Tennessee Tourney

I've been posting reports on OutdoorFrontiers.com for Kentucky Lake for the
past several weeks, and AlwaysFishKing has posted on his experiences down
here and LilMule has chimed in as well. I had an ulterior motive for fishing
down in the Camden area so much recently.

You see, LilMule (an OF member and friend) asked me to fish an open team
tournament being held out of Birdsong Creek with him. After seeing all the
lily pads and our results based on the recent trips, we thought we'd at
least not embarrass ourselves. But, I hadn't fished down there since
AlwaysFishKing was here, as I didn't want to burn out the spot through
overfishing.

Awake at 2:30 a.m., and out the door before 4, I was nervous as a long
tailed cat in a room full of rockers! It didn't get any better after we were
signed in and the boat in the water. I was talking with some of the guys in
the tourney and from the sounds they were making, LilMule and I were facing
some stiff competition, and most of them locals!

We were the 17th boat out of 33 to blast-off, and it was with relief that
the previous 16 boats all headed in the direction of the main lake. I got up
on plane and did a 180, heading for our spot, less than a mile from the
marina.

Still at WOT across a shallow flat, I dodged a few crappie stake beds, a few
stumps and in the pre-dawn gloom, dropped off plane, trimming the motor up
to avoid grounding the prop, we were fishing that shallow! And actually, it
was even shallower than my last trip as the Tennessee Valley Authority dam
system had dropped the lake level close to two feet! We we were fishing in
18 to 24 inches. When I say shallow, I mean shallow!

With a Horny Toad already tied on, I began casting the edges of the pads.
Along about the third or fourth cast, LilMule and I almost peed ourselves
when the tranquility was shattered. BOOM! BANG! BOOMBOOMBOOM, KaPOW,
BANGBANGBANG! I had totally forgotten about duck season being open and as we
could see further into the huge expanses of lily pads, we realized that we
were almost surrounded by duck hunters! So now, LilMule and I really started
to wonder about our "winning pattern." I mean, we were expecting "some
activity" and we really didn't expect to have the area to ourselves, and we
knew the water would be lower, but we certainly didn't expect the water to
be almost half gone and we certainly didn't expect to share the pads with
heavily armed rednecks!

But it didn't seem to bother the bass as the first strike was from a legal
largemouth! Only 15.5 inches, but into the livewell it went, less than five
minutes into the fishing day. It was followed by another bass, a little over
16 inches, two in the box! With gun fire continuing to ring out, I continued
to put fish in the boat. LilMule was getting bit on some other frog styles,
but on one, his reel's drag failed and a good bass got wrapped around some
pad stems and pulled off. He had several other good strikes, but the
largemouth were shortstriking or getting off!

While birdshot was raining down around us a three, a four and a five pounder
(not necessarily in that order) were added to the boat. We had a limit at
7:10 By 7:15 we were culling, but only by ounces, not the larger weights we
had been getting on previous trips. When I unhooked the 4 pounder, I didn't
think the fish would survive as it was hooked right in the tongue. Sometimes
the fish will survive such a hook wound, and other times, when the hook is
removed, the blood absolutely gushes. Guess which one I had? Around 11:30
LilMule was able to cull out a 2lb, 11 oz. fish with a 2lb, 12 oz. fish that
took a 7" Magnum Super Fluke!

The bite continued right up until it was time to weigh in, and we were
catching legal fish, but catching fish weighing 2lb, 6 oz. or 2lb, 8 oz.
didn't help.

All this time, I was positive that the guys fishing the main lake ledges and
weedbeds were really hammering the fish, so while I figured we'd be in the
middle of the pack of 33 boats, I was still nervous.

I started feeling a little better talking to some of the other contestants
milling around the weigh-in. Some skunked, some had a few fish, not too many
it seemed had limits. No one I talked to had culled!

When I got the fish from the livewell, I lost some confidence again as I
found that not only the 4 pounder was dead, but also the five! I don't know
what happened there, but with a 1/2 pound per fish dead penalty, I didn't
think we stood a chance. I was assured that the two dead fish were going to
go home with one of the anglers, so at least they weren't wasted.

From my seat, I could hear the scoreperson tallying the weights. The winning
team had 17.01 pounds. I started feeling a bit better. After the dead fish
penalty, "Team Transplant" had 16.45 pounds! We had finished in FIFTH PLACE!
Not too shabby for a couple recent transplants to Tennessee who'd never
fished a tournament together, and until recently had not fished the Birdsong
Creek area!

Then on the way home, it dawned on me. If those two fish wouldn't have died,
we would have won it!!!

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
... Then on the way home, it
dawned on me. If those two fish wouldn't have died,
we would have won it!!!

