Corey Brant gets the Win by Two Pound Margin
One would think that if you caught 44 lb’s of smallmouth in two days and beat second place by 2 lb’s that you were on them and catching a 4 lb fish was easy, well that isn’t this story. “It was a grind, I fished around people each day and had confidence in the areas I was fishing that I could get a big bite every now and then,” said Corey Brant.
Day one started off slow for Corey as he didn’t put a keeper in the box until 9:00 or so, but then he settled into his areas and went to work and ended up with an impressive five bass limit weighing in at 22.12 lb’s, giving him the day one lead.
Compared to the first day, day two started off action filled for Corey who had four of his five fish in the livewell by 8:30, including the second day’s big bass (5.29 lb’s). Corey continued to work his areas methodically and in the end he finished up with a nearly identical limit, weighing in at 21.92 lb’s, thus giving him a two day total of 44.04 lb’s, making him the MNBF State Champion.
Corey began each day targeting the sides, points and edges of flats where there were big boulders or chunk rock and then once the sun came up he went searching for roaming smallmouth. “It seemed like in the morning the fish were tight to the cover, but then in the afternoon they were out cruising,” stated Brant.
To catch his fish Corey relied on the tried and true tube jig in green pumpkin and ¼ oz to catch the bulk of his fish; he did catch a few drop shotting finesse plastics.
I would like to thank Rapala, Classic Bass, All Terrain Tackle for their support, but most importantly I want to give a huge thanks to my brother Ryan. I learned how to fish offshore on Mille Lacs from him, until he taught me I was running the bays. He also let me use his boat for this event as it allowed me to get to where I needed to go and back. I can’t thank him enough for the support and help.”
Corey’s day two co-angler was industry icon Troy Linder, who had his limit of three smallmouths for just under 12 lb’s on the second day with Corey. “It was really fun to fish with Troy and here about his experiences in the fishing industry,” said Corey. “I always like to have both me and my partners catching fish, as it makes the day more enjoyable for all, so we just had a blast out on the water!”
Corey along with the other top six finishers will head to Gull Lake at the end of September to compete against other anglers from MN and WI to compete for berths to National’s. “I’ve never been to Gull, but I’m excited to get up there,” said Corey.
The top six finishers who punched their ticket to Gull include:
Corey Brant
David Ham
Aaron Daeges
Rich Lindgren
Brad Ballard
Dave Pachata
