3 Eyes Laned on 7 Bites.

1st Eye of the Night

Was a keeper 21.33"

It was not as windy as I thought it was going to be. It was still pretty cold though. No action at the Harbor Mouth. There was a couple walking on the North Jetty when I arrived and a boater heading out with his kid as well. I didn't get a bite until 10 to 11 PM at the North Corner. It was a keeper way out on the cast. I then got a 16" on the Old Standing Rock. Only got one of my final bites. Only got bites on the Jerk Shad. None of the bites I missed hooked up. I ended up giving the keeper to the boater who was staying at Eddy's. He was trolling too fast and he didn't catch a thing. Fish wanted a slow pump and pause retrieve with the rod moving the bait rather than the reel.

3Eyes 

 

Fish #3

Fish #2

An Eye And A Pike Tonight

 8:20-10:30 PM North Corner and Harbor Mouth 

38-40℉, Cloudy turning PC, 8-18mph NW

I had something on big Agent E for a few seconds about 5 minutes into fishing at the Harbor Mouth. I think a little over an hour in as the skies were starting to clear I got the eye at the N Corner Standing Boulder. Unfortunately, the headlamp battery was low. I didn't realize I had one in the tackle bag.  I had something hit the Jerk shad and not hook up at Pete's Rock. The wind picked up and I was just about ready to quit when I had the pike hit the X-Rap Shad at the Harbor Mouth. As I was pulling it up on the rocks it pulled off, so I didn't get a picture. It was decent sized, maybe 27, but not a giant. I decided to call it a night.

1Eye 1Pike 

An Hour In, Skunk Avoided

 

Eye 2

Eye 2

Eye 1

10:15-11:45PM North Corner Standing Rock Eddy's Jetty, also fished  N Harbor Mouth

38℉, Cloudy, 3-5mph SE

I thought I was going to get skunked after an hour with no bites. I was contemplating my next lure change when I stumbled upon the retrieve they wanted with the Jerk Shad and quickly caught two. Mom called shortly after I got the second chunkier fish. So I called it a night 15 minutes early. The wind was perfect, so I was perplexed about why I wasn't getting bit.

2 Eyes

Oct. 25th P/S & Eddy's Jetty

Possible Last Bass of 2023
Big Blade/Billy Goat (Gill/Hot Snakes)

Big Blade Chatter/Billy GOAT

Skunk Out Of The Boat

4:40-6:30PM Funnel, Pt./Flat, Jaimen's Corner, F Flat 

50-54℉, Cloudy some light rain, 2-5mph NE

I didn't get a bite for the first half hour plus at the Funnel and on Pt/Flat. I went to Jaimen's and caught 2 pike and 2 bass. It rained for a minute then quit thankfully. I decided to run to F Flat.  My sunglasses flew off my head and into the lake in Platte. I got one pike at F Flat and missed one bite that hit when the Chatterbait landed. I should have just stuck things out in Sully, No surface activity in calm Platte.

Due to the weather turning cold at the end of October, this was my last trip in the Trophy while I had it docked at the Lake Place on Platte Lake. I pulled the Trophy out of Platte on Halloween. We are getting a warm-up in mid-November so hopefully this will not be my last trip in the Trophy for 2023.

2Bass 4Pike

10:00-Midnight Harbor Mouth, North Corner

50℉, Cloudy, 2-5mph ENE

Ideal conditions: Pre-frontal with light east winds (2-6mph). I got a skinny 23" fish quickly on the Rage Swimmer after I had a bite that didn't hook up on Agent E. I got the 25.5 pretty quickly. Then there was about a 30-minute lull where I lost one hooked fish and had a few bites that didn't hook up, I went to the North Corner and got an under on the first cast with the X Shad Shallow. Lots of weeds in the water. I got the final two bites and lost one other on the NC boulder. I got the final fish of the night on my announced last cast, a 23 incher. No keepers tonight. Had at least 5 hits that didn't hook up. Never did put on a stick bait.

5Eyes 

 

 

Trip With Chuck & Lois On South Long

1:50-5:50 PM South Long Lake 

44-54℉, Cloudy some light rain, 3-5mph N
53℉ Water Temp Not much visibility

Thankfully it did not rain. There were multiple rigs parked and no dock. We headed to the West reeds. Lois started things off quickly with a spinnerbait bass. I think Chuck had 4 bass before I got my first bite which was a pike. I got a pounda on the swim jig, then had one close to 4lbs pull off as I tried to lift it in. I got one more bass and pike on our first stop. Then we headed up the lake by the North Reed Bed. Chuck got a couple of bass and I got one pike. As we got beyond the reeds I decided to put on a swimbait seeing as how Chuck didn't have a rod rigged with one like usual. Bam, fish on immediately. We headed farther east shortly after that. Nothing at the top of the lake. We returned to the starting spot and I got 6 bass on the Rage Swimmer including the last three of the trip on three consecutive casts. Lois caught a couple of fish as did Chuck on the last stop. We called it a day shortly after. Chuck beat me on numbers, but I don't think by a great deal.

9Bass 

3Pike 

Short Sully Trip/Vikes Beat 49ers

 

2lb Big Blade Chatter/Billy Goat (Gill/?)

4:40-6:55 PM Sullivan Pt/Flat and Jaimen's Inside Turn

53-60℉, PC, 2-4mph S

52℉, 2.5' of visibility tanic

I could have gotten out an hour sooner, but I made a bad bet on waiting for the FedEx guy to bring my fishing rods. I started at Steve's Reed Edge, not a bite. Next, I headed to the End of PT/Flat and drifted in with the wind. I got a few pike and missed more than half of my bites. Went to Jaimen's. I lost a 2-3lber at the boat. I got distracted by a phone call from Mom. I lost the Big Blade Bluegill when the leader broke on a backlash cast. I got two bass. Went back to PT/Flat and got a few pike only catching 1/3rd of my bites. Snatcher Chuck called about fishing tomorrow. I unsuccessfully threw a jerkbait for about 5 minutes. Vikes beat the 49ers. I didn't make it home to watch until the 2nd Half started.

3Bass 

6Pike 

4lber Tonight/17lb Bag

 

4:00-7:00 PM SPSI, PT/Flat, SE Reeds, Jaimen's Inside Turn

48-55℉, PC, 2-4mph S

Water Temp: 52℉ moderate visibility

After helping Todd get the pontoon lift to shore I went out. Stopped at SPSI first and had the Misson Spinnerbait get bit off. Then I went to Pt/Flat and got one 2lb bass. Then I went to SE Reeds getting a couple of pike and a 3lber on the back side when I switched to the Big Blade Chatter. Then I went directly to Jaimen's and got a 4lber along the reed edge and good pike at the Inside Turn. I decided to back to the Pt/Flat. Finished with a 4lber (3.75) at the Reed Pt in the dark. Shined one eye and pike at the bridge. Chatter was the deal. 

8Bass 

6Pike 

One Eye At Eddy's Tonight

Lucky to pull the line snag free

20" X-Rap Shad Shallow (Chart/Org Belly)

9:45-11:50 PM N Jetty Harbor Mouth and S. Jetty

46-55℉, PC, 3-5mph NNW

Not much visibility it was a windy day, but had calmed down considerably by the time I arrived

Lost a bite on the Firetiger X-Rap Shad Shallow at the Harbor Mouth, immediately switched to Hot Steel, and was rewarded with a keeper. I got careless when landing the fish and got really lucky the X-Rap glanced off my jacket rather than stuck me. Lost a fish about 15 minutes later on a Clown X-Rap 10 while standing at Pete's. That was my last bite. Basically, the wind went from 5-10 to 2-5mph and I  think it killed the bite.  I ended at the South Jetty. Sketchy getting to my spot there because it drops so far and my legs down work great.

1 Eye 

 

2023 Bass Club Clash at Mission Lakes

2023 Snatcher's Team, Victory Achieved!

 

The Brainerd Area Bass Club Clash is an annual tournament for bragging rights among the three Brainerd Area bass clubs; The Baxter Bass Snatchers, The Range Bassmasters, and Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters.

Bass Snatchers Won With 83-8 

Brainerd Lakes 70-12 

Range  63-13.  

