West Central Bass League - Long Lake - August 8th
As good as the fishing can be on Long Lake in the spring, in the middle of summer it is usually extremely tough. This night was no exception although knowing the fishing would be tough didn't stop 22 teams from competing. Of those 22 boats only 6 limits were brought to the scales and really only 2 of them would be considered a good limit for the lake. For years there didn't seem to be any small fish in the lake but now there seems to be a decent number of smaller fish. Fortunately we had the best weight for the night to get our first win of the season but it was extremely close.
1st - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 12.32 lbs
2nd - Joe & Greg - 3 - 12.29 lbs
3rd - Tanya & Jared - 3 - 8.65 lbs
4th - Jim & Brad - 3 - 6.44 lbs
5th - Jeff & Kris - 3 - 6.27 lbs
Big Bass - Tanya & Jared - 5.38 lbs
For us the fishing was typical Long Lake fishing and that means flipping reeds for the most part. Almost right off the bat I caught a short fish and then soon after had a small keeper in the boat. For the night we caught around 12 bass which for Long in the summer is a huge number. What really made the difference was getting 2 big bass that weighed nearly 5 lbs each. All our weigh fish came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.
West Central Bass League - Lake Florida - August 9th
After the weights that showed up to the scales a few weeks earlier on Lake Florida I figured everyone would be ready to get after them again but the 16 boats that showed up to fish was the lowest number we had all year. It seems that many of the teams have unlocked the secret to success on the lake and even though we had less boats the lake still fishes really small. With that said the weights brought to the scales were even more impressive than our first visit.
1st - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 12.06 lbs
2nd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 11.87 lbs
3rd - Ross & Daryl - 3 - 11.60 lbs
4th - Grant & April - 3 - 11.48 lbs
Big Bass - Grant & April - 3 - 5.03 lbs
We weighed 3 for 11.39 lbs. That would have easily won on the previous visit to Lake Florida but on this night it was only good for 5th place which was just out of the money. Normally I would have been thinking we had a chance to do really well with that weight but we were fishing so close to several other boats that it was apparent we would be just hoping for our money back. What was interesting to me about our fishing for the night is I didn't move the boat more than 50 yards the entire evening. I don't remember ever staying so stationary for an entire league night. Partly it was because I was right were I wanted to be but also we were pretty much penned in by the other boats. That is the nature of the beast on Lake Florida these days it seems. Since we sat on one spot for so long we threw a variety of lures at them and our weigh fish came on a watermelon homemade jig, a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss and a watermelon 10" Power Worm.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
West Central Bass League - Week 9 & West Central Tournament Series - Sauk Lake
West Central Bass League - Lake Andrew - August 1st
After the run of big weights we have been having on the West Central Bass League everyone was pretty much sure that would come to an end on Lake Andrew. That didn't stop 21 teams from showing up though and while it sounds like quite a few fish were caught the weights were certainly about what we all expected. For the first time this year the winning weight was under 9 lbs.
1st - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 8.96 lbs
2nd - Travis & Tristan - 3 - 8.82 lbs
3rd - Dean & Ralph - 3 - 8.60 lbs
4th - Jeff & Kris - 8.18 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 7.51 lbs
Big Bass - Travis & Tristan - 4.41 lbs
We were just able to sneak into the money but it was very close. We actually tied with another team for total weight but we just edged them out on the biggest fish to win the tiebreaker. Our fishing was pretty typical for Andrew as we spent much of the night hitting various deep weed line areas in hopes of finding a school of better than average bass. We caught quite a few fish but most of them were really small. Every once in awhile we would catch one that was a little over 2 lbs but with around a half hour left it didn't seem like we were going to find any better quality out deep so we headed to the shallows. Almost immediately my dad caught a 3 pounder on a buzzin frog to give us just enough to get into the money.
West Central Bass League - Eagle Lake - August 2nd
Eagle has become one of the most anticipated lakes by the West Central Bass League anglers in recent years. We have figured out how to target the giant smallies rather than just accidentally catching one every once in awhile. The largemouth in the lake are big too and on this night only a few smallies were brougt to the scales by the 19 boats fishing, but the weights were extremely impressive anyways.
1st - Todd & Jeff - 3 - 13.32 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 12.48 lbs
3rd - Dean & JD - 3 - 11.73 lbs
4th - Butch & Jeff - 3 - 11.27 lbs
5th - Bill & Brad - 11.13 lbs
Big Bass - Dean & JD - 4.95 lbs
We had a really tough evening but ended up with 3 fish weighing 9.88 lbs. On many lakes 3 bass weighing almost 10 lbs is pretty strong but for Eagle on this night it was only good for 8th place. While I started off fishing docks my dad threw off the other side of the boat to the shallow weeds with a buzzin frog. Right off the bat he put a solid 3 1/2 lb fish in the boat. The docks were not producing much, although we did end up weighing one small dock fish, so we spent most of the night fishing shallow weed flats but the action out there was slow too. Finally with about 15 minutes to go I put a 4 lb plus largemouth in the boat on a Super Spook to salvage what would have otherwise been a total bomb.
