Nothing to Start, Got a Few By the End

17.25" 3lbs SBKO (Orange)

7:30-9:30PM Loon Sex Bay,  SPSI
80-86℉, Mostly Cloudy, 6-9mph SE
77-79℉ Water level low and rising

I got the motor back on the boat with Steve's help then went home to get my rods and tackle. I started on Loon Sex Point and didn't get a sniff.  Finally, I had a pike miss me in the boat channel. I worked my way North and got a pike on a Junebug craw tube after it missed the frog.  I missed a couple bites in the pads along the north shoreline.  The second time it was a good-sized bass 3+??? maybe. I ended up getting one 15-inch bass on the Craw Tube. It looked like it might rain, but it didn't.  I headed to the South point of the small island.  Didn't get a hit on the Rat Plopper.  Got hit immediately by 16.5" larry on the other side of the marker jug.  I put the next cast by the reeds and had the 17-incher pop it.  I then got a 15" and 15.5" over by the reeds. I did miss a fish that hit the Vet Chatter. I tried the NPSI and didn't get a hit.  It was pleasant out and the breeze kept the bugs at bay, so I took my time before I headed in.

5 Bass
3 Pike

Bass Snatcher Serpent Lake Tournament

2/8ozs Z-Man TRD

Boater: Chuck Steinbauer
Conditions: 65-84℉, Mostly Sunny, 0-3mph Various directions

The Day: We blasted off for this one at around 6:40AM which is nice.  It became quickly apparent to me with Chuck getting bites almost immediately on a stick worm and nothing going on topwater that finesse fishing would have to be a bigger part of the program than I wanted it to be.  I switched to a Z-Man TRD on an Outkast Perfect Ned Head and caught me a 9" dink and a rock bass.  I didn't get a hit on anything on the next two spots we tried.  I finally got my first keeper in the boat on the Ned Rig at Darrin's Point. The fish was 14.5" long and in my haste to get back fishing I didn't weigh it till later.  It ended up being the smallest fish in my bag at 1/7. I then caught a line burner followed by my big fish of the day at 2/8.  We then went to the spot Chuck got a nice smallie and a couple of good lmb's on in pre-fish.  I caught a 2lber and Chuck got bupkiss.  We then went to the public access where I got a couple of small topwater fish that would take forever and a day for me to cull out.  I did manage to get rid of the line burner and the one I replaced him with on our next stop before we hit a long dry spell.  We came back to that weedline spot later in the day and I got an upgrade that stuck along with some dinks and a multitude of rockies.  In the final hour, we hit one of Chuck's old spots, and both upgraded a couple more fish.  We spent the final 20-minutes down by the landing where there was a chop on the water. I had two fish hit at the Whopper Plopper and not hook up.

Results: My fish weighed 11lbs 15ozs which put me in 6th Place. Chuck's weighed 14/10 and put him in 2nd Place. Hammer took 1st with 16/5 and lunker with a 4/02 smallie. Tyler Czech was the first Co-Angler Challenge Winner of 2020 with 13/05.

The 6th Place finish is my 3rd best finish in the 1st tournament of the year.  It looks like we are going to have small fields this year and there is a possibility we won't make up the first tournament which was postponed.  Every point counts and this finish gives me a leg up in finishing in the Club Super 6 at the end of the year.

My Thoughts:  Pre-fishing is a big deal for my confidence level. Last year the late June tournament was held on Alexander under similar circumstances, but I was unable to pre-fish that one.  The report coming in last year was that the bite was on fire.  When it wasn't on tournament day I got caught flat-footed and never got comfortable with what I was throwing.  I only brought in 3 fish that day.  This year I was prepared for what I was going to throw if the fish didn't cooperate and the plan worked out pretty well.

I should probably pick up some more of those Outkast Perfect Ned Heads.  I only have 3 of them.


