The Bandits tread new waters this past weekend fishing on Froelich Dam, a largemouth mecca directly located 50 miles south of Mandan. Eleven teams made the trek into the badlands of Sioux county, the weather was scorching in the mid 90’s, and the bass were hungry! Nearly all teams brough in full bags with an average weight of 3.12 pounds per largemouth!

Taking the win this tournament was team Tanner Mallams and John Lancaster who brought in a hefty bag weighing 11.69 pounds! Right on their tails was Team Blomberg, Colton and Jamie only trailed by 0.17 pounds weighing in 11.52 pounds for second place. In third was team Kyle Okke and Lewis Kuppler with a 10.73-pound bag and a 4.75-pound kicker which earned them big bass awards for this tournament!

As club members spilled the beans after awards were handed out, the pattern was very consistent among members, a classic post spawn bite. Casting baits like stick worms, flipping plastics, and throwing buzz/spinner baits up shallow into heavy cover produced some explosive bites with many bass giving a spectacular fight with many acrobatic jumps. What was more interesting was what members shared that their bass spit up in their live well’s; crawfish, minnows, bluegill, and even mice were being eaten by the bass on Froelich!

Our next event is our club camping weekend, held on Shadehill Reservoir in South Dakota on the weekend of June 25th – 27th. June 26th is the Shadehill tournament that will count for AOY points and June 27th is a big bass tournament on North Lemmon Dam, free of charge for those that compete on Shadehill. As always there will be a ladder ball tournament and our president’s supper, so you won’t want to miss this weekend. Please check our Facebook page the week leading up to this event for further details and hope to see you all there!

Kyle Okke