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View John Boudreau's Profile
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| Name | Details | Map It |
6/13/15 - MA B.A.S.S. Nation Pro-Am @ Quaboag/South Pond
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 5
Views: 1700 | Quaboag Pond - Brookfield, MA
6/13/2015
Tournament #2 for this trial, this year. The location was up in the air due to extremely low water levels a couple weeks ago. The water levels were better but the gate between the ponds remained closed. The decision was made to split it up. The boater would choice which water they would fish, and it was luck of the draw for the co-anglers. I was rigged up for Quaboag, so my fingers were crossed. Lucky enough I draw a nice older guy Steve that picked the Quaboag side. Woohoo!
Cloudy and windy to start the I started with a spinnerbait but wasn't feeling it. I made the switch to a Boag Hog Baits Swimjig and it was on. The bite was good till about 11. I had my limit by about 10, and Steve had his a short time later. I culled twice to gain about a pound total. Then the sun came out, the wind died, and the bite suffered. Fortunately we both capitalized before the conditions changed. Steve's limit of 10.55lbs put him in 10th out of 16 boaters. 3rd was 14.53lbs (South Pond), 2nd was 14.70lb with a 5.80lb lunker (Quaboag), and 1st was 15.27lbs (South Pond) on the boaters side. On the co-anglers side the lunker came from the 9th place guy at 3.84lbs (Quaboag), 3rd was 9.34lbs (Quaboag), My limit at 9.75lbs gave me 2nd, and 1st was 12.36lbs (South Pond) out of 13 guys total. Very valuable points with one more to go on the is trail! | 
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6/6/15 - Avid Anglers @ Lake Sabbatia
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 7
Views: 1888 | Lake Sabbatia - Taunton, MA
6/6/2015
This is the last tournament for the Avid Anglers "2015" season. Lots up for grabs after the weigh in. AOY, and CAOY were the main pieces though. After winning CAOY in the "2014" season, I stumbled early this season and making my title defense much tougher.
Anyway back to the tournament for now. My usual spot as co-angler and I was paired with Fred. Fred is always in the mix for AOY, or a win. Day started cool, and cloudy. By days end it was hot and humid. That bite was average for most of us, but Fred was dialed in with some custom worm. My day was a little more inconsistent. It didn't help I lost 2 fish. I finished with 4 fish @ 4.44lbs in 7th place. I caught to on a worm, and 2 on a spinnerbait. 3rd was a limit @ 11.22lbs, 2nd was 11.63lbs, and 1st went to Fred with a solid limit @ 13.88lbs including a 4.67lb lunker. That was also enough to give him the "2015" AOY. The CAOY is still undecided as I'm currently in the lead, but the guy behind has an opportunity to gain some bonus point that would put him over me. If he does, he will have a well deserved CAOY. If he doesn't, I'll be lucky to maintain the title. To be determined by the end of June... |
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5/31/15 - Pond X (W)
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 6
Views: 2025 | Pond X (W)
5/31/2015
Myself and some of the crew got together for a 5 team throwdown at a new place for most of us. It's near my new house, so of course I been trying to set this up since I moved in 2 month ago. Small ramp, little parking, it can be a cluster at times. Shallow pond for the most part. I'm sure some of you reading this will know this place, but please don't blab about it, the local bucket brigade trashes the shorelines enough already.
Anyway, the fishing for Chuck and myself was strange. Being Post spawn didn't help the cause. Started slow, with little flurries here and there. We probably caught 15 Bass each, and culled 6 to 8 times. Mostly on multiple types of jigs. Our final limit consisted of Chuck's 1lb 10oz, 1lb 9oz, two 1lb 5oz's, and my 3lb 2oz.
Here is stats:
1st. R & R - 5 Largemouth @ 16lbs 3oz - Tournament Lunker @ 4lbs 10oz
2nd. Bassassins - 5 Largemouth @ 11lb 12oz
3rd. Angry Landlords - 5 Largemouth @ 8lbs 15oz - Big Fish @ 3lbs 2oz
4th. Bite Me - 5 Largemouth @ 7lbs 5oz
5th. Northshore - Did not weigh, but I believe they had a limit?
