8/16/14 B.B.S. Fishtrap Lake (Blind)

Note: Written way after the original tournament date.

I'll admit that I got a bit depressed after my finishes so far this year.   I needed an attitude adjustment to get up for this tournament.  My boater in this one, Guy Henkensiefken, asked me while we were out on the water why I wasn't doing my tournament recap blogs.  That is the reason why I have dragged my feet in writing them so long.

This was the 2nd year in a row I drew Guy for the "Blind" tournament and this is the third time I've fished with him (Rabbit Lake '10, Cullen Chain '13).  After last years tournament he gave me an assignment of coming up with 20 things to talk about in the boat.  I came up with 1, Christian Ponder lol.

Conditions: Very similar to Pelican Lake but not as cool in the morning and a little cloudier and more humid, breaking into sun.  Very little wind.

Highlights from the Day:  

We had a kind of late boat draw, I don't remember if Guy got to go to his starting spot or not.  We started in a spot with two other boats close by.  In the calm conditions I started out throwing the chrome sexy shad KVD Sexy Dawg.  I'm pretty sure I put the first fish in the boat, a 14 incher.  I think I had one other fish not get it.  Guy got a couple of descent fish.  It started clouding up and looked like it might storm for a while.  We moved spots and I got one just over 15" on a black Sexy Dawg.  That was it for my topwater fish.  I don't know why they weren't going as conditions seemed perfect.  I did miss a couple on frogs in the pads later in the day.  I got a 12.25, 3x 13.75", and 14.25" and one hammer handle on a breen Chigger Craw on various weedlines.  My lunker, a 2/12, was my last fish of the day caught out of some pads on a green pumpkin Strike King Hack Attack Jig with Chigger Craw tailer.  I think Guy got a nice one out of the same patch of pads earlier in the day.

Results: My 6 went for 9/13 putting me in 11th Place out of 20 anglers.  This was my highest finish of the year.  Guy's bag of 14/13 put him in 5th place.  The tournament winner was Tim Benson with 17/6.  Chuck Steinbauer got Lunker with a 4/3.

My Thoughts: Man did it get hot out with no wind.  At least the beat down Guy gave me wasn't as bad as last year.

Guy's Parting Thought (Paraphrased):  "The days in this club when I could come in with 14 or 15lbs and expect to contend for the win are over, you've really got to catch them now."  A comment that proved less than prophetic because at the last tournament of the year on Whitefish the winning weight was bellow average at only 12/11.    

Aug. 2nd 2014 B.B.S. Pelican Lake

Waiting to Blast Off

Note:  This being written more than half a year later so the details may be a bit sketchy.

Conditions: Cool in the morning (54 degrees) getting to 82 degrees, very little wind, and hazy sunshine for most of the day.

I think my sleep schedule was messed up for this tournament.  I either woke up super early or didn't get any sleep at all.  I ended up arriving at the ramp in Jones Bay at least an hour before sunrise.  I was the first one there, but not by as much as I thought I would be.  My boater for this one was Roger Ubl who has many years of experience on Pelican Lake.  Unfortunately I was unable to get out to pre-fish with him.  He told me he wasn't getting a lot of bites, but the one's he were getting were nice one's.

The Day:  I brought my Ipod to wear during the run, set to my Tournament Playlist I had been listing to all morning.  As the picture shows it was a beautiful morning.  We blasted off at around 6:50am.  The run North listening to tunes as the guys raced up the lake was one of my highlights of the year.  We went to a hump or maybe humps quite a ways off the SE of Gooseberry Island.

On the way North I saw fish breaking on top and conditions were perfect for topwater, so I started by throwing a Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg in chrome sexy shad.  Sure enough within my first 10 casts I had a quality fish come up and blast it.  Unfortunately, after being hooked briefly it jumped way out of the water and flipped me off.  I'd say it was at least 18 inches.  A few casts later I hooked and caught a 14.75" largie.  Unfortunately that was it for my topwater bites for the day despite the fact we were around fish busting on the surface for most of the morning and for the last hour of the day as well.  I think Roger got a couple on some kind of plastic and I got a 16.5" on a Blue Bruiser Lake Fork Craw Tube.  Roger was really disappointed with the size of the fish we got here.

After about an hour to hour and a half we left and went off the western tip of Gooseberry Is.  Dang breaking fish that were either out of range or wouldn't hit what I was throwing.  Roger managed a few on the worm he was throwing.  I managed to get a small hammer handle on small Bomber Fat-Free Shad and a 17.25" bass on a breen Chigger Craw.  We went to a weedline off the SW side of Gooseberry and I got another 17.25" on the Chigger Craw.  That was it for my fish for the day.

We ended up going and fishing some cabbage beds, going back to our starting spot, and some deep weedlines.  I tried every rod in the boat including a Carolina Rig, which is something I rarely throw.  I had some bites from sunfish but that was it.  Roger managed to get a respectable limit by the end of the day.

Results:  My 4 fish weighed 10lbs 1oz, which put me in 21st Place out of 26 anglers.  My lunker went 3lbs even.   Rogers 6 weighed just under 14lbs, which only put him in 15th Place; I guess the  quality fish were snapping this day.  The winner was Chuck Steinbauer with 19/1 and his son Nate got "Lunker" at 4/10.

