Snatcher's Farm Island Tournament

Tuma 3rd, DJ 2nd, Arnie 1st

Conditions: 50's to 80'S, Light wind and Sun

The Day:

Herman elected to take us down South to Ludenia's Reed Island. Unfortunately, Herman didn't shut down in time, and fish scattered everywhere on the surface as we arrived. I got one hit on a buzzbait casting out over the break, but it just swiped at it, so it was probably a pike. When we got over by the reeds, I got a pike on a spinnerbait and the skunk out of the boat with a small bass on the Frenzy Popper. On our way back South, I got a 2.5lber  and a pike on the buzzbait. And missed something that bit twice next to the reeds on a frog. I thought the first hit was a bass. The second time, I thought it was a pike. 

After we had circled the Island once, we went to the South Shoreline reeds working West. We passed DJ and Tuma, who were fishing the deep weedline. I didn't get a hit until we got to the cattail point of the Slop Bay, which I missed. Herman wanted to go somewhere else, but I insisted we fish a little farther, telling Herman giants live in this stuff in the Fall. Shortly after, I got a pound and a half fish in the boat. I lost a 2lb plus fish that got off in the slop. Herman didn't convert on a couple of bites. The Western side of the bay was dead. We then went back out to Ludenia's  Reed Island. I got a pike and a dink, and Herman made us sandwiches. 

Next, we headed up to the NW Corner of the lake. Tuma and DJ were there fishing the weedline. It started out dead, but then we got to a slop/reed point. I got a 2lber out of the coontail and 3lber, my lunker, in the reeds on the frog. I missed a good fish on the other side of the reeds on a coontail mat and got a little guy, which I culled.  We worked the shoreline reeds that are farther to the North. Herman got his first bass and I missed several bites. Herman got another keeper. We then returned to the slop/reed area where I first got bit when we came North. When we got to the back side of the reeds, I had a 3lber not get the frog. Bummer! Herman missed a blowup and had me throwback to the spot. I caught a slight upgrade. And I think Herman missed another fish. We tried working the outside reed islands but didn't get any bites. I  suggested we head East and work the slop bay with a steep drop next to the Catails. I missed a few hits. I caught one that didn't help and got a small cull. Herman got a 3lber. This was our final stop.  As we waited for people to get loaded up, Herman made me a giant sandwich with the remaining fixings. Man, it was good after a hard day of fishing. Thanks, Herman!

My Thoughts: Because of the sporadic slow frog bite this Fall, I just was not in top form and probably lost a couple that I probably would have gotten in the boat if I had more practice. It was a fun day, and I had opportunities to make the Top 5, maybe even the Top 3. But it just wasn't my day or my year.

Grade: B- 

My best finish of the year.

Results: 7th Place for me.

 

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. 

Snatcher Farm Island Tournament

Co-Angler Champion for the Day

What my scale says I had.

Thoughts Coming In:  We had a very good pre-fish.  I was a little concerned because it was a deep jig bite.  While I can catch fish that way I know it is an area of weakness as I miss a lot of bites.  My boater Bill Lundenia is a jig master.  I figured I would see if they would hit a craw tube, which I'm much more comfortable with, and switch if Bill was catching them on a jig.

Conditions: 83-66℉, Some clouds in the morning turning sunny, 0-4mph WSW
WT: High 70s

The Day: We went South to start where the fish were bigger on average in pre-fish.  I started by throwing a River2Sea Bubble Walker over the calm lake.  A pike jumped about 5-feet in the air and was my first fish in the boat.  After about 10-minutes it was clear that any area fish didn't want it on top, so I switched to the craw tube and pretty quickly got a 2lber.  I got one other 2lber, but it was not happening so we went to the "Smallmouth Hole".  I picked up a quick keeper as did Bill.  Then Bill had a 3lber throw his jig. I got a couple more 2-pounders on the craw tube.  We then went to a hump and I got 2.66lber on the craw tube.  The sun came out.  We tried one more spot in Farm Island then headed for Little Pine.

Bill got a bass in Little Pine on the jig, so I switched to the jig immediately.  I missed 3 or 4 bites.  Bill was missing bites and getting bit off.  It was dead calm and minnows were skittering around above the milfoil, so I thought I would throw a few casts with the Bubble Walker.  On the second cast, a 3lber took it but immediately jumped and threw the bait.  Bill then had a good fish break off at the rod.  He was looking for his line; The fish he lost jumped and immediately my lunker of the day (3lbs) struck the topwater.  I got a bass that didn't keep on my very next cast.  That all happened in the span of about 6 casts for me.

We went back into Farm Island and fished some docks.  I tried out the Neko Rig like I said I was going to do.  I got one that almost helped me breaking my Techna AV rod in the process. I got a couple of dinks as well.  We went back to everywhere we fished in the morning and I had a few fish pick up a brown/green pumpkin craw tube.  We ended the day watching Checkbook snatch a good one.  Bill only got 5 keepers in the boat.

Results: My fish went 14/8 which put me in 4th Place and allowed me to be the Co-Angler Champion.  The tournament was won by Tim Benson with 16/2 and Tim got "Lunker" with a 3/08 fish.

My Thoughts: A good day for me, some tough luck kept it from being a good day for Bill as well.  I may not switch a thing up for the next tournament at Rabbit Lake.

Challenge Cup Farm Island Lake

 

Fished With Emmett of the Range Club.

We spent most of the day in Little Pine. I got my big fish there in a patch of pads on a jig. Also got a good upgrade at the very end of the day on my last cast. I don't think the Snatchers won this time. This was the day Lindval Joseph had a long TD return.

B. B. S. Farm Island Tournament

"Sweet Revenge" color Mad Maxx frog

Conditions: Mostly Sunny, Wind out of the E ESE and ENE 5 to 15mph, Temps from high 50's to mid 70's

The Day:  We were a bit surprised to have the whole SW slop bay to ourselves in the morning.  We spent all day there fishing the shallow rice and pads with Tru-Tungsten Mad Maxx Frogs.  My boater Roger and I both mostly threw "Sweet Revenge", but I threw "Big Sexy" in the afternoon as well hoping it might get me a big bite.  Only 3 other boats came in there the whole day and they didn't stay long.  The fish bit throughout the day with only one about an hour long dry spell  from about 9-10AM.  I got the first bite of the morning about 5 minutes in, but it was a pike.  There was a lot of baitfish activity right away in the morning before the wind came up.  Roger was up two to nothing when I got my biggest bass of the day, a 16.25" about half an hour in.  As we were drifting across the flat Roger asked me if we should drift closer to shore.  I told him I thought the fish could be anywhere.  About 5 minutes later I herd a whooosh.  A big bass had annihilated Rogers frog.  I turned my head and informed Roger about the situation as he was watching my frog at the time.  Roger got it in and it was 4lb 5oz and to tied "Lunker of the Tournament."  Roger had his limit before I got another fish.  I just wasn't getting hit.  Roger had his limit in the first hour and a half.  We had to use my push pole a couple of times.  Roger had culled two times when I got on a hot streak and landed 5 fish to Rogers none (14", 14.75", 13.5", 15.25, and 15.9").  Roger was getting bites, but missing them.  I had my limit by 11AM.  I got a 15.5 to cull out the 13.5" and then caught a couple more pike, five 12inch fish, and 14.5", which I culled out for 14.75" fish.  We had lots of short strikes and a few bad hooksets cost me some fish I probably should of had.  I had three bites on the Havoc Pit Boss but I missed all of them.  I also fished the Fluke and Horny Toad but didn't get a bite on either one of those.

Results:  My six fish weighed 11lbs 7ozs and put me in 15th Place out of 27 fishing.  Roger's fish were 16lbs and netted him 3rd Place, with the 4lb 5oz Lunker.  The winner was Guy Henkensiefken with 16-8 edging out Keith Tuma by three ounces, two of which were for a dead fish penalty.

Thoughts: Frustrating, but fun day.  Here's my theory on why Roger kicked my butt. I believe the decision to switch out my Team Daiwa-S103 with a 6:1 ratio the day before for the 9:1 ratio Revo Rocket was a critical mistake. I couldn't slow down enough with the Rocket to give the frog the look they wanted. I was trying to match Roger's retrieve, but it just wasn't happening for me when I did that.   Roger had quite a few more bites than me, but we caught about the same amount of fish.  I definitely caught more 12" fish than Roger.  That and Roger was just lucky to land casts next to bigger fish that were able to take the frog well enough to be hooked.

It really would have helped if Roger would have had a small anchor to put down when we were drifting through good water.  That would have saved Roger some frustration of dealing with the rice as well.

How much can a guy complain on a day where he caught 17 fish and set the hook on at least that many more.  The fish bit all day and I fished one of my favorite ways.  Amazingly I didn't get a single hit while walking my frog when I had the opportunities to do that in holes in the weeds.

I saw one 5lb dogfish and an 8lb carp.

Next Tournament: Woman Lake July 18th

Farm Island Pre-fish

8:00AM-3:30PM
Conditions:  Overcast most of the time, it  sprinkeled on us a couple of times, windy out of the SE, temps in the 60's

When putting in it was a good thing Roger Ubl, my boater for the Farm Island Lake Tournament, forgot to unhook his boat, because he also forgot to put the plug in.

