2020 Iowa High School Team Championship

Lake MacBride was the venue of the 2020 Iowa High School Team Championship, presented by Scheels in Cedar Falls.  Twenty-Six boats from fourteen different schools showed up to take home over $1,500 worth of fishing gear.  The event was hosted by Hot Rod Baits Bass Series, and sponsored by Scheels, The Rod Glove, Cliff Keen Athletics,  Quantum Rods and Reels and Hot Rod Baits.  This event ended up being the BIGGEST youth bass tournament in the state of Iowa for 2020!

Lake Mac Bride was in great condition for the tournament, the water had good clarity and the bite was good the week before the event.  However, Mother Nature showed up Friday with 20+ mph winds that kept going the day of the event, making fishing a little more challenging for the kids.  Even in the difficult conditions 44 bass were brought to the scale.  many techniques worked throughout the day for the kids, as many bolstered their success at the weigh-in station.  Many of those fish were in 1.00-1.50 pound range but there were also four bass that weighed right at or over the 3.00 pound mark.  As with any bass tournament held across the nation some teams were able to figure out the mystery and walk away the trophies and fishing gear.  The top five individual boats received trophies and prizes as well as the school champion.  The school champion is the total of 2 boats from the same school district.

Here are the individual results of the top 5 and the 2020 team champions:

1st Place: Jace and Tristan- Marion High School       10.45#

2nd Place: Gage and Hayden- Solon High School       9.59#

3rd Place: Noah and Charlie- Washington High School  8.00#

4th Place: Jake and Devon- Benton Comm. Schools     7.83#

5th Place: Cole and Quade- West Des Moines Valley    5.54#

Big Bass- Jace and Tristan: 3.54#

2020 High School Team Champions: Marion- Jace/Tristan/Parker/Haiden 8 bass for 13.61#

Full results and more pictures can be seen on the tournament website: Iowa High School Team Championship

Do Fish Really Bite Better in the Rain?

Not a month goes by that a person doesn't ask me about this, lately there hasn't been rain for about a month, but this past Tuesday it did finally rain.  It just so happened that I was fishing a local Tuesday Night Tournament during this rain.  As the rain started to come down, I chuckled a bit just thinking about this myth...or is it a myth???

A nice Smallmouth Bass fell
to the Whopper Plopper

The night of the tournament was going as planned...for once.  I had a stretch of deep wood that was holding a lot of bass, the size was smaller but I knew we could get a fast limit of three bass there to start the night.  We took off and went to that shoreline and quickly started to get bites, and keepers in the livewell.  It didn't take long and we had our limit of three bass.  I then went to the next location where some bigger bass tend to hang out from time to time.  I caught one that was around the 3.50# mark, a big upgrade and our night was panning out just right.  Then, it started to rain.  Out came the raingear and the Whopper Plopper, a buzzing topwater bait.  

So, does the rain really make the fish bite more?  If a person were to randomly ask people I would bet the percentage of people saying yes would be far more than those saying no.  This isn't something new, the saying the has been around, well forever.  I have no real scientific proof if it is a myth or not, however I know from fishing countless days in the rain that I can safely say it doesn't really matter.  I will say this though, when it is raining you will see me throwing one of two baits the majority of the time while it is raining.  I am not talking about when it is sprinkling or misting like we see in the spring and fall quite often, but when the drops are falling hard, a good solid rain.  

Those two baits I speak of are the buzzbait and or the Whopper Plopper.  These baits are designed to stay on top of the water while you reel them in.  I can only assume that when it does start raining rather hard, the disturbance on top of the water gets the attention of the fish, especially bass.  This is why these baits are so affective while a rain storm is moving through.  The rain causes the attraction, and the bass can't help but to swim up and eat the pretend fish swimming away.  This played out perfectly on this night, as the rain fell, the Whopper Plopper brought fish after fish to the boat.  It also caught our second biggest first of the night, a nice smallmouth bass.  Sometimes things just work out right.

So does rain really make fish bite better?  I always say no, however some baits do work better during those rain storms, so give them a try next time you find yourself stuck in a rain storm. 

***As always, if you see any lightning or hear any thunder, take cover, it is not safe to fish under those conditions.***