My Thoughts:   Getting that first bass in the boat would have been nice.  I was really wiped out by the end of this one, but I didn't really let it effect my fishing.  I felt like I fished strong for most of the day.  I just don't think we ever found a good school of fish.  The weights were way up from the tournament we had back in 2009 when I took 4th Place with 14lbs even.  If I had it to do over again I wouldn't have thrown a Carolina Rig and a lot less topwater.  Fishing with Roger and hearing his stories is always enjoyable.  

July 17th 2014 B.B.S. Leech Lake

In line for blast off

This being written 8 months after the fact, so my details may be a bit sketchy.

I rode up with my boater Jim "Smitty" Smith.  We were supposed to have another guy from the club ride up with us, but he never showed.  We left maybe 20 minutes later then we originally planned.

Conditions:
67 getting up to 77 degrees We had sun and clouds off and on during the day.
Windy in the morning out of the W SW dying down a bit throughout the day.

The Day:
We blasted off around 7:45am or so and Smitty put the hammer down heading South then East.  Tuma passed us pretty early on when the water was still pretty calm.  I thought I really should have brought my Ipod to wear during the run.  Once we got far enough East it got rougher and rougher.  We passed the South end of bear Island and pulled into some reeds that were getting hit pretty well by the wind.  I might have had a bite but it was tough to tell.  We ended up not getting anything there in two passes.  We went to a reed bed that was closer to Bear Island and a little more protected.  I think Smitty got his first one of the day there, a small keeper.  We moved closer to Bear Island fishing reeds and rice that looked fishy to me;  Mostly nothing was home.  I think Jim got a couple off of keepers isolated cover.

We moved to the back side of Partridge Point and I got a 12.5 inch peanut out of reeds next to a dock on a Horny Toad.  That was it on that stretch.

It was about 10am and we made the decision to run North after hitting on last group of reeds where I had a pike hit at my Horny Toad.   Fortunately the ride wasn't nearly as rough as we expected it would be.  Still it must have taken about an hour.  We went to an area I think they call the Campground, we had good luck here in pre-fish.  I caught a 16 incher casting out towards some lilly pads off the back of the boat on the Horny Toad.  I think we both missed a couple of bites.  Smitty wanted to head North to "the juice" where I got my big one in pre-fish, but I said lets give it a little more time.  It worked out for Smitty as he got one.  Then we headed to "the juice", which was almost totally dead.  I did miss one hit.  We crossed paths with somebody Jim knows who was pre-fishing for another tournament.  They were both dumbfounded about how poor the fishing was.

We ended up going farther North and fished a point.  Smitty got a small keeper and I got a rock bass on a craw tube.  Next we went into Leech River Bay/Federal Dam and sucked eggs.  Jim maybe missed one bite.  With about an hour and a half left we bailed to go South.  The ride was a lot smoother and took may 15 to 20 minutes going hammer down most of the time.

We fished Urum Bay the rest of the time. Jim got his limit fish with about 20 minutes left.

Results:  My two fish weighed 3lbs 9ozs and put me in 28th out of 31 anglers fishing.  Jim's 12lb 14oz limit got him 12th place.  The lake was really off today.That weight would have put Jim in 27th Place the last time we fished here in 2012.  The winner was Dennis Lothspeich with 19lbs 5ozs.

My Thoughts:  The fishing royally sucked.  Leech kicked my butt for a third time on tournament day.

Next Tournament: Pelican Lake August 2nd

Leech Pre-fish (with bonus time on Woman Lake)

Woman Lake: 7:00-9:00AM
Conditions- Calm, sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy

I got to fish today with my boater Jim "Smitty" Smith for the Bass Snatchers Leech Lake Tournament next week.  Jim is well known in MN bass tournament fishing community because he's been very successful and as I came to find out a really nice guy.  We hit Woman Lake first, checking it out for a tournament he's going to fish out there next Sunday.  We found some really nice smallmouth, but they didn't want to bite.  Jim caught 3 dinks and I didn't even get a bite.  I kind of had a brain freeze and forgot I had a rod with a Yabbie on it

Smitty with a quality Leech Lake largie

Leech Lake: 9:00AM-6:00PM
Conditions- Wind from light to fairly moderate out of the the SW alternating between cloudy and sunny with more sun late.

We put in at an area of the Lake I'd never been to before.  I got the first bite of the day out of some reeds on my brand new Snagproof Ish's Poppin' Phattie in black and yellow (Cali).

17" or so 

I missed one more good bite, then we switched area's.  In the new area I missed the first bite.  We went a little while and then Jim got two nice one's  in close proximity to one another out of the slop.  We got into an area with bullrushes, reeds, and pads and I got a 15" on a white Horny Toad.  Jim set the hook on a fish and his line broke.  I cast my toad into the area and ended up hooking his line with the fish still on it.  Jim grabbed the line and brought the fish in.  It was a quality 3lber.  In a tournament, who's fish would that be?

