That Escalated Quickly

 I won this LiveTarget Wakebait through Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing back in the Fall of 2016; it arrived in early October.  I caught 4 fish with it in 2016, 19 fish in 2017, and 1 fish last year. Basically, until about a week ago, it was in pristine condition. Then in the span of about 3 trips, it caught me 60 fish and now looks like this. I'll be buying a couple more soon. I don't know why I didn't throw it that often in the past. Quality fish love this thing.

Frustrated Incorporated

 My last Vikings blog was after the Week 1 loss to the Bengals. The next two games left me feeling pretty optimistic as they scored at least 30pts in both games and D improving.  Then inexplicably, the wheels fell off the Offence vs. the Browns and continued to sputter vs. the Lions; They almost lost the game blowing a 10-point lead with 5-minutes left. Thankfully, the Lions left too much time on the clock, and Kirk got us in field goal range in three plays, and Joseph made the kick.  It is hard to feel good about the team after the last two Offensive performances. Still, a wins a win, no matter how ugly. There is a lot to feel good about on the defensive side of the ball. Vikes are going to be a tough out because of that fact. And I think our offense is close to working. Maybe things will click next week. 

I just was looking at this year's stats. They are in the top half of the league or higher in most of them. If the Vikes can just perform a little bit better and cut down on the penalties on Offense, they should be alright. 

My Platte/Sullivan Bass Snatcher Tournament Victory Recap

  

4 and a 5

Got Wood Again, Finally

What my scale said

Conditions: 54-72℉, Partly Cloudy to Cloudy, 0-4mph S

The Day:

Darren was kind enough to give me control of the boat for the day. I elected to start in Sullivan at the Intersection. I had Darren set us down a little short of the juice. A decision I almost regretted as Snatcher Ludenia and Nate set down in the general area but fortunately didn't get a bite to slow them down. Darren had something big boil on his frog on about his fifth cast. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get it to strike again. I got us up to the juice and had a fish suck under my frog in a spot where my vision was a bit obscured by reeds. I ended up getting a less than optimal hookset, and the fish quickly got off. A couple minutes later, I had a fish suck my frog under, but this time I was ready and got the day off to a good start with a fish close to 3lbs. I began to work to the East when a boat not in the tournament fished through where I was heading. They caught one small fish, and that was it. I ended up fishing the Intersection instead. It just wasn't happening, and the wind was staying still, so we fished the GOMH on the Sullivan side and then headed into Platte for the rest of the day. 

We spent the next few hours on the North end of Platte in Inlet Bay. I started by fishing the rice line from East to West. I got a small keeper on a Terminator Frog. I think Darren got his first keeper shortly after that. It just wasn't happening on top, so I started throwing a Magnum Super Fluke. We were at the Cookie Jar, and I was just about to pull us off of the rice line when the 4lber bit the Fluke. That kept us on the rice line longer, but we didn't get any more bites. The wind came up a bit, so I pulled us out onto the flat. I got a small keeper and a bunch of pike on the Jackhammer and a craw tube as I worked our way back to where we started. It got calm again. I got my feet set and threw the Terminator Frog way back in the rice line, and 5lber slammed a couple seconds after it landed. I could have sworn I locked the weight at 4.93lbs, but apparently not. I wasn't surprised that my scale weighed it light. We worked the rice corner, then turned around, went deeper into the junk, and I worked our way South. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the slop in Center Inlet. As we made our way into South Inlet, I cast to the coontail mat, and a 3lber took the Terminator Frog about 10 feet out from the mat. A couple minutes later, Darren had a good fish boil on his frog, but unfortunately, his line snapped on the hookset. Darren did get a keeper there in South Inlet. We ended up working our way back to the north with Darren missing several opportunities and me getting pike on a buzzbait. The sun came out, and we got back on the rice line. I got a quality cull, and Darren got his last fish of the day.

As we were coming to the end of the rice, I noticed the front flasher was flickering on and off. Turns out his starting battery was out of juice. I headed us in the direction of the public access, and Smitty came by to see what was up. Smitty has a lithium jumper pack, which got us back in the game for the final hour and a half.  We made a couple of more stops with me getting a few pike, no bass. Just couldn't get one more Platte Lake Special to put my weight for the day over 20lbs.

