How many follow professional Bass Fishing?

Did anyone see the Keith Poche incident at Toledo Bend during a recent BASS Open event? Apparently he “left tournament waters” and was able to access a vast, unfished area north of the highly pressured tournament waters with his Gator Trax aluminum bass boat. They disqualified him because of it.

He stated that he did not fish an area off limits. There is a video of him “jumping a sand bar” to access this area I posted below. I am not very familiar with Poche, but he fishes all of the Elite, MLF, and Open events out of this rig. Its specifically designed to access shallow water that bigger, heavier fiberglass boats can’t get to.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsL6XSYublv/?hl=en

He deserved to be DQ’d. That was more than a sand bar.

I don’t think that’s quite legal.
To bad Keith ya gotta play by the rules.

And from what I’ve read that “sand bar” is the normal divider between the two bodies of water. It’s not usually underwater even in the slightest. He knew what he was doing. Poche always does thing up to the line and often times has no problem crossing it. He get’s DQ’d more than any angler I’ve seen.

mahtofire14 wrote:

He knew what he was doing. Poche always does thing up to the line and often times has no problem crossing it. He get’s DQ’d more than any angler I’ve seen.

You have to admit it takes some balls to even attempt a maneuver like that.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
He knew what he was doing. Poche always does thing up to the line and often times has no problem crossing it. He get’s DQ’d more than any angler I’ve seen.

You have to admit it takes some balls to even attempt a maneuver like that.

Drive it like you stole it. Or like it was given to you by a sponsor

I saw former IDO guy Adam Rasmussen won the Bassmaster Open on Wheeler Lake and qualified for the Classic next year. I don’t follow bass fishing at all, but sounds like that’s a pretty big deal.

Keith Tuma is sitting 7th in points in the opens,

BigWerm wrote:

I saw former IDO guy Adam Rasmussen won the Bassmaster Open on Wheeler Lake and qualified for the Classic next year. I don’t follow <em class=”ido-tag-em”>bass fishing at all, but sounds like that’s a pretty big deal.

That is a big deal. I think the top 5 or 10 in open points qualify to fish the entire Elite Series. Some people would tell you that it’s harder to win an Opens event than an Elite Series event because there are so many more boats and a ton of great anglers, including MLF and Elite Series guys fishing them.

This weeks BASS event on the Sabine River in Texas is going to be a burning one to watch. Not many big fish. The current leader had 5 fish for 7 lbs. both Josh Douglas and Seth Feider are in the top 20 currently with 5 fish for less than 5 lbs.

This may have been written here somewhere, what’s going on at Minnetonka this week?

Driving by north arm and maxwell launches all week and slew of bass rigs in the lots…

Deuces wrote:

This may have been written here somewhere, what’s going on at Minnetonka this week?

There’s a tournament out there almost every weekend during the summer. And weekly evening leagues too.

You can use this site to see what Tourneys are where and when. Almost all tourney are to have a permit and be listed on this site:

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/fishing/tournaments/2023-dnr-fishing-tournament-list.pdf?v=2023.01.19-21.29.29

I don’t see anything listed for Minnetonka this weekend. That’s strange because there seems to be one out there every weekend.

I hear the DNR is really going to crack down on fishings tourneys without a permit this year. I think its Great. I don’t have a problem with tourneys but it would be nice to know when and where they are happening. Nothing worse than showing up at a lake for some fun fishing and find the landing full of boats because a tourney is going on. It happened far to often last year and as some lake you would never think a bass tourney would be on.

Deuces wrote:

This may have been written here somewhere, what’s going on at Minnetonka this week?

Driving by north arm and maxwell launches all week and slew of bass rigs in the lots…

Denny’s first tourney was out there on the 30th. They are normally on Mondays, but because it was a holiday they had it on Tues. for the first one.

fishthumper wrote:

This weeks BASS event on the Sabine River in Texas is going to be a burning one to watch. Not many big fish.

The Sabine River is not a high quality bass fishery anymore from what I’ve read about it. I am not sure why the Elites are even having an event there. My prediction is about 15 pounds each day to the winner, which is not good for that region.

Because Orange, TX and the tourism bureau pay BASS to come there. They get huge crowds there (I believe they’ve set records for attendence) so it’s an economic boost to them.
But as a fishing fan it’s not very exciting to watch a dink fest. I’ve heard some anglers actually don’t mind those grinder events where ounces matter.

blank wrote:

Because Orange, TX and the tourism bureau pay BASS to come there. They get huge crowds there (I believe they’ve set records for attendence) so it’s an economic boost to them.

That is Big factor on where they decide to hold tourneys. That is the reason you are not likely to see Many in Minnesota. The last few times they were here, or tried to come here, they we not really welcomed with open arms. Can you imagine the amount of whining and crying the Minnetonka lakeshore owners association would do if there was a going to be a professional bass tourney held on THEIR LAKE. Why would they fight to get someplace when there are lots of places begging them to come to their area.

fishthumper wrote:

That is Big factor on where they decide to hold tourneys. That is the reason you are not likely to see Many in Minnesota. The last few times they were here, or tried to come here, they we not really welcomed with open arms.

BASS tried to have an elite event here at the end of September last year on Mille Lacs but they are live weigh ins, and you cannot keep any smallmouth beyond the second Saturday in September here, which includes in a livewell for a weigh in.

MLF took advantage of that rule and held an event there instead because their format is immediate catch and release.