Team R & R with a big victory, and lunker! Nice Job Ronnie & Ray!
After the weigh in, some of us head back to my place and threw some meat of the grill! Good job everyone, fun as always!
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5/30/15 - Lake Sabbatia Pre-Fishing
Avg. Rating: 4.75
# Reviews: 4
Views: 1746 | Lake Sabbatia - Taunton, MA
5/30/2015
Avid Anglers had to call an audible, and move tournament locations due to extremely low water. We voted on Sabbatia. Fred (the boater I would be paired with) and I had never been, so we came to prefish and get a feel for the lay out. Dingy water, lots of grass. We fished about eight hours (6am-2pm). Worms, and spinnerbaits did most of the damage. I got one on a rage frog too. Freds best 5 was about 10lbs, and my best 5 was about 8lbs. |
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5/16/15 - Avid Anglers @ John's Pond
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 7
Views: 1923 | John's Pond - Mashpee, MA
5/16/2015
2nd club tournament of the year (4th out of 5 for the "2015" season). This was a new location for Avid, and for myself as well. We were all excited for this one, but it's also spawn time which can make the bite hit or miss. My usual spot as co-angler, I drew my buddy Dave as a boater. He had prefished a couple times, more like scouted out the lake and said things were looking good. But a cold front move in and changed the bite. The bigger fish moved off, were really spooky, or were doing the deed and wanted nothing to do with our baits.
Tourney starts and we get to the 1st spot. Dave is trying he like hell to coax a good Largemouth out of a tree, which set me up nicely to work on one on a bed off the back of the boat. Cast in and past the bad a couple times but the structure has me hung up, so I broke off. I tie on a 3/16oz Boag Hog Baits ball jighead w/weedguard with a Keitech Swimbait. 1st cast, drag it into the bed, a pissed off Largemouth smashes it! Work her to the boat, a nice 3.72lber (eventual tournament lunker) in the box. The rest of the day was an extreme grind. I would pick-up 2 more Largemouth at 1-1/2lbs a peice, and a 12" 3/4lb Smallie. Dave got on the board with 2 Largemouth late in the day. Real tight tournament, the difference between 3rd and 10th was about 3-1/2lbs. My 4 fish @ 7.45lbs gave my 7th place.
3rd was 9.45lbs, 2nd was 11.76lbs, and 1st was 14.74lbs. |
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5/9/15 - MA B.A.S.S. Nation Pro-Am @ Mashpee-Wakeby
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 6
Views: 2048 | Mashpee-Wakeby - Mashpee, MA
5/9/2015
This ended up being the first T of 2015 for this trail. The scheduled first one in April at Webster was cancelled due to ice on the lake and massive snow piles in the parking lot. I was a little surprised the turn out was down a little. Only 18 Boaters, and 9 co-anglers. My usual spot as co-angler, I drew boater Paul who I had fished with last year. A little chilly in the morning, but the temps got to low 60's by tournaments end. A little wind here and there. Water temps ranged from 55-62. We checked a Smallie spawning area first thing, and they were there, so the was that plan. We weren't the only ones with same plan. Tubes, craws, grubs were successful. Largemouth were few and far between. Mostly Smallies were weighed in. I finished the day with 4 Smallmouth from the back of the boat. My 7.26lbs gave me 4th place on the co-angler side. 3rd was 7.50lbs, 2nd was 13.91lbs, and 1st was 16.07lbs with a 4.32lb Lunker. On the boater side Paul had a limit at 13.14lb for 8th place. 3rd was 16.88lbs, 2nd was 17.18lb including 5.73lb Largemouth Tourney Lunker, and 1st was 17.41lbs. Next up for this trail is Quaboag! |
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4/26/15 - 3rd Annual Spring Boone Tourney/BBQ
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 9
Views: 1937 | Lake Boon - Hudson, MA
4/26/2015
Here we are again for our, now annual, season kick-off/BBQ. Like I've said before, the BBQ feast after is really what draws the attendance. And also because the host Ronnie lives on the lake it's an easy choice. Certainly not for the fishing.