Results: I won my first Snatcher Tournament with a weight of 19/12, and I also got wood and $ for the 5/2 Lunker.  Smitty came in 2nd with 17/9, and Nate got 3rd with 16/13. 

The win also allowed me to reach my goal of finishing in the club's Top 10 for the year in 10th Place.

My Thoughts: I am so grateful to have drawn Snatcher Darren as a boater and that I fished clean for the most part. I thought I had screwed my chances catching a twenty-pound bag on Wednesday when I didn't know we would be fishing my home lake; Thankfully there were still some melon heads up North. Winning on a lake that has disappointed me so many times made my first win so much sweeter. With the way my season had gone, I seriously doubted I was ever going to reach my number one goal, but I did it. Victory Was Achieved on August 26th, 2021!

Josh Douglas Qualifies For The Elite Series

All my fishing energies were focused on Platte Lake this past weekend, so I missed Josh Douglas making the ten cut at the Southern Open. Thus qualifying to be the second Bass Pundit MN Blogger Derby participant to make the Elite Series. Bob Downey was the first.  I have so much respect for Josh as a person and angler. He is the ultimate grinder who just kept at it getting closer season after season.  This guy hustles, and his love for catching bass and sharing bass fishing knowledge is really something special. He put in the work for his sponsors everywhere he went in venues small and large.  Josh wanted it, and now he's got it. Congratulations man, can't wait to see you up there with Mercer and making it to your first Classic. I don't think anything is going to stop you from reaching your goals. Get that Rookie of the Year in 22.

Check out this Bass Pundit flashback from 2011: (Near as I can tell and recollect I found out about Josh in 2008, through Rich "Hellabass" Lindgren, who will also probably walk across the Classic Stage sometime in the future and would stand a great chance of making the Elites if he put his mind to it.)

The Blind: Platte/Sullivan Goals/Rods

My goal's for this tournament is to get at least a 15lbs limit and finish no lower than 3rd.

Have either Darren or I win the days Lunker

Get Darren a limit 

 
Rods I am bringing:

7'4" XH Zillion (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Frog, Swimbait)

7'4" H Tatula (Fluke)

7'4" H Zillion (Jig)

7'3" H 736 Dobyns Fury (Swim Jig, Chatter Jig,  Spinnerbait, buzzbait)
7'2" MH Tatula (Topwater, Chatterjig)

7' H Avid (Crawtube)

6'6" Abu Veritas (Fluke) 

My Initial Thought On The Platte/Sullivan Draw

 

Last January, I wrote the above about Platte/Sullivan when the blind tournament initially went on the schedule. I was highly confident if my lakes were drawn, I would have a pretty good chance of having a really good day. Fast forward to now after struggling all year to get bites with so many good Fall areas being complete trash or almost trash due to low water and the proliferation of carpetweed in Platte Lake.  Three of the areas I was thinking about specifically back then have been an extremely rough go this year. The weed set up this year is garbage in so many formerly productive spots. The spots that aren't I have pounded relentlessly. Some places that still look fishy haven't given me anything.

I really should have taken a couple of days to search out some new non-froggy spots. Oh well, that is water under the bridge now.

Because the lakes are off-limits today, I put together a spreadsheet of all my spots/areas. I then gave a percentage for my confidence level in catching a fish there right now and in catching one 3lbs or above. In my mind, I have 13 spots where the chances of getting a keeper are better than 50%, and pretty much every spot has a 50% chance of getting a quality bite. Not bad at first glance. However, many of them are either a small one or two fish spot or a wide area that is only good for a bite or two. The highest probability of getting into fish is 60%, which I have for one area on Sullivan and two areas on Sullivan. I will have to see what the wind does, but I tentatively have my starting spot picked. It will be interesting if there is a morning bite or if we have to wait for things to warm up.

Bass Snatcher Leech Lake Tournament Recap

Conditions: 47-74℉, Mostly Sunny, clouded up in the final hour, 8-25mph S

My Day: We started on the South End of Bear Island, where Bruce caught a couple while pre-fishing. I had a pike steal my Dinger about 20-minutes into the day. We then went around Partridge Point. From there, we went to the North end of Bear Island in the reeds. I thought we might get a bite there with the wind blowing on it, but we didn't. We then went to the East end of Center Rice. We started by drifting along the edge.  Thought for sure I would get a bite there as it looked great, but nope. Then we went on the lee side, and I frogged it, trying to make a perfect cast to get a reaction bite. When we met Snatcher Ludenia and Al, they confirmed that it was a tough bite. We then made the run back west to Uram Bay and finished the day there. Bruce missed a bite, and I got the muskie in the final 15-minutes. So we both ended the day skunked for bass.

