The 2020 TBF District 9 National Semi Final was held September 26 and 27 at Hiawatha Beach Resort on Leech Lake in Walker, MN.  At 111,527 acres, Leech is the third largest in-land lake in the Land of 10,000.  Mainly sought out for its walleye, perch and muskie fishing, the bass fishing is often overlooked on Leech.  But with expansive wild rice beds and other emerging aquatic vegetation found in the large shallow bays like Boy, Steamboat, Sucker and Headquarters, Leech boasts a generous population of Largemouth Bass.  Here, 20+ pound five-fish limits are not uncommon.

If you have ever fished Lake Okeechobee, you might call Leech its northern cousin.  While Leech does offer an emerging population of quality Smallmouth bass, they are considered a secondary species here.  In Minnesota, Smallmouth are limited to catch-and-release only beginning in early September, so anglers were limited to bringing only Largemouth to the scales.

The top anglers from Minnesota and Wisconsin met here with berths to advance to the 2021 TBF National Championship at stake.  Anglers faced ever changing weather during both days of competition including mostly rain, some sun, clouds and constant changing winds from calm to 20 mph+.  Locals claimed the lake “fished tough” as anglers seemingly found bass still in a transitional stage migrating from summer holes into their fall/wintering areas.

Ron Mehr of Minnesota claimed the boater champion title with an impressive two-day total of 34.33 pounds.  Mehr caught his winning bag pitching All-Terrain Tackle jigs and Senkos to edges of wild rice beds in the lake’s eastern bays.  Josh Leesberg of Minnesota finished second with 33.59 pounds.  Brad Knight, who finished fifth overall, will join Mehr and advance to the TBF National Championship as Wisconsin’s top boater.

Tyler Bahr of Minnesota won the co-angler champion title sacking 28.48 pounds over both days.  Bahr caught most of his fish on a Juice Baits 5” Stick around lily pads, rice, and other shallow cover. Max Stawinoga of Wisconsin took second place overall with 27 pounds 9 ounces and will join Bahr advancing to the TBF National Championship.

The Minnesota team of Ron Mehr, Marty Wagner, Jason Howland, Rich Lindgren, Shark Kishida, Greg Poetz, Jeremy Bjorgaard and Dave berg claim the State Pride award for Minnesota with a nearly 65 pound margin of victory at 165.51 total pounds.

Brian Tonn, Minnesota caught the largest bass of the derby weighing 5.61 pounds. Eric Ritter, Minnesota claimed $500 Ranger Cup prize as the highest finishing Ranger Cup qualified angler.

CLICK HERE to see all photos from this event. For full results CLICK HERE.

Maryland was the host for this year’s TBF semi-finals on September 26^th and 27^th.  Delaware, District of Columbia, and Maryland anglers fished out of Tydings Park in Havre-de-Grace on the Susquehanna River.  Rainy, overcast weather and water temperatures that dropped 10 degrees in one week created challenges for all anglers.  Some boaters ran up to 40 miles away while others stayed close by.

This has certainly been a year unlike any other with Covid19 mitigation measures that would not allow us to have a staging area for the weigh in or gathering of family and friends to cheer on the anglers.  None the less, we were able to get the job done and celebrate with the top anglers.

Peter Yanni was the winner of the Ranger Cup with best weight.  His first bag was a beautiful example of what the Upper Chesapeake Bay has to offer bass fisherman.  Both small mouth and large mouth bass made up his first days catch of 18.79 lbs.  His two day weight was 29.36 lbs. however; angler Mike Morris surpassed him by 0.59 lbs. for a total weight of 29.95 lbs. and overall winner.   Congratulations Mike Morris!!!

Big fish for day one went to boater Jim Short at 6.75 lbs. and co-angler Matt Felty at 4.26 lbs.

Day two went to boater Brian Barnes 5.87 lbs. and co-

angler Chris Huffman at 4.90 lbs.

At the District 12 NSF the 110 anglers converged on Kerr Lake in South Hill, Virginia only to be greeted with the remnants of Hurricane Sally during practice. The anglers saw high winds and torrential rainfall that dropped 5 inches of rain on the 2^nd day of practice. The storm cleared on Friday ushering in a cold front that dropped the temperature into the upper 40’s and brought North winds sustained at 15-20mph. Everything learned from practice was now thrown out to adapt to the changing conditions.

On day 1 the anglers dealt with high winds and rough water pushing the anglers off the main lake into creeks. This made for tougher fishing than what the anglers found in practice. At the Day 1 weigh-in Virginia Boater Chris Fiore brought 13.67lbs to the scales to grab the lead along with big fish for the day with a 5.04lb largemouth. On the Co-angler side Virginia’s Kevin Camden brought 10.09lbs to the scales to grab the lead.

Day two once again provided colder temperatures and Northeast winds to start the day. However as the day warmed up so did the fish with some bigger fish starting to bite. Day two saw numerous fish from 5-7lbs come to the scales with Virginia’s Mitch Camden bringing in a 7.05lb largemouth to claim big fish of the tournament. When the dust had settled on Day 2 Virginia’s Chris Fiore had claimed the victory on the Boater side with 25.05lbs closely followed by West Virginia’s Josh Balser with 24.43lbs.

On the Co-angler side Virginia’s Craig Ferguson moved into 1^st place to claim the win with a two day total of 15.68lbs followed by Virginia’s David Jeter with 14.66lbs.

William “Ed” Posey was the highest finishing Co-angler for West Virginia joining Chris, Josh and Craig for a trip to the 2021 TBF National Championship. This win was the second NSF win for Virginia’s Chris Fiore as he is a back to back champion winning last year’s NSF on West Virginia’s Stonewall Jackson Lake. Chris has spent 2020 enjoying his living the dream package he was awarded at this year’s National Championship which has allowed him to fish BFLs and the Toyota Series.

Virginia’s James Vick Sr. was the highest finishing Ranger Cup Angler.

Virginia came out on top in the State Pride competition by a 81.20lbs to 65.07lbs margin.

For full results CLICK HERE

Another tournament for the NSF record book and there will be 4 more anglers qualifying for the TBF Nationals Tournament next spring in 2021. It was a tale of good fortune and bad but in the end there were 4 that prevailed.

Lake McConaughy proved to show off a little for some but not so much for others. Anglers were met with good temps but the wind proved to be an issue for many on day 1 as wind gusts push up to 30mph making travel harsh but worth the effort for those that chose to travel. Day 1 had both South Dakota and Nebraska leaders showing up with over 14.5 pounds each.

Day 2 had light winds and the boats went west to catch their fortunes. With travel easy, more anglers both caught more fish and also had heavier weights. On day 2 there was several bags over 14 pounds but big bag of the tournament went to Dave Thomsen with 17.02 pounds of smallmouth.

We want to say congratulations to the overall winner, Kent Priel with 27.96. He just edged out two others with a spread of 0.23 pounds between 1^st and 3^rd.

On the Co-angler side congrats to the winner was Ronald Dillon with a final weight of 19.74.

The Ranger Cup winner was Lee Wubbles who finished 3^rd overall with a final weight of 27.73.

Boaters:               Nebraska – Kent Priel                     South Dakota – Troy Diede

Co-Anglers:        Nebraska – Michael Hansen        South Dakota – Ronald Dillon