West Central Tournament Series - Sauk Lake - August 4th
There were 19 teams fishing on Sauk Lake which was the lowest turnout there has been so far for the West Central Tournament Series. With the way the lake is fishing I'm kind of surprised that there were even that many who did fish. The lake proved to be tough once again as only 6 limits were brought to the scales. The full results can be found here.
http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeSauk.pdf
Although the fishing was tough for most we actually had a good day on the water. We must have caught around 25 bass but our issue was size. Our 6 fish limit weighed in at 16.36 lbs which was good for 5th place and just out of the money. I'm not sure why others struggled so much because we didn't do anything special to catch our fish. After starting the day fishing shallow weeds for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and not having a bite we switched our focus to fishing docks and trees. We stuck to it for the rest of the day and it worked out for numbers at least. Our weigh fish were caught on various colors of Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses and Strike King tubes.
After the run of big weights we have been having on the West Central Bass League everyone was pretty much sure that would come to an end on Lake Andrew. That didn't stop 21 teams from showing up though and while it sounds like quite a few fish were caught the weights were certainly about what we all expected. For the first time this year the winning weight was under 9 lbs.
1st - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 8.96 lbs
2nd - Travis & Tristan - 3 - 8.82 lbs
3rd - Dean & Ralph - 3 - 8.60 lbs
4th - Jeff & Kris - 8.18 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 7.51 lbs
Big Bass - Travis & Tristan - 4.41 lbs
We were just able to sneak into the money but it was very close. We actually tied with another team for total weight but we just edged them out on the biggest fish to win the tiebreaker. Our fishing was pretty typical for Andrew as we spent much of the night hitting various deep weed line areas in hopes of finding a school of better than average bass. We caught quite a few fish but most of them were really small. Every once in awhile we would catch one that was a little over 2 lbs but with around a half hour left it didn't seem like we were going to find any better quality out deep so we headed to the shallows. Almost immediately my dad caught a 3 pounder on a buzzin frog to give us just enough to get into the money.
West Central Bass League - Eagle Lake - August 2nd
Eagle has become one of the most anticipated lakes by the West Central Bass League anglers in recent years. We have figured out how to target the giant smallies rather than just accidentally catching one every once in awhile. The largemouth in the lake are big too and on this night only a few smallies were brougt to the scales by the 19 boats fishing, but the weights were extremely impressive anyways.
1st - Todd & Jeff - 3 - 13.32 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 12.48 lbs
3rd - Dean & JD - 3 - 11.73 lbs
4th - Butch & Jeff - 3 - 11.27 lbs
5th - Bill & Brad - 11.13 lbs
Big Bass - Dean & JD - 4.95 lbs
We had a really tough evening but ended up with 3 fish weighing 9.88 lbs. On many lakes 3 bass weighing almost 10 lbs is pretty strong but for Eagle on this night it was only good for 8th place. While I started off fishing docks my dad threw off the other side of the boat to the shallow weeds with a buzzin frog. Right off the bat he put a solid 3 1/2 lb fish in the boat. The docks were not producing much, although we did end up weighing one small dock fish, so we spent most of the night fishing shallow weed flats but the action out there was slow too. Finally with about 15 minutes to go I put a 4 lb plus largemouth in the boat on a Super Spook to salvage what would have otherwise been a total bomb.
West Central Tournament Series - Sauk Lake - August 4th
There were 19 teams fishing on Sauk Lake which was the lowest turnout there has been so far for the West Central Tournament Series. With the way the lake is fishing I'm kind of surprised that there were even that many who did fish. The lake proved to be tough once again as only 6 limits were brought to the scales. The full results can be found here.
http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeSauk.pdf
Although the fishing was tough for most we actually had a good day on the water. We must have caught around 25 bass but our issue was size. Our 6 fish limit weighed in at 16.36 lbs which was good for 5th place and just out of the money. I'm not sure why others struggled so much because we didn't do anything special to catch our fish. After starting the day fishing shallow weeds for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and not having a bite we switched our focus to fishing docks and trees. We stuck to it for the rest of the day and it worked out for numbers at least. Our weigh fish were caught on various colors of Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses and Strike King tubes.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
West Central Bass League - Week 8 & Green Mill/West Central Bassmasters Summer Classic - Green Lake
West Central Bass League - Diamond Lake - July 25th
As hot as the fishing has been for the West Central Bass League over the past few weeks, it was nothing compared to the weights brought in on Diamond Lake. They weren't the heaviest weights ever seen but for Diamond it had to be the best night of fishing the lake has ever produced. Not so long ago the entire field blanked not once but twice on ths very body of water. Those days are definitely long gone.
