I have an hour so I’ll try to share the experience. This was my 10th regional and my second tournament on Erie. The last one was out of Sandusky and most of the fishing was around the Bass Islands. This tournament was held in Vermilion, about 20 miles East of Sandusky and about 30 miles west of Cleveland.
Champion, Brent Haimes, Rick Billings and I drove out on Wednesday, Aug 8 with 2 boats. The trip was around 11 hours. We started practice on Thursday but a series of thunder storms keep us close to the harbor. So we had little sustained time. A marine band radio with a weather alert feature is must if you go to any of the great lakes. The Alert would go off and we could reach safe harbor before the storm. We only had two bass bites that day but it gave us a depth range to look for and we did establish the fish were using the outside…not the tops of the reefs.
The next couples of days were sunny and hot. Windless days were a bust but it was good time to motor around and look for key features. When the wind blew the fish got active, and I use that term loosely. I didn’t catch a bass till my 3rd day of practice and it wasn’t a keeper. On the windiest day we trailered to Sandusky Bay to look for LM. The bay is huge with pea green water. We did find some decent fish but not good enough to warrant the 20 mile trip during the tournament.
The BASS Federation Nation Tean Series was held out of Sandusky the weekend before with the winning individual weight of around 15 lbs per day. We assume much of that weight was largemouth.
On Saturday the 11th there was a BFL out of Sandusky with a winning weight of 21 lbs but the weights dropped of fast and there were very few limits. We just hit a tough time and who knows how many fish we went over.
The official practice started on Sunday and Brent, Rick, and I switched off with a few other guys for practice. Brent was struggling with motion sickness and the flu so we took him to shore a couple of times. Practice was slow but we were picking up a few clews and learning something about the system. It took till the first day of the tournament for me to catch a keeper. I wasn’t discouraged because people in my boat and around me were picking up an occasional fish, and we were refining the dropshot presentation. Also, monster sheephead stretched our string regularly. Most were over 10 lbs.
My 1st day partner was from IL but had nothing going so he said the boat is yours. Good news, but we didn’t have a lot going and were sharing spots. Some help would have been nice. I decided to make a long run toward Cleveland on day one because of a favorable south wind. The forecast was a shift to the NE but I thought I could make it before the shift. Unfortunately, the wind shifted about half way through the run and I had to abort. Immediately after the wind shift the waves get disorganized and there is no way to run the. We spent about an hour in the Loraine harbor fishing LM and waiting for the wave to organize. By the time we got to fishing productive water about half of our time was gone. I ended up with 2 fish for 9-3, the biggest went 5-3.
On day two I was in the 3rd flight and drew a partner form IA. It was the same as day one…my choice but no help. I decided to stay close in and go to a community hole. That was the day the fish went nuts but we got there so late we couldn’t get on the good stuff. We were witness to a wackfest. I ended up with 3 fish for 11 something. On day 3 I was boat 4 and had a WI team member who had a good grasp of what was going on. We were 1st to the good stuff but the fish didn’t go. Of all the boats in the area we did the best but only got 5 fish off the spot.
Just so everyone understands what the water is like let me describe boating. I have a Ranger 519…a 19 footer. It’s not the best boat for big water but it’s OK. We wore rain gear virtually all of the time. If it wasn’t nosing slightly into waves it was spray over the side. When we were fishing it was common to take wave over the back. At times they came over the sides. The bilge pumps ran constituently. It’s hard to judge wave heights but some were over 4’.
The impressive thing about the area was the size of the fish. The biggest for the tournament was 5-13. A low 5 didn’t get much attention at the scales. The average weight per fish was pushing 4 lbs. The issue was getting bit. Only 3 guys limited every day. Being a boater wasn’t necessarily a bonus, and the guys in the back seat did well.
The good news for us was Brent qualified for the nationals. Rick and I ended up in the upper third. We were never out of it…but than were ever in it. In retrospect I think we spent too much time looking for the needle in the haystack. We needed more haystacks. I’ll point to the WI guys that had long drifts setup and finding scattered fish.
There other nuance about dropper length VS water clarity and moves to trigger strikes that we didn’t learn till the last day that would have helped. Rack it as another experience. 
John
Idling out that morning, I found out that John and Rick were making the long run to the school we had located, and realizing that it would be senseless for all 3 of us to show up and beat on the same school of fish seemed to not be a good call and the boater was not used to running big water, so I opted to have him start on a point that we had caught a couple of fish on in practice. Good call, first drift I had a 4.5#er 6′ from the net when I tried pulling his head to comes toward the net and I pulled him off. 
Bummer, but good lesson for the rest of the tournament, from then on I babied each one from their after. Next two drifts I put two in the boat worth 8 1/2 #’s. Next drift I lose one half way back to the boat and during retying, I bring my head up and an instant case of head spins, nasuea, and other internal parts decided that I better get off the water. 
I tried to regain my composer behind a seawall, but the reality of it all is I had to quit. Believe me, after coming this far, it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Weighed those fish in and had a observer take over for the rest of the day. Didn’t know till 5 a.m. the next morning if I would be good enough to fish the next day, but the good Lord said “Game On”. Drew a guy from Michigan who struggled the day before, and we started on the same spot I did the day before. Result 2 – 4# smallies for me and 1 for him. He took me to one of his spots that someone had given to him and I spanked two more 4#ers. Finished the day with just under 16#’s. Met my partner for the 3rd day and he was in first on the Ohio team. I wanted to start on my starting spot again, but after talking to my partner he assured me that their were plenty of fish on his area to do well. Questioning if I had enough fish left in my area to do well and also knowing he had extended time on the water compared to me, we decided to start on his area. 3 1/2 hours into it I’ve got 2 and he has 1. With one little adjustment at this time he spanks 3 dandies in 5 minutes and fill his limit shortly their after. Taking his advice I made some changes and filled out my own limit including one that went close to 5#’s. The last half of the day of the tournament their was lots of wind and waves. Thanks to one of my teammates and his supply of Bodine and for the patch I was wearing I was able to keep my intestines inside my body. Good teamwork with my boaters each day and a positive attitude and hard work to help both of us do the best we could for the day paid off with a 20# plus bag the last day. Final result, 44#’s, 11th place overall, and #1 for the state of Minnesota. 
I definitly couldn’t have done any of this on my own. I need to thank John and Rick for working together on figuring the pattern out. John and Mike Kepp for teaching me the dragging technique years ago so when I got their it was very comfortable as far as the technique and then it was adapting it to the right structure. A huge thank you to B.A.S.S. and the Zumbro Valley Bassmasters for all I’ve learned in 15 plus years of being in the club, and a major thanks to my great wife for always supporting me. Yeah, theirs always a little luck that goes with it and making good decisions on the water, but hard work and determinatioin go along way. I hope I can represent the state of Minnesota well at the Nationals. Hats off to the Wisconsin team for a job well done, hopefully someday we can put our egos to the side and prove that were capable. If you ever get a chance to go to Erie, Go! I never thought I’d ever think that a 4# smallie was just average. 