Final Standings:

My Scale Weight:

Jaimen In the Morning/Slow Evening With A Great Conclusion

Pre-Fishing Serpent With Snatcher Chuck

Evening Trip, Broke Off S.B.'s

Trophy Back, Fished the River Mouth

Todd Schooled Me Tonight

2/6 17" Big Sexy

11.97lbs Uff Dah!

4:15-9:15PM Our Place to East Of Jenny's, Loon Sex Bay
70-77℉, PC, 5-12mph WNW
72℉ Very Low

I was hoping it was going to be calm, but no such luck.  By the time I arrived the wind was blowing from 5 to 10mph.  We started out front and worked our way East.  I got a 13-inch bass pretty quickly. Todd got a dink and the big fish of the night in Jenny's reeds.  We got into a little flurry East of Jenny's.  With me getting 2 and Todd catching 6 with both of us missing about 3 or 4 bites apiece. We then went to Loon Sex Bay.  I missed the first blow-up.  It was quite a while before we got another hit. The Northside of the Bay was completely dead. I lost a couple fish on the Poison and Todd had a good one hang him in some pads.  I missed a blow up on LSP.  We went deep in the Bay. Nothing. We then saw something get crushed in an area we didn't fish yesterday.  Todd lost a good one there.  I think I had a doggy follow and Todd landed our only bite in the Bay. I lost one I should have had and that was it.

Todd
8 Bass
Me
3 Bass

LSB in the Morning/Fishing with Kane and Todd In the Evening

5:30-9:00AM Loon Sex Bay
65-55℉, Sunny to Cloudy,  0-3mph SE
72℉ Very Low


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17" Snagproof Jr.

5:00-6:00PM Starting Spot Rice
7:30-9:15PM Todd's Pond Double Cane Point
68-73℉. PC, 0-4mph SE

Motor Issue Morning/Reeds Across & F Flat with Todd

7:30-9:30PM Reeds Across, F Flat
65-73℉, PC, 0-3mph NW
74℉ Very Low

The Motor Story:
So I was at the Lake Place a little after 5AM with new gas in the tank. I noticed a bunch of gas in the filter that I failed to get out of the line yesterday. I got that taken care of.  I then decided it would be best to put my stuff in the boat, and I try running the boat with the new gas.  That didn't solve the problem.  I called Prince's Marine. He told me to flush the line with air and check the spark plugs. If that didn't resolve the issue, he would look at it as soon as I could bring it in.  I went home and got dad and the tools we needed. We blew out the line.  I went out in the boat, and well ah, it worked full power.  I quickly turned around and brought it back in. Dad said, go out and run it some more.  I got up to full speed for about 15 seconds ad then it bogged down again. Drats!

I came in, and Dad thought the issue was the quick connect fitting that attaches to the gas tank.  Unfortunately, Bear Trax was out of them.  They did have them at Hardware Hank in Onamia, but I would have to buy the $50 hose to get the $12 part. Oh well.  So we went back to the lake. Issue not resolved.  We then checked the spark plugs. They seemed to be fine.  By this point, it was too late for me to make it to Prince's. Todd and Mallory showed up as we were finishing up. I went home for a little bit.

The Trip:
Todd and I got out at 7:30PM.  We headed to the Reeds across.  I lost something that hit Mann's Buzzbait right away.  Todd put a quick bass in the boat on the Sprinker and then caught a pike.  We thought things were looking good.  Then nothing for quite a while.  I had a small bass jump me off and got a pike at the boat path.  We didn't get a hit in the North bed at all. Maybe Todd missed one bite. It sucked. I eventually beat feet for the F Flat juice. I got a decent bass at the Brown Boat House dock, and Todd got the big fish of the day there on the Sprinker. Todd and I both lost quality fish to the West of Brown Boat House.  There were baitfish jumping all over the place, but they didn't seem to be getting busted on by anything.

Not a great trip, but not horrible either.

