Thank you for the tremendous feedback generated by Thursday's
Legislative Alert concerning the proposed slot limit on all black bass
caught from rivers and streams in Indiana.
We spoke to the director of fish and wildlife for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources on Friday afternoon
and received assurances that the proposed 12-to 15-inch slot limit will
be amended so as not to adversely affect tournament fishing and the
local businesses that depend on it throughout the state.
The commission's efforts to protect black bass populations and
increase the quality of bass fishing opportunities in certain rivers and
streams within the state are to be commended, as is the commission's
spirit of cooperation with tournament organizers to ensure that Indiana
remains an attractive tournament destination.
We still encourage those interested in attending the public hearing scheduled for today at 6 p.m. at the Miami County Fairgrounds Community Building in Peru, IN to do so, but please attend in the spirit of cooperation.
If you have not yet submitted comments on the proposed change to 312 IAC 9-7-6, you may do so using the following link:
The Indiana Natural Resources Commission is considering an amendment
to its fishing regulations that would place a 12 to 15 inch slot limit
on all black bass caught from rivers and streams within the state,
including the Ohio River and its tributaries.
While we applaud the commission's efforts to protect black bass
populations and increase the quality of bass fishing opportunities in
certain rivers and streams within the state, we believe that adoption of
such a broad amendment requiring anglers to immediately release all
bass measuring between 12 and 15 inches would be devastating to the
state's bass-fishing community. We believe the commission has severely
underestimated the negative financial impact on local businesses that
depend on revenue from bass tournament anglers throughout the state.
A public hearing on the proposed change to regulation 312 IAC 9-7-6
Black Bass is scheduled for Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. at the following location:
Miami County Fairgrounds, Community Building
1029 West 200 North
Peru, IN 46970
FLW Outdoors and TBF representatives will be in attendance, and we
encourage you to attend as well so that the voice of the tournament
community is heard.
We also encourage you to submit your comments to the commission using the following link:
Thank you for your time and consideration to this important issue
that has the potential to adversely affect small businesses throughout
the state and bass anglers who enjoy fishing tournaments in Indiana.
The 2011 season with USA BASSIN was tough for me. I didn't fish as many tournaments because of tough economics. I failed to really place in any of the tournaments I fished and even decided to stop fishing tournaments to focus more on my writing where I made money instead of losing it. I had 235 points when I decided to stop so I would not be able to fish the regional at Patoka lake. I informed my wife of my plan to stop fishing tournaments forever. My step-son had got me back into bass fishing, which I had not done in 25 years, now he has stopped fishing he just does not have the patience for bass. Anyway two days after my announcement to my wife I was on the road to Mississenewa to fish an evening tournament. I had fished this tournament several times in the past but this was the first time in 2011. I had never caught a keeper on this lake (14 inches) but on this day I caught my limit and had a blast. I did not have to even catch a fish to get the points needed to fish the regional.
My tournament fishing exodus lasted but a couple days. I love it and I guess I am going to fish some more. Fishing alone makes it tough for obvious reasons as I am competing against teams of two. I actually like fishing alone and decided when my step-son bailed on me that I would attempt to compete alone against teams. Not only am I competing against teams but also local anglers as I travel to a lot of different lakes when time permits. This is the great thing about the USA BASSIN format as you are able to find a tournament on the day you can fish and go fish. My theory is that if I can fish alone and compete I will be able to compete in the BFL someday. This is just my way to gauge my progress. I was tremendously focused last year and was able to win big bass checks twice and a 2nd place finish at the regional on Patoka lake. I lost first by .05 ounces.
The 2011 season was tough but mostly mental due to financial problems and trying to build up my handyman business but by the end of the tourney season things were improving and the business was slowly growing to where at least the anxiety of being broke was subsiding a bit. I had worked several days straight to include a couple weekends when I decided at the last moment to run up to Mississenewa to get those points so I could fish the regional on Patoka lake. I am glad I did.
During the meeting at Bass Pro Shops, in Clarksville Indiana, we were informed that there would be a tracker cup just before the Nitro Classic at Kentucky Lake in May. This was somewhat of a relief because I knew that if I failed to make the cut to get the invitation to the Nitro Classic I could still fish for a boat in the Tracker Cup. I was still confident that I would make the cut but I knew that financially I would not be fishing another regional to try to get to the Classic. This was it.
