MLF-Sturgeon Bay

[BoatSquirrel]

Anybody else notice this week's MLF at Sturgeon Bay has a reduced payout?  Winner only pays $65K as opposed to their normal  $100K...A very interesting turn of events.  Wonder whats next over on that circuit.  

[GReb]

41-80 gets $3k instead of $0. I’d guess they had a vote to share the payout 1-80 instead of 1-40 due to the unique year where tournaments were cancelled. Just a guess

[TnRiver46]

I’m sure everyone will have to scale back a bit on account of the lockdown 

[BassNJake]

Boyd's still recovering from dumping all that cash at Heavy Hitters a couple of weeks ago.

[TnRiver46]

I wonder how many times someone will catch the same fish over and over with the bedding smallmouth

[slonezp]

On 7/7/2020 at 11:00 AM, TnRiver46 said:

I wonder how many times someone will catch the same fish over and over with the bedding smallmouth

The vast majority of bass, if not all will be in post spawn. Big males were guarding beds 6 weeks ago. The peak of the spawn for big fish is generally around Memorial Day. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

The vast majority of bass, if not all will be in post spawn. Big males were guarding beds 6 weeks ago. The peak of the spawn for big fish is generally around Memorial Day. 

Gotcha. I was watching some guys catch  them off beds on YouTube out of Lake Michigan recently but I guess it was either a) filmed weeks ago b) way north of sturgeon bay or c) both 

[r83srock]

There might be some spawning up by Washington island but that’s about it. My girlfriend got a nice Nikon camera she wants to try out, so we might head over there Saturday to take pictures.  Interesting payout indeed.

[slonezp]

2 hours ago, r83srock said:

There might be some spawning up by Washington island but that’s about it. My girlfriend got a nice Nikon camera she wants to try out, so we might head over there Saturday to take pictures.  Interesting payout indeed.

The water has to be warm by now. It was 70 in Sturgeon the week after Memorial day and 10* cooler in Ephraim. I've caught spawning male bass as late as the 1st week of July, but they are small. 

[slonezp]

Sturgeon Bay has a pretty decent post spawn bite simply because the bite in 6fow or 20fow could be 10ft apart from each other. At this time of year, the bite is going to be on points and drops and offshore reefs.  

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

Sturgeon Bay has a pretty decent post spawn bite simply because the bite in 6fow or 20fow could be 10ft apart from each other. At this time of year, the bite is going to be on points and drops and offshore reefs.  

Sounds fun to me!!! What do they do if there are thunderstorms on such a big body of water?? I watched a storm roll across Lake Michigan from the safety of dry land and I was still scared

[slonezp]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Sounds fun to me!!! What do they do if there are thunderstorms on such a big body of water?? I watched a storm roll across Lake Michigan from the safety of dry land and I was still scared

There are marinas all over the peninsula from Little Sturgeon north. There's also the Sturgeon Bay ship canal to take cover in.

 

About 25 years ago I got caught in a storm racing back to the marina in Sister Bay. I was trolling for salmon in my dad's 26ft Pro Line with my son who may have been 5 or 6 at the time. I heard about the storm on the marine weather channel and misjudged my timing for the 10 mile run. I was about a mile out when the sky turned black and opened up on us. The water went from flat calm to, my guess 8-10 footers. Put my son in the cabin and prayed I'd make it in. Had a wave come over the bow and disloged the windlass. Scary ****. Made it to the marina drenched from head to toe. Less than an hour later the storm was gone and the water was flat calm again.

 

The biggest issue with navigating waves on such a large body of water is the lack of consistency of the waves and swells like you would see on a smaller body of water.

[Dwight Hottle]

12 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Sounds fun to me!!! What do they do if there are thunderstorms on such a big body of water?? I watched a storm roll across Lake Michigan from the safety of dry land and I was still scared

???

[TnRiver46]

53 minutes ago, slonezp said:

There are marinas all over the peninsula from Little Sturgeon north. There's also the Sturgeon Bay ship canal to take cover in.

 

About 25 years ago I got caught in a storm racing back to the marina in Sister Bay. I was trolling for salmon in my dad's 26ft Pro Line with my son who may have been 5 or 6 at the time. I heard about the storm on the marine weather channel and misjudged my timing for the 10 mile run. I was about a mile out when the sky turned black and opened up on us. The water went from flat calm to, my guess 8-10 footers. Put my son in the cabin and prayed I'd make it in. Had a wave come over the bow and disloged the windlass. Scary ****. Made it to the marina drenched from head to toe. Less than an hour later the storm was gone and the water was flat calm again.

 

The biggest issue with navigating waves on such a large body of water is the lack of consistency of the waves and swells like you would see on a smaller body of water.

Yeah I’m guessing little bass boats might not fare so well 

[r83srock]

Crazy story! Stories like yours are far too common up there. I’ve heard countless stories of guys ripping trolling motors off, windshields, filling the boat with water. About a little more than half my life ago, real young, not old enough to drive yet, a guy in our club at the time had Just purchased a new Triton Tr-21. He wanted to go practice for a 4 man classic tournament he qualified for. Of course I get invited along, neither of us had been there before. I don’t think I had experienced very rough water at all up until that point. When we got off the water he had several stress cracks and the engine bolts were loose. Pretty sad really. I like making a trip or two a year there, but I plan it out, no Superman type stuff. An east wind is usually ok, but that’s rare it seems. Hopefully these guys use their heads and everyone stays safe.

[A-Jay]

 Looks like the brown bass are active and chewing in the rain on this first morning of competition.

And it's always entertaining to watch guys hand landing big brown bass in this warmer water conditions;

especially if they get them to the boat quickly.

#superchargedandslippery

A-Jay

 

 

[BassNJake]

Glad to see Aaron Martens back at it after brain surgery

 

[A-Jay]

Justin Lucas is on One Mother Load of brown bass.

Might shatter the MLF single period record of 55 lbs.

He's at 51 lbs with 50 minutes left in the first session.

Impressive fishery.

#everycast

 

 

****UPDATE - Just DID IT !  

A-Jay

 

[A-Jay]

Justin Lucas is on FULL SEND ~ !

Scott Suggs is in second with 41 lbs 

and he's 35 Pounds Behind !!! 

In the first period

Makes No Sense . . . 

A-Jay

[EWREX]

man i'm super happy with a limit of 5 fish during a tournament.. this guy is laying the smackdown!

[slonezp]

Suggs is on the south end of the ship canal. Lucas, if the aerial shots are legit, is on the north end of the ship canal.

[A-Jay]

If the sun shines for any length of time today

Mr Lucas might be visiting the 200 lb neighborhood today.

And I heard that's a pretty good neighborhood.

A-Jay 

[A-Jay]

  Fletcher Shryock's shoes are burning my retina ~

A-Jay

[EWREX]

24 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

  Fletcher Shryock's shoes are burning my retina ~

A-Jay

guy looks like a creamsicle

[slonezp]

The lead is narrowing