Kyle Weisenburger has built quite a bit of momentum in his last two bass tournaments on Major League Fishing’s (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and now has a legitimate chance to qualify for the season-ending championship tourney.
The Columbus Grove pro has climbed 57 spots in the points standings in the last two Pro Circuit events. He sits 53rd in the standings after five tourneys. He was in 110th place after three events. The top 48 in the points standings qualify for the season-ending championship on the St. Lawrence River out of Massena, New York, on Aug. 16-21.
Weisenburger had his best place finish ever on the circuit when he wound up 16th last week in the tourney on James River in Virginia. He finished 26th in the circuit’s May tourney on Lake Gunthersville in Gunthersville, Alabama.
“It has been a huge turnaround for the season with the outcome of the last two events,” he said. “I have been very fortunate to identify a pattern that has held up with quality fish for each of the events.”
He hopes to continue the momentum in the final regular season tourney scheduled on Lake Champlain out of Plattsburgh, New York, July 29-Aug. 1.
“Confidence and momentum go a long ways in this sport. When you are in a groove, it feels like your mind makes all the right decisions and changes at the right time and that keeps you in high percentage areas most of your day.” Weisenburger said.
He was consistent all three days he finished and had a five-bass limit each day. His best day was the third day when weighed in 16 pounds, 8 ounces, which included his biggest fish of the week – a five-pounder. His total weight for three days was 43 pounds, 11 ounces.
“I was catching about 20 to 30 fish each day. The key was getting quality fish over the three-pound mark in this event. Each of the three days of the event I had three quality fish in that three to five-pound range that really helped elevate each day’s weight,” Weisenburger explained. “If I could have found one more good one, it probably would have been enough to make day four.”
The Lima area basser was on the MLF live video feed one day showing him flipping to boat docks.
“I caught most of my of my fish flipping a Berkley 7-inch Power Worm with a 5/16 ounce tungsten weight. I was throwing 25-pound Gamma Florocarbon due to very sharp and abrasive barnacles on the dock legs. I also caught a number of key fish on a Dweller Baits spinnerbait,” Weisenburger said.
“I was focusing this event primarily on boat docks on certain stretches of the main river. When the tide would get at the lower end of the cycle and the water was moving in or out, the fish would bite really well,” he added.
On Saturday he drove 10 hours back home and “got to spend an awesome day with the family for Father’s Day.”
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A check on the history of flathead catfish in Indian Lake reveals no one is exactly sure how the population got there.
According to Ethan Simmons, fisheries biologist in Wildlife District 1, his guess is “they are just natural fish from when the lake was impounded or fish that migrated out of the (Great Miami) river into the lake.”
He indicated the Ohio Division of Wildlife (DOW) did stock a handful of lakes with a small amount back in the 1960s and ’70s, but the database shows Indian Lake being stocked with one broodstock fish in 1968.
“Obviously stocking one fish for broodstock is not the smartest move, so I’m willing to bet the records aren’t great for those stockings. I’m guessing whatever we stocked wasn’t that significant,” Simmons said.
He noted a majority of lakes in District 1 have flatheads with some having populations better than others.
“Griggs (Reservoir) and Hoover (Reservoir) are two that stick out in my mind that have good flatheads. Indian is definitely another one. We see a lot of little flatheads in the rip-rap habitat when conducting our fall young of year saugeye surveys at Indian.” The fisheries biologist said.
“I don’t know if the recent surge in catfishing has made them more noticeable and they were always there in the same numbers or if more people actually fish for them and get excited to catch them or there is actually an increase in numbers in recent years,” he added. “We don’t sample just for flatheads in our reservoirs, they are just bycatch when sampling other fish so it’s hard to really speak to population trends over time.”
