Fishing with kids and making memories......

ALEX JAMES (10), DOUGLAS S.(11), & NATE S.(8) ARE ALL SMILES AFTER A SUCCESSFUL 4 HOURS OF BASS FISHING IN RUSK COUNTY WISCONSIN

On August 14th, Alex and I met up with our 11 year old buddy Douglas, whom we have fished against twice (and lost against twice) in Major League Fishing tournaments in NW Wisconsin in 2017-2018. We picked a small lake in Rusk county that we fished a lot when Alex was 4 years old, one that we actually first tested our James Gang Spitter Pop out on and caught 15 bass on the first try! This lake has always produced well, but the bass were always very small in size. I like to fish it every once in a while just for the fun, steady action. So we loaded up the rods and tackle, but we couldn't go yet. We had blown our 40 horse outboard motor, so we took the time on Monday night to pull it off of the "Crawfish Bandit" General Lee boat and just clamp a trolling motor to the jack plate for now. The forecast was looking like a calmer day, and this small lake didn't need an outboard to get around on

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THE CRAWFISH BANDIT (1976 LUND S-16 BIG LAKES) CAN PUT A SMALL WAKE OUT WITH ITS 55 LB THRUST MINN KOTA

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FISHING TIME!

As we launched out from the public boat ramp, we immediately were drawn to the large fields of lily pads, hoping for a topwater frog or plastics bite. Unfortunately it was not happening. As we snuck through a small channel into the main lake, Douglas did get one bass to explode on his topwater frog, but it didn't grab his lure. We continued to work the lily pads and slop, but we found no luck or sign of life. We worked shallow areas around an island and shore, and noticed the lack of rain caused this natural lake to lose about 1-1.5 feet of depth. We didn't notice any bass swimming around at all in the shallows, but we continued to work the shallow areas around heavy cover and docks. We had a few missed bites from small bass around some shallow cover, but it just wasn't happening. Alex threw his James Gang Bootykicker near a deeper lily pad point, and he felt a hit. I followed up with a Berkley Powerworm in Junebug, and I missed the small bass as well. Douglas's little brother Nate was nearby in a bass boat with his mother and their family fishing friend Stan Miller. Stan already had boated 5 bass on some deeper structure on the other side of the lake on some beaver baits, and was coming over to give Douglas a few to try out. While we were chatting, Douglas sets the hook on a bass hard, and finally gets one in the boat. He hooked this bass on a floating worm in "bubble gum" color that I poured at home. While we were excited about Douglas's first fish of the day, little brother Nate casts near the pads where Alex and I missed that bass, and he hooks up. Nate lands the bass with ease and makes us James Gangers look like rookies. Stan and the gang decide to work the shoreline nearby, as we decide to check out the docks on the opposite side of the lake. We tried a few different lures, but nothing was working. We finally gave up completely on the shallow water bite, and then Douglas went on a roll. He began skipping deeper dock poles to get his pink worm in the shaded areas, and was getting bites and setting the hook hard. His second fish of the day was a beauty - a 16" largemouth bass that probably weighed around 2.25 lbs. It was the largest bass I ever seen caught in this lake, and since it was of legal length, we put it in the livewell for later pictures.

DOUGLAS S. SHOWS HIS 3rd KEEPER OF THE DAY - A 14" LARGEMOUTH BASS

Douglas worked the few docks found on the small lake very well, and was getting consistent bites. His hook sets were so fun to watch, and he did a great job landing all of his bass. Alex and I were taking turns with a baby bass and bubble gum James Gang Bootykicker, a Flappin' Jig, a Spitter Pop, and a Roboworm. Finally Alex got hooked up on his new Abu Garcia Venerate rod and Pfleuger Supreme 30 combo and lit up a 12" largemouth. He followed shortly  with another 12" largemouth on a sinking worm in chartreuse and silver.

JAMES GANG CEO AND THE IKE FOUNDATION SPONSORED ALEX JAMES WITH HIS SECOND​ BASS OF THE DAY

As we continued to cover water by fishing Douglas's red hot dock pattern, we ended up running into our other anglers. All three of them took turns wailing on decent sized bass one after another. Nate hooked up with a few right in front of us and ended up catching a personal best 7 bass in one day. Great job Nate!!

NATE S. WITH HIS BIGGEST BASS OF THE TRIP

NATE S. JUST KEEPS ON CATCHING THEM!

Overall the 4 hours of fishing could not have gone better. The average fish sizes were way larger than I ever seen for this lake in past years. The bite among out group was very good, as I believe Douglas landed 7, Nate landed 7, and Stan and the boys' mother landed several more. In the end, Douglas managed to land the biggest bass of the day, and was the angler that got to hold the Sarona Cup for the day. Will he win it for the season? Stay tuned and watch for the next Alex Fishing Show coming to YouTube very soon and find out who will win it. We plan on filming at least one more trip with a fishing buddy before the school year starts.

Thank you Douglas, Nate, Stan, & Karen for spending the morning with us. It was a great time and a memory that we will never forget!

ALEX, DOUGLAS, & NATE HOLD UP DOUGLAS'S 3 LEGAL LARGEMOUTH BASS TOGETHER

DAILY LUNKER GOES TO DOUGLAS WITH HIS 16" LARGEMOUTH BASS. CONGRATS!!

SOME FISHERMAN TELL TALL TALES, BUT WHEN YOU SEE AN ANGLER WITH "BASS THUMB" THERE IS NO DENYING THAT HE WAS CATCHING FISH LIKE CRAZY

TWO ADORABLE ANGLERS CALLING IT A DAY AND HEADED HOME

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TAKE A KID FISHING!!

www.theikefoundation.org

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DOUGLAS STRIKES GOLD THE FOLLOWING DAY AGAIN!!!

11 YR OLD DOUGLAS S. LANDS A FLAMBEAU RIVER 3 LB 1 OZ SMALLMOUTH ON HIS 1ST CAST ON OUR HAND-POURED BUBBLE GUM WORM THAT HE MODIFIED THE LENGTH AND TAIL ON!