Balog’s Bass War
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Current Columns

• Ain't No "I" in Team

  Thursday, December 17, 2015 By Joe Balog

  The final Bassmaster Classic qualifier was determined last weekend via the Team Championship Fish-Off held on Lake Guntersville. Claiming the last slot was Thomas more

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  Lots Of Irons In The Fire

  Thursday, December 10, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  Okay, I know, I 've been a bit quiet as far as my column here on BassFan is concerned. Believe me, it’s not because of a lack of things to talk about. Since more

• Pro Fishing’s Future

  Thursday, December 10, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Last weekend, competitors clashed in one of the biggest bass tournaments in the country, yet it slipped under the radar of many fans. We all know it wasn’t the more

• The Fish Of A Lifetime

  Thursday, December 3, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Unpacking a few boxes after my recent move, I came across a special memento. It’s a plaque containing photos of many of my favorite Great Lakes fishing memories; more

• The Primary Consideration

  Thursday, November 19, 2015 By Joe Balog

  As the tournament world settles into preparation for next season, it’s a good time to take a step back and focus on important issues in our sport. Several areas more

• Tournament Bass Fishing’s Greatest Accomplishment

  Thursday, November 12, 2015 By Joe Balog

  There have been special moments in professional bass fishing where one competitor repeatedly rose above the rest, to be forever written in the history books. Often more

• Calling Out FLW

  Thursday, November 5, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Previously, I investigated questions being posed by bass fishing fans all around the world regarding the apparent direction of the FLW Tour. This week, I intended more

• State Of The Union

  Thursday, October 29, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Big news continues to trickle in across the world of professional bass fishing, with the latest coming from the FLW camp. We first heard news of a change a more

• Throwing Chairs

  Thursday, October 22, 2015 By Joe Balog

  I keep a file of interesting facts and compelling quotes and one recently caught my eye: Former basketball coach Bobby Knight talked about what it means to love more

• Change is Good, I Think

  Thursday, October 15, 2015 By Joe Balog

  This is the time of year when bass pros across the country are looking ahead to next year. As many climb into or out of a deer stand, spend time tinkering with more

• Mandatory Sponsorships

  Thursday, October 8, 2015 By Joe Balog

  This week brought some truly breakthrough journalism in the world of pro bass fishing, or at least the beginning of it. While other information sources continue more

• Pea-Sized Thoughts

  Thursday, October 1, 2015 By Joe Balog

  “If you get one on, whatever you do, don’t lose him.” Such were the words of a prominent bass pro to his co-angler partner in a major FLW event, televised years more

• Ten Golden Tickets

  Thursday, September 24, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Well, it's official – the 2015 professional bass fishing season is now in the books. FLW takes a break while B.A.S.S. awaits a few more Classic qualifiers through more

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  Floatplane Ride Offers Time To Reflect

  Tuesday, September 22, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  The intensely deep growl of the Beaver 60TF floatplane reverberates in my bones as the propeller struggles to free the pontoons from the water. The heavy load more

• Line In The Sand

  Thursday, September 17, 2015 By Joe Balog

  B.A.S.S. recently released the 2016 Elite Series schedule to much anticipation of anglers and fans. Big news was of the tour’s expansion to nine regular-season more

• A-Mart Kills The Suspense

  Thursday, September 10, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Summer turned to fall recently with the passing of Labor Day, and things are about wrapped up for the 2015 professional tournament season. The lone exception, more

• FLW Needs To Examine Final Day Format

  Friday, September 4, 2015 By Todd Ceisner

  Imagine Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth being told before the final round of the Masters or U.S. Open, or any PGA event for that matter, that they can’t use the more

• The Great Adventure

  Thursday, September 3, 2015 By Joe Balog

  The boat smells like a commercial fishing vessel as I unload it one last time. Mondays have always been the day to clean and patch up my gear, tighten a few screws more

• The Latest King Is Crowned

  Thursday, August 27, 2015 By Joe Balog

  This week marked another milestone in the world of pro bass, as Brad Knight became the new Forrest Wood Cup champion, pocketing a cool half-a-mil. Like most of more

• The New Era

  Thursday, August 20, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Like many of you, I’m a pretty serious fan of professional fishing. If it were football, I’d be the guy who wears a team jersey over his suit to the office on more

