Snatcher Lake Alex Tournament Recap

 

Snatcher Herman With The W

 

(2/04 Powerbait Bunker Hawg Texas Rigged)

Conditions: 60-73℉, Partly Cloudy to Cloudy, 4-18mph WNW

Water Temp: Mid 70's 5+ water clarity 

The Day:

We got to our spot, and no other anglers were around. About 10 minutes in, Herman had the first keeper in the boat on a spinnerbait. He then caught a dink, and I got my first keeper in the boat with the Turbo FattyZ. Herman got another keeper on the spinnerbait. I got a keeper on a Big Blade Chatterbait. Herman switched to a jig and got a couple of quality keepers pretty quickly, then filled out his limit with a couple of fish. Herman had his limit by 8:30 AM. We had a short lull, and I suggested we take a quick look in the nearby reeds. They were dead, so we just slid back out to the weedline. Herman got another quality bass and offered me the Powerbait Bunker Hawg he was using; I put it on a Texas rig instead of as a jig trailer like Herman was doing. It wasn't long, and I filled out my limit with keepers by 9:15 AM. My first cull was with the Bunker Hawg and was my big bass (2/04). That was also my last cull with the Bunker Hawg; I think I caught a few more fish on it that didn't help. I think Herman got another quality fish on the jig, so I threw out a jig and got a two-pounder on my first cast. I think I culled up one more time with the jig after lunch. 

We finally left our spot to drift in the wind so Herman could make sandwiches. I lost something on a spinnerbait and caught one that didn't help. We ate our food, and after fishing for another 15 or so minutes, unfruitfully went back to our area. I put my fleece hoodie back on because it clouded up, and I was getting chilled in the wind.  Herman got another quality cull on the first pass. At this point, I thought Herman was definitely in contention for some wood, 1st through 3rd Place finish. I thought one more quality bass would definitely have him in contention for the win. I think I got a couple of fish that didn't help. Maybe one on a jig that did.  We went and tried by an Island. I somehow backlashed my Tatula SV and busted my line, which Herman was able to retrieve. I caught a couple that didn't help on a Dinger. We then headed North, and I got a bass that didn't help on a buzzbait just out from a dock and on the Dinger on a weedline. We ended by fishing some docks just to the West of the Anchor North. It was a good day on the water, and I don't think I ever went longer than about 45 minutes without catching a bass.

24Bass 2Pike 

Results: My fish weighed 11/06 which put me in 7th Place out of 16 anglers. My boater Herman won the thing with 15/11. Second Place went to Snatcher Ludenia with 13/06 and 3rd went to Snatcher Dennis. Snatcher Notsch got Lunker with a 3/15 smallmouth. 

Big Jon Takes Lunker 3/15 SMB

My Thoughts: So cool to be in the boat for Herman's second-ever tournament win. He joined the club before I became a teenager, and this was his second victory in 149 Tournaments. Herman thought his best finish was 3rd Place. Herman just enjoys the fellowship and being on the water. Winning is not a priority. We found a school of the right ones in pre-fish, and Herman, with a swim jig, dredged them up. I don't know why I didn't get one of those better 2.5 to 3lbers in the boat. I should have thrown a jig sooner.

Grade: C

7th Place is better than a sharp stick in the eye, but not having a 2lb average cost me a Top 5 finish. I think the fish were there to do it, I just didn't trigger the bites.

What my scale said I had

Plan And Rods Snatcher Lake Alexander

I was so tired, I didn't get this published in time. Oh well.

 Lake Alexander Plan: Wing it with Herman. Actually the hope is that the weedline we found has a school of 2 and a half to 3lbers like we doubled up on in pre-fish. If not, then I will wing it.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Mod Tatula (Chatter, Plopper, Wake )

7'4" H Tatula (Buzzbait)

7'4" H Tatula (Swim Worm)

7'4" H Tatula (Frog)

7' H Avid (Craw Tube, Rage Bug)

7'H Tatula Elite (Dock, Jig)

6'10" MH Tatula (Sleepers, Chatters, Spinnerbait, Jig)

6'6" MH Veritas (Dinger, Ned)

Thoughts this winter: jerkbait, rocket bobber/wacky rig, prop bait, football jig (ned). Discounted all of that after pre-fish.

Thoughts On The 2023 Baxter Bass Snatcher Tournaments

 

Bay Lake: May not return until after 11PM due to being down in the cities on Saturday. Hope I don't run out of energy. Hope to pre-fish it at least one time with Roger Ubl, maybe a second time with my boater. 

