as they are introduced to the outdoors.

Thank you Mike & Becky Iaconelli, Carol Muracco & the entire IKE FOUNDATION team for providing for a great cause and for allowing Alex represent what you do as we help spread the word of your great charity.

www.theikefoundation.org

Thank you Samantha Gay for letting us be affiliated with your work at FISHER'S OF KIDS ANGLERS ACADEMY and in raising money to provide for the children of your area as they are introduced to the outdoors.

www.fishersofkidsanglersacademy.org

Thank you James Block for supporting our events and providing us with your quality products and gift packs at JB'S FISH SAUCE attractants

www.jbsfishsauce.com

2019 JAMES GANG BASS OPEN - RED CEDAR LAKE
OFFICIAL RESULTS

Place/Weight/Big Fish/Total Bass/Winnings
1. Douglas (12) / Stanley Miller 56-7/3-4/37/$484
2. Beau (8) / Chad Ducommun 47-5/3-3/27/$140
3. Henrik (5) / Neil Sandford 47-2/3-5/24/$300(BIG BASS)
4. Shawn Malison / Jesse Goss 45-15/2-2/34/$80
5. Matthew Timmers / Tiffany Haines 32-9/2-2/25/$60
6. James Javanovich / Blake Rosenthal 21-2/2-12/14
7.Matt Prosek / Jeremy Moldrum 20-13/1-15/14
8. Mathew D Eichinger / Crystal Smart 19-8/3-3/11
9. Brent Forsman / Matthew (12) 19-4/2-15/12
10. Jaz Duncan / Gavin (8) 18-9/2-2/15
11. Jonathon Howell / Danielle Peterson 16-7/2-5/13
12. Luke & Tyler Krumenauer 15-10/2-0/13
13. Jon Small / Shannon Small 15-7/2-2/12
14. Andrew Draper / Tim Lehr 9-1/1-14/6
15. Cory Jaskierny / Ryan Vreeland 8-8/3-0/5
16. Gabe (13) / Aaron Knutson 7-3/1-15/5
17. Steve Piontek / Jesse (41) 6-12/1-4/6
18.Porter (7) / Kurt Nelson 5-9/1-13/4
19. Lance Spitler / Deb Spitler 3-2/1-10/3

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BASS FISHING NEAR ITS ANNUAL PRIME, MLF RED CEDAR ENTRY FEES DUE/SPOTS OPEN, WI RIVERBANK RALLY ANGLERS ON THE BOARD....

5/25/2019

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SMALL CRAFT OUTFITTERS KAYAK GUIDE CHANG LOR WITH AN 18" BASS ON A JAMES GANG BOOTYKICKER 5" SWIMBAIT (RANDY'S GILL)

WARM WATER = HOT BASS FISHING!

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFERS MAT EICHINGER & KEVIN ROGALSKI HAD FUN AT THE CWBA OPEN IN BIRCHWOOD, BUT THE BITE WAS SO HOT IT TOOK 18# TO GET INTO THE TOP EIGHT PLACES!!

CWBA BEGINS ITS SEASON WITH ITS FIRST EVENT BLAST-OFF OF 2019

DON'T BE FOOLED. MR. ROGALSKI'S SMILE IS ONE OF HATRED WHEN HE HOOKS INTO A STINKY NORTHERN PIKE

MARTINEK FOUND SOME TOPWATER HAPPINESS

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK FOUND SOME TOPWATER SUCCESS IN HEAVY WIND AND STRONG CURRENTS DURING THE LATE-MAY PRE-SPAWN

BASS NINJA ROUNDHOUSE SPINNER WORKS IN HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FLOODED WOOD COVER

THE KIDS KEEP OUTFISHING EVERYONE!!

