West Central Fall Bass League - Green Lake, Diamond Lake & Nest Lake

West Central Fall Bass League - Green Lake - October 13th

The idea of holding a fall league event on Green Lake after the smallmouth season was closed has been kicking around for a few years and this year we finally decided to do it. Green Lake is known as one of the better smallmouth lakes in the state but there is also a good population of largemouth. A few years ago largemouth really played a factor in high tournament finishes on Green but over the past 2 seasons the smallies have once again dominated tournament bags. Despite good weather for the 9 teams who showed up to fish the largemouth were extremely difficult to catch and for the most part the bass brought to the scales were pretty small. My dad and I didn't catch very many fish but we ended up getting a few of the right bites and our 5 weighing 14.60 lbs took 1st place by over 4 lbs. I also had big bass for the day at 4.13 lbs

Our plan for the day was pretty simple. We fished milfoil beds all day long with a Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss and it worked out. Like I said earlier it wasn't easy at all as we often went a long time in between bites but at the end of the day we had the quality we needed for the win.

West Central Fall Bass League - Diamond Lake - October 20th

Diamond Lake has been a staple on the fall league schedule because even though at times it can be extremely tough it also has a very good population of large bass. That was shown last year as the winning 5 fish bag weighed in at over 22 lbs. This year the fishing was much more difficult and the winning weight was 16.65 lbs. I actually ended up fishing alone for this one and my 5 weighing 14.63 lbs was good for 2nd out of the 7 teams fishing.

I started off fishing in the reeds and had a 3 1/2 pounder in the boat relatively quickly but after that nothing seemed to be working for me. Diamond is a shallow lake and most of the fishing is either in the reeds or on the bank. The problem with fishing the bank was that almost all of the docks had been removed and with the water being so low the wood that is normally in the water was mostly high and dry. After fishing shallow for around 2 hours I only had the one bass in the boat so I headed offshore. I have never weighed an offshore fish in any of our league events over the years on Diamond and there have been many of them. Something told me to try it on this day though and it ended up working out to put some fish in the boat. Towards the ended of the day I moved back to my starting area and got on a little flurry to cull out most of my offshore fish and end up with barely enough weight to finish 2nd. My weigh fish came on black and blue homemade jigs and Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses.

West Central Bass League - Nest Lake - October 27th

For most of the 7 teams fishing Nest Lake on this day the fishing was extremely tough. Only 2 limits were brought to the scales and most teams either zeroed or only had 1 fish. For my dad and I it was what could only be described as a dream day and we weighed our heaviest 5 fish limit ever. Our 5 weighing 25.55 lbs was easily enough to win and I also had the big bass for the day at 5.58 lbs

There really isn't all that much to say about our day. We started on a large weedy flat and had 2 fish in the boat really quickly but after that the action died. After that we bounced around to several other areas but after about 2 hours we were still stuck on those 2 fish. At that point we made the move to what turned out to  be THE SPOT. It really wasn't any different than the other areas we had been fishing but for whatever reason the big bass were stacked along a several 100 yard stretch of cabbage and we found em! It was really pretty unbelievable. By the ended of the day we culling out 4 1/2 lb bass which is something that just doesn't happen in Minnesota or really anywhere else for that matter. Besides averaging over 5 lbs for our tournament limit we figured our best 20 bass weighed around 83 lbs. Not too bad for 3 hours of fishing I'd say! All our fish came on various colors of Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses.

With that the West Central Fall League season is over. That also means my competitive fishing is over for the 2012 season although I will still be fishing until the lakes freeze over which hopefully is a long ways off still. Our performance in fall league this year was really strong as we had 4 wins and 2 seconds in the 6 events we fished and sacking up over 25 lbs in the final event definitely leaves a good taste in my mouth as we head into winter.

West Central Fall Bass League Tournament - Lake Koronis & West Central Fall Bass League - Ringo Lake

West Central Fall Bass League Tournament - Lake Koronis - September 29th

The West Central Fall Bass League Tournament is basically the same as a normal fall league event except that the entry fee is $50 instead of $20 and we fish for 8 hours instead of 5. Despite perfect fall weather only 5 teams decided to show up for the tournament on Lake Koronis. We had excellent turnouts all summer long but for some reason attendance has been light so far for fall league. In any case the fishing was good for those who showed up. 1st place weighed in a 5 fish limit for over 18 lbs and our 5 weighing 17.41 lbs was good for 2nd place.

I knew our game plan coming in was going to be mostly fishing docks but we didn't want to start on that right away in the morning so our first few stops were deep weed lines. The action was slow but we eventually came across a point were my dad quickly put our biggest fish of day in the boat on a slow rolled Strike King spinnerbait. Immediately after netting his fish I hooked into what turned out to be a 4.54 lb smallmouth. Normally catching two 4 lb plus bass back to back would be a good thing but because of our regulations here in Minnesota, smallmouth must be immediately released after the 2nd weekend in September. It is really tough to throw back a big fish like that but it is what it is. After around 2 hours of fishing deep we only had the one fish in the box so the rest of the day was spent on the docks. The action wasn't fast and furious as we ended up catching only around 12 bass for the day but every once in awhile one of them would be a 3 lb plus fish and we eventually got up to our final weight. All the shallow fish came on a black/blue Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

West Central Fall Bass League - Ringo Lake - October 6th

Now that we are into October the fall league switches to a noon start time and maybe that is the reason 7 teams showed up to fish despite the weather being cold and windy. It also might have been because very little is known about Ringo. Despite it being close to our other league lakes it just doesn't get fished. For the most part it just doesn't have a very large population of bass but over the past couple of years people have been checking it out and it seems that there are more bass in the lake than at any time in the past. Before the week long off limits period people had reported having excellent bass fishing on the lake but mother nature threw us a curve 2 days before the event with a massive cold front. The lake is extremely shallow, with 7 feet being the deepest spot, and with such cold temperatures the water temps really plummeted. The water temps when we launched were around 45 degrees which was around a 20 degree drop from what it had been. Needless to say this shut the bite down in a hurry. Of the 7 teams fishing only one 5 fish limit came in and another boat weighed 3 and the rest only had 1 or no fish. Fortunately for us we were the team with the only limit and our 5 weighed in at 11.38 lbs. I also weighed in a big fish at 4.85 lbs but the big bass for the day ended up being 4.86 lbs. That is too close! I'll take the win though.

The fishing was certainly not great for us but I guess we figured a little something out that made the difference. After trying a variety of things my dad started slow rolling a green pumpkin chatterbait along the bottom and that was the ticket. He put 3 in the boat before I had even had a bite. I might be a little slow but I'm no dummy so I switched to the same lure and almost immediately put the big one in the boat and another keeper a short while later. Besides the chatterbait I think the other key for us was ignoring the reeds. Ringo is basically a slough lake and with so much of that cover available that is where the other competitors focused. We found before the cut off that we were getting more bites on hard bottom areas outside the reeds and that pattern held up on competition day.

Minnesota Pro Team Tour TOC - Clearwater Lake & West Central Fall Bass League - Norway Lake

Minnesota Pro Team Tour TOC - Clearwater Lake - September 15th-16th

We have fished the Big Bass Bonanza tournament circuit for a number of years but this year there were some major changes in store for the Tournament of Champions. This year BBB combined with the Excel tournament series to form the Minnesota Pro Team Tour. Excel is basically the northern division and BBB is the southern division. At the end of the year the top 15 teams from each division were invited to fish the TOC on Clearwater Lake. The stakes were also much higher than in past BBB TOC's. This year first place was worth $10,000 which is a great prize considering that there was no entry fee to fish the TOC.

Day 1

We had a tough practice but had enough good bites to put a game plan together that I thought could be pretty effective. We decided to start our tournament day on a large flat and to my surprise only 2 other boats started in the same area. Unfortunately they were set up on key spots that I had hoped to move around to. We didn't end up getting a bite for over an hour as we watched one of the other boats hammer the fish so it was time to try something else. Eventually we started putting some small keepers in the boat and then things really started rolling. I came to a tiny patch of milfoil and hooked into 3 bass in the 2 1/2 - 3 lb range but unfortunately I was only able to put 2 of them in the boat. At this point we moved back to our starting area and just ground it out. The bites weren't coming fast but every bite we got was a quality fish. By the end of the day we had worked up to an 8 fish limit weighing 22.18 lbs that put us in 7th place. For the day all of our fish came on either a green pumpkin or black and blue Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss flipped into or around milfoil.

Day 2 

We were definitely off to a good start after day 1 but what concerned me was the lack of bites we were getting. We only caught 11 keepers on day 1 and I knew putting 8 more keepers in the boat on day 2 was going to be really tough. With the difficult practice we had we did not have many different things going so on day 2 we had to go with the same plan as day one and hope it worked out. Long story short it didn't. We did end up hooking into 8 bass on the day but I lost 3 quality fish and we only ended up weighing 5 fish for 9.66 lbs. That dropped us like a rock in the standings and we ended up in 22nd place. Definitely not what we were hoping for with the stakes so high but it was a great experience and I like the direction the Minnesota Pro Team Tour is heading.

