Chilly Regional Bassin'

We competed in our regional bass tournament yesterday and it felt like deer hunting weather. It was a chilly 37 degrees when we launched at 7:30am. Jim and I were both wearing our Under Armour ColdGear, jackets, and gloves. Even with that stuff on, it was a cold boat ride to our first spot of the day.


The fishing was slow initially, but picked up about 9:00 and we caught a few fish. Then the bite stopped around 11:00. We didn't catch any bass again until after 1:00. Even with the mostly sunny skies, the air temperature was slow warming up. The water temperature was in the mid to upper 60's. What really gave us fits was the wind which blew 10-20 mph all day long. We couldn't get away from it even in the coves.


When the bite picked up again in the afternoon, we caught several more bass, most on points where the wind was pushing bait fish toward the shore. We stopped fishing at 3:00 so we could get back to the dock and have our chip at the weigh-in table by 3:30. Each team had a poker chip with their boat number on it. The first group of teams had to be in no later than 3:30 and the second group had to be in no later than 3:45. The lake has some long areas that are "idle only" and we had to allow enough time to get through those.

Boats coming back for the weigh-in

There were 34 teams competing in this regional tournament based on their point standings from the regular season tournaments. The fishing was tough and many of the guys talked about how hard it was to get a bite. Several teams had no fish to weigh in and others had one. Jim and I caught 17 bass, two of which were keepers, for a total two fish weight of 5.10 pounds. The winning team came in with a total weight of 8+ pounds with three fish. Nobody brought in a 5 fish limit. When it was all said and done, Jim and I finished 9th out of 34 teams. The top 11 teams from this regional tournament automatically advance to the Nitro Classic tournament being held next spring. That is a 2 day tournament where the top qualifiers from the various regional tournaments compete. The Classic gives away a new boat to the top three teams and holds a random drawing to give away a fourth boat. That's in addition to the prize money. Depending on how many regional qualifiers show up, there will be 200-400 teams competing at the Classic.


Even though we had hoped to bring in more fish, we had a good time and were happy to move on to the Classic.

Team members filtering in for the weigh-in

Size Matters

In the world of tournament angling, it makes all the difference! We fished our fourth tournament bright and early this morning (6am or 0600 for you military types). There were 25+ teams participating in this go round. The fishing was slow initially, but began to pick up as the morning progressed. We caught twelve bass evenly split between us at six a piece. The majority hit a 7" worm rigged weedless or a medium running crank bait.


Why does size matter? On this particular lake, state reg's stipulate that a largemouth bass must be 20" in length or more in order to be kept (i.e., put in a live well for weigh-in). A bass not meeting the 20" minimum must be released immediately. In addition, an angler can only have in his or her possession one bass that is 20" or greater. Since tournaments have to abide by state reg's, this means a two-angler team could only weigh-in two largemouth bass (one per angler). Because of these regulations, one good bass could potentially win a tournament.


Of the twelve bass we caught today, one looked like a really good fish when it came to the surface - definitely one that needed to be checked. We quickly put it on the measuring board and it was a solid 19 incher. Talk about disappointment! Unfortunately, no amount of pulling, tugging, coaxing, or stretching could make it a 20" fish. So back it went. One extra inch, or in this case, the lack thereof, made all the difference. One inch stood between us and potential prize money. On the flip side, weighing in a fish that is just one inch too short will cost you money. The Fish and Wildlife Resources guys take that stuff seriously. Naturally, the big fish hit during the last hour of the tournament and we ran out of time.


Even though we haven't won an individual tournament yet, we are on track with our points. There are two tournaments remaining - one in July and one in August. And both are night tournaments. Well, the word "night" is used loosely. They start at 6pm (1800 for you military types) and end at midnight which means there are several hours of daylight. If we complete both tournaments, we will have the number of points necessary to fish the regional tournament later this fall.


Size certainly does matter. In these tournaments, it can make a big difference!

Boxes, Bags, And Bass

In my last couple of blog posts, I mentioned that I was going to be busy for most of April and wouldn't be here much. That held true. The big project that has kept me so busy is a new house which I bought in early April. I was tied up with the closing process, packing, moving, and unpacking (which isn't done yet). I actually started looking at houses in February, found this one in March, and closed in April. I despise the moving process, as I'm sure many folks do, but it's nice to be in a brand new home. 

I just recently got Internet service and hope to be back to visiting blogs in the near future. There is still unpacking that needs to be done so I'll be working on that until it's finished - or I say it's good enough. Anyway, that's what I've been busy with the past few weeks and I'm glad the ordeal is over. 

On another topic, some people have asked about the bass tournaments I talked about in previous posts. Let's just say it has been a rough start. There were three tournaments scheduled in the month of April. I had to miss the first one due to unexpected circumstances, but the weather was really nasty that day and the fishing was terrible. Ma Nature has wreaked havoc this spring which caused the second tournament to be cancelled due to dangerous lake conditions. The third tournament was yesterday, but the lake where these particular tournaments are held just broke its record for high water level. A few days ago when I checked, the water level was 24 feet above summer pool and it's even higher now. The lake is a mess. 

My tournament partner, Jim, and I decided to change gears yesterday and fish a different lake. This lake doesn't have the feeder streams that many of our lakes have so it doesn't get all of the rain run-off which allows it to maintain a more consistent water level. This lake is smaller than the tournament lake (800 acres vs. 8,000 acres), but we wanted to catch some fish rather than battle high water. Apparently, so did everybody else because the lake was packed! The parking lots at all of the boat ramps were completely full. 

This lake is man-made and was specifically designed for fishing. Before damming up the river, the Corps of Engineers put in a lot of artificial structure which now sits at the bottom of the lake. They also left the trees which created tons of standing submerged timber. There is no swimming, skiing, or jet skis allowed on the lake. 

The morning started off slow and we didn't have any bites. Actually, the whole day was rather slow and several other anglers we spoke to said they weren't catching anything. I finally caught our first fish of the day shortly before lunch. When it was all said and done, I caught four bass and Jim caught one. I had a fifth one on, but it made a jump and threw the lure. My second fish was also the big fish of the day. I caught it in shallow water on a small, square-billed crankbait. It weighed 4.8 pounds and was 20.5" long. 

It was the first really nice day we've had in a long time and I'm sure that was part of what brought so many people out. That and the fact it was Saturday and this lake is the only one in the area that hasn't been adversely affected by all of the rain. There was also a co-ed tournament taking place on the lake (no, not college co-ed's). We saw several boats where the wife/girlfriend was reading a book or getting some sun while the guys were fishing. Since the tournament rules required a female on the team, no doubt a few husbands/boyfriends asked their significant others to come along just so they could get in the tournament. Actual fishing was a different story. We did see some women who were actively fishing, though. 

Well, I should be getting back into the full swing of things very soon. I've missed reading your blogs. I feel very out of the loop right now. It was necessary time away, though, and there really wasn't any way around it. Now if I could just snap my fingers and make these boxes and bags go away....