Great Lakes Bass Fishing Forum

Tournaments => FLW Fishing => BFL Bass Fishing League => Topic started by: dashaver63 on August 08, 2009, 09:09:55 PM

Title: St. Clair BFL
Post by: dashaver63 on August 08, 2009, 09:09:55 PM
Awesome job Brian on the win today! Congratulations!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Durand Dan on August 08, 2009, 09:24:32 PM
Is that correct, less than 100 boats for this tourney?
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 09, 2009, 05:33:38 AM
Thanks....It felt great...I am kind of kicking myself for not going as a boater that was my original plan then it started to look like they were going to be short Cos and the weather was looking pretty nasty...My boater didn't get a chance to prefish much, but he was great to fish with and was open minded enough to try one of my areas...Believe it or not it was kind of a secondary area for me and I was surprised that it held over 21 pounds.....
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Durand Dan on August 09, 2009, 05:53:24 AM
Congratulations!!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Dan on August 09, 2009, 09:56:51 AM
Congrats to the GLB BFL guys. I see several names I recognize. I also see Balog on top on the boater side. Did he fish Erie or St. Clair or is that a silly question?
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: dashaver63 on August 09, 2009, 10:01:09 AM
Also see Brian Shaner moved up to 19th in the points. Keep it going!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 09, 2009, 10:36:08 AM
Brian Shaner and Seth Valentine are both having great years...I don't know if I have missed anyone..
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Dan on August 09, 2009, 06:09:17 PM
Anybody have any pictures that they would send me that I could put up on my blog. I didn't fish the BFLs this year, but have been keeping up on the standings.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 09, 2009, 07:11:12 PM
I don't have anything..My wife was going to come down to the weigh in, but the rain kept her away....Alot of people left early to get down to the Wonderland registration..
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: SethV on August 09, 2009, 08:34:26 PM
Man, it was BAD out there.  I mean really, brutally rough.  I was 16 miles directly SE of Metro when I started back to weigh in.  The wind was blowing straight out of the SE, so I had to go directly with the waves.  We caught some good fish right near the end, so I stayed a little too long.  Gave myself 29 minutes to run 16 miles in some stupid huge waves.  No other boats in sight for most of the run, I know why.  A wave took my trolling motor pedal off the deck, tore up the base of the trolling motor mount - but that is not the big deal. 

Problem is that I speared a couple waves, not bad, just clipped them.  I flipped the pumps on and kept going.  After I clipped a few more, I noticed water gathering on the floor and turned around - both pumps had quit.  It was raining all day, both worked fine all day.  What are the odds both pumps die?  Well, I hit a wave rather hard, and the glove box lid popped open, stuff started flying so I stopped.  Got everything back in the glove box and went to take off, the boat would NOT get on pad.  Water was up to the bottom of the seats, no way to get it going.  I sent my co angler to hang off the nose of the boat (in 4, 5 and 6  footers....) and it still would not get up on pad.  When I would accelerate, the water would shift to the back and I could not get leverage.  So much weight in the boat that I had to raise the jackplate all the way, and i was still getting water over the top of the cowling - stalled the 250 ProXS twice.  I tried to get it up, swerving, everything, for 6 minutes.  Finally with 3.5 miles to go and 5 minutes before check in, I pumped out the livewells.  That combined with my co angler hanging off the front was enough to get the boat on top.  Problem was, I could not stop.  He bounced down the deck to the floor and we were off and running.  Made it back with less than a minute to spare.  No dead fish either!

With all of the water, I have water in my jackplate reservoir and my on board charger no longer works.  I also broke the center seat latch (done that several times before).  I spent the afternoon today drying stuff out.

When I looked at the pumps, one was clogged with grass/weeds.  The other had a hole in the outlet tube and was dumping most of the water right back in the boat.  The hose had rubbed on a screw and picked a great time to let go.  2 bad pumps on the same run - what are the odds?  My last boat had 3 bilge pumps, this one will also have 3 next time out.

