Well we had our opening weekend on Lake Champlain. It opens 1 week before the rest of the state, so EVERYONE has their tourneys here first. There must have been over 500 bass boats in different tourneys across the lake this weekend.
I fished the Plunder Bay open and the NE Team Bass opener out of the south end. I will break it down so that people who would like to know how I tackle tourneys can see my "thought process".
About the area:
The south end of Lake Champlain is very stained and muddy water. Either being the color of milk from large clay deposits or the color of coffee with extra cream from farm field run off. It's very shallow compared to the rest of the lake with the deeper channels only hitting 30 foot depths. It narrows down to meet the Hudson and so in most areas is only as wide as a large river. Due to it being smaller, shallower, and stained, it warms up MUCH faster than the north end and has a better population of largemouth than smallies. This is also due to the fact that it is a weed fisherman's dream. TONS of milfoil, hydrilla, and water chesnuts.
Prefish: I went down to prefish on Thursday and it was a severe post front condition. It had been in the 90's on Wednesday, but when I launched at 6:00 on Thursday it had dropped around 40 degrees to the low 50's in only 12 hours.
The water temps hovered somewhere in the high 60's and I did notice fry in a lot of pockets. Must be some of the fish had spawned when they got the chance during the heat. Anyhow, the fish has a serious case of lockjaw and in 11 hours of fishing, I caught only 3 keepers and 2 were dink bucks. I did not feel great going into Saturdays event to say the least. But I figured I would use it also as a prefish day for Sunday. The weather was stable and improving. The fish should start coming back on. I basically only established where the fish WEREN'T! But that was equally important.
Saturday, Plunder Bay open in VT. A big thanks to Mark, he gave me a last ditch effort back up spot to try that he didn't plan on using. I also know he didn't plan on me using it to do as well as I did either. The SPOT didn't help me as much as the info I learned there. Whether he knew it or not, or meant it or not, Mark helped me to put together the final piece of the puzzle that I needed to do what I do best and pattern the fish.
Air got around 70 and the wind picked up (YESSSS my kind of fishing!) While everyone else complained about the wind, Kenny and I (both days were partners events) ran north to deeper cleaner water so I could try for some prespawn smallies. I only ran about 20-30 miles north, but the water temp plummeted to 54. The fish weren't even prespawn on the flats. They were still out deep staging and I simply did not have time to find them. We pulled 2 nice smallies, but not enough to warrant staying. I ran back south and got committed to figuring out the largemouth. Kenny, who had never fished a senko before in his life, learned very quickly how it can put you back in the hunt. Saturday was a 7 fish limit and we only caught 7 keepers all day but we brought in a little over 16 lbs, and out of 65+ boats that was good enough for a mid 20's finish. Kenny caught 4 and I caught 3. Nice job Kenny! Mark and his partner came in a good pound heavier and fished somewhere around 20th. But the top 5 teams had made the run all the way north (know what that's like!) to get after MY smallies! LOL It took a 4 lb average to get in the top 5.
So we went back to the room to eat, respool, gas up, and think it over. Over hearing that several people caught fish on jigs, I came to the conclusion quickly that I should have been fishing my jig like I usually do all along. It had been my plan after what I'd learned anyway, but that confirmed it for me.
Sunday: Northeast Team Bass out of Ticonderoga. Had 95 boats and we were 65th out. My 1st 2 best spots I had wanted to hit had boats on them. This actually work
I fished the Plunder Bay open and the NE Team Bass opener out of the south end. I will break it down so that people who would like to know how I tackle tourneys can see my "thought process".
About the area:
The south end of Lake Champlain is very stained and muddy water. Either being the color of milk from large clay deposits or the color of coffee with extra cream from farm field run off. It's very shallow compared to the rest of the lake with the deeper channels only hitting 30 foot depths. It narrows down to meet the Hudson and so in most areas is only as wide as a large river. Due to it being smaller, shallower, and stained, it warms up MUCH faster than the north end and has a better population of largemouth than smallies. This is also due to the fact that it is a weed fisherman's dream. TONS of milfoil, hydrilla, and water chesnuts.
Prefish: I went down to prefish on Thursday and it was a severe post front condition. It had been in the 90's on Wednesday, but when I launched at 6:00 on Thursday it had dropped around 40 degrees to the low 50's in only 12 hours.
The water temps hovered somewhere in the high 60's and I did notice fry in a lot of pockets. Must be some of the fish had spawned when they got the chance during the heat. Anyhow, the fish has a serious case of lockjaw and in 11 hours of fishing, I caught only 3 keepers and 2 were dink bucks. I did not feel great going into Saturdays event to say the least. But I figured I would use it also as a prefish day for Sunday. The weather was stable and improving. The fish should start coming back on. I basically only established where the fish WEREN'T! But that was equally important.
Saturday, Plunder Bay open in VT. A big thanks to Mark, he gave me a last ditch effort back up spot to try that he didn't plan on using. I also know he didn't plan on me using it to do as well as I did either. The SPOT didn't help me as much as the info I learned there. Whether he knew it or not, or meant it or not, Mark helped me to put together the final piece of the puzzle that I needed to do what I do best and pattern the fish.
Air got around 70 and the wind picked up (YESSSS my kind of fishing!) While everyone else complained about the wind, Kenny and I (both days were partners events) ran north to deeper cleaner water so I could try for some prespawn smallies. I only ran about 20-30 miles north, but the water temp plummeted to 54. The fish weren't even prespawn on the flats. They were still out deep staging and I simply did not have time to find them. We pulled 2 nice smallies, but not enough to warrant staying. I ran back south and got committed to figuring out the largemouth. Kenny, who had never fished a senko before in his life, learned very quickly how it can put you back in the hunt. Saturday was a 7 fish limit and we only caught 7 keepers all day but we brought in a little over 16 lbs, and out of 65+ boats that was good enough for a mid 20's finish. Kenny caught 4 and I caught 3. Nice job Kenny! Mark and his partner came in a good pound heavier and fished somewhere around 20th. But the top 5 teams had made the run all the way north (know what that's like!) to get after MY smallies! LOL It took a 4 lb average to get in the top 5.
So we went back to the room to eat, respool, gas up, and think it over. Over hearing that several people caught fish on jigs, I came to the conclusion quickly that I should have been fishing my jig like I usually do all along. It had been my plan after what I'd learned anyway, but that confirmed it for me.
Sunday: Northeast Team Bass out of Ticonderoga. Had 95 boats and we were 65th out. My 1st 2 best spots I had wanted to hit had boats on them. This actually work
