My 2009 Bass Snatchers Season Review

In 2009 I fished all 6 Baxter Bass Snatcher tournaments.

In the clubs official standings for the year I accumulated 160 points, which with my worst showing deducted came to my official total of 142 points which put in a tie for 12th place out of the 32 guys who fished this year. Last year I had 152 total with an official total 134 points and I came in 15th place.

This year I weighed 32 fish for a total weight of 52.06lbs or 8.68lbs per tournament and 1.63lbs per fish. My big bass of the year was 3.19lbs.

Last year I weighed 36 fish for a total weight of 65.13lbs or 10.85lbs per tournament and 1.81lbs per fish.

Even though I collected more points this year, it is pretty obvious from the other statistics that 2008 was a much better year for me in terms of the fishing. I feel I should have done better at 3 tournments this year (Cedar, South Long, Leech) where as I felt pretty good about all of the tournaments in 2008.

Even with the frustrations and tough tournaments it was a good year and as of right now I plan to fish with the Bass Snatchers again next year.

Bass Snatchers Win Challenge Cup 2009

Today was the Challenge Cup which is a longstanding contest between the Baxter Bass Snatcher Bass Club and the Range Bassmasters. By virtue of the fact that other more highly seeded Bass Snatchers didn't want to fish I was allowed to be on this years 6 man team. There were 3 Snatcher boaters with 3 Range non-boaters and vise versa. My boater was Range Bassmaster Emmit Smith.

Going into the tournament the scuttlebutt on Emmit was that he was going to take me into the shallow junk all day and that I should use my allotted 4 hours in the front of the boat to hit weedlines. That isn't how it worked out.

The weather: From the low 40's in the morning to the low 50's in the afternoon. It was cloudy with a couple short rounds of light sprinkles. Wind was out of the North around 10mph.

Emmit started us off on a weedline spot on the West end of the upper lake. In the first hour Emmit managed 2 keeper bass around 2 pounds and a 10lb pike. I had a couple of hits on my black spinnerbait but they didn't hook up. One of those bites felt big. After about 45 minutes with no action we ran to the NE end of Upper Mission to a weedline spot I had fished before. I caught a pike and had my spinnerbait get bumped a couple of more times.

Next we headed to Lower Mission to try some docks, that was a bust, so we tried some reeds and that was a bust so we tried some weedlines and that too was a bust. We headed back to Upper Mission to our starting spot.

We spent a couple of hours flogging our starting spot and Emmit got a 12 incher and a pike, while I had a pike bite off and that was it. Totally perplexed we went right to a spot that I wanted to fish, even though I didn't mention the area to Emmit. We were fishing down a weedline towards Range boater and In-Fisherman Bass Guru Steve Quinn. We watched as Snatcher Bill Ludenia caught a small keeper. They were struggling like we were struggling and word was that the bite was very tough for everybody except Snatcher Chuck Steinbauer. We passed the Quinn boat and I got a bite on my tube, but it was a pike. Shortly after the pike Emmit caught 2 keeper bass on a jigworm off of the used water. We worked the weedline up the side of a point with no action so we decided to head back over the water where Emmit got the last 2 fish.

I was throwing my black spinnerbait and I hooked up, but once again it was a pike. Emmit caught a short, then Emmit got the idea that we should move a bit shallower. He was rewarded with his biggest bass of the day on a spinnerbait in the little reedbed up by shore. We kept working shallow into a slop bay. I thought I might have had a fish on for a second on a Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig when the next thing I knew Emmit was hauling in a 2lb bass. I picked up a Herb's Dilly Buzzbait and finally was rewarded with a bass just a little under 3lbs, at this point there was just an hour and a half left to fish; I was mighty relieved to have the skunk out of the boat with a good fish. We worked from the North side of the slop bay around to the South side of the slop bay where Emmit caught another 2lber on a craw tube pitching into the pads. Emmit had to cull, so I took the front of the boat and worked the rest of the South shore of the slop bay then I headed us quickly back to the North side. On the North side Emmit caught another 3lber on the craw tube and I got a pound and 3 quarter bass on the Herb's Dilly. Those would be our last fish although we would both miss bites in the reeds on our way back to the landing.

