Z ON BZ - THE WISCONSIN SWING

Story by Matt Pangrac - Photos by Matt Pangrac and Dave Rush

San Jose, CA – This is the second installment of The BASS ZONE’S new feature “Z ON BZ,” where California’s Chris Zaldain breaks down each tournament in his rookie season on the Bassmaster Elite Series. 

At the end of every “Z ON BZ” feature, Zaldain will grade himself on five key elements. 

In the last “Z ON BZ” feature, Zaldain assessed his performance in the fifth Elite Series tournament of the season on Toledo Bend where he made the first final day cut of his career and finished the tournament in 12th place. To read the initial story, CLICK HERE. 

This week, it’s a double-dip, as Zaldain recaps back-to-back tournaments in Wisconsin on the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan which were held during the last two weeks of June. 

At the sixth tournament of the year on the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Zaldain was unable to keep the momentum that he gained on Toledo Bend and finished in 81st place with a two day total weight of 22-11. 

He bounced back the following week on Lake Michigan out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, narrowly missing his second 12 cut of the season and finishing in 14th place with a three day total weight of 41-11.  

Here’s how Zaldain broke down the Wisconsin swing:   

Tournament: Mississippi River – La Crosse, Wisconsin.  81st Place (22-11)
Practice leading into the Mississippi River
“Heading into the Mississippi River, I already had the exact same rods rigged up that I used on Toledo Bend to finish in the top 12.  I had three flipping rods and three frog rods on the front deck, and that’s what I planned on doing. 

“The problem was that the area was an endless maze of backwater areas with grass, sandbars, hydrilla, and mats.  The hardest thing for me was breaking down and locating productive backwater areas.  I found areas with fish in them, but I just never could find a concentration of big ones.”

Tournament Game Plan
“When I got there, I was in heaven.  When I was driving over the bridges in the surrounding area, I saw a ton of grass or ‘cheese,’ which is what we call it back home in California.  I knew what I wanted to do, because I knew what lived under those mats.”

Tournament Results 
“I fished backwaters where I thought that the tournament could be won.  Each day, I caught over 30 fish but they were all under three pounds.  The problem was that I knew that the potential was there to win the tournament frogging and punching grass with a 1 ½ ounce weight. 

“I kept on getting bites, so I stayed with several areas.  I just never got a big bite.  I did see a couple four pound bites in practice, so I knew that the overall weights would be pretty solid.  As the tournament progressed, I knew that almost everybody would have a limit, but I was really impressive that so many guys were able to find the bites over three pounds.”

Zaldain's Report Card
Overall Grade for the Mississippi River – (B)
“I knew that I was on the right kind of pattern to win the tournament, but I just didn’t locate the right areas in practice.  I think that if I had covered a little bit more water in practice to find some of those key areas, I could have really done well.” 

Confidence Level throughout the tournament –  (A)
“My confidence level was sky high because I was getting a lot of bites flipping and frogging the grass mats. I just never got a big one.”

Execution at the Mississippi River – (B)
“I did lose a couple fish during the tournament, but I don’t know how big they were.  It’s really hard to land everything when you’re trying to pull the fish through that much grass.” 

Decision Making – (B)
“I stayed busy on the water and tried to cover water.  Every stop that I made, I caught fish.” 

Overall grade through six Elite Series tournaments – (B-)
“This is all just a big learning experience and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve really tried to take something positive out of every tournament this year.”

Tournament: Lake Michigan – Green Bay, Wisconsin. 14th Place (41-11)
Practice leading into Lake Michigan
“I was talking with my roommate, Brandon Palaniuk, about how we hadn’t had a spinning rod tournament all year and Lake Michigan could line up perfectly for that.  We thought going into the tournament that most of the bites would come in 20 to 30 feet of water. 

“It turned out that it was a lot closer to the spawn than I thought it would be and the fish were a lot shallower than I anticipated.  I went shallow on the second day of practice and saw a couple of fish cruising around, so I put the spinning tackle up and pulled out a swimbait and a jerkbait and just started covering water looking for productive stretches.”

Tournament Game Plan
“I really keyed on finding shallow stretches as well as little breaks where the smallmouth would pull out and sit when they weren’t up super shallow.  I found one little stretch that I really planned on targeting during the tournament. 

“I was fishing in a group, but I was fishing alone. There were about 30 guys on a high spot behind me, but I was fishing a little break about 50 yards away from the group that I’d found in practice.”

Tournament Results
“I basically spent my entire tournament fishing a 20 yard stretch that had a two and a half foot break from 12 to 14 feet of water. 

“Every day, you kind of had to relocate where the school of smallmouth was, because they have a tendency to move around a lot.  I was throwing a 5” Top Shelf swimbait, which I think is the best swimbait for smallmouth. I got a couple nice bites on the swimbait every hour.  They’d either follow the bait or eat it.  If I didn’t hook up, I’d fire a drop shot in there and catch the fish. 

“I had two stellar days, but I think that my fish kind of ran out on the third day.  I did make a couple bad decisions that really cost me.  I misjudged the weather and the wind on the third day, and I ended up at the mouth of the river 45 minutes early to check-in.  I only had four fish, and in hindsight, I think that if I’d fished my main area for another 45 minutes, I would have been able to catch my limit fish and make the top 12 cut.”

Zaldain's Report Card
Overall Grade for Lake Michigan -  (B)
“I really made some poor decisions on the third day.  I was one fish away from fishing on Sunday and making another top 12 cut.”

Confidence Level throughout the tournament –  (A)
I like fishing for smallmouth because they always expose themselves.  Even if they’re not in the mood to bite, they’re always curious and they follow the bait and show where they are. 

Execution at Lake Michigan –  (A)
“I pretty much caught everything that bit.”

Decision Making – (B-)
“Up until the last day, my decision making was an ‘A.’ It was that decision that I made on the third day to come back a little early that I think really cost me.” 

Overall grade through seven Elite Series tournaments – (B+)
“Learning is everything.  I’ve really developed some relationships with some of the biggest names in the sport and that’s awesome.  I’ve learned a lot about the media side and getting exposure.

“It seems like I’m either at the top or way at the bottom this year.  The key for me to be more consistent is just getting experience.  I had never been to any of the lakes we went to this year, and every part of the country fishes differently.  I really think that I have the skill to hang, but I still lack the experience.”