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ARRIVAL OF BOOTYKICKER SWIMBAITS, WAITING FOR OPENER, UW STOUT SPONSORSHIP MEETING, JBs FISH SAUCE, THE IKE FOUNDATION

4/15/2018

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE.....???

We are excited that spring is finally here, but so far it really doesn't feel like it up in Wisconsin. The water temperatures in the rivers are doing ok, but the lakes are a different story. Its amazing that in late December we were so warm and were begging for some safe ice on the lakes, then the next thing you know, our air temperatures dropped below zero, forever! The ice thickness was incredible this year around February and March, and now with the much lower than average temperatures this April, the ice is hardly melting. The only fishing that seems to be taking place is on the river systems, and currently the water temperatures are around 40 degrees. Just a few bright, sunny days will boost that up a few degrees and the river fish will begin feeding like crazy. Last week I managed to get out for about an hour in the light snow and caught my first open water fish of 2018, a small Lake Sturgeon measuring roughly about 24." I got a quick picture with this gorgeous little guy and let it go right away since they are out of season, even for catch-and-release. Pretty soon the suckers, redhorse, carp, mooneye, walleye, yellow perch, and freshwater drum will go crazy in our rivers, and the anglers that have been hiding in the house from the cold will finally be able to get out and relax.

YOUNG LAKE STURGEON AROUND 24" CAUGHT ON A NIGHTCRAWLER ON THE EAU CLAIRE RIVER

BOOTYKICKER 5" PADDLE TAIL SWIMBAITS FOR SALE NOW!

Our production-run James Gang BOOTYKICKER 5" swimbaits are here! Lethal Baits did an outstanding job at taking our prototype recipe, finding a mold that resembled it closely, and injecting them into our custom colors. We are so glad that we chose to hire a pro to inject them for us, the final product looks incredible in person, and in the water. The swimming action is so perfect, and the colors that Randy Henderson has made us are just stunning. They are available only through email at 6lbsmallmouth@gmail.com, and on eBay. We will send your email address a PayPal invoice for $5.25 per 4 pack plus shipping for your orders. We offer them in 7 forage-matching colors, including Altoona Perch, Randy's Gill, Emerald Shiner, Silver Baitfish, Albino Baitfish, Redhorse, and Baby Bass. We sold out of Randy's Gill in the first 2 hours, and the Altoona Perch in 24 hours. Don't worry, Lethal Baits is already on the job sending a second order of those colors, and they should arrive very quickly. Below we will show all of the colors available as we do our best to "match the hatch" while showing the fish something different from the standard store brands of products. For tips on using the Bootykicker, check out our "Fishing Tips" menu on this website.

THE FIRST 20 CUSTOMERS WILL GET A FREE SAMPLE OF JB'S FISH SAUCE WITH THEIR BOOTYKICKER ORDER!!!!!

BOOTYKICKER COLORS AVAILABLE

ADDING JBs FISH SAUCE TO OUR BOOTYICKER IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! THE SCENT "BAITFISH" OR "BLACK MAGIC" SHOULD BE YOUR CHOICE FOR THIS LURE!!!!!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON JBs FISH SAUCE

UW-STOUT NATIONAL BASS FISHING TOURNAMENT TEAM MEETING / THE IKE FOUNDATION SPONSORSHIP

Two weeks ago, the UW-STOUT bass fishing team held their team meeting at Jarvis Hall on campus. They were kind enough to invite Alex and I to speak about James Gang Fishing Company, our lures we have to offer, and about a sponsorship opportunity to them as we represent each other while supporting each other. After explaining our lure designs to the team in the campus room, 9-year old Alex took over the speech and explained to the room all about his opportunities he has had at a young age in the bass fishing world. He spoke about fishing his first adult tournament at 7 years old competing in the CWBA Opens (ran by Craig Kloth - fantastic tournament director) also about the beginning of James Gang Fishing Company, his idea that came to life beginning when he was four years old, to designing successful lures at 7 years old, to spending time with Mike Iaconelli in Minnesota after a meet-and-greet fan expo, and to eventually landing a sponsorship with The Ike Foundation, signing papers from Mike Iaconelli's attorneys to be his first sponsor to represent that fine organization.

Alex went into great detail about what The Ike Foundation is, and how it was established to introduce children into the outdoors and have positive hobbies in their life, especially in bigger cities where violence and crime begins at a very young age. He talked about Iaconelli's silly sense of humor and about how nice of a guy he is. Alex did a fantastic job with his speech and made all of his family very proud! Alex stated he was not nervous at all because he "talks to people all the time on his YouTube Channel YG4Kids." For more information about THE IKE FOUNDATION, go to www.theikefoundation.org.

GREAT JOB ALEX!!!

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BOOTYKICKER SWIMBAIT, "BIGGIN" WILLIAMS, BASS JERKERS, BIG MINNOW BAR & GRILL

3/22/2018

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BIG MINNOW ADDS JAMES GANG LURES IN 2018!

We are very excited that the wonderful owners at the Big Minnow Bar & Grill/Bait Shop have added our Lovertail 2, Dunkin' Frog, Bee Whacker Buzzbait, Dunkin' Frog Musky, Bee Whacker Musky, and Lovertail 2 Musky Waaker to their bait shop line in 2018! The Big Minnow bait shop is seasonal to the open water months, and will open their doors around mid-April. We will have our lures stocked up for their opening weekend and keep them filled all season long. If you have never been to the Lake Holcombe area, it is a great place to camp, fish, boat, or hang out during the summer and especially the holidays. With the Jump River and the Chippewa River entering the Holcombe Flowage, there are plenty of fish species to chase, including bass, northern pike, musky, walleye, catfish, sturgeon, panfish, and many more! With the weed cover found in the shallow areas, our weed-friendly designs will work excellent! The owners asked that I keep them stocked with a variety of colors per lure design, so we will supply them with the best fish-catchers for that style of lake, based on the typical stained water clarity of the Chippewa River system. Swing by the Big Minnow this summer, grab one of their burgers off the menu, crack a cold one, and check out the bait shop!

WELCOME CHAD "BIGGIN" WILLIAMS TO THE JAMES GANG PRO STAFF!!

We proudly add Chad "Biggin" Williams to the James Gang! Chad is an avid bass angler from Florida, that spends the bulk of his time fishing the famous Harris Chain of Lakes. When he gets an opportunity, "Biggin" will be seen on Lake Okeechobee hauling in trophies when Mother Nature permits him to. Chad has caught multiple bass over 10 lbs in his life, including a 13 lb 9 oz monster! Chad supports getting kids fishing, and when he told us he is a huge Mike Iaconelli fan, we just had to get him in the gang. We are thankful that Chad is helping us spread the word about our hand-crafted lures in the central Florida area. Welcome, Chad, and have a great year on the lake in 2018!!

BOOTYKICKER - FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION!

We finally gave Randy at Lethal Baits the "green light" to produce our first run of our James Gang Bootykicker weighted swimbait. Randy sent us 10 baits in our "Emerald Shiner" pattern, and when we took them to the river, they tested GREAT! The tail action is incredible, and the lure looks amazing in the water. This will be a fantastic lure for several species of gamefish, and will be magical around weed cover on a weedless hook, as well as down deep in late fall on a 1/2 oz swimbait jig. Watch the tail in action down below on the youtube video link:

BASS JERKER PAINTING SEASON IS BACK!!

GHOST SHAD, (custom) BLOODY CISCO, GHOST MINNOW, YELLOW PERCH

Now that spring is finally here in Wisconsin, we began painting our custom colors of our BASS JERKER suspending jerkbaits. Our custom colors that we have been working on are our super successful "BLOODY CISCO," a new "FATHEAD" pattern that mimics fathead minnows very well (black body/silver belly,) "DAN'S GILL" imitating a male bluegill (navy blue top, blending into a silver mid-section, orange belly) and a neat new color called "SHINER" which mimics common shiner forage quite well. I cover these paints with a layer of clear coat to add some natural shine to them. After gluing on the eyes, I attach a pair of HD stainless steel upsized split rings, and some upsized blood red 1x VMC treble hooks. The rear treble is put in a fly vise, as I tie on three feathers by hand, wrap them , and seal them. This lure is comparable to a $17 Lucky Craft Pointer 78, but better, and at almost half the price ($10!) The factory-painted colors are terrific, and are very good at catching fishing. Visibility is a factor with jerkbaits, but I don't use obnoxiously bright - they seem to only do well in somewhat clear water anyway. So if its cloudy outside or the water has a decent stain to it, I just go with a more solid silver color or the Ginrin Swirl color for better visibility. They still look pretty realistic. The ghost colors are awesome on a bright sunny day in crystal clear waters, especially on Lake Michigan. Overall the #1 fish producer has been the "Bloody Cisco" and its fraternal twin brother, the "OSHA RECORDABLE." To order, send me an email at 6lbsmallmouth@gmail.com and we will set you up with these fantastic lures ASAP. All custom orders or out of stock lures do take 2-4 weeks, so be patient as I wait for parts and pick the right day out to paint your lures. I highly recommend picking up some JB's Fish Sauce in "Baitfish" scent to treat your lure while you are using it. Its made from natural fish oils, so you can't go wrong!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER OUR BASS JERKER BLOODY CISCO

Bass Jerker in "BLOODY CISCO" ready for clear coat

"BLOODY CISCO" Largemouth caught in CWBA tournament practice

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THANK YOU MADISON WISCONSIN!!!!