Practice was slow but it was slow last year too and I caught a lot of bass. The thing with practice though is that I catch a keeper and I am done. That is the spot I am going to fish. I then fish another area and another and another until I catch another keeper and I leave. So I am eliminating areas of the lake which is easier to do than finding good spots. My deal is every spot devoid of bass is another spot I will not fish. I search these areas with search baits like spinnerbaits and cranks but will sling a worm or jig here or there. There are just some places that look like they should have some bass and I can not help but slow down to see. By the end of the practice I had five spots where I caught a keeper bass. My hope was that one of those spots would be loaded like last year. Not the case.
The water temp was 68 degrees when the tournament started and it rained until a few minutes before the launch. I was hoping for rain during the tournament but got very little. Cloud cover helps with the spinnerbait bite but rain just adds not only more security for the bass to come out of the grass but I believe that the rain helps to hide the fact that the baitfish he is about to gulp is actually metal and silicone.
By 10am I had not had a single bite. I started to change my game plan but decided not to. My plan was to fish for largemouth bass primarily with the same spinnerbait that got me second last year and hit the deadfall and big rock with my Big Bite Baits Squirrel Tail Worm. I knew that the bass was buried in the grass but I had only caught keeper bass in practice on the spinnerbait so that was the go to bait.
At 10:30am I pulled up on one of the spots I had found in practice. I had already fished this spot several times without a strike as I made my rounds to my spots. I watched from another spot as several boats fished this point and finally it was open. The last boat that fished the point cut across to the other point across the cove and began to move away. I moved in and caught a 17 inch largemouth bass on my third cast. I netted the bass and then realized the guy in the other boat was watching. Without hiding the fact the guy made a bee line for my spot and was even trying to reach it with long casts. I laughed out loud and said loudly " Yuv got to be kidding me" he finally left not too sure about some people. I would not feel right and would feel even worse if I caught a fish while another boat measured and put his bass in the box. Anyway my first keeper was in the box but I felt like I would need 3 bass to make the cut so I got to work.
One spot was down close to the ramp where we had launched but it was all the way back so I did not use it in the milk run. I had caught the largest bass there in practice and really wanted to start there first but being boat 109 I knew there would be somebody on it and there was. I decided to save that spot for the last hour of the tournament even though I knew everyone else would probably do the same.
There was one more spot that required a long idle to get there. I hate to fish just a spot that is any distance in an idle zone but I was desperate to get another keeper so I made the run. I had seen several boats fish this bank before me that morning but I hoped that my spinnerbait would entice the hold out bass. I was fishing for the invitation to the USA BASSIN Classic. I finally reached the spot and failed to get a strike on my spinnerbait so I picked up my Squirrel Tail Worm and tossed it to a dead-fall and thought I had hung up as I tossed the worm behind the log but I felt a head shake and I got serious and landed my second keeper a 16 inch bass and a new pattern was born.
I now threw the worm mostly but still hit my grass beds on the way to any lay-down I could find. I missed a 4 pounder on my spinnerbait. I saw the bass come out of the grass to hit the spinnerbait. That fish would have got me a check I think but it wasn't over. I began to fish the grass with the worm and lost two keepers that combined would have got me a check as well without the 4 pounder I missed previous and with that 4 pounder I would have got a little over 15 pounds which would have been great but I am sure some of the leaders lost fish too so that's why we don't count them. Remember I still only have 2 keepers and it is 3:25 and with a 20 minute run back to weigh-in I decided to make the run to that spot I wanted to fish first.
I made the run but there was 3 boats fishing the grass where I caught the 5 pound bass in practice so I turned left and fished an unknown shoreline until those 3 boats moved out. Looked like it was weigh in time for them. You could see the weigh-in trailer from this spot as I moved in with my spinnerbait. I decided to throw the spinnerbait for a couple reasons. I was desperate and I can make more casts with the spinnerbait and cover more water with it but also the water was so rough with a little wind and a lot of boat traffic and it is aggravating trying to fish the worm in that so spinnerbait it was. I was scorching the spinnerbait through the grass. It was obvious with all the floating grass that many many lures had chewed through the grass matts. At first I was discouraged but the mud and the obvious pressure that had been in the grass but then I started to think positive. Maybe with all this boat traffic and grass ripping would stimulate the food chain and bring in some lingering largemouth bass from the nearby depths.
