club tournament

Spalding County Sportsman Club tournament - Lake Oconee - June 24

Water temp low 80s and a little stain - sunny and very hot. Start
time 6:00 AM,
stop at 2:00 PM - 14 inch size limit. Some current early from
pumpback but it
stopped by 10:00 AM

I talked with several people that had fished Oconee in the past couple
of weeks -
two in a local club that fished a week before us, a guy that placed
third in a couple's
tournament there with his wife two weeks before, and a local guide, Al
Bassett. All
said the topwater bite was good early then go to docks and brushpiles
with plastics.

At blast-off I ran to a main lake point with riprap and docks where
the channel
swings by. Al had told me that was a good topwater spot. First pass
I got a 13 inch
throwback on a Rico popper then turned and on the second pass got
three more.
They were all in close to the rocks - fun but no keepers. My partner
caught one
short fish on a jig and missed several other bites.

Next stop was a similar point a club fisherman said he caught several
keepers on the
week before. There was a boat on it so I kept going to my favorite
point, a big
point between a major creek and the river. I started on a wood sea
wall with riprap
and deep water - no bites. After working around a pocket where many
mayflies
were hatching I got worried - nothing was eating them but some birds,
including two
beautiful red, white and black woodpeckers. They would fly within feet
of the boat
chasing the mayflies. But we didn't even see any bream hitting on
top, a bad sign.

The next rocky point on the other side of the cove my partner missed a
fish on a
Sammy - twice. I thought it might be a hybrid since it missed. I
started to leave
but decided to work down the seawall a little further even tho the
water was getting
shallow. On a cast that fell within inches of the seawall a 15 inch
fish slammed the
Rico as soon as I moved it - fought good and I put it in the livewell
- finally a keeper
at 6:45.

I fished to the end of the seawall and turned back. I told my partner
I was seeing a
pattern - most of my bites on the first place and the one here came
within inches of
the bank. I said that as my plug hit within a few inches of the
seawall and a bass
slammed it before I could even move it. This one was a solid 16 inch
fish - two in
the livewell at 6:50 AM

We jumped across the cove mouth and started on the point we first
stopped on,
going the other way. After fishing about 150 yards down it without a
bite I started
to leave again since we were entering a cove and all the fish seemed
to be on the
outside. But in this cove I had caught some good fish, especially in
May, so I kept
going. It was somewhat in the shade from the rising sun, too.

On a rocky bank half way into the shallow cove a fish sucked the Rico
under and I
thought it was a small fish, until it got near the boat and ran under
it. Got the fish to
the net and it was another solid 16 inch keeper. Three in the boat at
7:20.

Just ahead of us was a small wooden dock with five boat slips, a
community dock
for the nearby houses. I have caught good bass off that dock and my
first cast with
the Rico a bass sucked it under right at the corner of the first slip.
Again I t thought
it was small but then it turned and I saw it was much bigger than
thought - turned
out to be my biggest of the day, just under 3 pounds. Four in the boat
at 7:25. It did
not fight hard which was lucky, it was barely lip hooked by one back
hook on the
plug. All the fish I had caught up till then had the whole plug in
their mouth and I
had to use pliers to unhook them. This one just fell off the hook.

My very next cast to the next boat slip produced another hit on the
corner. My
partner and I both saw the fish come up and suck the Rico in - and saw
the plug
come out as it fought. We could see the fish good - another one
around 3 pounds.
That broke my heart - could have filled my limit at 7:30 with a good
fish.

My partner had been throwing a jig and a Little Critter Craw the whole
time and
getting bites, but no fish. I had offered him a Rico but he stuck
with what he was
using. Did not throw topwater even tho he had gotten two bites on a
Sammy.

We hit the cove hard since there had been three good keepers there and
I caught
several 13 inch bass on top. Even got a nice bluegill off the rocks
where I had
caught the third keeper. Partner got a bluegill on his Little Critter
Craw. We backed
off this bank and I drug a Carolina rigged Baby Brush How in Green
Pumpkin with
Chartreuse tail along it - that bait has worked good for me where
bluegill were
schooled, but never got a bite.

