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THE HOME OF ALEX'S PREMIUM HAND-CRAFTED LURES
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 IN THE FINAL WEEK OF JUNE, JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY CEO & FOUNDER ALEX HAS INVESTED IN AND ACTIVATED THE HOLCOMBE AREA'S FIRST 24/7 BAIT & TACKLE VENDING MACHINE. THIS MACHINE IS STOCKED WITH LEECHES, NIGHTCRAWLERS, MINNOWS, WAXIES, LEAF WORMS, AS WELL AS TACKLE & SUPPLIES FOR THE ANGLER ON THE GO! OTHER TACKLE & SUPPLIES AVAILABLE NOW!Besides hooks, slip bobbers, sinkers, and other terminal tackle, Alex also included some much needed items for the river anglers, boaters, and even drivers with trailer issues. The machine is stocked with 1" wheel bearing kits as well as marine-grade grease for the unfortunate trailer breakdown. Remember this is 24/7 service, so if you are within a reasonable distance of Holcombe, WI at any time, this is available to you. Sunglasses, bug spray, river sinkers, flashlights, glow lights, JB's Fish Sauce, carp boilies, catfish bait nuggets, James Gang Fishing hand-crafted lures, and fishing line are all available at your convenience in this great location on Hwy 27 at the Big Minnow Bar & Grill. The available items will be seasonal, as sporting goods relating to the hunters and ice fisherman will replace the summer angling items in the fall through winter months. MINNOWS IN A BAG? HOW DOES IT WORK?? We are sure anglers are hesitant when hearing that minnows can be purchased without aeration in a minnow vending machine. Believe us, WE WERE TOO! But after talking to actual vending machine owners instead of sales pitches, we found that this system of minnow sales is successful and works very well. The key is to use the correct packaging, use top quality bait, treat the water correctly, and sell them in small quantities to preserve the oxygen. In this refrigerated machine, the amount of oxygen needed is reduced, and will give the lively minnows 7+ days of life in the vending machine. We are labeling a "SELL BY" date on all of our minnow vends so that the angler will know that the minnows are still alive. In the case of any spoiled live bait of any kind, James Gang Fishing Company will definitely work with the customer to give them a FULL REFUND if they clearly were sold spoiled bait. We will be checking our stock frequently as we refill our inventory, and we will make sure to inspect our live bait during each visit. WHERE IS THE MACHINE'S PHYSICAL ADDRESS??  BIG MINNOW BAR & GRILL is open 6 days a week, Tues-Sunday from 10 AM to Bar Close. They have fantastic food at affordable prices and a large variety on their menu. Their staff is very friendly and the local crowd is a very fun one that is mainly composed of anglers and people visiting the lake, their cabins, or their nearby campers. Big Minnow has been legendary in the area for decades, and the owners that took over a few years ago have done a fantastic job keeping the place performing at a high-level after the original owners had retired. Stop in for a burger, ask the locals about the fishing reports, and fill your boat up with gas across the street. PAYMENT METHODS ACCEPTED IN VENDING MACHINE JAMES GANG FISHING's 24 hr vending will accept cash up to $20 bills, and a credit card reader will be enabled around or before the July 4th holiday weekend.  
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 STAPLES LAKE, WI - SLAY NATION EVENT #1  The first event ever in the WI Slay Nation series took place on a fantastic lake in Western Wisconsin. Staples Lake, near Cumberland, WI, produced a lot of quality largemouth bass for the event, and several trophy-sized fish showed themselves while the males were fanning beds for the upcoming spawn. The pattern that seemed to produce was a deeper, 3 foot area in which you could not see the fish present. What was difficult was seeing large bass all over in 2 feet of depth, which led to constantly presenting lures to them sight-fishing most of the day.  9-YR OLD ALAYNA H. PUT HER TEAM ON THE BOARD WITH THIS 16.5" BASS  Over halfway through the day, we failed to land a single bass. We only had one bite, a very nice sized largemouth that hammered a 3/8 oz James Gang nest Invader, but on a moderate taper vibrating jig rod, I failed to get the hook to show itself. The fish threw the lure after a few seconds. As we ran into Mat Eichinger and his partner Alayna, we found that they had boated 5 bass, 3 of them counting in the event. We discussed the struggles of sight-fishing, and they had said that power fishing chatterbaits and jerkbaits produced their fish in weedy flats. We decided to give up on the constant large bass fanning their beds, and headed to the wind-blown side of the lake to try some different finesse presentations. We threw the James Gang Baby Squid Bait and the Dirty Dave hair jig, and instead of largemouth bass, we were just pounded fish after fish by psychotic crappies and aggressive pumpkinseeds. The crappies hung on, while the pumpkinseeds failed to get hooks in their tiny mouths. Angela Piontek landed one on a 4" zoom jerk shad, and I was getting bites on the Lovertail 2, along with the other two bass lures I discussed.  20 BLACK CRAPPIES BOATED IN A BASS TOURNAMENT IS NOT GOING TO WIN MONEY  As we cycled through presentations all day, including moving baits and finesse lures, we bumped into a pike that throttled a James Gang Baby Squid Bait in the wind-blown shoreline that had a green algae bloom washed up. We worked the shoreline down towards the starting boat ramp, and ran into fellow competitor Travis Gasper. While we closed in towards him to ask how his day was going, we noticed he had a very nice largemouth around 18" in his hands. We captured a quick pic with him and he told us that he already boated 25 largemouth bass in that wind-blown area using his favorite finesse presentations! What surprised us was that he was basically doing the EXACT same thing that we were doing, except a foot deeper. He was not targeting bedding fish in 2' of water sight-fishing. Instead he was blind casting staging bass that were actively feeding in the wind-blown algae bloom areas. Once again, a tough day for us turned into a learning experience. My partner this day, my wife Angela, decided to throw her soft plastic Yum craw in the 3' area after talking to Travis, and immediately hooked up! She reeled in as I grabbed the net and we put a 17.5" largemouth bass on the board!  LATE IN THE DAY TRAVIS GASPER IS WELL INTO THE LEAD WITH A LIMIT OF 5 BASS  JAMES GANG FISHING CO VICE PRESIDENT ANGELA PIONTEK WITH A 17.5" BASS THE COMPETITION HEATS UP IN FINAL HOURS JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER & WI SLAY NATION TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR MAT EICHINGER LANDS A QUALITY LARGEMOUTH AND IS IN 2ND PLACE  With only 2 hours remaining, we didn't feel comfortable trying to fish an area that someone else had hit hard for most of a tournament day. We decided to venture to the opposite side of the lake with our Motorguide 36V troller (no outboards allowed in Slay Nation) and risk losing fishing time to try and present our lures a little deeper in areas of trophy fish present. At the time, Travis had the big bass lead with an 18.75" fish, and we knew that we tangled with some 19-20" class fish on the opposite side in shallow spawning areas that would not bite. As soon as we arrived and began casting a little deeper, we hooked into a feeding fish. This was a better quality fish with a lot of girth, and after my wife netted it we placed it on the Ketch board and found a 17" beauty for the scoreboard. Minutes later, I hooked up again on my Mr Twister black/blue plastic craw, and this one, though shorter at 15," would put us in contention with Mat and Alayna for 2nd place. We felt like we finally figured out the pattern late in the day. As time was winding down, we only had one hour left and a decision to make. Do we make a long run with just a trolling motor to fish a shallow reed area full of bass and waste fishing time? Or do we continue to hit the same areas we pressured all day? We decided to gamble, attempting to pass Travis with the potential of a Big Bass Award and make the time-consuming run to fish the point of reeds with limited time. As we arrived, I threw a cast into an area full of crappies. Immediately I felt a bite in deeper water and set the hook hard, figuring I would quickly get rid of the crappie. To my pleasant surprise, this was not a crappie battling me. Another bigger largemouth bass was battling me through the reeds with my drag screaming. As we scooped it in, we registered our 4th and final fish, a nice 16" bass. We felt very good about our average sizes and thought that we could challenge Mat & Alayna for 2nd place at the end of the day. We were out of time and had to head back and throw a few quick casts near Travis's prime area leading to the 3 PM cutoff. We barely squeaked out 2nd place by just a few inches on our 4 fish bag, and Travis took both first place with his 28 fish boated and also big bass at 18.75!" Congrats to all that came, as every angler boated at least one quality fish. It was a very fun format not using any outboards, and I actually chose to leave my gas tank, gas line, and Helix 12 at home for this one.  UNCLE JESSE WITH A 16" BASS LATE IN THE DAY TO HELP HIS TEAM CLAIM 2ND  TRAVIS GASPER STOLE THE SHOW WITH 28 QUALITY BASS, AND THIS 18.75" MONEY WINNER! CONGRATS FOR THE WIN & BIG BASS AWARD!! JON BOAT, CANOE, KAYAK, TINY BOATS? COME JOIN US FOR AN AFFORDABLE, FUN TIME! CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW TO BE LINKED TO THE WISCONSIN SLAY NATION!!! ENTRY FEE ONLY $50/BOAT. CAN FISH SOLO OR AS A 2-ANGLER TEAM. ANNUAL REGISTRATION IS $60 AND INCLUDES A FREE SLAY NATION PERFORMANCE LONG SLEEVE JERSEYFUN TIMES CAMPING FOR THE EVENT IN TURTLE LAKE, WI RED HOT NEST INVADERS ON BACKORDER!!NEST INVADER 3/8 oz swinging weedless swimjig
$12.00
2 PACK swinging weedless jigs, with a premium skirt, a Mustad 4/0 EWG hook, and a premium James Gang Fishing Bootykicker trailer injected by lethal Baits Soft Plastics. This lure can be used as a swim jig or drug on the bottom in cover such as rocks with its football head shape. Skirts are replaceable with the banded type on the market. Jig is powdercoated to match the skirt and trailer color. FREE SHIPPING, typically ships in 1-3 weeks. Our hottest lure of 2020 has been by far the NEST INVADER weedless swinging skirted jig. Our 3/8 size heads are currently on backorder from our supplier. Our 1/4 oz versions are ready to order, however. We will continue to run our promotional sale on these until the end of June! Please click on the SHOP button above to order from our online store! FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED!!!  MAY 31 is 2020 WI RIVERBANK RALLY ENTRY CUT-OFF DATE!!! ONLY $10 TO JOIN US!! If you are a fan of fishing from the river bank for suckers, carp, catfish, sheepshead, or buffalo, come join us for only $10 as we compete for the biggest of each category all summer long! Entry fee taken online at the link below!!!!   Welcome to the Turtle Flambeau Flowage! The Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Northern Wisconsin is a very special place for anglers. This wild body of water stretches a total of 12,942 acres, but doesn't feel like big water when navigating. This is due to the 195 islands, as well as bays and points all over the place. 