Open Tournament Kent Lake 10-20-07 (tomorrow)

[McCarter]

Would have posted this sooner but the guys putting it on just got back with me last night so now i have the details.

$100 team ( i think that includes big bass, but dont quote me)

5 fish limit

East Boat ramp.

7:30 am - 3:30 pm

I would get there round 6:30 - 7:00 am so you can get signed up and everything.

McCarter himself

[Bender]

I'm curious to see the results, will you post them on here? I was out there for a bit on Sat. & Sun. and couldn't really put anything together except dead TM batteries with all that wind!

[McCarter]

The wind never stopped but the fish were still biting pretty good.  Jeff and i got into them pretty quick.  I hooked into our first keeper about 15 minutes into the day on a jig.  Before that fish hit, i had a few other pops on the jig in a different area.  An area known for big fat brown fish.  But as it goes, for the past few weeks anyway, there was nothing more than a good solid thump and then the fish would drop it.  Jeff had a nice one explode on a topwater shortly after we put our first in the box, but the fish didnt get it.  We worked hard on our main spot becuase it has been producing some very large fish for Kev and I lately.  We knew they were there cuz they kept coming up to smash minnows.  They showed little interest in the jig, chomping it hard but never getting it in there mouths.  I tried switching up to a jerkbait and had a fish load up pretty quickly but he pulled free.  After that, all activity ceased. 

We tried another area once the sun came up and started warming some shoreline rock, but never got a bite.  Jeff tried casting out the other side of the boat into deeper water and hooked into a goodin right away.  Halfway back to the boat, the fish let go.  But not long after, Jeff hooked into another that went 13.75".  And then another that was short by a hair. But then he hooked into a good keeper.  It was about 2.5lb largie.  I casted my jig out to the area and started pulling it through the weeds.  A fish thumped it hard, but another swing and a miss.  This pattern would repeat itself many times throughout the day.  I swtiched up to a spinnerbait and after a few casts had another good tug but nothing on the other end.

Once we figured out what the fish were holding on, we repostitioned the boat and gave it another try.  The bite slowed but we still managed to catch some fish.  I finally hooked into another one on the jig.  It was a small keeper but a keeper none the less.  We gave that area hell but couldnt really get anything going.  It was hot and heavy for about 15 minutes with both of us missing bites but now it was like someone hit a switch.

We returned to our starting spot and tried it one more time.  No go.  This was disappointing to say the least.  It is now about 9:30 and i notice the trolling motor isnt doing a very good job of holding us in the wind.  I had it cranked up to 60 at this point and we were barely holding our spot.  The winds are now steadily blowing at 25 mph and we were in a somewhat protected area.

After a short discussion, we decided to abandon this spot and look for some big bites to fill out our limit.  We headed over to a rocky shoreline in hopes of finding some smallmouth on the feed.  When we got there, i started throwing my spinnerbait with alot of confidence.  It was a textbook spinnerbait scenario.  Wind, Partly cloudy, shallow water with weeds and rock, and the shoreline was getting pummeled with waves.  I got about 4 casts in before the trolling motor completly crapped out.  We only had enough juice to slowly turn the nose of the boat.  We had to give up on the area and look for something that was sheltered.

At this point, i am insane with anger.  It seems like everytime i get a good rythem going on Kent lake, something happens.  I dont think there was anyone more excited about the heavy winds that day than me, but as it goes, it ruined me in the end.

I decide to hit my money spot.  It looked like it was mostly protected from the high winds.  I thought if we could just get on top of it i might be able to hold.  I was wrong.  As soon as we got there, we started drifting off it.  We only had time to make a couple cast before we were floating over dead water.  What a complete cluster kuff.  Now we have to scramble.  We have 3 in the box and none are huge.

We found an area that was protected good from the wind.  And it was an area i have been playing with lately so i had high hopes of getting a couple decent spinnerbait fish.  We worked our way down the shoreline, letting the little bit of breeze push us as i used what little bit of trolling motor we had left to steer us.  Nothing.  Not even a short fish.  We moved and found another area that was without wind, but again no fish.  Next we let the wind push us straight up the middle of a small bay, again nothing.  I figured there would be some fish holding in there chomping on minnows.  Gerald Swindle said there would be on an old spinnerbait video of his i bought.  How dare Gman lie to me.  My anger level has since peaked and i am now on the way down.  Im trying to make the best of the situation.

Our next move was to a protected point.  I probably could have postitioned a little better in the eddy and given us more time to fish this spot, but i put the nose out a little too far into the wind and we were now blowing out into the main lake.  I started casting a crankbait out along the channel edge.  We were drifting straight down the middle of it.  I finally hook into a fish and it feels like a good one.  I get it up and its a pike.  We continued floating upsteam without another bite.

With about 2 hours left, i suggest we try hitting a known crankbait spot.  We worked it as hard as we could with no trolling motor and never got a bite.  But we were coming up on a smallmouth hang out so i used the last bit of trolling motor to angle us closer to shore.  A few casts along a rocky shoreline and no takers.  We decided to just keep drifting.  My confidence level was at a new low.  I dont remember what i was thinking about, probably beer, but definatly not fishing.  All the while blind casting and reeling like a trained monkey.  Out of nowhere, Jeff yells out "Good Fish".  I awake from my no fish induced coma to see a decent smallmouth close to the surface.  But more interesting is the pod of fish chasing him.  About 6 or 7 more all 3lbs or better ( i seen at least one giant in there) are all hot on his trail.  Jeff yells for me to throw something to them but i already have the net in had.  I didnt want to lose this fish.  We had lost enough already.  We put #4 in the boat, our biggest of the day and now there is a glimmer of hope.  We set back up and start casting. 

We drifted quite a ways down the shoreline with no more action.  We knew there was a pack of active smallies in the area and some of them were huge.  There was only one thing to do.  We cranked up the big motor and headed back to the area.  Once we set up, we started burning baits through again.  I asked Jeff if he remembered exactly where we were when the fish hit, he did so we paid extra close attention in that area.  Just as we started blowing out of casting range, my lure stops like it hit a brick wall.  My rod loads up and i can tell its a good one.  I yell to Jeff that i got him and then my line goes light.  ANother missed fish.  We now have about 35 minutes left and both of us feel like we can pull this off.  We idle back up and start another drift.  No bites this time.  We idle up again, but again no fish.  We do this about 5 more times but could never find that pack of smallies.

At the weigh in, it almost looked like we had a chance.  No one was getting bags and a couple guys we talked to only had 2 or 3 fish.  I knew Tony got them, i watched him put a nice one n the boat.  But for a second i though we might be able to squeak out 2nd place with our meesly 9 lb bag. 

As i suspected, Tony got em.  He weighed his first for 14.45 lbs and a big fish of 3.55lbs.  We weighed next, 4 fish for 9.6 lbs with a big fish of 2.59lbs.  The next inline had a limit of smallmouth but they were all small.  One of them even commented that they could beat us with there 5, but the scales dont lie and stopped at 10.28lbs.  Another bag was weighed in for 13.5lbs.  After that it gets pretty hazy.  My anger level came back.  I dont have a problem with losing.  But i know we could have done a lot better.  Always something.  If it isnt broken line, its dead trolling motors.  I need to find better excuses, these ones are getting old.

Either way, it beats working.  And i think we both eliminated a lot of water for next weeks chiller thriller.  Would have been nice to have things go our way tho, just to see how we would have done.

McCarter himself