2/27/2018

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THE JAMES GANG HAD A BLAST AT THE 2018 WISCONSIN FISHING EXPO.....

CEO & LURE DESIGNER ALEX JAMES PROUDLY DISPLAYS HIS IKE FOUNDATION PLEDGE AS HE BEGINS HIS BOOTH SETUP FEBRUARY 23

What a fun weekend we had at the Alliant Energy Center! We attended our second trade show ever, and fortunately this one is 100% fishing related. We really appreciate the people at Bast-Durbin for stressing that when choosing which vendors were allowed in the building. It really made the weekend a lot of fun talking fishing with everyone. Attendance was thought to have been up about 11% from previous years, which would put it well over 20,000 people. I know we personally sold lures to people from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and even South America! He did buy our musky lures to try for peacock bass down there too. Remember to email us your fish catch pictures at 6lbsmallmouth@gmail.com and we will post them on this fishing report/blog every few weeks during the open water or prime ice fishing season!

Madison Wisconsin was rocking this past weekend!!

Click below to watch the Alex Fishing Show in Madison!!

PETE MAINA, KEITH COMBS, & SETH FIEDER ALL HUNG OUT WITH ALEX AT THE EXPO!!

We were excited to see some professional anglers at the show, and we weren't surprised to find that they were all awesome people, much like the majority of the professional fishing world that we had met in the past. Keith Combs, a superstar angler from Texas, has met us a few times prior when he was pretty new to the Bassmaster Elites, but in the last few years he has been the most dominant "big bass" angler on the tour. Keith has won the Toyota Texas Bass Classic THREE TIMES, and has been one consistently nasty angler on the Texas lakes with giant largemouth. Keith told us he caught twin 14 lb largemouths already! He almost won the Bassmaster AOY last year and came up a little short on Mille Lacs, but stressed out the eventual winner Brandon Palaniuk as much as he could in 2017. Keith has always been friendly to myself, Alex, and our buddy Doc Gilles, and it was nice chatting with him about the Classic coming up in March and his fun he has fishing on Sam Rayburn Lake. Best of luck Keith, thank you for spending time with us, you WILL be a Classic champ very soon!

It was our first time meeting professional musky angler Pete Maina. I always found him funny watching him fishing on TV wearing his goofy ski mask with his rock star hair hanging out of the ear holes. He is a great guy, very friendly, he signed one of our Musky Lovertail 2 weedless inline spinners, and he even took one for himself that we offered him to try out. I think that he will be impressed. We gave him the heads up on the healthy population of muskies where we fished an MLF tournament and hopes he goes to check it out, maybe even film a show there. You can watch Pete on the John Gillespie Waters & Woods show all the time, as well as The Next Bite show with Keith & the Parsons boys, walleye experts. Thank you Pete for being classy and kind!

This goofball doesn't need any introduction to the fishing world, as he did a pretty fine job himself in the past two years. When the talk on ESPN2 and in the bass fishing world has been steady about Kevin VanDam & Mike Iaconelli for the past 15 years, all of a sudden Seth Fieder has been the guy that they can't stop talking about. Out of nowhere our local boy (Bloomington, MN) qualified into the Bassmasters by doing extremely well in the Bass Opens in his first 2 season attempts. Then after struggling most of his first season, he gave everyone but Ott DeFoe a huge beating in LaCrosse, WI, then the next tournament he destroyed everyone on Mille Lacs, weighing in 3 five fish limits over 76 pounds! All monster smallmouths! After his momentum built and he found his groove, he had an outstanding year last year, consistently fishing well all over the place, and wound up in the top finishers for Angler Of the Year standings. He qualified for his first ever Bassmaster Classic and will be going for the world championship in a few weeks. We have never met Seth before, so we didn't know what to expect of him. Within a few minutes, I figured out he is just like Iaconelli, a hilarious goofball that fits right in with us. We chatted a bit at his Daiwa booth, when I mentioned Alex's Lovertail 2 lure. Seth was so cool he actually asked to come hang out at our booth for quite a while and look at them personally. He chose his favorite color of Alex's lures, and hung out a long time telling fishing stories, talking about what its like fishing the Bassmaster Elites trail, and a lot about fishing his home areas in Minnesota. He is a super cool guy. He took time to take pictures with all of us, took our card, and even though he is very booked this summer, was kind enough to take one of our brochures to compete in our Major League Fishing tournament in Rice Lake in June. Now chances are this rock star probably can't make it, but the gesture was appreciated and maybe we will see a surprise RSVP. Any craft is allowed, so maybe he and Cade Laufenburg can show up in belly boats or a rowboat together as a team! Thank you for being cool, Seth, best of luck in the classic, keep representing the Cutlass Supreme driving rock star mullet heads of 1985 with that cool mustache and rack up some trophies this year!

TRAVEL, LODGING, SETUP, 3 DAYS OF EXPO, TEAR DOWN.....

Alex, Kevin, and I all enjoyed our first "business trip" with our fishing lure builds. It was a great vacation from back in our home area, the weather was nice, and the area of Madison in which we were working our show had everything close by. Our dinners, our hotels, gas stations, everything was within a 3 mile radius. We were moving a lot from Thursday to Sunday but didn't use hardly any gas or take any time. Everything was RIGHT THERE. The Alliant Energy Center sets up as a great place to deal with as a vendor.

ALEX BEGINS OUR SETUP ON FRIDAY MORNING. HE DID A GREAT JOB & WORKED HARD!

HARD TO BELIEVE HOW THIS EMPTY BUILDING FILLED UP SO FAST!

ALEX IS BUSY STOCKING LURES. HE BROUGHT 584 OF HIS DESIGNS TO THE EXPO

BEING A LURE DESIGNER CAN GET YOU PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES WITH PRETTY GIRLS, SUCH AS THE ADORABLE MISS HAYLEE FROM SMALL CRAFT OUTFITTERS KAYAK GUIDING & SALES

OF COURSE WE HAD TO CHECK OUT SCO GUIDE TYLER THEIDE'S BOOTH. TYLER & HIS GOOD FRIEND CHANG LOR ARE KAYAK GUIDES IN WESTERN WISCONSIN & PREMIUM KAYAK DEALERS. THIS 11.5 LURE KAYAK IS A BLAST TO USE, AND NOW HAS A PEDAL-DRIVE AVAILABLE!! OF COURSE HE HAD THE MUST-HAVE JB'S FISH SAUCE FOR SALE!

TYLER & HAYLEE PREPARED FOR THE LONG WEEKEND & HEAVY TRAFFIC IN THE KAYAK CORRIDOR

EXHAUSTED BOYS GOT SOME REST, AND EVEN BLUE BUNNY MADE THE TRIP. HE HAD FUN TOO!

RIGHT BACK AT IT SATURDAY MORNING. FACEBOOK LIVE TO KICK OFF THE DAY, AND BY 10 AM THE EXPO WAS PACKED!

THE LOCAL CONSERVATION CLUBS, THE COUNTY, THE STATE, & BAST-DURBIN WORK TOGETHER EVERY YEAR TO DONATE TO CONSERVATION EFFORTS. THEY ALSO BROUGHT THIS COOL TANK IN FULL OF WISCONSIN NATIVE FISH. THOSE PERCH LOOKED SO TASTY!

VERY SPECIAL PICTURE THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET

MUCH-NEEDED NIGHT OUT FOR FOOD WITH SOME OUTSTANDING GUYS IN THE KAYAK BUSINESS! THESE GUYS WERE ALL VERY KIND TO US & A LOT OF FUN! THANK YOU FOR INVITING KEVIN & I! WE LOVED IT!

I WAS VERY SURPRISED & EXCITED TO SEE THAT THE UW-STOUT BOYS SHOWED UP. WE ARE SPONSORING THEM THIS SEASON & ARE PROUD THAT THESE GUYS ARE THROWING OUR LURES. WE MAY EVEN HAVE A NEW "BLUE DEVIL" COLOR TWIST DESIGNED PERSONALLY BY PRESIDENT ZACH HANSEN (RIGHT.) BRADLEY LORRIGAN (LEFT) IS THE TEAM'S TREASURER. GOOD LUCK IN 2018!

AND A GUY I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO MEET WAS OUR SALES REP FOR OUR ACME/KALIN'S PRODUCTS, CHRIS WILSON. CHRIS IS A SUPER COOL GUY AND IS BEHIND A LOT OF THE MARKETING OF THEIR KILLER SOFT PLASTICS. THE KALIN'S SIZMIC SHAD IS DYNAMITE ON OUR LOVERTAIL 2. I LOVE THEM ON CHATTERBAIT-STYLE JIGS AS WELL. ALSO CHECK OUT THE KALIN'S 3" SCRUB TRAILER AND THEIR 4" SIZMIC TOAD. BOTH HAVE PADDLE FEET FOR KILLER VIBRATION.

ALEX MAKES WISCONSIN OUTDOOR NEWS WITH HIS BABY SQUID BAIT CATCH!