Fishin' With Jaimen

Double

1st Fish of the morning on a jignpig

3/1 17.5" Craw Tube (b/b)

6:00-7:30AM SPSI, East of GOMH
71℉, Cloudy some light rain, 5-10mph SW
69℉ Very LOw

I picked up Jaimen at his dock around 5:50AM and headed to the SPSI. Jaimen was throwing a jig and quickly had a bass in the boat.  Unfortunately, his rod broke when he was landing the fish. I got a pike on the Poison. Then we doubled up with a couple of bass with both fish jumping multiple times.  We both got a couple more bass a piece before the action slowed. I got bit off once and Jaimen caught the clam. We went and tried the rice for a while.  Jaimen had a few blow-ups and got 1 pike.  I didn't get a single hit. The rain was approaching so I dropped Jaimen off and headed home.  Before I got to the small island the motor bogged down. I ended up limping the boat home at 3 to 4 mph.  Should have started with fresh gas in the tank.  Water probably got in the tank.

In the Trophy Again/ Morning at the GOMH

13" Big Sexy

Got the motor back fro Prince's today.  Put it in the water around 7:30 and was fishing by 8:00PM. I went to the end of the rice East of Jenny's. Got a couple of pike right away on the POison. MIssed a couple good blowups. Caught a couple small bass out of the rice.  It got to 90-degrees today.  The water level is now super low. Do to the Pontoon lift being partway in I had difficulty parking the boat.

I fished at the GOMH in the morning. I got a 13-incher on the 110 Plopper (perch) and a 12-incher on a craw tube. Nothing on the SW side.

I got my stuff out of the car and spotted the turtle who was crossing the road to the Southside. Soon after I started fishing I thought they were getting ready to do paving around the bridge. Panfish guy showed up as I was walking up the hill.  We both went to Bulldog.  I didn't get a bite. I went to the Lake Place and got a couple sunfish on THE Jig.
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15" Jerk Shad (Ghost Shad)

8:30-9:45PM Eddy's Jetty North Harbor Mouth
79℉, Sunny, 10-15mph SW

After everybody left at 9:30 I got the smallie at the Harbor Mouth on the Jerk Shad. A guy and two chicks showed up and took the Harbor Mouth while I was taking the fish off down by my stuff at the NW corner.  The skeeters were so bad by 9:45PM I had to quit.

Half Hour at the GOMH

12" Yum Dinger

5:20-6:05AM GOMH NE SW
62℉, PC, 7-14mph SE
Very Low

Thanks to a Facebook Post by Myron Huntley I went and got my stuff together and headed out. Dark clouds were approaching from the SW. Missed a strike on the SBKO on the NE side.  That might have been the jumper I caught about 10 minutes later in the tube on a Yum Dinger.  Headed to the SW side and got a toothy on a craw tube.  When I was walking down to fish there was a flock of geese visible in the rainbow picture.  There were two mini-geese in a fight and the one goose had the other goose's whole face in its mouth.  Finally, a momma goose came and put an end to it. It started to sprinkle so I headed up to leave. A gust of wind knocked over all my rods, while I was grabbing my rod gloves.

Couple Fish Off the Dock

Fixing rods today.  Had a knot up the line cut the line and caught the little goober.  I also caught a small perch. Didn' take the pontoon out due to the wind.

Fishing In the Trophy with Todd

3/9 18.5" Poison/Swim Fluke Jr (PB&J)

17" Craw Tube

5:30-8:30AM SPSI, East of GOMH 16"Hole
58-48℉, MS, 3-10mph ENE

I got the Trophy in the water powered by two strollers.  I took us right to the South Point Small Island. I got 3 or 4 pike as I made our way up to the point. Todd got the first bass of the morning. The first one to hit jumped me off.  We got into them pretty good off the point. Todd got the biggest and I caught more fish.  I also lost several.  When the action stopped we went and fished the rice East of GOMH for a while. I got a pike and a bass there.  We both missed a blow-up or two as well.  Todd had enough by 8:30, so we headed in. We were a bit of a hot mess getting the boat docked and loaded, but we figured it out. I didn't leave enough time to get my rod gloves on and didn't turn the back motor off when we went into the dock.  Luckily we didn't break a rod or two.

