What happened at the Grand?

[SODY]

DJ, I had to do the family reunion and could not make it, I see you did 19th and Brian Clark cashed a check on the co-angler way to go guys, but what is up with these weights. We were at the Grand last weekend with FOM and it took over 15lbs to win our little club. Did they lock it into the Grand only, was it windy and no one could run? Folks enlighten me , I know it can be tough but WOW! Details give me details!!!

[djkimmel]

Don't know - I thought it was a decent weigh in - top 20% boaters (18) had over 10 pounds. Winner had over 16 pounds. It was rough out in the big lake according to several anglers (including the one with no cowling - didn't apparently know it was gone until he got in or something) I talked to - the usual complaints about sore backs and such. I didn't run this year for a change.

[Slipkey]

Congrats, Brian!  I should have stayed at the weigh-in a few minutes more to applaud when you picked up your check.   

Congrats to Dan and all of those who finished in the money.  Wish I could have put #5 in the boat to join you.

[djkimmel]

Yeah - then I would have been 2 out of the money!!! Actually, that would take me out of the 'kiss my sister' category, wouldn't it?

[j690]

I was in the boat that lost the cowling we didnt know it was gone till we pulled into white .broke one rod one spinning reel im still sore ,ive been in alot of nasty weather but not at that speed I was in a sx 190 skeeter ran fast but really hard, happened to cash a check with 2 fish weighing 6 pounds 17th place . ps we called on the cowling $1500 to replace !  ouch!

[Slipkey]

Yeah - then I would have been 2 out of the money!!! Actually, that would take me out of the 'kiss my sister' category, wouldn't it?

Oops.  Sorry.  When I posted that, I had a brain cramp and forgot about you being in the 'kiss your sister' spot.   My bad.   

[REEL_MAN]

Several of us went to White and Lake Mich. wasn't that bad. My Ranger is only 18 Ft. and going up I drove 33mph and we didn't take any hard hits. I just ran close to shore. Got the White just after 8:00. On the way back the lake had rollers and ran back 38-42 mph. The only rough area was out in frount of Muskegon due to the boat traffic.
White lake was good, not as good as practice but the fish were still on my spot. Had the limit and started to cull by 10:00. ended up with 11-15 lb for 7th (first top 10). Caught everything on wacky 5" senko's

REEL_MAN

[SethV]

Couple things made it tougher than the FOM.  FOM is a team trail, this was Pro-Am.  The other is that we were post-frontal with an East wind. 

Overall, the fishing was not too bad.  We just did not have the big bites like we had found in the weeds in practice.  I ran to my first area with good weeds in 10' and never had a bite.  Ran to my 2nd area, a bit deeper and quickly limited out and culled about 5 times.  My co never could get his 5th, but he still ended up 2nd on the non boater side and also took over the points lead.  Between us we had 23 lbs of fish for 9 fish, not too bad for the Grand.

Seth

[bshaner]

Umm.. nothing happened on the Grand.  It all happened north of the Grand.

I gambled on a frog bite and lost.  They were just slapping it and not committing like they had in practice.  I had a great practice.  No, I had an awesome practice.  I just didnt get it done tourney day.

I would never want to fish the Grand again but the fishing was not as bad as I thought it was going to be based on what I had been reading of past people's experiences.  I caught some real quality fish all week.  I kept moving and didnt burn up the spots during practice.  I caught a 5 lb 2oz mid week which really gave me some confidence. 

I could blame it on the blue bird skies after a front and truth be told that did hurt the fishing a bit but my lack of weight was self induced.  I missed several good bites and had 2 fish come unbuttoned near the boat.  I wasnt using heavy enough line and rod for flipping (had them rigged up with my frogging stuff) and did not set the hook hard enough.  No one to blame but myself really.

Good job Seth on a great showing.  I knew  you'd do well.  I wish I could have been up in that area. 

B

[djkimmel]

REEL_MAN - I missed your high finish. Guess I got too much sleep that morning...

Seth - isn't there an interesting father-son story you could tell???

[SethV]

Interesting story?  Well, we finished 1 oz apart in 6th and 7th place.  I loved the fact that I BEAT him by 1 oz...until I realized he won the $500 for Ranger Cup.  Yes, I run a Ranger.  Yes, when Modrak finished behind me last year and took MY 500 I promised to register this year.  I did not.

