After canceling last Thursday we finally had our first Standings league night. There are only 9 teams fishing the standings this year which was less than we hoped for, but on the other hand having only 9 boats on the water will make getting to the spots we want to fish a lot easier. Lake Florida is almost entirely surrounded by houses which means its got a lot of docks and this is what most people choose to fish. Theres also a good deep weedline bite which is what my dad and I have focused on the past couple years. The lake used to be known for kicking out a lot of big fish off the docks but the last couple years even a 3 pounder is a really good fish out there. So the weights were typical for the past few years. 1st place had 8.87 lbs, 2nd was my dad and I with 8.67 lbs, and 3rd was actually a tie at 8.18 lbs but one team had a bigger fish so they took 3rd outright. The big bass for the night was 3.83 lbs.
Like I said earlier my dad and I have pretty much focused on deep water only the past few years but with the spring we've had and the water temps still in the mid 60s we decided to start shallow on the docks. We had a limit weighing about 7 lbs within the first half hour by skipping Strike King Bleeding Bait tubes under the docks. This is my favorite bait for dock fishing because it is a double dipped tube meaning it has a lot of plastic so its heavy and skips really well. After that we hit one of our deep spots which is a combination of rocks and weeds. We started a little ways down from our waypoint and as soon as we reached it, it was on. We caught 4 fish between 2 1/2 lbs and 3 lbs within 10 minutes, culling out all of our dock fish. But after that it was done. We couldn't buy another bite out there which is strange because it seemed like they were stacked up pretty good. After that we bounced around hitting some other deep spots and a few more docks with no success. We finally went back to the good spot but once again got nothing. Then we tried a newer deep spot that we haven't really fished as much but are finally starting to learn. The fishing was slower there but we did end up catching 4 more of those 2 1/2 lb to 3 lb bass. All of our fish came on watermelon Picasso jigs (with my dads own skirt color combinations) with Lake Fork Pig Claws and watermelon Berkley Gulp Turtleback worms.
Towards the end of the night I could feel a cold coming on and sure enough when I woke up this morning I was feeling sick as a dog. Thats going to make it tough tomorrow when we plan to head up to Lake Minnewaska to start practicing for the Big Bass Bonanza tournament. If we end up doing bad in that tournament you know my excuse, I was sick as hell during practice. Just Kidding. But hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow and we can get on some good ones. It's gonna be a slugfest I think. I'll report back after our practice is complete.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
KLBL - Solomon Lake
The 2nd night of Wednesday league probably should have been canceled. There was strong winds, rain, and a little bit of lightening. I was thinking it was pretty stupid when were were out there in the middle of the lake with thunder and lighting going on but there were no apparent ground strikes. When we launched it was only drizzle and wind though so if its like that we usually fish. I was actually kind of surprised 12 boats showed up tonight. Despite the weather the fishing was pretty damn good for quite a few of the guys. I think 6 of the 12 boats weighed over 9 lbs for their 3 fish. First had 12.67 lbs, Second had 11.10 lbs, and my dad and I finished 3rd with 10.90 lbs. Fourth place also had just over 10 lbs, which you would normally think would be in the money, but on Solomon 10 lbs can be just another bag some nights.
While it sounded like some boats caught quite a few fish, some others struggled and my dad and I were one of those. I think we ended up catching only 6 fish on the night, and 3 of those were just 13 inchers. We had a bad boat draw which I knew would let boats get to the 2 spots I most wanted to fish. We started on one of the reed islands but another boat was already in the prime spot. We watched them catch fish while we couldn't buy a bite. We bounced around to some other stuff and after an hour only had 1 13 incher in the well. After hitting that other stuff we noticed no one had gone back to where we wanted to start so we went back there and almost immediately my dad popped a 4.44 lb fish which was our big one for the night. But then it shut down again. We bounced around to a few more reed patches and eventually I put a 2 1/2 lb fish in the boat which is small for the lake but helped a lot at the time. We had let the big fish spot rest for awhile and surprisingly no one had gone to it so we went back a 3rd time and my first flip I nailed one about 4lbs. Once again though that was it for the spot and for our night. All our fish came on Strike King craw tubes that we flipped in the reeds. I was throwing black/red flake which definitely got more bites than my dad's watermelon, but then again his one fish was the big one for us.
