The 2011 Bass season is approaching quickly and planning an attack is vital for our team. I have chosen to limit my tournaments and focus mainly on 2 Divisions. After ending the 2010 season with a much unexpected Northern Team of the Year title, there were decisions to be made.  

  I have asked a friend I met while being part of the CFT BPS Club if he was willing to fish the Northern and Western Tournament Trail. He’s a young gun with the hunger to take his game to the next level. Patrick Larmour agreed, much to my excitement. Having someone 26 years younger than I willing to accept the challenge is vital for any success because the competition is fierce. Patrick shares the same goals as I do and in order to succeed both teammates have to be on the same page.

  This is not a sprint but a marathon and bad results could be devastating. Both of us our Hungry and eager to get the season started but this could be an obstacle that could hurt us. Staying positive and having an even keel is crucial for any success.

  Having won team of the year, you don’t want any added pressure and competitors have called me out saying they want the title but we can’t be worried about them. We have to focus and control what we can and that’s the hard work and practice and execution on tournament day that will give us results.

  We both have our work cut out for us but we are both very much up to the challenges that lie ahead. So follow our blogs and see what lies in the path in front of us as we strive to reach our goals of making it to the CSFL Classic.

    Sincerely

       Team LIMIT OUT  Frank Rotundo

Boats are in storage, bass fishing gear is put away, it is -10 Celsius outside and Lake Simcoe has got anywhere from 1-2 feet of ice on it.  It has been a long, cold winter so far in 2011 and going out ice fishing has kept Frank and I occupied on weekends and has diverted our minds slightly away from the anticipation of this year’s upcoming bass tournament season. 

Lake Simcoe has been our sole destination, and Jumbo Yellow Perch has been our target.  Our main goal this season is to get a 2lbs perch through the ice.  We have gotten close before with perch ranging from 1-1.75lbs coming through our auger holes, but have never hit the elusive 2lbs mark yet!

First Ice this season started Mid December.  Frank and I along with our good friend Roy started the season over on the eastern side of Lake Simcoe, fishing near Georgina Island in water from 8-10 feet deep.  The spots we have in this area of the lake typically do not hold quantities of fish, mostly quality.  We ended up hitting that area 2 times and ended up with fair results.  We managed to catch a decent amount of fish, with 3 or 4 of the jumbo perch falling in that 1.2 – 1.4lbs range.  Definitely was a great start to the season.

For the last month or so, we have focused our efforts on the opposite side of the lake and in much deeper water.  The spots Frank and I are inhibiting now are on the west side of the lake in the Innisfil area and we are typically fishing anywhere from 40-60 feet of water.  Many big perch have been caught in this area by us and by other anglers in year’s past.  We have given this area a fair chance this year, fishing it about 6 times now and we have yet to see anything over 1 lbs come out the hole.  We know that there is not too much time left in the ice fishing season, a month or so at best, so we will be focusing our efforts elsewhere.

It is the end of February now and usually the big female jumbo perch will be starting to make their migration from the deep water to just outside the shallows where they will stage before heading to super shallow water later on in the year to spawn.  Our efforts for the rest of the season will most likely be fishing the east side of the lake once again in that 10-15 foot depth range where we will be hoping to intercept a few hungry Jumbos.

The time is ticking and we still have yet to pull a 2lbs perch out of Lake Simcoe.  Only time will tell if our decision to go back to fishing the shallow water will pay off.  The goal needs to be accomplished this year! 

We have our work cut out for us.  Stayed tuned….

Team LIMIT OUT Patrick Larmour