Next Up BONE LAKE

This only the fourth time the circuit has been to Bone in the past 16 year's, dating back to June 18th 2011 when Steve Constant & Greg Morrisette weighed 14.98 for the win along with Greg's big bass winner at 4.07 lbs. Fox/Collins were 2nd & Team Henck was third that day. Those that fished the May 18th 2013 tourney will never forget the coldest nastiest day in circuit history but somebody had to win it & it was Rob Newhouse fishing with fill in Paul Singerhouse who had a impressive 15.30 lbs. Olson/Jepson took 2nd w/BB at 4.90 & Larson/Warren came in third. There were people seen warming up in their vehicles & some even left early 9 zeros were weighed in & only 2 limits, 28 total fish caught so yes it was a brutal day. The 2018 TOC was held on Bone where Chad Constantineau & fill in Rob Newhouse came away victorious w/12.72 lbs. & BB at 3.13, second was Gibson/Peterson & placing 3rd was Team Henck. Pre-fishing reports have not been good the lake seems to be in a terrible funk right now, they are there somewhere it took 18+ (6 fish) to win the Milltown Fishermans derby in late June.

NELSON LAKE

The weatherman was wrong again as the all day rain that was predicted turned into some brief light rain & a very nice day for a bass tournament. Donn Schlapper & Joel Blazer weighed the biggest bag for the day at 17.94 lbs. earning them the title for stop number two of the Up North Bass Circuit's season. Placing second was Gene & Larry Henck w/17.55 lbs. At third was Steve Constant & Doug Richert at 16.70 lbs. with the help of Doug's big bass for the tourney a 5.11 lb. post spawn fish which is very respectfull for this time of year. Coming in at fourth was Todd Larson & Steve Warren w/15.06 lbs. & rounding out the money winners was Jamie Gibson & Doug Peterson w/15.05 lbs. A handful of the anglers have definitely figured out some off shore hotspots as this makes several tourneys in a row where the bigger weights are coming from.

The points race for TOC qaulification & the AOY is really heating up. Team Henck is in the lead & headed to one of their home lakes next, their ahead of Schlapper/Blazer by one point followed by Constant/Anderson who is six points back, Gibson/Peterson & Brantner/Harmon are tied in fourth eight points behind the leaders. The winners  in the Head to Head tourney at Nelson & match ups for the semi-finals are Henck/Henck vs Constant/Richert (taking on the Hencks is like going against KING KONG on that pond) & Larson/Warren vs Hermansen/Hermansen.

Congrats to Cruz & Chad Constantineau who won the Hayward Bass Club's open tournament Sunday at Round Lake against a pretty stout field.

SHELL LAKE

For the first time in 27 years the iconic team of Morey Leverty & Leo Durand were not at the circuit's opening tournament due to Morey's recent passing & Leo out because of medical issues, these hammers were a dominating team & will be greatly missed.

Despite a cloudy very windy day making the sight fishing conditions as tough as it gets. Some records still fell at Shell, the spawn was in full swing & as always the sight fishing specialist put a hurtin on the big smallies. After the last bag was weighed the very young rookie team of Hunter Hermansen & cousin Kody Hermansen came away with a very impressive win. Their bag tipped the scales at 21.10 lbs. a new record for a all smallmouth bag & 2nd all time heaviest for either species. Kody also caught the Untamed Tackle Big Bass for the Tourney a 5.13 pound bruiser of a smallie. Placing second was the new team of Gary Constant & Stacy Anderson w/20.43 lbs. Third was Gene & Larry Henck w/19.87 lbs. Taking fourth was last years AOY winners Joe Wilcox & Eric Hermansen weighing in 19.84 lbs. At fifth on their home lake was Donn Schlapper & Joel Blazer w/19.52. Back in May 22, 2021 Shell Lake held the record for the most weight (291.48 lbs.) & the largest average weight per fish weighed at 3.20 lbs. Those records were beat this past Saturday with 312.42 lbs. (& one team didn't show) for an average of 3.28 lbs. per fish. Despite one of the most impressive weigh-ins in UNBC history some feel the lake wasn't left in as good of shape as it was before the tournament due to the timing of the spawn.

Qaurterfinal match ups in the next round of the Head to Head tourney features Joe/Eric vs Gene/Larry & Gary/Stacy vs Steve/Doug & Frank/Brian vs Todd/Steve & Hunter/Kody vs Mark.