66 island camping locations are scattered over the flowage for free by the WI DNR. The shores are 90% state-owned and undeveloped, creating the wildest lake in Wisconsin. Wildlife is abundant, and the population of common loons is unheard of. Floating logs are everywhere, jammed into the corners of bays or sunk to the bottom. Combined with stumps and boulders, this lake has the perfect habitat for an extremely healthy population of well-fed girthy smallmouth bass. There are high populations of walleye, big crappies, and muskies as well. All sections of the Flambeau River seem to produce unique, orangish-colored smallmouth with extreme girth. I believe the root-beer colored water gives them their awesome tint. Dominated by the rusty crawfish, these fish have no problem finding food to grow. On May 15th I explored some new areas of the flowage and struck some gold early on, before losing a set of bearings and damaging a hub on our trailer. The weekend vacation ended short of 2 outings, but in the limited time I boated 4 very healthy smallmouth bass, 1 northern pike, and also had on two trophy class bass, one around 4# and one quite possibly the biggest I ever hooked into in the 5-6 lb range! Black and Blue seemed to be the color and the hot lure was the "Mississippi Mayhem" James Gang Nest Invader in 1/4 oz size. A James Gang Baby Squid Bait in the same color landed my final quality fish of the trip.  FISH #1 BOATED, A GIRTHY FLAMBEAU BEAUTY AT 2 LBS 14 OZ  FISH #2 at 18" WEIGHING 2 LBS 15 OZ, THE LONGEST FISH OF THE STAY  FISH # 3 A 14" SMALLMOUTH BASS CAUGHT ON A PLASTIC CRAW  FISH #4 A NORTHERN PIKE ON A JAMES GANG SPITTER POP WOODEN LURE  FISH #5 BOATED - A 16" SMALLMOUTH BASS OFF SHORE ON A POINT CAUGHT ON A JAMES GANG BABY SQUID BAIT  JAMES GANG NEST INVADER WEEDLESS JIG, SPITTER POP, AND LUNKERHUNT CRAW WERE THE SUCCESSFUL LURES OF THE TWO OUTINGS SCENIC MERCER, WI The Turtle Flambeau Flowage Scenic Area is not only beautiful on the water, but off the water as well. Windy roads through thick woods, fog covered lakes, with lots of wildlife all over. The trip into Mercer included a stop to view the LAKE OF THE FALLS incredible dam, which feeds the flowage. Also a stop at the Turtle River Trading Company was had to stock up on a few finesse presentations and a custom made musky bucktail by a local 11-year old tackle crafter named Ben. Its a quiet town that will offer lots of scenery and relaxation. I chose to stay at a local small campground this time, to utilize electricity to charge my 36V trolling system. Campgrounds are rare here as most of the shore is undeveloped, and the 66 campsites are accessible on the islands for free. Joe Miller's Cottages was a very nice stay with friendly people owning and working the property. Their property includes a private ramp and your own dock with your stay. They had several people-friendly wild deer walking around through the sites near the evening hours, which were a lot of fun to interact with. The water level runs high at about 6 feet up during the spring full pool, this offers your peak chance at prime bass fishing as they relate to wood cover tight to shore. These places end up out of the water as the level lowers throughout summer into fall. I highly recommend checking this place out in mid-May to late June while the fishing is much easier. Enjoy the pictures of the great TURTLE FLAMBEAU FLOWAGE!!!  PAINTED TURTLES DRAWING IN HEAT FROM THE SUN  VISITATION FROM WILD DEER IN THE CAMPSITE  EARLY MORNING FOG LIFTING FROM THE WILD WATERS  PUTTING THE SUBARU WRX TURBO AWD TO THE TEST ON THE WINDY ROADS WITH GENERAL G-MAX RS05 STREET RACING TIRES  TURTLE RIVER TRADING COMPANY HAS A WIDE SELECTION OF UNIQUE TACKLE AND LIVE BAIT FOR THE FLOWAGE  JOE MILLER'S COTTAGES IS A GREAT PLACE TO STAY IF ELECTRIC IS NEEDED  BACON & EGGS SHORELINE BREAKFAST  HARD TO BEAT OLD-FASHIONED RUSTIC ISLAND CAMPING!!   LOG JAMS, ISLANDS, FLATS, AND SLOUGHS GALORE!!   LAKE OF THE FALLS IS A MUST-STOP PLACE TO VIEW!  IF YOU ARE HEADING THROUGH PHILLIPS, WI ROSS'S SPORT SHOP WILL MEET YOUR FISHING AND BOAT EQUIPMENT NEEDS!! THANK YOU FOR VIEWING MY PICTURES OF MY TURTLE FLAMBEAU TRIP! I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO INVITING YOU ALL OUT ON MY ADVENTURES AS MY NEW GUIDE SERVICE LAUNCHES IN 2021! STAY TUNED FOR UNCLE JESSE'S RIVER & RESERVOIR ADVENTURES!! TO ORDER OUR HOTTEST LURE OF 2020 ONLINE, THE JAMES GANG NEST INVADER, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW! THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING JAMES GANG FISHING COMPANY!!!NEST INVADER 3/8 oz swinging weedless swimjig
$12.00
2 PACK swinging weedless jigs, with a premium skirt, a Mustad 4/0 EWG hook, and a premium James Gang Fishing Bootykicker trailer injected by lethal Baits Soft Plastics. This lure can be used as a swim jig or drug on the bottom in cover such as rocks with its football head shape. Skirts are replaceable with the banded type on the market. Jig is powdercoated to match the skirt and trailer color. FREE SHIPPING, typically ships in 1-3 weeks.   11-YR OLD JAMES GANG CEO, LURE DESIGNER, TOURNAMENT ANGLER ALEX JAMES PROUDLY CATCHES A 17" BASS ON A JAMES GANG 1/4 OZ NEST INVADER DURING MIKE IACONELLI'S ONLINE TOURNAMENT IN APRIL ICE SEASON SUCCESS!! 