Community Corner

Lake Minnetonka Bass Tournament Hooks Some Monsters

More than 80 of the Midwest's top bass anglers participated in the weekend tournament on Lake Minnetonka.

Minnesotans Joshua Douglas and Corey Brant weighed a monstrous 23.53-pound, five-fish basket to win $7,500 in cash and top honors at the North American Bass Circuit's Lake Minnetonka Tournament over the weekend.

"This won't sink in for awhile," said Douglas, of Minneapolis, who explained that the team caught bass from deep points to shallow milfoil on everything from crankbaits to Texas-rigged Trigger-X Flutter Worms.

"It's truly a milestone," Brant added on the win, noting that their biggest bass of the day came with just 20 minutes left of fishing time. 

In all, the top eight teams shared the $14,100 cash payout plus sponsor contingencies and Big Bass Pot winnings. Second-place finishers, Minnesotans Keith Tuma, of Baxter, and Jim Smith, of Brainerd, claimed Overall and Premier Team of the Year Honors-worth a total of $2,000 cash and $2,400 in entry fees for upcoming NABC tournaments. They also won the $500 Cabela's Angler Cash, $250 Optima True Blue Rewards and U2 contingencies. Added to the $2,500 cash prize for second place and $550 for taking second in the Big Bass Pot, they collected $8,260 in cash and prizes.

In third, fellow Minnesotans Buckley Smith, of Lindstrom, and John Roundsley, of Brainerd, added the $100 Oxygenator bonus to their $1,500 paycheck.

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Fourth-place finishers Dean and Tony Capra, of Blaine, reeled in $925 for the biggest bass of the tournament-a 6-pound tank-plus $750 in payout earnings. 

The Minnetonka fishery produced an amazing number of largemouths for the NABC fishermen—who hailed from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin— and made for a great show for the large weigh-in crowd gathered at Lord Fletcher's Lodge.

In all, 188 bass weighing a total of 619.90 pounds were weighed in under the NABC's catch-and-release format. 

The Circuit's Bass Conservation Fund donated $15 per boat to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for fisheries projects in the Minnetonka system.

Find out what's happening in Lake Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Following the weigh-in, the NABC and National Professional Anglers Association presented kids age 12 and under with great gifts, including free rod-and-reel combos, and free tackle packages from Northland Fishing Tackle.


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