Balog's Bass War
One part flip, one part skip

Current Columns

• Dog Eat Dog

  Thursday, December 15, 2022 By Joe Balog

  With the Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off in the books, Collin Smith became the final qualifier for the 2023 Bassmaster Classic. Smith is a solid more

• The Purge

  Thursday, December 8, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Tackle collection is a big part of bass fishing. I use that word on purpose. While many lures serve roles as fish-catchers, just as many, if not more, wind up more

• Losing On A Royal Flush

  Thursday, December 1, 2022 By Joe Balog

  I want to dive a little deeper into the recent format change adopted by MLF for the Bass Pro Tour, taking the majority of events from a “catch-all-you-can” standard more

• Chosen Few

  Thursday, November 17, 2022 By Joe Balog

  As a columnist for a few different publications, I frequently cross back and forth with my subject matter. Such was the case when I recently interviewed a bunch more

• Big Changes Coming

  Monday, November 14, 2022 By Miles Burghoff

  My 2022 tournament season has officially come to an end. This year will certainly go down in my record books as one that offered some hard lessons. On one more

• Double-Digit Smallmouth A Reality

  Thursday, November 10, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Big news around the sport this week centered on an outstanding catch from my old stomping grounds. Visiting the Canadian waters of Lake Erie, Ohio angler Greg more

• Two Items of Business (And A $1 Charger)

  Thursday, November 3, 2022 By Joe Balog

  This week at Balog’s Bass War, we take on the extraordinary task of tackling two subjects in the space of one column. While this circumstance may seem rather straightforward, more

• SaveJT.com

  Thursday, October 27, 2022 By Joe Balog

  In a world of doubt, today we focus on hope. We’ll breathe a collective sigh of sadness, as each and every one of us reflects how good we have it, and just more

• No Place For Hypocrisy

  Thursday, October 20, 2022 By Joe Balog

  “That’s not bass fishing,” my buddy said. I had to agree. We watched the tournament angler in what now could be called “bass pro pose." Foot on the trolling more

• An Unbiased Look

  Thursday, October 13, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Today’s media offers lots of options for learning about bass fishing. Whether an accomplished angler or new to the sport, without question there’s video material more

• Cheaters Never Win

  Thursday, October 6, 2022 By Joe Balog

  The tournament fishing world came to a screeching halt this week with the release of news covering a cheating scandal on the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT). This more

• Holding Out

  Thursday, September 29, 2022 By Joe Balog

  I finally have a hero. Since the inception of this column, I’ve been reluctant to ever pin the hero tag on a professional bass fisherman. First responders who more

• Grow Facility

  Thursday, September 22, 2022 By Joe Balog

  While lake managers across the country continue their war on aquatic vegetation, in North Carolina, they’re growing the stuff. The recent story on AFTCO’s more

• Testing The Best

  Thursday, September 15, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Recent events renewed my internal struggle as to what constitutes the ultimate bass tournament. Are the toughest grinds the real test of the best, or do slugfests more

• Hot New Lures? Not

  Thursday, September 8, 2022 By Joe Balog

  With another Bassmaster Elite season in the books, it’s time to dig in and uncover what patterns took the top spots. More accurately, let’s have a look at the more

• A Lifetime Ago

  Thursday, September 1, 2022 By Joe Balog

  A death in the family had taken me back 30 years. Close friends of my parents had earned “aunt and uncle” status long ago without need of relation. My dear aunt more

• Inherited Greatness

  Thursday, August 25, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Spencer Shuffield’s got a story to tell. It ends just about the way you’d imagine. Son of a legendary bass pro, excelling in a sport he was brought up in, taking more

• One Man’s Story … And a River Runs Through It

  Thursday, August 18, 2022 By Joe Balog

  My job as a content builder takes me to new places all the time. I’m rarely in front of the camera anymore, instead concentrating my efforts on providing cool more

• Never A Lock

  Thursday, August 11, 2022 By Joe Balog

  With time running out, we’ve got a clear leader in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year competition. Brandon Palaniuk holds a 41-point edge with two events to fish. more

• Drip. Drip.

