Well, me and Derek have been out of commission lately. He has been tied up working and I have been land locked with boat issues. Both of us had the sickness and needed a fix. With very little hopes of winning we thought we would just show up, pay a donation and let the chips fall where they may. When I got there I was surprised to see some of those who I feel are local favorites in this one. 
My hopes went south the more I looked. Not only were there the likes of the usual Charlie Myers, Jinkins, Ron Willerson, Wes and a couple more but some of the heavy hitters from the CBA ranks showed up for this one as well. Like Steve Kite, Josh Wofford, Gary Hughes, Pratt, Lamb and some more I know I am forgetting. emoRolleyes It was like a who's who of the lake lately. At least Michael Neal and Rogie did not show up. emoBigsmile There were several I saw who I knew on any given night could kick my a...ah....hind end. emoGoofy
Not to be deterred. We headed out to just go fishing and hope for the best. 36 boats blasted off in a roar of engines and waves. Looked like a fire drill but with no organization. To our surprise we were all alone at our first spot. We soon figured out why. emoRedface My third cast had one slam a crank in about 18 foot. It was a nice small keeper, a start at 2/3. Thinking we were on something we continued to fish deep along some grass where there were shad schools suspended just off the grass. Not another keeper came into the boat for a good two hours. Heading to our next spot we hit a hump with stumps in about 10 foot that dropped off into deeper water. Nothing was going right. We both missed fish and Derek had a fight with one of his reels. Finally I get a hard hit on a big worm and it loads up. Double check it and it is just slowly moving off. I reared back and set the hook. Big bow and hard pull, I tell Derek, "Good fish!" He starts for the net and it just comes off. Like it had never had the barb go in it. emoHoppingmad We catch a couple more shorts. Then leave there.
We move to another area where the grass was again just off deeper water and work some rock and structure just off of it. I catch another short, about the time I am releasing it Derek shouts, "Net! Good Fish!" Drag is singing and his rod is doubled. Looking down into the water with our lights we see a great bass bull dogging his rod and line. Drag still singing and she is going where ever she wants. Derek did an excellent job of playing her and she came up along the boat and I got the net under her. Great bass at 7/10. Now feeling a little better we continue to drown plastics on grass edges. A couple more shorts and finally another keeper on a worm. Just barely would keep but gave us our limit. emoThumbsup Moved around a couple more places but nothing. Came back to one of the other places we had hit the big fish on and Derek again scores with the 3/6 bass on plastic. I am not sure but I think he had it on a shakey. Culled the little one and now needed to cull the 2/3. Moved a couple more times still focusing on grass edges with rock, stumps and structure just outside the grass line. Managed a couple more keepers but all just at 2 pounds. Finally with just about ten minutes left to fish I hooked my final keeper on a big worm that would cull the 2/3.
Not a bad night, came in with 13/6 with our best three, Derek's big one was 7/10 but only managed third biggest. Our best five would have been about 17/11. Got a little money for forth place and ended up getting to fish the night for free. Considering the competition we were very pleased with where we finished. There were several who I feel are great anglers that told me they struggled that night. Still as always someone finds them, took 16/12 to win it and big bass was 8/14. emoWorthy
Thanks goes out to Troy and Hippie for putting it on so all of us can enjoy it. emoThanks Jmax
My hopes went south the more I looked. Not only were there the likes of the usual Charlie Myers, Jinkins, Ron Willerson, Wes and a couple more but some of the heavy hitters from the CBA ranks showed up for this one as well. Like Steve Kite, Josh Wofford, Gary Hughes, Pratt, Lamb and some more I know I am forgetting. emoRolleyes It was like a who's who of the lake lately. At least Michael Neal and Rogie did not show up. emoBigsmile There were several I saw who I knew on any given night could kick my a...ah....hind end. emoGoofy Not to be deterred. We headed out to just go fishing and hope for the best. 36 boats blasted off in a roar of engines and waves. Looked like a fire drill but with no organization. To our surprise we were all alone at our first spot. We soon figured out why. emoRedface My third cast had one slam a crank in about 18 foot. It was a nice small keeper, a start at 2/3. Thinking we were on something we continued to fish deep along some grass where there were shad schools suspended just off the grass. Not another keeper came into the boat for a good two hours. Heading to our next spot we hit a hump with stumps in about 10 foot that dropped off into deeper water. Nothing was going right. We both missed fish and Derek had a fight with one of his reels. Finally I get a hard hit on a big worm and it loads up. Double check it and it is just slowly moving off. I reared back and set the hook. Big bow and hard pull, I tell Derek, "Good fish!" He starts for the net and it just comes off. Like it had never had the barb go in it. emoHoppingmad We catch a couple more shorts. Then leave there.
We move to another area where the grass was again just off deeper water and work some rock and structure just off of it. I catch another short, about the time I am releasing it Derek shouts, "Net! Good Fish!" Drag is singing and his rod is doubled. Looking down into the water with our lights we see a great bass bull dogging his rod and line. Drag still singing and she is going where ever she wants. Derek did an excellent job of playing her and she came up along the boat and I got the net under her. Great bass at 7/10. Now feeling a little better we continue to drown plastics on grass edges. A couple more shorts and finally another keeper on a worm. Just barely would keep but gave us our limit. emoThumbsup Moved around a couple more places but nothing. Came back to one of the other places we had hit the big fish on and Derek again scores with the 3/6 bass on plastic. I am not sure but I think he had it on a shakey. Culled the little one and now needed to cull the 2/3. Moved a couple more times still focusing on grass edges with rock, stumps and structure just outside the grass line. Managed a couple more keepers but all just at 2 pounds. Finally with just about ten minutes left to fish I hooked my final keeper on a big worm that would cull the 2/3.
Not a bad night, came in with 13/6 with our best three, Derek's big one was 7/10 but only managed third biggest. Our best five would have been about 17/11. Got a little money for forth place and ended up getting to fish the night for free. Considering the competition we were very pleased with where we finished. There were several who I feel are great anglers that told me they struggled that night. Still as always someone finds them, took 16/12 to win it and big bass was 8/14. emoWorthy
Thanks goes out to Troy and Hippie for putting it on so all of us can enjoy it. emoThanks Jmax
