Prepping: Derek and I had a plan and stuck to it both days. Repeated the same route both days and had about the same results other then two big fish the first day and no big fish the second day. 
I was on the lake twice last week and Derek was on the lake two other times. Catching fish was not an issue for either of us. But catching keepers and quality fish was a whole other story. We both found lots of smaller fish willing to take our offerings with a few smaller keepers mixed in. There are some grass mats looking really good right now but those seem to have a angler on them almost 12 hours a day. Add to that the big tournament out of Dayton on Friday and Saturday, then all the pre-fishing that has been going on all week, you have those mats getting pounded.
Preplanning the plan: Just like a ball game pre-planning, Derek and I had to come up with a game plan on how to "win". For us we decided that "winning" was only going to be ending up in the top half of the field so we got paid. emoBigsmile We also thought that to do that as tough as it was would take 10 to 12 pounds each day. Our goal was 12 pounds a day. emoTongue We both thought we could get 10 pounds a day or five two pounders so we set our sights high on 12 pounds a day. emoRedface With that goal we felt pretty comfortable with the idea we could get paid in this one.
The Plan: If you were to ride the lake first thing in the morning right now you will see blow ups along the grass line. Those bass are for the most part about 10 to fifteen inches. Those bass can be caught. We call them "Chasers". They are chasing the shad and we are chasing them. emoSmile The idea was to get five fifteen inchers in the boat and then go for a big girl in the grass. Top water, square bills, and flipping the grass edges was the weapons of choice for us on the little guys and once we had five, frogs and punching was the ticket on the big girls.
The delivery of the plan: Our plan worked like a charm with one exception. The fifteen inchers were really hard to come by! emoDoh We boated about 35 bass the first day and 25 bass the second with 6 keepers the first day and seven the second. emoGoofy The little bass did not let us down. It was just that a keeper size with them was a premium both days. On the first day about 10:00 that morning we still only had two keepers in the boat. We were still trying to pull a couple more fifteen inchers off the grass edges when I just happen to see some good grass right near us. Picked up a frog, made about a dozen casts at it and BOOM!, big girl exploded on my frog. emoDance A nice 4 and a halfer came into the boat. Must of made a 100 more casts at that grass mat and did not get a smell. emoBooHoo Really feeling down now with only three keepers in the boat I suggested we go try and get two spots to salvage a limit. Derek agreed and off we went spot hunting. Flipping deepers water with structure the first "Spot" Derek ties into is a 5 and a half pound large mouth. emoCrazy Next spot I flip up is a 3 pound largemouth. emoEek Thinking we are on to something we waste another hour there without a smell. Move back to the grass feeling much better with 15 plus pounds in the well. emoDance Drown a frog for the last two hours with only three hook ups, two would not measure but one was another 3 pounder. emoThumbsup Cull our smallest in the well and head in.
We had no idea just how bad it was for everyone. Our five weighed 17.87 pounds and was sitting in forth place!!! emoToast Goal was 12 lbs and we beat it by 5.87 lbs. emoThumbsup
The second day we did the same thing. Almost the same way, started for the chasers and had three in the live well for around 7 and a half pounds. Then went flipping for spots and caught our next keeper, another 2 pound large. emoBigsmile By the way, we never caught one spot while fishing for them. emoCrazy Moved back to the grass and limited on flipping a worm along the grass. One of our keepers was a really small one at 1.90 lbs. Headed for grass mats frogging and Derek caught us a three pounder to cull that little one. Caught one more keeper that would not help. Seven keepers in the boat but no kicker to go with them. emoRolleyes Headed in thinking we might stay in the top 10 with what we had but felt we might drop with only 12 lbs.
The results: When we got there it did not take long to see it was just as tough or even tougher for a lot of folks. Lots of anglers saying stuff like, "I am sure glad this is over." emoLaugh Some of the guys who I think are local ringers were coming in with just one or two fish. Derek and I had 12.85 lbs with our five and were able to stay in forth place. Got two grand for forth so we both walked away with a $1,000.00 each. emoDance Ended up that 17.30 lbs got paid in this one. emoEek That was even lower then what we had thought. We thought 10 lbs a day, turns out only 8.65 lbs a day would get a check.
