Snatcher's North Long Tourny Recap

 

Caught Me A Good Speck on a Dark Sleeper

Tourny Champ Keith Tuma

Conditions: 60-78℉, Cloudy with occasional light rain, 3-15mph SE 

The Day:

We started on the South end of the Lake to the West of where Nate started fishing cabbage beds. We stayed in the same 150-yard or so stretch until about 11 AM. I had my limit in the first hour and forty minutes. Al put the first 3 bass in the boat. I'm pretty sure my first fish was a pike on the Big Blade Chatterbait. That Big Blade Chatter was my hot bite in the morning. I think I lost one quality bass after it buried me in the weeds. After I got my limit. I struggled to get bites from keeper bass, getting pike, and a couple of dinks. I should have thrown the Dark Sleeper as the fish Al was getting on the Craw Tube were better quality on average than my Chatterbait fish, with one or two exceptions.

We then went to 371 Bay when the wind was howling around 11AM. I got my big bass (2/15)  in 371 on the Dark Sleeper on our first pass in 371, I was a bite machine with that Dark Sleeper pulling in small pike, rock bass, dink bass, and I culled up a couple of times and one nice crappie on our second pass. We went back to the starting area. The wind calmed down considerably shortly after we arrived. Nate showed up shortly after and thought we had been there the whole time. Not much was going on until I put on a Neko Rigged Dinger, which caught me 5 bass in about 15 minutes. I culled with  3 of the fish putting all, but one fish over 2lbs on my scale. I could have sworn the second to last fish I got on the Dinger was three plus when it wallowed on the surface, but it buried me in the weeds, and when I got it in, it didn't even help me. Al got us out of there to head to Merrifield Bay. I got a dink on a buzzbait and on a Dark Sleeper, along with a couple of pike in Merrifield. We fished for about 15 minutes in 371 Bay to end things, and I got a pike or two, maybe a rock bass as well. I was hoping my fish would go 14 lbs, and indeed they did, right on the nose.

18Bass 16Pike 3Rock 1Crip 

Results: My fish weighed a respectable 14lbs, but on this day that was only good enough for 13th Place.  The winner was Snatcher Tuma with 18/05; Second Place went to Snatcher Dennis with 17/01 and Lunker (4/08), which edged out Snatcher Fields who also had 17/01. Everybody caught a limit today and the average bag was 14.94lbs.

My Thoughts: Should have gone to the Dark Sleeper at the first stop. A couple of lost fish cost me in this one I think.

Grade: B

Sure 13th Place out of 17 Anglers is C-/D+ territory, but I was just ounces behind my boater on a day when Co-anglers got stomped on and I was only one quality cull away from a Top 10.

  

Bass Snatcher North Long Lake

Smitty takes the win with 18/07

 

2/09 Z-Man TRD Hogz

2nd Fish In the Boat for Nate wasn't a keeper either

What my scale says my fish weighed.

Conditions: Mid 60's to 70's, MC to Cloudy, 3-8mph NE

The Day: Nate kicked my butt yet again, and I couldn't even get a freakin limit, the end.

We were the last boat out and headed South on the main lake. We were fishing along a weedline. Nate put a dink in the boat first. Then he got the bullhead, which we both got a laugh over. Shortly after that, Nate got his first keeper of the day.  My first keeper bit a few minutes later on a black/blue jig and hit on the fall. I think Nate put another keeper in the boat. I lost something at the boat when I wasn't able to put my reel into free spool in time when a big fish went on a power run, and the hook popped out of the fish's mouth. 80% chance it was a big pike, but I never saw the fish, to be sure. It bit the jig as I was reeling it back to the boat. Nate was getting his bites on a craw tube, so I switched to that. I threw a long cast out and got bit by a good fish. 3/4 of the way back in, it spits the hook.  My hook point was still Texposed and in the plastic. That clued Nate into what the fish were doing, and he started catching them pretty quickly.  I got my second fish on the black/blue jig sometime after Nate started culling.

I think we left the first spot around 9AM. Nate continued to cull with a better quality fish as we bobbed up and down on the waves. I got my big fish on TRD creature. I don't remember if I got my second bass at the second stop or the 3rd. Nate continued to upgrade at our third spot. I was getting bites on a craw tube, but the fish would let go and not come back, and I pooched several hooksets as well, very frustrating. At 10:30, I was in good shape with 4 fish in the boat and a 2lb plus average. I think Nate had his final fish by Noon. My final fish came on a craw tube and was the only double we had all day. I missed a couple of other opportunities to double up. We stopped getting bites on the main lake, so with two hours left, we headed to 371. Nate caught 6 or 7 that didn't help in 371. I missed a couple of bites, and the frustration got to me as I messed around with my tackle rather than keeping the craw tube in the water. Neither of the two tricks I had up my sleeve got me a bite. 