Weather predicted for close to 60 degrees, with 5-10mph winds was more like low 50's with a raw 5-15mph winds. Seems as the cold front really shut down most of the bigger fish. Sun would make an appearance from time to time but overall it was an overcast day. Water temp were about 53-54 to start and close to 60 by the end of the tournament. Outside of catching 11" fish all day, the bite was miserable. I had one 1lb keeper, along with 10 shorts. Thankfully Chuck carried the team, and had the rest of our limit with a 3.08, a 2lber, a 1lb 1oz, and a 1lber to go along with 15 more shorts. Jigs, jigs, and more jigs.
Here are the results:
1st. Angry Landlords - 5 Fish @ 8.14lbs - Big Fish @ 3.08lbs
2nd. Bite Me - 4 Fish @ 7.04lbs - Touney Lunker @ 3.70lbs
3rd. Beaver Fever - 5 Fish @ 6.84lbs - Big Fish @ 2.34lbs
4th. Dirty Bassassins - 1 Fish @ 1.20lbs
5th. Bass Hunter/MoreFish - 1 Fish @ .90lbs
Did Not Weigh:
R & R
North Shore
Bag-A-Bass
Smoke City
Bigmouths
Why Not Now
Get The Net
Arrogant Anglers
Now the good part! Burgers, Dogs, Sausages, Steak Tips, Potato Salad, Meatballs, etc! Holy moly I went into a food coma for a little while. Lots of laughs were had, and some serious weight gain was in effect. Good to see everyone, and thanks again to our host Ronnie, and Uncle Ray for manning the grill! Till next time boys!
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4/4/15 - Avid Anglers 11th Annual Easter Bunny Open @ Long Pond Harwich
Avg. Rating: 4.8
# Reviews: 10
Views: 2162 | Lond Pond Harwich, MA
4/4/2015
Well Old Man Winter did not want to let go this year. We were days away for a potential cancellation. Literally a day and a half day before we finally had full ice out. Here is the write up from the Avid Anglers website:
http://avidbassin.com/ebo.php
6th time fishing this event (4th time with my buddy Paul). The 1st spot we wanted to fish had the 3rd place finisher camp on it most of the day. We didn't have a fish until after noontime. I start throwing a 3" swimbait on a Boag Hog 1/4oz Stand-Up head, and finally I get into one! Nice one surfaces with a big jump. Work her into the net. A big bellied 3-3/4lber into the live well. Paul get a 2lber a little later the same way. That spot goes dry, so we move and notice the boat that was on our original spot had moved so we boogie over there. We throw everything at this spot to no avail, until... Paul is throwing a crankbait and as his retrieve gets close to the boat he says "Look at the size of the Smallmouth following my bait!" This is like something you would see on TV. He kills his retrieve, the crank floats to the surface as the fish observes. As soon as the crank breaks the surface the Smallie shakes it's head and lunges at the bait with a vicious strike! Wow awesome stuff! That fish would end up being Lunker Smallmouth of the Tournament and a big help to our 4th place finish. It was a tough day, but we were rewarded with some big Smallies. |
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11/9/14 - The Dudley Chateau
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 11
Views: 1636 | Dudley Pond - Wayland, MA
11/9/2014
If you haven't tried this place yet, what are you waiting for? It's not fancy, don't go on a date there, just go hungry. Burgers the size of your head! I got a "Cochituate Burger", burger with chili on it. It was awesome!
Oh yeah...
Chuck and I fished today too. I wasn't as good as the burgers, that's for sure. It was cold, bite was awfully slow, the breeze was raw. Jig was the only bait to get keepers. Chuck had 3 all in the 1-1/2lb - 1-3/4lb range. I had 3 as well. Lunker of the day at 2-1/2lbs, one at 1-1/2lbs, and one short. And a Pumpkinseed on the drop shot.
Anyways, burgers were the highlight obviously, haha |
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10/19/14 - 2nd Annual Fall Finale Tournament/BBQ @ Boon
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 12
Views: 3945 | Lake Boon - Hudson, MA
10/19/2014
For what has developed into an annual event, we got a bunch of the old crew together for this day. Most of us as usual had our minds on the BBQ & feasting that would begin shortly after 2pm. Morning temps started in the 50's with some humidity, but that raw cold air moved in with the gusting winds.
