BASS Tournament

[Frank S]

Enjoyed the weigh in today, talked with several of the contestants. All mentioned what a great bass fishery that we have here. One thing that was repeated a couple times was how many places there are to fish and that even with all the fishing in the past 10 days or so, that they haven't even scratched the surface. Too many good spots to pick from. One guy told me that he heard talk of the tourney coming back soon. Very friendly bunch.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

If the weather had held, I think you could have easily seen a winning weight over 60 pounds. Not bad considering how lousy they all made it sound during pre-fishing, (they're as bad as the walleye guys :p)

The only complaint I had about the weigh-in was that the M.C. didn't really ask any of the guys where they caught their fish and what they were using. I managed to learn a few new tricks and techniques over the last week, but I was hoping to learn a lot more at the weigh-in.

You can check out the weights at http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/federation/news/story?page=b_tourn_federation_2009_northern_divisi onal_day3_results

[Frank S]

Hey Chris. The guy that I came into the shop with finished 4th. Garden Bluff area produced for him and some of the other top guys. Tubes and drop shot rigs were the bait of choice, goby colors. Snake Is. and St. Vital Is. were also mentioned, as well as Wilsey Bay that you recommended.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Mike Richetta was having problem putting up a report on the site, so he emailed it to me.

Chris,

As part of the Illinois Team and one of the four that our local BASS club “Thunderbird Bass Club” sent to the Bays, I would like to share our visit and fishing information with your message board.

We had a few make early trips with great reports of good fish all over the shallows on both bays. This was back in June and early July and the fish were spawning supposedly.

The main group however didn’t arrive until Sunday morning, giving us 3 days pre-fishing. I launched out of Escanaba River that morning and had a 4 pounder in less than an hour on the humps in Black Bottom. Let me detail a few of the spots we found, even though I personally didn’t finish well… these spots will hold fish, they just didn’t hold enough or I could see them and not catch them… frustrating. lol.

Rock Shoal on biggest hump in Black Bottom: Used Venom green pumpkin tubes with gold flake on a Venom DeathGrip ¼ oz. Tube jig (we noticed Bay View has these in stock), Strike King Coffee tube in Goby color and a white/chart spinnerbait. The spot held fish but they would spook pretty easy.

Shoal south of Round Island near Ford River: Same tubes and jigs, Venom Dream Craw in Green Pumpkin with green and purple flake on a Venom Shaky Head Jig. The fish were either right on the rocks or off the first drop. This spot was the heavy bag producer on the first day. I also caught some great walleye on the craw jigs during pre-fish and tournament days. One of them was near 8 pounds on a “bass” jig.

Giant rocks between Ford River and Breezy Point: Spinnerbaits in white/chart.

Terrace: Current troughs with rock and grass held fish. Tubes and Sinkos mainly, but spinnerbaits in the waves would produce.

Eleven Foot Shoal on the big point: Hit or miss, fished with Tubes and Craws. Few nice fish, but I think they were just hitting it to eat and following bait.

Bulter Island in Upper LBDN: This spot would be ideal for families with kids. Very close to the Kipling Launch and full of nice fish. We used Tubes, skirted grubs and plain old twister tails on jigs. Again, green pumpkin or punkinseed was the bait.

Round Island in BBDN: Nice spot, fish caught on Rapala DD10 and Lucky Craft jerkbaits. White with either black or green backs. Also used the same Venom Tubes.

Kates Bay in BBDN: every small point had some fish, more shorts here than anywhere else… but quality mixed in.

Garden Bay in BBDN: Same… small points and the big flat held fish.

Garden Bluff: This had more of a deeper bite going. Drop shot sinko style baits in the typical green or brown. Some guys were wacky hooking the plastic, others the typical nose hook. ¼ to ¾ oz. Drop shot weight depending on waves and wind.

There were tons of other spots, but these are the few I fished. The wind and waves beat us up a little, but we had a great time.

The Illinois team stayed at Shorewood Motel in Kipling, we had a great time there. They treated us like kings, always asking if we needed anything making sure we were comfortable. We bought license and maps from Chris at Bay View (very well set up bait shop, even though Chris was not there to mark our maps… lol), food all over… Bucks Inn was excellent! Gas stations had plenty of room for boats and cold beer, and at either Holiday or Citgo I believe had non-ethanol 87 octane (I asked and they said they thought no E, and I didn’t see a sticker on the pump). Everywhere we went, people were friendly. We were already planning a return trip next spring for a fun fishing week with the families… but this time we might pick our launch location based on the wind…. Oh, my back still hurts.

Thanks and what a great fishery you have in Bays de Noc.

Mike Richetta

Spring Valley, Illinois


All I can say is "WOW! Now that's a report!" Way more info than I expected anyone to share. One good thing about having a lot of guys on the water at once is being able to sift through water, fast. It would take a single fisherman all season to check out that many spots.

Glad you guys had a good time. You'll have a blast if you come up here next May or June to "fun" fish. Look forward to seeing you all next summer.

[saugers2]

Hey, I am all set up to post now.

Thanks for posting the report for me Chris.

Mike

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Welcome aboard. Thanks again for the report.