Baxter Bass Snatchers 2026 Tournament Schedule (Tentative)

 

Last Saturday, we picked dates and lakes for the upcoming tournament season. The schedule will be debated and finalized at our February meeting.

Sunday, May 31st, Platte/Sullivan: Like I said in my tournament wishlist post, I would prefer a tournament on my lakes later in the year. If it is post-spawn, the lakes can be tricky if the fish are off. That said, I have had some really productive days in late May and early June, and thanks to being able to target bass right from ice-out, I should have a really good idea of productive areas. Will the Chicken play? Will I finally be able to beat out Tuma?

Saturday, June 20th, Big Birch (Grey Eagle): We fished this lake in my very first year in the club, 2008, and we haven't been back since. I really liked the lake. It has smallmouth and clear water. I hope this one stays.

Saturday, July 11th Gull /Crow Wing River: This was my suggestion, and it beat out all the other lakes we came up with in the vote. Tuma said later is better here. So at the next meeting, I am going to make a motion to switch it with Pelican or Leech.

Saturday, August 15th, Pelican Lake: I may have to stock up on a certain color of craw tubes for this one. Judging by my pre-fishWill the Chicken Play?

Saturday, September 12th, Leech Lake: Hopefully it stays at Leech, it doesn't blow hard that day, and water levels are normal. Will smallies play?

Saturday, October 3rd, Gull Lake: Gull Lake has been on fire the past few years. Will it continue? Will they bite the Chicken?

Bass Snatchers Gull Lake Tournament

 

3-Time Champ Chuck Fields
(18/13) (5/04)

(3/10)

Conditions: Heavy Overcast with some fog until about Noon, then partly cloudy. Wind: Calm to 4mph from all directions.

The Day: 
At blast off, we headed North to a fairly good size sunken island. Chuck made a self-described rookie move and accidentally ran us right over the juice. About a half-hour in, Chuck put the first bass in the boat. A solid keeper that may have been culled out by the end of the day. About 15-minutes later, I got the skunk out of the boat with my big fish of the day (3/10) on a craw tube. Chuck handed me the net with the fish in it. I went to step down off the back casting deck and got punched hard just under my nose by the net's hoop. Hurt like a son of a gun, and I was surprised I wasn't bleeding. The area is still tender more than a week later. A couple minutes later, Chuck had a 4lber jump him off about 10 feet from the boat just after I grabbed the net. I think Chuck caught one more fish on that jig but lost 3 or 4 more, so he cut it off and gave it to me. Chuck got his second keeper in the boat about an hour in. I wasn't getting any bites on the craw tube, so I decided to see if maybe they would hit topwater as there was some surface activity. I think I missed my first 5 or 6 bites; I think they were little bass. After a miss, I finally hooked into a boil, and it was a good fish (2.46). I got one short, and then the topwater bite shut off.

I think we moved, and I got a 2.25lber that clocked my Strike King Buzz Toad Buzzbait with Z-Man ToadZ. We moved again. Chuck filled his limit. I started throwing a jig and caught 3 pretty quickly. Chuck said I would be an idiot if I were to fish any else but a jig the rest of the day. We tried one more crowded spot on the North End, then headed East, but Snatcher Ludenia was on the juice, so we headed south to try a short stretch of docks. Chuck lost a good one that he very well might have caught later in the day one dock over. We ran back north to the starting spot. I got a pike on the buzzbait. I don't remember if Chuck caught anything. We moved a couple of times. I had a fish miss the buzzbait, fired a cast right back, and got my final cull of the day. We would have had a double, but Chuck lost the one he had on, which he didn't think would have helped him. I think I got a fish or two that didn't help on a jig. We returned to that spot on the East side of the lake, and Ludenia was there again. We went south and fished docks for the final couple of hours. Chuck lost a couple more toads. Culled up a couple of times. I got a few that didn't help my cause. Chuck hit the jackpot on one of the final few docks, finally getting a 4lber in the boat. 

Results: My fish weighed 15/02, which was only good enough for 10th Place. Chuck Fields won his third tournament of the year with 18/13  and caught 5/04 Lunker. Snatcher Nate came in 2nd with 18/7. And Snatcher Dennis got 3rd with 18/05. Hammer was the Co-Angler Challenge Winner with a 17/11 bag out of Snatcher Dennis's boat, which broke down at their first stop on the North end of the lake.

My Thoughts: Basically, all the boaters but one really sacked 'em, and so did Hammer. Whaddya gonna do. I don't think I lost anything that hurt me. All of my fish were over 2lbs. Going to need a high finish and for a couple guys to stumble if I am going to make the Top 10 this year. 

 

 

Snatcher Gull Lake Preview: My Plan And The Rods I'm Bringing

 The Plan: First thing I'm throwing is topwater. If they don't go in that a Chatterbait. That doesn't play then a craw tube. Next Is a jig and finally a Ned Rig. If none of that catches anything I've got Dingers and a few other ideas. Gull is full of nice bass right now, hoping to catch a 13lb limit minimum.

Rods: 

Tatula 7'4" H (Topwater)

Tatula 7'4" H (Chatters and possibly Plugs or Cranks)

Avid 7" H (Texas Rig)

Tatula Elite 6'9" (Jigs) Braid

GLX 6'6" MH  (Jigs)

Avid 6'8 Medium (Topwater)

GLX 6'6" M (Ned)

Abu 6'6" MH (Fluke)

Oops, I realized I forgot to hit publish. I did give every rod a shot.

Gull Lake Snatcher Tournament Oct 3rd

 

 Conditions: 36-48℉, Cloudy in the morning turning PC around noon, Clouds returned the final couple of hours, 0-4mph

My Boater: Club President Tim Benson (2nd Tournament I've fished with him) 

Oopsie: As I started North on 25 toward Brainerd I remembered I didn't put my cull tags in my bag. 

The Day: Everbody was there early in the belief that there wouldn't be parking spaces due to a big walleye tournament, but that wasn't the case. I was the last guy to arrive. I got my stuff in the boat and Tim had four extra cull tags. We blasted off a little before 7:30AM and we headed right to the reeds on the West side of  Round Lake. It wasn't long and I flipped up my big bass of the day 2/15 on a Texas Rigged junebug craw tube.  Tim got 2 or 3 keepers on our first pass along the outside edge in maybe a 60-yard stretch. We then worked our way back inside the reeds but not too far from the edge. I missed a bite on a Hack Attack Jig and caught a pike around the same area where I got my bass. As we started back on a second pass Tim got a nice one. I think he was culling by the time I got another bass. I did lose a fish that broke me off. Tim threw a chatter jig to a small reed island and had a good one jump all over it. I cast my craw tube to the area and was immediately hit by my second biggest bass of the day. We thought maybe we found a school, but nope. So after checking the area out resumed fishing down the reed line. Not too far down Tim got another good one on the chatterjig. I caught a 12.5" just outside of the reed line on a Hack Attack Jig. Then I got on the reed line on a tilapia craw tube. The sun had come out prompting me to go to a lighter color. I got my fifth fish on a D & M Baits junebug Piranha 2 Swim Jig (chatter). I got my limit fish around noon on the craw tube. We then worked our way back with me missing or losing several bites.

We then tried a small reed bed and Tim got a couple of upgrades. At that point, we decided to leave Round. We went to reed bed on the North end of Gull. I got one upgrade on a junebug craw tube and caught a dink on a LiveTarget Baitball Popper. It wasn't happening. We spent the final hour and a half on the South end not catching anything.

The Results: My fish weighed 12/13oz putting me in 7th Place. Tim had 18/9 putting him in 4th. Keith Tuma won with 20/6 and got Lunker with a 4/7 fish  Second went to Smitty with 19even and Al Steinbauer got third edging Benson by 6ozs. The Co-Angler Challenge was won by Beau again.

My Thoughts: I am satisfied with my day. It took me a couple hours to relax and get comfortable and in tune with pitching the reeds. We were the only boat in Round and because of that fact we probably should have stayed there the whole day.  

This Tournament guaranteed I will finish 5th or 6th in AOY.

Gull Lake and Cedar Lake Tournament Plan and Rod Selection

 

Gull Plan: Hopefully, I won't freeze my butt off and the bass bite in Round Lake in the morning. Apparently, that lake is notorious for shutting down by about 10AM.  It would be great if the day breaks that tendency. Runs are gonna be cold. Whatever we do after that is a bit of mystery to me. Thank goodness winds are supposed to be light booth days this week.

Cedar Lake:  Try to figure out a pattern and if we can't hopefully I can junk fish up a limit. I have failed to get a limit both times the Snatchers have fished here.

The goal is to get a limit both days and be the top Co-Angler at least one of the days. 

The Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" XH Zillion (Frog)

7'4" H Zillion (Jig)

7'4" H Tatula XT (Swim Jig, Buzzbait, Spinnerbait)

7' H Avid (Texas Rig)

7' MH Mojo (Chatter Jigs)

6'8"M Avid (Topwater)

6'6" MH GLX (Light Jig/Texas Rig/Ned Rid)

5'6" MH Premier Spinning (Fluke)  

My Snatchers Gull Lake Tournament Full Report

Conditions: 52-76℉, Sunny to partly cloudy, Calm or very light E wind
Water Temp: 72-76℉

The Day:  
Not sure exactly what time we blasted off at.  We didn't run very far.  I started off throwing the Whopper Plopper.  After about 15 minutes my boater Mick got himself a decent bass on a craw tube.  I immediately put down the Plopper because there hadn't been a hint of activity on the surface and picked up the Legend Xtreme with a blue/black Chigger Craw on it.  About 5 minutes later I had my first bass in the boat, a 13.3 incher.  Mick then got another decent one and I got a 13.5".  Mick then caught 17 incher and a couple more good one's in pretty short order.  I got a dink next to a dock as we worked our way back over where we had fished.  My blue/black Chigger Craw was trashed so I put on a breen one.  There started to be some surface activity so I started  throwing the Plopper again.  Mick caught his limit fish about an hour and 20 minutes in.  I put the Plopper back down pretty quickly.  I think Mick culled once and I got my big fish of the day, a 15.25"on the Chigger Craw.  I was throwing both the Chigger Craw and a craw tube as well.  I had several fish pick them up and drop it immediately.  Also plenty of bites from sunfish.  The area seemed to go dead, so we headed North to his big fish area.

There were lots of sunfish swimming around, so tried the LiveTarget Sunfish Wake bait.  I saw some boils on the surface so I also tried a bluegill Shower Blows 105 for a while.  Mick started catching some bass but they didn't help him, maybe he culled once or twice.

Mick gave me a red shad craw tube.  I threw it for about 10 minutes without a hit and went to a black/red fleck Chigger Craw.  Mick caught another bass and asked me why I wasn't throwing the craw tube.  He had a good point.  I switched from a 3/8 to 3/16 weight with the craw tube.  While I was fishing the Chigger Craw and the craw tube once again I was having fish pick it up and drop it.  I tried letting it sit or giggling it in place, but they wouldn't come back for it.

It was now a little after 11AM and we headed South.  I don't know which bay we were in but Bill Bailey and Alan Steinbauer were both fishing really close to where we pulled in.  Mick had a small keeper on before I even had my line in the water.  Alan's boat left pretty quickly and we headed that way.  Mick caught another bass that didn't help him.  We went right into the thick coontail and Mick was showing me how he fishes for them in the Fall.  He pulled in a small keeper on his first or second drop.  He then caught another one pretty quickly.  I think I then missed a hit and Mick caught another one.  I missed a couple more bites, but finally hooked up on won just over 13 inches.  Mick sat down and ate a sandwich.  I think I missed one more hit, before me left for the next spot.

The next spot was reed island.  I had a fish just hammer the craw tube after it landed, but when I set the hook there was nothing there.  Might have been a pike.  We fished the area for about half an hour and didn't get anything, so off we headed to what must be eastern most southern bay and fished off of a point.  I got my last fish of the day (13.75) there and missed a couple of hits as well.

We went in and tried some docks.  Didn't get anything.  With about 40 minutes left we headed back to our starting spot and didn't get anything.

Results:  My 5 fish weighed 7lbs 6ozs, which put me in 18th Place out of 22 anglers. Mick's fished weighed 14/1 and put him in 7th Place.  Keith Tuma won his second in a row with 18/11.  Chuck Steinbauer had a 4/5 big bass.

