Spring Break
We are heading into July and I am looking at a good break from the spring fishing season. It hasn't been bad really by any means and actually as close to getting a check in all the events as you can without getting a check. It has also been disappointing because of being so close and expecting to do well and with the last ABA/BASS Weekend Series tournament on the the Mississippi River not going so well I am mentally ready for a break.
Mary and I finally got to our first Fishers of Men tournament this year which was back over on Green Lake in Spicer, MN. With only one day to practice, the friday before the tournament, I decided to look to see what if any fish are still up on beds. With in the first 50 yds from putting the boat in I knew there were going to be plenty of fish up so I put it on high and and covered as much shallow water as possible. After 6 hrs we had marked 50 some beds holding descent fish but now it was time for a back up plan and look for some deep fish. This didn't go so well and we only boated one fish in 3 hours so the plan for tournament day is going to be shallow. As we start tournament day there is another competitor on a group of beds so we pulled up farther to try a top water bite. With only one small fish after the first hour we had to move running to check a couple specific beds we boated on and couldn't get the other to bite and made another move to a bigger flat. When we pulled up on this flat it was a fire drill! In the first couple of minutes we boated 3 fish to fill out our limit. With a couple of other boats up on it we just milled through them and got on the fish we had marked and over the next 4 hours were able to up grade our catch every 20 minutes or so. After running out of fish to catch we made one last move to a small hump and found a nice big black smallie just waiting to be caught, so I thought, but not to be so. In the end that fish meant the difference between 15th and 2nd but that is why it's called fishing and not catching. Other than one fish caught on a topwater and a drop shot the rest came on a mojo rig, with a 3/16oz sinker and a 1/0 Owner circle hook all rigged on 8lb GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line.
The Mighty Miss (Mississippi River) didn't treat me so well so far this year and this past Weekend Series was no different. I headed down early Friday morning to get a full day of fishing in. I decided to spend the day on pool 5 which came with mixed results. I found fish in ultra shallow water cruising sun fish beds and some fish on cut bank and a couple on wing dams but nothing that made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Saturday I spent the day on pool 4 which started out raining but turned out to be a nice day and the fishing wasn't to bad with fish coming on topwater and Outkast swim jigs but again nothing that really got me excited. For the tournament I decided to start on 4 and make my way down to 5 in the afternoon that was all great until there were 4 foot rollers on my first to stops. Making my way to my next area I decide to stop short and fish some productive stuff from the past. This proved to be a good decision with three fish in the boat all on different baits, a new Outkast 5/16oz finess jig and swim jig and a top water. At 10 o'clock I locked down to pool 5 and ran some cut bank flippin the finess jig and a Outkast Naughty Bug catching my final 2 fish to finish out a limit. At 1:30 I decided it would be a good idea to get back through the lock to make the 2:30 check in time. When we came around the corner my heart sank as there is a barge in the lock and with a few boats waiting around I kept a positive attitude that we would make it through. In the end we got in the lock and made check in with 3 minutes to spare though my 5 for 11.22lb was only good for 41st place but it has me in 20th place overall in points well within the top 50 they will take to regionals.
So over the next couple of weeks I am going to enjoy some down time and do a little prefishing. Hope that all of you also get on the water and enjoy the 4th of July.
Tight Lines,
B
Mary and I finally got to our first Fishers of Men tournament this year which was back over on Green Lake in Spicer, MN. With only one day to practice, the friday before the tournament, I decided to look to see what if any fish are still up on beds. With in the first 50 yds from putting the boat in I knew there were going to be plenty of fish up so I put it on high and and covered as much shallow water as possible. After 6 hrs we had marked 50 some beds holding descent fish but now it was time for a back up plan and look for some deep fish. This didn't go so well and we only boated one fish in 3 hours so the plan for tournament day is going to be shallow. As we start tournament day there is another competitor on a group of beds so we pulled up farther to try a top water bite. With only one small fish after the first hour we had to move running to check a couple specific beds we boated on and couldn't get the other to bite and made another move to a bigger flat. When we pulled up on this flat it was a fire drill! In the first couple of minutes we boated 3 fish to fill out our limit. With a couple of other boats up on it we just milled through them and got on the fish we had marked and over the next 4 hours were able to up grade our catch every 20 minutes or so. After running out of fish to catch we made one last move to a small hump and found a nice big black smallie just waiting to be caught, so I thought, but not to be so. In the end that fish meant the difference between 15th and 2nd but that is why it's called fishing and not catching. Other than one fish caught on a topwater and a drop shot the rest came on a mojo rig, with a 3/16oz sinker and a 1/0 Owner circle hook all rigged on 8lb GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line.
The Mighty Miss (Mississippi River) didn't treat me so well so far this year and this past Weekend Series was no different. I headed down early Friday morning to get a full day of fishing in. I decided to spend the day on pool 5 which came with mixed results. I found fish in ultra shallow water cruising sun fish beds and some fish on cut bank and a couple on wing dams but nothing that made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Saturday I spent the day on pool 4 which started out raining but turned out to be a nice day and the fishing wasn't to bad with fish coming on topwater and Outkast swim jigs but again nothing that really got me excited. For the tournament I decided to start on 4 and make my way down to 5 in the afternoon that was all great until there were 4 foot rollers on my first to stops. Making my way to my next area I decide to stop short and fish some productive stuff from the past. This proved to be a good decision with three fish in the boat all on different baits, a new Outkast 5/16oz finess jig and swim jig and a top water. At 10 o'clock I locked down to pool 5 and ran some cut bank flippin the finess jig and a Outkast Naughty Bug catching my final 2 fish to finish out a limit. At 1:30 I decided it would be a good idea to get back through the lock to make the 2:30 check in time. When we came around the corner my heart sank as there is a barge in the lock and with a few boats waiting around I kept a positive attitude that we would make it through. In the end we got in the lock and made check in with 3 minutes to spare though my 5 for 11.22lb was only good for 41st place but it has me in 20th place overall in points well within the top 50 they will take to regionals.
So over the next couple of weeks I am going to enjoy some down time and do a little prefishing. Hope that all of you also get on the water and enjoy the 4th of July.
Tight Lines,
B
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