(Editor's note: In observance of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, a new top story will not appear until Tuesday.)
By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
It’s known as TitleTown in football circles, an homage to the NFL’s Packers. But for a week in late June and early July, Green Bay, Wis., will be the epicenter of the Bassmaster Elite Series after it was revealed Thursday that Lake Michigan will fill the “mystery lake” slot on the schedule.
This will be the first Great Lake on the docket since the Lake Erie/Niagara River Elite Series in 2008 and it’ll also serve as an interesting contrast to the Mississippi River event in La Crosse, Wis., the week before.
“I knew about it 2 weeks ago when I saw that permit pulled for Green Bay,” said Travis Manson, referring to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' website which lists the tournament permits for fisheries across the state. “Then they wanted to be sneaky and put another one out there. Seeing the Green Bay permit was pulled first, I had a hunch it was going to be there. I was really hoping for Lake Winnebago over the Bay, but I’ll take it.”
Like any new water, the Bay of Green Bay will present unique challenges to the competitors. It is one of the largest freshwater estuaries in the world and the main obstacle on a fishery that covers in the neighborhood of 120,000 acres will be the weather. Some pros are already concerned about wind and being able to run to the quality fish.
They're also unable to do any sort of scouting trips as the fishery went off limits to competitors yesterday, so only publicly available information can be accessed as part of their preparation.
Tournament boundaries weren’t immediately known at publication time. Information B.A.S.S. provided to the competitors designated Lake Michigan as fishable waters while Manson, who attended an announcement ceremony in Green Bay, was given information that fishable water would be limited to the lower end of the bay. That will play a big factor in the quality of fish that are available. If the anglers are allowed to run to the area near Sturgeon Bay along the eastern side of the bay, it could lead to some big weights.
Last weekend, it took 61.29 pounds to win the 2-day, 146-team Sturgeon Bay Open that included Elite Series pro Jonathon VanDam (36th, 53.38) and Manson (55th, 50.71). A limit consisted of six fish and numerous fish in the 5- to 6-pound range were caught.
“It’s an untapped, amazing fish factory for monster smallies,” said Elite Series pro Nate Wellman, a Michigan native. “It’s going to shock the world of bass fishing what comes out of that place.”
B.A.S.S. chose Lake Michigan over another Wisconsin fishery, Lake Winnebago, which was favored by some because of its proximity to Mercury Marine’s headquarters in Fond du Lac. According to the news release B.A.S.S. circulated with the announcement, two lakes in Minnesota were also considered.
The choice wasn’t a complete surprise as it was reported last week that B.A.S.S. had filed for tournament permits at Winnebago and Lake Michigan. The Elite Series pros will have plenty of company on the big water as two salmon/trout tournaments, consisting of as many as 950 boats between them, are set for the Bay of Green Bay that weekend.
BassFan spoke with several Elite Series pros after the announcement was made. Below is a sampling of their reactions:
Brian Snowden
“I expected it to be somewhere like that. I think the fishing will be really good. The only problem will be the wind. I don’t care much for big bodies of water with wind.
“I don’t know a whole lot about it, but it’s like a clean slate for everyone because there’s no history of us being there before or really any other tournament organization. It could be a lot of fun, if we’re able to get out and move around. Usually where there are smallmouth, it’s fun. Getting from point A to point B is what sometimes can be the issue.
Michigan native Nate Wellman will take a no-fear approach on the big waters of Lake Michigan.
“I’ve done well at Erie, but I just don’t care for having to deal with rough water. It’s just something I’m not comfortable with. The lakes I’m used to fishing, like Table Rock, are canyon-like, so if the wind blows 30, you’re pretty well protected.
“I really liked (the mystery concept). If it were up to me, I’d make them all mystery lakes. There was certainly a lot of interest and talk about it and that’s a good thing.”
Travis Manson
“People will be able to fish their style. If guys want to go catch largemouth, they might be able to pull 12 pounds, which won’t cash a check, but you’ll see guys doing that because that’s what they prefer. The smallmouth guys -- it’ll vary on where we’ll be able to run. If they let us run where I’d like to run, you’ll be able to see 25-pound bags. If they’re not going to let us run, you’ll be seeing 15- to 17-pound bags.
