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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
Bass Tournament Season
By Mike Guarino For many people in the Belgrade region, the bass tournaments on local lakes are seen as a nuisance or a drain on the local resources, and for others; they are seen as enjoyment and/or a chance to participate in a fun recreational activity. I've signed up and fished a number of the tournaments in the area and thought I'd give my unbiased opinion on the local tournament action. First of all, I have to preface that I do not personally belong to any Bass clubs, although there are quite a few in the area. The clubs in Maine hold a variety of tournaments on local ponds, specifically East Pond (6), Great Pond (7) and Messalonskee (6). There are a few different types of tournaments, but to keep it simple let's just talk about the two most popular. The first is a "club" tourney. During these events, only the members of the host club can enter. Sometimes anglers from far away will schedule a tourney here, because they know how good the bass fishing is! The second is the "open" style tournament. In "opens" anyone can sign up. Usually you'll want to call ahead to make your reservation, and you'll need to pay your entrance fee (averaging about $100) and show proof of insurance for your boat. Some of the tournament rules (for example) are: life jackets must be warn at all times when your motor is running; 8-fish limit for 2 angler tournaments; no trolling; no live bait; participants must obey all lake rules, such as headway speed zones, etc; and all anglers must report back to the weight station by a specified time. Sometimes, when locals or visitors see 20 to 30 high-powered bass boats come zooming down the lake, their eyebrows rise up, and shoulders slump forward, followed by a moan of deepest depression — there goes the fishing. Well, that wouldn't be further from the truth and let me tell you why. In the last few years, I've been amazed at how well organized and ecologically sound these clubs have been. For the most part, these fishermen are interested in enjoying a day on the lake similar to you and me. They are out there for the camaraderie and some competition, but they are also interested in the well being of our lakes. For example, if you go onto mebass.com, you'll notice that many of the tournaments are not scheduled during the time when bass are on their beds. The organizers realize how important it is to not remove bass from their bedding areas. Last week I fished a tournament in the Belgrade's and even saw two teams weigh in their fish and after the weigh in, bring those fish back down lake and put them back where they caught them! That's impressive, especially when you consider the price of gas these days. Another important aspect of the tournament rules is that teams are penalized if they bring back dead bass. Modern live wells and equipment help keep the bass alive, to be returned in great shape — ready for anglers to catch another day. Lastly, most clubs to not allow anglers to put dead bass back in the water. I think this is a key point, because causal passersby get the wrong impression when they see dead fish on the shoreline. So I would encourage anglers (especially those who are skeptical) to attend a local weight-in and see the action first hand. It might help ease some of the disheartening feelings you have and it's a lot of fun too. Plus, you'll get to see how many big bass some of these anglers can catch. If you think it's easy to do what they do, I encourage you to enter an "open" tournament and test your skills against these anglers. You don't need a high-powered bass boat to enter and most of the anglers enjoy talking with locals before and after the tournament. Fishing ReportIn the last week, we've really had some hot and humid weather, which has driven many of the bigger smallmouth bass deep. They are still quite catchable, but you'll need to fish the deeper edges of rock piles with heavier jigs, tubes or with Carolina Rigs. Big smallmouth can be caught occasionally in the shallows, but wise anglers will seek shady shorelines with structure. Largemouth bass are cruising now, so you can still catch big bass in shallow water throughout the day, however finding deep weed beds in 8-10 feet of water will help during the mid-day-blues. Trout and salmon trollers are still catching nice fish early in the morning and there have been some good reports of browns being caught well into the evening on Great Pond. Browns are notorious dusk feeders, so staying out past sunset might be rewarding. Good luck this week See you on the water! Mike Guarino can be contacted at | ||
