Pro Bass Fishing Tourneys – 2022

It’s been a fun tourney to watch. Kind of a battle between the shallow sight fishermen vs the offshore fishermen. It’s crazy to see how many guys spent the first three days in party cove. It seems like all that pressure finally caught up to it on the final day. At one point I think they said close to 1/2 the field was fishing in a 100 acre area. That’s combat fishing for sure. It was see the old school Carolina rig show back up and catch them. Watching Scott Martins train reck on day 1 was painful to watch. It hurts to lose big when fun fishing. Losing lots of them with big $ on line would REALLY hurt.

fishthumper wrote:

At one point I think they said close to 1/2 the field was fishing in a 100 acre area. That’s combat fishing for sure.

Isn’t there a proximity rule in BASS events? Some of these guys looked like they were way to close to another watercraft.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>
At one point I think they said close to 1/2 the field was fishing in a 100 acre area. That’s combat fishing for sure.

Isn’t there a proximity rule in BASS events? Some of these guys looked like they were way to close to another watercraft.

I looked through the rules for the opens ( assume the same as for the elites ) and did not see anything in regards to boat distance. I’m thinking it is more of a common courtesy thing. It seemed like no one seemed to be having a issue from what I saw. With the shortage of offshore weeds it was expected that this area would see plenty of fishermen and pressure. Hard to believe a area that small held up for first 3 days. If I’m not mistaken at one point on day 3 like 8 out of the top 10 were fishing in that area. Nice to see buddy Gross get the win. He seems like a nice guy. He kind of did something a little different and it paid off. Looking forward to the classic in about 10 days

The Bassmaster clasic kicks off tomorrow. It should be a fun one. Warmer temps have the fish in every stage right now. the fishermen should be able to fish their strengths and catch them the way the want to. Lake Hartwell has some monster spotted bass and they will play a key in this tourney for sure. It will be interesting to see if the winner catches them deep or shallow. My guess it will take some of each.

Yeah it’s going to be a good one. Most guys saying the are hitting the lake at the perfect time too.

Should be fun to watch. A lot of different presentations I’m guessing. Any of you guys have a fantasy team? Here’s my setup for the Classic.

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Come on Tuma!! Nice to see a true local boy out there.

Joe Jarl wrote:

Should be fun to watch. A lot of different presentations I’m guessing. Any of you guys have a fantasy team? Here’s my setup for the Classic.

I don’t do the Fantasy thing. Cox and Gross are looking good for you so far. The others not so good.

Well, it looks like a few of the big girls showed up today. A lot of nice bags. Pretty pleased with my fantasy picks so far.

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Totally describes my entire start to the season 2-3 picks in the top ten and two completely crapping the bed.

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There are some nice fish and nice Bags being caught in this tourney. Its nice to see Josh Douglas having a good tourney. He’s had a bit of a tough start to the season, and I’m sure a good finish here would be a big boost to his confidence. When fishing at this level being confident is huge I’m sure.

Looks like a close finish to this Tourney. They had one day cancelled due to weather. Leader showing over the 100 lb. mark for 20 fish at around 103-8. nd place is at 102-14 so its anyone’s tourney to win. should be a fun weigh-in to watch. Kupall in 2nd was one fish short on day two I believe. That may end up costing him the win. Lots of big fish being caught with several bags over 30 Lbs. fun to watch low good those guys are at sight fishing those bedding bass. That is sure a nerve wracking way to catch them.

I’m watching MLF and they are using some contraption to see down into the water. I think they are fishing beds. Something about that just rubs me wrong. All the electronics they have and then they use this thing also. I dunno.

I see they are coming to Mille Lacs. Anybody plan on going up and watching?

Bass Pro Tour
Mille Lacs Lake
Onamia, MN
Sep 10 – 15, 2022

Dutchboy wrote:

I see they are coming to Mille Lacs. Anybody plan on going up and watching?

Bass Pro Tour
Mille Lacs Lake
Onamia, MN
Sep 10 – 15, 2022

I didn’t know this. Although I am not a big fan of the MLF, it still puts Mille Lacs in the spotlight. MLF’s website indicates they expect a tougher bite because of clear water and high pressure.

I attended a day of weigh in at the casino years ago both times that BASS had their AOY Championship event at Mille Lacs. I think it was 2015 and 2016. It’s quite the spectacle. And just to see the souped up rigs they use in person was impressive too. Both times I went it was on a Friday and we hit up the seafood buffet afterwards for dinner.

