Canadian Invasion @ the FLW Everstart in Clayton NY

This weekend was the FLW Everstart event in Clayton NY and there must have been a northern breeze blowing as the top three spots all went to Canadian anglers.

(photo: FLW Bio Page)

The Event was won by Bob Izumi a staple on the Canadian fishing scene (and TV's) since I was a kid. Bob weighed in 21lbs on day three to bring his total up to 58.1lbs over the three days. For his troubles Izumi took home over $25,000 in cash prizes as well as a new Ranger boat

2nd Place went to John Mcgoey from Omeemee Ontario. John nearly matched Bob fish for fish and in the end finished 1lb off the pace.

In 3rd place fresh off his win in the Kingstson Canadian open is Cory Johnson. Cory shares my home town so I may be a little bias here, be he appears to be on a hot streak finishing up the event with 56.08lbs.

I have to mention the other member of the Johnson family, Chris Johnson finished in 7th place making it a total of 4 Canadians in the top 10. I hope this trend continues as it very exciting to see some local talent doing good on the big stage.

(photo: FLW page)

fore more info..

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/afs/tournament/2011/6569/1000-islands-headline-story/152715/izumi-tops-at-1000-islands/-----Bob

Congrats to all!

July Recipe - Asian BBQ Trout with Salami Wrapped Asparagus

For recipe #3, I thought it was time to move away from planked or wrapped fish and go with an "on grill" recipe. This is an asian inspired BBQ sauce with salami wrapped asparagus.  This is a quick grill on a weeknight, and takes minimal prep. (Im playing with a new photo app on my iphone so bare with me while i work through some "artsy" photos)

Salami Wrapped Asparagus

Asparagus is one veggie that stands up well on the grill, many people (myself included) will steam asparagus in a tinfoil  tent, but if you really want to pick up the flavor it is best cooked directly on the grill. You can use many different deli meats as the wrap, I prefer to use Salami or Prosciutto, they both have deep flavor and the texture allows them to stand up to heat and movement on the grill.

-  12 x Asparagus pieces
-  6 x Salami slices
-  6 x toothpicks
-  Sesame Oil
-  Butter
-  Salt & Pepper

Take you 12 asparagus pieces and trim off the woody ends (find the natural breaking point). Pair them up so you have 6 pairs of asparagus. Take a slice of salami and wrap it around the asparagus. Then use a soaked toothpick to spear the two pieces an salami together..set aside and repeat with the other bundles

Heat grill to 350 and place bundles on in-direct heat. Heat to desired crunchiness, and looked for char marks on the salami and asparagus. While grilling I like to baste the asparagus bundles with a mix of butter and sesame oil, this gives them a nice sweet nutty flavor

BBQ Trout

when placing any fish directly on the grill, be sure to grease the grill liberally. I like to use skin on fillets when direct grilling as it gives a barrier between the fish and the heat and helps to keep the natural moisture in.

 - 1 x Trout Filet (boned)
 - sesame oil (and or olive oil)
 - salt and pepper
 - 1 garlic clove (crushed)
 - toasted sesame seeds
 - tomato puree
 - hoisin sauce

This recipe is sort of an Asian inspired BBQ sauce. Trout and Salmon both respond well to the sweet and savory flavors in this and other BBQ sauces. I give the skin side of the trout a rub down with sesame oil and then place on a grill preheated to 400, once the fish is on the grill I turn the BBQ down low, the initial heat will give you a great sear on the skin and help Bake the fish while on the BBQ.

I mix the tomato puree with hoisin sauce to taste. You are looking to keep the natural tomato flavor but pick up on the sweetness of the hoisin. Add the Crushed garlic and give the sauce a heat through to help cook the garlic and blend the flavors. Toasted sesame seeds are added at the end.  This can be done in advance and placed on the Trout while cool or warm.

Depending on the size of your fillet the trout can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. the skin should be sizzling under the meat and it should flake easily without drying out.

This combo pairs well with rice, I like a wild rice mix, over traditional white... enjoy

Berkley NanoFil - Where's the Beef?

The two most hyped products this season have to be the Suffix 832 Braid and Berkleys NanoFil "not braid" or "unified filament"  Being a bit of a new product junky I have given both of this products a run for their money and both left me thinking.. where's the beef?

I dont have time or space in a single blog post to tell you how I feel about both of these lines, so lets start off with the most hyped line I can ever remember.. Berkley NanoFil

I started researching NanoFil line about a month ago, reading blogs, products reviews and talking to guys on the water. The consensus was that this was the softest smoothest casting line on the market.. so with reviews like that I had to take the plunge. I placed an order for 12lb (the highest strength available) and as soon as it arrived I spooled it up on my Shimano Stradic 1000 and hit the lake to give it a test run.

