A turning point in the season.
That’s how Arkansas’ Beau Browning described this week’s St. Croix Rods Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN. His point is well taken, as Leech Lake is relatively unknown in terms of the national bass fishing scene. A large portion of the EQ field had never seen the lake prior to the start of official practice.
But Browning’s roommate and University of Montevallo teammate Easton Fothergill knows the true potential of this lake and thinks this tournament could turn Leech Lake into a destination fishery.
“It is going to open some eyes for sure,” The Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifier points leader said. “Us locals have been talking about how this the last time we have Leech to ourselves. It is going to be a destination from here on out.”
Fothergill himself has caught smallmouth just under 7 pounds in his history fishing Leech Lake and quality smallies have shown up in plenty of social media posts leading up to originally scheduled Day 1.
That doesn’t mean the fishing has been particularly easy in northern Minnesota so far this week and with Day 1 canceled due to high winds, anglers have another day to mull over their opinions.
After a top finish at Lake St. Clair last month, Florida’s Blake Smith was looking forward to another potential smallmouth beatdown. While he’s still optimistic, expectations have not matched reality in several ways.
“It is the opposite of everything I imagined,” Smith said. “I found some cool stuff, but this tournament for me is going to go one of two ways. I’m either going to annihilate them or I’m going to come in with nothing. I’ve caught four fish in the 5 to 6-pound range during practice. But it is not the same all over the lake. It is different in every cove, whether you are in Walker Bay, Agency or Boyd Bay. You can’t replicate stuff all over the lake.”
It’s a lake that has undergone dramatic changes in the last 15 years, according to Minnesota pro Ketih Tuma. Walleye, pike and muskie have always been the star of the show, but when it comes to bass, the largemouth have historically played a role in winning tournaments.
Tuma, who has double-digit victories on the lake in various tournament settings, was one of the first to unlock the smallmouth bite on Leech Lake. In recent years, five smallmouth often claim the top prize in local and state championship events.
“I’d like to say I was the first guy, along with my tournament partner, to bring in smallmouth on this lake,” Tuma said. “With the (introduction) of zebra mussels to the lake, the water has cleared up a ton, so smallmouth will probably dominate being the sight feeders that they are.
Fothergill said this is the time of year when the smallmouth, in particular, start to group up in big schools, but Smith has seen more individual bass.
“That is where my shock came from,” Smith said. “Summer pattern starts with 70 degree water temp and we are between 72 to 76 degree water temps. So I assumed they would be grouped up deep, but the most I’ve found together is two.”
Ish Monroe hasn’t seen much evidence that is happening just yet.
“I spent 85 percent of my practice out chasing smallmouth on boulders and there’s not a ton of them,” Monroe said. “You would think on a lake like this, the smallmouth would be super easy to catch. But they are old and smart, but they are big. The local guys have an advantage at this event.”
Not every section of the lake has a strong pattern going, and areas that have biting smallmouth are well occupied by Opens competitors.
That fishing pressure will be the biggest difference maker in this tournament and anglers who have something to themselves will have a significant advantage. Tuma and Fothergill both said they haven’t even practiced in some of their historically good areas in an attempt to not be seen by the rest of the field.
“I’m looking for spots that aren’t consumed by a bunch of other anglers,” Tuma said. “I’m keying in on hard cover. Sometimes it is visible and sometimes it is not.”
When anglers do hook into a bass, they are fat and healthy. That is the result of an invasive Rusty Crawfish that dwells on the bottom of Leech Lake. The presence of so many viable meals makes getting the smallies to eat an artificial bait difficult, but that could play right into Browning’s hands.
“I think it is going to open up a power fishing door,” Browning explained. “When they have that much to eat, you have to find a way to make them react. That is the one thing I’ve been holding off on and not wanting to do in front of people.”
Largemouth are plentiful, but finding them can be a chore this time of year according to Tuma.
“Largemouth are still here. They didn’t grow legs and walk to another lake,” he explained. They are plentiful, but the issue is they are tucked so far back into the cover like the rice that they are difficult to target effectively. There are other areas with deep milfoil and you can do decent with largemouth, but I don’t think it will be the winning pattern.”
Alabama angler Joey Nania said each area is almost like its own separate lake, and with how big Leech Lake is, he could only find time to break down two or three areas effectively. Monroe added that finding the better than average sized bass has proved to be challenging.
“The largemouth fishing is easy enough to where you can catch 12 to 13 pounds, but everyone is going to have that,” Monroe said. “The question will be, can you get to that 16 to 17-pound range to compete with the guys catching smallmouth?
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”
Anglers to Watch
Easton Fothergill: Fothergill is one of the few anglers in the EQ field with any kind of experience on the fishery. He’s already won a tournament this year and leads the EQ points race, so there is extra incentive to do well in his home state
Beau Browning: Browning is good friends with Fothergill and has spent time in Minnesota with his University of Montevallo teammate. He is also in need of a good finish to keep himself in the AOY Points Race.
Ish Monroe: If there is a frog bite, Monroe has proven time and time again that he will find it.
Brandon McMillan: Reading through the tournament preview story, former Elite Series pro Josh Douglas compared Leech Lake to Lake Okeechobee, which is McMillan’s home lake. Sitting outside the Top 9 in points currently, McMillan could make a jump this week.
Jamie Bruce: This is by far the shortest drive Bruce has made to get to an Opens event. The Canadian pro has Top 10’d every U.S. smallmouth event he’s fished with Bassmaster in the last three years and with a Classic berth on the line, he’ll certainly be dangerous.
Seth Feider: Feider is well outside of the Classic cut in Elite Series points, but a win at Leech Lake this week in his home state would send him to his seventh Classic.
