Philipsburg Bassmasters: Lake Erie Tournament (June 18, 2011)

Well, Adam Hurley and I hit up Lake Erie for my club tournament back in June. I have never fished Lake Erie so I was pretty much going in blind for the day. I did a little research and had some ideas on what I was going to do and what areas in the bay that I was going to try.
We got on the water around 6:00 and we headed to our first spot. On my very first cast I hooked into a 14.5inch smallmouth. I knew it was going to be a great day. I ended up catching 4 fish from my first spot and managed my first keeper of the day. It was a 15.5inch smallmouth.

We then decided to try another spot after the spot slowed down a little bit and fished the wall leading into the lake. Adam caught a bunch of fish on a senko and I managed a couple more. After the tournament was about halfway done, I decided to run back to that wall because I knew it would start producing for us. Luckily, I was right and I landed my 2nd and 3rd keepers in a matter of about an hour. I culled twice during that time and figured I had about 5.5lbs in the boat between my 3 fish.

With about 20 minutes remaining in the tournament we decided to fish in front of the Perry monument. On my tenth cast or so I threw a tube out and hooked into a fish I thought was barely legal when I saw it jump. When I got it to the boat, Hurley netted it for me and I upgraded my 1.5lb smallmouth I had to a 3.5lb smallmouth! After that we headed to the weigh in and I ended up in 3rd place for the day with 7.47lbs and my first ever check. I have a feeling this is going to be a good year for me (except I will be missing a couple tournament due to getting married! haha I will update on my club tournament on the Allegeny/Clarion River soon.

Thanks for reading!

Quick Update..

Ever since I caught my first bass this season, it has been on!!! Here is an update of all the places that I have fished thus far.. what worked and what didnt work...

STATE GAMELANDS 151 (Slippery Rock, PA)I have been catching fish like crazy at the ponds on SGL 151.. Them fish are hungry and are eating everything. I have pictures of some nice bass that I will post later. It is nothing to go out in an evening and catch over twenty small fish.

Foster J. Sayers Dam
I fished at Sayers back in May with Freddie Burns. It was the first time that I have had my boat out since replacing the steering cable and a bunch of other stuff. The boat ran like a champ and I ended up catching 5 bass. They were difficult to pattern but I figured out that they were in the backs of creeks to avoid the muddy water from the wind and other pleasure boaters. I found them all on man made structure and used a Watermelon Red Senko and Purple senko to land all of the fish.

Curwensville Lake
I have fished curwensville lake 3 times this year. Once was from the shore and twice were from different friends boats. My first time of the year I was fishing from the bank with my family and ended up hooking into this chunky bugger. It was next to the beach in some wood and put up a heck of a fight. EJ didn't know what to think of "his first bass" haha.

My next trip out was with my buddy Jeremy and his fiancee, Bri. We fished the lake from his Jon Boat and both Jeremy and I had about 5 to 6 fish a piece. Most fish were pretty small but I ended up catching a couple decent ones. Cabin Creek spider jigs were the ticket for that day. I even caught a small musky on a cheap Matzuo Crankbait.

The last time I was out at Curwensville Lake was on an evening that Mary Beth and I had originally planned to fish from the bank. When we pulled in, my buddy Joe Quick and his wife, Mollie, were out on the lake in his new boat. They pulled in and picked us up. On my first cast I hooked a 3lb largemouth that had a big belly on her! I ended up catching about 6 bass that evening and all of them had some nice size to them! Mollie and Joe caught a couple 3lbers as well! What an evening!

Colyer Lake
I went out to Colyer with Freddie Burns for the first time since I was in college. We had a good time fishing it. We each caught a couple Pickeral and I ended up catching a few bass as well. All my bass were caught on either craw papi's, senkos, or a popper.

Stevensons Dam (Sinnemahoning, PA)
My dad and I took my boat out on the day of Mary Beth's Bridal Shower May 29, 2011. We were out all morning til about 1 o'clock and I ended up catching around 12 bass or so. Dad ended up catching around 8. All of his fish came from Junebug Senkos and mine were a mix of Junebug and Watermelon. It took us a while to get the big ones biting but we ended up catching a few dandys!

PICTURES WILL BE ADDED LATER!