Snatcher Tournament Birch Lake

  

Conditions: 65-78℉, PC to Cloudy, 0-7mph SE

The Day:

I met up with Snatcher Herman at Fleet Farm, and we headed North. As Herman predicted, nobody went to our starting area. The area seemed to be a lot less alive, maybe due to it being early in the day. I noticed there was a channel cut into the shore that I didn't know was there. Where the cut meets the bay is a high percentage spot. Unfortunately, we moved in to close and spooked what was there. I did catch a small pike on a buzzbait. About 5 minutes later, Herman had a fish blow up on his swimbait, but miss in a group of pads. A few minutes later, Herman got the skunk out of the boat with a little bass. A couple of minutes later, I did the same thing with a spinnerbait fish (1.56). I switched to Zoom Super Fluke because the area was sloppy. I think I got a bass in the boat (1.58) pretty quickly after going to the fluke. I got more bites, but couldn't get them in the boat. I broke off on a fish that buried me in a pad root and discovered that most of the flukes I brought were torn up and basically unusable. I had four good ones left. We worked our way out of the slop bay, and I took the helm while Herman worked with his tackle. 

I worked a weedline and then some docks that had sunfish on them, but no sign of bass. We bailed on the area and went just West of where the inlet from Ten Mile Lake is. Herman and I quickly put fish in the boat, but mine was barely over 12 inches. Herman got another keeper, and we watched Smitty and Tim pull a couple out of the pads. We worked that northern shoreline, hoping to bump into something, but it just wasn't happening. A little before noon, Herman made us sandwiches. 

We then went to the southern end of the West Basin to a small slop bay, and Herman got his limit fish in front of a tree at the entrance to the bay. I got a keeper and a non-keeper off the tree on a fluke. I then had a pike wreck my second-to-last remaining fluke. I switched to a Z-Man Popping Shad and got a line burner that was hooked in an inopportune way through the eye, so I threw it back.  I lost all three bites I got on a frog in this bay, two of which I had hooked, and they were both 2-lb-class fish, minimum. We then went around the point to work more pads. Herman got a good cull quickly. I got a line burner and pike on my last fluke, which the pike did in. I put on a bubblegum Yum Dinger, but never got a hit on it.  I got my big bass with about 45 minutes left on a frog. We worked pads for 35 minutes. I had a couple of fish boil on the frog, but not take it. With 10 minutes left and still being one fish short of my limit, I pulled the plug on the slop, and we went to the channel between the basins. I fished a tree just to the SW of the channel, nothing. I ended the day getting my limit with a very small keeper on my last cast of the day, just to the SE of the channel.

Results:  I came in second to last. Tuma won and got Lunker (4/03),President Benson got 2nd Place, and Dennis got 3rd Place.

My Thoughts: I had the bites to be in the top half of the field. I didn't bring any Trick Worms, and my packing the wrong Fluke bag was just dumb as well. Lost fish on a frog when you get a good enough hookset to bring them in, most of the time, is tough luck. 

Tournament Grade: C 

I fished hard and got a limit

Birch Lake Preview Part 2: Plan and Rods I'm Bringing.

 

The Plan is to eat well again, thanks to Snatcher Herman.

The Plan: We didn't find any size, but did find bass in the pads during pre-fish, so fishing pads is Plan A. As of right now, it looks like it will be sunny with light to moderate wind. So pads could be a player. If that doesn't work, we'll wing it, I guess.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'6" H Tatula (Swim Worm)

7'4" H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Toads)

7'4" H Tatula XT (Buzzbait)

7'H Avid (Texas Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Spinnerbait, Buzzbait, Wakebait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Swim Jig, Paddletail, Dark Sleeper, Chatterbait)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater, Ned, Jerkbait, Trap, Neko)

5'6" MH Premier (Fluke, Senko, Ned)

Snatchers Birch Lake (Hackensack) Preview, Part 1.

