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!

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.