  Thursday, August 4, 2022 By Joe Balog

  I make it a point to tune in to most big-league bass tournaments, blasting a live broadcast on one computer while I work on the other. Office jobs are a bore and more

• ICAST 2022

  Thursday, July 28, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Last week found the bass fishing world at ICAST, the annual tackle show that showcases new items, reveals notable industry trends and hypes up just about everything. more

• The Last Frontier

  Thursday, July 21, 2022 By Joe Balog

  History was made last week when two anglers broke the 100-pound weight mark with bags exclusively composed of smallmouth bass at the Elite Series event on the more

• Sixth Sense

  Thursday, July 14, 2022

  "Go with the flow." I always thought that saying was a hippie thing. Turns out, it was coined in the 2nd century Roman Empire by Marcus Aurelius. more

• Guided By Fear Of Failure

  Friday, July 8, 2022 By Miles Burghoff

  I’ve been writing this column for BassFan for well over a decade now. In that time I’ve written about a multitude of successes, challenges and opportunities. more

• Modern Athlete

  Thursday, July 7, 2022 By Joe Balog

  “Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.” –Professional more

• Unstoppable

  Thursday, June 30, 2022 By Joe Balog

  The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win. The origination of this quote remains a mystery. I’ve seen it credited to Bear more

• Their Nets Began To Break

  Thursday, June 23, 2022 By Joe Balog

  It’s been a few years since I’ve interviewed Nick LeBrun. At the time, he was chasing down the Forrest Wood Cup, not long after posting an All-American win more

• Turnkey Operation

  Thursday, June 16, 2022

  It ain’t easy being a fishing guide. Romanticized by those who don’t understand, the job of a guide is anything but dreamy. Waking at ridiculous hours, fishing more

• Free Pass

  Thursday, June 9, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Automatic berth. That’s a popular phrase this week at the Bass Pro Tour event on Watts Bar lake. Unique to the BPT format, the auto berth allows winners of more

• Father Of Finesse, Vol. I

  Thursday, June 2, 2022 By Joe Balog

  “Oneness is a pursuit of perfection.” That's what Ned Kehde told me. You’ll recognize his name as the leading pioneer in today’s finesse craze, coined “Ned more

• The King And His Castle

  Thursday, May 26, 2022 By Joe Balog

  The King of Lake Fork continued his reign last week, as Lee Livesay snuck in a late-day giant to again take the crown at the Bassmaster Elite Series event. Livesay more

• Starting Over

  Thursday, May 19, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Nick LeBrun just conquered Lake Guntersville, taking down the MLF Pro Circuit event by catching a great stringer on the final day of competition. Lebrun executed more

• An Unexpected Response

  Tuesday, May 17, 2022 By Miles Burghoff

  While out trying to dial things in during my last day of practice for the Lake Guntersville MLF Pro Circuit event, my wife sent me a text informing me of the passing more

• The King Is Gone

  Thursday, May 12, 2022 By Joe Balog

  The bass fishing world mourns this week with the passing of Ray Scott. Words cannot describe his impact on the sport we all love and enjoy. Scott was everything. By more

• Siren’s Call

  Thursday, May 5, 2022 By Joe Balog

  You have to get over the splash. That’s the first step. I’d guessed that the thunderous depth-charge created by casting a six-ounce lure would spook a few bass. more

• The Observer Speaks

  Thursday, April 28, 2022

  I came across a captivating book about bass; one that I instantly added to my ''best of'' list. Glen Lau, the iconic filmmaker and diver, teamed up with prolific more

• The Legend Lives On

  Thursday, April 21, 2022 By Joe Balog

  It was a lousy day for a bass tournament. A stiff northwest breeze kicked Lake Erie into its typical springtime fury. If anything, winds were forecasted to more

• Three, two, one. No?

