I
had the pleasure of fishing the 2009 USAJFKSWCS Tournament today with
Henry from Deep Creek Lures. First I want to extend a sincere thank you
to Marie and Henry for supporting the military. They are tireless in
their endeavor to show complete support to all branches of service, and it
shines through in their efforts like the tournament today. They, as well as
myself are also big sponsors of Warriors on the Water which is coming up this
week.
Now
on to A Day On The Lake with Henry and James.
We
started out north around Bush Creek to get away from any of the
crowds I knew were going to be out today. Started out
shallow fishing some of the bushes still in the water which
were very few since the water dropped. Henry got hung up
a few times and I jokingly told him I was going to call Marie
and do a partner swap if he didn't straitened up and fly right
and there were no fish in the trees. He told me to just
have the net ready cause he was about to start putting some fish
in the boat. We found no takers in the area we were in, so we
moved to another area I had found during the BFL the weekend
prior, didn't catch a fish there during the BFL, but there were
a few there today. Flipped a Green Pumpkin/Green
Flake Deep Creek Stump Thumper with a 1/2 oz tungsten weight
and felt the infamous tick, swung and missed the fish. While
I was getting my lure back together Henry saw another stump and
pitched to it and found a 16 1/2 bass with a June Bug Deep Creek
9 inch lizard. It was
all over then, He wanted to know if he was needed up front to
show me how to catch a fish, I told him no and to stay on his
end of the boat and just to get ready with the net. So we continued
down the same pocket and came up on a willow still in the water,
and again I flipped the Stump Thumper and found a connection
with a nice 5 1/2 pounder, I didn't know Henry could move that
fast, but he was ready with the net when she gave up the fight. After
running that pocket and me missing another fish that again became
a joking topic of our discussion, at about noon we decided to
head back south because the wind was picking up and it was a
long run, not wanting to have to run that long to get back to
the ramp we ended up in Bush Creek to finish out last hours of
the tournament. The wind got up pretty good causing even the
pockets to white cap and we finally settled on a protected bank
just off the main creek. It was unproductive until the last 10
minutes we had to weigh in, thats when Henry said to hang on
as I looked back he made a sweeping hook set even the pro's would
have been jealous of . I saw his rod double over and a 7 1/2
pounder come walking to the top. I grabbed the net and headed
to the back. After getting her into the live well, all
either of us could do was smile. The
weigh in came and we saw 1-2 fish going back after the weigh
in, and we though we might just have a shot at this 35-40 boat
tournament to cap the day off. Sure enough we weighed in 16.44
pounds with 3 fish and earned 1st place. We came in second on
big fish, someone weighed in one over 8 pounds. The memories
of this day will stick in my mind for a long time, it was a great
change of pace from the high pressure tournament days we get
wrapped up in sometimes. Henry thanks again for a great
day, I had a blast to say the least, and to both you and Marie
thanks for all your support. It's Americans like you both that
makes our job in the military worth every second!
March 21, 2009
Water temp 50-53
Water: stained
Rich Z and I fished the Pine State Open on Harris
today. I had been on the water since Thurs trying to figure out
what the fish were doing. I didn't really find a concentration
of fish until about 11 am on Friday, I knew it was going to be
an afternoon bite. Once I found them I put the boat on the trailer
and looked forward to blast off Sat morning. Sat morning we started
out with cranks and spinner baits, we immediately started catching
a few here and there, by about 1030 we made the move to what was
found Friday, and it was on from that time until about 15 minutes
before weigh in.
We managed to put well over 60 pounds worth of
fish in the boat, including a 9.93 pounder which took big fish
for the tournament and ended up weighing in 5 fish for 39.34 pounds.