9.5" BULL BLUEGILL FROM WESTERN WI IN FEBRUARY  We spent the majority of our ice fishing season in exploration mode, choosing to spend more time on lakes featuring "quality" sized older fish vs. the lakes that typically are easier to fish with smaller average sizes. While the majority of these lakes were a struggle to figure out, we did manage to put ourselves on the quality fish that we were looking for. In the tougher times, subtle is the way to go. We chose to use small Flirty Girty jigs made in Fall Creek, WI, as well as Acme Tungsten jigs in very small sizes. The color we went with were in black in both cases. We found ourselves trimming our Gullickson's Beavertail Baits vertically in half, to imitate a red wiggler. We finished off the job by scratching the hook in some JB's Fish Sauce "Crawfish" paste or balm stick. By using our flashers, we kept our presentation above the suspended bigger fish, jigging aggressively to get their attention, then deadsticking as they rose to bite. This presentation allowed me to catch my biggest bluegill through the ice, a beautiful 9.5" from a quality lake in Western WI. We managed to keep 8 fish ranging from 8.75-9.5" in about 30 minutes, then left to explore another tough lake. At times it seems like minnows are a must to get bit in the tough crappie situations, at other times a Beavertail on a tiny jig is the way to go for both crappies and bluegills of any size. Unfortunately the James Gang were not available to explore during March or the "late ice" phase, but next year we will hopefully find opportunities to make some trips during those periods and continue to become better anglers with more learning on the ice.  ACME PRO TUNGSTEN IN SMALL SIZES TIPPED WITH GULLICKSON'S BEAVERTAILS AND SCENTED WITH JB'S FISH SAUCE IS A GREAT PRESENTATION FOR HESITANT QUALITY PANFISH $10 RIVERBANK RALLY UNDERWAY AND STILL ACCEPTING ANGLERS After a fun and successful new riverbank tournament format was started in 2019 by James Gang Fishing Company in Wisconsin, we decided to follow it up in 2020 and expand it to any riverbank in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Some of our anglers are off to a very hot start as they posted multiple fish on the 2020 Riverbank Rally Scoreboard during the first weeks of the event. This tournament runs all summer until the end of August, at an entry fee of only $10 per angler. With a small processing fee of 68 cents, we accept entry fees online through this website. Due to the fears of COVID-19 as far as affecting the angler's financial situations, we decided to extend the entry fee deadline to June 1, 2020. If you are interested, please click on the entry fee page below. Credit or check cards are accepted: FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE 2020 WI RIVERBANK RALLY PLEASE CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW!!!!! SHOUT-OUT TO OUR CURRENT CATEGORY LEADERS: NEST INVADER WEEDLESS JIGS ON SALE!!! The NEST INVADER weedless swinging skirted jig design by Alex Piontek of JAMES GANG FISHING CO has been a fantastic lure for quality bass for the past two fishing seasons! I personally caught my largest Largemouth Bass on it of my life this April, and placed high in Mike Iaconelli's online tournament with the Berkeley Big Bass competition for Week #2. The size that we used during the 47 degree water was the 1/4 oz version. This size uses a small 3.8" swimbait trailer. Our top seller and performer for the Elk Mound High School team and many kayak anglers has been the 3/8 oz version. From the beginning two colors have been dominant - "Mississippi Mayhem" (black/blue) and "White Crappie" with the Mayhem catching the majority of the bigger fish. Our online store sells several colors in the 3/8 oz size, but we can also custom build 1/4 or 1/2 oz versions by special request. The 3/8 oz and 1/2 oz options come with larger EWG hooks and our incredible James Gang BOOTYKICKER swimbait poured by Lethal Baits for unbelievable action. Pro Staffer Jaz Duncan found success with his son Gavin on this design recently after putting on a beaver style bait as a trailer to "slow the fall" in a tougher situation for quality largemouth bass in Barron County, WI. Smear some JB's Fish Sauce on these beautiful lures and tie on some quality flourocarbon and you will be ready to catch some quality fish in no time! We are putting these top-quality jigs on sale with free shipping from May to June 1 on our store, so we encourage you to check them out! You will be impressed, we are sure of it! Click on the store below to shop online: NEST INVADER 3/8 oz swinging weedless swimjig
$12.00
2 PACK swinging weedless jigs, with a premium skirt, a Mustad 4/0 EWG hook, and a premium James Gang Fishing Bootykicker trailer injected by lethal Baits Soft Plastics. This lure can be used as a swim jig or drug on the bottom in cover such as rocks with its football head shape. Skirts are replaceable with the banded type on the market. Jig is powdercoated to match the skirt and trailer color. FREE SHIPPING, typically ships in 1-3 weeks.  JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER JAZ DUNCAN & HIS SON FOUND NEST INVADER SUCCESS IN BARRON COUNTY, WI PRO STAFFER ANDREW DRAPER WITH A PLEASANT SPRING SNOW SURPRISE!!! PRO STAFFER DOC GILLES STILL LIGHTING UP RIVERBANKS HEAVILY PRESSURED WITH HIS FAVORITE FISH!! PRO STAFFERS ROGALSKI & EICHINGER FIND DONKEYS IN BIRCHWOOD, WI  CWBA TOURNAMENT SEASON BEGINS!!! GREAT JOB TO PAT SCHLAPPER & WADE RICKEY FOR THE WIN OVER 34 OTHER TEAMS! Excellent ran tournament once again by Craig Kloth!! JESSE JAMES LANDED 2 BASS & 1 PIKE IN THE TOUGH EVENT  MAT EICHINGER LANDED 4 BASS & 5 NORTHERN PIKE IN THE EVENT  SCOTT WILZCEK IS EXCITED FOR THE START IN HIS NEW SKEETER FX21 BOAT       NEW MOTOR, NEW ATTITUDES....   SEE YOU ON THE WATER!!!  