My weigh-in time was 4:45 and at 4:31 I had not had a strike then I made a very long cast to a single stick-up and began to reel as fast as I could mainly to change things up since the medium retrieve wasn't working but also to get in as many casts as possible before the end. As my spinnerbait sped by the stick-up my rod bent double and I knew it was a good fish. It leaped off the trailer hook but thankfully I had the net under the bass and he went into the livewell. I thought I had just caught a 5 pounder but I started settling down and then thought I would take another look as I idled into weigh-in with 10 minutes to spare. When I looked at the bass that was rushed into the box I realized it was well short of 5 pounds but it might just get me the invitation to the classic that I wanted.
Just a few weeks before this tournament i had decided not to fish bass tournaments anymore and now I was fired up again and have already began my research, again, for the USA BASSIN NITRO CLASSIC on Kentucky lake in May 2012. It was a good regional considering all that happened. It really helped that the third bass and the one I needed to make the cut came with only minutes to spare. If I had caught all three bass early it would not have been as awesome but with the way it ended I am pleased with my performance and plan to move forward with my tournament fishing and hope to see you at the Classic.
Getting Back Into Bass Fishing
This is an account of our journey as bass tournament anglers. I had not fished for bass in at least 20 years when my step-son Garrett Bear started asking about bass tournaments. Long story short I am once again excited about the challenge as well as the competition related to fishing bass tournaments. Garrett has hung in there well for a city slicker and I have to say I am very proud of his tenacity as we fish an 8 hour tournament and in fact Garrett caught the only fish in our first tournament on lake Patoka last year. Needless to say I have struggled with a giant re-learning curve involved with bass fishing alone much less bass tournaments. When I was young I fished several tournaments and did well in them but lost interest after joining the Army and then afterwards attending aviation maintenance school in Denver Colorado where I started fly fishing. After school I took a job in Alaska and spent many years there fly fishing for all the species there. Great times. It feels good to get back to my roots catching Crappie, Catfish and now fishing bass tournaments once again.
I remember well the last bass tournament I fished as a youngster with my dad in Florida on the ST. Johns River out of Highland Park Fish Camp. Great times there for sure. We fished from a Bass Tracker Tournament TX boat with an old but reliable 50 HP outboard. All of our competitors had souped up 200 HP outboards and 20 foot bass boats. I still remember the sounds of the over-sized cams "hittin a lick" as we used to say. The anglers were nice to me before the tournament and a couple of them even gave me some lures as everyone there but me and my dad were sponsored by many different sponsors. One angler tossed a bag full of Mann's jelly worms to me like Mean Joe Greene tossing his jersey to the kid in the tunnel. I was star struck by the professional anglers we were about to fish against. I couldn't wait.
I forget what number we drew but I know my dad motioned for everyone to go ahead of us as the channel was small leaving Highland Park Fish Camp and we did not want to get run over. I just got chills thinking about the many, many trips down that small canal in search of crappie, bluegills and bass on my visits to my Dads place every summer. I remember, especially well, the trip that morning as a storm was brewing and the water was slick as glass beneath us. The calm before the storm quickly gave way shortly after we reached our spot just 3 miles from launch. I can see the very spot on google earth.
The storm was fierce and using the trolling motor was out of the question. We finally anchored and rode it out in a spot we had located the week leading up to that day as we had been staying in a cabin at Highland Park Fish Camp all week. We found a bunch of schoolers while catching bluegill on bed. We also found that the bass wanted a silver Shad Rap over a plastic worm which was our lure of choice but the Shad Rap out-fished the worm at least ten to one all week so we knew that was going to be our presentation for the tournament.
We stayed anchored over that bluegill bed casting our Shad Raps into the wind and rain catching bass after bass and culling as we went. Water was crashing over the side of the boat and we were soaked. It stormed like that for 7 of the 8 hours of the tournament. The bass we were catching were just over the size limit. Don't remember what the size limit was then but I do know we culled several fish in those 6 or so hours anchored.I watched, as the storm began to subside, several boats stop at the stretch of pads leading back to camp. I watched closely and noticed not a single fish was caught by those boats that fished it.
"Hey Pops we need to fish that stretch before we go in." I said. He agreed but mention all the boats he had noticed fish it. I told him I saw that too but we had no time to fish anywhere else and that those guys did not catch a fish and we both knew how they had been hitting that Shad Rap so we pulled the anchor and left our spot that was still producing but the culling had stopped long ago and we knew that spot had give up all the weight it was going to.