As for the fishing for Chuck and I, it started fairly quickly with a short burst. In about 30 minutes I had 3 in the boat on a Boag Hog Baits swim jig (1lb 2oz, 14oz, and 3lber). As the raw air moved in the bite slowed. Tried some other spots picking up some shorts allow the way. Chuck gets a 1lber, and I get another 14oz for our limit. Time to upgrade! Later on working through a wind blown shore line Chuck gets 1lb 5oz to cull out a 14oz, and I get a 1lb 6oz on a spinnerbait to cull the other 14oz. Fast forward to the end of the day, Chuck throws his jig at this structure at least 6 times with nothing doing. I give it a shot, 1st cast drop it right in front of it and my Boag Hog Brush Jig gets pounded. Work it to the boat, and culled out a 1lber with a great end of tournament upgrade at 3.26lbs. I know Chuck was frustrated with the fishing, and I was too. I was pumped to be able to step up, preform, and luck into a couple good fish to help the team. More times than not it's Chuck bailing me out.
Here is the stats on the day:
1st. Angry Landlords - 5 Fish @ 10.08lbs - Big Fish 3.26lbs
2nd. R & R led by Quinn(Ray's grandson) 5 Fish @ 8.32lbs - Big Fish 3lbs
3rd. Bigassinmouths - 3 Fish @ 7.04lbs - Lunker 4.90lbs
4th. Smokecity - 5 Fish @ 6.76lbs - Big Fish 2.16lbs
5th. Greek Beaver - 5 Fish @ 5.74lbs - Big Fish 2.38lbs
6th. Arrogant Slobs - 3 Fish @ 5.48lb - Big Fish 3.48lbs
7th. Poor Boys - 4 Fish @ 5.30lbs - Big Fish 2.64lbs
8th. North Shore - 4 Fish @ 4.96lbs
9th. Bite Me - 5 Fish @ 4.90lbs
10th. Halo - 4 Fish @ 4.48lbs
11th. More Fish - 2 Fish @ 2.70lbs
Did Not Weigh:
Bag A Bass
Bassturds
Boom
Burrows Seniors
Now to the important stuff. Guys, we really know how to eat well, haha. May day, I think I'm still full!!! Great job everyone, nice to see you all. Big thanks to Ray for manning the grill, and Ronnie the gracious host again! Great times!! And lastly Chuck, great fishing with you as always! |
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10/18/14 - Avid Anglers @ East Brimfield Reservoir
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 3
Views: 2139 | East Brimfield Reservoir - Fiskdale, MA
10/18/2014
Well, it's officail! I have a new favorite body of water to hate! This place stinks on ice! I was hoping 4th time would be the charm...yeah right. Terrible fishing day of most at this club tounament. All 4 co-anglers zeroed, including myself. Out of 8 Boaters, 3 of them zeroed. 5th place was 2 fish @1.81lbs. 4th was 1 fish @ 2.60lbs the tournament lunker. 3rd was 3 fish @ 3.52lbs. 2nd place was 3 fish @ 5.13lbs. 1st palce had the only limit of the day at a whooping 5.46lbs. Crossing this place off the list for the future. PAVE IT! |
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10/11/14 - MA B.A.S.S. Nation Pro-Am TOC @ East Brimfield
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 6
Views: 1732 | East Brimfield Reservoir - Fiskdale, MA
10/11/2014
That old saying "3rd Time's a Charm" did not come through on this day. Fishing this place for the 3rd time. Cold moved in, rained most of the day. The bite was lousy for most. It hasn't happened to often the last couple years, but I zeroed on this frustrating day. Tough for the co-anglers in general with 6 of us blanking, 2nd place was one fish for .85lbs, and 1st & Lunker was 1 fish for 1.42lbs. Boater side was better. 3rd place was 5 for 9+lbs, 2nd was 5 for 10+lbs, and 1st was 5 for 14+lbs w/ a 6.59lb Lunker Largemouth. Nice job all! Tough way to wrap up the season on this trail, but I gain some valuable knowledge along the way. Looking forward to next year already. |
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10/4/14 - East Brimfield Reservoir
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 3
Views: 2179 | East Brimfield Reservoir - Fiskdale, MA
10/4/2014
Out on this place for the 2nd time. Last month didn't give me a lot of info except basically the lay out of it. With tournaments here the next 2 weekend I wanted to prefish it once more. I was able to get out with my buddy John. Water temps were down to 63-65. Still tons of milfoil, but alot of the surface junk has gone away. Lots of promising things that would work on most lakes, just weren't panning out here. Eventually we figured out a little clue. Most keepers we caught were cookie cutters. John had 4 Bass for about 4lbs, and I caught a Pickerel, and 6 Bass. 3 were keepers for about 3lbs. Hopefully I can build on this small piece of the puzzle. |
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9/28/14 - South Coast Bass Anglers Open @ Wequaquet
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 5
Views: 1833 | Wequaquet Lake - Centerville, MA
9/28/2014
Fished this tournament with my buddy Al. We had much better hopes for this, then the fishing showed us. Water temps we found were 67-68. Water was glass in the morning, and the wind built up from there. A couple hours in Al had our only keeper, maybe a 1-1/4lb Largemouth. Over then that, a bunch of shorts caught anywhere from 1' to 15' of water. Glad we weren't the only ones struggling. Congrats to winners! |
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9/24/14 - Charles River Watertown/Brighton Ramp
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 4
Views: 2974 | Charles River - Brighton/Watertown, MA
9/24/2014
Swung by here for a little while on the way home from work. Nice night with some wind. Mostly threw an inline spinner, with a squarebill mixed in. Caught a bunch of fish, but nothing big. About 10 Yellow Perch, a Sunfish, and 2 Smallie about 3/4lbs. I love that dirty water! |
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9/13/14 - MA B.A.S.S. Nation Club Vs Club Tournament @ Singletary
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 7
Views: 2785 | Singletary Lake, Millbury, MA
9/13/2014
Representing the Avid Anglers, My buddy Paul & I were one of seven teams to fish this. Cloudy cooler day for the most part, and water temps had dropped 6-8 degrees since the prior Sunday. Most of our bites came from deeper water 15"-30" on Football heads with skirted twin tail grubs and swimbaits. It was a grind of a day even though we caught a lot of fish. Lots of big Calico's, Lots of Bass 3/4lbs or smaller. 1st place had 10.66lbs, 2nd place was 9+lbs, And we had 3rd with 8.10lbs including tourney lunker. Our Limit was Paul's 1lb Largemouth, 3/4lb Smallmouth, My 1-1/4lb & 3/4lb Smallies, and my lunker Largemouth @ 4.34lbs. |
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9/7/14 - Singletary Lake
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 4
Views: 8053 | Singletary Lake, Millbury, MA
9/7/2014
With the BASS Nation club vs club tournament coming up, my bud Paul and I had planned to represent Avid Anglers. So we headed out for the an 8 hour session to look some area over. The weed kill last month certainly made this place barren. Some spots were ok, some water we eliminated. The bite was tough, although at the end of the day the numbers were there, just tough to find the quality. We each had probably 10 Largemouth, and 10 Smallmouth. Paul's best was a 3lb Largemouth. My best was a 2-1/4lb Smallmouth, and 1-1/4lb Largemouth. Our best 5 was about 8-1/2lbs. Lots of 1lbers, and smaller. Bonus fish included a Pickerel, a Bluegill, and some Huge Calico was one being a new personal best at 1lb 13oz. |
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8/30/14 - East Brimfield Reservoir
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 6
Views: 2072 | East Brimfield Reservoir - Fiskdale, MA
8/30/2014
1st time giving this place a go. I have 2 tournament there next month so I wanted to give it a look. Water clarity is better on the north side of Route 20, but I don't know if that is a good thing or not. Everything lots good, but a lot of the shoreline wood/structure is in inched of water. The kid I fished with had probably 4 keepers, including a 3-1/4lber on a frog. I caught 4 bass (Two 12 inchers, and 2 shorts), a Calico, and I had a good sized Pike (I think) swiped my swim jig right off the end of my line in one swoop...bastard. Not impressed so far, but I will give it another look in a month. |
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8/24/14 - MAFF @ Lake Cochituate - Team Beaver Meat
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 7
Views: 1280 | Lake Cochtituate, MA
8/24/2014
