Got back late at night from my Northern Regional Tournament, so I did not get out on Tonka until almost noon and I had to be off the lake by 5pm to make the registration.  I practiced with John, who is in my bass club and fishes the weekend series as a non-boater.  Spent most of that time in Grays & Libby, not much for fish or size, basically wrote that area off and that was pretty much the practice.  Not real excited about the tournament after that.  Went to the meeting and got a third flight boat position and drew a another buddy of mine John Egbert as a non-boater.

Sunday morning was warmer than I expected, but also windier.  I ran up to a point in Wayzata which was my only deep spot I had confidence in.  There was a boat sitting on the inside turn where I wanted to go, so we started out towards the end of the face and worked in.  About 15 minutes in I whacked a really nice bass, turned out to be my big fish, (4-10) on a 1/2oz Tru-Tungsten Jig in Fall Craw with a Green Pumpkin Speed Craw as a trailer.  John hung a nice fish on a MagWart but it came off, we worked that area for about an hour and the other boat left, so we worked down to the turn and back and forth a few times.  2 hours had passed and we had 1 nice fish.  John suggested a few deep areas in Wayzata that we tried for about 45 minutes with no action.  We made one more pass down my weedline, no takers.

We then headed down to St. Albans to fish some shallow cover.  I started pitching my sunfish colored 3/8oz Tru-Tungsten jig around the pads, docks and wood that I had found fish on back in August.  I caught a couple shorts and then missed a couple bites.  I noticed the water had cleared a bit and the fish were biting funny, so I switched to a Green Pumpkin/Brown Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver 4.20 rigged texas with a 3/16oz Green Pumpkin Tru-Tungsten Sinker .  I used a smart peg to keep the sinker in place for pitching and skipping and also added a small Blood Red Force Bead for noise.  That change almost instantly produced 4 keeper bites and three of them were 2-3 lbs.  It felt good to have 5 in the box, even though one was only 12-1/4″.  We continued to work around and we came to some pads where the wind was blowing in, so I switched to my 1/2oz jig and caught a nice 3lb fish.  Things were really starting to look good.  I then jumped across the bay and continued to work the same structure, caught several fish, but none that would help.  We then came up to a seawall, John & I both pitched in there and he came up with a giant on a 4″ Green Senko.  Man did I wish I had caught that fish.  We kept fishing and I circled back to the seawall again and I had one about 4lbs grab my Beaver and when I set he just ripped the tails off, OUCH!

I then went across the way to some more pads with wind, I got tied up by a nice fish and she got off and then I got another non-helping keeper.  We bounced around a little more, tried some other seawalls, but could not muster any keepers.  I ended up with 14-04 which was good for 9th out of 70 boaters, I felt really good about that, but I was around the fish for a win and had the bites for a Top 5.  I slipped to 3rd in points at the guy that won was right behind me for the year.  John Egbert only got the one fish, but it was a 5-03 and big fish for the tournament and he got a check for Big Fish and 11th place.

All in all, with limited practice because of other tournaments, I was happy with my 4th Top 10 finish.  My non-boaters also cashed a check in every event as well.   I just need to get a Top in Patoka at the end of October.

Rich
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Day 1 – Boat #5 let me pretty much go where ever I wanted.  So I decided to start on a deep spot in Le Homme Dieu.  It was relatively calm, so my partner each started throwing topwaters.  I got a fish on my first cast with a Bluegill colored Vixen and my partner got a keeper on his first toss with a Bone Pop-R.  It then instantly slowed, we each got a few more fish there.  I got some on a Parrot DT6 .  We then hopped to another weedline where I filled out my limit on the DT6 .

I then moved into a small section of reeds that I had not practiced, but historically had been good to me.  I got 3 good bites fairly quickly on a 3/8oz Green Pumpkin Tru-Tungsten Jig.  This gave me about 10lbs and only being about 9am.  I hit a few more reed patched, caught some fish on the jig, but could not upgrade.  I wanted to go hit some docks for some bigger fish, but my partner wanted to get his limit and he has the right to half the fishing time.  So we hopped around a few flats on Little Le Homme Dieu trying to fill out my partners limit and I squeezed in a few docks but nothing produced.  I caught several more keepers and my partner got a small limit over the next couple hours. By the time we got to my docks, the day 1 leader on my team was fishing them for the 2nd time, I went to a small inside weedline where I could see some good fish, could not get them to bite and my partner wanted to fish a flat to try to cull out a couple squeakers.  No good on the flat, we then finished up on a flat near check-in, we each caught some fish, none that helped me but my partner got rid of a 12″ fish.

My 10-04 put me in 13th out of 96 and I found that Jim Severson fished the docks I wanted to fish first very early and got some very nice fish there.  What a tough blow, I made the wrong decision, I just did not realize they would be there first thing.