 

Thanks to recent changes at Fish Swami, it is easy to look up my history at places I have fished since 2011, the first year I seriously started logging my trips. I have fished three tournaments at Birch Lake and pre-fished two of those, for a total of five days on the lake. In 2016, it was also the first tournament of the year. The "heart" for May 31, 2016, was for a 33.5" pike I caught. The bass we got pre-fishing in 2016 were pretty random, and I kind of remember where we caught bass in the tournament. I will be pre-fishing the lake on Tuesday with my boater, Herman. It looks like the weather going in will be warm and stable going into the tournament. I suspect most fish will be post-spawn by next Saturday. 

Pre-fishing done, we have a plan. See Part 2 on Saturday.

My Thoughts On The Tentative 2025 Bass Snatcher Schedule

 Dates and Lakes for 2025 were picked at least until the next meeting.

May 31st Birch at Hackensack: This will be the 4th time we have fished this lake since I joined the club. Two of the of the three times were in the Fall. In 2016,  it was the first tournament of the year as well. I haven't had any notable finishes here, but I enjoy fishing clear water and am not intimidated by it.  

June 21st  Lum Park Mississippi: I really want to catch a limit in a river tournament. This provides me that opportunity. I've fished one other tournament here.

July 19^th Edward: This will be the 3rd time in the last 8 years the club has fished this lake. First tournament went well. The 2nd tournament I struggled in the windy conditions, while my boater kicked my butt. I have wanted revenge on this lake. Lots of reeds.

August 23rd Rush Lake by Perham: This would be my third time fishing this lake. The first time, I only got one bass. The second time was a blown opportunity to finish well. It has a lot of reeds and slop.

Sept 13^th Fish Trap Lake: It's an ok lake. I don't love it. I don't hate it.

Sunday, September 28^th North Long:  The lake seems to have a great population of bass in it. I've fished it quite a few times. I think it has topwater potential if the conditions get right. 

Birch Lake Bass Snatcher Tournament Sept.15th Full Report

I drove up to Snatcher Darren's Place and rode up with him.  When we arrived at Leech, it was blowing to beat the band out of the NNE when we arrived at 6:30AM.  Not a good thing when we were launching out of Horseshoe Bay.  The wind didn't die down, and the tournament director switched us to the alternate lake at about ten to 8:00AM.  So off we went to Birch Lake.  My boater Alan had only fished the lake twice when the club fished here for the first tournament of the year in 2016.  I fished the lake twice in 2016 and twice in 2011 when we fished there on Oct 1st.

The Day:
I think we blasted off by 8:40AM.  Alan and I were boat number 1.  Alan decided that we would run to the farthest west bay in the lake; It's a pad-lined slop bay.  Al got two quick small bass in the boat; One kept, one short.  I missed a bite in the pads and had a pike hook up on the frog over open water where I saw a fish bust.  We got into the open area in the bay.  I hooked up with a bass near a pad patch out in the open on a black/red Terminator Frog.  Immediately after I set the hook, so did Also we got a double.  My bass was my biggest of the day (2/10), and Al's was just a keeper.  I think Al got 2 more keepers in there.  We then went across to an adjacent point and didn't get anything.  So we headed a little farther East and tried some docks and wood on the north shoreline.  I got a pike on a dock.  We worked our way out on a point, and I got a 2lber there on a green pumpkin Jackhammer.  Other than a couple pike, that was all we got.  Next, we headed to the south end of the western basin and started working the weed flat.  I put on a junebug Jackhammer and was quickly rewarded with a small keeper.  We went up and worked the pads for a little bit and tried some reeds to the west, not getting anything but a few pike.  I then suggested we try the channel between the lake.  I got a tiny keeper out of the reeds on the southeast shoreline.  We didn't get anything in the channel.

