I'm as excited as a kid at Christmas!

I just ordered my 2011 Kistler Z Bone rod. I decided that with all the flipping and pitching I do that another Z Bone flipping stick was needed. My 2010 model has performed way above my expectations so I cannot wait to get my hands on the 2011 model. I went with a 7'6" extra heavy blank, micro guides, split grip, balance kit, and a new for 2011 handle. My 2010 rod weighs less than 4 ounces, the 2011 model should be about the same.

If you have never fished with a Kistler, you owe it to yourself to try one. There is no doubt in my mind they have absolutely changed my fishing.

The Fraternal Order of Police Tri City Lodge #50 will be hosting 2 bass tournaments this year, both on the Allegheny River, both launching out of Oil City PA.

Sunday September 19th 2010

and

Sunday October 17th 2010

These are two man team events. Cost is $100 per team for each event. Applications  and rules are available by e-mailing me at ekaheil@comcast.net

A portion of the proceeds from the Sept. 19th event will benefit the Trooper Paul Richey Memorial Fund. Paul was a State Trooper that was killed in the line of duty in January 2010. He was stationed at the Franklin PA barracks. Paul was a friend to all of us here in Venango County, please help us support his family and the fund.


For the guys who have fished the Oil Region Alliance (formerly called River Romp) tournament every September, they are not hosting one this year. We decided to fill the gap and have two events.

The events are sponsored by the PA Bass Federation District 6, Wiegel Brothers Marine, and Joshuason Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Hot, hot, hot, that's about all I have to say about Wilhelm, and I don't mean the bass fishing. Yesterday I spent 8 hours fishing my usual summertime haunts and I can honestly tell you it was a grind. The largemouth bass are definately in a summertime "funk". Air temps were in the upper 80's and water temps aren't too far from that. I participated in a Bassmasters of Crawford County club tournament, and before you hear what my 5 fish weight was, I swear, it was a grind.
I had a total of 9 bites in 8 hours of fishing. I put 7 of those bites in the boat, the 5 I would take to weigh in just happened to be big. Generally, I can be found fishing off shore structure this time of year at Wilhelm. I must have hit 5 of my best off shore places and never had a bite. I know they had been biting, in the previous weeks I heard many stories of big fish caught deeper with summertime structure techniques, this recent hot weather must have something going on. At 10 AM with only 2 fish in the livewell (one being a solid 4 pounder) I decided to switch things up and hit a few places that I consider mid depth, maybe even shallow. Unbelievably, I pitched a jig under a shady tree with 1 foot of water under it, and the line beagn ripping as soon as it hit the water. I set the hook and was dumbfounded with the 4+ pound fish on the other end! I did boat that fish which ended up being my lunker of 4.84 lbs. I ran a few other places and by 1 PM had the 5  fish which would make it to weigh in. At 2 PM I headed in and weighed my 5 which resulted in 19.36 lbs, my heaviest 5 fish tournament limit at Wilhelm.
Quite frankly, I got lucky. I stumbled on to a few really good fish and they bit. Like they say, I'd rather be lucky than good.
In speaking to other club members it was evident that fishing was difficult. Bites were few and far between and places that had produced numerous bites are now seemingly void of fish.
Summertime fishing is here. Check back soon about Wilhelm. I'll be there a few more times this week. I'm fishing an open "buddy" tournament there next weekend so me and my partner are going to try and dial in on a few things.

I spent the past week at Chautauqua Lake Ny fishing the PA Bass Federation Mr. Bass West tournament. I know, I know, it's not PA but it's close to PA and if you have never experienced Chautauqua you owe it to yourself to give it a try. From smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, musky, perch, this lake has it all.

In a nutshell, practice was tough. I was only getting 4-6 bites a day and keeping my head in the game was tough with temps near 90. I did find a few small areas of weeds so I decided to go with it.

Day one I started in my first weedy area. Within 1.5 hours I had a limit including a 3.5 lb largie. My Co-Angler had 3 and was off to a good start as was I. At about 8 AM we moved to my second area, another weedy spot. We commenced to putting on a clinic and both boated another 15-20 largemouth. I upgraded several times including a 4.3 lb largemouth. Once that bite faded we headed to some docks and upgraded further. I ended day one with 15.22 lbs, good enough for 3rd place. My Co-Angler had a little over 11 lbs and was in 2nd on his side. The bad thing about day one was the afternoon storms that blew in. Anyone that knows me knows I don't like lightning on the water. We had to head in at a little before weigh in so we could stay safe.

