Forest Lake has been a tough nut for me to crack. In my two previous tournaments on Forest I have not done so well. Last year while fishing a Thorne Brothers mystery tournament, we only had 2 fish and didn't even go to the weigh in because it was raining and freezing and we were parked at a different launch. In 2012 we fished a Greenhorn Wednesday series event and finished 15th out of 16 with a paltry 6.61lbs. Before this year I've only been on the lake for those two events with 0 practice hours logged. Easy to figure out why I've struggled there. I was determined not to let this happen again and set out to dial them in with some hours on the lake.
My friend Matty who I iced fish with quite a bit this year joined me for a day of open water fishing. He has never bass fished before so I was happy to hook him up with a couple rods and give him some tips. He got one right away on a pop-r but the size was not quite there. We moved around quite a bit and didn't really figure much out. One here one there. Caught a couple on swim jigs and it was usually 2 or 3 at a time but no size. The weather sucked and was raining off and on. Finally around 1pm we came out of the protected bay we were fishing and the main lake was blowing like crazy. I saw the sheriff drive by with his light flashing on his boat and found out later at the ramp that he was driving around warning people that 70mph winds were coming. I'm not sure if they ever came but we got off the water just in time. It was a fun day fishing and teaching but didn't really learn much as far as pre-fishing for the tournament. I'd have to try to come out again and see what I could find.
Practice -
I headed out the Friday before the tourney early in the morning for a few hours to see if I could put something together. I forgot to put my plug in which makes for a great start to the day. Luckily I noticed right when I was pulling it off the trailer. I had to pull it out. let it drain for a sec and dump back in. Yes, I was 'that guy' that I like usually make fun of. I started ultra-shallow to see if the high water from all the rain we've had recently would put them up on the bank. It did not! Finally after I was heading to deeper water I caught a decent one on a swim jig. I checked some docks on the way out deeper with no luck. I just can't seem to get into dock fishing anymore. I just don't like to piss off dock owners, get hung up on their dock every few casts, and target fish everyone else are going after. I know we have a 'right' to do it but it just seems like more drama than it's worth sometimes. I used to love it and I know there is a time and a place for it and I knew historically Forest Lake docks are typically a winning pattern so I had to check some. Maybe I'm just out of practice since I do it so seldom lately! After talking with Ron he said he caught fish on docks, but none with any real size, I didn't think it was a winning pattern this time. It used to be fun but as I was going down the line of docks my heart wasn't in it so I headed to another spot. I checked a point, nothing home. I checked a weedline with awesome looking weeds - nothing but pike. I headed shallow and caught 2 quick ones on a swimjig on a nothing looking sandy bank. I think with the high water the shoreline had washed out underneath the cattails giving them a place to hide. I continued shallow and caught a few in an area with pads / reeds. One was decent so I left it and headed deep again. Right when I was about to leave I set the hook on the best fish I'd ever caught out there. About a 3 pounder! I wanted to explore the area further but I had to get to work so I took off. I found a few decent areas and certainly felt better than I did before. I didn't have any 'go-to' areas but a few decent areas where we could rotate.
Tournament Day
It was Ron's turn to draw boat number since I've drawn boat number 14 last time, and last for the previous one before that. He didn't fare much better, we drew boat #15. Not a huge deal since we didn't really have a set starting spot anyway. We started in a small bay with pads, reeds, and shallow grass. We started a ways out from the pads and I cast my senko towards the pads into the shallow grass. Immediately something exploded on it! I was surprised because it was the first cast and can't say that I get many hits like that on a senko. I waited a second and set the hook. I felt weight and made a few cranks and then nothing. It came off. Nothing but a bunch of weeds on my hook. We continued to work the area with frogs, swimjigs and senkos with no luck. Finally we were headed out of there when Ron stuck a keeper on a pit boss.
Then we headed out to the deep weedline which was about 10 feet. We worked it for awhile and I finally hooked into keeper number two on a tube. While Ron was putting the cull tag onto it I cast to the same spot and set the hook again! A couple casts later keeper number 4 was in the box. While Ron was weighing the fish and putting them in the box, he had the trolling motor keeping us locked on the spot, and his line was still out and got tangled in the prop. While he got it untangled we drifted off the spot and couldn't find it again. In the meantime another boat came up and blocked us from continuing down the weedline so it was time to make a move.