THANK YOU CUSTOMERS FOR GIVING OUR LURES A CHANCE! PLEASE EMAIL US YOUR FISH CATCH PICTURES AND ANY CUSTOM COLOR LURE DESIGN ORDERS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE US TO MAKE FOR YOU!!

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WI FISHING EXPO FEB 23-25th updates, Ice Fishing Reports, New Book on Fishing Basics

2/7/2018

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Fish are still biting, but the schools keep moving!!

CEO Alex and his cousin Mason got out for some ice fishing on February 17th on Potato Lake in Rusk County. They managed to get on some large schools of crappies, but they could only catch a few in a row super fast, then the school would move. The speed of their movement was amazing. By the end of our 3 hour fishing day, the lake looked like an air hockey table from all of our holes. Good thing that our Jiffy 4GLite does such a great job, there was probably 2 feet of ice!!! Our auger was near bottoming out on every hole. A Flirty Girty, scented with some JB's Fish Sauce (Crawfish Scent,) tipped with a pink Gullickson's Beavertail did the trick on all 12 fish caught. 9 of them were fryed up at home, while the 3 small fish were released. Mason did most of the damage, reeling in 8 of the 9 keeper sized fish. Alex was too busy running around having fun with the kids on the ice on this beautiful 32 degree day. He did lose one small fish, as well as myself losing one very nice fish, probably a decent crappie. We had some bonus perch mixed in again, and they were tasting fantastic with garlic and butter in the cast iron pan.

MADISON EXPO ONLY 1 WEEK AWAY!!!

We are doing very well with our lure builds leading up to the big fishing expo in one week. It looks like we are still shooting for 500-600 lures to present at the show to customers. We were worried about our lack of Junebug Bee Whacker buzz baits but our supplier stocked their lure bodies up just in time for us to get a hold of them in time for the show. So far all is well at James Gang Fishing, as we were buried for a bit in bookkeeping, tax paperwork, trade show paperwork, and all of these crazy builds. We got all of the other work done and are well on pace to get all of our lures complete in time for the show. I have a feeling that our Lovertail 2 weedless inline spinners and our Bee Whackers will dominate our sales, much like the show in Eau Claire last spring. Now we are hoping for good driving conditions and a huge turnout. Hopefully seminar speakers Keith Combs & Seth Feider make a quick stop to visit with Alex and get a picture with him at our booth sometime during the show.

BEE WHACKER BUZZBAIT IN "JUNEBUG"

BEE WHACKER BUZZBAIT IN "FIRETIGER"

LOVERTAIL 2 "WHITE CRAPPIE" LURE BUILDS IN PROGRESS

BASSMASTER Carhartt College Series

Zach Hansen displays his Louisiana bass caught on a James Gang BABY SQUID BAIT

The UW-Stout fishing team competed on Toledo Bend in Louisiana in late January. The boys managed to catch a few bass in the tourney, but it was shortened due to weather and they didn't place as high as they hoped. I hope they had a blast and learned a lot about fishing deep in the South in the land of cypress trees, which is a huge change from their home waters of Wisconsin. Congrats to UW-Platteville for taking the win against 180 teams from all over the US!

NEW PAPERBACK BOOK COMING TO AMAZON IN SPRING!

Thanks to all of the positive feedback and crazy amount of views on our blogs and basic "how-to" fishing articles on this website, I was inspired to look into writing a paperback book on the basics of fishing. I feel that the web and the magazine and video world is loaded with advanced fishing tactics, something that I myself am not really qualified to teach since I am not an expert or champion angler. I do feel that there is a lack of basics, though. I am talking about for people that have ZERO experience in fishing whatsoever. If you have never ever fished and don't understand why people like it so much, this is a book to read. It will explain why to fish, what kinds of fish to go after, what equipment you need to fish on a budget, presentation methods, weather variables, etc. Remember this will be presented at a very BASIC level. I would be very happy if young middle schoolers got into this book. Or adults that did not grow up in an outdoors-driven household. This book will be of no value to tournament anglers, or hard-core "fish heads." Those people have much better options, such as hiring a fantastic guide, becoming a member of BASS U TV for the best seminars ever, as well as watching educational shows and DVDs such as Lindner's Angling Edge, John Gillespie's Waters & Woods, Zona's Awesome Fishing Show, and Bill Dance Outdoors. I don't have close to the experience or knowledge of Dale Stroschein, Josh Teigen, Mark Schutz, Caleb Zorn, Marc Jackson, Jim or Al Lindner, Jeremy Smith, John Gillespie, Mark Zona, or Bill Dance. As of today, I have completed 2 chapters and an intro to the book, which will need photos and a complete edit before self-publishing through Kindle in spring. I will have chapters devoted to tackle, locations, Panfishing, Pike fishing, largemouth fishing, smallmouth fishing, trout fishing, river bank fishing for power fish, and ice fishing for panfish as well as pike. I am looking forward to the feedback I receive from this experience and will be interested in doing more in the future if all goes well with it.

BEST OF LUCK ICE FISHING, SEE YOU IN MADISON, WI AT THE FISHING EXPO!!!!

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January 2018 Ice Fishing Reports / BEE WHACKER Buzzbaits

1/20/2018

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The ice is finally MORE THAN SAFE!!!!!

After a dragged out start to the early ice fishing season, we were pounded with nasty arctic temps for weeks, resulting in very thick ice all over Wisconsin. We fished a lake yesterday in Rusk County that had roughly 15-20" of ice on it, and just a few weeks ago, you would have been crazy to even be walking on it. It sure is nice to drive your WRX turbo with snow tires to your fishing hole and not have to drag all of your stuff all over. And quick heat when you are done is never a bad thing, either.

Yesterday, we fished our favorite lake for numbers of smaller fish in Rusk County. Typically you can catch 5-7" panfish VERY quickly, and once in a while an 8+" fish will be landed. We have been pleasantly surprised both in 2017 and 2018 to find the sizes to be up, probably an average of 2" per fish, on this lake in which I have spent the last 15 years ice fishing. Yesterday's visit was very very unique. The fish were present in large numbers. Our typical approach is start out with an aggressive flirty girty color and size, typically size #8 in white or chartreuse. My dad, Steve, started out with a chartreuse #8 and I chose to run with an Acme 3mm small golden nugget tungsten jig. We did not buy any live bait, we went with the Gullickson's Beavertail Baits that I bought in early winter. My dad had several follows, but no biters. My dad downsized to a smaller flirty girty in the super-subtle color purple, my go to in tough situations. I had the same poor results with my finesse jig. My beavertail was a wider cut, so I chose to modify it by cutting it half as wide. I then added JB's Fish Sauce as well, in "CRAWFISH" scent. Instant bites! As soon as they scented it, the school ignited and became competitive. The strange thing is they were not partial to either jig. The only way we could hook them is to ignite the school, then alternate jigs during a few minute feeding flurry of bites. Then it would fade off, we would hole hop, come back and eventually get a fish to rise several feet in front of the school and ignite them again. We played this game about 2 hours straight and were able to land around 30 fish, 12 in which were keepers for us. We both believe JB's Fish sauce was a major factor in getting bites this day!

We had a blast celebrating my dad's fresh retirement and my upcoming 40th birthday on the ice together. We will have even more fun filling our guts with tasty meat, unfortunately this was the only trip EVER where bluegills were not a factor on this particular lake. Bluegills are my favorite fish to eat! But we will NEVER complain about a 9" perch to fry up. On this trip I landed one that had 5 stripes on one side, TEN on the other!!! What a weird deal. But it sure looked cool pretending to be a smallmouth bass!!!

A POTATO LAKE YELLOW PERCH WITH DOUBLE THE STRIPES ON ITS RIGHT SIDE!!

"PAPA" STEVE CATCHES A 9" YELLOW PERCH USING A FLIRTY GIRTY WITH JB'S FISH SAUCE & A GULLICKSON'S BEAVERTAIL BAIT IN MID-JANUARY

MARTINEK FINDS THE 10's and 11's?????

JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK IS ACCOMPANIED BY CEO ALEX JAMES AS HE LANDS HIS FIFTH BLUEGILL OVER 10" IN 24 HOURS!

Kevin Martinek decided the James Gang needed to have a little fun this January, as he pulled some strings to get us permission to fish a very special private lake in Northern Wisconsin. We made plans weeks ago, but cancelled twice due to brutal weather and dangerous ice weeks ago. He timed it out perfectly today as we had a nice front rolling in here in a few days, helping the bite improve, and warming the air up for some comfort on the lake. This particular lake has had quite a history with Kevin and his family, including an 11.5" bluegill weighing 1 lb 12 oz, a yellow perch weighing 2 lbs 4 oz, a largemouth bass weighing 7.5 pounds, and a very thick crappie for Kevin over 2 lbs as well in the past. Every trip doesn't guarantee a giant, but the potential is there. This protected lake is far from over-pressured, so the fish simply get old.

SUNRISE IN SAWYER COUNTY WISCONSIN

Kevin and fellow Pro-Staffer Doc Gilles made the trip a day early to scope it out, and get us on fish. What Kevin did yesterday morning was incredible, 40 fish, with FOUR bluegills over TEN INCHES LONG, including an ELEVEN INCH BLUEGILL, which we assume weighs more than a pound! What an incredible outing! Kevin kept only 12 fish, and intends on bringing his 11" to the taxidermist. The color of this fish is amazing, with bright, "powder blue" all over its face and gill plate. This fish is a true trophy!