West Central Fall Bass League - Norway Lake - September 23rd

The Fall Bass League is run the same way as the summer league except that we fish on Saturdays for 5 hours for a 5 fish limit. The first Fall league was actually the previous weekend but since we were fishing the MN Pro Team Tour TOC we had to miss it so this was our first shot at fall league this year. With the cold and windy morning only 4 boats decided to show up to fish and those who stayed home probably made a wise choice. The fishing was tough on Norway Lake as 3 of the boats combined to catch only 7 fish. Fortunately we had a pretty good day and our 5 fish limit weighing 13.34 lbs was easily enough for the win. I think the key for us on the day was fishing fast and covering a lot of different types of water but at the same time working our lures quite slowly if that makes any sense.

MN B.A.S.S. Federation Nation TOC - Island Lake Reservoir & Green Mill/West Central Bassmasters Fall Classic - Green Lake

Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation TOC - Island Lake Reservoir - Sept. 6-7th

The state TOC this year was held on Island Lake Reservoir near Duluth. It is a lake many of the competitors had never even heard of, let alone fished before it was announced. Although I went to college in Duluth I don't recall hearing much about it and I certainly had never fished it before the 4 days of official practice. It was an interesting body of water with a lot of rock, shallow weed cover and tannic water. One thing it seemed to lack though was a large population of bass. The primary species in the lake is smallmouth bass but there just weren't a lot of them or they weren't biting good as evidenced by the weights brought to the scales over the two day tournament. I expected the fishing to be tough but that is pretty much an understatement. When all was said and done only 2 people were able to bring a 5 fish limit to the scales on each of the days. I had a strong limit on day 1 with 5 weighing 13.97 lbs which put me in 3rd place. On day 2 I was only able to catch 2 weighing 5.81 lbs so I slipped to 10th place overall with a total weight of 19.78 lbs but in this tournament the goal is to make the top 12 and I was able to do that! This means that I have advanced to the Northern Divisionals which will be held next year in South Dakota on Francis Case Reservoir. There is also a team portion of the TOC. In that our club, the West Central Bassmasters finished 2nd. Over the past several years our club has shown that we are one of the best in the state no matter where the tournament is held. The full results of the tournament can be found here.

http://www.mnbfn.org/TOC/2012/index.html

Day 1

After practice I really didn't know what to expect coming in. I had a tough time getting enough bites like pretty much every one else I had talked to but I had also seen enough quality fish to feel like a good bag was a real possibility. Like I said to some of the guys the day before the tournament, "I could catch a big bag or I could zero." That was the absolute truth. As it turned out day 1 went almost as well as it could have. My original plan was to start on a shallow offshore rock pile but being boat 55 I was almost positive someone else would be on it by the time I got there. That turned out to be the case so I turned the other direction and went to the bank to fish docks. Docks were going to be my primary game plan anyway but generally that is not something you to until a little later in the day. It turned out perfect though as I had 3 keepers in the boat within the first half hour including one close to 3 lbs. I continued to run docks and not too long after I had another quality smallie in the boat. At around 9:30 am I decided to check a rocky point that I had gotten a number of bites on in practice. Almost immediately I had keeper number 5 in the boat on a green pumpkin Strike King Coffee tube. I was actually kind of shocked at how easily it was all coming together. I figured if I was going to get a limit it would pretty much take all day to get there. I worked over that point for quite awhile but it didn't give up any more fish so it was back to the docks for the rest of the day. Shortly after going back to the docks I caught a quality upgrade on a chartreuse and white Strike King Spinnerbait but after that it was like the bite was dead. At that point it was around 10:30 am and from then until the 4:30 pm it was just downright tough. By this point it seemed that every boat in the field had started fishing docks and I'm sure that was a big part of why it got so tough. Early in the afternoon I pulled into a stretch of docks that just felt like it wasn't getting as much pressure as the others. After fishing quite a few with nothing I finally hooked into the biggest fish I had seen all week. Of course it jumped right by the boat and came off just out of reach of the net. That was a heartbreaker but there is more to that story coming up. With only a little more than an hour to go I picked up my biggest fish of the day which was around 3 1/2 lbs. That allowed me to cull out one that was around 2 lbs so it was a big upgrade and that allowed me to end up with 5 for 13.97 lbs and 3rd place for the day. All of my dock fish came on a vampire orange Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

Day 2 

After seeing all the pressure the docks were getting on day 1 my only hope was that they would reload overnight. Again I really didn't know what to expect. If we were fishing for largemouth I would expect that the dock fishing would be much tougher but since smallies move around more so I thought it there was a real possibility that fishing could be good. I decided to start my day on the same stretch of docks as I did on day 1 although I didn't go straight to the best 2 docks. That turned out to be a mistake as another competitor pulled right in front of me and started on those docks. Fortunately for me they didn't catch anything and I put a 13 inch keeper in the boat on the next dock over as they watched. I was off to a quick start again and feeling good about the day but that all came to a crashing halt. It was clear many other competitors were onto the dock pattern and everything was getting beat up. The next 4 hours or so were a complete bust. Then at around noon I finally got another bite only to have it get buried in a boat lift and break off. With about 1 1/2 hours left to fish I went back to the stretch of docks where I had lost that big fish on day 1. I had already fished it in the morning but with only 1 small keeper in the boat I was kind of thinking to myself that if it was a tough day one 4 lb class fish would possibly be enough to keep me in the top 12 so I went back hoping for just 1 big bite. After fishing a few docks I came to the dock where I had lost the fish. I fished it real thoroughly and eventually I hooked into a big one. It came flying out of the water just like on day 1 but this time it made it into the net. I know that it was the exact same fish! As it turned out that smallie weighed in at 4.50 lbs and my 2 fish on day 2 weighed a total of 5.81 lbs. If I had caught that big smallie on day 1 I would not have made the top 12 because I would have only gained around 2 lbs after the cull. By catching it on day 2 I kept all 4 1/2 lbs of it's weight and that was just enough to finish in 10th place. It's kind of crazy to say but losing a big fish actually ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me!

Green Mill/West Central Bassmasters Fall Classic - Green Lake - Sept. 9th

After returning from the TOC it was right into another tournament. Last year we didn't fish Green Lake at all for several weeks before the tournament and ended up winning. This year Green hasn't been as kind to us but my hopes were still high for this event. We had fished Green twice in the last few weeks of the league season and were able to finish 2nd both times so we felt like we knew what the fish were doing at least a little. As it turns out we couldn't figure anything out on tournament day. In our league nights we caught quality fish on topwaters shallow and drop shots out deep but on tournament day those quality fish turned into 2 pounders. Nothing we tried ended up working and our 6 fish limit weighing 13.24 lbs put us in 22nd out of 27 teams fishing. That was by far my worst tournament on Green Lake ever.

West Central Bass League - Tournament of Champions Week

West Central Bass League TOC - Green Lake - August 29th

At the end of the regular league season the top 10 teams in points are invited to fish the Tournament of Champions. Each of the 10 teams then throws a lake name into a hat and the TOC lake is chosen at random.  We actually ended up having 11 teams fishing since two boats tied in points for the 10th place spot. This year the Wednesday night TOC lake ended up being Green Lake. The fishing for the night actually ended up being pretty tough with the overall weights pretty low although the top team really crushed em.

1st - Paul & Pete - 3 - 10.97 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.30 lbs
3rd - Tonya & Jared - 3 - 8.68 lbs

Big Bass #1 - Paul & Pete - 3.81 lbs
Big Bass #2 - Joe & Jodi - 3.50 lbs

We had fished several events on Green Lake in the previous weeks and in those our primary weapon was a Super Spook. However on this night the topwater bite was practically non-existent for us. In fact the shallow bite almost completely went away from us. My dad did end up putting one of our weigh fish in the boat on a chartreuse and white spinnerbait but other than that it was only a few other small fish. We ended up going out to the deep humps where we were able to put 2 more 3 lb class fish in the boat using Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hopper worms on a drop shot rig.

West Central Bass League TOC - Nest Lake - August 30th

The format for the Thursday night TOC works the same as on Wednesday night except that there were no ties so there were 10 boats fishing. By luck of the draw Nest Lake was chosen and I think everyone was pretty happy with the choice. The fishing on Nest was pretty tough back in early June but for the rest of the year the lake has been on fire and this night was no different. 7 of the 10 teams fishing ended up weighing over 10 lbs for their 3 fish limits which is impressive no matter where you go in Minnesota and a great way to cap off an amazing 2012 league season.