DAD ENJOYING TIME WITH JAMES GANG CEO & DESIGNER ALEX JAMES BY CATCHING CRAPPIES AND BLUEGILLS IN NW WISCONSIN COLD FALL, WARM WINTER, MULTIPLE FRONTS LOCAL FEMALE YOUTH TOURNAMENT ANGLER ALAYNA H. WITH TWO KEEPER BLUEGILLS IN CHIPPEWA COUNTY  Our fall season started off with extremely cold weather as compared to previous years, as we found solid ice on most regional lakes as early as November 6, 2019. Several smaller bodies of water already had fish on the ice by local brave (but "crazy?") anglers that ventured out on the first few inches of ice. The cold weather remained all the way through the late November WI gun deer hunting season, and led most anglers to believe that driveable ice would be present earlier than ever. During the early part of December the temperatures remained stable, not fast enough to create thicker ice at a fast pace, yet not too warm to lose ice. But by mid-December, the weather took a fast turn for the worst (for ice anglers) as the weather became warm and refused to budge through January as the ice became sketchy and covered in slush all over the state. A few places finally found a safe thickness of ice to drive on, but the heavy amounts of slush caused issues of vehicles getting stuck. For the most part, most anglers in Wisconsin have given up on driving on the ice as of this point in the year and have been resorting to long walks and snowmobile or ATV traffic. The positive of the warmer than average winter - beautiful, comfortable days on the ice and many days without the nasty wind that we typically see in January the puts our wind chills around -40!!  JAMES GANG MEMBERS - GOOD BUDDY ZIM, DOC, & KEVIN ENJOYING THE WARMER THAN AVERAGE JANUARY WEATHER WHILE PIKE FISHING  WOOD-FIRED BEER BRATS ON THE ICE - DELICIOUS!!!! FISHING WITH THE KIDS  Fishing with kids is always a fun time and is something that our company was obviously founded on when our 7-year-old genius owner became a lure designer and acquired his business license in 2016. We attempt to get a few outings every ice and open water season with a few children to have fun and introduce them to the outdoors. This year during Christmas break from school, CEO Alex met up with local young female anglers Brynn & Alayna in Chippewa County, and found bluegills in about every hole that we drilled! Many fish were running small this day, but the three children caught all 7 of the keeper panfish that were brought to the ice, as the adults failed to land a fish of keeper size. These three had a blast together and had great attitudes as they caught several fish in the late afternoon. Alex was treated with a delicious pizza at a local bar and grill when it was over, and for an appetizer we drank two hot cocoas to warm up from the time on the ice.  ALAYNA H WITH HER FIRST FISH OF THE DAY (RELEASED)  ALEX JAMES WITH AN 8" BLUEGILL, HIS BIGGEST OF THE DAY!   ALEX, BRYNN, & ALAYNA ARE SMILING HUGE AFTER A FUN OUTING ON THE ICE! BOAT RESTORATION 2020 After 2018 & 2019 were spent pretty much fighting boat issues instead of fishing, we have made some purchases and drawn up some design ideas to improve the CRAWFISH BANDIT General Lee boat for the 2020 season. We are really excited to dump our 2 broken 40 hp outboards and replace them with a 2020 Mercury 25 EFI 4-stroke. We will be losing about 8-10 mph top speed, but feel like we will have plenty of fun at speeds around 20 mph in the 16' Lund. We chose to save the price difference of the lighter motor and invest in a new Hummingbird Helix 12 with mega side imaging, and also got a hold of a 2017 Motorguide 36V X5i to battle winds and current with. New trailer tires, fresh grease in the bearings, and a new coat of paint on the interior and bottom half exterior will shine the boat up nicely. We will replace the jackplate with fresh marine-grade wood for the heavier 25 hp motor, and we will build a 3' platform to mount our first bow-mount trolling system. Our platform will be replaced to accomodate the recessed foot pedal for the trolling motor as well as provide access doors to the batteries. The General should run fantastic for Alex as he spends 2020 working on his boater's permit license from the WI DNR. Upgrade pictures to come..... CRAPPIES AND BLUEGILLS HITTING BEAVERTAILS W/FISH SAUCE  Last Saturday, Alex and I met some awesome people out on a popular lake in Rusk County, WI. With a perfect weather pattern of a moving front and a low barometer, we figured an aggressive presentation would work very well and that we would manage hundreds of fish on the ice. When we started fishing, we had an unusually tough time for this body of water locating fish. We were in the correct area, but we hardly marked a fish even hopping holes over and over. Finally we found a few schools, and we went after them aggressively - bright colors, big trailers, etc. The result was a school of fishing "fleeing the scene" as fast as they could. It didn't take long to figure out that all of us had to adjust to this unexpected reaction. We went with a small black Acme tungsten jig, and then modified a pink Beavertail bait by cutting the width about as skinny as a silver wiggler. The jig was previously treated with JB'S FISH SAUCE in "Crawfish" flavor. As I began marking fish that would approach but fail to commit with my typical jigging cadence for this lake, Alex took over and threw 5 of the nicest crappies (of the day) on the ice while 5 adults were still skunked.  