I fished the season opener, Future Pro Tour, Northern Region with team partner Jeff Wright today . The Future Pro Tour is a great place for any weekend angler that is wanting to step up his game and give team tournament bass fishing a try. You can check out their website at www.futureprotour.net. I really enjoy this circuit.
We blasted off from Pleasure Cove Marina with 51 degree average water temperature, and very muddy conditions in the the creeks and anywhere else there was water run off. We were also facing cold front stormy conditions, so that told us that we should fish slow, that meaning dragging jigs, carolina rigs, dart heads, shaky heads, and even drop shots. We started our day up north just pasted Big Island, we were on good quality fish here during our pre fish and water quality was good, about six feet of visibility. Sticking to our game plan, I was dragging a football head jig rigged with a brown twin tail spider grub, while Jeff went with the shaky head rigged with a six inch green pumpkin worm. We fished this area from seven to twelve without getting a bite, even though we were marking a lot of bait balls and fish. With our weigh-in at three o’clock and feeling the urge to get the skunk off the boat, we made a run to the trolling motor only area, behind Big Island. Here we fished the same technique and caught the first fish of the day, a thirteen inch squeakier. Still having confidence in our first spot, and thinking that the bite may be turning on, we decided to make the run back to our first spot. It wasn’t long there after we were rewarded with a 3 pound small mouth on the jig; my only fish of the day. Finally the fish had turned on, and Jeff caught fire with the shaky head and boated the rest of our limit. A 12.71 pound bag, placed us top twenty five. The big fish of the tournament was caught on an Alabama Rig, a 9.1 pound large mouth. The two biggest bags 19 plus came from the North Main Lake throwing crank baits in shallow water. In hindsight it was a fun day and always great to see old friends. So good luck to all you anglers and don’t forget to take a kid fishing when you can. – Bob Tyler