Tough Night

2.31lbs/16" Sparrow

6:00-8:30PM SPSI, E of GOMH, SPRO, Intersection
60-70℉, MS, 0-7mph SW
64℉

Started at SPSI and had something eat the tails off of my Speed Craw on my Northland Spinnerbait. I then went East of GOMH. There was baitfish here, but the carpetweed is everywhere and 6-inches under the surface. Didn't even get a bite. I then went into Sullivan heading for the last boat lane. Something got busted between the last and second boat lane on the Southside of the channel so I started there. I put a cast to some open stuff behind the rice wall and the bass just crushed it. I thought maybe that put me on to something, but that was the only bite I had except for a small pike. In the final 20 minutes, I missed a bite along the cattails on the NW reeds. And also missed a couple of bites in the reeds by the boat channel at the Intersection. Tough Trip.

1 Bass
1 Pike

Ok Night in Inlet Bay

3.92lbs/19" Bobby's Perfect (Sparrow)

2.93lbs/16.9" Sparrow

What the swim jig would catch

5:20-8:40PM Inlet Bay ReedsRicePads
72-77℉, MC to C, 0-7mph SSE
78℉

The plan was to fish swim jigs in the reeds and slop in Inlet Bay.  All I could get on the swim jigs was pike. At Center RRP I threw a few casts with the Sparrow and was rewarded with the 19-incher. He missed the frog the first time but came back for seconds. He was a sunfish short of 4lbs.  I didn't get another bass bite until I was over by where I started with Todd. I threw the Sparrow over the coontail and was rewarded with a 16.6incher. I continued to try and make the swim jig work only catching pike. When it hit 8PM it was clear bass didn't want a swim jig so I went to the Bobby's Perfect full time and caught 6 more bass (16x2, 14x4).

8 Bass
13 Pike

Long Slow Morning/One Fish Short Evening

Not On Top Morning/Two Big Girls And Some Rats In the Evening

 4 Plus of Blitz Sexy in the Evening

15.5" Piranha 2/Speed Craw (Junebug)

6:00-9:30AM West Point, NPBI, N Across Flat/Rice/Reeds
66-50℉, Mostly Sunny, 3-6mph East
WT: 71℉

I started at West Point and got a rat off of the dock on the Piranha 2.  I missed a bite off of the tree dock.  I then headed to NPBI where they were not on topwater.  I did get the biggest one of the morning there on the Piranha and a rat and pike on a junebug craw tube.  I then went to North Reeds Across and worked the flat in the calm water.  I picked up one pike there on the bone Shower Blows.  I got another pike in the rice; thought for sure it was going to be a bass.  I got into the reeds and had 14/15 bass get off as I was lifting it into the boat.  That was the only bass to hit the Blitz Frog in the morning.  I got a couple of pike on the Tokyo Rig/craw tube combo and missed a couple of bites as well as I worked my way out of the reeds. 
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4.36lbs/19.75lbs Blitz Frog (Frog)

4.43lbs/19.66" Blitz Sexy

6:40-8:40PM East of Jenny's
68-73℉, Mostly Sunny, 4-11mph SE

So with the wind being what it was, I headed to the start of the rice East of Jenny's.  That first patch looks excellent.  First fish was the 19.75" slop on the Blitz Frog (Frog).  She got it in the tongue and bled quite a bit which led to an extended release time as I held her in the water to stop the bleeding then put it in the livewell to make sure she would make it.  I think she made it.  I then caught a couple of rats out of the shallow rice and one under the dock on the Blitz Sexy.  I had a bass not hook up off the end of the rice.  I got a 14-incher there on the Yum Dinger.  I started working down the rice line and got the second tank out of the rice/reeds/pads about 15 feet in. I got a couple more rats in the long boat lane and that was as far as I got.  I didn't have a single pike strike tonight.

15.63lbs for my Best 6 of the Day.  A disappointing weight with two 4lbers

Short Morning Topwater Window/Missed a Big'n In The Deep Melon Patch

16.25" Pompadour (Bone)

Sneaky Fitch!!!