That’s one’s on BASS, not the state of MN.

gimruis wrote:

That’s one’s on BASS, not the state of MN.

That one maybe, but not many others tried here

fishthumper wrote:

That one maybe, but not many others tried here

Let’s be honest, how many lakes here could handle an Elite or Open event? You would need a sizable private location to launch, park, and have a weigh in. Could Lake Minnetonka even handle an event of that magnitude? I’m not so sure.

Mille Lacs obviously has and could do it again. They’ve had events in LaCrosse before too.

Where else could it be done? We’re the land of 10,000 lakes but very few of them have the size, quality, and accommodations needed.

gimruis wrote:

Could Lake Minnetonka even handle an event of that magnitude? I’m not so sure.

One of the largest BASS events ever held was on lake Minnetonka. I believe they had over 200 boats. The fishermen who fished it said it was not a problem at all. said there was plenty of room to fish it. You are correct though in that there are not many lakes that could handle it. Minnetonka, Leech, Mille lacs are the few I think could handle it. maybe a few others for the year end championship which has less boats.

Lake Vermilion would be cool, plenty big, and mixture of largemouth and smallmouth. I’d imagine the casino could host that, but it’s pretty rural compared to many of the other tour stops.

blank wrote:

Lake Vermilion would be cool, plenty big, and mixture of largemouth and smallmouth. I’d imagine the casino could host that, but it’s pretty rural compared to many of the other tour stops.

I think Vermillion would be another cool location. But the rural location would probably be a factor.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>
That is Big factor on where they decide to hold tourneys. That is the reason you are not likely to see Many in Minnesota. The last few times they were here, or tried to come here, they we not really welcomed with open arms.

BASS tried to have an elite event here at the end of September last year on Mille Lacs but they are live weigh ins, and you cannot keep any smallmouth beyond the second Saturday in September here, which includes in a livewell for a weigh in.

MLF took advantage of that rule and held an event there instead because their format is immediate catch and release.

That’s one’s on BASS, not the state of MN.

BASS elites have had tourneys in the past with out bringing fish to a weigh in.
Lake Fork last year is the first one that comes to mind.
Curious why they wouldn’t do it in Mn other than that was there excuse snd a different reason was why.

Michael Best wrote:

Curious why they wouldn’t do it in Mn other than that was there excuse snd a different reason was why.

Couldn’t tell ya. I only know the reason they were denied at Mille Lacs last September.

I wish they would have more events “up north” earlier in the season instead of doing all their southern spots first and then waiting to go on their northern swing until July. By the time they get here and fish those big smallmouth waters, it’s mostly drop shotting and watching livescope. It’s kind of boring to watch. If they came north in May or early June, a much wider variety of presentations would be effective.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Michael Best wrote:</div>
Curious why they wouldn’t do it in Mn other than that was there excuse snd a different reason was why.

Couldn’t tell ya. I only know the reason they were denied at Mille Lacs last September.

I wish they would have more events “up north” earlier in the season instead of doing all their southern spots first and then waiting to go on their northern swing until July. By the time they get here and fish those big smallmouth waters, it’s mostly drop shotting and watching livescope. It’s kind of boring to watch. If they came north in May or early June, a much wider variety of presentations would be effective.

I agree with you. It would be fun seeing them fish prespawn smallmouth.
I am guessing weather plays a factor in the decision making process.
That southern heat in the summer is unbearable.

Deuces wrote:

This may have been written here somewhere, what’s going on at Minnetonka this week?

Driving by north arm and maxwell launches all week and slew of bass rigs in the lots…

I think Minnetonka classic is this weekend.

Michael Best wrote:

BASS elites have had tourneys in the past with out bringing fish to a weigh in.
Lake Fork last year is the first one that comes to mind.
Curious why they wouldn’t do it in Mn other than that was there excuse snd a different reason was why.

It’s because they have been denied or giving so many hoops and tape to jump through it’s not worth it. It has nothing to do with livewell rules or lake availability, it is all because they weren’t allowed to.

What a sad tourney for weights. Right now the leader has 10 fish for 19-7. The top 50 cut to fish tomorrow is just below 12 lb. They have recorded single fish that weighed more than the 2 day top 50 cut weight for this tourney. The good news it looks like several local guys are going to be fishing tomorrow. Feider is in 30th, Felix is 39th , Downey is 46th , and Douglas is at 48th. These are unofficial weights so who knows. There is a little fishing time remaining yet

Michael Best wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>
That is Big factor on where they decide to hold tourneys. That is the reason you are not likely to see Many in Minnesota. The last few times they were here, or tried to come here, they we not really welcomed with open arms.

BASS tried to have an elite event here at the end of September last year on Mille Lacs but they are live weigh ins, and you cannot keep any smallmouth beyond the second Saturday in September here, which includes in a livewell for a weigh in.

MLF took advantage of that rule and held an event there instead because their format is immediate catch and release.

That’s one’s on BASS, not the state of MN.

BASS elites have had tourneys in the past with out bringing fish to a weigh in.
Lake Fork last year is the first one that comes to mind.
Curious why they wouldn’t do it in Mn other than that was there excuse snd a different reason was why.

It’s all about politics and money. They have tried but DNR and other political entities don’t want them here. I’m sure they have stopped trying now because why would you fight to go somewhere that you’re not wanted.

It has nothing to do with lake availability.