June 30, 2012 Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Tourney

Gary Coderre guides his boat to the dock for weigh-in.

According to the words of an old tune, "Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise." I don't know what the breeze was saying that greeted the 12 anglers in 7 boats at the start of today's tourney, but it sure was swell while it lasted. Once the day warmed up, though, the breeze turned into a hot one. At least, it was a few degrees cooler today than it was yesterday.

Dewey said the thermometer hanging on the corner of the store showed 106 degrees yesterday, compared to 97 degrees today. Because of the temperature, Dewey gave us the option to end today's tourney a couple hours early, but the vast majority said, "Let's fish to the regular 2 o'clock weigh-in," so that's what we did.

(Left photo, l-r) Chris Sims and Wayne Hayes, 1st place and
big fish winners.
(Right photo, l-r) Mike Evans and Jeremy Gatewood, 2nd
place winners.

Claiming first place and big fish honors today was the team of Wayne Hayes and Chris Sims. Meanwhile, second place went to the team of Jeremy Gatewood and Mike Evans. Both teams weighed five-fish limits.

The big fish belonging to Wayne and Chris weighed in at 4.09 lbs. Other participants who weighed big fish were the team of Jeremy Gatewood and Mike Evans, with a 2.97-lb. bass; Gary Coderre, with a 2.95-lb. bass; the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle, with a 2.53-lb. bass; Ken Testorff, with a 2.25-lb. bass; and the team of Tucker Blalock and Aaron Phillips, with a 1.21-lb. bass.

Here's how all the other participants finished in total weight: the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle, five fish, 9.25 lbs.; Ken Testorff, five fish, 9.20 lbs.; Gary Coderre, four fish, 5.72 lbs.; and the team of Tucker Blalock and Aaron Phillips, three fish, 2.61 lbs. A new team, consisting of Nathan Rochester and Jerry Baldia, didn't weigh any fish today, and John Matyiko never made it out of the starting blocks. His day began with a dead battery after launching his boat. He recovered the boat, then ran home for a fresh battery. Once back in the West Neck parking lot, he installed the new battery, but to his chagrin, his problems still weren't over. While relaunching his boat, one of the trailer wheels fell off, and he had to repair that problem. Given the amount of fishing time he had lost, he decided just to go home and try again another time.

Those 10 anglers who participated in the weigh-in accounted for a total of 27 bass weighing a combined total of 48.11 lbs.

Angler Wayne Hayes joined a growing list today of those who have qualified to fish our season-ending two-day Classic on Oct. 13-14 by virtue of having fished four tourneys. The addition of his name brings the total to 18.

For planning purposes, our next tourney is scheduled for Saturday, July 14. Start time will be safe light (or approximately 0600). Weigh-in will be at 1400.

Anyone with questions can contact me at kenneth34@cox.net.

On a personal note:  I finished the day with a total of 16 bass, 4 stripers, 1 bowfin, and 1 white perch. Most of my fish came early this morning on two topwaters: a Baby Torpedo in bullfrog color and a Buzzjet Jr. in real shad color. I had one fish miss a topwater and was quick enough with a follow-up 10-inch junebug red worm to get the fish. I also boated three or four bass on a Bandit Footloose this afternoon. I was culling fish by 10 o'clock. One of my 4 stripers was a nice 3- or 4-lb. fish that I normally would have taken to Dewey for table fare, but since I was fishing a tourney, I simply released the fish. My topwater bite lasted until 11:30. I then picked up the Bandit Footloose in firetiger color, and the action continued just like it had been with the two topwaters all morning. All in all, it was a fun day, despite the hot temperatures--both air and water. When I cranked up the outboard down in Albright's to come to weigh-in this afternoon, the water temp showed 88.8.