I'm usually pretty even keeled when it comes to fishing but tonight I was losing it a little bit. We watched boats around us catching fish when we struggled to get a bite and the wind and rain certainly is not fun. That affected me somewhat. I don't know if it was the difference between winning or not because 12.67 lbs will be hard to beat no matter what, but it could have hurt somehow. We did end up pulling it together for a solid bag of fish. Maybe I'm being to hard on myself since we did end up in the money but to me not winning is pretty much just losing. You'll probably notice that if you read this blog. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to decisions that are made in a tournament. If we don't win I'll focus more on the reasons why we did bad rather than the reasons we did good. Maybe thats good or maybe thats bad, but no matter what theres always room for improvement.
While it sounded like some boats caught quite a few fish, some others struggled and my dad and I were one of those. I think we ended up catching only 6 fish on the night, and 3 of those were just 13 inchers. We had a bad boat draw which I knew would let boats get to the 2 spots I most wanted to fish. We started on one of the reed islands but another boat was already in the prime spot. We watched them catch fish while we couldn't buy a bite. We bounced around to some other stuff and after an hour only had 1 13 incher in the well. After hitting that other stuff we noticed no one had gone back to where we wanted to start so we went back there and almost immediately my dad popped a 4.44 lb fish which was our big one for the night. But then it shut down again. We bounced around to a few more reed patches and eventually I put a 2 1/2 lb fish in the boat which is small for the lake but helped a lot at the time. We had let the big fish spot rest for awhile and surprisingly no one had gone to it so we went back a 3rd time and my first flip I nailed one about 4lbs. Once again though that was it for the spot and for our night. All our fish came on Strike King craw tubes that we flipped in the reeds. I was throwing black/red flake which definitely got more bites than my dad's watermelon, but then again his one fish was the big one for us.
I'm usually pretty even keeled when it comes to fishing but tonight I was losing it a little bit. We watched boats around us catching fish when we struggled to get a bite and the wind and rain certainly is not fun. That affected me somewhat. I don't know if it was the difference between winning or not because 12.67 lbs will be hard to beat no matter what, but it could have hurt somehow. We did end up pulling it together for a solid bag of fish. Maybe I'm being to hard on myself since we did end up in the money but to me not winning is pretty much just losing. You'll probably notice that if you read this blog. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to decisions that are made in a tournament. If we don't win I'll focus more on the reasons why we did bad rather than the reasons we did good. Maybe thats good or maybe thats bad, but no matter what theres always room for improvement.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
West Central Bassmasters Mystery Circuit - Lake Mary
Lake Mary is located a little ways south of Alexandria. It is a lake my dad and I had never been on before so when it was drawn last night I was pretty excited. I knew some of the other guys had been there before but I was ready to tackle a new body of water. We ended up catching a ton of fish and we probably culled 15 times to get to our 5 fish limit of 9.18 lbs which put us in 5th place. Unfortunately there were only 5 teams fishing so that was dead last. 4th was about 9.5 lbs, 3rd was 10.2 lbs, 2nd was 12.99 lbs and 1st place had 14.02 lbs. Congrats to Paul Shimek on the win. Like I said we had a ton of bites but just couldn't get a big bite at all. Going to a new lake like that can be tough to do sometimes but it was fun overall. We caught most of our fish throwing senkos and tube craws in the bull rushes and reeds. That seems to be about all there is to fish on the lake.
I'd also like to say congratulations to John Patock on his 2nd place finish at the Silverado Pro-Am on Green Lake. He brought in 20.65 lbs to just barely edged out 3rd place. This is coming off his win in the Lake Ida BBB. Hes on a roll. Keep it up John!
