2010 Dk Open Report.

[1javelin]

If you want a world class fishery, then why don't we go North a little more, like Elk and Torch, or Charlevoix.  I've fished Leelanau that time of year and it was amazing when you catch it right.  We caught 25 pounds the week before the tournament, and lost one in the high 6 range atleast right at the boat.  Then tourney day we took 3rd with over 18 pounds.  Takes 20 to win there, and it's not the best lake up there!!!  I'd drive 3 hours there to do that, but that puts you East side guys up to 4 hours or more, which means a hotel, which means you won't come.  Several of us Westside guys got hotels for the East.  And to be honest, I come for the camaraderie, not just the fishing.  The fishing is the icing on the cake, you learn who is who and can finally put a real face with a name, and you spend time with guys that eat, sleep, breath fishing like yourself.  No tournament is better than the DK's in that respect.

1jav

[MadWags]

That would be a special trip and I would not miss it!

[dartag]

Dan you plan it and they will come.   Only fished that side of the state twice as a co in the bfl's.   never have caught a keeper over there.  guess it would be fun to try again.  at least at White lake we could go out and troll for kings if the lake is calm.  still have lots of salmon tackle somewhere in the garage. 

any lakes with a campground?   

[1javelin]

That would be a special trip and I would not miss it!

Does that mean DK Open or not we'll go?  I think we may have a plan in the making!!

1jav

[Revtro]

Nother random thought...   I got to thinking that it might be that guys are broker (is that a word) in the fall.  I know I sure am.  But with the excitement being high in the spring, some of us might be more tempted to spend a little more cash to be able to travel and stay in a motel.  Or possibly, we just get too busy to be able to travel in the fall??  I know that as the summer progresses, my schedule gets pretty unmanageable.  Maybe some year we can experiment with switching the Eastside event to the fall and the Westside event to the spring.  I wonder if you'd see a flip flop in attendance??  Just thinking out loud. 

I agree with you DK BTW about the entry fees.  I personally would like to see the DK stay a "fun" tourney without any of the controversy that can come with bigger tourneys.  I was just speculating on why Eastsiders aren't traveling to the West side tourneys. 

[Firefighter Jeff]

Capt. Charlie and I chatted briefly about heading over to the Fall Open.  I guess it depends a lot on the date.  We'd more than likely do an overnight deal, so a cheap hotel nearby would be a plus.  Heck, maybe make it a couple nights and scout the lake the day before.

Hey Jeff,

   I agree with your thought process.  There's no way I'd have driven the 4 hours the day of.  Tim and I knew we wanted to fish St. Clair on Friday and just had to decide if we wanted to foot the bill for the room a second night knowing I had to leave by 11am.  I was fortunate that I already had those three days off of work.

                Jeff

[Firefighter Jeff]

The question I have...is what does it take to get more East side guys to come over here and fish?  Leave your boats at home, car pool and come fish with us!  If nothing else you will have fun.  Ask Dartag....we had a riot fishing last Saturday and only caught 10 fish but we laughed our butts off the entire time.  Mikeszr800 and I had a good time last year.  The fishing was tough but we had fun and will fish together again. 

I have made some great friends through GLB and continue to do so, but you will never have the chance if you don't get out there and meet them.  I think all of you that don't participate in these events or other events are missing out on a great thing.  I love to bass fish, I love to tournament fish and I love to talk fishing with people.  We all have that in common here and it is a great thing.

I'm not really sure why this is so.  I've been willing to travel out to Lansing, but as an Eastsider, I'm not sure I'd want to drive 3 hours for a West side DK.  And strangely enough, I'm asking myself why that is???  If I'm totally honest about it, I guess it's possibly because I have a world class fishery 5 minutes away from my house and on any given Saturday, I'd rather be there. 

But then again, I really do like hanging out with GLBrs and really enjoy the DKs.  Hmmm.  Now ya got me thinking.  I think the reason it's different for East/West siders could be that a lot of Westsiders look very much forward to fishing such an amazing fishery as St. Clair, while a lot of Eastsiders don't necessarily dream of fishing Ovid or White etc.  I'm not saying I know for sure that this is true, I'm just speculating. 

So what can we do to get more Eastsiders to a West side DK?  I honestly do not know.  Perhaps a higher entry fee so that there is more of a tourney-level payout.  Or maybe keep it in the Lansing area rather than so far away that we'd have to drive 3 hours.  I'm really not sure.  All I know for sure is that many of the West side guys I talked to were excited to fish St. Clair, so I think the fishery is a big part of the draw regardless of how much we all love fishing with and meeting fellow GLBrs.  Just some random thoughts on the topic.

Rev, I think you might be on to something.  Guess we'd have to ask the West siders ( guess I'm a southwest sider being from the South Bend area) if the quality fishing was the main reason they went to the Spring open.  As for me, if the Spring open had been at a differnt lake, I still would have come.

                        Jeff

[Firefighter Jeff]

Dan you plan it and they will come.   Only fished that side of the state twice as a co in the bfl's.   never have caught a keeper over there.  guess it would be fun to try again.  at least at White lake we could go out and troll for kings if the lake is calm.  still have lots of salmon tackle somewhere in the garage. 

any lakes with a campground?   

LMAO about the salmon fishing.  I have actually come up with a system to run two downriggers off my bassboat.  I've been out a few times and caught a couple fish  !!

[Mike S.]

Dan you plan it and they will come.   Only fished that side of the state twice as a co in the bfl's.   never have caught a keeper over there.  guess it would be fun to try again.  at least at White lake we could go out and troll for kings if the lake is calm.  still have lots of salmon tackle somewhere in the garage. 

any lakes with a campground?   

LMAO about the salmon fishing.  I have actually come up with a system to run two downriggers off my bassboat.  I've been out a few times and caught a couple fish  !!

Funny you say that, Jeff.  I happen to have a fabbed aluminum rack that bolts to the back of my boat, and lets me run 2 down riggers, and 2 rods with dipsy's off the sides.  I've never used it, but I have it.  I have an uncle who has a boat set up for salmon, so I just go with him.  5 footers in a Bass Tracker isn't my idea of a good time.

[Firefighter Jeff]

[/quote]Funny you say that, Jeff.  I happen to have a fabbed aluminum rack that bolts to the back of my boat, and lets me run 2 down riggers, and 2 rods with dipsy's off the sides.  I've never used it, but I have it.  I have an uncle who has a boat set up for salmon, so I just go with him.  5 footers in a Bass Tracker isn't my idea of a good time.
[/quote]

Mike, did that rack come with your boat/??  Just curious as to why you have it if you go with your Uncle.  I have a simple set-up, but I worked it out that I use turnbuckles to attach it to the cleats on the back deck.  I didn't want to drill any holes in the boat.  I'll try and round up a pic of it in action.  lolol 

   Oh, and 5 footers aren't any more fun in a 19 foot Stratos.  Hence it has to be little or no winds before I go out.  I went last year out of St. Joe with two footers which was no problem, but they were covering 5 foot rollers!! I could hardly stay standing.  When it got warm I did too and had to head in !!!!  lolol  Sorry for the off-shoot topic. 

[Firefighter Jeff]

  Here is a pic of my wife and the rigger set-up on my Stratos.  Yes it was July in Ludington and my wife is bundled up like it's November!!  We had strong North winds and it brought really cold water in close.  With a little breeze it does get crisp.  lol