emoSmile Colby and I got on the water about 5:30 and made a little run to see what we could find before the tournament started. First stop we saw fish on the graph and decided to make a couple casts to see what they were. My third cast had a 4 lber slam it. emoDoh Did not really want to do that but we stopped fishing and left there. Had never even dropped the trolling motor. Second check location saw a ton of fish so we checked them out as well. Had a couple slicks and three yellows. Decided that was a waste to go to. emoRolleyes Lots of shad but the big ones did not seem to be there. At that time it was after six so we headed in to pay up. We started at the first spot and could only get shorts mostly and just barely keepers. Colby caught two keepers on a drop and I managed one on a crank but it was hooked deep and bleeding so I pitched it back instead of in the well. emoSorry We moved a stretch looking for the bigger ones and finally I managed a decent 2.5 lber to give us a small limit. I knew what we had would not give us anything so we went hunting to upgrade.
Second area we fished was a ledge area on the river. Not a fish one. emoMad I had one hit and Colby had none. I am starting to feel that without current you might as well not even hit the river ledges. Moved again and hit some docks and structure with shakeys and worms. Had a couple on but both came off. I saw mine when it came up but it would not have done us any good. Colby's bent his rod well but he only got a couple turns on the handle and it came off. emoAngry Still hitting docks and structure I pitched out by a dock and had a good tap. I set the hook and thought I was hung, then my hang up came alive. She came straight up and must have cleared five foot. I am not kidding...five foot out of the water, best jump I have seen all year. emoSmile I only had 10 lb fluorocarbon so I was afraid the way she was fighting she would break it. She then sounded and went under the boat. We were sitting in about 14 feet and she came straight up again but this time she was right by the boat and Colby caught her in the net. emoThumbsup She had a six pounders frame but was not filled out. I caught one more decent keeper in that area but it was hooked deep too so that one never saw the well either. Would only had upgraded us a couple ozes.
With the big one, the 2.5 and one still about 2.25 I told Colby we had thirty minutes to try and upgrade so we moved shallow to grass and started pounding it with shakeys. Fishing grass edges with thirty minutes left we had a slick or two but at 9:18 my hopes were fading. I knew there were some good guys/gals against us and I believed we did not have enough. Right then had the wonderful tap on the shakey. Set the hook hard and she hardly moved. Told Colby I thought it might be a good one but then it just got easy. emoScratch At that time I realized it was coming right at the boat. I reeled hard and caught up with her. She doubled my rod and came up. Colby got her in on the second try and I pitched the 2.25, added her and told Colby we had to go.
Hauled in with five minutes to spare. emoBigsmile That last one ended up being 3.5 lbs and we had for a total 11.02 lbs. Good enough to get a check and we felt good about our efforts. Rogie and Micheal showed us all how it was done bringing in 3 five pounders and Treeman with his partner also nudged us out of second.
Still a great night and a lot of fun. 31 boats fished it. Had some breeze, no current, water temp on top was 89 and we caught bass in every place we stopped except the river ledges. Best five would have gone about 15.50 lbs. not counting the one 4 bler before it started. With that one we had about 17+ with our best five. Hope to see a lot of you at the Fireman's Benefit Tournament this weekend. emoToast
C-ya on the water. emoAngler Jmax
Second area we fished was a ledge area on the river. Not a fish one. emoMad I had one hit and Colby had none. I am starting to feel that without current you might as well not even hit the river ledges. Moved again and hit some docks and structure with shakeys and worms. Had a couple on but both came off. I saw mine when it came up but it would not have done us any good. Colby's bent his rod well but he only got a couple turns on the handle and it came off. emoAngry Still hitting docks and structure I pitched out by a dock and had a good tap. I set the hook and thought I was hung, then my hang up came alive. She came straight up and must have cleared five foot. I am not kidding...five foot out of the water, best jump I have seen all year. emoSmile I only had 10 lb fluorocarbon so I was afraid the way she was fighting she would break it. She then sounded and went under the boat. We were sitting in about 14 feet and she came straight up again but this time she was right by the boat and Colby caught her in the net. emoThumbsup She had a six pounders frame but was not filled out. I caught one more decent keeper in that area but it was hooked deep too so that one never saw the well either. Would only had upgraded us a couple ozes.
With the big one, the 2.5 and one still about 2.25 I told Colby we had thirty minutes to try and upgrade so we moved shallow to grass and started pounding it with shakeys. Fishing grass edges with thirty minutes left we had a slick or two but at 9:18 my hopes were fading. I knew there were some good guys/gals against us and I believed we did not have enough. Right then had the wonderful tap on the shakey. Set the hook hard and she hardly moved. Told Colby I thought it might be a good one but then it just got easy. emoScratch At that time I realized it was coming right at the boat. I reeled hard and caught up with her. She doubled my rod and came up. Colby got her in on the second try and I pitched the 2.25, added her and told Colby we had to go.
Hauled in with five minutes to spare. emoBigsmile That last one ended up being 3.5 lbs and we had for a total 11.02 lbs. Good enough to get a check and we felt good about our efforts. Rogie and Micheal showed us all how it was done bringing in 3 five pounders and Treeman with his partner also nudged us out of second.
Still a great night and a lot of fun. 31 boats fished it. Had some breeze, no current, water temp on top was 89 and we caught bass in every place we stopped except the river ledges. Best five would have gone about 15.50 lbs. not counting the one 4 bler before it started. With that one we had about 17+ with our best five. Hope to see a lot of you at the Fireman's Benefit Tournament this weekend. emoToast
C-ya on the water. emoAngler Jmax
