We had another good turnout on Wednesday night with 19 teams competing on Solomon Lake. Most teams reported the fishing to be slow like the lake has been the past couple of years. Even when the fishing is slow the weights are still very good usually. On Wednesday even the weights have started to slip a little bit. There have been times when 10 lbs will not even be in the money but there was only one 10 lb bag weighed in for the evening. 1st place when to Jeremey & Lee with 10.03 lbs, 2nd was David & Daniel with 9.95 lbs, 3rd was my dad and I with 9.14 lbs, and 4th was Wayne & Brad with 8.69 lbs. The big fish for the night was a monster 5.98 lb bass weighed in by David & Daniel.
I once again am not going to be very detailed since by random draw our league will be fishing out on Solomon again next week. We drew the last starting number so I knew we would not be able to get to the reed islands that we generally like to start on. In fact we fished one for about 15 minutes which is the least I think I have ever fished the islands during a league night. It turned out ok though since our first fish was close to 4 lbs from a small patch of reeds. Our next keeper came off of a log in the water and the final keeper we weighed in came on a rocky area. The first 2 fish came on a black/blue Strike King Flippin Tube and the rock fish came on a black/blue jig. I'll go into a bit more detail next week after we are done fishing the lake for the year.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
West Central Bassmasters State Qualifier Tournaments
This past weekend the West Central Bassmasters held two tournaments to determine which of our members would qualify for the Minnesota State Tournament of Champions held on Lake Pokagema in September. 12 members were attempting to reach the state tournament but only 6 would be allowed to go. On Saturday we fished Clearwater Lake. The winner weighed in 5 fish for 13.48 lbs while I weighed a limit weighing in at 9.62 lbs which put me in 6th place for the day. On Sunday we fished the Le Homme Dieu Chain in Alexandria. 1st place there weighed 5 fish for 13.20 lbs. My 5 weighed in at 9.35 lbs which put me in 5th place for the day. Overall when the points were combined I qualified for the state tournament in 4th place. Here are the qualifiers in the order they finished:
1 - Joe Patock
2 - Ron Mehr
3 - Mike Nitchals
4 - Andy Nitchals
5 - Dean Drexler
6 - Scott Van Buren
I'm going to be pretty brief in describing my fishing for the days. For one thing we will be fishing another tournament on Clearwater later this summer so I don't want to give too much away, and also the days were pretty uneventful as you can see from the very low weights I weighed in. On Clearwater I fished several different areas of the lake but all of the areas had several things in common. I concentrated on depths of 6-12 feet that featured heavy weed growth in the form of milfoil, cabbage and other assorted weeds. All of my weigh fish came on watermelon Sweet Beavers and jigs pitched into the heavy cover.
On the Alex chain I started throwing a white Strike King spinnerbait on a large cabbage flat in 6-9 feet of water. I had my 5 fish limit in the boat quickly but the size was much smaller than I had found in practice as they probably weighed less than 6 lbs combined. It is still nice to have an early limit though since it kind of frees you up to fish more loose the rest of the day. I try not to worry about catching a limit and just go fishing but in a tournament if you don't have a limit in the box it can start messing with your mind sometimes. Thankfully I usually don't have a problem with worrying about things like that but it can happen. After realizing the quality wasn't what I was expecting in my starting area I moved shallow to docks, overhanging trees and reeds. I spent most of the rest of the day shallow with a few forays into deeper water. None of the deep stuff was very productive at all, but I was able to cull out all 5 of my original limit in the shallow water using watermelon Sweet Beavers and green pumkin red/green flake Bleeding Bait tubes.
Congatulations to all who made it and better luck next year to those who didn't.
1 - Joe Patock
2 - Ron Mehr
3 - Mike Nitchals
4 - Andy Nitchals
5 - Dean Drexler
6 - Scott Van Buren
I'm going to be pretty brief in describing my fishing for the days. For one thing we will be fishing another tournament on Clearwater later this summer so I don't want to give too much away, and also the days were pretty uneventful as you can see from the very low weights I weighed in. On Clearwater I fished several different areas of the lake but all of the areas had several things in common. I concentrated on depths of 6-12 feet that featured heavy weed growth in the form of milfoil, cabbage and other assorted weeds. All of my weigh fish came on watermelon Sweet Beavers and jigs pitched into the heavy cover.
