B.B.S. Mission Lakes Tournament Sept. 19th

What I caught My 3 Fish On (2 Bass, 1 Pike)

My first big mistake was thinking I would be able to get a limit no problem.  My boater Bill B. had a good history on the lake and we as a club caught the fire out of them here two years ago in June.  I thought the fish would be everywhere and on the feed, boy was I wrong.  Less than half the field caught a limit and about half of us had 3 fish or less.  It was tough.

My second mistake was not calling to check if my boater pre-fished, which he did end up doing.  I didn't bring my dock skipping rod because I didn't know we would be fishing docks.  Oh well.

Conditions: Post cold front, cool in the morning getting to about 70 degrees, Sunny, light winds for the first 3 hours then getting to be about 10-15mph in the afternoon out of the WSW, about a foot of visibility maybe less.

The Day: We started in the Lower Lake in some maidencaine.  Bill missed a bite on a spinnerbait.  We spent maybe half an hour, than moved up the lake to try some docks.  Bill got a squeaker out of some sparce reeds.  And I got a 11.75" of a dock on the Craw Fatty.

Next we moved to the Upper Lake.  We fished outside of some reeds, then went in to try some docks.  I got my only keeper on the Horny Toad.  I then missed a fish on the HT and Bill also missed a fish on the same dock.

Next we moved to a weedline spot outside of the reeds.  Bill picked up three descent one's on this spot on a Senko.  The last of which he got when Chuck Steinbauer was close by, which gave Bill quite a thrill to do.  The wind came up while we were on this spot.

Next we went to the NE corner of the lake and got nothing, then we went to the reed point by the Upper Lake Access and Bill got an OK fish on the Senko.  I switched to a Grass Pig Jr on a Texas Rig.  I should have put it on a mushroom head jig instead as I got a couple of bites but didn't get hook into them at this spot or at the place Bill got the 3 fish.

Next we went to a spot outside of a reed point on the NW shore.  I got my pike there.  Then we moved in to fish docks.  I missed a bite that took the Horny Toad when I let it sink at the back of a pontoon and another fish that hit the HT as I brought it out of a thick patch of reeds that was out from a dock.

I think Bill got a hammer-handle off an under water point.  With about an hour and a half left we went back to the Lower Lake and retraced our steps back to the docks then maidencaine.  Bill pulled his biggest bass there on a Yabbie.  I missed a hit on the Craw Fatty, but the line was frayed a bit so it was probably a pike.  We then went over by the access where Bill got a small pike on a swim jig with a swimbait.

Results:  My fish weighed 1lbs 8oz, which kept me out of last place by an ounce.  I finished 19th out of 20.  Bills fish weighed 12-13 and put him in 7th Place.  1st Place went to Chuck Johansen with 17-15 after a 2oz dead fish penalty.  Lunker went to Darren Kiefer with a 4lb 6oz fish.  He was fishing with Johansen.

My Thoughts:   I just wanted to go out and catch a bunch of fish.  What a disappointment!

I didn't get a bite on a chatter jigs, Chigger Craws, Red Eye Shad, buzzbait, or a Vixen.

June 22nd B.B.S. Misson Lake's

The Weather:  It was cloudy with the wind switching directions a few times, and it even got calm a time or two or maybe it was just the shoreline we were fishing.  I don't think it sprinkled, but at one point I put my rain gear on thinking it was going to rain pretty good.  It stayed near 70 degrees the whole day and that was the water temp as well.

The Tournament:
We blasted off from the Upper Mission Access as the 12th boat out of 17 at around a quarter to 7AM. We drove West.  Right away I got  a 13" bass on a reed edge on a bluegill Pure Poison with grn. pumpkin Havoc Craw Fatty Trailer.  A couple of casts later I got hung up in the reeds and I broke off for some reason.  We fished the reeds for a couple more minutes, then went to either a sunken hump or point, I'm not sure which it is.  I fished the area before back at the Challenge Cup we had back in 2009.  I think I missed one bite and that was it.  Nate my boater informed me at one point fish were breaking, but I never saw or heard it.  It was windy.

