Bass Tournament Season 2009 Recap

2009 was a year of highs and lows for me in my bass tournaments. The season started off a little late for me as I was plagued with engine trouble most of the spring. However, on May 16th I got my long awaited start at the BFL Great Lakes Division in La Crosse, WI. The night before I found out that I'd be paired with Jim Tomsovic of La Crosse, and he was on fish. The only thing that worried me was the forecast called for 35-45 mph northwest winds and highs in the 50's... not exactly ideal weather. I was optimistic though, and we launched around 6:30 A.M. and headed up to Pool 7 and Lake Onalaska. We were greeted with 6 foot high swells on the lake which ruined his best spot. The high point of the day came when Jim boated a 5.5 pound largemouth and after I netted it for him I fell over the side into the river. That made for a long, cold day. Right after I dried off I caught my only keeper of the tournament a 4 pound 1 ounce largemouth, a good first fish, but only good enough for 72nd place.

June 7th found me on a fairly new body of water, the Madison Chain of Lakes in Madison, WI. This was a team tournament that I fished with my cousin Dan McCarthy. We had spent a week prior to the tournament practicing and figuring out the lake, and felt pretty confident going into it. We caught our limit of 5 bass pretty early and upgraded all the way to 13.78 pound bag good enough for 2nd place. It was a pretty good way to redeem myself.

Next up was the second stop of the BFL Great Lakes Division, on the Winnebago system in Oshkosh, WI. On June 20th we launched and my boater and I were headed for Lake Winnebago. I had been on this body of water before, but I wasn't very confident as it's a tough place to fish. I kept a positive outlook and tried my best make do with what my boater gave me. I caught 2 small keepers right away flipping a jig around docks, but it was getting hot out and the bite was shutting off. I almost cracked, but then I caught a 3 pound largemouth behind my boater to jumpstart my day again. I fished hard the rest of the day adding one more keeper to my bag and then my Winneconne bad luck bug bit me again. My boaters boat broke down at 2 P.M., 30 minutes before we had to be back to the ramp. We ended up getting back too late and zeroing all of my weight. I couldn't believe it, I was heartbroken as I felt I had enough weight to cash a check, and put me in the top 40 for regionals. Sometimes things just don't work out the way you envision them.

The very next Sunday I was back at it again. Putting the gutwrenching tournament from the weekend before behind me, I went back out that Friday and Saturday in order to practice for a team tournament in Harpers Ferry, IA. My usual partner Glenn Walker was with me for this one, and we knew we were going to place high. We were on fish. Tournament day rolled around a cold front had come in and the wind picked up, so we knew we had to adjust and slow down and thoroughly work our areas. We found a sand bar that was loaded with smallmouth and largemouth. We caught 5 bass for a total weight of 12.90. I wasn't sure this was enough, but as it turned out the cold front had dropped the weights considerably. We won the tournament, and it was my first ever win. It erased all the heartbreak from the week before, and I couldn't have been happier. It's funny how you can be the lowest of lows one day, and all it took was 7 hours the next weekend to experience the highest of highs.

July 18th was the next tournament, and the next stop for the BFL Great Lakes. It was being held on my home water of Prairie du Chien, WI. I was mad about the last BFL so I decided to fish on the boater side. Practice was ok, I had located several schools of fish, and decided that my best chance for the win, was 30 miles upriver near Lansing, IA. Once again tournament day came with a cold front blasting through, so I immediately knew it was going to be tough. My first 2 spots were dead as they were open water weedbeds that shifted when the wind switched to northwest. My 3rd spot proved to be the best as I caught 4 of my 5 on it. It was just a rock bank with a few weeds on it. I lost two 3 pound or better smallmouth on that bank, which really killed me. I had a spot back down on Pool 10 by Prairie du Chien, but unfortunately we were held up by a barge in the lock and dam at Lynxville. I fished around the dam for about 2 hours and ended up snagging my best fish! I knew I didn't have enough, and scrambled once we got through to get to my last spot. With 15 minutes left we fished the spot quickly and my Co-Angler boated 3 keepers which were his only fish of the day. I ended up with 9 pounds 13 ounces in 52nd place. Those 2 big smallies I lost proved to be the difference.

The last stop for the season was August 20th in Prairie du Chien. The Grant County Bass Club 4-Man Team Tournament. It's more of a fun tournament that we always end the year on, my usual partner Glenn Walker and his brother Greg fish in one boat and my cousin Dan McCarthy and me in another. Historically we always finish high in this tournament and 2009 was no different. We caught our limit of 12 bass for a total of 28 pounds. We led the tournament all the way until the last team weighed in. Fellow Prairie du Chien anglers Jeff and Sam Ritter's team edged us out for the win. We weren't too disappointed and we took home some cash as well.

Overall, 2009 was mediocre for me. I got my first win, but there were also a lot of things I could improve on in 2010. Hopefully the wins will come more frequently this year, I sure could use the cash!