This past weekend we had our last two regular season club tournaments on Lake Minnetonka, we fished the West side on Saturday and the East on Sunday as two separate events.  There were quite a few things on the line this weekend.  I was in the final four for our Match Championship, I was leading the Angler of Year by a tiny margin and in position to be our State Team Captain and guaranteed boater next September at the MNBFN TOC on Lake Minnetonka.

On day 1, I had practiced one day the previous weekend and tried to find some deeper fish on the west side with my partner Henry.  We caught some fish, but nothing consistent, big or schooled.  With the mostly unproductive practice and my limited knowledge of that side of the lake, I decided to stick to my strength and fish shallow with a jig for the majority of the day.  I caught about 15 keepers, one on a black Secret Weapon Lure Buzzbait and the rest all came on various 3/8oz and 1/2oz Tru-Tungsten jigs flipped around shallow cover.  I varied the colors and trailer based on the color of the water and depth I fished them in.  The result was 14.24lbs and it was anchored by a hefty 4.63lbs largemouth bass.

Another Big Bass that could not resist my Tru-Tungsten Jig!
My win stretched my lead in AOY standings with one tourney to go and advanced my past Ryan to the finals of match fishing.  I was feeling pretty good, because traditionally I had done better on the east side.

Day 2 I decided to try 3 deeper weed edges in Wayzata Bay, I spent about 2.5 hours fishing those spots and only one 13″ bass, not what I had hoped, I had a limit by that time on Saturday.  Time to run to my favorite shallow areas, I put together a pretty quick limit and culled once by about 11am.  I caught several more keepers that day, but they were all 13″ fish and I could not improve my weight, very frustrating not to get any quality bites.  Hindsight, I wish I would have started shallow, I think I would have done a little better then 9.03lbs.  Turns out it was just good enough to hold on to Angler of the Year, but I got edged out by Corey Brant in Match Fishing, nice job Corey!

Now it’s time to turn my focus to the MN Federation Nation Tournament of Champions on Lake Pokegama in Grand Rapids.  This is one of my favorite lakes, i am excited for this event.  I really would like to win this tournament, and will be disappointed with anything less then a Top 12 finish and a return trip to Federation Nation Divisionals.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog