By Lee Duracz

Chilly Start to Polar Bear Open

The boats arrived at the ramp with frost on the ground and ice skimmed over the condo channel behind the parking lot at Eagle Lake near Edwardsburg.

The early morning temperature was 20 degrees and the heavy winter clothing was put on by all the competitors. Thank God for the invention of four wheel drive, as it didn’t take long for the ramp to get icy, although nobody really struggled getting in or out. (The quality of the ramp is not great, I wish the MI DNR would push harder to get the new access completed.)

My graph showed surface water temps were as low as 37 degrees in shallow water and up to 42 degrees over the deeper weeds. The lake has not died off much and it made working blade baits up shallow very difficult.

The reported pattern for almost all fish catches was stroking blade baits over more sparse deeper cover along the breaks in 10 feet or more.

Andrew Buss and Steve Kline

Winners ($260) Andrew Buss and Steve Kline targeted a handful of spots off the deeper edges to produce their 7.16-pound limit. This was also the pattern for all the placing teams. Some fish were caught shallower and though the results don’t show it, there were several giant perch brought in that were not weighed due to the one keeper pike that hit the scales early.

Brian Hensley and Ken Tucker

Brian Hensley and Ken Tucker were second ($150) with four fish weighing 6.48 pounds while Andy Miller fished alone and finished third ($110) with three fish weighing 4.64 pounds.

Jeremy Chase and Bryce Amberg

The big bass award ($65) went to Jeremy Chase and Bryce Amberg with their solid 3.48 largemouth earning and Justin Schenk and Eben Lambert boated a 3.82-pound Pike that netted them $65 as well.

Justin Schenk and Eben Lambert

Every team reported it being a grind. The Polar Bear earned its name for sure. Rod tips were icing up for at least five hours of the seven-hour tourney.

Though it was very cold, the winds were manageable and there were short periods of sun making it tolerable. Twelve of the 13 teams made it to the end. Later that day, every team that competed was able to enjoy a free pizza meal afterwards at Clear H2O Tackle.