Prefishing Blog 6/6/2010
by Bill Mathis

Excel Singles
Gull Lake
June 6, 2010

I drew boat #4 for the event and knew 2 of the boats ahead of me I could beat to my starting spot and
the other I was guessing he was going a different direction. I was right. My spot where I let 2 big ones
spit the hook, I was betting that nobody would even fish there as I have never seen anyone fish there.
So my starting spot was going to be a spot where I knew somebody would pull in. Sure enough as
boats came flying by, one slowed down and saw me and moved on.

I starting with the peanut butter and jelly dipstick and no fish. I switched to a black neon dipstick and
within 2 casts, fish on. Problem was it was barely 12". Next cast, another barely 12". When
tournament fishing and you feel a bite, you never know what it is and if you fish tournaments you must
remember that. My third fish was a tick tick on the line, figured it was another 12" fish. When I set the
hook, because of the tick tick, figured the 12" fish was loaded with weeds. Wrong, 4.36 pounder.
Caught 2 more fish in the same area shortly after that and had my limit within 40 minutes. I stayed in
the same area until about 8:30 and caught 4 more fish, but was able to only cull up one.

My second spot was very windy for fishing a dipstick, but I let 2 big fish spit the hook the day before so I
had to try it. I went through the area 4 times using the dipstick, a craw tube and a jig. No fish to be
found. Tried some docks, but only caught fish that didn't help me. Went to a really good early morning
spot and thought maybe I'll get a good one hanging out still. I did get 2 fish that helped but no big ones.
That was about 11:00 a.m.

Fished the rest of the day on docks on weedlines and I swear the same 1.5 pound fish chased me all
over the lake. It seemed anytime I got a fish over 12", it was the 1.5 pound fish which did not help me.

My day ended and it was time to weigh in. I was one of the last to weigh in. My big fish of 4.36 pounds I
was told by the announcer, that's the biggest fish of the day. I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't.
My total weight was 11.22 pounds. I hurried my fish back to my livewell and starting peeking at bags to
see if anyone had a big fish and in the end I had big bass which resulted in a check. My overall finish
was 9th and I was pleased with that, but knew I just needed one of the big fish to bite that I had
Saturday and the check would have looked even better. But no crying here. I believe you go into a
tournament with the idea of winning it and if you don't and you still pick up a check, it's a really good
day.

Next stop is the Silverado tour on Lake Le Homme Dieu in Alexandria on June 12. Pre-fishing blogs
will resume on June 9.

Bill Mathis
Classic Bass Field Staff
Member Team Skeeter

Saturday June 5 Gull Lake.

Heading to the lake this morning, I had a game plan to attack my last practice day before the tournament. I wanted to see if I could catch a fish on a jig, but after throwing that for an hour, I didn't even get a bite. Back to the Northland Lipstick hook and Dipstick. Fish on. Today's color was peanut butter and jelly.

Funny story real quick, a friend of mine who rarely fishes and never for bass went with me one time and before getting to our spot, he said what are we throwing? I replied a peanut butter and jelly stick worm. I later found out he told some other friends that he thought the flavor was peanut butter and jelly and wondered why bass would like that.

Back to the pre-fishing. I was either in the wrong area or there were no fish to be found on a main lake flat where I've caught some nice fish before. I proceeded to another spot where I've caught small fish in the past, but thought maybe we might find some big ones. Still small fish including about 5 rock bass. As it started to rain I checked the radar on my i-phone (sure wish Apple would sponsor me) and I saw it was going to rain for a while. Knowing from experience that going 60+ mph in the rain is like getting hail thrown at you by Nolan Ryan, I went to a closer spot near the ramp before it really came down. I trolled up to an area and within a few casts I let a 4 pounder spit the hook. I thought maybe I got lucky. I moved further away from that fish and caught another 4 pounder around the same kind of structure. Now it's not lucky, now we have something. Saw another boat approaching and it was time to play look at me, I'm not catching anything. I started casting short of the pattern and the boat decided to move to another area.

It was only 10:15 a.m. and the rain was still coming. I went to another spot similar to the last one and within 2 casts, bang a 2 1/2 pounder. Moved further up the structure and bang, a 2 pounder. Now I'm thinking I'm really onto something. As the rain continued and my brain saying you need some sleep, I decided to head to the ramp.

Today every fish I caught was on a 3/16th Northland Lipstick hook with a peanut butter and jelly Northland Dipstick. If you fish Senko's, try the Northland Dipsticks, they work and they are less expensive.

If those spots and pattern hold up on tournament day, I might be in the hunt for a check and possibly a win. I'm certainly not over confident as I have seen this happen all too often where on tournament day the pattern and spots don't pan out. Very tough to fish these Dipsticks in the wind, so I'm hoping the wind lays down for at least a while tomorrow.

Bill Mathis
Classic Bass Field Staff
Member Team Skeeter

6/4/10
After enjoying a week on Lake Vermilion with some high school friends, it was now time to get into
tournament mode. On Sunday June 6, I will be fishing the Excel Singles Series on Gull Lake.

My first day of practice was Friday June 4. With only 2 days to prepare for the tournament and find a
pattern as well as some spots, I started with some familiar places where I have caught fish before. My
first stop I caught 5 fish within 15 minutes, however only one of those might have a chance to help me
Sunday. I moved up to another spot and found my honey hole had no fish on it. I continued moving on
down a weed line and found only small fish. My next spot produced some o.k. fish as well as the spot
after that.

I tried some docks after Noon and I could only muster up some small fish. My fish were all caught on a
3/16th Northland Lipstick hook with a Northland Dipstick as well as a tube with a 3/8 oz. sinker. The
fish I found were all in less than 10 feet of water. Even with cloudy conditions I could not get one fish
to turn on a buzzbait all morning.

Off the bass path for a minute, if you are looking to catch some really nice size pike, try a 3/16th
Northland Lipstick hook with a Northland black neon Dipstick. I boated about an 8 pound pike today in
the shallows and up on Vermilion we landed an 8 pound, 10 pound and a 12 pound pike again in the
shallows. Not what I'm looking for, but they were all fun to catch.

I will be working some old haunts on Saturday in a different part of the lake and hope to find some kind
of pattern that will give me a chance to win the tournament on Sunday.
 

Bill Mathis
classicbass.com Field Staff
Member Team Skeeter

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