ACME PRO GRADE 3MM JIG IN "NIGHT RIDER" TIPPED WITH A PINK BEAVERTAIL  TREVOR MEEKS & DREW ERICKSON ARE ON THE MOVE SEARCHING FOR SCHOOLS OF PANFISH  After Alex got off his his fine start towards next weekend's dinner, Sierra & Andy began catching a few fish, including our first 8" bluegill of the day. Moments later Trevor & Drew found a place to set up camp and sit on a few moving schools of fish, getting a few spurts here and there of fish willing to bite in a row with their finesse presentations of darker, smaller jig selections. All 6 anglers seemed to go a small time of catching fish, then as the school would leave we all waited a while without marking fish until the schools would cycle back through. Typically in these situations, I choose to hole hop all over the area and only target holes where fish are present on the flasher. This day was the first time where this run and gun approach failed to pay off, as the 5 anglers that stayed put seemed to consistently catch more fish by being patient and waiting for those cycling schools to find their way back to the area. Towards the end of the day, I decided to go their route, and I ended up catching some better bluegills to add to Alex's pile of black crappies. When the day was over, the group of us brought home around 60+ panfish for the lard, garlic, and cast iron skillets. The biggest bluegills were around 8" and the longest crappie was around 10." These fish made great meals and left us all very happy as we headed home from the lake.  THE VIEW FROM A WISCONSIN LAKE IN WINTER IS ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL!!  NOT A GIANT, BUT TREVOR MEEKS LANDS HIS FIRST PAN-WORTHY BLUEGILL AT 7"  I LOVE THE COLORATIONS OF A BULL GILL, THIS ONE 8" IN LENGTH  ALEX FORGETS TO HOLD OUT HIS 10" CRAPPIE TO MAKE IT LOOK BIGGER  A MR. HEATER BUDDY AND A FRABILL FORTRESS MAKES WINTERTIME FUN!!!  SOMETIMES IT'S WHITE, TODAY THE PINK BEAVERTAIL WAS THE KEY BAIT   www.jbsfishsauce.com LOVERTAILS ON SALE!!!! $8 + FREE SHIPPING FOR A LIMITED TIME!!!! ALL COLORS OF OUR LOVERTAIL 2 WEEDLESS INLINE SPINNER ON SALE NOW!!!!! CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION!!  THUMBS UP!!!!!!  SUNRISE ON THE 2ND DAY OF WI DEER GUN SEASON 2019 SHORE FISHING, BOAT TROUBLES, AND PRIME FALL BASS FISHING GOOD BUDDY ZIM FINDS HIMSELF A FLAMBEAU RIVER SMALLMOUTH WITH GORGEOUS LOCAL COLORATIONS IN LATE SEPTEMBER  Its been one difficult year for us in our fishing adventures, as we once again found ourselves with major outboard issues. We attempted to replace our original 1976 Evinrude 40 hp with an 1987 Force 35 hp, and after we had our hopes up and did our best to replace bad electrical parts and make adjustments, the end result was an absolute disaster. To make things worse, a nagging arm injury basically put us in a position to skip nearly the entire open water season of bass fishing in 2019. We did manage some very fun shoreline trips for the 2019 WI Riverbank Rally, and had fun on one panfish trip in Rusk County mid-summer. For the lost time and challenges we faced, fortunately our pro-staffers picked up the slack and had an excellent year. Our riverbank guys like John Beaudette lit up the cats and suckers throughout the summer. The few times Kevin Rogalski got out, he was successful finding some decent bass, but he was consistently beat out by his high school daughter catching crazy awesome largemouth bass on their favorite lakes. Jaz Duncan started off the year hot with an outstanding opening day, and later teamed up with Mat Eichinger in a CWBA event on Miller Dam Flowage landing themselves in the payout with a limit of bass in very tough conditions. Mat had an excellent year himself, as he found himself quality bass on about every trip out this year, and his little side-kick Alayna also smashed it when she hit the water with a spinning reel. Not to forget, Mr. Doc Gilles, who had the best year of his life, and what is more impressive is he got it done primarily on the riverbank fishing bass crankbaits for smallmouth bass, muskies, walleye, and nice northern pike. Doc managed to land his biggest smallmouth bass to date, and Tim Danielson was able to mount the fish for him with beautiful and accurate smallmouth artwork. Doc also got into his biggest musky, and even though our fall was iced over extremely early, Doc found himself some great pike action once again from his riverbanks in open water all the way through the WI Deer Gun Season. Thank you to all of our pro-staffers for supporting James Gang Fishing Company and for picking up the slack during our difficult season. We have decided for the 2020 season, Alex will be getting a brand new 2020 Mercury 40 EFI for his Crawfish Bandit General Lee Lund, and our worries and lost time should be in the past. We will also take that opportunity to begin boater's safety and try and obtain his boaters license. We will look into electronics upgrades and a trolling motor upgrade as we attempt to get our hands on a new Humminbird Helix 12 Mega GN2 for better fish locating, and a Motorguide Xi5 80 trolling motor with anchor mode and 24V operation for longer battery life. Currently our 55# transom mount is really struggling with battery life and efficiency. I feel like with more reliable equipment, we will have the tools to expand on new bodies of water and continue to teach ourselves where fish locations are during different seasonal patterns and condition changes. Enjoy our pictures below of our awesome pro-staffers lighting it up with passion and success in the unusually cold early fall conditions during water temps of 45-50 degrees.  GOOD BUDDY ZIM WITH A SOLID 3.5# SMALLMOUTH BASS ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER  ALAYNA H. WITH A THICK 16" SMALLMOUTH BASS IN 45 DEGREE WATER TEMPS  MAT EICHINGER & ALAYNA LAND 8 SMALLMOUTH BASS FULL OF GIRTH AND BAIT  DOC GILLES & ZIM ARE DIALED IN AND ON FIRE THIS FALL IN 48 DEGREE WATER TEMPS ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER IN THE SNOW IN MID-OCTOBER  DOC GILLES WITH A 37" NORTHERN PIKE IN NOVEMBER IN 33 DEGREE WATER TEMPS   TIM DANIELSON PERFECTED THE TAXIDERMY OF DOC'S 2019 5# SMALLMOUTH THANK YOU PRO-STAFF FOR A FANTASTIC YEAR!!!!2019 WI GUN DEER OPENER SUCCESS Our young 11-year-old CEO of James Gang Fishing Company, Alex James, entered his 3rd attempt at the WI DNR mentorship program, hoping to harvest his first wild animal. Alex was close to taking a shot at a doe at 20 yards in his first season at 9 years old, but the doe had some brush in the way and he was instructed to not force a shot, as we were more concerned about preventing wounding deer than filling tags. In year 2, 10-year-old Alex didn't have an opportunity to fire a shot as failed to see deer on the first day and chose to not sit the second morning, when the deer happened to show up. So this year Alex was committed to sitting longer and at the peak times in hope to finally get his chance to hang his first deer on the meatpole.   