My year end report.

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lape0019
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My year end report.

Post by lape0019 »

This year was very different for me for many reasons. The biggest of these reasons was I joined the Ottawa Valley South Bassmasters and I fished with many new people.

The goal was to force myself to get off of the Rideau and view the other prestige lakes Ontario has to offer. It worked because I fished 6 new bodies of water.

I did manage to get out once or twice before bass opener but nothing was really caught. I was testing out a few rods a member here graciously allowed me to try before I decided on which to buy. Needless to say, I never ended up buying the rod but I did get two new reels that I have been more than happy with. Both silky smooth and very well built.

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That's a Shimano Calcutta Conquest 100 and a Shimano Metanium HG DC. Absolutely love these things!

Now for the fun,

On opener, River Monster and I decided to head up the the Mississippi. I had been up there before but never fished it. We didn't catch numbers but did go home happy and will definitely head there again.

First fish of the season.

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And a few more from the day.

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A couple weeks go by and Conner was playing around with some of my new baits (THKO by TH Kustoms) and pulled this beauty out!

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My first official tournament with OVSB was on the Madawaska Headpond. I had never been there before so a bunch of us headed up there a few weeks before the tournament. Our very own Painter was nice enough to show me around in the way of showing us where the major hazards were and LVACE and I went off and fished for the day. We didn't have a bad day with many fish over the gunnels but they weren't very big. We did manage to find a few nice ones though. What was weird though is no matter where I fished, all I could find was smallies. After the day I pretty much figured out where not to fish. I talked to my partner for the event (Yves Bazinet aka Basfish) and we came up with a game plan that was good enough for 12.12lbs for 9th place.

The second tournament of the year was on Lower Beverly and between Jeff Savard and I, we had a combined 4 hours experience on this body of water. I didn't have time to pre fish so we studied maps and came up with a game plan that played to our strengths that we were both happy with. Well, it must have been a great plan because we squeezed out 14.5lbs and a first place finish.

Unfortunately, I didn't think of getting any pics of our catch but here are a few from the day.



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Next up was Ms Bassin and River Monster and I had a pretty good game plan. It didn't turn out exactly how we expected but we managed some nice fish and a 9th place finish. We were both super impressed with our day. Our kicker came within 45 minutes of weigh in. This is the biggest tournament I was in this year with 50 boats. Considering we have weighed in 10.00lbs even and finished 28th the two years prior, a 9th place finish was amazing.
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I always have a blast at this tournament and it is for a great cause. I also managed to get a wasp cam off of the silent auction table!

The rest of my OVSB tournaments were not so great. Managed a 12 place finish on Franny (out of 14), an 11th on Muskrat and a 6th on the Rideau. Franny was really tough on me. I fished with Rick Reader and neither of us really had any experience up near the launch. I have a family cottage up there but shamefully never really fish for bass up there (this will change!). After fishing most of the day and not getting a single smallie, we made a trip to areas I knew and managed three fish in the timeframe we had. We were happy to just weight fish.

Muskrat was awesome. Managed to draw River Monster and seeing as we fish all of the time together we were expecting something good. We managed a good bag of 13.2lbs but it wasn't enough.
Here are some pics from our pre fish and of the day of the tournament.

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Then came the Rideau...
Managed 3 fish and new it was going to be a tough day for all. I can always managed at least 5 fish in a couple of hours on the Rideau but it was a crazy day. 35km/he east wind made for some interesting fishing.

All in all, I had a great year out fishing with many many people and managed to finish in 8th place for angler of the year within OVSB.

I didn't even touch on the weeknight fun fish nights I put together which were a blast! I hope all that attended had just as much fun as I did.

A special thanks to all of the people I shared a boat with this year which include, ShawnD, Fishaholic, Whodatguy, River Monster, Lvace, Bazfish, Swampdonkey,Jeff Savard, Rick Reader Keith Steffensen, Matt Hill and Adam Dicks. Im sure there are a few others I've overlooked.

And to finish, here are a couple pics from the Rideau weeknight fun fishes as well as a few of my fav pics from the year.
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Shawn is crazy!
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Hope you guys enjoy!
RJ
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Re: My year end report.

Post by RJ »

Great stuff Adam. Thanks again for taking the lead on the weeknight mini tourney deals. I know the guys really appreciate that effort!

RJ
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lape0019
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Re: My year end report.

Post by lape0019 »

No worries Rob!

I've made some pretty lasting friends from this site and met some more great guys and gals on these weeknight things. If all goes well next year, my tournament partner was met on one of these Wednesday evenings!
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BradGuenette
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Re: My year end report.

Post by BradGuenette »

Great fishin dude! Glad you were able to get out and explore how spoiled we are with all the local lakes. Disappointed we couldn't get a day out in the boat this year, but there's always next year!
Brad Guenette
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lape0019
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Re: My year end report.

Post by lape0019 »

You let me know a day buddy. I'll make it work!!
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smitty55
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Re: My year end report.

Post by smitty55 »

Real good post Adam. I bet you had a smile on most of the year regardless of how you placed. Nothing like doing something you have a passion for. Specially with the young lad.

Cheers
Smitty

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CyrusG
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Re: My year end report.

Post by CyrusG »

Great report!
Cy
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TheMaverick
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Re: My year end report.

Post by TheMaverick »

Saweeet! Thanks for posting!
If fishin ain't your mission, then you can kiss my Bass!
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Walleye'm Fishing
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Re: My year end report.

Post by Walleye'm Fishing »

Great year for ya and what a pig for your son!
Walleye'm fishing, you're sleeping.
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lape0019
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Re: My year end report.

Post by lape0019 »

Yeah,

It makes for interesting conversations with the wife when he pulls those out in front of our cottage or at the neighbours place...
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ShawnD
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Re: My year end report.

Post by ShawnD »

Nice report Adam. :wink:
President of the Ottawa Valley South Bassmasters
http://www.ottawabassmasters.com/
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zippyfx
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Re: My year end report.

Post by zippyfx »

Looks like you had a great year and. A whole lot of fun!

Congrats!
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Fishoholic
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Re: My year end report.

Post by Fishoholic »

Nice report Adam. Thanks for having me out in your boat for one of the F-H weeknight fishes, it was a blast. Here's to next year and good luck on your bass circuit.
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lape0019
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Re: My year end report.

Post by lape0019 »

Fishoholic wrote:Nice report Adam. Thanks for having me out in your boat for one of the F-H weeknight fishes, it was a blast. Here's to next year and good luck on your bass circuit.
No problem!

The truth is, I have met many great people off of this site anytime I offer up an open seat. You already know they enjoy fishing so that's half the battle. If it wasn't for this site, I probably would never have met many of them and probably would not have joined OVSB as it was Shawn who introduced the series to myself and River Monster. It is a great club that pairs boaters with non boaters so if you are looking for way to fish tournaments and do not have a partner, it is something I would recommend checking out.

At this time, we are in need of a few boaters to get our ratio back and any non boaters that want to sign up are going on a waiting list.
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zeke13
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Re: My year end report.

Post by zeke13 »

Great review with some nice pics for sure .. thanks for sharing.

Your comment about FishHawk is spot on .. so much information and so many great resources!
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