I'd also like to say congratulations to John Patock on his 2nd place finish at the Silverado Pro-Am on Green Lake. He brought in 20.65 lbs to just barely edged out 3rd place. This is coming off his win in the Lake Ida BBB. Hes on a roll. Keep it up John!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Kandi Lakes Bass League (KLBL) - Lake Florida
First I want to give some updates on our finishes that I didn't post in the previous blogs. I finally saw the results from The BBB on Lake Ida and we finished 13th out of 49 teams. Not as bad as I expected but still a few places from the money. Last night in the KLBL Norway Cup we finished 16th out of 19 teams. One of our worst showings in league the past few years but thats ok. Read my previous entry to see how I feel about it.
Wednesday night league is open for anyone to come and fish but Thursday nights are what we call the Standings league. This means everyone pays their money up front for all the events and the same teams compete against each other throughout the year. There is prize money for Team of the Year as well as a chance to compete in the Bass League Classic for the top teams.
Tonight was suppose to be held on Lake Florida but due to the weather we talked to everyone and ended up canceling for the evening. The radar shows thunderstorms that are going to last all night long. Rain and wind is one thing but fishing in lightening is just stupid. So there will be no fishing tonight. We are going to push back Lake Florida to next week and that suits me just fine because we plan to fish deep again and another week will really give those post spawn females more of a chance to get out there.
Wednesday night league is open for anyone to come and fish but Thursday nights are what we call the Standings league. This means everyone pays their money up front for all the events and the same teams compete against each other throughout the year. There is prize money for Team of the Year as well as a chance to compete in the Bass League Classic for the top teams.
Tonight was suppose to be held on Lake Florida but due to the weather we talked to everyone and ended up canceling for the evening. The radar shows thunderstorms that are going to last all night long. Rain and wind is one thing but fishing in lightening is just stupid. So there will be no fishing tonight. We are going to push back Lake Florida to next week and that suits me just fine because we plan to fish deep again and another week will really give those post spawn females more of a chance to get out there.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Kandi Lakes Bass League (KLBL) - Norway Cup
Traditionally the Norway Cup for our bass league was the last event of the season and had a very high turnout. Last year only 9 boats showed up for it. So when my dad and I took over we thought putting the Cup the first night of the season might get a better turnout and this year it did. We had 19 teams competing this evening. The Cup is a little different from a normal league night in that the entry fee is doubled and 2 big bass spots are paid instead of just one. It's more money to enter but it's also more to be won. Tonight first place with 19 boats was worth $200.
The league rules have always been, 3 hours of fishing and you weigh in your best 3 fish for the night. Tonight everyone caught their 3 fish limit including my dad and I. Unfortunately our limit of 3 fish for 6.52 lbs was one of the lowest of the night. I'm not sure where we place but it was way down there. Overall the weights were tight though. First place was 8.92 lbs, 2nd was 8.86 lbs, 3rd was 8.84 lbs and 4th was 8.32 lbs. Congratulations to all the winners.
I knew we could catch all the 2 to 2 1/2 pounders we wanted fishing shallow reeds like most everyone else but an event like this with no point standings you just have to go for the win so thats what we did. We started shallow on some docks that traditionally hold some big fish but there was nothing there. We then headed out deeper on a point near those docks but struck out again. We finally put a fish in the boat on a Red Eye Shad in some shallow weeds but it was just a small one. After that we headed to our deep stuff on Games Lake. We put 2 small ones in the boat pretty quick but then the action died. We hit a few other spots and went back to the deep stuff and I stuck our big fish on a Rapala DT 14. It should have been a 4 pounder but it was so skinny and beat up from spawning it ended up weighing only a little over 3 lbs. That made us stick to that spot pretty much the rest of the night but there were no other takers.
Even though we bombed tonight I really don't feel too bad about it. We were fishing for the win and sometimes you strike out when you do that. Catching the good one really kind of hurt us in a way because it made us stick to that when it probably wasn't the best thing to do (even though I probably wouldn't do anything differently anyway.) I already knew we were fishing for just a few fish that might be out deep. Since the spring has been so cold most have not made it out that far yet, but for league we only need 3. In another week or 2 those post spawners will start stacking up on that deep stuff but tonight it wasn't meant to be. Most boats talked about catching a lot of fish tonight but we didn't. That doesn't matter either. Theres been many nights were I think my dad and I have caught the fewest fish of any other team but still won. Numbers don't matter, weight does. Hopefully tomorrow night will turn out better for us.
