West Central Fall Bass League - Long Lake

This past Saturday marked the final event of our Fall Bass League for 2009. The weather was actually very nice for a change with light winds and highs over 50 degrees. However the water temps were in the low 40's and that made for some very tough fishing on a shallow water lake such as Long. Most of the fish in the lake relate to reeds or shallow rocks so when the water gets cold they can be difficult to figure out. Out of the 5 teams fishing only 2 were able to bring a fish to the scales after 5 hours of fishing. 2nd place went to Tim & Grant with 1 fish for 4.85 lbs. 1st place went to my dad & I with 3 fish for 14.22 lbs. My dad also caught the big fish of the day which weighed in at 5.12 lbs. The win made it a clean sweep for us in October with wins in each of the 4 fall leagues held this month.

We started our day flipping reeds with jigs and soft plastics but after several stops in the first hour we had not had a bite. At this point I decided to try something a little different for the lake and I started throwing a Rapala X-Rap on steeper bare banks. I worked the bait with very small twitches and let it pause for as long as I could stand it. After about 5 minutes with the jerkbait I put a nice 4 1/4 lb bass in the boat. We continued to work this pattern for another hour or so but no luck. After catching one so quick I really thought that was going to be the deal but I guess not. After the jerkbait experiment it was back to the reeds for most of the rest of the day. We just kept working good areas as slowly as possible and eventually we ran across a small area of reeds that was holding some fish. My dad caught the first flipping fish on a black/blue craw tube. That one ended up being the big fish of the day. Less than 5 minutes later I missed a fish and then less than 5 minutes after that I had another one bite 4 times before I finally hooked it. I got it almost to the boat but it was just out of reach of the net when it came off. That fish was an easy 5 pounder and I was really worried that we let the win slip away right there. The last fish I caught came from the same area after we had let it rest for awhile. It weighed in at almost 5 lbs and was caught on a black/blue jig. I am kind of disappointed that we were not able to catch our 5 fish limit since we did have the opportunities but I won't complain too much with 3 fish weighing over 14 lbs and the win.

Since this was the last fall league of the year this is probably my last competitive fishing of the year as well. I'm hoping that November will be a lot more pleasant that October and that theres at least another month of fishing before the lakes freeze up but I won't be writing about those trips in the blog. I'll do a 2009 wrap up in several weeks once the boat is put away for the winter.

West Central Fall Bass League - Nest Lake

Saturday October 17th was our 5th fall event this year after last weekend was cancelled due to bad weather. It's been an extremely cold October so far but Saturday's weather was not too bad with only a light breeze and highs near 45 degrees. The slightly warmer weather didn't heat up the fishing though as only 2 teams out of the 6 boats competing were able to bring a five fish limit to the scales. The 2 limits that were weighed were very nice bags though. My dad and I were able to take 1st place with 16.96 lbs and 2nd went to Tim and Grant with 15.01 lbs. My dad also caught the big bass of the day which weighed 4.99 lbs.

Even though we ended up winning we did not have a great day as far as catching a lot of fish. In fact we only boated 5 fish in the 5 hours of fishing time but they happened to be almost all good ones. Our day started extremely slowly and we didn't even have a bite for the first 2 1/2 hours. Then the next 1 1/2 hours is when we boated all of our fish. I guess we got to the right area at the right time because earlier in the day we were fishing a similar pattern with no luck. All 5 of our fish came on a watermelon jig fished on the weed edge in about 6 feet of water. It seemed like the best areas were where the weeds were the thickest.

West Central Fall Bass Leauge Tournament - Big Birch Lake

This past Saturday is what we call the Fall Bass League Tournament. For the tournament there is a higher entry fee and a longer fishing day, otherwise all other league rules apply. We usually get a higher turnout for the Fall Tournament but this year the weather was very cold and rainy which I think kept many teams from showing up. With only 4 boats fishing it was a winner take all event and my dad and I were just able to squeak into 1st place with 11.10 lbs for our 5 fish limit. We edged out the 2nd place team of Brian & Mark who weighed in 10.90 lbs. The big fish for the day weighed in at 2.75 lbs.