The view immediately after the Pompadour fish above

6:00-9:00AM West Point, NPBI, SPBI, SPSI, East of GOMH, Channel Inn Bay
65-50℉, Sunny, 0-3mph NW
WT: 72-70℉

I started at West Point.  I got a dink off of the pontoon lift on a Neko Yum Dinger.  I then had Sneaky Fitch disappear my orange Shower Blows Knock Off. I was like "why can't I see it? Am I hung up on a weed?" Nope, it was Sneaky Fitch.  I had a fish miss me over by the tree.  I then went to NPBI.  I paused the Pompadour and was going to adjust the trolling motor when the big one of the morning smoked it.  I then missed one on the Pomp.  I got a 14.5-incher on it a couple of casts later.  I threw the Piranha 2 for a few casts and got 16-incher on that.  I then moved to the SPBI.  Didn't get a bite.  I went to SPSI and got a dink quite a way beyond the point on the SBKO.  I went across and worked the Rice/Pads East of GOMH and didn't get a bite.  I then worked Channel Inn Bay.  Had a couple pike take the Blitz and missed one blowup in the rice.  It was dead so I called it a day at 9AM

7 Bass
2 Pike 
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3.02lbs/17.25lbs Blitz Frog (Black/red)

The pad system that got me

6:00-8:40PM Deep Melon Patch
76-70℉, Partly Cloudy, 0-9mph NW
WT: 76-72℉

I got a later start than I should have.  I went straight to the Deep Melon Patch where Todd and I started that one morning.  The Deep Melon Patch is an area that was literally unfishable last year because it was so weed-choked.  I didn't have much luck to start and there wasn't any activity around me.  I moved my way to the East and there started to be some activity.  First fish to hit the Blitz was a pike.  I got the first bass on the black Blitz around 7:20PM; It was the three-pounder.  I then had 16-incher miss the Blitz, but I got it on the Yum Dinger.  I then got into an area with some pike.  I got a 16.25" on the black Blitz that revealed its location to me.   I had a fish miss when the frog landed on a pad.  I pulled it off and a total tank lit me up.  I had it moving toward me, but it muscled me into a pad root and got off.  Don't know if it was a dog or bass, but it was a big fish.  I didn't think to put a waypoint down, doh.  That was my last bite of the night.

3 Bass
5 Pike

14.88lbs for my Best 6 Bass Today

Rabbit Lake Pre-Fish

12:30-6:30PM Rabbit Lake Pit Side
76-74℉, Partly Cloudy, 4-12mph NW
WT: Mid 70's

It's kind of a bummer when your boaters new fish finder's maps aren't matching up with the lake and don't have any of his old waypoints in it.  We managed OK, but those two things definitely cut down on our efficiency.

We only fished the Eastern/Pit side of the Lakes.  I suggested the starting spot.  The place where I got my lunker the last time the Snatchers fished the lake in 2016.  We actually started beyond the point with the buoy on it a good ways off of the place I got my lunker.  We both had a small bass bite our craw tubes right off the bat.  We didn't get anything off of Dennises Wood or the spot I got my lunker last time.  We worked our way down the roadbed and Darren got us 3 waypoints on good fish on a black/blue craw.  Next, we tried some rushes.  I might have missed one bit.  Then we went shallow and tried some pads.  I got two good ones on the Spro Shad Sprinker Knock Off and we both missed a bite a piece. After I got the second one we got out of there. We worked a weedline on the East shoreline and I got a couple of small bass on a Hack Jig and had a 14/15 keeper jump and get off.  I think Darren had a good one jump him off as well.  We fished the E corner where Dwight won the last and Darren got one or two good ones there and the pike in the picture.  However, we were unable to pin down the juice thanks to the first paragraph.  Then we headed North and worked the point.  Darren got fish on three consecutive casts so we headed to the Island where Darren got another good fish.  From there we tried to find one of Guy's spots, but Darren wasn't sure where to look.  We ended up fishing the two shallow humps between the islands.  Darren caught the last fish of the trip there, a rock bass.  I was hungry and it was after 6 so we called it a day.

Snatcher Cass Lake Tournament

This one is more of a rant than a report (at least it starts that way).