Opening day was a decent day as we saw a fair amount of does, fawns, and a one year old buck. Unfortunately our shots were not clear enough so was avoided attempting any poor shots at any animals. We heard Uncle Doug fire off a shot opening morning as he successfully shot his first buck in many years, a nice buck weighing 160# dressed out. The afternoon hours were very disappointing as all the hunters saw very little to no deer in the second half of the day. We were down to one final sit on Sunday morning, as I had been schedule to work Sunday night and needed to leave the woods by 11 am. Cousin Cody fired a shot around 10 am and shot a small-bodied 8 point buck. The buck didn't go far as Cody's .308 Winchester hit the heart on a quartered-away shot and left quite a trail of blood out its sides through the grass. ALEX GETS IT DONE ALEX GIVES HIS "THUMBS UP" AS HE REGISTERS A LARGE DOE ON SUNDAY  After Cousin Cody fired a shot, several deer came crashing through our area, all does and fawns. Minutes later a healthy doe appeared giving Alex about a 50 yard broadside side. Since Alex was shooting accurate at 100 yards with his .243 Savage Axis Youth rifle, I told him to put the crosshairs on the vitals and pull the trigger if it looked like the brush was not in the way. Alex pulled the trigger and the large doe never flinched. I looked closer and saw that their appeared to be some branches and twigs and maybe his bullet deflected. I attempted to re-load the bolt action for him, and I heard a "click" as we found that the second bullet never loaded. We finally got the next bullet loaded and the doe ran off full speed. Alex felt relieved as we heard two fawn bleats nearby and realized this doe had two needy fawns running with her. In the end he was glad this doe survived. Not much longer, another large doe came through. This one presented Alex an open, quartered-away angled shot. He put the crosshairs on the vitals and pulled the trigger. The doe ran away with its tail down and ran away at a strange angle, so I believed it was hit. As we got down on the ground, Alex found his first blood trail......  ALEX'S FIRST BLOOD TRAIL AT THE END OF THE BLOOD TRAIL........... PROUD YOUTH MENTOR HUNTER  PRO-STAFFER KEVIN ROGALSKI WITH A PUBLIC LAND WI BUCK HAVE A SAFE HUNTING SEASON, AND CHECK OUT OUR DEER HEART RECIPE BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW, ALSO A GREAT RECIPE FOR BACKSTRAPS OR ANY RED MEAT STEAK ON A GRILL OR OVER A FIRE!!! MLF REDCREST, 2019 RIVERBANK RALLY WINNER, PRO STAFFER'S ARCHERY SUCCESS, FALL FISHING IS HERE!10/9/2019  JAMES GANG FISHING CEO ALEX JAMES HOLDS A REPLICA FLORIDA STRAIN BASS AT MLF REDCREST IN LACROSSE WI FIRST MLF REDCREST IN LA CROSSE, WI 2019 was the first year for the new Major League Fishing PBT. The year-end championship was held here in Wisconsin. Alex and I made the trip to check out the final event of the season, as we mingled with pro anglers and had lots of laughs with the funny people in the pro bass scene. Here are a few pictures that we took at this event:  BASSMASTER CLASSIC WORLD CHAMPION OTT DEFOE  ALEX AND OUR GOOD BUDDY, FUNNYMAN JAMES "WORLDWIDE" JMFW WATSON KEVIN VANDAM, JEFF SPRAGUE, SHAW GRIGSBY, SKEET REESE, TIMMY HORTON, JUSTIN LUCAS, BRITT MYERS, MIKE MCCLELLAND, AUSTIN FELIX, CODY MEYERS  MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING REPORTER ALY AKERS-ATKINS  ALEX & HIS GOOD BUDDY MIKE IACONELLI  BAYSINGER WINS THE 2019 JAMES GANG WI RIVERBANK RALLY! TIMOTHY BAYSINGER RECEIVES HIS RIVERBANK RALLY TROPHY AND A "THUMBS UP" AFTER BEATING OUT ALEX WITH a 50.25" LAKE STURGEON IN THE EVENT  ALEX JAMES FINISHED 2ND OVERALL WITH THIS 14" LAKE STURGEON   BRANDON WEDLUND TOOK 3RD PLACE, BUT DID BATTLE THE BIGGEST FISH OF THE EVENT, ONE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN WELL OVER 60 INCHES LONG!!!!  TIMOTHY BAYSINGER WITH THE WINNING LAKE STURGEON  COOLER NIGHTS BRINGING ON FEEDING FISH JESSE JAMES WITH A 12.5" BLACK CRAPPIE CAUGHT USING JB'S FISH SAUCE ON LAKE ALTOONA IN LATE SUMMER  JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER WITH A WELL-FED 3LB SMALLMOUTH BASS CAUGHT ON A VIBRATING JIG SMOTHERED IN JB'S FISH SAUCE IN EARLY FALL  EICHINGER SEARCHING OLD PILINGS AND COVERING WATER TRYING TO SEARCH FOR FISH LOCATION IN COOLING TEMPERATURES  EICHINGER FINDS ANOTHER BASS WITH A FULL BELLY IN BRUTAL FISHING CONDITIONS OF COLD RAIN AND HEAVY WINDS, THIS ONE ON A SPINNERBAIT  "PAPA STEEB" FINDS SOME DINNER AFTER AN EXPLOSIVE BITE ON A MOULDY'S HAWG WOBBLER ON A VENTURE FOR MUSKELLUNGE ON THE FLAMBEAU RIVER  EICHINGER ALSO FINDS HIMSELF A "SNOT ROCKET" WHILE OUT LOOKING FOR SMALLMOUTH BASS AGAIN IN CHIPPEWA COUNTY. "SHOUT OUT" TO THE PIKE LOVER KEVIN ROGALSKI ON OUR PRO STAFF AS JEALOUSY WILL SET IN SOON.  PRO STAFFER'S ARCHERY SUCCESS MAT EICHINGER SUCCESSFULLY HARVESTED THIS BUCK WITH ITS UNIQUE BROW TINES AND BEAM SHAPE AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF PURSUIT. CONGRATS!!!! ENJOY THE FALL BITE AND THE ARCHERY DEER SEASON!!!! PLEASE SEND US YOUR JAMES GANG FISH PICTURES AND THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US!!!  