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Soggy and Froggy at Lake Bemidji
As competition began Thursday morning at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship, parents and girlfriends walked gently on wet sand where college anglers beached their bass boats prior to takeoff. Umbrellas went up. And puddles formed on the lawn surrounding sponsor exhibit tents at Paul Bunyan Park on the shores of Lake Bemidji.
After three tough days of practice, marked by light winds and mostly sunny skies, anglers grumbled about crowded fishing, an over abundance of northern pike, and the struggle to catch a 5-bass limit.
Change is good, so these best-of-the-best college anglers are welcoming the chilly 59-degree air, rain, and steady cool north wind.
Spencer Lambert, a junior majoring in agriculture business at the University of Louisiana Monroe. — “I’m hoping the rain and clouds will make the topwater bite last a lot longer today. Our first day of practice was our best day of practice, but that area is really crowded, so we’re not going start there. Today is kind of a new day to try to figure things out.”
Hunter McKinley, a senior majoring in advertising at Murray State in Kentucky. –- “Yesterday was better with the cloud cover, so I’m really, really, hoping this change in weather is only going to make things better. As long as this north wind doesn’t blow too crazy, we might have a better day today.”
Luke Parlow, a junior majoring in economics at Missouri State. – “I’m kind of welcoming this rain and wind because our practice was so tough that I’m counting on this major weather change to hopefully makes things better.”
Tyler Rivet, a senior majoring in petroleum technology at Nicholls State in Louisiana. – “This rain and wind can’t hurt us because we never really figured things out in practice. But my three favorite lures are a frog, a frog, and a frog – and this is frog fishing kind of weather. If I ever make it to the Bassmaster Elite Series – it’ll be a frog that helps get me there.”
Rivet is right; frogs should feel at home on this soggy first day of competition. And hopefully the largemouth will be better energized by the wind and rainy skies too.
College Anglers Preview Lake Bemidji at Carhartt Bassmaster Championship
Ryan McLaughlin and Justin St. Onge of Haywood Community College in North Carolina, along with Tyler Rivet and Cameron Naquin of Nicholls State in Louisiana, took time to offer their opinions on what to expect at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship that begins Thursday morning on Lake Bemidji in Northern Minnesota.
What will be the biggest challenge this week?
McLaughlin & St. Ogne: Trying to find a place to fish that’s not crowded with other anglers.
Rivet & Naquin: Dealing with fishing pressure from other college anglers in certain areas of the lake.
What’s your favorite thing about Bemidji?
McLaughlin & St. Ogne: The scenery and the diversity of fishable habitat.
Rivet & Naquin: The northern pike fishing is pretty awesome.
Name four lures you think will get used most by the tournament competitors?
McLaughlin & St. Ogne: A punch rig for thick vegetation, a frog, a spinnerbait, and a Senko.
Rivet & Naquin: A frog, a beaver-style punch bait, a topwater plug, and a jerkbait.
How much weight do you think it’ll take to make the Top 10 at the end of Thursday’s competition?
McLaughlin & St. Ogne: 13 ½ pounds
Rivet & Naquin: 12 ½ pounds
Heart Trumps Fiberglass and Horsepower at Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship
Louie Dazzo doesn’t mind that the faded black mesh Carhartt hat he’s wearing at this week’s Bassmaster College Series National Championship shows a salty sweat ring — or that his red boat is slower, and made of aluminum, instead of faster fiberglass.
“I’ve had this Carhartt hat for three years, I wear it almost everyday, and I always wear it when I’m fishing, I’m kinda superstitious about it,” grinned the communications major from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
And as for the red 17-foot aluminum Tracker boat with the 60-horse engine — well, Louie loves it. As well he should. His grandma bought it for him when he turned 18, and its carried he and fishing partner Collin Crop, a hockey goalie and human resources manager, all the way to the biggest tournament in college bass fishing.
“I realize it’s one of the less fancy boats out here, but it was good enough for us to finish second at the Lake of the Ozarks regional, and I’ve got about eight Top 10 finishes in this boat,” says the good humored Dazzo, a native of Naperville, IL, who leaned on Spro Rock Crawler crankbaits, and a Vision 110 jerkbait at the regional competition.
Certainly, on a college kid’s budget, not all the vessels here on Lake Bimidji are fancy new fiberglass models. There are other aluminum boats like Louie’s, as well as fiberglass vessels that are twenty years old.
“I sort of see the versatility, toughness, and how high the front end of my boat sits out of the water as an advantage,” says Dazzo. “I can beat the heck out of it, run it up into a foot of water, and have a higher vantage point when looking for spawning beds, or smallmouth on shallow flats, than what I could in a bigger fiberglass boat.”
“It’s a great starter boat, that’s for sure, and ultimately, the success you have as a tournament angler is more about your ability to find and catch fish than what your boat is made of,” says Dazzo in humble fashion.
While most anglers complained of Lake Bemidji fishing super tough, and sporting a stronger than desired northern pike population, Dazzo and his hockey playing fishing partner had a solid practice day Tuesday.
“Our top end speed is only 30 mph with this little 60 horsepower engine, so it takes us one hour to get to our fish, but we caught a 12-pound limit yesterday, and one of those fish was a 3 ¾ pound largemouth,” says Dazzo.
With a red aluminum boat, and a heart made of passion, look for the guy in the sun-bleached black Carhartt hat to be one of the last anglers standing during Saturday’s final day of competition.
Josh Bertrand’s Drop Shot Set Up
Are you in the market for a new drop shot set up? The choices can be over whelming, so take a look at the set up Elite pro Josh Bertrand uses when using this technique.Bertrand shares a few tips that will make you more efficient at this style of fishing too.
Rapid Fishing Solutions Adds New Pro Ambassadors
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