I don't and probably won't have the official numbers but I can report that 4 out of the 6 snatchers won in their boats. Chuck Steinbauer won with about 18lbs and Lunker that was right about 5lbs. I think Snatcher Dennis Lothspeich got 2nd and Emmit got 3rd. I think our Snatcher Club won total weight by around 4lbs.

Gull Lake Bass Snatchers Sept. 19th

The Weather: It was a sunny day in the low 80's with light wind in the morning picking up to about 10MPH out of the South in the afternoon.

Here are a couple of Snatchers (Darren and Owen) waiting for blast off:

On the phone my boater Art sounded confident we would get fish but before blast off he informed me that he thought he would be lucky to get a limit under the expected weather conditions.

We blasted off a little before 8AM from the Government Point Public Access and we headed SW to Wilson Bay where we stopped on a weed flat on the South side of Hunters Point. There was a light ripple on the water and I started off throwing a buzzbait, but eventually switched to a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper. After about 7 minutes I put a 12.5 incher in the boat. That fish was followed by a 13.5", 12.75", 13.75" that totally went airborne when it hit, and 13.10" that started bleeding pretty good so I threw it back. We got off the flat and as we were making our way back on I threw a smoke tube along the deep weedline and got a 13". I started throwing the Popper again and got a 12.5" and a couple of shorts. At this point we were about an hour into the tournament. My partner Art had two fish at this point. The wind died and so did the action on top. I think I got a couple of fish that did not help on the tube.

Around 10:30AM we made a move to Green Lake which is a small round bay ringed by slop and docks. I pulled a 15.75" on a black blue jignpig on the edge of pads and slop. I got a couple that didn't help on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke off the docks and slop. Eventually I started throwing the smoke tube out into deeper water and I culled up to a 13" and got a few more that didn't help. Once we fished around the bay, we made a run to a spot on the South end of Wilson that had rice and pads near deeper water. Art had a fish miss his topwater frog. He had me throw in with a jig and I pulled out another 12.5" that didn't help. As we made our way down the rice I had a good fish swirl on my jignpig as I was swimming it but it didn't get hooked. Eventually we moved to a weed flat were I had a fish rise to but not hit the Frenzy Popper and Art got a couple of keepers.

We probably spent the last 3 hours back at our starting spot. On the first pass I threw a black spinnerbait because the wind was blowing pretty good and I got a small pike, a rock bass, a short and a 12.5 plus I lost one that was most likely a 12 incher. On the next pass I tried a chatter jig without any luck. Art pulled out to the deep weed edge and started catching fish, so I went back to the smoke tube and started catching fish; some short, some keepers that didn't help, and my final cull with a 13.5. I caught quite a few fish in the last 3 hours. Art filled his limit and culled a couple of times fishing with a red jigworm.

At around 20 to 4PM we headed in to Ernie's where we would have the weigh in. We tied the boat up on the dock and Art took this picture of my biggest fish which cut off my head.

Art went to the bar to get a drink and I decided to throw a cast out towards a dock with some boat lifts that was within casting range with the tube. I had a fish nail the tube but I didn't hook up. I couldn't get a re-strike as our tournament boats started coming in.

My 6 fish ended up weighing 8lbs 7ozs which put me in 12th place out of 24 guys. My boater Art had 7lbs 9ozs, so this is the 3rd time out of 12 Bass Snatcher tournaments where I "back seated" my boater. The tournament was won with 13lbs 4ozs caught by 2009 Baxter Bass Snatchers Mr. Bass Dennis Lothspeich which made this his 3rd win of the year. I back seated Dennis at Pelican this year.

Leech Lake Bass Snatchers August 22nd

This is the tournament I was looking forward to more than any other on the schedule and I ended up with a great partner draw for the lake. I rode up from Baxter to the Horseshoe Bay resort with my boater Bill Ludenia. Horsebay Resort on the map above is by the Y in Agency. There was some pretty good fog on my way to Brainerd, but it really wasn't to bad until we got up to Leech. Despite a fairly good fog we blasted off early at around 7:30AM. It turned out that after we got out a couple of miles the fog disappeared.

