Bobber and I discussed strategy at length all week long. Which rain coat ya gonna wear? You bringing a tuque to wear? Gloves? Winter coat? What if it snows? Ya see, as usual, the weather was gonna be a factor. It always is on Derby Day at Baitcasters.
Boats putting in prior to the blast off.
So with the rain and the wind more than 20 teams blasted off in search of pickerel and pike. I turned the seat on Bobber's boat around, pulled up my hood and hunched up against the rain and the spray from crashing through the wakes of all the bass rockets that were flying down the lake.
We headed for our first spot and saw a couple of boats on it. Though disappointed to see the other boats, we decided to stick around in hope of catching a couple of pickerel right off the bat. We didn't catch anything there. It didn't look like anyone else was catching anything either. We stayed on the spot for nearly three hours, picking apart every square foot with jigs and minnows - just hoping that a school of pickerel would move in and make our day. It was cold and wet and windy and it was getting difficult to stay positive.
Bobber suggested that we should stop fishing for pickerel and go after pike. I was about ready to agree but instead suggested that we fish another spot that was not so far away. I thought the pickerel couldn't be too far away and with the dark, windy, rainy conditions, just maybe the pickerel can be found in shallower water instead of the deeper water that we always try first. We headed to our second spot and started fishing again.
We drifted around our spot and had little luck with the exception of a couple of perch. Then I suggested that we make one more drift but just a little deeper than the last one. I caught a couple of pike. Very small ones but something to get started with. I hooked into a third pike and as I began to reel in I was beginning to feel better - it was definitely gonna be replacing one of the smaller ones in the well. But wait - did I just see a white spot on that fish's tail? Bobber get the net! There was our first pickerel coming in - a nice one around two pounds. Hey - that pickerel was swimming in 10 feet of water! What were we doing fishing in 28 - 32 all morning?
In one pass of our new spot we had three of four fish sitting in our well. We decided to make another pass. Bobber was just commenting on how badly he was sucking at fishing when I hear his tune change and he says "Get the net!".
Bobber with his 1st pickeral of the day.
Bobber got himself a nice 2.7 pound pickerel and all of a sudden we are feeling warm and dry and happy again. The hardest part of the Derby has just been completed for us. We got a couple of decent pickerel and we have the rest of the day to catch pike that are bigger than the one Bobber shows in his picture.
Bobber sad about the size of his pike.
The two smaller fish in here are our pike.
So now we have four hours to catch our selves two two-pound pike. I am figuring that would be a fairly decent weight to add to our two pickerel, and not very difficult to do. Do you think we could catch two pike weighing two pounds each? Mississippi Lake is blocked with such pike! We fished hard and wound up with two pike that may have weighed 3 pounds all together. As we apprqaoched Baitcasters at the end of the Derby, there was a dis-heartening scene - Tony Morin was holding up a pike that looked to be more than six pounds - I didn't know they grew that large in Mississippi Lake!
With no real expectation of placing in the money on this day, Bobber chose the start of the award presentation to make the run to his van in the Bait Mobile. When our names were called to come to the front and receive the cheque for fifth place, Bobber was nowhere to be seen. Here it is - the first time that Bobber and I as a team have placed in the money and Bobber decides to go for a ride in a golf cart just as the awards are being handed out! DOH!
The winners - Andre Oulette and his father in law Harold.
After the award ceremony we decided to hang around and chat with the other Derby participants. It was a great time and a lot of fun was had by all. The post derby party after a Baitcasters tournament can always be counted on for a lot of good laughs and this one was no exception. Thanks Crystal and Mike for running a great Derby.
and congrats to the winners!! 
