Just in Time!

It was another beautiful day for the Bass Bandits when they raided the southern part of North Dakota at Raleigh Reservoir. Bright sunny skies along with warm temperatures of 85 degrees complimented with a touch of north west winds. The Bandits had a great showing of members at this hidden gem tucked away in the rolling hills of south central North Dakota. Once again the bass were not very active throughout the day and left a lot of anglers scratching their heads. This has been the case in just about all of the tournaments that the club has held for the 2009 season. On the other hand it has definitely made anglers think outside the box and learn new techniques to catch fish during these tough summer days. The results over the course of the season will prove it, more and more bass are being caught during tough tournament days. Which doesn’t surprise me at all, we certainly have a special group of anglers that are posed to make each other better.

One angler that is making a late season push for the Angler of the Year title is Alan Hildebrandt of Faith South Dakota. Alan was able to boat his 3rd bass for the tournament at Raleigh with only 1 hour remaining. This bass was caught “just in time” to match fellow club angler Paul Reinbold for the only two limits turned in for the tournament. This 3rd fish also put Hildebrandt with the heaviest weight for the day, weighing in at 8.66lbs. Alan also grabbed some extra cash along with 1 extra point towards Angler of the Year race with the biggest bass of the tournament that weighed 3.42lbs. Paul Reinbold has made a climb to the top of the Angler of the Year race by getting another 2nd place finish. This was Reinbold’s third 2nd place finish for the year. Paul weighed in a three fish limit that weighed 7.70lbs. Coming in with a 3rd place finish during his rookie season with the bass bandits was Lance Hildebrandt from Faith, SD. Lance boated his 2.86lb bass by using the “kneel and reel” technique with a swim bait. This technique was introduced into the bass fishing world by bass fishing hall of famer’ Paul Elias. This third place finish has helped Lance get back up into the Rookie of the Year standings, who is now only 6 points behind points leader Marty Mantz of Center, ND.

The Bass Bandits will be going to Lake Audubon on August 8th for some of North Dakota’s best smallmouth fishing that the state has to offer. Hopefully for the bandit’s the weather will cooperate, but more importantly that the bass will bite! This tournament just may make or break the season for some angles since we are nearing the end of the season. The Angler of the Year race has definitely tightened up as well as the Rookie of the Year standings. It’s going to be interesting to see the outcomes of the last two tournaments. Who will be at the top at the end of the year? Who will be crowned Classic Champion? Time will tell, but one thing is for sure…the bandits are going to have a great time finding out!