Beeswax Creek

[A-Jay]

Ehgads A-Jay, south of the 45th Parallel this practice goes on all the time. Not only with tournament fisherman but with the locals as well. I don't know how many times I've seen a Sunday morning where a half dozen rowboats aren't sitting in front of a weigh-in site.

The other practice on some of the lakes/rivers I've fished is seeding. The Grand River is famous for a few of the locals that will fish the entire week before a big tournament where they will release everything they catch on a sunken tree or dock. A pair of fisherman catching up to 70+ legal bass all over the place and dropping them in one concentrated spot to me is cheating, but the tournament directors don't seem to think so. And I got to see just how irate these guys can get when I happened to stumble on one of these spots completely by accident one day. It seems that rule #1 for these guys is to make sure they draw a really low blast off number.

But really, the best reason to employ some kind of spread out release of T-Fish are the meat fishermen that pound these release sites just after a tournament. 100% C&R doesn't work if a bunch of these displaced bass end up swimming in hot grease a day or two later. One club I used to fish with got a DNR permit (yeah you did need one sometimes) for a couple of anglers to load their boats up with an over-limit of fish to release back in various spots after the weigh-in.

Lund Explorer, - I hear you, - you made some good points and I do not want to make a big deal out of this.

I have the highest respect for tournament fisherman's ability to travel to vastly different locations and still locate and catch quality bass day in and day out. I really like KVD and even picked him to win in the BR contest. There's no doubt that he still had to make all the right decisions regarding where how and when to fish to win. The other anglers in the same area did not have the same success KVD had. I wish that Timmy Horton had not even mentioned the information regarding where the previous 10 years worth of tournament bass were released, whether it's true or not.

As for the idea that the practice of tournament fishing in the immediate area where tournament caught bass are released, goes on all the time does not change my opinion that the practice undermines the spirit of the competition and good sportsmanship. As for rec fisherman going to the release site and loading up, well that might be the same as taking fish off beds. We can debate this from a couple of different perspectives, and we may not ever agree and that's OK.

A-Jay

[J Francho]

The other practice on some of the lakes/rivers I've fished is seeding.

If you're good enough to catch enough fish to do this, why bother? Doesn't make any sense.

[Pitchinkid]

As Scott pointed out, its up to the Tournament Director to set limits around or near the launch or weigh in site. If there are no such limits set, i see no reason not to fish in the area. Especially if you draw a low number for blast off.

[brushhoggin]

I remember they did a study during one tournament shown on ESPN where they caught and tagged a few fish. They turned out to go BACK to where they were caught. I'm sure this doesn't happen with all fish, but it does happen.

Over here, some tournaments get a release boat. They fill the boat up with all the fish from the tournament, t hen drive around the river and release them at different spots.

This should be done at any tournament, no matter how big or small. I know thats not possible but even a small 4hr tournament with 40 boats can put 200 bass back in one cove.

I do however remember catching a bass from under a dock on a Sunday, weighing him in and catching the fish again under the same dock on Tuesday night. He traveled a LONG way in 2 days.

i wonder how they do that. is it similar to pacific salmon who swim 2000 miles in the ocean to the rivers and streams using an innate compass?

[Paul Roberts]

Here's the piece from ESPN. Scroll down to Where Do The Fish Go?

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?page=b_classic_10_Notebook4

[Lund Explorer]

Ehgads A-Jay, south of the 45th Parallel this practice goes on all the time. Not only with tournament fisherman but with the locals as well. I don't know how many times I've seen a Sunday morning where a half dozen rowboats aren't sitting in front of a weigh-in site.

The other practice on some of the lakes/rivers I've fished is seeding. The Grand River is famous for a few of the locals that will fish the entire week before a big tournament where they will release everything they catch on a sunken tree or dock. A pair of fisherman catching up to 70+ legal bass all over the place and dropping them in one concentrated spot to me is cheating, but the tournament directors don't seem to think so. And I got to see just how irate these guys can get when I happened to stumble on one of these spots completely by accident one day. It seems that rule #1 for these guys is to make sure they draw a really low blast off number.