1st - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 11.91 lbs
2nd - Paul & Mark - 3 - 11.22 lbs
3rd - Joe & Pete - 3 - 11.12 lbs

Big Bass #1 - Paul & Mark - 4.36 lbs
Big Bass #2 - Dean & JD - 4.35 lbs

In our two previous league visits to Nest we weighed 3 fish limits of smallmouth over 11.5 lbs but came up 2nd both times. It was great to finally get over the hump and finish first with another big limit of smallies. In our previous visits we caught the majority of our fish off of one area but on this night another boat started there as well and they were catching fish and we couldn't buy a bite. After awhile it was time to abandon ship and head for new waters. The choice was a good one since as soon as we moved we had about 10 lbs in the boat in 5 minutes. The rest of the night was spent bouncing around and adding a good fish here and there. Our weigh fish ended up coming on various Strike King Coffee Tubes and Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses.

West Central Bass League - Week 12 & Big Bass Bonanza - Horseshoe Chain

West Central Bass League - Eagle Lake - August 21st

This was the final regular season event on Wednesday nights for the West Central Bass League. The Tournament of Champions will be held next week but that is limited to the top 10 in the points standings at the end of the year. 19 teams showed up to try their hand on Eagle Lake. A few weeks ago the weights were really good and we were all expecting similar weights again. Eagle had a different idea though and while the weights brought to the scales were impressive they didn't quite meet up to a few weeks ago.

1st - Bruce & Bruce Jr. - 3 - 11.20 lbs
2nd - Bill & Brad - 3 - 10.85 lbs
3rd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.12 lbs
4th - Ron & Dave - 3 - 9.83 lbs
5th - Tonya & Jared - 3 - 9.80 lbs

Big Bass - Bill & Brad - 5.07 lbs

Our night wasn't nearly as good. We really struggled and only boated a few keepers for the night. Our 3 fish weighing 8.12 lbs was good for 9th place on the night. Not the way we wanted to end the year but at least we were able to hang on to 2nd place in the Team of the Year standings. We actually ended up catching all 3 of the bass we weighed in off of one dock. Our biggest fish, which was a little over 3 lbs came earlier in the evening and though we had 2 other small fish in the box we really couldn't get anything else going. With about 10 minutes left in the night I decided to try that dock one more time and it gave up 2 more fish that actually helped our weight a bunch even though we didn't end up with much. All the fish came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

West Central Bass League - Green Lake - August 22nd

The final Thursday night league actually ended up being our lowest turnout of the season with only 14 boats showing up to fish despite beautiful conditions. The fishing turned out to be pretty good too as 4 teams passed the 3 lb average. 3 pounders have been tough to come by on Green Lake this year so it was good to see that despite only having 2 1/2 hours of fishing time. As on Wednesday night there will be a TOC with the top 10 teams in the points invited.

1st - Jared & Tonya - 3 - 9.63 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.55 lbs
3rd - Dean & Kyle - 3 - 9.41 lbs
4th - Lee - 3 - 9.16 lbs

Big Bass - Lee - 4.22 lbs

Coming into the night we were in 2nd place for the Team of the Year standings but thanks to our high finish we were able to take the Team of the Year crown. That is no small feat in the West Central Bass League as the competition is extremely tough and the points race is really tight every year. As for our fishing I really can't say too much because as luck of the draw would have it we will be returning to Green Lake for the Wednesday night TOC.

Big Bass Bonanza - Horseshoe Chain - August 26th

This week also marked the final Big Bass Bonanza tournament of the regular season. The Horseshoe Chain is a large series of lakes and river with endless amounts of shallow cover. Unfortunately much of the cover never seems to hold many fish. It can be a very tough fishery, especially in August. This year however the fishing was actually pretty good and of the all the tourneys I have ever fished there the average weight in this one was definitely the best. First place was and 8 fish limit weighing 23.99 lbs and there were many bags in the 19-20 lb range. Our 8 fish weighing 20.57 was good for 6th place out of 25 teams which was just one spot out of the money. The team that took the 5th and final money spot weighed 20.60 lbs to edge us out by just .03 lbs! Our 6th place finish also moved us up to 5th place in the final Team of the Year standings. This was easily inside the cutoff for the TOC which will be held in a few weeks on Clearwater Lake. This year the TOC will be a combined event with the Excel tournament circuit under the Minnesota Pro Team Tour banner. Each trail will send their top 15 teams to compete in the TOC.

Despite ending up with a good bag at the end of the day it was certainly not easy. We were the first boat out so we were able to fish our desired starting spot but things went downhill quickly. I lost a small keeper in a tree and missed what felt like a decent bite in our starting area but that was it. Meanwhile another boat had fished my 2nd and 3rd spots which were within site of where we were. We decided to run a short distance to another area only to find another boat sitting right where I wanted to go. I then moved to another stretch of docks and had a boat pull in front of me so I was only able to fish half the stretch. After about an hour of frustration and no fish it was time to move on to another lake on the chain. Finally I was able to find an area without another boat and was able to put a 2 and 2 1/2 pounder in the box before getting cut off again. Next it was off to a shallow weedy bay and you guessed it there were already 4 boats in there.  I didn't let it faze me though and our first fish in there was nearly 3 lbs. The action was pretty slow though and after a couple hours we had only added 3 more tiny keepers. It may sound like I'm complaining but really I'm not. Everyone out fishing this circuit is a good stick and we often find the same areas and patterns. It's all part of the game but it was just frustrating how it played out on this day. Next it was off to a bank with a brushpile and a few trees. We were able to finish off our limit with a few 2 lb class fish and after the way our morning went it was a relief to just have 8 even though many of them were small. At this point we made our way back to the lake we started in only to find out the trim and tilt had gone out on us. The motor was trimmed up since we were going through a shallow no wake zone and with the motor up like that it was impossible to get back on plane. Just another thing to deal with on an already frustrating day! We idled around for the rest of the afternoon and besides the lost time the afternoon ended up being great for us. We only caught 4 more fish but they were all in the 2 1/2 to 3 lb range and we were able to cull up with each of them. It would have been really easy to have gotten spun out on a day like that and believe me I could feel the wheels coming off the tracks a little bit but I just kept my head down and kept grinding and things turned out pretty good in the end. All you can do as a tournament angler is fight through adversity and keep on going. Eventually good things will happen.

West Central Bass League - Week 11 & West Central Tournament Series - Green Lake

West Central Bass League - Nest Lake - August 15th

We had another great turnout as 21 teams showed up to fish Nest Lake despite the strong possibility of thunderstorms. After getting out on the water it was apparent the storms were coming. We ended up fishing for a little over an hour before most of the teams decided they had enough of the lightning and headed back to the ramp. At that point it was decided that the night would be over. The league rules state that an hour of fishing constitutes a full night of fishing so we held the weigh in. Despite fishing for such a short period of time the weights were off the charts as usual for the West Central Bass League this year.

1st - Paul & John - 3 - 11.89 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 11.85 lbs
3rd - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 11.01 lbs
4th - Chris & James - 3 - 10.51 lbs
5th - Kelly & Eric - 3 - 10.17 lbs

Big Bass - Dean & Joey - 4.70 lbs

The weights for league this year have been crazy and even limiting this group to a little over an hour of fishing doesn't seem to hinder us. For our fishing we pulled up to our first and only spot of the night and it was on right from the start. We missed the first couple bites but had 10 lbs in the box within about 10 minutes including a nice kicker smallie weighing 4.45 lbs. From there we continued to upgrade to our final weight. Our weigh fish for the night came on a homemade watermelon/green pumpkin football jig and a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

West Central Bass League - Lake Calhoun - August 16th

The storm that blew through the previous night brought with it the first major cold front of the season and the conditions Thursday night were pretty tough. It was cold, windy and the skies were high. It definitely affected the bite as the weights and numbers of fish were very low for Calhoun which is normally a very productive lake for numbers at a minimum and often it kicks out some very big bags. Because of the conditions we had our lowest turnout of the year as only 15 teams showed up to fish. There was only 1 good bag brought to the scales on this night and fortunately it was by us!

1st - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 10.96 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 7.76 lbs
3rd - Paul & Troy - 7.43 lbs
4th - Ross & Daryl - 7.26 lbs

Big Bass - Andy Nitchals - 4.38 lbs

Despite the big bag our fishing was not easy at all. We got very few bites on the night but we just happened to get 3 of the right bites. We started on docks and were able to get a few small keepers in the boat pretty quickly. Eventually we came to a dock that had a thick weed mat blown in on it and it just looked right. That dock produced a nice bass in the 3 1/2 lb range but since the other docks were getting fished we didn't really have anywhere else to go. We ended up trying offshore for awhile but that bite never really materialized on Calhoun this year so we went looking for the thickest shallow cover we could find. We found an area of reeds, pads and various other weeds matted up on the surface and started to work it over thoroughly. We only got a few bites from there but they were the right size and allowed us to win handily. Our weigh fish all came on a Okeechobee craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

West Central Tournament Series - Green Lake - August 19th

We had another great turnout for the final West Central Tournament Series of the 2012 season. 24 teams showed up to fish Green Lake for what turned out to be a pretty tough bite. The reports from the days leading up to the event indicated that Green Lake was really on fire but I don't know why exactly but on Sunday most people reported the fishing to be pretty tough. Tough on Green Lake is relative though. I think most everyone caught a lot of fish but the 3 lb class fish were reluctant to show themselves and the weights at the end of the day reflected that. The winning weight was a modest 18.59 lbs and only 2 other bags eclipsed the 18 lb mark. Our 6 fish limit weighed in at 16.91 lbs which tied us with 2 other teams on total weight but they both had a bigger bass than our to win that tiebreaker and we ended up in 8th place.

