Event #4 of the Michigan Div. BFL went out of the Detroit R. at the same time that the Elites were there fishing. This changed up some plans, and made for tough fishing. Here's how the Indiana guys fishing the event fared, then Heath's tournament notes:
23 - HEATH WAGNER ANGOLA, IN 16-02 (5)
26 - ROY MARCHANT ELKHART, IN 15-00 (4)
27 - ROB CAMPBELL TRAFALGAR, IN 14-15 (5)
29 - STEVE ROTH SYRACUSE, IN 14-14 (5)
34 - ROGER HENSLEY JONESBORO, IN 13-08 (4)
40 - KYLE PRSKALO HOBART, IN 12-09 (5)
46 - MICHAEL KRAMER SOUTH BEND, IN 10-01 (5)
65 - DEWAYNE ECK ANGOLA, IN 1-06 (1)
--- BOB SNYDER MARION, IN 0-00 (0)
HEATH'S REPORT:
I got a good night's sleep Friday night. I cannot explain why, but I am not feeling the points lead pressure. That is not like me, I have anxiety problems before most events and do not settle down til the first cast. My practice left me a lot to think about. Go for the win or go for the check? Yet still I slept like a baby. I woke up at 4:50 which was only 10 minutes before the alarm. Blast off was at 6:30 and I was boat 3. The morning launch at Elizabeth is smooth as silk so I never get in a hurry to get there. I don't know if I have ever mentioned it, but I always stop at McDonald's every single BFL morning and get a sausage and egg biscuit meal with a medium orange juice. I can usually barely choke it down because of nerves, but I rarely eat in the boat and I have to have something in me.
I was paired with Eddy Frye the current co-angler leader in the points. I told him I would be there at 5:45. Well I got there a bit late at 6:00 as Mcd's was a bit slow that morning. We made it through boat check in plenty of time. I discussed with Eddy my plans for the day and he said he didn't care what I did, he was ready to go fishing. The Elite tourney was heavy on my mind. I knew going for the win would involve a few pros pulling up on me through the day as well as BFL guys. The area I have been fishing has become quite busy the last few weeks. I am not used to this as I have fished this area a longgg time with virtually no pressure. I may see one or 2 bass boats in both practice and tourney day and I can tell you who they are when I see them. Don't get me wrong, I get it, and do not hold it against anyone for checking it out. When the big bags are coming from a certain place, you have to go check it out. It's no secret Erie is hot this year and St Clair is not.
We blasted off at 6:30 right on the nose and it was at this moment I made the decision that I was going to fish Michigan water and hope to cull to a good limit. I knew that I would have much of it to myself and this is the way I like to fish. I had no worry about a pro pulling in on me. It really surprised me they didn't fish the water I was heading to as it was an easy $10,000 top 50 check. It wouldn't have even surprised me to see a top 12 come from this area.
Anyway it was about 18 miles to my first stop, which is a short run compared to what I have been doing. The winds for the day were calling for 5-10 out of the NE switching to the SE as the day progressed. This would make it a bit bumpy but it should be an easy day to move around. As I neared my first stop I got a sinking feeling that I was making the wrong decision. I don't like laying up and I felt like I was laying up by heading to this area. A few weeks ago I really thought that there was a chance to win here, but after practice, I really felt the big fish were not there in the numbers they were. I knew there was a slim chance at 20 pounds or more, and there is no doubt in my mind that that much weight was still living here in the form of resident fish, but I felt the school of larger fish had moved on. I have a 'no regrets' attitude and I already had the regrets. I seriously considered as I neared to turn the boat and head across Erie. I made a decision as I sat down that "I'm here, I am gonna stick it out and see what I can do". I no longer liked this decision before the first cast, but nevertheless it was in this area that held my destiny for the day. I was going to do whatever it took to make this place work.
There was a 17 foot Crestliner idling across the deep rock hump I had discovered a few weeks ago as I pulled in. I figured he was getting ready to perch fish as this area has been real hot for the perch bite the last few weeks. I have literally seen hundreds of boats in the distance as I have fished, but no one has fished for them within a mile of me. I sat down on the spot and began fishing and to my surprise the Crestliner turned his boat around and came right back towards me. He stopped about 2 casts away and began bass fishing. I didn't say anything and went about my business. It was a beautiful morning with about a foot of chop on the water, so holding the boat was not a problem.
