Balog’s Bass War
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Current Columns

• Good For The Soul

  Wednesday, December 21, 2016 By Joe Balog

  "You don’t think about this when you’re young, but time flows quickly, like a mountain brook instead of a lowland river. The years turn to decades, and more

• R&D On Tour

  Thursday, December 15, 2016 By Joe Balog

  With the offseason comes a time to regroup and reorganize, as well as assess our fishing. For recreational anglers, December marks a time to clean out the ol’ more

• My Christmas Wish List

  Thursday, December 8, 2016 By Joe Balog

  It’s that time of year again. Black Friday is behind us, but that doesn’t stop the big-box retailers from sending ads and catalogs at record pace. I’m continually more

• Lures Flying Off The Shelves

  Thursday, December 1, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Temporarily transferring my obsession from bass to crappie, I was stumped. As evident by the fish camp’s cleaning table, locals were making fantastic catches, more

• Money Talks

  Thursday, November 17, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The last time we met, I investigated the great debate among BassFans and competitors alike: determining which professional fishing tour features the toughest more

• The Best Anglers In The World

  Thursday, November 10, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Without question, the greatest recent debate in pro fishing has been that of FLW vs. B.A.S.S., the differences in the business model of each, caliber of competition, more

• Something To Build On

  Tuesday, November 8, 2016 By Miles Burghoffi

  When I look back and review my performance in any given season, my only hope is that I’m making progress and moving in the right direction. In 2014 and 2015, more

• Competition Is Greater, But At What Price?

  Monday, November 7, 2016 By Randy Blaukat

  One of the most surreal thoughts I have is the fact that 2016 marks my 30th year as a full-time professional angler. The transformation I've witnessed in this more

• Big Bass Dreams

  Thursday, November 3, 2016 By Joe Balog

  It had finally cooled down. After my first summer spent in central Florida, I reluctantly admitted to myself that a break from the heat wasn’t all that bad. I’d more

• Making Headlines

  Thursday, October 27, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The headline grabbed my attention: Guntersville Anglers Concerned About Downturn. The corresponding story detailed the situation. Local anglers around more

• Survival Of The Richest

  Thursday, October 20, 2016

  “It was the golden age of the fishing industry. Today everything is big business, everything has changed and it makes it harder for the entrepreneur. So more

• World Record Bronze

  Thursday, October 13, 2016 By Joe Balog

  We are close to a groundbreaking moment. While many of us focus on tournament wins and AOY stats, a separate occurrence may be in our midst. Like the big bass more

• Not In The Cards

  Friday, October 7, 2016 By Miles Burghoff

  Even when you are fishing good, sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. To me, “fishing good” just simply means that you're able to make the best decisions and more

• Crank Telephones And Dynamite

  Thursday, October 6, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Baseball bats. Hockey sticks. Tennis rackets. Golf clubs. All are used in professional sports, and all are regulated to exact specifications within those arenas. more

• The Fruition Of Flow

  Thursday, September 29, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The old-timer looked frustrated. “We tried everything. Crankbaits. Spinnerbaits. Topwater. Six colors of worms.” Despite fishing all day on the river where more

• G-Man Wins

  Thursday, September 22, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The 2016 Bassmaster Elite season is in the books, with Gerald Swindle proving to be the overall best angler on the tour. This is the second Angler of the Year more

• Friendly Competition

  Thursday, September 15, 2016 By Joe Balog

  This week marked the last regular season event for the B.A.S.S. Elite tour, resulting in the Top 50 moving to the AOY Championship. Ott DeFoe took down the title, more

• Loss Of A Landmark

  Thursday, September 8, 2016 By Joe Balog

  With the B.A.S.S. Elite Tour in its final stages for 2016 and FLW on break, big news in the industry came in the announcement of the 2017 Elite schedule and the more

• Definition Of A Legend

  Thursday, September 1, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Big news came from the B.A.S.S. camp recently with the announcement of a new category of Elite qualifiers for the 2017 season, although it seemed to have slipped more

• A Fishing Life

  Thursday, August 25, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Lucy held the football, daring him to kick it. For years, Charlie Brown had fallen for the gag, giving it his best attempt, only to have Lucy pull the ball away more