Next we headed to a weedline off of some reeds West of the Public Access on the Upper Mission.  There I got a pike on the Poison and 14.95" bass on the Stanley Phantom.  Getting this fish wasted a lot of my time because I never had another fish hit it the rest of the day. Eventually we headed to a weedline on the South shore off of some reeds.  Right away I got 30" or so inch pike on the Pure Poison.  Nate got 2 good bass on a jig, and I got my 14" on a Hack Attack Jig with breen Powerbait Chigger Craw trailer.  We moved into the reeds and Nate got another good fish. We went back out and worked the area Nate got the 1st couple without any luck.  We then had a long lull trying along the SE end of the lake.  Nate got one fish I think.

Next we went to a spot that I suggested on the North end of the Lake.  There we ran into Guy and Jim Smith. Nate got his limit.

We next headed to Lower Mission.  I got 13" and a 12" squeaker on a white Horny Toad.  Nate pulled a few fish off some docks, so next we headed to a magic dock, where Nate pulled off about 6 or 7 fish.  He offered me the knock off senko he was throwing and I accepted it.  I don't think the problem was my fluke, but my lousy casting.  I just couldn't get the lure in the right places.  I missed a few bites with the senko, but I finally hooked up with another 12" squeaker.  We worked some more docks and some shoreline cover with me missing several bites.

Next we headed back to the Upper Lake and the spot Nate got his first 3 fish.  I culled one of the 12"'s with a 12.75" on a Grass Pig Jr. and got my big bass of the day 15.25" (1/14) off of a dock with the Hack Attack jig.

We tried a couple more spots on the Upper Lake.  Nate getting a cull at that island/ point thing.  I caught a 12.5" bass that didn't help on a craw tube and got bit off.  Next we headed into the Lower Lake.

We fished a reed bed into the shoreline cover where I missed a couple on the Horny Toad.  Next we went to a sand break and got nothing there.  With 20 minutes left Nate asked my docks or caine.  I chose the caine.  That worked out for Nate cause he got one last good cull.  I missed yet another hit on the Horny Toad and then we were done.

Results:
My six fish weighed 8lbs 11ozs which put me in 32nd out of 33 guys.  Nate weighed 16lbs even and won the tournament by 2ozs!!!  Great job Nate!

There were only 4 bags under 10lbs and 14lb bags went down to 16th Place.  I was only saved from last place because Herman only caught 2 fish.

My Thoughts:
I just had a bad day on the water, it happens.  This is my second worse performance as a Snatcher;  Second only to the beat down I took at Cedar Lake in the 1st tournament of the year.  At least I got a limit in this one.

I don't really know why the day went so bad.  I didn't get tired or lose focus.  My dock skipping and Horny Toad skills both were both super rusty.  I have decided to demote the rod I've been using for skipping docks.  It just doesn't have enough back bone.

One thing other than on the docks were Nate had first crack at them, we never really got into the fish.  We didn't get very many bites on the weedlines for as much as we fished the them.  Sounded like a lot of people got their fish up shallow on the lower lake.  We spent most of the day in the Upper Lake and on the weedlines.

If I had it to do all over again.  I would have thrown the Hack Attack Jig more.

Mission Lakes seem to have my number, this is 3 poor showings in the 3 times I've fished it.

Bass Snatchers 2013 Schedule

Here is what my club is fishing this year, with my comments.

June 1st South Long-  Other than the parking situation,  I like the lake.  I've fished it twice when we fished our 2nd tournament in 2009, which was on June 21st.  I have some revenge to get on those bass.

June 22nd Mission Lakes-  I like these lakes.  I've fished them twice, but that was in October both times.  I'm sure they will fish a bit differently than it did in 2008 and 2009 because those were after all in early October.

July 21st Rush Lake-  I don't even know where this lake is, let alone anything else about it other than the Snatchers have fished it before twice, once in mid July of 2000 and once in late August of 2003.  The lake took 19lb weights to win both times but there weren't many limits caught either time.  Hopefully the lakes bass population has improved since then.

Aug 3rd Rabbit Lakes-  I have fished these lakes 2 times as a Snatcher, once for pre-fish and once for the tournament in late July of 2010;  And I fished it 3 times in 2004 for an Excel Bass Tournament I fished in late June 2004.  I look forward to getting a bit of revenge on the fish there for 2010, but the lake has generally treated me well.