Well, the results are in and I came in 2 to 3 places worse than I thought I was going finish. I placed 21st out of 25 anglers. I think this one officially qualifies as a bomb. The last two tournaments are now my worse back to back tournaments as a Bass Snatcher and they also make for my worst two finishes in a single season. Right now it feels like I am off to a terrible start, but really I am in the exact same position after 3 tournaments as I was in 2008 and last year I had just a single point more whether counting two tournaments or three. In the previous two seasons, I really picked it up in the last 3 tournaments of the year. I wish I could say that gives me some confidence at this point, but I'm really humbled by how poorly the last two tournaments seem to have gone.

I was actually feeling somewhat OK about Cass until I saw the final results. 5 guys caught as many fish as me (3 bass) or one less and beat my weight. Honestly, I'm not sure in this one what I should have been doing differently. It looks like a good number of the boats that were fishing in this area of the Chain struggled with catching fish. Maybe a heavier Title Shot Jig Head paired on a heavier rod would have helped, but my boater was in the front of the boat with something akin to that and he only got 5 bass all day. Counting rock bass, pike, and bass I didn't catch that many less fish than my boater although he did miss a few more fish than me that hung him up in the heavy cover.

Anyway here is how the day went. The weather was bright and sunny all day (Blastoff around 7:45AM) with about 5 to 8MPH wind that was less than forecast. We went North and that's all I'm going to say. Right away in the morning, I made several long casts with a Zoom Horny to some wood that was up by the shore. On one of the casts, I let the Toad sink and I thought maybe something picked it up (kind of hard to tell cause the boat was moving). I set the hook and nothing was there. So I thought it was nothing, but a couple minutes later I noticed the Toad was missing one vibe tail and there were a couple of rips in the Toad. In other words, there is a pretty good chance that nothing was actually a pike.  We were working down the shoreline in a combination of mostly pads with reeds or rushes right up by the shore. I think my boater missed a bite then I had a small fish hit at the Horny Toad and did not get it.

We came to a spot where there was an excellent looking weed transition and my boater Jake got nailed by a nice fish and got it in. We worked down the shoreline a little bit and then doubled back. On the 3rd time back through the weed transition, I got hit aways back in the reeds on a 3/8 or 1/4oz Fin-Tech Title Shot Jig Head with a blue/black Strike King Rodent (beaver type bait). The fish hung me up on the reeds and got off. My Rodent had a chunk taken out of it and was ripped up in a couple of spots which leads me to believe it was probably a pike. I didn't inspect my line and I got hung up in the reeds little ways down and my line broke, another clue that it was probably a pike. We worked this shoreline for quite a long ways and I pulled in 2 small pike and had another 8lb class pike or muskie rise at the Rodent.

I think we fished that shoreline for a little over 2 hours before we finally made a move. There were 2 boats in where my boater Jake wanted to go into next, so we went to a large field of maidencaine that was farther East. I think I might have gotten a rock bass and a pike in the maidencaine.

It was now about 11AM and a bit of a breeze was blowing so we went fishing some windblown reeds. I started with a spinnerbait, but that wasn't getting hit so I switched to a brownish teal Lethal Weapon 2 Swim Jig with a watermelon Zoom Speed Craw. After about 5 minutes of throwing that I got yet another small pike. On the very next cast, I got the skunk out of the boat with a 13" largie. A few casts later I got hung up in some reeds. I tried to snap it free and my 30lb PowerPro broke. I had recently run into mysterious line issues with this rod. I retied another Lethal Weapon Jig and started casting again. About 5 minutes later I noticed a major fray up on the line, so I retired that combo for the day. I retied on an identical combo, which I was pitching and casting the title shot jig with. By this point in time, we had gotten into some thicker reeds. I got impatient and made an ill-advised cast. I got hung in the reeds bad and when I tried to pull it free my line broke. That was my last Lethal Weapon Jig, so I tied on an Outkast Swim Jig in sort of similar colors, but I didn't get any hits on it as we worked back over the reed bed. Jake wasn't getting anything so we moved to the windblown side of another large field of maidencaine.

