WELCOME TO JAMES GANG FISHING CO.

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

11/1/2020

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.

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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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From Ice to Open water..... Panfish to Bass, Riverbank Rally accepting anglers to June 1, Nest Invaders on SALE!, CWBA LAKE CHETAC, 1957 Evinrude for the Crawfish Bandit..............

5/10/2020

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11-YR OLD JAMES GANG CEO, LURE DESIGNER, TOURNAMENT ANGLER ALEX JAMES PROUDLY CATCHES A 17" BASS ON A JAMES GANG 1/4 OZ NEST INVADER DURING MIKE IACONELLI'S ONLINE TOURNAMENT IN APRIL

ICE SEASON SUCCESS!!

9.5" BULL BLUEGILL FROM WESTERN WI IN FEBRUARY

We spent the majority of our ice fishing season in exploration mode, choosing to spend more time on lakes featuring "quality" sized older fish vs. the lakes that typically are easier to fish with smaller average sizes. While the majority of these lakes were a struggle to figure out, we did manage to put ourselves on the quality fish that we were looking for. In the tougher times, subtle is the way to go. We chose to use small Flirty Girty jigs made in Fall Creek, WI, as well as Acme Tungsten jigs in very small sizes. The color we went with were in black in both cases. We found ourselves trimming our Gullickson's Beavertail Baits vertically in half, to imitate a red wiggler. We finished off the job by scratching the hook in some JB's Fish Sauce "Crawfish" paste or balm stick. By using our flashers, we kept our presentation above the suspended bigger fish, jigging aggressively to get their attention, then deadsticking as they rose to bite. This presentation allowed me to catch my biggest bluegill through the ice, a beautiful 9.5" from a quality lake in Western WI. We managed to keep 8 fish ranging from 8.75-9.5" in about 30 minutes, then left to explore another tough lake. At times it seems like minnows are a must to get bit in the tough crappie situations, at other times a Beavertail on a tiny jig is the way to go for both crappies and bluegills of any size. Unfortunately the James Gang were not available to explore during March or the "late ice" phase, but next year we will hopefully find opportunities to make some trips during those periods and continue to become better anglers with more learning on the ice.

ACME PRO TUNGSTEN IN SMALL SIZES TIPPED WITH GULLICKSON'S BEAVERTAILS AND SCENTED WITH JB'S FISH SAUCE IS A GREAT PRESENTATION FOR HESITANT QUALITY PANFISH

$10 RIVERBANK RALLY UNDERWAY AND STILL ACCEPTING ANGLERS

After a fun and successful new riverbank tournament format was started in 2019 by James Gang Fishing Company in Wisconsin, we decided to follow it up in 2020 and expand it to any riverbank in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Some of our anglers are off to a very hot start as they posted multiple fish on the 2020 Riverbank Rally Scoreboard during the first weeks of the event. This tournament runs all summer until the end of August, at an entry fee of only $10 per angler. With a small processing fee of 68 cents, we accept entry fees online through this website. Due to the fears of COVID-19 as far as affecting the angler's financial situations, we decided to extend the entry fee deadline to June 1, 2020. If you are interested, please click on the entry fee page below. Credit or check cards are accepted:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE 2020 WI RIVERBANK RALLY PLEASE CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW!!!!!

WI RIVERBANK RALLY INFO

SHOUT-OUT TO OUR CURRENT CATEGORY LEADERS:

1. SUCKERS - MATT RISEN
2. CARP - TASHA LUNDERVILLE
3. FRESHWATER DRUM (SHEEPSHEAD) - PAUL FANKHAUSER
4. CATFISH - TERRY HEARD
5. BUFFALO - MATT RISEN

NEST INVADER WEEDLESS JIGS ON SALE!!!

The NEST INVADER weedless swinging skirted jig design by Alex Piontek of JAMES GANG FISHING CO has been a fantastic lure for quality bass for the past two fishing seasons! I personally caught my largest Largemouth Bass on it of my life this April, and placed high in Mike Iaconelli's online tournament with the Berkeley Big Bass competition for Week #2. The size that we used during the 47 degree water was the 1/4 oz version. This size uses a small 3.8" swimbait trailer. Our top seller and performer for the Elk Mound High School team and many kayak anglers has been the 3/8 oz version. From the beginning two colors have been dominant - "Mississippi Mayhem" (black/blue) and "White Crappie" with the Mayhem catching the majority of the bigger fish. Our online store sells several colors in the 3/8 oz size, but we can also custom build 1/4 or 1/2 oz versions by special request. The 3/8 oz and 1/2 oz options come with larger EWG hooks and our incredible James Gang BOOTYKICKER swimbait poured by Lethal Baits for unbelievable action. Pro Staffer Jaz Duncan found success with his son Gavin on this design recently after putting on a beaver style bait as a trailer to "slow the fall" in a tougher situation for quality largemouth bass in Barron County, WI. Smear some JB's Fish Sauce on these beautiful lures and tie on some quality flourocarbon and you will be ready to catch some quality fish in no time! We are putting these top-quality jigs on sale with free shipping from May to June 1 on our store, so we encourage you to check them out! You will be impressed, we are sure of it! Click on the store below to shop online:

NEST INVADER 3/8 oz swinging weedless swimjig

$12.00

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JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER JAZ DUNCAN & HIS SON FOUND NEST INVADER SUCCESS IN BARRON COUNTY, WI

PRO STAFFER ANDREW DRAPER WITH A PLEASANT SPRING SNOW SURPRISE!!!

PRO STAFFER DOC GILLES STILL LIGHTING UP RIVERBANKS HEAVILY PRESSURED WITH HIS FAVORITE FISH!!

PRO STAFFERS ROGALSKI & EICHINGER FIND DONKEYS IN BIRCHWOOD, WI

CWBA TOURNAMENT SEASON BEGINS!!!

GREAT JOB TO PAT SCHLAPPER & WADE RICKEY FOR THE WIN OVER 34 OTHER TEAMS! Excellent ran tournament once again by Craig Kloth!!

JESSE JAMES LANDED 2 BASS & 1 PIKE IN THE TOUGH EVENT

MAT EICHINGER LANDED 4 BASS & 5 NORTHERN PIKE IN THE EVENT

SCOTT WILZCEK IS EXCITED FOR THE START IN HIS NEW SKEETER FX21 BOAT

NEW MOTOR, NEW ATTITUDES....

SEE YOU ON THE WATER!!!

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Ice fishing reports, Boat restoration, Lovertail 2 ON SALE!!!!

2/8/2020

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DAD ENJOYING TIME WITH JAMES GANG CEO & DESIGNER ALEX JAMES BY CATCHING CRAPPIES AND BLUEGILLS IN NW WISCONSIN

COLD FALL, WARM WINTER, MULTIPLE FRONTS

LOCAL FEMALE YOUTH TOURNAMENT ANGLER ALAYNA H. WITH TWO KEEPER BLUEGILLS IN CHIPPEWA COUNTY

Our fall season started off with extremely cold weather as compared to previous years, as we found solid ice on most regional lakes as early as November 6, 2019. Several smaller bodies of water already had fish on the ice by local brave (but "crazy?") anglers that ventured out on the first few inches of ice. The cold weather remained all the way through the late November WI gun deer hunting season, and led most anglers to believe that driveable ice would be present earlier than ever. During the early part of December the temperatures remained stable, not fast enough to create thicker ice at a fast pace, yet not too warm to lose ice. But by mid-December, the weather took a fast turn for the worst (for ice anglers) as the weather became warm and refused to budge through January as the ice became sketchy and covered in slush all over the state. A few places finally found a safe thickness of ice to drive on, but the heavy amounts of slush caused issues of vehicles getting stuck. For the most part, most anglers in Wisconsin have given up on driving on the ice as of this point in the year and have been resorting to long walks and snowmobile or ATV traffic. The positive of the warmer than average winter - beautiful, comfortable days on the ice and many days without the nasty wind that we typically see in January the puts our wind chills around -40!!

JAMES GANG MEMBERS - GOOD BUDDY ZIM, DOC, & KEVIN ENJOYING THE WARMER THAN AVERAGE JANUARY WEATHER WHILE PIKE FISHING

WOOD-FIRED BEER BRATS ON THE ICE - DELICIOUS!!!!

FISHING WITH THE KIDS

Fishing with kids is always a fun time and is something that our company was obviously founded on when our 7-year-old genius owner became a lure designer and acquired his business license in 2016. We attempt to get a few outings every ice and open water season with a few children to have fun and introduce them to the outdoors. This year during Christmas break from school, CEO Alex met up with local young female anglers Brynn & Alayna in Chippewa County, and found bluegills in about every hole that we drilled! Many fish were running small this day, but the three children caught all 7 of the keeper panfish that were brought to the ice, as the adults failed to land a fish of keeper size. These three had a blast together and had great attitudes as they caught several fish in the late afternoon. Alex was treated with a delicious pizza at a local bar and grill when it was over, and for an appetizer we drank two hot cocoas to warm up from the time on the ice.