The next hour was the greatest time I have ever had fishing for bass. I made a cast into a small pocket and noticed the pads move as I pulled the Shad Rap through. I made many more cast as we went past without a strike. I looked back at that pocket and thought I could get one more cast to it. The Shad Rap landed a little short but still within the strike zone. I made one crank on my old Garcia and BAM! I caught the biggest bass I ever caught. I to this day do not know how much that or the two others I landed down that stretch weighed because after weighing them all together for weight they dumped them into a tank with 100 other bass. I do know they were all over 5 pounds and our limit of 5 weighed just over 22 pounds. My Dad lost one at the boat that was at least 9 pounds and would have taken big bass. He was throwing a 13 inch plastic worm looking for the big bite but the Shad Rap came through. He switched to the worm also because he broke his medium action rod and evidently his heavy action rod did not have the same action on the Shad Rap as he went biteless for a long time after breaking that rod and I was still catching fish.
We won that tournament and a few hundred dollars and I could not wait to talk with the professionals at the big after tournament cook out. Not to happen. Me and my dad got the cold shoulder and we later learned that those guys went 70 miles up river to get away from the storm and the bite just was not there. As I recall we didn't just barely win we won by several pounds and those guys did not like it. I should have felt good that we beat them in our little boat but I just wanted to hang out with them and talk bass fishing with some professional bass anglers. I finally went back to the cabin and grabbed my rods and went down to the docks to fish for catfish. I caught a 10 pound catfish that night. My biggest to that point. I was 12 years old.
So now, I am 40 now, I am fishing bass tournaments again and loving it. The journal below will take you along as I renew my love of bass fishing and introduce a young man to the greatest pasttime in America. We don't have a big bass boat. Our plan is to win one in a tournament. We shall see. I will try to jot down practice days as well as tournament days and the outcome. Drop me a line if you have a question or comment and thanks for visiting my site.
The 2010 season was a great season for me as an angler. I set some goals and exceeded those goals. My goal was to catch a keeper bass in every tournament in 2010. I fished the entire 2009 season with only one keeper and wanted to better that and knew that if I was ever going to be remotely competitive I had to catch keeper bass. I failed to boat a keeper bass in three of the ten or so tournaments I fished but was able to land big fish in two of the tournaments and of course my second place finish at the southern Indiana Regional on Patoka Lake. That tournament was by far the biggest accomplishment to date for me but the tournament with my dad was my favorite. You can read about that tournament in the introduction above.
SOUTHERN INDIANA REGIONAL AT PATOKA LAKE SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
This is my account of the southern Indiana regional. I was able to get away from work to practice for this tournament. I had 5 days to locate fish but it was not easy. I fished from daylight to dark nearly everyday. I managed one fish a day except for a couple days I caught two. All of the fish I caught were good ones to include a 4 1/2 pound spot. All the bass I caught were 4 to 6 pounds but they were few and far between. I found the bass I caught wherever there was a creek with running water. The bass were sitting in these spots for the oxygen I think. I had around 10 spots marked on my GPS but they were from walls ramp to Allens creek where I caught one of the good largemouth on a day that was 97 degrees. He was the only bite I had that day and he was as far as I could get my boat up Allens creek. You can see his photo by clicking here.
My wife made it down to camp with me and to support me at the tournament. We went out on the boat to just visit all the spots I had marked on my GPS and come up with a milk run. I knew the way the fish were spread out I was going to have to run all over the lake and try for one keeper at each spot. When we arrived at each spot it became evident that everyone had the same idea as me as more anglers were now on the lake practicing. After the third spot had no less than five boats on or near the spot I had marked I told my wife I was scraping the whole plan I had put together that week and looking for a spot where no one was fishing. We finished the evening photographing deer and watching bald eagles circle pods of baitfish. It was a great evening and I was surprisingly calm considering I really had no real plan for the tournament.
On Friday I went out around 10am and again saw boats in every cove. I saw that not many boats were on the main lake banks and I chose one to try. I fished about 200 yards of shoreline with my spinnerbait and managed one keeper. This was going to be my bank and if it did not produce then I would root my way into the coves and hope to get the pressured bass to bite. I returned to camp and spent the rest of the day with my wife and preparing my gear.
On Saturday I was beginning to worry about the lack of a substantial game plan with my one shoreline and my one lure. I had decided to throw the spinnerbait the full 8 hours because that was the only bait I could catch a bass on in practice. I tried several too as I have never been a big spinnerbait angler but I am now. I also spotted lots of balls of shad and knew if the bass were biting they should eat my spinnerbait.
At the tournament registration I let my wife draw my number. She drew 164 which was 9 places before last. She was upset but I felt that it might help as all my bites had come in the evening. I knew there was a cold front moving in. I kept watching the forecast and hoped that the front would be a little late and according to the weather man it was shifting a bit and I hoped that would help but the other problem was going to be the north wind.
I was anxious to get to BASS PRO SHOPS to get some spinnerbaits. In practice I had built a spinnerbait using 30 year old spinnerbaits that my dad had left in his old tackle box. I felt that the willow leaf just did not move enough water for a reaction bite. I had seen a couple of the bass I caught barely nip my trailer hook and was barely hooked. This included a 9 pounder that somehow got the trailer hook off the main hook. I saw the 9 pounder at the boat when he jumped and I could plainly see the trailer hook piercing the edge of his jaw. I was using the red trailer hook by Gamakatsu and the bass were nipping this trailer. I thought I was hanging the tops of trees but finally saw a swirl where I thought I had snagged a tree top. I began watching my spinnerbait back to the boat and saw a few bass nip that trailer hook and many times I never felt a thing. I had tried a silver trailer hook for awhile to save my Gamakatsu hooks but never got a bite. I put the red trailer hook back on and got bites but could never hook them. I was close and told my wife that it might have been better that I did not hook all those fish that day as that is where I had planned to go if the main lake bank did not produce.
As I said I was looking for Colorado bladed spinnerbaits at BASS PRO but found very few and none were hammered and cupped which I felt was important but I had a few in my dad's collection and only needed some new and then modify them at camp. I bought some BASS PRO SHOPS spinnerbaits in white with a long skirt to cover the trailer hook. I felt this was important as I wanted the short strikers to commit or at least nip the hook a little farther up the shank and get hooked. I felt that the red was the thing that the bass was keying on so I bought some SPIKE IT in fire red to dye the tail section of the skirt. I was not aware of the heavy garlic scent of the dye until I applied it the morning of the tournament. I think this scent contributed to more strikes so I dipped the skirt often.
As boat 164 out of 174 I knew the coves would be full. I really wanted to go to the cove I hooked that nine pounder and missed all those bass that were just nipping my trailer hook. This was the best bite I found in five days even though I did not land any of them which I thought was actually a good thing especially since I saw the strikes and knew the fish were well over the 15 inch variety. Not putting the bass through the stress of actually being landed I thought would help on tournament day. The main lake bank was still in my head as a place to start but only because I thought there would be less pressure on that bank.
As I launched I still had not decided but on the way I decided to hit the cove first before too many anglers had hit it. I knew that there would have already been some pressure by the time I arrived but was hoping that my modified spinnerbait would be able to get a reaction from a couple keepers. I thought that the spinnerbait was creating the noise and vibration that they wanted as I could not get a bite with a Willow or even a slick Colorado blade in practice. I am not sure if the hammered blade was the secret or if it was the cup that the old Colorado blades had. I think it was the cup in the blade myself which moves more water.
My number was called and I was off. Just as I made it on plane my engine began to sputter and miss. BAD! I had replaced the sparkplugs a couple days previous and the engine ran fine why now. I ran the engine as fast as I could but the engine got worse as I made the long run to my cove. Long story short I found after the tournament that they sold me the wrong spark plugs and they had broken down and was fouling out. It was the engine problems that made me change my destination to bypass the long idle up the cove for fear I would not be able to make it back to weigh in if something happened and my engine failed to start.
As I approached the main lake shoreline there were no boats anywhere around. I worried all night about the cold front that had moved in. Was the front here or was it still moving in? Would the cooler water spark a feeding frenzy or would the north wind put them down? I might have slept a couple hours the night before. I knew the lack of pressure would help me as I am not yet confident following good anglers thinking I can make them bite and they could not so I prefer less pressured areas and this would help me stay with this shoreline even if the bite was slow.
The wind was blowing into this shore and I felt good about that but there was nothing showing on my Humminbird. I think that they are either not there or they are on the bank which would play well into my spinnerbait game plan. On about the 20th cast I felt a solid tug and I set the hook on my biggest bass of the day a 5.97 pounder. I loosened the drag as he was bulldogging me with just the one head shake at the surface when I set the hook. I think of all the bass I hooked only one jumped clear of the surface.