On the Alex chain I started throwing a white Strike King spinnerbait on a large cabbage flat in 6-9 feet of water. I had my 5 fish limit in the boat quickly but the size was much smaller than I had found in practice as they probably weighed less than 6 lbs combined. It is still nice to have an early limit though since it kind of frees you up to fish more loose the rest of the day. I try not to worry about catching a limit and just go fishing but in a tournament if you don't have a limit in the box it can start messing with your mind sometimes. Thankfully I usually don't have a problem with worrying about things like that but it can happen. After realizing the quality wasn't what I was expecting in my starting area I moved shallow to docks, overhanging trees and reeds. I spent most of the rest of the day shallow with a few forays into deeper water. None of the deep stuff was very productive at all, but I was able to cull out all 5 of my original limit in the shallow water using watermelon Sweet Beavers and green pumkin red/green flake Bleeding Bait tubes.
Congatulations to all who made it and better luck next year to those who didn't.
Friday, June 12, 2009
West Central Bass League - Lake Florida
On Thursday night the turnout was quite a bit lower than Wednesday with only 12 teams fishing. Maybe its because Florida has a reputation for small fish and Diamond is a big fish lake, but by the numbers Lake Florida turned out to be a much better lake this week. With 12 teams we pay 3 places instead of 4. 1st place went to Tim & Grant with 9.08 lbs, 2nd was Paul & Troy with 8.81 lbs and 3rd went to Brandon & Brent with 8.61 lbs. My dad and I were 4th with 8.54 lbs but since one of the teams ahead of us declined to enter the side pot we were able to make the 3rd place side pot money. The big bass for the night was 4.06 lbs.
Lake Florida is known as a dock lake since almost the entire shoreline is rimmed with docks. The last couple years my dad and I have almost completely avoided the docks to fish deeper water where we feel we have the best chance to win. This year with the cold spring and summer so far we decided to join the crowd and start on the docks. That turned out to be a mistake. We had a limit in about 10 minutes but we didn't end up weighing any of them in. The best fish were also not under the docks but my dad caught them by casting a chatterbait the other direction from the docks. After fishing a few docks we headed out deep and bounced around to various spots the rest of the night. It was not fast action but we were able to steadily upgrade throughout the night by fishing watermelon jigs in the thickest weeds we could find in 8-10 feet of water.
Lake Florida is known as a dock lake since almost the entire shoreline is rimmed with docks. The last couple years my dad and I have almost completely avoided the docks to fish deeper water where we feel we have the best chance to win. This year with the cold spring and summer so far we decided to join the crowd and start on the docks. That turned out to be a mistake. We had a limit in about 10 minutes but we didn't end up weighing any of them in. The best fish were also not under the docks but my dad caught them by casting a chatterbait the other direction from the docks. After fishing a few docks we headed out deep and bounced around to various spots the rest of the night. It was not fast action but we were able to steadily upgrade throughout the night by fishing watermelon jigs in the thickest weeds we could find in 8-10 feet of water.
West Central Bass League - Diamond Lake
We had another good turnout on Wednesday night with 18 teams showing up at Diamond Lake. Most people reported the fishing to be slow but most teams also were able to weigh in their 3 fish limits. The weights however were extremely small especially for Diamond. 1st place went to Mike & Greg with 8.26 lbs, 2nd was Dean & JD with 7.99 lbs, 3rd was Paul & Pete with 7.90 lbs and 4th went to my dad & I with 7.68 lbs. The big fish for the night was 3.98 lbs.
Our fishing for the night was pretty slow as I think we only boated 5 keepers on the night and 4 of them were just little fish under 2 lbs. I wanted to start on a certain section of a reed bed but when we got there 3 boats were already in the area so I pulled into the bay and worked the flat with logs on it. We didn't get anything there and when the reed area cleared out we pulled in and were able to get our first two small keepers flipping tubes to pockets in the reeds. After working that area another boat headed to a stretch of docks I wanted to fish so I quickly moved to the other end of the docks and worked towards them hoping to hit as many docks as I could before they did. Right when our boats met I skipped my Strike King Bleeding Bait tube under the last dock and caught our big fish of the night right in front of them. It went about 3 3/4 lbs and was the reason we were able to get into the money. After that we fished a combination of docks and reeds the rest of the night but were only able to manage to catch 2 more small keepers.