Jim was getting an occasional rock bass and I missed a couple of bites on a craw tube.  Jim lost a good one and I caught one that might have been 4lbs on the Horny toad.  We fished a lot of rice without getting any bites.  We pulled the boat out of the water and went to a different area of the lake.  Jim got a couple of nice one's including one on his last cast of the day and I got a 14" on a craw tube.

Over all Jim was disappointed we didn't get more fish.  I don't know why we didn't get more bites, conditions seemed to be perfect.  It was fun riding around in Smitty's sports car, a 19' Stratos with a 200hp motor.  Wind conditions will dictate what we do and where we go on tournament day.

June 22nd B.B.S. Serpent Lake

My Boater Dave Branum from the Morning We Pre-fished

Conditions: Cloudy in the morning turning sunny then partly cloudy.  Wind from almost calm to about 10mph out of the S SE.  It did sprinkle for a little while.  I could have used less wind.

My Plan- I was really hoping the wind would stay low enough to allow me to fish topwater all day.  After the pre-fish I figured it was a plan that had a chance of winning the tournament.  Honestly, I usually don't fish thinking I am going to win a tournament, but that was my mind set on this one.

The Day- I believe we blasted off around 6:40AM and we got our starting spot.  Well one caveat to that statement.  We got our starting spot, which was a fairly big area, but there was a non-competitors boat fishing right in the middle of it.  We did get to start on the spot where we got the double and I got 2 smallies.  It took about 10 to 15 minutes, but I got a 15" largie on a Paycheck Baits Repo Man.  I think I missed a hit and noticed on a couple of casts I had fish following but not hitting.  So I took the Repo Man off and went to the KVD Dawg.  I got a 14.25" and a 15.25" on that.  Dave got 1 or two fish.  The other boat landed a few as well.  Eventually we moved on the other side of the other boat.  I had a nice pike blow up on the KVD.  Then it got calm for a little while.  I started throwing a gold Frenzy Popper and I got 13.75" and a 12.5" on that.  The other boat left and the wind came up.  We weren't getting bites so we left.

Our next spot was a weedline where we got a few pre-fishing including 1 nice smallie.  The wind was blowing here pretty good.  I started out throwing the KVD Dawg, then a Kelly J, then a Strike King Spinnerbait.  I got a hit right away on the spinnerbait, but it was a slimmer.  I did get a 10 bass and 13.25" bass on the Kelly J.

We moved to a sunken island with weeds and rocks.  I culled out my 2 smallest with a 15.25" and a 14" on the Repo Man.  Dave got himself a nice smallie (2-10) and lost a another better largemouth as he was bring it to the boat.  I decided to throw a Lake Fork Craw Tube for a little bit and was quickly rewarded with a 16.25" largie (1-15).  I started catching a bunch of rock bass as well.

Next we headed to our starting area.  The wind was blowing pretty good there.  I started experimenting with lipless cranks.  I was on my 4th one, a 3/4oz chart/red Red Eye Shad, when  I had a 15 to 16 inch largemouth hit it. It only had one hook and got off.  I then caught a hammer handle.  Then I got the fish I was looking for, a good smallmouth.  It hit on the end of a long cast and shot up out of the water trying to throw my bait.  It then swam towards the boat.  Reeling as fast as I could I was able to keep up with it.  I had it about 4 feet from the net when it tail walked and came off.  I would say it was 17" inch 3lb class fish.  I ended up catching a rock bass and a perch on the Red Eye as well.

We moved to a weedline that was protected from the wind.  I started throwing the Repo Man.  A 17" or so smallie jumped on it about 12 feet out from the boat.  It missed the bait and must have seen me because it didn't come back for it.  Dave got a largemouth, which helped him and then he dropped one that had to be at least 3 1/2 lbs, probably a bit more.

We went back to the island where Dave got the smallmouth. I don't remember if he caught anything but rock bass.  I got a couple of rock bass on the Red Eye.  We finished up on our starting spot.  I got a couple of rock bass on the craw tube.

Results-   My 6 fish weighed 9lbs 8ozs which put me in 24th Place with 26 anglers fishing. Dave's fish went 10lbs 15ozs and put him in 11th Place.  The winner was Darren Kiefer with 14lbs 5ozs and Lunker went to Bill Ludenia with a 4-1 largemouth, at least I think it was a largemouth.  Bill came in 2nd with 13-14.  Everyone got a limit.  Fishing was tougher than expected.

Thoughts-  Like I said in quick report  I had the bites to do well, Top 10 for sure, and my boater had the fish on to contend for the win, but our execution left something to be desired.  Part of my execution problem stems from the rod I was throwing the Red Eye Shad on.  The rod is a Lamiglas Excel 735.  Great for throwing a long cast, but not forgiving enough for playing the fish.  It's great a rod for frogs and dipper style swimbaits, but treble hook lures not so much..  On a softer rod I may have gotten both of the one's I lost.

I can't really do anything about a fish that misses my topwater lure.  I played that fish perfect, letting the topwater sit before starting it up again and then throwing a follow up lure.  That fish saw me and was gone.  The wind was such that I didn't get to throw topwater as much as I wanted too.

Next Tournament Leech Lake July 19th.

