MN BASS Federation TOC Lake Vermillion 9/4/14 & 9/5/14

Practice

Fishing was pretty tough compared to when we had our club tournament a few weeks ago.  Water temp has dropped 10 degrees and storms and rain have been passing through regularly.  It was pretty much a one here one there type deal.  Everyone was catching them on tubes, crankbaits, and senkos.  Topwater not a real factor.  There was no real pattern emerging and the fish seem to have scattered and pulled out.  But with all the crayfish, I didn't see where they can go.  When you did get bit, most of the time they would barely hit it and not commit, or just glom onto it and you weren't really sure if it was a bite or a rock. Maybe the cloudy weather was effecting it.  One more day of practice to go and come up with a real plan.  I think I have my area dialed in I just have to check some things and cover some new area.  My goal was to find spots relatively close together so I wouldn't be running all over the lake wasting fishing time.  Especially with my boat only having a 50hp motor it would be a key factor.  I also hoped my non-boaters would work with me and share the same view.

Tournament Day 1

Day one of the state tournament I drew Pat Corrigan from the old Golden Hook Bassers (I think he's in West Metro Bassers now). It was kind of cool and kind of awkward at the same time. Pat was the one who introduced me to club fishing at the Federation level. He brought me to my first tournament on Washington Lake. But then he had a falling out with some members from the club and they started their new club Renegade Bassers. I didn't really have any problem with Pat, but I was pretty new and wasn't going to join his club that only had four members. Normally Pat is a boater so I was surprised to see his name next to mine on the list as a non-boater.  He had not been up to practice so he basically let me run my spots the entire day which was great. We drew boat number 79 at the end of the fourth flight six boats from the last one.  The morning of the tournament the weather was horrible.  There was a two hour weather delay while we waited for the lightning and storm to pass.  While we were getting in line in the bay near the casino I was looking out at the main Lake and debating whether or not we could go across it.  The wind was howling and I had a treacherous trip across the main lake only a couple days earlier.  I didn't think there was anyway we could do it in the current conditions.  But once we emerged from the bay and blasted off it seemed fine and we made the run. 

We ran into my deep rock spot and threw a drop shot for a few minutes. I caught a dink pretty quickly and Pat quickly followed with a small keeper. I got nothing else there so we headed over towards Gold Island. We worked that area for a while but no keepers. It was tough fishing deep in the wind being blown all around. So we decided to head to a small bay where I caught some in practice. One thing I remember is when I was throwing my frog it must've landed on a fish and spooked it because it made a large splash, I went to real my frog in and pick up my Senko, and throw back in there but I looked over and Pat already threw to the same spot! I didn't think that was very cool because I am the one who spooked it in the first place. We worked the bay and I eventually got a nice keeper largemouth on a deadhead in the middle of the pads.  I was finally on the board with decent fish. Then we headed out to fish some reeds and got something going. We were working down the reeds and I threw my tube to the point of reeds a few feet towards deeper water and all of a sudden my line felt go tight. I thought it might be a rock but I set the hook anyways it was nice 3 pound Smallie. We continue down and the same thing happened again on the next reed point very soft bite boom another 3 pounds Smallie.  We worked our way around the reeds and I slowly picked up my limit. From there we ran to the north part of the lake and hit a point where I made a small upgrade. Then we ran even farther north east and hit some reeds where I had some nice fish in practice. No one was home so we started heading back towards the ramp. We stopped in little bay on the way back and Pat picked up his second fish under a dock. We worked the bay with no more fish. I wanted to make the run across the main lake with plenty of time to spare in case conditions were bad so we headed back in that direction. We got near the check in point with over a half hour to spare, so we fished near an island and then headed to weigh-in. 

Pat and the other Pat from my club thought I had around 14 pounds but I was pretty sure it was more like 12 ( I am always conservative). The scales ended up saying 12.42 pounds. Not bad for my first day as a boater in the state tournament. I wish I could've got one more upgrade but that's okay I was in a good position for day two. Pat only got two keepers and I felt bad for putting not putting him on better fish. But we both missed a few bites that ended up costing us so I wasn't really all my fault. At this stage I was a little nervous talking into the microphone luckily we were the last boat to weigh in and there wasn't many people around that point. I don't even remember what I said I was pretty tired from working the wind all day and fishing hard. I headed back to the resort and got ready for day two.

Tournament Day 2

For day 2 my non-boater was Adam Baumgartner from Metro Bassers. He zeroed on day one so he pretty much let me do my thing to since I was still in the running if I could put together a good finish. It was windy and raining again at the start of day two. We were boat 10 and we took off and headed up to the bay where I caught good fish the day before. We got nothing out of there in the first round except a couple missed fish. We ran to my deeper spots it was very difficult to fish in the 20+ mile-per-hour winds. I managed a small keeper on a drop shot near gold Island. We worked around Gold Island again for the second day in a row with nothing to show for it. Then we headed to the island that I did really well in practiced for our Renegade Bassers out-of-town tournament. It was unfishable with the wind blowing hard on it from all sides. 