Time to head up the lake - sun was high and it was getting hot already
at 8:30. I ran
up a shady bank but did not stop - several boats fishing it. We ran
several miles to a
place another club member said he got several keepers the week
before. It was a
main lake point with rocks and riprap - but the sun was on it. We
fished it anyway.
On the upstream side was a little pocket lined with riprap and some
shade. I threw
the Rico just off the rocks in the shade and got hit - another 16 inch
bass. Five in the
livewell at 8:30 - probably had close to10 pounds. Time to relax and
try to catch
some to cull.

I told my partner to choose what to do - he still had not caught a
keeper. We went
to a nearby bridge and fished the shady side riprap for a while -
bunch of bream hits
but no bass. I told him another bridge was a few miles away and Al
and some of
the club members had caught fish there this week and it was where the
couple came
in third. We ran to it.

Another club member was already there. He had a limit, too, on top
earlier down the
lake. That made me think everyone would have a lot of fish. We went
to the other
side of the riprap and fished down it, me throwing the Rico and my
partner trying
some other stuff. No bites.

The guy that told me about the spot where I got my fifth keeper told
me about a
brush pile just off the riprap here and we kept probing for it. I had
picked up a 3/16
ounce W-3 Tackle Tip Up Jig head with a black Trick worm on it. I
cast it to the
corner of the riprap and a fish picked it up and started off with it -
When I set the
hook I knew it was a good fish but I was using a lighter outfit than
the topwater. I
was throwing the Rico on a six foot med-heavy Lightning Rod Pistol
Grip,
Ambassadeur reel and 15 pound Xtra Tough P-Line. The jig head outfit
was on a 7
foot St. Croix med action with light tip, Pflueger reel and 12 pound P-
Line
Fluorocarbon.

This fish fought hard and jumped way out of the water twice. I did
land it - solid
2.5 pound 16 inch fish. A few minutes later another fish started out
with my
jighead worm and I caught a twin to this one - I had now culled my
two 15 inch fish
and everything I had was better than two pounds.

My partner got in my jig box and tied on a similar jig head and got
one of my Trick
worms. We fished the riprap for a while longer and I got one more 15
inch bass -
didn't help me any at all. Partner never got a hit.

We noticed the current had quit moving at about 10:00 - Oconee is a
pumpback lake
and they pumpback water each morning and create a current. When there
is no
current the bite on riprap is pretty dead.

I tied on a 10.5 inch Zoom Old Monster worm with a 6/0 hook and 3/16
ounce lead
and told my partner I was looking for a kicker fish. We started
hitting deeper brush
piles and docks. I caught a 13 inch bass off the first one we hit,
then got a 14 inch
keeper - but no help.

Heading back down the lake we hit several deep docks and brush. On
one I threw
the big worm to the dock and it started moving off - I set the hook
and landed a bass
that was just the same length as the worm when they were held up
together. My
partner finally got a 16 inch bass on one of my jig heads off the
nearby rocky point
and I caught some more 13 inch bass.

Just after noon we headed to one of my deep holes near the dam - one
that often
produces I sit in 27 feet of water on top of a river ledge and throw
deeper - there is
brush along the drop and on top. There was no current, a bad sign, and
nothing hit
so we decided to spend the last hour fishing nearby deep docks - I
caught five more
throwbacks on the big worm and my partner got a couple of short fish.

At weigh-in I culled my nine bass by looking at them - four were
definitely bigger,
then there were two about the same size and two more definitely
smaller. I had
12.27 pounds - good for third. Second was the guy I saw at the riprap
- he had
12.42. I wish I had culled closer now, using a balance beam or
scales! He had one
decent kicker fish. First was 13.76 and he had a 4.68 pound big fish.
I was happy
with my catch but disappointed with my place. It took only 6.39 for
fourth and only
the top three had limits.


Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

club tournament

At weigh-in I culled my nine bass by looking at them - four were
definitely bigger,
then there were two about the same size and two more definitely smaller.
I had
12.27 pounds - good for third. Second was the guy I saw at the riprap
- he had
12.42. I wish I had culled closer now, using a balance beam or scales!
He had one
decent kicker fish. First was 13.76 and he had a 4.68 pound big fish. I
was happy
with my catch but disappointed with my place. It took only 6.39 for
fourth and only
the top three had limits.

Ronnie
==========
Ronnie, seems like second and third place are always just one "good"
fish behind....reckon that's why first is so much fun, they are always
one "good" fish ahead! grin

Congrats on a good day anyway!!!

John K