Tournaments Fished: 3 (12,15,18)

Best Finish: 2nd (6/2/12) Roger Ubl (Boater)

Best Limit: 15/11 (6/2/12) Roger Ubl (Boater)

Biggest Bass: 3/2 (6/2/12) Roger Ubl (Boater)

North Long: I just want to catch a limit. Haven't done that the last two times we have fished here. Also hope to pre-fish this one with Roger and maybe my boater as well.

Tournaments Fished: 3 (08,17,21) 2 Snatcher Mini-Bucks

Best Finish: 17th (8/23/08) Chuck Steinbauer (Boater)

Best Limit: 11/1 (8/23/08) Chuck Steinbauer (Boater)

Biggest Bass: 2/9 (In both 08 and 21) Chuck and Nate Steinbauer (Boaters)

Alexander: I like the lake. Will smallies be hitting topwater? I should rig up a wacky rig on a rocket bobber.

Tournaments Fished: 2 (14,19)

Best Finish: 18th Place (6/29/19) Tim Benson (Boater)

Best Limit: 10/1 (6/7/14) Chuck Johansen (Boater)
Biggest Bass: 2/3 (6/7/14) Chuck Johansen (Boater)

MN B.A.S.S. Nation State Championship Leech Lake Aug. 2-4.: I have been thinking about going to a BASS Nation State Championship for a long time, and it's probably now or never. I hope I don't get paired with guys using forward-facing and chasing smallies, but I will come prepared if I do. I pray we get favorable weather.

Tournaments Fished: 5 (09,12,14,19,21)
Best Finish: 10th Place (9/28/19) Paul Ruff (Boater)

Best Limit: 16/11 (6/30/12) Darrien Keifer (Boater)

Biggest Bass: 3/14 (6/30/12) Darrien Keifer (Boater)

Blind: I don't think there are any conflicts on Platte/Sullivan that day that will get it thrown out of the drawing. It would be nice to draw P/S to save me driving time, and I'm usually somewhat dialed in at that time of year.  I also wouldn't mind Edward, Fishtrap, Serpent, The Cullen Chain, or the Mississippi. Not so hot on Mission, Pelican, or Cedar.

The Poke: It's about time the Snatcher's returned to The Poke; it's been 7 years since we last had it on our schedule. I've never fished it in the Fall.

Tournaments Fished: 3 (08,12,16)

Best Finish: 13th Place, but only 14 guys went North for this one (8/6/16) Bill Bailey (Boater)

Best Limit: 12/8 (7/19/08) Bill Ludenia (Boater)

Biggest Bass: 3/7 (7/19/08) Bill Ludenia (Boater)

Whitefish Chain: Hopefully, it isn't windy, cold, and raining because The Chain is a fish factory. Wouldn't mind a little rain to keep boat traffic down.

Tournament Fished: 6 Snatcher Tournaments (10,12,14,16,19,21) and 1 Excel (04)

Best Finish: 10th Place (6/5/10) Chuck Steinbauer (Boater)
Best Limit: 14/02 (6/5/21) Hammer (Boater)

Biggest Bass: 3/5 (6/5/21) Hammer (Boater)

Thoughts On 2023 Snatcher's Tournaments (Tentative)

 

Sunday, June 4th, Bay Lake: This will be the fourth time the Snatchers will begin the tournament season on Bay Lake. I had a 2nd Place finish in 2012 with 15/11 fishing with Roger Ubl; In 2015, I had an 18th Place finish with 10lbs on a cold and windy day with Todd Berghuis; and in 2018, I had a 14th Place finish with a 10/01 bag fishing out of Chuck Steinbuaers boat on a rainy and windy day. Bay has never been a lake to produce giant bags, but it does kick out a lot of limits. The pre-fish I had with Roger Ubl back in 2012 was amazing with how many bass and pike we caught. Always happy to be going back to Bay Lake. I want to thank the club for voting with me to switch this one to Sunday, so I can make the tournament.

Saturday, June 24th, North Long Lake: This will be the fourth Snatcher Tournament and 6th overall (2 Snatcher Mini-Bucks). The previous three Snatcher tournaments resulted in 17th, 23rd, and 20th Place finishes. For some reason, I have struggled to get on the same page with the fish on this lake. Looking forward to cracking the code and getting a limit. I failed to get a limit here in 2017 and 2021.

Saturday, July 15th, Lake Alexander: This will be 3rd time I get a shot at Alexander. The first time was in early June 2014, and it went ok with me bringing in a 10/01 limit. The second tournament was in late June, and I struggled to get bites, only bringing in 3 small bass. Looking to get revenge here as well.