Full results of the tournament do not appear to be up as of this writing but they will be posted here. http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/8.html

Since our final regular season league night will be held on Green Lake this Thursday I'm not going to go into much detail in this report. I will say that we tried a variety of things but only a couple things really worked well for us, but of course it didn't work well enough. As I said before 3 lb bites were tough to come by but we had a couple chances at them that didn't make it to the boat and that really hurt us in the final standings. I don't think we would have been able to win but I think we would have been at least in the money. Even though my results this year haven't been great it hasn't been because of lost fish. This was the first event of the year that lost fish really made a difference but that's just how it goes sometimes.

West Central Bass League - Week 10

West Central Bass League - Long Lake - August 8th

As good as the fishing can be on Long Lake in the spring, in the middle of summer it is usually extremely tough. This night was no exception although knowing the fishing would be tough didn't stop 22 teams from competing. Of those 22 boats only 6 limits were brought to the scales and really only 2 of them would be considered a good limit for the lake. For years there didn't seem to be any small fish in the lake but now there seems to be a decent number of smaller fish. Fortunately we had the best weight for the night to get our first win of the season but it was extremely close.

1st - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 12.32 lbs
2nd - Joe & Greg - 3 - 12.29 lbs
3rd - Tanya & Jared - 3 - 8.65 lbs
4th - Jim & Brad - 3 - 6.44 lbs
5th - Jeff & Kris - 3 - 6.27 lbs

Big Bass - Tanya & Jared - 5.38 lbs

For us the fishing was typical Long Lake fishing and that means flipping reeds for the most part. Almost right off the bat I caught a short fish and then soon after had a small keeper in the boat. For the night we caught around 12 bass which for Long in the summer is a huge number. What really made the difference was getting 2 big bass that weighed nearly 5 lbs each. All our weigh fish came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

West Central Bass League - Lake Florida - August 9th

After the weights that showed up to the scales a few weeks earlier on Lake Florida I figured everyone would be ready to get after them again but the 16 boats that showed up to fish was the lowest number we had all year. It seems that many of the teams have unlocked the secret to success on the lake and even though we had less boats the lake still fishes really small. With that said the weights brought to the scales were even more impressive than our first visit.

1st - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 12.06 lbs
2nd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 11.87 lbs
3rd - Ross & Daryl - 3 - 11.60 lbs
4th - Grant & April - 3 - 11.48 lbs

Big Bass - Grant & April - 3 - 5.03 lbs

We weighed 3 for 11.39 lbs. That would have easily won on the previous visit to Lake Florida but on this night it was only good for 5th place which was just out of the money. Normally I would have been thinking we had a chance to do really well with that weight but we were fishing so close to several other boats that it was apparent we would be just hoping for our money back. What was interesting to me about our fishing for the night is I didn't move the boat more than 50 yards the entire evening. I don't remember ever staying so stationary for an entire league night. Partly it was because I was right were I wanted to be but also we were pretty much penned in by the other boats. That is the nature of the beast on Lake Florida these days it seems. Since we sat on one spot for so long we threw a variety of lures at them and our weigh fish came on a watermelon homemade jig, a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss and a watermelon 10" Power Worm.

West Central Bass League - Week 9 & West Central Tournament Series - Sauk Lake

West Central Bass League - Lake Andrew - August 1st

After the run of big weights we have been having on the West Central Bass League everyone was pretty much sure that would come to an end on Lake Andrew. That didn't stop 21 teams from showing up though and while it sounds like quite a few fish were caught the weights were certainly about what we all expected. For the first time this year the winning weight was under 9 lbs.

1st - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 8.96 lbs
2nd - Travis & Tristan - 3 - 8.82 lbs
3rd - Dean & Ralph - 3 - 8.60 lbs
4th - Jeff & Kris - 8.18 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 7.51 lbs

Big Bass - Travis & Tristan - 4.41 lbs

We were just able to sneak into the money but it was very close. We actually tied with another team for total weight but we just edged them out on the biggest fish to win the tiebreaker. Our fishing was pretty typical for Andrew as we spent much of the night hitting various deep weed line areas in hopes of finding a school of better than average bass. We caught quite a few fish but most of them were really small. Every once in awhile we would catch one that was a little over 2 lbs but with around a half hour left it didn't seem like we were going to find any better quality out deep so we headed to the shallows. Almost immediately my dad caught a 3 pounder on a buzzin frog to give us just enough to get into the money.

West Central Bass League - Eagle Lake - August 2nd

Eagle has become one of the most anticipated lakes by the West Central Bass League anglers in recent years. We have figured out how to target the giant smallies rather than just accidentally catching one every once in awhile. The largemouth in the lake are big too and on this night only a few smallies were brougt to the scales by the 19 boats fishing, but the weights were extremely impressive anyways.

1st - Todd & Jeff - 3 - 13.32 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 12.48 lbs
3rd - Dean & JD - 3 - 11.73 lbs
4th - Butch & Jeff - 3 - 11.27 lbs
5th - Bill & Brad - 11.13 lbs

Big Bass - Dean & JD - 4.95 lbs

We had a really tough evening but ended up with 3 fish weighing 9.88 lbs. On many lakes 3 bass weighing almost 10 lbs is pretty strong but for Eagle on this night it was only good for 8th place. While I started off fishing docks my dad threw off the other side of the boat to the shallow weeds with a buzzin frog. Right off the bat he put a solid 3 1/2 lb fish in the boat. The docks were not producing much, although we did end up weighing one small dock fish, so we spent most of the night fishing shallow weed flats but the action out there was slow too. Finally with about 15 minutes to go I put a 4 lb plus largemouth in the boat on a Super Spook to salvage what would have otherwise been a total bomb.

West Central Tournament Series - Sauk Lake - August 4th

There were 19 teams fishing on Sauk Lake which was the lowest turnout there has been so far for the West Central Tournament Series. With the way the lake is fishing I'm kind of surprised that there were even that many who did fish. The lake proved to be tough once again as only 6 limits were brought to the scales. The full results can be found here.

http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeSauk.pdf

Although the fishing was tough for most we actually had a good day on the water. We must have caught around 25 bass but our issue was size. Our 6 fish limit weighed in at 16.36 lbs which was good for 5th place and just out of the money. I'm not sure why others struggled so much because we didn't do anything special to catch our fish. After starting the day fishing shallow weeds for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and not having a bite we switched our focus to fishing docks and trees. We stuck to it for the rest of the day and it worked out for numbers at least. Our weigh fish were caught on various colors of Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses and Strike King tubes.

West Central Bass League - Week 8 & Green Mill/West Central Bassmasters Summer Classic - Green Lake

West Central Bass League - Diamond Lake - July 25th


As hot as the fishing has been for the West Central Bass League over the past few weeks, it was nothing compared to the weights brought in on Diamond Lake. They weren't the heaviest weights ever seen but for Diamond it had to be the best night of fishing the lake has ever produced. Not so long ago the entire field blanked not once but twice on ths very body of water. Those days are definitely long gone.

1st - Jim & Brad - 3 - 13.13 lbs
2nd - Paul & Pete - 3 - 12.63 lbs
3rd - Lee & Nick - 3 - 11.98 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.81 lbs
5th - Troy & Brett - 3 - 11.35 lbs

Big Bass - Jim & Brad - 5.00 lbs

We brought 3 to the scales weighing 10.29 lbs to end up 6th out of the 22 teams fishing. I thought we were having a pretty good night and normally it would have been but not only were we out of the money, we were more than 1 lb out of the money. We clearly spent most of our night on the wrong pattern although what do you do when you catch a ton of fish and end up with over 10 lbs for 3 fish. We spent our night fishing docks and trees and our weigh fish all ended up coming on various colors of the Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.

West Central Bass League - Lake Solomon - July 26th


The good fishing for the Bass League had to end sometime and many rightfully predicted that this would be the lake to break the streak. Solomon is an excellent lake in the spring where 10 lb bags are common, but in recent years the fishing has been downright tough to impossible in the mid summer months. This night kept that trend alive as only 8 of the 18 teams fishing were able to bring a 3 fish limit to the scales.