1st - Jim & Brad - 3 - 13.13 lbs
2nd - Paul & Pete - 3 - 12.63 lbs
3rd - Lee & Nick - 3 - 11.98 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.81 lbs
5th - Troy & Brett - 3 - 11.35 lbs
Big Bass - Jim & Brad - 5.00 lbs
We brought 3 to the scales weighing 10.29 lbs to end up 6th out of the 22 teams fishing. I thought we were having a pretty good night and normally it would have been but not only were we out of the money, we were more than 1 lb out of the money. We clearly spent most of our night on the wrong pattern although what do you do when you catch a ton of fish and end up with over 10 lbs for 3 fish. We spent our night fishing docks and trees and our weigh fish all ended up coming on various colors of the Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.
West Central Bass League - Lake Solomon - July 26th
The good fishing for the Bass League had to end sometime and many rightfully predicted that this would be the lake to break the streak. Solomon is an excellent lake in the spring where 10 lb bags are common, but in recent years the fishing has been downright tough to impossible in the mid summer months. This night kept that trend alive as only 8 of the 18 teams fishing were able to bring a 3 fish limit to the scales.
1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.51 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.40 lbs
3rd - Lee & Andy - 3 - 9.07 lbs
4th - Scott & Kelly - 3 - 8.94 lbs
5th - Paul & Troy - 3 - 6.64 lbs
Big Bass - Ron & Joe - 4.62 lbs
Normally I don't mind talking about how we caught our fish, even though it probably hurts me among this group of anglers, and I'm sure some of the readers of this blog know how we caught them but I just don't feel like revealing too much for this one. It is something I'd like to keep in my pocket for the next summer visit to Solomon. I can say we caught all of our weigh fish on jigs and that is about it.
Green Mill/West Central Bass Masters Summer Classic - Green Lake, Spicer - July 29th
Normally our club holds this event at the end of June but this year we decided to move it to a mid-summer date. June fishing on Green Lake can be dominated by bed fishing and we wanted to have a different type of event with the anglers using different patterns to catch their fish. Maybe that was a mistake because the attendance certainly dropped off as only 24 teams showed up. After some morning rain the weather was great and by all accounts there were a bunch of fish caught. As always on Green Lake the key is finding a limit of those 3 lb class fish and several teams were able to do that and more. I don't have the official results at this time but 1st place was a 6 fish limit weighing 20.24 lbs and 2nd place was 19.59 lbs. As usual this year my dad and I struggled and our 6 fish limit of smallmouth weighing 17.11 lbs was only enough to put us in 12th place.
I had a pretty tough practice for this event but I thought I had a pattern put together where we would be spending much of the day in 8-12 feet of water. How things change come tournament day though as none of the fish we ended up weighing came from that depth range. 5 of our weigh fish ended up coming from water 6 feet or shallower and the final keeper came from 25 feet deep. It goes to show that you need to keep an open mind even though the fish we weighed on this day were only good enough for a middle of the pack finish if we had stuck to the original plan it would have been even worse. Our fish for the day came on green pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tubes and green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hopper worms rigged on a dropshot.
As hot as the fishing has been for the West Central Bass League over the past few weeks, it was nothing compared to the weights brought in on Diamond Lake. They weren't the heaviest weights ever seen but for Diamond it had to be the best night of fishing the lake has ever produced. Not so long ago the entire field blanked not once but twice on ths very body of water. Those days are definitely long gone.
1st - Jim & Brad - 3 - 13.13 lbs
2nd - Paul & Pete - 3 - 12.63 lbs
3rd - Lee & Nick - 3 - 11.98 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.81 lbs
5th - Troy & Brett - 3 - 11.35 lbs
Big Bass - Jim & Brad - 5.00 lbs
We brought 3 to the scales weighing 10.29 lbs to end up 6th out of the 22 teams fishing. I thought we were having a pretty good night and normally it would have been but not only were we out of the money, we were more than 1 lb out of the money. We clearly spent most of our night on the wrong pattern although what do you do when you catch a ton of fish and end up with over 10 lbs for 3 fish. We spent our night fishing docks and trees and our weigh fish all ended up coming on various colors of the Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss.
West Central Bass League - Lake Solomon - July 26th
The good fishing for the Bass League had to end sometime and many rightfully predicted that this would be the lake to break the streak. Solomon is an excellent lake in the spring where 10 lb bags are common, but in recent years the fishing has been downright tough to impossible in the mid summer months. This night kept that trend alive as only 8 of the 18 teams fishing were able to bring a 3 fish limit to the scales.
1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.51 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.40 lbs
3rd - Lee & Andy - 3 - 9.07 lbs
4th - Scott & Kelly - 3 - 8.94 lbs
5th - Paul & Troy - 3 - 6.64 lbs
Big Bass - Ron & Joe - 4.62 lbs
Normally I don't mind talking about how we caught our fish, even though it probably hurts me among this group of anglers, and I'm sure some of the readers of this blog know how we caught them but I just don't feel like revealing too much for this one. It is something I'd like to keep in my pocket for the next summer visit to Solomon. I can say we caught all of our weigh fish on jigs and that is about it.