Snatcher Dennis with the Challenge Cup

3-13lbs Bunker Hawg (blk/blue)

My Boater Ranger Smude

Conditions: Low 40's to mid 50's, Sunny to Cloudy, 0-5mph NE the wind couldn't make up its mind

My Day:

I drew Brian Smude who I fished with two years ago at the Bass Club Clash at Serpent Lake. I was determined to fish better than that poor performance and did. Brian has a history of success on the lake, but this hasn't been his year, and he wasn't able to pre-fish. He also hadn't been sleeping well due to sciatica. We were boat 2 and headed to the NE. I got a small keeper pretty quickly on a Texas rigged black/blue Powerbait Bunker Hawg and added two more small ones to the well in short order. I then got my big bass of the day, which weighed in at 3-13 which had me flabbergasted because my scale had the fish at under 3lbs. I've never had such a mismatch in weights. I had my 5 and culled once before we left for Smude's Juice.

He got two fish there and I didn't get a bite until we were making our second pass. I think it was a pike and then shortly after that I got a 2lber. They both bit on a Powerbait Craw Fatty.  We then worked our way West along the South reeds. I missed two bites on the Poppin Frog before I stuck a good 2lber. I thought it was going to be AWWWWWN, but that was the last bite in the reeds. We then went back to the starting spot and Brian put on a jigworm and filled his limit. I hit a mid-day wall with my energy levels when the fish just weren't biting on anything I tried. We went and worked the cabbage flat behind the reeds as it clouded up and I finally started getting some action again on a spinnerbait, but they were either pike or bass that didn't help. I was bending my spinnerbait wire and it broke. I put on a bluegill Big Blade Chatterbait as we made our way back toward the starting spot. After fishing fruitlessly for about 5 minutes I made the change to blue/black with a FireCraw Big Blade Chatter. It wasn't long and I caught a couple of pike. I culled 2 or 3 times with the Big Blade, but never got that kicker bite I needed.

Results: My fish weighed 13/7, which put me in 8th out of 20 anglers. Smude only had 10/4. I thought he was much closer to me than that. I ended up beating all but two Rangers and two of the Brainerd Club. I think I may have been the top non-boater. The tournament was won by Ranger Arnie who beat out Snatcher Dennis on the tiebreaker but Arnie wasn't actually on the Rangers Clash Team, so Dennis won the Challenge Cup. Jim Eide of Brainerd Lakes took 3rd. 

Snatcher Hammer and Arnie tied for big bass with a 4/15 fish a piece. Arnie originally weighed the wrong bass and wasn't going to reweigh because he didn't think it was going to beat Dennis's fish, but was goaded into it by fellow Rangers. Arnie was also the Weigh Master for his own fish. Not sure how Snatcher Chuck and Dennis let him get away with that, but it's water under the bridge now.

The score sheet

What my scale said I had.

Snatcher Darren left me a selfie
or
two

Snatcher Goofball

Bass Snatcher Whitefish Tournament Recap

 

Snatcher Chuck Takes 1st Place And Mr. Bass

2/8 Jackhammer/Goat (Junbug/blk/blue)

This walleye Tim hit just a couple seconds before my big struck

Conditions: 60-70℉, Mostly Cloudy, 3-8mph NE

The Day: When I arrived at the access it was quickly apparent that another bass club, The Gopher Bassmasters, were having a tournament as well.  There was plenty of room at the access and they blasted off at 7AM and weighed in at 3PM. Our times were an hour later so it all worked out. 

We were the last boat out, but easily beat Snatcher Al to Arrowhead Lake. We went to the far end of the lake where a duck hunter announced his presence shortly after we sat down by firing a couple of shots. I never saw where he was at way back up in the slop in the NE of the lake. We stayed on the SE end slop. I had what I believe was a pike miss my buzzbait pretty quickly. No bites after repeated casts. Tim put a nice bass in the boat at the start of a boat channel. We went all the way to the back of this boat channel with us both picking up a pike. While we were just getting started down this boat lane a non-Snatcher boat started fishing along the slop to the North. We fished a little ways to the North of the first boat channel then bounced to the West side of Arrowhead. Tim got two good bass, but it was really slow and I didn't get a bite. About 2 hours in we decided to leave Arrowhead.

