 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!!! 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 JERSEYFUN 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. 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!!!! 
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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
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.    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!!!!! SHOUT-OUT TO OUR CURRENT CATEGORY LEADERS: 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
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.  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!!! |
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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