Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
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Michiana Singles Report
Twelve teams showed up for Michiana Singles OPEN series inaugural at Pine and Stone lakes in LaPorte last weekend.
High winds and a high pressure system made for tough conditions, as only two anglers weighed limits.
Loren Crosbie (Osceola) - 1st Place
Loren Crosbie (Osceola) had five keeper bass totaling 11.54 pounds to take home $260 and bragging rights, He used Chatterbaits in 5 feet of water.
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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.”
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Boater Gregory Norris of Muncie, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Patoka .
The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. Norris earned $6,582, including the lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
Cory Malcolm
Cory Malcom of Bremen, Indiana, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,041 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 13 ounces.
A lab manager for a wastewater treatment plant, Norris wasn’t sure he’d even fish the tournament due to some mechanical issues. However, everything just seemed to line up.
Greg Norris
Norris had his boat at Brownie’s Marine, who put in some extra time to get him up and running. His brother, Jonny Norris, also fished the tournament and finished 15th, and he helped convince Greg to take a shot. Before the tournament, Jonny offered to cover the entry fees for any co-angler who’d link up with him to ensure his spot. Jonny’s linked co-angler was Cory Malcom, who wound up being Greg’s co-angler partner, and coincidentally, Malcom went on to win the Strike King co-angler division in Greg’s boat.
On top of that, Greg and Jonny had some extra “help” in this one.
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NICC Report
Justin and Audrey Barry - 1st Place
Justin and Audrey Barry won the Northern Indiana Couples Circuit season opener easily on Hamilton Lake Saturday.
The couple fished a combination of crankbaits and Senkos to catch 17.40 and had the biggest bass of the event with a 4.33-pounder.
Derek and Kat Molner were a distant second with 8.73 pounds while Connor Tonkel and Ava Godbey were third with 7.01 pounds.
The next event is May 18 at Clear Lake. Check out our Lake Drive Marine Events Calendar for details.
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The Mainstream League starts its third season of Tuesday evening kayak bass contests with its first tournament on Barton Lake in Schoolcraft Township April 9. It will be the first of 10 tournaments scheduled for every other Tuesday, each on a different lake in the greater Kalamazoo area.
“These are mainly about having fun,” said tournament director Dave Mull. “They get competitive, of course, but most of us share information and even give each other productive lures during the contests.”
Entry fee is $40 per contest, which includes a big fish pot of $5 per angler. The Barton Lake tourney will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The rest of the tournaments start at 6 p.m. and end at 9 p.m.
The Mainstream League, sponsored by Mainstream Tackle & Outdoors, a kayak, fishing gear and bait dealer in Galesburg, is one of a dozen weeknight leagues in Michigan that the Topwater organization runs. The 101 Lakes League has 10 tournaments on lakes in northeast Indiana. That league’s first contest is Sunday, April 14, on Hamilton Lake near Hamilton, Indiana. The 101 Lakes League contest hours are 7 to 11 a.m.
The leagues have a catch-photo-release format, wherein anglers take a cellphone picture of each fish using the free Topwater Tracker app, release the fish and then submit the photo through the app. Once a remote judge approves the catch, it’s added to the angler’s total inches and contestants can see tournament standings on their phones in real time. The angler with the most inches for five fish wins. Most of the contests pay three or four places. The first finisher out of the money in the Mainstream League gets a $10 gift certificate to the sponsor’s store. Additionally, Mainstream has random drawings for several tackle packs donated by Berkley after the tournaments.
New this year is a Topwater membership fee. Anglers may fish two contests without paying to join Topwater, but must pay membership dues of $15, $40, or $80 to fish three or more. The various membership levels include different amounts of Topwater swag.