Seth
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: TCook on August 09, 2009, 09:04:43 PM
Congrats Brian, very impressive!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: djkimmel on August 09, 2009, 10:38:09 PM
Congratulations Brian. I see my friend Ben Felton finished 8th. Lots of GreatLakesBass.com members in the money for this one! Joe, Mike, Heath, Seth, Ryan, Dave and anyone who's real name I don't know verses a screen name here - great job!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: skeeterman190 on August 09, 2009, 11:22:57 PM
 Way to go Seth sounds like an adventure..im still wonderin how 800 dollars later i had to fish in Metro.. i was the smoker..haha nice job kickin arse and takin names this year.. my buddy brians leadin so id like to see either 1 of ya win this
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: MadWags on August 10, 2009, 06:54:21 AM
Great job guys!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Team houston on August 10, 2009, 07:21:01 AM
Seth you didn't give us an answer on what the fish did?  Those were definetly wave spearing conditions on the way back. We took several as well. That rain just did not stop, steady from about 9 and still going when I was driving home at 3:45.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: LAPORTE on August 10, 2009, 08:21:23 AM
Last year I fished that same event as a co out of a 18.5 foot boat.... man that would have sucked this year.... Seth, Nice job getting back in. I'm sure I would have had to change rain gear after a trip like that in my boat..lol

DL
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: t-bone on August 10, 2009, 11:30:45 AM
I fished as a co-angler in a Legend boat and we ran all the way to Grosse Isle in the morning. So we took the hard ride in the morning. Coming back wasn't too bad but it was a single console boat and I took two waves in the face that felt like a heavyweight boxing punch. We went all that way to fish largemouths. My boater caught 3 and I caught two. I've never shivered in August in the afternoon but I can attest it did happen. I was about as drenched and soaked through as possible. Rain gear didn't really help much other than to hold a little heat in. I saw one co-angler that fished in a t-shirt and shorts the whole day. I don't know what he was thinking.

Seth - Nice job making it back. Thank god Ranger makes a tough boat. After all the damage, I'm glad you cashed a check. Seems like you'll need it for the repairs.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: DDBethke on August 10, 2009, 12:58:48 PM
Congrats Moto! that was one tough day to pull out a sack! ;)

Seth, that lake gets scary when your Outboard stalls in that stuff! I had a similar problem in the Detroit river open... it turns out I was missing the rubber gasket @ the cowl latch on the side of the motor.

For me, that was one of the most frustrating "weather" and "fishing' tournaments! I just felt bad for my Co-anlger s he only got one little guy :-[

Great job guys!
Duane
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: dashaver63 on August 10, 2009, 01:16:55 PM
I had a similar return trip last year at the St.Clair tournament. My boater waited about 10 minutes too long to start heading in. We were out off the mile roads and had just started in when a monsoon hit. I couldn't even look up. He speared a couple waves and competely filled the boat. The bilge pumps were pumping as hard as they could but couldn't keep up, plus the motor developed a miss and he couldn't get on plane. We made it in with about a minute to spare. That was about as nervous as I have ever been in a boat.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: TCook on August 10, 2009, 01:40:54 PM
It was another strange and frustrating week for myself and the guys I traveled with. Skeeterman had boat issues all week and had to use a loaner to practice after he was told he would get his boat back and fixed on friday, a big thanks goes out to McCarter for his generosity. We found two areas with big fish friday and things were looking up for Phil. But when it rains it pours and the bad luck continued because his oil leak was not fixed in fact it was worse when he got it back. Maybe you guys remember that smoke screen as we all idled out of the channel. So Phil only had one option and that was to stay in metro and fish for bucketheads and he pulled out 4 little guys and some how kept his sanity and got his needed points. Must have been mentally taxing when thinking about the giant smallmouth he could not get to that we found the day before.

Our other buddy that traveled with us Jason Fowler fished as a Co and drew a guy I will not name because this story is too embarrasing for this character. The first thing he told Jason at the meeting was you got a good draw man, I am expecting 24 pounds tomorrow so be ready to use the net a ton. Well it didnt take long after the monsoon began for this guy to throw his $1000 a set rods and reels accross the boat and cram himself in the rod locker and wine about the weather. Shortly after I was told he said he was done with this BS and they were heading in this was at about 10:30 AM and they both had fish!!

