Lewis Smith Lake FLW Tour

The second FLW Tour event of the year took place this past weekend at Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama.  I had a better result than I did at Lake Okeechobee, but still didn't do as good as I had hoped I would.  The event turned into a scramble for me in that I really had to work hard for the fish I caught so to squeak a cheque could be considered a success...As always, it was a lot of fun!  

Lewis Smith is a great spotted bass fishery and after the tournament I really figured things out and got on some big fish.  I took out a couple of sponsor people (through Tempstar) following the tournament and we had a great time.  These are all really good quality fish at this lake.  

This is a big spot that I caught on the last day of practice on a spot that I caught fish on in the tournament.  On a Jackall Squad Minnow jerkbait.  

Here is a big largemouth from practise.  Unfortunately I didn't score any green fish in the tournament.  

Throughout the week in Jasper, Alabama the nights got cold and there was plenty of frost on everything in the mornings.  

After the tournament I fished with my friend Blake Nick (FLW Tour pro) on the nearby Warrior River.  Blake grew up fishing this river so he knew where to find some fish!  He also showed me how to catch some fish on an Alabama Rig, something I needed some work on.  

Largemouths from my day fishing with Blake on the Warrior River. 

Smith is also full of big Striped Bass...here was a good one from the last day of fishing there...they are super tough critters!  

Next event is at Beaver Lake in Arkansas in early April!  Can't wait to get back at it!  In the meantime I'm headed south to the Dominican Republic for my friend Scott Dingwall's wedding, then a week of ice fishing in Sunset Country before I head south again.  

Fishing in Sunset Country

Check out this awesome video clip promoting fishing in Ontario's Sunset Country Region! 
It made my day!

Ontario's Sunset Country "The Great Canadian Experience" from Krugerfarms.com on Vimeo.

For information about visiting Ontario's Sunset Country Region, check out their website at www.ontariossunsetcountry.ca 

You can book your dream fishing or hunting trip with the information found here.  Enjoy!  
-Gussy 

Warming up in Florida

I'm checking in from Clewiston, Florida where the 2013 FLW Tour bass ciruit is slated to get started this week at Lake Okeechobee.  I left Kenora about two weeks ago and I'm not missing the cold weather!  I had to spend a few days in Minnesota on the way down while I had my new boat wrapped.  I'm running the same boat as the past few years, a Lund Predator 2010 with a 225 Mercury ProXS.  My buddy from home Brian McNanney made the big drive to Florida with me and we spent the past week fun fishing a number of different lakes.  Lake Okeechobee has been off-limits for the past couple weeks for tournament anglers which is why I haven't been fishing at Okeechobee.  The official practice starts tomorrow and I'm pumped up to get out there.  We get three days to practice (Sun, Mon, Tues), followed by a day off, then the tournament starts on Thursday.  I can't wait to get things going!  Here are some photos from the past week.  

Here is Brian with the biggest fish of the week, a 9 pounder that he caught on a 7/8 oz Northland Jungle Jig tipped with an Impulse Brush Beaver.  It was a hog!  He actually caught two 9 pound fish, both from the same lake, a small one in central Florida.  

My biggest fish of the week was a 7 pounder from Lake Istokpoga, caught on a Jackall Ammonite Shad.  It is an awesome swimbait for fishing on the surface in these Florida lakes.  Great bait to find fish and you will get some big bites.  

Here is a picture of the new boat.  It looks pretty good!  

I picked up a couple of the new Loomis GLX flipping sticks before I came down and they are some of the nicest rods that I have ever used!  They are worth the money if you are a serious bass angler!  I'm using the 7'5" model for throwing the Ammonite Shad and a 7'11" model for fishing the big jigs and flipping.  Super light but they are really strong.  

Follow the tournament results this week at www.flwoutdoors.com
You can watch the weigh-ins live each day starting on Thursday.  Wish me luck!!! 

Fishing with Grandpa

My Grandpa, Wally Stewart passed away earlier this week in Kenora.  He had a big influence on my love for the outdoors when I was little kid and I'm so thankful to him for that.  He had a great life and lived to be 87 years old!  

This was one of the of the last trips that we took a few years ago on Lake of the Woods.  He liked to catch anything that bit the end of his line.  He loved to eat walleyes...except he always called them "pickerel"!  

This photo was taken are old family cabin in Echo Bay on Lake of the Woods.  This was where I learned to fish at a very young age and fell in love with it!  In the photo, my Grandma Helen Stewart (she passed away in 2003), Grandpa Wally Stewart, my Dad Jim Gustafson (holding me when I was about 2) and my Uncle Jim Brigham.  Looks like everyone had a pretty good day there!  

Grandpa with a lake trout from Williams Lake, north of Kenora.  This was one of our favourite places to fish growing up and we made trips in there every spring.  

I wrote my newspaper column "The Livewell" about Grandpa this week.  You can check it out here:

http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2013/01/15/memories-with-grandpa

If you have the opportunity to take your kids or grandkids fishing or involve them in any sort of outdoor activity, don't let the opportunity go by...life is short!  

Ice fishing season is here!

Over the past couple of weeks since hunting season ended I have been on the ice with my friends catching some fish.  Walleyes mostly, with a little bit of crappie action mixed in.  It's fun to get out there, the early season ice bite is usually pretty good.  

Here is a big walleye I caught with Jamie Bruce while he and I were on a scouting mission checking out a new lake for crappies.  We didn't find the crappies that day, but we'll be back!  

Jamie with a big walleye he caught while we were filming a segment for Fishing with Gussy on the Winnipeg River.  It was a beauty!  Caught on one of the new Northland Whistler Spoons!

This is how we travel when we head into the back lakes for on our scouting missions looking for new places to fish.  Pile everything we need into our Frabill shelters and go!  On this day we went into a small crappie lake and caught some GIANTS!  I don't have any photos to post but we did shoot a nice TV segment which will air in March.  

This reel is the Cadillac for ice fishing - a new Shimano Stradic FJ - rigged on a Frabill Ice Hunter 38" heavy rod - the one I helped design.  It's a great combo for lake trout and walleyes!