Hey Guys, I read more than I post on this site, but this weeks experience is something to talk about.
I, like Derek, have also finished 9 days at the lake much of which was on the water, but some of the time spent doing chores on the cabin. No sense in spending too much time about the bite on Mille Lacs, everybody knows how good it is right now.
My motives for fishing the PWT were mainly to see what it would be like fishing with the “PRO’s”, learn as much as I can about there tactics, presentations, and any other little tricks they may have up there sleeve, and how my fishing knowledge stacks up against there’s. I do have a fair amount of years (20 or so) fishing the big pond, and can generally hold my own. I have only fished a couple of small tourneys on the lake, have no intention of turning Pro, but just was very interested in the experience.
Placing in the payout would be just a bonus because let’s face it, so much of this tourney for the amateur is luck of the draw, and they stressed time and time again to watch what you say so you don’t take the Pro off of there game plan. So here we go……….
Day 1:
I am teamed with Kevin Randall,65th in standings, technically a rookie because he did not fish enough events last year, running a Lund, with 225 HP Merc and 9.9 kicker. Hey, were there enough Mercs in that tourney? holy crap talk about domination. Kevin, to me, is a one dimensional angler. He trolls crankbaits on leadcore line using Catfish sized levelwinds. This presentation was a great experience for me because I have never done it and I know some of you do this extensively out in open water. We worked the 25-30 ft of water between Big Point and Liberty Beach. Apparently this was one of his pre-fishing hot spots. We popped a nice 17.5″er immediately and the plan was to pop 4 more just like it (or better) and then go play for a big one out on the flats. 3 hours later we pop a 16″er and then it sounded like a good idea to put that one in the box as well. An hour later the cranking battery dies and we lose the ability to start the big motor 
. Thankfully we are still in the same area we started, we can finish the day trolling and we limp in with the kicker. Fish numbers were not there, however we did end up weighing 5 fish for 8.09#’s. Poorest numbers of fish, biggest weight of the tourney for me(and Kevin) 
.
Day 2:
I meet up with Jason Schenker, a rookie from Wisc. 81st in the standings. He runs a Yar Craft (nice boat, very dirty)and a 225 Merc(wow what a shock 
) and the 9.9 kicker.
Our plan, drag spinners and crawlers in deep gravel on the south end of the lake, sweet now I’m pumped for some great fishing with a technique I know well.
His rigs are a single octopus snell hook with a stinger, 8’ length and a 3 oz bell weight clipped onto a black plastic slider. This is a little different than I am used to, however what the heck, I am the amateur, so lets go fishing and see how it goes. Again we want to box 6 nice slots and run to the flats for Mrs Big. By noon we have one 16”er in the box, several 23’s and 24’s. We make a short run to another spot, 2 more over 20’s and after an hour, back to our original spot and wham a nice 17”er and it has to go in the box. 10 min later and wham another 17”er in the box and than wham, wham, whamo a 20.25, a 20.5, and a 20.5 man if only an inch the other way. Then blammo a very nice 27.75. nice fish but very sad. We wind up with 4 fish for 6.3#s.
Day 3:
I meet up Richie Boggs, a full time guide out of Reeds, born and raised in Nisswa. 17th in the standings. He runs a Crestliner with a 250 Merc (shock), kicker, bow mount, and stern electrics. I pull into Appledorns and he is in the boat tying up 2 hook crawlwer harnesses. Finally a veteran and true full time Professional Fisherman, man this is going to be a great day, we both are excited and have a good feeling about the day. Our plan is to hit a flat on the northeast side and hammer the urine out of them with either spinners or lindys and leeches. A “big electronics guy” he says and scopes out the area thuro before dropping a line. We start out with lindys and leeches and it goes slow with only boating a 15”er in the first hour. We continue moving from spot to spot, switching from lindys to spinners and popping a few over 20 here and there, not really feeling out any kind of a pattern, however late in the day he bears down and scopes out a pile of fish around a rock pile in about 24’ of water, throws out a buoy, and we work it over and over and over thru the last couple of hours in the afternoon and picked off enough to weigh 5 fish for 6.5#s. Throwing back a 26”er at about 4:00 in the afternoon. A bit of a disappointment, but at least he had something to weigh and hopefully it didn’t hurt him too bad in the standings. A great day on the water with Richie.
All in all a great 3 days on the water, I learned a lot, and I think I can say that most of my equipment and fishing techniques are in the right direction, however some changes may be coming.
By the way, I finished 105th