Pros: 

As advertised NanoFil is a smooth casting and feeling line, it comes off the reel extremely well and has a decent sink rate. Spooling NanoFil was a breeze, and even when slightly overfilled, did not come off in a tangled mess

The "white" color, or "clear mist" as Berkley named it, is very high vis from above the water, and does not seem to effect the bite below the water. The line is highly sensitive, probably the best and most accurate feature contained in the advertising campaign. I could feel every little thing that my line and bait came into contact with while in the water.

the line does seem to have some strength behind it, i hooked and faught a large musky on the 12lb line and it help up fairly well, until the fish decided to put some serious pressure and teeth to it.


Cons:

I found a few cons to this line, first and foremost the price, in Canada this line can be found as high as $24.99 for a standard spool. In the US the current average price is $19.99. Although these prices are not outrageous (for todays standards), they continue to set the bar higher and higher for new lines that come on the market, and we should expect line to reach close to $30 a spool in the coming years.

The 12lb line being the highest strength available is a concern to me, with many anglers being raised on braided line, we have grown accustom to thin diameter lines with superior strength. Yes Nanofil line is thin, but I can purchase 20lb Power Pro line at a similar diameter to the Nanofil line, and get that added strength Im looking for.

Knot strength is not so much an issue, but tying a knot is. When I first attempted to tie a hook on, the knot slipped on my first three attempts. This hut my confidence while on the water and trying to retie quickly.


The Wrap-Up

Yes, NanoFil is a new technology and maybe we will see some improvements down the road, but at this time the NanoFil line is just a slight improvement to Berkley Fire line Crystal, a line i hated and ripped off my reel soon after applying it.

Nothing about NanoFil is an drastic  improvement to my current brand 'PowerPro", other then the price. Sure it casts well, but I saw minimal difference between the two lines when throwing the same bait on the same rod and reel. Sure it has low memory, but when you get up into the 12lb range it begins to take on the characteristics of Fireline Crystal, it has that same feel (a bit more waxy then Fireline) it begins to loose the limpness and pick-up a more of that ridged feel that Fireline is known for

As with anything I would recommend giving it a shot and see how it compares to your current brand. For me it really left me wanting more and wondering with all this hype.. where's the beef?

Kingston Canadian Open - The Final Results are in!

Saturday afternoon marked the conclusion of the secon annual Kingston Canadian Open. As mentioned on Thursday he three day event was shortened to two days when a weather warning cancelled day 1 of the event.

 On Days 2 & 3 the anglers did not disappoint bringing in some beauty 20+ lb bags on both days.
After Day 1 the leader was Mike Blair with a bag just over 23lbs, Bob Izumi was tied for second with Chris Johnson just 1lb behind the leader. Other notables on day 1 included Dereck Strub (10th) the winner of last years event and WFN host JP Derose (11th), both brinining over 20lbs to the scale

Day 2 started off with nice calm waters, but the heat and wind picked up as the day progessed. By 2pm some anglers were already dropping off bags of fish and calling it a day, 1 full hour befor the tournaments official end time. While speaking to anglers, many made long runs on day 2, some as much as 80 miles, making the trip from Kingston down to Trenton and beyond. In search of jumbo smallies many anglers were forced to switched over to largemouths when the smallies appeared to get lockjaw. Not all smallies were so temermental and bag after bag of monster smallmouth bass where on display at the podium.

When all was said and done and the last bag was weighed, the Event was won by Cory Johnson (Pro) with 44lb', beating out the 2nd place winner Mike Blair by just over 1lb.

On the amateur side Darren Izumi son of Canadian TV legend Bob Izumi, took home top prize a lund boat packaged worth $20,000. The young Izumi was one of three members of the Izumi family fishing in the tournement, father Bob and Uncle Wayne both fished on the Pro side and were a crowd favourite. Darren held his own on stage taking time to make fun of his father, toss out goodies to the crowd and enjoy some candy floss

(Darren Izumi and JP Derose on the hot seat)

As a first time audience member, I though this was an extremely well run event. The city of Kingston is a beautiful backdrop for the tournement and the sponsor came to educate and made sure there was a ton of prizes to be given away (many of the pro's were handed loot bags and hats that were tossed into the crowd while on stage). No child left empty handed and a few even shared the spotlight getting some time on stage to tell a fishing related story.

The crowd for the event was pretty decent, with a good mix of local anglers top notch professionals and TV personalities there was somthing for every fan. The kid in me still gets excited to see the likes of Bob Izumi, and the adult in me could not wait to see the bag brough in by Mike Desforges. Even in the heat of the day the crowd stuck it out to see a winner crowned.

