The Show

Now I know what your thinking. I'm finally going talk about TFB The Show. Well I'm not. That will be coming soon enough but not yet. I'm talking about the first show of the year, The Spring Fishing and Boat Show. I love this show! I get to pay back to my sponsors by selling product for them and helping out two good friends of mine Brian and Steve from JB's Fishing Depot. This is also where all of us on the tour get to meet and catch up, the winters for us can be very long lol. Some of the guy's we don't see from September to June. So you the show makes for a good catch up. You also get to meet all your internet friends, you know the people that you become friends with on facebook or twitter and have long talks with but never have actually met. And then there's all that new product to look at and that one new item that everyone has to have. This year it was that stupid Alabama rig. I saw everyone from 10 to 70 years old buying that thing, and no one thought about whats going to happen when a pike or a musky gets a hold of it. lol. It's going to look like an opened up wire coat hanger. The product that caught my eye and shocked me is the St. Croix line of RAGE rods. I can't believe the quality of the rods at that price point! I don't know how they were able to produce a rod like that so inexpensively. I'm going to pick a few up myself.

 To a large degree the show is where and how I measure my success. I keep count of all the people that recognise me, all the vendors that talk to me, and the requests that I receive. I'm very happy with this years results even though my knee's and feet are not, lol. I would have to say the highlight of the show for me is when I was asked to be on stage with a panel of experts talking and answering question from an audience with Big Jim as the host. That was a first for me and an honour.

 As always Andy, Vita and the whole gang did a great job! From the outside of the storm everything looked smooth and perfect. Congrats guy's and thanks for a great job.

 Well I have to start getting ready for my next stop. I'm heading down to Georgia for an FLW Everstart on Lake Seminole.

Tight lines everyone! 
 

FLW Tour Okeechobee Open

Wow what a tournament! Even though I was a non-boater I had a blast.I met so many new friends and many facebook friends for the first time. Got to see my two hero's Roland Martin and Bob Izumi in action. I had fantastic boaters both days Arnie Lane day 1 and Roger Crafton for day 2, Great anglers and all around great guy's. The excitement in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The time out on the water went by so fast but at night I was so beat. I left everything out on the water did not rest a second because that next cast could be the bass that could change the tournament, your career, your life. I'm happy with what I caught but not satisfied if that makes sense, I'll be back next year maybe as a boater. So with my beautiful wife and children in hand I started my long journey home feeling sad that it was over but blessed for having had the opportunity to do what I do for a living. I would like to thank Xzone baits, I caught so many fish on their Swammers. St. Croix rods cause there's no way I would have got those bass out of the slop and from behind that Florida cane with any other rods. I would also like to thank Bay Marine, Evinrude, CPI Pictures, Sirius, Via Rail, JB's Fishing Depot, and last but not least the funniest man alive Russell Peters. With out your help and support I would not be able to do this. I would also like to thank my wife Maria and my children Isabella and Andrew for coming out and cheering me on.

 Well my next stop is the FLW Southeast Everstart on Lake Seminole but first is the Spring Fishing and Boat Show. So for the best prices and selection on St. Croix Rods and Xzone baits come see me at the JB's Fishing Depot's booth.

Tight lines everyone!

Getting Ready 2012

  So I have started to get ready for the 2012 season which begins in 2 weeks. I start my year off as always with a series of tournaments in Florida on Okeechobee. I love it there cause anything could happen, because of this I always bring too much tackle. I will start my year off slowly prefishing for the FLW Everstart opener on Okeechobee. But before the everstart I will use a BFL on the big O as a practice. There's a lot to do before I can fish a tournament properly. I have to give my new Evinrude 250 H.O. Etec a shakedown. I have to sort out all my tackle to get it ready for the new year and have it all in the right place in the boat so there's no confusion when I'm under the gun tournament day. Not to mention miles of line that has to be replace. With my friend Steve Crowley keeping me company I have spent a lot of time on the big O in the last few years and have acquired a considerable amount of water. So I am very excited about this year. I have three tournaments on the big O this spring including a FLW Tour event which I'm very excited about. All in all I'm having a hard time sleeping at night lol. But I think I have all my tackle sorted and my rods are ready so is the boat, trailer and truck. So stay tuned I will keep you all informed as to my progress and my where abouts. Be safe on the ice and tight lines everyone. Mike.  

St. Croix Rods

For the last 10 years I have been using St. Croix rods. I remember my first one, I bought it JB's Fishing Depot, it was a 7' medium Premiere spinning rod. I use that rod for everything!, bass, pike, walleye, I even caught musky on it. It was and still is a great rod. I still have it! I use it for twitch baits. I have moved on since then but never leaving St. Croix, I use Tournament Legend rods now and I love them. And just recently I acquired St. Croix as a sponsor so they will always be with me and Team TFB.

Bay Marine & Evinrude

 I would like to personally welcome Bay Marine and Evinrude BRP to Team TFB. I'm sure that our partnership will prove to be prosperous for everyone.

http://www.evinrude.com/en-CA/

http://www.bay-marine.com/outboardsevinrude.html

2011 Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open

Wow what a day it was. I can’t believe it’s been a week already, where does the time go? Fall comes so fast. A week ago I was headed up north to Orillia in the cold fall rain towing my boat and for once hoping I wasn’t going to use it. That’s right I was headed to Simcoe but not to fish. I had been asked by Bass Pro Shops to co emcee the 2011 Simcoe Open, and Andy from the CSFL thought it would be a good idea to bring up the Russell Peters Ranger to use as an emergency boat. I have to admit my stomach was full of butterflies, I have talked to groups before and I’ve taught class and given seminars but never to a group that meant so much to me. These are my peers my equals they have the right to judge me, and it was going out over live radio so I had to watch my language. Well when Andy introduced me I went all in and hit the stage running. Once we got the ball rolling, I got into my groove and was wishing it would never end. There were so many big bags of fish I couldn’t believe it and the anglers that didn’t do so well were in such a good mood that it made my job so easy. Geno my co emcee did such a good job filling in the blanks and picking up the slack that it kept everything moving smoothly. And of course none of this would have been possible without Vita keeping us on a steady pace and not allowing me to turn it into a stand up session. Then suddenly it was all over. I guess I did ok, people seemed to be happy with my performance and as far as I know there were no complaints. Within minutes of it being done the stage and scales were being packed up and everyone was gone. At that point I realized just how hard the CSFL crew works.I would like to thank everyone at Bass Pro Shops, and the whole CSFL troop for all their hard work and I will see you again next year.
Tight lines everyone!

Working Through It

 Man what a crazy month! I have had every possible problem thrown at me. Tournaments got cancelled and moved around so I had to quickly find something to do with my time. I booked 2 tournaments in the BFL down south. 1 was a Choo Choo on Guntersville which I was so looking forward to doing. There's nothing better than Gunters in the fall. The second was a Gator on Okeechobee, which I love but has me a little worried cause of the low water level on the Big O. My Evinrude which has been solid all year long and still is, is getting a little attention that it deserves so I was unable to make it to Gunters but I should be able to make the Big O. I can't wait to hit the water with my good buddy Steve Crowley. I'll try and pick up a few more local tournaments while I'm down there and get back just in time for Thanksgiving. Well that's all for now take care and tight lines everyone.