Not Many on Hand, But That Didn't Dampen the Enthusiasm

With a predicted heat index of 107 to 110 for today, a number of the regular tournament participants decided to sit out today's competition. Nevertheless, we still had 13 anglers in seven boats on hand for the event. They brought a grand total of 25 bass to the scales, with a combined total weight of 46.34 lbs. Those figures translate into an average weight of 1.85 lbs. per fish.

Here is a look at those who took home a pay envelope at the end of 8-plus hours of fishing:

(From left) First place went to Mitch Portervint and Steve Bailey, who weighed a five-fish limit totaling 10.01 lbs. Steve also claimed the day's lunker prize with a bass tipping the scales at 4 lbs. even.

(From left) Taking second place was the team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter. Their five-fish limit weighed in at 9.94 lbs., anchored by a 2.25-lb. bass.

(From left) Claiming the mystery-weight award today was the team of Andy Morath and Zech Morath, who had 5.70 lbs. total weight for three bass. That number came closest to the drawn tab of 5.10 lbs. Their big fish weighed 2.65 lbs.





Here is how everyone else lined up today:

     * The team of Wayne Hayes and Al Napier, five bass, 8.36 lbs. total weight, 2.39-lb. big bass.
     * Chris Fretard, four bass, 7.92 lbs. total weight, 3.40-lb. big bass.
     * The team of Rob Chatham and Ken Testorff, three bass, 4.41 lbs. total weight, no big bass.
     * The team of Rusty Girard and Josh Fenneman didn't weigh any fish.

One more angler qualified today to participate in our season-ending two-day Classic.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next scheduled event is Saturday, July 22, from safe light to 2 p.m. Here's hoping you can join us.

I know of at least one team today that had an all-day topwater bite, and they were fishing the same basic water where my partner and I spent most of the day. I do know they were throwing a different bait than all those we had tied on at different points throughout the day, but whether that spelled the difference in our results is anyone's guess.

At one juncture this morning, my partner and I hailed a couple of young fellas in a johnboat and asked how their day was going. As the one fella explained, "We had a pretty decent topwater bite going for the first couple of hours, but then it was as though someone turned off a switch. We couldn't buy a strike." That pretty well described our day, too.

It may have just been my imagination, but as I looked around today at the grass population in the water, it appeared the spread has slowed in recent days. Some areas that I thought might already be socked in really didn't seem all that choked today. I certainly don't mind the apparent slowdown, 'cause I enjoy fishing some of the affected areas.