Snatcher Rush Lake Preview, Part 2: The Plan and Rods

 The Plan: Snatcher Tuma was not impressed with what we saw up shallow, so we probably will not be throwing frogs.  It's going to be windy. If the bass are up in the water column and aggressive, it will be Chatterbaits and Spinnerbaits. If they are not up and aggressive, it will be jigs and Texas rigs on the bottom.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Tatula (Plopper, Frogs/Toads)

7'4" H  Mod Zillion (Punching)

7' MHM  Mojo (Chatterbait)

7' H Avid (Texas Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Jigs)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Spinnnerbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Jigs)

6'6" MH 763 Loomis GLX (Ned)

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. 

August 22nd Rush Lake Snatcher Tournament

Smitty's Anchor Fish in a 21lb Bag

What My Scale Said I Had

Conditions:
Started late due to fog turning sunny around 11:30 or so. Light WSW Wind.

The Day:
Started with a fog delay, so we bumped the weigh-in time to 4:30PM. I think we had our 5mph blast off at 8:20 or so. Herman and I were headed to the East end so it was a good long time before we started fishing. We stopped at some reeds along the South shoreline with some rice and pads closer into shore. I got a pike on a frog along some reeds and then the first bass of the day (1.94lbs) along some rice.  Herman got a 2lber out from some rice on a spinnerbait. That made his day. We hit some Reed/Rice/Pads in the middle of the Eastern Bay next. I got a 1.27lber out of some pads. Had a couple of probable pike swipe at me and not come back for seconds. I launched one pike that bit 12 feet through the air when I set the hook on it.  I then had the 2.40lber ambush the Sparrow about 8 feet out in open water after coming off of some pads. We worked around the backside of the stuff we were fishing. I cast to some pads landing on the edge when a 3 to 4lb fish body slammed the Sparrow. I quickly dropped the rod and set the hook sending the Sparrow back towards me at Mach 1.  The dand fish didn't eat the frog. I threw the kitchen sick at her trying to get it to bite again, but she gone!  That was my last bite in this stuff. As we worked our way over to the access area I switched the Sparrow from my 7' 4" Xtra Heavy Frog Rod to my 7'4" Heavy Tatula Frog Rod. It was clear that I was going to be throwing a frog for the next few hours, so I wanted to do it with my favorite rod.  Over by the access I had a 14/15 bass get off at the boat. I figured that fish would have been culled so I didn't stress it. The sun came out.  We were working some open water between slop pockets when I caught a dink. When we got to the next slop line I lost another 14/15 fish, no biggie.  We went through a little dead zone of rice.  We were approaching a rice/pad point where Bruce lost a bite during pre-fish. I think Herman missed two separate fish there. I think Herman missed another fish in some pads/reeds.  The area turned to pads. Herman gave me control of the boat as he made sandwiches. I had a pike miss me.  I then had the 2.66lber give his location away. I caught her on the next cast.  I doubled back to re-fish the area and got the 2.73lber. The sandwiches were now ready so we sat there and ate. I finished first so I went back over the area again and got the 2.22lber. We doubled back one more time and didn't get anything so we proceeded along the pad edge. I got me big fish of the day which weighed 2/13. Shortly after that, I had a fish smoke the frog and bury me in the pads. Thinking it was another good one I put way to much pressure on the rod and it snapped. The fish was still hooked and I reeled in a 13-inch dink. I quickly put the Sparrow back on the Xtra Heavy and tried to get the fact that I busted my favorite rod in the world with little hope of being able to procure another one out of my mind. I caught a couple fish that didn't help and Herman lost a couple of quality blow-ups.  Herman was not happy about missing the fish and that his trolling motor was continuously needing to be freed of weeds. And I wasn't happy I had busted my rod.  Smitty came over to talk letting us know his smallest fish was 3lber.  After he left I should have suggested we re-fish over the pads again. I don't know if Herman would have gone for it or not seeing the trouble the weeds were giving him, but the thought didn't even enter my mind. I did want to go back to the area where I got my first quality bite. That is where I got my final cull of the day, a two and a quarter. At about 2:30PM we left for the West side of the lake. We went to some reeds where he got some bites in pre-fish. Nothing going on. We then tried some docks. Herman got a dink. We then went to some reeds/pads along the Southside of the lake. Herman got his third fish and I got a couple of dinks.

The Results: My fish weighed 15/15, which put me in 4th Place. The tournament was won by Smitty's 21/05 bag. Beau won the Co-Angler Challenge again with 16/13 which put in 2nd Place. Getting "wood" for the first time was Jonathan Notsch in 3rd Place with a 16/7 bag and Bruce Groulx with the 4/1 Lunker.

My Thoughts: This tournament is going to sting for a while.  Breaking my favorite rod because I was so amped up burst my bubble.  Devastating! I love that rod.  I can't believe I only had that one 3 to 4lb bite and the doggone fish didn't get the frog. It's like losing the smallmouth that would have filled my limit on the Mississipi. I am snakebit as far as getting wood. We really should have gone back over that pad area a second time.

On the positive side, fourth place is solid points. I am now definitely in the hunt for the Super 6 as I currently sit in 5th Place and the next tournament is on Little Boy/Wabedo.  A lake I feel good about.

     

Good Luck To The Bass Snatchers On Rush Lake Tomorrow!

I had more medical issues come up so I won't be fishing this one either.

July 21st Bass Snatcher Rush Lake (Ottertail) Tournament Report

I guess you could say after the last two tournaments I got depressed.  I didn't get around to writing this report until 2 weeks later after the guys gave me crap for it at the Rabbit Lakes tourny yesterday..  There is really not a whole lot to tell.  In the morning my boater Adam predicted it would take 20lbs to win.  We sped off to his starting spot, an off shore weedline.  Adam got 1 bass there on a craw tube I think.  On the second spot he got one on a jig.  We tried a bunch of different places for the next 5 hours only getting a couple of pike. Finally on the starting spot Adam connected with another bass.  I think we left and came back and Adam got 2 more bass.  We left and came back to finish the day on the spot.  With 5 minutes left before we had to go in  I was just about to say it didn't look good for me getting the skunk today, when I had a hit on my Crazy Leg Chigger Craw.  It was a 3.75lb bass, so I didn't get skunked.

Results:
My fish kept me out of last place but that was it.  I was 2nd to last place for the 2nd tournament in a row.  This time I finished in 26th Place.  Chuck Steinbauer won it with 20lbs even.  This was Chuck's 2nd victory of the season.  Big Bass was 5lbs even.

Thoughts:
I wish I had packed a 2nd Texas Rig Rod.  I finally got the fish after going down to a 3/16th oz weight and the Chigger Craw.  Would it have made a difference, who knows.

This tournament pretty much wrecks my season in terms of my end of the year standings.  I'm going to need 3 strong finishes to have any shot at  making the Top 10.

Black & Decker Tackle Wrecker Strikes Again

I was pre-fishing for my next tournament on Rush Lake near Ottertail when I had a big dogfish hit my Aruku Shad.  Can you tell?  Can't say I've ever caught a bowfin on a rattlebait before.  It was raining so I didn't get a picture of the fish.  I would say it was about 26.5 inches long.  It put up a tremendous fight and got all tangled in the net.

It was raining so I didn't get a picture.