We headed to another shallow area with reeds, pads, and cattails. Basically it was our main area that has produced for both of us in the past. I got hit pretty quickly and boated a 2 pounder, our biggest so far. We continued to work the area with everything we had, including punch baits and jigs up the cattails. With the flooding and high water we've had because of all the rain, there was plenty of water deep into the weeds. Ron caught another keeper and we were culling by 9am. Which was a good start compared to previous events on this lake. I continued punching in the cattails and Ron said he wanted to try that as he's never done it before. On cue, his first flip into the heavy weeds yielded another nice keeper even though I don't think we culled with it. Flipping heavy cover is one of my favorite ways to catch em and I was jealous I couldn't get one but glad Ron did. We ended up catching a ton of fish the area but not much size. We probably had around 7-8lbs and figured we needed at least 10 for a decent finish.
Back out to the deep weedline where I caught a good one in practice, tons of bait fish busting the surface but nothing but one small bass. So far deep and shallow were about the same as far as weight and numbers.
Off to another deep weedline out of the wind. We ran in and hit the reeds that were close with no luck. Entire way down the weedline not so much as a tap. I had broken off 3 times on what I thought were pike. But my line sounded funny coming out of my micro guides so I started to suspect maybe something was wrong with my rod. I rigged my Texas rig set up onto a different rod with braided line. Just when I suggested we make a move, I got a tap and set the hook on another 2+ pounder. It was bleeding all over the place but it eventually made it to the weigh in alive. We made a few more casts in this area but came up empty.
A storm was coming so we decided to move before it started pouring. Too late! By the time we started the engine it was raining hard and it made for a difficult boat ride. We went back to the weedline where we started. Nothing but pike biting here so we had a decision to make. We only had about an hour left. The rain had pretty much stopped. Should we grind it out here or make a move? We decided to head back to our most productive shallow area to end the day.
Overview
It was Ron's turn to draw boat number since I've drawn boat number 14 last time, and last for the previous one before that. He didn't fare much better, we drew boat #15. Not a huge deal since we didn't really have a set starting spot anyway. We started in a small bay with pads, reeds, and shallow grass. We started a ways out from the pads and I cast my senko towards the pads into the shallow grass. Immediately something exploded on it! I was surprised because it was the first cast and can't say that I get many hits like that on a senko. I waited a second and set the hook. I felt weight and made a few cranks and then nothing. It came off. Nothing but a bunch of weeds on my hook. We continued to work the area with frogs, swimjigs and senkos with no luck. Finally we were headed out of there when Ron stuck a keeper on a pit boss.
Off to another deep weedline out of the wind. We ran in and hit the reeds that were close with no luck. Entire way down the weedline not so much as a tap. I had broken off 3 times on what I thought were pike. But my line sounded funny coming out of my micro guides so I started to suspect maybe something was wrong with my rod. I rigged my Texas rig set up onto a different rod with braided line. Just when I suggested we make a move, I got a tap and set the hook on another 2+ pounder. It was bleeding all over the place but it eventually made it to the weigh in alive. We made a few more casts in this area but came up empty.
Once we got there I threw a senko way up into the reeds and the line immediately started pulling tight. I set the hook and it got wrapped around a big clump of reeds. I kept pressure on but I didn't feel anything. I started to tell Ron to go in and get it when it freed itself up and I quickly got it to the boat. It was another 2 pounder and a decent cull. I had a couple more bites but couldn't connect. With time winding down it seemed like the area was heating up. Unfortunately I couldn't seal the deal on anything that would help and it was time to head to the weigh in.
While I was waiting in line to pull Ron out of the water, I could see the weigh in and noticed a couple pretty small bags. I didn't feel very confident that we would get a check, but maybe we would be close. We ended up weighing in 9.93lbs good for 6th place. Which was also good enough for 1st place bonus bucks team and $90. Always good to win something!
It was another grind out there. No real pattern and only one fish here, one there. But on the bright side it was my best day on Forest Lake so far. We caught a lot of fish just not as many big ones as we needed. Almost 10 pounds on Forest is not horrible, basically one 4 pounder out of 1st place. It was finding that 4 pounder that was the problem... Not sure if I would do much differently except maybe moving around a little more often and just giving each spot a few casts and only settle in once we caught one. I wish I would have seen the fish I missed on my first cast, as it sounded big and may have helped. Also if we had a few more minutes in our last area I bet we could have added another pound or two. But i'm sure it would have helped others as well. I'm satisfied with the finish, I always want to win but having such a bad history on this lake gives me confidence down the road to be able to compete. Next up is Medicine Lake and i'm hoping we can stay on the right track!
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