Goodbye August!

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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.