B.B.S. Blind at Platte/Sullivan

  

4 and a 5

Got Wood Again, Finally

What my scale said

Conditions: 54-72℉, Partly Cloudy to Cloudy, 0-4mph S

The Day:

Darren was kind enough to give me control of the boat for the day. I elected to start in Sullivan at the Intersection. I had Darren set us down a little short of the juice. A decision I almost regretted as Snatcher Ludenia and Nate set down in the general area but fortunately didn't get a bite to slow them down. Darren had something big boil on his frog on about his fifth cast. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get it to strike again. I got us up to the juice and had a fish suck under my frog in a spot where my vision was a bit obscured by reeds. I ended up getting a less than optimal hookset, and the fish quickly got off. A couple minutes later, I had a fish suck my frog under, but this time I was ready and got the day off to a good start with a fish close to 3lbs. I began to work to the East when a boat not in the tournament fished through where I was heading. They caught one small fish, and that was it. I ended up fishing the Intersection instead. It just wasn't happening, and the wind was staying still, so we fished the GOMH on the Sullivan side and then headed into Platte for the rest of the day. 

We spent the next few hours on the North end of Platte in Inlet Bay. I started by fishing the rice line from East to West. I got a small keeper on a Terminator Frog. I think Darren got his first keeper shortly after that. It just wasn't happening on top, so I started throwing a Magnum Super Fluke. We were at the Cookie Jar, and I was just about to pull us off of the rice line when the 4lber bit the Fluke. That kept us on the rice line longer, but we didn't get any more bites. The wind came up a bit, so I pulled us out onto the flat. I got a small keeper and a bunch of pike on the Jackhammer and a craw tube as I worked our way back to where we started. It got calm again. I got my feet set and threw the Terminator Frog way back in the rice line, and 5lber slammed a couple seconds after it landed. I could have sworn I locked the weight at 4.93lbs, but apparently not. I wasn't surprised that my scale weighed it light. We worked the rice corner, then turned around, went deeper into the junk, and I worked our way South. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the slop in Center Inlet. As we made our way into South Inlet, I cast to the coontail mat, and a 3lber took the Terminator Frog about 10 feet out from the mat. A couple minutes later, Darren had a good fish boil on his frog, but unfortunately, his line snapped on the hookset. Darren did get a keeper there in South Inlet. We ended up working our way back to the north with Darren missing several opportunities and me getting pike on a buzzbait. The sun came out, and we got back on the rice line. I got a quality cull, and Darren got his last fish of the day.

As we were coming to the end of the rice, I noticed the front flasher was flickering on and off. Turns out his starting battery was out of juice. I headed us in the direction of the public access, and Smitty came by to see what was up. Smitty has a lithium jumper pack, which got us back in the game for the final hour and a half.  We made a couple of more stops with me getting a few pike, no bass. Just couldn't get one more Platte Lake Special to put my weight for the day over 20lbs.

Results: I won my first Snatcher Tournament with a weight of 19/12, and I also got wood and $ for the 5/2 Lunker.  Smitty came in 2nd with 17/9, and Nate got 3rd with 16/13. 

The win also allowed me to reach my goal of finishing in the club's Top 10 for the year in 10th Place.

My Thoughts: I am so grateful to have drawn Snatcher Darren as a boater and that I fished clean for the most part. I thought I had screwed my chances catching a twenty-pound bag on Wednesday when I didn't know we would be fishing my home lake; Thankfully there were still some melon heads up North. Winning on a lake that has disappointed me so many times made my first win so much sweeter. With the way my season had gone, I seriously doubted I was ever going to reach my number one goal, but I did it. Victory Was Achieved on August 26th, 2021!

B.B.S. Leech Lake

 

Conditions: 47-74℉, Mostly Sunny, clouded up in the final hour, 8-25mph S

My Day: We started on the South End of Bear Island, where Bruce caught a couple while pre-fishing. I had a pike steal my Dinger about 20-minutes into the day. We then went around Partridge Point. From there, we went to the North end of Bear Island in the reeds. I thought we might get a bite there with the wind blowing on it, but we didn't. We then went to the East end of Center Rice. We started by drifting along the edge.  Thought for sure I would get a bite there as it looked great, but nope. Then we went on the lee side, and I frogged it, trying to make a perfect cast to get a reaction bite. When we met Snatcher Ludenia and Al, they confirmed that it was a tough bite. We then made the run back west to Uram Bay and finished the day there. Bruce missed a bite, and I got the muskie in the final 15-minutes. So we both ended the day skunked for bass.

Results: Goose egg buys a goose egg as good as DNF or DQ'ed. Snatcher Nate came in first with 21-8. Snatcher Chuck got 2nd with 17-8, and Smitty came in 3rd with 15-1. Snatcher Chuck and Bacon tied with a 4-9 Lunkers.  Only 4 limits were caught, and we had 6 guys skunk. So half the Co-Anglers blanked and one boater (My boater).

My Thoughts:  The bite was off, and wind conditions were not favorable. We fished too fast most of the time. I'm not going to beat myself up over this one. Dennis only put two keepers in the boat, and Hammer, who was fishing with Chuck, only caught 3 keepers. Nate's non-boater got skunked as well. I am just glad it warmed up, and I was able to listen to tunes while we were making our long runs through the waves.

