3 lakes tournament

That sounds like a great time ! Good luck to ya .

I do this tournament every year with a group of guys. We've been fishing it over 20 years now. I don't know if we will this year with the Rona out there. None of us wants to die over a tournament we never win anyway.....

I dont fish because it dont want 50 guys on the areas I spent the effort finding .

D-Zilla,

Well said. I've never done it and was thinking about doing it eventually, 2021 it will have to be.

droolr,

Shoot me an email when you get a chance (aj@coloradofisher.com). Got some questions, since we fish the same lakes. Thanks bud.

Droolr, how do you avoid that outside the tourney weekend? I can set up in some random spot in 150fow and they still come in, or run straight there early AM the next morning to try and be there first.
Some dont even look for a spot anymore, they roll out and look for the hut/sled/boat and go right on top of them straight away.

Man I don’t get why people do that. Specially when you don’t even know them. Just because you’re fishing an area doesn’t mean youre catching fish. Finding the fish /area is half the hunt. I guess a lot of folks are just lazy anymore.

I've done the 3 Lakes Tourney the past two years and honestly there are a few things that ruin it. First is that people can easily cheat. People start fishing before the start time. People with snowmobiles have a huge advantage. They also drive their snowmobiles at top speeds right next to where you are fishing. The awards ceremony is ridiculous. At least they moved it to a larger venue but it is still jam packed and turns into standing room only. I won't do this contest anymore.

Yea, i think if they don't allow snow mobiles it makes it more even for everyone. I will be doing the tourney's for the first time this year.

LMFAO.

The same people who complain about how unfair it is that competitors in the Three Lakes Tournament use snowmobiles to get around quickly from spot to spot would NEVER say that those competitors in a major bass tournament should only be fishing out of Jon boats instead of their $80,000+ bass boats with 200 hp motors.

I've fished EVERY Three Lakes Tournament since its' inception I've placed almost every year the past ten years and I won the Grand Slam once.

If you want to be competitive, it's all about mobility. And the Grand Slam is all about mobility.
We have GPS coordinates down for EVERY species of fish that we need to catch for the Slam and they're spread out over two different lakes each spot being miles apart.

I spoke with the winner of the Brown Trout category two years ago and he told me that he had WALKED 26 miles drift fishing the canal on the day he caught his winning fish.

If you want to hang with the big boys, stop your bitching and get tough!!

Haha well said^^^

Lets have a hunting tournament with the same kind of rules----on the thing???/

Look at all of the postings on this site talking about different flashers, ice augers, ice auger adapters, underwater cameras, etc. They’re ALL about how to catch more fish and do it more efficiently.

So, for the life of me, I can’t understand why some people complain about snowmobiles being used during the tournament. The same could be said of ATVs.

They’re only being used to catch more fish and do so more efficiently.
Are there individuals that misuse them by speeding too close to fisherman? Yes.

But I could say the same thing about interference from a nearby fisherman’s sonar unit, or the noise made by his gas auger.

At age 64, I’m one of the oldest individuals out fishing the Tournament. When I was in my 20’s I could (and DID) pull my equipment behind me for miles each day during a tournament.

Now I’m getting too old to do so and hence the snowmobile.

Sounds like a campaign from people who don't have a snowmobile or atv. Fair enough.

I'll be there with both. I'd be happy to give people a ride to a spot, as many are that participate in the tourney with their toys. I do it every year.

The funny thing about the "no toys" take is that many of the best spots on the three lakes are less than a 1/4 mile from shore. A quick walk from the right access point and you can get to dozens of spots.

I don't think the toys give much of an advantage except for convenience and/or spot hopping for the grand slam.

Something more to add: I've sold (very cheap price)/given away two snowmobiles to fishermen on this website solely so they can have a toy for ice fishing. You don't need much for an ice fishing sled. My all time favorite was a 1986 Yamaha Bravo 250 that I sold before a move to the western slopes. I sold it for $200. You can pick up an ice fishing snowmobile for less than my family's entry fee for the tournament. You just have keep an eye out and look in the right places. Or you could just win the tournament grand prize!

Thanks for the info!

Dakota Dude,

That's awesome man, really kind of you. I need your email lol. :p

We fish it because its 3 days on the ice and always fun! have never experienced rude fisherman on the ice but have dealt with poor parking lot Etiquette so we stopped parking in lots. Been in the money a few times and won the grand door prize once.. no sleds that year. I'm blessed with many snowmobiles and riding them is just part of the fun. I always say with fishing and hunting you need to enjoy the act of doing it and not be critical of success and its always enjoyable!. I fished 3 lakes one year and only caught one fish the last day!! our team did better, still had an epic time!