Muskegon Lake D&R - Part 2
D&R Sports Series Muskegon Lake – Part 2
We hit the other calm grass patch and caught number 5 just past it. It was just a 15 incher but now we had a limit and a clear indication that these fish had left the grass. It was now 11:00 or so and we knew we just had to fish whatever looked good. We threw in some old school stuff, some experimental stuff, and some places we had a lot of confidence in. We got rid of the one barely over 14 inches with a solid dropshot fish pretty quickly.
We absolutely had to get rid of that 15 incher but had a lot of time and confidence to do it. We had plans to camp out in the area where our first big one came from. We knew the quality was there and even though the grass wasn’t working if we got one bite it might be a difference maker. We kept hitting stuff on the way there and traded that 15 incher out for a fish that was maybe close to 3 pounds again on the dropshot. It was time to grind on that starting area and mix in some deep smallmouth areas. We knew if we could get a deep smallmouth bite that it would likely be a good one.
We got one bite again in our starting spot and we thought it was the one. However, it turned out to be a 7-8 pound dogfish. We gave it an hour there and couldn’t make anything happen. Once we had a decent bag I knew it would be foolish to risk a break down in that wind. I wanted to be back towards the east end of the lake with an hour and a half left to go. Odds were good we could catch a decent fish down there and we also would be close in the event we had issues.
Catching fish wasn’t the problem but finding an upgrade was. We had 1 fish that was less that 2.5 pounds and it desperately needed to go. We never made it happen but we still had a solid bag of fish. Maybe we should have pushed it a little longer further down the lake instead of making sure we would make weigh in. I knew there was no chance we could lose team of the year at this point but I also thought if people struggled maybe there was an outside chance we actually win all 3. I assumed we had somewhere between 16-17 pounds but I had underestimated how solid our 3 other fish were. Our big fish was a 5.37 (and I expected that to hold up for big fish) and total weight was 18.08. I wasn’t convinced 18.08 would hold up but I will take 18 pounds on Muskegon any day! In the end both our big fish (congrats Mike and Kendall 5.62) and weight would get bumped (congrats Ty and Tristen 18.30).
I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t a little disappointed. I know we’ll never have a shot to win all 3 D&R tournaments again, if you win one every few years it is damn good! But I was still incredibly happy with 2nd, 2nd big bass, and team of the year. Not to mention it just feels good to have 2 5 pounders and 18 pounds in a tournament. It was an amazing year where things just clicked and I will never take that for granted. It was also great to have Amanda bring the girls up to the weigh to check it all out again. They had their gatorades and got to go for a ride in the boat in the parking lot. They love checking the fish out in the livewell and taking it all in. It’s also fun to have Mabel go up on the weigh in stage. Unfortunately it looked like a big storm was coming so the girls went home before Mabel could go collect the checks.
We were happy that Ty has a Basscat and doesn’t have all Johnson Outdoors accessories because it meant a lot of bonus money for us. The contingencies for having Minn Kota shallow water anchors/trolling motors and Humminbird electronics are 2nd to none. There are many great things about the D&R Sports Trail but all the giveaways and contingencies are awesome. The team at West Michigan Bass did a great job at running the series as usual and we are excited about the classic…although bummed it is on opening weekend of duck season. I’m looking forward to doing a totally different kind of fishing on some unfamiliar waters.
The weather ended up clearing and we went to Dockers on Muskegon Lake to celebrate the year with “the feast” and drinks. The girls got to play in the sand there and it was a great end to the night. I’ve definitely got some thoughts on this season in general so stay tuned for those soon!