It’s been a busy couples weeks since my last post. I’ve had three different events since then and will cover each one briefly. We have hit and passed the climax of summer, the days are getting shorter and fall will be on its way in just a few months. However, the fishing should stay just as good, so continue to check back for updates!
Lakes Area Bassmasters - Sugar Lake
My first tournament was July 24th on Sugar Lake up by Annandale, MN. I had not been to this lake since I had a junior tournament out there close to 6 years ago. Without any practice I would be fishing by the “seat of my pants”. I started off the day fishing the first few patches of pads that I came by, dropped the TM and started chucking a frog. I missed a few quality blowups before hooking up with my first solid fish. After scratching out one more small squeaker I moved up the lake to a good looking point with some deep water close by. The wind was blowing into the point and the 12-13 inch fish were STACKED right off the steep drop. I rounded out my limit on a drop shot, but like I said these fish were not too big. I proceeded to shift around to the other side of the point tossing a beaver to the weedline. I made a pitch to a bare spot on the steep drop, my line started moving off and my rod doubled over as I set the hook on what would be a solid 4lb fish. On a lake like Sugar where smaller fish are the norm, this fish was like gold. I now had 2 good ones in the boat and 3 swimmers. I hopped around to some other good looking areas and culled with another solid fish coming from some cattails on a beaver. With about an hour to go I made one last adjustment to a new area with cattails. I needed two more solid fish to have a good finish and I didn’t want to waste away my bag that had potential with that 4 pounder sitting in the livewell. I got right up close to the cattails and began pitching my All Terrain jig way back in the cattails. I was not getting many bites, but if I got one, it was a good fish. I ended up culling twice in the last hour and also lost another good fish.
At the weigh in I put 12.5lbs on the scales and ended up with my 3rd consecutive club tournament victory and enough points to win the AOY for our 2010 season. This win was probably the most gratifying of my three club wins this year due to the fact that I was able to fish the moment and make the right adjustments that day. Most guys in the club had limits and seemed to have a day full of catching a lot of fish. Sugar was a fun lake, however, it was also a little bittersweet in the fact that I still was not able to garner up enough points to qualify for the state tournament this September on Lake Minnetonka. I was really hoping to make it this year, but only fishing 5 events and missing meetings in the winter due to being in Iowa at school killed my chances on doing so. It really stinks, but that’s just how it goes I guess…
ABA - Coon Lake
My next event was an ABA on Coon Lake. If you have read some of my posts from the past, you will find that Coon Lake is one of my favorite lakes in Minnesota. However, it has changed drastically in the last 4 or 5 years. In the past the pad and cattail bite used to be awesome. With the lake being sprayed for grass and the lake level dropping about 2 feet, the areas where I used to catch them are now void of any fish. Even the area that I found them in last year was unproductive this year due to the lack of milfoil in the area. It was time to re-learn the lake again, the fish were still there it was just a matter of relocating them.
To put it simply, my practice day was tough, brutally tough, the toughest it’s ever been for me on Coon. I got a few good bites here and there but it was spotty and inconsistent. I went into the tournament day planning to hit a few areas to see if I could generate a few good bites right off the bat and then I would continue to practice in hopes of getting on some better fish.
After spending about 3.5 hours fishing a few of my starting areas with only 4 smaller fish and a newly found trolling motor problem, I knew I needed to make a move, settle down and try to find some better fish. I ran down to an area where I had a few bites in practice. This area had lots of matted milfoil and matted coontail in about 5ft of water. I only spent about 15 minutes in the spot in practice and didn’t think too much of it. However, on tournament day, the better fish were biting in this area. I caught a 4lb 2oz fish within the first 10 minutes I was there. Then another 3lb fish right after that, both on an All Terrain jig. After those two fish, I settled down and knew I would most likely spend the rest of the day in this area picking it apart. So I continued to move from mat to mat, pitching either my All Terrain jig in the ‘less thick’ mats or a t-rigged beaver with a 3/4oz weight into the thickest and nastiest mats. Over the course of the rest of the day I was able to continue to cull and up my limit pound by pound. By the end of the day I felt like I had a decent bag that would give me some much needed points, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be in the money.
Come weigh-in time it sounded like it was a tough day for most for Coon Lake standards. I weighed in 16.58lbs and was leading the event through the first few flights of guys that had weighed in. I continued to dodge bullet after bullet from other top guys that were weighing in after me until the last angler plopped 18.5 pounds on the scales…. It was bittersweet. It would have been great to get a win, but I will take a good check and 2nd place any day, especially after the way my morning started. It was a fun event that was mentally challenging at times. My next ABA event is on August 15th on Forest Lake. I need another good finish to make a run at a good showing in the AOY. I’ll be sure to have an update on how that event went.
South Metro Slop Hawgs - Crystal Lake
My third event in the last few weeks was just this past Wednesday August 4th on Crystal Lake in the south metro. We had our 3rd South Metro Slop Hawgs tournament that night. It was a fun event with a decent turnout. Out of 6 boats I ended up in second with around 11 pounds for 5 fish. Carl and Tim Spande took home top honors and a little cash with a solid bag of 13 pounds for 5, nice job guys!
Have a good weekend and go catch ‘em!
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