A Different Kind of Start
All the opening day hype is over. There for sure wasn’t much of it either. It’s interesting how on the east side of the state opening day tournaments were the big thing and then everyone fished with their own little crews. On the west side opening day isn’t really a big deal and then the rest of the year we have great tournaments. I don’t know why that is but that is where we are at.
I can tell you I wasn’t super excited about our opening day event (which was on a Monday). However a small craft advisory was almost a guarantee and with it being locked into Muskegon it was worth showing up to. We didn’t have enough time to really invest into practice but figured we could scrounge up something to maybe get a check. Trevor put in one super long day and then we both headed back out on Sunday.
Conditions were so frustrating for seeing well but if we could just find a few more to go with what Trevor had already found than we would be in good shape. I needed a break from the frustration so I did a little largemouth fishing with some baits I’d been wanting to experiment with. You could say that went “ok” and it is always nice to have something to add to the bag of tricks. I am pretty excited about the next couple events with this one.
Then I got the text that it was cancelled. Wait what, cancelled because of weather? The upside to that is that I could focus on having fun for a few hours before the rain came. I wasn’t all that bummed either because honestly, I’d rather hang out with my family on Memorial Day than fish a tournament. It was unlikely we were going to win but I really feel like we would have done pretty well. All I know is it is on to the next one and I am pumped for the D&R on Muskegon on June 8th. Size will be the tricky part in that one but they are going to be biting for sure.
This weekend I’m really switching it up and hopping into a salmon tournament vs the HOTD on Grand Traverse Bay. It’s going to be an interesting experience that I’m really looking forward to. We’ll be in the amateur division of the Grand Haven Offshore Challenge. Our simple goal is to try and get our 10 fish for the scales each day regardless of size. Scoring is different in that you get 10 points for each fish and also how much it weighs. So, a 1 pound salmon would be worth 11 points and a 15 pound salmon would be worth 15 points. We are allowed to catch 15 fish total so we would be able to swap out some but have to quit fishing as soon as the 15th fish is caught. Very different from the bass tournaments I’m used to but it will be a fun opportunity and the forecast lined up for us to try in our small boat.
There hasn’t been any extensive prefishing but Traver did make it out once and we have a game plan. Stay tuned for the updates on tournament weekend.