Next, we headed to where the river goes to Ten Mile Lake.  I had a fish hit, hook up, hang me in some cabbage and get off.  As I was reeling in, I saw a 2lber following my Jackhammer, so I killed it, and the fish smashed it.  I didn't get another bite until we were across the other side of the bay when a 14-incher hit my bone Sprinker Frog in some reeds.  That was my last landed bass of the day.  We went back to the bay we started in, and Al got his biggest bass off the day in the pads.  We worked around the southside pads of the little island. I had a couple of fish hit my Terminator Frog, but I didn't hook up.  Probably just small bass like Al was catching.   Then we tried the south side of the big island, and all I could get was a pike.  And just like that, the day was over.

Results: 
My fish weighed 10lbs 1oz which put me in 14th Place out of 18 anglers.  Al had 2 more ounces than me and finished 13th.  Keith Tuma won it 19/3 and had a 4/04 for the tournament "Lunker."  Dwight Hammermeister, who was in Tuma's boat, came in 2nd and won the Co-Angler Challenge.

This finish makes me finishing in the club Super 6 highly unlikely, but I'm pretty much guaranteed I will reach my goal of finishing in the Top 10

My Thoughts:
My mental state wasn't optimal.  I hadn't fished since Monday, and I was 100% sure we were going to be fishing Leech Lake and had prepared myself for a tough bite there.  My head just wasn't in the game like it needed to be.  It didn't help that the fish never really clued us in.  It didn't help that I didn't have rods and tackle along that would have diversified my fishing options.  I think we probably should have tried a few more docks and definitely fished the eastern basin.

   

Snatcher Birch Lake Quick Report

To much dismay and consternation the weather report at Leech Lake this morning was wrong.  When we arrived at Horseshoe Bay Resort this morning the wind was blowing about 15mph out of the NE.  The worst possible direction.  We ended up going to the alternate lake, Birch in Hackensack.  This move was totally unexpected.  Both Al and I managed to scratch out a ten pound limit and finish somewhere in the back half of the 18 angler field. 

My Full Recap June 4th Snatcher Tourny at Birch Lake (Hackensack)

Tournament Winner the humble Dennis Lothspeich in his new ride.

Conditions: 65-55 degrees, Cloudy with some rain, Windy for most of the day out of the NW

Not The Day I Was Looking For:
We blasted off at about a quarter to 8AM.  We went to the channel that separates the two basins.  I quickly had a fish on my D & M Baits Piranha bluegill color, but it was a pike.  As we were fishing through the channel I had the Grass Pig's tail get bit off.  As we worked our way North out of the Western side of the channel I got a 12.75" keeper on a black/blue Piranha with a Chigger Craw trailer.  We kept moving North.  I got a 11" on the Chigger Craw.  The wind came up and it started raining.

We moved to the South side of the Island and fished around the rock point.  As we were working the windward side coming up on Paul and Hammer my boater Darren stuck the Lunker of the Day.  That was the only fish we got in that area.  We worked around the West side of the Island where I got a pike on an Okeechobee Craw Craw Fatty.   We started down the East side and Darren missed a hit.  I quickly landed a 14.75" in the same general area on the Craw Fatty.  We pulled a little more off shore and I got a 14.25" and a 16.75" (2-6) also on the Craw Fatty.  Darren picked up a couple of fish as well on Craw Tubes.  I landed a short and a couple of pike and missed some hits.  Darren got his limit.  The action slowed.  Darren switched to a Senko.  He had a mule on, but his drag was too loose.  He tightened it up to much and the fish broke him off as it jumped just out of reach of the net.

That kind of wrecked the mood in the boat as Darren was pissed off and I wasn't getting bit out there in the wind and rain.  Also my upper back really started to be a pain.  Darren did get another good fish on the Senko and maybe one or two more fish on it.  I tried an Strike King Ocho and a couple of crankbaits.  We finally bailed on the place with about an hour and a half left.

We tried a point where we had gotten a fish in prefish.  Didn't get anything there.  We moved in to try a few docks.  I got a bad wind knot that put my Fluke Rod out of commission.  That truly sapped my confidence.  We tried another point where I got a pike on the bluegill Piranha.  Darren got a fish that didn't help him.  We worked some slop not getting a hit.