• Belief

  Thursday, August 18, 2016 By Joe Balog

  John Cox doesn’t care what you think. He’s not concerned if you call him "Tin Man" or scoff at the possibility of him competing against anglers with more

• $300,000 Worth Of Sacrifice

  Thursday, August 11, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Another FLW championship is in the books, another champion has been crowned. As predicted, this year’s event was a real memory-maker, resulting in an outcome never more

• The Summer Championship

  Thursday, August 4, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The first week of August brings us the FLW World Championship, as 50 anglers will take to Alabama’s Wheeler Lake in pursuit of the Forrest Wood Cup. Interest more

• Attention Readers

  Thursday, July 28, 2016 By Joe Balog

  I’ve always appreciated a show of athletic dominance in professional fishing. Recently, the best players on each major tour didn’t disappoint, as KVD put the screws more

• As Good As It Gets

  Monday, July 25, 2016 By Miles Burghoff

  I have, on rare occasions, asked myself, “Is there anything else I would want to do with my life?” Usually this question comes up in situations of duress – more

• The Results Are In

  Thursday, July 21, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Last week brought the ICAST show to Orlando, and attendees were greeted with everything new in fishing. As reported here, I attended in order to uncover all the more

• Orlando Gold Rush

  Thursday, July 14, 2016 By Joe Balog

  It was the 1930s – a time when fishermen sought dinner, not fortune and fame. Long before anything resembling a fishing “industry” took hold, a man in Finland more

• New Regs Will Have Positive Impact On Florida

  Friday, July 8, 2016 By Steve Boyd

  After reading Joe Balog's opinion piece, I hope someone provided him with a chill pill. I was anxiously waiting for his thoughts on this new law, especially after more

• Management For The Future

  Thursday, July 7, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The state of Florida recently made a bold move with a major change in harvest regulations for largemouth bass. While tournaments will be exempt provided they play more

• Only Human

  Thursday, June 30, 2016 By Joe Balog

  You gotta feel bad for the guy. Greg Hackney was poised to wrap up another Bassmaster Angler of the Year title. He had won the same award in 2014; multiple more

• Inside Mark Rose (Part 2)

  Thursday, June 23, 2016 By Joe Balog

  “I’m a hunter. And good hunters learn the movements of the critter they’re after.” At this point, I was beginning to see the true Mark Rose. My relentless questioning, more

• The Ledge Master

  Thursday, June 16, 2016 By Joe Balog

  There’s three things you can count on this time of year: the spawn’s over, the fish have moved offshore, and Mark Rose is going to catch them. It seems each more

• Cream Rises To The Top

  Thursday, June 9, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Give praise where it’s due. Today, I give praise to Edwin Evers. I’m sure the 2016 Classic champ isn’t overly concerned about earning my recognition, with all more

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  Confidence And Momentum

  Wednesday, June 8, 2016 By Miles Burghoff

  Confidence and momentum are everything in this sport. Everyone is looking for that little boost that propels them toward achieving their goals. In fishing, more

• Hey, It’s A Free Country

  Thursday, June 2, 2016 By Joe Balog

  In a recent post on the Bassmaster more

• These Are The Days

  Thursday, May 26, 2016 By Joe Balog

  As an obsessive fan of professional bass fishing, I can attest that we have entered the second golden age since the turn of the century. I’ll always argue that more

• Luke’s Take

  Thursday, May 19, 2016 By Joe Balog

  “I’m not going to give up and lay down, (but) my year’s pretty much screwed. My head’s definitely not with it right now, with all this going on”. Luke Clausen more

• What’s Next?

  Thursday, May 12, 2016 By Joe Balog

  We discussed last week the series of events that occurred during the Bassmaster Elite event at Lake Wheeler and, in particular, the disqualification of pro fishing more

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  Diversification Helps Pay The Bills

  Thursday, May 5, 2016 By Miles Burghoff

  Nobody said it’d be easy. In fact, when it comes to trying to make a living in the fishing profession, almost everyone says it’s quite the opposite. I’m more

• Fuzzy Lines

  Thursday, May 5, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Wheeler’s in the books, and with it came a few notable events. Takahiro returned to the winner’s circle, an original FLW grinder finally showed his stuff and the more

• Fishing’s True Superpower

  Thursday, April 28, 2016 By Joe Balog

  I grew up in a different era. When I was a teenager, guys still gathered around to talk fishing at the local tackle store. Exaggerated truths were the norm, but more