Time was up, and I was a fish short of a limit. So frustrating.

Results: My fish weighed 9/7 which put me third from the bottom in 20th Place. Nate had 16/14, which put him in 5th. Jim Smith took the win with 18/07. Lunker went to Bill Ludenia with a 4lber, and he took second with 18lbs. And Chuck Steinbauer beat out Dennis on the tiebreaker to take 3rd Place.

So what went wrong: 
My tackle prep was what cost me in this one, I'm pretty sure. The 17lb line I was Texas rigging with was probably costing me bites. I did have a rod with 12lb Flouro in the boat, but it wasn't spooled with enough line. It was the rod I was using for the black/blue jig. It's a reel I used last year for dock skipping, and I didn't catch the fact that I needed more line. When I was casting the jig, I kept getting hung up on the knot to the backing. I should have re-spooled the reel or just brought another rod combo; plenty of room in Nate's Ranger.

My lower back was stiff, which affected my hooksets, and for some reason my upper back started bothering me around 10am. I haven't had upper back issues this year and for it to happen when I was fishing bottom contact baits is just unexplainable.

My sense of feel was just off. I pulled the craw tube away from multiple fish.

My Final Thoughts: It just wasn't my day. Odds are pretty good this will be my throw away tournament and worst finish for the year. On to Fishtrap.

Mini-Bucks With Beau Bacon On North Long

Beau's Big Ba$$

 

"Mini Bucks" @ North Long

Fish all caught by Chuck Steinbauer 

9:00AM-3:00PM Merrifield Bay North Long Lake
Conditions: 50-67℉, Foggy in the Morning turning Sunny, Calm to Light WSW wind, water level high
Water Temp: 59℉

In the "Mini-Bucks" tournament Merrifield Bay was divided in 5 Zones, one team to a zone at a time.  We got an hour and 10 minutes to fish each period, except for the last one which I think lasted and hour and 20 minutes so we could finish at 3PM.

The Day:
I wish I had a picture of the 5 Zones in Merrfield Bay that we used.  We started in Zone 5, which is the SE quadrant of the bay.  We didn't get hit where we started.  We next headed to the docks and Chuck got the 1.87lb fish on the first one we went too.  That was our only fish in that zone.  I think we didn't fish the dock thoroughly enough because he was in a rush to fish them all.  It was pretty much sunny during this period.

Zone 1 was next;  This zone was the South West quadrant of the bay.  We started fishing out from the reeds when the fog rolled in.  Fish started busting and Chuck got one, but it was just a small keeper.  I caught one that wasn't very big as well on the Yo-Zuri Pencil.  We came to a point and it had fish.  Chuck caught a keeper that I think we weighed and I caught one that we didn't on a Lake Fork Craw Tube.  I lost what felt like a better fish on the Craw Tube.  I had a fish hit and not get the Pencil, so quickly went to a Evergreen Shower Blows 105 which has three trebles and the back one feathered.  I caught a small keeper on a bone Shower Blows to fill our limit.  I think Chuck caught a pike next and then our big fish of the day.  I might have caught a small upgrade. I don't remember if Chuck caught any other fish.

Zone 2 was pie shaped that touched the south and western shore of the bay.  Out there I think I got a small bass and a pike on the Craw Tube.  Don't remember if Chuck caught a fish in this zone or not.

Zone 3 was the Northwest corner of the lake.  I caught a small keeper that didn't help.  Don't remember if Chuck caught anything.

Zone 4 was the Northeast quadrant of the bay.  We went up by shore where there was an inlet and I got my best bass of the day on a LiveTarget Bluegill Wakebait.  Before I could get it off the hook Chuck hooked up with a fish that was slightly bigger thus I didn't even contribute one fish to our bag.  Chuck caught one or two more fish that didn't help.

The Results:
I can't find the little notepad on which I recorded the results, it's a good thing I wrote them in my quick report.

The tournament was won by Tom "Swannie" Swanson and Keith Tuma with a 13.5lb bag.  Guy and Hammer got 2nd Place falling .09lb behind the leaders.  The Henkensiefken boys came in 3rd and got big bass with a 3.50lber.  We got 4th because Ruff and Ludenia elected not to weigh their fish. 

My Thoughts:  It was nice to catch some fish on North Long after the disaster I had out there this year.  Wish the fish would have bit a little better though.  Other than Zone 1, we never figured them out. 

Snatcher North Long Lake Tournament

1lb 10ozs Lake Fork Craw Tube (Grn Pumkin/Brown)

6:45-2:50PM North Long Lake we fished all 3 Bays
Conditions: 60-83℉, Partly to Mostly Sunny, Wind All Day out of multiple directions

I came into this tournament without a care in the world.  I was not prepared mentally for how difficult catching fish might prove.  After the pre-fish I was sure we were gonna catch a limit a piece.  Boy was I wrong.  Normally, I am content to let my boater call all the shots for the day and am loathe to offer suggestions.  I need to recognize instances where I need to be more assertive.  This tournament was probably one of those instances, but I can't say with any confidence that the results would have been much different.