August 17th Blind-  We won't find out the lake until the morning we go to fish it.  It could be any lake within 30 miles of Brainerd that is 1000 acres or more and that we didn't fish last year, so North Long, Alexander, Bay, and Whitefish Chain are out.  I believe the 30 mile rule puts Platte/Sullivan in play.  I believe the Mississippi River is in play as well.  Should be interesting.

Sept 21st Little Boy/Wabedo-  I'm not happy that the club refused to switch this with Mission so the smallies could be in play.  I fished there twice but that was for Muskie Tournament also in late Sept. or maybe it was Oct..  I don't recall what I caught other than 1 tiny muskie and maybe a couple of pike and bass in the reeds.  I lost a box of topwater lures there.  It just stinks that there could be a topwater smallie bite going on.

Hopefully my back will be OK this year, that's my biggest concern.

Bass Snatchers Win The 2009 Challenge Cup Mission Lakes

Today was the Challenge Cup which is a longstanding contest between the Baxter Bass Snatcher Bass Club and the Range Bassmasters. The Cup was held on Upper and Lower Mission Lakes North of Brainerd. By virtue of the fact that other more highly seeded Bass Snatchers didn't want to fish I was allowed to be on this years 6 man team. There were 3 Snatcher boaters with 3 Range non-boaters and vise versa. My boater was Range Bassmaster Emmet Smith.

Going into the tournament the scuttlebutt on Emmet was that he was going to take me into the shallow junk all day and that I should use my allotted 4 hours in the front of the boat to hit weedlines. That isn't how it worked out.

The weather: From the low 40's in the morning to the low 50's in the afternoon. It was cloudy with a couple short rounds of light sprinkles. Wind was out of the North around 10mph.

Emmet started us off on a weedline spot on the West end of the upper lake. In the first hour Emmit managed 2 keeper bass around 2 pounds and a 10lb pike. I had a couple of hits on my black spinnerbait but they didn't hook up. One of those bites felt big. After about 45 minutes with no action we ran to the NE end of Upper Mission to a weedline spot I had fished before. I caught a pike and had my spinnerbait get bumped a couple of more times.

Next we headed to Lower Mission to try some docks, that was a bust, so we tried some reeds and that was a bust so we tried some weedlines and that too was a bust. We headed back to Upper Mission to our starting spot.

We spent a couple of hours flogging our starting spot and Emmet got a 12 incher and a pike, while I had a pike bite off and that was it. Totally perplexed we went right to a spot that I wanted to fish, even though I didn't mention the area to Emmit. We were fishing down a weedline towards Range boater and In-Fisherman Bass Guru Steve Quinn. We watched as Snatcher Bill Ludenia caught a small keeper. They were struggling like we were struggling and word was that the bite was very tough for everybody except Snatcher Chuck Steinbauer. We passed the Quinn boat and I got a bite on my tube, but it was a pike. Shortly after the pike Emmet caught 2 keeper bass on a jigworm off of the used water. We worked the weedline up the side of a point with no action so we decided to head back over the water where Emmit got the last 2 fish.

I was throwing my black spinnerbait and I hooked up, but once again it was a pike. Emmet caught a short, then Emmit got the idea that we should move a bit shallower. He was rewarded with his biggest bass of the day on a spinnerbait in the little reedbed up by shore. We kept working shallow into a slop bay. I thought I might have had a fish on for a second on a Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig when the next thing I knew Emmit was hauling in a 2lb bass. I picked up a Herb's Dilly Buzzbait and finally was rewarded with a bass just a little under 3lbs, at this point there was just an hour and a half left to fish; I was mighty relieved to have the skunk out of the boat with a good fish. We worked from the North side of the slop bay around to the South side of the slop bay where Emmit caught another 2lber on a craw tube pitching into the pads. Emmet had to cull, so I took the front of the boat and worked the rest of the South shore of the slop bay then I headed us quickly back to the North side. On the North side Emmet caught another 3lber on the craw tube and I got a pound and 3 quarter bass on the Herb's Dilly. Those would be our last fish although we would both miss bites in the reeds on our way back to the landing.