Now my day, I fished with Brandon Beil and cool guy who guides on st clair, although did not practice all week. We started on the mile roads much closer to shore than we found them in practice and cought dinks and small keepers mostly on slow presentations and a couple keepers on deep cranks, and I jumped off a 3 pounder that really ended up costing me a good check. As soon as the clouds thickened and the monsoon started his GPS went out for the remainder of the day so we were forced to fish blind for about 6 hours. He opted to fish new water and just see what we could come up with. After half way through the day I commited to cranking and put the tubes and dropshots up, I just felt that we were drifting to fast to work them properly. I went through about 7 diff cranks and various retrieves until I finally started getting good bites which happened with about 45 min left. I had a 4-12 and a solid 4 within 20 min until we had to leave so to little to late to put a bag together. That squeaker ended up shrinking on me and I had to toss it back so no check for me this time around. This week brought a whole new meaning to when it rains it pours because it was just problem after problem all week and I never been that wet in my entire life, and I too was shivering out there it got cold in that wind.

Again congrats to Brian on the win and Seth on 2nd overall so far in the standings and everyone else who cashed.

T
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: McCarter on August 10, 2009, 03:39:23 PM
Sounds like you guys caught a touch of the McCarter Curse after using my boat.  I should have warned you to wash your hands after each day on the Skeeter.  Theres only one way to break the curse but it involves a mountain in Scotland, a sacrificial oxen, the roots of a rare red pigmy bush, and a gaelic witch doctor named Liam.  You guys will have to spend some time wearing skirts too.  We call them kilts.  They are nice on hot days.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: skeeterman190 on August 10, 2009, 10:24:23 PM
 Well ill start off with u Brian.. You are a true friend.. Thank u. as far as the curse..haha thats a good one.. not sure i can rock the kilt deal but ill try if it makes things better 4 me right now. Im proud to be associated with u and Nemesis.. a top line company that takes customer satisfaction to another level. They will take care of u no matter what to make your next trip sucessful and enjoyable. The rest of my post might not be so enjoyable other than this to congradulate.Motocross,Seth,and Tim on a good tourney. If you know me personally im prolly the nicest guy you'll ever meet(this is 4 those that dont know me) What happened to me this week is almost unbelievable.. i had motor issues.. i made alot of calls and couldnt get my boat in anywhere around here or even remotely close to here. I live in NW Indiana by Chicago. i shouldve just asked Brian to use his boat again but i knew he wanted to get that side imagining on it.figured if i dont have trim ill just run the river back and waste sometime but w no trim cant run the waves that were out there sat. It was just fun using 2x4s to get my boat in the water..Then i get it in and it fills all of Metro w smoke and oil..seriously if u smoke and put a cigarette in the water you prolly couldve lit the whole bay on fire.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Firefighter Jeff on August 10, 2009, 11:09:12 PM
Congrats Moto.  I think you fished with my brother's buddy. I think his name is Curtis.  Larry was telling me tonight how he and Curtis did in the tourney.  I guess you are the co-angler he was talking about.

Sorry to hear about the boat problems, Seth and Phil.  Guess it was a tough time for boats AND tow vehicles.  Larry and Curtis drove up together at 4am Thursday.  I guess Curtis made it as far as Monroe and his tranny gave out.  Guess he had to rent a truck and such.  My brother Larry had problems with his Avalanch on the way home.  A 4 hour trip took 6 1/2.  He thinks part of his catelitic (SP) converter broke off on the inside and was blocking most of the exhaust.  He made it MOST of the way home.  He had to have a buddy come get him and his boat.  Tough to be a tourney fisheman at times....huh?
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 11, 2009, 12:42:27 AM
Yep that is me...Curtiss was great to fish with.....I felt kind of sorry for him after all he had been through, but he was willing to do whatever it took in bad conditions to keep us on fish..I wish the heck we would have known that he would have been only ounces away from cashing a check we would have stayed on our one spot a little longer...I was a little uptight with the weather being the way it was to get in and get weighed,,,,
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: djkimmel on August 11, 2009, 01:03:06 PM
Read Brian's great firsthand story about his big BFL win and huge sack of Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass at this thread: http://www.greatlakesbass.com/forum/index.php?topic=6140.0