With only 4 boats fishing a relatively good sized lake you would think there would be a lot of room to roam but as it turns out we ended up sharing our starting spot with another team in the event. The spot did not turn out to be nearly as good as I expected and after about an hour of fishing each boat only had 1 fish apiece. The fish I caught did end up being our largest of the day at just over 2 1/2 lbs. I caught that fish on my usual watermelon jig. After that we moved around at hit similar areas throughout the day. Our main pattern was keeping the boat in 15-20 feet of water and casting shallower to coontail beds. Our best area turned out to be one that we hadn't even fished in practice but it did fit the pattern and there seemed to be a lot of fish on it. I stuck with the jig most of the day and caught a fair number of fish but my dad threw a watermelon Brush Hog most of the day and that really seemed to be the ticket. He probably ended up outfishing me 2 to 1 from the back of the boat on the Brush Hog. He also ended up weighing probably all of our fish except for the first one I caught. In a team tournament though it doesn't matter who catches them as long as they get in the boat.

West Central Fall Bass League - Lake Ripley

In my last post I said that I wanted to finish September strong with a win and yesterday at Lake Ripley that is just what we were able to do. Lake Ripley is not one of our normal league lakes but since we are fishing on Saturdays we are able to travel a little bit farther and add in some lakes we don't usually fish. Ripley can be a tough lake but it is also known to kick out some very big bass which is why we chose it. By all accounts most of the teams caught a lot of fish for the day but there were only 2 really big bags. As I said my dad & I took 1st place with 17.90 lbs for our 5 fish limit. We just edged out Jason & Wayne who weighed in 17.66 lbs. 3rd place went to Tim & Grant who had a limit for 12.33 lbs. I also caught the big bass of the day which was a 5.56 lb beauty.

Ripley is not a large lake and there really are not many options for catching fish. The week before I had gone out and found a number of quality fish in the one area of the lake that had reeds growing. This is where we concentrated our efforts for most of the day. At one point we fished a few docks where I was able to add 1 of our smaller keepers on a black/blue tube. Otherwise all our other keepers and most of the other fish we caught came by flipping black/red flake or black/blue flake Berkley Chigger Craws in the reeds. Since there is only one reed area there were quite a few boats around but there were a few things that seemed to get a few of the bigger bites. One of the keys I feel was leaving the bait in the water for a long time. A lot of times when flipping you make a few jigs and then pitch to the next spot but this time it seemed like leaving the bait in there for up to 30 seconds even got a lot more bites. Another key was getting way back inside the reeds instead of just fishing the edges like most other boats where doing. It also doesn't hurt when you catch a 5 1/2 lb bass just a few minutes after another boat had left an area so a little luck helps too.

West Central Fall Bass League - Diamond Lake

September 19th was our 2nd fall league of the year. Diamond can be a great big fish lake and it can also be one of the toughest lakes around. On that day it showed its bad side with only 3 of the 8 teams fishing able to come in with a 5 fish limit. 1st place went to Ron & Joe yet again with 13.90 lbs. 2nd place was my dad & I with 11.03 lbs. The big fish for the day was a beauty weighing in at 5.26 lbs.

Like I said the fishing was extremely tough on Diamond. We did better than most though and were able to catch 7 small keepers and 2 shorts in our five hours of fishing. All of our fish with the exception of one, which I caught under a tree, came by flipping various soft plastics into the reeds. There weren't any secret spots or magic lures. We just moved around a lot and stayed persistant and were able to catch a fish here and there. I guess the one mistake we made was not going back through the area where I caught the tree fish. I believe the winners were fishing that pattern but I didn't make the right call and we stuck to the reeds for most of the day.

