Trophy Out For 2019

I held out as long as I dare hoping some warm weather might show up, but it was not to be.  The Trophy is out for 2019.  One more night in the water and it would probably have been a lot tougher breaking her out.

Vikings Outlook After Week 7: Some Optimism Is In Order

I didn't get around to my post week 6 outlook.  I was guardedly optimistic that after the throat punch the Lions got in there loss to the Pack on Monday Night Football would land us a win and it did.  Bravo Vikes!  The O-Line looks like they are coming together nicely and the O is hitting on all cylinders. It's hard to know whether or not Cuzzbuzz is coming into his own or whether this is the same ole say ole of Kirk beating up on inferior competition.  The Lions flat out got ripped off in Lambert last week and that crowd in Detroit was rocking giving the game a playoff feel. 

The Vikes versus the Skins at home should be a win.  But it is a primetime game, a Cousins bugaboo, and we got beat by the Bills at home last year. You can't take anything for granted in the NFL.  Keenum will give us his best shot, but I think the D has something to prove as they can't be happy with their performance versus the Lions.

Outlook: Thumbs Up! 

Challenge Cup On Platte/Sullivan Tomorrow

I would have been fishing two tournaments this weekend, but the cold/windy weather on Saturday resulted in the Snatchers Mini-Bucks being canceled.  The Challenge Cup will be held on Platte/Sullivan on Sunday.  The Challenge Cup is a tournament between the 3 Brainerd area bass clubs. Unfortunately, due to Pete coming up this week I was unable to get any pre-fishing in by myself.  My boater will be Arnie Farber from the Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters.  Apparently, he didn't have a particularly good pre-fish or maybe he was sandbagging to Tuma.  If we are on nothing I've got a few ideas on where we might be able to catch some fish.

Rods I'm Bringing:
7'4" H Zillion (Jig)
7'4" H Tatula XL (Spinnerbait)
7'4" H Tatula (Swimbait)
7'2" H Tatula (Jig)
7'2" MH Tatula (Chatterjig)
7' H Avid (Craw Tube)
7' MH Mojo (Chatterjig)
7' M Avid (Senko)

Vikings Outlook After Week 5: Still Concerned

The Vikes took a step forward on the road offensively against the Giants, which is a good sign.  This week get a little stiffer test versus the Eagles at home.  If we see continued improvement on both sides of the ball that should equal a win.  Hopefully, Wentz will be running for his life. 

In The Mail Today From All-Terrain Tackle

All-Terrain Tackle sent me a jig assortment for my fantasy team coming in first in their group for the Elite Angler Of Year tournament.

Thank You All-Terrain

My Snatcher Tournament On Leech Lake

2/11 Evergreen Soft Shell Frog

Sarah getting prepared to teach Chuck Steinbauer how it's done.

Beau Wins 4th Co-Angler Challenge of the Year.

Tuma Wins and Got Lunker As Well

Conditions: 37-57℉, Sunny turning mostly Cloudy around 2PM, 0-4mph NE

The Day:
I forgot to bring my sunglasses. Fortunately, my boater had an extra pair in his glove box. Also, drawing a partner with dual consoles was nice, so I didn't freeze on the ride to Boy Bay. We started in the reeds on the North end of Bear Island. I got the first bite of the day on a junebug Craw Tube, but it got off. I thought it was a bass, but my line was frayed, so it could be a pike. I got two other bites in the reeds. The first one dropped it immediately, and the second had me into a reed before I could set the hook. I wasn't able to get either fish to hit again. After an hour of that, we headed for some rice.

We started shallow, working our way along the rice line to deeper rice. Ruff had a couple fish strike at his frog but not hook up. The second fish was 2/3lb bass that jumped completely out of the water but didn't get the frog. Once we got to the deeper rice, Paul put the first small keeper in the boat on a craw tube. I think slightly before that, Dennis showed up and started fishing about 50 yards up or so in the direction we were heading. I took that as a positive sign. Paul got the second fish of the day as well. He only got one more non-keeper for the rest of the day. He had about the same number of bites as me. Over the next couple of hours, I managed to get 4 keepers in the boat on the junebug Craw Tube. I missed a couple of bites on a frog and a few on the Craw Tube. By noon my upper back was sore.

At About 1:30PM, we left the rice for the northern Shoreline of Boy, where we fished a couple of docks, some rushes which transitioned into rice. We didn't get anything. So we went in search of reed beds on that northern shore. Ruff got his short there. After an hour of fishing time, we returned to the rice, and Dennis was there again. We put into the rice about 50 yards away. Paul missed a fish, and I got a keeper on a Green Pumpkin/Brown craw tube. Shortly after that, Dennis motored in much closer to us and informed us we came right in on the juice. He also reported his non-boater Snatcher rookie Jon Notsch was kicking his ass. I asked Dennis what size weight they were using. He was using 1oz and said Jon used a 1/2oz, but Jon said he was now using 1oz as well. I ended up getting bit off, so I switched back to the junebug Craw Tube and upgraded to a 1/2oz weight: I had been using 5/16th. We motored back on the other side of Dennis, and I quickly got my limit fish in the boat. I got a fish that wouldn't help and got bit off two more times. With 20 minutes left, I got two culls on an Evergreen Frog, including my big fish of the day.

The Results: My bass weighed 11/04, putting me in 10th Place out of 20 anglers. 1st Place and Lunker were caught by Keith Tuma (20/02) (4/01). The Co-Angler Challenge was won by Beau Bacon for 4th time this year with a 3rd Place finish out of Tim Benson's boat. Three anglers blanked, and only 8 limits were caught. Tough bite.

I ended up in 9th Place for the year.

My Thoughts: I didn't fish particularly efficiently because I struggled with casting accuracy all day, thanks to a poor night's rest and the long day I spent on the water on Thursday. Other than that, I fished well. We spent at least half the day where there were no fish.   Once again, a kicker fish eluded me.

So Close!

I didn't really follow the Elite Series or any form of Professional Fishing this year.  Thankfully I managed to put together two pretty good line ups for fantasy fishing this year.  The one for Elite Series AOY tournament was probably my best ever.

I picked Seth because it's a smallmouth fishery, duh!  The same goes for Gussy.  I didn't even realize Wendlandt was fishing the Elite Series until I saw his name at the penultimate event, so I picked him for that one.  He didn't do great, but I decided to stick with him.  Jamie Hartman is just a solid angler and always worthy of being picked.

"Big money, small town boy makes sense
So I'm pushin' all my chips on my man Cliff Prince"

Jamie Hartman caught a monster bag on Day 2.  Unfortunately, he was unable to do the same on Day 3 and so my line-up was unable to take the top spot.