What's a FARSMBIBT? I'm glad you asked....it was the First Annual Ron Schara Minnesota Bound Invitational Bass Tournament held August 1-2 on Gull Lake in MN. The event included over 45 professional bass anglers and raised funds for the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame. On Thursday evening Ron Schara hosted a dinner in honor of the MN hall of famers and the who's who of fishing showed up. They were met by my kids and many others for autographs and photos. Where else can you rub elbows with the likes of the Lindners, Mr. Walleye Gary Roach, Dave Genz and of course, Ron Schara?!!

Here's a nice picture of my boys meeting Gary Roach. And I know you're interested in some inside information so here's a nugget. Gary Roach will be featured on Season 2 of Legends of Rod & Reel.

We had a chance to catch some nice fish on Gull Lake while the tournament was going on. We hung out with Travis Frank from www.trophyencounters.com and caught some nice bass (sorry tournament anglers!) and a bunch of nice blue gills. Great fun was had by all of us! Here's a shot of Aaron with his first blue gill!

You know when you're a member of the MN Fishing HOF like Ron Schara, you can't pass up a chance to fish. He's Ron at the trout pond and in true legend form, he was one of the few to actually catch one!

I took my 9 yr old son Theo out with a guide last week, Travis Frank from Trophy Encounters in the Minneapolis area. www.trophyecounters.com.

Our trip was planned on short notice; I didn't tell Theo until we were in the car on the way to the lake around 5:00 PM. Needless to say when I told him we were going out with Travis to chase big walleyes and bass, he was pretty excited. Theo sat in Travis' boat several weeks ago while it was trailered at a local sporting goods store so he knew that we were about to be treated to a first-class experience! 

We eventually made it to the marina and Travis was ready to roll. He gave Theo a Ranger hat which Theo proudly wore and then it was off to our first  walleye hot-spot.

If you've ever fished with Travis you know it didn't take long for us to boat our first fish. In fact, Travis had a nice walleye hooked on the first cast but was a little cocky trying to swing it into the boat and it came off.

A few casts later travis set the hook and handed the rod to Theo. We were all pretty excited when Theo fought the fish and boated a nice 17" largemouth bass. It was the biggest bass of Theo's life by about 6"! A few casts later we caught another 15" bass followed by another 17"er...Theo had a blast reeling them in
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 We set off for a new fishing spot that Travis new would generate more action for us....he was right! Theo hooked the largest Northern of his life (6#)!

While the walleye never really turned on that evening, Travis still managed to put Theo on his first ever walleye and me onto the largest crappie of my career...15".

As the sun set on our perfect evening of fishing it was clear that Travis had provided a fishing experience that neither father nor son would soon forget. Thanks Travis for sharing your passion for fishing and life. And to everyone else, follow Travis' lead and introduce a kid to the outdoors this weekend!