Green Mill/West Central Bass Masters Summer Classic - Green Lake, Spicer - July 29th
Normally our club holds this event at the end of June but this year we decided to move it to a mid-summer date. June fishing on Green Lake can be dominated by bed fishing and we wanted to have a different type of event with the anglers using different patterns to catch their fish. Maybe that was a mistake because the attendance certainly dropped off as only 24 teams showed up. After some morning rain the weather was great and by all accounts there were a bunch of fish caught. As always on Green Lake the key is finding a limit of those 3 lb class fish and several teams were able to do that and more. I don't have the official results at this time but 1st place was a 6 fish limit weighing 20.24 lbs and 2nd place was 19.59 lbs. As usual this year my dad and I struggled and our 6 fish limit of smallmouth weighing 17.11 lbs was only enough to put us in 12th place.
I had a pretty tough practice for this event but I thought I had a pattern put together where we would be spending much of the day in 8-12 feet of water. How things change come tournament day though as none of the fish we ended up weighing came from that depth range. 5 of our weigh fish ended up coming from water 6 feet or shallower and the final keeper came from 25 feet deep. It goes to show that you need to keep an open mind even though the fish we weighed on this day were only good enough for a middle of the pack finish if we had stuck to the original plan it would have been even worse. Our fish for the day came on green pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tubes and green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hopper worms rigged on a dropshot.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
West Central Bass League - Week 7 & West Central Tournament Series - Lake Koronis
West Central Bass League - Norway Lake - July 17th
We continued our great turnouts for the West Central Bass League this year as 21 teams showed up to fish Norway and Games Lakes this evening. As usual over the past couple of weeks the fishing ended up being really good with some of the better overall weights we have seen on Norway in recent years.
1st - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.91 lbs
2nd - Ross & Rob - 3 - 9.83 lbs
3rd - Tim & Grant - 3 - 9.75 lbs
4th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.66 lbs
5th - Brian & Joy - 3 - 9.24 lbs
Big Bass - Tim & Grant - 5.09 lbs
Over the past few years Norway usually has one of the lower average weights of the lakes we fish during the league season. Obviously the weights were pretty strong on this night although from the sound of it the fishing wasn't great for numbers. We certainly didn't catch a lot of fish but with the weight we had I expected to do better than 4th. We started on shallow cover but after an hour with only 2 fish in the box we headed to deep water for the rest of the evening. Like I said the bite wasn't fast but every once in awhile we would get a quality bass to bite. Our weigh fish came on 10" inch Berkley Power Worms and Rapala DT 16 and DT 14 crankbaits.
West Central Bass League - Lake Koronis - July 18th
Koronis is not one of the more popular lakes on the West Central Bass League schedule and it showed as only 17 teams showed up to fish. 17 teams fishing is a pretty strong number but still it is one of the lowest numbers we have had so far this year. Koronis can be a tough lake to figure out but the fish are certainly in there and the weights showed it.
1st - Dean & JD - 3 - 10.44 lbs
2nd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 10.01 lbs
3rd - Travis & Hunter - 3 - 9.43 lbs
4th - Ross & Daryl - 3 - 9.36 lbs
5th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 9.34 lbs
Big Bass - Dean & JD - 4.09 lbs
We ended up having a really tough night but ended up catching a couple upgrades in the last minutes to move up to 6th place with 3 weighing 8.62 lbs. We started on docks which is what I thought would produce some really nice fish. But after fishing a bunch of them we only had one quality bass in the 3 lb range to show for it. That fish came on a Okeechobee Craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss. After that we junked around for awhile trying different things but nothing was really working out. At the end of the evening we ended up on a shallow sand and weed flat where we put 2 decent smallies in the boat on Super Spooks to salvage what would have otherwise been a terrible night.
West Central Tournament Series - Lake Koronis - July 22nd
By luck of the draw the West Central Bass League visited Lake Koronis a few days before the Tournament Series so those of us fishing both had a little more time on the water than some others might have had. As it turned out it didn't really matter. For me the fishing has been tough on Koronis but as almost everyone proved the fish are biting good and they are nice ones. We ended up weighing a 6 fish limit for 17.53 lbs which is a pretty impressive average weight but it was only good enough to place 10th out of the 23 teams fishing. The full results can be found here:
http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeKoronis.pdf
We started our day where we ended the previous league night. Despite having several fish slash at the Spook I was only able to put 1 smallie in the boat that weighed about 2 1/2 lbs. That fish ended up staying with us all day long and wound up being the smallest fish in our bag. After that it was off to a point that would have normally had nice coontail on it but this year the only weeds in almost the entire lake are just stringy grass. Despite that there was a good sized school of fish living there but the problem was they just weren't big enough. We ended up filling our limit on that spot but all of those fish would eventually be culled. Our next stop was a similar type of area but the fish there were much better quality although not the quality needed to compete for a win on this day. In the afternoon we focused mostly on docks and 3 of our weigh fish ended up coming from the docks. It's hard to complain when you are catching 2 1/2 to 3 lb bass which are nice fish but on Koronis these days that is just run of the mill as our results showed.
