The MLF Stage 8: Neenah on Lake Winnebago, Lake Butte de Morts, and Big Green, June 25th-June 30th

When the MLF, Major League Fishing announcement of the location of Bass Pro Tour Stage 8 dropped it took a lot of people by surprise. They were coming to Neenah, WI to fish Lake Winnebago (?!?!??!), Lake Butte de Morts, and Big Green. 

No major bass circuit has EVER fishing this part of the state. If they come to Wisconsin, the head up to Sturgeon Bay or to the Mississippi by LaCrosse.  Plus Winnebago is known as a world class walleye lake, not a bass lake. Few fish Winnebago for bass….myself included. 

The best bass anglers in the world were coming to my backyard!    Kevin Vandam (considered by most to be the GOAT, Greatest Of All Time), Mike Iaconelli, Jacob Wheeler, Shaw Grisby, Greg Hackney, Takahiro Omori and all the rest (except for Ott Defoe who had to miss for medical reason).  I’ve followed these guys for years and they were going to fish places I were familiar with. I was especially excited that they were fishing championship Sunday on Big Green Lake, which is one of my favorites.  

 

 

Did you Know?

MLF does things different. It’s not about a 5 fish bag of fish that is weighed at the end of the day… it’s about catching as many bass that weigh over 1lb during the day that are immediately weighed and released at the boat. 

Every angler has a boat marshal who weighs the fish and reports in…and gives the angler ongoing running updates so the angler always knows where he is in the standings. This adds a ton of drama and pressure during the day.

MLF Stage 8 Elimination Round – Lake Winnebago

I’ll be honest, I was worried this would be a dud.  Winnebago is known for walleye.  Bass… not so much.  But Winnebago surprised just about everyone, including me.  It ended up being one of the best lakes the entire tour has hit during the various elimination rounds.  The weights were huge with the cut being 51lbs or better over 2 days of fishing to advance to the knockout round on Lake Butte de Morts.  This makes Winnebago one of, if not the, top lake for Elimination rounds the entire year…which should also encourage more national tournaments to give Winnebago a look when planning future tournaments.

Tyler Fink and I went to the postgame up in Neenah one of the days of the Elimination rounds to check things out. Sorry to say…it was underwhelming. This is MLF’s first year with a full tour and their focus is on the live streaming audience and TV… but man do they need to up their game for those attending in person.  It was just a nice stage for filming the live stream and TV show. There was nothing setup for audience interaction.  No sponsor booths. No vendors.  No merchandise?!!?!? Are you kidding me?  Running a national event and no place to even purchase a T-shirt, hat, anything.  It was a pale imitation of what FLW and Bassmasters tours do. MLF needs to up their game in future years. I’ll give them a pass as this is their first year with a tour… but they need some audience interaction. 

Here Comes The storm!

The postgame was cut short.  A HUGE thunderstorm was bearing down on the stage.  We took off just as Ike hit the stage.  He was eyeing up the storm carefully too.  Just as we got to our car the leading winds hit and hit hard. 5 min later the rain rolled in.

Even Ike has his eyes on the sky as the storm rolls in

Pro Meet-N-Greet at the Reel Shot

As the storm rolled though, we headed to The Reel Shot to meet some of the MLF pros who were there for a meet-n-greet.  I spent most of my time talking to north Californian MLF pro Cody Meyer.

We talked a bit about his first year on the tour, his chances of making the REDCREST Championship in August, life on the road, and of course fishing.

I got some tips on more comfortable way to fish a jerk-bait that will help with tendon soreness and we discussed this fishing slump that has plagued me since mid ice-fishing.  He mentioned he’s gone through several during his career.  Your confidence gets ruined. You start to second guess yourself.  And end up shooting yourself in the foot more often than not.  The way he’s worked through them is to grind a pattern you know until it get’s your confidence back. Take some time on the water when not in competition and just fish.  Get back to enjoying the sport.  

