Reel Used: Shimano Stradic Ci4, Core, Chronarch and Curado.

Rod Used: St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass

Line Used: Seaguar Tatsu 6, 8 and 10#

Bait Used: Spinnerbaits, jerk baits, tubes, drop shots, finesse jigs.

My fishing partner Landon Wieske and myself celebrated bass opener yesterday by competing in the Port Maitland Open at Lake Erie, put on by the hardworking folks from Strait Line Anglers. It was a 23 boat field with a lot of local talent. We were both super pumped and a little nervous while waiting to blast off but once we got out there we just got into the zone and did our own thing. We pulled up on our first spot and a nice smallie followed my jerkbait right to the boat but didn't hit. Landon threw in with a plastic on a finesse jig and boxed our first 3 fish on 4 casts! We filled our limit in under 10 minutes and then we could relax and just focus on culling. All of our early fish were between 3 and 4 pounds. I hooked a kicker around 9:30 which allowed us to breathe a little easier. It was a male fish weighing 5 lbs 8 oz. and ended up taking big fish honours at the end of the day and paying our expenses! We were culling ounces all day it was hard to find a fish over 4 pounds! We finished the day with 17.4 pounds for 4 fish which was good enough for 3rd place and another check! It was extremely tight as what seemed like half the field wieghed in over 16 pounds and second place wieghed 17.6.

All in all, it was an incredible experience and I can't wait for our next tournament, which is only 2 weeks away but feels like an eternity! A huge thank you to the organizers of the event, they definitely worked their butts of to make it a success. And also, their bass series runs all season, all the events are open to the public and they are friendly to novice tournament anglers (like ourselves!). Everyone was very friendly and inviting to us! Check em out at http://straitlineanglers.com/Bass_Series/Bass_Tournament_Series_index.htm
And hopefully I'll see you at the next event!