Leech Lake Snatcher Tournament

 

Conditions: 47-74℉, Mostly Sunny, clouded up in the final hour, 8-25mph S

My Day: We started on the South End of Bear Island, where Bruce caught a couple while pre-fishing. I had a pike steal my Dinger about 20-minutes into the day. We then went around Partridge Point. From there, we went to the North end of Bear Island in the reeds. I thought we might get a bite there with the wind blowing on it, but we didn't. We then went to the East end of Center Rice. We started by drifting along the edge.  Thought for sure I would get a bite there as it looked great, but nope. Then we went on the lee side, and I frogged it, trying to make a perfect cast to get a reaction bite. When we met Snatcher Ludenia and Al, they confirmed that it was a tough bite. We then made the run back west to Uram Bay and finished the day there. Bruce missed a bite, and I got the muskie in the final 15-minutes. So we both ended the day skunked for bass.

Results: Goose egg buys a goose egg as good as DNF or DQ'ed. Snatcher Nate came in first with 21-8. Snatcher Chuck got 2nd with 17-8, and Smitty came in 3rd with 15-1. Snatcher Chuck and Bacon tied with a 4-9 Lunkers.  Only 4 limits were caught, and we had 6 guys skunk. So half the Co-Anglers blanked and one boater (My boater).

My Thoughts:  The bite was off, and wind conditions were not favorable. We fished too fast most of the time. I'm not going to beat myself up over this one. Dennis only put two keepers in the boat, and Hammer, who was fishing with Chuck, only caught 3 keepers. Nate's non-boater got skunked as well. I am just glad it warmed up, and I was able to listen to tunes while we were making our long runs through the waves.

 

Pre-fishing Leech With Snatcher Bruce

 I arrived at the resort Bruce was staying at just after 9AM, just as the wind started to blow. We were off by 9:45 headed to Boy Bay. Didn't find anything along the shoreline but one pike. Found one spot that looked good, but there were no signs of life. Bruce's Ultrex shut off, presumably because I had blown a fuse running it on 10 while it had some weeds. Bruce didn't remember where the fuse box was and couldn't find it. We called his mechanic, who wasn't sure where it was either, but he gave us some tips. We still didn't find anything. So we were just going to scout with the big motor, but then Bruce discovered the troller had power. We then surmised there is a kill switch in the motor if it gets too hot. We then went over by the Boy River. Too shallow and too much crap weed. We went and checked Center Rice, which looked good to me. We then headed to the reed bed on the N or Bear Island. Don't think we will stop here. Tried to find the rice patch that I fished with Ruff the last time. We turned away because the water was too shallow. Went to look at a spot Bruce found the day before and checked one other spot. The sky got dark, and the wind really started humming, so we called it a day.

It is a bummer that Leech is so low. So much water that would typically hold fish is dry or almost so. We don't have much of a clue about where on the East side of Bear Island is safe to run, so I am not sure if we will even go to the best water we scouted. It looks like it is going to be windy again on Saturday, oh for joy.

Got my new iPhone squared away at the Apple store on my way home. That is something positive.