Serpent Lake Pre-fish June 13th

A double to start the morning

Conditions: Calm to a light wind, basically perfect topwater conditions.  Sunny with clouds moving in.

My boater Dave Branum and I were on the water and fishing by 7AM.  I had a fish hit my KVD Sexy Dawg on the 2nd cast, but it got off.  On my next cast, I had a fish hit it and not hook up.  I let the lure sit then started retrieving again and the fish either came back or another one hit it, but this time it stayed buttoned.  Dave brought in a largemouth at the same time.

My fish was a 15.5" smallie.  A couple of casts later I got a 17.5" smallie.  Next I got 15.5" and 16" largemouths and I switched to a Stanley Phantom.  I got a couple of small largies and a 14" on that, then I switched up to a KVD Dawg Jr.  I got  15.25, 10", and 14.25" largies on that.  Dave was catching fish in the same general size range as me as well, but he was fishing subsurface.  I got a 15.5 largie on a MegaBass Popmax.  We then switched locations and I got an 18.33 smallie on the same KVD Dawg as earlier.

 She either hadn't spawned yet or had a full belly.  I got two more 15" largemouth's on the Dawg, then I put it away.   The wind came up a little bit and  I got a couple of largies on a Lucky Craft Kelly J. I got a 17.75 smallie on a Rapala X-Rap Prop, along with a couple of small keeper largies.  I did throw a craw tube eventually and got a couple of pike on that and one bite off, along with a 14.75 largie.  Dave got the biggest bass of the day, a 19" plus largemouth.  I also had at least half a dozen other  fish that missed my topwater baits or got off.

Needless to say we were both feeling good about things.

June 7th B.B.S. Lake Alexander

My Boater Chuck Johansen, 1991 MN B.A.S.S. Nation T.O.C. Winner 

The Weather- Calm, cool/cold and overcast in the morning, turning sunny with some wind out of the NW in the afternoon.

The Day- Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time we blasted off around 6:45AM because we made a long run up to the NE corner of the lake to fish some reed beds, floating bogs, and docks.  The reeds hadn't started coming out of the water yet.  As we worked our way East I started out throwing a Pure Poison, but in the calm conditions quickly switched to the chart/firetiger Stanley Phantom.  I had what I'm 90% sure was a muskie come up and wake behind that.  Eventually I switched to a gold Frenzy Popper.  I made a long cast out to some reeds.  I'm not sure if I had a little over run that I started taking out or what, but a fish hit the Popper.  I quickly, set the hook but I couldn't reel in because the line was caught on my reel.  It felt like a good fish, but by the time I got my line out of the reel handle it had come off.   I managed to catch a 9" dink on the Popper and missed another one that swirled on it.  We went into some docks and passed by a decent smallmouth that was on a bed.  Next I got a rock bass and another 9" dink on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.  Then Chuck got  the first keepers along the dock. We had to be at least an hour into the tournament when Chuck got the first keeper.  I finally got a 12" squeaker and we both got some that didn't measure and more rock bass as we worked our way along the bogs and docks.  Chuck got a couple of small keepers and  I got a 13.5" and a 13" off the docks, then we ran back to approximately where we started.  When we got close to the area where we had seen the smallmouth bed I threw my Fluke into the general vicinity and the fish crushed it.

15"

  That was pretty much all we got on our 2nd pass except for a few dinks and rock bass.  We ended up hopscotching with a couple of boats on the docks on the East side of the lake.  We got down to the SE corner and there was a prime looking area of an old reed bed.  I took a 14.5" on the Fluke and then I missed a good fish that may or may not have been a bass up by shore.  Chuck thought maybe it was a dogfish.  We ended up pulling a double much to the dismay of Chuck Steinbauer who was fishing towards us.  Mine was a 15.75" largie.  Steinbauer left and we worked the water he had been fishing.  Then we made the call to go back over the area again.  I tied on a Zoom Horny Toad with a purple head and chart. legs.  I caught a 24 or so inch pike on that.  The wind came up more than it had been and the sun came out.  Chuck thought we should move, but I suggested we fish down to a pontoon boat.  My suggestion paid off for Chuck when he landed a quality fish just on the other side of the pontoon.  We decided to keep going and I think Chuck got another good fish off of a bog point that had the wind blowing on it and I missed what felt like a good fish on a green pumpkin Lake Fork Craw Tube.  I got a couple of rock bass and missed a couple of bites on the Craw Tube before connecting with a 14" fish that culled out my 12".  I think Chuck got another keeper as well.

Next we went a little to the West of the area we started in and headed West.  I culled a 13" for a 13" and caught some that didn't help as we worked our way through the reed stubble.  We started working some docks and we both got some that didn't help and some rock bass.  I had a good smallmouth follow my Fluke out from a dock.  I let the fluke drop when I saw her. It turned to swim away. I jigged the Fluke again, the fish whipped around, eyed it for a couple of seconds than took it.  I set the hook and landed my biggest fish of the day 16"/ 2lbs 3ozs and final keeper bite.  Got several more that didn't help including one on a Gambler Ninja Spin as well as several rock bass on the Craw Tube.  I think I missed 1 that would have helped at least a little bit on a Craw Tube.  Chuck got one last quality cull off of a dock.