Our starting spot was a reed bed towards the NE side of Bear Island (Bear Island is the big Island on the SE side of the lake). Another club boat also started in this reed bed. I didn't even have my rods organized and Bill was pulling his first bass into the boat on his 2nd cast. We worked the area for about 30 minutes and I think Bill got one more fish.

Next we moved to some of the heavy cover in Headquarters Bay, which is South of Boy Bay. I think it was our third stop in Headquarters that I had a massive explosion on my white Zoom Horny Toad and I landed a thick 17" bass. We were fishing rice and the fish bit close to a nice sized clump of rice that had a pretty good open lane beside it. As we worked this rice bed Dennis, my boater from Pelican, pulled in a pretty good distance in front of us and Dwight, my boater from South Long, was also fishing in the general area. I had a couple of fish swat at my Horny Toad and one solid blow up that I should have hooked up with as we worked the area. I think Bill got 1 fish and we say Dennis land a bass and his partner catch a big dogfish. To be honest I think we worked through this rice a bit quicker than we should have because fish were definitely there. After about 45 minutes we moved a little ways to some undercut banks with pads and rice, but that was dead. We kept moving North along some good looking rice and I think Bill landed a fish or two before we made a move to some rice on the East side of bear Island. There were lots of signs of fish in this rice but we didn't catch any. The day was bright and sunny and the fish on this particular spot were spooky.

We moved North to the reed bed where we started the day and I got a bite on my tube jig but missed it. I cast right back to the same area and got hit again and this time I landed a 13.75" largemouth. I don't remember if I got one more fish in these reeds or not. I don't think Bill got a fish this time.

Next we moved up to Boy Bay to try some docks. On the very first dock my bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke got bit off. On this same dock Bill landed a 3lb bass. I think Bill got a 2nd dock bass before I connected with a 12.5" bass. I think Bill got another dock bass before I had a fish that I thought was a bass swim out and take the Fluke but when I set the hook I was bit off clean, so it was actually either a pike or muskie. Once we got to the end of the docks we pretty much kept working East in a mix of rice and reeds. Bill in the front of the boat was pulling an occasional fish while I was throwing the white Horny Toad, a brown Bobby's Perfect Snagproof Frog, and a tube jig hauling water. One time when Bill was culling and I was in the front of the boat I cast the tube a ways into the rice and pulled out a 15". We jumped around and worked some reeds and then more Rice with Bill pulling more fish and me getting blanked. We were working rice and I threw into an open area with the Bobby's Snagproof frog and got a strike which I landed but it was under the 12 inch minimum. You don't catch shorts on Snagproof frogs very often.

We moved to the South side of Boy bay into some awesome looking water and I landed another short on the Snagproof Frog, what is with that. After a long lull Bill moved us to an area where he thought I could fill my limit with some small fish. I managed to get a 12.5 on the Snagproof frog on this water.

Time was starting to run short, so we headed back to the area where I got my big fish. Unfortunately the long day in the sun was wearing on me pretty good at this point and I wasn't at my best. Right away I had a bite on the Horny Toad and missed it. About 5 minutes later I had another great bite on the Toad and I came up empty again. A few minutes after that there was a massive explosion on the Horny Toad but I didn't hook up this time either and that was my last bite of the day.

On the way in we did throw a quick hail mary for me in the reeds where we started. I was worn out and highly disappointed in my execution. I ended up one short of my limit with 5 fish for 9lbs 4ozs which got me 17th out of 24. If I would have landed my bites I probably would have been 14th or better. My partner Bill had 13/11 and got 10th. The winner was Dennis with 19/13 and big bass was only 5/0 and went to Art Becker who will be my boater at Gull Lake.

Analysis: I just did not have a very good day on the water.

Bass Snatcher Pelican Lake August 8th, 2009

The Weather: Morning light fog with a 5 to 8 MPH breeze, fog lifted around 10:30AM but it was a heavy overcast until about 1PM when the skies cleared and the wind died.

