Quinte Bass Champs

Yesterday was the first annual Quinte Bass Champs hourly weigh in tournament.  My partner, Jared Blair, and I drove up Friday night, scoped out the launch, got our gear ready and then crashed for an early morning.  After getting up at 4am, loading up the boat then making a stop at a busy Tim Hortons, we were at the launch by 5am.  There were tons of boats already there so we launched and just floated around until the 6:45am blast off.

We're somewhere in this group.  The top 40 boats are ready to blast off at 6:45 AM.

For us, the fishing was slow to start the morning.  A pike and a few small perch were all we could muster in the first hour.  Then, the bite for us was on.  We spent the majority of the morning burning spinnerbaits over weedbeds, and that did the trick.  I was throwing a white/chartreuse spinnerbait from Vinnerbaits, and I was able to nail a few Largemouth within a matter of minutes.  Unfortunately, nothing with any size.  And that was most of our day.  Lots of Pike, and lots of average sized Largemouth - 2 to 3 pounds.  Near the end of the day I was able to boat a few more 2-3 pound fish on a Krazee Kraw Beev from Vinnerbaits, but unfortunately, we walked away from this tourny out of the money.

Overall it was a great tournament and a great experience.  The biggest fish of the day was over 5 pounds and most of the winning fish were in the 3-4+ pound range.  Having never fished Quinte before we did OK but it wasn't good enough.  We'll get 'em next time!  Congrats to everyone that got a cheque, there were some big fish weighed in.

Thanks for reading

Sam

Detroit River Fishing

A couple Sundays ago I was able to get out on the Detroit River with my tournament partner Jared Blair.  After waking up at 3AM, gassing up and making a quick Timmies stop, it was then just a quick drive to Leamington.  We got down to Amherstberg and were on the water by 6:30.  We had an excellent day on the Michigan side of the water by boating over a dozen Largemouth in a short 4 hour period.

We started throwing jigs and spinnerbaits but weren't having any luck.  Jared switched to a wacky rigged Quiver Stick from Bass Magnet Lures and the bite was on!  We caught fish after fish on them and had a great time.  My Denali Rosewood Shakey Head rod held up great on some hard fighting fish.  The Rock Bass bite was even on in force! Haha.

My first fish of the morning. A solid fish that put up a great fight.

Jared Blair with the first fish of the morning! This guy hammered a Quiver Stick from Bass Magnet Lures.

My biggest of the day, easily brought to the boat with my Denali Rods Rosewood Shakey Head rod.

It was a great day on the water and a good warmup for tournament season.  We'll be fishing the inaugural Quinte Bass Champs tournament on June 23rd, opening day.  It should be a great tournament with over 120 boats registered.  Can't wait for this one!

Thanks for reading.

Sam 

Package in today - Vinnerbaits!

Hey everyone,

I got a package in the mail from one of my sponsors, Vinnerbaits.  They are a now private bait company out of New Jersey.  Vinnerbaits was an up and coming company that's key feature was the Vinsert technology.  Each bait in the VT series has a tough insert molded right into the bait, causing the bait to travel up the line and not pull off when a fish shakes their head.  The VTx series has a Vinsert running right through the entire bait.

This order consisted of some of my favourites in both the VT and VTx series.  Wakki Stikks, Shakee Stikks, Twitchin Shads, Vinnerminners and of course, Jigs. Now enough talking, here's some eye candy!

Up first we have the Vinnerminners.  Vinnerbaits swimbaits are top of the line and durable, like all of their baits.  The colours on them are outstanding.  These are all the 4" version and great for both Smallies and Largemouth.

Vinnerminners, from top to bottom: Golden Shiner, Zombie Shiner, Greenback Shad & Molten Steel

Another one of my favourite techniques is throwing a wacky rigged senko.  Vinnerbaits Wakki Stikk is the ultimate stickbait for wacky rigging.  With a Vinsert molded throughout the entire bait, it is all but guaranteed to NEVER rip off from your hook.  Check out the link below and decide for yourself :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Wi5VhXR0Y

Wanna catch a pig? Try wacky rigging the Wakki Stikks and Shakee Stikks: Top, Shakee Stikk in Shockwave, Bottom left, 3" Green Pumpkin Wakki Stikk, Bottom right, 4" Pumpkinseed Wakki Stikk

Lastly, one of my favourite baits to throw are jigs.  They have been one of my go to baits and I just love flippin a jig.  Keeping with the rest of their baits, Vinnerbaits finesse jigs, flippin jigs and piledriver jigs are outstanding.  All hand-tied and painted with a shiny enamel, you can toss these all day, bounce them off docks and structure, and the paint will still look brand new.  Take a look for yourself.

From left to right: Finesse jig 1/4 ounce in Green Pumpkin, Flippin Jig 1/2 ounce in Orange Craw, Piledriver Jig 5/8 in Blue/Black.

All the jigs from Vinnerbaits are hand tied and made to order.  The Flippin Jig comes with a built-in rattle.

So there you have it, some of my favourite products from Vinnerbaits.  As I mentioned in the beginning of my post, Vinnerbaits is a private company.  The guys decided to shut it down to the public to spend more time with their growing families, being a new parent I can't say I blame them.  They were working around the clock to churn out some outstanding baits.  While they are no longer available to the public, they are still available to staff members and select customers.  With that being said, if you see something you like send me a message and I can help you get your hands on some.

Thanks for reading!

Sam

PS Some more pics!

Love me some spinnerbaits! White/Chartreuse, my favourite!

Twitchin Shad, great for jerkin, I like to drop shot them

Vinnerbaits Hawg Frawgs.  At the front is the Bad Ass Bullfrog colour, at the back is Black/Chartreuse

First post!

Well, I started a blog...
I figured that just maybe there are a few people out there that love bass fishing in Southwestern Ontario and decided that I'd start a blog to keep them up to date on tournaments, news, stories out of the industry and just a few tips that hopefully help you boat more fish.

I've been fishing just about my whole life, or at least as far back as I can remember, and always had a passion for it.  This passion has taken me across Ontario, and this year I decided to get involved in fishing tournaments with my long time friend Jared Blair. We will be fishing the Tri-Bay Bass Association, which is a great series that fishes Mitchell's Bay, Rondeau Bay, Long Point Bay, and also Lake St. Clair. We'll also be fishing the Quinte Bass Champs, one we're really really excited about.

Anyways, hopefully you guys (and gals) enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing for it, stay tuned as I hope to be posting every day!

Sam