Day 2 dawned clear but with pretty stout Northwest winds. My day 2 Co-Angler was in first place on his side so the pressure was on me. I returned to the same starting weeds and we both had zero bites. I ran to my second weed spot and scratched out 2 small keepers. We decided to hit some docks and my Co landed 2. My bonus fish was a 4.3 lb largemouth from under a boat lift, talk about a battle on a spinning rod and 20 lb braid! At noon I had 3 fish and returned to my weed spot. I was rewarded with a 4.4 lb largemouth, and get this, it came from the exact same patch of milfoil weeds as my 4.3 on day one!
With weigh in at 2 PM, it was now 1 PM and we hit a few more docks. My Co landed his third fish, a nice 2.7 lb largemouth. With only 15 minutes to weigh in, I ran to a weed patch near the launch and one I didn't have any bites in practice in, but it had all the right stuff. The lord answered my prayers and at 1:50 PM I landed a 2.5 lb largemouth to round out my limit. I ran to weigh in and ended up having 14.33 lbs. My total for both days was 29.55 lbs and moved me up to second place and a check for just over $600. I also received a berth to the PA Bass Federation Championship but that was secondary since I already got one through the Western Regional.

Remember my day one Co-Angler? He ended up winning the Co-Angler side. My day 2 Co-Angler ended up 4th, they both were rewarded with berths to the PA Bass Federation Championship. That made me feel really good and was happy to have these guys be successful out of the back of my boat.

I have a few more events at Chautauqua this year and can't wait to go back. It's a beautiful place and loaded with big fish.

After my grind of a weekend on Erie Bay, I needed to unwind. What a better way than to hit the Allegheny River. I launched at about 4:30 PM and made my way up river to a deeper area I like to fish. I managed to boat 5 smallies on a 4 inch worm before the wind started blowing up river and skies grew dark. I headed back down river toward the launch in the event lightning started, me and bolts of electric flying through the sky just don't mix.  The storm did pass and I really got on a soft jerkbait bite. I found many fish in the shallows and they readily ate my bait. No big fish tonight with the largest being about 2.25 lbs, but I landed about 30 total. I was off the water and home by 8 PM, not a bad way to unwind!

I'm excited to be the newest member of the Penn Fishing Team. Let's get right into a fishing report! I spent the last 3 days practicing and participating in the PA Bass Federation Western Team Regional fishing for the Bassmasters of Crawford County team. The event was held on the always beautiful Erie Bay. I must say, fishing was tough with a capital T. Smallmouth bass inhabit the bay from April though early July when they move in to spawn. The spawn is now over and the smallmouths are transitioning back to main Lake Erie. 2 weeks ago it was smallmouth city,  anglers are still getting some bronzebacks, but bites were few and far between forcing many to target largemouth to fill limits. With the tournament limit being 4 fish of 15" minimum, I felt lucky to have 3 on day one of the tournament. Of the 3 I weighed in, 2 were bronzebacks and 1 was a largemouth. Unfortunately, I did have my limit fish hooked twice but due to the acrobatic nature of these smallmouths, I lost both on jumps. I mainly fished a drop shot rig with various small plastics, worms, craws, goby style baits. I did manage one keeper largemouth on a spinnerbait in the shallows. I did quite a bit of weed fishing targeting deep weeds with craw style baits and a flippin stick. That produced several non keeper largemouth and several bites that when I set the hook I was rewarded with nothing back but my hook and weight. I still can't figure those out! The northern pike were also biting and I hooked at least 4 in the heavy weeds, talk about a fight! After day 1 I sat in 9th place and 9th was the last positon which a PA Bass Federation Championship berth would be awarded.
Day 2 started the same as the first, fishing deeper for smallmouths. They just didn't cooperate for me but I did manage to boat a keeper largemouth on the drop shot. I again went to my deep weeds and could only manage non legal largemouth. With the wind picking up, I went back to deep smallmouth areas and was rewarded with a 2.91 lb largemouth. Sadly, that was it for me and I weighed in 2 keeper largemouth on day 2. I managed to stay in 9th place overall and did earn a berth to the Championship. My team ended up in 2nd place earning us $780. Not a bad finish on what was a tough fishery for many.

In the coming weeks I hope to post reports on the Allegheny River, Chautauqua Lake, and Lake Wilhelm. Check back often for my outings and feel free to e-mail me with any questions or advice.