But really, the best reason to employ some kind of spread out release of T-Fish are the meat fishermen that pound these release sites just after a tournament. 100% C&R doesn't work if a bunch of these displaced bass end up swimming in hot grease a day or two later. One club I used to fish with got a DNR permit (yeah you did need one sometimes) for a couple of anglers to load their boats up with an over-limit of fish to release back in various spots after the weigh-in.

Lund Explorer, - I hear you, - you made some good points and I do not want to make a big deal out of this.

I have the highest respect for tournament fisherman's ability to travel to vastly different locations and still locate and catch quality bass day in and day out. I really like KVD and even picked him to win in the BR contest. There's no doubt that he still had to make all the right decisions regarding where how and when to fish to win. The other anglers in the same area did not have the same success KVD had. I wish that Timmy Horton had not even mentioned the information regarding where the previous 10 years worth of tournament bass were released, whether it's true or not.

As for the idea that the practice of tournament fishing in the immediate area where tournament caught bass are released, goes on all the time does not change my opinion that the practice undermines the spirit of the competition and good sportsmanship. As for rec fisherman going to the release site and loading up, well that might be the same as taking fish off beds. We can debate this from a couple of different perspectives, and we may not ever agree and that's OK.

A-Jay

Note to myself..... Don't type until you've had your coffee.

Just so everyone knows, I don't think any of the classic fishermen did anything wrong.  My point was that it is a practice that everyone does around here as well.

I do have an issue with seeding, but I know that didn't go on in Beeswax Creek, and didn't mean that it did.  I think that was just the grumpy old tax man coming out in me.

I hope you'll all understand that.

[Georgia Jeff]

I don't think this has a huge factor.  Afterall Beeswax creek didn't play a major role in the 2007 classic that was on Lay Lake, did it?

The pros will find the fish where ever they are.  This year it just happened to be this creek.

[Needemp]

I think Boyd Duckets explanation was more applicable than Hortons. Like Paul Roberts said, all those T released fish from the year prior moved for the winter. But what Boyd said was key. He said that for whatever reason Beeswax Creek turned on before any other creek in that lake. I think Russ Lane proved that on day 3. When he left Beeswax, he found areas where they turned on. But the first 2 days, they were inactive around most of Lay Lake.

[BigEbass]

Its all speculation likely - would need to see more studies to show this is a really big difference in the entire fishery of such a lake as lay lake - likely could have caught them in other creeks too....But I am speculating too

[ksbasser]

He got a low launch number, went straight to the best spot he knew of, worked the heck out of it and caught a bunch of fish. He had forecast months earlier that under the bridge would be the best. He still checked all of the lake in practice but confirmed his forecast. Let me get this straight. There were no off limits areas. There was a check for $500,000 on the line but many people feel that he should not have fished in the best area he knew of. I don't care if that area has more fish from transplants. That info is common knowledge. Other anglers had intentions of trying that same area, KVD got there first and stayed there.

[Paul Roberts]

Several things stood out:

-With the impending spawn, the shallows held a lot of fish. The shorelines had the ONLY chance of warming, and there were periods of sun during the tournament. The protected areas (creeks and coves) were the place to be for fish density and activity. The pic that Senko77 posted in his pre-fishing day with Rojas said everything to me: channel in protected cove, under bright skies. What I;m guessing his spot lacked (he did catch some fish there) was good cover and likely, sheer amount of spawning substrate to draw large numbers of fish -although the photo was too narrow to know.

-Much of the lake was roiled, the back of BC had the best clarity.

-Live coontail beds. KVD said he side-scanned the whole lake looking specifically for live beds -which would also indicate protection from current and excessively cold temps -stability. KVD said his area was "chocked full of bass" and was full of shad too.

KVD had it all. And he had it to himself.

[farmpond1]

I wonder if anyone asked KVD where he planned to fish and he replied "None of your beeswax."

[Paul Roberts]

I wonder if anyone asked KVD where he planned to fish and he replied "None of your beeswax."

;D Freudian slip?

[bmadd]

Just read another quote from KVD where he said the back of Beeswax creek had two feeder creeks, stumps, coontail grass, shellbed depressions on the edges of the creeks and flats coming off each creek. That's a lot of detailed structure and cover that will attract a large quantity of fish.

He also said that he had found a few other creeks that had the coontail grass, but none with as much as Beeswax. Another interesting note he mentioned, was that Todd Faircloth's spot was his #1 spot in the 2007 Classic.