Had a blast this year competing in these. I strongly recommend this trail, the CBA has been around years and is the longest running trail in our area. I would like to thank all the officers for their service this year. emoThanks Congrats to Buddy Gross and Alex Davis on a very impressive win in this event with just over 44 pounds for their two day total. They were the only team to put together a 20 lb. bag both days. emoWorthy emoApplause
C-ya next year! (I think I am now going to go crappie fishing. emoBigsmile )Jmax
I was on the lake twice last week and Derek was on the lake two other times. Catching fish was not an issue for either of us. But catching keepers and quality fish was a whole other story. We both found lots of smaller fish willing to take our offerings with a few smaller keepers mixed in. There are some grass mats looking really good right now but those seem to have a angler on them almost 12 hours a day. Add to that the big tournament out of Dayton on Friday and Saturday, then all the pre-fishing that has been going on all week, you have those mats getting pounded.Preplanning the plan: Just like a ball game pre-planning, Derek and I had to come up with a game plan on how to "win". For us we decided that "winning" was only going to be ending up in the top half of the field so we got paid. emoBigsmile We also thought that to do that as tough as it was would take 10 to 12 pounds each day. Our goal was 12 pounds a day. emoTongue We both thought we could get 10 pounds a day or five two pounders so we set our sights high on 12 pounds a day. emoRedface With that goal we felt pretty comfortable with the idea we could get paid in this one.
The Plan: If you were to ride the lake first thing in the morning right now you will see blow ups along the grass line. Those bass are for the most part about 10 to fifteen inches. Those bass can be caught. We call them "Chasers". They are chasing the shad and we are chasing them. emoSmile The idea was to get five fifteen inchers in the boat and then go for a big girl in the grass. Top water, square bills, and flipping the grass edges was the weapons of choice for us on the little guys and once we had five, frogs and punching was the ticket on the big girls.
The delivery of the plan: Our plan worked like a charm with one exception. The fifteen inchers were really hard to come by! emoDoh We boated about 35 bass the first day and 25 bass the second with 6 keepers the first day and seven the second. emoGoofy The little bass did not let us down. It was just that a keeper size with them was a premium both days. On the first day about 10:00 that morning we still only had two keepers in the boat. We were still trying to pull a couple more fifteen inchers off the grass edges when I just happen to see some good grass right near us. Picked up a frog, made about a dozen casts at it and BOOM!, big girl exploded on my frog. emoDance A nice 4 and a halfer came into the boat. Must of made a 100 more casts at that grass mat and did not get a smell. emoBooHoo Really feeling down now with only three keepers in the boat I suggested we go try and get two spots to salvage a limit. Derek agreed and off we went spot hunting. Flipping deepers water with structure the first "Spot" Derek ties into is a 5 and a half pound large mouth. emoCrazy Next spot I flip up is a 3 pound largemouth. emoEek Thinking we are on to something we waste another hour there without a smell. Move back to the grass feeling much better with 15 plus pounds in the well. emoDance Drown a frog for the last two hours with only three hook ups, two would not measure but one was another 3 pounder. emoThumbsup Cull our smallest in the well and head in.
We had no idea just how bad it was for everyone. Our five weighed 17.87 pounds and was sitting in forth place!!! emoToast Goal was 12 lbs and we beat it by 5.87 lbs. emoThumbsup
The second day we did the same thing. Almost the same way, started for the chasers and had three in the live well for around 7 and a half pounds. Then went flipping for spots and caught our next keeper, another 2 pound large. emoBigsmile By the way, we never caught one spot while fishing for them. emoCrazy Moved back to the grass and limited on flipping a worm along the grass. One of our keepers was a really small one at 1.90 lbs. Headed for grass mats frogging and Derek caught us a three pounder to cull that little one. Caught one more keeper that would not help. Seven keepers in the boat but no kicker to go with them. emoRolleyes Headed in thinking we might stay in the top 10 with what we had but felt we might drop with only 12 lbs.
The results: When we got there it did not take long to see it was just as tough or even tougher for a lot of folks. Lots of anglers saying stuff like, "I am sure glad this is over." emoLaugh Some of the guys who I think are local ringers were coming in with just one or two fish.
Derek and I had 12.85 lbs with our five and were able to stay in forth place. Got two grand for forth so we both walked away with a $1,000.00 each. emoDance Ended up that 17.30 lbs got paid in this one. emoEek That was even lower then what we had thought. We thought 10 lbs a day, turns out only 8.65 lbs a day would get a check.Had a blast this year competing in these. I strongly recommend this trail, the CBA has been around years and is the longest running trail in our area. I would like to thank all the officers for their service this year. emoThanks Congrats to Buddy Gross and Alex Davis on a very impressive win in this event with just over 44 pounds for their two day total. They were the only team to put together a 20 lb. bag both days. emoWorthy emoApplause
C-ya next year! (I think I am now going to go crappie fishing. emoBigsmile )Jmax