To see 50 or more pics from the Day 2 weighin please click the below link

http://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/index.php?topic=47417.0

here are the final results for the top 30 Pro's, First place for the Pro's was $40,000 and the Amature takes home a $20,000 boat package from Lund

Cory Johnson 44.4
Mike Blair 43.3
JP DeRose 43.0
Franklin Janson 42.7
Peter Savioa 42.6
Chris Johnson 42.25
Bob Izumi 41.80
Paul Climpson 40.25
Doug Brownridge 40.1
Curtis Richards 38.3
Josh Myers 38.85
Ralph Papiest 38.45
Bruce Tufts 37.60
Derek Strub 37.3
Oliver Grigull 37.25
Bill Sheppard 37.05
John Whyte 36.40
Ryann Susanna 36.3
Rob LaFrambois 36.2
John McDonald 35.8
Jim Estebrook 35.5
Greg Hammond 35.4
Rob Webster 35.25
John McGoey 35.15
Jamie Janzen 35.1
Mike Riccardi 35.06
Mike Desforges 34.07
Johnny Liscio 34.55
Mike Nabulsi 34.40
Jay McCormack 33.05

Dobyns goes Camo

If you follow the Icast event and all the cool products that are introduced, then it should be no surprise that Dobyns Rods introduced a new rod that caught everyones attention..

The New ABA (Army Bass Anglers) camo rod was introduced, and quickly became a crowd favorite. The rod was originally designed for the ABA sponsorship with Dobyns but has proven so popular that it looks like it will slip into the Dobyns everyday line-up. With more information to follow, you can expect at-least 6 if not 8 rod options in the Camo series.

No dates are available at this time, but watch for more information, if my dream comes true and these rods are available to the gen public you know I will be adding one to my arsenal (may look good with that new white Chronarch).

Check out this review of the rods on TackleTour

http://tackletour.com/reviewicast2011dobyns.html


Oh yeah, and in case you missed it, Dobyns also introduced the new Savvy series rods with Micro-guides. Im not sold on the importance of micro-guides as of yet, but I will be giving one a thorough test drive for sure

Kingston Canadian Open - Day 1 Cancelled!

As a bass fisherman and a fan of the sport I was disappointed to hear that day one of the Kingston Canadian open was cancelled today due to dangerous weather.

Day 2&3 are still on schedule for Friday and Saturday morning

For those not familiar with the event the Canadian open is brings in 100 top Canadian and US Pro's and pairs them with 100 very qualified Amateurs. Up for grabs is $50,000 for 1st place as a Pro and $20,000 for the top Amateur. This event draws in some pretty big industry names including some TV personalities (Bob Izumi and JP Derose)

This event brings great awareness to the sport of bass fishing and shows Canadian anglers that there is real money to be had as a professional.

I hope to see some of you down at the weigh-ins, but if not, don't fear.. photos will follow

Fear & Loathing on the Tournament Trail: Weslemkoon Lake

So when you enter a series of tournaments you would think that the lake you are the most familiar with would be your strongest performance, right? not the case with Weslemkoon

(Our ride for the day)

My partner has had a place on Weslemkoon for 20 years and fishes it every chance he gets, I personally make a few trips to the "koon" and have good success, usually walking away with at-least 1 fish over 4lbs and more often the not, it is over 5lbs. But alas it was not our day..

The day started off poorly as my partner woke up with flu like symptoms, he had chest congestion, aches pains and a wicked head ache, he actually spent part of the day laying on the deck of the boat working the trolling motor by hand.. but he would not call it day

(Loading up the boat)

we drew number 23 out of 30 boats and knew we had to make a fast run if we were going to beat the guys to our spot. When we arrived at spot #1 one I broke out the flipping stick and started to work the area as my partner through top water. after about 40 minutes neither of us had any hits, and it was time to move on.

Spot #2 was a back bay with sporadic cover and stumps, we worked a wacky worm along the cover and open spots. This area produced three fish, only one worth mentioning (2.9lbs). the fish were obviously on the move and we had a hell of a time finding them.

Spot #3 was similar to spot number #2 but the focus was more on stumps. we pitched in and around the stumps adding a fish or two to the live well.. again not much worth mentioning.

As the sun got high and the temps rose up to the high 90's for you americans in the bunch and 40 for the Canadians, we turned our attention to some boats houses that had proven success in the past. After hitting the first group, a family on the sore yelled out to ask how the fishing was, when we said "could be better" they responded by stating we were the third boat to hit those boat houses in the last 30 minutes. needless to say we pulled up the trolling motor and moved on.

late in the day we worked some shadowed shorelines as well as a few brush piles that usually hold fish.. but today was not our day. One hidden brush pile I love to fish on the "koon" was our last stop of the day.. as I pulled up I noticed we were beaten to the punch by a father and his young son that were floating bobbers over my beloved tree.. oh well, those are the breaks.

We hit weigh-in a few minutes early and noticed we were not the only one there. We weighed in a whopping 9.45lbs good for 11 placed (damn, just missed that top 10 finish)  and now sit 14th in the overall standings.

(the days catch)

The winning team came in with a series record 23+ lbs, they had the three biggest fish caught that day, the largest being 6.10lbs. they could have thrown that fish back and still placed first.. what a bag.. congrats to them for a job well done..

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX706SF w/ Shimano Stradic - Wacky Worm rig
Dobyns DX795     w/ Shimano Curado - Zoom BrushHawg
Dobyns 735C        w/ Diawa Viento     - Live Target Frog (now retired)
Dobyns SS693SF  w/ Shimano Stradic - Tube/erie darter