Well the conditions were right for a big fish day at Lake Nelson on Saturday the 3rd of May. There were twenty one anglers that competed in the Badlands Bass Bandits first stop on the 2014 season schedule. There was a mixed bag of new members and old members, each of which had good memories to take home.
The winds were calm with a cool 45 degree morning start to blast off. Once the blast off was over the water settled and the Bandits started hunting for the bass that would bring home the trophy. It was certain that some were going to get into them and get into them good. There were boats in all parts of the lake searching. As the day went on the clouds rolled in and the winds picked up which made boat control tricky.
One boat that struck it rich right off the bat was the boat belonging to Paul Reinbold. On Paul’s 3rd cast he landed his biggest bass of the day weighing 5.45 lbs! Fishing along with Paul was his father Tony and friend/new member Hunter Wood of Hazen ND. Not long after Paul caught his big one Hunter Wood landed his biggest of the day 4.60 lbs. A few minutes later Tony Reinbold jumped in on the action and landed a 5.52 lb bass! Each of the anglers couldn’t believe all of the big bass that were holding in such a small area. Within an hour and a half of the tournament gone by they had 6 bass in the boat and each of them weighed 4-5 lbs. Across the lake another angler was hooking into big lake Nelson bass. The 2013 Angler of the Year Matt Sullivan landed the clubs biggest bass ever, a 7.17 lb giant! It was sure shaping out to be “One of Those Days” for a handful of anglers.
Taking home the 1st place prize was Matt Sullivan with a combined total weight of 13.11 lbs which was a new total weight club record. Matt beat the old record by 0.15 lbs which was set by Marty Mantz back in 2011. Matt also took home the Big Bass Award for the tournament thanks to his 7.17 lb giant. Congratulations Matt on your victory as well as your new club records! Also coming in on a memorable day was Paul Reinbold. Paul finished 2nd with a final total weight of 12.07 lbs. Chase Fernandez is continuing his strong serge as one of the top anglers in the club by finishing 3rd with a final total weight of 11.30 lbs. The Bandits acquired another young gun this year that goes by the name of Hunter Wood. This was Hunters first bass fishing tournament ever and he finished 4th by weighing in 10.91 lbs. Tony Reinbold also had a personal best on Lake Nelson by weighing only 2 fish (one shy of a limit) but he still was able to weigh 9.66 lbs for a 5th place finish. One more bite and he probably would have been taking home the trophy!
There were a lot of big bass that were weighed in on Saturday. Here are some honorable mentions: Jason Bader 3.38 lbs, Chase Fernandez 4.52 lbs, Chris Harvey 4.59 lbs, and Eric Vossler 3.29 pounds. Perhaps there should be a new award added to the Bandits called Guide of the Year, because there were 3 people in Paul’s boat and 8 fished were weighed out of that boat and the average size was 4.08 lbs each...certainly a day to remember.
The next stop for the 2014 tournament season is on Indian Creek Dam. The Bandits have been to this lake once back in 2009. Long time club member James Francis won with 5.74 lbs. There was only 5 fish caught that day but the average weight was 3.37 lbs. The bass population has bounced back so there should be more fished weighed in this time. Nonetheless there will be someone who will take home 1st place. If you have never been to this lake, it is idle speed only. If you are not sure where it is located just google search the city of Regent and the turn off to the lake is 2.5 miles west of Regent and then 7 miles south. Just follow the signs and the road will take you right to the ramp. We will be using the cement ramp near the dam. Good luck to everyone!
