4/11/2011
Mike McClelland - Pit Stop in Bella Vista
On to Toledo Bend

After missing $10,000 paychecks in back to back tournaments by less than two pounds total, I got a little fired up and left Pickwick that night.

Instead of driving to Toledo Bend, I decided it was time for a little regrouping, so I went home for a couple of days instead. I got home Friday morning at about 2:00AM

I'm glad I did, because I'd been on the road for three weeks, and not only was it time to reorganize the Hefty Bag storage system in my Tundra, but I just flat missed my family.

Noah, my youngest is in the middle of baseball season, and he had a game scheduled for Saturday, so I'll get to go to that. We took him to the batting cages Friday night for a little tune up before the game.

I had lunch with my Mom and Dad on Friday, and unloaded a Hefty Jumbo sized bag full of dirty laundry into the washing machine to get caught up on that, and I'll spend some time taking some of my early season baits out of the truck too.

I had this 2.5 gallon Hefty One Zip that I was storing extra SPRO McStick jerkbaits and Little Fat John crankbaits in that I've been moving in and out of my Stratos Elite 210 and Tundra since the Classic. I've also got extra Jewel Jigs and Zoom Plastics and bulk storage of Sunline that I'll be able to lighten up and organize a little bit now. Stacy is going to a Charity event, and I'll use that time to do that task.

We'll get a date night together while I'm home; and the extra, unplanned family time; as short as it will be is special.

I got up and went to the early service on Sunday with the boat in tow and headed to Toledo Bend from there.

I'm ready to put these tournaments behind me and move into a time of the year that more suits my style. This is when I can hunt groups of fish offshore instead of individual fish; I'm looking forward to starting fresh.

For more on Mike McClelland, visit www.mikemcclellandfishing.com.

3/8/2011
Mike McClelland - Prepping for Florida
A Hefty Organization Project

I’m in Florida now for the start of the Elite Series season, and I’m glad it’s here.

My 2011 Bassmaster Classic didn’t go as I’d hoped it would; not making the top 25 cut is certainly something I would have guessed, but I can take away one positive thought. It took Kevin VanDam until his 11th trip to the event to win his first, so I still can catch him; this was my eighth trip.

I have to thank Mercury and their service crews. They had the foresight to station a service crew in Venice, 100 miles from the takeoff, and I had to use them. I hit something hard and tore up my lower unit to the point where the prop shaft was bent, and I wouldn’t have been able to make it too much farther or back for that matter.

They got me fixed up and back on my way quickly. Those guys are real professionals, and for Mercury to have a crew down there is testament to Mercury’s commitment to their team members and the sport as a whole.

After the Classic, I went home and started getting the gear together for the rest of the year, and it was a major undertaking.

The first thing I did was to get my maps organized. Over the years I have gathered quite a collection of lake maps from my tournament fishing all over the country, and I put them all in a big box that I had to sort through every time I wanted to study.

Stacy and I remedied that by organizing my maps into regions, or states where I had more maps. We took a two and half gallon Hefty One Zip bag and organized an entire region into it. I took all of my maps from Alabama and put them into the two and a half gallon bag, then placed all of them into one 11-gallon bag for easy storage and access.



I did the same thing with my soft plastics. I put my Zoom Plastics; in their original bags, into gallon size Hefty One Zip storage bags by color. Then I put the gallon size bags into the two and a half gallon size by bait type. Then, once I pack my Toyota Tundra for a trip to tournaments, I put those bait types into the 11-gallon size to keep them all organized.

I do the same thing with my raingear; my Mustang Survival PFD’s and even my spools of Sunline FX2 braid and Fluorocarbon. The Hefty Sportsman Series has really helped me organize my life on the road.

I spent as much time with the family as I could before I had to leave. My youngest son had baseball tryouts, so we spent a little time at the batting cages getting tuned up.

Other than that, I’m ready for Florida, and I’m trying to figure out the best program for the week. I was fortunate to be able to win last time we were at the Harris Chain; we’ll see what I can do this week.

For more on Mike McClelland, visit www.mikemcclellandfishing.com.

2/11/2011
Mike McClelland is In Louisiana
Cajun for a Week

By the time you read this I’ll be practicing for the Bassmaster Classic on the Louisiana Delta.

I had to get out of town early, because Bella Vista, Ark., like most of the Midwest was about to be hammered by another big storm. The last one brought a whole bunch of ice and snow to the Midwest, and if I’d have stayed, there was a chance I could get stuck; so I packed up and got out early.

Truthfully, I would have liked to have stayed at home with Stacy and the boys, but I couldn’t risk getting stuck with the storm.

I went to the Atchafalaya Basin for a couple days to kill time and get comfortable with the area again. It was great to pick up a Falcon Flippin’ Stick and try my hand at the long rod again for a while. I expect that a Jewel J-Lock Flippin’ Jig could play a role for me, but I’m also playing with our new punching skirt system and that could play a factor with a Zoom Brush Hog or Speed Craw in the grass.

