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The third
tournament of the year saw 32 members and guests fishing on Lake Tapps.
Saturday was sunny with gentle breezes and Sunday was overcast with a
sprinkle of rain in the afternoon which removed much of the recreational
boating traffic from the lake making the Sunday weigh-in less hectic
than the Saturday weigh-in. Water temperatures ranged from the low
to mid 60s with the smallies already spawning. Most anglers were
targeting spawning smallies on gravel by docks or trees stumps.
There were 19 limits caught on Saturday and 21 limits on Sunday.
Four anglers joined the tournament on Sunday after fishing NWBASS on
Saturday which probably
explains the increased number of limits. The average fish size
dropped from 1.73 pounds on Saturday to 1.50 pounds on Sunday.
The weights were either lighter because many of the fish were caught off
of beds on Saturday or because of the overcast colder weather on Sunday.
In either case Tapps fished extremely well with 247 smallies caught with
most anglers coming to the scales with smiles on there faces.
Three largemouth's were weighed on Saturday and none on Sunday.
This was a bit disappointing. On the darker side a swimmer
drowned on Saturday near the boat launch just as the weigh-in commenced.
The condolences go out to the family of the swimmer that died. |
In
first place with 22.4 pounds was Ken Ganancial. Kenny said,"
I caught all my fish in 3-9ft on beds next to structure,
either a big bolder, pilling or a stump. I had my limit
on Saturday in 15 minutes throwing a drop shot snub, tube, or
split shot Sniper J-Fac Craw. One fish came on a wacky
rigged Senko after I broke her off twice on a drop shot and a craw late
Sunday and I needed her bad, thanks to Ryan Gates for letting me work on
that fish for about another 40 minutes. It was hard to find big fish
on beds so that fish meant a lot !" Kenny also expressed his
condolences to the family of the swimmer that died.
Finishing
second with 20.34 pounds was new member Dwayne Lyons. This was
Dwayne's first club tournament. Dwayne said, " ...
In
third place with 18.89 pounds was Mark Mrzena. He said, "
Aaron and I Spent all of our time in the back of coves and bays in 3-10
feet of water. Spotting beds in early morning was difficult both
days. We would work large areas with long cast to obvious targets.
As light revealed beds, we narrowed our focus to bedding fish. My
choice of baits were
Aaron
Christel finished fourth with 18.86 pounds. Just .03 out of third
place. Aaron said, "I fished the tournament with Mark Mrzena. We
found most of our fish in 3-10 feet of water, almost always near
structure or on a bed. On Saturday, it was tough until the sun got high
enough that I could see the beds where most of my fish where caught. On
Sunday, it was tough to see the beds until we where right on top of them
because of the cloud cover. Most of my fish caught where on long cast
near structure that looked like it could hold a bed. Most of my fish
where caught on a drop shot senko or snub, and color didn't
mater at all. Honestly, I don't think rigging, bait type, or
really anything else mattered as long as it was near an aggressive fish
on a bed.
Rounding
out the top 5 with 18.51 pounds was Mike Hostetter. Hoss was
reluctant to provide an interview but finally did when informed that his
millions of fans wanted to know how he caught his fish. He said, "