• Continued Sun Exposure May Lead to Cancer

  Thursday, April 21, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Last week, we talked sun safety, dispelled a few myths, and got the ball rolling on how to better protect ourselves. As we discussed, skin cancer is more prevalent more

• That Deep, Dark, Native Tan

  Thursday, April 14, 2016 By Joe Balog

  A few fishing trips with close friends here in Florida got me thinking. All shared a common factor: while spending quality time in the boat, I learned each of more

• Jersey Boys

  Thursday, April 7, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Sport-show season can be a bore, but it often leads to interesting conversation. As industry insiders have extra time on their hands while standing around, any more

• A Nice Gesture

  Thursday, March 31, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Recent news took the bass tournament industry by storm, as the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) enacted rules governing tournaments on the state’s more

• Lessons From The Master

  Thursday, March 24, 2016 By Joe Balog

  “For the first time in my life, I no longer feared death.” – Rick Clunn, describing the final day of the 1990 Bassmaster Classic. Sometime around 2002, more

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  Cook Called, Clunn Answered – I Listened

  Tuesday, March 22, 2016 By Alan McGuckin

  I went to the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in Palatka, Fla., last Tuesday afternoon looking for a payphone – the payphone that helped change the life of more

• New Potomac Regs Anger Anglers

  Thursday, March 17, 2016 By Steve Chaconas

  What happened to the Potomac River? Through the early B.A.S.S. tournament days, the Nation's River was the site of perennial pro slugfests and was near the top more

• Mental Mastery

  Wednesday, March 16, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The headlines seemed almost contradictory. One day, the big news was all about how badly Bryan Thrift had slumped, the next day I’m reading about him winning a more

• An Honor Just To Be There

  Monday, March 14, 2016 By Miles Burghoff

  It's now a cliché, but when people say, “Fishing is a humbling sport,” there is an overwhelming truth in that. There is no other sport in the world that I more

• The Greatest Classic Triumph?

  Thursday, March 10, 2016 By Joe Balog

  There are certain moments in professional bass fishing that will always be ingrained in the minds of fans. Last Sunday, on the final day of the 2016 BassMaster more

• Potential For A Record-Breaker

  Thursday, March 3, 2016 By Joe Balog

  The Classic is upon us. As I mentioned last week, nothing gets me charged like the Big Show. It’s here we see true validity in our sport; even occasional credibility more

• Game-Changers

  Thursday, February 25, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Ah, the Classic. Bass fishing’s undisputed Super Bowl. No event brings more excitement to our sport; nowhere is the tension so high. I’ve seen the Classic turn more

• (Un)explainable

  Thursday, February 18, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Things have been relatively quiet this week in the world of pro bass fishing. We’ve got the Classic coming up; always the highlight of my year as a press observer. more

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  New Year Off To A Hectic Start

  Thursday, February 11, 2016 By Miles Burghoff

  The new year is here and it has hit the ground running! I can’t believe how quickly time has passed since we rang in 2016, but I guess that's just a sign that more

• Science, Nature and Ethics: Creating Balance

  Thursday, February 11, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Over the last few weeks, we’ve discussed here the potential impacts of targeting bass during their nesting season and how that may affect the overall health of more

• Science And The Impact Of Bed-Fishing

  Thursday, February 4, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Last week, I discussed the impact of catching bass during the nesting season. A subject of debate likely since bass fishing began, the topic today is of even greater more

• For The Love Of Bass

  Thursday, January 28, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Effectively tired of mediocre catches, I was convinced the best way to a really big fish was with a shiner. Without question, more big bass in Florida are caught more

• Luring Customers

  Thursday, January 21, 2016 By Joe Balog

  With the darkness of winter comes anticipation for bass anglers. It’s the time of year when new product showcases grace the pages of our favorite magazines and more

• Support From The Masses

  Thursday, January 14, 2016 By Joe Balog

  Keeping up with current events, big news comes this week with the start of the tournament season as things got under way in south Florida at the Lake Okeechobee more

• The End Of An Era?

  Thursday, January 7, 2016 By Joe Balog

  After a brief period away from my duties here, I’m excited to get back to business. The world of bass fishing leaps into the New Year with an optimistic direction, more