The Results- My 6 fish weighed in at 10lbs 1ozs and put me in 19th Place out of 26 fishing.  Chuck's fish went 12lbs 4ozs and put him in 8th place.  Jim Smith won easily with 16lbs 5ozs, more than 2lbs over Guy who got 2nd Place.  Big Bass only weighed 3-8 and was caught by Dave Branum; I think it was a largemouth.  Only 1 guy failed to catch a limit and weights were up an average of around 2lbs per person over the last two tournaments on Alexander (6-25-06, 9-22-12)

My Thoughts-   Other than the first hour which was fairly slow, it was a fun day on the water with a lot of setting the hook.  Had I got all my bites I guess I would have had around 12lbs as well.  For neither of us getting to pre-fish I thought the day went pretty well.  Chuck was a great guy to fish with, very considerate, and asking for my input from time to time.

Next Tournament- Serpent Lake June 22nd

Sep. 17th 2013 B.B.S. Little Boy/Wabedo

Well better late than never on this tournament report. I've got nothing better to do on this snowy April Day.

I fished with Darren Kiefer as my boater.  This was the third time I've had the pleasure to share the boat with Darren.  He got a little spun out in this one.

Weather Conditions:  It was a cool September morning with a cold breeze blowing out of the NW when we blasted off at around 7:40AM.  The sun eventually came out and the breeze died down some and it got to 61°F.

The Day: Darren had gotten some good fish in the slop in the Access area when he pre-fished and it was pretty calm there, so that's where we started.  I had a hit on a yellow Horny Toad but missed it in the pads.  We worked his prime area back and forth but didn't come up with anything. Then we fished the small Island right by the access.  We got around to some reeds that had wind blowing on to them and I got my first and biggest fish (17") of the day on the Yellow Horny Toad.  We worked our way around the back side of the Island and I missed a fish in the pads.  Darren also missed something, probably a pike or a muskie in the pads as well.

Next we moved to the North Shore adjacent to the Island and worked the shoreline heading East. One of the two of us got a nice pike on the back side of a reed point.  We got into some pads and docks and I got my 2nd bass of the day (15.25") on the Horny Toad.  I missed a couple of hits in the pads.  We were working some seriously good looking water with pads, rice, and reeds, but not catching anything.  We went back to where we started on the North shore adjacent to the Island and headed East this time.  I landed a little 12.5" keeper on the Horny Toad out of the pads and a 12.75" off of some reeds just beyond a dock on a black T.T. Mad Maxx Frog.

Next we went around the point and got out in the wind.  I saw a muskie swimming with it's head out of the water like they do sometimes.  We went up and fished the windblown reeds of the other Island.  As we came around on the back side out of the wind again Darren had a monster bass miss his frog.

The sun started coming out so we ran up to the NW side of Little Boy and tried a weedline spot, but didn't get anything.  Next, we went into the reeds and I picked up a chunky 16.25" on a yellow Spro Frog.  I also lost a good one in the reeds on the end of a long cast.  Eventually, we gave up on the reeds and headed to Wabedo.

We started fishing some pads that had some wind blowing on them;  The wind was much lighter now.  We ended up getting into some reeds and I caught my keeper fish (15.25") on the Horny Toad.  I think I got 14.5" out on the weed flat just out from the reeds on the Horny Toad and a 15" even farther on the weed flat.  We worked back to the reeds and I got one or two that didn't help.

Next we ran South and worked some pads and rice.  I missed some, caught a couple that didn't help and finally got my final keeper of the day (15.25") all on the Horny Toad.

We ran back up into Little Boy and Darren lost one where that big one missed his bait earlier in the day.  We ended up fishing by the access again.  I got one last fish that didn't help me on the Horny Toad in the pads off the Island in general vicinity where I missed one in the morning.

The Results:  My 6 fish weighed 13lbs 1oz which put me in 7th place out of 26 fishermen.  This was my second best finish of the year. Apparently the Yabbie was working it's magic again as Mark Munson won his second consecutive tournament at these lake with a 18lb 4ozs bag.

My thoughts:  I really enjoyed fishing these lakes.  It was just like fishing Platte/ Sullivan. It's really to bad that big fish missed Darren's frog as the Lunker of the tournament was only 3lbs 12ozs.

This was the last tournament of the year and I think I went out on a good note.  I ended up finishing in 13th Place for the year.  I would have come in 15th place had I not caught that last second fish at Rush Lake.

Bass Snatchers Tentative 2014 Schedule

The #1 thing I wanted to see on this years schedule was a tournament on Leech Lake.  It looks like that will happen.  I am least enthusiastic about having a blind tournament again this year.  I would much prefer to start at 7AM, rather than at 8AM which the having it be a blind tournament requires.

I am excited about fishing Woman Lake, which the Bass Snatchers haven't done since I joined the club.  I also like the Serpent Lake and Pelican picks, but would prefer Pelican and Whitefish get switched so the smallmouth in Whitefish could be in play.