Saturday, August 12th, Lake Winnibigoshish: Who knows if this one will make the final cut. I have a friend who just purchased a place up that way. So it won't be the killer of a drive it would be if I had to leave from here. Rumor has it that Big Winni has big bass. Tuma has been trying to get us to go. This may be the year it happens.

Saturday, September 9th, Whitefish Chain: This will be the 7th time the Snatchers have visited the Chain since I joined the club. But it would only be the 3rd time fishing it in September, and the two previous times were later in the month. We got nice weather once and high winds the second time. If we hit it just right, this could be a phenomenal pick. It's post-Labor Day which will cut down on boat traffic, and smallies are still an option.

Saturday, September 30th, Pokegama: The club last got up to the Poke at Grand Rapids in 2016. All three times I have fished up, there have been summer tournaments. Provided it isn't a cold, rainy, miserable day, I also like this one.  I give this schedule two thumbs up. Hope nothing changes.

Bass Snatchers On Lake Alex Tomorrow

I've only been on Lake Alexander twice in my life.   One day fun fishing in the Fall and a Snatcher Tournament in early June 2014.  My boater Club President Tim Benson said he caught them doing everything he tried when he pre-fished, but that was a week and a half ago.  I've never fished with Tim before so I'm looking forward to it.  If I'm really lucky the big Alexander smallmouth will be on topwater.   It's going to be a hot one tomorrow   

The Rods I'm Bringing:
7'4" H Tatula (Frog Rod)
7'4" H Zillion (Jig/Tokyo Rig)
7' H Avid (Texas Rig)
7' MH Tatula Elite (Big Topwater, Trap)
7' MH Mojo (Chatterjig, Plopper, Trap)
7' M Avid (Senko/Tube/Light Tex Rig)
6'8" M Avid (Topwater, Jerkbait, Spinnerbait)

6' MH Techna AV (Fluke)

Bass Snatchers Schedule for 2019

As I thought the tournament schedule got tweaked when we finalized it. Here are my thoughts.

Whitefish Chain: This will be the fourth time the Snatchers visit the Whitefish Chain since I joined the Club and the 2nd time it kicks off the tournament season.  Whitefish Chain, a lot of water with a lot of bass.  As of yet, I haven't been able to pre-fish The Chain with my boater.  Hopefully, that changes for this one.  It will be interesting to see what role smallmouth play.

Lake Alexander:  This will be the 2nd time I've fished a Snatcher tournament on Alexander. Club records suggest fishing should be pretty good. Also another lake with smallies.

Farm Island Lake: This will be the 4th Snatcher Tournament and 5th Tournament I've fished on Farm Island. (The Challenge Cup was held here last Fall).  Hopefully, the frog bite is on and my boater wants to fish it.

Rabbit Lakes:  Also the 4th time the Snatchers will be holding a tournament on these lakes since I joined the club.  I also have fished a Snatchers Mini-Bucks and Excel Bass Tournament on these lakes.  I'm a little bored with this choice.  Who knows maybe I'll get lucky and land one of those elusive Rabbit Lakes Smallmouth.

Gull River:  The Snatchers haven't fished here in a very long time.  I'm shocked it made the final cut.  This tournament is going to be a total wild card.  Hopefully, I'll draw a boater with some experience because I am clueless on this one.  I don't know what the Gull River consists of or where it is exactly.  I know in the past it was known for big fish, but not a lot of them.

Leech Lake:  I am always up for Leech. (Also the 4th time I will be fishing a Snatcher Tournament)   

Bass Snatcher Tournament Lake Alexander June 7th

My Boater Chuck Johansen, 1991 MN B.A.S.S. Nation T.O.C. Winner 

The Weather- Calm, cool/cold and overcast in the morning, turning sunny with some wind out of the NW in the afternoon.

The Day- Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time we blasted off around 6:45AM because we made a long run up to the NE corner of the lake to fish some reed beds, floating bogs, and docks.  The reeds hadn't started coming out of the water yet.  As we worked our way East I started out throwing a Pure Poison, but in the calm conditions quickly switched to the chart/firetiger Stanley Phantom.  I had what I'm 90% sure was a muskie come up and wake behind that.  Eventually I switched to a gold Frenzy Popper.  I made a long cast out to some reeds.  I'm not sure if I had a little over run that I started taking out or what, but a fish hit the Popper.  I quickly, set the hook but I couldn't reel in because the line was caught on my reel.  It felt like a good fish, but by the time I got my line out of the reel handle it had come off.   I managed to catch a 9" dink on the Popper and missed another one that swirled on it.  We went into some docks and passed by a decent smallmouth that was on a bed.  Next I got a rock bass on a Yabbie and another 9" dink on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.  Then Chuck got  the first keepers along the dock. We had to be at least an hour into the tournament when Chuck got the first keeper.  I finally got a 12" squeaker and we both got some that didn't measure and more rock bass as we worked our way along the bogs and docks on Flukes and the Yabbies.  Chuck got a couple of small keepers and  I got a 13.5" and a 13" off the docks, then we ran back to approximately where we started.  When we got close to the area where we had seen the smallmouth bed I threw my Fluke into the general vicinity and the fish crushed it.

