Brushy Creek Lake 4-Man Tournament

Just a small sampling of the boats ready for the start of the event.

For the past 11 years I have helped my bass club, the Tri-County Bass Club run a 4-man tournament at Brushy Creek.  This was an idea I had back in 2005 when I saw the neighboring state of Minnesota conducting similar events.  I am always looking for fun and new things to do with my passion of fishing, so spawned the 4-Man event held at Brushy Creek.  In 2005 that event brought in 7 teams or 14 boats, an average sized tournament for the state of Iowa.  In the past we have seen 24 teams or 48 boats participate, and the last 4 years have averaged about 19 teams or 38 boats.  It also brings in anglers from Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois.  This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest tournament in the state of Iowa this year.  I, along with the Tri-County Bass Club are pretty proud of that fact.  Needless to say a lot of planning goes into an event like this before the event takes place.  Many club members also play a crucial role in getting this event going and making sure the event is fair and takes good care of the bass at the weigh-in.  I would like to publicly thank Don Henry for the hours of work behind the scene he does each year, Dave Jordan and Doug Chaloupek for helping each year with boat inspections and weigh-ins, and finally Brad Rozendaal who does a fantastic job at being the weigh master at several of these past events.  As a group we make sure every angler that enters these events has a fair and equal shot at collecting prize money.  Speaking of that, with a $200 per team entry fee, the club handed out almost $3,000 to the top 4 teams and big bass winners.  We also strive to get the bass weighed in quickly and back in the lake with little time out of the livewell.  All in all there wasn't one hiccup at the event this year, except for the slow fishing.

Fishing at Brushy Creek Lake has slowed down for the past couple of years.  No one really knows why this is occurring, however being one of the deepest and busiest bass lakes in the state probably doesn't help it at all.  That is one reason why it is extremely important to handle your fish with care and make sure your tournament organizations are doing the same.

The team I participate on each year has stayed constant that past several years; Doug Chaloupek, Dave Jordan, Don Henry and myself, all from Marshalltown.  We have a great time with each other, and even though we are there to "work" the event we don't let that get in the way of fishing too much.  This year the team collected 6 keeper bass, Dave and Doug did the most work with 5 keepers and we finished in 3rd place.  It wasn't a great day of fishing, rather slow for both boats but I guess we did enough to earn a top spot and a nice payday.  It was tough on most anglers, only a local team caught more than 6 keeper bass which got them the win.  Brushy Creek can be a great lake, and I hope the slow fishing is not a sign of what is ahead for this lake.  It's a great Iowa treasure and I hope everyone does their part to keep it that way.