I went to pitching the Title Shot Jig with a Rodent and I started getting bit by rock bass. I caught several rockies and basically went through the rest of my bag of Rodents missing one fish that Jake and I think looked like a pike. At one point I got hung up in the maidencaine and broke off my last dark-colored head Title Shot Jig. Jake kindly gave me some black/blue Lake Fork Craw/Tubes and I put one of those a white-headed 1/4 or 3/8oz Title Shot Jig. On a cast into the maidencaine where there were some pads I had a fish that I think was a bass but could have been a pike, strike at the lure on top when it came off a pad. The fish didn't get the bait. I cast right back to the area and let it sink but I didn't get a follow-up hit. After working in the area for about 5 minutes I gave up.

We ended up working around on the backside of the maidencaine field. I was casting a white Zoom Horny Toad out into some reeds with pads when I had a fish blow up on the Toad. I let the Toad sink, my line jumped and Jake said the fish took it, which I couldn't see but he could, so I set the hook and brought in a 12.25".

Eventually Jake and I worked our way back to the first maidencaine field we hit and I got a 14" bass on the Horny Toad there. Jake caught a fish right after that and we thought maybe we were finally on to something or maybe the fish were getting active, but then it went dead again.

With about an hour left of fishing we went back to the shore we started on. I got one good hit on the Horny Toad but got hung up and the fish got off. The Toad was ripped pretty well so it was probably a pike. And that was our day.

My boater Jake was 1 short of a limit with 5 fish, but he weighed 13lbs 4ozs anchored by a 4/13 that tied for the tournament "Lunker," which put him in a respectable 7th. With one more fish, he could have easily been in the Top 5. My 3 fish went 4lbs 2ozs.

Final Analysis: I don't know if my fishing in the back of the boat is mostly to blame, but it's becoming pretty clear I have a small fish problem. Over the last two tournaments, my average fish size is an abysmal 1.35lbs per fish. That just isn't cutting it, especially combined with the fact that I couldn't catch more than 3 bass on Cass. At Farm Island, I missed chances to upgrade, at Cass I don't even know if I had any chances to upgrade. At least I didn't skunk.

Next Tournament: Rabbit Lake July 24th.

Snatcher Lake Ida

Weather: Overcast for most of the day with it being partly sunny the last couple of hours. The wind was pretty much out of the N NW at 5 to 10MPH.

We blasted off a little after 7:30AM and my boater Joe and I raced to our starting spot on the West side of the lake which was a string of small reed beds broken up by docks. I think it was fairly calm right along shore in the reeds but if you cast out into the lake and where the boat was sitting there was a ripple on the water. We were working North about 10 minutes in and Joe had a strike on his Snagproof Frog and landed the 1st bass of the day. We got down to the last or 2nd to the last group of reeds which is where I caught a couple of bass on tubes casting out into the lake during prefish. I started throwing a smoke tube out into the lake and was rewarded with a fish that just went over the 12-inch minimum.

As I was casting out something just got smoked out over the weed flat about 2 and a half cast lengths out. I decided it might be a good thing to throw a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I didn't bring the rod I like to use for that so I had to rig up one of my swim jig rods. While I was rigging up Joe caught a high 2lb bass off a dock with the Snagproof frog. I started throwing the Frenzy Popper out over the weed flat as Joe worked us back over the water we had just covered. Something swirled about 10 feet off the back of the boat and I immediately hit the spot with the Popper and was rewarded with a 14.75" largemouth.

We worked down to where we started and then back north again to the dock where Joe got his fish. After that, we moved out onto the weed flat and drifted South with the wind. There was a dead 3 to 4 pound Northern floating on the surface about 30 feet from the boat when a group of Pelicans flew by and the lead bird swooped down scooped up the pike and just kept right on flying, it was pretty cool. I think I had a swirl that missed the Popper and shortly after that, I landed a 12.75" largie. I had another fish swirl on the Popper and miss. We worked an offshore reed bed and I missed a bite on a white Zoom Horny Toad, I think it was a small fish. Nothing more happened at the reed bed and so we pulled up stakes and headed South.

The next spot we went to was an area with lily pads that are behind a large reed bed. Joe had got fish here both days of pre-fishing. I think I got bit at a couple of times by pike. Joe had a keeper bass take the Snagproof Frog close to the boat and as he was swinging it in his reel gave out some line and the fish hit the side of the boat and came off. That one hurt as it was close to 2lbs and Joe ended up one short of a limit for the day.

