Tourny on the Chain

Well, we just finished fishing our first Bass Tournament on the chain. Needless to say, not pre-fishing hurt since we’ve never seen the lakes/river area before today.

You guys ready for this weight? The winner had 22+ pounds for 6 fish. It was a great weight, with good healthy fish.

We finally found our pattern with one hour left to fish. Oh well, it was fun and we’ll be more prepared next year.

Scott, thank you for your advice. I wish we would have followed it sooner than we did. We had 4 legal fish at weight in, just a little over 6 pounds.

I have no idea how or where these fish were caught, but the club I’m in had many bags over 14 pounds.

BTW, the water is extremely high. Carefull out there and respect those homeowners.

Jo

Is sunburned and tired.

JoJo, your tournament was held at a great time on the Chain. Big Baskets of fish like that are very common during tournaments on the Chain this time of year. Personally I have caught bass up to 6 lbs in the winter, so I know the big girls are there.

The Bluegilll population is also in excellent shape in the Horseshoe Chain. They have been on a slow recovery over the last 5-7 years but have come back strong. It is nice to have such a strong bass population to keep the numbers in check. So remember, catch and release when you are enjoying the local fishing.

The walleye in the chain are dominated by two year classes. One of the year classes measures about 12 inches and another about 9 inches. These small fish make for great action but can make it tough to get “eater” size fish. Most of the bigger fish falling to cranks along the weed edges or in the River Channels. The DNR and lake association continue their stocking efforts and the results are being noticed.

I don’t fish Catfish during the summer much, but there are some huge fish out there. The better fish seem to caught at night, but fish up to 6 lbs are pretty common for daytime anglers. Last week the cats were sitting in the common deep holes and are starting to hit crankbaits. If you troll any of the river channels you will get a mix bag of cats and walleye on cranks. Can be fun when things slow up elsewhere. Good luck out there!