Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Thursday, January 08, 2026
- Details
Arjay’s Report
Like most tournaments these days, lots of limits were weighed in at Coldwater Lake in the Arjays’s weeknighter, but big ones were hard to find.
Noah Chambers fished solo and found the right ones. He had an 11.60-pound limit and big bass of the night, with a 3.80-pound largemouth. He caught his fish by working Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits.
Maynard Hochstetler and Marvin Bontrager were second with 11.22 pounds caught on jigs and wacky worms.
Third place went to Chris Yoder and Edward Bontrager who fished jigs and topwater lures over shallow weeds. They had five bass that weighed 11.08 pounds.
Heath and George N Jody Musall were fourth with 9.06 pounds caught on drop-shot rigs and wacky worms.
The ClearH2O Tackle first out of the money spot with 8.86 pounds was won by John Miller and Ashley Gibson who fished drop-shot rigs.
The Michiana Outdoors News tackle pack for sixth with 8.54 pounds was taken by Justin and Hunter Kosmerick.
Scott and Chase Carpenter won the Jaywalker Restaurant junk fish pot with a 5.04-pound pike and the Str8-Up Mounts lucky dog pot was won by Dennis and Tobias Yoder.
Marvin Bontrager won the $50 gas cards and Doug Sanderson took home the 50/50 pot.
Arjay’s will be at Clear Lake Wednesday night.
- Details
The shallow bite was on at Winona Lake in the Little Money Bass Tournament (LMBT) tourney last weekend and forward facing sonar had little impact on the outcome.
Jeff and Cameron Crussmeyer came out on top with 13 pounds, 14 ounces and had the biggest bass, a 4-8. They fished shallow with Jerkbaits.
Steve Ponder and Rick Jankowski were second with 10-3. They also caught their fish shallow on jerkbaits and swim jigs.
Third place went to Chris and Jerry Shreves with 9-1. They caught their fish on buzzbaits.
- Details
Tackle Shack Report
Bill Mathews teamed up with substitute partner Justin Hahaj to win the Tackle Shack tournament on Gun Lake last weekend.
Their 15.87 pounds earned them $1,470 and they also caught the biggest bass, a 4.69-pound largemouth, for another $200.
Remarkably, neither one of the team members had pre-fished, Mathews had never been there and Hahaj hadn’t been there for 15 years. The Gun Lake win vaulted Bill and his s main partner Kris Iodice into first for Angler of the Year.
“We caught our fish on a variety of baits,” says Mathews. “Swim jig, finesse jig, wacky worm and the BAFA primal all played a role for us. We targeted docks and flats in 2-4 feet of water. We caught fish all day but the afternoon bite was better for size. That is, other than the big bass. We had 4 rats within the first 30 minutes or so and the big bass of the day was actually our fifth keeper.”
They made some small culls over the next hour or two, but most of the other 2.5-3 pound fish came after the sun got up.
Maynard Hochstetler and Steven Wickey were a distant second ($850) with 11.24 pounds.
Hochstetler said he and his partner fished drop shots in 15 to 25-feet early morning and fished docks in the afternoon.
“Pre-fishing did help us narrow down the better areas,” he adds.
Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits were keys for the third place ($250) team of Jonathon Brock and Christopher Martin, who had 11.24 pounds.
“We caught our two biggest on a spinnerbait and a Texas rig,” Martin explains. “We had a good bite all day; while we caught probably 35 keepers, we just couldn't find a kicker fish. All our fish came from 4-8 feet.”
- Details
Arjay’s Report
John Miller and Ashley Gibson not only won again in the Arjay’s weeknight tourney, but they scored the Tackle Shack big bass honor at Randall Chain near Coldwater, Mich.
Miller and Gibson had a 14.02-pound limit that included a 3.62-pound largemouth. They caught their fish by drop-shotting in 10-15 feet.
Scott and Chase Carpenter were a distant second with 9.76 pounds. They used crankbaits and Chatterbaits.
Steve Martin fished alone and garnered third with five weighing 8.50 pounds. He fished swim jigs on weedlines.
Fourth place went to Chris Yoder and Edward Bontrager with 7.90 pounds, caught by skipping docks.
The ClearH2O Tackle first out of the money spot for fifth was won by Steven Wickey and Irvin Yoder with 7.56 pounds.
The Michiana Outdoors News tackle pack was won by Justin and Hunter Kosmerick while the Jaywalker Restaurant junk fish pot was won with a 2.84-pound northern pike by Yoder and Bontrager. Str8-Up Mounts lucky dog pot went to Ray Lohr and Charlie Fouts, Dennis and Chris Yoder won the $50 gas cards and Justin Kosmerick won the 50/50.
- Details
Stars and Stripes Report
Big bass continue to dominate at Gull Lake, especially for anglers using forward facing sonar.
Kyle Smith and Rickey Lynch won with a whopping 21.16 pounds.
“We caught them out deep on a minnow,” they said. “It was a tough bite but we were fortunate to get a few big smallmouth to bite which are key to being successful on Gull.”
They fished from 40-60 feet deep. Their biggest smallmouth came within the first 30 minutes of the event.
Jesse Richardson and Lance Cole finished a close second with 20.71 pounds.
“All the fish caught today were on Tightliner's Customs ball head. We used a bunch of different minnows today we got at The Angler, Inc.” They were targeting similar depths. They also mentioned they caught LOTS of bass and culled up throughout the day.
Third place Luke Toliver wasn’t far behind with 20.65 pounds.
Travis and Charlie Terry caught the biggest bass of the tourney, a 4.87 pounder.
The season finale is at Austin Lake on August 24th. Entry is $100, no membership required. It’s an eight hour event that will start at safe light.