Tomorrow is our next fall league on Lake Ripley. The word is the fishing is extremely tough out there but we have had rain today so maybe that will change the bite. After fishing 4 events so far in September I'm very pleased with the results. There's been 2 3rd place finishes and then 2 2nd place finishes. Lake Ripley is the last event in September so hopefully we can move up and cap off the month with a win.

West Central Fall Bass League - Green Lake

Our regular season nightly leagues are done with for the year but there is still plenty of fishing time left so we continue to run a league throughout the fall. These are held every Saturday with 5 hours of fishing time and a 5 fish limit. Our first of these events was held on September 12th on Green Lake. We chose Green as the first lake because it will be the last time smallmouths can be weighed before they go off limits during the fall. The fishing was relatively tough but there were several nice bags brought in. We had 10 boats fishing so 3 places were paid. 1st place went to Ron & Joe with 15.18 lbs, 2nd was my dad & I with 14.90 lbs and 3rd went to Dean & JD with 13.51 lbs. The big fish for the day was a 3.80 lb smallmouth.

My dad and I caught quite a few fish in the 5 hours of fishing time but many of them were just barely keepers. I don't think I can remember ever catching so many small fish on Green Lake. We were able to put 5 nice ones in the boat though on a variety of techniques. We basically went running and gunning hitting everything from 5 feet deep to 30 feet deep. Of the 5 we weighed 3 came in around 25 feet of water on a watermelon red flake finesse worm on a dropshot. The deep bite seemed very slow but when you got a bite it was a good one over 3 lbs. One of our other fish came on a tube near a middepth milfoil patch. It is just a tiny little patch of weeds in on the edge of a flat but it has been very good to us the last couple of years. This time we caught several fish around it but only one that ended up helping us. The last keeper we weighed came with about 5 minutes of fishing time left. We pulled up to a flat near the ramp that had a mix of rocks and milfoil. My dad was able to catch that 3 pounder on an old school Chug Bug. I was also able to catch a few fish there on a Spook but time ran out before we could get that one last good one to put us into first place.

Minnesota Bass Federation Nation TOC - Lake Pokegama

As most of you know by now I had another great showing at the State Tournament of Champions. After finishing 2nd last year I backed it up with a 3rd place this year. It was a 2 day tournament held September 10-11 with a 5 fish limit each day. My 10 fish over the 2 days weighed in at 29.24 lbs which still trailed the winner by over 5 lbs but I'm not complaining one bit. I've been fishing these state tournaments for a long time now and finally feel like I'm getting a bit of consistancy so it feels pretty good. I'll break down the tournament by day.