So a little last minute Dan from Beaver Fever decided to throw our hat into the ring for this one. Beautiful day, but team Beaver Meat's debut was a tough one. We just never found the right ones, or what they were biting. Probably caught 10 bass between to 2 of us, but only one keeper, yikes. Even the Pickerel bite was a little slow, haha. Random catch of the day, while fishing over by the Dam in North Pond, I caught a Rainbow Trout...On a spinnerbait...in 3 feet of water...that was close to 80 degrees...It was probably bigger than any of our Bass...haha. Congrats to the winners, and congrats to my boy Vinny and his partner James on 2nd & a Lunker! Good job guys! Ken, and Scott nice job running the tourney, and on 3rd. And despite the outcome, thanks Dan, it was good to fish with you. We will get them next time. |
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8/14/14 - Lake Boone
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 5
Views: 2287 | Lake Boon - Hudson, MA
8/14/2014
One of the rare times I get out of work early during year. Met up with Chuck for some afternoon bassin'. Headed out of Boone to make easy on us. On the water at about 2:30, and off by about 7:30. Nice day overall, with some wind in the mix early on. Chuck gets a 2lber on a frog quickly. A short time later I get a couple 2lbers, and a Pickerel on a spinner bait. Then the bite slows. I find a 1-1/2ber, and a 1-1/4lber later on but nothing better. Probably 12 Bass for each of us with the best 5 at about 9lbs. A couple Pickerel, Perch, And Sunnies in the mix as well. Pave It! |
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8/9/14 - 8/10/14 - MA B.A.S.S. Nation State Team Fish-Offs
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 7
Views: 2159 | Ticonderoga, NY - Lake Champlain
8/9/2014 - 8/10/2014
Day 1 (6:30am-3pm) - Paired with Larry and his 20' Procraft. Nice Rig, and fun guy to fish with. We start on a spot that he has confidence in, mostly for froggin'. Just before we get into the main froggin' area, I bring my 1/4oz Boag Hog Bait Swim/Grass Jig past the out edge/alley way of the mat and get hammered! Big swirl and Bass smashed it! Fight it to the net, and in the boat would be my biggest of the day, a 3lber. In the next hour, and a couple passes through the same spot Larry gets a couple nice 3+lbers on the frog. I was stuggling with the frog, so made the change to the rage frog. I one point I had a bass swipe the rage frog 7 times in a row. Just too small to get though the mat effectively. Finally I do get one to take it. More grass than fish, 1-1/4lber in the box. We try another spot, and it not really giving us anything. Sun is high in the sky as we are near a pontoon boat. 1st skip way under, pick it up, feel weight, but it drops it. 2nd skip to the other side of the motor, pick it up slower and the line it moving, yank it out of there for number three, 1-3/4lber in the box. Give the 1st spot another look, bite is slow but Larry manages one more out of there. Number 3 for him is 1-1/2lber. We run a couple of my spots after, and on the spot a couple kayakers are right where we want to fish in this small cove. And of course, one of them lands a 2lber in front of us. I get a pike...next spot. Larry has a massive blow-out on his buzzbait, and fights in for a couple minutes, but in comes unbuttoned. Fought like a Bass, but we didn't see it. Bummer. It's getting later in the day so we keep working down the shoreline. Larry is throwing toward the bank with the frog, but off the opposite of the boat toward the channel the mat is a little more sparse and in a little deeper water. Out comes the Swim Jig again, Bam, 2lber in the box for fish number 4. Another couple Pike too. With about a half hour left we had our way into a wind blown cove with some more nice sparse mat in the back. About 2:45 Larry gets into one on the Buzz Bait. About a 3lber for his 4th fish. It destroyed his buzzbait though. He says" Keep fishing, we got about 10 minutes, I'm pack some of my stuff up". So with the wind I'm chucking the spinnerbait, 5 minutes late I get into number 5, another 2lber to finish out my limit. End of day 1 weigh-in, had my in the top 20 with 10.05lbs. It was a fun day, with now a new friend to fish with in the future.
