Indee High School Bass Club June Big Woods Tournament

 

Ranger Reed and Carter Cameron are
the Big Woods Lake Champions

The members of the Indee HS Bass Club voted on several places to fish tournaments this year this past winter.  Big Woods Lake in Cedar Falls received enough votes to send the club there for the June tournament.  Eighteen students signed up for the event along with the 8 captains that helped run the boats.  There is no entry or membership fee for the students to participate.  A huge thanks to the sponsors of the club who are responsible for allowing over $800 worth of prizes to be handed out to all the students that fished on this day.  Bank Iowa, Colony Plumbing/Heating and Cooling, The Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Klever Concrete, Scheels of Cedar Falls, Hank's Bait and Tackle of Waterloo, Quantum Rods and Reels, The Rod Glove, Strike King Lures, and the Hot Rod Baits Bass Series are all proud sponsors of the club.  

Many bodies of water around Northeastern Iowa have had big temperature swings during this unusual spring.  Big Woods Lake was no different, the water temperature rose nine degrees in one week prior to the event.  This seemed to get the fish moving a little bit and many anglers were able to bring bass to the weigh-in.  Even though the lake was new to almost all the kids and most of the captains it was the second best weigh-in for the bass club since its beginning in 2017.  The nine teams brought 21 bass to the weigh-in.  In first place was a pair of 7th graders; Ranger Reed and Carter Cameron had a limit, or 5 keeper bass, that weighed 7.20#, there captain was Todd Reed.  In second place was Cam Wilson and Zach Sidles with 4 keeper bass that weighed 6.65# including the Big Bass of the tournament by Zach that weighed 2.70#, they were captained by Dave Wilson.  In third place was Kegan Postel and his captain Landry Jones.  Kegan had 4 keeper bass that weighed 6.45#.  Forth place belonged to Caleb Weber and Teegan McEnany, they had the only other limit of bass which weighed 5.57#.  In fifth place was Jackson Toale and Dalton Hoover, their captain was Randy Toale and weighed in one keeper weighing 1.49#.  Sixth place was secured by Justin Schmadeke and Hunter Patton, captained by Paul Schmadeke, they had one keeper weighing 1.26#.  Seventh place went to Cal Sweeney and Remy Ressler with one keeper weighing 1.08#, their captain was Dan Sweeney.  

All teams reported catching bass, and some even caught some walleyes and northern pike.  The winning team of Ranger Reed and Carter Cameron tried many different lures, but they caught all their keepers using two baits; a spinnerbait and a wacky-rigged stick bait.  Other students reported catching bass on buzzbaits, crankbaits, soft plastic baits and chatterbaits.  The tournament was another big success for the club, a big thanks to the parents and captains that helped with the weigh-in so we could release the bass back into the lake quickly and safely.   More information about the Indee Bass Club can be found on their Facebook page and their website. LINK