Undecided

That's the name of an old tune that begins with these lyrics:

First you say you do

And then you don't

And then you say you will

And then you won't

You're undecided now

So what are you gonna do?

"Undecided" pretty much describes the weather these 15 anglers in nine boats had to deal with in today's tournament. We would have a little sunshine for a spell, followed by a little shower, then the scenario would repeat itself. As a result, we were forced to constantly shift into and out of our rain gear. At day's end, these "quick-change artists" weighed in a total of 32 bass, for a total weight of 72.3 lbs. and an average weight of 2.25 lbs. per fish.

The following anglers comprised the winner's circle today:

(From left) Randy Conkle and Bob Glass, 1st place, five fish, 15.92 lbs. total weight, 3.49-lb. big bass.

Bobby Moore and (not pictured) Duane Kessel, five fish, 2nd place, 14.15 lbs. total weight, 3.81-lb. big bass, which was good enough to claim today's lunker pot.

(From left) Nelson Anderson and David Dozier, 3rd place, five fish, 12.34 lbs. total weight, no big bass.

(From left) Skip Schaible and Mitch Portervint, mystery-weight winners, three fish, 3.31 lbs. total weight, no big bass. Their total weight was closest to the 3.30-lb. tab that was drawn.

Here is how everyone else finished today's competition:

     * Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, 10.77 lbs. total weight, 2.88-lb. big bass.

     * Al Napier, five fish, 9.72 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Sean Vitovich and Jim Wilder, four fish, 6.09 lbs. total weight (after 0.25 deduction for one dead fish), no big fish.

     * Steve Bailey and Ken Testorff didn't weigh any fish.

Five more anglers qualified today to fish our season-ending two-day classic, bringing the total thus far to six.

Congrats to all of the winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for next Saturday, June 24, from safe light to 2 p.m. I hope you can join us.

A common refrain from tournament anglers today, as well as others I've been talking to in recent days, is that a lot of small bass are being caught. I had five short ones today, too--all measuring between about 10 and 11 7/8 inches. I caught one white perch that was bigger than any of those five.

Topwater baits appear to be working for most folks early, with soft plastics then getting the nod. Haven't talked to any anglers who say they have been catching fish on crankbaits.

I thought about throwing a wakebait today but changed my mind when all three of my chosen topwater baits kept garnering strikes. Unfortunately, all of those strikes appeared to be random in nature, so I never was able to figure out what kind of areas I should be targeting.