KAEDEN B. HELPED HIS MOM & DAD CATCH 25 FISH IN A FEW HOURS

KALEB G. STILL KICKIN BOOTY WITH HIS JAMES GANG BOOTYKICKERS IN LOUISIANA

ALAYNA H. USES HER WEAPONS FROM MIKE IACONELLI AS SHE CATCHES BASS AND MAKES SURE TO "NEVER GIVE UP" ON LAKE CHETAC

THE EICHINGERS PARTIED IN STYLE IN BIRCHWOOD AFTER A SUCCESSFUL OUTING

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR JUNE 9 RED CEDAR MLF

OUR 5TH MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING EVENT WILL BE JUNE 9, 2019 ON RED CEDAR LAKE, WI. WE CURRENTLY HAVE 28 REGISTERED AND PAID ANGLERS FOR OUR 2-PERSON TEAM TOURNAMENT. IF YOU AND AN ANGLER ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING, WE HAVE A FEW SPOTS AVAILABLE. ENTRY FEES DUE THIS FRIDAY, MAY 31, NO EXCEPTIONS. FOR MORE INFO AND FOR ONLINE PAYMENT, CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW!!

RED CEDAR MLF

ANGLERS WILL RECEIVE THESE SWEET TROPHIES!!

GOOD LUCK FISHING FROM ALEX & HIS GANG!!!

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WI OPENER ON FIRE!

5/5/2019

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KAEDEN B. CATCHES A BEAUTIFUL 17.5" SMALLMOUTH BASS DURING THE WISCONSIN OPENER

PRO STAFFER JAZ DUNCAN LIGHTS IT UP IN WASHBURN COUNTY

FLW BFL ANGLER JAZ DUNCAN WITH HIS HEAVIEST LARGEMOUTH BASS OF THE DAY AT 4 lbs 12 oz WITH A 20" LENGTH. JAZ LANDED 14 BASS, THE MAJORITY OF THEM AT A SOLID WEIGHT OF 2.5LBS OR BETTER. JAZ USED A JAMES GANG BASS NINJA SPINNERBAIT AND A WHITE SWIM JIG

JAZ DUNCAN WITH ABOUT AN "AVERAGE" BASS FOR THE DAY AROUND 2.5+ LBS AT 16.5" TOTAL LENGTH

THUMBS DOWN FROM ALEX FOR BEATING US!

SMALLCRAFT OUTFITTERS GETTING IT DONE WITH JAMES GANG LURES & FEEL FREE KAYAKS

SCO OUTFITTER KAYAK GUIDE CHANG LOR WITH ONE OF SEVERAL BASS CAUGHT ON JAMES GANG BOOTYKICKER SWIMBAITS & LOVERTAIL 2 INLINE SPINNERS

JUST ANOTHER JAMES GANG LOVERTAIL 2 HOG FOR SCO GUIDE TYLER THEIDE. THIS HAS CONSISTENTLY BEEN HIS TOP PRODUCER IN EARLY SEASON WATER TEMPS

BOOK A TRIP WITH
www.smallcraftoutfitters.com!

TAKE A KID FISHING!!!

www.theikefoundation.org

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WI Bass Opener ONE WEEK AWAY!!!!! Riverbank action is starting / SWIMJIGS & LOVERTAILS ON SALE IN MAY!

4/26/2019

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10 YR OLD JAMES GANG FISHING CEO, LURE DESIGNER, AND TOURNAMENT ANGLER ALEX JAMES JUMPS INTO 3RD PLACE OF 33 ANGLERS WITH THIS 15.5" REDHORSE ON THE CHIPPEWA RIVER IN LATE APRIL

LOVERTAIL 2 & NEST INVADER SWIMJIGS ALL ON SALE THROUGHOUT MAY 2019!!!

EARLY PRE-SPAWN FLOOD FISHING IS HERE!

SMALL CRAFT OUTFITTERS HITS THE CHIPPEWA RIVER BACKWATERS LOOKING FOR PRE-SPAWN BASS IN FLOODED CONDITIONS

With only one week to go before the start of the Wisconsin Bass fishing season on inland lakes, anglers are hitting the rivers for rough fish and backwater bass, and boaters are pulling their boats out of storage units and getting their outboards tuned in for the season. The kayak boys at Small Craft Outfitters are already hitting the river and are excited for the peak of pre-spawn to arrive within a week in some of their favorite sloughs on the Chippewa River and Mississippi River. This time of the year is when a few 5 pound or bigger trophy female bass make themselves present for the SCO guides. If you would like to learn how to fish early spring conditions with these outstanding guides on Feel Free kayaks, visit www.smallcraftoutfitters.com and book a trip. Tell them the James Gang sent you!