Day 2 – I am about 7lbs out of the lead and 7lbs out of qualifying for Nationals.  I knew that Jim would likely only get 8lbs a day the last two days and that if I could get 12lbs a day, I could catch him.  The winds were blowing 20-30mph today.  Started in the same spot again, got a quick fish on a DT6 and then it stopped again.  Stayed a little longer, got another keeper.  My partner also had a couple keepers of this area.  I then when straight for the reeds and caught 5 keepers out of there and culled a few times on my trusty jig.  Nothing as big as Day 1, but quality keepers.  I then headed for a small boat channel in Le Homme Dieu, where I culled twice.  One nice fish off a dock with a weightless Pumpkin Ring Fry and another nice fish dropping my jig into some milfoil clumps.  My partner got a small keeper on a watermelon Fluke.  We hit one more small area with big fish potential and my partner got a keeper on a spinnerbait.  We then had to  turn to his fish as he needed to fill out a limit.  We fished a couple humps in Carlos and I got a small keeper and he got nothing out there.  He then took me to some weed edges in Little Darling, couple follows but no takers.  I then got over to my inside weedline and there was guy there and he plucked a 2 & 3lb fish off of it.  We finished the day again on a flat near check-in where my partner got his 4th fish on a shad colored minus-1 crank.  Today’s total was 9-14, made up some ground and moved to 6th overall, but frustrating again to have that weigh early and get stuck.

Day 3 – The wind is still howling, we are boat 47 out of 48.  I start in the boat channel where I culled twice the deay before.  I get a small keeper on a Bronzeye and a big fish misses it and did not go for any follow ups.  My partner got 3 keepers, two on a spinnerbait and one on a black senko.  We then hit a flat nearby where I get my limit and cull once on a White Secret Weapon Double Willow Spinnerbait with Tandem Silver Willows and a couple on a shad colored Lucky Craft LVR D-10 .  We then hit my reed patch and I can only manage one quality bite out of there on the jig.  We then tried some more reeds and docks for several hours, I upgraded a few times but nothing that was getting anywhere close to what I needed to make up 5lbs.  We came in near check in with less than an hour to go, my partner got his 5th fish on a spinnerbait and I caught a couple small keepers.  Today’s weight was only 7-14, dropped me to 11th overall.  I would have done better just sticking with flats and weedlines but I did not feel I could get the big bites there.

On the bright side, MN took first for team and I was one of the top contributors to that.  First place team gets to split $22,000, so that helps swallow the pill that I do not get to go to Nationals.  The tough thing was that I feel I was on the right fish to get it done, I just made bad decisions the first and second days not to start on the big fish.  Congrats to Jim Severson for making better decisions and catching them.  Thankfully I am only 27 and I plan on fishing a few more divisionals before it is all said and done, and I will not make the same mistake again

Rich
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Leaving directly from the TOC, I did not get a real early start on Saturday.  My father and I got on the lake around 10am.  It was very windy, so we ran around and check some main lake stuff and the crankbait bite that I had going last year in the MN TOC seemed very solid, lots of fish, but for the most part, just keepers.  I whacked them pretty good on a Parrot DT6 and a Chartreuse Craw Rat-L-Trap.  Checked a few docks in Carlos and called it a day.

Day 2, I had to practice by myself as it was now official practice.  I stared the morning in a shallow area and had little success.  I then moved to a deep turn that had big fish history, got a few small keepers.  I then went in and hit one dock and tried to pull on a fish and ended up hooking and catching a 4lb fish on my 3/8oz Tru-Tungsten Jig.  I was glad it was early in practice, maybe she would bite again.  I bounced around and tried a few other new things with limited success.  I watched a small weigh-in and it only took 3 fish to win, obviously it was tougher today.  I fished for a bit longer, my batteries were fading as they did not get charged at all.  I caught about a 6lb Walleye on the DT6 and then headed back to the Holiday Inn.

Day 3, was much calmer.  I started out on some main lake stuff in Le Homme Dieu and had a couple of good schools of quality keepers in a series of inside turns.  I caught them on Vixens, chuggers, DT6 and the Rat-L-Trap.  I then checked another handful of areas and the last one I checked I had a couple of very good bites, so I left.  I then ran to the Darling Lakes to scout for some bigger shallow fish.  I found and pulled on some quality fish on some docks in Darling.  On the way back, I located a small school of really nice fish on an inside weedline that I could see.  I got one of them to go after my bait and I left, did not hook them.  All these fish I found in high sun in the afternoon.

Day 4, Last day of practice.  Try not to burn any fish and add some more spots to the arsenal.  I struggled trying to find new fish on LHD in the morning and then headed to Darling again.  I found some more docks with big fish on them and the inside weed line fish were still there.  Get off the lake early to get ready and for the pairings meeting.

My strategy going in to tomorrow was to get a decent limit in the morning and get my partner fish and then try for those bigger fish in Darling.  I drew Larry from Michigan and we had found similar patterns, so we were set to go fishing the next day.  I was feeling very confident in the fish that I had found and thought I had a legitimate shot to win this tournament.

Rich
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Well it was fun blogging about all my success this year, so now the coin had flipped for an event.  I am way behind on my blogs, so this will be short and sweet.