Day 1

Day 1 started with heavy fog but little did we now how long the delay would actually last. It ended up being a repeat of Day 2 last year with an over 3 hour fog delay. The first boats didn't start blasting off until after 10 am and since I was in the 3rd flight I didn't blast off until nearly 10:30. Being in the 3rd flight was definately an advantage though since I didn't have to be in until an hour after the 1st flight weighed in. It also worked out very nicely since I caught several of my big fish in that last hour. In these tournaments you are paired with a fisherman from another club in the state and you each keep your own 5 fish limit. Most of the time I feel it's best to work as a team though to maximize each anglers potential. I had a great partner who was catching a lot of fish in practice and I had also found a number of good areas so even with the delay I wasn't too worried about catching a limit. We decided to start on my partner's water since it was very close to the blast off area and we could see that no one had stopped on it. On my very first cast I had a big smallie come up and slash at my Spook but it never hooked up. After that the action was dead. We moved a couple hundred yards to his next area where I was able to pick up a small keeper on a watermelon red flake finesse worm but that was the only fish there. My partner then wanted to go to my water so we headed to what I felt was my best area. There were a couple small weedy humps near the mouth of a bay where I knew some good largemouth were living. I was able to pick up 2 more keepers there on my trusty watermelon jig with one of them being a good solid 3 pounder. The action wasn't nearly as fast as I was expecting though and we ended up leaving with only 3 keepers apiece. After that we ran some more of his water. All of his spots were basically the same thing. They were sharp drops where we kept the boat in 20-30 feet of water and casted up onto the break. The first one we hit I was able to put a 3 lb smallie in the boat on an olive colored X-Rap. We then ran a few more similar areas including one of his "backup" little fish spots but they were all completely void of fish. By this time it was getting later in the day and we were both short of our limits. Since none of his stuff was working we headed to another one of my areas which was a dropoff and inside corner on a large flat. Right away I started catching small keeper largemouth on my texas rigged finesse worm and had my limit. We continued down the edge and I ended up catching an unexpected bonus fish. I thought it was a largemouth area but I put another smallie in the boat that was close to 3 lbs on my finesse worm. That fish also had 8-10 other big smallies following it but we weren't able to trigger any of them. By this point we had about an hour and a half left to fish and I was feeling really good with 3 fish in the 3 lb range and 2 other solid keepers but my partner didn't have his limit yet and was getting worried. We decided to head to a spot that it turns out we had both found in practice. I knew there were some big fish there but I didn't know how many there turned out to be. I really wanted a limit before heading there because I just didn't what I could catch. It turns out that I had misjudged the area slightly and it was holding a number of big catchable fish. The area was a flat that tapered to a point with sharp drops on both sides. Again we kept the boat in about 20-30 feet of water and cast up on top of the flat. I ended up catching 2 more smallies on the X-Rap that were both over 3 lbs. One of those was around 3 1/2 lbs and actually came on my very last cast of the day. That's 2 years in a row now that I have done that in the state tournament. Those last 2 big fish pushed my limit for the day to 15.87 lbs and my partner had a solid 12 lbs. After day 1 I was sitting in 2nd place about 2 lbs behind the leader.

Day 2

Day 2 started partly cloudy so there would be no fog delay and a full 8 hours of fishing time. It was predicted to stay cloudy and windy most of the day so I wasn't sure what that would do to the fish. They seemed to bite pretty good the day before when it was calm and sunny and smallies generally seem to like the sun so I didn't know what would happen. Since I was in contention for the win my partner for the day pretty much gave me free reign to do what I wanted for pretty much the whole day. I think it was kind of a no brainer decision but I decided to start on the same spot I ended the 1st day. Almost immediately I caught a 3 lb smallie on the X-Rap and figured it was on but after almost 2 hours I was only able to put 1 more small fish in the boat. After that we went to the flat where I had found my bonus smallmouth since there were a lot of fish following it that we didn't catch the previous day. That area was kind of a bust though I did add one small keeper largemouth. Next we were off to the weedy humps. The previous day I threw a jig on them but after getting a tip from one of my club members I went with a watermelon red flake finesse worm on a dropshot. That was really the ticket and we ended up catching a number of fish in a relatively short amount of time. After culling a few times I was up to around 10 lbs and with my weight from the 1st day I knew I had made the top 12. It really takes a lot of pressure off when you know you have accomplished your goal for the tournament. That doesn't mean I was ready to quit fishing though. I was in a good position to win the tournament and I wanted it bad. By now I figured the fish on my started spot had rested enough so I headed back to that area. I fished it for another hour and was only able to catch 1 smallie on the X-Rap but it was nearly 4 lbs. That was the last fish I caught that helped me the rest of the day. For the last 3 hours of the tournament I kept rotating through areas I had found in practice and was able to catch a few smaller fish but nothing that went in the livewell. My 5 fish limit on day 2 weighed in at 13.37 lbs which dropped me from 2nd to 3rd but it's alright since I was definately not on the winning fish and like I said the main goal is just to be in the top 12. One other note from day 2 is that my dad ended up catching the biggest fish of the tournament that day. It was a giant smallmouth that weighed in at 5.67 lbs and was worth a nice chunk of change.