Pelican is an 8,000 acre lake just a bit North of Brainerd MN and it has clear water. We launched out of a small bay on the SW corner of the lake. I was in the first boat out but we were making a long run North in one of the slowest boats in the tournament, so my boater Dennis was worried about possibly not being 1st to where he wanted to start. We had a total of 12 boats and 23 guys fishing. As it turns out his worries were unfounded. We started by what I think is a big sunken island where a sand flat met a breakline with some weeds. Dennis had found a good school here during prefish and was quite confident in the spot. It didn't take long and I got a bite on my smoke tube but the bass was not a keeper at just over 11 inches. I think Dennis then caught a rock bass and things slowed down, Dennis was kind of miffed the fish were not cooperating but he eventually did bring the first keeper into the boat.

I decided conditions were conducive to a topwater bite so I put on a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. After about 5 minutes the popper was smashed by 21 inch pike. After fishing for about 10 minutes with nothing I tried a white Spook, but that hauled water and Dennis decided it was time to move to a new spot. We moved to a depression in a flat that had weeds in it. I started throwing a bullfrog Frenzy Popper thinking I might need a little brighter bait in the heavy overcast. I had a fish miss the popper but it came back for a second try and hooked up; It was a 14.5" bass, so I was on the board. A little while later I had a fish miss the Popper 3 or 4 times before it finally hooked up and I landed the 15.5 incher. I think Dennis caught a couple on a Texas rigged tube, so I went back to throwing the smoke tube and I caught 12.25" squeaker. Dennis had a nice bass follow a blue/black tube to the boat which got me thinking that maybe the fish would be willing to chase something swimming so I put on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig, however I didn't get anything on it at this spot.

Eventually Dennis decided to move and we went to a weed bed on the North side of an island where the wind was blowing in pretty good. I thought it was perfect conditions for the Pure Poison and I was right. I nailed a 15" on my second or third cast. A few casts later and I was reeling in 18.25 that just engulfed the Pure Poison. Dennis was not quite pleased that I pulled a big fish off one of his big fish spots, so he was giving me crap. A few minutes later I was hooked up with my limit fish which was a quality 15.25" largemouth. We worked back over the area a second time and I had a couple of bumps that didn't hook up and I think Dennis missed a bite too.

Next we were off to another one of Dennis' big fish spots but a pontoon was sitting right on it. The next two spots Dennis wanted to hit were covered up by Bass Snatcher boats and we ended up fishing a little ways from 3 Bass Snatcher Boats. I think Dennis got a fish on the next couple of stops while I caught nothing.

Eventually we ended up at our starting spot and I started chucking a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I believe Dennis filled his limit and started culling which gave me confidence fish were in the area, so I kept throwing the Popper. On one of the retrieves about 20 feet out from the boat I had a strike and was able to land the barely hooked fish that went a little over 15 inches, which got rid of my squeaker. At this point I was pretty pleased that I would be weighing a pretty good bag of fish. Things kind of got slow for me for a while.

Around 1PM the sun came out and it got calm. We quickly tried the area by the Island again before the pleasure boaters would start to show up, but we didn't get anything. Next it was back to one of the weedy depressions.

I got a fish that didn't help then I got another hit that didn't hook up so I threw right back to the same area. I got another hit and it was a good fish that just inhaled the smoke tube; this fish went 17.25 inches. A little while later I had another good hit from a bigger fish but it got off before I was able to see what it was, I think it might have been a pike. About 2 minutes later I had another hit on the tube and brought in a chunky 17.00 inch bass. Dennis thought I was probably 1 more quality fish away from winning. I did get a couple more fish that didn't help and it turns out Dennis was right on the needing 1 more good fish.

My 6 fish went 14 even which ended up putting me in 4th, just 3 ozs out of 3rd place. 1st Place was 15lbs 7ozs and 2nd was 15lbs 6ozs and they came from the same boat; They spent a lot of time in one of those depressions on water Dennis wanted to fish. My partner Dennis was not so unhappy about getting "back seated" when he found out his 12/11 put him right behind me in 5th place.

Analysis:I owe my success in this one to my boater Dennis who was on good fish and made good decisions about where we should be fishing and when. Dennis also kept me entertained all day with his curmudgeonish trash talk. It is possible that I had the bites to win with that one good fish getting off but I'll never know because I never did get a look at the one that got away.