Been there. I have both won and lost tournaments due to dead fish. It
makes a difference. Sounds like you did a heck fo a good job all things
considered. Congrats.

I was not aware you had the public posting/forum section of your site back
up and running. I would have dropped in and posted some of my better trip
or tournament reports.

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:11:33 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com"
backed into a tree whilst ridin inna park
then wrote:

I've been posting reports on OutdoorFrontiers.com for Kentucky Lake for the
past several weeks, and AlwaysFishKing has posted on his experiences down
here and LilMule has chimed in as well. I had an ulterior motive for fishing
down in the Camden area so much recently.

You see, LilMule (an OF member and friend) asked me to fish an open team
tournament being held out of Birdsong Creek with him. After seeing all the
lily pads and our results based on the recent trips, we thought we'd at
least not embarrass ourselves. But, I hadn't fished down there since
AlwaysFishKing was here, as I didn't want to burn out the spot through
overfishing.

SNIP A pretty good read.

From my seat, I could hear the scoreperson tallying the weights. The winning
team had 17.01 pounds. I started feeling a bit better. After the dead fish
penalty, "Team Transplant" had 16.45 pounds! We had finished in FIFTH PLACE!
Not too shabby for a couple recent transplants to Tennessee who'd never
fished a tournament together, and until recently had not fished the Birdsong
Creek area!

Then on the way home, it dawned on me. If those two fish wouldn't have died,
we would have won it!!!

Sounds like you guys had a good time.

Dan

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...


"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
... Then on the way home, it
dawned on me. If those two fish wouldn't have died,
we would have won it!!!

Been there. I have both won and lost tournaments due to dead fish. It
makes a difference. Sounds like you did a heck fo a good job all things
considered. Congrats.

I was not aware you had the public posting/forum section of your site back
up and running. I would have dropped in and posted some of my better trip
or tournament reports.

It's been up and running for a long time now. It would be great to have you
drop by once in a while.
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLC
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com

"What me worry?" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:11:33 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com"
backed into a tree whilst ridin inna park
then wrote:

I've been posting reports on OutdoorFrontiers.com for Kentucky Lake for
the
past several weeks, and AlwaysFishKing has posted on his experiences down
here and LilMule has chimed in as well. I had an ulterior motive for
fishing
down in the Camden area so much recently.

You see, LilMule (an OF member and friend) asked me to fish an open team
tournament being held out of Birdsong Creek with him. After seeing all the
lily pads and our results based on the recent trips, we thought we'd at
least not embarrass ourselves. But, I hadn't fished down there since
AlwaysFishKing was here, as I didn't want to burn out the spot through
overfishing.

SNIP A pretty good read.

From my seat, I could hear the scoreperson tallying the weights. The
winning
team had 17.01 pounds. I started feeling a bit better. After the dead fish
penalty, "Team Transplant" had 16.45 pounds! We had finished in FIFTH
PLACE!
Not too shabby for a couple recent transplants to Tennessee who'd never
fished a tournament together, and until recently had not fished the
Birdsong
Creek area!

Then on the way home, it dawned on me. If those two fish wouldn't have
died,
we would have won it!!!

Sounds like you guys had a good time.

Yes we did. LilMule (real name Roger) reminds Janet of a smaller version of
Moe, so she occasionally calls him "Mini-Moe." He's a good guy and really
was a great help when I was trying to find a place here in Tennessee. And,
he's been a great source of fresh garden vegetables all summer long. It's a
good partnership, he teaches me things about down here, I teach him some of
my tips that I've learned over the years.
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLC
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com

Good catch and good you didn't get shot! I have been on Seminole on
opening day of duck season - sounds like war, They like boats riding
around keeping the birds flying.

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

Way to go Steve ! Glad to hear that Horny Toad bite is still on !

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
...
I've been posting reports on OutdoorFrontiers.com for Kentucky Lake for
the past several weeks, and AlwaysFishKing has posted on his experiences
down here and LilMule has chimed in as well. I had an ulterior motive for
fishing down in the Camden area so much recently.

You see, LilMule (an OF member and friend) asked me to fish an open team
tournament being held out of Birdsong Creek with him. After seeing all the
lily pads and our results based on the recent trips, we thought we'd at
least not embarrass ourselves. But, I hadn't fished down there since
AlwaysFishKing was here, as I didn't want to burn out the spot through
overfishing.

Awake at 2:30 a.m., and out the door before 4, I was nervous as a long
tailed cat in a room full of rockers! It didn't get any better after we
were signed in and the boat in the water. I was talking with some of the
guys in the tourney and from the sounds they were making, LilMule and I
were facing some stiff competition, and most of them locals!