Click here for small craft outfitters info

SMALLCRAFT OUTFITTERS GUIDE TYLER THEIDE WITH AN 18.75" BASS CAUGHT ON A JAMES GANG LOVERTAIL 2 IN "BULL BLUEGILL"

HEAVY RAIN = FLOOD CONDITIONS

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK CASTS INTO A FLOODED FOREST AND CANARY GRASS

Pro Staffer Kevin Martinek join myself in 42 degree water and floodwaters that rose 6' above average into deer bedding areas in Western Wisconsin Easter weekend. Our main goal was to test out Alex's new 1987 Force outboard. Due to a loose fuel line fitting, the outboard ran terrible and out trolling motor battery was heavily drained while battling the windy conditions. It felt great to enjoy a nice, sunny morning, and also to get some early season scouting in. We did manage to find a bite from possibly a largemouth bass on a 4" plastic jerkshad in a flooded area of canary grass near a "NO TRESPASSING" sign in the middle of open water. I set the hook and failed to deliver on the bite, but it was fun getting the feel of my first pickup of the year. We brought the Crawfish Bandit boat back home and were able to get it running perfectly after addressing the fuel fitting issue and making some throttle linkage adjustments under the motor cover. Now that the 1976 Lund is back in solid running condition, we plan on doing lots of camping and fishing this year with our awesome boat! Alex decided that the prop should be painted red and also that the motor should be re-painted gloss black. New "35" Force decals are on order that brings you right back to 1987 in a hurry with their digital alarm clock font. Exciting times await us!

ALEX'S CRAWFISH BANDIT DURING OUTBOARD INSTALL

YOUNG ANGLER CONSISTENTLY CATCHING BASS IN LOUISIANA

GOOD BUDDY TO THE JAMES GANG, KALEB G, JUST CAN'T STOP CATCHING HUGE BASS IN LOUISIANA

RIVER FISHING PICKING UP

RYAN VREELAND REGISTERS HIS FIRST RIVERBANK RALLY ENTRY - 20" SUCKER

With the warming rivers, the rough fish (and out of season sturgeons) are becoming more active and commonly jumping in the local area. With the flood conditions, it can be tough finding a place to fish without too strong of a current to present your bait. Three of our Riverbank Rally anglers have struck early, including some impressive redhorse. Ryan Vreeland entered the contest Tuesday with a nice 20" redhorse. He followed it up this weekend with a 22" white sucker. Trevor Meeks had taken an early lead with a very large 23" redhorse on the Chippewa River on the same day. His fishing buddy and James Gang pro staffer John Beaudette was too busy accidentally catching some very impressive lake sturgeon while in pursuit of suckers and carp. I don't think John minded landing 3 hard-fighting prehistoric fish that all were over 45" long, including a 50+" beauty. Sturgeons are not legal, even for catch & release, so John had to immediately release the fish. If he can manage to win one of the 5 species Riverbank Rally contests, he will be ready to go after some sturgeon that count during the legal C&R championship contest in September. Congrats boys on a fun start and for getting out and enjoying the beautiful weather burning stress and having fun!

JOHN BEAUDETTE POSES WITH A 50+" LAKE STURGEON WHILE HE IMMEDIATELY RELEASES IT (WITH A SMILE!)

WHILE TREVOR & RYAN REGISTER FISH, UNCLE JESSE WASTES TIME KISSING BABIES

JESSE JAMES OUTDONE AGAIN BY HIS BUDDIES IN THE WI RIVERBANK RALLY, AS HIS ONLY FISH WAS A BABY LAKE STURGEON AROUND 12" IN LENGTH AND OUT OF SEASON

JAMES GANG BASS JERKER & BOOTYKICKER APRIL SALE ENDING SOON...

BASS JERKERS ON SALE THROUGH THE MONTH OF APRIL!!!!

5" Bootykicker Swimbaits in multiple colors on sale only one last week! Stock up for trophy bass!!!

