State of St. Clair

With a little less then two weeks before the St. Clair event it's a little early to start previewing the tournament but I'd like to keep up on what's happening on the lake. LSC will mark the halfway point of the season and it will probably factor heavily in who wins AOY and who will quailify for the Classic. The Detroit River Open was held Fathers Day weekend and only 3 teams out of 89 weighed in over 20 pounds. It only took about 16 pounds to cash a check and that may sound like a lot but by St. Clair standards it is light. Guys were complaining of colder water, lack of weeds and small fish. Many also reported losing fish on hardbaits which is probably a symptom of the fish not biting aggressively.

I was on the water Sunday the 28th and found a lot of what was rumored to be true. Many of my good June spots were devoid of weeds and fish. Water temps were just into the low 70's and the water was not super clear. We also caught small fish but not tons of them. But we did manage to catch a few good ones and even a couple over 4 pounds so good fish are catchable. I will probably get back up there this upcoming weekend and reports will follow.

BASS DESTINATIONS

With a few weeks until the next club event, I had a little time to investigate some "exotic" Bass locations throughout the mid-west. My brother lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota so I packed up the family fathers day weekend and headed west to spend some time with relatives and explore the bass fishing. Minnesota is unbelievable with the number of lakes and rivers that are present but we decided on Mille Lacs which many consider the best inland walleye lake in the world.

Mille Lacs is located about 90 miles north of Minneapolis and it's huge, about 130,000 acres. It is was formed during the last ice age and has characteristics of many canadian shield lakes with it's clear waters and rocky makeup. But with its immense size and dozens of islands, reefs and points, it seemed pretty intimidating. After a little map study we picked a good starting spot and it took about 2 hours before we figured out how to catch the smallmouth but when we did it was nothing short of awsome.

The key was finding big boulders in a little deeper water, off of the rock reefs and islands, and that's where most of the fish were hanging out. Water temps were around 64 and I believe most of the fish were on beds next to the boulders. We were able to duplicate this pattern pretty much anywhere we went as long as the boulders were present. We ended up catching approximately 25-30 smallmouth and 90 percent of the fish were 3 pounds or better. Nothing giant, I think the biggest was 3.9 but it was amazing how few small fish we caught. Mille Lacs is catch and release only for bass with one fish over 21" allowed for harvest per day. We caught fish on anything we wanted to as long as we were in the right areas. The highlight of the day was when I had four bites on four consecutive casts with a topwater. So if anyone is in the great state of Minnesota and wants to catch 3 pound smallmouth all day long, give me a call and I can set you up with gps coordinates for Mille Lacs. This will become an annual trip for me.

Rice wins Goguac

Bedding largemouth in the middle of June? It sounds crazy but that's exactly what the club members found last Sunday at the Goguac event. Most of the anglers never expected to find spawning fish and with calm sunny conditions, that's exactly what they found. Most were suprised by this discovery and tried to switch gears during the tournament, but Scott Rice targeted bedders right from the get-go and his decision earned him his first win of the season. Here's how it happend:

After a bad tournament at Michigan Center and a DQ at Hardy Dam, Scott had a lot of ground to make up for a classic spot. As luck would have it, he decided to fish with Mike Pritchard who had pre-fished Friday before the event. Mike discovered that largemouth were still on beds and relayed this info to Scott the morning of the tournament. The pair decided to target bedding largemouth first thing in the morning under low light conditions which made catching the leary fish a little easier. "After the sun got high, the fish were very difficult to catch but earlier they were much easier", said Rice. "Later in the day we had to drop a buoy and make long casts much like at Hardy Dam". When the winds died later in the morning the fish were visible to most of the other club members but by then it was almost too late. "It took up to an hour to make the fish bite once they saw you", commented Rice who also caught the big bass of the event at 3.82 pounds. Scott threw mostly a yamamoto grub at the bedding fish and although he did not catch a limit, his four fish weighed almost 11 pounds and jumped him right back into classic contention.

Gear Notes: Scott used spinning tackle, shimano reels spooled with florourcarbon line and a cinnamon/brown grub with a 1/4 oz jighead.