Pro Staffer KEVIN MARTINEK WITH A 10.5" & 11" PAIR OF TROPHY WI BLUEGILLS

CAN CEO ALEX TOP BIG KEVIN'S MONSTER DAY???

UMMMMMMM NOOOOOOO!

Kevin didn't even give us a chance! He didn't slow down today either, well not enough. I mean he only got a 10.5" and this 9.75" pictured above. We weren't even close! Alex will get his revenge someday though. Alex did land a few though, and he spent the rest of the day clearing out our holes in the ice laying on the snow being goofy, following Doc when he checked tip ups, following Kevin trying to learn where to pick a good place to drill a hole, making snow angels, and eating snacks. No complaints at all from the boss, he had a blast enjoying nature and the warm weather that rolled through. He even found time to be silly. Like most of the day, that is. We headed home in the early afternoon and left very worn out and happy.

ALEX JAMES DOING A DANCE WHILE DOC DRILLS WITH HIS 3 HP JIFFY

ALEX FOUND A WAY TO BEAT KEVIN'S BIG GILL!!!!

3 JAMES GANG MEMBERS - KEVIN M, ALEX, & DOC

WHITE BEARDED ANGLER WITH AN 11.5" BLACK CRAPPIE

THE DOCTOR & JESSE JAMES "CALL IT A DAY"

OUT COLD

Kevin Rogalski did some damage as well on Otter Lake this weekend....

BEE WHACKER Buzzbait Update.....

We are very excited to present our Bee Whacker now that we finished its improvements. Also the JUNEBUG (black & purple) color has turned out just gorgeous. We decided to make a quick extra parts order because the demand for this color is pretty high and our quantity planned was very low. This lure is going to catch some serious bass this summer, and I can't wait to prove it! Our new version has a longer main body, to create space between the buzzers and the skirt, the lure has a marble body added to increase casting distance, and the Kalin's Scrub trailer we added is really going to kick water and complement the obnoxious buzzers. Also the size of the Scrubs is just perfect for the 5/0 flipping hook on the lure. Buzzbait fans and topwater fans, you will want to try this lure out this summer!!

6 YEAR OLD KALEB G. ISN'T SLOWING DOWN!!!!

2017 JAMES GANG BASS CONTEST WINNER KALEB G. WITH A TEXAS BASS CAUGHT ON OUR BABY SQUID BAIT THIS MONTH

AND TO FINISH....GO UW-STOUT!!!!!!

The UW-Stout fishing team will be competing in the National BASSMASTERS CARHARTT college series next week on Toledo Bend Reservoir in Lousiana. Team President Zach Hansen stopped over to visit our operations this week, as well as pick up a few baits and some Fish Sauce to use down in the tournament. The tournament weigh in will be online Thurs-Sat at www.bassmaster.com. Watch for team Stout and root them on!

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Expo lure builds, Ice Fishing, New Lures, 2018 MLF Location.....

12/29/2017

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JESSE JAMES WITH A SOLID 8.75" BLUEGILL CAUGHT USING JBs FISH SAUCE & GULLICKSON'S BEAVERTAIL ON EARLY ICE

WISCONSIN FISHING EXPO PREP STARTS NOW!!

PACKAGING OUR DUNKIN FROGS FOR THE 2018 EXPO IN MADISON, WI

We are at our early stages in preparation for the 2018 Wisconsin Fishing Expo. We have not officially begun our lure builds, or our parts orders, but we have packaged some leftover inventory, and took advantage of some Holiday Season sales from our suppliers to stock up on a few parts early. The first week of January will be the big week in which we order all of our needed parts and get them shipped quickly so we can begin building. Our goal is to present 500 lures to the show customers, 300 Lovertail 2s, 100 Bee Whacker LM Buzzbaits, and 100+ assorted lures, including Dunkin' Frogs, musky lures, Baby Squid Baits, Bass Jerkers, etc. As a Kalin's/Acme/Beaver Dam/Uncle Josh dealer, we were able to get a hold of the very hard-to-find Acme Pro Tungsten Ice jigs, and are currently selling them on eBay at retail (plus ebay fee) prices. If you are interested, message us or check them out on ebay under 1978jessejames eBay seller.

With our busy 6 weeks of lure builds coming, our time on the ice will be very limited once again. I managed to get out only one day, and ended up changing lakes to find safe ice. The small lake we checked out first had spots of 2" that I was on, possibly less in other areas. I will not fish a lake with less than 4-5", so we left and found a lake with 6" of rock solid ice. When checking the questionable lake, I was wearing a life jacket, had brand new ice picks, and had a towing rope. I went light with a hand auger and a tiny sled. On the "safe" lake, the fish were present in high numbers. It was a challenge to get biters, but Kevin Martinek managed a decent amount of fish landed, while I struggled. I did catch one really nice bluegill on the golden nugget 3mm Acme tungsten jig, and a few small perch. We combined for about 16 fish, but almost all of that was my partner. I didn't feel bad because I can't recall a time I have ever kept up with him jigging for panfish! He is one mean perch jerker with an ice fishing rod! Kevin even managed to get cocky and show me two largemouth bass he jigged up!. All of our fish were caught using Gullickson's Beavertails. Kevin was hot on his white Flirty Girty, while I stuck with the Acme. I would have been my mobile self, but dealing with some illnesses I kind of stayed in one spot with the heat cranked and didn't have the energy to hole-hop and catch them the way I like to. It was our first use of the Beavertails, and I was very impressed. They did seem more durable than your store-bought waxies, I caught them on both white and pink. The fish seemed to not know the difference. I did not have to stop for bait, and I know they will not rot by my next trip being in a sealed package. They are the same price as a package of live waxies, so I think all around I will be using this product quite a bit. Check out their Facebook page by clicking on the link below:

CLICK HERE FOR GULLICKSON'S BEAVERTAIL

And before I forget, here's some pictures of Kevin Martinek whuppin' my booty on the ice AGAIN.....

Hopefully in the next week or two while we are waiting for parts, we will find some time to relax and catch us some tasty panfish to bring home. I dislike the high barometer and will be looking for a better window of opportunity to come. With the severe cold we have had lately, there should be plenty of safe ice available all over northern Wisconsin.

NEW LURES FOR 2018!

Due to the success of Pro-Staffer Andrew Draper on our Bee Whacker Buzzbaits with muskies, we decided to make, test, and make available a few prototypes that we came up with over the fall. Pretty much we took our standard bass/pike buzzbait and buzz frog, toughened them up, added some size and flash, and make them musky-ready. We upgraded our 240# AFW Toothproof stainless steel wire to 500#. We added bigger and more beads to lengthen the body and do a very good job of separating the blades from the skirt. We upgraded our split ring from a small bass size to a larger HD stainless steel style. Our 5/0 VMC HD Flippin Hook was upgraded to a nasty 7/0 weedless VMC weighted EWG hook. And our plastic trailer is a big, meaty, Kalin's 6" Mogambo grub on the Bee Whacker, and a full sized Stanley Ribbit on a 5/0 Stanley Double Take Ultra Mustad frog hook, with weight to prevent rolling and increase casting distance. Both look fantastic on top of the water and will be selling around $16 each. After the Expo is complete, we will take custom orders based on custom color choices, as well as build a few for ebay sales.

With our Kalin's dealership, we were able to order and see the new Scrub 3" trailers. We will be putting them on our Bee Whackers for even MORE noise, but will still have the grub option as well since Andrew's success has all been proven with the grub setup. We love the look of this Bee Whacker, and improved it for 2018 with more beads, and a little more weight with the Scrub's trailer. We expect these to sell very well, especially the improved Firetiger version, which is available to order now!! We will be selling the Bee Whacker for $8 each, available in black, white, chartruese, or firetiger.

James Gang BEE WHACKER LM, in "Firetiger"

2018 MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING EVENT

As of now, our plans for our second annual James Gang Bass Invitational will be held Sunday June 10th, 2018 at Rice Lake, WI. We are taking RSVPs already for interested anglers. This will be a 2-person team event, much like the MLF event we held in fall. This is an INVITATIONAL, so we will look through our list of interested anglers, then notify them if they have been chosen to compete with us. If chosen, the entry fee will be $25 PER ANGLER. We will have 100% payout to the winning team and the angler who lands the biggest bass. $5 per angler entry fees will go directly to Major League Fishing, as they charge a fee per angler of $5 to run these events. James Gang WILL NOT keep any of the entry fee money, and will find some prizes as well for the runner-up anglers and 3rd place teams as well, such as autographed posters by Mike Iaconelli, some hats, lures, and products from JB's Fish Sauce, as well as other possiblities. We thank Pro-Tekt Storage Solutions, JB's Fish Sauce, Hang Outdoors, and Small Craft Outfitters, for donating some very large prize packages to our 2017 events. This event will run from 6:30 am to 2:30 PM. For more information, or to register on our RSVP list, click on the link below:

CLICK HERE FOR 2018 RICE LAKE MLF EVENT INFO

BEST OF LUCK ICE FISHING, AND HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM ALEX & JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY!!!

