B.A.S.S. Northern Open Sandusky Ohio

[szomo.ca]

Hey guys and gals ,

So the time has finally come ! After registering for this event as a Co Angler in May ( I believe ). The event is finally infront of me. Today i will be heading with my friend and fellow angler Eugene , of Lures and Tours and EdgePoint. We will be heading to Sandusky Ohio for Wednesdays check in !

This is a 3 day event with the first 2 days guaranteed , then which the top 30 will move on to the final day and a chance to take it all.

This is the last stop for the Bassmaster Northern Division on one of the best smallmouth fisheries on the planet.

You can follow the leaderboard and even watch the weight in at: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/t...ts/opens/index


Wish me luck !

[Gary Switlick]

Good luck Ken and i will be routing for you!

[jwm]

Martin, have you considered using twitter for on the water updates?

[Clive]

Good luck bro!

[Whopper]

Good luck!

I was going to take Friday off and head for the islands but the weather forecast doesn't look good enough to take off. looks like it's going to windy.

Be safe if the winds blow like the forecast say it going to be rough

[MSBruno]

Good luck Martin. I'm sure you'll do well.

[pierre]

all the best

[MSBruno]

I've been following this steadily and Martin is doing us proud.

[szomo.ca]

So , basically , long story short it wasnt terribly successful fishing wise ! It was tuff on the water and we had 6 - 7 ft swells both days we fished. The second day was canceled and put the potential win in the hands of the top 10 pretty much.

My first day i drew Charles Sims , great canadian angler ! Who recently scored the much saught after 30 + lbs bag of 5 fish in an event and will be seeing alot of him shortly with what was at stake for that accomplishment. In Canada bass pro shops has offered up a bounty for the achievement and lets just say 30 lb bag is an incredible achievement on the water.

So anyways , we got to our spots , it was tough because there was a big time algae bloom pretty much everyware which put off the fish on most of these spots. My boater zero'd and i landed the loney fish for 4lbs 5 ounces . A nice fish but I truthfully needed at least 3 - 4 of those to be in contention. None the less it was alot of fun !

The second and final day on Saturday put the whole field on the water as a final. I would have needed a 30 lb bag and to say the least that was just not going to happen. I drew Jeremy Starks on second day . An elite series angler who fishes with the likes of Kevin Vandam , Mike Iaconelli etc etc .. None the less we found ourselves with no spots near by . The water was like chocolate milk and we ran to the canadian side near windsor for clearer water. To say the least we made a 70 mile round trip in 6 - 7 footers on erie and came up with 3 fish total 1 from my end .

So i ended up with 8lbs 4 ounces total for 2 days , which isnt going to do any damage on erie. Where a few draws could easily bag a 15 - 17lb bag and the top 5 in the end did exactly that.

Going in as a co-angler one thing that comes with the territory is you might not draw someone thats on fish during practice. And really your fate lands in the palm of this anglers hands. You can do alot to correct it , but theres only so much you can accomplish from the back of the boat.

In my case Jeremy Starks was the kind of angler who shut his charts off to the back of the boat and left me blind with no idea what was on the bottom other then feeling it out with a jig. Made things tuff but to be honest , he didnt fare well anyways , and the day was what it was...

I had alot of fun , i recomend you guys give it a shot ! Its a great opportunity to meet some nice people and get to see a different side of the industry. You get a chance on the co angler side to win a $35,000 Triton bass boat or even some nice cheques.

If 2 fish can land you in the top 50 , 2 consistent days could earn you alot more ...

[Whopper]

The water was like chocolate milk and we ran to the canadian side near windsor for clearer water. To say the least we made a 70 mile round trip in 6 - 7 footers on erie and came up with 3 fish total 1 from my end .

WOW can't believe (although I do) you guys made that run, how does your kidneys feel.
I fish out of my buddy's 27' and often watch guys do this, doesn't look fun to me.

Congrats on your experience