Our fishing for the night was pretty slow as I think we only boated 5 keepers on the night and 4 of them were just little fish under 2 lbs. I wanted to start on a certain section of a reed bed but when we got there 3 boats were already in the area so I pulled into the bay and worked the flat with logs on it. We didn't get anything there and when the reed area cleared out we pulled in and were able to get our first two small keepers flipping tubes to pockets in the reeds. After working that area another boat headed to a stretch of docks I wanted to fish so I quickly moved to the other end of the docks and worked towards them hoping to hit as many docks as I could before they did. Right when our boats met I skipped my Strike King Bleeding Bait tube under the last dock and caught our big fish of the night right in front of them. It went about 3 3/4 lbs and was the reason we were able to get into the money. After that we fished a combination of docks and reeds the rest of the night but were only able to manage to catch 2 more small keepers.
Friday, June 5, 2009
West Central Bass League - Lake Andrew
On Thursday night it was time to visit my namesake lake once again. Most people dread coming to this lake for good reason. Years ago it was an excellent lake with a lot of big bass swimming in it but now anything over 2 lbs is a really nice fish. There were 15 teams competing and for the most part the weights reflected the lack of big fish in the lake. The majority of the 3 fish limits brought in weighed under 5 lbs with one limit of 12 inchers weighing in at 2.71 lbs. It's tough to get much smaller than that. As is usually the case though someone finds em and that was Ron & Dave. They weighed in 10.74 lbs for 1st place. My dad & I were 2nd with 8.24 lbs, 3rd place went to Brad & Wayne with 6.73 lbs and 4th was Tim & Grant with 5.68 lbs. The big bass for the night was 5.78 lbs. That fish has a very good chance to be big fish of the year and no one would have expected it to come out of Andrew.
My dad and I started up in the bay on the north end of the lake. We managed to get a small limit pretty quickly by flipping Sweet Beavers into the shallow reeds in the area. We stuck around for what was probably too long but there was alot of fish in the area and we just were hoping to run into a bigger one. That didn't happen though and we left the bay with around 5 lbs. Our next stop was an inside corner along a deep weedline. Almost immediately I had a nice 2 1/2 lb bass in the boat on a watermelon jig. Just minutes later my dad caught a jig fish that went over 3 lbs. The action slowed a bit so I switched to a texas rigged watermelon worm and was able to catch another 2 1/2 lb class fish. Now I figured we were in pretty good shape for the night and the fish seemed to be getting on the weedlines so for the rest of the night we tried other deep areas that have been good to us in the past. Most of the areas had no fish on them at all but we did get into one other little flurry but none of those fish helped us.
My dad and I started up in the bay on the north end of the lake. We managed to get a small limit pretty quickly by flipping Sweet Beavers into the shallow reeds in the area. We stuck around for what was probably too long but there was alot of fish in the area and we just were hoping to run into a bigger one. That didn't happen though and we left the bay with around 5 lbs. Our next stop was an inside corner along a deep weedline. Almost immediately I had a nice 2 1/2 lb bass in the boat on a watermelon jig. Just minutes later my dad caught a jig fish that went over 3 lbs. The action slowed a bit so I switched to a texas rigged watermelon worm and was able to catch another 2 1/2 lb class fish. Now I figured we were in pretty good shape for the night and the fish seemed to be getting on the weedlines so for the rest of the night we tried other deep areas that have been good to us in the past. Most of the areas had no fish on them at all but we did get into one other little flurry but none of those fish helped us.
West Central Bass League - Norway Cup
This past Wednesday was the annual Norway Cup. All the same league rules apply but the entry is increased to $25. There are also two places paid for big bass instead of just one. This year we had an even 20 teams competing and all but one team weighed in their 3 fish limit. The problem for most though was that the limits were extremely small as only 3 bags over 7 lbs were weighed in. 1st place went to Ron & Joe with a very nice for the night bag of 10.85 lbs, 2nd place was Mike & Greg with 8.64 lbs, 3rd was John & Mary with 7.75 lbs and 4th was Troy & Brett with 6.98 lbs. The 1st big bass was 4.25 lbs and the 2nd big bass was 4.17 lbs. My dad and I finished out of the money in 7th place with 6.52 lbs.
Our fishing for the night was pretty uneventful. We caught 10 fish at the most and obviously they were all small. We started fishing on some of our deep stuff on Games Lake and had our limit relatively quickly throwing jigs and worms to the deep weedline. After realizing we weren't going to be able to upgrade we headed to some docks and shallow weedbeds but that was totally unproductive. Before leaving Games we tried the deep stuff once more but only upgraded a small amount with another slightly bigger fish. We then spent the last hour of the night in Norway Lake and only managed to catch 1 small fish on a swimbait over a shallow flat and that was it for our night.