1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.51 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.40 lbs
3rd - Lee & Andy - 3 - 9.07 lbs
4th - Scott & Kelly - 3 - 8.94 lbs
5th - Paul & Troy - 3 - 6.64 lbs

Big Bass - Ron & Joe - 4.62 lbs

Normally I don't mind talking about how we caught our fish, even though it probably hurts me among this group of anglers, and I'm sure some of the readers of this blog know how we caught them but I just don't feel like revealing too much for this one. It is something I'd like to keep in my pocket for the next summer visit to Solomon. I can say we caught all of our weigh fish on jigs and that is about it.

Green Mill/West Central Bass Masters Summer Classic - Green Lake, Spicer - July 29th


Normally our club holds this event at the end of June but this year we decided to move it to a mid-summer date. June fishing on Green Lake can be dominated by bed fishing and we wanted to have a different type of event with the anglers using different patterns to catch their fish. Maybe that was a mistake because the attendance certainly dropped off as only 24 teams showed up. After some morning rain the weather was great and by all accounts there were a bunch of fish caught. As always on Green Lake the key is finding a limit of those 3 lb class fish and several teams were able to do that and more. I don't have the official results at this time but 1st place was a 6 fish limit weighing 20.24 lbs and 2nd place was 19.59 lbs. As usual this year my dad and I struggled and our 6 fish limit of smallmouth weighing 17.11 lbs was only enough to put us in 12th place.

I had a pretty tough practice for this event but I thought I had a pattern put together where we would be spending much of the day in 8-12 feet of water. How things change come tournament day though as none of the fish we ended up weighing came from that depth range. 5 of our weigh fish ended up coming from water 6 feet or shallower and the final keeper came from 25 feet deep. It goes to show that you need to keep an open mind even though the fish we weighed on this day were only good enough for a middle of the pack finish if we had stuck to the original plan it would have been even worse. Our fish for the day came on green pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tubes and green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hopper worms rigged on a dropshot.

West Central Bass League - Week 7 & West Central Tournament Series - Lake Koronis

West Central Bass League - Norway Lake - July 17th


We continued our great turnouts for the West Central Bass League this year as 21 teams showed up to fish Norway and Games Lakes this evening. As usual over the past couple of weeks the fishing ended up being really good with some of the better overall weights we have seen on Norway in recent years.

1st - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.91 lbs
2nd - Ross & Rob - 3 - 9.83 lbs
3rd - Tim & Grant - 3 - 9.75 lbs
4th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.66 lbs
5th - Brian & Joy - 3 - 9.24 lbs

Big Bass - Tim & Grant - 5.09 lbs

Over the past few years Norway usually has one of the lower average weights of the lakes we fish during the league season. Obviously the weights were pretty strong on this night although from the sound of it the fishing wasn't great for numbers. We certainly didn't catch a lot of fish but with the weight we had I expected to do better than 4th. We started on shallow cover but after an hour with only 2 fish in the box we headed to deep water for the rest of the evening. Like I said the bite wasn't fast but every once in awhile we would get a quality bass to bite. Our weigh fish came on 10" inch Berkley Power Worms and Rapala DT 16 and DT 14 crankbaits.

West Central Bass League - Lake Koronis - July 18th


Koronis is not one of the more popular lakes on the West Central Bass League schedule and it showed as only 17 teams showed up to fish. 17 teams fishing is a pretty strong number but still it is one of the lowest numbers we have had so far this year. Koronis can be a tough lake to figure out but the fish are certainly in there and the weights showed it.

1st - Dean & JD - 3 - 10.44 lbs
2nd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 10.01 lbs
3rd - Travis & Hunter - 3 - 9.43 lbs
4th - Ross & Daryl - 3 - 9.36 lbs
5th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 9.34 lbs

Big Bass - Dean & JD - 4.09 lbs

We ended up having a really tough night but ended up catching a couple upgrades in the last minutes to move up to 6th place with 3 weighing 8.62 lbs. We started on docks which is what I thought would produce some really nice fish. But after fishing a bunch of them we only had one quality bass in the 3 lb range to show for it. That fish came on a Okeechobee Craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss. After that we junked around for awhile trying different things but nothing was really working out. At the end of the evening we ended up on a shallow sand and weed flat where we put 2 decent smallies in the boat on Super Spooks to salvage what would have otherwise been a terrible night.

West Central Tournament Series - Lake Koronis - July 22nd


By luck of the draw the West Central Bass League visited Lake Koronis a few days before the Tournament Series so those of us fishing both had a little more time on the water than some others might have had. As it turned out it didn't really matter. For me the fishing has been tough on Koronis but as almost everyone proved the fish are biting good and they are nice ones. We ended up weighing a 6 fish limit for 17.53 lbs which is a pretty impressive average weight but it was only good enough to place 10th out of the 23 teams fishing. The full results can be found here:

http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeKoronis.pdf

We started our day where we ended the previous league night. Despite having several fish slash at the Spook I was only able to put 1 smallie in the boat that weighed about 2 1/2 lbs. That fish ended up staying with us all day long and wound up being the smallest fish in our bag. After that it was off to a point that would have normally had nice coontail on it but this year the only weeds in almost the entire lake are just stringy grass. Despite that there was a good sized school of fish living there but the problem was they just weren't big enough. We ended up filling our limit on that spot but all of those fish would eventually be culled. Our next stop was a similar type of area but the fish there were much better quality although not the quality needed to compete for a win on this day. In the afternoon we focused mostly on docks and 3 of our weigh fish ended up coming from the docks. It's hard to complain when you are catching 2 1/2 to 3 lb bass which are nice fish but on Koronis these days that is just run of the mill as our results showed.

West Central Bass League - Week 6 & Big Bass Bonanza - Lake Minnewaska

West Central Bass League - Lake Florida - July 11th


As we were headed to Lake Florida on this Wednesday night we got a call telling us that someone had just drowned on the lake. When we got to the access nothing seemed to be happening but a short while later the emergency vehicles were flying past the access. As it turns out an older man fell off the dock and did not make it. That cast a somber atmosphere over the evening but the fish sure didn't seem to mind. The lake kicked out more quality bass than I can remember for at least the last 5 years.

1st - Lee & Nick - 3 - 10.94 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.85 lbs
3rd - Jeff & Kris - 3 - 10.46 lbs
4th - Jim & Brad - 3 - 10.32 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.94 lbs

Big Bass - Brad & Bill - 5.44 lbs

Generally a bag such as ours in the 10 lb range is enough to win on Lake Florida but it was only barely enough to squeak into the money on this night. In the older days of league Florida was known as a dock fishing lake and that is pretty much what everyone did. That has certainly changed though as the offshore bite is where many focus there attention. For awhile I had that deal mostly to myself but times have changed. With a middle of the pack boat draw there was no way I could get to my preferred starting area so it was off to another area which ended up being just as crowded. I was able to get right on the juice though and it didn't take long for the fish to start biting. The fish were biting for others in the area too but we were definitely out-catching everyone else. We did move around a bit but the majority of our night was spent sitting on that one hole. Our fish came on a variety of lures such as homemade jigs, 10" Berkley Power Worms, finesse worms either Texas rigged or on a drop shot but the best producer ended up being a slow rolled green pumpkin Z-Man Chatterbait.

West Central Bass League - Nest Lake - July 12th


From all the reports I had heard and my personal experience on Nest this year the fishing had been extremely tough prior to this weeks league but much like Florida on Wednesday night the fish turned on big time and the weights ended up being very impressive. I think part of the reason the fishing was so good is that all of the curly leaf pondweed or June weed had all died off at this point. For some reason the fishing just isn't very good when there is a ton of curly leaf in the lake. Fortunately it dies off around the first of July every year though. Maybe that had something to do with it or maybe not but in any case the fishing was excellent.

1st - Scott & Kelly - 3 - 11.90 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 11.65 lbs
3rd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.62 lbs
4th - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 11.42 lbs
5th - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.78 lbs

Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.16 lbs

We started our night on a shallow rocky area that is traditionally known for smallmouth but this year had been holding a number of quality largemouth. Within 5 minutes I hooked up with a good fish but instead of being the expected largemouth it was a smallie. Right then I knew we would focus most of our night on the brown fish and the 3 we brought to the scales ended up being the only limit of smallmouth weighed in on the night. We caught fish on a variety of lures but the 3 we weighed came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss or a green pumpkin Biffle Hardhead jig rigged with a Biffle Bug.

Big Bass Bonanza - Lake Minnewaska - July 15th


We were finally able to break out of the slump we were in to start off the Big Bass Bonanza season. Our middle of the pack finishes in the first 2 events certainly could have been worse but they certainly weren't what I expect of myself, especially when one of the lakes is Green Lake. At Minnewaska we weighed in an 8 fish limit of smallmouth for 21.88 lbs. It was the only limit comprised solely of smallies and was enough to take 5th place out of 32 teams. The finished also jumped us way up in the TOY standings to a tie for 6th place, which is well within the top 15 championship cut with one event remaining.

