North Country Bassin' held its first meeting to plan the 2012 season on January 28th at the Depot Express in Alexandria. Highlights include:

• NCB will host two open tournaments this season:
  • Team tournament on Pelican (Ashby) on July 21st
  • Individual tournament on Minnewaska on August 12th
  • Entry fee for both will be $100 + $10 for Big Bass
• Megabucks will be on October 6 & 7 on Miltona and Oscar
• Next meeting will be on March 3, 2012 at 1:00PM at the Depot. The meeting is open to anyone considering joining the club.

Roy Kramer is planning on taking over the Tuesday Night Bass League. Tentative plans call for 14 tournaments on seven area lakes, $25 entry fee per person per night plus $10 big bass with 100% payback. He is also exploring the possibility of having a Thursday individual tournament. There will be an informational meeting on February 7th at 6:00 PM at the Depot Express in Alexandria. Anyone interested or having questions can email Roy Kramer at basswordll55@yahoo.com.

Congratulations to Tim McDowell on his win at the Megabucks. His two day total of 28.28 pounds was good for the win and $450. After finishing in fourth place on Day One, Tim came in with a strong 15.02 pounds on Osakis, along with the big fish of the day, a 5.75 pound largemouth. In second place was Jon Englund, with 26.62 pounds. Mike Peterson was third at 26.17 pounds.

Plaques for the 2011 year were handed out at the Osakis event. Besides the Megabucks plaque, which went to Tim McDowell, the Angler of the Year honor went to Trevor Trousil. Bill Digidio had the Big Bass for the year.

Congratulations to Clarence Rasmussen and Pat Daniels for their first place finish on Lake Reno. Their 25.77 pounds was enough to edge out the second place team of Tom Wilkins and Doug Tvrdik with 25.56 pounds.Big bass of the day was a 4.90 pound largemouth caught by Clarence and Pat.

Congratulations to Durand and Dean Peterson for their win of the Lakes Area Bass Circuit Top 6 tournament on Lake Mary. They had a 15.36 pound bag that included the 4.35 pound big fish of the day. In second place, Mike Peterson and Dave Christopher had 14.30 pounds.

Rocky Burgau and Jeff Hanson were the LABC Team of the Year for 2011. They topped the field of 15 teams for the honor.

It was a beautiful day on Lake Minnewaska for the North Country Bassin' Individual open. Light winds, sunshine and comfortable temperatures made for a great day of fishing.

Keith Bielke was able to run away with the tournament. His 19.20 bag of largemouth bass, which included the 4.71 pound big fish of the day, was more than three pounds better than the second place finisher, Jim Stargel. Jim had 16.05 pounds in his bag that include four smallmouth. In third place was Wayne Ek with 15.64 pounds.

North Country Bassin' is sponsoring the Individual Open bass tournament on Lake Minnewaska on Saturday, August 20th. This tournament is open to anyone that would like to fish. It is an individual event - one angler per boat. Entry fee is $100 with an excellent payout.

On Lake Moses, Jim and Phil Lokken squeeked out a win with a 13.38 pound bag that included the big fish of the day, a 4.38 pound largemouth. At 13.37 pounds was Stave Stave and Aaron Anderson.

At Lake Osakis, Rocky Burgau and Jeff Hanson brought in a five fish limit that weighed 18.07 pounds. They also had the day's big fish at 4.08 pounds. Dana Freeze and Rob Goodin finished second with 16.29 pounds.

Nate Gniffke and Cody Zdrazil had 7 largemouth and 1 smallmouth bass weighing 23.27 lbs to beat the rest of the competition.  In 2nd place was the team of Clarence Rasmussen and Pat Daniels with 22.03 lbs.  Tom Wilkins and Steve Stave came in 3rd with a weight of 21.44 lbs.

The tournament of champions will be held on Saturday August 27, 2011 on Lake Reno.  The event will be going out of the South access on the lake starting at 7:00 a.m.

Open Bass Tournaments

• 4oz penalty for each dead fish
• Last SATURDAY of each month
• Two man teams or can fish individual
• 5 Fish Limit
• $50 per boat ($10 big bass optional)
• 100% payback
• No checks  cash only
• No pre fishing 5 days prior

Aug 27       Dead Lake (SE access) 7am-3pm
Sept 24      Rush (access on hwy 78) 9am-4pm

Any Question Call
Steve Stave  (218)640-5554

On July 24th, Matt Gilbertson pulled out the win on Lake Pelican (Ashby) with a bag of 16.37 pounds. He was followed by his team partner, Dean Peterson, with 15.72 pounds. The two had the largest team bag at 19.64 pounds.

This was the last draw tournament of the season. Congratulations to Trevor Trousil on taking the Angler of the Year race. The Megabucks tournament is scheduled for September 24th and 25th on Osakis and the Alexandria Chain.

The third weekend of the LABC season was conducted on Lake Miltona and Lake Andrew. On Miltona, Rocky Burgau and Jeff Hanson took the win with a bag of 13.54 pounds. Their bag included the 4.25 pound big fish. At Lake Andrew, Matt Klemm and Brad Trousil had 11.00 pounds to narrowly pull off the win. Mike Peterson and Dave Christopher had the big fish, a 3.33 pound largemouth.

The race for the Angler of the Year remains very tight. Matt Klemm and Brad Trousil are in first followed by Mike Peterson and Dave Chrisopher in second. There is one event left to settle the race. It will be held on August 14th on Lakes Moses and Osakis.

