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Chicago, IL
Jay's Tournament Notebook
2000 Classic Summary
07/24/2000 - I recently fished the 2000 Bassmasters Classic in Chicago on Lake Michigan and its tributaries. I didn't fare too well, but my lessons learned may be something you can incorporate into your bass fishing to make you a better fisherman. I always make sure I learn from my shortcomings and failures. Learning from our mistakes is how we grow as fishermen. The lesson learned was a simple one about bass behavior in the summer and fall.
I was in third place after the first day of the 2000 Bassmasters Classic, just 4 ounces off the lead. I took all my fish the first day off of 2 rocky points that were adjacent to one another. I fished in a 1000 acre lake off the Calumet River. This backwater lake was shaped like an hourglass, with a narrow channel separating two big open water areas. Due to the winds pushing water around on Lake Michigan, the water sloshed back and forth through this narrow channel, creating the only current in this backwater lake. A perfect summer/fall bass locale loaded with baitfish. The two rocky points I took my fish from the first day were on either side of this narrow channel.
I pulled into the righthand point of the narrow channel about an hour into the day the first day of the tournament. I promptly caught 3 keepers in about 20 minutes on a shad colored Berkley Power Grub on a 1/8 oz. jig head. I stayed on the point for the next 2 1/2 hours without adding to my creel.
Meanwhile, another competitor was on the lefthand point of the narrow channel, catching bass like crazy. I watched him cull 7 or 8 times, though they were small bass. When I saw that, I started thinking that all the bass were on that left hand point, which they were that day. I started loosing confidence in my point.
About 11 am the guy on the lefthand point left to go somewhere else. I still have only 3 keepers at this point, so I gave his spot about 30 minutes to rest, then I eased on over to it. I caught two big ones off this lefthand point, then culled with a third, smaller keeper.
Then the guy who left comes back to the spot, and I feel obligated by proper etiquette to give the spot back to him. So I ease back over to my righthand point and fish another two hours without a bite. By now I am thoroughly convinced that the fish are on the lefthand point and not my righthand point.
The whole area is getting heavily fished by the Classic anglers, there are at least 20 boats fishing this 1000 acre lake. I end my first day by catching a nice bass out on Lake Michigan on the way back to weigh-in.
Though I am in 3rd place after the first day, as I prepare for day two, I struggle with whether or not to return to this area. After all, I only caught three bass off my right hand point, and only weighed in two of them. The left point is obviously the best spot, but I won't be able to fish it because that other guy will be there, and proper etiquette demands that I let him have it. After all, I sat on my spot and watched him catch 15 bass on his point the first day while I caught 3 on my point. The rest of the area is just covered up with tournament boats and there is little room to move around in the area.
So I decide to not return to the same area, but rather to sample some other areas. I had found some good largemouth in the Chicago River before the pre fishing cutoff, and I really was figuring that the tournament would be won on Lake Michigan anyway, and I had some good water out there to fish.
So the second day I changed water. A risk anytime to be sure. There is an old axiom in tournament fishing that you should never leave fish to find fish. I was taking a gamble, but I had confidence in my other areas. That second day I had 5 keeper bites, but lost four of them and only weighed in one fish. I made no mental errors, it just wasn't meant to be. If I land all five I am in second place after day 2, so I at least feel good about the fact that my choice of new water was good.
Now for the kicker. Another competitor filled my absence on the righthand point where I fished the first day, and the fish came up schooling midday. He caught a nice stringer, one of the best of the day. Ouch. The guy on the lefthand point also weighed in a nice bag of fish, a couple pounds heavier than his first day catch.
Since I needed 15 pounds to win on the final day, I changed water yet a third time and fished Lake Michigan all day in attempt to secure the mother lode. Never happened. I had two small bites and caught them both.
And what was the outcome on the ol' righthand point where I fished the first day but abandoned? That same competitor who caught them there on day 2 weighed in the heaviest stringer of the day on the final day and finished in second place. Ouch. Ouch!
Needless to say a hindsight is 20/20. This key area had all the ingredients of a great summertime spot: current, bait, flat points, and deep water. There were alot more bass using this area than I realized. A high percentage of the bass in this 1000 acre lake were using this spot for the summer. On day 1 they were mostly on the lefthand point. They were apparently milling about the area chasing bait, and more of them swam to the righthand point on days 2 and 3 of the tournament. This is typical summer bass behavior. They school up and move outside on main lake structures.
Remember that next time you fish a lake for multiple days during the summer. Patience in one area may be rewarded handsomely if you can find the summer home of the wily bass.
Till then, God Bless.
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