Hall of Famers, T.O.C, Bass A Thon, new sponsors!

It's been a whirl wind of a summer so far. I don't know where to start. I cashed a check in this years U.S Open at Lake Mead. I look forward to that event every year. I had a great pattern going in practice and it fizzed out as the lake was getting more and more pressure each day. Regardless it's always good to see all my friends and competing against the best guys in the business!
I would like to extend a sincere congratulations to my best friend and newest member into both the Fresh water Hall of Fame as well as the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Mike Folkestad! Wow to be inducted into both organizations in the same year and still be fishing is quite an accomplishment. Mike is the best in the business period! On and off the water he is a true professional! Way to go Mikey!!!
We just finished our last event of the year for the Won Bass organization up at Clear Lake. I finished in 5th place overall for the Daiwa cup Angler of the Year. To be in the top 10 was one of my goals for the year so overall I am extremly happy with my performance. I know the changes I need to make next year to go after the cup. It's nice to see companies like Daiwa help the anglers out and give us something to shoot for as far as prize money at the end of the year. So Thanks Bill Liston from the Daiwa corp!
This year I have had a couple of new companies sign me on board to fish and represent there companies. I am proud to now be aligned with Damiki Fishing, SavageGear, and Fish Arrow Co. Damiki makes some killer soft plastic baits with my favorite being the Hydra bait. If your doing any bed fishing this upcoming spring your missing the boat if you don't have the hydra in your arsenal. Savage-Gear is flat out the bomb!!! These guys make some unique baits for both fresh water and saltwater fishing applications! Check out the 4 Play swim bait and the lip scull. One of the coolest products I have been using is the new bait tape! Just click on the link and consider it a favor!!! Finally Fish Arrow, this company is based out of Japan and make the best line period! The attention to detail in every application of there products is by far the best I have ever seen. Check out the Flash J...
Bass a Thon is right around the corner over in Southern California and you don't want to miss out on this unique event! Anglers from all over the west come to this event and get the latest and greatest baits that are hitting the market for the upcoming year! Tons and Tons of deals on everything from boats to bait!
I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holidays this year! I am looking forward to eating some Turkey and playing some golf with the family. A special thanks to Jennifer Duff at Lobina Lures for being my title sponsor for the 2012 season. As we all know Jennifer is the most talented and amazing women in the bass fishing industry. Check out the newest Rico baits in Klicka shad and Risque. When your ready for the topwater bite there is nothing like fishing with a Rico!
In closing, the off season is still busy for me as I am shooting television shows for Fishing 4 Fun Tv, working trade shows, Internation Sportmans Expo I will be on the tanks giving demonstrations on the latest bass fishing techniques. Please visit my other great sponsors this year to fill your bass fishing needs! So fire up your Mercury this winter and chase down some Yamahas!!!

Never Slip Bait Tape
A and M Graphics
Mattress Depot
Fishing 4 Fun

Fishing 4 Fun, The Hook Incident, and a whole lot of driving

The Fishing 4 Fun crew!!!! The new wrap from A and M Graphics Turned out Great!  If you really want to stand out and promote your business and or sponsors check out my earlier submission on " Wrap It Up ! " 

Well the clear lake tournament was a success for the crew!  1750 miles round trip makes for a long week of fishing.  I met up with my crew the " Fishing 4 Fun Crew ".  Good times had by all at the Clear Lake Invitational put on by Won Bass.  The prefishing was great and had my best day of about 25lbs but we had a front move in that pushed the bass out past the staging areas I was used to fishing.  The Baits for me were..

1.  Nail rigged senko " Baby Bass " on 12lb Seaguar Line
2.  Rio Rico " Klicka Shad " on 15 lb mono
3.  4 inch Roboworm drop shot 8lb seaguar line " Folkestad Special, Aarons Magic "
4.  Damiki crank bait DC 400 blue head on 20lb seaguar line.

There was a little drama on the water with my traveling partner on the final day of practice.  Seems Big Bird " Pictured above in the white tshirt " hooked into a 190 lb so called lively bass!!.  After a quick decision to call up our on call "Doctor"...... Dr. Folkestad, we did immediate surgery to remove a Sexy Shad 6XD from Klicka's right tricep.  The video is still in editing stages and will soon be released for PG viewing/audio.  After removing the hook, re-hooking, a swing and a miss and then the final exit of the nasty treble hook we were back to fishing!!  Trust me, you won't want to miss this video.  Not only is it absolutely hysterical but you will learn how to remove a treble hook and the do's and don'ts of the whole process.

