Father and Son Bass Battles Round 1

[WIGuide]

A few years ago, after watching Denny Brauer and his son Chad's tv show "Ardent Bass Battles" my dad and I both got the idea to do the same thing with one another for fun. For those not familiar with the show, Denny and his son Chad would fish against one another for a given amount of time. At the end they would weigh in what they caught just like a normal tournament. Their show was sponsored by Ardent because they were both sponored by them. Since my dad and I both run Ranger's we decided to give ours and official title of the Ranger Bass Battles. We're always fishing with one another, so it's nice to fish against one another every once in a while. We did make a few changes to the original format. We made it into a small tournament series where we go head to head the best out of 5. The amount of time we fish in each battle isn't always equal as we just try to fit them in after our regular tournament season. The rules stay the same though as we each try to search out a 5 bass limit in our allotted amount of time. 

Round one took place on Miller Dam, a 2366 acre impoundment located in Taylor county WI. In it's hay day during the mid 90's it was regarded as one of the best bass lakes in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, due to it's shallow nature, our harsh Wisconsin winter, the introduction of invasive species, and bass loosing importance with the WI DNR it has suffered greatly. After a huge winter kill in the spring of 2012 it hit an all-time low, but it has slowly been making a comeback. Our family cabin is located on this lake, which has given us both a ton of experience on this lake so we are pretty evenly matched. When all was said and done, dad had landed 8 bass and two northerns and I had only put 5 in the boat 3 of which were keepers. As it turns out none of dad's made it into the livewell. The winning pattern was fishing  cribs in 8-14' with a jig. I had made a quick pass through with a crankbait as you can usually pick off one or two with that even on a slow day, but that particular evening you had to physically bump the cribs with a jig and then hop it slightly. It produced some nice quality fish. I wish there were a few more cribs to try, but in the end it was enough to get the job done. 

Bass Battle Round 1 Results 

Dad - 0 fish for 0 lbs

Me - 3 fish for 9 lbs 3 oz

Not the greatest picture, my 91 year old grandma doesn't have the greatest cell phone photography skills but I give her credit for giving it a shot! 

 

[Steveo-1969]

I loved and miss that show!  Very cool!!!!

[Dwight Hottle]

Sounds like fun. Great pics too. 

[A-Jay]

Fun Read ~ Cool Pics

Thanks for sharing it.

And Granny is a Rock Star and you Know it !

A-Jay

[jbw252]

Great idea!  Thanks for sharing with us. 

[Fisher-O-men]

That long skinny bass did not count? 

[Gundog]

Its nice to see you and your dad having fun together. Enjoy the time you two spend together. Its the times you will remember in the future.

[GORDO]

3 hours ago, Fisher-O-men said:

That long skinny bass did not count? 

That's a Northern Pike.   

[Fisher-O-men]

4 hours ago, GORDO said:

That's a Northern Pike.   

["hamma"]

I miss that show, great read nonetheless, Its good to see a son and dad spending "quality time" together. That last bass pic looks like a nice one.

Congrats

[senile1]

Grandma's pics are fine.  Nice fish and love that sunset!  (I assume its a sunset since you fished in the evening?)

[WIGuide]

On 9/8/2016 at 5:34 PM, A-Jay said:

Fun Read ~ Cool Pics

Thanks for sharing it.

And Granny is a Rock Star and you Know it !

A-Jay

Haha she is a rockstar!  91 and she still runs a small campground and does all the mowing. She's one crazy little polack! 

On 9/16/2016 at 8:42 AM, senile1 said:

Grandma's pics are fine.  Nice fish and love that sunset!  (I assume its a sunset since you fished in the evening?)

For that one we fished mid afternoon until just before dark.