I don't and probably won't have the official numbers but I can report that 4 out of the 6 snatchers won in their boats. Chuck Steinbauer won with about 18lbs and Lunker that was right about 5lbs. I think Snatcher Dennis Lothspeich got 2nd and Emmet got 3rd. I think our Snatcher Club won total weight by around 4lbs.

Bass Snatchers Mission Lake Oct. 4, 2008

I had one goal going into this tournament and that was to catch my 6 fish limit so I would have caught a limit in all 6 tournaments on the schedule. Accomplishing this goal would be a mark of distinction especially fishing from the back of the boat. Up until this year in the 31-year history of the Baxter Bass Snatcher Club, a total of only 7 different anglers had ever caught a limit in every tournament in a season and those 7 did it only 16 times. I was pretty hungry to achieve this goal and at 1pm with only 2 keepers in the well, I began to feel the pressure. Did I rally or fall flat? Read On

On my way to the lake in the morning, I missed a right turn and was headed North on the wrong road. I kind of sensed something may be wrong and I kept looking for a sign to tell me if I was on 3 or not. I finally got to a road identification sign and I was on 4, not 3. I immediately turned around and sped back the way I had come. When I got to 3 there were two bass boats that pulled in just in front of me and sure enough, they were Bass Snatchers, so I got to the access without any more problems. I met my partner Dennis Lothspeich and got my rods and tackle loaded into his boat. Dennis and I got the boat launched into a fairly heavy fog. It had gotten down below freezing this morning and that combined with the warm water made a world of white.

Due to the fog, Dennis decided to start on a weed point right at our blast off point in front of the public access on Upper Mission. As we were waiting for blast off the Lowrance was marking fish activity on the point. I thought maybe blastoff would be delayed because of the fog, but Dennis said: "not in this club." Before blastoff they made the announcement that it was idle speed only until the fog cleared. The boats had to gather closer in for the blast off.

I think Dennis just put the trolling motor in the water and started moving us toward the weed point. By the time it was our turn we were pretty much on the spot and started casting. On his second cast, Dennis tied into a good fish on a jignpig. He got her up and into the net and it was the days big bass at 4lbs3ozs. Dennis had an awesome head start on sewing up the title "Mr. Bass", which goes to the top placing fisherman for the year. Another boat started just to the East of us and they landed a fish right away too. I was throwing a black single Colorado blade spinnerbait at first but then switched to a black/blue jignpig. I don't remember if Dennis got one more fish off the spot or not, but I didn't get anything.

After about 45 minutes of working the weed point the fog had cleared a little and so Dennis ran us to the spot we would have started on if not for the fog. This spot was on the East side of a lake and was a weedline outside of some reeds and adjacent to a weed flat. It didn't take long and Dennis landed another keeper. Shortly after that, I got my first keeper on the black spinnerbait. I believe Dennis landed another keeper. I switched my jignpig to green pumpkin like his and also tried some topwater because we did see some activity on the surface. I did miss a hit on the Jignpig and on the spinnerbait. Eventually, we worked our way South onto the weed flat and Dennis picked up two good fish on a white spinnerbait. I got a little discouraged because my spinnerbait didn't come up with anything.

The fog was totally gone now and we had been fishing this second area for about an hour, so we headed back to our first spot. I think Dennis picked up his limit fish quickly on the weed point and I got my second keeper on the green pumpkin JigNpig. I was very glad at this point to see that I could come up with a jignpig fish. We worked our way West to towards an area where another boat (Chuck Steinbauer my North Long Partner) started. I believe Dennis picked up a couple more keepers along the way. As we approached the spot Dennis was really high on Mark Munson my Serpent Lake Partner beat us to it. I did catch a pike in front of them.

It was around 10:30am and so Dennis made a planned run down to Lower Mission Lake. Dennis had a stretch of water he was quite confident in and so we went there. I had something bump the spinnerbait good but not hook up. A little while later I caught a pike. Dennis was a little discouraged that we didn't get a bass on the first pass and took us back the way we came on a second pass, still no bass.