Dutchboy wrote:

I’m watching MLF and they are using some contraption to see down into the water. I think they are fishing beds. Something about that just rubs me wrong. All the electronics they have and then they use this thing also. I dunno.

I know a Team that use to pre-fish for one of the bigger early season tourneys by having one team member in a wetsuit swim along looking for smallmouth Beds ( The smallmouth often spawn deeper and its hard to see their beds from a boat ) When he spotted a bed he would wave to his partner in the boat and they would GPS the spot to fish it on the tourney day !!! So the tube they use to see the Beds is not near as extreme as some go.

2nd half of the Bassmaster season Kicks off tomorrow on lake Fork. There should be some BIG bags of fish caught. How many guys do you think will Catch over 100 Lbs for the 4 days. I’m going to say 5.

Anybody fish that circuit that Bob Meshikomer is involved with? I saw they are fishing Pelican up in Orr.

https://teamfishingcircuit.com/minnesota

This Bassmaster event is setting up to be a slugfest. Already 7 limits over 20 Lbs. and leader has over 28. Its still really early and on this body of water the best bite does not usually start till late in the day. My original guess of 5 over 100 Lbs for the tourney may be a little light.

bigfatcroixbaby wrote:

Where’s all the big fancy bass boats headed this morning, Rainy?? Must’ve been 30 of ’em headed north of the cities on 35 on my way in this morning…all kinds of fancy wraps, double talon setups, and million$ in electronics.

The only large bass tourney I see on the DNR site for this weekend is the Minnesota Bass Nation tourney on Vermillion. Its listed as 70 boat field

WOW. With almost 3 more Hours of fishing remaining, there is now 17 with over 20 Lbs. and the leader has 32. After a really bad practice and a slow start today I see Seth is now over 20 as well as Josh Douglas. Always nice to see some local fishermen near the top.

fishthumper wrote:

The only large bass tourney I see on the DNR site for this weekend is the Minnesota Bass Nation tourney on Vermillion. Its listed as 70 boat field

So here’s a random question. Because harvest of bass in MN is still not permitted, I assume that any bass tournament prior to Sat, May 28 must be immediate catch and release? Technically you can’t even put one in the live well to weigh in and release at a later time.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>
The only large bass tourney I see on the DNR site for this weekend is the Minnesota Bass Nation tourney on Vermillion. Its listed as 70 boat field

So here’s a random question. Because harvest of bass in MN is still not permitted, I assume that any bass tournament prior to Sat, May 28 must be immediate catch and release? Technically you can’t even put one in the live well to weigh in and release at a later time.

I would assume you are correct on that. It may be possible they make a exception for tourneys as long as the fish are released after weigh in. I’m not sure. Some of the early tourneys are on border waters and that may come into play as well.

Lake Vermillion would be part of the northeast zone which opened up to normal possession limit (poss. 6) on May 14th.

Was able to watch some of the live coverage. Was a fun tourney with lots of big fish being caught many different ways. I ended up nailing the # of final weights over 100 with 4.

Great BASS tourney going on on the St Lawrence River right now. Already 20 Bags over 20lbs and mostly all SM bass. Local fishermen Austin Felix is in 4th with 23 lbs right now. Bob Downey and Pat Schlapper from Wisn. are both in the top 10 as well. The local anglers are showing they can catch some SM. It crazy how hard those SM fight on light gear. Its possible that the winner may end up with over 100 Lbs of all SM to win this thing. That is crazy !!! Great coverage online right now.

That sure looks like fun fishing that gin clear water! Some of the drone shots showing all the fish around those guys are pretty cool.

61 bags over 20 and 9 over 25. All SM. That incredible. What a Great fishery.

I think the St Lawrence River is now the best smallmouth fishery that exists. For a while there, Mille Lacs had that title, but the Larry has surpassed it at this point. Pretty amazing turnaround for a river that was once extremely polluted.

Back in 2018 we did a pre site visit to Galloo island for a project we were bidding. Unfortunately the project never went ahead but that would have been intriguing project.

From the time we left the mainland till we got back all I could think about is this is where Palaniuk won the tourney back in 2013.

The one picture is the north shore of Galloo island. The other was our boat ride out to the island.

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