I started with the smokin' purple flash Poor Boy's tube that I have been fishing all year. On the second cast I hooked up and put a 15 incher in the boat. I looked up to see the Crestliner now a bit closer and he was battling a 2 1/2 pounder to the boat to which he threw a buoy. After boxing the fish I trolled towards him to protect the spot and he pulled away a bit. As long as he gave me room I had no problem with him fishing here. The one thing that did concern me was the fact that there were now 2 boats close together, and on a Saturday on Erie in a hot perch area, this is not a good thing. People don't pay attention to what you're fishing for, they only see boats and stop close to fish. A third boat pulled in about 3 casts from me and anchored up. I knew they were away from the rock pile so I didn't mind, but I knew there would soon be more.
Two more casts later I hook up on a solid fish. Big smallmouth have a very unique feel when you hook one deep. They shake their head hard, but have a more "lazy" and heavy feel to them. They are fast , but nothing like a 2-3 pound fish. This fish definitely felt solid and I yelled for the net. She came right to the surface and did a slight belly flop, but I didn't get a good look. My co said it was a Hawg. She stayed right near the top and about 10 feet from the boat did what many large fish do with a tube and shook her head and blew it right out just like she was never hooked. She looked to be a solid 4 1/2+, but I will never know. A few minutes later I hook up with another solid fish that made it to the net. I weighed it at 3-9 and boxed her. Not what I was looking for, but a good start. A few cast later and I hook into another fish that felt huge. Another belly flop onto the surface and there she was, GONE!!!! I shook it off as I knew this area was loaded with fish and I would have other chances.This is the only thing you can do to not think about it, but those big girls still haunted me.
I instantly changed to the drop shot to see if I could up my landing percentage, and on my second cast put another 15 incher in the box. Shortly thereafter Eddy was able to put his first fish in the boat, a solid 3-10 on a green pumpkin tube. A few minutes later and he put another one in the boat. Not being a dummy I switched back to my tube and quickly boated 2 more fish that each went 3-4. I now had 5, but did not have the right 5. Eddy was able to put 2 more fish in the box pushing 3 pounds. It was about this time (7:30ish) that the perch boats really started to gather around us. Everyone was fairly courteous and kept their distance. I knew it would be bad if spreader rigs with minnows flopped down around the smallies, but so far they were all far enough away to not affect us. I counted 13 that were 4-5 casts away. The Crestliner was still about 2 casts away and had caught a few fish, but I really had not paid attention to what he was doing. I only heard the fish jump and glanced up to see his rod bowed.
I become quite entranced in my Humminbird when I am fishing as holding on waypoints is imperative to catching fish out here. The perch boats were a little distracting, but they were all courteous and there to have a good time. I considered hollering out that the perch were out another mile, but I figured they would figure it out sooner or later when they didn't catch any. There were so many smallies here, no perch in his right mind would inhabit this area. At 7:45 I hook up with another solid fish that came up twice but never jumped. I knew it was definitely a big smallie and kept pressure on the fish. She dove under the boat and about 3 feet from the net we saw her another 4+ fish that simply opened her mouth and spit the TUBE!!! I know I sound like a broken record the last couple events with the tube, but these large tube fish have my number!!!! I have tried different rods, hooks, and line and nothing has helped. I truly feel that these fish bite down so hard that you cannot get the hook slammed into there mouth. I think the front of the tube hits their closed mouth and never penetrates when I set the hook. My buddy Ryan, gave me a little trick to try for the next tourney. If it works I will let you know.
Once again just before 8, I had yet another large fish pull free the same way. We got a real good look at all these fish and they were all the right ones. This at least instilled confidence in me that I could put a 20 pound sack together in this area. Eddy and I contiued to put more fish in the boat over the next hour, but nearly every fish we landed was between 2-8 and 2-12. Nice fish, but not the right ones. We hooked a few others that felt good that pulled free, but we never saw them. At 9 am most of the perch boats had now moved on. The Crestliner was sticking with the area as well as the first perch boat on us. They were doing more drinking and talking than fishing, and I don't think they cared if they had a bite or not. They weren't bothering me so I didn't mind. Another perch boat pulled in and started idling right towards me. It was about a 26 footer and at first I thought it was the DNR as they pulled within 10 feet of me!!!! An older guy went to the front to lower the push button anchor when I stopped him by asking if they planned on fishing here. He said yeah they were after some perch. As calmly as I could I pointed out to the pack of about 60 boats that was forming a mile out. I told him I was fishing for bass and doing quite well as well as the guy in the Crestliner. I also told him that the other perch boat was not doing good at all that was close by. He told me that his number one waypoint was right where I was and that they were going to fish for a bit. It was then that I lost my cool. I told him that he was welcome to fish nearby, but he needed to be at least 2-3 casts away. I was bass fishing and had been here all morning and that all the other boats that came in gave me room and everyone else room to fish. There was no reason for him to be this close. He replied once again that he had a waypoint here!!! I told him I didn't care if he had 100 waypoints here he needed to give me some space. My co angler now joined the conversation as well as the guys in the other perch boat who were now listening to the conversation. Fortunately, everyone was on my side and the guy replied "all you bass fisherman are all the same, you think you own the water". I told him I didn't own anything, but a little common courtesy was all that was needed. He sped off to the pack throwing a nice wake at us as he left. At least the problem was solved and we could get back to work.