Results: Goose egg buys a goose egg as good as DNF or DQ'ed. Snatcher Nate came in first with 21-8. Snatcher Chuck got 2nd with 17-8, and Smitty came in 3rd with 15-1. Snatcher Chuck and Bacon tied with a 4-9 Lunkers.  Only 4 limits were caught, and we had 6 guys skunk. So half the Co-Anglers blanked and one boater (My boater).

My Thoughts:  The bite was off, and wind conditions were not favorable. We fished too fast most of the time. I'm not going to beat myself up over this one. Dennis only put two keepers in the boat, and Hammer, who was fishing with Chuck, only caught 3 keepers. Nate's non-boater got skunked as well. I am just glad it warmed up, and I was able to listen to tunes while we were making our long runs through the waves, it actually made the bumpy wet ride enjoyable.

 

Snatcher's On Leech, My Plan and Rods

The Plan:

The Rods I'm Bringing:

7'6" H Mod LTB (Punching)

7'4" XH Zillion (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Frog,Swimbait, Swim Jig, Fluke)

7'4"H Tatula (Crawtube)

7'4" H Zillion Mod (Pitching Jig)

7'3" MagH 763 Dobyns Fury (Spinnerbait, Swim Jig)

Spin:

6'6" MH Abu Veritas (Fluke, Dinger) 

 

MN Vikings 2021

 

Update after the Game 1 27-24 loss to the Bengals.

The team looked shaky in the first half, especially on offense with penalty after penalty. The second half went quite a bit better. 

The D looked much improved. It will not surprise me if Burrow has a breakout year and Mixon runs for 2,000  yards.  Sure the Bengals sucked the last two years. What I  saw was a team in the playoff hunt this year, provided they can stay healthy. I was really impressed with Burrow other than that one terrible throw that should have been a TD. It looked to me like Hunter and Kendricks had quite a bit of rust to shake off.  

On the O side of the ball, Cousins played good enough to win. I am concerned about the O-Line. Not nearly good enough protecting Kirk or making holes in the run game. Hopefully,  they will improve quite a bit with a game under their belt. I wasn't happy with play calling in the moment, but we probably should have won the game. I think the Cook fumble was a blown call. 

The next two games look to be dog fights. Maybe Arizona will lose a little bit of their edge with a win under their belt and will underestimate Zim's squad.  

Tuma & Walls On the Hellabass Livestream

 I finally found the time to listen to this podcast. So glad I did. Good stuff! They discuss the 27lb five fish bag they got on Woman Lake, Smallmouth Fishing, and Frog Fishing.

Goodbye August!

. 

August was a tough month on my fishing confidence and frog fishing rods; I had three of them get broken. Two original Tatula 7'2" Heavy's at the rod tip and an original Tatula 7'4" Heavy above the first rod guide(picture). Hopefully, with the arrival of more moderate September temps, the fishing will improve.
 

Wired2Fish on Fishing Largemouth In River Rice

 What I got from this video is using the Tokyo Rig and 2' foot in 2' out of the grass rule. This video could be helpful to me on Pokegama, the Mississippi River, and Gull River among other places. 

Wheeler Talking Fishing Pressure

 Excellent video by one of the smartest guys to ever dedicate his life to catching them.

