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| A pod of about 8 Loons we came across |
Conditions: 79-63 degrees, Mostly sunny to partly cloudy to mostly cloudy, started calm then winds from 5 to 10 MPH out of the SW
Pre-tournament Thoughts:
I came into this tournament hoping for the best, but expecting it might be a difficult day. My boater Art doesn't have a GPS and the Lakemaster Chip for mine just has generic contours of the lake that may or may not be accurate. I didn't even think it was worth bothering putting in waypoints of spots to check out. I did bring the GPS with though.
The Day:
We blasted off third and headed East to large point with a big weed flat. I believe 5 other boats started on it. I took that as an encouraging sign. We were the closest boat in towards shore. Dennis Lothspeich was in the closest boat to us and he had a pike break him off on his first cast. My boater Art got a rock bass. Herman who was in Dennis boat got himself a keeper largemouth. I started out throwing topwater and didn't raise a thing. I got a rock bass on the Piranha and had a pike follow in it as well. Art got a couple more rock bass and pretty much everybody left the area after an hour and a half. I had a pike break off my Texas rig and the wind started up.
We moved to the NW corner of the lake and I got a pike on the Pure Poison with Swim Fluke Jr. for a trailer. We then moved in to try a few docks. Very fishy looking water to me. Between two of the docks there was a tree hanging over the water and I put a cast up right by shore. Sure enough there was a good bass sitting there that took my Fluke and I hooked it. It went 16", I wouldn't be getting a skunk for the day. I was feeling pretty good about that. We came up to some slop and reeds and I missed a hit on a LiveTarget Frog. I wasn't looking at the lure when it hit. I did get a good hookset, just don't think the fish had the frog.
We ended up going back to our starting spot. We started catching rock bass and I had a pike break me off again. I think I caught the next bass, a 14.25" keeper on a craw tube. I didn't have my wits about me, as I didn't throw out a marker buoy I brought or think to put a waypoint in the GPS. Art inexplicably decided to move us pretty much right after I caught the fish. Art eventually did catch himself a keeper. I didn't even cross my mind to throw the buoy or mark a waypoint. We caught a few more rock bass. Then we left and tried a couple other spots getting nothing. With about an hour and a half left in the day we went back to the starting area again. I quickly landed a 13.75" and a 14" keeper on the craw tube and Art landed his biggest fish and had one jump him off. Once again I didn't think to throw the marker or put in a way point. That was the last of our action other than a few more rock bass and a couple of bites that I missed.
Results: My four fish weighed 7lbs 8ozs which put me in 16th Place out of 18 anglers. Art's 2 fish weighed 3/11 and put him in 17th Place. Keith Tuma won with a modest 16/10 and Lunker went to Tim Benson with a 5/2.
My Thoughts: Who knows if I would have thrown out the marker buoy or marked where we caught fish on the GPS would have made a difference or not. I just wish I had thought to do it. Catching 1 more fish would have moved me up at least 2 more spots. Other than the brain fart on the marker buoy and GPS, I thought I took advantage of what I was presented with. The one suggestion I gave on where to fish didn't produce anything for us. Getting bit by rock bass kept me from getting bored and I only lost two tungsten weight's to the pike. The day could have gone far worse. I'm just glad I caught anything.
Next Tournament: Lake Pokegama (Grand Rapids) Aug 6th.