(In later retrospection this is very similar to a baseball players slump at the plate.  It’s more mental than anything. Success breeds confidence. )

Since it’s against the rules to discuss any lakes they were fishing on, we talked about other great Wisconsin locations like Sturgeon Bay.  I did let the secret out to him that if he has time he should go fish Fox Lake.  It’s the best largemouth bass lake in this part of the state by a long shot.  When he heard about how the 18″ size limit has resulted in a ton of 3+ lb largemouths he was very intrigued. We talked fishing Fox Lake for a long time. He mentioned that with the MLF immediate catch-n-release format, a small big bass lake like Fox would be a perfect place for a championship Sunday. (I’m calling it.  The next time MLF comes through this part of Wisconsin, Fox Lake will be the location of the championship)

Cody finished his elimination round the next day inside the cut and got to fish Lake Butte do Morts… but sadly didn’t make the Knockout round cut to fish the Stage 8 Championship on Big Green. However, he DID earn enough points to fish in the REDCREST Championship in August, in LaCrosse, WI. 

Before we left, I bought a bunch of bass stuff from The Reel Shot. If you are a bass fisherman, I highly recommend you check them out.   They have the best selection of bass lures outside of Cabela’s.  And if you buy your gear from them, you are helping out a local business vs a mega corp like Bass Pro / Cabela’s.

Stage 8 Championship Sunday: Big Green Lake

This is what I was most excited for. The best in the world fishing my favorite lake.  I got to the lake and was able to quickly locate several of the pros. The first one I spent time following around was Jacob Wheeler.  He’s young and has been on a tear the last few years.  (He reminds me a lot of a young KVD). It amazed me how fast he fished the first period when looking for fish. My trolling motor was up around a 6 or 7 to keep up with him.  When you hear pros say cover water, they mean cover water. After catching some, then they would slow waaaay down to cover the area. 

However mid morning, another huge storm rolled up.  I was solo to start the day, and Tyler arrived just in time to help me land my boat before the storm hit.  And it hit hard.  I’d launched out of Horner’s Landing.  We got my boat out just before it hit. Tyler ran to get his truck only to find that the wind had knocked down a huge tree which was now blocking most of the landing…. and it just missed crushing his truck!

The storm also chased the MLF pro’s off the water and we started a 2+ hour weather delay. We headed to town to get some food and wait it out.  Turned out to be a bit of serendipity.  Tyler started up a conversation with professional guide Mike Mayan who was also following the pro’s around. We all talked fishing until the weather cleared. 

After the Weather Delay

We headed back out and checked on Cliff Pace who was working one of my favorite stretches of shoreline to eventually win the Championship. We then checked on Brent Ehler, who was fishing a different stretch of lake that I like to target.  Brent ended up in 3rd place.  (Takeaway… I must at least have some clue as to what I’m doing when looking for fish.  Two of the top 3 guys also targeted the same placed.  To say that felt good is an understatement. )

Since they were targeting spots I already knew we settled in on following Bobby Lane around who made a HUGE push during the day and was the only one who really challenged Cliff Pace for the win.  He ended up in 2nd place.

Douche on a Jet-Ski

I feel that Bobby Lane could have maybe won if his spot didn’t get tore up by a disrespectful jet-ski followed by a disrespectful pontoon boat a few minutes later. 

Picture this…. you’re making a big push. You’ve moved into 2nd place. You have the location (less than 75 yards from shore), in 6′-8′ water and are on a good school of scoreable bass.  You have momentum going.  The fans watching from their boats are staying far enough back and being respectful. The pleasure boaters are out… but for most part they are going around you and the boat observing you.  But… there is this one guy on a jet-ski… he’s been racing all over the deeper water for some time….

Then for whatever reason he makes a big circle around everyone and come tearing at top speed down the shoreline between you and the docks. And to top it all off, a pontoon boat who was cruising down the shoreline  saw him do it, decides to do the same thing.  Both had the whole fricken lake to use, but instead they just had to cut it short and tear up his fishing area.

Before the jet-ski, Bobby Lane was catching fish on a pretty consistent basis…. after that the bite died way down.  All credit to Bobby Lane for keeping his cool and just fishing on.  I hope karma catches up to jet-ski guy.  

Fishing Conditions and Locations on Big Green During the MLF Championship

• Weather before storm: calm, humid, partially cloudy, mid 70’s
• Weather after storm: windy, cloudy, mid 70’s, not as humid
• Water – Gin Clear!  We could see bottom in 22′ water.  (This is the Big Green I know and love!)
• Locations – All three were targeting small mouth and primarily focused on rock and gravel in the 6′-12′ range along the northern shorelines.
• How the Caught em – TOP 10 BAITS: How They Caught ‘Em at Stage Eight Neenah
• What the top 3 MLF Pros thought – Top 3 of Stage Eight Recap Day on Green Lake
• Highlights – Championship Round on Green Lake