My Lake Edward Snatcher Tournament Recap

 

Mick Ziebell 19/03 Lunker 3/15

2/15oz R2S Bully Wa 2

What My Scale said I had

Conditions: 63-85℉, Mostly Sunny, 0-15mphSW

My Day: We got all the boats launched, then we headed to our starting spot, which was just to the South of the Public Access in the reeds. We worked our way South along the reed line with Beau pitching a jig and me throwing a frog. I think I got the first bite of the morning in some pads and reeds up by the shore. It was a small fish that got off after I had reeled it in about 10 feet. I am pretty sure it was a bass, but I'm not 100% certain. The reeds came to an end, and we worked the cattails and docks for a little bit with Beau catching two pike.  It wasn't happing, so we ran to some other reeds. I got the first keeper in the boat with the frog. Beau then caught a 2lber on a jig. Shortly after that, I got my final keeper of the day on the frog. As we worked the reeds. I would get hung up occasionally. I would put about 15lbs of pressure on my 50lb braid, and my line kept breaking, frustrating. After about the 5th time that happened, I switched to a different rod. Beau got his second keeper and missed some bites. Beau spotted what he swore was a muskie. I saw the fish but only saw its back.  I had a fish swirl on the frog but not get it. Neither Beau nor I could get it to bite again.  Beau switched to a Senko and got a couple of good fish. I switched to a Yum Dinger and missed one bite. The wind came up, and we headed to a weedline spot. I missed a couple of bites on the Havoc Pit Boss. Beau filled out his limit on the Senko. I switched to a Yum Dinger and got a couple dinks and a pike on that, and the day ended with me only getting two keepers. I thought maybe I was headed for a last-place finish, but it turns out lots of people struggled on this hot, windy day.

Results: My two fish weighed 4/05, which put me in 15th Place out of 21 anglers.   Mick Ziebell won the tournament with 19/03 and got Lunker with a 3/15 fish. Dave Smith got 2nd Place and won the Co-Angler Cash out of Dennis Lothspeich's boat. Great Job, Dave! Nate Steinbauer got 3rd. Beau came in 4th.

My Thoughts: What a frustrating day. I let the frustration get to me with Beau catching fish and me not getting bites. I think I just fished too fast and didn't concentrate on what I was doing enough. Once we left the reeds, I just couldn't get settled in mentally and didn't fish well at all. Thankfully we have two more tournaments this year for things to come together for me. On to Leech.

Snatcher's at Lake Edward, The Plan And My Rods

 

My boater Beau Bacon has spent a lot of time on Lake Edward. What we are hoping is that hawgs are up in the reeds. We will go out deep if it just isn't happening, but the hope is the reeds play.

The Rods I'm Bringing: 

7'4" H Zillion (Jig)

7'4" H Tatula (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Swim Jig, Swimbait)

7'2" H Tatula (Craw Tube)

6'6" MH 763GLX (Jig, Neko)

Spinning:

6'6"MH Veritas (Fluke, Ned)

Buckets Finally Surpass Crips

Well, it took forever to get here and some help from family and friends, but finally, on August 11th, largemouth bass has taken the lead from crappie on my Fish Swami count. At the rate I've been catching them over the past month I'll be lucky if I get to 1000 for the yea. It's been tough on Platte/Sullivan this year. I am blaming the weed spraying and carpet weed.

 

Belle's 1st Frog Fish

 

2.23lbs Teckel Whacker (Watermelon)

Belle didn't want to go at first, but the fact that we would be getting a late start and wouldn't be out very long changed her mind. Belle missed the first blow-up. The second one hit it on the run in open water and hooked itself. Belle was startled and hung on for dear life, not even thinking about dropping the rod tip and setting the hook. Actually, the fish dropped the rod tip for her. It hit with such force moving away from her. She is a lucky girl; what else is there to say. Belle said it was quite the adrenaline rush and went to texting about her catch. After doing that, she pointed out a place for Todd to cast, which Todd did and immediately missed a blow-up. Todd had multiple strikes but couldn't keep any of them pinned and got skunked for the night.  Then Belle pointed out a spot for me to cast, and I caught the fish, much to Belle's delight. Belle had a small pike come out of the water after her frog and learned we don't want pike stealing our frogs or ripping them up. I got one last bass for the night as Belle was sitting down getting bit by mosquitoes.