I am now tied for 11th Place in the club standings (32 fisherman club) but I am 9th over all in terms of weight of fish caught for the season which I think is maybe a better barometer about how you actually fished for the season.

Bass Snatchers Lake Ida July 18th 2009

Weather: Overcast for most of the day with it being partly sunny the last couple of hours. Wind was pretty much out of the N NW at 5 to 10MPH.

We blasted off a little after 7:30AM and my boater Joe and I raced to our starting spot on the West side of the lake which was a string of small reed beds broken up by docks. I think it was fairly calm right along shore in the reeds but if you casted out into the lake and where the boat was sitting there was a ripple on the water. We were working North about 10 minutes in and Joe had a strike on his Snagproof Frog and landed the 1st bass of the day. We got down to the last or 2nd to last group of reeds which is where I caught a couple of bass on tubes casting out into the lake during prefish. I started throwing a smoke tube out into the lake and was rewarded with a fish that just went over the 12 inch minimum.

As I was casting out something just got smoked out over the weed flat about 2 and a half cast lengths out. I decided it might be a good thing to throw a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I didn't bring the rod I like to use for that so I had to rig up one of my swim jig rods. While I was rigging up Joe caught a high 2lb bass off a dock with the Snagproof frog. I started throwing the Frenzy Popper out over the weed flat as Joe worked us back over the water we had just covered. Something swirled about 10 feet off the back of the boat and I immediately hit the spot with the Popper and was rewarded with a 14.75" largemouth.

We worked down to where we started and then back North again to the dock where Joe got his fish. After that we moved out onto the weed flat and drifted South with the wind. There was a dead 3 to 4 pound Northern floating on the surface about 30 feet from the boat when a group of Pelicans flew by and the lead bird swooped down scooped up the pike and just kept right on flying, it was pretty cool. I think I had a swirl that missed the Popper and shortly after that I landed a 12.75" largie. I had another fish swirl on the Popper and miss. We worked an offshore reed bed and I missed a bite on a white Zoom Horny Toad, I think it was a small fish. Nothing more happened at the reed bed and so we pulled up stakes and headed South.

The next spot we went to was an area with lilly pads that are behind a large reed bed. Joe had got fish here both days of pre-fishing. I think I got bit at a couple of times by pike. Joe had a keeper bass take the Snagproof Frog close to the boat and as he was swinging it in his reel gave out some line and the fish hit the side of the boat and came off. That one hurt as it was close to 2lbs and Joe ended up one short of a limit for the day.

Next we headed to some small reed beds kind of like our starting spot. I believe Joe landed his 3rd keeper at this spot on the Snagproof Frog. I was casting a weedless tube into the reeds when I had a solid pick up and I set the hook hard into what felt to be a good fish. Unfortunately it was a 3lb northern pike. A little while later I nabbed bass number 4 (12.75") on a white Zoom Horny Toad in the reeds.

Next we went into a big shallow bay and started working the shoreline heading North. Joe missed a good hit right by shore with the Snagproof Frog. Sometimes I was casting in towards shore and sometimes I was casting out over the weed flat with the Zoom Horny Toad. On a cast out over the weed flat the Toad got annihilated by 14.75" largemouth. A little while down the shore line Joe pulled a 17inch 3lb 2oz beauty off an isolated piece of wood in the weeds. Eventually I took a break to eat a couple of sandwiches and Joe bird dogged a fish that turned out to be a small pike. The fish was in some super shallow slop and Joe could get it to wake to the frog but it wouldn't hit it. Eventually he motored up and got a look at it to discover it was a pike. Joe decided he wanted to eat something so he let me take the front of the boat and shortly after that I got my limit fish (12.75") on the Horny Toad. Joe got back up and started fishing and had his Snagproof Frog stolen by a little pike next to a dock. We tried to recover the frog but it was nowhere to be found so the pike probably ate it.

