Tackle Shack Report
Pablo Gonzalez and Robert Miller - 1st Place
Pablo Gonzalez and Robert Miller fished weedlines and flats to win the Tackle Shack Circuit opener at Lake Wawasee last weekend.
Gonzalez and Miller, who won $2,000, had 17.50 pounds that included a 5.18 largemouth.
“We caught most of our best fish in 8-10 feet of water in three different areas of weed lines that we found in practice,” said Gonzalez. “We caught those fish on jigs. We also caught a few on top of a flat in 4-5 feet of water on Erie darters but only one of those made the final cut.”
The team caught its biggest fish within the first hour, and its best bite was first thing in the morning.
“We had approximately 13-plus-pound limit by 8:30 but made culls with the jig throughout the day,” the team said. “We were guessing that we had in excess of thirty keepers, so it was definitely a fun day.”
Ron Fabiszak and Chris Thorton - 2nd Place
Ron Fabiszak and Chris Thorton were second with 14.68 pounds that included a 5.77-pound bass. It earned them $1,400.
“We started shallow throwing Chatterbaits and caught a quick limit, then went to main lake breaks and fished a jig and slowly upgraded throughout the day,” said Fabiszak.
The team said they caught about 25 keepers but most were less than 2 pounds. The big fish came midday.
Chase Fennell and Josh Brandenburger - 3rd Place
Chase Fennell and Josh Brandenburger were third with 13.97 pounds to earn $900, beating out fourth place by .01 pounds. Their biggest bass was a 4.23 largemouth.
“We caught all our fish on Rat’L Traps and Chatterbaits,” said Fennell. “Our main spot was a pinch point leading into a spawning bay in two to four feet of water. We had a limit in about 7 minutes and culled up for the next 10 minutes and caught 12 keepers on that spot. As the day went on the bite got tougher; we caught a few more keepers and culled up once on a main lake weed bed around 12:30.”
Jason Schwartz and Brian Miller - 4th Place
Jason Schwartz and Brian Miller, who barely missed third place, won $500 for fourth with 13.96 pounds. However, they also pocketed the $500 Biggest Bass of the Day check with a 5.86.
“We started the morning in about 15 feet on the outside of a weed bed and caught the first 2 keepers on a blade bait, they said. “After the sun got up a little more and the wind picked up, we switched to throwing jerkbaits on the inside of weed beds and weed lines in about 8 feet of water on the flats. We caught most of our bag this way, including the big bass.
The bite really shut down around noon so they decided to try something completely different and went to the warmest water we could find in about 1-2 feet. They caught another limit on tubes but could only upgrade by a half pound.