Day 2 (6:30am - 2:30pm) My day 2 boater Eli had top 5 with 14+lbs on day 1 (His Co-Angler had 12+lbs on Day 1). So we started the day positive. He had two fish very early. But the wheels fell off after that. Nothing the rest of the day...ouch. Both frustrated at days end wondering what happened. With my zero on the board, I fell to 37th overall out of 54.
Despite the outcome, it was a great learning experience overall. Yes, there are some things I would have done differently, but also some things I would do exactly the same. Looking forward to another chance at it next year! Congrats to all who made the team, especially 2 of my boys from Avid, with Johnny finishing 6th, and Al in 8th! |
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8/6/14 - 8/8/14 - Prefishing Lake Champlain (Ticonderoga)
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 4
Views: 3479 | Ticonderoga, NY - Lake Champlain
8/6/2014 - 8/8/2014
So early in the year my buddy John and I had made a plan to head up to pre-fish for the BASS Fish-offs for the 3 days prior. With how big Champlain is, we wanted to be able to cover some water. We stayed in Ti the how time for a couple reasons, better launch facilities, and cheaper than the host hotel. And even though the tourney days launched out of Plunder Bay Marina on the VT side, the host hotel was 30+mins away from there. So our 45 minute ride Saturday, and Sunday morning wasn't that bad.
Wednesday 8/6 - The original plan was to head up about 1:30am, but Johnny was having boat issues. Finally got word that the mechanic found the problem and had it finished Tuesday night. So new plan, meet and head out at 4:30am. To the Ti ramp about 9:30, and launched by a little before 10.Weather was nice all day, partly cloudy and high 70's. Johnny has a lot more time in up here, so I was glad to have him take the lead on where to try, but work as a team to figure some stuff out. Johnny led mostly with the standard froggin' ,and flippin. I was doing that too, but was also mixing in a buzzbait/rage frog. We both added the swimjig in there too. Early on my buzzbait get hit, but an average Largemouth come unbuttoned near the boat. Minutes later my buzzbait has a monsterous splash in it, but nothing. Could of been a Pike, or Big Bass I don't know. Johnny did most of the catching today. Probably 10-11lbs for a limit. I finally after playing with many color combos on my swim jig get a Bass to take it. It wasn't big, but he ate it good. Something I would keep in mind for tomorrow. We were off the water by 7:30pm-ish. Day Re-cap, It was a grind, but we picked up some valuable keys to help eliminate dead water. Time to rest up, and do it all over again tomorrow.
Thursday 8/7 - On the water by 6am, Today's weather was a little more volatile. Scattered Thunderstorms would pop up here and there. Still high 70's temp wise. All morning we were good though. Early on I get 1-1/4lb Largemouth on the swim jig, and again it absolutely ate it. Minutes later I'm on again. This time it's a good pike, 30 inches anyway. No time for pictures though, gotta find them Bass. A little while later, we get into an area that is just crying buzzbait to me. 5th cast, BOOM, 1-1/2lber in the boat. 5 cast later, BOOM, 2lb 14oz in the boat. Johnny doing he usual and putting decent ones in the boat. He had a decent frog bite going that was just avoiding me. So a little before 1pm, some dark clouds are rolling up on us, with some rumbling in the back round. We work our way out of some mats, and as we suit up in the rain gear, big flash to the north of us. Time to go, rain picks up as we screw back to the Ti ramp, OUCH! We weren't the only ones with the same idea. I jump out real quick, run up to the truck, and we pull the boat. Unlike everyone else who took off, we check the radar, and wait out the hour off storms. about 2pm we dump boat back in, and off we go. Wind had picked up a little so I rigged up a spinner bait with the same skirt color as the swim jig. Well that worked out well as a a short time later I put a 3lber in the boat. Later in the afternoon while bringing that spinner bait though the alleyways of the sparse grass mats I got a handful more with a 2lb 7oz, and a 2lber the best of the bunch. Well a new storm was starting to roll over us, Johnny finishes the day with a 3-1/2lber. Throw on the rain gear again and head back. Man, rain hurts at 60+mph! Anyway good 12 hour day as we both put about 12lb limits each in the boat. TIme to rest up, and do it all over again tomorrow.
