Cass - First Event Info

[Revtro]

Hey all,
We did our best to set the pairings at the meeting based on who we think is attending.  We figured 6 boats with 6 non-boaters.  That'll make for about a 6 hr. event with Dan spending on hour on each boat working with the anglers. 

Arrival: 8 am, Dodge Park #4
Lunch: After the 3rd round, we'll shore up at the picnic area for lunch and talk about how the day is going.  So bring a lunch with you.
Our Guest: Please donate some $ to give to our special guest that day for taking the time out of his schedule to tutor us and guide us all day.  If you're a rider, please make sure you offer your boater some $ for gas.  Yeah, I know it seems a little more expensive to be a non-boater, but not really.  You're boater is paying for fuel to tow, fuel for the boat, oil for the boat, etc.  So it all works out in the wash.  Fishin' aint' cheap.
Pairings: I think Jack is going to post the pairings...not sure, so check back! 

See ya'll Saturday!

[dartag]

i should be floating around Cass saturday morning if you have any questions flag me down and ask.  white Ranger 185 with a 150 Merc.

steve smith

[Revtro]

We'll be easy to spot.  With the DOL events we do, the boats tend to stay together in an area.  If you spot us, don't hesitate to come on over and introduce yourself.  Looking forward to meeting you.

[fiker]

Yeah we won't be hard to spot.  Especially if I hook into a fish.  Just head towards the Mike Iaconelli immitation.  (just kidding). 

Yeah stop buy and say hi.  It's all in fun, and the more the merrier.

[Bender]

Stop by, I have heard lots of Lola stories from Fred (from the proving grounds). Unfortunately our Schnauzer doesn't like the boat. I'll be in the white Stratos 285.

[SethV]

Hey Guys-   Did you put me on the list?  Boater or non-boater?

Seth

[Revtro]

Hi Seth,
I'm not sure if you're down as a boater or not.  I think we had you as a boater.  I emailed Jack and asked him to email or post the pairings. 

[yukonjack2]

The pairings from the meeting as I have it thus far:

Boater/nonboater

1) Seth  /  Eric (am only)
2)Tom  /  Bob
3)Shane  /  Rick
4)Brain  /  Daryl
5)Jack  / Sensei Steve
6)Chris  /  Mike Schoemann

Seth - Eric is only there in the am.  You can go with one of us in the afternoon, or fish alone - your call, but would like to make sure you get to fish with Dan in the am.

Jack

[SethV]

I am still trying to make sense of all of the stickers you need to get into the various boat ramps.

For Cass, it is in Dodge Park, which is a state park, correct?  If I buy the $24 motor vehicle permit to enter the park, do I need to buy something else for the boat launch?

Then there are other metro parks, where you have to buy a motor vehicle and a boat permit and then there are the DNR ramps which just require a boat/truck permit.  Do these overlap at all with the state parks??

I suppose 1 sticker would have been to simple....   

Seth

[fiker]

State parks, and their respective boat launches require a State Park sticker on the tow vehicle only. ($24 annual)

DNR boat launches, require a Boating Access Sticker on the tow vehicle only.  ($24 annual).

Metro Parks (Kensington, Metro Beach etc.) require a sticker on the tow vehicle, and one on the boat trailer.

And then there are the various county, city, and townships that have their own thing. 

[dartag]

figure  75  bucks for stickers on the windshield and another 24 on the trailer mast if you get the metro park sticker.  and people complain about the liscense fee going up.  they say fun cost money...  catch a 4 pounder and it all is fine...

[Revtro]

Maybe I should get into the sticker business.   

[Langer]

My brother Eric will not be attending anymore. He took the opportunity to go into work in the morning to make some extra money, sorry for any inconviences. See you all bright and early tomorrow.

[MIBassKid]

Im amazed! No one has even posted a report on how we did! Eager to see who caught what! Sucks i couldn't be there...next time!
-Kid

[Bender]

Well, I didn't do so good. Didn't find any on the main lake. Only one in the morning on a stick bait poured by Brian McCarter and Mike. I think Seth and Jack got into them. Seth found them out on the main lake with a trap and I heard Jack got into them back in the canals once the sun came out later in the afternoon. Not 100% sure on either account, but that is what I heard. Hopefully they will post up.
Thanks again to Dan, it was a pleasure to have you on the boat, wish you could have stayed all day.
Today was a little better on Kent, but still tough.

[fiker]

It was great.  It was cold in the AM but it was nice to be out.
While waiting for the group to assemble, I walked down to the dock and through a fluke out into the lake.  The very first cast I had a hit. 
It was to be my last hit of the day.   
Oh well, it was great being out on the water once again. 

[Langer]

It was a great day, the wind was annoying buy nothing you could do about that.  I got one small smallie first thing in the morning off a jerkbait, worked a couple nicer fishing along a break wall in front of a monter house for a while with no luck. Picked up a nice 2 pounder LM Just inside the canal leading back to the ramp, was planning on working that whole shore around to the launch, but the batteries in the trolling motor were about dead, on high speed the wind was still blowing me backwards. My dad finished the day with one pike. After the morning clouds and cold blew out it was a nice day.

Well after back to back days of fishing my face and neck are sun burned, but it was all worth it to be back out on the water.

Thanks to Dan for his help out there.



Most of the crew discussing the days strategy.


Boats and Seth ready to go.

