Mill Creek Night Fish Off

[joey holder]

Anyone know the results both friday and saturday night

[basscat123]

Just read the results on their website

[merc1997 Bo]

some nice weights 3lb. average to win, and 2 1/2 lb. avg. to get in the money. it is easy to see by what has been weighed all year at this event by some of the best on the rock that the rock is lacking in numbers of quality bass. 4 lb. average used to be the norm to be at the top, but now it seems that 3 lb. avg. is going to be up there. the weights brought in were as good as they have been all year.

bo

[Champ188]

I don't see any cause for alarm. Lots of things affect catch rates. Baitfish supply and movements are major factors, as well as long-term weather patterns. The spring bite this year was as good as it gets. We didn't have any high water to speak of this year, which may have affected the movements and location of the bigger fish. They are out there.

[Alex Heitman]

My brother and I have always said the bigger fish send in the smaller scouts to check out the bait before the big ones commit haha

[merc1997 Bo]

I don't see any cause for alarm. Lots of things affect catch rates. Baitfish supply and movements are major factors, as well as long-term weather patterns. The spring bite this year was as good as it gets. We didn't have any high water to speak of this year, which may have affected the movements and location of the bigger fish. They are out there.

there are a few out there, but i just do not believe there are any numbers of them. there are a lot of great bassers on this lake, and when no one is bringing in sacks of big one consistently, it just leads me to believe they are not there.

we did have a decent crop of bigger bass coming on a few years back, and i think many of them disappeared with the umbrella rig. guess we will see if the non-existent big ones begin to appear this fall in any numbers.

anyway, thought there were some really good weights brought in at the mill creek finals. very good jog everyone that fished.

bo

[Champ188]

I share your concern about the umbrella rigs, Bo. They have allowed a lot of inexperienced/marginally skilled anglers to catch big fish they probably wouldn't otherwise catch. You put a trophy bass in the hands of some people -- especially irresponsible ones who've never caught a big fish -- and you can darn well bet it's not going back in the lake. Makes me ill to think about it.

[merc1997 Bo]

james, that is my point. plus, it makes those same type of bassers that are meat hunters very happy. i have been happy to see the amount of smaller bass that have shown up this year. that in itself is very encouraging. with some big schools showing up munching on shad like bill and some others have gotten in on, it might be a great fall at least for numbers.

bo

[Fish24/7]

there's plenty of big bass in TR . For a long time I've heard the same things about BS.

"A-rigs caught all the big one's!"

"There's no big bass left in Bull anymore."

well they are there, and they are biting.

daytime jigging a 1 oz. white spoon on bottom in 70' Guy caught an 8 and a 5 1/2 lmb earlier in the week on Bull.

It won't be long before the weights go up. The shad are migrating.

I don't fish T's anymore but I follow the scene all year.

the night T's on BS are pretty much the same results every other week ,11-13 lbs average.

[Sprint21fter]

I fished the Winter Series this year and from January-Feburary you had to have 23lbs to get in the good money or have a slight chance to win. Fished a Aia in feb. and only caught 4 fish for 8plus pounds and thought we would be at the bottom of the standings and tied for the last paycheck for 8th place. The week before was the championship for winter series and there were 4 bags over 20lbs brought in. No fish weighed over 6 3/4lbs alot of 4.5lb class fish showed up. After the march A-rig smackdown the weights in other springtime tournaments was 15-16lbs to win. The big fish are still out there but it is hard to get three 3.5lbers in the box with a kicker and keeper to get you into that 16-18lb range. I think they are spread out due what Champ said about the bait being spread out and the bait I have seen this year isn't as big as it was the last few years due to us not having a harsh winter until last year.