15"

  That was pretty much all we got on our 2nd pass except for a few dinks and rock bass.  We ended up hopscotching with a couple of boats on the docks on the East side of the lake.  We got down to the SE corner and there was a prime looking area of an old reed bed.  I took a 14.5" on the Fluke and then I missed a good fish that may or may not have been a bass up by shore.  Chuck thought maybe it was a dogfish.  We ended up pulling a double much to the dismay of Chuck Steinbauer who was fishing towards us.  Mine was a 15.75" largie.  Steinbauer left and we worked the water he had been fishing.  Then we made the call to go back over the area again.  I tied on a Zoom Horny Toad with a purple head and chart. legs.  I caught a 24 or so inch pike on that.  The wind came up more than it had been and the sun came out.  Chuck thought we should move, but I suggested we fish down to a pontoon boat.  My suggestion paid off for Chuck when he landed a quality fish just on the other side of the pontoon.  We decided to keep going and I think Chuck got another good fish off of a bog point that had the wind blowing on it and I missed what felt like a good fish on a green pumpkin Lake Fork Craw Tube.  I got a couple of rock bass and missed a couple of bites on the Craw Tube before connecting with a 14" fish that culled out my 12".  I think Chuck got another keeper as well.

Next we went a little to the West of the area we started in and headed West.  I culled a 13" for a 13" and caught some that didn't help as we worked our way through the reed stubble.  We started working some docks and we both got some that didn't help and some rock bass.  I had a good smallmouth follow my Fluke out from a dock.  I let the fluke drop when I saw her. It turned to swim away. I jigged the Fluke again, the fish whipped around, eyed it for a couple of seconds than took it.  I set the hook and landed my biggest fish of the day 16"/ 2lbs 3ozs and final keeper bite.  Got several more that didn't help including one on a Gambler Ninja Spin as well as several rock bass on the Craw Tube.  I think I missed 1 that would have helped at least a little bit on a Craw Tube.  Chuck got one last quality cull off of a dock.

The Results- My 6 fish weighed in at 10lbs 1ozs and put me in 19th Place out of 26 fishing.  Chuck's fish went 12lbs 4ozs and put him in 8th place.  Jim Smith won easily with 16lbs 5ozs, more than 2lbs over Guy who got 2nd Place.  Big Bass only weighed 3-8 and was caught by Dave Branum; I think it was a largemouth.  Only 1 guy failed to catch a limit and weights were up an average of around 2lbs per person over the last two tournaments on Alexander (6-25-06, 9-22-12)

My Thoughts-   Other than the first hour which was fairly slow, it was a fun day on the water with a lot of setting the hook.  Had I got all my bites I guess I would have had around 12lbs as well.  For neither of us getting to pre-fish I thought the day went pretty well.  Chuck was a great guy to fish with, very considerate, and asking for my input from time to time.

Next Tournament- Serpent Lake June 22nd

Bass Snatcher Lake Alexander Tournament Tomorrow

Tomorrow we have my first tournament of the year on Lake Alexander.  It's a lake that neither me or my boater pre-fished due to him having motor problems.  I've fished on the lake once in the Fall.  My boater has fished the lake many times over the years, so he has a general idea of where to go.  Looks like there will be wind out of the South all day and a chance of thunderstorms from before we start as well.  I don't know why it's a 8AM start.  It's a good thing I looked today, or I would have been there at 6AM wondering where everybody is.

I am going with 9 rods for this one, 1 more rod than usual
7' 3" MH Chatterbait, Topwater, Lipless
7' 3" MH Swimbait possibly Horny Toad Rod
7' 3" MH Swim Jig Rod
7' 3" MH Spinnerbait Rod
7' H Craw Tube
6' 8" M Topwater, Chatterbait, Swimbait, Lipless, Crankbait, Jerkbait
6' 6" MH Yabbie Rod

Spinning Rods
6' MH  Super Fluke
6' M Senko

I don't know if we will try for or come across any smallmouth.  In the past I think it has taken smallmouth to win.  I'm hoping I can get fish on topwater.  I guess we'll see tomorrow.