We continued our great turnouts for the West Central Bass League this year as 21 teams showed up to fish Norway and Games Lakes this evening. As usual over the past couple of weeks the fishing ended up being really good with some of the better overall weights we have seen on Norway in recent years.
1st - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.91 lbs
2nd - Ross & Rob - 3 - 9.83 lbs
3rd - Tim & Grant - 3 - 9.75 lbs
4th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.66 lbs
5th - Brian & Joy - 3 - 9.24 lbs
Big Bass - Tim & Grant - 5.09 lbs
Over the past few years Norway usually has one of the lower average weights of the lakes we fish during the league season. Obviously the weights were pretty strong on this night although from the sound of it the fishing wasn't great for numbers. We certainly didn't catch a lot of fish but with the weight we had I expected to do better than 4th. We started on shallow cover but after an hour with only 2 fish in the box we headed to deep water for the rest of the evening. Like I said the bite wasn't fast but every once in awhile we would get a quality bass to bite. Our weigh fish came on 10" inch Berkley Power Worms and Rapala DT 16 and DT 14 crankbaits.
West Central Bass League - Lake Koronis - July 18th
Koronis is not one of the more popular lakes on the West Central Bass League schedule and it showed as only 17 teams showed up to fish. 17 teams fishing is a pretty strong number but still it is one of the lowest numbers we have had so far this year. Koronis can be a tough lake to figure out but the fish are certainly in there and the weights showed it.
1st - Dean & JD - 3 - 10.44 lbs
2nd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 10.01 lbs
3rd - Travis & Hunter - 3 - 9.43 lbs
4th - Ross & Daryl - 3 - 9.36 lbs
5th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 9.34 lbs
Big Bass - Dean & JD - 4.09 lbs
We ended up having a really tough night but ended up catching a couple upgrades in the last minutes to move up to 6th place with 3 weighing 8.62 lbs. We started on docks which is what I thought would produce some really nice fish. But after fishing a bunch of them we only had one quality bass in the 3 lb range to show for it. That fish came on a Okeechobee Craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss. After that we junked around for awhile trying different things but nothing was really working out. At the end of the evening we ended up on a shallow sand and weed flat where we put 2 decent smallies in the boat on Super Spooks to salvage what would have otherwise been a terrible night.
West Central Tournament Series - Lake Koronis - July 22nd
By luck of the draw the West Central Bass League visited Lake Koronis a few days before the Tournament Series so those of us fishing both had a little more time on the water than some others might have had. As it turned out it didn't really matter. For me the fishing has been tough on Koronis but as almost everyone proved the fish are biting good and they are nice ones. We ended up weighing a 6 fish limit for 17.53 lbs which is a pretty impressive average weight but it was only good enough to place 10th out of the 23 teams fishing. The full results can be found here:
http://www.wcmnbassmasters.org/resources/LakeKoronis.pdf
We started our day where we ended the previous league night. Despite having several fish slash at the Spook I was only able to put 1 smallie in the boat that weighed about 2 1/2 lbs. That fish ended up staying with us all day long and wound up being the smallest fish in our bag. After that it was off to a point that would have normally had nice coontail on it but this year the only weeds in almost the entire lake are just stringy grass. Despite that there was a good sized school of fish living there but the problem was they just weren't big enough. We ended up filling our limit on that spot but all of those fish would eventually be culled. Our next stop was a similar type of area but the fish there were much better quality although not the quality needed to compete for a win on this day. In the afternoon we focused mostly on docks and 3 of our weigh fish ended up coming from the docks. It's hard to complain when you are catching 2 1/2 to 3 lb bass which are nice fish but on Koronis these days that is just run of the mill as our results showed.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
West Central Bass League - Week 6 & Big Bass Bonanza - Lake Minnewaska
West Central Bass League - Lake Florida - July 11th
As we were headed to Lake Florida on this Wednesday night we got a call telling us that someone had just drowned on the lake. When we got to the access nothing seemed to be happening but a short while later the emergency vehicles were flying past the access. As it turns out an older man fell off the dock and did not make it. That cast a somber atmosphere over the evening but the fish sure didn't seem to mind. The lake kicked out more quality bass than I can remember for at least the last 5 years.
1st - Lee & Nick - 3 - 10.94 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.85 lbs
3rd - Jeff & Kris - 3 - 10.46 lbs
4th - Jim & Brad - 3 - 10.32 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.94 lbs
Big Bass - Brad & Bill - 5.44 lbs
Generally a bag such as ours in the 10 lb range is enough to win on Lake Florida but it was only barely enough to squeak into the money on this night. In the older days of league Florida was known as a dock fishing lake and that is pretty much what everyone did. That has certainly changed though as the offshore bite is where many focus there attention. For awhile I had that deal mostly to myself but times have changed. With a middle of the pack boat draw there was no way I could get to my preferred starting area so it was off to another area which ended up being just as crowded. I was able to get right on the juice though and it didn't take long for the fish to start biting. The fish were biting for others in the area too but we were definitely out-catching everyone else. We did move around a bit but the majority of our night was spent sitting on that one hole. Our fish came on a variety of lures such as homemade jigs, 10" Berkley Power Worms, finesse worms either Texas rigged or on a drop shot but the best producer ended up being a slow rolled green pumpkin Z-Man Chatterbait.
