2010 Bass Snatchers Season Schedule & Preview

My bass club schedule for this year has taken shape. Here are the dates and lakes with my thoughts.

June 5th Whitefish Chain- I have only been on the Whitefish Chain twice in my life and have only fished in a very small area of it. (You can read about that experience here...) Chances are my boater is going to know the Chain fairly well and early June is usually a great time to fish bass in MN. Word at our club meeting was that the tournament would most likely be won with smallmouth. I hope I draw someone that at least makes an attempt for smallies, not because they are winning fish, but because smallies rule. I think the Chain is a much better choice than Cedar Lake (Aitken) which was our first tournament last year.

June 20th Farm Island Lake- I've been on Farm Island once and that was (the Bass Snatchers season opener tournament on June 11th of 2008. I really did like what I saw of the lake in 2008 which was a late and cool Spring that had the fish pre-spawn to spawn. Chances are good that this June 20th tournament will be post-spawn with much more mature weed growth. I look forward to fishing this lake again.

July 10th Cass Lake- The club has never fished this lake before but the Excel Singles and Excel Team circuit fished it last year to positive reviews and that is pretty much why we will be going there this year. Word I have gotten is that Cass is very much like Leech Lake where shallow slop and reeds are king. I like this kind of fishing, but can I survive the long day? Cass is another hours ride beyond Leech. I am going to seriously think about getting a hotel room for this one.

July 24th Rabbit- Originally this one was going to be on Le Homme Dieu but the club thought the better of that and that's ok with me. I think I have been on Rabbit 3 times revolving around a tournament I fished there with Excel Singles June 27th 2004 where I got 3rd Place. For that tournament I found fish shallow, but it could very well be that I draw a partner who chooses to fish this lake deep all day. Rabbit does have some smallmouth, but I don't think the population is very large. Overall I don't view Rabbit as an outstanding bass fishery, so I will just be happy with a limit in this one.

August 28th Washburn- Never fished it, don't know much about it and I'm guessing doing Internet research isn't going to turn up much. I really hope I draw a boater who is on to something or this one might be tough.

October 2 Serpent- Serpent was the sight of my best showing in the club (3rd Place and Lunker) and took place slightly earlier on Sept 20th.. That tournament was the only time I have ever fished this lake so I don't necessarily have a strong feel for it. In 2007 it was a half way decent day to fish yet only 10 of our 24 guys got a limit, however there were 6 guys 1 fish short of a limit. Wish this one was taking place when smallmouth were still in season.

Some guys in the club were complaining the lake choices were kind of predictable and boring. I guess we will see.

Blast from the past.

Back in 2004 with the help of my friend Mike Davis I fished 3 Excel Singles events put on by Joel Stokka. The Picture is from Rabbit Lake where I placed 3rd. Some of the best bass anglers in the Brainerd area fish Excel Singles and at Rabbit I was beat by two good one's in Pro Fisherman and Guide Tom Whitehead (brown shirt) and fellow Baxter Bass Snatcher Chuck Fields (blue shirt). I might have placed higher but my kicker was a really skinny fish that could have weighed a 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound more if it was filled out.

Here are my Excel Singles Results from 2004:

6/6/04 Gull Lake 11.88lbs for 12th out of 36 anglers. I had never been on Gull Lake before that morning and it might have cost me because I didn't find the channel that I wanted to fish first thing in the morning. Mike Davis was actually in the boat with me to observe how I went about my tournament day. I didn't go far from the launch point, in fact I caught most of my fish on Flukes and Senko's on the other side (South) of the point where the HQ Ernie's on Gull is located. I was proud of my finish in this one.

6/27/04 Rabbit Lake 10.92lbs for 3rd out of 34. I caught em on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke shallow and my biggest bass was a fluke that I was very lucky to get in the boat.

7/18/04 Whitefish Chain Skunk! Last out of 30. I had only been on Whitefish once and caught lots of fish that day pre-fishing with Mike Davis; By tournament day they vacated the area and my lack of familiarity with the lake just killed me. The up side is that I won a Fig Rig rod (6'6") in a drawing before the tournament started in the morning. At the dock someone said, "You probably used up your luck for the day when you won that rod." I guess he was a prophet. That rod has served me well, I primarily have used it for Frenzy Poppers, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits for eye's and bass.

I didn't fish the last two tournaments of the year.