Pre fishing paid off.
Steve and I made a trip to New Hogan each of the last 2 weekends leading up to the tourney to try and figure this place out.
The first time we fished Wrinkle cove which was full of some great looking off shore structure. Deep ledges, shallow drop offs, rock piles, etc.We both caught small limits with a lot of smallmouth in the mix. What worked was small plastics either on a drop shot, shakey head, split shot, or nail weighted. Fish were from the bank out to about 20 feet.
The following weekend we went straight across from the ramp and fished shallower banks. We started out on any rocky points we could find and started catching fish on the same small plastics as the week before. Not long into the day Steve started catching some nicer largemouth on shallow mud banks. We fished a bunch of this type of stuff in the morning as we made our way up to the narrows in the river arm. Once we got to the narrows the banks got steeper and I started getting bit pretty good on the drop shot with a 4.5 inch MM roboworm from the banks out to 20 feet again. I didn't land anything over 2lbs but I lost a couple that jumped which were better than 2.

My game plan for the tourney was to head up the river, cover water and key on the largemouth. This plan turned out to be a good one.
I started the day with a 2.5lber on a steep rocky point with a nail weighted trick worm tossed to the bank. After not getting bit again for about 10 or 15 minutes I picked up a drop shot and started working it from the shore out to the deeper water. It was on! My next 2 fish were a 3+ and another 2.5. I filled my limit with a couple of 1.5 pounders in the next 15 minutes and had not caught a dink yet.
I went back and forth over about a 300 yd stretch of bank, with rocky points and rock piles off shore, for the next couple of hours culling once.
I covered a bunch more water after that, about 4.5 miles in all, catching small fish most everywhere but didn't get anything that would help. At 2:30 I found a little rock pile about 50 feet off the launch beach and culled my smallest fish with another 2 pounder. Ended the day with 11.14 pounds. All but the first fish were caught on a 4.5" MM roboworm in water from 6 to about 20 feet and I never caught a smallmouth all day.
It was by far the best day of the three I fished at New Hogan this year.

Congrats to Scott and Steve for the limits and the $$$ finishes and to Topper with the big fish.

Thanks to everyone who came out and fished with BnT all year. It was a great year for the club with lots of new faces and some new water.
I am looking forward to 2015! Let's hope it rains.

Here is my path on tourney day.
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/9494-Tourney_path_sm.jpg


MT

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)

Congrats! It was cool fishing with you guys for the first time even though i could only make a couple tournaments. Im hoping to be out there a lot more next season and I think it will be a lot of fun. When will we know next seasons schedule?

- Tyler Firebaugh

Congrats Mitch and great report!

congrats Mitch nice fish!