West Central Bass League - Nest Lake - July 12th
From all the reports I had heard and my personal experience on Nest this year the fishing had been extremely tough prior to this weeks league but much like Florida on Wednesday night the fish turned on big time and the weights ended up being very impressive. I think part of the reason the fishing was so good is that all of the curly leaf pondweed or June weed had all died off at this point. For some reason the fishing just isn't very good when there is a ton of curly leaf in the lake. Fortunately it dies off around the first of July every year though. Maybe that had something to do with it or maybe not but in any case the fishing was excellent.
1st - Scott & Kelly - 3 - 11.90 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 11.65 lbs
3rd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.62 lbs
4th - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 11.42 lbs
5th - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.78 lbs
Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.16 lbs
We started our night on a shallow rocky area that is traditionally known for smallmouth but this year had been holding a number of quality largemouth. Within 5 minutes I hooked up with a good fish but instead of being the expected largemouth it was a smallie. Right then I knew we would focus most of our night on the brown fish and the 3 we brought to the scales ended up being the only limit of smallmouth weighed in on the night. We caught fish on a variety of lures but the 3 we weighed came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss or a green pumpkin Biffle Hardhead jig rigged with a Biffle Bug.
Big Bass Bonanza - Lake Minnewaska - July 15th
We were finally able to break out of the slump we were in to start off the Big Bass Bonanza season. Our middle of the pack finishes in the first 2 events certainly could have been worse but they certainly weren't what I expect of myself, especially when one of the lakes is Green Lake. At Minnewaska we weighed in an 8 fish limit of smallmouth for 21.88 lbs. It was the only limit comprised solely of smallies and was enough to take 5th place out of 32 teams. The finished also jumped us way up in the TOY standings to a tie for 6th place, which is well within the top 15 championship cut with one event remaining.
Going into the event, like everything else this year, Minnewaska had been tough for us. We put in a long day on Saturday before the tournament and finally got a few things going. Our plan was to fish for smallies on shallow sand flats and largemouths on deep weedlines as well as under docks. Since I have already said we weighed all smallmouth it is clear that neither largemouth pattern held up at all. We caught a lot of green fish but none of them were even close to the size we needed. For the smallies the fishing was pretty simple. One of our weigh fish came on a Super Spook but all the rest came on green pumpkin or watermelon/red flake Strike King Coffee Tubes. The key for us was getting tube stuck in the sparse weeds and the popping it free. If we weren't in the weeds we would still hop the tube violently and that is when every bite happened. I know many people think of a tube as a finesse bait but I really like using it as a reaction bait like this especially for smallmouth. There is something about that action they just can't resist.
As we were headed to Lake Florida on this Wednesday night we got a call telling us that someone had just drowned on the lake. When we got to the access nothing seemed to be happening but a short while later the emergency vehicles were flying past the access. As it turns out an older man fell off the dock and did not make it. That cast a somber atmosphere over the evening but the fish sure didn't seem to mind. The lake kicked out more quality bass than I can remember for at least the last 5 years.
1st - Lee & Nick - 3 - 10.94 lbs
2nd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.85 lbs
3rd - Jeff & Kris - 3 - 10.46 lbs
4th - Jim & Brad - 3 - 10.32 lbs
5th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 9.94 lbs
Big Bass - Brad & Bill - 5.44 lbs
Generally a bag such as ours in the 10 lb range is enough to win on Lake Florida but it was only barely enough to squeak into the money on this night. In the older days of league Florida was known as a dock fishing lake and that is pretty much what everyone did. That has certainly changed though as the offshore bite is where many focus there attention. For awhile I had that deal mostly to myself but times have changed. With a middle of the pack boat draw there was no way I could get to my preferred starting area so it was off to another area which ended up being just as crowded. I was able to get right on the juice though and it didn't take long for the fish to start biting. The fish were biting for others in the area too but we were definitely out-catching everyone else. We did move around a bit but the majority of our night was spent sitting on that one hole. Our fish came on a variety of lures such as homemade jigs, 10" Berkley Power Worms, finesse worms either Texas rigged or on a drop shot but the best producer ended up being a slow rolled green pumpkin Z-Man Chatterbait.
West Central Bass League - Nest Lake - July 12th
From all the reports I had heard and my personal experience on Nest this year the fishing had been extremely tough prior to this weeks league but much like Florida on Wednesday night the fish turned on big time and the weights ended up being very impressive. I think part of the reason the fishing was so good is that all of the curly leaf pondweed or June weed had all died off at this point. For some reason the fishing just isn't very good when there is a ton of curly leaf in the lake. Fortunately it dies off around the first of July every year though. Maybe that had something to do with it or maybe not but in any case the fishing was excellent.
