The other night there was a bass fishing tournament on Fish Lake, Duluth, Thursday May 14 for the Duluth Area Bass League. My bass fishing partner, Al and I decided to show and fish, since we have fished DABL for a few years and are the defending champions from 2008. We figured this would be a tough event with the cold front and the water had dropped over 3 degrees, making the fishing tough for everyone.

We started out fishing some locations that hold early season bass, but were not getting any bites. We moved to a little deeper shore, to work the negative fish. We pulled a couple fish, including one bass over 4 pounds. We then decided to try yet another spot and kept moving all night. With the fishing tough we worked deep, shallow, and worked several techniques, including a combination of jigs, spinnerbaits, cranks and swimbaits. In the end we had caught and released over 40 bass. Click to see the results.

At the end of the event we weighted in with 5 bass weighing 16.75 pounds, for first place. It was a tough bite and second place had 4 bass and 6.45 pounds. I'll say my bass partner really has the pulse of the bass and can find them anytime. We have a blast out fishing and are always tuning and learning.

I hope everyone interested in becoming a better angler joins a fishing league or fishes a tournament, event or contest. This is what pushes some of us to learn more techniques and meet others that share our interests and sport. I know that I love to fish with others that have some techniques or fish species figured out more than I do. That's how I learn the quickest and I am sure it will work for many of you. Read, study, but most of all, get out there fishing with people that love it too.

Well off to sleep, another day on the water this morning.

Minnesota Fishing Guide