I’m expecting that my War Eagle Mike McClelland Finesse spinnerbait could play a role for me down here. I’ll just play it all by ear as we go through practice.

I spent a couple of days working a dealer open house in Wheelersburg, Ohio for Stratos at Freedom Marine. I got to spend some time with Gerald Swindle and Shaw Grigsby there, and that was a good time. From everything I’m hearing, they may have sold as many as a dozen boats over the course of the weekend, and it feels good to have been a part of helping sell some new Stratos boats.

A funny story from the trip, I think I may have pushed it a little too much on the way down here. I almost ran my Toyota Tundra out of fuel; by the time I got to the fuel pump, I think there was just over a gallon left in the tank. The good news is, I know how much range my truck has, the bad news is, I was thinking about how to disconnect the fuel line from my Mercury Pro XS 250 to steal some fuel from the boat; that wouldn’t have been good to do again.

Anyway, Stacy, the boys and my dad will be coming to New Orleans on Tuesday to start setting up the booth for Hefty at the Classic Expo. It will be a busy time, but I’m looking forward to it all coming together.

For more on Mike McClelland, visit www.mikemcclellandfishing.com.

1/29/2011
Mike McClelland - Final Preparations
Stratos Open House and Getting the Rig Ready

I’m still on the Stratos Open House circuit each weekend. I’m at Dawson Marine in Houston, Tex. this weekend, and these folks have been great.

Speaking of Stratos; I finally hooked on to mine and took it out on the water for a little bit to tune up some McStick jerkbaits for my upcoming outing for Don Wirth’s Bassmaster Day on the Lake Series. I can’t wait to get out and give this boat a go for real.

I’ve been spending time getting myself ready for the Classic practice, which is only a couple of weeks away at this point. But, part of getting ready is rigging up all of the new gear from our sponsors. I’ve been playing recently with the new Quantum Smoke PT reels. They feel really good. I’ve always used the Tour Edition PT reels, and these feel like they have all of the same features of our high end reels, at a little more economical price.



Knowing that I’ll be hitting the road for weeks at a time, I’ve been busy packing up the Tundra and the Stratos for the trips. I switched my Truck Vault from the back of my old truck to the bed of the Tundra, and it worked – with a little modification.

I put the thing up into the bed, and because I didn’t take the bed liner out of the Tundra, I had just a little bit of it hanging over that wouldn’t let the tailgate shut. Instead of taking everything out, I got my Dremel tool out and modified the bed liner so that the Truck Vault would fit. Now it’s perfect and I’m ready to go.

Aside from packing and playing with tackle, I’ve been spending as much time with Stacy and the boys as I can. We watched the football playoffs last weekend, and while I don’t have any favorites left in the playoff; they both turned out to be pretty good games.

I’m also now on Facebook so if you get a chance, find me on there and “like” my fan page.

For more on Mike McClelland, visit www.mikemcclellandfishing.com.

1/14/2011
McClelland - Running and Gunning
Stratos, Wraps, Rods and Day on the Lake

I’m sitting at the airport getting ready to fly to Kentucky for the Pittsburg Marine open house in London, Kent. in support of Stratos.

I really enjoy working these kinds of things because the people that come to one of these dealer open houses are interested in learning more about the boats. At a regular sports show, people are there to walk around and see the sights, but the folks at a dealership really want to know about the boats.

Forrest Wood’s grandson Keith Daffron will be there as well, Keith is the Vice President of Sales for the Company, as will Jay Yelas. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to Jay, so it’ll be cool to catch up with him.

This will be a quick trip; the guys at Pittsburg worked it out so that I’d be home tomorrow evening to spend Sunday with the family; that is always appreciated.



I just got my boat back from Transport Graphics, and it looks great. I was going to pick it up earlier, but the weather around here made traveling a little difficult. They did a great job on the wrap, I really like the way they integrated the Hefty One Zip graphics with the Falcon and Mustang Survival logos on my Stratos and the new Tundra.

I sent the pictures over to Gemini Sports Marketing to let them work on matching the colors and they decided they could do some more with the graphics to make them match the wrap graphics. I didn’t ask them to do that, but they really go the extra mile for us, and that’s really cool.



I’m getting all prepared for my Day on the Lake filming with Don Wirth for Bassmaster Magazine. Now that the weather’s getting a little better, it looks like we’ll be able to do it next week. He told me the town I’m going to, but won’t give me a clue about what lake we’re fishing. His approach for these articles is one of us going to a lake we’ve never been to before, so they’re always a secret.