My Thoughts:  Mick probably caught 4 fish to my one.  He had me around fish all day and even gave me the color that was working.  By the time I figured out I needed to grind with craw tube it was too late.  My mental focus was good all day.  Disappointing to not get a limit, but I had a good time.

   

Gull Lake Quick Report

I was to worn out yesterday to write this blog.

I was right about my boater Mick being over due for a good day on Gull Lake.   He caught 14 pounds and probably landed 15 plus keepers for the day.  My day wasn't nearly as good.  I came up one fish short of a limit and all but one of my fish was under 13 inches.  I had a lot of hits where a fish would pick up the bait and spit it immediately. Could figure out a way to get them to pick it up again.  Letting it sit and shaking it in place didn't seem to work.  There were a lot of sunfish around to so some of the bites I thought were bass were probably those as well.  I really should have had a limit.  It looks like not getting my limit cost me two places minimum.  It just wasn't my day.

Snatchers Gull Lake Preview

For the 3rd tournament in a row I have been paired with a boater I had never fished with before.  This time it's with Michael "Mick" Ziebell.  Mick has been in the club for 31 years now.  He has fished a lot of tournaments on Gull over the years, but has never done particularly well on the lake.  I would say he is overdue for a good finish on the lake.  I didn't get out to pre-fish, but Mick got out a few times and caught some fish.  It looks like light winds for the day and partly cloudy sky's.  Lord, please let them bite on topwater.

Here's the Rods I'm bringing with:

7'4" Tatula Frog Rod
7'2" Tatula MH Topwater & Wakebait
7'2" Tatula Jig n Craw
7' Avid Heavy Craw Tubes
6'8" Legend Xtreme Chigger Craw/Jig Worm
6'8" Avid Topwater
6'6" MH Loomis Swim Jig/Chatter Jig
6' Dock Rod Fluke/Senko

We have got 22 anglers fishing.  If I can get 10-11lbs and be somewhere in the Top 15 I'll take it.

Snatcher Tournaments Set For 2017

No changes were made. Here are my thoughts on the lakes this year,

Platte/Sullivan:  For only the second time since I have been a Snatcher we will be fishing my home lakes.  Last time was back in 2011. Platte/Sullivan has a history of giving me the finger on Tournament day.  It seems like things almost always go wrong for me out there on tournament day, especially equipment issues.  I broke off a big fish on a hook set and also broke a rod at the 2011 tournament.  I also caught a 17.25" fish that day that only weighed 2/10 on that day.  Hopefully this will be the year when things line up for me out there.  Thanks to the catch and release season I should be very dialed into the fish.  I am just so stoked to be out fishing the lakes again in the Trophy after not doing that the last few years until last Fall.  I can see me being out there every day I am allowed to pre-fish; I've got two lakes to rediscover.  Hopefully the wind will die down tournament day and a topwater bite will be on.

Zebulon Pike Reservoir Mississippi River:  This will be the first time the club fishes this stretch of the mighty miss.  I've never been on this section of the river myself either.  I believe this part of the river is dominated by smallmouth.  I know some river smallmouth tricks.  Hopefully I'll draw someone who will take me pre-fishing.  Who knows maybe I'll get up the gumption   If the fish are going on topwater I could be a contender.

North Long: This will be the 3rd time the club fishes this lake since I joined the club.  I wasn't able to fish it in 2012 due to back issues.  Pretty much every boater in the club knows this lake and Gull well.  Hopefully getting a limit here won't be difficult.

Gull Lake: Ditto for what I wrote about North Long.  This will be my 2nd Snatcher tournament on the lake and my 3rd over all.

Thunder Lake: Won't make this one due to a family conflict.

Little Boy/Wabedo:  This will be the 2nd time the club visits these lakes since I've been in the club.  We fished it at the same time of year the last tournament and I did well.  The lakes set up a lot like Platte/Sullivan and because smallies are no longer eligible to be weighed I expect frogs and toads to be a big part of my game plan. I'll be looking for big fish in this one.

Other than missing Thunder, which is a lake the club has never fished a tournament on before, I'm pleased with this years slate of venues.