The league rules have always been, 3 hours of fishing and you weigh in your best 3 fish for the night. Tonight everyone caught their 3 fish limit including my dad and I. Unfortunately our limit of 3 fish for 6.52 lbs was one of the lowest of the night. I'm not sure where we place but it was way down there. Overall the weights were tight though. First place was 8.92 lbs, 2nd was 8.86 lbs, 3rd was 8.84 lbs and 4th was 8.32 lbs. Congratulations to all the winners.
I knew we could catch all the 2 to 2 1/2 pounders we wanted fishing shallow reeds like most everyone else but an event like this with no point standings you just have to go for the win so thats what we did. We started shallow on some docks that traditionally hold some big fish but there was nothing there. We then headed out deeper on a point near those docks but struck out again. We finally put a fish in the boat on a Red Eye Shad in some shallow weeds but it was just a small one. After that we headed to our deep stuff on Games Lake. We put 2 small ones in the boat pretty quick but then the action died. We hit a few other spots and went back to the deep stuff and I stuck our big fish on a Rapala DT 14. It should have been a 4 pounder but it was so skinny and beat up from spawning it ended up weighing only a little over 3 lbs. That made us stick to that spot pretty much the rest of the night but there were no other takers.
Even though we bombed tonight I really don't feel too bad about it. We were fishing for the win and sometimes you strike out when you do that. Catching the good one really kind of hurt us in a way because it made us stick to that when it probably wasn't the best thing to do (even though I probably wouldn't do anything differently anyway.) I already knew we were fishing for just a few fish that might be out deep. Since the spring has been so cold most have not made it out that far yet, but for league we only need 3. In another week or 2 those post spawners will start stacking up on that deep stuff but tonight it wasn't meant to be. Most boats talked about catching a lot of fish tonight but we didn't. That doesn't matter either. Theres been many nights were I think my dad and I have caught the fewest fish of any other team but still won. Numbers don't matter, weight does. Hopefully tomorrow night will turn out better for us.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Big Bass Bonanza - Lake Ida
Sunday was our first "money" tournament of the year. Over the past few years we have fished Ida a few times for other tournaments but they were all later in the year so starting there early we didn't know exactly what to expect. Like I wrote about in a previous blog we didn't have a great practice but we had a few patterns and spots going.
We drew boat #3 out of 49 so we were pretty sure we would be able to get to our starting spot and we were able to get there but it didn't do us much good. We didn't catch a fish for about 45 minutes. This was the spot we were banking on so pretty much right away we were in trouble. It was an inside turn with cabbage in 6-10 feet of water. In practice we caught the fish on crankbaits and Red Eye shads but tournament day was calm and the water was clear so I started with a small watermelon jig. After working that over I finally got a bite and put a fish in the boat. What had happened was the fish had moved to the very inside edge of the cabbage in shallower water. The main spot still didn't produce much though so we ended up moving maybe 100 yards down and fishing the inside edges of other cabbage beds. I started catching them pretty good on the jig and by 8 am we were culling but the fish were mostly small. The funny thing was my dad was using a bigger, heavier jig and wasn't getting any bites at all so he finally switched and started putting fish in the boat as well. I think the first fish he caught after changing was our big fish of the day at right about 3 lbs. We kept doing that for awhile more but the action slowed so we switched to our 2nd pattern.
Our other main pattern was fishing dead reed beds with a Strike King craw tube. We bounced around the lake fishing the reed patches were we had caught better fish in practice and while the action wasn't nearly as fast as in practice we slowly started culling up. The fish were only in the 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 lb range though not the 3 pounders we needed and thought we could get. After hitting all our reeds we went back to the cabbage but it was totally dead this time. With time running out we had to do something.
