B.B.S. Bay Lake

Photo credit: SarahJean Fishing Bay Lake 6/2/18

Conditions: 47-64℉, Cloudy with fog for several hours, light and heavy rain after the first couple of hours, Windy ESE.

The Day:
The guys weren't in a big rush to launch the boats on this blustery foggy morning.  I think we blasted off a minute or two after 7AM.  Chuck took me to his starting spot where a couple of loons were milling around.  Chuck got a couple of small keepers in the boat and a pike or two and a rock bass. I think I got a pike and missed a couple of bites.  After fishing the area for around half an hour or so we moved on.  Chuck got a little turned around in the fog for a second, but quickly got back on track.

We next went to a large weed flat where Tuma and Sarah were fishing.  Chuck said they were on the juice.  I got a couple of pike to start things off on the Pure Poison and Chuck landed a couple of small keepers and a pike or two.  It was pretty clear to me at this point that the bass were not in a chasing mood, so I went to the craw tube.  It wasn't that long and I had my first keeper in the boat, a solid 2.18lb fish.  I quickly followed that up with a 1.71lb bass.  Then it was a pike fest for a while and Chuck filled out his limit with little keepers.  Tuma left.  I noticed a fish swirl on the surface.  I picked up a white Pure Poison/RaZor Shad and got a 1.14lb keeper on it.  We got a few more pike and it started to rain.

We headed South to try some docks.  Chuck got a rock bass.  We headed back North.  I got pike on three consecutive casts on the Pure Poison/Craw Fatty.  I also got 1.21lb and .88lb squeaker along with a few more pike.  We fished along Malkerson Island and got some more pike and a rock bass or two.  We went back to the large weed flat where Bailey/Herman were now fishing. I think Chuck got a couple of bass that didn't help and I got a few pike and missed some bites.  I also had a pike bite off my Texas Rig, so I downsized to 3/16oz sinker from 3/8th.

It started to rain harder just as we headed South and West.  We were fishing an offshore point.  Chuck and I both quickly got a small keeper.  Chuck invited me up to the front deck to fish next to him.  I had a fish pick up my Texas rig, but when I set the hook the fish had dropped it and the rig flew out of the water with the sinker nailing Chuck right in the eye.  I saw the whole thing as it happened, quite scary.  Chuck was in quite a bit of pain for a couple of minutes, but then he recovered fairly quickly after that.  I was a gun shy for a little while after that and missed some bites due to a poor hook-set because of it.

We moved back into the central part of the lake and I got some pike on a Whopper Plopper and Chuck got a small bass off of a dock.  We then went back up to the Northern part of the lake to try the starting spot getting nothing,  Chuck asked me if I had any ideas and I did, which paid off in me getting 2.50lber, my biggest of the day during the heaviest downpour.

We went back to work the large weed flat again.  I missed several fish as they bit on the upswing of my jigging motion.  Also caught a few more pike.

We tried a spot over by Chuck's starting spot and I got a very minor cull along with a rock bass and a pike or two.  We tried his starting spot one last time and then the day was done.  It quit raining during the last hour or so.

The Results:
My Fish weighted 10lbs 1ozs, which put me in 14th Place out of 28 anglers.  I jumped 2 places due to some anglers getting to the weigh-in a bit late.  Chuck had 9/14 and finished right behind me in 15th. Jim Smith won with 13/10 and Dave Branum caught a 5/01 hawg for "Lunker".

Thoughts: Both Chuck and I just didn't put enough two-pound fish in the boat.  One more 2lber would have jumped me into the top 10 and another one probably Top 6.

Final Results:

 

May 30th B.B.S. Bay Lake

Todd Berghuis and a loon

6:50AM-3:00PM
Conditions-  Mostly sunny, cold and windy in the morning out of the NNE, the breeze dying down a bit, and it warmed to the high 50's.

The Day:
It was cold in the morning, I did layer up properly and stayed warm except for my left hand which I had to stop fishing with a couple of times to put in my pocket to warm up.  We agreed to start on a deeper spot where we got a double on in practice.  This spot was exposed to the brunt of the wind and the fish weren't there.   My boater Todd got a couple pike and an Ok sized bass and I got a pike on a craw tube.  After about an hour we moved shallow.

I got a pike then a small keeper (12.5") on a black/blue D & M Piranha with a sapphire blue Chigger Craw.  We then moved to another shallow bay where that loon came to see what we were up too.  Todd got two small keepers.  I switched up to a bluegill color D & M Piranha with a swimbait trailer.  Very quickly I got a small keeper (12.25") casting out, then one that felt better than it was (13.75") right up next to shore.  We worked back over this area two more times.  I got a pike on the D & M and Todd got another keeper or two.  We worked into a small marina and I got a quality fish (15.75) off a pontoon with a white Zoom Horny Toad.

We then made a move to a boat channel.  As we were entering it I got my best fish of the day (15.9") off of the first dock in the entrance.  Todd caught one of his better fish in the channel and I got my limit fish (12.5") and missed one on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.

We made a long move to another shallow bay.  Todd got a fish to cull and I ran the trolling motor for about 10 minutes while he got his fish figured out.  Shortly after he regained control of the trolling motor I saw a 15.5" bass take a shot at my Piranha.  I caught it.