Todd
4 Bass
3 Pike

Me
9 Bass
6 Pike

Erskine Bust in the Slop Slip

6:30-9:00PM Erskine NW Pads
70-75℉, PC to Cloudy rained for half and hour or so, 3-15mph

Launching the slop slip at Erskine is ideal, the fishery isn't. Apparently, the bass have abandoned the shallow weeds.  All I caught was 3 small bass.  There is barely any rice now, but the weeds looked healthy.  I fished outside of the pads on my way back in. Had a big pike follow the craw tube to the boat. Disappointing trip.

Slop Slip At Rock Lake

17" Big Sexy

16" Grapes of Wrath

6:30-10:30AM Rock Lake RPRO
77-72℉, Sunny, 1-5mph SE

I decided not to hit up the GOMH first. I arrived at the Rock access at 5:30AM.  By the time I had the Slop Slip unloaded and ready to go the sun had risen.  I headed for the RPRO.  My plan was to go to the beaver dam area at the outlet without fishing.  When I entered the RPRO entrance rice immediately began fouling up the 34lb thrust Min Kota.  I forgot to put a paddle in the boat.  So I turned the boat around and went back to the access parking on the south side of the dock.  I took my fishing gear with me as I went to the Lake Place to get a paddle.  It took 10 minutes max and nobody showed up at the access in the time I was gone.  I headed back out with a new plan to fish my way into the RPRO.  I had a good blow-up along the reeds/rice but I didn't get a good hookset.  On the other side of the reeds, I had a 15-inch jump me off.  Then I missed a good blow-up along the Northside reeds at the entrance to the RPRO.  Then I was casting back to the south when my frog got annihilated by a big fish.  I had an issue with my grip when I set the hook.  The fish rolled and got off. I think it may have been a big doggy.  I then landed a small pike.  I then caught a bass as I was getting blown down the channel.  I put the troller down as far as it would go making it a shallow water anchor.  I used the Min Kota as a Power Pole and paddled my way around; It worked great.  Upon releasing the bass I noticed the garter snake that was in the boat.  It decided to head for the water and I gave it a little as well.  I never did see the thing swim away.  I basically fished to the pad explosion where the pads go from shore to shore.  The bass were in the rice, not the pads.  Didn't get a single bite where pads were dominant.  I got my act together and started landing my bites.  The bass usually crushed it.  I think they are out of the post-spawn funk at Rock.  I ended up getting 8 Bass and 6 Pike.

8 Bass
6 Pike   

GOMH This Morning

12" YumDinger (Brown)

5:30-6:50AM GOMH NE SW SE
70℉, PC, 0-3mph E

I was getting my stuff set up when Leech Guy showed up. He came down next to me on the NE side and caught a small jumper on his first cast.  I had a fish take a swipe at the SBKO. I caught it a few minutes later with the Yum Dinger.  I gave the fish to LG. He caught another jumper and I headed to the SW side.  I got one jumper there on the YD and missed a bite on the SBKO and had a dink jump me off on the YD.  I had three quick hits in the slop on the SW side when I threw Sweet Revenge there.  Didn't hook up once.  I wasn't ready for the bite I got on the SE side which came shortly after my frog landed.  I fished NE side slop and didn't get a bit.   Found out LG name is Richard.  I left a little before 7AM
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8:30-9:30PM GOMH SE SW NE Dock/Pontoon
81-86℉, PC 3-5mph S

Went to the GOMH to start just fished a frog, Didn't catch anything. One swirl on the SE side. A guy fishing with his family got a nice jumper, orange and a small toothy.

I the went to the cabin and got the bass and pike. I also missed a bite.