I had the bass hooked and away from the bank and knew that this one fish might get me a classic invitation which was my ultimate goal especially with the cold front moving in. I loosened the drag and let him pull in the open water. After he was in the box I set the drag and immediately cast back to the same spot and immediately another bass struck my spinnerbait. I set the hook but the drag did not hold and the bass, at least as big as the first, shook his head just above the surface and spit the spinnerbait back at me.
I checked the drag and it was just short of as tight as it would go and I wondered what happened. I set the drag a couple more clicks and put the spinnerbait right back to the same spot. Two cranks and another strike. I set the hook and the drag slipped again as the bass did the same as the second and it too was at least as big as the one in the box. I was sick but confident that the feeding frenzy was on at least and I could get some more to bite. I set the drag as tight as it would go and it held the rest of the day but I really did not have a drag as it was locked down. I found that some reel oil had found its way onto the drag discs. Why I did not go to another reel I can't tell you except I was in my own frenzy trying to keep my spinnerbait in front of these bass.
I should have had at least 15 pounds in the box with 30 or so casts but I didn't and I lost a few more good bass and everyone of them would have culled my 16 inch fish and upgraded my weight enough to have won but that's how it goes. I felt real good with a limit in the box. During the frenzy, which lasted until around noon, I failed to realize I had two bass around 6 pounds so I thought I had about 16 pounds in the box. Knowing past weights I felt that was good for maybe a top finish but I feel when they are biting for me they are biting for others. I dream of the day when I can catch bass when no one else can. Not likely so I knew I had a classic invitation and probably a check.
I stayed on that bank from start to finish and left an hour and a half early because of my engine. I threw that spinnerbait the entire time and before this tournament could count the bass I had ever caught on a spinnerbait on one hand. I am now a spinnerbait slinger for sure in the fall.
I ended up with second place missing first by .05 ounces. I also missed big bass by .05 ounces. It is tough losing by that margin but I far exceeded my expectations for the tournament and I got my invitation to the classic which I can not wait to get to in April. Kentucky lake is my home water as I am from Tennessee. I live in Indianapolis now so I guess Patoka could be considered my home waters. I have found, since my step-son got me back into these bass tournaments, that Indiana can be tough to catch bass but when you do figure them out it has some great bass fishing read the intro above. I have caught more than ten bass now over 5 pounds in Indiana in two seasons and I think I have only caught maybe seven my whole life before and that includes the St Johns river in Florida where I fished every summer with my dad growing up. Three of those seven I caught in practice for the 2009 classic on Kentucky lake.
2009
GOT 2 LOVE IT PATOKA LAKE, IN
April 4, 2009
BEAUTIFUL TOURNAMENT MORNING
The family went camping on Patoka before this tournament. I practiced some but we did a lot of crappie fishing. Being our first time on Patoka lake we needed a little more practice. The bass fishing was tough but we managed to locate a few keepers as the tournament neared. It was pre-spawn and looking back we just did not go far enough up the creeks. The bass were a little more into the spawn than I would have thought for water temps in the 50's. Lesson learned for sure for that lake. The weather was foggy and we finally launched a little late and headed up the right side fork towards little patoka boat ramp where I had caught a 5 pound bass on a Rapala DT series crankbait in yellow and brown a couple weeks previous. The bass were not there and it wasn't long before we were headed toward Walls Lake boat ramp where we had caught a couple keepers during the week but no bite there.
This is where I messed up. I should have went further up the river to at least Kings Bridge as the bass were in the shallows for sure. But instead we went to the main lake where the water was clearer as the rains during the week had stained the waters up the river. We were desperate as time ticked away and I wanted to find some fish so Garrett could experience some exciting bass fishing. He did land a nice hybrid stripe up the river in the trees.
Garrett suggested a marina in the distance and I was all for it as boat docks were a comfort zone for me as there seems to always be a bass under the docks. I pitched a swim jig and Garrett tossed a rattle trap in red. He did great for just recently learning to use a spinning reel. He kept it out of the trees and out of the dock lines and the back of the boats moored there. Garrett finally landed our only bass of the tournament. It was a keeper and weighed in at 2.41 pounds. His excitement grew and he hoped that none of the other young angler caught anything as there was a $500 prize for the youth angler with the most weight. We knew there was not many youngsters fishing and Garrett noticed one of the youth anglers help his dad load the boat and leave. Garrett hoped that was the only youth team and we had won the $500 prize but there was another that was a little older and hard to tell he was under 18 but he and his partner did well and got 8th place along with the adult youth award.