We fished along a weedline just to the West of Arrowhead. Tim caught his lunker on a Chicken Jig and a couple of pike. We then moved quite a bit farther West and caught a few pike. Next, we went to Bertha and Tim got a keeper bass on his first cast with a blue Chatterbait. We didn't get a bite at "the dock."  Tim got his limit and I caught a dink bass on a spinnnerbait and a couple of pike.  We moved to Clamshell. Tim got a bass there on his very first cast and offered the front of the boat to me. I didn't take him up on the offer right away, like an idiot. Tim caught several bass over the next twenty minutes that didn't help him when I had finally had enough of being skunked and moved to the front of the boat when he did cull. I had the skunk out of the boat within minutes and had my limit in an hour and a half or so. Tim caught bass at about the same rate as me from the back of the boat by fishing much slower and having a lot of experience on Whitefish to know higher percentage casts. I think I culled one time at the front of the boat and then we came up to a Gopher and left to hit a deep weedline. I got a fish there on a Brovarny/Rage Bug that culled.

We went back to Arrowhead for the final couple of hours. I think Tim got a cull on the West end in the wind. I tried working a frog and a rat, but it wasn't happening. We then went East and Tim got a nice upgrade pretty quickly. I switched to a Toadz and missed a good swirl that never hit again. I got a few pike.  I got my final bass and a solid cull right after Tim missed a fish in the rice. We worked some awesome-looking pig water for our final 20 minutes of fishing, but it was dead.

Results: My fish weighed 10/15 putting me in 6th Place. I was the only Co-Angler to catch a limit, so I won my second Co-Angler Challenge in a row. I also clinched a spot on the Club's Super 6.  Snatcher Chuck won with 15/14 and earned his 14th Mr. Bass title. Younger bro Al got Lunker with a 4/9 fish that gave him the tiebreaker over my boater Snatcher Benson who also had 15/01.

My Thoughts: Weird day. I thought for sure everybody would come in with a limit. I was shocked to see just how tough it was. I am so thankful I drew Tim. I doubt I would have gotten a limit in anybody else's boat. Tim discovered what they wanted and had us in an area that was full of fish. The fact that I got to run the trolling motor for a couple of hours was huge. I didn't need to slow my retrieval speed to catch willing biters because they were seeing my lure first. 

I lucked out that neither Al nor Tim were able to fish at Pokegama. If either one would have fished that tournament I don't think I would have made the Super 6. This is the 3rd time I have made the Super 6, in 2011 I lost the tiebreaker to Snatcher Ludenia and finished in 7th.

Tournament Grade: B+
I had the good sense to come to my senses an go to the front of the boat. 

 

 

DNF, Trophy Back In The Lake

Old Picture of the 2001 Johnson 
I forgot to take a picture tonight.

 By the time Steve got back with the Equinox from picking up hay it was too late for fishing. We got the Trophy put back in the lake. The 2001 Johnson ran okay. I'm a little concerned that it wasn't spitting water at low speed, though. I'll be headed out in the morning tomorrow. I pray that I will get my money's worth out of the motor repair I had done on this motor. Basically, It will need to work trouble-free for a couple more years for that to be the case.

OK Trip In THe AM/Pulled the Trophy in the Evening

3.61lbs Buzz/ToadZ (Coppertruse)

Fall Colors

I was discombobulated from the start. The headlamp went out almost immediately. Arrived at the Lake Place about 20 minutes later than I should have. There was water in the boat. I drained it with the deep cycle. Didn't have the boat ready to head out until "I Predict A Riot" so the boat loading was a cluster. I stopped at SPSI. I had a fish dog me on the first cast and not hit the Loon Bubble Walker. Immediately switched to bluegill and banged my first fish of the morning. Had one more miss and spent too long at the PT. Next, I went to the INT. I picked up one pike and had a couple of fish not hook up including a pretty good swirl at the Backstop. Something showed me where it was along the INT Channel. Lost a couple of bites. Caught a pike as I worked to the SW INT. Missed some bites at August Juice. Headed to N INT Rice Point and discovered they wanted the buzzbait. Went up N SPRO and came back S SPRO. I got a couple nice bass as I came back down Rice Point and one over by NE INT. Went to July Juice and saw a blow up out that way but it was dead. I got a couple of bass working my way to Steve's Fall Juice. Had a golden miss the buzz right at the boat there. Pitched a jig and missed the fish when it bit. I lost the power to go against the wind. I motored back to INT and lost two gooden's at INT Rice PT. I hit SPSI and didn't get a bite on my way back.