I ended up with 17.04 lbs on day one and 18.76 lbs on day two.  I hate being in the " 1 Fish out of the money each day ".  But more importantly moved my self up two spots to finish in 6th place for overall Daiwa Cup Angler of the Year race.  Special thanks as always to my sponsors Lobina Lures, Mattress Depot, Mercury Motors, Reactor Watches, westernbass.com, TC Sports Report and Damiki Tackle for providing me with the opportunities to represent there companies as well as make some great memories!!!  Next stop is going to be the U.S Open. You can sign up at wonbass.com.  If you haven't had a chance to fish this worldly recognized event it is a must for this year.  It's Won Bass 30th anniversary and I am sure there will be some great surprises for all the anglers who are participating!!  My Mercury Motor ran flawlessly as always up at Clear Lake, nothing beats a 250 PRO XS!!!  Stay tuned for new fishing episodes from TC Sports Report

Andy

Stay tuned for the " Hook Incident " video coming soon on TCsportsreport.com

Bass A Thon Recap, TC Sports Reports Cribs Edition #1???

Yep you heard it Cribs Edition....( We'll get to that a little later!!)

The 2011 Bass A Thon was held at Anglers Marine in Anaheim this last weekend.  What a great event.  Autographs were being handed out like candy from our legendary anglers like Rick Clunn, Jimmy Houston, Mike Folkestad, Skeet Reese and countless others.  The theme should have been named the Alabama Rig Show!  It was amazing to see how a lure can impact a sport of this size so quick.  In case you have been living under a rock this last month bassmaster elite pro Paul Elias tore em up at a FLW event about a month ago with over 100lbs of fish.  I'll let you do the research on your own so you can get up to speed.  Anyway, I picked up a few " Cal A Bama rigs for myself and everyone is coming up with there own twist and ways to fish it.

     My good friend Mike Folkestad and his wife Vicky were nice enough to open there home for the weekend and allow us to attend the show as well as have some good fellowship fun!  Jennifer Duff and I had a booth at the show selling ricos 3 for 20 bucks which is absolutely unheard of.  Don't get use to seeing us at these shows every year because it only happens every four years or so.  Jeff Klicka provided the steaks and carne asada for the meals as well as his usual humor to provide for a very entertaining weekend! Jody and Ryan Only were all filming for advanced angler and Tami was filming for TC Sports Report and other magazine publications during the event as well.  Here is a clip from Jody Only interviewing Mike Folkestad for Advanced Angler.http://www.advancedangler.com/2011IcastVid.asp?SelectValue=Mike Folkestad - Lobina Lures Rico

     Okay, back to the Cribs segment.. While at Mike's house Tami, Jeff and myself were talking the previous year on how to play some tricks on Mike while we were staying there and it actually ended up turning out to be a Cribs edition of the Folkestad house.  We had so much fun messing around with hundreds of plaques, trophies and fishing tackle..  I think Klicka still has a tackle bag of roboworms and yamamoto baits to give back.. We will see if that gets done..  So for now check out Jody Only's publications in the Examiner as well as Tami Curtis on TC Sports Report.  These girls are not only accomplished fisherman but extremely talented in video and editing..

     In closing be sure you keep the TC Sports Report website on your favorites to look for the First Edition of the Cribs episode. There will be more to follow!!  I would like to thank my sponsors Lobina Lures, Mattress Depot, Canyon Plastics, Mercury Marine, Reactor Watches, Costa Del Mar, The Hookup Tackle.  Without these sponsors I wouldn't be able to chase those little brown and green guys!! Until next time!!
Andy

Wrap it up?

Wrap it up!!  From my recent article published in Westernbass.com.

It’s that time of the year when we are all finding the elusive sponsor to help us pursue the little green guys for next year. Here are some of the reasons why I choose to market not only myself but my business and sponsors.

Marketing yourself and your company/ sponsors is a highly effective way to reach millions of people each year at a minimal expense. Wrapping your boat and or truck is not only an impressive way to highlight and showcase your business and sponsors, but it is a protection on your investment when it comes time to trade in and or sell. I wrap my boat and tow vehicle every two years and consider it to be a staple in advertising dollars as well as a nice little write off. Let’s face it, we drive a ton every year from tournament to tournament all over the west coast passing millions of cars each day. Why not try to make money for yourself and your sponsors in the process? For me, I own a liquidation mattress company which specializes in selling beds 60-80% off retail prices. No fancy showroom, just a nice clean warehouse with top notch product at liquidation prices. People get it as soon as they walk in and see about 400 beds with price tags two thirds less than all the competition out there. The question is, how do I get em to come see me? Well wrapping my vehicle and boat has produced about 75,000 dollars’ worth of sales to my bottom line this year alone not to mention, friends, word of mouth that comes along with new customers with minimal investment….