B.A.S.S. Northern Open - Lake Erie - Day 3

Posted on June 14, 2010

Day two of this event was cancelled because of severe wind resulting in unsafe water conditions. So there was no cut and all boats went out fishing on day three which was the final day of the tournament. I was sitting in 30th place and hoping that I could move up slightly in order to improve my position for a better pay day and also more points. Having day two off was great, I got caught up on my sleep and had time to repair little things that had taken a beating on day one.

We launched on the final day and headed out into the big lake greeted by more rough water but what else do you expect at this place. I pounded my way out into the lake, thankfully I didn't have too long of a run but just as I got within sight of my area I hit a wave a little harder than I wanted and my front pedestal seat broke in half and flew out of the boat. Man that was dumb!!! I never leave the front seat in when I'm running in rough water and now I didn't have a seat to lean on and help me balance as I fished. As I pull up to my area I could clearly see that the high winds from the previous day had turned my water to pure mud and I knew that would make it difficult to catch anything more than a nice tan. Unfortunately I was right and the fishing was brutally tough. I tried to grind it out and just catch a limit knowing that if my area was mud, many other guys would have the same problem and therefore the day's weights would be lower than expected.

After hours of working my area I only had one little cutie to show for it. So it was time to face the fact that I wasn't going to catch them in that chocolate milk. So I abandoned everything I had and went looking for clear water. I eventually found some clear water that looked fishy but it only looked fishy. So I kept looking and looking and looking as the clock ticked away. With only an hour and a half left in the day I still only had that one lil rat in the livewell. I decided to go back to my main largemouth area and stick it out because at least I knew there were some fish that lived there. I fished a couple of my key spots with no luck then pulled up to that one boulder that I caught my two biggest fish from on day one. I threw that Slammer in there and out came a keeper smallmouth. I couldn't believe it, there are actually smallmouth in that end of Erie. Of course I'm only joking but after what I had seen the past two weeks I wasn't the only one there calling it the Dead Sea!!

So anyways that was it for me, I weighed a giant sack (haha) of two fish (one largemouth and one smallmouth) that went 3lbs 15 ounces and when it was all said and done I fell all the way to 51st spot and one place out of the money. As expected the overall weights were way down and most guys came to the dock crying about the muddy water conditions. Any good great lakes fisherman will tell you if you are going to do well you need to find multiple areas for just such a situation.

I want to congratulate Garrett Green and Dave Rochette, a couple of fellow Ontario boys who finished 5th and 7th respectively. Great job guys!!!!

Well that's it for the year and I want to thank everyone who logged on to check out my ramblings. Hopefully I will be back here writing about my tournament experiences next year, until then thanks for reading and I will see you next season.

Curt Richardson
www.CurtRichardson.com

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