Post by MadWags on Aug 13, 2005 6:46:49 GMT -5
BFL Muskegon Lake July 30th
Pre-Fishing Day 1
For this tournament I had reserved camping space at the launch site. I was looking forward to this tournament as it would test my skills as an angler on unfamiliar waters.
The week prior to the tournament I studied maps of lakes that were accessible from Lake Michigan in a 100 mile radius of Muskegon Lake. I had considered a run to Portage Lake but ruled out the 83 mile run one way. I decided to try Pere Marquette and Pentwater Lake, both north of Muskegon. Thursday morning I drove directly to Pentwater and put in there at approximately 7:30 am. Yeh, I left Detroit early. I had several spots marked on the map. One in particular was an underwater hump rising to 13ft with 30ft depths surrounding it. The Lowrance 337c showed lots of bait and fish on this spot. It really looked promising, but I was unable to get anything to bite. In another area we managed one small Largemouth. I decided to make a run north to Pere Marquette. I had high hopes for this lake as I read it can be loaded with Smallies at times. This lake produced one 30” Pike for the efforts. I headed back to the launch and trailered the rig back down to Muskegon. I bought groceries on the way, checked into the campsite and set up camp before heading out on the lake to start eliminating water. The bite was slow and I did not find anything significant that evening.
Pre-Fishing Day 2
On Friday I was up early and headed to a spot I had received information on the evening prior. The action was hot and furious for the first 30 minutes and then shut down. Definitely a morning spot. I was told of a lot of Smallies being caught but we only boated undersize Largemouth along with maybe 3 or 4 keepers. A possible starting point for the tournament. I headed out of Muskegon and down to Lake Mona. In Mona I was able to get on a good Carolina Rig bite off a long point but again the fish were all small. I headed to an area that was very weedy as the skies became overcast. I pulled out my white Snag Proof Tournament Frog rigged on a Grandt Industries All American Series medium heavy action rod and Quantum PT bait caster with 65lb braided line. Several fish had a go at the frog and I was able to jump two good ones without setting the hook. This could be a good possibility if the conditions are similar on tournament day.
I went back to Muskegon to check out several marked spots on my map but had very little luck. I would have to just get lucky I guess.
At the pre-tournament meeting I got lucky and drew a local angler who tournament fishes the lake. Hey, maybe luck was on my side. We had a decent draw at 45 out of 97 boats.
Tournament Day
At blast off I went straight to my early morning spot, which was 2 minutes from the ramp.
First cast yielded a 3lb Smallie. Second cast yielded a 2.5lb Smallie. Man I was in the groove. My co-angler could not believe it. I felt like I would have a limit before anyone else even started fishing. But that was it. After two undersize Smallies and several undersize Largemouth, the bite shut down. Maybe if I had gotten and earlier draw I could have made my limit. We spent the rest of the day checking every spot my co-angler knew of, but we were unable to produce any fish. I decided that we would head to a weed bed with clear water in the northwest corner of the lake and finish the tournament there. At 2pm I got bit and boated a keeper Largemouth. My co-angler was unable to boat a fish all day. I finished the tournament with a little over 7lbs and moved from 99th in the standings to 63rd. With two tournaments left I will have to finish well to make the top 40 cut, but it can be done.
Pre-Fishing Day 1
For this tournament I had reserved camping space at the launch site. I was looking forward to this tournament as it would test my skills as an angler on unfamiliar waters.
The week prior to the tournament I studied maps of lakes that were accessible from Lake Michigan in a 100 mile radius of Muskegon Lake. I had considered a run to Portage Lake but ruled out the 83 mile run one way. I decided to try Pere Marquette and Pentwater Lake, both north of Muskegon. Thursday morning I drove directly to Pentwater and put in there at approximately 7:30 am. Yeh, I left Detroit early. I had several spots marked on the map. One in particular was an underwater hump rising to 13ft with 30ft depths surrounding it. The Lowrance 337c showed lots of bait and fish on this spot. It really looked promising, but I was unable to get anything to bite. In another area we managed one small Largemouth. I decided to make a run north to Pere Marquette. I had high hopes for this lake as I read it can be loaded with Smallies at times. This lake produced one 30” Pike for the efforts. I headed back to the launch and trailered the rig back down to Muskegon. I bought groceries on the way, checked into the campsite and set up camp before heading out on the lake to start eliminating water. The bite was slow and I did not find anything significant that evening.
Pre-Fishing Day 2
On Friday I was up early and headed to a spot I had received information on the evening prior. The action was hot and furious for the first 30 minutes and then shut down. Definitely a morning spot. I was told of a lot of Smallies being caught but we only boated undersize Largemouth along with maybe 3 or 4 keepers. A possible starting point for the tournament. I headed out of Muskegon and down to Lake Mona. In Mona I was able to get on a good Carolina Rig bite off a long point but again the fish were all small. I headed to an area that was very weedy as the skies became overcast. I pulled out my white Snag Proof Tournament Frog rigged on a Grandt Industries All American Series medium heavy action rod and Quantum PT bait caster with 65lb braided line. Several fish had a go at the frog and I was able to jump two good ones without setting the hook. This could be a good possibility if the conditions are similar on tournament day.
I went back to Muskegon to check out several marked spots on my map but had very little luck. I would have to just get lucky I guess.
At the pre-tournament meeting I got lucky and drew a local angler who tournament fishes the lake. Hey, maybe luck was on my side. We had a decent draw at 45 out of 97 boats.
Tournament Day
At blast off I went straight to my early morning spot, which was 2 minutes from the ramp.
First cast yielded a 3lb Smallie. Second cast yielded a 2.5lb Smallie. Man I was in the groove. My co-angler could not believe it. I felt like I would have a limit before anyone else even started fishing. But that was it. After two undersize Smallies and several undersize Largemouth, the bite shut down. Maybe if I had gotten and earlier draw I could have made my limit. We spent the rest of the day checking every spot my co-angler knew of, but we were unable to produce any fish. I decided that we would head to a weed bed with clear water in the northwest corner of the lake and finish the tournament there. At 2pm I got bit and boated a keeper Largemouth. My co-angler was unable to boat a fish all day. I finished the tournament with a little over 7lbs and moved from 99th in the standings to 63rd. With two tournaments left I will have to finish well to make the top 40 cut, but it can be done.