The Tournament of Champions lakes are kept secret until the day before the tournament, thus if you want to pre-fish you either have to hit a lot of lakes or guess. I was thinking about hitting Horseshoe and Sauk in addition to Platte/Sullivan but I didn't do either, I ended up regretting my sloth.
Saturday September 24th Sauk Lake
Conditions: It was overcast all day with a slight wind out of the south. Temps were probably in low to mid 60's.
I basically started this tournament on Sauk the way I started the tournament in August. I hit the same shoreline with a fluke. No luck. I then proceeded to hit some wood with jigs, no luck. Then some pads with the jig, no luck. Then weeds and pads, no luck except a bunch of pike on a slow rolled spinnerbait. I tried docks no luck except a couple more pike, one of which broke off a swim jig. Every once and a while I would bring out the storm swim bait trying to catch a monster. It just was not my day.
Finally in the last hour I missed a good fish 3-4lbfish and caught a 2lber. So basically my TOC was over on Day 1.
Saturday September 25th Knife Lake
Conditions: It was cloudy and cool turning into a light breeze and steady rain.
As that I was basically eliminated from the running, I was fishing for big fish. My heart was not in it. I did catch several fish including a smallie in the rice. The rain got to me so I gave up and released my fish. I went back to the car and listened to the Vikings game while waiting for the weigh in.
Last Place both days.
Showing posts with label Sauk Lake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sauk Lake. Show all posts
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Team Bass Sauk Lake
Report Done: 5/8/2006
Pre-Fish: Went into this one lake unseen.
About Sauk Lake: This was an all new lake for me and the Team Bass Trail. Coming in Sauk Lake had a reputation for tough fishing, great looking water and big fish; would that hold true or would we find something else?
Sauk is basically a river/lake like the Horseshoe chain. The lake had a pretty good algae bloom and thus stained water.
Tournament Day: Sight unseen my goal was to get a limit and just hope it was big enough or that there was a kicker in there. My basic strategy was to put the trolling motor down and cover water until I figured something out.
Conditions: Warm, the morning with a slight overcast clearing in the afternoon. Wind out of the south 5 to 10mph.
I went under the bridge heading west put my self on the calm south shore and started fishing with a Bubble Gum Zoom Super Fluke. It didn't take long and I landed my first keeper, just under 2lbs. A little farther down I landed another then another and then I missed a solid 3-4lb fish on a poor hookset. These fish were all shallow related to wood. I went through I fairly long dry spell before I caught one and then missed a good fish on the fluke in a tangle of wood. I worked that piece of cover over pretty good and eventually caught that fish I missed on a jig. I then went through another long dry spell. I moved East of the bridge on the North side and started fishing slop with a frog and a jig.
The limit fish was proving elusive as I missed a few blow ups and bites on the jig. I didn't get frustrated, I got mad. With about 10 minutes left I nabbed a good 2lber on the Zoom Horny Toad. I felt really good at that point and headed in.
Stats:
For Sauk Lake
TLA: 1.000
LCP: 1.000
FWA: 2.11lbs
BBP: .000
TDWA: 12.69
12lbs 11ozs for 7th Place
After Thoughts: It's a good thing I got that limit fish or I would have been highly frustrated. I must have lost at least 5 bass before I finally filled out. Overall I felt good about getting 7th place as it could have been far worse. I was a ways out of the money but plenty close to falling far had I not caught that last fish.
I don't know if pre-fishing would have helped or hurt me in this one as that I feel I had a fairly productive day. I don't think the fishery has an overwhelming abundance of fish to begin with. Having that attitude that it might be tough helped me to keep my head in the game. My early success was a big bonus.
Mistakes: Missed fish just killed me in this one.
Final Thought: The big fish and big stringers just didn't show up, the tournament was won by wood pitching jigs.
Next Tournament: Horseshoe 2
Pre-Fish: Went into this one lake unseen.
About Sauk Lake: This was an all new lake for me and the Team Bass Trail. Coming in Sauk Lake had a reputation for tough fishing, great looking water and big fish; would that hold true or would we find something else?
Sauk is basically a river/lake like the Horseshoe chain. The lake had a pretty good algae bloom and thus stained water.
Tournament Day: Sight unseen my goal was to get a limit and just hope it was big enough or that there was a kicker in there. My basic strategy was to put the trolling motor down and cover water until I figured something out.
Conditions: Warm, the morning with a slight overcast clearing in the afternoon. Wind out of the south 5 to 10mph.
I went under the bridge heading west put my self on the calm south shore and started fishing with a Bubble Gum Zoom Super Fluke. It didn't take long and I landed my first keeper, just under 2lbs. A little farther down I landed another then another and then I missed a solid 3-4lb fish on a poor hookset. These fish were all shallow related to wood. I went through I fairly long dry spell before I caught one and then missed a good fish on the fluke in a tangle of wood. I worked that piece of cover over pretty good and eventually caught that fish I missed on a jig. I then went through another long dry spell. I moved East of the bridge on the North side and started fishing slop with a frog and a jig.
The limit fish was proving elusive as I missed a few blow ups and bites on the jig. I didn't get frustrated, I got mad. With about 10 minutes left I nabbed a good 2lber on the Zoom Horny Toad. I felt really good at that point and headed in.
Stats:
For Sauk Lake
TLA: 1.000
LCP: 1.000
FWA: 2.11lbs
BBP: .000
TDWA: 12.69
12lbs 11ozs for 7th Place
After Thoughts: It's a good thing I got that limit fish or I would have been highly frustrated. I must have lost at least 5 bass before I finally filled out. Overall I felt good about getting 7th place as it could have been far worse. I was a ways out of the money but plenty close to falling far had I not caught that last fish.
I don't know if pre-fishing would have helped or hurt me in this one as that I feel I had a fairly productive day. I don't think the fishery has an overwhelming abundance of fish to begin with. Having that attitude that it might be tough helped me to keep my head in the game. My early success was a big bonus.
Mistakes: Missed fish just killed me in this one.
Final Thought: The big fish and big stringers just didn't show up, the tournament was won by wood pitching jigs.
Next Tournament: Horseshoe 2
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