My Bass Snatcher Season Half-Time Report

The Baxter Bass Snatcher Bass Fishing Club fishes 6 tournaments a year and we just concluded tournament #3 at the Alexandria Chain. So far I am off to my best start ever with finishes of 12th at Platte/Sullivan, 5th at Cullen Chain, and 6th at Le Homme Dieu. Those finishes are worth 29pts, 36pts, and 35pts (40pts Max) for a total of 100. My previous best point total at the half way point was 70pts in 2009. That is an average of 10 places better per tournament. Wow!!!

Basically, I have had outstanding luck in the partner draws, so far this year. In terms of the actual fishing and on the water luck it hasn't gone nearly as well or else my point totals could be at least 6 points or more higher.

Currently my 100pts is 3rd best in the club. However, our club final point system allows for 1 throw out tournament per year and because of this it's also worth considering where people are counting only our 2 best scores. Counting my two best the total is 71pts which puts me in a tie for 5th place. Counting 3 tournaments there are 6 anglers within 10 points behind me. Counting 2 tournaments there are 8 anglers within 10 points behind me. Traditionally I have done way better in the 2nd half of the year than the first half and to make the Top 6 again this year I almost certainly will have to have a very strong 2nd half. At a minimum I think I will need two more Top 8 finishes.

A huge wild card is our next tournament on July 31st on the Mississippi River out of Brainerd to the North. There will be 25 of us fishing this one, which means the lower placing finishers won't get very many points and the prospect of a skunk and 0 points is very real. In the past the Snatchers have fished 7 tournaments on the Mississippi. They fished 4 tournaments in the 90's, 2 in the 80's, and 1 in the 70's; The last tournament was in 1999. In those 7 tournaments there was a total of 3 limits caught, never more than 1 in a year, and a total of 60 skunks. This year the mighty Miss is running high, fast, and dirty which will most likely make a tough tournament tougher. It will probably take just a few quality fish to do very well, but the prospect of disaster is there for everybody.

The last two tournaments promise better fisheries and smaller fields.