End of the Year

2009 isn't over yet but my fishing season is. Since I pretty much only fish for bass and don't do any ice fishing at all I won't be fishing for a few months anyway. We were able to make the season a lot longer than usual though with relatively warm temps all the way until December 1st. December 1st was the last day we got out on the water which is the latest I can remember being out in the boat. It was around 45 degrees for a high but the winds were pretty strong so we didn't last long but in about 2 hours of fishing we managed to boat 15 nice smallies by dragging tubes in 25-30 feet of water. 12 of the fish came from one little spot that we just kept making repeated casts to. They really group up big time this time of year so when you find them it can be really good.

2009 ended up being a pretty good year overall for my results. It was much better than 2008 thats for sure. There weren't as many highlights as I would have liked but there weren't very many low points either. We only managed 1 win for the season and that was in our smaller West Central Bassmasters tourny on Norway Lake. The fishing was extremely tough that day but we had a 15 minute flurry where we put basically all our weight for the day in the boat and it was enough to hold on for the win.

In our Big Bass Bonanza season we ended up 3rd in the team of the year standings with finishes of 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in 5 total events. Our other 2 finishes were in the top half of the field as well so it was a very consistant year. I just wish we could have won the tourny that we placed 2nd in. We were only about a quarter pound off the winning weight and we had the fish on to make up that ground but just didn't put them in the boat.

The Minnesota State Bass Federation Tournament of Champions was also another successful one for me as I ended up finishing in 3rd place after taking 2nd place last year. I finally feel like I'm competing the way I want to in this tournament. It took a lot of years to get to the point where I feel like I can compete for a top 12 spot every year and advance to the Divisional tournament. I'm not saying I will be in the top 12 every year, just that I feel I can make a run at it anyways.

Our Bass League results were only what I would consider to be so-so for the year although there were some high points as well. We did manage to tie for team of the year on Wednesday nights but Thursday was a disaster where we only managed to finish 5th. I know 5th doesn't sound that bad but its been a long time since we finished that low in the standings. We really don't put the time in on these lakes like we used to and I think that might have hurt a little bit. The competition also keeps getting stronger every year. In the fall portion of the League schedule we were able to do very well. We finished 2nd in the first 2 events and then won the final 4 events.

The biggest lowlight of the year was definitely my bomb at the Bassmaster Divisionals on Lake Michigan. I only managed to catch 1 fish a day over the 3 day competition and finished very close to the bottom of the pack. This was my worst tournament in several years. I may not win as many tournaments as I would like but I have been able to avoid the really bad tournaments for the most part until this one. One good thing about the trip though was that I caught my 2nd and 3rd biggest smallmouth of my life during practice. They weighed 5.60 lbs and 5.10 lbs on my scale in the boat so that was very exciting.

As I am writing this it is snowing and the lakes are freezing over. This is not my favorite time of the year at all but fortunately the plan is to head to Alabama for the Bassmasters Classic in February. That is less than 3 months from now so my winter will be a lot shorter than most Minnesota bass fishermen have to put up with.

See you on the water in 2010!