1st - Scott & Kelly - 3 - 11.90 lbs
2nd - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 11.65 lbs
3rd - Ron & Joe - 3 - 11.62 lbs
4th - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 11.42 lbs
5th - Paul & Pete - 3 - 9.78 lbs
Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.16 lbs
We started our night on a shallow rocky area that is traditionally known for smallmouth but this year had been holding a number of quality largemouth. Within 5 minutes I hooked up with a good fish but instead of being the expected largemouth it was a smallie. Right then I knew we would focus most of our night on the brown fish and the 3 we brought to the scales ended up being the only limit of smallmouth weighed in on the night. We caught fish on a variety of lures but the 3 we weighed came on a green pumpkin Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss or a green pumpkin Biffle Hardhead jig rigged with a Biffle Bug.
Big Bass Bonanza - Lake Minnewaska - July 15th
We were finally able to break out of the slump we were in to start off the Big Bass Bonanza season. Our middle of the pack finishes in the first 2 events certainly could have been worse but they certainly weren't what I expect of myself, especially when one of the lakes is Green Lake. At Minnewaska we weighed in an 8 fish limit of smallmouth for 21.88 lbs. It was the only limit comprised solely of smallies and was enough to take 5th place out of 32 teams. The finished also jumped us way up in the TOY standings to a tie for 6th place, which is well within the top 15 championship cut with one event remaining.
Going into the event, like everything else this year, Minnewaska had been tough for us. We put in a long day on Saturday before the tournament and finally got a few things going. Our plan was to fish for smallies on shallow sand flats and largemouths on deep weedlines as well as under docks. Since I have already said we weighed all smallmouth it is clear that neither largemouth pattern held up at all. We caught a lot of green fish but none of them were even close to the size we needed. For the smallies the fishing was pretty simple. One of our weigh fish came on a Super Spook but all the rest came on green pumpkin or watermelon/red flake Strike King Coffee Tubes. The key for us was getting tube stuck in the sparse weeds and the popping it free. If we weren't in the weeds we would still hop the tube violently and that is when every bite happened. I know many people think of a tube as a finesse bait but I really like using it as a reaction bait like this especially for smallmouth. There is something about that action they just can't resist.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
West Central Bass League - Unofficial Holiday Week
For the 4th of July week every year the West Central Bass League takes a break from the regular format. Most people want to get away and be with family and friends instead of being forced to come to league when points are on the line. Some people still like to fish though so we give them the opportunity if they want it. This we we decided to go to 2 lakes that are not normally on the league schedule to check them out. Next week league will be back to normal for the rest of the summer.
West Central Bass League - Foot Lake - July 4th
Foot Lake is not known as a very good bass lake although there are some nice fish in there so we decided to see what it had to offer in the middle of summer. The 4th ended up being the hottest day of the year so far and that along with the lake's reputation kept the turnout low. Only 3 teams were brave enough to tackle the challenge. With only 3 boats fishing only 1 spot was paid.
1st - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 5.56 lbs
Big Bass - Grant & April - 3.80 lbs
We ended up with the only limit of the night but it sure wasn't easy. Most of our night was spent on a large milfoil mat that just looked like it should have held a number of fish. We did get our first keeper there as well as several short fish but it just didn't produce as well as it should have. With about a half hour left in the night we moved to a stretch of rip rap and quickly put our 2 other keepers in the boat. All of our fish came on various colors of Berkley HAVOC Pit Bosses.
West Central Bass League - Lake Scandinavia - July 5th
We had a much better turnout as 8 teams showed up to fish a lake that most of us have not fished before. The lake is loaded with 2 lb class bass and most teams reported catching a lot of fish for the evening.
1st - Ron & Joe - 3 - 9.03 lbs
2nd Donovan & Mike - 3 - 8.49 lbs
Big Bass - Donovan & Mike - 3.66 lbs
We ended up fishing deep weed lines for the majority of the night and ended up catching a ton of fish. We caught 25-30 bass but the problem was we just couldn't get over that 2 1/4 lb range. Our 3 fish limit weighed in at 7.20 lbs to give us 4th place for the night. Our fish came on homemade jigs and various plastics.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
West Central Bass League - Week 5
After a hectic and not particularly productive June I finally have a little time to relax and catch my breath. I have a two week break before my next tournament on July 15th. To say the start of the tournament season is a disappointment would be a huge understatement. I'm not sure what's going wrong so far this year but all I can do is keep fishing and hope I work my way out of it. Even though there are occasional breaks in the weekend tournament schedule the West Central Bass League goes every week so I am still able to get my competitive fishing fix.
West Central Bass League - Lake Calhoun - June 27th
It was hot, muggy and calm and actually pretty unpleasant out when we arrived at Lake Calhoun but didn't stop us from having the largest turnout of the year so far. Calhoun is always a popular lake but I was surprised when 26 teams showed up to fish. On a small lake like Calhoun it was pretty crowded but fish were still caught. To me it seemed a little off overall and whether that was related to the conditions or the crowds I'm not sure. Here are the results.