Aug 17th B.B.S. Blind at the Cullen Chain

We met at a parking lot in Brainerd at around 6:15AM and found out we would be fishing the Cullen Chain.  I was alright with that as I like the lakes and my boater Guy won the last tournament there.  The weather promised to be warm, mostly sunny and breezy out of the SW.  We launched out of the middle lakes access around quarter to 8AM.  We were first boat out.  Guy didn't want to run the risk of getting caught in the Culvert going to the Upper Lake so we went to a sunken island on the middle lake.  There was a guy fishing topwater there already.  We came in to the SW of him and about 3 of our boats also came in on this spot.  I had what I'm pretty sure was a pike hit at my Stanley Phantom and other than that we got nothing.

We moved to a point off of some reeds and guy got two good quality fish right away.  I got a pike on a black/blue Chigger Craw.  Not wanting to retie I switched to a craw tube.  I got a 12.5" bass on that as well as a rock bass.  I think Guy landed a couple more small keepers.   We then went to another point off of some reeds.  I had tied on another Chigger Craw by then and was quickly rewarded with my best fish of the day a 15.5" largie.

We then fished some reeds and some slop.  Guy got a nice dogfish.  Guy made the call to head to the Lower Lake.  We had to get out and push but made it.  We started on a weedline spot just out from the channel and I was immediately rewarded with a 14" bass.  We then moved around a bunch of places not getting anything.  The wind had come up pretty good by now and there was a reed bed getting nailed by the wind.  Guy caught a a keeper than two quality fish the first 15 minutes we were in the reeds.  One of the fish was the 4/3 Lunker of the tournament.  I broke off my Texas Rigged craw tube with 3/4oz Tungsten Sinker twice getting caught on the reeds, so I switch to a Strike King Hack Attack jig. We stayed in the reeds and I managed to get one that was just short of 14" and two 14.5" bass out of them on the Jig.  I got my limit and I was happy.  I didn't fish the rest of the day very well only getting a rock bass out of some pads missing a few other hits.  Guy put together a pretty good pattern in the middle lake hitting pad and reed edges with the wind blowing in on them and picked up a few culls.  We quit about 15 minutes early.

Results:  My 6 fish went for 8/12 and put me in 20th place.  Guy managed to win the thing  by over 3lbs with 18lbs 2ozs

My thoughts:  My head just wasn't in this one, especially after I caught my limit.  I did enjoy watching Guy put on a show.  This tournament sealed my fate of not going anywhere in the club point standings this year. Oh well.

Aug 3rd B.B.S. Rabbit Lakes

Weather: The day went back and forth between partly and mostly cloudy.  Wind was light in the morning building to about 10 MPH out of  the NW in the afternoon. Temps went up quickly from a cool morning into the low 70's.

The Day:  We started right around 7AM thanks to my boater Art showing up a bit late.  We got our starting spot, a reed point with boulders on the West lake, despite going out 9th.  The point didn't give us anything but about 15 minutes in as we headed back to the East I got 14.5" on a yellow Zoom Horny Toad out of the reeds.  I was awfully glad to have it, because I came into the tournament awfully pessimistic.  About 10 minutes later I caught one that was to small on the Horny Toad.  Eventually we pulled off of the reeds and slop and I got another dink that didn't measure on a black/blue Berkley Powerbait Crazy Legs Chigger Craw texas rigged with a 3/16oz tungsten weight.  Nothing else happened out there so we moved.

We went to the mouth of a slop bay and worked our way in.  In the pads I got a 15" fish on a Yellow Spro Frog.  I think that was the only fish we had hit in the slop.As we came out of the bay I think that is were Art got his first fish of the day.  Next we headed to a hump that Guy and I fished in my last tournament on Rabbit Lake.  Art just got done telling me "this didn't seem to be the deal" when I hooked into a quality 16.5" bass on the Chigger Craw.  Next at my suggestion we went to a weedline off of some docks that Guy showed me at the previous tournament. I cast into a clump of cabbage weeds that were on the edge of a weed point with the Chigger Craw.  I thought I was caught on some weeds but then my pole kept bending, so I set the hook.  It immediately jumped showing me it was a bass and it was a good one.  When I got it in I estimated it at 19.25".  I had to estimate it because Art ruler was only 17.5" in length.  Art guessed it was close to 5lbs and I said it was a 4 for sure.  It turned out to be 4lbs 4ozs and won me the Lunker/ Big Bass "wood".  Needless to say I was feeling much more positive about the day at this point.

As we worked our way East I spotted a stick in the cabbage on a reed edge and pulled a 15.25" off of it on the Chigger Craw.  Art got a fish off of some  pads with the wind blowing into them.  I missed a good bite in the reeds with wind blowing into them on a craw tube near our starting spot.  We ended up going to the far West end of the lake.  Art lost a good fish right away on a frog, then he caught a dink that was too small.  We worked around the bay.  I did have one hit in the slop, but it may have been a pike.  As we came to the mouth of the bay Art got one in the pads on a frog.  As we worked our way East I got my limit fish, a 14", on a Hack Attack Jig with a Chigger Craw trailer out of a pad edge that had wind blowing on it.  We got back to Guy's docks and I pulled a 13 incher that didn't help me off of a boat lift on the Hack Jig.  On the next dock I culled out the 14" with a 15" with the Hack Jig.  That was my last bite of the day.  We fished some more slop and Art missed some hits.