[Revtro]

The Day in Perspective:

Dan was great as usual.  Early on, we found a huge LM.  We worked her, left for a while and worked her some more.  She just wasn't gonna eat.  Too bad because she was a nice one.  Saw many others in the warmest water we found but those really shallow fish had lockjaw.  Then at lunch Seth (THE MAN apparently) put us onto a pattern that he had working.  We couldn't quite figure it out, but later he stopped by and gave us a few specifics.  Wouldn't you know it, after a few tosses, we finally got one, but by then the day was near over.  Cudos to Seth for figuring it out early and having a good day. 

From what I hear Dan also caught several.  Well, what did you expect?  He always seems to catch em.  That's one reason we ask him to host a DOL each year.  At the end of the day I hear tale of Jack getting into a bunch of LM in very shallow water.  Good going Jack at figuring that one out.  I'd have never thought to do what you were doing, at least not this early in the season. 

Shout out to McCarter...thanks for coming out.  Also thanks for turning us on to some things.  It was great to hang out with ya as usual. 

Oh yeah, we also had the chance to meet Dartag (Steve) out there.  Ok, Steve now I'm gonna make you come out with me and teach me what you were doing the first half of that day.  When you told me you already had 10 by 11am, I wanted to crawl into my bilge and die of huliliation.     Anytime you have a day free, I'll bring the boat, pay the gas, and even take you out to lunch afterward.  I know where you were fishing because I often fish that same area, but clearly you have a technique that works on Cass and I'd love to learn from the master.  Yes, sensei teach me.  Grasshopper want to learn!

My Partner for the day:
I got to fish with Bob all day.  He was extremely patient.  The day was SLOW but he seemed to enjoy just being out.  Trust me Bob, bass fishing can and will be much better as we go.  You were a great partner to have on the boat for the day.  I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed getting to know you a bit.  Lookin' forward to many more enjoyable days with ya out on the water.  We'll have to get out on Clair soon to redeem ourselves though.   

All in all we couldn't have asked for better weather.  It was a beautiful day out there.  It was sure better than the constant cold rain we had on Cass last year...fo shizzle.  I plan to get out on Cass again this week or weekend to see if I can't figure out what I was missin' last time. 

Dan, thanks again for being a great host.  As always, I learned something from you and you were a fun guy to have on the boat.  Join us for a day anytime!!!  Looking forward to Kent.  Hopefully the fish will be easier to catch.

[BassPlr]

It was sooo nice to finally be out!  I had an awesome time fishing with Rick!  He's a real nice guy.  I couldn't buy him a fish though.  I got one in the morning on one of Wayne's Green Craw tubes.  He would have measured and went about 1 1/2 pounds.  Later on in the day I caught a small one on a jerkbait.  Rick had a nice follow which looked over 2 pounds chasing his lipless crankbait.  He just couldn't get him to commit.  About noon I got a nice 23" walleye that went 3-12 on the same tube as earlier in about 6 feet of water.  No one can believe I threw it back. LOL  I've been getting razzed at work over it too!  We ran out of time but I would have liked to fish the main lake around the first series of drop-offs with blade baits and see if our luck would have changed any.  Oh, and my gps took a poop.   After talking to Eagle, I can get a new one for $157.  I can also purchase an extended 2 yr warranty for $60.  Not a bad deal I guess.  Worse things could have happened.  All in all I had a great time!  It was nice to see everyone!  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!

[SethV]

What a cool group EBA is!  This was my first event with the club....really cool how everyone shares with each other to help everyone learn and catch fish!

This was my first time on Cass, but I found it a fairly simple lake to read due to its small size.  Going into the day, I decided to focus only on the main lake smallmouth.  I decided not to look in backwaters or canals for largemouth...why I am not sure.  The largemouth thing worked well for Jack, so that would have been a good strategy.

With the water at 50 degrees, the smallies were starting to move up, but were not locked on beds yet.  I started out alternating between a pointer and a rattlin vibe.  After about 10 minutes, first one was in the boat on a vibe.  The wind was kicking up, so I ran across the lake to the calm side for better visibility.  I picked an area of a breakline swing near a large flat.  Sure enough, that was the deal.  Picked up 3 on my first pass through, with one about 3 lbs.  Rather than turn around for another pass, I decided to check out another area that looked like a similar breakline.  As I was working down the break, there was a small ditch cutting across the flat.  Loaded with smallies.  I picked up a couple more, but had spooked most of them.  I planed to return later.  I also picked one off of a bed here with a tube.  I went around the corner into a small cove and worked on a 4+ for about 20 minutes, but she would not play.  I then moved out on a flat near where we started and picked up 2 small cruising fish.  At that point, it was time to meet back at the ramp for lunch.

After lunch, Mike decided to hop in with me.  I had never checked out the west end of the lake, so that is where we headed.  I covered a ton of water, but never found the right kind of bottom.  We moved a lot, and fished most of that end of the lake with the t/m on high.  I got 1 fish and had enough.  Ran back to where I caught them really good in the morning.  They were on the inside edge of the break in the morning, now they were gone!  I knew they would not go far, so down the break we went.  Sure enough, we found them about 100 yards away.  I caught 1, then ran over most of them and they scattered.  Circled back around on the flat and got another one.  It was time for me to head to the house, so I dropped Mike off in another boat and wished them luck.

Good day on the water...thanks to all of the EBA guys!

Seth