  Thursday, April 14, 2022

  Postponements and cancellations are commonplace in today’s world of tournament bass fishing. But are shortened derbies still a test of the best? And are competitors more

• The Conservation Front

  Thursday, April 7, 2022

  I was happy to accept an invite to a conservation presentation while attending the REDCREST event recently. Here, writers like me were better introduced to a number more

• A Win For The (Older) Ages

  Thursday, March 31, 2022

  The final of day of the REDCREST Championship became a battle of two teams representing professional bass fishing. The forward-facing sonar team vs. old-school more

• Triple-Digit Disaster

  Thursday, March 24, 2022 By Miles Burghoff

  I feel like I've generally been fishing pretty well for the last several years. I’ve compiled a good number of Top-10 finishes and made it to the TITLE Championship more

• REDCREST Preview

  Thursday, March 24, 2022

  This week brings us REDCREST, the BPT championship and crowning achievement of Major League Fishing. For the first time since its inception, the event will be more

• Gamers

  Thursday, March 17, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Always the fan, I turned my attention to whatever live tournament broadcast was available and found myself settling in to watch the MLF Pro Circuit attack the more

• A Champion’s Champion

  Thursday, March 10, 2022

  Another Classic is in the books, resulting in a champion that surprised no one. Well, except me. Now, I’ve been a Jason Christie fan forever. Regular readers more

• Classic Primer

  Thursday, March 3, 2022 By Joe Balog

  This week, of course, brings us to the Bassmaster Classic – the original World Championship of Bass Fishing. The 55 top B.A.S.S. anglers will compete on Lake Hartwell, more

• Internal Debate

  Thursday, February 24, 2022 By Joe Balog

  More than ever, we’re able to communicate effective techniques for catching bass. The world of online video tutorials has shortened the learning curve better than more

• It Could've Been Much Better

  Tuesday, February 22, 2022

  The first event of the 2022 MLF Pro Circuit season is officially in the books and my fourth year on the circuit is officially underway. Finishing 55th at Sam Rayburn more

• Road Trip

  Thursday, February 17, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Fans of the Bass Pro Tour were greeted with fireworks last week as the league’s top pros put on a show at previously discreet Louisiana fisheries. Lake D’Arbonne, more

• Forward Thinkers

  Thursday, February 10, 2022 By Joe Balog

  As bass fishermen, we’ve got it pretty good. Much better than my buddies who fish in the salt. A case in point: I was just greeted by an “emergency email” more

• Roll Your Own

  Thursday, February 3, 2022 By Joe Balog

  The 2022 professional bass fishing season got underway last week with the Pro Circuit event on Sam Rayburn. Michael Neal picked up where he left off, bringing more

• Florida Hype

  Thursday, January 27, 2022 By Joe Balog

  It’s that time of year again; anglers from all over the country come to Florida to vacation, compete in tournaments or just get out of the cold and wet a line. more

• Golden Opportunity

  Thursday, January 20, 2022 By Joe Balog

  Everybody has a favorite. For many, it’s topwaters. A strong finesse contingent exists, too. And of course there’s always been bass anglers wild about flipping, more

• Breaking Down The Pro Circuit Schedule

  Tuesday, January 18, 2022 By Miles Burghoff

  In tournament fishing, you never know when your next Top-10, win, or triple-digit finish will occur. Sure, we can usually make an educated guess about which more

• Not Afraid To Look In The Mirror

  Thursday, January 13, 2022 By Joe Balog

  A recent news release grabbed my attention. Agencies studying Toledo Bend grass decline, as reported here on BassFan, discusses the baffling disappearance more

• You Can Bet On It

  Thursday, January 6, 2022 By Joe Balog

  The new year greets us with a fresh start to big-league bass, as the major tournament trails prepare for the season ahead. As always, my goal here is to inform more