Monday, July 27, 2009

The phone is waterproof, and I'm definitely not a camera man!

As promised, here's some ameteur video of me and lake Erie, I stress the word "ameteur". I managed to shoot a little video while driving out on Lake Erie, it was extremely calm when I shot this, the wind picked up later in the afternoonm and I decided that keeping two hands on the wheel and watching the waves so I didn't spear one was a better idea than shooting video. 20 miles off-shore is not a good place to be messing around videoing in 4-5 foot waves. Remember, it was extremely calm when I took this video.

Oh, and by the way, the phone is waterproof!! After driving for and hour and forty minutes to get back to the ramp (I was only 18 miles away) I managed to "take" a few waves over the bow while driving and I then realized my phone was in the floor, yep, nice move wasn't it? But never fear, the phone is a keeper, waterproof as they come. Come to think of it, maybe it's a Timex?

God Bless,
D

Detroit River Stren...I'm glad it's over!

Well, I can tell you that again the great lakes got the best of me. I had an ok practice, ok at best. I really only had 1 good day, it was Saturday, the first day I practiced. I had found three areas holding good smallmouth, and felt like an 18lb limit was possible. I didn't get very many bites, but when I did, they were all in the 3.25-3.75 lb range. That is definitely the right size, the quantity had me slightly concerned. I spent several days on Lake St. Clair, and had several areas where a limit of fish was possible, but they weren't weighing very much, 13 lbs was the best limit I could put together on St. Clair. So I spent one more practice day day on Lake Erie, and a half-day in the river. I did find a few largemouth in the river in case I couldn't get to Erie. If you've never been on Lake Erie, the waves can get a little on the BIG side.

Day 1 of the tournament, I only managed two keeper bites on Erie (both of them around 3.5 lbs) , my co-angler had three (his were over 3.5lbs apiece), so I ran into the river at 12:30 p.m and finished my limit with 20 minutes to spare. I was 53rd after day 1.

After some lengthy debate, I decided to go back to Erie for day 2. I knew if I could just put five bites together, I could catch 17lbs+ and maybe cut a check. Between me and my co-angler, we had five that weighed 18lbs, they were just divided up between us. So I took off for Erie on day 2, and although the waves were bigger on day two, they never got over 3 feet high, which is very good for lake Erie. I managed to catch one 3lber and lose another of the same size, my co-angler caught two 3lb fish and that was it! I picked up a largemeouth in the river just before checking in, which gave me a dismal 4lbs 10oz for day two. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed, I fell from 53rd to 95th.

But, I'll say this, I could have went to Lake St. Clair and caught five keepers that might have only wieghed 10 lbs, that would not have gotten me a check, it would have gotten me more points, but no money. I conciously made the decision to go to Lake Erie where the fish were bigger, in an effort to make a big move up the leader board and put myself in contention for a check. I knew before take-off I would be fishinf for fewer bites on Erie, about one-third as many as you get on St. Clair, but the size of the fish I was catching on Eire versus St. Clair, was no comparison. As many of you know this game is a game of decisions, make the right ones and you look like a superhero, make the wrong ones, and people wonder if you can even tie a knot, much less catch a fish. All is not lost, after two tournaments, I'm 45th in the points race, and the top 40 advance to the championship.
I'd like to think the next time this situation presents itself, Lord willing, I'll make the right decision. I'll listen to intuention, and hope for divine intervention. With all of that said, I did learn a great deal about chasing these smallmouths, and I now know, they can't be trusted, they're worse than largemouth on be able to trust them to be there when you come back!

The next event is on Pool 19 of the Mississippi River at Ft.Madison, IA. Thankfully, I know I can get out the flipping sticks, and put up the drop shot rods...no more Erie...please no more Erie!!!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Detroit River Stren Series Event

Just rolled into Detroit...and as expected the wind is blowing!! Nice, nothing like a 25mph wind to get you excited about going out on Lake Erie or St. Clair for that matter. Regardless, it'll be a buckle up, hang on and pray the good Lord holds your equipment together so you can get back home event. Better yet, pray for light winds. It's pretty cool here, compared to Southern IL. I think it was 71 degrees at 3 o'clock when I got here, looks like it's going to be cold in the mornings, mid to upper fifties, real nice temperatures to get wet in. Anyway, I've got a new waterproof phone, or at least water resistant. I'm going to try and shoot a little video if it isn't to rough and post it later. We'll see how water proof this thing actually is by the end of next week. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
God Bless,
D

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Illinois Bass Federation Open Trail Event - Rend Lake

I fished the 4th event of the 2009 Illinois bass Federation Open Trail this weekend at Rend Lake. I was fortunate enough to catch my limit, but struggled to catch any fish bigger than 2 lbs. I had one good fish that weighed a little over three pounds, that was it. My total weight for the event was 9.96lbs, good enough to finish in 4th place and cut a decent check. The top three places were 15lbs, 13lbs and 11lbs. One big fish would have moved me up considerably, but I would have needed two good ones to win. I can't complain, I didn't lose any fish the entire day, only missed one bite, which is really good, considering I flipped bushes for most of the day, which can often be a recipe for a lot of missed fish and some heartbreaking fish losses. I managed to catch my biggest fish with less than hour to go, which allowed me to cull out a very small keeper, in fact, that fish got me paid. Considering the cirumstances, I think a good dose of divine intervention took place at that moment. I attached a few pictures of the winners below.







That's the latest update, I'm still two and a half weeks away from the Detroit River Stren Series Tournament. I'm praying the wind doesn't blow very hard, if you've never been on Lake Erie (which is where the Detroit river runs into) fishing out there when the wind blows reminds me of the Discovery television series Deadliest Catch, the waves are huge, and many of them come into the boat with you, you just have to turn on the bilge pumps and keep driving.



See ya later,
D


(L to R: 1st, 3rd, 4th)






Always a good thing, the check line!