My Snatcher Fishtrap Lake Tourney Recap (July 17th)

 

2/14oz R2S Bully Wa 2 (Little Allen)

What my scale said

Conditions: 65-86℉, Sunny to MC and hazy, 0-4mph E
Water Temps: High 70''s

The Day: We started a little way to the South of Access Bay, just outside of some slop. I thought I had something pick up my jig under a dock, but when I set the hook, there was nothing there. We ended up working a weedline outside of the slop bay, and Mick got his first bass on a craw tube. From there, we ran to a point with a hazard marker buoy. Stuff was getting busted on the top, and I got several dinks on Bubble Walker. Mick got a quality fish on the craw tube. We then ran to a weedline that I had fished before in a previous tournament; Mick was unaware of that fact at the time we arrived. I got a pike on a black/blue Hack Attack Jig and then got the skunk out of the boat on my very next cast. We then went to the small island outside of Access Bay. Mick got his third keeper on a craw tube, and I had my Hack Attack Jig get a bit off. Mick caught a long skinny pike. I think we then went back to the point with the hazard buoy working some docks before we got to the point then heading north. I got my second fish on a Neko Rigged Yum Dinger. We moved around to some other spots catching a few dinks under 12-inches.  It was turning into a long day. With an hour left, we went back to our starting spot. Fortunately, Mick came in close enough to the slop that I was able to make some casts to it, and sure enough, my big of the day inhaled my frog. So we worked the junk. Mick lost two bites, and I got #4, pitching the Hack Jig to the pad edge. We reworked the small bay a second time, quickly not getting any bites. With about 20-minutes to go, we ran to the Access Bay, and Mick picked up two more keepers, and I got my last fish on the Bully Wa 2 Frog with 5-minutes left to go. And just like that, time was up. If we had 15 more minutes, I think chances are pretty good; both of us would have caught our limits.

Results: The last-minute rally ended up giving both Mick and me the same weight for the day at 10lbs 9ozs. I won the tiebreaker and finished in 8th Place. Chuck Steinbauer got back into the Winners Circle with 18/12, and he had the 4/04 Lunker. Darren got 2nd with 17/7, and The Hammer got 3rd with 16/3. Todd Lewis won his first Co-angler Challenge. 

My Thoughts: For the second time this year, I was able to rally in the final hour to save myself from a disastrous finish. The lake was fishing tough with only 7 limits boated. It is pretty amazing to me that I was unable to get more than 1 keeper on the Neko Rig for as much as I threw it. I had little fish picking at it constantly, and I caught several dinks. One more keeper, and I would have beaten Dennis. Instead of my season being trash, this result gives me some hope for finishing in the Top 10 for the year; currently, I sit in a tie for 14th.

 

Congrats To Seth Feider 2021 Bassmaster Angler of the Year

 

Fellow Bloomington Kennedy Alum Seth Feider capped off a phenomenal season-winning Bassmaster Angler of the Year yesterday, one of the most coveted crowns in the bass fishing world. 

Snatcher's at Fishtrap, My Plan and Rods

 

The Plan: I didn't get out and pre-fish and my boater Mick reported the fishing for him was slow, but quality fish. My guess is it all comes down to whether or not the fish are turned on or not. The weather will be during a warm stable trend. The fishing could be good or it could be poor.

The Rods I'm Bringing: 

7'4" H Tatula (Frog, Jig)

7'2" H Tatula (Craw Tube)

7'2" MH Tatula (Topwater, Chatterjig)

7'H Avid (Worm)

7'H Mojo (Jig)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater)

6'6" MH Loomis 783GLX (Jig)

6'6" MH Veritas (Dock, Neko)

Feeling Good About the End to Fantasy Fishing 2021

 

3rd Place Result at Lake Champlain

My Fantasy Fishing Season was a trainwreck to start, but I have righted the ship. My result at Champlain got me into the black over at BBC and I'm feeling good about my line-up for the St. Lawrence this week.

My Snatcher North Long Recap

Smitty takes the win with 18/07

2/09 Z-Man TRD Hogz

2nd Fish In the Boat for Nate wasn't a keeper either

What my scale says my fish weighed.

Conditions: Mid 60's to 70's, MC to Cloudy, 3-8mph NE

The Day: Nate kicked my butt yet again, and I couldn't even get a freakin limit, the end.