The TOC is a draw tournament and I drew a friend for day 1 who was on really good fish, we used his boat and we camped on his main lake spots most of the day.  We both only ended with 4 fish and most of the field had limits.  We swung for the fence and we both struck out.  I caught two fish on my 3/8oz Green Pumpkin Tru-Tungsten Jig and two on a Red Bug Lake Fork Worm fished on a jig worm.

Day 2, I was non-boat again because my partner had more weight, it was a much better day.  I caught a solid limit on a Black Secret Weapon Lure buzzbait, but the whole I dug the first day was just too deep.  If you double my day 2 bag and add one good bite, I would have been in the top 20 some where…  Oh well!
Secret Weapon Buzzbait

I believe I finished in 100th place, ouch!

I will be posting on the Federation Northern Divisional and Minnetonka Weekend Series event in the next few days.

Rich
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Right after work today, I am heading up to Brainerd for the pairings meeting.  I am a registered as a boater, but that does not mean I will not draw another boater.  The draw really can effect ones strategy.  My practice has not been nearly as good as it was 5 years ago when I took 2nd in this same tournament on Gull.  At the same time I have had very good tournaments when I have not had good practices, so I feel like I have enough areas and experiences on Gull to do well if I fish well and a few things go my way.

My tentative plan is to run up to the north end of the main lake and fish a couple weedlines and flats to get my limit.  Iwill probably try crankbaits and jig worms to start the day.  I then will plan to hit deep areas and potentially docks on the way back down the lake, probably going with my Tru-Tungsten Jig to get better bites.  The area I am planning to start on has potential to give up some 3lb fish, which will be key.  If I can get one or two good bites there and then fill out my limit, I would feel confident about scratching a few more 2lb plus fish and culling later in the day on the jig.

I think it will take about 21lbs for two days to make the top 12 and about 26-28lbs to win.  Hopefully I will get a chance to Blog about day 1 on Thursday night.

Rich
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I spent the last 3 days practicing for the MNBF TOC. 

Day 1: Saturday morning I took our alternate to Lake Alexander where his tournament would be, he does not have a boat, so I wanted to get him sometime on the water.  We had too much fun and found lots of fish, but I spent too much time there.  I caught several and pulled on a bunch of really nice smallies with my 3/8oz Green Pumpkin Brown Tru-Tungsten Jig, I also had good success on a ghost colored Lucky Craft Sammy 100.  We finally got onto Gull about 1:30pm, we fished for about 4 hours.  We checked a few of my old spots with limited success.  We only caught a couple keepers, with the best action coming on a Baby Bass Secret Weapon Double Willow Spinnerbait.

Day 2: Sunday I was a little lackadaisical in getting ready and did not start fishing until almost 8am.  I rechecked  few spots too see if they were any better in the morning.  I caught one solid keeper on an adjacent area on Junebug 3/16oz Tru-Tungsten Ball Buster with a Blue Fleck Berkley Bungee Worm.  I then went to check some spots on the north end of the main lake.  I caught a nice walleye on the  Bungee Worm and that brought a keeper to the surface on it.  I checked a bunch of weedline and docks the rest of the day, got plenty of bites, but the ones I set on were not big and the ones I pulled on did not feel any better.  95% of the bites came on the Ball Buster and Green Pumpkin Brown Jig.

Day 3:  Monday, fellow club member Sport joined me as we did not get a chance to fish together during the club year.  We started in an area where I had got one good keeper and I wanted to experiment with topwater and other baits in the morning, we get a few more keepers and a northern.  We spent the entire day in Steamboat and Wilson, we found plenty of fish, but they were scattered an once again not very big.  We fished the deep edges, the flats and shallow cover.  No real solid pattern or lure really shined.

Day 4:  I am back at work to save vacation time for fishing the Weekend Series Regional in Jasper, IN in October.  As bad as my practice went, I wish I could be up there today to try to figure something more out.   Sigh  
On a positive note, I have not burned any good fish yet, because I have not found them yet

The other good thing was a got a nice deal at Reed’s on a new Shimano Symetre 2500 & it worked noticeably better than my 1000 size Symetre for Flourocarbon line, 90% less problems.

Rich
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My father and I spent Saturday on Tonka from about 7am-2pm.  It was foggy, so we spent most of the morning in Wayzata as visibility was poor at best.  We each caught fish on plastics on a weed hump, but they were just small keepers.  We bounced around trying to find some deep fish and trying to avoid sail boats.  We did find one weed point they had some quality 2-4 lb fish on it, we caught them on a Motoroil Berkley Bungee Worm on a 1/8oz Tru-Tungsten Ball Buster finesse jig and a 3/8oz Texas Craw Tru-Tungsten Jig paired with a Green Pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk.
Click on Images for more details

We then fished a few docks, caught some small fish on the jig and then checked three more deep spots with limited success.  Boat traffic was getting bad, so we decided to call it a day.  It was nice to find at least one deep area that was holding the right quality of fish.  A lot can chance in 3 weeks…

Sunday I fished a Jr. Club tourney on Clearwater, I will Blog on that tomorrow!

Rich
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