It was a great time and I think Garrett had as much fun with the raffle tickets as the bass fishing. We did win a few lures and a brand new Stihl chainsaw. Kayla, Garrett's little sister handed out the prizes and really enjoyed that. Overall a great tournament and a lesson for Garrett that its not as easy as one might think to catch a bass, much less a limit.
USA BASSIN
LAKE SHAFER,
IN May 7th
2009
This was my
first USA BASSIN tournament. Great organization! Arrived a little early and fished a
couple hours. It was an evening tournament. Only one bite around a
boat dock. No fish during the tournament. One fish won it all.
Garrett did not make this tournament and I am glad as I like to try
to get him on some fish to keep up his interest. I am thankful he is
interested at 13 years old but I had to explain to him that bass
fishing is a little different than bluegill and crappie. He has done
well and has caught a few fish. Each one is a learning experience
that will add up to consistently catching bass. If he can hang in
there.
USA BASSIN
BROOKVILLE
LAKE, IN
May 9th
2009
This was a
tough tournament. Rain early with wind gusting to 30 mph. No practice
and first time to fish at Brookville. Located fish on the humminbird
but they had lock jaw deep. They were schooled up around the docks. I
did manage a follow from a large bass maybe 4.5 pounds but he pulled
up short of my swimbait and I could not get him to come back out and
believe me we tried. Garrett was tossing a rattle trap in red and I
was tossing everything in the box to no avail. I finally decided to
look for bass on the calm side of the lake. Finally started catching
some smallmouth bass on a in brown and orange. None of
the fish were keepers. Did manage to loose a couple keepers at the
boat. Remember I am still dragging up my experiences from many many
years ago. They are slowly coming back but it definitely has not been
an easy adjustment from bluegill, catfish, crappie, halibut, salmon
and trout to the great black bass challenge. I akin the Largemouth
and especially the Smallmouth Bass to the whitetail deer in their
moody and unpredictable behavior.
USA BASSIN
LAKE MISSISSENEWA,
IN
May 11th
2009
Found
several bass on main lake points until late evening then they moved
into the coves and very shallow. All small no keepers. They were
probably the males moving up early. I probably should have moved out to
main lake points leading to these coves but the ones I caught there
earlier were short fish as well. I just could not leave fish that were
biting in hopes that one of them would be a keeper. This was my first
time at Mississenewa and I found out at weigh in that I was not alone.
Only 5 fish were caught and no fish were caught the previous week the
winners had 3.19 lbs. My fish came mostly on a green and orange and a few on a shad rap
Even though I was unable to catch a keeper I had a lot of fun and
caught probably 50 short fish. I really think most of those short fish
will be keepers this season so Mississenewa could be a better lake this
season for a few more keepers. I know that the 2010 season up there is
being split up between Mississenewa and Salamonie lakes. I have not
fished Salamonie yet but look forward to doing so this season.
USA BASSIN
MONROE LAKE, IN.
MAY 16th 2009
Practiced for this tournament on the 14th. Caught a couple short fish and lost a good fish in the buck brush up the creeks on the idle only side of the bridge. It rained that night and the water was very muddy up the creeks so headed to main lake. Finally managed a 5 pound channel cat on a Garrett caught a 14 inch walleye on a Finally found some fish on the steep bluffs on the main lake on a black but they were all short. Being from Tennessee and fishing those giant lakes like Kentucky Lake I have a lot to learn about catching these fish here in the midwest but I am working on it. I realize Monroe is a pretty big lake but these lakes do fish a lot different than I am used to and I know there are good bass in these lakes because I see them in other peoples bags at the weigh in. I am working hard to drag up what knowledge I had back when I fished for bass on a regular basis. I will get better and hope to teach Garrett enough to where he can catch a few bass and really get excited about this sport. We will be fishing the next generation trail this season and he is excited about that.
Even though I was unable to catch a keeper I had a lot of fun and
caught probably 50 short fish. I really think most of those short fish
will be keepers this season so Mississenewa could be a better lake this
season for a few more keepers. I know that the 2010 season up there is
being split up between Mississenewa and Salamonie lakes. I have not
fished Salamonie yet but look forward to doing so this season.