HAVE A GREAT OPENER AND SEND US YOUR FISH PICS ON OUR PREMIUM, HAND-CRAFTED LURES!!!!

CONGRATS STEVE P. OF LOUISIANA WITH A BOOTYKICKER BASS IN THE COLOR "KALEB'S MAGIC"

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2019 RIVERBANK RALLY HAS STARTED!!

4/6/2019

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33 ANGLERS, 5 ROUGH FISH SPECIES,

AND NO BOATS!!!!

One of our highly-respected pro-staffers (John Beaudette) and I were sitting at work one day in the late spring of 2018 eating some fried chicken. John got sick of me rambling on all day about bass tournaments non-stop. He then made the comment that "real anglers" fish the riverbanks and don't need boats. I told him I had to agree since I had a blast in my younger days fishing the shores of the Chippewa River for rough fish. John proposed an idea to organize a multi-species riverbank tournament that lasts all summer long, something that can run without anglers meeting, no time limits or long drives to a launch or weigh-in. I mentioned this to a few catfish anglers and they were very interested. Of course it was too late in the year to start the tournament in June of 2018, so he made sure to remind me in the brutal dead of winter in 2019. I put together a list of ideas and rules, sent out the plan on social media, and we had 33 anglers pay up a very small entry fee to get this fun tournament started. This morning at MIDNIGHT, the 2019 Riverbank Rally had STARTED!

BASIC RULES/PAYOUTS

The rules are pretty simple in this all-summer event. Basically we are having 5 different tournaments in one, looking for the longest of each species to win. These 5 species are the following:

-sucker/redhorse
-common carp
-channel, flathead, blue catfish
-smallmouth buffalo
-freshwater drum (sheepshead)

The anglers have from April 6-August 30 to catch and photo the longest fish of these categories and submit them to us. To prevent the use of fish pics from years past, each photo must contain a special code that was generated this week. The anglers are using the "honor system" for the all-summer tournaments and the cash winnings will be very low. The winner of each of these categories will win a trophy and double their entry fee in cash. All 5 winners will advance to the final championship round - a longest sturgeon contest on the Chippewa River in Eau Claire on September 7. All fish in the final round will be measured by Jesse Piontek while monitored by the competitors on the bank. The top 3 anglers on the championship round will win the remaining pot. Below pictured is the required code to be displayed in all entry pictures of fish (written on paper, cardstock, note cards, cardboard, etc:)

AND HERE ARE THE PAYOUTS:

$2 PER ANGLER WILL BE DONATED TO BECKY&MIKE IACONELLI'S THE IKE FOUNDATION, AND SAMANTHA GAY'S FISHERS OF KIDS ANGLER ACADEMY!

These organizations get kids involved in fishing and the outdoors and provide tackle to children that don't have access or the funding to achieve these on their own. We are extremely proud to say that out of the 33 anglers in this event, 4 of them are children!

SCOREBOARD

We will have an active scoreboard displayed all summer long with frequent updates. At all times the current leader will be displayed so we will know who is in front and in position to make the championship round. The scoreboard is accessible by clicking the button below:

CLICK HERE FOR RIVERBANK RALLY SCOREBOARD

THANK YOU TO ALL 33 ANGLERS THAT ARE JOINING US FOR THIS FUN COMPETITION! BEST OF LUCK AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP! A LINK TO THE FINAL RULES ARE AT THE BUTTON BELOW:

RIVERBANK RALLY INFO & RULES

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SPRING IS HERE! BOOTYKICKER + BASS JERKER BLOWOUT SALE! ALL-SUMMER WI RIVERBANK RALLY ROUGH FISH TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEES DUE! BASSMASTER CLASSIC RECAP......

3/23/2019

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BOOTYKICKER + BASS JERKER BLOWOUT SALE!!