Next, we headed to some small reed beds kind of like our starting spot. I believe Joe landed his 3rd keeper at this spot on the Snagproof Frog. I was casting a weedless tube into the reeds when I had a solid pick up and I set the hook hard into what felt to be a good fish. Unfortunately, it was a 3lb northern pike. A little while later I nabbed bass number 4 (12.75") on a white Zoom Horny Toad in the reeds.

Next, we went into a big shallow bay and started working the shoreline heading North. Joe missed a good hit right by the shore with the Snagproof Frog. Sometimes I was casting in towards the shore and sometimes I was casting out over the weed flat with the Zoom Horny Toad. On a cast out over the weed flat the Toad got annihilated by 14.75" largemouth. A little while down the shoreline Joe pulled a 17inch 3lb 2oz beauty off an isolated piece of wood in the weeds. Eventually, I took a break to eat a couple of sandwiches and Joe bird dogged a fish that turned out to be a small pike. The fish was in some super shallow slop and Joe could get it to wake to the frog but it wouldn't hit it. Eventually, he motored up and got a look at it to discover it was a pike. Joe decided he wanted to eat something so he let me take the front of the boat and shortly after that I got my limit fish (12.75") on the Horny Toad. Joe got back up and started fishing and had his Snagproof Frog stolen by a little pike next to a dock. We tried to recover the frog but it was nowhere to be found so the pike probably ate it.

Next, we headed up to the North end of the lake to work some more pads and reeds. Before we got into the pads there were some cattails and Joe pulled his 5th and last keeper on the Snagproof Frog. We worked some awesome looking pads but with the overcast, it just wasn't happening. Finally, as we were coming to the end of the pads and for some reason Joe had me take the front of the boat. I got hit in a pocket between the cattails and pads with a watermelon Brovarney Swim jig with watermelon Zoom Speed Craw trailer. Despite a lousy hook set I landed the 14-incher and culled out my 12". We fished more good looking water in this area but couldn't get bit, so we headed back to our starting spot.

When we got to my tube spot, I naturally started throwing the smoke tube and I culled up 3 more times (13.75", 13.75", 14.25"). Both Joe and I got bit off by Pike and that was the last of our fish. We did go back to Joe's pad spot where he fumbled that keeper but didn't get anything and then it was time to head in.

My big bass was only 1lb 10ozs and my 6 fish went 8lbs 8ozs which put me in 15th out of 22 anglers. I had the lightest limit of the tournament. My boater Joe had 9lbs 7ozs and came in 12th. The winner blew everyone away with 16 and a half pounds by fishing docks in the wind using his Power Pole. Big Bass was this 6lb 6oz beast caught by Owen Lease.


Analysis- I felt like I fished well and pretty much caught what there was to catch and that is all I can ask. It was the first tournament of the year that I feel good about despite the mediocre showing. I feel bad for Joe, had he landed that fish that hit the side of the boat, he may have finished as high as 5th. Both Joe and I caught a couple of dinks that I didn't mention.

Where I Sit: With half the season now over I sit mired in 20th place, there are just 6 anglers beneath me that have fished at least 2 out of the 3 tournaments (we get to throw out our worst showing of the year). I actually am 1 point ahead of where I was at this time last year. Last year I ended the last 3 tournaments with a 17th, 3rd, and 20th which averages out to a 13th place showing. I would really like to improve on last year's points and I think that will prove a challenge because I have only fished above 13th place once now in 9 Bass Snatcher tournaments. I guess all I can do is hope for good partner draws and fish as smart as I can.

Bass Snatchers North Long

Just a bit of frustration is starting to sink in.

It was still pretty dark when I arrived at the public access a little before 6AM. It was cloudy, cool but not cold, and quite windy, which had everyone a bit put off. I brought a raincoat but didn't have a bib. I was surprised that my partner Chuck's boat is one of the smaller tiller model Rangers. I had just assumed being the hardcore bass fisherman that this guy is that he would have a pretty good sized rocket ship. The boat has a non-divided main live well and a bait well, so it is actually more of a walleye rig. When we got out on the water we discovered his aerator pump wasn't working, so he kept his fish in the bait well and I had to continuously scoop fresh water into the main livewell where my fish were throughout the day. It worked out as all my fish were alive at weigh in. The tournament blast off was at 7AM and we headed for the big water in the middle basin of North Long. North Long runs pretty much East to West and has 3 pretty round bays and is not small with almost 6000 acres of water. The way the wind was blowing I thought it would be much rougher once we got into the middle basin but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

We started on a mid-lake hump where my partner had found a school of big fish. Neither of us got a bite. We then moved to another hump close by that already had a boat on it. We saw them land one fish as they were drifting their way slowly with the anchor down. We didn't get anything but weeds.

