Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Friday, October 10, 2025
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Four Flags Report
Dan Baerwald and Jarret Tighe took home $280 by winning the Four Flags tourney on Van Auken Lake over the weekend.
The duo, who had 14.46 pounds, said they caught their fish in 6 - 8 feet of water while using jigs.
Rob and Kim Swem finished second with 11.56 pounds and had the biggest bass, a 4.42-pound largemouth. They won $120 for the finish and another $100 for having big bass.
They caught their fish in 8 feet of water using jigs.
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Arjay’s Report
John Miller and Ashley Gibson continued to dominate Michiana lakes, winning the Arjay’s weeknighter convincingly at Lake Templene.
Miller and Gibson had 15.08 pounds AND they won the big bass pot with a 4.14-ounce largemouth. They said they caught their fish on Chatterbaits and jigs.
In a distant second was Chris Yoder who had five for 10.74 pounds by fishing a spinnerbait.
Third went to Maynard Hochstetler and Marvin Bontrager with 10.18 caught on spinnerbaits and Chatterbaits.
Timothy Eicher and Jeremiah Yoder were fourth with five weighing 9.42 pounds. They fished a combination of jigs, wacky worms and tube jigs.
Spinnerbaits and jigs helped Martin Hochstetler and Jonas Troyer to 9. 36 pounds and a fifth place finish. They said they fished spinnerbaits and jigs.
The ClearH2O Tackle first out of the money spot in was Tim and Daisy Tucker with 9.18 pounds and the Michiana Outdoors News tackle pack was won by Justin and Hunter Kosmerick.
Floyd Wolkins and Steve Martin landed a 7.82 pounds catfish to win the Jaywalkers Restaurant junk fish pot while Ray Lohr and Charlie Fouts took home the Str8-Up Mounts lucky dog pot and side pot winners ($50 gas cards) were won by Scott Carpenter and Marvin Bontrager. Seth Spaulding won the 50/50 drawing.
Arjay’s will be at the Randall chain (Waffle Farm launch) Wednesday night.
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South Shore Report
The 2025 South Shore Bass Open presented by Horseshoe Hammond drew 47 teams this year compared to 36 in its inaugural year last year. Anglers from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida registered to take on the many smallmouth and largemouth bass that inhabit Lake Michigan and its connecting rivers, lakes and tributaries.
Much larger bags were weighed in this year compared to last year with a 19.44 limit hitting the scales on Day 1. Anglers Cody Bertrand and Edan Czarobski took the Day 1 lead with that limit of smallmouth.
When the scales settled on Day 2, Scott Christy and Tyler Christy a father and son team, who started Day 2 in 14th place took home the victory weighing in an impressive bag of smallmouths. They didn’t have a keeper at 12 o’clock and decided to run to a spot 18 miles from where they were. When they dropped the trolling motor in the water, their graph lit up with smallies on an offshore structure. They said they had their winning limit in about 25 minutes, although they didn’t think at the time it was enough to win but maybe enough to cash a check.
The Day 1 leaders brought 4 fish to the scales and took home 2nd place for $4,000. They were one 14” keeper short of winning it all.
Team Christy took the Title and a check for $12,000 plus a bonus check of $400 for having the overall heaviest 5 fish limit for the tournament.
The 2026 South Shore Bass Open is scheduled for August 1-2, 2026. Information will be available at southshorebass.com.
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Stars and Stripes Report
Big bags and deep offshore fishing dominated the Stars and Stripes tournament on Gull Lake July 27.
There were five bags over 18 pounds and 10 over 15 pounds weighed in during the event.
TJ and Todd Winkler eked out the top spot with 19.34 pounds. Todd said they caught a good amount of fish throughout the day, but they made some key culls near the end. One of those culls happened to be the big bass of the event (a 4.75-pound smallmouth bass) that they caught with less than 20 minutes left before heading back to the ramp. They targeted fish on the break and offshore.
John Gipson and Evan Delarosa finished a close second with 19.24 pounds, also by fishing offshore. Unfortunately for them, they had 1 dead fish and it cost them the win and big bass.
Cole Zagrzebski fished alone for third place with 18.94 pounds. He said he caught a quick limit and continued to cull fish throughout the day. At one point he had a near 4-pound fish struggling to survive, so he and turned it loose while it was able to swim off. He did catch another fish to fill out his limit, but came up a little short of the win.
Stars and Stripes will fish again Saturday at Gull from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. No membership required and entry is $100 and that includes big bass. Email Bassinbill96@gmail.com for details.
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D&R Sports Report
Brian Burmania and Don Watts sacked up 18.52 pounds to win the D&R Sports Center tournament on Muskegon Lake July 26.
The winners also had the second biggest bass which was a 4.83 pounder. No details were provided about how they caught their fish.
John Gipson fished alone with jigs to grab second place with 18.11 pounds. He had the biggest bass of the tournament a 5.29-pound largemouth.
Dustin Daggett and Carlos Vergara were third with 17.07 pounds and had a 4.09 pounder.
Brandon Stanley and Shane Rawlings were fourth with 16.95 pounds, anchored by a 4.77.
Travor and Stephanie Bethke were fifth with 16.85 pounds.