We were the last boat out and headed South on the main lake. We were fishing along a weedline. Nate put a dink in the boat first. Then he got the bullhead, which we both got a laugh over. Shortly after that, Nate got his first keeper of the day.  My first keeper bit a few minutes later on a black/blue jig and hit on the fall. I think Nate put another keeper in the boat. I lost something at the boat when I wasn't able to put my reel into free spool in time when a big fish went on a power run, and the hook popped out of the fish's mouth. 80% chance it was a big pike, but I never saw the fish, to be sure. It bit the jig as I was reeling it back to the boat. Nate was getting his bites on a craw tube, so I switched to that. I threw a long cast out and got bit by a good fish. 3/4 of the way back in, it spits the hook.  My hook point was still Texposed and in the plastic. That clued Nate into what the fish were doing, and he started catching them pretty quickly.  I got my second fish on the black/blue jig sometime after Nate started culling.

I think we left the first spot around 9AM. Nate continued to cull with a better quality fish as we bobbed up and down on the waves. I got my big fish on TRD creature. I don't remember if I got my second bass at the second stop or the 3rd. Nate continued to upgrade at our third spot. I was getting bites on a craw tube, but the fish would let go and not come back, and I pooched several hooksets as well, very frustrating. At 10:30, I was in good shape with 4 fish in the boat and a 2lb plus average. I think Nate had his final fish by Noon. My final fish came on a craw tube and was the only double we had all day. I missed a couple of other opportunities to double up. We stopped getting bites on the main lake, so with two hours left, we headed to 371. Nate caught 6 or 7 that didn't help in 371. I missed a couple of bites, and the frustration got to me as I messed around with my tackle rather than keeping the craw tube in the water. Neither of the two tricks I had up my sleeve got me a bite. 

Time was up, and I was a fish short of a limit. So frustrating.

Results: My fish weighed 9/7 which put me third from the bottom in 20th Place. Nate had 16/14, which put him in 5th. Jim Smith took the win with 18/07. Lunker went to Bill Ludenia with a 4lber, and he took second with 18lbs. And Chuck Steinbauer beat out Dennis on the tiebreaker to take 3rd Place.

So what went wrong: 
My tackle prep was what cost me in this one, I'm pretty sure. The 17lb line I was Texas rigging with was probably costing me bites. I did have a rod with 12lb Flouro in the boat, but it wasn't spooled with enough line. It was the rod I was using for the black/blue jig. It's a reel I used last year for dock skipping, and I didn't catch the fact that I needed more line. When I was casting the jig, I kept getting hung up on the knot to the backing. I should have re-spooled the reel or just brought another rod combo; plenty of room in Nate's Ranger.

My lower back was stiff, which affected my hooksets, and for some reason, my upper back started bothering me around 10am. I haven't had upper back issues this year and for it to happen when I was fishing bottom contact baits is just unexplainable.

My sense of feel was just off. I pulled the craw tube away from multiple fish.

My Final Thoughts: It just wasn't my day. The odds are pretty good this will be my throw-away tournament and worst finish for the year, on to Fishtrap.

Snatchers at North Long, My Plan and Rods

 This will be only the 3rd actual Baxter Bass Snatcher Tournament I have fished on North Long Lake. The first was in July my rookie year of 2008; I fished for the first time with Chuck Steinbauer in that tournament. I missed the North Long Tournament in 2012 due to back issues. In 2017 every move Checkbook and I made didn't work and I came in with one fish.  I have fished a couple of "Mini-Bucks", but those are in late Fall. I drew Snatcher Nate who has a good track record on the lake.  We are bound to run into something. We drew the last boat out. 

My Goals:
Get a limit of at least 12lbs
Finish in the top 12/Top Half of the field. (If history is an indication 12lbs is a pretty good bet) 
Win that Co-Angler and Lunker Cash

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Tatula (Swimbait, Swim Jig, Frog)

7'4" H Zillion (Jig)

7'H Avid (Craw Tube)

7'2" MH Tatula (Chatterbaits, Topwater)

6'8"M Avid (Topwater)

6'6"MH GLX783 (Jig)

Spinning Gear:

6'6" MH Abu Veritas (Neko)

6'6" IMX 782 (Ned Rig)

Congrats To Hank Cherry On Winning Back to Back Bassmaster Classic's

 I have been really impressed with Hank Cherry the individual this season. He is well-spoken and seems to

be an all-around class guy. His fishing speaks for itself. He is a shark!

Congrats to you and your family!

2021 Bassmaster Classic Started Yesterday, Huh?

 

I was kind of asleep at the wheel on Day 1 of the 2021 Bassmaster Classic. I didn't even think about it until I unloaded the boat from the night's fishing trip. However, I did check my Fantasy Squads results before the day was out, just barely.

