FOM Green Lake (Spicer)

Saturday Steve and I fished the second Fishers of Men tournament of the year on Green Lake. We went out on Friday for the practice day and found the smallies were on the tail end of the spawn. We marked a few locations on the GPS to check the next day and went to look at our spots from previous years. Each spot we tried we would get a few bites and shake them off. Things looked good for the next day. At the tournament meeting Friday night. Steve drew boat 7 for Saturday's take off. Saturday morning we ran to our starting spot and there was already 2 boats in the same general area so we moved off a bit and started fishing. Steve got us going with a nice 17" fish on his first cast. We had our limit by 6:50 but finding upgrades proved to be a challenge. After running around a bit we discussed a spot we had found on Friday that held some largemouth and we decided to give it a 20 minute shot. I caught a couple small fish that would not help. Steve then tied into a dandy. It finally gave in to the net and would be our biggest fish of the day a 4.38 largemouth. We hit a few more spots till it was time to weigh in. We weighed in 14.22 lbs which tied us for 13th place. Our 4.38 Largemouth was good enough for 2nd big bass. It was a great day on the water. We caught a lot of fish but could not get that kicker fish to put us closer to the top. We did drop 1 spot in the points race to 4th but are still very much in it. The next FOM tournament is on Minnetonka in July. So I hope to put a little time in out there before hand. Most of our fish came on soft plastic using a Outkast money jig. The tube and Chigger craw were the most productive.

GHB Washington/Stella

The second tournament of the year was on Washington/Stella or should I say Washington. With the water so low no one could get into Stella. A couple guys tried but were unsuccessful. I had prefished the Sunday before and had a really good day locating fish. Really nice fish for that matter so I was really pumped for tournament day. I was paired with James and we were boat number 7. I ran to the spot where I had the best concentration of fish during practice. It started really slow. I finally caught my first fish toward the end of the first run on a Lake Fork Tube Craw. A few docks later I landed another. We then ran to another stretch of docks with no takers. From there we ran to some reeds where I had 2 really big fish the week before. I hooked up in the reeds with a nice fish in the reeds but it shook off when it got stuck on a reed. I ran back to near my starting spot and caught 3 quick fish to fill out my limit and James finally got a fish in the well. So went the day just running and gunning. With all 9 boats on Washington things got tight always running into someone. Aside from breaking of a really big fish on a milfoil clump the day was really uneventful. I ended the day in 12th place weighing 8.40 pounds. Jame only managed to catch 2. Congratulations to Nick for winning with 12.58 pounds and to Ozzy for catching the Big Bass with a 4.17 largemouth.

GHB Sylvia/Twin

The first Golden Hook Bassers tournament of the year was on Sylvia/Twin on Sunday. As it was the first of the year everyone showed up early and was ready to go. I was paired Daryl one of the new club members. I was drawn as boat 9 which was last out so I directed everyone out and finally got to go. I had found a productive area last Saturday prefishing so we headed there as our starting spot. When we arrived I just stepped on the front deck and Daryl already had a fish. I grabbed the net and he was on the board. I started throwing a Outkast stick worm but all I could get was panfish tugging on it. I switched to a texas rigged Lake Fork tube craw and it was on. I had a limit in 45 minutes and was culling. We made a final pass through the area and I picked up a nice 2 1/2 pounder. By this time the wind had picked up again and boat control was becoming an issue. I had a lone dock that produced a couple nice fish last Saturday so that was the next spot we hit. I caught a few shorts and then I brought what was my big fish for the day a 2.68 pound chunk to the boat. Daryl continued to push his way toward a limit. We ran a stretch of docks and he still was at 4. I ran to an area I had fished 5 years ago when we fished there the last time. We caught fish all along but nothing that would help. Daryl finally got that 5th fish for the live well and was pumped because it was his first limit. Great job Daryl... The rest of the day we just ran spot to spot trying to upgrade. I ended up with 9.28 pounds which was good enough for 5th place. Congratulations to Dave M for winning with 12.01 pounds and to Pat C for Big Bass at 2.88. For full results check out the web site: www.goldenhookbassers.org/index_files/results.htm
The next GHB tournament is on Washington/Stella on June 13th.

FOM Clearwater

Saturday Steve and I fished the first tournament of the year for the Fishers of Men on Clearwater. When we got to the lake the wind was already blowing at a pretty good clip. It would continue to blow harder thru the day. We drew boat number 21 at the Friday night meeting so the wait was not to bad. We ran to our first spot that I found the Saturday before prefishing. On about my 5th cast I hooked up on a 3 pounder on a Leena Lures spinnerbait. We worked the area and on the return trip I got another on the spinnerbait. After fighting the wind there we moved to another spot. We caught a few rockies the I picked up 2 more for the well. Steve then score what was our biggest fish of the day a 3.19 largemouth on a steep drop bank. With a limit secured by 8 o'clock we could just look for big fish the rest of the day. On our next stop we were able to cull a few out. At each stop we made we caught fish. Finally the wind got the best of us and we found a bay out of the wind. With about 20 min to go, I thru a Outkast stick worm to a cluster of lilly pads and got a solid 2 3/4 fish to upgrade a bit more. It was on to weigh in we were about the 10th team to weigh and took the lead. It held up till toward the end of the first flight when we dropped to second. We stayed there till toward the end of the second flight when the team that won weighed in. So we ended up third out of 50. Our weight was 14.14 lbs. It was a huge turn around from last year as we were toward the bottom. Thanks to our sponsor's Outkast Tackle and Leena Lures. Our next stop is Green Lake in Spicer. I am already looking forward to those big smallies.

The results are in

My tournament season is under way and it could not have started any better. Saturday Steve and I fished the Fishers of Men on Clearwater and finished 3rd with 14.15. It was a complete turn around for us from last year as Clearwater was one of our worst tournaments of the year. I will post a complete report later this week. Sunday was the first tournament for the Golden Hook Bassers on Sylvia/Twin. I was able to wade though lots of fish for a final total of 9.28 which was good enough for 5th. I will post another report on this as well. Let me say this the wind was a big factor on both days. It was a great weekend on the water.