Next, we headed to a sunken island that has some awesome looking coontail clumps on it. The book says that bass and coontail in the Fall go together like pigs and mud. As we were just getting started on this spot Dennis told me that this area didn't hold any bass for him in prefishing but it was full of pike. Almost immediately after he said that I picked up my 3rd pike, and it was a nice one, on the black spinnerbait. We worked the whole sunken island with the beautiful coontail and came up with nothing.

Dennis made the decision around 11:30 to head back to Upper Mission. The first spot we went to was by another club boat. They were working the reeds and we saw them catch a fish. Dennis had us work the outside weedline but we came up with nothing. It was sunny and around noon when Dennis pulled up and went back to the 2nd spot we went to in the morning.

I believe Dennis landed a pike then had a couple of bite offs. I may have caught a pike to, but don't remember. Dennis did get a bass or two on the jignpig before we moved up on the flat. With the sun up Dennis figured the flat would turn on but it didn't. I tried the black spinnerbait, a Red Eye Shad, Rattletraps, Baby Minus Ones, Spro shallow runners all to no avail. It was now about 12:30pm and I only had those two fish in the box so I was off the pace to get my limit for the day and I could feel the pressure start. We worked a long way down the flat when Dennis finally hooked up with a spinnerbait fish. I took the front of the boat when he went to cull and immediately hooked up with a 12inch squeaker that barely made the line. Another boat came along and told us that the fish were biting in the reeds. We decided to work our way back North on the flat and I threw a buzzbait but it just was not happening. We headed back to our starting spot.

As we worked the weed point I got a thump on the jignpig and landed a solid bass. We started working our way West and I was rewarded with 2 more keeper bass on the black spinnerbait, so I did have my limit by about 1:30pm and I was relieved, though I did want to get rid of that 12incher just in case. It didn't take long and the 12 incher was gone in favor of a totally safe 13inch fish.

We moved to a spot that Dennis said used to hold big fish but doesn't anymore, but still usually holds fish. I got one bass on the black spinnerbait that culled up slightly, then Dennis got a bass on the jig. I got another hit and the bass came up to jump, when it did my line went slack and I reeled in with nothing but the knot. Apparently, my spinnerbait must have broken in two. I did have one more spinnerbait just like the one I broke so I tied it on.

As we both had our limits and were in need of bigger fish Dennis decided to head back to the lower lake on the area that he had confidence in. Once again we did nothing on this spot, not even a bite. We then went up and worked some docks, reeds, and pads. Dennis saw a 2lber swimming around in the reeds but we didn't get any bass. I had a good strike on the 1/2oz black spinnerbait and it was a pike that was over 5lbs. Instead of having Dennis net it I was going to try and handle it boat side which was a mistake because I ended up with the spinnerbait breaking in two. That was my last 1/2oz black spinnerbait. I put on a 3/8oz black spinnerbait.

We stopped working the shore we were on and tried the area close to the channel on the North side of Lower Mission. I got a couple of keepers that didn't help and I think Dennis got a pike and one that didn't help.

Next, we worked the reeds on the West end of Upper Long. My 3/8oz spinnerbait was not heavy enough to work in these thick reeds so I switched to a double Colorado blade 1/2oz spinnerbait. While I was getting it unstuck from some reeds the top blade and swivel came off of the wire. I then switched up to a jignpig, then a Zoom Horny Toad. I got another keeper that didn't help on the Horny Toad. Soon we came to a weed flat without reeds and I switched back to the black spinnerbait. I got a fish but I don't remember if it was a pike or a little bass.

Time was now running short, so we headed back to the reed line just West of the access. We worked that for a while with no success so we called it quits.

Results:
My 6 fish weighed 10lbs 3ozs which was only good enough for 20th out of 25, but I didn't care because I got that limit. Dennis ended up with 15lbs 4ozs and came in 3rd place thus winning Mr. Bass honors with ease. Even so, Dennis did not get a limit in all 6 tournaments, missing a limit at Serpent by one fish. There were 23 limits caught by the 25 anglers and the top two weights came from the same boat, 19lbs12ozs, and 15lbs 6ozs. So everyone pretty much got clobbered by Jake Hughes. Four other anglers this year caught a limit in all 6 tournaments, so the five of us that did it set a new club record for # of guys doing it in one year.