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CYBER MONDAY, LURE SALES, DEER HUNTING, JBs FISH SAUCE

11/25/2017

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HAPPY HUNTING!

We hope that you all are having a fun deer hunting season! CEO Alex experienced his first ever deer hunt this week, at the young age of 9 years old. Thank you Wisconsin for passing last-minute legislation to allow children to be mentored while deer hunting in Wisconsin. He didn't fire a shot, but he learned a lot from his grandfathers about safely handling a dangerous weapon and the fun of being outside. He had some close moments yesterday, but after struggling to find a doe in the scope of his .243 Savage youth rifle, he had a brushpile in the way of his crosshairs at 20 yards. He wisely chose to not force a shot, and I am proud of my little guy for doing the right thing, preventing a wounded or poorly shot hard-to-track deer. Most adults have trouble making good decisions when they have a deer in shooting range. He also learned that the deer has no tolerance for movement or noise, and I bet next year he will be a better hunter as he continues to learn during the mentorship program over the next several years.

EATING DEER HEARTS

I had a lucky day this week, in which I climbed up a tower mid-day, during the low deer-movement hours, and within 5 minutes a doe presented a shot to me. I had the crosshairs on her at 70 yards, and let a 180 grain .308 bullet rip. She ran away and I found her immediately. I realized during the nightmare of the drag that she was a big one for a doe. I put her on a scale and she dressed out at 135 pounds, my biggest doe ever (out of 8.) I barely missed the heart, a few inches high, and got a solid double-lung shot. I removed the heart, and sliced it into steak strips and prepared them over a wood fire. They were INCREDIBLE! I added my recipe that I used to the fishing/tips recipe page on this website, and have found that eating deer hearts has a large following - our website views have been huge. Here is the link below, and the ingredients used is also how I prepare backstraps and inner tenderloins:

click to learn how to PREPARE & COOK DEER HEARTS

CYBER MONDAY/HOLIDAY SEASON LURE SALES

Alex and I decided to put a sale on our remaining inventory during the Cyber Monday - Christmas season. No code needed, sales prices already displayed on our online store pages. We simplified the page a little, by giving each lure color its own page. Our website provider limits us to a very small online store, so it can be interesting figuring out the best way to present our products. Credit cards accepted, or if you prefer PayPal, just email us and we will get you a PayPal invoice, no problem. We are not manufacturing any lures until the New Year, so our limited selection is all we have left. Any questions on the other color options, email us at 6lbsmallmouth@gmail.com. We do have many colors not listed on our store. Each lure is lowered about 20% for the sale season. Prices will go back up December 12th.

JBs FISH SAUCE

We are VERY proud to announce that two more members of the James Gang team have joined Tyler Theide and the others in the 2018 JB's Fish Sauce Field/Pro Staff team. If you have never heard of JB's Fish Sauce, it is a fish attractant, oil-based scent that you apply to your fishing lures. Mat Eichinger and I are very grateful for the opportunity, and would like to specially thank Jim Block, Morgan Tipton, Tyler Theide, and the rest of the 2017 & 2018 team for this exciting year of using and promoting their awesome products. We won't BS anyone on this site, and fish catches, articles, videos, of JB's Fish sauce or any of our products will always be legit. We are not fan of "gimmicks" and only believe that customers should be spending money on quality products that work and are built to perform. For more information about this awesome company and their products, click on our link below:

click here for JBs FISH SAUCE info

ALEX JAMES WITH AN 18.5" LARGEMOUTH CAUGHT USING A JAMES GANG FISHING BABY SQUID BAIT WITH JB's FISH SAUCE APPLIED

NEXT REPORT:

2018 MLF Tournament location possibilities, ice fishing reports, fishing expos, lure builds, new products....

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A SUCCESSFUL & EDUCATIONAL FALL SEASON!!

11/6/2017

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JESSE JAMES LANDS HIS BIGGEST BASS OF THE YEAR NOV 2ND

What a year its been, and what a crazy experience fishing in Fall of 2017! There were moments where lots of fish were caught, there were moments when I couldn't get a bite no matter what I did, and most importantly, a lot was learned about fall fish movements. We fished hard all of October, and for the most part, fishing just felt a lot like summer fishing. At times they were extremely tight to shore, at times they were deep on weed cover edges, and then they came shallow once again in mid-October. At no point in early or mid-October were the fish fattened up, or doing a great job of chasing minnow-profile lures. I had several decent outings leading up the the Fall Flambeau Classic on the Dairyland Reservoir, but unfortunately at the tournament, I never boated a single fish! A few weeks later, when the water temp dropped to the 50s, the GOOD fall fishing finally arrived!

PRO-STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK HOLDS UP A PAIR OF FLAMBEAU RIVER BASS IN COLD FALL WATER

James Gang pro-staffer KEVIN MARTINEK and I had an incredible day one year ago in November, catching giant, girthy smallmouth bass on the Flambeau River in 48 degree water temperatures. We went out this year on October 23rd, for only a few hours, hoping to find some success hooking into some more fattened up late fall Flambeau river beasts.

When we arrived in the Crawfish Bandit, we noticed the water temperature was at 52 degrees. We were a little concerned that we were too early for the magic bite, but figured they would be staged nearby last year's winter hole, just up in the shallows near wood cover. We casted for quite a while around the cover with no luck at all. On occasion, we would mark a fish here and there in 9-12 feet of water on the bottom. I switched up to a blade bait and a Rippin' Rap, putting the bait right in their faces. No luck at all. I ran a Baby Squid Bait through the fish, nothing would bite. Kevin decided to tie on a 3/8 oz jig head and add a Kalin's Sizmic Grub 3.8" in chartreuse pepper. Not long after, Kevin jacked a nasty power set, and yelled "FISH ON!" This fish battled with 100% effort. I thought he had on a monster. When I got the fish in the net, we were pleasantly surprised to see another Flambeau River freak! This fish was only 14.75" on the bump board, but weighed 2 lbs 8 oz!! the girth was insane! It looked like a rock bass on steroids, along with gorgeous Flambeau River coloring.

I WAS SUPER PUMPED DISPLAYING KEVIN MARTINEK'S 2-8# FISH AT 14.75"

JAMES GANG PRO-STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK WITH A 14.75" BASS AT 2-8#

After Kevin boated his beast of a smallmouth, I looked at my side imaging. We were next to a large school of about 20 fish on the bottom of the lake in deep water. I immediately tied on the same Kalin's Sizmic Grub, and my first cast I had a nice smallmouth run it down and pound the lure under the boat. He literally hit it so hard that I almost lost the rod into the water. I battled him hard at boatside, he was full of energy. When Kevin scooped him up into the net, I grabbed a hold of a very fat 15.5" smallmouth. We put him on the scale and he weighed 2 lbs 11 ounces. A very nice fish for his length. I couldn't have been happier. We kidnapped both of these fish, Mark-Zona style, and continued casting.

JESSE JAMES IS ALL SMILES AS HE LANDED A 2-11# SMALLMOUTH BASS, SPORTING THE TYPICAL UNIQUE FLAMBEAU RIVER BRONZE COLORS

Kevin wasn't waiting around. As soon as I got my bass in the livewell, Kevin got back to casting. He immediately yells "FISH ON!" again, and sure enough, he has another BEAUTY on. But this fish looks much longer than the others we have ever seen on this body of water. When I netted the beast for him, we were screaming and high-fiving on this beautiful, sunny, windless day. Kevin put his bass on the bumpboard, and it was 18" long - our longest Flambeau River bass yet. On the scales, the beast weighed 3 lbs 9 oz. What a beautiful, well-fed healthy fish!

KEVIN MARTINEK PROUDLY DISPLAYS OUR 3RD BASS IN 5 MINUTES - A 3 LB 9 OZ BEAST AT 18 INCHES IN LENGTH

NOVEMBER 3RD - COMING BACK FOR ANOTHER HELPING

A GLASS-CALM 27 DEGREE NOVEMBER DAY ON THE RIVER

On November 3rd, Kevin and I returned for more, hoping that we didn't miss our "magic" 48 degree water temperature window from last year. When we checked the NOAA water temperatures locally, it appeared that we were fishing around 40 degree waters. It made us a little nervous, but we thought that if anything, all the fish were in the winter hole, and the quantity of fish present should be huge. We ran our 2016 contour pass, and were not hooking up or marking any fish. I pulled out a stick of JB's FISH SAUCE, baitfish-flavored, and scented up my James Gang BABY SQUID BAIT. Within a few casts, I finally hooked up. This fish was about 14' deep near a point with some current rolling through. The fish was a nice fighter and gave us some confidence for the limited time schedule that we had on the water for the day.

