Nice read Ronnie, and great win! It's a bummer when the live-well pump
cuts out...should have a warning bell on those things!

John

=========

June tournament

Lake West Point - Flint River Bass Club June tournament Fished 6 AM to 3
PM, water 80 to 82, sun came up then got cloudy until about 11, then
sunny and very hot rest of day. Calm morning with a good breeze in the
afternoon.
Could not decide which way to go - had been told the pockets upriver
were holding fish hitting topwater but I have done good downriver the
past few tournaments. Decided to stick with what I know rather than what
I have been told.
Ran down to a rocky main lake point and went around it with chatterbait
- still pretty low light. Partner threw several baits. Came back around
it with a Rico popper - neither of us had a hit. I was throwing a
Tennessee Shad Rico on ten pound test line in the open water on the
points.
Went to the point where I got 8 hits on 8 casts and put a limit in the
boat on topwater six weeks ago. It is back in a creek and I figured the
fish had moved out. Wrong. As the sun came up I got a nice 2.5 pound
spot on a Rico then a 1.5 pounder. A few minutes later got a 1.5 pounder
to the boat and it jumped right at the net and threw my plug. That
deflated me. 6:45 and two in the livewell and one got off!
We worked everything in that area I knew for over two hours with no hits
from keepers - caught a few short fish. Decided to make a big move at
8:30 and ran up to a roadbed above the two bridges. Worked it with a
variety of baits with no hits.
At about 9:00 I decided to work into the short cove with a top water
bait. I picked up a different rod with a different color Rico - crappie
color, I think - and heavier 15 pound test line for the cover in the
cove. We were sitting in about 10 feet of water throwing to a bank with
overhanging bushes -water a little stained from boat waves and 82
degrees. A fish sucked my Rico under and I thought it was a little fish
till my rod bowed good - managed to land a solid 2.5 pound fat
largemouth. Three in the livewell at 9:20. A few casts later the water
exploded under my Rico and I landed another good 2.5 pound largemouth.
My partner said he needed a Rico - he had ordered some but they were to
be delivered on Monday. He had tried a bunch of baits, including a
Pop-R. I gave him the rod with the Tennessee Shad Rico on it.
We fished around that pocket with no more keepers. Ran across to a
similar pocket and near the back got a decent 1.5 pound spot on the
Rico. 10:15 and a limit - I figured about 9 to 10 pounds.
We fished another pocket then ran to a small creek that usually holds
fish. I worked a big worm and Senko, hoping for a kicker fish, while my
partner threw the Rico. He had one suck it under but missed it. I had
just reeled in my Senko and I automatically cast to where the fish hit,
and one took off with it. I landed a 13 inch spot - wish I had not cast
to it, it did not help me but would have been a keeper for my partner.
On the next point on a Carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog I got another
spot, about 14 inches long and maybe as big or bitter than my smallest
so I put it in the live well to cull later. Fish looked bigger than I
remembered in the livewell but water makes them look bigger. A minute
later my partner landed a keeper spot on a Carolina rig. Finally had a
keeper at noon.
We worked that cove and then a couple of main river points, hoping the
water would have started moving but there was no current even though
they were supposed to generate at 1 PM. At 2:15 we went back to the
roadbed where I had caught my two largemouth - figured there might be a
school holding on the roadbed. Partner got another 13 inch spot on the
roadbed but nothing hit my big worm. I did get another short fish on the
popper as time ran out.
When I opened my livewell to cull the smallest spot, I got a shock. The
aerator on my side had quit working and all my fish were dead. It had
stopped some time between noon when I checked and 3. Partners was still
working so we did not realize mine had quit.
At the weigh-in I was surprised. I had the only limit and won with 10.48
pounds. Second was 10.05 with four fish and he had big fish at 4.82 -
all on Flukes. Third was four at 6.27 and fourth was 4 at
5.33. There were 5 zeros out of the 14 in the tournament.
Tough day!
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com