So then we ran up to the bay again to check and see if the fish were biting up there yet. This time they showed some signs of life. We worked around the entire bay and I only pulled one small fish off the tree that I caught a good one on yesterday. We were working towards the point when I tied on a craw tube and heavy weight because of the wind. I threw my lure near a rock in the reeds and immediately got hammered he almost knocked the rod out of my hands. It was a good 16 inch smallie.  While it was dealing with him we got blown off the spot I told my partner we're gonna make another pass this time closer to the point and boom another Smallie same size. We might've been on the something rocks in the reeds seem to be the pattern. Then continued working down the reed line and we wouldn't get bit if we only threw on the edges. If you threw up to the bank where the rocks were in the reeds they would hammer your lure. We continued working down the bank for about an hour and that pattern was on fire. I got my limit and even made a couple small upgrades. I went from having two small fish to having over 10 pounds within an hour. It's amazing how quickly things can change in fishing. You have to tell yourself not to get discouraged because things can happen fast. We decided we are going to grind it out in this area for the rest of the day. I was trying to get my partner some fish but he missed a few bites as well as I did and we weren't able to get him any. And then to end the day we were working one side of the reeds and another boat was working down the other in the same direction. We are ready to head out when the other boat packed up and left. I asked my partner if they were working in the reeds very deep and he said they were only hitting the edges. We decided to go behind them and work the stretch where we had caught one one earlier. I threw up near the bank and immediately got hammered. I set the hook and a big Smallie jumped out of the air. I made a few cranks of my reel had him coming towards me I could see him on the top of the water. But then he hit a patch of reeds and turned his head down and that was it. I was trying to control the boat in the wind and keep us from smashing into the rocks, and also fight the fish at the same time. I made my way in there keeping the line tight and hoped he was hung around the reeds and I could scoop him out. But he was in an area where there was lots of rocks so I was nervous about pulling the boat in there. We finally got up to it and it was gone just my hook hanging on the reeds (funny, auto correct changed hook to 'hope', which was also gone at that point). I hate to complain about it but that fish cost me a top 20 finish. You have to expect that you're going to lose some fishing heavy cover like that where you have to drag the fish all the way through the reeds back to the boat. But I saw him come out of the water he was easily 3 pounds if not four. I was upset because I had broke off for times that day with 30 pound braid on a pretty heavy duty rod. I'm not sure if the reeds were fraying my line or if the line was wrapped around my hook when I made the hook set but something was off. The first one I thought was a pike even though breakoffs with pike on 30 pound braid are rare. But after the fourth one something must have been amiss. 


We had to get back to make the long run across the main lake. We stopped at a small island near where is the fish were being released with no more action. I felt pretty good but I didn't think I quite had what I had the day before, because I still had one small fish. I ended up weighing in 11.7 pounds just about a half a pound less than I had the day before. Since we are in the first flight all I could do was sit and wait and watch the results. Every time someone came in with a bag bigger than mine my hopes would diminish. I really wanted to make the top 20 and get a plaque take home. I didn't think I had enough to make the divisional team but I didn't think the top 20 was out of reach. Guy Knutson from our club went out and smacked a 15 pound bag and solidified his spot on the divisional team with a 10th place finish. This will be his second divisional appearance in 3 years. Way to go Guy! It was fun sitting around the weigh in watching everybody come in and talk about their catch. But it was also stressful knowing that each bag that was bigger than mine or the two day total that was more than mine would decrease my chances. I was also exhausted from a hard week of fishing and grinding it out in the wind every day.

Overview

Overall it was a pretty fun week of fishing on Lake Vermillion. The scenery is beautiful from rock islands to huge pine trees, bald eagles, loons, and muskies this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The weather was horrible all week windy and rainy every day. Monday when I made the run across the main lake it was pretty scary and the waves were pretty high. Usually when I talk about the scenery or the weather means that I didn't do very well. I'm satisfied with my finish 27th place out of 172 anglers is definitely nothing to be ashamed of. But when you're that close and you have the fish on that would've put you in the top 20 you expect to seal the deal. I just didn't execute well in that last stretch that would have given me a couple pound upgrade. But that's fishing!  Looking back I would've done a couple things differently. I would have tried to find some more deeper areas as it seems like that's where the bigger fish were located. I think I had a good plan finding spots close together so I didn't have to run all over the lake. I also feel like if I had a different boat I would've been able to hit a couple more areas each day and maybe a pound here and a pound there upgrade would've put me in the top 20. Overall it was a great week of fishing and goofing around with the guys from the club but I'm excited to get home and see my family.











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