ALEX JAMES FEEDS SOME WILD DUCKS WHILE FISHING THE 2019 RIVERBANK RALLY MID-SUMMER = RIVERBANK FISHING When anglers think of mid-summer, they think about fishing deep clear water structure, shallow lily pad froggin' fields, on shore fishing the riverbanks. The James Gang has chosen to spend some time on the banks, and in our limited time of fishing, we found some success with bass, musky, and some accidental baby sturgeons. Our anglers in our 2019 WI Riverbank Rally Tournament are catching a few here and there but have struggled to get time in with the constant storms and high-waters in the rivers. Daniel Easland registered a very nice 24" sucker, and is trailing category leader John Beaudette by only 1.5". Ryan Vreeland is also trailing Beaudette in 2nd place, but in the catfish category with a 29" catfish on the board. James Gang CEO Alex James and I hit up the Chippewa & EC River today but were disappointed when we arrived to a very fast current from the EC River. We didn't manage any fish but were able to feed quite a few ducks to pass the time on a gorgeous evening on the water. The cooler , low-humidity weather was a nice break from the 122 heat index we experienced a few days earlier. Even when the fish aren't hooked up, it is always a relaxing time fishing from a river bank.  RYAN VREELAND'S 29" CATFISH IN THE WI RIVERBANK RALLY   ANY TIME SPENT OUTDOORS DESERVES A "THUMBS UP!" RIVERBANK GAME FISH BITE IS ON! JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER DOC GILLES WITH A RIVERBANK 45" MUSKY  JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER MAT EICHINGER WITH A TOPWATER LARGEMOUTH BASS CAUGHT WHILE WORKING A LOCAL RIVERBANK YOUNG KALEB & FAMILY DOMINATING BASS IN MISSISSIPPI KALEB G. OF MISSISSIPPI STILL CATCHING GIANT BASS, AS USUAL  KALEB'S FATHER, MICHAEL, JOINS IN ON THE FUN ON A HOT MISSISSIPPI BITE TORI R. WITH HER BIGGEST BASS TO DATE! 20" LARGEMOUTH AT A THICK 4 LBS 4 OZ! WAY TO GO TORI!! MEANWHILE DAD KEEPS HOOKING THE PIKE....... THE DEER ARE MOVING......Wilderness Walk - Hayward, WI   BEST OF LUCK TO JAMES GANG PRO STAFFERS MAT EICHINGER & JAZ DUNCAN AS THEY COMPETE IN THEIR FIRST BASSMASTERS OPEN NEXT WEEK!  JAMES GANG PRO STAFFER DOC GILLES CAUGHT HIS BIGGEST SMALLMOUTH BASS THIS JULY AT 20.5" AND 5 LBS ON A RIVERBANK  GILLES BROUGHT THIS FISH OF A LIFETIME TO HIS FAVORITE TAXIDERMIST. THE LURE USED WAS A BRIAN SNOWDEN DESIGN BOSS HAWG CRANK BAIT FROM PROFOUND OUTDOORS FREQUENT WEATHER FRONTS=AGGRESSIVE FEEDING JAMES GANG CEO ALEX WITH A 12" BLACK CRAPPIE, HIS BIGGEST TO DATE  With the frequent storms fronts and off and on rain in 2019, the anglers of Wisconsin couldn't be given much more opportunities than what they have been given this year. With the beginning of each front, a feeding frenzy seems to be occurring it seems on a weekly basis. Also with the rise in local river levels from rain, the fishing seems to be easier with the increased currents. Our buddies at Small Craft Outfitters, Tyler Theide and Chang Lor, have been catching fish steadily all season. Tyler even brought KBF tv personality CHAD HOOVER to the region as they explored our local rivers for smallmouth bass. Chang has had a great year, catching fish on a variety of lures, including his favorite topwaters, on our James Gang Bootykicker, and on our Lovertail inline spinners. James Gang CEO Alex made a trip out for panfish near Chetek, WI last week in between storms, and found the fishing so hot that he was hooked up within seconds on most of his casts. He found a pattern on lily pad points where the panfish were stacked up and feeding so aggressively that their fins were actually sticking up out of the water. We saw a huge musky jump, bass jumping all over, crappie boiling on baitfish, and constant bluegill surfacing as he caught a quick meal for us and his great-grandmother in a very short time. The bluegills were in the 6-8" range, and he managed to land a 12" crappie in the mix as well, his biggest one he ever caught in his 10 years of age.   MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING BPT COMES TO NEENAH, WI MIKE IACONELLI POINTS AS HE PULLS INTO THE POST-GAME RECAP  MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING, STAGE 8, came to Neenah, WI in late June. Our buddy, Mike Iaconelli, had a fantastic event, as he beat out the entire field in the first 4 days of competition and moved up to 12th in AOY points, qualifying him for the 2019 Redcrest Championship. Alex and I had a great time hanging out with the pros of MLF, and spent a considerable amount of time with the Iaconelli family, which Alex greatly appreciated. Gerald Spohrer, Marty Stone, JP DeRose, Kevin VanDam, Brent Chapman, & Josh Bertrand all gave us a moment of their time as well. "G-Man" Gerald Swindle filmed a new intro for the Alex Fishing Show for the 2019 season and was his goofy self like usual. Thanks again to all that gave us their time at this event!  THE IKE FOUNDATION-SPONSORED ALEX SPENDS TIME WITH MIKE, BECKY, STELLY, & VEGAS IACONELLI AT THE MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING BPT DAY #1 RE-CAP  ALEX ALWAYS HAS FUN WHEN HANGING WITH HIS GOOFY BUDDY MIKE  ALEX & GERALD SPOHRER. THANK YOU FOR THE FREE T-SHIRT BUDDY!  ALEX & BRENT CHAPMAN  ALEX & KEVIN VANDAM  JOSH BERTRAND & ALEX  WORLD FISHING NETWORK TV PERSONALITY JP DEROSE & ALEX WEDLUND & THE BAYSINGERS KEEP CATCHING FISH! |
AuthorJesse James is an avid fisherman that loves smallmouth bass fishing, loves spending time with his family, with other family-orientated people, and loves seeing children fish. A huge fan of BASSMASTER Elite Mike Iaconelli, like Mike, he is known to be a little strange, and obnoxious, but only to have fun and make people laugh. 
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