Weeds up on area lakes; bass fishing contest results in local winners

By Bill Bartusek

Although it seems we have had summer for some time, we really have not. We are just into the month of June. Fishing area lakes tells the real story.

Although many lake weeds are on the surface, deeper summer weeds are just developing. Sunfish are just starting to make nests and getting ready to spawn.

Some real good fishing is just around the corner. Bass are just starting to set up in the summer haunts. They haven't schooled up yet, even though they are feeding heavily.

I did hear about some disturbing details on Prior Lake. The weeds there have suddenly not materialized. Anglers aren't sure if it is the weather or if there is some major weed spraying going on. Certain lakes are still at war with milfoil. When they spray the weed killer, it sometimes destroys the natural weeds in the lake as well. I'm not sure what is going on there and hope the fish in the lake can weather the situation.

I got a chance to test out area bass fishing last Saturday. There was a small bass contest on Lake Marion. I had called good friend Gary Flicek earlier in the week to join me there. We didn't have time to practice but decided to fish anyway. We had heard the fishing was slow from other anglers who had tested the fishing earlier, so we knew we had to fish slowly and had to fish every foot of water. The fish weren't deep, so a shallow presentation was in order.

The morning started slowly, and we didn't encounter a lot of fish eager to bite. We slowly put together a nice bag of fish. The day was finally over, and it was time to weigh in. After all but one team weighed their fish, we were leading the contest. Then the last boat weighed their fish. They had a bigger fish in their bag and beat us out of first place.

The fish contest results were Billy Bartusek and Bob Hennen, first place, and Bill Bartusek and Gary Flicek, second place. Maybe I taught Bill Jr. a bit too well...