My favorite Lake St. Clair tube - the Xtreme Bass Tackle Formula G3 (http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Xtreme-Bass-Tackle__W0QQ_sidZ135997350QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14?_pgn=3) does it again!!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Firefighter Jeff on August 12, 2009, 12:07:13 AM
Quote from: motocross269 on August 11, 2009, 12:42:27 AM
Yep that is me...Curtiss was great to fish with.....I felt kind of sorry for him after all he had been through, but he was willing to do whatever it took in bad conditions to keep us on fish..I wish the heck we would have known that he would have been only ounces away from cashing a check we would have stayed on our one spot a little longer...I was a little uptight with the weather being the way it was to get in and get weighed,,,,


Yes, Larry told me Curtiss was pretty bummed out.  Larry tried to tell him that sometimes that just happens where the co-angler gets the fish, that he should be proud of the fact he was on fish and could have easily won himself.  I don't blame you Moto for worrying about the weather with those fish in the well.  lolol  Congrats
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 12, 2009, 12:55:46 AM
Quote from: FF Jeff on August 12, 2009, 12:07:13 AM
Quote from: motocross269 on August 11, 2009, 12:42:27 AM
Yep that is me...Curtiss was great to fish with.....I felt kind of sorry for him after all he had been through, but he was willing to do whatever it took in bad conditions to keep us on fish..I wish the heck we would have known that he would have been only ounces away from cashing a check we would have stayed on our one spot a little longer...I was a little uptight with the weather being the way it was to get in and get weighed,,,,


Yes, Larry told me Curtiss was pretty bummed out.  Larry tried to tell him that sometimes that just happens where the co-angler gets the fish, that he should be proud of the fact he was on fish and could have easily won himself.  I don't blame you Moto for worrying about the weather with those fish in the well.  lolol  Congrats


On the big water it is fairly common for Cos to outfish the boaters...If you look at the results, weights are pretty even between Cos and boaters...Unlike spring bedfishing I really don't think there is much of an advantage..I would say the biggest one though is the guy that knows the area has already patterned the bite.
If a boater pulls into an area that he has worked for a week or better he has a pretty good idea what the fish there will bite...That gives him an advantage over his Co in most instances....
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: dashaver63 on August 12, 2009, 04:31:02 AM
Thats true Brian, but if the co pays attention to what the boater is doing, he'll do fine. That happened to me last year when I fished with Mike Trombley. I didn't have the weight he did, but I had enough to finish 6th.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 12, 2009, 04:51:20 AM
I remember that....I am sure you picked up alot fishing with him....That is one of the benefits of going as A CO...
I would sure like to draw one of the good Crankbait guys when the Crankbait bite is on...
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: DDBethke on August 12, 2009, 11:16:55 AM
I agree the "St. Clair" crankbait bite is still a mystery to me?
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: djkimmel on August 12, 2009, 01:16:46 PM
I love the crankbait on St. Clair. Some of my biggest weights have come that way. You'd be amazed how often though you get out the crankbait and the person you're with thinks you're weird for not sticking with a tube. I often try both on spots to see what seems to be the best that moment.

The thing about the crankbait is it will often get you the big bite. I recall a co-angler years ago saying, "you should put on one of these finesse worms - I'm killing you..."

He caught 2 or 3 times as many bass as I did. He had just under 13. I had just under 18. I was happier at that weigh in. ;D

Sometimes they don't hit it good or very slow. Other times, they hit it better. Just like any other tool. I mean lure. I use the crankbait to find the schools a lot and switch over when it seems the crankbait bite slows way down or is off. I can stay awake and alert tossing a crankbait. I can barely stay breathing dragging a tube. ;D
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 12, 2009, 03:04:06 PM
I've installed a Scotty Rod holder on the deck of my boat...It is removable so doesn't bother me during normal conditions...
Alot of times when I am practice fishing I throw a Crank and drag a tube with the Rod holder....If the bite is decent I will bend the hook over on the tube.  It helps to give me confidence that there is fish in the area and to keep trying the crankbait....
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Firefighter Jeff on August 12, 2009, 08:35:59 PM
Can you guys give me a little heads up on what you mean by crankbait??  That term can include a lot of different things.  One time a fisherman heard I had done well with a pop-r and he called that a crankbait ???  LOLOL  Anyway to me a crankbait is either with or without a lip on it. Actually lipless to me is a Rattlebait. Ummm and are these crankbaits deep divers or what .... if you don't mind.  I only get to St. Clair once or twice a year, but woul like to put it in my memory bank.  lol  Thanks   Jeff 
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: djkimmel on August 12, 2009, 09:56:28 PM
Fat Free Shad family of lures, Bomber 6A, Bomber 7A, Bill Norman Little N and Baby N
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 12, 2009, 09:57:37 PM
To me it means...DD22s, DT 10s, and Strike king 5 and 6s...(on LSC)

