Bass Snatchers Thunder Lake Tournament

Chuck Fields with the W and Lunker,
with Co-Angler Snatcher Sarah.

 

3/8 Herb's Dilly Buzzbait (Yellow Frog)

Conditions: Rain intermittently in the morning with the sun coming out in the afternoon. Wind: 3-8mph

The Day: It started raining as we were waiting to blast off. We headed to our first spot, and Hammer was amazed no one went North along with us. We started off in the best cabbage Hammer had found in his prefish. About 45-minutes in, he got the skunk out of the boat on a craw tube. We worked around a point of reeds, and he got a second bite. I started throwing a buzzbait into the reeds as we worked outside the reed line. I missed my first bite, which was a small fish. I then got two bass in the boat lickety-split. So we drifted into the reeds, and I got my big fish of the day. As we worked inside the reeds, I got fish four and five along with missing a couple. Hammer had a couple fish blow up on his buzzbait, but they got off. Snatcher Chuck and Nate showed up.  Chuck and Nate doubled up on a spot I had my eye on.  I got my limit fish, which was a line burner. The topwater bite quit. I got a couple of fish on the Brovarney/Rage Bug combo with both fish throwing my Rage Bug, rats. Hammer was having a rough time getting his bites in the boat, losing a good one on a jig or craw tube. I also got a case of the misses in the same area not hooking up with 2 or 3 that hit the buzzbait; partly my fault for making ill-considered casts. 

We then went to some docks on the west side of the bay, but nothing there. Hammer borrowed a spinnerbait from me, and we returned to the reeds. Snatcher Bailey and Metalhead were in the area this time. Hammer was getting bit on the spinnerbait and me on the buzzbait and Jig, with both of us catching most of the bites but dropping a few as well. It rained pretty good when we were in the reeds that second time. We then went back to the West side of the bay, where it was calm and worked reeds along the shoreline. I was unaware they were there because they only stood about a foot above the water. I got my frog game on catching several pound and a half to pound and three-quarters cookie cutters. Hammer was throwing a Sprinker Frog and having a rough go keeping them pinned. We got over by Smitty and Mick, where I had a Platte Lake Special miss Little Alan, but it wouldn't hit it again.

We then headed south to try Hammers Smallie areas. He got a couple of largemouths, and I maybe had a small smallie take a shot at the 130 Plopper. For the final hour and a half, we went back North trying the cabbage one more time with nothing happening. I got a minor upgrade pitching the Brovarney to some pads in the reeds. We ended back on the West side of that Northern bay. I checked my fish before we headed out and was dismayed to discover my big fish, which was swimming just fine when I culled  20-minutes prior, was now dead, bummer.

Results: My fish weighed 12/8 with the dead fish penalty, and I finished in 11th Place. Snatcher Fields won it with 19/10, and he got Lunker with a 4/3 smallie; at least that was what I think it was. Snatcher Darren won the Co-Angler Challenge/Cash in a close race, with his 4-pounda putting him over the top.

Thoughts: I just didn't get enough of my bites in the boat. Probably could have had a 14 to15ish bag if I did. I wish I had known those reeds were along the shoreline the first time we went there. We should have given them a try.  

Slow morning, but I enjoyed myself

 I got a later start than I wanted due to a bolt breaking on my trolling motor bracket last night. I was lucky it wasn't a much later start as I had an inspiration that was a time saver from the original way I was going to go about it. I was off before sunrise. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to head to F Flat because there would be calm water there. Tried topwater, nothing. So then I tried a Jackhammer, unbelievably nothing. Finally, I got a small pike on Z-Man Big Blade as I made my way to the reeds, where I got my two fish last night. Topwater wasn't happening there either, so I started throwing a swim jig. I was about to throw the white flag as I completed my drift through reeds when a 19-incher made my morning. I got the 27.5-inch pike on my second drift through the reeds. I ended up back on F Flat. I learned a lot about how the cabbage is set up this year. It looks better than it has in years. Not holding hardly any fish is power for the coarse at this point. I think the lake lost 80% or more of its fish population last winter because they didn't put in the aerator as they needed to. 4 Bass landed out of 6 opportunities in 5 hours of fishing. I did at least get some action from a pike in the cabbage with several fish being 24-inch class.

DNF

I was unaware that I would be the lead plumber in replacing our kitchen faucet. I found this out when I got back from the chiropractor around 4PM. Had I known about this project, I would have stopped at the Grumpy Old Man Hole on the way home. Putting me in charge of completing this "honey-do" was not a good plan by Dad. Post-stroke, I have a mechanical IQ of about 2.  The job required somebody with some plumbing experience and at least an average mechanical IQ. I quickly recognized this job would sap my patience reserves. I told the parents I was calling my brother Steve. He has done a variety of home improvement tasks including plumbing. He was already planning on coming over tonight. Well, things got shuffled, but Steve got over after 6PM, and his tire patching project didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked. Then the faucet was a PIA. We finally got the old faucet off, but by then, it was too late for me to consider hitting up the GOMH. Steve will be back to put the new one in tomorrow.

Bass Snatcher Farm Island Tournament

 

Snatcher Dennis Took The W!

Thoughts Going In: 

Farm Island has always given me a limit. Pre-fish made me even more confident. Dennis tells me before we blast off that he did get out pre-fishing one more day, and his starting spot was full of bass; it was empty the day we pre-fished, except pike. Confidence level: High.

Conditions: Sunny, Light to Moderate SW Wind

The Day: We blasted off boat one and went to Dennis' honey hole. The problem is that it was filled with pike, just like the day we pre-fished. Dennis got bit off two or three times, and we both caught multiple slimers. Dennis did get a quality bass off a dock. After an hour and a half or so, we headed southwest. Nothing at the point where I got two fish during pre-fish. So then we headed NW. I got the skunk out of the boat using a fluke at a dock just after Dennis got bit off. From there, we headed south again, and Dennis cracked a biggun off a dock. That is what we did for most of the day, with Dennis picking off a good fish every half-hour to 45-minutes. My dock game was rusty, and there weren't many bass around. I did get my second keeper on a return trip to the starting spot. And that was all she wrote for me, two bass in the boat. I did miss a few bites on the Fluke, but those could have been rockies.

Results: My two fish put me in 19th Place. Dennis ran away with his 19/1 bag. Lunker went to Smitty with a 4/2, and Zach Noyes won his first Co-Angler Challenge, beating out The Beast Beau Bacon by an ounce.

Thoughts: We just caught "The Farm" on a tough day, as the final results show. Congratulations to Snatcher Dennis for starting off the year on the right foot. On to Thunder. 

Big Golden, A Jumper, and Bass 'n Pike at S. Inlet

 

7.04lbs/28" KVD Shiner

8:15-8:55PM S, Sully Inlet
Nice night. I elected to mow the lawn instead of fish. It worked out for me

 (The first cast didn't have distance so I was unprepared for the strike I got on the buzzbait which came almost immediately after it landed. Then got a couple of pike and a couple of bass. Missed my last 4 or 5 bites, because I had a bent-up hook point.)

2Bass 

2Pike

9:05-9:40PM GOMH SW NW

(Nobody was around so I quickly unpacked and headed to the SW side. Got the one jumper on a chatter and missed a couple of bites on other stuff. Stuff was getting smoked in the tube. So I headed to the North side just as somebody else arrived. He was able to get to the NE side first. He lost a jumper then broke off on a lily pad. I missed something then hooked into the 7lb Golden. The other guy took a picture and measured it. I called it a night after releasing the fish. Mosquitos were annoying but not terrible.)

1Jump 

1Gold