Next, we headed to a fairly protected shoreline to try some reeds. Almost right away I lost a small fish on a swim jig and that was all we got there. Next, we moved out to the weedline and on our second stop started getting some action with the noise of Brainerd International Raceway in the background. I got my first fish on a pumpkinseed Monsoor swim jig with Zoom Speed Craw Trailer. I think I next caught one or two shorts. My partner was landing keepers on a Texas rigged craw tube and I made the switch to a black/blue JigNpig. I caught two nice keepers on my first two casts. After that, the fish seemed to shut off. The wind seemed to increase while we were on that weedline. I would say it was gusting over 30.

We then hit a couple of weedline spots on the North End of the middle basin. My partner filled out his limit and I got two more keepers plus about 4 shorts on the swim jig.

Next, we headed out to the humps we started on. The clouds had started to break up and the wind came down to about 15mph instead of 20-30mph. My partner landed his best fish of the day on the first hump, but that was it. Eventually, I filled my limit and got my first cull. We then ran back to the weedline where we had caught the bulk of our fish but didn't get anything except one short for me. I don't remember where we went next, but we got nothing there. We then headed to a cabbage weed bed on the southern part of the middle basin. I caught a couple of shorts on the swim jig and Chuck got his craw tube bit off by a pike.

With about an hour left with the sun completely out and the wind died down we tried a nice looking steep break on the North end of the middle basin without any luck. Next, we headed into Merrifield Bay (the east basin) and went dock fishing. My partner was skipping a jigNpig under the docks with a baitcaster and he was sure good at it with extremely accurate casts. Meanwhile, I was struggling to get accustomed to my new St. Croix Avid Spinning rod rigged with a bass tube jig. Chuck managed to cull up slightly a couple of times and caught a couple of fish that would have helped me. On one of the docks, I made a bad cast got hung up and broke off. This allowed me to switch up to a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke which I am much more comfortable throwing around docks because the hook is not exposed. Chuck let me get the first crack at a likely looking spot and I caught yet another short. We kept moving around hitting docks. We came to a spot where there was a boat lift about 35 feet out from the end of a dock. Chuck had a fish pick up his bait and spit it, while I was casting into the shadow made by the lift. After a couple of jerks of the Fluke, I had on a 16.5" which was my big fish of the day. It was also the last fish of the day for us.

My partner weighed a respectable 13-7 which was only good enough for 7th. My partner had won the two previous club tournaments at North Long in 2006 and 2004 with weights in the 14's. The winning weight on this day was 15-11 with 2 other bags in the 15's and 2 bags in the high 14's.

Results:
I was pleasantly surprised to hear 11lbs 01oz with a big fish of 2lbs 9ozs. I thought I had somewhere just under 10lbs. From past history, I figured that 11lbs would get me a solid finish in the middle of the pack, instead on this day it was only good enough for 17th out of 24.

My Thoughts:
As I said before this is starting to get a little bit frustrating. I am catching fish from the back of the boat, but the size of fish I am catching just isn't cutting it compared to everyone else. This tournament I caught all but 1 fish on a bass jig which is known to be a bigger fish bait, but I caught my big fish of the day on a Super Fluke.

I now have a 15th, 16th, 17th, and 23rd place finishes. This tournament moved me ahead of the other club rookie, who didn't fish North Long. I am currently in 17th place and well back of 16th place and that is out of 22 people that have fished a minimum of 3 out of the 4 tournaments. (Place is figured out with the lowest score thrown out so only 3 tournaments at this point count for a person's points.)

Our 5th tournament is not until September 20th at Serpent Lake and the last tournament of the year is October 4 at Mission.