With a great Day 2, my line-up stands a chance. But, unfortunately, day 2 has not been good for me yet this year.

Panic Button: Pushed On 2021 Frog Fishing Platte/Sullivan

 Sure, I caught that pig the other night, but I've taken 3 trips since then. Instead of fishing improving or staying about the same, it has gotten tougher each time out. And last night, I only got one hit in two hours, a 13.5-incher that I caught. I think the low water and hot weather have driven the fish out of the froggy shallow cover.  The stuff should be alive with activity, but I covered water on both Tuesday and Wednesday night trips because I just wasn't finding much for signs of life. Thankfully, it looks like today is the last of the 90-degree plus heat for at least a couple of days. It would be really nice if a gully washer of a thunderstorm parked over Platte/Sullivan on Friday. Tough fishing when the bite is traditionally pretty good has me concerned.

Bass Snatchers Tournament At Whitefish Chain June 5th

 

Tuma's 27lbs 4oz is a new Snatcher Record

3/5 Yum Dinger (Gum/Orange)

14/2 My Best Ever Whitefish Weight

13.55lbs What My Scale Says I Had

Boater: Dwight "Hammer" Hammermeister (3rd Time I've fished a tournament with him)

Conditions: 72-96℉, Mostly Sunny to Mostly Cloudy, 0-4mph SW

The Day: We started off on the Southside of Lower Whitefish, where smallmouth spawn and Dwight had a bunch of beds GPSed. . Dennis was sitting there when we arrived. A good sign. About 10 minutes in, Dwight had his first smallie in the boat. He was sight fishing. I started throwing topwater because there was some activity on the surface, but I didn't get a hit.  Dwight put 3 or 4 smallmouths in the boat pretty quickly, and Dennis had his limit in the first half hour. I got a hit from something small on the 

Crackle Jerk Shad that came off about halfway back to the boat. I put on a Bluegill KVD Jerkbait and got a couple pike and a perch on that. After about an hour, Dennis left. Dwight got his fourth and fifth fish off of some deeper beds, both quality fish. I eventually tried throwing a Ned rig to bedders but didn't have any takers. The wind put a ripple on the water, so we got out of there around 9AM. We went to a nearby point where we could see largemouth swimming around, but I couldn't get any to bite other than one small fish that I threw back that I didn't bother to measure even though it was close to 12-inches.

By 9:30, we headed to Berth to fish docks.  We spent an hour and a half in there with only one fish for Dwight to show for it. We headed to the Pike River Inlet area, and I finally got on the board with a quality frog fish, but that was the only bite we got there. So next, we headed up to Arrowhead to see if maybe the slop was going there. Dwight got a frog fish in the first 10 minutes, then nothing. I switched to a swimbait and got a 13-incher on that, but that was the only bite. I tried a swim jig and missed a bite that felt pikey on that. With two hours left, we headed back to the starting spot in the hopes that Dwight could upgrade with a smallie and contend for the win. However,  Dennis was sitting there again. We went to a nearby secondary area. I ended up picking a solid 2.5lb largie off of a dock just letting the Dinger sit on the bottom. With that clue, we headed to some nearby isolated docks in search of my limit. I lost a really good fish right away but quickly rebounded with a two-pounder and two more keepers.   I ended up culling twice, including one off the last dock we fished in a Hay Lake.

Results: My fish weighed 14/2 which put me in 13th Place. Dwight had 19/1, which was only good enough for 8th😲. Keith Tuma blew the field away and the previous Club Record Bag taking 1st Place with 27/4 and Lunker with a 5/3 smallmouth. Dennis got 2nd with 21/10. I guess the key for Keith recognized that the big smallies were still pre-spawn; thus, he was looking for cruisers, not bedders. His Co-Angler Dave Smith also had a 20lb bag.

My Thoughts: I came in expecting the fishing to be pretty good, and it was, for the most part. I did, after all, catch one of my biggest bags as a Snatcher and my biggest of the 6 tournaments I've fished there. It just took me forever to get on the same page as the fish, which was frustrating. Thankfully the heat really didn't bother me, and I was comfortable all day.

Congrats to Tuma; that was impressive. 

Bonus Picture

Official Results