John and I discussed the lack of boats on the lake. We had seen very few of the 54 we expected to be everywhere. Most of the boats we saw were in our club - we had 18 fishermen - so we decided the local guys in the 54 boat tournament were on fish somewhere else.
We fished up a bank with docks to a rocky point and John landed another 13 inch spot. At that point we decided to run to a cove near the dam where John said there was a lot of brush piles. It was now after noon and time was beginning to get short.
As we started around the cove with all the brush, John picked up a Carolina rig with a Zoom lizard buy direct on it, and I threw my jig and pig. The water here was 49 and fairly clear - about what we had seen all day. There was no wind and it was cloudy, but no rain. We both had rain suits out since the weather guessers said it would rain all day, but we saw about 13 drops fall was all. We never put the rain suits on.
John quickly caught a keeper spot on his lizard, filling his limit. He had me down 5 to four, and one of my four was questionable. At a small brushtop in the water right on the bank, my jig started sideways when it hit the water and I set the hook on a solid 2.5 pound largemouth - the best fish of the day. Since we cull biggest fish first I felt sure I would not weigh in my little spot - they seem to shrink during the day, and it just barely touched first thing that morning.
I told John that he had me 5 to 4 and he said I had him beat, anyway, since I had three solid largemouth and his five spots were all small. Almost as soon as he said that he set the hook on a 2 pound spot. Then he hooked another one about the same size. I had switched to a Carolina rigged lizard to cover the point we were fishing.
When I netted John’s fish and picked my rod up, I felt a tug and landed a 13 inch keeper spot. I now had six in the livewell and definitely had five to weigh.
John caught two more 13 inch spots and I landed a 13 inch largemouth before we had to leave to head in to weigh in. We ended the day with 16 keepers - I had 7 and he had 9. Strange thing was John had all spots and I had four largemouth of seven. He had two about 2 pounds each and I had three that ran near 2 pounds to one about 2.5 pounds.
When we got to the weigh-in the cove was covered up with boats. I managed to get my boat tied up and got the scales ready for our club, and went to watch the 54 boat tournament weigh-in. The tournament director told me 15 pounds was leading but they were paying 8 places, and six pounds was in 8th place. We watched the last few guys weigh in and nobody had more than six pounds.
When Javin walked up with his five - he had landed three more on crankbaits after we talked to him, guys in the big tournament thought he would place, but he went past them to our scales. He had 6.70 pounds. As the rest of the club weighed in, most with 1 or 2 keepers, John went to get his fish. A guy weighed in one fish weighing 3.35 pounds and it was big fish for the day. John’s five weighed 6.53 pounds, and when I put my five on the scales they weighed 7.88. I won, Javin was second and John third - the only three limits weighed in.
I checked the results of the bigger tournament and my weight would have placed me 5th by myself. If John and I had put our best five together we would have placed 3rd or 4th with 10.5 pounds or so. We did better then I thought we would. I figured everyone would have limits as many fish as John and I caught. We caught at least one keeper every place we fished and caught keepers on three different crankbaits, a jerkbait, jig and pig and two colors of Carolina rigged Zoom lizards.
We kept the spots to cook, and when I filleted one 13 inch spot both tails of my trailer were in its stomach. That fish hit my jig three times before I hooked it. I am real glad it was persistent! (see the picture at the right)
Not a bad day for a February tournament, the bass thought it was spring. We have had a very mild winter, and right now daffodils, Japanese Magnolias and pear trees are blooming everywhere. But that is changing. Today it is raining and a high of 45, and lows Tuesday night are predicted in the mid 20s. Hope it warms fast - my next tournament is next Sunday!
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