Pointer 78
Well-known member
Was paired up with fisherpal2k's buddy Tom Helton from Cleveland. Thank goodness he has a big ole Ranger. Made the ride on those 3-4 foot rollers tolerable. We started fishing just South of Comer Bridge with lipless crankbaits. Tom was throwing the Excalibur Royal Red Rattlin Shad, I started throwing the Royal Shad color. He hooks up with a 2.5 keeper within 10 minutes, then no further action for the next 30 minutes. I'm thinking about the conditions we're fishing in: grey, overcast skies, water clarity less than 2 feet., hmmmm... time to tie on the Yo Zuri Rattlin Shad in my favorite color. 3 casts later, I get slammed. This fish is a good one. Really good. I'm fighting her for 15 seconds when I feel the fish come unbuttoned. I'd set my drag too tight and she straightened the hook. Extremely disapponted, I ask Tom to turn his motor over so I can inhale the exhaust till death. He reminds me that his weight won't count unless I sign his weigh-in slip. I continue to fish. Within 10 minutes, I connect with another one. I get this one to the boat however. Not as big as the one I'd lost but a good 5 lber. Connect with a 2 lber shortly thereafter. We run to Jones Creek but 1/3 of the field seems to be in there so we make the kidney bruising run to South Sauty. We fish cranks, jerkbaits, blades, chatterbaits, traps and jigs for the next few hours with only another 2.5 lb fish caught on Tom's jerkbait. We run to the mouth of South Sauty where I catch another 2 lber on the Yo Zuri. 9 hours of fishing and only 5 bites. But they're all keepers. Tom weighs in a bit over 5 lbs and I've got a 9 lb sack. Good for 30th Place and $145 but more importantly, valuable points with my best lakes yet to come. A very big thanks to Tom Helton. A heckuva good guy to fish with. It's on to Weiss next month. I'm hoping to improve on my 3rd Place finish there last year.
