Waconia 7/11/15 Renegade Bassers

After a tough tournament on Medicine I set my sights on Waconia.  Along with my poor showing in the previous event, my recent history on Waconia has not been good.  In the alternates tournament a few years ago I missed 1st place by the smallest margin because I couldn't fill my limit after catching 4 fish very quickly, then not getting my limit fish for the next 6 hours.  My last tourney on Waconia as a non boater I brought in one fish.  And my first event here as a boater I brought in 2 fish one which I snagged with my rat-l-trap.  It was under 30 degrees at take off that day but still.  So needless to say I have a score to settle with this lake.  And I need some points in the worst way. 

Practice
I was hoping to get a couple visits in to try some different things on different days.  My first visit was on July 4th with Kyle Rodriguez, my soon to be brother-in-law.  It's been awhile since we've fished together and it was good to catch up.  We started shallow and immediately found some fish with swim jigs and frogs.  Not much size so we kept moving.  We hit some reeds and Kyle lost a good one.  I made a metal note and moved on.  We hit a couple more shallow areas with some success before we moved out deep.  I caught a couple really nice fish out on the humps before the place turned into a zoo and it was time to go.  The ramp was a circus and everyone was trying to get on the lake to enjoy the holiday. 

I made it out again alone for a few hours later that week.  I wanted to expand on what I found on the 4th as well as check my other good areas to see how consistent they were.  I started in the reeds near the access with no luck.  I slid out to the first break to see if they were there instead and caught a couple decent ones.  I moved around and didn't really find much besides one other good area where I caught 3 fish on 3 casts.  While I was fishing this spot another boat slid up within casting distance and there was hardly anybody else out there.  I couldn't believe it.  He just rolled up and started casting and acted like I wasn't even there.  Some people... I already had what I needed so I bailed. 

Tournament
I was paired with another new club member BJ so it would be another chance to get to know another new guy one on one.  We met at my house and headed out.  
I was torn on whether to start shallow or deep.  I had two good spots one shallow one deep.  I figured the deep spots would get crowded quickly once the walleye guys came out, but normally I like to start shallow then go deeper.  At the last minute I decided to go shallow.  We started catching fish immediately but they were all small.  Except one 17 incher that ate my frog as soon as it landed.  In 45 minutes I had my limit and BJ had 4.  Off to find some bigger fish. 

We headed to some reeds and wanted to fish the point but there was another boat (Not one of our guys) sitting right on it with power poles down picking it apart.  Great.  We worked in behind and around and eventually he left.  We came around the point and I flipped in and got hammered.  It was a good fish almost 4 pounds.  Just what I needed!  Now off to find another one.  We tried one more shallow area with no luck then headed deeper. 

Every deep spot that I wanted to go to there was at least two boats on.  That's what I was afraid of by starting shallow.  We settled in close to one of my waypoints on a weedline and hoped to wait out another boat nearby.  He could tell we were trying to edge in and eventually (after catching several fish) came over and told us we could have at it.  We talked for a minute and he was pre fishing for an upcoming tournament and told us there were 2-3lb fish in the area.  By the time we got in there apparently they had shrunk.  I think BJ got his limit fish and made some slight upgrades.  I couldn't buy an upgrade!  I tried throwing different types of baits to entice the bigger fish to no avail. 

Eventually we left to try to find some bigger fish.  We ran back through the reeds but it was difficult to fish because of the wind.  I was gravitating towards the flipping bite because that's how I caught my biggest fish.  But the bites were few and far between.  We tried a deep hump, another reed patch and weedline before we settled back in to our previous productive weedline spot. 

This time I finally got a small upgrade to get rid of one of my 13 inchers.  I still had 2 left and time was winding down.  We were consistently catching fish but all small.  At this point I thought maybe I had 10 pounds and that wasn't going to get me a top 5 out here. 

We headed to another weedline near the ramp for the last 10 minutes.  When I pulled in a crappie on my drop shot I knew it was over.  We headed back for weigh in. 

I ended up with 10.67 pounds for 9th place.  At least I am heading in the right direction for this lake.  I finally managed to catch a limit!  Watch out next time we fish Waconia.  :-)  The winner John P, came in with a giant sack and blew away the field with just over 20 pounds and a 5+ big bass.  He had more than 7lbs more than the 2nd place stick.  Wow!

I had a fun day despite not finding many big ones.  We caught tons of fish size just wasn't there.  I'm sure I caught at least 25 fish or more, it sure seemed like more. 

I don't really know what I could have done differently.  I want to say we shouldn't have fished shallow so much but that's where my big one came from.  Not sure, I'll scratch my head about this for awhile.  Next up is Maple Lake, one of my favorites.  I'm off to pre fish...

Water temp 75 degrees

Results

Weather

Medicine Lake Renegade Bassers 6/21/15

I was pretty excited to fish Medicine lake again this year with RB looking for some redemption from last year's disastrous Greenhorn tournament.  It was on father's day and I can't think of a better way to spend it than fishing a tournament.  Plus it's close to my house and my family was coming to the weigh in so I needed to bring in some big ones to show off. 

We also got our new jerseys today as well and they look pretty sweet. 

Practice
I was on the lake a couple times this year prior to the tourney.  Early in the Spring we struggled during the spawn as we saw quality fish but could only get the smaller males to bite. 

The week before the tourney I was out and did ok.  I didn't get a lot of bites but did catch a couple good ones.  I tried some new area's but nothing real exciting there.  They sprayed the milfoil in some of my usually good areas so that wasn't good.  Right before I left I checked on a decent area and caught two nice ones back to back including one away from my normal area so that was encouraging. I would have to milk that area come tournament day.  I wanted to get out there again closer to the tourney but it just didn't happen. 

Tournament
My partner was another new member of the club Derick, so I was excited to fish with him and have a great day.

Things started off decent enough with Derick catching a decent one off my main area pretty quickly.  That was the only bite we got so we headed off to flip some pads and try a frog.  They weren't interested in the frog and only a pike flipping. 

We headed to a weedline near some reeds where I've done well in the past.  I finally got my first keeper on a swim jig.  Nothing big but it was a start.  This area provided a few keepers but nothing of size.  Then we headed to one of the bays and it was too crowded to fish, so we headed to the other bay and I picked up another small keeper on a senko.  Meanwhile, my partner was catching pike left and right and even a couple walleye.  Too bad it was a bass tournament or he would have been doing awesome.  :-)

For the rest of the day we tried to grind it out.  We checked my best area a few times and there was either boats right on it or we couldn't get anything to bite.  We tried a few areas with nothing happening either.  I managed to fill out my limit but nothing of any size at all.  I knew I wouldn't get many bites based on previous tournaments and practice but was hoping for at least one or two decent sized ones which I did find in practice. 

We continued to grind with not much to show for it.  Another disappointing showing at Medicine. 

But, my family was as the landing waiting for me and it was fathers day so no time to sulk even though I was pretty disappointed.  Makes you realize what's really important in life and that a bad club tourney isn't the end of the world.  But I can't hide from my competitive side so I'll be back with all I've got for Waconia. 

The weigh in was great.  There was a few of the guy's families there which was great to see.  After that I headed back out on the water with my family and had some fun. 

Water temp 73 degrees. 

Weather

Results

Green & Koronis Renegade Bassers 6/6/15 & 6/7/15

Renegade Bassers Out of Towner 6/5/15 - 6/7/15

I arrived at the motel in Spicer late Thursday night after softball and could hardly sleep.  Our first tournament of the year was the out of town back-to-back event in Spicer with Green on Saturday and Koronis on Sunday.  I was super excited to fish my first tourney with my new boat but at the same time felt that I wasn't quite as organized yet as it's still early in the season. 

Practice

On Friday morning I met new club member Jacob Corell at Green Lake and we headed out to try to come up with a game plan.  Green is brutal when it's windy and it was already blowing pretty hard when we launched.  We drove to the NW corner to launch instead and went in search of some quality fish.  Our first spot produced a couple fish on a jerk bait on a sharp break.  We ran to my largemouth spot and it was tough to control the boat and nothing was home.  It took awhile but we finally got on some decent Smallies.  I caught two nice 3lb class fish back to back in one deeper area around 10 fow.  A reef produced some decent fish also. 

Once I had a few good areas, it was time to look for some Smallies on beds.  It was tough sight fishing conditions since it was cloudy and windy.  Right when we were ready to head to Koronis the Sun started peeking out and we started seeing some beds.  Since I was hoping sight fishing would be the main deal, we had to stay a little longer and explore a really good looking area.  Jacob spied some reeds that I didn't notice so I bee lined over to them to check the depth.  We immediately saw some beds with quality fish on them.  Plus a couple bonus largies while blind casting the reeds.  My plan was complete so we headed to the ramp. 

When the dnr kid came over to inspect the boat I told him we were going directly to Koronis.  He said we'd have to go back to the other ramp for a decontamination (rise below water line with hot water).  He said he would call them so they would be ready, and gave me a sheet of paper to give them with my info. Ok, fine, no big deal.  We went to the hotel to drop off Jacob's car and on the way I called another club member who also was on Green and headed directly over to Koronis just to see if they had to get decontaminated as well.  He said he didn't, and that he told the guy he was going directly to the other lake as well.  That was strange, but ok, whatever. Then when we got there, he wasn't ready with the hoses so we had to wait for that.  Now I'm getting slightly annoyed.  I'm all for doing whatever we can to prevent the spread of invasive species but it didn't make any sense that I had to go out of my way to get my boat cleaned when all the boats that left that access didn't have to!  That's the problem with their plan is that it only takes one contaminated boat to introduce invasives.  And if they aren't always there (like early in the morning), there's no way they can check everyone so what's the point? 

Anyway, finally headed to Koronis.  The water here was much dirtier and slime everywhere on your lures.  We started in one of the far bays with a couple decent ones as we were working our way out.  We got a few near a shallow water marker buoy with a drop off on one side.  Then we finally got a couple good ones near one of the islands.  My trolling motor batteries were on their last leg, and it was almost 7pm by this point, time to head back to the hotel for some food and shut eye.  After almost 11 hours on the water it was a long day. 

Green Lake Tournament 6/6/15

I was very excited for my first tournament in my new boat!  In January I picked up a Triton 17 Explorer w/90 hp Merc after selling my Tracker in November.  I spent January - May upgrading and rigging it to be ready for the season.  I may do a blog post in the future describing in more detail all the work that was done. 

My co angler couldn't make it so I was flying solo on this one.  Take off was normal and the 2015 season was under way!  I ran to my closest spot which was a reef on the west side of the lake.  The wind was howling and I jumped up on the front deck and dropped the trolling motor in the water.  I knew something was wrong immediately when I blew right off my spot and the trolling motor was on 100.  Wtf?  I checked my connections and everything I could but had no power to the trolling motor.  It was acting just like it was the night before when I assumed they were drained pretty good.  I made a couple drifts across the reef since I was there but quickly realized that wasn't going to work since I could barely make one cast before I was blown off into deeper water. 

I headed back to my truck to grab my jump box and battery tester (normally I keep them in the boat but figured I wouldn't need them). 

One of my tm batteries read 7 volts.  This was not good.  It was windy as heck and I was screwed without my trolling motor.  I wondered if I should just leave and get things squared away for tomorrow and live to fight another day.  I decided to rig up the jump box and try to find a less windy area to fish and see how it went.  The jump box would give me a little juice and I'd see how long it would last. 

I ran to a small bay that was somewhat protected where I spotted some beds the day before.  It didn't take long to hook up with my first fish of the day a decent smallie on a bed with a drop shot.  By the time I got it in the live well I was way off my area so I had to idle back with the big motor to conserve juice.  I quickly spotted another bed and nabbed my 2nd keeper of the day.  Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. 

I ran into another club member who lent me his jump box as well which might give me a few more minutes.  They said they were seeing lots of beds but with no fish on them.  I had heard that from a few other guys as well, but I was finding plenty of fish on beds.  Either I had found an area with another wave of spawners, or nobody had checked the area I was fishing very carefully. 

After the initial flurry, things quickly got frustrating.  I went through the juice in my jump box and barely had enough power to turn the boat.  I was drifting off the beds I had marked before I could get a cast in.  If I was going to stick this out, I needed to figure out a way to catch fish without my trolling motor.  A power pole would have been handy but may not have had enough juice to deploy it.  I didn't have an anchor.  I debated trying to wedge my push pole to keep me in place but never tried. 

