Preparations are well underway for the 2010 season. Some of the key changes are:

• Limited to 20 boats in 2 brackets
• 2009 Teams have position reserved until Feb 28th
• AOY Payout - $1,000
• Top 7 Make TOC - $5,000 for First Place
• Tentative meeting date - May 1st, 2010

Tentative Dates:

• June 19th
• July 18th
• Aug 1st
• Aug 15th
• Aug 29th
• TOC - Sept 11th

Info
Rules
Possible Lakes
Payouts
Entry Form

It was a beautiful summer-like day for the final Top 5 tournament - light winds and temperatures in the mid-seventies. Perfect! Lake Miltona was drawn for the tournament site, which worked out very well for Tom and Kathy. They pulled in a solid 17.69 pound bag to take the win.

Second place went to Brett and Brian Bloedorn with a 14.45 pound bag that included a 5.01 pound smallmouth which was the big fish for the day. 

Consistency was the key for Jake Porter and Tim McDowell in leading to the Team of the Year crown. Never finishing lower than third place and a win on Pomme de Terre lead to a solid victory for the pair in the Team of the Year race.

The last regular season tournaments were held on a cool, breezy day on Amelia and Osakis. These tournaments determined who would qualify for the Top 5 tournament to be held on September 12 and fish for a $5,600 first prize.

Brian Bohlman and Eric Cox won handily on Amelia. Their bag of 16.13 pounds included the big bass, a 4.92 pound pig. Taking second were Tim McDowell and Jake Porter with a total weight of 13.28 pounds.

Bill Infanger and Corey Goodwin won the Osakis event. They also had the 4.24 pound big bass in their 15.20 pound bag. Then narrowly beat Mike Peterson and Shawn Olson who came in with at 14.94 pound sack.

The top five teams for the year qualified for the Top 5 tournament which will be held on September 12. The qualifiers will meet at Christopherson's at 6:00 AM to draw the lake. The lakes in the hat are Smith, the Chain, Miltona, Andrew and Mary.

Thanks to everyone who made the first year a big success. There will be a meeting this fall to plan for the 2010 season. Check back here for the date.

YTD Standings

It was a cloudy, breezy day with some rain for the fourth weekend of Lakes Area Bass Circuit tournaments. The weather seemed to make for a good bite as a lot of large bags were brought in on both lakes.

Dean and Durand Peterson's bag of 17.01 pounds was enough to take first in the Reno tournament. They were closely followed by Tom and Kathy Wilkins with 16.21 pounds and Tim McDowell and Jake Porter with 16.08 pounds. Tim and Jake also had the Reno big fish with a 4.21 pound chunk.

First place on Lake Oscar went to Jon and Kelli Englund. Their bag of 18.96 pounds included the big fish of the day which weighed 4.21 pounds. Doug Kriese and Ron McNutt were second with 17.87 pounds.

On the day, nine of fifteen boats weighed over 15 pounds. It seems like it takes a gigantic bag to win on this circuit.

Four of the events are now complete and the race for the top 5 is heating up. The race is tight and big swings are possible. Click here to see the YTD Standings. The next tournaments are August 29.

The tournament hours for the last two tournaments will be from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM due to the shortened daylight hours. The pre-fish cutoff for the August 15 tournaments is Sunday, August 9.

It was another cool, cloudy, breezy day for the third events of the season. Winds of about 25 mph and clouds kept the temperatures down to the upper 60's for most of the day. Water temperature was also in the upper 60's which seemed to have the fish out of the usual summer patterns.

Tom and Kathy Wilkins had the big bag on Irene of 13.23 pounds that included the big fish, a 4.23 pound pig. Al Braaten and Bob Hefti were second with 11.49 pounds. There were a lot of fish caught, but it was a challenge to find the bigger fish.

Jon and Kelli Englund had a big bag on Sauk. They pulled in five fish that weighed 19.50 pounds which included a 5.39 pound toad that was the big bass of the day. Tim KcDowell and Jake Porter were second with 17.85 pounds.

I guess the moral of the story this week was to fish with your spouse. So, who caught the fish?

With three events complete, the race for the top five tournament is really heating up. Click here to see the YTD Standings. The next tournaments are August 15.

It turned out to be a rather cool day for the second event of the season. Temperatures in the morning were in the low 50's and warmed only to the mid-sixties - not what one would expect in mid-July. Clouds and light winds out of the north kept the temperatures down. It took a little coaxing, but the competitors were able to get some of the right bites.

Tim McDowell and Matt Klemm, who substituted for Jake Porter, narrowly held off Brian Bohlman to take the win on Pomme de Terre. Tim and Matt's bag of 17.37 pounds beat Brian's 17.28 pound bag. Doug Kriese and Ron McNutt had big fish, a 4.23 pound largemouth.

Brett and Brian Bloedorn won their second tournament with a win on Vermont. They had a huge bag of 19.49 pounds, that included the big fish of the day, a 5.89 pound toad. In second place were Mike Peterson and Shawn Olson with 16.97 pounds.

The next events will be held on Saturday, July 25th.

We had a beautiful day for the inaugural events of the Lakes Area Bass Circuit - clear skies, light winds and moderate temperatures made for a great day of fishing.

Brett and Brian Bloedorn took the event on Big Chip with a winning bag of 13.62 pounds of largemouth bass. Big bass went to the team of Tim McDowell and Jake Porter with a 4.42 pound lunker. Tim and Jake also took second place. There were a eight boats fishing Big Chip.

Rob Goodin and Dana Freese won the Lobster event with a bag of 13.36 pounds. Big bass went to Rocky Burgau and Jeff Hanson with a 3.19 pound fish, which also put them in second place. There were seven boats fishing the Lobster tournament.

The next tournaments are scheduled for July 18.

The draw meeting was conducted on March 28^th  12:00 Noon at the Depot in Alexandria. Lakes and brackets were drawn for all paid entries. The lakes are:

Date	Bracket 1	Bracket 2
6/20/2009	Chippewa	Lobster
7/18/2009	Pomme de Terre	Vermont
7/25/2009	Irene	Sauk
8/15/2009	Reno	Oscar
8/29/2009	Amelia	Osakis

The entries for each bracket will be listed on this site soon. New paid entries will be added to the brackets as they are received.