What a difference a day makes!

On Saturday, three tournaments were held on Saratoga Lake — two club events and the Helderberg Bassmasters Fish For A Cure open partners contest for the benefit of Capital Region Circle of Hope and the American Cancer Society.

At all three weigh-ins, it was obvious that the bass fishing was very slow. The anglers caught fish, but the quality was not what was expected of a lake known as “The Bass Factory.”

The biggest catch of the day was a

16-pound-plus, six-fish team limit by Tom Kail of Burnt Hills and Jason Norton of

Waterford, who won the benefit event. First place returned $375, and they also won an additional $100 for their four-pound-plus tournament lunker. All the other team catches were less than 10 pounds. But the real winner in this event was the Amer­ican Cancer Society, which was presented with a $1,200 donation.

On Sunday, just 24 hours later, on the same lake, the fishing was outstanding, as evidenced at the Greenbush Bass Assoc­iation’s last open partners tournament of the year. All but two of the 16 teams had five-bass limits, a number of which averaged over two pounds.

Leading the way with five bass totaling 14.20 pounds and anchored by a 5.21-pound largemouth, was the Waterford father-and-son team of Paul and Jason Norton, who was on the winning team the day before. First place returned $500. Finishing second with 13.82 pounds and receiving $300 were East Greenbush anglers Vinnie Perez and George Steele. Perez and Steele also had the tournament lunker, a 5.96-pound largemouth worth an additional $160. Nassau anglers Zack Sharp and Bob Rains, who were just out of the money in third, had a 5.92-pound largemouth in their five-bass limit that totaled 13.37 pounds.

I spoke with many of the tournament anglers on both days, and, ironically, the techniques and the lure choices were about the same. In early morning, they dragged topwater lures like Pop Rs, Zara Spooks and even buzzbaits across shallow weeds. This technique produced some nice bass for many of them, but they said the pickerel and northern pike bite was also on.

Mid-morning, as the weather warmed and the sun got higher, they switched to the plastic baits, the most popular and productive being the Senko, rigged wacky style. According to the three teams that weighed in a five-pound-plus largemouth, all used a five-inch Senko.

Vince Obremski of Rexford and I spent some time on Saratoga Lake this weekend and found that pike and pickerel will hit a soft white shad-colored jerkbait. The pike/pickerel at Saratoga were hitting in about eight feet of water over sunken weedbeds. They were in there hiding, and that bait, twitched above them, seemed to bring them out.

There are a number of soft jerkbaits that can be used this way, including Lunker City Slug-go, Fin-S Fish, Zoom Super Fluke or a five- or six-inch Senko. For all these baits, I prefer to use a 3/0 TEXPOSER hook which is made by Lunker City located in Connecticut (www.lunkercity.com).

To fish this bait successfully, use a med­ium-action graphite rod and high-speed retrieve reel with a gear ratio of at least 5.1:1. I use a 6.4:1 baitcaster that really comes in handy when there’s a pike, bass or any big game fish on that wants to go deep and bury itself in weeds, wood or the like.

The technique is simple. Make long casts, and let the lure sink about 12 inches before starting your retrieve. Then, with the rod tip down, jerk it gently three or four times, stop letting it flutter, then repeat this all the way back to the boat. Most of the hits will come when the bait is fluttering, so keep an eye on the bait, if possible. Wait until you feel the fish before setting the hook. This can be hard to do when you see the fish flash and grab the bait.

The smallmouth bass bite is also very good at the Great Sacandaga Lake, right now. Dave’s Bait reports selling a lot of helgramites, and they’re catching the smallies. Most of the smallmouth fishing has now moved into shallower waters around shore and out to 15 feet deep. Artificially, the tube and wacky worm plastic baits are doing very well, also. Concentrate on creek mouths, shallow rocky points, ledges and submerged stone fences on both shorelines in the river.

Speaking of rivers, the Mohawk River is giving up some very good smallies, right now. Anglers have reported seeing smallmouth breaking the surface chasing schools of minnows.

If you go there, be sure to have a Slug-go jerk bait close at all times. Whenever you see schools of minnows jumping out of the water, try to get that Slug-go right in the middle of all the action. You’ll catch fish, and, depending upon how long they stay near the surface, you’ll catch a number of them. This lure should catch the most smallmouths on the river this time of year. And any color is good, as long as it’s white.

TOURNAMENT Sunday

The Adirondack Bass Club will host its third annual Walter J. Bujanowski Mem­orial open partners bass tournament Sunday on Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga.

Tournament hours are 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., and you can register at the launch site from 5:30-7 a.m. There’s an eight-bass team limit. Entry fee, including lunker, is $100 per team. First place with 50 teams will be $900 — eighth place will pay $108.

For more information, call Rob Ballou at 654-2228 or Luke Musto at 792-6030.