July tournament

Spalding County Sportsman Club July Night Tournament - Lake Sinclair -
7/21/07 - 5:30 PM - 2:00 AM

Water temp 87 to 88, sunny until dusk, hot with a steady breeze.
Sinclair is
a Georgia Power lake ringed with docks and has a big coal fired power
plant
on it.

We took off at 5:30 because a pot tournament was scheduled at 6:00.
13
members and guests showed up. At blast off I went to a rocky point
where
current from the intake at the power plant moves constantly this time
of year.
Usually it is good for a fish or two if you can get on it. Not a bite
after almost
30 minutes so I moved to a point across the intake - a place David
Fritts
showed the world in a Redman Regional many years ago.

I made a few casts with a big Fat Free Shad, putting my boat right at
the
buoy line and casting up current across the point. After a few casts
I got line
on my crankbait and bent down in the boat to cut it loose. The power
plant
is real loud here and when I stood back up I was surprised to see
another
boat about 50 feet away casting to the point I was fishing - they
stayed out
on the end of it and cast up to shallow water.

We alternated casts for about 30 minutes. Guy in front of other boat
was
throwing a big crankbait. Guy in back kept switching every few casts
from
crankbait to Carolina rig to Texas rig and back. At one point guy in
back
grabbed net and went to front of boat but his partner was hauling
water.

Decided to leave and hit some other spots. Stopped on first point
again but
nothing hit - saw some baitfish down 12 feet deep but no fish. At
7:00
another tournament took off from the marina on the other side of the
bridge
that is about 100 yards downstream of the point I was fishing. Two
boats
stopped on the bridge - that made six boats I could see fishing
pilings and
riprap, including one guy in my club.

At one point a herd of otters came by - never seen anything like it.
There
were five or six, hard to count, and they kept sticking their heads
up looking
at me. They swam right by me into the cove where the power plant is -
came
from the area of the highway bridge just downstream of the point. I
guess it
was the little ones from a family - never saw a bigger one. The big
cove at
the power plant is real shallow on one side and full of waterwillow.

Ran to a bank I like in a creek a few miles away. It is about 200
yards long
and drops right into the channel 30 feet deep. Several docks along
this
bank have brush piles and there are a couple of rocky places. As I
worked
along it fishing a jig head worm I saw I was on top of a brushpile out
from a
dock in 22 feet of water. Worked the jig head worm to it and jiggled
it and
felt a thump. Set the hook and managed to land a solid keeper bass -
one
in the boat at 7:30.

On the other side of the dock I got a thump in another brush pile and
quickly
landed a 11 inch throwback.

Boat traffic was awful. Seemed like big cruisers wanted to see how
close
they could run by me - hard to stay on the front of the boat. I kept
fishing up
the bank and turned back at the last dock working back. I had been
throwing
a black Trick worm on a 3/16 ounce head and switched to a 1/4 ounce
head
with a one of Randy's GoTo Baits Tournament Sticks in pumpkinseed- a
Senko like 5" worm.

As worked it out from the first dock I almost got thrown out of the
boat by a
wake. When I recovered and tightened up my line it felt heavy and I
set the
hook. Thought I had a limb from the brushpile - surprised me when a
keeper
bass came to the top near the boat. Two in the livewell at 8:00.

I fished the bank three more times with different baits, ****ing off
the dock
owner where I caught the first bass, I guess. He kept coming to the
edge of
the water and staring at me. Never spoke and didn't return my wave.
He
was about 100 feet from me.

Right at dark on one pass I was throwing a Zoom Mag II and got a bite
in a
shallow brushpile in front of a dock. Landed an 11 inch bass. Next two
casts
to the same place missed bites, then caught another 11 incher. That
was it
for two passes.

After dark I tried another set of docks across the creek. Nothing
hit. It was
strange. After sundown there were lots of boats running around with
lights
on. There were also lots running without lights, and most of them
seemed
to be pulling tubes or skiers.

I kept looking for the law, figure they would be out. Two weeks ago a
bass
boat in the Saturday night pot tournament Teeboned a Bass Tracker
running without lights. Guys in bass boat were rescued by a nearby
dock
owner - they did not know what they hit until the next morning when
the
Tracker was spotted under a nearby dock. They found one body a couple
of
hours later and the other two days later.

At about 9:45 I made another pass on the bank where I got two keepers
and
three throwbacks but no bites.

For some reason I was drawn to the big cove at the power plant - I
kept
thinking about the grassbeds and all the lights from the power plant.
I ran
back and hit the rocky point again - nothing and did not see anything
on the
depthfinder. I wonder if bass like current in the dark - no
experience with
that.

As I rounded the point and got out of the current I started throwing a
spinnerbait and got slammed after a few casts - landed my biggest
keeper,
about 15 inches long. Swung it over the side of the boat and it fell
off - lucky
to land it. Three in the boat at 10:30.

I fished the spinnerbait to the end of the pocket at the buoy line
then turned
back with a buzzbait. I could not see it although it was about as
bright as it is
as dawn breaks from the lights on the bank. I could not hear it for
the sound
from the power plant. Drove me crazy so I switched back to the
spinnerbait.
No bites on the second pass.

I worked around the point and to the bridge, fishing the riprap a
little. On the
downstream side of the bridge the DNR and Sheriff's office have a
dock
and keep about five boats there, and there is an office on the water
on the
dock. Lots of lights on and two stalls open and empty - guessed they
were
out patrolling. Fished the lights and a brushpile nearby with no
bites.

At midnight I had worked out the point near the docks and turned and
started working back to hit the lights. A boat came roaring in and
came off
plane not far from me, inside the no wake buoys. Thought they were
going
to run over me - idled very fast toward the lights. I could see it was
a bass
boat and figured they were trying to beat me to the lights -started to
say
something as they came by then saw the markings. It was the DNR boat.
They tied up and took a guy out of the boat - two rangers with him. He
did
not look real happy - wonder what they arrested him for and where his
boat
was??

For the next two hours I fished the lights and riprap with no hits. At
the ramp
I tied up my boat and went after the trailer - there were only four
trucks in the
parking lot, mine and three club members getting boats ready to go
home.
Everybody else had left!

One guy had five keepers weighing 8.41 pounds - said he hit one
lighted
dock and got all five. My three weighed 4.47 and gave me second,
third
was one bass weighing 4.25 - he said it hit a crankbait under a bush
where
he shook out mayflies. It was big fish,too. Fourth was two weighing
2.5 - he
was fishing with a guy that lives on the lake. One other club member
had
one weighing .76 pounds. That was it - 8 zeroes out of 13 people.
Tough
night!

Saturday made my 200 day fishing this year - I guess Sunday made 2001
but I also went to my pond for a few minutes of catching bluegill that
afternoon. Does that make up for one of the two days I have missed
this year?

Ronnie

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