Bronzeback Cup Tournament Recap

[steverowbotham]

Fished the Bronzeback Cup this weekend presented by Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, CSFL and the City of Barrie.  Had a blast over the 3 days, here is my recap of the event. Simcoe is such a crazy lake, you never know what to expect. Hope you enjoy!
 

 

[AKRISONER]

followed your progress on instagram steve, was super pumped to see you leading after day 2. Still mind blowing that putting 60lbs up didnt get you the win. Simcoe really may be the best smallie fishery in the entire world at the moment.

[OhioFisherman]

Nice job Steve, LOL a 3 day on Erie would be tough, too easy to get blown off that lake.

[misfish]

Nice Steve. You guys ZIPPED right by my toon at BBP on Sunday. I loved watching the speed. The first guy that went by,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, HOLY CRAP. He was flying.

[grimsbylander]

Congrats Steve. Way to battle the tough day two wind and stay above 20lbs. Those are the days that can bugger up a good tourney pattern.

[grimsbylander]

4 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

 Simcoe really may be the best smallie fishery in the entire world at the moment.

I sure don't think so. Simcoe can give up some big bags but not with the consistency of 1000 Islands and Erie. At last year's 3 day 1000 Island Open the Johnson's won it with just over 79lbs(the year before was almost 76)! The amazing thing is the amount of big bags...the 63.45 that won the Bronzeback would have been 14th place on the St. Lawrence! That's crazy impressive that so much weight is coming in 3 days straight.

I'm not taking anything away from the impressive weights the top teams weighted in at Barrie. Every lake is different and every tournament brings different conditions. 

[AKRISONER]

15 hours ago, grimsbylander said:

I sure don't think so. Simcoe can give up some big bags but not with the consistency of 1000 Islands and Erie. At last year's 3 day 1000 Island Open the Johnson's won it with just over 79lbs(the year before was almost 76)! The amazing thing is the amount of big bags...the 63.45 that won the Bronzeback would have been 14th place on the St. Lawrence! That's crazy impressive that so much weight is coming in 3 days straight.

I'm not taking anything away from the impressive weights the top teams weighted in at Barrie. Every lake is different and every tournament brings different conditions. 

very fair, i think 1000 islands might have it topped, i dont agree that erie does anymore, its a little overblown/overpressured.

Ive always said I wonder what would happen if one of these big tournaments did georgian bay what would happen? Although us G bay guys i think like the lack of attention it gets lol.

Although it would be cool to see KVD or Seth Fieder tear it up.

 

One thing is for sure, our tighter regs up here are placing possibly 4 of the best smallmouth fisheries in the entire world in one small area.

Edited August 3, 2018 by AKRISONER

[grimsbylander]

Erie is definitely not blown out from fishing pressure. Lol it's tough to over fish a 26,000 sq.km lake when the far majority of the smallmouth anglers are practicing catch and release. Don't guess, go fish it. 20lbs a day won't win you a penny.

[OhioFisherman]

5 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

very fair, i think 1000 islands might have it topped, i dont agree that erie does anymore, its a little overblown/overpressured.

Ive always said I wonder what would happen if one of these big tournaments did georgian bay what would happen? Although us G bay guys i think like the lack of attention it gets lol.

Although it would be cool to see KVD or Seth Fieder tear it up.

 

One thing is for sure, our tighter regs up here are placing possibly 4 of the best smallmouth fisheries in the entire world in one small area.

https://www.flwfishing.com/results

44 with a 20+ weigh in on an Erie tournament this year, day 2 canceled due to the weather, getting 2 or 3 consecutive decent weather days on Erie can be very tough and trying to plan for them a year or so in advance even tougher?

G/bay has some great fishing and it would be cool to see a major bass tournament there, but a lot more rocks, and having 100+ boats flying around at high speed in areas they are not totally familiar with might not be a good thing?

Then you have the where question, a lot more difficult to set up an event in areas with a some what limited population? Facilities capable of hosting an event that size?

J/S not disagreeing.

[grimsbylander]

Rocks aside, PAB is an expensive trip when you're facing roughly 300km one way. There's a great bunch of Canadian anglers I'd love to fish that area in a 2 day tourney.

[jimmer]

I would love to see all the bass tournaments move to larger bodies of water. Bigger fish and more space, with less impact on the lake. Just my opinion.

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, OhioFisherman said:

https://www.flwfishing.com/results

44 with a 20+ weigh in on an Erie tournament this year, day 2 canceled due to the weather, getting 2 or 3 consecutive decent weather days on Erie can be very tough and trying to plan for them a year or so in advance even tougher?

G/bay has some great fishing and it would be cool to see a major bass tournament there, but a lot more rocks, and having 100+ boats flying around at high speed in areas they are not totally familiar with might not be a good thing?

Then you have the where question, a lot more difficult to set up an event in areas with a some what limited population? Facilities capable of hosting an event that size?

J/S not disagreeing.

Parry sound could easily host a big event. the run from PS all the way up and down the coast is nothing especially if you can run the open water.

Lets not forget Erie just broke a Canadian record for the largest bag in Canadian history, while also producing 3 thirty pound bags in one day last year.

Guys were running out into the friggin ocean and back in on one of the most recent Costa events.

The Costa series fishes Lake marion every year and they manage and that lake is scared the hell outta me wayyy more than G bay ever did. Obvuously if you want to get into greasy back shoals you better have gone and pre-fished to figure your way into the shoals, but ive never seen anything like marion where the main drive lines between the buoys was full of dead heads and stumps and the water clarity is less than a foot. With a good pair of glasses you can at least see the rocks on G bay, driving marion felt like i was driving through a damn mine field, nothing was safe.

Edited August 3, 2018 by AKRISONER

[OhioFisherman]

LOL, Akri, it must be tough to cull a 6 pound smallie?

[steverowbotham]

It's tough to define "best" smallmouth lake in the country.  Simcoe is my favourite, but I don't believe it's the best.
The results are clear to see, winning weight over 3 days is like 62lbs and the 1000 islands this weekend took 75.
Simcoe in the fall is a whole other story, 3 bags over 30lbs in one day last year, we were one of them.  The problem with Simcoe is that it has world class size, but certainly not world class numbers.  Erie, St Clair, 1000 Islands, Georgian Bay among many others can expect 20,30,40 even 50 fish days.  Simcoe is a 5-15 bite a day lake.  If you're catching more than that, you're having a great day.

[grimsbylander]

6 hours ago, steverowbotham said:

It's tough to define "best" smallmouth lake in the country.  Simcoe is my favourite, but I don't believe it's the best.
The results are clear to see, winning weight over 3 days is like 62lbs and the 1000 islands this weekend took 75.
Simcoe in the fall is a whole other story, 3 bags over 30lbs in one day last year, we were one of them.  The problem with Simcoe is that it has world class size, but certainly not world class numbers.  Erie, St Clair, 1000 Islands, Georgian Bay among many others can expect 20,30,40 even 50 fish days.  Simcoe is a 5-15 bite a day lake.  If you're catching more than that, you're having a great day.

Agreed. Here's the "problem" with fishing Erie or St. Clair all the time....you go to Simcoe and catch 8 good fish with a couple 5's and leave disappointed. Lol

It doesn't matter which lake is best, bottom line is we are spoiled here in Ontario for numbers and size of trophy smallmouth. Oh, don't forget Lake St. Francis too!