My 2 day tourney at Francis case was a blast.My only practice was friday for 5 hours and 3 of those hours were running time,oh man thats alot of water to search.I only checked out about 30 miles of lake and it is 100 mile in length.My smallest fish friday was 16" and my best was 18.5" so I was stoked for the next morning blastoff.Needless to say I struggled all day saturday,no wind,no current,no top water bite(wierd) fish would chase to the boat but no takers,just 4 kleeprs for me,one short of a limit and one fish for my nonboater,his first tourney.Sunday I drew a non boater that was very familiar with the lake and he placed second on saturday with about 11lbs,hit some of his spots and i had 5 fish by 8:30 and was culling,a very good feeling.The difference between the two days,WIND!Sunday very windy,shorelines were stirred up and fish were feeding,caught most on cranks and some on jigs between the clean and dirty water lines.Got my first win of the year and best payday ever for me so far,and have broken into the top 500 with a tie for 308th place.thanks for all the input and advice on smallmouth tactics and baits,i would like another shot at them,soon.
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TOMMY RICH
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Same anywhere....No wind and smally fishin' just don't mix well:lol:
That's fantastic on the win and congrats
Did you manage to throw a heavy spinnerbait in that wind?
That's fantastic on the win and congrats
Did you manage to throw a heavy spinnerbait in that wind?
Thanks TEE,my non boater threw one quite a bit with no takers,my 3 best and most of my action was on an old Lure Jensen Speed Trap 1/8 oz in bluegill(? not made anymore)I have had that thing for 20 yrs or better,every time it hangs up I get scaredIf they quit on that lure I switch to a 1/4 oz rattle trap that has a very dark craw color with a little green glitter.The only fish I boated saturday with no wind were on Senko's pumpkin pepper or watermelon red flake or on a #11 floating Rapala,throw it out let it set,twitch twitch,if no takers rip it fast to the boat,about the 5th crank on the reel handle and one would hit it from out of nowhere,man they are quick. Friday was crazy,they hit anything I threw at them,and all quality fish,most on 4" chomper Twin tail Hula's on a 1/4 football jig,and some good ones on same jig with green pumpkin Fat Albert curl tails.I have another good lake coming up in 2wks that supposedly has good #s of smallies,Brushy Creek by Webster Iowa,see what happens there.
If they quit on that lure I switch to a 1/4 oz rattle trap that has a very dark craw color with a little green glitter.The only fish I boated saturday with no wind were on Senko's pumpkin pepper or watermelon red flake or on a #11 floating Rapala,throw it out let it set,twitch twitch,if no takers rip it fast to the boat,about the 5th crank on the reel handle and one would hit it from out of nowhere,man they are quick. Friday was crazy,they hit anything I threw at them,and all quality fish,most on 4" chomper Twin tail Hula's on a 1/4 football jig,and some good ones on same jig with green pumpkin Fat Albert curl tails.I have another good lake coming up in 2wks that supposedly has good #s of smallies,Brushy Creek by Webster Iowa,see what happens there.TOMMY RICH
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Good Luck and Spank em' for me:lol:
:lol:
fatrap
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Care to share your GPS locations? I'll probably be heading up there sometime this summer. It's only 4 hours from me.
fatrap
fatrap
fatrap,don't have GPS yet,wish I did,the lake was so dang rough I could hardly get land marks to the spots he took me.Was staying focused on the waves and trying to see through the water/spray that was blasting us.We fish the windy side in coves where it was blowing in,one place had a big cross on a high point,church creek I think he called it.We did not move a whole lot,took 20-30 minutes to get across to each side,3-4' waves and my NX750 was having all she could handle.He did compliment that for 17.5' boat it did well and when we could run WOT he was impressed with the hole shot and top end.I would have to fish the area 3-4 more times to get comfortable on fishing spots.