Next we headed up to the North end of the lake to work some more pads and reeds. Before we got into the pads there were some cattails and Joe pulled his 5th and last keeper on the Snagproof Frog. We worked some awesome looking pads but with the overcast it just wasn't happening. Finally as we were coming to the end of the pads and for some reason Joe had me take the front of the boat. I got hit in a pocket between the catails and pads with a watermelon Brovarney Swim jig with watermelon Zoom Speed Craw trailer. Despite a lousy hook set I landed the 14 incher and culled out my 12". We fished more good looking water in this area but couldn't get bit, so we headed back to our starting spot.

When we got to my tube spot, I naturally started throwing the smoke tube and I culled up 3 more times (13.75", 13.75", 14.25"). Both Joe and I got bit off by Pike and that was the last of our fish. We did go back to Joe's pad spot where he fumbled that keeper but didn't get anything and then it was time to head in.

My big bass was only 1lb 10ozs and my 6 fish went 8lbs 8ozs which put me in 15th out of 22 anglers. I had the lightest limit of the tournament. My boater Joe had 9lbs 7ozs and came in 12th. The winner blew everyone away with 16 and a half pounds by fishing docks in the wind using his Power Pole. Big Bass was this 6lb 6oz beast caught by Owen Lease.


Analysis- I felt like I fished well and pretty much caught what there was to catch and that is all I can ask. It was the first tournament of the year that I feel good about despite the mediocre showing. I feel bad for Joe, had he landed that fish that hit the side of the boat, he may have finished as high as 5th. Both Joe and I caught a couple of dinks that I didn't mention.

Where I Sit: With half the season now over I sit mired in 20th place, there are just 6 anglers beneath me that have fished at least 2 out of the 3 tournaments (we get to throw out our worst showing of the year). I actually am 1 point ahead of where I was at this time last year. Last year I ended the last 3 tournaments with a 17th, 3rd, and 20th which averages out to a 13th place showing. I would really like to improve on last years points and I think that will prove a challenge because I have only fished above 13th place once now in 9 Bass Snatcher tournaments. I guess all I can do is hope for good partner draws and fish as smart as I can.

Bass Snatchers Ida Pre-fish

We will start this report at the end of the day. My boater Joe and I were headed home between Parkers Prairie and Eagle Bend when the truck shuddered and the next thing I knew a wheel was passing by the drivers side door. It was one of Joe's boat trailer tires. The tire went into the ditch and then into the woods quite a ways in front of where we stopped the truck. Luckily Joe was able to find the tire. Putting the tire back on was easy, getting the lug nuts tight was another story that I won't get into.

After about an hour and a half we were back on the road.

Weather: Yesterday it rained and stormed and the days forecast called for temps in the high 60's to low 70's with strong West winds and sun. When we got to the lake around 9:30AM it was quite overcast and windy. The sun eventually came out around 1PM.

The Fishing:Joe had been out on Ida on Saturday and found some fish shallow. Basically the day was dedicated to the search for shallow area's and fish. Joe loves to throw a Snagproof Frog and Ida has a fair amount of pads and reeds to explore and that is what we did for most of the day with mixed results. At times it was impossible to fish in the reeds due to the wind. The reeds tend to be tall and thick at this point of the year so about the only bait you can fish in that tangle is slop frogs like Snagproofs and Spro's. We did find a few fish and the bite seemed to be better when the sun was out. Here is Joe with his best fish of the day.


I didn't catch a single fish on a slop frog, but I didn't throw it most of the time like Joe. I did have a few bites on the surface, but I really wasn't trying to catch these fish only to get them to show themselves so we would know productive area's. Basically the bass I did catch came on a tube on weedlines and they were not very big with the exception of this 2lber.

We didn't really look for this type of water and I only threw the tube in a couple of spots but when the water looked right I got bit. I also got a few bites and caught 1 keeper bass on swim jigs.

Outlook: I am a little concerned about this tournament because I think it might be tough to catch fish behind Joe if we stay shallow for the day. From today's results it just didn't seem like there were good numbers of fish up shallow and where we did get fish seemed to favor the front of the boat although if there is less wind on Saturday that should open up some water. I think for me this lake is going to fish quite similar to what I did at the last tournament at South Long with heavy doses of the Zoom Horny Toad and Zoom Super Fluke. I will probably be throwing a slop frog more and a swim jig less. If I can catch 10lbs and a limit I'll be thrilled. I don't have high expectations.