RB Maple Lake - June 2011

My first club tournament with the Renegade Bassers was on Maple Lake on June 5th. I was pretty busy with my new baby daughter so I didn't have a chance to do any prefishing, but luckily I'd been on the lake a few times and was paired up with John who knows the lake really well.  Since John was driving, he recommended we start off throwing some frogs. So, we headed into the slop and John was quickly on fish. I hadn't tied a frog on so I was struggling throwing some other stuff. After 5 minutes of hauling weeds I figured I'd better try something different. John offered me one of his frogs, but I was being stubborn and declined. I started digging through my tackle bag trying to figure out what I could use and came across a frog that I had forgot about. I quickly tied it on and was in business. Right away I had a couple of blow ups on the frog, but got too excited and pulled it out of their mouths. John gave me a couple of tips and the next one I put in the livewell.  Once I started getting the hang of it, I realized that I really like throwing frogs, but it's a lot of work and the hook up ratio isn't great, but man is it cool when a bass blows up on a frog. We finished up froggin' and we pulled away with 8 fish in the boat. John had 5 and I had 3. We then moved to a shallow flat that led to a small drop and began throwing some soft plastics and spinnerbaits but couldn't find anything there. So we moved across the lake and began working a deeper weedline that John knew of. I threw everything from a crankbait, to spinnerbait, to Texas-rig but couldn't get any bites other than a pike. We worked that for quite a while and John managed to pull a couple more out and was able to upgrade a bit. John recommended we try another area, so we moved and started fishing a reed line. I was able to pull another one out from under a dock on a senko, but that was it for that area. So we went back to the deep weedline and I started throwing everything but the kitchen sink. John was having some luck with some soft plastics so I went with a Texas-rigged Sweet Beaver and was able to catch another one to fill out my limit.  John and I were running out of ideas and time so we went back to the slop and threw frogs to see if there was anything left in there, but didn't really catch anything to speak of.

For my first club tournament I didn't have a lot of weight (6.73 lbs) but was able to turn in a limit of 5 fish and placed 12th out of 15 so I felt good about it.  John finished 5th (9.85 lbs) and Pat had the heavy bag for that day (14.19 lbs - more than 3lbs over 2nd place.) Congrats Pat. One of the most important things I learned that day is to put away your ego and pride and if someone offers their help, take it. I always used to think bass fishing was pretty easy - just go throw a spinnerbait and you'll catch them, that definitely isn't the case. I had gotten a taste of what tournaments are like when I fished the Viking in 2010 with Nick, but that was a team tourney. This was my first individual tournament and I realized it's a lot harder than what one would think. The pressure of a tournament is a lot different than just going out fishing. I learned that I have a lot to learn to be a successful tournament bass fisherman. Without listening to John that day, I wouldn't have put a limit in the boat. So, thanks John for all of your help. I truly appreciate it.

Next: Whitefish Chain in July

Fall/Winter 2010

After fishing the 2010 Viking Bassmasters Invitational, I was all pumped up to go bass fishing.  Nick and I were able to get out a couple more times before the ice took over. As a matter of fact I caught this fish on opening deer hunting. It was cold and blowing, but we decided to see if we could scare a few bass up.  We met our club pres. John out on Bebe Lake.  He was slaughtering them - some really nice sized fish, but Nick and I struggled.  John had to take off early so he gave us a couple of tips and Nick and I tried them out.  The result was this big 4+ pounder, but it was our only one on Bebe. 

I was rubbing it in and Nick was pretty frustrated so we headed over to Maple Lake where Nick proceeded to kick my ass. He must have caught 20 - 30 bass on a jig and I don't think I even caught one on Maple. I think he might have been "front-ending" me, just kidding. 

Anyway, that was my last day out in 2010 and the winter was pretty tough for me.  With this new bass fishing addiction setting in, all I wanted to was start stock piling new lures and gear.  Having a baby on the way made that pretty difficult.  Besides, I still didn't really know what lures and techniques I liked so I had to take it easy.  Luckily there were a few nice days and Nick found some open water on the river so we could chase some smallies and have some fun.  I had never really been river fishing before so I struggled, but it was pretty cool watching Nick working a tube and being able to pull in them smallies.  It was definitely a learning experience for me.

Then in March, my daughter Emma was born and my life changed forever (for the better of course) and fishing was put on the back burner for awhile.  Luckily, taking care of her and momma took up the rest of my winter and spring and the next thing I knew it was bass season in MN and I was getting ready for my first club tournament.  I just have to say one thing, my daughter is truly amazing and I can't wait to take her fishing some day.

Viking 2010

Nick and I submitted our entry to the 2010 Viking Bassmasters Invitational late so we ended up launching toward the back of the pack. We headed over to the bay that we had been practicing in on Thursday, but there were already a couple of boats in ahead of us.  We decided to give it a shot anyway. A couple of casts in Nick had a fish nail his line. He started cranking it in and instantly felt a good sized fish on the end of the line. Our adrenaline was pumping, but as it got closer we saw it was a small muskie.  So, it was a bit of a let down. We kept working along that weedline and down a few docks and Nick ended up catching a couple of smaller largemouths but nothing great.  We decided to jump to a different part of the lake and started fishing weedlines in bays. By 10am Nick had 5 fish for us, mostly caught on jigs. We had a couple of decent ones around 2 - 2.5 pounds each, but too many little ones to really do well. We kept grinding it out looking for some decent fish and a kicker.  I managed to add another 2 pounder on a spinnerbait. Nick threw a jig most of the day and I bounced back and forth from a spinnerbait to a senko not really sure what I should be doing. So Nick recommended I keep throwing the spinnerbait and use the senkos around the docks. I caught a couple of small ones and a few pike, but nothing else that would help. Nick did manage to catch a few more that helped us out, but it was by ounces and not pounds. It turned out to be a grind it out kind of day, but we ended up with a bag near 12lbs that landed us in about 15th place out of 80+ boats.  I had also caught a 7+ pound northern that we thought would help us in the big pike pot, but it ended up being the 3rd largest pike turned in and it was beat by nearly 3/4 of a pound.  All in all, we had a decent day and I really enjoyed my first bass tournament, not to mention, our buddy John was the guy who turned in big bass for the day - a nearly 7lb largemouth that was truly impressive. After that day I knew I had to do this again, so I joined the Renegade Bassers and 2011was my first year fishing tournaments in the bass club.