Snatcher Little Boy/Wabedo Plan, Goals, and Rods I'm Using

 The Plan: Pre-fishing with Chuck didn't give me much to hang my hat on, and conditions will be different on tournament day. So the plan is to wing it and hope I can find something the fish want during the tournament.  Ideally bass will be hitting on a frog and buzzbait and I won't have to resort to finesse. I'm not sure how much attention we are going to smallies, if any.

Goals:

Catch a bass 5/8 or bigger

Win the Lunker Pot

Catch a limit

Finish in the Top 5

Win the Co-Angler Challenge

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4"H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula Gen 2 (Frog)

7'4" H Zillion (Buzzbait, Swim Worm)

6'10" MH (FC15)(Chatter, Texas Rig, Ozark Rig, Ned Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Braid) (Jig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC17) (Jig, Texas Rig)

6'8" Avid (Topwater, Jerkbait, Ned)

6'6" MH Abu Veritas (Fluke, Dinger, Ned)

My Snatcher Lake Osakis Tournament Recap June 1st

Pre-fishing with Darren, his first cast of the morning

Also some pre-fish

Top 3 (Tuma, Sarah, Darren)

Conditions: 50-74℉, Mostly Sunny, 2-9mph WSW

The Day:

I thought I had everything packed and ready to go, nope. Forgot to pack my terminal tackle fanny pack. I also forgot to bring my phone with me to the boat, so I had to walk back to the car and get it. Our Plan A spot in some reeds up the lake was not happening, so after a fruitless hour, we bailed and headed further up the lake and tried a few points and docks getting nothing. We did watch Snatcher Ludenia catch something during that stretch. We went to the smallie area and I got a short smallie on my very first cast with the Stunna. Dennis and Nate joined us in this area, both boats were struggling. I got a 2lb smallie on the Stunna as well as a Rock Bass on the Stunna before we left. It was now about mid-day so we went back to Plan A again; Darren got a keeper in the boat quickly and  I got a ToadZ keeper shortly after. This was the time of day Darren discovered his pattern and it held true. Slow but consistent throwing a jig in the deeper reeds.  Darren then caught the next 4 fish including some really nice ones. He got his fifth fish back where we started the day. I lost two Hack Attack jigs in short order We were just about ready to head South when we got into an active area. I was fishing with my life jacket on anticipating the move. I got my third keeper then lost two good blowups when my jerry-rigged ToadZ because the split ring on the Gami doesn't play well with a Power Clip. Shortly after that trainwreck, we headed South. Darren got a nice one to fill his limit or maybe it was a cull. He was in disbelief he got that bite. The day ended with me being extremely frustrated and angry over the blown opportunity for me near the end.

Results:

My 3 fish put me in a dismal 18th Place out of 20 anglers fishing. First Place and Lunker went to Snatcher Tuma 24/3 and 4/3 all smallies. 2nd Place and Co-Angler Challenge winner went to Snatcher Sarah "The Senko Queen"with 18/14, all largies, and 3rd Place went to my boater Snatcher Darren with 16/8.

My Thoughts:

High hopes dashed; I should have double-checked my stuff to make sure I had everything. Learning that Power Clips and those ringed  EWG hooks don't go together well was an unlucky break. Bad taste in my mouth from this one. But I am happy that Darren's pattern held up and was good enough to get some wood. I'm quite surprised nobody caught a 5lb bass. Hopefully, this will be my throw-out tournament for the year. 

Tournament Grade: D

Opportunity called at the end of the day and I missed it, sucks

 

 

Fothergill Wins Euflala Open Qualifying for 2nd Bassmaster Classic In A Row

 And he now leads the pack EQ Qualifier points. This kid from Grand Rapids, MN is a bass fishing phenom. With the remaining venues, there is no way he will crash the car at this point. He will be in the Elite Series next year.

Plan, Goals, & Rods I'm Bringing For Lake Osakis

The Plan: This will be the 8th time I have had the good pleasure of being partnered with Snatcher Darren in a tournament.  We had a productive pre-fish, so I'm confident we will be around some nice-sized largemouth. The fish would not hit a moving bait on Wednesday. My hope is that they will be far more active and I can get them on a frog and buzzbait. We are going to be fishing a lot reeds and cattails. If they will not hit moving baits again I'll throw a jig, Mag Fluke, and a Texas Rigged Dinger. I doubt we will fish for smallmouth, but I've got my smallie favorites just in case.

My Goals:

1. Beat Tuma

2. Get Wood by Placing anywhere in the first three places or catch the tournament lunker.

3. Catch a fish bigger than 5-8, winning both the days Lunker Pot and the Progressive one as well.

4. Win the Co-angler Challenge $

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Mag Fluke, Swim Worm, Swim Jig, Spinnerbait, ToadZ)

7'4" H Tatula XT Gen 2 (Buzzbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite  (Jig,Chatterjig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Jig, Texas Rig)

6'10" MH Tatula (FC) (Chatterbait, Spinnerbait, Jerkbait, Texas Rig, Jig,Dinger/Fluke)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater, Jerkbait)