I’m still fishing bass tournaments! I’ll be involved in a few more once I get back to the Midwest this fall but I fished quite a few last summer and actually did terrible haha so we’re chalking last summer up as a learning experience. But yes I’m from New Prague and yes you guys helped me go down to Arkansas in 2012 to fish the World Championship! I’ll always be grateful for that.
Hey guys! Wow it’s been a while since I checked in here. I’ve been so busy with school, work, and fishing it just sorta slowly faded out of my routine. I’ve missed the friendly forum chats! Nick got ahold of me this morning and let me know that I was a “Wanted Man” on IDO. I was shocked that my name had become the title of a forum post hahaha, but I’m glad to see it’s not negative…. yet.
Yes, I just moved down to Key Largo, FL for the summer. I am a Recreation Coordinator at the Ocean Reef Club, so basically I just get to have fun all day and play with kids. It’s a pretty awesome way to end my senior year of college and fulfill my internship. I will be back in the Midwest August 17th and hope to get up to Mille Lacs to do some smallie fishing shortly after. In all honestly I’ll go wherever to catch some fish once I’m back!
Yes, I am one of the younger Bartusek relatives. Billy and Joe are close friends and family members of mine. They are incredible sticks, still haven’t beaten them on Minnetonka.
Like Nick said, I run a social media outlet called Team Yukon Outdoors (LLC.) and we do a ton of work all year long in regards to promotion. I’ve been extremely busy with this for the last few years and it’s only gonna get more hectic this fall and winter! We’ve got a lot of big stuff coming so it’s nice to know you guys are still watching over me haha. Hope all is well with you guys!
This is my home lake! EVERYBODY go there and fish it. The number of crappies is absolutely stupid. Like Jack said, take a kid out there it’s basically impossible to not catch em. They all got stunted a while back and they’re finally reached keepable size, it’s a great time for a kid and honestly it’ll help get the lake moving in the right direction. There is a reason there was over 150 ice houses on that lake all winter. It’s cause you can catch a limit in 30 minutes…
The bass aren’t the reason the walleye don’t reach an adult stage. It’s because everyone fishes the lake for walleyes do much that all the legal slot fish get plucked out and barely any get to grow. If you want the lake to improve you close it for walleyes for a couple years. Otherwise it’s just gonna be the same thing over and over.
Mille Lacs is one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the Nation. It’s honestly incredible. It brings in a lot for tourism and I know some of the guides out there are getting asked to take guys smallie fishing, not walleye fishing. They should embrace what they have and not try to change something that’s amazing because it simply “isn’t what it used to be” as it’s been said already, the lake has changed.
I’ll be moving into Maddens on Gull Lake to work for the summer! 
I’ve never used one of them but I’ve heard those are legit.
Initially after ice out all bass head to either the only weeds on the lake or extremely shallow cover, this is often timber or rocks. Once the water starts warming up throughout the lake the bass will start to release from being basically on the bank. They will swim around a bit more and start making beds basically. By opener they should either be spawning or just getting done. The ice came off pretty quickly this year compared to what everyone thought it would be. Hope this helps! This is for inland bodies of water, as that is what I think you were talking about.
Woman Lake area. GREAT fishing and absolutely amazing cabin area. You’ll love it!
The more expensive the bait the better it sits in the water, especially for jerk baits, they suspend WAY better and have a much better rolling action. Do answer your question I got a bunch of the Duo Realis jerk baits this year, LOVE THEM. Great quality and wicked hooks. For square bills, I fish the river quite a bit since i’m fishing for the club down in Winona, I’d say don’t waste money and go big. The Strike Kings KVD’s are amazing, they do break every once and a while but they’re cheap so I don’t see it as a big deal. Plus you’re banging them off stumps, it’s bound to happen. The Storm Arachi’s are pretty cool too for a change up.
If you’re looking for anywhere to order them I recommend Monster Tackle, they’re based out of California. They have the best prices I’ve ever seen, great customer service and super fast shipping. Check them out, I think their website is outdoorproshop.com
It’s about time it starts coming down here! We had it come up about 2 ft in Winona about 2-3 weeks ago then they opened the gates, river went way down. Started going back up slowly lately, would like it to get higher and open up those backwaters!
I would have snagged 3 Dobyns at the show for that price. They’re even better than the Loomis’s.
