2021 JAMES GANG MLF RECAP

2021 JAMES GANG BASS INVITATIONAL

18 ANGLERS PARTICIPATED IN THE OLD ABE MLF EVENT IN 2021

The Event Begins......

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

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6 AM equals "LINES IN"

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

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

ALEX FINDS A POTENTIAL WINNING PATTERN EARLY

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

TEAM FORSMAN GOES WILD!

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

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

BRENT FORSMAN IS PUTTING HIS TEAM ON A GREAT PATTERN

THE REMAINING FIELD COMES IN TO PLAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

LEADER'S NAP TIME???

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

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

THE FINAL HOUR - WINNERS & DAILY LUNKER

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

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

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

BRENT FORSMAN LANDS A 1.43LB SMALLMOUTH BASS UNDER PRESSURE

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

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

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

DAILY LUNKER AWARD - ALEX PIONTEK
​2.81 LBS

FINAL STANDINGS

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

CLICK HERE FOR JAMES GANG FISHING MLF LONG LAKE INFO