We hit the channel on the way in.  I got a rock bass on the Craw Fatty and Darren got a small upgrade, but then he culled two fish leaving him one short of a limit.  That error ended up costing him two places in the final standings.

Results: My 4 fish weighed 6lbs 9ozs and put me in 13th out of 15 anglers.  Darren came in 6th Place with 12-6.  Dennis Lothspeich as noted above was the winner and his fish weighed 14-9, beating Guy Henkensiefkin by 2 ozs. and Chuck Steinbauer by 3ozs

My Thoughts:  Bottom line I didn't fish very well or intelligently.  I skipped right past the Chigger Craw I had on to put on the Ocho.  We were fishing a spot that was ideal for a football head jig.  It didn't even enter my mind.  I should have thrown a jerkbait as well.  I allowed myself to get frustrated and mentally spun out.

I think it really would have helped if we would have had a marker buoy or two out.  We were fishing far enough off shore and a school of fish was definitely there.  Not having a marker buoy made us far less efficient.   I was out there throwing blind.  

I give myself a D for for that disappointing and depressing finish.  I now haven't caught a limit in 3 straight tournaments.

Next Tournament South Long  

Birch Quick Report

A disappointing start to the tournament season for me as I fell two fish shy of a limit.  It was also disappointing because my boater Darrin had the fish on to win, but didn't due to equipment and execution issues.  At least he got Lunker for the day.  I forgot to get a picture of him with it.

My mental and physical game were both off of where they needed to be.  I should have been able to get a limit. On the bright side at least I didn't get bit off by a pike.  I did have to retie about 5 times though.

Snatcher Tournament Season Starts Tomorrow at Birch Lake (Hackensack)

Provided that I can catch a keeper I will get good points for this tournament as there are only 15 guys fishing.  My boater Darren and I are a little befuddled on what the fish are up too.  Most of them have to be post spawn at this point.  Have no clue what the cool weather, clouds and NW wind will do for the bite.  The fish could be shut off like they were when we pre-fished on Tues.  Or they could really be on the chew as Birch has fairly clear water.  I brought almost all moving baits for pre-fish and the fish weren't having it, except the pike.  I'll have all kinds of plastics at my disposal tomorrow.

The big question is how many tungsten sinkers am I gonna lose if the bite is off and I have to fish slow?  I think Darren got bit off about 6 times on Tuesday.

Update: Forecast changed, same winds but now it's going to be sunny with temps getting to the low 70's.

Baxter Bass Snatchers Birch(Hackensack) Oct. 1st.

Conditions: Cool and clear Morning with moderate wind out of the SE growing to 15-20mph throughout the day.

We blasted everybody off as we were last boat out and we went right to our planned starting spot, which was the weed flat to the SW of the public access. Nobody else went that way. I put on a Paycheck Baits Repo Man "drag stripper" and within the first 10 minutes I had 15" bass in the boat. Within the next 10 minutes I had number two in the boat. My boater Owen then quickly caught 2 on a spinnerbait and we thought we were on to something, but it just died. Maybe we moved off the best area a little to quick. Unfortunately the two fish I pulled from this spot in pre-fish were both 16.5".

Next we headed into the West basin to the spot where Owen got his hawg in pre-fish. I saw a lot of baitfish, but we came up empty. We worked up to the other point and I had a hit on a crawtube, but didn't hook up. I cast back and got another quick pick up and drop. The crawtube had a pretty good rip in it, so it was probably a pike. As we were working down the point along the reed line. Owen brought in a small keeper bass and then so did I (12.5")on a black spinnerbait.