ALAYNA H WITH HER FIRST FISH OF THE DAY (RELEASED)

ALEX JAMES WITH AN 8" BLUEGILL, HIS BIGGEST OF THE DAY!

ALEX, BRYNN, & ALAYNA ARE SMILING HUGE AFTER A FUN OUTING ON THE ICE!

BOAT RESTORATION 2020

After 2018 & 2019 were spent pretty much fighting boat issues instead of fishing, we have made some purchases and drawn up some design ideas to improve the CRAWFISH BANDIT General Lee boat for the 2020 season. We are really excited to dump our 2 broken 40 hp outboards and replace them with a 2020 Mercury 25 EFI 4-stroke. We will be losing about 8-10 mph top speed, but feel like we will have plenty of fun at speeds around 20 mph in the 16' Lund. We chose to save the price difference of the lighter motor and invest in a new Hummingbird Helix 12 with mega side imaging, and also got a hold of a 2017 Motorguide 36V X5i to battle winds and current with. New trailer tires, fresh grease in the bearings, and a new coat of paint on the interior and bottom half exterior will shine the boat up nicely. We will replace the jackplate with fresh marine-grade wood for the heavier 25 hp motor, and we will build a 3' platform to mount our first bow-mount trolling system. Our platform will be replaced to accomodate the recessed foot pedal for the trolling motor as well as provide access doors to the batteries. The General should run fantastic for Alex as he spends 2020 working on his boater's permit license from the WI DNR. Upgrade pictures to come.....

CRAPPIES AND BLUEGILLS HITTING BEAVERTAILS W/FISH SAUCE

Last Saturday, Alex and I met some awesome people out on a popular lake in Rusk County, WI. With a perfect weather pattern of a moving front and a low barometer, we figured an aggressive presentation would work very well and that we would manage hundreds of fish on the ice. When we started fishing, we had an unusually tough time for this body of water locating fish. We were in the correct area, but we hardly marked a fish even hopping holes over and over. Finally we found a few schools, and we went after them aggressively - bright colors, big trailers, etc. The result was a school of fishing "fleeing the scene" as fast as they could. It didn't take long to figure out that all of us had to adjust to this unexpected reaction. We went with a small black Acme tungsten jig, and then modified a pink Beavertail bait by cutting the width about as skinny as a silver wiggler. The jig was previously treated with JB'S FISH SAUCE in "Crawfish" flavor. As I began marking fish that would approach but fail to commit with my typical jigging cadence for this lake, Alex took over and threw 5 of the nicest crappies (of the day) on the ice while 5 adults were still skunked.

ACME PRO GRADE 3MM JIG IN "NIGHT RIDER" TIPPED WITH A PINK BEAVERTAIL

TREVOR MEEKS & DREW ERICKSON ARE ON THE MOVE SEARCHING FOR SCHOOLS OF PANFISH

After Alex got off his his fine start towards next weekend's dinner, Sierra & Andy began catching a few fish, including our first 8" bluegill of the day. Moments later Trevor & Drew found a place to set up camp and sit on a few moving schools of fish, getting a few spurts here and there of fish willing to bite in a row with their finesse presentations of darker, smaller jig selections. All 6 anglers seemed to go a small time of catching fish, then as the school would leave we all waited a while without marking fish until the schools would cycle back through. Typically in these situations, I choose to hole hop all over the area and only target holes where fish are present on the flasher. This day was the first time where this run and gun approach failed to pay off, as the 5 anglers that stayed put seemed to consistently catch more fish by being patient and waiting for those cycling schools to find their way back to the area. Towards the end of the day, I decided to go their route, and I ended up catching some better bluegills to add to Alex's pile of black crappies. When the day was over, the group of us brought home around 60+ panfish for the lard, garlic, and cast iron skillets. The biggest bluegills were around 8" and the longest crappie was around 10." These fish made great meals and left us all very happy as we headed home from the lake.

THE VIEW FROM A WISCONSIN LAKE IN WINTER IS ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL!!

NOT A GIANT, BUT TREVOR MEEKS LANDS HIS FIRST PAN-WORTHY BLUEGILL AT 7"

I LOVE THE COLORATIONS OF A BULL GILL, THIS ONE 8" IN LENGTH

ALEX FORGETS TO HOLD OUT HIS 10" CRAPPIE TO MAKE IT LOOK BIGGER

A MR. HEATER BUDDY AND A FRABILL FORTRESS MAKES WINTERTIME FUN!!!

SOMETIMES IT'S WHITE, TODAY THE PINK BEAVERTAIL WAS THE KEY BAIT

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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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