Tom Cook Open 2022
Another year another Tom Cook Open. I was around home this year so Trevor and I decided to hop in this one. Not a big fan of fishing on the Monday or Memorial Day weekend but it’s one of the only options to do any sight fishing in the area.
We hadn’t been out on Muskegon other than pre spawn fishing. We didn’t have a good baseline for things to look at and it didn’t help that we didn’t fish last year. Weather wasn’t lining up great for visibility either. Rain, clouds, wind, all towards the end of the week. We did get to sneak out Tuesday as the weather looked good. It didn’t end up that way though and it was frustrating to see the entire time.
Tuesday left us fairly optimistic about a good bag but we hadn’t found anything to get excited about. We would make it back out on Sunday in less than ideal conditions. Which was a total let down especially after discovering our 2 best fish were likely gone. Optimism turned into survival mode for this tournament. We had nothing great to go to and were going to need to figure something out on the day of.
There is so much strategy in these sight fishing tournaments and we were going to have to pick the right one. There was also the thought of going to the channel first thing. However without a good boat number I wasn’t willing to take that risk. If I couldn’t guarantee I’d get a high percentage area it wasn’t worth it to me to go to the channel and bumble around. Drawing boat 28 out of 50 threw that option out the window.
The other option was to go pluck 16lbs and then try and make an upgrade or 2. If we could get 16 and then get a lucky bite or 2 in the channel we would be just fine. Lake Michigan was closed due to a small craft advisory (the wind was wicked) so we knew the weights wouldn’t be that big and we could likely scrounge up a check. The next question was do we go to our biggest fish (that wasn’t very big) first or just pick the ones along the way. My gut told me I needed to not drive by anything on the way. I had good notes on 2 that wouldn’t take long to get to and wouldn’t waste much time if they bit quick. Things are always harder in the darkness of a 6am blast off so good notes are key.
The first fish took a little longer than I’d have liked because it wasn’t obvious exactly where the bed was. Once we got that one we raced over to another fish I had a really good mark on. 2nd cast and we had that one. There was another bed nearby that I had seen 2 fish go off of before but had no idea on the size. One cast over there and it revealed it was a non keeper. We picked one more after that and then went to get the biggest fish I knew was there. I had major concerns someone was going to get that one but upon arrival no one was there and the fish was eager to bite. We fished around that area a bit because it had yielded a giant pre spawn swimbait bite in practice. None such luck today but we did fill our limit there.
On to the next one! We now had 3 fish over 3 pounds and 2 that we were going to get rid of for sure. Our next move was to another 3 pounder who had a bed you couldn’t see but some blind casting had revealed him in practice. He had the darter on the initial drop and we made our first cull. I was having fun throwing the darter on baitcasting gear and 15lb test P-Line Tactical. The 7’5” Favorite Hex was a really efficient and sensitive rod for detecting when they were moving it off the bed. We had to stop and fish for one of the big ones that we felt was gone next. There were a decent number of 3 pounders left that we knew about. If this fish wasn’t there we would easily be able to go get one of them. Despite plenty of effort this fish never showed itself. There was a new obstacle in the way but I still felt I was getting the right cast in. There was some excitement for a minute when a 2 pounder that was swimming through bit but it turned out to be a major let down. Some unexplored territory was next, it also had obstacles in the way but it was a place I’ve caught giants in the past. I bowed up on a large fish that certainly felt like a smallmouth for a few seconds. But shortly into things I realized I had something else on. Just a magnum drum and while it was fun it certainly was disappointing. We did snatch another Ok fish there to get rid of a small one.
One last stop to get all 3 pounders and it was to the channel to try and make something happen. The next fish proved a little more difficult as it bit 4 or 5 times before it finally hooked up. With 15lbs in the box we just needed one or 2 more big bites to do ok. We felt the best place to do that would be in the channel so off we went. It was packed! I couldn’t get on anything I wanted to right away so we just started fishing whatever was open and not being fished. We got some bites and put a few keepers in the boat but things were looking pretty bleak. We weren’t seeing a whole lot of hook sets going and the fishing appeared to be pretty slow. I’m sure it wasn’t that way first thing in the morning though and some of these guys already had good bags. Our first bit of excitement finally happened. A good thump and then a solid hookset. It had smallmouth written all over it for a minute anyway. Just like the drum earlier it became apparent we had something else. This time a monster channel cat. However Trevor would get a swimbait bite a short while later that would be cause for excitement. It ended up being a 3.8 largemouth and our big fish of the day.
Unfortunately, the number of boats, the slowness of everything, and the size of fish we were catching deterred us from staying the rest of the day out there. We really should have but it is just awful fishing that way. We hoped we could stumble upon one or maybe find a big largemouth. There were a couple fish that we hadn’t caught yet that we thought might give us a few ounces. Unfortunately they either weren’t there or did not help us. We did have 2 largemouth encounters late in the day that were exciting. One was a fish high in the water column and protecting an area. It either had fry that were too small to see or something. There was no obvious bed just an area it was patrolling. I’ve had success with fish just like this in the past. It’s just a matter of finding the areas they don’t like things and a bait that will trigger them. Within the first few casts this fish made a movement to show it was catchable. It certainly looked like it might help some so the pressure was on.
After about 5 different baits and some time watching the fish we got it to really show some interest and nip at it one time. It was either the following cast or the one after that and the fish just swam right up and ate it. I had to keep him from getting in a dock but he was coming our way. As soon as he got in the net things went slack and we were just hoping he was big enough to help. Interestingly the hook broke at the very moment the fish was netted. I’m not sure what was up with that as there was no rust on the hook or any stress put on it. It had landed one smallmouth earlier in the morning but the dropshot hook hadn’t seen much use and was brand new. Largemouth won’t give you a 2nd chance most of the time like a smallmouth will, so even though it didn’t help it was nice to not wonder what could have been. Regardless it was still my favorite fish of the event. I never get to watch smallmouth on beds 90 percent of the time I’m fishing for them. I’m almost always way back and let’s face it most (not all) are pretty damn easy to catch. There are no little games or personalities evident in them like a spawning largemouth. The green ones are tricky, often non aggressive, and frustrating. So it always feels good when you can work one for a bit and win!
We had one last encounter with a big one around some bluegill beds but it didn’t commit. That fish certainly would have helped but we ran out of time and despite knowing we didn’t have much I felt pretty good about the day. We picked our fish quick and efficient but just didn’t have the right stuff. We’ll always bet on ourselves to make something happen no matter how unlikely the odds. We weren’t able to pull any rabbits out of the hat this time around but still got paid with 16.51 and a 6th place finish. More importantly we got some great momentum to start the season. Congrats to my buddies Dave and Kyle for their monster 21 pound bag and the win! On to Leelanau next for the Big Stack Payback!