We had fished a few docks that have produced for us in the past throughout the day but they were pretty unproductive but at the end of the day we had to do something. I had been thinking to myself that our cabbage fish had moved shallower and the water was warming up so docks should be getting better as fish moved up. Right at the end of the day I got a nice 2 1/2 pounder off a dock and then just a little ways down, with about 2 minutes left to fish I skipped up under a boat, got a bite and set the hook and it didn't move. Right away I said to my dad "big one" but she had me not the other way around. It got me wrapped up in the boat lift and before I could get over to it she was gone. I've switched back to fireline this year for my dock fishing and so far I had been loving it. It has really seemed to give me a lot of control over those dock fish but that one there was nothing I could do. I never saw it, but I know it had to be at least 4 lbs and probably even bigger. What a heartbreaking way to end the day. I really wished we had switched to fishing docks a little sooner. They had moved up but we just didn't allow enough time to take advantage.
The winning weight for the tournament was 25.95 lbs for 8 fish. It was won by two guys from our West Central Bassmasters club, John Patock and Pete Swensen. They are some really good fishermen and seem particularly tough to beat on Ida. Our 8 fish limit weighed in at 18.90 lbs which I think will put us around the top 3rd of the field. We didn't stick around to see for sure but I will update with the exact place when I get the results. Overall I'd say it was a bad tournament for us. We made too many mistakes. We just didn't make good decisions and we dropped a few fish that really hurt. We really need to clean that up if we're going to compete this year.
We drew boat #3 out of 49 so we were pretty sure we would be able to get to our starting spot and we were able to get there but it didn't do us much good. We didn't catch a fish for about 45 minutes. This was the spot we were banking on so pretty much right away we were in trouble. It was an inside turn with cabbage in 6-10 feet of water. In practice we caught the fish on crankbaits and Red Eye shads but tournament day was calm and the water was clear so I started with a small watermelon jig. After working that over I finally got a bite and put a fish in the boat. What had happened was the fish had moved to the very inside edge of the cabbage in shallower water. The main spot still didn't produce much though so we ended up moving maybe 100 yards down and fishing the inside edges of other cabbage beds. I started catching them pretty good on the jig and by 8 am we were culling but the fish were mostly small. The funny thing was my dad was using a bigger, heavier jig and wasn't getting any bites at all so he finally switched and started putting fish in the boat as well. I think the first fish he caught after changing was our big fish of the day at right about 3 lbs. We kept doing that for awhile more but the action slowed so we switched to our 2nd pattern.
Our other main pattern was fishing dead reed beds with a Strike King craw tube. We bounced around the lake fishing the reed patches were we had caught better fish in practice and while the action wasn't nearly as fast as in practice we slowly started culling up. The fish were only in the 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 lb range though not the 3 pounders we needed and thought we could get. After hitting all our reeds we went back to the cabbage but it was totally dead this time. With time running out we had to do something.
We had fished a few docks that have produced for us in the past throughout the day but they were pretty unproductive but at the end of the day we had to do something. I had been thinking to myself that our cabbage fish had moved shallower and the water was warming up so docks should be getting better as fish moved up. Right at the end of the day I got a nice 2 1/2 pounder off a dock and then just a little ways down, with about 2 minutes left to fish I skipped up under a boat, got a bite and set the hook and it didn't move. Right away I said to my dad "big one" but she had me not the other way around. It got me wrapped up in the boat lift and before I could get over to it she was gone. I've switched back to fireline this year for my dock fishing and so far I had been loving it. It has really seemed to give me a lot of control over those dock fish but that one there was nothing I could do. I never saw it, but I know it had to be at least 4 lbs and probably even bigger. What a heartbreaking way to end the day. I really wished we had switched to fishing docks a little sooner. They had moved up but we just didn't allow enough time to take advantage.
The winning weight for the tournament was 25.95 lbs for 8 fish. It was won by two guys from our West Central Bassmasters club, John Patock and Pete Swensen. They are some really good fishermen and seem particularly tough to beat on Ida. Our 8 fish limit weighed in at 18.90 lbs which I think will put us around the top 3rd of the field. We didn't stick around to see for sure but I will update with the exact place when I get the results. Overall I'd say it was a bad tournament for us. We made too many mistakes. We just didn't make good decisions and we dropped a few fish that really hurt. We really need to clean that up if we're going to compete this year.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
West Central Bassmasters State Qualifier - Nest Lake
Our 2008 tournament season kicked off with our club tournament on Nest Lake saturday morning. I didn't get a lot of practice on the lake but I had a good idea what the fish were doing, especially the smallmouths. Most of the little practice I had I used to try to find good largemouths. I saw a lot of largemouths but the size just wasn't there for me so I decided to mostly fish smallies.