Results:  The guys really sacked them in this one.  My 14lbs 6ozs bag was only good enough for 13th Place.  Chuck Steinbauer won his 3rd tournament of the year and second in a row with 18/05.

Thoughts:  Huge thank you to Guy Henkensiefken for showing me the area/ spot where the big bass came out of.

We didn't fish in the East Lake at all.

Turns out Guy is my boater for the next tournament, which is a "blind" tournament where we won't find out what lake it's at until that morning.

July 21st B.B.S. Rush Lake (Ottertail)

I guess you could say after the last two tournaments I got depressed.  I didn't get around to writing this report until 2 weeks later.  There is really not a whole lot to tell.  In the morning my boater Adam predicted it would take 20lbs to win.  We sped off to his starting spot, an off shore weedline.  Adam got 1 bass there on a craw tube I think.  On the second spot he got one on a jig.  We tried a bunch of different places for the next 5 hours only getting a couple of pike. Finally on the starting spot Adam connected with another bass.  I think we left and came back and Adam got 2 more bass.  We left and came back to finish the day on the spot.  With 5 minutes left before we had to go in  I was just about to say it didn't look good for me getting the skunk today, when I had a hit on my Crazy Leg Chigger Craw.  It was a 3.75lb bass, so I didn't get skunked.

Results:
My fish kept me out of last place but that was it.  I was 2nd to last place for the 2nd tournament in a row.  This time I finished in 26th Place.  Chuck Steinbauer won it with 20lbs even.  This was Chuck's 2nd victory of the season.

Thoughts:
I wish I had packed a 2nd Texas Rig Rod.  I finally got the fish after going down to a 3/16th oz weight and the Chigger Craw.  Would it have made a difference, who knows.

This tournament pretty much wrecks my season in terms of my end of the year standings.  I'm going to need 3 strong finishes to have any shot at  making the Top 10.

Bass Snatcher Rabbit Lakes Tournament Tommorrow

This will be my 2nd Tournament on Rabbit Lakes.  I fished an Excel Bass Tournament there in late June of 2004 and I fished with the Snatchers there in late July of 2010.  I don't know if those experiences are going to be of any benefit or not. I got out to fish with my boater Art for about 3 hours on Wednesday.  Art doesn't have good track record at the lake.  He also doesn't have a GPS, only an old Garmin fish finder.  I took him to 1 place we got fish on the West Lake and told him about 2 others.  We didn't get anything but panfish hits off the hump.  On the East Lake I took him to 1 weedline where we got fish in the last tournament.  I got 1 bite that I think was a bass and Art mostly retied from a bite off he had in the West lake.  Art didn't like fishing in the wind so we moved.  The next two places we went were spots we fished in the last tournament, but hadn't told Art about; He caught a nice keeper off of one of them.  We did see a couple of other of our guys catch fish.

Honestly my expectations for this tournament are at an all time low.  I just hope I can get a keeper.

I've got 3 rods rigged up with Frogs: A Spro, Horny Toad, and SnagProof Buzzbait
1 Jig Rod
2 Texas Rig Rods
1 Topwater/ chatterjig/ crankbait rod
1 Jig worm/ Dock  

Pre-Fish Rush Lake

Aruku Shad Meets a Black & Decker Tackle Wrecker

I was fortunate to be able to go and pre-fish Ottertail Lake with Barry Mowers.  Barry isn't my partner, but he had an open seat, so I went with him.  I we were fishing by 7:30AM.  We tried a weedline spot first.  All I saw there was a bunch of perch chasing my swim jig.  Then Barry took us to some reeds and he got a pike and a nice bass or two there.  We got some advice from people fishing in a pontoon, so we headed to the North end of the lake.  We actually didn't find what they told us about to start with, but we found a good area anyway.  I got a bass on a Horny Toad and Barry got a couple of bass and missed a couple as well.  We also saw some pike activity but didn't catch any.  A storm came up and on our way back to the landing we found what the people in the pontoon told us about.  We got loaded up just in time, because it poured and thundered.  We met up with another guy from the club and went and had breakfast.  When we got back to the lake I think it had stopped raining.  We went back up to a different area on the North side of the lake and fish some more reeds and assorted slop.  I got my best bass of the day on a Gambler Ninja spin in the reeds and another good one on the Horny Toad in the reeds with some pads.   I also got a decent size pike while pitching the reeds with a craw tube.  I don't remember if Barry caught anything.

Next we went out and tried to find a good weedline.  It started raining again and the wind had come up out of the SE.  I got a rock bass on our first stop on a bluegill Pure Poison with a green pumpkin Grass Pig Jr.. On about our 3rd or 4th spot I got a couple of small pike on my Aruku Shad.  I had a big 30 inch class pike hit at the Aruku Shad right by the boat but it didn't get hooked.  I threw back in the same direction and got nailed.  I figured it was the same fish but it turned out to be a big old dogfish.  We netted it and it got all tangled up.  You can see from the picture what it did to my bait.

