The Bass Bandits headed south this past weekend and tried some largemouth bass fishing in the great state of South Dakota. Lake Isabel and Pudwell Dam were the two lakes of choice for the fun filled weekend. The Bandits certainly faced extreme weather conditions. On Saturday the high temps reached 102 degrees and on Sunday the tournament started out at a chilling 55 degrees. If I do my math correctly that would be a 47 degree swing from one day to the next. That just goes to prove that anglers from the Dakota’s face major weather changes from day to day and should be well trained on how to adapt.
The team that took top honors for Lake Isabel was local anglers Tony and Paul Reinbold. They brought in a three fish limit that weighed 9.78 lbs as well as big bass honors that weighed 3.61 lbs. Hailing from the north country was Steve Basinger and Corey Erickson who fished hard all day to take a close 2nd place finish that weighed 9.19 lbs. Taking home a 3rd place finish were Team and Angler of the year points leaders Marty Mantz and Matt Sullivan from the Bismarck area. Marty and Matt’s three fish limit weighed 9.14 lbs. Despite the hot weather lake Isabel still fished very well but it seemed that the big largemouth in that lake eluded the anglers in deep cover that was not reachable.
After the Isabel tournament was over the gang got together and had a picnic at the Reinbold Farm. Burgers and Hot Dogs were to be had and once everyone was done eating we had ourselves a friendly archery shoot. Like many anglers Bandits also like to hunt so a handful brought their archery equipment down and had a lot of fun shooting. Once it got dark many club members stayed up visiting til wee hours of the night while others chose to go to bed early…this old guy was one of them!
When the alarm clocks went off the Bandits sprung into action to hit the road early. Driving straight into a thunderstorm they could see that there was going to be a delayed start to the tournament due to lightning hazards! Once the storm passed the club unloaded their boats and started to go fishing. Taking home 1st place honors once again were locals Paul and Tony Reinbold. Their 3 fish limit weighed an impressive 12.55 lbs! It was rumored that Tony caught all the keeper fish on Saturday and Paul caught all the keeper fish on Sunday. That is why it takes two to make a team! Having another great weekend of fishing was points leaders Marty Mantz and Matt Sullivan who took a 2nd place finish with three fish weighing at 11.28 lbs. Bringing home a 3rd place finish were young guns Jared Sparks and Lance Zent. Jared and Lance needed a good finish to stay in contention for the Team of the year and they did so by weighing in 11.26 lbs. Great Job Guys!