As a celebration to the beginning of spring and the upcoming bass season in Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwest region, James Gang Fishing Company (in cahoots with LETHAL BAITS SOFT PLASTICS of KENTUCKY) is running an incredible bargain on our BOOTYKICKER 5" swimbaits and our BASS JERKER 3.25" + 4" Suspending jerkbaits for the entire month of April! These all will be special ordered in these custom colors, so there will be a short waiting time (2-3 weeks) for Randy to take our orders, pour them, and ship them from Kentucky to Wisconsin. Our top selling color BOOTYKICKERS will be offered at special rock-bottom sales prices only one time this year in the following colors:

DONKEY MELON CANDY (#1 Seller in 2019)

Designed by James Gang Pro Staffer KEVIN ROGALSKI, This is our #1 selling color so far since its release in late 2018, and has resulted in multiple bass in the 5-6 lb club in Wisconsin!! This color is absolutely beautiful in person and drives bass wild under the correct conditions and presentations.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER DONKEY MELON CANDY

UNCLE DALE'S ALTOONA PERCH

ALTOONA PERCH was a realistic color design by Jesse James intended to imitate the local yellow perch in the Eau Claire river system, especially the Lake Altoona breed. Alex's Great Uncle Dale Simmons (self proclaimed "the greatest fisherman in the world") has landed trophy perch in these water systems for decades. Local anglers Trevor Meeks and James Gang Pro Staffer and professional Kayak Guide Chang Lor have found some beautiful largemouth and northern pike that were willing to eat these up. In perch-forage waters with trophy smallmouth bass, this color will be a go-to on the sand flats where perch are eaten like "filet mignon."

CLICK HERE TO ORDER ALTOONA PERCH

RANDY'S GILL

This color was designed by the talented Randy Henderson of Lethal Baits Soft Plastics. Randy had been making multiple lures in this color, including "senko" style, creature baits, tubes, and much more. This is our #1 selling color of 2018 and is known for catching fish in clear or stained conditions. Buy a 10 pack of these then check out LETHAL BAITS SOFT PLASTICS on Facebook and look at Randy's unbelievable quality plastics for sale and then you will understand why we hired the BEST to pour these plastics for James Gang Fishing Company!

CLICK HERE FOR RANDY'S GILL

DOUG'S DOCK SKIPPER

PINK ON TOP, SILVER ON BOTTOM, Douglas's fish catcher will catch them in clear or stained water. Put this on a 5/0 VMC HD Swimbait hook and go skip some docks and trees!!!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER DOUG'S DOCK SKIPPER PINK/SILVER

ALEX'S GOLD RUSH(NEW FOR 2019)

NEW FOR 2019!! This color was designed by James Gang CEO, lure designer, and tournament angler Alex James to mimic the unique coloration of our smallmouth bass in the Flambeau River systems. Our smallmouth bass, from the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage, to Big Falls, Thornapple, Holcombe, Cornell, Old Abe Lake, and Lake Wissota have a unique root beer/orange coloration that looks like artwork in person. This color of BOOTYKICKER is a perfect match, and Alex decided to have Randy inject COFFEE scent into these fine kickers, to "wake the fish up" when they are in a negative feeding pattern. If you fish root beer colored river systems and reservoirs full of smallmouth, get yourself a 10 pack of these and get fishing!!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER GOLD RUSH

BASS JERKER SUSPENDING JERKBAITS
3.25" & 4"

BASS JERKERS for Bass, Walleye & Pike!

As the spring weather (FINALLY) warms up, we are now able to begin our custom paint jobs in 2019. We have two custom colors available in 2019, called "BLOODY CISCO" (OUR #1 FISH CATCHER OF ALL-TIME) and our 2018 prototype success story, "GOLDEN SHINER." In addition to our 2 very successful custom colors, we also have the following colors available upon request: GHOST MINNOW, GHOST SHAD, SMALLMOUTH, GINRIN SWIRL, & YELLOW PERCH. The BASS JERKER suspending jerkbait has oversized & upgraded quality VMC blood red treble hooks that create a perfect neutral bouyancy or a very slow natural fall, depending on water temperature. We add a premium hand-tied feather to the rear treble for added attraction that drives fish crazy. The BASS JERKER is an extremely erratic jerkbait, comparable to the $17 Lucky Craft Pointer at a much lower price. Retail is $10 so take advantage of this one-time $6 sale as it will not be this low any other time this year!! We highly recommend using JB'S FISH SAUCE ON THESE LURES!! These are reaction lures commonly used in tough conditions.