The tournament hours were 7 am to 2 pm. We actually had one of our largest turnouts for a club event with 22 anglers participating and many were glad they showed up. The fishing was fantastic. 11 people weighed in 15 lbs or more for their 5 fish limits. I was stuck in that 15 lb range for most of the day until the last 20 minutes when I culled up twice with 2 nice smallies to put me at 17.24 lbs for my limit and 1st place for the tournament. It was very close though. 2nd place had 16.9 lbs and 3rd had 16.8. My dad actually had a bigger limit than me at 16.62 for most of the day but was unable to cull up at all so he ended in 4th place. We are both in good position to make the state tournament.
Like I said earlier I mostly fished smallies, but I did make a few trips up to the shallows looking for largemouths but that didn't pan out at all. There were a lot of smallmouths up on beds but that is not my preferred way to catch them. Still when there are so many fish up you can't pass up a big one if you see it so i did catch a few bedders. I'm not sure if I even ended up weighing any of those though. My dad weighed at least one bed fish that was close to 4 lbs and maybe another one but mostly we just blind casted rocky areas in 2 to 10 feet of water. The typical Nest Lake smallmouth pattern. I ended up catching maybe 15 fish for the day and most came on my trusty Strike King KVD tube in green pumpkin. Thats a tough lure to beat for smallies in my eyes. Towards the end of the day when the action slowed I switched to a dropshot and small finesse worm. I've never actually thrown the dropshot on Nest Lake before but I'm glad I did. I ended up weighing 3 fish caught on the dropshot including those 2 in the last 20 minutes. I said I want to learn dropshotting more this year and this makes me really want to try it more often.
All in all I'd say it wasn't a bad way to start the year. Now My dad and I just need to keep it up on the next state qualifier tournament coming up on Green Lake. Today is actually Sunday and we fished the Big Bass Bonanza tournament on Lake Ida today. I'm really tired now though so I will report on that tomorrow.
The tournament hours were 7 am to 2 pm. We actually had one of our largest turnouts for a club event with 22 anglers participating and many were glad they showed up. The fishing was fantastic. 11 people weighed in 15 lbs or more for their 5 fish limits. I was stuck in that 15 lb range for most of the day until the last 20 minutes when I culled up twice with 2 nice smallies to put me at 17.24 lbs for my limit and 1st place for the tournament. It was very close though. 2nd place had 16.9 lbs and 3rd had 16.8. My dad actually had a bigger limit than me at 16.62 for most of the day but was unable to cull up at all so he ended in 4th place. We are both in good position to make the state tournament.
Like I said earlier I mostly fished smallies, but I did make a few trips up to the shallows looking for largemouths but that didn't pan out at all. There were a lot of smallmouths up on beds but that is not my preferred way to catch them. Still when there are so many fish up you can't pass up a big one if you see it so i did catch a few bedders. I'm not sure if I even ended up weighing any of those though. My dad weighed at least one bed fish that was close to 4 lbs and maybe another one but mostly we just blind casted rocky areas in 2 to 10 feet of water. The typical Nest Lake smallmouth pattern. I ended up catching maybe 15 fish for the day and most came on my trusty Strike King KVD tube in green pumpkin. Thats a tough lure to beat for smallies in my eyes. Towards the end of the day when the action slowed I switched to a dropshot and small finesse worm. I've never actually thrown the dropshot on Nest Lake before but I'm glad I did. I ended up weighing 3 fish caught on the dropshot including those 2 in the last 20 minutes. I said I want to learn dropshotting more this year and this makes me really want to try it more often.
All in all I'd say it wasn't a bad way to start the year. Now My dad and I just need to keep it up on the next state qualifier tournament coming up on Green Lake. Today is actually Sunday and we fished the Big Bass Bonanza tournament on Lake Ida today. I'm really tired now though so I will report on that tomorrow.
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