Our fishing for the night was pretty uneventful. We caught 10 fish at the most and obviously they were all small. We started fishing on some of our deep stuff on Games Lake and had our limit relatively quickly throwing jigs and worms to the deep weedline. After realizing we weren't going to be able to upgrade we headed to some docks and shallow weedbeds but that was totally unproductive. Before leaving Games we tried the deep stuff once more but only upgraded a small amount with another slightly bigger fish. We then spent the last hour of the night in Norway Lake and only managed to catch 1 small fish on a swimbait over a shallow flat and that was it for our night.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Big Bass Bonanza - Sauk Lake
This past Sunday was the first of four tournaments on the Big Bass Bonanza circuit. It was held on Sauk Lake and after our practice my dad and I did not have the highest expectations coming into the event. We really struggled to get bites but at least when we did get a bite it was a good fish for the most part. We were able to narrow down our game plan to one general area of the lake that had several key spots in it but we were not on anything solid. Our whole goal was just to catch an eight fish limit in our eight hours of fishing time. As is often the case however practice is no indication of how the tournament will go and we were able to catch a solid limit weighing almost 23 lbs which was good for 5th place out of the 37 teams competing. Heres how we did it.
Our general area was a large flat in 5 to 10 feet of water that was almost entirely covered with curly leaf pondweed. This is a type of weed I generally do not like fishing in because it seems very difficult to catch fish out of for some reason. On Sauk though the fish were in there so that is where we fished. For our first stop I pulled up to one of our weighpoints near a shoreline point. Within 5 minutes I had a fish close to 3 lbs in the boat on a chrome sexy shad Strike King Red Eye Shad. After working that area shallow I pulled out deeper to the inside corner of the point and popped another fish close to 3 lbs on a watermelon Picasso Jig. We continued to work around the flat but the fishing slowed for awhile until we made our way to what proved to be our best spot for the day.
This area was still on the same flat but had a different feature that the fish were holding on. It was a ridge that came up to about 5 feet with 8 feet of water on either side of it. There were weeds on either side as well but on the very top of it was a bare area. We just worked back and forth keeping the boat in deeper water and casting up to the top of it. We were able to fill out our 8 fish limit by 9:30 in the morning which was way faster than we ever could have expected. Most of the fish were in the 2 - 2 1/2 lb range but I was able to put 2 in the boat in the 3 3/4 lb range. All of those fish came on the watermelon jig and a black/blue flack Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver dragged slowly across the ridge.
After filling our limit we fished the ridge awhile longer but it really slowed down so we started moving around more. We tried a few docks and trees and were able to get a small upgrade. We also tried another large weedy flat but struck out there. Towards the end of the day we made our way back to the ridge but again it was very slow. I eventually caught another solid fish on the jig and upgraded about a 1/2 lb but it was the only fish we caught there that time and it was time to head in.
Our general area was a large flat in 5 to 10 feet of water that was almost entirely covered with curly leaf pondweed. This is a type of weed I generally do not like fishing in because it seems very difficult to catch fish out of for some reason. On Sauk though the fish were in there so that is where we fished. For our first stop I pulled up to one of our weighpoints near a shoreline point. Within 5 minutes I had a fish close to 3 lbs in the boat on a chrome sexy shad Strike King Red Eye Shad. After working that area shallow I pulled out deeper to the inside corner of the point and popped another fish close to 3 lbs on a watermelon Picasso Jig. We continued to work around the flat but the fishing slowed for awhile until we made our way to what proved to be our best spot for the day.
This area was still on the same flat but had a different feature that the fish were holding on. It was a ridge that came up to about 5 feet with 8 feet of water on either side of it. There were weeds on either side as well but on the very top of it was a bare area. We just worked back and forth keeping the boat in deeper water and casting up to the top of it. We were able to fill out our 8 fish limit by 9:30 in the morning which was way faster than we ever could have expected. Most of the fish were in the 2 - 2 1/2 lb range but I was able to put 2 in the boat in the 3 3/4 lb range. All of those fish came on the watermelon jig and a black/blue flack Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver dragged slowly across the ridge.
After filling our limit we fished the ridge awhile longer but it really slowed down so we started moving around more. We tried a few docks and trees and were able to get a small upgrade. We also tried another large weedy flat but struck out there. Towards the end of the day we made our way back to the ridge but again it was very slow. I eventually caught another solid fish on the jig and upgraded about a 1/2 lb but it was the only fish we caught there that time and it was time to head in.
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