Ok, how bright am I?  2 years in a row, the 500 bucks goes to the guy behind me??!???  Wonder if i will register for Ranger Cup next year?  Naw, it won't happen 3 years in a row....no need to sign up.

As for the fishing, one would think we fished the same area.  We both made a long run, but that is about all our days had in common.  I started out on weeds, similar to my Dad but I could not get bit well.  With only 4 hrs of fishing time, you gotta get it done!  I started to run and gun and ended up on a small-but-lots of fish spot.  I knew I would not get a big bite in there, never have, but it is good for lots of 2 lbs fish.  I had a limit in less than an hour and culled 5 times, for ounces.  My co-angler was getting bigger fish, with his first 3 fish all 3 lbs.  He picked up a 4th squeaker with 10 min to go.  Too bad he could not get one of the 2 lb fish I was chucking back.

Good day, nothing much torn up (at least ON the water, right REEL MAN    ) 

My co's have been doing great this year.  At LSC, Mike finished 4th and took over the points lead.  At the Grand, Rick finished 2nd and took the points lead!!!  I think the back of my boat works better than the front.

Seth V

[Team houston]

As a co-angler I was with one of the few that headed South. The big lake was not to bad. We only hit hard a few times when the boater tried to push it. After 4hrs we each had lost a keeper. Stopped someplace on the way back and I managed 2 and my partner broke off another keeper. We had the whole place to ourselves and could of each had limits if we started there. Came back to the river and with 15 minutes left lost another keeper on a crank. So both lost fish cost me a check, never fails. Thats fishing.

[SODY]

Thanks for the details guys, I felt like I was there.  Sounds like it was a typical BFL at the Grand, I was a little concerned because if you look close you will see a couple very good locals did not do so hot and a few of my buddies struggled , but as the last post says thats why we call it fishing and not catching

[motocross269]

I am still sore..My boater ran us up to white lake and I don't think he ever lifted off of the throttle all the way there and back, but it gave us more fishing time.  I'm just glad it wasn't my equipment.  The water looked great at White we just didn't get the bites that we needed.
I helped my self out some in points, and gave myself a shot to make the top 40 with the up and coming Erie tournaments.  That is all I really could ask for. 

[motocross269]

Dan K,,Weren't you the one that only fished the tournament because we needed more boaters? Then you go up there and almost cash a check.....Sandbagger.

[dashaver63]

Motorcross, same here. We ran up to White and I really almost blew my chance. I had a REAL good one on but lost it when my knot pulled through. I knew I shouldn't have retied Friday night after being up for almost 24hrs. Oh well, lessons learned. Bite for us was almost nonexistant. I think I had a short or 2. I think that guy that lost his cowling went by us as did one other boat on the way over. It hurt just watching. We finished up in Muskegan where I got my keeper. I too was pretty beat up Sunday but was fine for work Monday(go figure). I moved up to 26th so hopefully I won't fall flat the next 2 on the River and I should be in. Keep on coming moto you're almost there. You can still make those couple points! You know it was bad when the highlight of our day was seeing that Stealth Fighter go over head. THAT WAS COOL!!

[Slipkey]

You know it was bad when the highlight of our day was seeing that Stealth Fighter go over head. THAT WAS COOL!!

That wasn't such a bad highlight! That Stealth was awesome!     Are you sure it was a fighter, though?  It looked big - like a bomber, but I'm no expert.

[motocross269]

Your sitting well dashaver...We just need to make sure we bang them at the last two Erie tourneys...Especially the super tourney.  Maybe if I get in we can start a Co-angler car pool to Ft Madison...Who's in??

[djkimmel]

Maybe I should go to every BFL with 2 hours practice time total for the year on the water, never pick up a rod either in practice... and sleep in an extra hour or so???

Probably didn't hurt that someone took pity on me and pointed me in some right directions... and I saved a lot of time and soreness by not running this year.

[Cy]

Did any of you guys run up river,past 68th Ave or to Lake Michigan Drive?  I want to know if it is runnable with water levels being down.

Thanks,

Cy