 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!  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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 33 ANGLERS, 5 ROUGH FISH SPECIES,  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/PAYOUTSThe 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! 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: |
AuthorJesse James is an avid fisherman that loves smallmouth bass fishing, loves spending time with his family, with other family-orientated people, and loves seeing children fish. A huge fan of BASSMASTER Elite Mike Iaconelli, like Mike, he is known to be a little strange, and obnoxious, but only to have fun and make people laugh.
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