That Cool Breeze and the Cloud Cover Was Nice

For a change, the weatherman pretty well nailed today's forecast, and I, for one, truly enjoyed the conditions. And I gotta believe that the vast majority of our 17 anglers in 11 boats would agree with that assessment.

Those competitors who earned money envelopes today included the following:

Claiming 1st Place was Chris Fretard (left), who weighed five fish, with a total weight of 14.78 lbs. He also captured the lunker award with a bass weighing 3.43 lbs.

Finishing in 2nd Place was Jim Bauer (right), who weighed five fish, with a total weight of 9.43 lbs. He didn't have a big fish.

Yours truly (left) surprisingly walked away with 3rd Place. My five fish tipped the scales at 9.19 lbs. I didn't have a big fish.

And winner of the day's Mystery Weight drawing was Paul Celentano (right) and his partner (not pictured), Hal Scott. Their total weight was 6.84 lbs., compared to the drawn weight of 7.05 lbs. They didn't have a big fish. (And for those who attended today's presentation of envelopes, let me just say I made a mistake and awarded this envelope to the wrong team today. However, I've already taken steps to rectify the situation. My apologies to all parties concerned.)




Here is how all the other contestants finished the day:

     * The team of Mitch Portervint and Skip Schaible, five bass, 8.86 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Gary Coderre and Lenny Hall, five bass, 7.98 lbs. total weight, 2.77-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Jim Wilder and Darryl Dunn, five bass, 6.25 lbs. total weight after 0.25 deduction for one dead fish, no big fish.
     * The team of David Dozier and Nelson Anderson, three bass, 5.10 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Bobby Moore, Steve Bailey, and the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle didn't weigh any fish.

Overall, today's anglers weighed a total of 38 bass for a total weight of 68.43 lbs. The average weight was 1.80 lbs.

Two more names were added to the list of those anglers now eligible to fish our season-ending two-day Classic, bringing the total to 20.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for Saturday, July 16, from safe light (about 5:30) to weigh-in at 2 p.m.

Today marked my sixth consecutive outing in which I've had a limit of bass, thanks to a topwater bite that lasted all day long. And, I'm finally starting to see some improvement on the timing of my hooksets. I boated a total of 13 bass today, nine of which were keepers. I also boated five white perch during the course of the day.

The big producer for me continues to be the lure Dave showed me a modification for a few weeks back. I gain new confidence with it each trip now. The INT bait, as I've dubbed it, has earned a prominent spot in my tacklebox. It has done wonders for my morale.

Again, Dave, thanks for being a friend.