Luckily all you’ll need is one rod! A big ol’ flipping stick! You’ll have a blast, they’ll be up in the slop and you’ll pull some toads.
I’ve caught more fish on Clam Ant Drop, Blade Spoon, and Bomb Spoons this year than ANYTHING I’ve ever fished with. Absolutely incredibly colors that do not fade, plus amazing action. Not to mention the incredible feel you get with the tungsten jigs. I’ve caught 2-1 sometimes 3-1 in terms of fish when fishing with someone because of them. 100% recommend their product, I know i’ll be buying a lot more.
Sharpen your hooks 
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I hear ya. however its crazy how much better it is on my phone vs my h2o. its way faster the color is way better and screen is bigger. as long as im in a vehicle i like my phone but if im out in the elements I use the old h2o.
If you know how to use the app, which I now do. I’d take it over an H2O or any handheld gps any day of the week. The contours are insane as well, LOVE IT.
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If you set the way point as a “Favorite” by selecting”Add to Favorite” you are fine.
If you select “Edit Map/Generic Info/Fishing Spot” and add it that way, that will show up in Community Edits, provided you have chosen those settings to allow sharing. Anything you add under a category under edit map, gets shared.
Thanks Pug! I knew there had to be some way around it.
Thanks guys! Common consensus seems to drill a lot of holes and keep moving! Will do!
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Shields, Mazaska, French, Cedar, Tetonka, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, etc…Fish away.
couldn’t have said it better myself!
I’m a bass guy and if that is a 23.5″ smallie which I’m sure it is… that is the BIGGEST smallie I’ve ever seen! 
Hasn’t even snowed down in Winona yet! We got a bit of slushy stuff for about 30 min last night but it couldn’t even be classified as snow. Anything that did come down is gone!
Can’t tell you any specific ice numbers but some people were venturing out in backwaters today scouting ice. Didn’t see anyone fishing but I know people were walking around checkin ice in Winona.
Whoever says Florida State is going to get thrashed hasn’t watched them play… There are 2 teams on another planet right now and that’s Alabama and Florida State.
In terms of the Gophers… I AM SO HAPPY! 
I’m going to be watching the Stanford vs Oregon and Baylor vs. Oklahoma games. I will flip to the Vikings on commercials just to make sure they in fact are losing in hopes of a good draft pick.
They are looking great! It’s been a while since we’ve been Bowl Eligible in October… Still feels strange coming out of the mouth. We’ve got Indiana next week who has also improved a lot. Hopefully we can get a win there on the road then 3 tests all in a row.
Penn State at home should be a thriller, I think they might upset Ohio State tonight. Then we have a BYE week to prepare for Wisconsin at home. Will this finally be the year we get the axe back? 
Then end the season with Michigan State.
Things could go great, things could go sour. Either way we’ve got a bowl and a great win for the Kill era. Gotta love the way the kids perform for him. They simply CAN’T not give everything they have for him. TCF has a new roar to it and it’s amazing. Nice to finally beat a ranked opponent!
Gophers Football!
Trading AP is definitely not the answer. We have LOADS of talent right now, just no coaches to utilize it. It’s pretty easy to change that.
Murray is playing with his whole WR core injured right now. I’m not sure if you watched him last year but he was a stud. Absolutely incredible. He also holds the SEC record for most total yards.
Why not just lay low and watch everyone fight over Johnny Football and Teddy? We can get Marcus Mariota who has even better numbers, later in the draft. Also, Aaron Murray is going to drop a longggg ways.
With this said, a lot of the best NFL quarterbacks came from non-big time schools. The San Jose State QB has slipped past everyone over the years and could be quality talent.
With this all said I still feel the best fit for the Vikings is Murray because of the system he comes from. He knows what it’s like to play for a run first team that has a great defense. Although our defense has been lacking lately, I don’t see it being an issue next year. I strongly feel like Murray is our answer.
I believe they have largies, spots, and smallies. It is known for the incredible population of large fish. This is the FLW Tournament coverage that was on it earlier this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOX5cFfzzA0 The weights posted in tournaments there are absolutely incredible. They were actually higher than Falcon Lake. I’d completely recommend it and give Josh Douglas a holler at joshdouglasfishing.com he is from MN and moved down there last year. He’s been destroying them on that lake and runs I guide service down there from what I understand. He could answer your questions.
And of course there is Falcon Lake but that is WAY down south, the furthest you can go basically.