1st - Ross & Rob - 3 - 12.23 lbs
2nd - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 9.22 lbs
3rd - Kyle & Jim - 3 - 8.98 lbs
4th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 8.57 lbs
5th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 8.07 lbs
Big Bass - Ross & Rob - 4.49 lbs
For us the night was extremely tough and I was very pleased that we ended up taking 4th place. We were one of the last boats out and I thought for sure someone would be where I wanted to start but we were able to start where I wanted. Of course it wasn't very productive but we did get one 2 1/2 pounder that we ended up weighing. That fish came on a Okochobee Craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss flipped into thick matted up reeds. After that we bounced around the lake and it was really slow until about the last half hour when I moved to a shallow inside weedline that had been fished all night long by other boats. It had opened up though and with the lower light conditions I hoped that they would turn on and that is exactly what happened. I started getting bit on almost every cast and although most were small we were able to steadily upgrade until right near the end of the night my dad put an almost 4 lb bass in the boat. Those fish all came on watermelon Strike King Ochos or Yamamoto Senkos.
West Central Bass League - Lake Johanna - June 28th
After having the largest turnout of the season the previous night only 16 teams decided to show up on Thursday night. I'm not sure what the reason for the drop off was since the lake had fished really well the previous week. In any case it was nice to move around and actually have areas to yourself. The fishing certainly didn't end up being as good as the previous week although the weights were still pretty strong.
1st - TJ & Isaiah - 3 - 11.00 lbs
2nd - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 10.94 lbs
3rd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 10.41 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.20 lbs
Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.00 lbs
We really struggled for the night and only came in with 2 bass weighing 7.08 lbs to take 9th place. One of the goals for our league season every year is to catch a 3 bass limit every night and that ended. I don't believe we have ever done it in fact. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to do but apparently it is. We did basically the same thing we did the previous week when we finished 2nd and what everyone else was doing which is to fish the reeds and bullrushes but it just didn't work out for us. Our 2 weigh fish came on a okochobee craw Pit Boss and a watermelon 6" Yum Dinger.
West Central Bass League - Lake Calhoun - June 27th
It was hot, muggy and calm and actually pretty unpleasant out when we arrived at Lake Calhoun but didn't stop us from having the largest turnout of the year so far. Calhoun is always a popular lake but I was surprised when 26 teams showed up to fish. On a small lake like Calhoun it was pretty crowded but fish were still caught. To me it seemed a little off overall and whether that was related to the conditions or the crowds I'm not sure. Here are the results.
1st - Ross & Rob - 3 - 12.23 lbs
2nd - Donovan & Mike - 3 - 9.22 lbs
3rd - Kyle & Jim - 3 - 8.98 lbs
4th - Andy & Mike Nitchals - 3 - 8.57 lbs
5th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 8.07 lbs
Big Bass - Ross & Rob - 4.49 lbs
For us the night was extremely tough and I was very pleased that we ended up taking 4th place. We were one of the last boats out and I thought for sure someone would be where I wanted to start but we were able to start where I wanted. Of course it wasn't very productive but we did get one 2 1/2 pounder that we ended up weighing. That fish came on a Okochobee Craw Berkley HAVOC Pit Boss flipped into thick matted up reeds. After that we bounced around the lake and it was really slow until about the last half hour when I moved to a shallow inside weedline that had been fished all night long by other boats. It had opened up though and with the lower light conditions I hoped that they would turn on and that is exactly what happened. I started getting bit on almost every cast and although most were small we were able to steadily upgrade until right near the end of the night my dad put an almost 4 lb bass in the boat. Those fish all came on watermelon Strike King Ochos or Yamamoto Senkos.
West Central Bass League - Lake Johanna - June 28th
After having the largest turnout of the season the previous night only 16 teams decided to show up on Thursday night. I'm not sure what the reason for the drop off was since the lake had fished really well the previous week. In any case it was nice to move around and actually have areas to yourself. The fishing certainly didn't end up being as good as the previous week although the weights were still pretty strong.
1st - TJ & Isaiah - 3 - 11.00 lbs
2nd - Donovan & Brad - 3 - 10.94 lbs
3rd - Paul & Troy - 3 - 10.41 lbs
4th - Ron & Joe - 3 - 10.20 lbs
Big Bass - Donovan & Brad - 5.00 lbs
We really struggled for the night and only came in with 2 bass weighing 7.08 lbs to take 9th place. One of the goals for our league season every year is to catch a 3 bass limit every night and that ended. I don't believe we have ever done it in fact. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to do but apparently it is. We did basically the same thing we did the previous week when we finished 2nd and what everyone else was doing which is to fish the reeds and bullrushes but it just didn't work out for us. Our 2 weigh fish came on a okochobee craw Pit Boss and a watermelon 6" Yum Dinger.
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