Mississippi River MNBF TOC Practice Aug 30-Sept 1, 2008

It would take too long to break down every day of practice in to a separate entry. So I will bundle all the practice into one entry and then each tournament day will get their own entry.

Day 1:
I left my house in Lakeville at 5:30am and met fellow club member John Fairbanks in Lake City. I figured I would start my practice on Lake Pepin since it was on the way to Wabasha and it would save a little time & gas. We spent the early part of the day checking spots that I have had success on last September during the Weekend Series tournaments. The water was quite a bit lower and the current way slower then last fall, so I was anxious to see how that affected the fish. The first stop resulted in each of catching a nice largemouth and we pulled on a couple more bites. The next stop produced just one keeper smallmouth bite, not so great. The next smallmouth area produced a 15″, 18″ & 20″ smallmouth, time to leave there. The next area gave up a 16″ largemouth and 17″ smallie, kept moving. The rest of the day was a bit hit and miss, but I found some isolated cover in a couple areas that we caught some fish on and I felt it would make good back up stuff. We got off the water around 5pm and headed for the AmericInn.

Day 2:
Day 2 I fished with club member Rick Brennhofer. According to the weather forecast, that morning would be the last time the wind would be calm enough to run the lake without beating yourself to death. We checked a few rocky areas on the MN side just north of Wabasha, caught one keeper smallmouth and a few short fish. We then hit a couple isolated areas on the MN side on the way back and found two small areas with some keeper fish. We spent the rest of the day working our way south in the river. The first area we checked looked liked a promising eel grass line with lots of bait, but no bites. The next area was a nice duck weed mat, Rick caught a nice keeper on a frog and we both pulled on a couple. We spent quite a bit of time looking and idling some areas after that. We found pad fish way down near Alma, but not many keeper bites. Got off the water around 5pm as well, I was completely wiped physically as I had a terrible sinus infection and the heat just beat me down.

Day 3:
I practiced with Gopher teammate Josh Douglas as he was having his water pumped fixed. First thing we fished a wing dam north of Wabasha, no fish at that time. We then worked some wood in the back water and were able to catch some fish on Black Neon Chigger Craws, Tubes and White SWL Buzzbait. We then went to find some more wood, caught one fish and pulled on another. Fished some eel grass in Robinson, no bites. Checked some pads and duckweed from last year on bottom of big lake, not too much happening there either. Found some great looking wood further north, but no bites. It was 1pm and time for Josh to go, I dropped him off, and went back out until 5pm. I fished some different areas around Peterson Lake, but just caught a few shorts, got off the lake and headed home so that I could work Tuesday & Wednesday.

I gave up a day of practice to save a vacation day. Overall I felt decent about my practice. Some of my old stuff was clicking when I checked it other areas not so much, but I also found some new stuff. My plan was to fish my Lake Pepin fish as much as the wind would allow and take it from there. Based on my practice and the 4 fish limit and no culling, I figured 9-10lbs a day would be the target to shoot for to qualify in the top 12 and move on to divisionals.