We tried some reeds near docks to start and didn't get a sniff.  Next we went to the reeds outside the SW slop bay.  I got a 14.75" bass on the Horny Toad.  Next we went in to check the slop.  Fish were in there.  I was having trouble getting the Lunkerhunt Frog to fish in the rice.  It seemed like ever other cast I had a problem.  Roger got 2 or 3 quality fish and I missed a few.  I was getting kind of frustrated with Roger catching fish and me not.  I had a pike bite of the tails of my Horny Toad.  That made it so the bait worked over the rice better and I started catching fish.  I got 15.5",15.25", 11.75", and a 14" and missed some bites as well.

We decided to stop beating on them and went to the NW corner of the lake.  The area looked good but the wind didn't allow us to fish it efficiently.  We then went to another slop Bay outside of the main access bay and didn't get anything.

We then went to Little Pine Lake.  This lake had the perfect mix of cover for fishing the Lunkerhunt Lunker Frog, which I did until half of the frog's leg got bit off.  I landed a 12.75", 14.25", 16.25", and 15.25" bass before that happened.  I also missed a few and Roger caught some nice fish as well.  I caught a small pike on a craw tube.

We then went to the NE slop bay.  I missed a couple of bites and got 15.33" on a Mad Maxx Frog.  I also got a rock bass on a green pumpkin Grass Pig.  It was threatening rain so we called it a day.  We got a free fish towel from the Invasive Species Inspector.

Snatcher Farm Island Tournament

Sunday, June 20th was the 2nd Baxter Bass Snatcher tournament of the year and it was held on Farm Island Lake, north of Garrison Minnesota. The weather was mostly cloudy in the morning turning to mostly sunny in the afternoon. It was calm for a good part of the day and when there was wind it was under 5MPH.

Some days you got it and some days you don't. This tournament day I didn't.

Nate and I started the tournament day running to the South end of the lake to fish docks. Nate started catching fish immediately. I didn't get a bit until our 2nd stop of docks and when I set the hook my line broke at the knot and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a pike. The 2nd row of docks didn't produce any fish, so we went back to the 1st run only expanded a little.

My first bass of the day was a short from under a dock. Quickly after that one, I got a 12.75" largie on the bubblegum Super Fluke from a dock. My next fish was 12.5 and came from the reeds right where my boater had pulled out a fish. I also missed another bite in that same spot after I had caught the 1st one.

Next, we went to more reeds and I had a fish slap at my white Zoom Horny Toad. I cast back and it took it. Fish #3 was 13.75" and would be my biggest of the day.

Next, we ran some docks and reeds on the East side of the lake, but that was unproductive, so we headed out to try what was a popular weedline area. Here I got a 13.5" and barely 12-inch squeaker on a watermelon blue fleck Strike King KVD Pro-Model Tube. My partner got his two best fish of the day here on a jig worm.

Next, we ran some docks on the West side of the lake. We had a guy come out and harass us about fishing his dock. While we were fishing his dock I noticed what turned out to be a nice bass sitting out from his fishing boat lift in shallow water. At first, I thought it was something on the bottom. I made a cast and the fish swam around and then to my Fluke and sucked it in. I set the hook and the lure came flying back at me. I quickly re-threaded the Fluke and cast back but the fish just swam away and disappeared. I think it was at least a 2 and a half-pound fish, which would have been about a pound bigger than anything I caught.

Next, we went back to the popular weedline area and I got my limit fish which was 12.75" and caught on the KVD tube. We worked the weedline for quite a while but it had gotten sunny and calm and things got really slow.

Eventually, we went to the West side of the lake and worked some docks and reeds. I got a 13" and 13.75" cull in the reeds on the Super Fluke and I missed one good bite.

Next, we went to some of the best looking, best fishing slop you could ever want to fish. I got a 12" that didn't help right away, but then it was nothing except one strike from a small pike. The slop bay had some size to it and with the hot sun it had warmed the water quite a bit and I ended up with 3 fish dying and my partner lost several as well.

We hit the weedline one more time without any luck and closed out in some deep reed with a bit of wind blowing on them. I got a bass that didn't help on a swim jig.

My weight came to 8lbs even and I had 6os in dead fish penalties, but that didn't cost me anything. I ended up in 23rd out of 26 anglers which pretty much equals my worst finishes of the previous 2 seasons. My boater Nate had 13lbs 7ozs with a 6oz dead fish penalty that didn't cost him either. He finished 5th. 1st Place was 15lbs 1oz and caught by the previous two years BBS "Mr. Bass," the mercurial Mr. Dennis Lothspeich.

Analysis: I wish I had this day to do over. Missed fish certainly hurt me as did a lack of preparation and imagination. In terms of preparation, I really wish I would have brought a jig worm rod instead of the pitching rod that I didn't end up using. My lack of imagination has to do with my not trying to use rattle baits, chatterjigs, and maybe trying a couple of other things on those weedline spots, also had I tried pitching a jig in the reeds, maybe I would have come out better.

Snatchers Farm Island Tournament

Saturday, June 7, 2008

I met my partner Herman a little before 5:30PM in Pine Center. Pine Center is only about 10 miles straight North of the house and it was cool that Herman met me somewhere familiar. We loaded my gear into his 20.5" Ranger Dual Console and were off. I soon learned that Herman was about the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. This is his 27th year as a Bass Snatcher so he told me lots of things about the club. He used to be heavily involved in the Minnesota Federation before it was the Federation Nation and had lot of stories to tell from his involvement. He fishes the club for fun and fun is what we had.

I think we were boat #4 on take off and we were the first ones to head South on Farm Island Lake. We ended up starting on the SE shore of Farm Island. It was a sandy area with some weed growth towards shore. It was calm so I went with the Zoom Super Fluke. As we were working the shoreline Herman had a good fish take his spinnerbait but throw it half way to the boat. Just after that, I had a swirl on the Fluke but my hookset came up empty. This was my first time throwing the Fluke this year and I didn't use it much last summer when I hardly fished at all, so I was a bit rusty. Not long after this, the Fluke disappeared and I set into an 11inch fish. We have a 12inch minimum. I caught another 11" off the end of a dock. We worked the whole East shore of Farm Island but didn't have a keeper to show for it.

From Farm Island, we headed West a little way and went to a protected shoreline. I think Herman said there were normally reeds in this area but just like Sullivan Lake, the reeds in Farm Island are almost non-existent this year. The area was sandy bottom with some weeds. Something came to the surface and left some bubbles. Herman had me cast over there with the Fluke. I worked it slow and sure enough, my big bass of the day picked it up and I got her in. A little way down the line Herman got on the board. We eventually worked ourselves out of the weeds so we headed farther West. We were going to fish some emergent weeds at the mouth of a slop bay East to West. As we pulled in another Bass Snatcher boat pulled up to the West thus cutting us off from fishing the shoreline unless we wanted to fish used water. We worked the emergent vegetation which looked perfect for the Horny Toad. Herman got his 2nd keeper here but that was all we got on two passes.

We went somewhere to the North and I lost a Fluke to a Pike.

From there we went back to our starting spot and I started catching some dink bass on the Fluke. There was a 13"-14"keeper up on a bed but I could not get it to go. We then pulled out a little deeper and I got my 2nd keeper on a Blue/Black Monsoor Swim Jig with Junebug Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw trailer. I got the fish jigging the lure, not swimming it. We fished a cabbage bed without any luck. Before we were off to the North end of the lake Herman made me a sandwich.

We headed to the access bay and fished some emergent vegetation where I got my 3rd keeper. We moved off the emergent veg. and onto a flat with docks. I think I got 2 more keepers on this stretch and Herman got his final keeper of the day.

I am not sure where on the lake we went next but it was a good looking area where there were the remnants of a pencil reed bed. We had zero luck in the old reeds, but we really were fishing it wrong with horizontal presentations instead of pitching a jigNpig. We worked out way onto a weed flat and I broke a fish off at the knot so it may not have been a pike.

Next, we headed to the best looking water of the day. It is a bay where emergent vegetation lines water with some depth leading to a weed flat with rice and pads. We worked the sweet looking emergent vegetation but only drew fish in one spot. I got my limit fish on the Fluke and Herman caught two shorts. Eventually, we got to the flat which had the wind blowing in on it and I switched to the Blue swim jig. I got 2 fish to cull and missed one really good fish. We worked our way off the flat to where there was an old ugly orange runabout that had been half sunk in the previous day's heavy winds. The motor was fully submerged and the left front of the boat was up on the dock damaging both. The scene was quite a mess.

Time was running short so we ran into the access bay and worked more of the emergent vegetation off which I had got 1 keeper earlier. We got a few dinks on the stretch and I think Herman might have missed a keeper on a jigNpig. At the end of the emergent vegetation, there was a pretty good size chunk of wood in the water and I told Herman to try that. He didn't get anything but I noticed a smaller piece of wood quite a bit further in towards shore so I cast my swim jig at it. Sure enough, I got my last bass of the day, a fat 12.25" that didn't help me. We worked out way back a little on the emergent vegetation than called it a day.

Results:
I caught my 6 Fish limit for 9lbs 8ozs which put me in 16th out of 28 anglers. My big fish was 2lbs 7oz. The winner was our club President with 14lbs15oz and the big bass was only 3lbs 8ozs. Herman finished 27th. 20 limits were caught.