The Day:
I had thought to myself that starting where we caught multiple fish and then quickly left in 371 Bay should be our start spot.  Checkbook suggested we start in the reeds where we got fish in Merrifield Bay.  No problem.  Fish for 30 minutes, if we don't get a bite get out of there and go to 371.  That is pretty much the way it played out.

When we got to 371 Bay a boat was anchored maybe 50 yards to the NE of the juice.  We were there maybe 15 minutes and Checkbook got bit off.  I don't remember if I had gone to the front of the boat or not when I caught my only bass of the day on a Lake Fork Craw Tube.  I threw out a marker buoy and went and got the fish weighed and put a cull tag in.  By the time I was ready to fish again Checkbook was retied and back on the trolling motor.  Over the next hour or so I missed a couple of hits and got a pike.  I think Checkbook caught a pike.  The boat that was anchored finally left.  Checkbook wanted to leave as well.  I thought we should fish toward where the boat was anchored, but didn't speak up.

We went to the reeds in 371 that I had a blow up in during pre-fish.  Checkbook got his lone keeper there on a jig.

Next we headed to the main lake.  We apparently just missed fishing a spot that had a bunch of small keepers on it.  We didn't find the weeds.  I suggested we try some docks.  We went to either a resort or marina not sure which.  Didn't get anything there.  We fished some reeds nothing.  Tried another spot close by. Nothing.  We headed back to Merrifield Bay and fished the steep break on the North Shore narrows into the bay.  A good looking spot, but we didn't get a hit other than me getting bit off once.

Next we tried some reeds on the South shoreline, nothing.  We tried some docks.  I think Checkbook got a rock bass.  We tried some more reeds and some great looking shallow slop along the cattail shoreline.  Not a sign of a fish.  It was now about 2PM and both us were pretty frustrated.  I think I pulled the plug on where we were fishing maybe a bit to quickly as we were approaching some good looking water with some cain and thicker reeds, but I really wanted to get back to that weedline spot on 371 and that is where we went and  spent the rest of the day.  We caught several pike there and both got bit off in the final hour.  I also missed a few hits that might have been bass.  I later learned that a lot of the bass bites felt like panfish and you really had to coax them into taking it.  Or it could be that panfish were playing with a bait until a bass came to investigate.  Whatever, the day was over and we didn't figure that part of the puzzle out.

Results: My fish weighed 1lb 10ozs, which put me in 23rd Place out of 24 anglers with Checkbook  taking last.  Keith Tuma won by more than a pound and a half with 17/09 and with 4/05 Lunker.

My Thoughts:  I didn't really get spun out.  It's just that everything we tried didn't work.  If anything I was to casual believing we would eventually find and catch some bass. Looking back at my tournament results in July I haven't caught a limit in the month since 2012, ouch.  This finish pretty much forces my hand.  If I want any shot at making the Super 6 at the end of the year I'm going to have to fish Thunder Lake and miss my oldest brothers wedding ceremony.  A disaster on this level next month at Gull will make that decision a moot point.

Next Tournament: Gull Lake August 12th  

  

North Long Pre-Fish

No Pictures, forgot camera and scale.

I arrived just before 7AM and Bob ,aka Checkbook, already had the boat in the water.  It was cloudy with a SE wind.  We started out by going to 371 Bay just inside the narrows on the North side.  I got a small bass on the Pure Poison/Super Fluke Jr. and a small pike.  Bob got bit off.

From there we went and checked some reeds on the West shoreline.  I missed a hit in some thick reeds on a frog, but that was it.  We then tried a stretch of rice and pads that Bob fished with Chuck Steinbauer in the Fall.  I missed one hit, probably a pike, on the Frog.

We then went to an area with good cabbage and caught 4 bass and a few pike before we got out of there.

Then we messed around on the main body for a few hours and couldn't find anything.

We spent the last couple of hours in Merrifield Bay.  The wind had switched up out of the NW and really started blowing.  We couldn't get anything on the Boy Scout humps.  We then went into some reeds on the North side.  Bob lost a good one and caught a pike.  I managed to catch 4 or 5 keepers in the reeds, nothing special, and a rock bass.  We quit at 3PM.  All but 1 bass was caught on a Huckleberry Craw Tube.

Feeling OK about tournament day.  We don't have much, but I think I'll be able to get a limit.  Hopefully we will have cloud cover and  the fish will get active and I can get some good one's to go on topwater.  Topwater flat didn't work on this day.