Next we headed to a point farther South where I wanted to go in and work the slop. We started along the point and I pulled a pike on the spinnerbait. Owen caught a bass a few minutes later out of about the same spot. We got down into the start of the slop and there were some reeds on both sides of the boat. I made a cast with a Zoom Horny Toad out into the lake and had a fish nail it right before I was out of the reeds. Wouldn't you know it but it got hung up. I watched the fish struggling back and forth and then it pulled free. I really should have muscled that one more. It wasn't a huge bass but it was a quality one probably around 2lbs or more. I was really hoping the slop would go, but it was dead. We worked some awesome looking stuff with wind blowing on it, but there was nothing there. On a long cast out across the weed flat with the spinnerbait I had a hit and brought in one just over 14". We then worked down in the wind along the weeds. I did have a nice bass that I could have used nip at a Cordell Spot and I got a couple of pike on the spinnerbait.

We got down around the big Island and I made a cast up by a buoy and got nailed by a 14.5". It seemed like a spot were a school might stack up, but that was the only one there. As we worked back around the island I had another bass that I could have used nip at the spinnerbait and not hook up. We got around the Island to where it was calm and I started throwing the Repo Man, but there was so much debris in the water that I kept getting hung up. We got a little past the debris field and I caught a small pike, then a 12.5" squeeker bass. I was glad to have a limit.

We only had a couple of hours left and with those topwater bites I thought maybe our starting spot would go, so we went there. I worked through several topwaters and couldn't get a hit. Finally Owen pulled a quality bass on a spinnerbait and I switched. I caught a 10 inch pike. We drifted along and I had one last good hit, but it got off about half way in.

Results: I thought I had 9 something, but my fish only went 8-12, which put me in 15th which was my worst finish of the year. Owen only had 5 for 7-00 which put him in 17th place. The winner had 15-8 and a little over half the field had 10lbs or better. Obviously we missed the quality fish.

Top 6 Race- Bill Ludenia placed 6th which tied us for 6th place in end of the year points (best 5 of 6 tournaments). Bill owned the tie breaker, so I dropped to 7th and out of "the wood". It's my bad as had I not counted that live fish as dead at Cullen I would have been in 6th free and clear. Also if all 6 tournaments counted than I had one more point, one more fish, and .88lbs more than Bill, so I actually had the better year statistically. I know I deserved 6th Place and I get to fish on the Bass Snatcher Challenge Cup Team, so it's all good.

Analysis- I don't think I was necessarily doing the wrong things in this tournament. We just spent far to much time on bad water. Some of that water I don't regret trying because it really seemed fishy. Our bites were just so random that there was nothing to key on. I am still flabbergasted that I was unable to pull a few fish on topwater at the end of the day. Between tournament day and pre-fish we may have just sucked that flat dry.

Tournament Quick Report

The day started with 2 quick fish on topwater but the fish shrunk on me and then it was a grind. Just glad I got a limit. I think it will be my worst finish of the year and I probably got bounced out of the Top 6 as well. Full Report when I know how things shake out.

A big congratulations to Dennis Lothspeich who for the first time in his 22 years as a Baxter Bass Snatcher managed to catch his limit in all 6 Tournaments.

Also a big congratulations to Guy Henkensiefken who won his 4th Tournament of the year and easily sewed up Mr. Bass (Angler of the Year) honors.

Bass Snatcher Birch Lake Preview

Barring trouble overnight with my Dad at the hospital I plan on fishing the tournament tomorrow. With Dad in the hospital I probably won't be 100% mentally, but I think lack of focus won't be a big problem.

Who knows how this one will fish. It's suppose to be kind of windy out of the South being cold in the morning and getting up to around 60°F with sun and very few clouds. It could be tough or the fish could really be on the chew and we just might not be able to find the right area's with so little experience on the lake or maybe we will really whack em'. It was pretty cool in the morning the day we pre-fished but it was foggy when we got into our morning bite and it was overcast most of the time we fished. Pre-fish went OK and I think I have a general idea about what I hope will be working. I would be really happy if I can get to 12lbs as I think that would seal my spot in the Top 6 for the year. At a minimum a limit and 10lbs probably wouldn't be to bad.

My boater has a good craft in terms of space for my rods, so I am bringing 10, which for this tournament is really nice to be able to do.