We tried our starting spot and didn't get anything but a pike or two.  We then went back to the bay with the loon.  I had a hit on the the D & M that ran towards me and got off.  I think I got my next cull (14.5") on a Zoom Super Fluke.  Todd got a couple that didn't help him.  We got to a calm area and I got my last cull (13.25") on a Reaction Innovations Vixen.  We made one last move to the bay where I got my biggest fish in pre-fish, but didn't get anything.  And then the day was over.

Results:  My six fish weighed 10lbs even and was good for 18th place out of 30 anglers.  My boaters limit went for 10lbs 15ozs and put him in 11th place.  The winner was Nate Steinbauer with 14lbs 2ozs who caught the Lunker at 4lbs 2ozs.

My Thoughts:  I could have done without the cold front and a little less wind.  Apparently the bite turned on in the later part of the after noon, but we really struggled the last two hours.  Fish just didn't move up in the bay we chose to fish unfortunately.  Todd was really enjoyable to fish with and was very concerned that I get my limit, which I fortunately got in the 1st half of the day.

My #yearofrevenge starts at the next Tournament at Farm Island Lake.

Bay Lake Pre-Fish Report

My Boater Todd Berghuis

We got out for about four and a half hours on Tuesday afternoon.  We had almost perfect conditions, could have used maybe a bit more wind for it to be perfect.  I feel good about what we we caught as both of us got multiple good sized fish for Bay Lake.  We are having a major warm up starting and we didn't see many beds, so it''s possible everything will move to the bank for Saturday.  I guess we will see what tournament day brings.

16" My biggest of the night

B.B.S. Bay Lake June 2nd

2nd Place

Conditions: Day started cool in the low 50's getting up to about 70 in the afternoon.  I was sunny and had light to medium winds out of the W NW.

Blast off was at around a quarter to 7AM and we stuck around close to the launch but didn't get anything so we left after 20 minutes.  We went around to the West side of Battle Point and started fishing the weedline.  I immediately caught a pike on a red Spro Aruku Shad.  Then my boater Roger landed the first small keeper of the day on a flat sided chartreuse DT shallow runner.   I landed a couple dink bass and a northern.  Roger got a couple more keepers before I got a 13.25" on the Aruku.  Roger landed a couple more before I got my 2nd fish, a 12.75 on the Aruku.  Roger was putting on a clinic with the DT.  I slowly got a 15.25", a 13", and a 16.5" on the Blue Bruiser Lake Fork Craw Tube.  We decided to run back to where we started so I could finish my limit.  I got a 14" to finish my limit on a chartreuse Cordell Spot.  I then started throwing a blue/black Strike King Pure Poison Chatterjig with blue/black Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty Trailer.  I was just thinking I was going to quit throwing it when I got 17.75" bass.  I  culled my smallest got her in the well and immediately got a 17.5".  Put her in the well, put a new Craw Fatty on and with in a couple of casts had a 16.75" in the boat.  Bing bang boom, now I had more weight than Roger.  I got a 14.75" to cull out a 14" and then things got slow.

We were headed to Johnson Point but a boat was there so we started working up from West to East along the  the North side of Corey Point.  It was slow for a while, but then I got a 16.5 on the Crawtube and I figured I had around 13lbs.  I got a few more that didn't help and then I got a 15.25" that culled my previous 15.25" up towards the tip of Corey Point.  That convinced Roger to fish there a little more and he got his best fish and another cull or two.  We were both pretty happy with our bags at this point.  I was now after 11AM and we fished off the SE tip of Malkerson Island.  Just got a couple that didn't help.

We headed to the bar off the South side of Brighton Point and got nothing but rockies and a pike or two.  For the last hour or so we headed back to our starting spot.  I  got a couple that didn't help and I don't think Roger got anything to help himself either, and the day was done.

When we weighed I was shocked to hear Rogers weight at 14/6.  I was even more shocked to hear my weight at 15/11 which put me in 2nd place where I staid through the rest of the weigh in.  My big bass was 3/2.  I didn't realize it at the time but I was only 2oz behind new Bass Snatcher member Jim Smith who got 1st.  Roger got 3rd Place. Bay Lake was really on with 15 guys at just under 12lbs and up.  10lbs bags went down to 25th Place.

Analysis:  Surprisingly we out fished our pre-fish day where we had about 13lbs a piece.  I really thought I was in the 13lb range.  Here were my two baits.

The huge key was that flurry I had in our 2nd pass off of Battle Point with the Pure Poison.  I had my 3 biggest fish in like 7 casts.  Not only was it my best Snatcher finish, but it was my best weight in a Snatcher Tournament by over a pound.

Bay Lake Pre-Fish

I got from 7AM to almost 5PM to fish with Roger Ubl my boater for Saturday's Bay Lake Tournament.  It was a fun day on the water as we caught a ton of fish.  The rap on Bay is that it is a peanut factory and that was pretty much the case as we didn't get a single 3lb bass.  However we did land several quality 2lb fish, which will be gold on tournament day.

I'm not really sure where the fish are in regards to the spawn.  Several of the fish were chunky, but several had raw anal fins but they were still chunky.  One thing is clear, we are gonna catch a lot of pike.  I got 32 pike to my 25 bass and Roger caught about the exact same numbers as me.  I hope the fish are as active on tournament day.