Surreal morning

I’m staying on a 2000some acre lake about 45 minutes north of Grand Rapids MN, This morning I get on the lake just after 4:00 and start fishing. It’s slow but catching a few smallmouth and waiting for the sun to show up. I notice the brake lights of a couple boats being launched across the lake, but think nothing of it.

Just as the sun peaks through I hear someone yell “GO!!” And about 8 bass boats go flying in every direction. Think it’s just another local club tourney and continue with fishing. A few moments later 4 of the boats go cruising by me and I notice they are all the exact same Tracker Z18’s, just different sponsor logos on the side. All with 3 passengers aboard, two powerpoles, etc..

This isn’t a normal club tourney so I keep my eye on the action. One boat pulls in about 100 yards from me and starts fishing. I notice just the guy on the bow is fishing, one guy continues sitting in the passenger seat the other gets on the back deck and pulls out a huge television camera. Then a few moments later a boat with a camera pulls in about 25 yards from him and they stay back and film. I try to get close enough to see who it is but he is wearing a hoodie.

So I continue fishing watching all these boats fly back and forth on the lake with television cameras. About an hour later as I’m fishing a new spot another boat is making his way down the shoreline, he gets about 75 feet from me and I see it is Gary Klein! Holy crap!! Another boat cruises by and I can almost guarantee it was KVD!! But not 100% positive.

So I see they are finishing up around noon and I go dock my boat and drive down to the access with my truck. I get there and I see Gary Kleins truck, one that looks like KVDs Toyota but doesn’t have his name on the side as well as a few others. I get a little closer and a guy stops me and politely asks me to turn around. I couldn’t get any closer.

I can now say I was fishing next to some of the greats I grew up watching. I’m still on a high!

I have no idea what they were filming for, but from some research it may have been Major League Fishing? Never seen it, anyone know much about that?

BTW- I’m not going to reveal the name of the lake in hopes they don’t reveal it on the show when it airs. But will keep an eye out if they post it to YouTube or whatever.

Now that is cool!

You are correct about it being kvd!! Skeet reese, greg hackney,aswell as Ike was there aswell. My buddy and his family are there right now.

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Here is kvd’s rig.

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I don’t understand why they can’t sneak around without anybody knowing.

Be lots of sponsor vehicles around Mille Lacs in the days / weeks to come.

Just been told Edwin Evers and Aaron martens were there aswell.

You’re right, it was Major League Fishing. They posted a 20 minute video on Facebook a couple of days ago. They also told the name of the lake in the video. It may have been the final day of fishing today since Thursday was elimination round number 3. Didn’t realize they wouldn’t let you get to the ramp, although they do try to keep a low profile. The shows for the tournament will probably air in January. This is the first time they’ve held one of their tournaments in Minnesota. It’s great you were able to be there and see the pros that close up.

Justin, that is definitely NOT the lake this was on. This lake has a dirt access and parking. And I would have seen Skeets rig from a mile away.

Ford Guy 1 wrote:

Didn’t realize they wouldn’t let you get to the ramp,

It was during the time they were pulling a bunch of boats, so it was completely blocked and the launch area is not made for this kind of traffic. There must have been 25 vehicles there for a lot that is made for maybe a dozen. It was understandable

Sorry wasn’t clear with my post. Those pictures were taken from the hotel parking lot everyone was staying at. Skeet wasn’t around today, he must have been eliminated yesterday.

Ah, yes, I understand now. Was the hotel in Grand Rapids?

Correct, without directly naming the place, “where trees go after they get cut down”. Most of them are going to head down this way to la crosse for the rumble and then back up to mille lacs for AOY. That is why some brought their big boats with them.

This spring they ran the shows when they fished the Mississippi around LaCrosse. KVD won the whole thing fishing on the Black River at the mouth of a cove they call Lauderdale. Ever since then you have to pick a number like the DMV to fish there!

So I checked their Facebook page and it sounds like they did a larger elimination tournament for a few days on Pokegama and did the final day on this smaller “surprise” lake.

Still can’t believe this all happened! Wish I would have remembered my camera with telephoto to document it.

This is cool. It reminds me of the time I saw Mike Iaconelli at Lake Calhoun on a cold winter day while driving to work in Mpls. I saw a bearded Ike unloading a portable fish house from a truck while a couple guys filmed him. It was the 1st time I saw Ike with a beard but I recognized him right away. He was filming an ice fishing episode of his City Limits fishing show. That was a surprise!

Uh-oh, they may have discovered my favorite smallie lake up there. Dang, there’s a few though..

Get ready for crap load of sponsored boats come flying by you, going to be a busy Sept, I now there a is a crap load of youtubers coming out in sept for the big tournament. I have never fished for any smallies, I am going to have to try that some time.

Pretty cool seeing this guys fished and some of there rigs.

So what the heck is the MLF?

Major League Fishing

http://www.majorleaguefishing.com/

They reveal the names of the lakes they fish on when the show airs. It was Grand Rapids tourism that brought them here. They don’t want to keep the lakes secret.

Bass Pundit wrote:

They reveal the names of the lakes they fish on when the show airs. It was Grand Rapids tourism that brought them here. They don’t want to keep the lakes secret.

I’m sure they will. And the lake is not necessarily a secret anyway. However it has always been my decision not to reveal the names of smaller lakes on the Internet simply for my conscience. If people really want to know they are always welcome to PM.

Thankfully if they do reveal it on the show the lake has a very restrictive smallmouth slot. And it can be a very tough lake to fish since the water is so deep and clear.