Saturday, June 17, 2017

Bass Snatchers Mississippi River Tournament Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the 2nd Bass Snatcher Tournament of the year on the Zebulon Pike Reservoir, which is the section of the Mississippi River to the South of Little Falls.  We have only 8 boats and 15 people fishing.  Hopefully the tricks I've learned fishing rivers over the years will be enough for a good finish.  I was out there twice pre-fishing with my boater Tom "Swannie" Swanson and he was out there one other time without me.  It looks like it's going to be cloudy with a pretty good breeze out of the NW.  I hope it is more WNW than NNW just to help keep the current and boat control a little more manageable.  It's going to be on the cool side as well with temps not supposed to get out of the mid 60's. It looks like they have taken rain out of the forecast, at least for now.  Cold fronts aren't supposed to effect river fish as much and I don't foresee there being a drastic drop in river temps.

From the reports I've heard and our own pre-fishing, it will probably be a grind rather than a smash fest.  Not sure what effect the cloud cover will have on the fish.  I think the keys for me will be accurate casting and hooking/landing my bites.  Have no clue what it will take to win or even be competitive.  I'll guess a 15lb+ limit to win, 12lbs for the Top 5 and 10lbs for Top 10  A limit might be golden or not, who knows.  From pre-fish I believe a 11lb limit is doable, anything more is gravy.

I'm going to start with topwater, but swim jig, and spinnerbait will probably always be right at my feet.
If I have to go to the Texas Rig, that is probably not a good sign.

7'2" Tatula MH Braid Plopper
7'1" Tatula MH Fluro Bladed Swim Jig
7' Avid H Fluro Texas Rigs
6'10" Crucial MH Buzzbazits
6'8" Avid M Fireline Topwater
6'8" Avid M Mono Topwater Prop Baits
6'4" Avid X M Fireline Spinnerbaits
6'6" IMX MH J-Braid Swim Jig

No comments: