Well better late than never on this tournament report. I've got nothing better to do on this snowy April Day.
I fished with Darren Kiefer as my boater. This was the third time I've had the pleasure to share the boat with Darren. He got a little spun out in this one.
Weather Conditions: It was a cool September morning with a cold breeze blowing out of the NW when we blasted off at around 7:40AM. The sun eventually came out and the breeze died down some and it got to 61°F.
The Day: Darren had gotten some good fish in the slop in the Access area when he pre-fished and it was pretty calm there, so that's where we started. I had a hit on a yellow Horny Toad but missed it in the pads. We worked his prime area back and forth but didn't come up with anything. Then we fished the small Island right by the access. We got around to some reeds that had wind blowing on to them and I got my first and biggest fish (17") of the day on the Yellow Horny Toad. We worked our way around the back side of the Island and I missed a fish in the pads. Darren also missed something, probably a pike or a muskie in the pads as well.
Next we moved to the North Shore adjacent to the Island and worked the shoreline heading East. One of the two of us got a nice pike on the back side of a reed point. We got into some pads and docks and I got my 2nd bass of the day (15.25") on the Horny Toad. I missed a couple of hits in the pads. We were working some seriously good looking water with pads, rice, and reeds, but not catching anything. We went back to where we started on the North shore adjacent to the Island and headed East this time. I landed a little 12.5" keeper on the Horny Toad out of the pads and a 12.75" off of some reeds just beyond a dock on a black T.T. Mad Maxx Frog.
Next we went around the point and got out in the wind. I saw a muskie swimming with it's head out of the water like they do sometimes. We went up and fished the windblown reeds of the other Island. As we came around on the back side out of the wind again Darren had a monster bass miss his frog.
The sun started coming out so we ran up to the NW side of Little Boy and tried a weedline spot, but didn't get anything. Next, we went into the reeds and I picked up a chunky 16.25" on a yellow Spro Frog. I also lost a good one in the reeds on the end of a long cast. Eventually, we gave up on the reeds and headed to Wabedo.
We started fishing some pads that had some wind blowing on them; The wind was much lighter now. We ended up getting into some reeds and I caught my keeper fish (15.25") on the Horny Toad. I think I got 14.5" out on the weed flat just out from the reeds on the Horny Toad and a 15" even farther on the weed flat. We worked back to the reeds and I got one or two that didn't help.
Next we ran South and worked some pads and rice. I missed some, caught a couple that didn't help and finally got my final keeper of the day (15.25") all on the Horny Toad.
We ran back up into Little Boy and Darren lost one where that big one missed his bait earlier in the day. We ended up fishing by the access again. I got one last fish that didn't help me on the Horny Toad in the pads off the Island in general vicinity where I missed one in the morning.
The Results: My 6 fish weighed 13lbs 1oz which put me in 7th place out of 26 fishermen. This was my second best finish of the year. Apparently the Yabbie was working it's magic again as Mark Munson won his second consecutive tournament at these lake with a 18lb 4ozs bag.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed fishing these lakes. It was just like fishing Platte/ Sullivan. It's really to bad that big fish missed Darren's frog as the Lunker of the tournament was only 3lbs 12ozs.
This was the last tournament of the year and I think I went out on a good note. I ended up finishing in 13th Place for the year. I would have come in 15th place had I not caught that last second fish at Rush Lake.