Next we went to some reeds on the South shore Barry got a couple of good bass and I got a 25" pike.  We tried a few docks without any luck.  We cruised around looking at some things then went back up to the North side. I got a small bass on the Ninja Spin and that was the last fish of the day.  We were off the water by 3:30 I think.

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.

Range Bassmasters Tournament Platte/Sullivan Lakes

Well my camera went on the Fritz today, so my photo's suck.

Here is the Big Bass and Tournament Winner Ron.

She went 4/11 and was caught under a tree on Platte Lake on a jig I think.  He must be a new guy in the club, as that they don't have his full name on their website yet.  His winning bag went 15/1.

Second Place went to Emmet Smith at 14lbs and 3rd Place went to Emmet's partner Marty, who also must be new to the club this year as his full name doesn't appear on the website either; His bag was 12/14.  It sounded like all the winners fish came from Platte Lake.

I think there was just one other fish over 4lbs.  They had 8 boats fishing

June 1st B.B.S. South Long Lake

The Weather:
The weather forecast was for it to be raining from the get go and winds out of the NW gusting upwards of 20mph.  Fortunately the rain held off and the wind stayed fairly mild as well out of E NE for the first couple of hours.  It then rained for about an hour or so and the wind was really blowing by the end of the day.

The Tournament:
We were first boat out at around quarter to 7AM.  We would have got out sooner but a certain boat put there plug in the wrong hole.  We went right to our starting spot and my boater Owen had his big bass of the day in the first five minutes.  I decided the conditions might be right for topwater so I had put on my Stanley Phantom.

Right after Owen got his fish in the boat.  I had my first keeper on, a solid 15.25" fish that I would hold onto all day.  I caught the next 3 fish as well landing a 14.5", 16", 14.75".  By this point we started getting crowed by a couple of different boats; All of them catching fish as well.  Owen landed a few to catch up with me.  I got a 15.75" and 13.50".  We were now in a calm area and I got my big fish of the day a 17.5" , 3lb 1oz bass also on the Phantom.  Unfortunately we didn't really stay in that area to work it over and headed back over the water we had just come from.  The wind had come up a little bit more at this point and when we got back into the wind the topwater bite seemed to have died.

Owen caught one off a dock so we did that for bit, but that was totally unproductive.  It started to rain so we headed to our secondary area.  I think I landed one that didn't help then I got a 16 incher getting both fish on black blue Strike King Pure Poison with black blue Berkley Havoc Grass Pig Jr. as the trailer.

This is what I would get the rest of my fish on for the day.  Other than that one fish that area was a bust.

We then went to an old reed bed that was in the wind.  I had a good feeling fish on right away but it came off half way to the boat.  That was it for that area, so we went back to our starting spot which was quite crowded at this point.  We started catching fish almost immediately, so we worked the area for the rest of the day.  However we did go up into the calm area that was still calm and I culled a couple of times with a 15.25" and a 16.5" and I got several that didn't help. Owen culled a couple of times as well.  I did try throwing the Phantom some scaring Chuck Steinbauer in the process, but didn't get any hits on it.

Results:
My 6 fish weighed in a 14lbs 7ozs which put me in a tie for 5th place, which I won on the big bass tie breaker.  I got lucky because the other guy had a dead fish penalty.  Owen had 13/7 and came in 10th.  We broke record for the best first club tournament of the year in terms of total weight caught.  Our average bag was 12.65lbs.  Chuck Steinbauer won with 16/15 beating Ed Ott by an ounce.

Analysis:
I'm happy with how things went for the most part.  I had fun, it was a good day with the topwater to start.  It's pretty clear we wasted time fishing those docks, but one fish sent us off on that mission, so what are you gonna do?

South Long Pre-Fish

15.75" my second biggest fish of the day

I got out for a few hours today with my boater Owen to pre-fish for next Saturday's Tournament on South Long.  The lake seems to be a bit behind Platte Lake at this point.  The warmest water we found was 55°F and it was pretty much 54°F everywhere.  The wind was blowing out of the E SE yet again for the 3rd or 4th straight day.  I guess the air temp got to 61°F today and there was no sun.  We basically didn't catch very many fish.  I got 5 but two of them were quality keepers at or a bit over 2lbs.  We got everything on moving baits.  Depending on the weather improving a bit this week, we have confidence in a couple of spots.  Thankfully they both are fairly large areas.  Being boat #1 should help.

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.

Fisher Of Men Club Fall Outing

This 17 incher was caught on Mule Lake with a bluegilll colored Strike King Pure Poison with green pumpkin Craw Fatty Trailer on Friday.

This 28.5" Pike was caught on Saturday on the same Pure Poison at Town Line Lake.  It was my first fish of the day and I was lucky I caught it because in totally inhaled the thing and I didn't have a leader on it. I put a leader on it and caught a few more small pike.  I also managed to catch 3 decent bass.  I caught my third bass on the last cast of the day.  It bit just as Mike Thompson laid the hammer down as we were going in.  It turned out that fish along with my 3 best pike won me FallEE WallEE for the 3rd straight year.

Mike Thompson got a 19" bass on Town Line Lake