“To win, it’s going to be smallmouths. It’s not like Sandusky Bay [Lake Erie] or anyplace else. It’s really a mystery event even for me because I live 10 minutes from the place and with it being on the lower bay, I typically don’t fish for fun there. If I had the choice, I would trailer further out on the bay to fish. That’s where the better fishing is. There are a couple of rivers that connect in the lower bay and you can catch 11 or 12 pounds of largemouths in there, but you won’t contend with just those.
“(The mystery concept) opened up my eyes as to how many people get information before an event because I have a lot of buddies that got calls from guys. That was eye opening to me and that’s fine. They’ll do whatever it takes to find those areas prior to the cutoff. I liked that it was kept secret and there was only speculation so guys can’t get that information or even come up here to pre-practice.”
Clark Reehm
“Although it’s a mystery lake, it really wasn’t a mystery because it was going to be one of a handful of places. There was speculation that they were trying to deke us, but realistically everyone on Tour had information about Escanaba (Bays de Noc) or Green Bay or Sturgeon Bay or Winnebago. We all gathered as much info as we could prior about all of those places. As B.A.S.S. pros you have to do your due diligence and if they’d have told us it was going to be one of 20 lakes, we would’ve gotten as much information as we could about those 20 lakes.
"I’m glad we’re going to a quality fishery where the numbers are going to be big and size is going to be there. It’s really going to be a slugfest.
“I’ve had very little experience with (big waters) and what will hurt a lot of guys is the wind. I’m sure most people will get on fish. On the Great Lakes, you can go to those community holes or reefs and catch fish. But are you going to catch 4-pounders while another guy is catching 6 1/2s? A lot of it is going to be a crapshoot about the quality. The wind will be the difference-maker and seeing who can stay out there. Will we only get 1 day of practice because the wind’s blowing too hard and neutralize everything?"
Nate Wellman
“The whole bay itself is pretty famous for walleye fishing. The bass fishing is kind of like a hidden treasure. It’s all just prime fish habitat. There’s a lot of sand and rock and I’d expect some of the shallower bays to have some grass.
“There will be a lot of different ways to catch fish. There will be fish shallow and there should probably, by then, be fish transitioning to deeper water. I don’t think the real deep water around 30 feet will come too much into play. The water is gin-clear and some days you can count them in 20 feet of water.
“I think the comfort level (on big water) will make a big difference. A lot of guys in our field are reservoir and river fishermen. There are a lot of flippers and they’re going to be out of their element. For instance, a northern fisherman will know probably within 5 minutes if an area is what we’re looking for where another guy might fish there for an hour before he decides it’s no good.
“I’m not scared to run 40 miles in 6-foot waves. It won’t bother me a bit where someone else might say, ‘Those waves are big and I’m not going that far.’ Those are going to be big issues guys will face and have to overcome. A lot of these guys have fished Erie and St. Clair so they’ve dealt with it.”
Kevin VanDam
“I was in Fond du Lac at Mercury last week when the story came out that it could be Winnebago or Green Bay and I thought with Mercury being right there, Winnebago made a lot of sense. But Green Bay’s a great place to catch fish. I’ve never fished there so I’m looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun.
“The big factor will be the weather and how rough it can be. Lake Erie is a walk in the park compared to Lake Michigan. I grew up fishing the eastern shore and the river mouths and we’d jump from port to port. If you get some wind out there, you can get some 10-footers depending on what boundaries they give us.
“I loved the (mystery) concept. I like the idea that they tried to create the most level playing field and not allow people to get information ahead of time. The only thing is it has to be tough for the community of Green Bay to try to capitalize on it the best they can, but I think B.A.S.S. did a good job with it.”
Randy Howell
“It was a surprise to me because I really thought it would be Winnebago, but they did a good job of keeping it a secret. … I spent some time researching Winnebago and I think a lot of guys did over the last week. I’m glad I didn’t drive up there.
“It made for a lot of excitement and anticipation. I guarantee it had me, and probably everyone else, hanging around until the announcement. It will be neat to go somewhere new. My mind is already going 100 miles an hour about what this body of water is like. It’s such a diverse part of the country with such mass amounts of water it leaves a lot to the imagination to try to figure out.
“That was the most intimidating thing for me back in my earlier years -- those big-water, Great Lake type of places. I had a hard time on them my first 6 or 7 years on tour, but after I got a little older and learned a little more, coupled with all of our technology, it makes it easier. I like northern smallmouth fishing. I’ve really gained a lot confidence in that because on northern fisheries in the summer, the smallmouth are eating good and they’re fun to catch. It sounds like they have some of the biggest smallmouths in the country up there.”