Now what were we using is what everyone will want to know. Rich
was hopping a black/blue jig and I was using a Deep Creek Razor
Beetle with a 1/2 oz Tru Tungsten weight. It was the one two punch
that was getting the bites in several key areas. We managed 5 fish
over the slot in one pocket alone. The key was to fish SLOW, because
the fish were moving in and out of the areas feeding once the water
warmed and the sun came out. This was one of those days that will
go down in history, I don't know what the heaviest weight is on
Harris for 5 fish, but we have to be close to that record. I do
know the 10 fish limit is right at 70 pounds, and I believe we
would have broken that record because we were culling 5 and 6 pounders.
The weather this week is going to be on the rise, and the fish
will start to move into the 2 foot range, by this coming weekend
look for the males to be making beds and the females will be right
behind.
Rich and I fished the BFL on Kerr Lake earlier in the month. We
both blanked. Those who fish tournaments know about the mind set
that can take hold after taking a beating at a tournament, especially
one that points mean the difference between making it further or
sitting at home. This is just what we both needed to get us out
of that haze. I'll be getting ready for Jordan BFL starting next
weekend!!
I
had the pleasure of fishing the 2009 USAJFKSWCS Tournament today with
Henry from Deep Creek Lures. First I want to extend a sincere thank you
to Marie and Henry for supporting the military. They are tireless in
their endeavor to show complete support to all branches of service, and it
shines through in their efforts like the tournament today. They, as well as
myself are also big sponsors of Warriors on the Water which is coming up this
week. 
was
all over then, He wanted to know if he was needed up front to
show me how to catch a fish, I told him no and to stay on his
end of the boat and just to get ready with the net. So we continued
down the same pocket and came up on a willow still in the water,
and again I flipped the Stump Thumper and found a connection
with a nice 5 1/2 pounder, I didn't know Henry could move that
fast, but he was ready with the net when she gave up the fight. After
running that pocket and me missing another fish that again became
a joking topic of our discussion, at about noon we decided to
head back south because the wind was picking up and it was a
long run, not wanting to have to run that long to get back to
the ramp we ended up in Bush Creek to finish out last hours of
the tournament. The wind got up pretty good causing even the
pockets to white cap and we finally settled on a protected bank
just off the main creek. It was unproductive until the last 10
minutes we had to weigh in, thats when Henry said to hang on
as I looked back he made a sweeping hook set even the pro's would
have been jealous of . I saw his rod double over and a 7 1/2
pounder come walking to the top. I grabbed the net and headed
to the back. After getting her into the live well, all
either of us could do was smile. 
The
weigh in came and we saw 1-2 fish going back after the weigh
in, and we though we might just have a shot at this 35-40 boat
tournament to cap the day off. Sure enough we weighed in 16.44
pounds with 3 fish and earned 1st place. We came in second on
big fish, someone weighed in one over 8 pounds. The memories
of this day will stick in my mind for a long time, it was a great
change of pace from the high pressure tournament days we get
wrapped up in sometimes. Henry thanks again for a great
day, I had a blast to say the least, and to both you and Marie
thanks for all your support. It's Americans like you both that
makes our job in the military worth every second!
We managed to put well over 60 pounds worth of
fish in the boat, including a 9.93 pounder which took big fish
for the tournament and ended up weighing in 5 fish for 39.34 pounds.
Now what were we using is what everyone will want to know. Rich
was hopping a black/blue jig and I was using a Deep Creek Razor
Beetle with a 1/2 oz Tru Tungsten weight. It was the one two punch
that was getting the bites in several key areas. We managed 5 fish
over the slot in one pocket alone. The key was to fish SLOW, because
the fish were moving in and out of the areas feeding once the water
warmed and the sun came out. This was one of those days that will
go down in history, I don't know what the heaviest weight is on
Harris for 5 fish, but we have to be close to that record. I do
know the 10 fish limit is right at 70 pounds, and I believe we
would have broken that record because we were culling 5 and 6 pounders.
The weather this week is going to be on the rise, and the fish
will start to move into the 2 foot range, by this coming weekend
look for the males to be making beds and the females will be right
behind.