I ran to two other areas and realized that wasn't going to work they were just too windy and I was blown away with one or two casts.  I decided I would head back to the bay and motor to the windy shore and drift back across with the wind to the other side and see how that worked.  On my first pass I was throwing a square bill and drifted right over a nest with a nice smallie on it.  I quickly marked it and kept my head down scanning the water for more beds while I was casting.  I probably marked 5 beds with fish on them on my first pass and even caught a couple small fish on the square bill. 

When I reached the other shoreline I turned back around and motored up to the first bed and quickly jumped up to the deck and had just enough juice to make a couple adjustments, and had one or two casts at most to get the fish to bite.  Some would bite right away, and others took a few tries.  I got two good ones on my next pass and started to feel a lot better about what I was doing.   

So basically I did that all day.  Probably 15-20 times.  Motor close to the shore, drift across with the wind, mark beds, chunk the square bill or spinnerbait, turn around and try to pick off the fish I had marked.  It was very tedious but seemed productive.  Especially without a trolling motor.  I caught all my bed fish on a drop shot with a kvd dream shot worm.  Chartreuse or watermelon red, didn't seem to matter as long it was right in their nest.

I eventually put together a decent limit and felt pretty good considering the circumstances.  I figured someone would catch at least 15-16 pounds or more since that is pretty typical for this lake in the Spring.  I knew I didn't have that but I'd be stoked just to finish in the top 10. 

It started raining with about an hour to go and I decided to run and check another spot close to the weigh in.  It was the same deal I'd make one cast and wind up in 40 feet of water.  I was done.  I floated around and rigged up for the next day and organized the boat.  I headed in with about 30 minutes left to beat the crowd and end the frustration.  To top it all off when I was pulling my boat out I had the tailgate down and my 12 pack of water cans fell all over the access and into the water.  Ughh! 

Once everyone started coming in reports were encouraging.  Guys had limits but they were mostly small.  A lot of the guys who I expected to have big bags did not.  I waited until the end to weigh in since I was writing down the weights.  By the time I weighed in the biggest bag was 10 pounds.  I had 12.  Boom!  Somehow I won this sucker.  And by 2 pounds.  Still not quite sure how one of the most frustrating days I've ever had on the water turned into a win but I'll take it.  It was the most anti-climactic win I've had, since half the club was gone already when I weighed in.  I think me and the tournament director were the only ones who knew who won.  Very strange.  But I had no time to enjoy it anyway, I had to figure out what was wrong with my batteries. 

I got back to the hotel and went to work.  There's some great dudes in the club that always help me out and we got it dialed in pretty quickly.  It was a bad charger.  I should've known, I had issues with it before.  I wanted to get a new one earlier, but with all the other expenses I was hoping to get at least a season out of it.  Big shout out to Darren Sorenson for lending me his battery and charger to get things squared away for the next day. 

Finally time to kick back eat some food and bs with the guys.

Results

Weather

Water temp = 61-63

Koronis 6/7/15

Sunday on Koronis was pretty uneventful for me.  I'm not sure if I took it too lightly after me win the previous day but I zigged when I should have zagged and didn't fish in the moment.  Basically I sucked and it was a crappy way to follow up a win.  Just to get all my excuses out of the way I didn't get much practice time in and didn't feel good about what I was doing.  Plus I was exhausted two hard days of fishing and the frustrating previous day and all the mechanical issues I was dealing with.  

The day started off bad as well, I missed a decent fish on a spook, had it hooked up pretty well I felt it pull, then gone.  It was a sign.  I got bites but they were mostly small and there were long droughts in between.  I had to go fish some docks just to pick up my limit.  My only saving grace was that at least I got my limit, although small.  

Jacob my co-angler was dialed in catching them on a spinnerbait and I refused to pick one up and get some decent fish in the boat.  It was good to see him catching some decent fish at least.

Not much else to say about this one.  Put my head down and go get em next time.  It was a tight tournament as most guys had between 10-12 pounds so even another pound or two would have bumped me up quite a bit in the standings.  Now that I look more at the results it wasn't as bad as I thought, I was one good 4 pounder out of a top 3 finish.  Sometimes that's how it goes.  

I ended up in 20th place with 9.35lbs.

Results

Weather

Water temp =  66-68 degrees