• Nature’s Marketing Department

  Thursday, August 13, 2015 By Joe Balog

  “Try to center on a word, or a sound.” The yoga instructor was attempting to get our class focused while in meditation. At the time I was new to the stretching more

• Throw The Book At Him

  Thursday, August 6, 2015 By Joe Balog

  We've again saw a display of dominance in pro bass fishing as Edwin Evers became the first-ever Elite Series back-to-back event winner with his triumph at the more

• A Rational Mind Comes Forward

  Thursday, July 30, 2015 By Joe Balog

  This week, Elite Series competitors take on the St Lawrence River, one of the nation’s first popular northern bass fisheries and site of countless memory-making more

• Truly Going Old School

  Thursday, July 23, 2015 By Joe Balog

  An ad in a fishing publication got me thinking. Featured was FLW Tour Angler of the Year Scott Martin behind the wheel of his Ranger, likely at a tournament blast-off. more

• Careless Smiles

  Thursday, July 16, 2015 By Joe Balog

  I never would have guessed that someday I’d be one of the thousands of bass anglers who'd been beaten in a tournament by Bill Dance. But it just happened. Good more

• Lessons From ICAST

  Thursday, July 9, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  On the eve of my favorite fishing industry event, ICAST, I’m packing my bags and ironing out the details of my busy 3-day schedule. Not unlike a kid on the more

• Throwing Cares To The Wind

  Thursday, July 9, 2015 By Joe Balog

  A recent headline came across my desk that got me thinking. “Lake Jordan Stocked with More Than a Quarter Million Florida Bass, With More on the Way.” When more

• Schmitt's Final Day Hindered By Local

  Thursday, July 2, 2015 By Steve Chaconas

  The impact of local anglers on professionals competing in tournaments is nothing new. One of the most recent prominent examples was at last year’s Forrest Wood more

• A Photo Finish For FLW

  Thursday, July 2, 2015 By Joe Balog

  While B.A.S.S. moves north for its final push, the big news this week in pro fishing centers around the photo-finish ending of the FLW regular season. I must more

• The Unlikeliest Hero

  Thursday, June 25, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Though I certainly don’t consider myself a wise man, I’ve found in life that, most often, first impressions are useless. The person you least expect to relate more

• The Evolving Bass Angler

  Thursday, June 18, 2015 By Joe Balog

  The class syllabus was simple and straightforward. Field sessions would be held rain or shine. As students, we could expect to trash our clothes and come home more

• Your $50 Bass Guide

  Thursday, June 11, 2015 By Joe Balog

  “We gotta figure something out. I feel like we’re working against each other.” I was trying to keep the peace with the angler in the back of my boat. While more

• Raising The Stakes

  Friday, June 5, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Headlines on the pro trails this week will certainly be all about BASSFest. Last year’s inaugural event was quite popular, and I’m sure the popularity will only more

• Not The End Of The World

  Friday, May 29, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  I’ve heard it said that successful athletes must have a short memory. It's been widely reported that the best competitors have an ability to completely forget more

• The Making Of A Champion

  Thursday, May 28, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky. In their primes, they were unquestionably the best at their respective games. In our sport, however, more

• Life-Changing Bass Tournaments

  Thursday, May 21, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Each October, I serve as emcee for the Central Basin Bass Benefit Tournament in Akron, Ohio. It’s a great event, benefiting kids in need at Cleveland MetroHealth more

• What’s The Score?

  Thursday, May 14, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Edwin Evers is really a powerhouse. Like many other fishing fans around the world, I watched last weekend as Evers became the first two-time champion in the history more

• 750 Out Of 750

  Thursday, May 7, 2015 By Joe Balog

  No hits, no runs, no errors. A perfect game. Though I never thought we’d see an example of such in our beloved sport of bass fishing, we finally did. Ray Hanselman more

• Too Smart for Our Own Good?