We were the 17th boat out of 33 to blast-off, and it was with relief that
the previous 16 boats all headed in the direction of the main lake. I got
up on plane and did a 180, heading for our spot, less than a mile from the
marina.

Still at WOT across a shallow flat, I dodged a few crappie stake beds, a
few stumps and in the pre-dawn gloom, dropped off plane, trimming the
motor up to avoid grounding the prop, we were fishing that shallow! And
actually, it was even shallower than my last trip as the Tennessee Valley
Authority dam system had dropped the lake level close to two feet! We we
were fishing in 18 to 24 inches. When I say shallow, I mean shallow!

With a Horny Toad already tied on, I began casting the edges of the pads.
Along about the third or fourth cast, LilMule and I almost peed ourselves
when the tranquility was shattered. BOOM! BANG! BOOMBOOMBOOM, KaPOW,
BANGBANGBANG! I had totally forgotten about duck season being open and as
we could see further into the huge expanses of lily pads, we realized that
we were almost surrounded by duck hunters! So now, LilMule and I really
started to wonder about our "winning pattern." I mean, we were expecting
"some activity" and we really didn't expect to have the area to ourselves,
and we knew the water would be lower, but we certainly didn't expect the
water to be almost half gone and we certainly didn't expect to share the
pads with heavily armed rednecks!

But it didn't seem to bother the bass as the first strike was from a legal
largemouth! Only 15.5 inches, but into the livewell it went, less than
five minutes into the fishing day. It was followed by another bass, a
little over 16 inches, two in the box! With gun fire continuing to ring
out, I continued to put fish in the boat. LilMule was getting bit on some
other frog styles, but on one, his reel's drag failed and a good bass got
wrapped around some pad stems and pulled off. He had several other good
strikes, but the largemouth were shortstriking or getting off!

While birdshot was raining down around us a three, a four and a five
pounder (not necessarily in that order) were added to the boat. We had a
limit at 7:10 By 7:15 we were culling, but only by ounces, not the larger
weights we had been getting on previous trips. When I unhooked the 4
pounder, I didn't think the fish would survive as it was hooked right in
the tongue. Sometimes the fish will survive such a hook wound, and other
times, when the hook is removed, the blood absolutely gushes. Guess which
one I had? Around 11:30 LilMule was able to cull out a 2lb, 11 oz. fish
with a 2lb, 12 oz. fish that took a 7" Magnum Super Fluke!

The bite continued right up until it was time to weigh in, and we were
catching legal fish, but catching fish weighing 2lb, 6 oz. or 2lb, 8 oz.
didn't help.

All this time, I was positive that the guys fishing the main lake ledges
and weedbeds were really hammering the fish, so while I figured we'd be in
the middle of the pack of 33 boats, I was still nervous.

I started feeling a little better talking to some of the other contestants
milling around the weigh-in. Some skunked, some had a few fish, not too
many it seemed had limits. No one I talked to had culled!

When I got the fish from the livewell, I lost some confidence again as I
found that not only the 4 pounder was dead, but also the five! I don't
know what happened there, but with a 1/2 pound per fish dead penalty, I
didn't think we stood a chance. I was assured that the two dead fish were
going to go home with one of the anglers, so at least they weren't wasted.

From my seat, I could hear the scoreperson tallying the weights. The
winning team had 17.01 pounds. I started feeling a bit better. After the
dead fish penalty, "Team Transplant" had 16.45 pounds! We had finished in
FIFTH PLACE! Not too shabby for a couple recent transplants to Tennessee
who'd never fished a tournament together, and until recently had not
fished the Birdsong Creek area!

Then on the way home, it dawned on me. If those two fish wouldn't have
died, we would have won it!!!

"Bass_Mr." wrote in message
...
Way to go Steve ! Glad to hear that Horny Toad bite is still on !

Thanks! I don't know how long that particular spot is going to produce. I
think if the TVA draws much more water, there won't be enough water to float
a bass, much less a boat!
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLC
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com

"Ronnie" wrote in message
...
Good catch and good you didn't get shot! I have been on Seminole on
opening day of duck season - sounds like war, They like boats riding
around keeping the birds flying.

I tried not to get too close to the hunters, but I think it worked well for
both of us. I think their stomping around in the weeds pushed the bass to
the edges and I know we turned some of the flocks over the hunters. But I
did find some steel shot in the boat when cleaning it yesterday!
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLC
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com

Sounds like a good day fishing::::

So have any of those southern guys told you the difference between a Yankee
and A Dammed Yankee yet???

You know Steve you are now one of those Dammed Yankee's, you moved south.

A Yankee just goes to visit::::
Keep us up to date on the nicer weather, the trees are already changing
he:::
Dam I hate winter:::
dand

--

Sometimes the best thing to do:
Is nothing at all.