We continued to fish hard, staying deep but occasionally working shallow to deep near cover. We really were not marking fish and were not getting any bites. Kevin kept his Kalin's sizmic grub on, as I worked a Ned Rig and the James Gang DIRTY DAVE hairjig. We covered the area that was full of smallmouth on the last visit, and had no luck this time at all. We decided to slowly travel through the deep winter hole with the Marcum flasher searching for fish. We were not marking ANY fish, and we definately did not get any bites, either. With only an hour to go, we decided to try the point where I had hooked the one fish early. I tied on my star lure from last year, my homemade weighed swimbait Alex named "THE BOOTYKICKER." Once again on a very heavy 3/4 oz VMC Swimjig design by Mike Iaconelli. Feeling desperate, I caked on some JBs FISH SAUCE. On my first cast, I hooked into a fish, a very nice and colorful 15.5" bass at 2-11#, same size as my last trip here. The next two casts I felt bites again, and I landed another bass around 13.5-14" that we didn't measure. We knew we found a school. We fished it a few more minutes and felt the bite had died from pressure, so we moved back to our sweet spot from October's late visit.

JESSE JAMES WITH A 2-11# BASS AT 15.5" IN LENGTH

When we reached our area that was full of bass on our last trip, Kevin dipped his Kalin's Sizmic Grub in some Spike It Crawfish red dye. On his next cast, he reeled in a 14.25" smallmouth, but it was another freak beast weighing in at 2 lbs 6 oz! Right after he released that fish, he had another MONSTER bite that he missed. I took my Skeet Reese rod and whipped my Bootykicker Swimbait as far as I could past his bite location. Near the boat, my rod loaded up, and this fish WOULD NOT BUDGE! During the entire fight, the rod stayed bent all the way to the net. This fish was a hog, and I was very happy that I had my Skeet rod to absorb the shock from this fish's fight. It was my best fight of the year. The fish looked crazy huge, and when we finally netted him we freaked out. The bass was 18.5" on the bumpboard. Looking at him he looked so much bigger than that. He appeared to be a 20" fish around 4-5 lbs. But when we put this nasty smallmouth on the scale, we were very happy to see that his weight did indeed break the 4 pound mark!!! It is absolutely incredible that a fish at ony 18.5" can have the girth to give him the typical weight of a 20" fish. The bass ended up being the biggest bass that I caught the entire year!!

JESSE JAMES WITH HIS BIGGEST BASS OF 2017 - 4 POUNDS 1 OZ AT ONLY 18.5 INCHES LONG!!! WHAT A FISH!!

We continued to fish that school a bit, and I landed another 14" bass. We decided to hit the other school after we gave them some time off, and on the first cast, Kevin hooks into another high-quality fish. We when got this one boated, we knew we had ourselves another very special day. Kevin's bass weighed 3 pounds 1 ounce on the scale and measured 17" on the bumpboard! We only were able to fish a few more minutes and managed to finish the day off with another 15" on the Bootykicker, and a total of 7 fish boated. We missed several bites. I did have a small lull in between schools of fish, but after I re-applied my Fish Sauce on my swimbait, I instantly got that 15" bass to bite. What a way to end the season! What we learned is that in this particular river, the bass moved close to their winter holes around 60 degrees, but stay near the shallow wood cover. When the water temperatures drop to the low 50s, they are in fall feedbag mode on the bottom of their winter holes. They work the contour lines but stay on the bottom. What surprised me is that when the water temperature hit 40, they still chased lures VERY aggressively, sometimes hitting just under the boat. You need to keep an open mind. Try slow, try fast, try deep. Its very clear after this trip that scent was the difference-maker, and JBs Fish Sauce is a fantastic product that WILL hook you into more fish. There is no doubt about it that I felt the bass nip the tail, taste the baitfish flavor, then commit to the lure by eventually following it towards the boat, then sucking it down its mouth with a very violent strike. Overall, not including my guided trip on Lake Michigan, probably the best quality day of fishing I ever had. I was so excited to end the year with a 4 pounder. I intended on fishing for panfish in the boat this week, but the bays are already frozen on most area lakes due to the unusually cold November. The Crawfish Bandit General Lee crawled into hibernation tonight, and will be peacefully sleeping until April arrives in 2018. Enjoy these pictures, have a fun hunting season and holiday season, and our next posts should be around January regarding the Wisconsin Fishing Expo. We have VERY LIMITED inventory for the remainder of the year, we will stock up after New Years. Thank you to all of our customers, to over 50,000 people for reading these blogs, to our pro-staffers, to the Iaconelli family and the entire Ike Live crew, especially Brian the Carpenter, to Dale Stroschein, for all of your continued support. And to James Block, for helping me catch more fish this fall with your JB's Fish Sauce sticks, both on the Dairyland Reservoir and the Flambeau River.

KEVIN MARTINEK IS ALL SMILES, AS HIS FINAL OPEN WATER FISH OF THE YEAR IS A BIG, COLORFUL 17" SMALLMOUTH BASS WEIGHING 3 POUNDS 1 OZ

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2017 FALL FLAMBEAU CLASSIC

10/16/2017

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DOUGLAS S. WEIGHS A TOURNAMENT SMALLMOUTH BASS IN

ALEX JAMES IS READY TO HAUL HIS 16' LUND GENERAL LEE TO THE FALL CLASSIC

ALEX JAMES WITH DOUGLAS S. AT THE TOURNAMENT LAUNCH

ALEX SHOWS HIS GAME FACE, READY TO LAUNCH!!

32 ANGLERS, 16 TEAMS, 15 BOATS, 2 KAYAKS, $640+Prizes....

On October 14th, 2017, 32 anglers competed on the Dairyland Reservoir in the JAMES GANG FALL FLAMBEAU CLASSIC. With a $20 entry fee per angler, the total winnings handed out was $640, which was 100% payout of the entry fees collected. The 16 teams battled wind, afternoon rain, and a tricky fall finesse bite, in hopes of splitting $480 with their partner, as well as taking home the trophies. Also up for grabs for all 32 anglers was the Big Bass Award, given out to the angler that landed the "daily lunker," the heaviest single bass of the day. The Dairyland Reservoir has been known in the past for having some giant trophy smallmouth in it. Even though the last decade has reduced the crawfish population, thus reducing girths and body weights of the smallmouths, our tournament produced one very respectable smallmouth by the end of the day.

WE WERE VERY PROUD OF THE 32 ANGLER TURNOUT THIS WEEKEND!

The tournament preparations started around 9 AM, with the kayakers showing up for their PIN cards first. They were cleared to launch at 9:15AM, but chose to allow all the motor boats to go first, so they would get the community park bay and dam rip rap areas to themselves after the wakes settled.

SMALL CRAFT OUTFITTERS GUIDE TYLER THEIDE POSES WITH ALEX & HIS FEEL FREE KAYAK

Dewey Lor & Tou Xiong started off the tournament red hot. Within the first hour or so, Dewey and Tou landed around TEN POUNDS of legal bass! They took a huge lead that held most of the day. They fished a sand point and pounded smallmouth after smallmouth in a very short time.

DEWEY LOR & TOU XIONG HAMMERED OUT 10 LBS OF SMALLMOUTH TO TAKE A LARGE EARLY LEAD IN THEIR 18 HP JONBOAT

Local ace, and tournament favorite Doug Helmuth, and his partner Zach Nelson, were not messing around either. Only 37 minutes into the tournament, Doug landed his biggest Flambeau smallmouth in years, a beautiful 4 pound 1 ounce fish, long body, huge head, nice girthy belly. This bass would be very difficult to top for the Big Bass Award, but with an entire day of fishing ahead of the other 30 anglers, it was definately possible to get one a few ounces larger to beat Doug.

LOCAL ACE DOUG HELMUTH LANDED THIS 4 LB 1 OZ BASS TO START THE DAY

I had a decent month of pre-fishing the Dairyland Reservoir, and found most of my success fishing deep water with BABY SQUID BAITS. Naturally, this was how I started my day. Alex threw a green pumpkin Senko wacky rigged, while I worked the squid in 8-10 feet of water along weed edges, near boat docks, and along wood cover. I also carolina-rigged a Strike King Baby Rodent green pumpkin creature/beaver style craw bait at times. I had multiple very light hits early, and hooked about a 10" smallmouth that threw the hook halfway to the boat in 8 feet of water. Soon after that, I made a run upriver towards the County I bridge, and had multiple bites in one retrieve on the Baby Squid Bait. I felt like a school of smallmouth may be present. I casted again, and hooked into a possible 3lb or more smallmouth, much larger than any I ever caught on this body of water. I handed the rod to Alex and hoped he would land this beauty. I turned on the video camera and got ready to grab the net when the 9 year old angler accidentally allowed the smallmouth to gain some slack in the line, jump near the boat, and throw the hook. It was a tough moment for the young angler, and from that point on, in combination of wind & rain, he completely lost focus on fishing for the day. The rest of his day was spent snacking from his cooler and watching Dad cast and cast and cast without a single bite the rest of the tournament. It really hurt to land ZERO fish in a tournament that we threw, but after the tournament was over, we understood what worked for the other anglers, and learned a lot from our mistakes, making us better fall fisherman for the future.

TODD LUNDQUIST PUT THIS 17" SMALLMOUTH INTO THE LUND FOR A TOURNAMENT ENTRY AND A PHOTO BY HIS SON, ARRIAN

As the day progressed, Kevin Rogalski and his partner Alex Whitmire boated a few here and there in short flurries in their 16' Crestliner. I returned to my spot where Alex lost his 3 lb bass two more times, trying carolina rigs, jerkbaits, senkos, and spinner baits. Still no luck. Later Team Rogalski/Whitmire hit the same area in which I felt a school was present, and landed 3 more legal tournament smallmouth on finesse baits. During this time, Mat Eichinger and John Beaudette caught a few on spinners, then went into a shallow bay with reeds and tried experimenting with topwater. Mat threw his custom HENG OUTDOORS airbrushed hard baits, and found a 38.5" musky, a pike, and a legal tournament smallmouth on his custom Whopper Plopper.