 

B.B.S. Lake Edward

 

Mick Ziebell 19/03 Lunker 3/15

2/15oz R2S Bully Wa 2

What My Scale said I had

Conditions: 63-85℉, Mostly Sunny, 0-15mphSW

My Day: We got all the boats launched, then we headed to our starting spot, which was just to the South of the Public Access in the reeds. We worked our way South along the reed line with Beau pitching a jig and me throwing a frog. I think I got the first bite of the morning in some pads and reeds up by the shore. It was a small fish that got off after I had reeled it in about 10 feet. I am pretty sure it was a bass, but I'm not 100% certain. The reeds came to an end, and we worked the cattails and docks for a little bit with Beau catching two pike.  It wasn't happing, so we ran to some other reeds. I got the first keeper in the boat with the frog. Beau then caught a 2lber on a jig. Shortly after that, I got my final keeper of the day on the frog. As we worked the reeds. I would get hung up occasionally. I would put about 15lbs of pressure on my 50lb braid, and my line kept breaking, frustrating. After about the 5th time that happened, I switched to a different rod. Beau got his second keeper and missed some bites. Beau spotted what he swore was a muskie. I saw the fish but only saw its back.  I had a fish swirl on the frog but not get it. Neither Beau nor I could get it to bite again.  Beau switched to a Senko and got a couple of good fish. I switched to a Yum Dinger and missed one bite. The wind came up, and we headed to a weedline spot. I missed a couple of bites on the Havoc Pit Boss. Beau filled out his limit on the Senko. I switched to a Yum Dinger and got a couple dinks and a pike on that, and the day ended with me only getting two keepers. I thought maybe I was headed for a last-place finish, but it turns out lots of people struggled on this hot, windy day.

Results: My two fish weighed 4/05, which put me in 15th Place out of 21 anglers.   Mick Ziebell won the tournament with 19/03 and got Lunker with a 3/15 fish. Dave Smith got 2nd Place and won the Co-Angler Cash out of Dennis Lothspeich's boat. Great Job, Dave! Nate Steinbauer got 3rd. Beau came in 4th.

My Thoughts: What a frustrating day. I let the frustration get to me with Beau catching fish and me not getting bites. I think I just fished too fast and didn't concentrate on what I was doing enough. Once we left the reeds, I just couldn't get settled in mentally and didn't fish well at all. Thankfully we have two more tournaments this year for things to come together for me. On to Leech.

B.B.S. Whitefish Chain

 

Tuma's 27lbs 4oz is a new Snatcher Record

3/5 Yum Dinger (Gum/Orange)

14/2 My Best Ever Whitefish Weight

13.55lbs What My Scale Says I Had

Boater: Dwight "Hammer" Hammermeister (3rd Time I've fished a tournament with him)

Conditions: 72-96℉, Mostly Sunny to Mostly Cloudy, 0-4mph SW

The Day: We started off on the Southside of Lower Whitefish, where smallmouth spawn and Dwight had a bunch of beds GPSed. . Dennis was sitting there when we arrived. A good sign. About 10 minutes in, Dwight had his first smallie in the boat. He was sight fishing. I started throwing topwater because there was some activity on the surface, but I didn't get a hit.  Dwight put 3 or 4 smallmouths in the boat pretty quickly, and Dennis had his limit in the first half hour. I got a hit from something small on the 

Crackle Jerk Shad that came off about halfway back to the boat. I put on a Bluegill KVD Jerkbait and got a couple pike and a perch on that. After about an hour, Dennis left. Dwight got his fourth and fifth fish off of some deeper beds, both quality fish. I eventually tried throwing a Ned rig to bedders but didn't have any takers. The wind put a ripple on the water, so we got out of there around 9AM. We went to a nearby point where we could see largemouth swimming around, but I couldn't get any to bite other than one small fish that I threw back that I didn't bother to measure even though it was close to 12-inches.

By 9:30, we headed to Berth to fish docks.  We spent an hour and a half in there with only one fish for Dwight to show for it. We headed to the Pike River Inlet area, and I finally got on the board with a quality frog fish, but that was the only bite we got there. So next, we headed up to Arrowhead to see if maybe the slop was going there. Dwight got a frog fish in the first 10 minutes, then nothing. I switched to a swimbait and got a 13-incher on that, but that was the only bite. I tried a swim jig and missed a bite that felt pikey on that. With two hours left, we headed back to the starting spot in the hopes that Dwight could upgrade with a smallie and contend for the win. However,  Dennis was sitting there again. We went to a nearby secondary area. I ended up picking a solid 2.5lb largie off of a dock just letting the Dinger sit on the bottom. With that clue, we headed to some nearby isolated docks in search of my limit. I lost a really good fish right away but quickly rebounded with a two-pounder and two more keepers.   I ended up culling twice, including one off the last dock we fished in a Hay Lake.

Results: My fish weighed 14/2 which put me in 13th Place. Dwight had 19/1, which was only good enough for 8th😲. Keith Tuma blew the field away and the previous Club Record Bag taking 1st Place with 27/4 and Lunker with a 5/3 smallmouth. Dennis got 2nd with 21/10. I guess the key for Keith recognized that the big smallies were still pre-spawn; thus, he was looking for cruisers, not bedders. His Co-Angler Dave Smith also had a 20lb bag.

My Thoughts: I came in expecting the fishing to be pretty good, and it was, for the most part. I did, after all, catch one of my biggest bags as a Snatcher and my biggest of the 6 tournaments I've fished there. It just took me forever to get on the same page as the fish, which was frustrating. Thankfully the heat really didn't bother me, and I was comfortable all day.

Congrats to Tuma; that was impressive.