EverStart Tournament Experience

I fished the qualifying round of the EverStart Northern Division kickoff tournament held on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 9 and 10. I titled this report "Experience" because things aren’t always good. During practice, the conditions of the river were improving and I was full of high expectations. I found two schools of smallies that just arrived on high water spots. One is a community spot and one is very inconspicuous. To the best of my knowledge, the fish on the community spot just arrived on Tuesday, so I didn’t think many people knew about them. I also saw the beginning of a movement of fish onto summer current spots. From my perspective, the stars and moon were lining perfectly for a good tournament. The photo is of a good Largemouth Jim Kowall caught during practice on Friday. Jim and Brent Haimes (fishnut) were kind enough to come and help with practice.

I drew boat 129 and made the wrong choice on starting spots. When I got to the first spot I watched a competitor land several nice fish. When I got to the 2nd spot it was the same story. Both spots produced top 10 bags, but not for me. I did talk to the guy that was on my 2nd spot after the tournament, and had I made the decision to start there it would have been mine. Decisions, decisions, decisions – it got worse from there. I made a wrong turn on the way back and put the boat on shore. It took about 15 minutes to get it off, and I ended up three minutes late for check-in. I had three fish for 6-7 lbs, and lost three lbs because of the late penalty. On day two, the rain had mud running out of the Chippiwa, and basically eliminated the WI side of the river, including one of my choice spots. I didn’t get the other spot, but when I got close enough to see what was going on I did see a big smallie caught. I managed another three fish for 6-7 lbs, and my partner had three for 7-3 lbs. That catch, plus 1 fish from the day before, got him into 12th place and into today’s co-anglers competition.

So after burning 30-40 gallons of gas per day, being totally soaked from all the rain, and spearing several rollers with the boat on the way in yesterday; I’m back at work asking myself how can someone with all my experience on pool 4 not make the cut to the 2nd round? The answer is, I had the right water, but the wrong timing. Plus, the guys still standing are really good! About half the field is local and the other half are pros. I watched one of the pros fish a sea wall I know well. When I fish it, I make a few cast and either catch fish or move on. He made the cast and then moved up and flipped every inch of it. That thoroughness got him a nice largemouth. If they think there is a fish to be caught, they seem to make it work. If I learned – and relearned – anything, (sometimes the skull is a little thick) is that determined approach.

I don’t feel bad about the fishing. That’s just part of the game. When you put 190 top notch anglers on a body of water someone will figure things out. What hurts was the boating mistake and the late penalty. Had that not happened, I would have gotten a check and my entry fee back. Not what I had in mind, but it is some consolation.

The good news is I met some great people, and I made it back in one piece. Also, the shallow fishery is alive with all sorts of species. We caught lots of walleyes in 3 feet of water and less – nothing big but lots of fish. We had sauger, yes sauger, out of flooded lawn grass in about a foot of water. The northerns are on a tear, and big crappies seem to be on any piece of wood. The photo is of two crappies we caught flipping tubes in wood in practice.