But I am a mile away from being confident with cranks so my opinion really doesn't mean a whole lot...
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Firefighter Jeff on August 14, 2009, 12:06:46 AM
Thanks Dan.

Quote from: motocross269 on August 12, 2009, 09:57:37 PM
To me it means...DD22s, DT 10s, and Strike king 5 and 6s...(on LSC)

But I am a mile away from being confident with cranks so my opinion really doesn't mean a whole lot...

  LOLOLOL  Too funny Brian.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: motocross269 on August 14, 2009, 01:30:37 AM
Quote from: FF Jeff on August 14, 2009, 12:06:46 AM
Thanks Dan.

Quote from: motocross269 on August 12, 2009, 09:57:37 PM
To me it means...DD22s, DT 10s, and Strike king 5 and 6s...(on LSC)

But I am a mile away from being confident with cranks so my opinion really doesn't mean a whole lot...
LOLOLOL  Too funny Brian.

Sometimes the truth hurts...LOL..
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: TCook on August 14, 2009, 12:24:23 PM
I too am not a crankbait expert but from the time we spent on St Clair last week I would say you need to play around with different baits and different retrieves until the fish clue you in to how deep in the water column, what crankbait, and how they want the retrieve. There is no magic crankbait, different conditions I would think calls for a different crankbait presentation on any given day out there. I will tell you this though always make very longggg casts, you want that crank in the target depth for as much of the retrieve as possible (I would almost spool my chronarchs on every cast). This is something I am determined to figure out on that lake and I cant wait to get out there again in a couple weeks to expand on what I learned last week. Good Luck out there!
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: MIBassKid on August 14, 2009, 01:17:28 PM
Since we are on the topic of crankbaits.  I never know what color of crankbait to use on St. Clair and inland lakes for that matter, so I don't usually throw them.  Im not asking for exact color combinations. Unless you want to give them to me  :D I just never know what what colors to throw when. Do you throw different color patterns during certain conditions, seasonal patterns etc. I have a whole box full of them but like I said, I don't throw them usually probably because I have zero confidence in them. Thanks in advance.
-Luke
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: TCook on August 14, 2009, 01:36:35 PM
Heres how I tend to make my choices


clear water: natural colors that match the forage you are trying to mimic

muddy water: bright colors usually chartreuse light blue back

local inland lakes: I opt for bluegill or shad patterns (bluegill around docks and breaks or weed edges, shad patterns when targeting bass feeding on balls of bait)

St Clair: Dont have enough days cranking out there to be that helpfull but I been throwing natural colors in sunny conditions and white or white/chartreuse in cloudy and windy conditions with some success.
Title: Re: St. Clair BFL
Post by: Firefighter Jeff on August 14, 2009, 05:35:22 PM
Quote from: TCook on August 14, 2009, 12:24:23 PM
I too am not a crankbait expert but from the time we spent on St Clair last week I would say you need to play around with different baits and different retrieves until the fish clue you in to how deep in the water column, what crankbait, and how they want the retrieve. There is no magic crankbait, different conditions I would think calls for a different crankbait presentation on any given day out there. I will tell you this though always make very longggg casts, you want that crank in the target depth for as much of the retrieve as possible (I would almost spool my chronarchs on every cast). This is something I am determined to figure out on that lake and I cant wait to get out there again in a couple weeks to expand on what I learned last week. Good Luck out there!

   This makes sense Tim, I'm not sure if I have the patience to figure it out.  lol