January 9th with no snow, temps in the 30’s, and no wind? Is this North Dakota….? Although a meteorological anomaly, mild winter weather makes for great fishing conditions out of the boat and that is exactly what 6 teams did this day chasing the bucket mouths of Nelson Lake.
With a heavy winter fog, the boat launch was set to idle speed only and boats all disappeared into the haze to position themselves on the hunt for largemouth. As soon as the clock hit 9:00 anglers were lighting up the boards on the Fish Donkey app with catches coming from all over the lake. Team Okke/Mckay jumped to an early lead but in no time teams Bullinger/Duchsherer and Mallams would be competing back and forth for the lead position. As the day carried on and fog lifted, so did the fish’s appetite and anglers were having a tough time upgrading their bags. The competition was close and only 6” separated most anglers so everyone fished hard to the last minutes. With only 17 minutes to spare to close the event Tanner Mallams hooked into and lands a 17 incher that pushed him into the lead and takes the event by a mere 0.25”! Congratulations Tanner! Big fish went to Kyle Okke with an 18.5” chunk that was caught early in the day.
Although all anglers shared great numbers of bass being caught on multiple power and finesse techniques, size was hard to come by and was ultimately the finesse techniques that encouraged the bigger ones into biting. Ned rigs, Carolina rigs, and Texas rigs were proving to catch the bigger fish this time around. Thanks to everyone for a fun filled day of fishing!