Tom and Kathy Wilkins took the win on Smith Lake with a bag of 15.80 pounds. Their bag included the big fish of the day, a 3.41 pound largemouth. Dana Freese and Rob Goodin were second with 14.47 pounds.

On Red Rock, Doug Kriese and Al Braaten brought in 21.05 pounds to narrowly take the win from Jon and Kelli Englund with 20.69 pounds. Jon and Kelli had the big bass, a 6.33 pound largemouth.

After two events, the standing are very tight with the teams on the Englunds and Mike Peterson and Dave Christopher tied for the lead. The next events are on July 31.

Mike Peterson took top honors on Lake Mina on June 17th. The weather was cloudy, hot and muggy. Mike had a 12.16 pound bag that also included the big fish, a 4.12 pound largemouth. Mike and Bob Hefti took the team title.

With four tournaments down, Trevor Trousil still leads the angler of the year race. He is closely followed by Mike Peterson and Jon Englund.

With a bag of 23.21 pounds, Cory and Lisa Putnam took first place honors on Lake Minnewaska on July 9th. They were closely followed by Matt Gilbertson and Jeremy Fuller with 22.70 and Mike and Durand Peterson with 22.43 pounds. The next tournament is on Lake Ida on August 6th.

The first of LABC tournaments of the 2011 season were held on June 26th. It was another cool, cloudy day. Dean and Durand Peterson narrowly edged out Steve Stave and Aaron Anderson for the win on Pelican Lake. They had 18.42 pounds and also took big fish honors.Steve and Aaron had 18.41 pounds. Matt Klemm and Brad Trousil took the win on Aaron with 14.14 pounds. They also had the big fish of the day at 3.59 pounds. Mike Peterson and Dave Christopher took second with 11.54 pounds. The next tournaments will be held on July 23rd at Red Rock and Smith Lakes.

On June 18th, the club traveled to a lake that was new to almost all the members. Jon Englund managed to pull in 13.63 pounds to take the individual title. Jon and Darrin Collins won the team title. Trevor Trousil was second in the individual events. Big bass was a 3.54 pound smallmouth caught by Matt Gilbertson. After three events, Trevor Trousil is leading the Angler of the Year race.

Wayne Ek and Mike DaLoia took first place with a 20.12 pound bag on the Alexandria Chain. They were followed by Matt Gilbertson and Jeremy Fuller with 19.55 pounds and Reid Herd and Cody Rieland with 19.53 pounds. Herd and Rieland had the big fish of the day at 4.01 pounds.

The Wednesday Night Bass League will again conduct monthly tournaments for the summer on the Alexandria Chain of Lakes. Entry fee is $50.00 for each two person team and fishing hours will be from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Take off will be from the Krueger Creek access. Dates are June 22, July 20 and August 17. Contact Matt Gilbertson  at 320-760-3748 or Trevor Trousil at 320-815-0372 for more information.

On a cool, cloudy and breezy day, Trevor Trousil brought in a 13.42 pound bag that included the big fish of the day, a 4.42 pound largemouth, to take first place. Second was Durand Peterson with 13.34 pounds. Bill Degidio and Todd Gaarsland won the team event with 14.65 pounds. The next tournament is Saturday, June 18th.

It was a perfect day for fishing on Lake Reno with calm and cloudy conditions and comfortable temperatures - and the fish were biting. Al Braaten brought in the big bag of the day at 16.91 pounds to take the individual event. Durand Peterson was second with 16.66 pounds. Al and Mike Peterson took the team event with 17.57 pounds. Big bass went to Bill Digidio with a 5.48 pound fish. The next tournament will be on June 12th.

Boat draws and other tournament information has been posted on the Reel Team web site. Ramp restrictions and fishing water information is clarified.

• Friday nights 6:00-9:30 every other Friday starting 6/3/11
• 2 man teams. 5 fish limit - smallmouth and largemouth bass
• There will be 7 week nights and a weekend TOC at end of the year.
• Entry fee will be 350.00 for the year.
• Payouts will be based on number of teams.
• Only artificial baits will be allowed.
• This is the list of possible lakes. Only 7 will be fished. Lakes will be drawn Wednesday and announced Thursday.
  • Irene, Miltona, Ida, Big Chip, Moses, Aaron, Spitzer, Smith, Clitherall, Jolly Ann
• Teams will be allowed to fish that don't prepay but will need to contact Todd for details.
• Lakes are off limits once it has been drawn. Violators will be booted for the year with NO refund.
• League will be limited to first 12 teams paid prepay takes priority.
• TOC will be determined by members must prepay for the year to be involved or fish.

Contact Todd at (320) 808-7029 for questions.

Lakes Area Bass Circuit has completed their schedule for 2011 and has posted the information on their web site. They still have openings for the 2011 Season.

Plans for the 2011 Lakes Area Bass Circuit have been posted on their web site. There are only a few changes from 2010. Highlights are:

• Maximum of 20 boats in two brackets.
• Four tournaments to qualify for the TOC.
• Meeting to draw lakes scheduled for April 23rd.

The Reel Team Bass schedule for the 2011 season includes the following events:

• Alexandria Chain - June 4, 2011
• Minnewaska - July 9, 2011
• Ida - August 6, 2011

Tournament permits have been issued to Reel Team for these events.