Boyd Duckett – Sturgeon Bay Preview

This week the Elite Series is in Sturgeon Bay on Lake Michigan for the Angler of the Year event, and most of us – at least everybody I’ve run into – is facing the same question: Where are the fish?

I’m writing this after two days of practice, and I’ve talked with guys who say they haven’t caught a fish yet.

I might be in that same position when this event starts on Thursday. I certainly hope not, because I’ve got to catch at least one to get 50 points. And realistically, I need to probably finish somewhere better than 40 to keep my place in the Bassmaster Classic.

The obvious thing is that it will be different on Thursday. These guys will catch them; they always do. But that doesn’t mean the conditions are going to be great.

Practice has been a problem so far because when you get wind gusts up to 40, which we’ve had, it’s hard to move around. It’s hard to run much when you’re going 15 miles an hour.

Plus, this is different than Lake Erie, for example.

Lake Michigan is deep and doesn’t have near the habitat that you have on Lake Erie. Eries has habitat living miles off shore, because it’s more shallow near the shorelines. There, you’ve got five or six miles of habitat. Here, you’ve got about a city block of habitat. The population is lower.

Here, it’s a little bit of shallow water, then the abyss. Right now, it looks like the fish have gone into the abyss.

The time to really catch them here is in the spring when you have the spawning cycles. This time of year, it can be a needle in a haystack. Ten pounds a day would be really good for me.

Looking at the weather, though, I think this could be interesting. The wind is supposed to die down some, especially after Thursday. And the direction of the wind is important.

If it’s coming from the north, it changes your strategy. We’re on a peninsula, and there is a canal that goes from the inland bay to the main body of Lake Michigan.

The peninsula can protect you a little bit from the north wind, and most guys will probably leave the bay and go through the canal to the main body of the lake.

I’d like to say I’ve got solid game plan, but it’s not in place yet.

We’ll see what one more day of practice brings, then Thursday it’s game on.

There is one last obvious thing. Despite the challenge, I’m glad to be here.