I practiced on Devils last monday and hooked two good fish on a jig flipping shallow weed clumps but wasn't sure if that was something that I could duplicate on tournament day. I tried to establish a pattern fishing various deep weededges but couldn't get that going either and when the winds picked up I called it a day. I decided for the event I would start with a topwater on a weedline I knew from previous years then start flipping shallow weeds and docks and look for a few big bites.
As luck would have it Bill Maurer wasn't able to fish the tourney and his wife Kathy called and wondered if I could fish with her from Bills boat. Kathy knew I wanted to fish Round Lake but my Crestliner couldn't access the smaller lake. Bills could and I quickly accepted. My practice day was all for not but I didn't mind since I've always wanted to fish the smaller Round Lake anyway.
Tourney Day: Once into Round Lake, Kathy directed us to a small flat with scattered weed clumps they had discovered in practice. I decided to stay with my topwater plan and on the first cast caught a 2 1/2 pound largemouth on a Xcaliber Zpop. Ten minutes later I caught another keeper on the popper and the day was shaping up nicely. After a few shorts we went back over the flat but couldn't get any more bites. I figured we could run this topwater pattern all day with the overcast skies but as luck would have it, the wind started really blowing and the topwater bite died quickly.
We next went to a long mid-lake point with gravel on top surrounded by thick weeds and with the wind blowing I thought I could get a quick smallie up shallow. Nothing doing but Kathy caught her first keeper with a smoke colored grub on the weededge. We then moved to a large flat with scattered weed clumps that Bill and Kathy found previous. It was hard to make out how the lake set up with the big winds and overcast skies. Bill has yet to enter the 21st century and not only does he not have a GPS but is without a depthfinder on the console. This made it hard to break down new water and Kathy and I were fishing somewhat blindly.
Despite the obstacles, we located a thick weed clump next to deep water and I decided since we weren't getting bites on senkos or grubs then I would start fishing a drop-shot on the outside weed edge. I was quickly rewarded with keeper number three, a small 14 incher but it was only 10 am and I was in business.
But as usually happens, the bite slowed and Kathy and I went about two hours without a bite. We threw senkos a lot but could not get a single bite so she stuck with the grub and I with the drop-shot rig. About 1pm we started catching a few fish again but couldn't get any keepers, now focusing on the 12-18 fow range. With time running out we decided to go back to the big weedy flat and target shallow fish again. Kathy scored keeper number two on a grub and I started throwing a spinnerbait into the wind. I caught several just under 14 inches but could not get number four for the life of me. We idled back into Devils and ran out of gas just as we reached the launch area. The boat that is.
Looking back I'm not sure if I could have done anything differently due to that fact I've never been on the lake before and not knowing it's characteristics. I had five rods on deck and threw every one of them but could not get on anything consistent. Kathy was a big help with trying to break the lake down but every time she fished it in the past, the conditions were sunny and calm. I guess I could have honkered down on the outside edge where I caught my first two but the more I fished it, the smaller the fish were getting. Overall I'm glad I got my three and should be good for the Classic and I thank Kathy for letting me fish with her. I was dreading this tournament but ended up having a decent day and I heard a lot of others say the same thing. I'd even go as far as saying I'll probably vote for this lake next year, just a little earlier maybe.
No comments:
Post a Comment