Going into the event, like everything else this year, Minnewaska had been tough for us. We put in a long day on Saturday before the tournament and finally got a few things going. Our plan was to fish for smallies on shallow sand flats and largemouths on deep weedlines as well as under docks. Since I have already said we weighed all smallmouth it is clear that neither largemouth pattern held up at all. We caught a lot of green fish but none of them were even close to the size we needed. For the smallies the fishing was pretty simple. One of our weigh fish came on a Super Spook but all the rest came on green pumpkin or watermelon/red flake Strike King Coffee Tubes. The key for us was getting tube stuck in the sparse weeds and the popping it free. If we weren't in the weeds we would still hop the tube violently and that is when every bite happened. I know many people think of a tube as a finesse bait but I really like using it as a reaction bait like this especially for smallmouth. There is something about that action they just can't resist.

West Central Bass League - Unofficial Holiday Week

For the 4th of July week every year the West Central Bass League takes a break from the regular format. Most people want to get away and be with family and friends instead of being forced to come to league when points are on the line. Some people still like to fish though so we give them the opportunity if they want it. This we we decided to go to 2 lakes that are not normally on the league schedule to check them out. Next week league will be back to normal for the rest of the summer.

West Central Bass League - Foot Lake - July 4th

Foot Lake is not known as a very good bass lake although there are some nice fish in there so we decided to see what it had to offer in the middle of summer. The 4th ended up being the hottest day of the year so far and that along with the lake's reputation kept the turnout low. Only 3 teams were brave enough to tackle the challenge. With only 3 boats fishing only 1 spot was paid.

1st - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 5.56 lbs

Big Bass - Grant & April - 3.80 lbs

We ended up with the only limit of the night but it sure wasn't easy. Most of our night was spent on a large milfoil mat that just looked like it should have held a number of fish. We did get our first keeper there as well as several short fish but it just didn't produce as well as it should have. With about a half hour left in the night we moved to a stretch of rip rap and quickly put our 2 other keepers in the boat. All of our fish came on various colors of Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses.

West Central Bass League - Lake Scandinavia - July 5th

We had a much better turnout as 8 teams showed up to fish a lake that most of us have not fished before. The lake is loaded with 2 lb class bass and most teams reported catching a lot of fish for the evening. 

1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 9.03 lbs

2nd Donovan & Mike - 3 - 8.49 lbs

Big Bass - Donovan & Mike - 3.66 lbs

We ended up fishing deep weed lines for the majority of the night and ended up catching a ton of fish. We caught 25-30 bass but the problem was we just couldn't get over that 2 1/4 lb range. Our 3 fish limit weighed in at 7.20 lbs to give us 4th place for the night. Our fish came on homemade jigs and various plastics.

West Central Bass League - Week 5

After a hectic and not particularly productive June I finally have a little time to relax and catch my breath. I have a two week break before my next tournament on July 15th. To say the start of the tournament season is a disappointment would be a huge understatement. I'm not sure what's going wrong so far this year but all I can do is keep fishing and hope I work my way out of it. Even though there are occasional breaks in the weekend tournament schedule the West Central Bass League goes every week so I am still able to get my competitive fishing fix.

West Central Bass League - Lake Calhoun - June 27th


It was hot, muggy and calm and actually pretty unpleasant out when we arrived at Lake Calhoun but didn't stop us from having the largest turnout of the year so far. Calhoun is always a popular lake but I was surprised when 26 teams showed up to fish. On a small lake like Calhoun it was pretty crowded but fish were still caught. To me it seemed a little off overall and whether that was related to the conditions or the crowds I'm not sure. Here are the results.

1st - Ross & Rob - 3 - 12.23 lbs
2nd - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 9.22 lbs
3rd - Kyle & Jim - 3 - 8.98 lbs
4th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 8.57 lbs
5th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 8.07 lbs

Big Bass - Ross & Rob - 4.49 lbs

For us the night was extremely tough and I was very pleased that we ended up taking 4th place. We were one of the last boats out and I thought for sure someone would be where I wanted to start but we were able to start where I wanted. Of course it wasn't very productive but we did get one 2 1/2 pounder that we ended up weighing. That fish came on a Okochobee Craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss flipped into thick matted up reeds. After that we bounced around the lake and it was really slow until about the last half hour when I moved to a shallow inside weedline that had been fished all night long by other boats. It had opened up though and with the lower light conditions I hoped that they would turn on and that is exactly what happened. I started getting bit on almost every cast and although most were small we were able to steadily upgrade until right near the end of the night my dad put an almost 4 lb bass in the boat. Those fish all came on watermelon Strike King Ochos or Yamamoto Senkos.

West Central Bass League - Lake Johanna - June 28th


After having the largest turnout of the season the previous night only 16 teams decided to show up on Thursday night. I'm not sure what the reason for the drop off was since the lake had fished really well the previous week. In any case it was nice to move around and actually have areas to yourself. The fishing certainly didn't end up being as good as the previous week although the weights were still pretty strong.

1st - TJ & Isaiah - 3 - 11.00 lbs
2nd - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 10.94 lbs
3rd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 10.41 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.20 lbs

Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.00 lbs

We really struggled for the night and only came in with 2 bass weighing 7.08 lbs to take 9th place. One of the goals for our league season every year is to catch a 3 bass limit every night and that ended. I don't believe we have ever done it in fact. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to do but apparently it is. We did basically the same thing we did the previous week when we finished 2nd and what everyone else was doing which is to fish the reeds and bullrushes but it just didn't work out for us. Our 2 weigh fish came on a okochobee craw Pit Boss and a watermelon 6" Yum Dinger.

West Central Bass League - Week 4 & West Central Tournament Series - Lake Minnewaska

West Central Bass League - Lake Johanna - June 20th


This evening was one of the more memorable league nights we have had in the past few years. The fishing was actually pretty tough overall for the 19 teams competing and the weights at the top are certainly not the highest we have ever seen. What was impressive though was the average size of all the bass weighed in. The 19 teams fishing combined to weigh 46 bass for 160.87 lbs. That works out to exactly a 3.50 lb average per fish. That is pretty impressive for any lake let alone one up here in Minnesota. Here are the results.

1st - Tonya & Jared - 3 - 12.47 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 11.93 lbs
3rd - Paul & Pete - 3 - 11.78 lbs
4th - Tim & Grant - 3 - 11.19 lbs
5th - Bruce & Dave - 3 - 10.97 lbs

Big Bass - Andy Nitchals - 4.77 lbs

Since by luck of they draw we are back on Johanna this week I won't have much to say about the details of our night. I can say it was a grind though. I got the big fish of the night relatively early in the evening and then we went nearly 2 hours without another bite. Fortunately things picked up towards the end and we ended up catching 4 keepers on the night.

West Central Bass League - Lake Andrew - June 21st


From Johanna which is one of the better big fish lakes on our league schedule it was off to Lake Andrew which consistently produces one of the smaller averages. It used to be a pretty good lake for big fish but they have just seemed to disappear. On this night the fishing was about what was to be expected for the 21 teams competing. As you will see the big bass for the night was the same as the average fish on the previous night.

1st - Brian - 3 - 9.20 lbs
2nd - Ron & Dave - 3 - 7.88 lbs
3rd - Kyle & Hunter - 3 - 7.60 lbs
4th - Jared & Tonya - 3 - 7.11 lbs
5th - Travis & Tristan - 3 - 6.78 lbs

Big Bass - Ron & Dave - 3.56 lbs

This one was really a struggle for us as we ended up with 3 for 5.75 lbs. That put us in 11th place for the night. Usually I like Lake Andrew and not just because it's my namesake lake. It is mainly a weedline type lake and most of the time I am able to come across a few better quality fish to get into the money. It certainly didn't work out that way on this night though. We stuck with the weedline game plan for pretty much the whole night and it was pretty slow. We picked off a few hear and there but never came across a big school or any decent fish at all. Our weigh fish came on homemade jigs and various Texas rigged plastics.

West Central Tournament Series - Lake Minnewaska - June 24th


June 24th marked the first ever West Central Tournament Series event on Lake Minnewaska. The Tournament Series covers 4 events on area lakes with a low entry fee of $50. Since we didn't want to deal with permits the field was limited to 25 boats and that it was great to get a full field for the first event. The fishing numbers wise was good to as all 25 teams brought a 6 fish limit to the scales. The size of the fish was somewhat down from previous tournaments on Minnewaska though. The full results can be found here.

http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeMinnewaska.pdf

This was another tough tournament for us to start off the season. We just can't seem to get anything going at all so far this year. Our 6 fish limit of smallmouth weighed in at 13.29 lbs to take 14th place. Our first couple stops of the day were unproductive but on our 3rd stop which was a shallow sand flat we quickly put a 2.25 lb smallie in the boat. That was the only fish we got there but we decided to run similar areas for most of the rest of the day and were able to get into a fair number of smallmouth. The problem was that they all weighed 2.25 lbs. Usually if the smallies are biting pretty good I am able to find a few bigger ones but that just didn't happen on this day. All of our weigh fish came on green pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tubes or chartreuse and white spinnerbaits.