Should have had a 3lb average my catch was 14.63, with 3.63 big fish.

9Bass 13Pike 

I should have texted Steve to see when he was getting done with his route today because he got done early. I could have had the boat pulled, the motors switched, and the Trophy back in the lake had I known. Only was able to get the boat pulled out.

DNF Or Pull The Trophy Today

 I went to Brainerd instead with the 'rents and got myself a new battery charger at Harbor Freight. Tuma finished in 57th at a tough Watts Bar. I think he actually gained a place in the tournament standings despite not getting a limit and the accompanying loss in weight of a pound and a half fish.

Snatcher Tournament Pokegama (Grand Rapids)

Snatcher Ludenia Gets the W

Conditions: 55-67℉, Cloudy to Partly Cloudy, 0-7mph SE NE

Water Temp: 66-68℉

The Day:

We got a bit discombobulated on our way to the river. At one point, we lost power on Darren's console GPS. We did eventually find what we were looking for: the Hot Pond Convergence. I suggested we backtrack a bit and fish our way back, seeing how no one followed us into the river. About 20 minutes in, I put a small keeper in the boat that hit a ToadZ. About 10 minutes later, Darren had a pike steal his frog. Darren missed a bite from a good-sized bass along a mat in the rice. I pitched a Turbo FattyZ into the same mat and immediately caught one just shy of 2 lbs. Darren had a pike steal the LiveTarget Frog I gave him with a  huge blow-up. I think Darren had three frogs get bit off in total, along with a couple of jigs and Texas Rigs. I think I got bit off once on a Texas Rig.  Hammer and Jon showed up and fished a bit in the area we were heading for before heading farther upriver. 

Eventually, we got to the Convergence, and I got a nice bass on the ToadZ off of some isolated pads. A couple of minutes later, I lost a similar-sized fish. We then went into the hot, and Darren had his third frog get bit off. It was dead in there other than that. We went back to the convergence to talk to Hammer and Jon. They were catching more fish than us, and Hammer told us what was working for them. We fished back over the area where I had caught my third bass. Darren got bit off a time or two. I started pitching a Turbo FattyZ and got a pike, then a bass over 2 lbs. Darren caught a pike or two more. 

At about 1 PM, we decided to bail on this area just as it was clouding up again.  We fished some slop on our way back to the lake, where I got my final two bass of the day. The first on a swim jig, and my last bass of the day came on a LiveTarget Frog. Darren got a dink that he didn't measure. We got to Tioga Bay with about an hour and a half left. Darren's front mapping wasn't right. Despite that frustration, Darren did put three nice bass in the boat in the final hour. I missed one bite on a jig in Tioga. Turns out it was a tough day.

Results: My fish weighed 11/12, which put me in 5th Place out of 11 Anglers, and I won the Co-Angler Challenge for the first time in a couple of years. Snatcher Ludenia blew the field away with 19/4. Dennis got 2nd with 14/14, and Snatcher Chuck came in 3rd with 14/9. Snatcher Mick had Lunker with a 4/14 brown bass.

My Thoughts: I really thought the largemouth would be on fire, but it seems that was not the case. I also thought there would be multiple fish over 5lbs caught, but it didn't happen. My boater Darren has very little experience on this body of water, and we went in blind, with neither of us getting to pre-fish. That definitely hurt us. I should have fished a swim jig and the Turbo FattyZ more and a Frog less. On the positive side, it was my best finish of the year; I won the Co-Angler Challenge and have a shot at being in the Super 6 going into the last tournament. It could be worse. 

Grade: B 

I was energized and fished hard all day.

4/14