Eddy and I continued to catch cookie cutter fish. It was not one right after the other, but the bite was consistent. Occasionally, we would cull an ounce or two, but really weren't gaining much ground. We really did not have a big fish bite that we knew of since 8:30. It was now 10 and I was seriously contemplating making a long run to my shallow crankbait fish. The waves were around a foot or so, so the conditions to run weren't bad at all. In the back of my mind there was also an area that I have healed up on nearby in a hurry. It usually loads up as the day wears on and the shad get active. It is a shallow rock pile that has some scattered wood on it. It tops out at 3 feet and drops to 6-8 on the side. I felt it was now my best hope at a few 4 pounders. I made the decision to stay and hope that it got right.
I decided to run in and hit some of the other shallower piles that the Coach and I caught fish on Thursday and at 11 I would hit the shallow sweet spot. My next stop produced a cull fish on a crank bait on the first cast. Still not a big one but a solid 3 pounder. Eddy hooked up on 4 pounder on his crankbait only to have the line snap. She showed herself very clearly as she jumped 4 times trying to rid her face of the nasty trebles. This day was definitely an eventful day. Eddy retied his crank bait and on the very next cast it wrapped around the end of his rod and snapped the crankbait off and sent it flying. I knew what happened and watched his crankbait hit the water. I hollered I got it and began trolling towards his crank bait. Eddy hollered "I lost the whole thing!" I thought he meant he lost his crankbait and I replied "No worries, I see it". He again said "I lost the whole thing". I turned to see him looking into the water for his rod and reel which flew from his hand when the crankbait snapped off!!! Well, I at least got his crankbait back, but he made several casts to hook his rod to no avail.
We continued fishing and caught a few more cull fish, but again, only by ounces. At 11 we made the run to check the sweet spot. I have been fishing this spot for 15 years and know it like the back of my hand. I know what puts em there. I also know that if the largemouth are on it, it rarely has many smallies. On my first cast I put a 16 inch largie in the boat that did not help. Eddy did the same. The conditions were right for it to be good, but the smallies were simply not here. One thing I do pay attention to on Erie are the seagulls and what they are doing. I have to say that the seagull is my absolute favorite animal. They have won me a lot of money over the years. I noticed while we were here that there were nearly 300 of them just sitting on the water enjoying the day. This was not a good sign. No bird activity, no shad activity, no smallie activity:)
We caught a few more largies and decided to head back to our starting area. Only one boat was left and it was the Crestliner. He now had 2 buoys out and was fishing just west of me 2 casts. Just after we arrived he pulled them both and trolled up a little over a cast to the north of me and threw a buoy. He instantly hooked a good fish and played it all around the boat. He weighed it and for the first time today I talked to him and asked him how big it was. He hollered over excitedly that it was 4-6. At least I knew there were big ones here still. We once again began catching fish and would occasionally would still get an ounce or two better. I knew we were both in the 15 pound range and this is not what I came here after. I truly believed 17-18 pounds would not be a problem. Weigh in was at 2:30 and I wanted to head back at 1:50. It was now 1:00 and I decided to hit as many of the rockpiles in the area that I could over the next 50 minutes. I was hoping to pull up on the right one at the right time and hit a school of big ones.
Over the next 50 minutes We hit 5 different spots and boated a fish or two on each. I did manage my second biggest fish of the day at 3-6. Still not the right one, but a bit better. After a few more 2-10's we had to head back to weigh in making a quick stop in the river mouth which did not give up a fish. We made it to check in with 2 minutes to spare so we literally fished nearly every second we could. By the time I made it to weigh in, several good bags had been weighed. I weighed in a disappointing 16-2 and Eddy weighed in 15-8. At weigh in end, 22 pounds won the event, and my buddy Gary, who has been fishing near by my glory hole weighed in a solid 21-15 for his second straight second. He too said practice was tough. He had nothing going so he decided to stick with the area that has been good to both of us. He said he had nothing at 10 and that is when the light switch flipped and between 10 and noon he filled his livewell with 4 pounders. It just goes to show you you just never know. My 16-2 landed me in 23rd and out of the money. Eddy cashed the last co angler check at 14th place. Amazingly, we both remained in the points lead going into the last event.
Thanks to everyone for your kind words on my stories, I really do appreciate them. I enjoy recalling my events and often revisit and re read them to see exactly what I did last time or last year. God Bless everyone!!
Posted by: |