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