I was very excited when Center Lake was added to the schedule for this season. I've been hearing that the lake has been on fire for the last couple years. Of course we get it on the schedule after a really tough winter and a massive fish kill that happened mostly on North Center. There was some question if we would be able to fish it, and we monitored weights reported from other events and decided it would be ok to proceed but weights have been down slightly from past years. I have never been on the lake in the summer, I have only iced fish there a few times. Not only was my boat in the shop getting the steering cable replaced, but I decided that I would go into this event blind, with no prefishing, and just go out and fish and have fun and see what would happen. I have been struggling lately so maybe with no pressure and no preconceived ideas, I could finally get some big bites.
Practice
None
Tournament
I was supposed to have my buddy Darin Sorenson with me as non-boater but unfortunately he wasn't able to make it. All I knew was I was going to stay on South Center and start shallow. With the lakes reputation for big fish, I was prepared to frog and flip heavy cover all day. Most of us headed south and I settled into a small bay with lots of pads and milfoil. I caught a small keeper pretty quick on a swim jig. There were bait fish everywhere! I was rotating through the frog, swim jig, and punch rig. A few casts later I caught another keeper on the swim jig. I flipped my punch rig into a milfoil patch and got a good bite. I swung and missed! I flipped into the same spot again, and he hit it again and I was ready and didn't miss again. It was a nice 3 pounder with a big old head and skinny body.
I kept throwing the frog because it looked so froggy and I needed another good fish. I was just about to give up on it for the day (or at least awhile) when my frog was totally destroyed. I set the hook and it was a toad. I wrenched it through the slop and got the net under it. It was a giant! I was thinking 5lbs for sure but ended up being big bass of the tourney at 4.78lbs (close enough!). I was jacked. This was my biggest fish of the season by far. I think the main difference between this year and last year is I haven't had many big bites. And he inhaled the frog. It's strange that they weren't hitting it more by the way he ate it, it was halfway down his gullet. I carefully removed the hooks and put him in the box. It was quite a cull as I released a 13 incher. I'm getting excited just writing about it. I had to take a minute to calm down.
It was about 9:30am when I was debating on leaving the area. I hadn't had a bite for awhile on the frog or flipping and I was wondering what to do next. I said to myself I would make a few more flips and head somewhere else. Immediately after that, boom! Another solid 3 pounder flippin the slither rig. At this point I decided that I would just ride out the rest of the day in this area. 1) I was clearly around quality fish, even though it was awhile between bites at this point. 2) I had the area basically to myself. 3) I didn't know where else to go. I could go fish deep but I didn't know where to start. I could also go to another shallow area and see what I could find.
I decided to head out to some deeper water and recirculate the water in my livewell and take a pb & j break. The area I was fishing was very shallow and dirty so I wanted to give my fish some clean water and keep them alive for the rest of the day. It was getting pretty hot as well and I was concerned about having the dirty water in there. I figured I had around 14 pounds (very conservative guess) and thought needed one more good one to have a shot at winning this thing. It was about 10:15 and I decided I would quickly go try another shallow area and then head back to my main area.
I was relaxed, had a full tummy, and my fish had clean water and some 'Fish Gatorade' to keep them going. I headed off to another shallow spot with reeds and pads. I worked the deep edges all the way up into the heavy reeds without a bite. Back to the main area I went.
Once I got there, it was a different ball game. Not much would happen for the rest of the day. I got a couple good bites but couldn't connect on any of them. It was so long between bites that I started to lose focus and wasn't ready when I did get a bite. Either that or they just weren't hitting it as good as they were earlier in the day. Probably a combination of both. I did miss a couple bites where they knocked it pretty good.
I did catch a huge snapping turtle. I flipped into a patch of milfoil, went to bring my bait back, and it wouldn't move. It felt like a had hooked a log even though I didn't set the hook. Hmmmm. I kept pulling gently and felt some movement. I immediately thought it might be a giant bass just wrapped in some heavy weeds. I started pulling a little quicker and saw a flash of white and for a second thought 'it is a huge fish' and went to grab the net. My hopes were crushed when I saw that the flash of white was the huge claw of a snapping turtle. I immediately grabbed for my scissors to cut the line. I hesitated for a second when I thought of my slither rig with a 1 oz tungsten weight that I paid about 8 dollars for. Once I realized that my fingers were more important than my weight, I cut the line and re-tied. A couple boats were near me watching and I told them it was a big snapper and one guy said: "Them's good eatin," I thought that was funny.
Time was winding down and I decided to try near the launch since I heard from someone that the tournaments were releasing their fish on North Center in order to try to replenish that area. Who knows if the fish don't just swim back to the South lake or not. But it was worth a shot. Maybe I could catch a straggler from last weeks tournament. I still thought I needed another good fish to be in the hunt. No luck, time to head in and weigh em up.
The buzz at the ramp was that most guys had limits but they weren't very big. I might have a shot at this I thought. I knew I would be in the hunt for big bass but I also knew the lake's potential for big fish so I didn't count my chickens before they hatched. I ended up weighing an impressive 16.05lbs! It's been awhile since I've weighed in over 15 pounds. Which was good enough for 1st place by over 3 pounds. My big bass was 4.78lbs. good enough for big bass. I decided right then I was never prefishing again! Ha! I don't want to sound like I'm bragging but even I was impressed. These wins are rare so you need to enjoy them while you can. It is my 5th tournament win and couldn't have come at a better time. I really needed this win. My season has been mediocre at best and I needed to get some confidence back, and a win and big bass will certainly help in the confidence department. Off to Goose next week for the final Greenhorn even of the season unless we make up the 4 points that we are trailing for the final TOC spot.
Overview
It's hard to find much that I could have done differently when you win by 3 pounds. One thing that keeps bugging me is the 3 hours I went in the afternoon without catching a fish. I should have went and fished deep after going an hour without a bite in my main area. I did miss a couple bites that may have made me think differently, but who knows. I'm probably being ridiculous but I'm always looking for ways to improve and become a better angler. I am satisfied with the win and I'll leave at that.
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