I’m sure that the conditions will be perfect for the things I like to do the best; throw my SPRO McStick and McRip jerkbaits as well as my Jewel Football Jigs. I think the conditions will be perfect for that, but I might have to mix in a Jewel Squirrel Head and Zoom Finesse Worm if it gets really tough.

I’m also looking forward to trying my new prototype Falcon jerkbait rod; I think we’re calling it the McStick or McTwitch rod, but we’re not 100-percent sure yet. The rod is 6’9” with a split grip and has the micro guides. They are super light and can’t wait to give it a try to see if the production models are as good as I expect them to be.

For more on Mike McClelland, visit www.mikemcclellandfishing.com.

1/7/2011
McBlog - A Hefty Schedule
Boats, Bags and Tavel for Mike McClelland

The biggest part of this week has been spent getting myself back into the swing of things on the business side of the game after the Holidays.

I’ve been finalizing truck and boat wraps, getting my jerseys ordered and setting up the display for the Hefty booth at the Classic. Hefty, my title sponsor is releasing a whole line of One Zip bags designed for anglers and hunters called the Sportsman’s Series. I’m helping them get all of the backdrops and displays organized so that they can display the organization system I set up in my truck and boat with the Sportsman’s Series.



I say that I’m setting it up, but everyone’s getting involved; Stacy and the boys are helping, and my dad, who has been doing outdoor shows for many years has been a huge help. My dad owns accompany called Pro Locker, that makes rod sleeves, reel covers, lure wraps and his most popular product are his Pro Locker bags, the original rod carrying bags on the market.

A lot of the Elite Series pros carry these bags because they can put their spare rods in it and put them in the back of the truck for travel. They’re organized and protected that way, and even more importantly, they’re all in one place.

My dad’s business was responsible for me becoming a tournament fisherman. We went to the 1995 Bassmaster Classic on High Rock Lake in Greensboro, NC when Mark Davis won. That was the first time I’d been to a major show, and really got the bug to do this for a living.

Anyway, my wraps are approved by all of the sponsors, and they’re at the wrap company getting installed. I thought I was going to be able to pick up my rig this week, but they want it to stay in the warmth of the shop a little longer. So, I’ll pick up my newly wrapped Hefty Sportsman’s Series Toyota Tundra and Stratos Elite 210 next week and start loading it with tackle.



I’ll be getting together with Don Wirth in the next couple of weeks to do a Day on the Lake article for Bassmaster Magazine. We’ve been watching the weather, and getting ready for it. Things look good coming up, and with the cold weather, I’m sure I’ll be able to catch them on a McStick, McRip or a Jewel Football jig.

Around all of that, I’ll be traveling for each of the next several weekends for Stratos to boat shows and in store promotions. This weekend I’ll be in Minneapolis at Warner’s Dock, next week in London, Kent. at Pittsburg Marina, then Bedford Marine in Chicago, Dawson Marine in Houston followed by Freedom Outdoors in Wheelersburg, Ohio.

After that, it will be time for the Classic, and I’m getting ready.

Visit www.mikemcclellandfishing.com for more on McClelland’s career.

12/30/2010
McBlog with Mike McClelland
Aloha

I’m feeling relaxed because we just got back from our first family vacation since Stacy and I got married almost nine years ago.

We’ve done things, and gone places as a family, but they usually revolved around fishing; not this time. We took the whole bunch of us to Hawaii for Christmas, and we had a great time. I still had to stay in touch a little with the business back home, but for the most part, I was unplugged. It was really nice to get away from the cold we’ve had around here lately.

We still dealt with a little bit of weather the first couple days, but once it cleared we got to see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Even with the weather, the coldest it got was around 65 degrees, so we were really comfortable, and spent quite a bit of time on the beach.

The most fun we had was kayaking in a bay over on the east side of Oahu. We paddled out to one of those reef islands and snorkeled around the reef. We also relaxed on the beach there, the whole thing was about the best Hawaii tourist type thing we did. Waikiki was busy, but we got away from it all and really enjoyed ourselves.

Now that we’re back at home, I’m finalizing boat and truck wraps. I did buy a new Toyota Tundra recently, so I’ll be towing my Stratos Elite 210 with that this year. Both of them are over at the graphics company getting ready for the wraps to be installed.

My sponsors on the wrap will be the same this year, Hefty, Mustang Survival and Falcon Rods will still be on there, but the color scheme has changes a little. I’ll still have the orange, but instead of the black, there will be some green involved.

Hefty has been working to bring a line of outdoorsman specific storage product, and the packaging for those will have the Hefty orange, but will incorporate greens and some camo in it; so my wrap will feature those colors.

The whole thing is approved by Hefty, Falcon and Mustang Survival, and after I made my final tweaks to it, I’m just waiting for Stratos to give their final go ahead and they’ll start on it.

I’m looking forward to getting it done and bringing it home so I can load it up for the season, when it gets here, I’ll share pictures.

www.mikemcclellandfishing.com