Friday 8/8 - Today was the "official day of practice". Beautiful day, sunny and high 70's. We planned to head north to look at some Smallmouth spots for emergency back-up plan. We launch at the Crowne Point Bridge. Wow, what a waste. Smallie bite was dismal! From 6am-12pm all we had in the boat was me with some White & Yellow Perch, and Johnny had an 11-1/2lb Drum. About noontime was start heading back south to check out around the Crowne Point area. On the way we run into our buddy Al who had blown his motor a mere hour earlier near mud island. Yikes, throw him a tow rope and pull him for an hour and 45mins back to the Bridge. We pull John's boat, and then drive Al back to Plunder Bay Marina so he can get his truck & trailer to get his boat out of the water. Oy! Brutal day! Today told us one thing, don't waste our time up north. After registration, we got back to the hotel about 7pm, worked on our gear for the tourney. Time to rest up, Day 1 starts tomorrow.
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8/3/14 - Singletary Shootout
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 8
Views: 2763 | Singletary Lake, Millbury, MA
8/3/2014
Myself and some of the boys got together for a little shootout at Singletary. 7 boats total on this mostly overcast, but nice day overall (besides the random rain shower early on). I fish with my bud Fred today. He has fished some MAFF tournies as team Dusty Ranger, Well today we were team Dusty Meat. The day started pretty quick for us, with Fred putting 2 Smallmouth in the boat in about 10 minutes. We had a small limit in about an hour. After that it turned to more of a grind, although we were able upgrade our limit a number of times. Lots of fish of many species on the drop shot today. Smallmouth. Largemouth, Sunfish, Perch, Pickerel, I got a Catfish, and Fred got some monster 1-1/2lb Calico's. Fred had caught probably caught 10 Largemouth, and another half dozen Smallmouth while I had 10 Largemouth, and 1 Smallmouth. Our best 5 were Fred's 3lb 11oz Largemouth Tourney Lunker, a 1lb 13oz Smallmouth, 1lb 11oz Largemouth, 1-1/2lb Largemouth, and I chipped in with a 1lb 10oz Largemouth. Our 10lbs 5oz gave us 2nd place just 1oz shy of the Happy Hookers 10lb 6oz Win, and just ahead of Northshore with 10lbs 1oz.
Here's the results:
1. Happy Hookers - 5 Largemouth @ 10lbs 6oz - 2lb 7oz Big Fish
2. Dusty Meat - 4 Largemouth, 1 Smallmouth @ 10lbs 5oz - Tourney Lunker 3lb 11oz Largemouth
3. Northshore - 4 Largemouth, 1 Smallmouth @ 10lbs 1oz
4. Beaver Mouth - 5 Largemouth @ 9lbs 11oz
5. R & R (Ray & Grandson) - 5 Largemouth @ 7lbs 12oz - 1lb 15oz Big Fish
6. Why Not Now - 3 Largemouth, 2 Smallmouth @ 7lbs 4oz - 2lb 8oz Big Fish
7. Basstards (w/Evan) - 5 Largemouth @ 5lbs 14oz
Fun day guys. Great job too as everyone had a limit! |
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7/27/14 - Lake Cochituate
Avg. Rating: 5
# Reviews: 9
Views: 2058 | Lake Cochtituate, MA
7/27/2014
After botched plans on both sides, Chuck and I decided to give Cochituate another go. Our previous visit at the end of May was rather dismal with a limit about 5-1/4lbs, and we were looking for a major improvement on that. Weather started overcast, but nice. Then came the couple hours of steady showers, followed by some wind. Water temps were in the 78-80 range. We caught alot of fish today. An hour in we had a limit for about 7lbs, and by days end we have in at about 10lbs. No kicker fish though. A mix of Jigs, Craws, Swimbaits, Dropshot, Chatterbait, and Spinnerbaits all worked today, some better then others. We each caught about 20 Bass. Chuck better fish were a 2-1/2lb, and a couple 2lbers. My were a couple 1-3/4lbers. Lots in the 1-1/4lb to 1-1/2lbs, and many of those had skinny bellies. All in all it was a fun day. And thanks Chuck for the use of your extra rain poncho! I guess I shouldn't blatantly disregard the weatherman, haha. |
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