  Thursday, April 30, 2015 By Joe Balog

  A review of recent popular literature on the sport of bass fishing sent my mind wandering. For years, I’ve done all I can to learn more about the various species more

• Band-Wagon Biologists

  Thursday, April 23, 2015 By Joe Balog

  According to Google: “A natural resource is anything that people can use which comes from nature.” We are led to believe that bass, and other game fish, fit more

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  Trumping Nature

  Thursday, April 16, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Do you remember your best bass-fishing day ever? Perhaps it was toss-up between a few. What about those times makes them stand out in your mind? The number more

• Definition Of A Pro

  Wednesday, April 15, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  I’ve always taken the subject of titles very seriously. When I moved into that tin can I called home in 2006, I had one overwhelmingly intense focus in life more

• Disaster's Helping Hands

  Thursday, April 9, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Oblivious to the rest of the world, I continued to vacuum away at my boat’s carpet. Lying on the floor, contorting my body in order to clean beneath the consoles, more

• Writing The Rule Book

  Thursday, April 2, 2015 By Joe Balog

  The pro seasons are up and running, leaving us plenty to talk about. This week, a huge congratulations goes to Dave Lefebre for again proving why he is one of more

• Unprofessional

  Friday, March 27, 2015 By Steve Chaconas

  Many people freely apply “pro” status to top-level bass anglers. Most pros are among the greatest people you will ever meet. They are family oriented and true more

• Picture Cloudy Around Latest DQ

  Thursday, March 26, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Another season has begun on the Bassmaster Elite Series, bringing us another Chris Lane win and another high-profile DQ. It seems all is normal in the world. For more

• Faith

  Thursday, March 19, 2015 By Joe Balog

  JT Kenney is a straight shooter, no doubt. In today’s world of pro bass fishing that can be a rarity, as political correctness and sponsorship concerns often more

• Classic Conclusion

  Thursday, March 12, 2015 By Joe Balog

  All Brian Snowden could do was laugh. Nearing the end of a terrible day of fishing while competing in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic, Snowden had just hooked more

• Pressure: Part 1

  Thursday, March 5, 2015 By Joe Balog

  I’m always anxious to learn from the world’s best bass pros, all the while trying to unlock their secrets. As many of you know, I participated in the press opportunities more

• Classic Is A Networking Nirvana

  Friday, February 27, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  Yet another Bassmaster Classic is in the books, and as I leave South Carolina for the warmer pastures of California, I must admit I’m a little bit worn around more

• Lets’s Just Pick The Winner

  Thursday, February 26, 2015 By Joe Balog

  There’s a lot of big tournaments in the bass fishing world, but there’s only one Bassmaster Classic. Last week, in Greenville, S.C., B.A.S.S. ensured it kept that more

• The Difference

  Thursday, February 19, 2015 By Miles Burghoff

  What’s the difference between making a check and finding yourself scrolling to the next page of the standings to find your name? What’s the difference between more

• Crowning A Champion

  Thursday, February 19, 2015 By Joe Balog

  The big show is here at last. After an extended time off, the Bassmaster circuit gets things up and running with the 45th Bassmaster Classic this week, to be held more

• A Life-Changing Tournament

  Thursday, February 12, 2015 By Joe Balog

  It was probably the 1989 Classic that changed my life. I’m sure that sounds strange, as I didn’t compete or even attend the weigh-in. But I can still remember more

• Getting Paid To Lose Ground

  Wednesday, February 4, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Not surprisingly, I find it necessary to keep up-to-date on the pulse of the bass fishing public. As many of you know, I often express opinion here that's far more

• Something Earned Vs. Something Claimed

  Friday, January 30, 2015 By Steve Boyd

  Randall Tharp recently posted a commentary on Bassmaster.com regarding the Ish Monore/Keith Poche incident at the Lake Toho Bassmaster Southern Open. His words more

• Revenge Of The Nerds

  Thursday, January 29, 2015 By Joe Balog

  I’ve never really stuck to a New Year’s resolution. Whether it’s a few less beers or a few more laps on the track, like most of America, my drive seems to more

• Surely, You’re Joking

  Thursday, January 22, 2015 By Joe Balog

  With the passage of the New Year, so came a renewed vigor for the upcoming professional fishing season. While the pro ranks won’t kick off until February’s Bassmaster more

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  Critical Year Has Arrived

  Thursday, January 15, 2015 By MIles Burghoff

  So, what’s my next move? That’s a question I've asked myself numerous times since making the move back to California. I have absolutely no regrets moving back more

• Bass Fishing’s Greatest Volumes

  Thursday, January 15, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Winter has taken hold of the North. Temperatures hover in the single digits and snow is always in the back of everyone’s mind, with the potential of making any more

• The Customer Is Always Right

  Thursday, January 8, 2015 By Joe Balog

  Well, a new year is upon us. Despite incredibly frigid temperatures across my home range, with the turning of the calendars always comes thoughts of bass fishing. more