[Paul Roberts]

Just read another quote from KVD where he said the back of Beeswax creek had two feeder creeks, stumps, coontail grass, shellbed depressions on the edges of the creeks and flats coming off each creek. That's a lot of detailed structure and cover that will attract a large quantity of fish.

He also said that he had found a few other creeks that had the coontail grass, but none with as much as Beeswax. Another interesting note he mentioned, was that Todd Faircloth's spot was his #1 spot in the 2007 Classic.

Yeah, I think I read that too. All the elements were there. And so was KVD.

Interesting about 2007. Similar scenario I read, but the weather warmed up and his fish spread out. This year it stayed cold and thus the location remained "chocked full of bass". Nothing new under the sun -except the sun LOL. We can only control so much of what happens -actually very little. It's not a static playing field -like a poker table. What's interesting is that the fish are reacting to conditions too, not just the anglers. Winning such a closely contested event like a Classic requires experience, homework, concentration, and some luck.

[shootermcbob]

I wonder if anyone asked KVD where he planned to fish and he replied "None of your beeswax."

That's funny. Made me laugh out loud. ;D

[chris090981]

I remember catching a Largemouth 2 years ago on a private lake in Mi. where my friend lives .. I had caught the fish roughly 1/2 mile away .. The fish was weighed and measured ! And also the fish had a chunk of it's skin missing near it's tail .. 2 weeks later my friend and i were fishing the canal where we had released it at his house and he caught that same bass within 100 ft. of where it was released .. The bass was the same length and weighed an oz. less ! I'm 99.9% sure it was the same fish because of the scar on it ! I examined the scar quite well and it looked like a pike took a chunk out or possibly a boat prop !

[farmpond1]

I wonder if anyone asked KVD where he planned to fish and he replied "None of your beeswax."

That's funny. Made me laugh out loud. ;D

That's why I won't do two shows on the same night!

[sometreble]

I live on lay lake, and beeswax has always been well stocked.Most of the tournaments at lay are out of paridise point, it is were the 07' classic was held, and I know the released fish stay in there, you can go there on a monday morning after a big tournament weekend, and put together 20 lbs from the weeds feet from were they were released.

[Matt Fly]

Its made to sound like Beeswax creek gets 90% of all tournaments and thats not close.   and..... 

Some tournaments do have live release boat(s) working, some don't.

Most ramps have cement and some kind of support on the side of the ramp to prevent washing out, which is made of chunk rock alot of times.       Ramps normally have algae growth on them, that alone draws bait and makes them good to fish whether you had tournaments or not to "stock the area".

   2007 classic wasn't won in Beeswax creek.   

   2007 had grass all over the lake, but since then, rains have washed most grass out.   Beeswax had more than other areas as pointed out at this time of the year.

And as seen in the last classic on the Red River, alot elected to stay out of the locks, why?   to maximize fishing time.

    Ya  think KVD didn't think of less travel in the morning cold, he got max fishing time, and didn't get frost bite getting to his waters.   Pretty dam smart considering he was on fish and knew how to get them to bite.   

        Too many tournaments won in the Elite series away from the ramps or stocked areas.

  KVD is a 3 time classic winner cause he's that smart.   

   

    

      

       

[bmadd]

It wasn't won there in 2007, but KVD finished a close 2nd out of Beeswax that year.

Another interesting point, if you go to Bassmaster.com and read the interview with Russ Lane, the creek he caught most of his fish out of on Day 3 is the creek he says is the best in the lake. Conditions just didn't get right until that last day. I think that adds to the fact about the warmer temps and clearer water in Beeswax really made a big difference.

[chris090981]

He got a low launch number, went straight to the best spot he knew of, worked the heck out of it and caught a bunch of fish. He had forecast months earlier that under the bridge would be the best. He still checked all of the lake in practice but confirmed his forecast. Let me get this straight. There were no off limits areas. There was a check for $500,000 on the line but many people feel that he should not have fished in the best area he knew of. I don't care if that area has more fish from transplants. That info is common knowledge. Other anglers had intentions of trying that same area, KVD got there first and stayed there.

Why was it just himself and Kriet 1st thing Fri. morning then ? He knows what he's doing .. The guys intelligent !  If kvd were to place 50th with no fish , He'd still be the best angler in the world !