KEVIN ROGALSKI REGISTERS ANOTHER FINESSE SMALLMOUTH

ALEX WHITMIRE HELPS HIS TEAMMATE STAY IN THE GAME WITH ANOTHER BASS

STAN & 10 YR OLD DOUGLAS WORK THE COUNTY I BRIDGE SHALLOWS NEAR DOUG HELMUTH & ZACH NELSON

As the day progressed, a few boats could just simply not get bites, while others absolutely lit it up! Team Helmuth/Nelson kept their steady pace and climbed to the top. Scott Wilczek and his 8th grader nephew Carson, got onto some quality smallmouths. Carson also boated his first ever musky, at 35" long! Team Rogalski/Whitmire hit a small drought, biteless for a while. Mike Etzel was getting help from his teammate Tony Nelson, as their weight totals were slowly creeping up through the field. Dewey and Tou made another quick charge boating a quick 3 more pounds to the 10 they pounded at the start of the tournament. Then Anthony Xiong caught a true Wisconsin giant - a walleye weighing EIGHT POUNDS!! He also landed a nice smallmouth and got he and his partner Josh rolling....

ANTHONY XIONG WITH A WISCONSIN TROPHY WALLEYE

CARSON S. WITH HIS FIRST MUSKY!!! CONGRATS CARSON!!

UNCLE SCOTT WILCZEK LANDS ANOTHER NICE RIVER CHANNEL BASS

As Alex and I continued our disgusting struggles trying to get a bite, we paid less attention to fishing, and more attention to Scoretracker Live. We seen Mat and John make a steady climb, and saw their boat off in the distance. We wanted to catch up with them and BS a bit, but as we approached, John made a power hook set and hooked into a fish that refused to budge. I started the video and we were rolling footage. Here John's Beetle Spin hooked at 43" MUSKY!!!! We captured all of it on video, it was a crazy moment. I still can't believe the timing of this fish, it ended up being the largest fish (that didn't count) of the day. John was very proud of the beast and we got some great pictures of his catch.

JOHN BEAUDETTE WITH HIS 43" BEETLE SPIN MUSKY!

Getting towards the end of the tournament, the wind and rain picked up. The boats that were fish-less headed back to the ramp and called it a day. There was a 4 team race in contention for the win, including Dewey & Tou, Mat & John, Doug & Zach, and a late charge by Mike & Tony. Doug and Zach became the team to beat, but Mike Etzel got in a groove and found a school of smallies that were falling hard for his senkos. Mat & John squeaked out in front of Dewey and Tou by just ounces, then Mike turned up the heat in the final hour, landing a 2 lb 9 oz smallmouth, finishing the day with Tony's help by pounding out 20 lbs and 1 oz! They edged out the local aces Doug Helmuth & Zach Nelson's very impressive 15 lb 13 oz finish. Doug actually ran a shoreline with Zach right after I zeroed out on it, and landed 7 quick scorable fish in front of me. His early 4 lb 1 oz smallmouth held on for the Big Bass Award win after a long day of anglers aiming to beat it. These guys are very talented on their Flambeau waters!! Mat Eichinger and John Beaudette managed to take 3rd place with 13 lbs 12 oz on 9 fish. Kevin Rogalski & Alex Whitmire barely held of Scott & Carson, as Carson pulled a beautiful 2 lb 6 oz smallmouth just minutes before the tournament ended! After the fish was weighed, they were only behind Kevin & Alex by THREE OUNCES! What an intense tournament, and what a blast that was held by all!!

MIKE ETZEL'S 2 LB 9 OZ SMALLMOUTH, ONE OF SEVERAL LATE TOURNAMENT FISH LANDED WITH HIS PARTNER AND CO-CHAMPION TONY NELSON

AWARDS, PAYOUTS.....

THE TOURNAMENT ANGLERS RETURN TO CALL IT A DAY AT 5:30 PM

2017 JAMES GANG FALL FLAMBEAU CLASSIC CHAMPIONS MIKE ETZEL & TONY NELSON - $480 CASH & WINNERS OF OUR TROPHY

BIG BASS AWARD WINNER & 2ND PLACE TEAM FINISHER DOUG HELMUTH w/ALEX

DOUG'S TEAMMATE, 2ND PLACE FINISHER ZACH NELSON, WINNERS OF $112 FISHING TACKLE

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

a special thanks to PROTEKT (SCOTT & MIKE) and all of the James Gang Fishing pro-staffers for making this event happen, and a total SUCCESS!!!!

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Early fall fishing, Great Lakes, Fall Tournament, eBay lure availability

10/2/2017

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James Gang Pro-Staffer Doc Gilles with a 4.5 lb Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass

FALL IS FINALLY HERE!

The long awaited fall season has finally arrived. Water temps are finally lowering from summertime temperatures. Last weekend the July-type weather seemed to really get the fish feeding. Water temps on Lake Erie in Ohio and Sturgeon Bay, WI were around 72 degrees, which was about the warmest it had gotten all year! Pretty crazy how cold the summer was and when fall arrives the temperatures actually increase for several days instead of decrease. We spend all of our time fishing the Dairyland Reservoir near Ladysmith, ever since Labor Day weekend, preparing for the Fall Flambeau Classic on October 14th. We had steady water temperatures from Labor Day all the way to early this week. Finally on Wednesday it dropped from 64-68 degrees, and on Saturday it dropped to 61. Some shallow flats late in the day in the sun did reach mid-60s. The change in temperatures made everyday a totally different day presentation wise. The early trips found success on minnow profile baits moving. Then Wednesday the bite changed completely to ultra-finesse. Pro-Staffer Kevin Rogalski actually landed a smallmouth puking up black larvae. The fish was in less than a foot of water. It was no wonder why we struggled so much. Now that the temperature has dropped close to 20 degrees in 6 days, it seems to have shifted the bass to their fall minnow forage base. Very strange bites, very difficult to get bit, but when you do it right, they hit with all they got, and fight with 100% anger! We are in the very early stages of fall fishing, and hopefully by the time the tournament arrives the temperature will drop into the 50s and we can get the giants to come up and hit bigger lures. We are not at that point yet. What is exciting is that on the last 3 trips in a row the fish lengths kept increasing. From 6-12" fish, to 13.5" fish to 14.25-16" fish. That may be directly related to the water temperature drop. One thing is for certain, they are extremely lean right now and need to fatten up quick to make this tournament very exciting. The Flambeau River is well-known for producing EXTREMELY girthy smallmouth bass. Right now our 14.25" fish are weighing in at about 1-6, and our 15-16" bass are not even at the 2 lb mark. Last November we weighed in a 16.5" and 16.75" at 3-14 and 3-13 on the Flambeau! They have a few weeks to fatten up and get more active, hopefully that will be the case. A few anglers dropped out so there may be a few last minute openings, click on the button below to RSVP if interested:

TOURNAMENT RSVP

PRO-STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK WITH A PAIR OF BABY SQUID BAIT SMALLMOUTH

PRO-STAFFER KEVIN MARTINEK WITH A FLAMBEAU MUSKY ON OUR FLAPPIN' JIG

GREAT LAKES WALLEYE, SMALLMOUTH, & PERCH

PRO-STAFFER DOC GILLES & HIS CLAN FOUND INCREDIBLE SUCCESS ON LAKE ERIE

Pro-Staffer Doc Gilles and his goofball friends and family loaded up two pickup trucks full of crazy fish heads and road-tripped to Port Clinton, Ohio, in hopes for a pile of Walleyes with Coe Vanna Charters. What they ended up doing was incredible! They caught walleyes in crazy numbers the entire trip, I believe well over 100! They had doubles, even triples, and the fun never stopped. In between the walleyes they caught non-stop jumbo perch as well, and for a little bonus, they managed to land a few of them GIANT smallmouth bass that the Great Lakes are famous for. Doc actually landed the biggest smallmouth bass of his life, then shortly after, caught a clone version of the same fish - 19" at 4.5 pounds. Doc says that this trip was the best fishing trip of his life, and he has been around Canada many times. I would have to agree because it seems like nothing can match the Great Lakes in quality of fish. It is so much more intense when you KNOW on every cast that you have trophies present and even state record fish within a small range of you. The fish in the Great Lakes have great forage, and just simply get OLD! For more information on Coe Vanna Charters, check out Dave Whitt and the guys on the link below:

Coe Vanna Charters Lake Erie

Pro-Staffer Doc Gilles with identical 4.5 lb Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass

Pro Staffer Kevin Rogalski and his gang took a 3 day trip to Sturgeon Bay, WI this weekend, but unfortunately the cold weather brought in terribly dangerous winds. They had a very difficult time fishing in awful waves. Kevin did manage a few smallmouths, including a beautiful 3 lb 11 oz. Also on the final day, they had a 30+ inch walleye, estimated at around 12 pounds, but the fish broke off the 6 lb flourocarbon at the boat and ended up swimming away instead of swimming into the freezer at Kevin's taxidermist. Tough deal there, but now that the boys seen the potential of Door County fishing, they will be back for more and will put a giant in the boat in the future. The month of October is typically the month that really lights up with giant fish in Door County, and the finest guide you can hire is Dale Stroschein of Wacky Walleye Guide Service. Click on his link and let him take you out in his beautiful 21 foot Nitro 350 hp Verado extra deep and safe boat:

Wacky Walleye Guide Service Door County

JAMES GANG PRO-STAFFER KEVIN ROGALSKI WITH A STURGEON BAY 3.69# BASS

BEE WHACKERS & BABY SQUID BAITS

ANDREW DRAPER SCORES YET AGAIN ON HIS WHITE JAMES GANG BEE WHACKER

Andrew Draper is still tearing it up with his James Gang Fishing BEE WHACKER LM buzz baits! Now he submits a picture of a gorgeous smallmouth better than any I caught all year! Funny how we designed it for Largemouth and our customers kick our butts on our own baits with SMALLMOUTHS, our favorite fish. Thanks again for submitting this awesome picture, and best of luck with the muskies this October, Andrew. By the way, I hooked into an absolutely scary huge musky on the Dairyland Reservoir over the weekend on the BABY SQUID BAIT. This thing had a waist like the lure's designer himself (Alex James.) The fish was so girthy it didn't even look real! It was a very short, intense fight, I was completely caught off-guard and it hit at the boat. I had the drag too tight and didn't play it correctly at all, so when the giant made a speed burst under my prop, I didn't give it enough play in the rod and the lure came back at me, plastic all shredded in half. I honestly think this fish was 50+ inches. We tried reviving a 47 incher a few years ago on the Tiger Cat Flowage, this was MUCH larger. I wasn't too heart-broken, but man, it would have been nice to at least get a picture of this beast with Alex's lure design hanging out of his mouth. We were struggling bad bass fishing so we threw on the lure that seems to bail me out everytime I get skunked, the BABY SQUID BAIT. And it did catch the 4 biggest smallmouth of the day as well as the most. It has been my most productive lure on this lake over all my trips there since Labor Day. Hopefully it will continue over October, but the bite can change so fast in the fall, it seems.

JESSE JAMES WITH A 16" & 14.25" BABY SQUID BAIT SMALLMOUTH BASS

16" SMALLMOUTH BASS CAUGHT ON DAIRYLAND RESERVOIR EARLY FALL

14.25" to 16" SMALLMOUTHS ALL RELEASED BACK TO THEIR HOME AREAS

eBAY & LURE AVAILABILITY

Our lure inventory is getting much smaller as the fishing season is coming to a close. We stopped ordering parts in July, and are running out what we have on our eBay listings. Stanley Jigs has been out of weighted frog hooks for several months, so the bass sized DUNKIN FROGS are all sold out for 2017. We have just a few larger DUNKIN FROGS for northern pike and musky available on eBay. We have designed and tested a new HD musky version for 2018 with a longer body and skirt, it looked awesome on the lake. It will come out in time for the Madison Fishing Expo in February. Also the BEE WHACKER has a new MUSKY version coming out in 2018 as well. We experimented with trailers and found a Kalin's Mogambo Grub to give it the best look on the water. This lure was inspired by Andrew Draper's continued success on the bass version. We upgraded the musky version from 250# wire to 500# Toothproof Stainless Steel. HD stainless steel split rings. VMC HD 7/0 weedless hook as well. This lure sprays a good amount of water and may be a cheaper lure even though the quality is outstanding. All of our Bee Whackers LM & SM, Weedless and Non-Weedless are sold out for the year. We have Squid Bait parts, but found our new red blade does tarnish, so we will stop selling white & red this year and find a new supplier. We have a small amount of Green Pumpkin, but plenty of white bodies with high quality chartreuse blades as well as nickel available. We have quite a few firetiger Lovertail 2s left in stock, a few in Bull Bluegill, and a small quantity of other color variations. The Lovertail 2 is the kind of lure that could really catch you a giant in the fall! In fact, if we are struggling mid-day in the tournament, we will stop pursuing the heaviest weight win, put on a white Lovertail 2 and try and catch the biggest smallmouth bass that lives on the Dairyland Reservoir! The Lovertail 2 has caught some real Wisconsin trophies, on multiple occasions, when Tyler Theide gets to flinging that lure out of his kayaks. Hopefully Alex can one-up him on tournament day and win the Big Bass Award.

JAMES GANG LOVERTAIL 2 in "Bull Bluegill"

BOAT WRAP & STORAGE SOLUTIONS

click here for PRO TEKT info

And with fall here, scents can be the difference maker! Put on some JB'S FISH SAUCE on all your finesse baits. He has baitfish scent for the minnow profiles, crawfish scent for jigs, tubes, creature baits, as well as Kevin Rogalski's favorite scent, ANISE, and a few others (coffee, garlic, etc.) It will help on a tough day, it caught me a few on a hair jig on the brutally tough, but productive cold front day earlier this week!!

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WELCOME TO JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY!!SCROLL DOWN BELOW FOR FISHING REPORT BLOGS...

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE.....???

BOOTYKICKER 5" PADDLE TAIL SWIMBAITS FOR SALE NOW!

THE FIRST 20 CUSTOMERS WILL GET A FREE SAMPLE OF JB'S FISH SAUCE WITH THEIR BOOTYKICKER ORDER!!!!!

BOOTYKICKER COLORS AVAILABLE

ADDING JBs FISH SAUCE TO OUR BOOTYICKER IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! THE SCENT "BAITFISH" OR "BLACK MAGIC" SHOULD BE YOUR CHOICE FOR THIS LURE!!!!!

UW-STOUT NATIONAL BASS FISHING TOURNAMENT TEAM MEETING / THE IKE FOUNDATION SPONSORSHIP

GREAT JOB ALEX!!!

BIG MINNOW ADDS JAMES GANG LURES IN 2018!

WELCOME CHAD "BIGGIN" WILLIAMS TO THE JAMES GANG PRO STAFF!!

BOOTYKICKER - FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION!

BASS JERKER PAINTING SEASON IS BACK!!

THE JAMES GANG HAD A BLAST AT THE 2018 WISCONSIN FISHING EXPO.....

Click below to watch the Alex Fishing Show in Madison!!

PETE MAINA, KEITH COMBS, & SETH FIEDER ALL HUNG OUT WITH ALEX AT THE EXPO!!

TRAVEL, LODGING, SETUP, 3 DAYS OF EXPO, TEAR DOWN.....

ALEX MAKES WISCONSIN OUTDOOR NEWS WITH HIS BABY SQUID BAIT CATCH!

THANK YOU CUSTOMERS FOR GIVING OUR LURES A CHANCE! PLEASE EMAIL US YOUR FISH CATCH PICTURES AND ANY CUSTOM COLOR LURE DESIGN ORDERS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE US TO MAKE FOR YOU!!

Fish are still biting, but the schools keep moving!!

MADISON EXPO ONLY 1 WEEK AWAY!!!

BASSMASTER Carhartt College Series

NEW PAPERBACK BOOK COMING TO AMAZON IN SPRING!

BEST OF LUCK ICE FISHING, SEE YOU IN MADISON, WI AT THE FISHING EXPO!!!!

The ice is finally MORE THAN SAFE!!!!!

MARTINEK FINDS THE 10's and 11's?????

CAN CEO ALEX TOP BIG KEVIN'S MONSTER DAY???

UMMMMMMM NOOOOOOO!

BEE WHACKER Buzzbait Update.....

6 YEAR OLD KALEB G. ISN'T SLOWING DOWN!!!!

AND TO FINISH....GO UW-STOUT!!!!!!

WISCONSIN FISHING EXPO PREP STARTS NOW!!

NEW LURES FOR 2018!

2018 MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING EVENT

HAPPY HUNTING!

EATING DEER HEARTS

CYBER MONDAY/HOLIDAY SEASON LURE SALES

JBs FISH SAUCE

NEXT REPORT:2018 MLF Tournament location possibilities, ice fishing reports, fishing expos, lure builds, new products....

NOVEMBER 3RD - COMING BACK FOR ANOTHER HELPING

32 ANGLERS, 16 TEAMS, 15 BOATS, 2 KAYAKS, $640+Prizes....

AWARDS, PAYOUTS.....

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

a special thanks to PROTEKT (SCOTT & MIKE) and all of the James Gang Fishing pro-staffers for making this event happen, and a total SUCCESS!!!!

FALL IS FINALLY HERE!

GREAT LAKES WALLEYE, SMALLMOUTH, & PERCH

BEE WHACKERS & BABY SQUID BAITS

eBAY & LURE AVAILABILITY

​BOAT WRAP & STORAGE SOLUTIONS

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WELCOME TO JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY!!

SCROLL DOWN BELOW FOR FISHING REPORT BLOGS...

NEXT REPORT:

2018 MLF Tournament location possibilities, ice fishing reports, fishing expos, lure builds, new products....

BOAT WRAP & STORAGE SOLUTIONS