Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
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Justin and Hunter Kosmerick - 1st Place
Arjay’s weeknight sticks Justin and Hunter Kosmerick gave the Southwest Anglers Club (SMAC) a taste of their talents Tuesday night by winning the SMAC event on Corey Lake.
The brothers had five fish weighing 12.17 pounds. They also had big bass of the tournament with a 5.77-pound giant. They fished jigs and drop-shot rigs in 24 feet.
Tim Tucker - 2nd Place
Tim Tucker fished alone and brought five bass to the scales weighting 11.87 pounds. He also fished jigs in 15 feet.
Terry Smith and Scott Crocker - 3rd Place
Terry Smith and Scott Crocker had a 10.46- pound limit, caught on topwater lures and finesse worms in 5-14 feet. They finished third.
Kory Bloss and Kim Vaughn - 4th Place
Kory Bloss and Kim Vaughn were fourth with 10.20 pounds. They fished wacky rigs and dropshot rigs in 12-15 feet.
There were 18 boats in the tournament and 50 largemouth were brought to the scales weighting a total of 81.61 pounds.
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Fishing tournaments are popular in Michigan
Bass fishing tournaments are very popular in Michigan, and for the past nine years the state Department of Natural Resources has been collecting and tracking data from them in its online Fishing Tournament Information System.
By law, fishing tournaments targeting bass and walleye – as well as any competitive fishing event, regardless of structure, that targets muskellunge – are required to register their events with the DNR and report results after the tournament has ended. The Michigan Natural Resources Commission put these requirements in place for bass tournaments in 2016, with walleye and muskie requirements added in 2019.
The idea was to gain a better understanding of how much fishing tournament activity occurs in Michigan annually. In particular, the commission sought to identify which bodies of water are used and how many anglers participate in tournament fishing, as well as collect catch and biological data on the fish that are caught to supplement the DNR’s own fish survey capabilities.
These requirements and the development of the Fishing Tournament Information System have resulted in a successful program and an information-gathering tool that have helped the DNR better understand a valuable angler group while providing large quantities of social and biological data for use in future fisheries management discussions.
Most fishing tournaments in Michigan follow the same basic setup and must comply with all state recreational fishing regulations, including licensing requirements, seasons, size limits and daily angler possession limits.
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By Louie Stout
Bo Thomas of Edwardsburg, Mich. - 5th Place
Bo Thomas proved again that he’s becoming a serious threat on the Bassmaster Open Tournament Trail with a fifth place finish at Lake Eufaula, OK. over the weekend.
It marked the second time he finished in the top five of a very tough and talented Bassmaster Open field that includes nearly 200 anglers. He finished fourth last year at the St. Lawrence River.
Thomas was at home resting in Edwardsburg Monday when he reflected upon his near-win in Oklahoma. He was in second place going into the last day but couldn’t get the big bites he needed to lock up the win that would have guaranteed him a spot in next winter’s Bassmaster Classic.
Three hours of Saturday’s morning competition was televised live on Fox Sports 1 and Thomas got a lot of that air time. Unlike a lot of young anglers in the opens, he handled it like a true professional.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” he said. “I just stayed true to who I am.”
He was fishing a deep point in a creek near the Eufaula dam where the bottom was strewn with rocks, stumps and trees. He fished the same area for most of three days, catching bags of 15-8, 19-0 and 11-10.
His Garmin Livescope played a role but says he wasn’t “scoping” bass.
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Arjay’s Report
Hunter and Justin Kosmerick - 1st Place
The Kosmerick’s landed the biggest bass and captured the Arjay’s Wednesday Nighter at Cedar Lake on a very tough evening for fishing last week.
Hunter and Justin only had four fish that weighed 8.78 but their 4.06-pound largemouth also earned them the Tackle Shack LLC big bass of the evening. They caught their fish on jigs and frogs.
Martin Hochstetler and Jonas Troyer - 2nd Place
There were 21 teams in the tourney and yet Martin Hochstetler and Jonas Troyer caught the only limit and it weighed 8.50 pounds. They fished jigs and wacky worms.
John Miller and Robbie Gibson - 3rd Place
John Miller and Robbie Gibson fished wacky rigs and Ned rigs for third with four bass weighing 6.46 pounds.
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Butcher Baits Report
Bill Mathews and Kris Iodice - 1st Place
A 6-pounder in your creel will win a lot of bass tournaments and it sure did for Bill Mathews and Kris Iodice in the Butcher Baits Tourney on Austin Lake last weekend.
The winners had 16.06 pounds and 6.2 pounds of that catch was in one fish that got them big bass of the event. They used stick baits.
Kent Dowden - 2nd Place
Kent Dowden fished alone for second place with 12 pounds by fishing reaction baits.
Manny Schwartz and Dennis Hochstetler - 3rd Place
Manny Schwartz and Dennis Hochstetler had 11 pounds for third place. They said they power fished with reaction baits.
The next tournament is on Palmer Lake on July 14. Visit the Lake Drive Marine Events Calendar on this website for more details.