Fishing - June heat at West Point

"Ronnie" wrote in message
...
Sunday - June 26, 2011 - day 46

Spalding County Sportsman Club West Point June Tournament
5 AM - 1 PM water 87 degrees, mostly sunny, very hot day

We started before daylight to try to beat the heat - once again it did
not work. I started on a rocky point throwing a black spinnerbait -
no bites. Ran to a second rocky point and tried spinnerbait and
crankbait - nothing. As the sky got a little light at 5:50 threw a
buzzbait and missed one hit.

Ran to my favorite topwater point at 6:10 - threw a Sammy some but got
it tangled in the braid line. I picked up my rod with a popper on it
and caught a small keeper spot on the first cast. My bad luck
continued - the rod I throw it on is the custom rod I won at the Mid -
Tennessee Classic in 2002. I lifted the fish over the side of the
boat and as I reached to unhook it, it flipped and broke the top 4
inches off the tip of the rod.

Ouch.

I tried to untangle the Sammy but it was too dark to see well enough,
so I tied the popper on another rod. For the next 15 or 20 minutes I
got a hit on every cast - landed three more small keepers, four short
fish and two hybrids. The fourth keeper got tangled in the net and it
took me about 5 minutes to untangle it - when I started casting again
the sun was peeping over the far bank and I never got another hit!

When I am throwing treble baits I use the rubber net. It makes a huge
difference in time for net tangles, and when I'm on a topwater bite that
could dry up at any moment I hate to waste a minute if I can help it. The
long handled poly line net gets used only when I have a fish wrapped up
around a tulie and I have to get deep to get it, or if I can see it's a
monster.

I fished a buzz bait on some shady banks and got several short fish.
By 9 AM it was HOT and I was soaked with sweat. Started desperately
trying to find my fifth keeper. Fished a dock at a ramp then worked
out on the end of the ramp with a jig head worm. Got it hung as as I
eased in to get it loose I went over a brush pile in 12 feet of water
with fish holding in front of it.

My new HD Lowrance depthfinders are amazing. I had the side and down
scan on and the fish by the brush were very plain - don't think I
would have realized they were fish on my regular depthfinder. I
backed off and caught a small keeper spot and got two hits there.

One of my electronics vendors has some HD sounders priced pretty reasonably.
I've been debating trying one, but the side finders are still pretty
expensive.

By 12 I had not gotten another hit even tho I tried bridge pilings,
other brush piles and points. Went to a point with brush on it and
threw a big crankbait and got it hung. Rather than going on top of
the brush I layed that rod down and threw a jig head to the brush, and
got my sixth keeper - it culled on of my 12 inch spots, but it was
only 12.5 inches long

Is that allowed in your tournaments? I have a buddy who got disqualified in
a big tournament for having two baits in the water for something like that
once. He had a jig hanging off the side of the boat right on the surface to
keep the pork from drying out. I have a two pole stamp and when I am fun
fishing I'll sometimes make a few casts with a different rod before moving
up to cover to untangle a bait, but in a tournament I never do it. One line
in the water per angler is pretty much the rule. I have been known to break
off if its above water, ad then go get my bait after fishing the spot with
another bait. Tied into my biggest bass ever that way. Too bad I didn't
land it.

At 1 I had not caught another bass. I came in third out of 15 with
five weighing a whopping 4.81 pounds - had one of only two limits.
Winner had five at 6.30, second four at 5.40. Big fish was 3.58 -
one of only 7 largemouth caught, and the only fish he had. Three
fishermen zeroed.

Another tough day!

Interesting. Around here (different fishery and different climate) the bite
just seems to get better when it gets hotter. Particularly the photoperiod
bite, but even the mid morning bite.

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com