Rod Line Up:
Dock Rod bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke (spinning)
Crawtube Rod
JigNpig/Crawtube Rod
Spinnerbait Rod White
Spinnerbait Rod Black
Buzzbait Rod
Topwater/Rattlebait/Crankbait Rod
Dipper Rod
Toad Rod
Frog Rod

Birch (Hackensack) Pre-fish Report

I got up to Birch Lake in Hackensack with my boater Owen on Saturday Sept 24th. We arrived at the Lake a bit before 8AM. It was a cool morning with heavy fog. Because of the fog we weren't gonna run anywhere, so we just picked a direction and went. We started off on docks, but that was a bust. I started throwing a topwater out into the lake and I was rewarded when this 16.5" busted on my lure.
That fish kind of clued us in to work on the weedflat and about 10 minutes later I got a very similar fish. At that point I switched to a buzzbait. Owen got a couple of bites on a subsurface bait. I pulled a nice bass on the buzzbait, then a small pike. I had a couple of other fish slap at the buzzbait and not get it. The fog lifted as we had pretty much worked our way across that flat. We tried some reeds for a while and I got a hit on a dipper and it bit my tail off, so it was probably a pike. One of the guys from the Bass Snatchers came by to say hello and then took off. We worked some shallow pads, reeds, and docks but nothing was going so we headed out to see if we could re-find some good weeds with a little more depth and we did. We basically drifted in the wind a long way across a weedflat. Not much happened until we started getting pushed towards a certain shore line. I pulled a small pike on a black spinnerbait. A little bit after that I threw up by some reeds and I got another hit. I could tell right away it was a good fish. It turned out to be this pike.

I went to net it and when I got it's head in the net my spinnerbait broke in two. You can see the hook end in the pike's mouth. The blade got caught in the net, so I didn't lose that which was nice.

It was cloudy at this point and wind was blowing in on this shoreline. Owen tried docks, while I casted out. That wasn't doing anything, so we shot out onto the weed flat. After about 10 minutes of that with nothing. We decided to head to the Western basin. When we got into the other lake, there was another Snatcher boat up the way, so we stopped to talk to them. They said they had gotten one good fish. We took off and went to a spot Owen thought looked good. It produced a giant.
It measured 21". I felt really bad Owen got this fish in pre-fish and not the tournament. We worked the area and didn't get any more bites.

Next we moved up shallow into some pads and reeds. We got a couple of biters but the fish were smaller than what we had been getting. After we were done in that area we did a little cruising to look around. We stopped at a spot I thought might be good. I had something hit my spinnerbait but it didn't hook up. There were weeds and a weedline so I started throwing a crawtube and something thumped it. I thought for sure it would be a pike, but it was a 17.75" largie. We worked the area but couldn't get any more bites. Owen got a call about a family emergency and so we had to leave around 2PM.

My impressions: It would be nice if topwater played on tournament day, but conditions will determine if that will go. What we found was pretty sporadic, so I don't really know what to think about it. Owen may get out to pre-fish one more day and I think that will be very helpful if he does. I half wish the pre-fish was tournament day as I was putting together what I believe would be a competitive bag. Hopefully weather will be favorable tournament day as I think the lake could fish really well under the right conditions.

Birch Pre-Fish Tease

This is my boater Owen and the fish was 21".

Details on the pre-fish coming soon.

Pre-fish Birch Tomorrow

My last Baxter Bass Snatcher Tournament of the year is on Birch Lake at Hackensack on October 1st. I think my boater Owen usually fishes as a non-boater and he, like me, has never been on the lake. He doesn't even have a lake map. Birch is a 1,200 acre lake with good water clarity. It is basically is made up of a deep basin(NW) and a shallow basin(SE). I would assume the water isn't as clear in the shallow basin, but I don't know that for a fact. Basically, I know almost nothing about the lake and how it fishes. Apparently Owen knows somebody who has fished it, so hopefully he has a few leads on good areas. I really wish I knew which basin is better in terms of the bass population. Who knows, maybe they are about equal even though the structural makeup is completely different.

I guess I'll know a lot more after tomorrow.