Pokegama - Bassmasters Weekend Series Tournament #3 - August 5th, 2007
I arrived to prefish around 3pm on Friday afternoon, found some decent smallies deep and a few good largies in the reeds. Saturday was much of the same, not much for size except for a few fish I was able to flip up on soft plastics in the river area of the lake. I did not have near the fish that I had going last year for this tournament. I drew boat #32 and had a pretty solid non-boater, he ended up being a lot of fun to fish with.
I decided to fish some reeds that I thought would produce a solid 10-12lbs, but I ended up wasting over an hour fishing reeds, we each had a couple fish in the well when we left, but nothing special. The first weedline that I pulled up on, we had a near double and I soon caught a nice smallie and largemouth on a drop shot with a little 4" Chompers worm in a watermelon flake color paired with a 1/4oz Tru-Tungsten drop shot weight and a drop length of about 16". A northern bit of my drop shot weight so I switched to my finesse carolina rig (a.k.a. Mojo Rig) which was sporting 1/8oz Tru-Tungsten bullet sinker pegged about 20" up from a Green Pumpkin Fork Craw. Within the first 5 casts I whacked my 3.94lb smallmouth, I continued to fish with that and filled out a nice limit of fish. I mixed in some docks as well and caught one of my nicer largemouth on a 1/4 oz Green Pumpkin/Brown Tru-Tungsten jig.
We hopped docks and weedlines the rest of the day, the docks did not produce any more good fish, I had one decent one on and he jumped, but it was marginal in whether I would have culled with him. I culled a few more times deep with the Fork Craw and my partner finally put on the Fork Craw with about 90 minutes left and he culled his entire well with two nice smallies and a largemouth. His 3 fish total was 9.86 with a 4.59 smallie which put him in 5th. I also lost another good smallie that leaped next to the boat where he caught the 4.59, that is the nature of smallmouth bass fishing though. My total ended up being 15.99lbs and that was good enough for 12th place. The positive news is that I moved from 8th to 5th in the point standings, which is keeping me on pace to qualify for Nationals on Clarks Hill reservoir in November.
I think the biggest mistake that I made was starting in the reeds, had I started deep, I think I would have had a little better bag, maybe moved up in to the middle of the Top 10.... I need to quit playing it safe sometimes, live and learn. Also of note, my dad took 4th as a non-boater with just over 10lbs and had moved to 6th in his point standings. I hope to have some pictures to post here later as well. On to the river for the next few tournaments and the State TOC on Leech is just around the corner as well.
RichI decided to fish some reeds that I thought would produce a solid 10-12lbs, but I ended up wasting over an hour fishing reeds, we each had a couple fish in the well when we left, but nothing special. The first weedline that I pulled up on, we had a near double and I soon caught a nice smallie and largemouth on a drop shot with a little 4" Chompers worm in a watermelon flake color paired with a 1/4oz Tru-Tungsten drop shot weight and a drop length of about 16". A northern bit of my drop shot weight so I switched to my finesse carolina rig (a.k.a. Mojo Rig) which was sporting 1/8oz Tru-Tungsten bullet sinker pegged about 20" up from a Green Pumpkin Fork Craw. Within the first 5 casts I whacked my 3.94lb smallmouth, I continued to fish with that and filled out a nice limit of fish. I mixed in some docks as well and caught one of my nicer largemouth on a 1/4 oz Green Pumpkin/Brown Tru-Tungsten jig.
We hopped docks and weedlines the rest of the day, the docks did not produce any more good fish, I had one decent one on and he jumped, but it was marginal in whether I would have culled with him. I culled a few more times deep with the Fork Craw and my partner finally put on the Fork Craw with about 90 minutes left and he culled his entire well with two nice smallies and a largemouth. His 3 fish total was 9.86 with a 4.59 smallie which put him in 5th. I also lost another good smallie that leaped next to the boat where he caught the 4.59, that is the nature of smallmouth bass fishing though. My total ended up being 15.99lbs and that was good enough for 12th place. The positive news is that I moved from 8th to 5th in the point standings, which is keeping me on pace to qualify for Nationals on Clarks Hill reservoir in November.
I think the biggest mistake that I made was starting in the reeds, had I started deep, I think I would have had a little better bag, maybe moved up in to the middle of the Top 10.... I need to quit playing it safe sometimes, live and learn. Also of note, my dad took 4th as a non-boater with just over 10lbs and had moved to 6th in his point standings. I hope to have some pictures to post here later as well. On to the river for the next few tournaments and the State TOC on Leech is just around the corner as well.
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Rich
Congrat's on another decent finish and moving up a few spots overall. Where can you find the overall standings? I can only find the individual event results and the final standings for last year. Have you ever fished Medicine lake near Plymouth? My club ( Westtonka bass ) had our surprise tourney there this last Sunday. It is not good when you boater partner had 1 fish ( 6.4 ) that weighed more than your total 4 fish limit ( 6.0 )but due to the team format that our club uses I did get 2nd place points out of it. This 2nd moved me into 1st place overall by 2 Pts with 2 tourneys left. Now onto Marion, then finishing up on Chisago. My boater had 4 fish for a total of 18.8, what a sack!!!! By the time that I got the correct bait tied on it was to late. Thats fishing. If you know of anyone who is interested in joining a non-federated club tell them to check out our web site www.westonkabassclub.org We are in need of a few new members, at this time mostly boaters. Well take it easy and good fishing!!!
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Thanks, getting a little tired of decent finishes, but better then lousy finishes
Sounds like you are having a decent year, but why would someone want to join a non-federated club over a federated club, what are the advantages?
Rich
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There are pros and cons to both types of clubs. What is important is that the individual understands what they are looking to gain from a fishing club. Westonka Bass Club's (WBC) goal is to promote fishing through education - on and off the water. We fish club tournaments that do not carry the pressure of having to do well to make the cut as a Federated Club (FC) has. Our members can focus on becoming better fisherman. Members of FCs are competing for a limited number of slots available at the MN State Tournament of Champions (TOC) (e.g., a FC can send a percentage of their members; typically 30%) . That is not to say WBC tournaments are not competitive - they are. The main difference is that WBC members always share their knowledge and experience with other members since we are not competing for TOC slots. You may not find that in a FC as members are competing for those slots. Furthermore, WBC is open to new ideas to better educate our members. As example, in 2006 and again in 2007 we are fishing team format vs. individual format tournaments. Places are determined by boat weight. The boater cannot rely on his/her catch alone. The partner must also catch their fish for the team to do well. Individual places are determined by the individuals weight of the team. Therefore, if you are on the team with the most weight for the tournament, and you caught more than your partner, you receive 1st place and your partner receives 2nd place regardless of what the other competitors did. What we have learned, with this format, is the boater takes additional time to educate the non-boater on technique, tackle, etc. If you are interested in learning more, visit us at one of our upcoming meetings. Details can be found at http://www.westonkabassclub.org/. If you want more information on the BASS Federation see their website at http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/federation/index
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Hmmm.. very interesting perspective. I think you can have your cake and eat it too
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