Tourney Facts:
-Only 2 anglers had limits, Jim Rice (4th) and Art Honsinger (2nd)
-Tim Chapman had 2nd big bass at 3.75 pounds
-Mark Dereadt had his 3rd top five finish of the year and leads they AOY race
-Jim Rice Jr. has caught a limit in all 3 events of the year
-There were 18 entries at Goguac and 12 boats

Goguac results

Scott Rice 10.81

Art Honsinger 10.08
Mark Dereadt 9.18
Jim Rice 8.76
Brian Masters 8.10

Jerry Smith 6.35

Mike Pritchard 6.04
Bill Maurer 5.97
Tom Curry 5.71
Roy Albert 5.31
Jim Vanaken 5.11
Matt Morgan 4.02
Craig Deck 4.00
Tim Chapman 3.85
Patricia Rice 2.27
Connie Honsinger 1.35
Kathy Maurer 0.00
Randy Vira 0.00

Goguac Preview

Name: Goguac
Type: Natural Lake
Size: About 350 acres
Clarity: Mostly clear water, visibility to 10 ft
Structure: Three islands, lots of good points, a few flats, ledges
Cover: Several types of weed available, some pads, lots of docks
Water temp: 70-74
Phase: Mostly post-spawn
Projected winning weight: 11 pounds

Lake Goguac is located in downtown Battle Creek and has not been a club stop since I have been a member, about 10 years. Most of the club will be fishing this lake for the first time although the clubs' classic was held here in 2004, won by Dwayne Mroczka with 15 pounds. It is probably the smallest lake we have visited in a long time but as Dwaynes weight can attest, it holds some big fish. There are three islands, numerous points and weedlines and lots of docks so the lake should fish fairly big. Add in the post-spawn nature of the largemouth and you can probably catch fish anywhere and any way you want to.

I predict there will be half a dozen limits weighed in but the key will be getting a good "kicker" fish to upgrade with. During the 04' classic there were several fish over 4 pounds and a few 5 pounders as well. The lake should get a good amount of boat traffic with nice weather projected this weekend which should also be factored in. I was on the lake a week ago and witnessed a 15 boat tournament conduct their weigh-in. A few small limits and the winner brought about 14 pounds to the scales to win so good stringers are available. Scott Rice, Jim Rice and Mark Dereadt are good bets to do well due to the fact they probably have the most experience on the lake. But sometimes old "hotspots" cause tunnel vision which could open the door for some of the other anglers. Post-spawn fish are very fickle and sometimes running and gunning and throwing the kitchen sink at em' can be the most effective method of fishing this time of year. This should be a good test for the club and we may see some of the AOY contenders start making their moves.

Open Results

The 2009 version of the clubs spring "Open" tournament is in the books and it was a pretty lucrative outing for the winner. Ron Sanford was the champ when he brought in just over 13 pounds to the scales. Fortunately for Ron, he was fishing by himself in the team event so he was able to pocket all of the $450 first prize by himself. Ron also caught the big bass of the event at 3.89 pounds to add another $200 to his winnings. Pattern notes were not available but I heard through the grapevine that he was just "junk fishing" in the slop which is a pretty popular pattern this time of year on Michigan Center.

John Bittinger and Bob Rumsey took second with 11.07 pounds and earn $250 while Chad Hamlin and Bob Richardson held down third with 10.13pounds which paid $100. There were 14 boats in all which was down a little from last years 23 entries. Special thanks to club member Kathy Maurer for running such a fine event which is also a fundraiser for the club. We will get back to the regular season schedule this weekend up at Goguac in Battle Creek.

SPRING OPEN

The clubs annual Spring Open tournament will be held this coming weekend at Michigan Center Lake. This tournament is open to anyone and will be held out of the DNR launch located on the east side of the lake, off of Washington st. Due to scheduling conflicts, the original launch ramp at 5th street will be unavailable for our use and this is the reason for the change. The DNR lot is a little smaller but should be big enough to handle this event. Any overflow parking will be directed to Our Lady of Fatima church, located just around the corner. Hopefully the change in launch sites will not cause any problems.

This tournament was held on Center last year as well and at least half of the 23 boats came in with limits and I believe it took about 15 pounds to win. It looks as if the weather is going to cooperate so hopefully we can generate a few more boats this year. Registration and entry fees can be done Saturday morning before 6:30 but pre-paid entries will have priority as far as take-off position is concerned. For more info contact Kathy Maurer at 764-0217.