West Central Bass League - Week 3 & Big Bass Bonanza - Green Lake, Spicer

West Central Bass League - Lake Koronis - June 13th

We had 19 boats fishing lake Koronis last Wednesday night. That is actually the lowest turnout we've had so far this year and that was probably just because Koronis is one of the furthest lakes from Willmar on the league schedule. The windy conditions might have kept a few away as well although the wind did lay down nicely and we had a great night to fish. The fish didn't seem to like it though. It seems like a lot of fish were caught but the size was definitely down compared to previous years.

1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.65 lbs

2nd - Dean - 3 - 9.06 lbs

3rd - Brian & Josh - 3 - 8.46 lbs

4th - Paul & Pete - 3 - 8.23 lbs

5th - Tonya & Jared - 3 - 7.79 lbs

Big Bass - Ron & Joe - 4.65 lbs

My dad and I struggled through another tough night and ended up with 3 weighing 7.67 lbs to take 6th place. It certainly could have been a lot worse though. It was just really bad fishing for us and we only ended up catching 4 keepers on the evening. We were one of the last boats blasting off and the 3 areas I wanted to start on were already covered up by the time we got there. Another challenge was the lack of weeds on my best weedline areas. I have no idea why but they just aren't growing right on what used to be my good spots. We did pick up two 2 1/2 lb largemouth on homemade watermelon jigs out of a small patch of stringy grass near a point that usually has a lot of nice coontail. Our 3rd keeper was a smallmouth that came on a chartreuse and white spinnerbait over a shallow sandy flat.

West Central Bass League - Long Lake - June 14th

Long Lake is always a popular lake even though it can be extremely tough. It is definitely better earlier in the year and the 20 teams competing were looking for giant bags. With the early spring I thought we were maybe going to be a week or two late but I was wrong as some massive sacks came to the scales. Another surprising thing was the number of small limits brought in. That usually doesn't happen on this lake.

1st - Travis & Hunter - 3 - 14.55 lbs

2nd - Greg & Matt - 3 - 13.70 lbs

3rd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 13.38 lbs

4th - Ross & Daryl - 3 - 12.46 lbs

5th - Paul & Paul - 3 - 10.53 lbs

Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.74 lbs

Any time you average almost 4 1/2 lbs per fish in Minnesota like we did it is an amazing day. It sure wasn't easy though. Our first stop was a bust and after moving to our second area I started seeing a bunch of small bass. I finally spotted a small cruiser I thought was a keeper so I through a watermelon/red flake Strike King Ocho at it and quickly put it in the boat. Before I could get re-rigged a big one swam up right next to the boat. My dad had a black buzzin frog on and let it sink in front of her face and she gobbled it right up. For awhile we continued to look for cruisers but that just wasn't happening so we mostly flipped reeds the rest of the night and ended up getting 2 more good ones on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss. There really was no rhyme or reason to where the fish were. It was just a matter of staying patient and fishing hard.

Big Bass Bonanza - Green Lake, Spicer - June 17th

I don't really know what to say about this one. I have had quite a bit of success on Green Lake in recent years. I feel like I understand the lake pretty well and my results have shown that. This year has really been a struggle for me though and even the lake I was hoping would break me out of my slump would not cooperate. We ended up weighing an 8 fish limit of smallmouth for 19.75 lbs which put us in 15th place out of 31 teams competing. 

Going into the event I knew a lot of fish were up shallow on beds or just cruising the rock and sand flats. For some reason though I just was not able to catch quality fish up shallow. Generally I prefer to avoid the crowds anyways and get out on the deep breaks and humps, even at this time of year. I felt that would be a solid game plan and it ended up being just fine for numbers but the size just didn't end up being there.

During the tournament all of our weigh fish came on a drop shot rigged with watermelon or green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hoppers or LFT Twitch worms. We did try fishing shallow with various lures for a good portion of the day but like I said earlier we were just not able to get into the quality fish. One thing I found interesting is that it was almost impossible to get a bite out of the milfoil. Usually that is good at any time of the year but it just wasn't happening for this event.

West Central Bass League - Week 2 & West Central Bassmasters MN State TOC Qualifiers

It was a busy week for me with two league nights and 3 tournaments over the weekend. Fortunately by luck of the draw many of the lakes overlapped so it made prefishing much easier to schedule. The unfortunate part is that for the most part the fishing hasn't been very good.

West Central Bass League - Green Lake Cup - June 6th


Wednesday night was the Green Lake Cup. The cup nights are pretty much the same as a normal league night except that the entry fee is a little higher and we pay back 2 big bass instead of just one. Normally for our league nights we have a one week off limits period but because many of the same anglers were also fishing Green Lake over the weekend that was waved. Many of us got out on the water in the days before league are reported amazing fishing. On Wednesday night something changed though and almost everyone reported struggling. The weights were definitely not what I and many of the other 22 teams were expecting.

1st - Scott & Andy - 3 - 9.46 lbs
2nd - Grant & Tim - 3 - 9.20 lbs
3rd - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.13 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 8.98 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 8.48 lbs

Big Bass #1 - Grant & Tim - 3.97 lbs
Big Bass #2 - Andy Nitchals - 3.88 lbs

Since I have an upcoming Big Bass Bonanza tournament on Green Lake this weekend I can't reveal too much about our fishing on this night. I can say that it was tough though.We really had to scramble around and change tactics from what had worked so well just the day before. We pretty much ended up junking around and caught our fish in a variety of ways.

West Central Bass League - Norway/Games Lake Cup - June 7th


Just as we did on Wednesday we had 22 teams show up to compete on Thursday night for the Norway/Games Lake Cup. Also as on Wednesday the week long off limits was waved for this night and the expectation of those who had been out prefishing was that it wasn't very good. With the exception of one bag they were proven right as most of the teams came in with very small bags. Noway hasn't been great in recent years but the fishing is downright poor out there right now.

1st - Lee & Nick - 3 - 9.27 lbs
2nd - Tonya & Jared - 3 - 7.57 lbs
3rd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 7.31 lbs
4th - And & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 7.28 lbs
5th - Paul & Pete - 3 - 7.09 lbs

Big Bass #1 - Lee & Nick - 4.00 lbs
Big Bass #2 - Scott & Kelly - 2.86 lbs

Since there was no cutoff I got on the water for about an hour right before league started and was actually surprised to get 5 bites in that hour. I shook them off of course except for a 3 pounder that just wouldn't let go. That one would have went a long way for us later on in the evening but getting those bites formulated a game plan for us that we utilized right off the bat when league started. I had to places I wanted to go and as it turns out the place I didn't go kicked out 3 fish in the first 5 minutes of the night. My starting area also produced a keeper but it was small. We made a move and put 2 more keepers in the boat within the first 15 minutes so we were off to a good start but had nowhere near the size we would need. Eventually we made the move to deeper water where we were able to get on a decent school of fish to catch all of our weight. Those fish came on homemade watermelon/green pumpkin jigs tipped with green pumpkin Berkley Chigger Chunks.

West Central Bassmasters State Qualifier Tournaments


Over the weekend of June 9th-10th my club held 3 tournaments to determine which members would be going to the MN B.A.S.S. State Federation TOC on Island Lake Reservoir in September. We held a 4 hour tournament with a 4 fish limit on Green Lake on Saturday morning and then a 4 hour tournament with a 4 fish limit on Norway/Games in the afternoon. Then on Sunday we held an 8 hour tournament on Sauk Lake with a 5 fish limit. This year our club is allowed to send 8 members and 1 alternate to the TOC. My goal as always is to finish 1st in the club to gain the guaranteed boater slot and the State TOC.

Green Lake


Again because of an upcoming tournament I can't go into much detail about this event. I can say it was much like league night a few days earlier in that I pretty much just junked around and of the 4 smallies I weighed, each came on a different presentation in different areas. I ended up weighing 4 smallmouth for 11.74 lbs to easily secure the win. I also had big bass for the morning at 3.46 lbs.

Norway/Games Lake


In the afternoon I knew I wanted to start on the same school that produced Thursday night just to get some quick fish in the boat and it started of fast as I had what ended up being my biggest fish of the day in the boat on my 2nd cast. My dad then caught one real quick and after that it was over. The rest of the day was spent any shallow cover that looked good. My other 3 weigh fish came on an overhanging tree, and a deadhead that was a little ways offshore and a shallow cabbage bed. Those fish all came on my trusty Green Pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss. For the afternoon I ended up weighing 4 bass for 9.04 lbs which was good enough to take 2nd place.

Sauk Lake 


I was extremely happy to have the points lead coming into Sauk Lake. I have spent a fair amount of time on the lake this year but just cannot figure it out. Really I was just hoping to catch 1 fish. With the points I had I felt like that would be enough to qualify me for the TOC. Of course I wanted to retain my points lead as well and as it turns out I had the bites to do it. I just didn't put them in the boat. Pretty early on in the day I ended up abandoning everything I planned to do as my dad put 2 good fish in the boat on a toad/buzzin frog. I had been using a Spro Bronzeye Frog but for some reason they really seemed to prefer the toad on this day. I'm no dummy so I picked one up as well and threw it pretty much the rest of the day around shallow matted weeds. I ended up getting 6 bites on the day but only boated 3 of them for 8.24 lbs. This put me in 5th place for the day. After all the points were tallied I ended up in 2nd place, by 1 point, for the club this year. Congratulations to all those who made the State TOC!

West Central Bass League - Week 1 & Big Bass Bonanza - Sauk Lake

It is my favorite time of the year since it is finally tournament season here in Minnesota. The year has certainly not started off anything like I was hoping for though. For some reason everything has been a struggle so far. I'm just in a little funk for some reason and I can't quite place my finger on what's going wrong. The tournaments don't stop though so I'll just have to fish my way out of it.

West Central Bass League - Solomon Lake - May 30th


The first Wednesday night of league this year greeted us with cool, cloudy conditions that turned downright cold and rainy by the end of the night but despite the conditions 23 teams were ready to open the season. On a shallow lake like Solomon I was happy to see the clouds but apparently the cold put the fish in a funk. Despite having a monster bag even the winning team reported catching only 3 keepers for the night. Here are the results.

1st - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 12.75 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 12.08 lbs
3rd - Ron & Dave - 3 - 10.23 lbs
4th - Grant & Tim - 3 - 8.92 lbs
5th - Paul & Pete - 3 - 8.90 lbs

Big Bass - Ron & Joe - 5.09 lbs

My dad and I ended up with 3 fish for 8.08 lbs to take 7th out of the 23 teams competing. Our night was nearly a disaster though. With only 20 minutes left to fish we only had 1 small bass in the boat. We were able to rally and catch 3 keepers in those last 20 minutes to salvage a terrible night. If it wasn't for that flurry we would have been in way down in the point standings. 2 of our weigh fish came on Senkos fished in the reeds and our big fish, which was nearly 4 lbs, first hit a Strike King S.G. toad before my dad followed up with a Sweet Beaver to get her.

West Central Bass League - Diamond Lake - May 31st


Thursday greeted the 20 teams competing with beautiful conditions and everyone reported catching a lot of fish. The problem was that most of them were pretty small. For this lake I would say the weights were down quite a bit from last year but as always a few people figure out the better ones.

1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.63 lbs
2nd - Dean & JD - 3 - 10.44 lbs
3rd - Tim & Gran - 3 - 8.32 lbs
4th - Brian & Kraig - 3 - 8.08 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 8.00 lbs

Big Bass - Butch & Jeff - 4.05 lbs

On this night my dad and I had the opposite problem of the previous night. We had our weight in the first 45 minutes and despite catching a number of small fish we were never able to upgrade the rest of the night. At least we were able to sneak into the final money spot. Our fish came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss fished around docks and trees, although our biggest fish came by swimming the Pit Boss on a sandy bank in between docks.

Big Bass Bonanza - Sauk Lake - June 3rd


I generally like to provide a fair amount of detail in my blog posts but for this event that will not be possible. My bass club is holding a state qualifier tournament on Sauk this coming Sunday and since many of the club members read this blog I can't give them any info that might help them beat me. Not that I have any real secrets to share in the first place! This one was tough. With an 8 fish limit in the BBB we only ended up getting 8 bites all day, but only put 6 of them in the boat. Those 6 were pretty decent quality though and ended up weigh 17.26 lbs to take 13th place out of 26 teams. We were the highest finishing team without a limit so as you can see more than half the field weren't able to get a limit. It was tough out there but of course someone always catches them and the weights at the top, especially the winners, were very impressive. 1st place had over 31 lbs and the big bass at 5.5 lbs.

2012 Tournament Schedule

The bass season has finally opened here in Minnesota this past weekend. From my travels I know people in other parts of the country have no concept of this at all. They can't believe that at certain times of the year we are not allowed to fish for bass. Of course we are allowed to fish for other species and if I accidentally catch a bass that is just fine by me. What the bass season opener really means for me though is that tournament fishing can get underway. This is what I really live for! With club events, a few different circuits, and weeknight leagues my schedule is pretty jam packed for the next few months and I wouldn't have it any other way!

June 3rd - Big Bass Bonanza: Sauk Lake

June 9th - West Central Bassmasters State TOC Qualifier: Green Lake, Spicer & Norway Lake

June 10th - West Central Bassmasters State TOC Qualifier: Sauk Lake

June 17th - Big Bass Bonanza: Green Lake, Spicer

June 24th - West Central Tournament Series: Lake Minnewaska

July 15th - Big Bass Bonanza: Lake Minnewaska

July 22nd - West Central Tournament Series: Lake Koronis/Rice Lake

July 29th - Green Mill/West Central Bassmasters Summer Classic: Green Lake, Spicer

August 5th - West Central Tournament Series: Sauk Lake

August 19th - West Central Tournament Series: Green Lake, Spicer

August 26th - Big Bass Bonanza: Horseshoe Chain of Lakes

September 6-7th - Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation TOC: Island Lake Resevoir - pending qualification

September 9th - Green Mill/West Central Bassmasters Fall Classic: Green Lake, Spicer

September 15-16th - Minnesota Pro Team Bass Tour TOC: Clearwater Lake - pending qualification via the Big Bass Bonanza circuit

In addition to these events I will also be fishing the West Central Bass League every Wednesday and Thursday night in June, July and August. I'll also be fishing the West Central Fall Bass League every Saturday in September and October. I may also and in some additional tournaments if something interesting comes up but as much as I love competing it is also nice to have a free weekend every once in awhile.
                                                                                                                     
                                                             

2011 Season Recap

Normally I write my season recap at the actual end of the season but after an extremely disappointing final tournament last November I wasn't really in the mood to write. Since this blog is mainly about my tournament activities I tend to not post much, if at all, in the winter so it has had to wait until now. Honestly I considered quitting the blog but besides my readers I feel the process of writing this blog has actually helped my fishing. Obviously even before this blog I would go back over tournament days and evaluate them but the process of writing things down really does something more than just thinking about it. So for just personal reasons the blog will continue! I hope you guys get some enjoyment from it as well and maybe even learn a few things.

I consider myself to be a very consistent angler when it comes to my tournament results. I sure don't win as many as I want to (who does), but over these past few years I have had very few really bad tournaments. Last year was completely different though as my results were all over the place. The final tournament of the year illustrates that perfectly. I was fortunate enough to qualify for the B.A.S.S. Federation National Championship on the Ouachita River in Loiusiana. Qualifying for this tournament is a long road through the local B.A.S.S. club to the state TOC to Divisionals and finally to the National Championship. Making the Championship was and is by far the highlight of my tournament fishing career but my results on the Ouachita were anything but spectacular. I just wasn't able to get on the quality of fish I needed despite extensive practice and research and finished 42nd out of 54 anglers in the event. Here in Minnesota I failed to qualify for the Divisional team so my quest to qualify for the BFNC again will have to wait another year.

Over the past 4 seasons the team tournament trail my dad and I fish has been the Big Bass Bonanza trail. The first 3 years included several high finishes and our end of the year placement in the Team of the Year standings was always within the top 10 to secure a place in their Tournament of Champions. Despite a strong start with a 4th place showing and big bass in the first event, it was all downhill from there. We put up several of our worst finishes ever on the BBB trail and slid to 13th in the final points ending our TOC streak.

Closer to home I had a bit more success. Our club, the West Central Bassmasters, holds two open tournaments on Green Lake in Spicer MN every year. In the June event we were able to finish 2nd out of 32 teams and in the September event we found just enough weight to take 1st out of 34 teams! Obviously I love Green Lake and have had numerous high finishes out there but it had been quite awhile since I had gotten a win out there so that one felt good. Our club also runs Wednesday and Thursday night leagues. Those started off with a bang for us as my dad and I were able to win the first 5 nights of the year! With the competition we have fishing these events, that is no small feat. The rest of the year wasn't quite a strong but we ended up 2nd and 3rd respectively in the final points standings.

I didn't go over everything that happened last year so feel free to go back through my archives for more details if you are interested. As I write this our bass season here in MN is still not open yet but finally will this coming weekend! I have another full schedule of tournaments and league nights this year and am looking forward to them all. Besides being more consistent than last year my only goal is to win them all!