Sullivan and Dirks Stomp South

The Bass Bandits held their 4th and 5th tournaments of the year on Lake Oahe and Pudwell dam in South Dakota. It has been a roller coaster of a ride for the Angler of the Year race and these two fishing holes were expected to add to it. Badits setup camp along beautiful Lake Oahe near Mobrdige, SD on Friday night. Most anglers were able to get out and do a little pre-fishing prior to Saturday's event. The weather was beautiful on Friday which allowed anglers to practice North, South, and Central fishing locations and it seemed that all spots produced fish. The water clarity was clear in most parts and some parts of the resevoir were stained and water temps varied from high 50's to mid 60's, which provided different types of fishing conditions depending upon where you were.

  Thunderstorms rolled in on the Bandits late Friday night and the clouds never cleared out til late saturday evening. Many wondered if the bite had changed due to the storm, but like always somebody is going to get into the fish! Saturday morning rolled around and it was cloudy and windy with some scattered rain showers on the horizon. When the clock struck 6. a.m. the gang took off to go find the three biggest bass! Depeding upon which direction you went some Bandits pounded big waves and others had a smoother ride, nonetheless they were determined to catch the big one.

When the clock struck 2 p.m. the weigh-in began and it was a tight race. Coming in with 6.96 lbs was Jason Bader and Steve Basinger which tied both of them for a 3rd place finish. However, the tie breaker was determined by which angler had the largest bass and Basinger won that battle with a 2.55 compared to Bader's 2.36 lb smallmouth. This marked the clubs 2nd tie of the year! Bringing three smallmouth that weighed 8.12 lbs was Marty Mantz which gave him a 2nd place finish to Matt Sullivan. Sullivan captured his first win of the season by weighing in 8.50 lbs, he also took big bass honors with a 3.33 lb smallmouth! Congratulations Matt.

 

  After the weigh-in was over the Club settled into camp. Food was cooked and stories were told! But, most importantly the Bandits had to change out their ammunition because they will be fishing heavy cover for heavy largemouth on Sunday’s event. The club met up at the boat ramp of Pudwell dam at sunrise to get boats in the water. It was a calm clear day that was going to provide a lot of sunshine. The water temps were in the mid to high 60’s and the water was stained. It was a quite morning for some and for others the bass were jumping in the boat. Some anglers were catching on top while others were fishing on the bottom. It was a mixed bag of bite all day long and some of the Bandits found some real nice bass. Jay Boldt weighed in a 3 fish limit at 9.83 lbs, his biggest of the day was 3.32. Amanda Bader fished with Boldt and she also weighed in over 9 lbs with 9.01 lbs. Amanda just missed the 5th place mark to add a few extra points to her Angler of the Year points but it certainly was a good day of fishing for one boat to produce over a 18 lb limit. If it were a team tournament I’m sure they woulda won it! Having an excellent weekend was Minot resident Steve Basinger. Basinger placed 3rd at Mobridge and took 2nd at Pudwell by weighing 10.53 lbs. Steve’s biggest bass weighed 3.82 lbs. Hailing from way up in the north Country of Minot, ND was Nate Dirks who had a terrific day on the water and cashed in on the great fishing Pudwell has to offer. Nate weighed in 11.21 lbs of fish and also took big bass honors with a 4.41 lbs largemouth. The Bandits also had a Jr member fishing this tournament. A first place finish was captured by Abigale Assman of Isabel, SD who won first place in the Jr division by weighing a big 2.49 lb largemouth. Way to go!

  It certainly was a great weekend of fishing for the Bandits. There were lots of fish caught throughout the whole weekend. The next stop for the Bandits tournament season is Lake Sakakwea on June 29th and 30th. This is the club’s official camping weekend. Make sure you reserve a camp site(s) for yourself in the Sanish bay area of the State Park. That is where we will be cooking and playing the ladder ball championship. Stay tuned to this website for more details on the Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year race!