A New Tourney Season Gets Off and Running (?)

Well...maybe not so much "running," but I think we all can agree the 2018 season is "off," considering the fact the first event was held today at West Neck Marina, and a total of 10 very hearty (but not so eager, in at least a few cases) anglers showed up in six boats to pit their skills against one another. The lack of zest could be directly attributable to the fact that, at start time this morning (a little before 7 a..m.), the air temperature was in the "balmy" 20s. All the boats, outboards, people, and their equipment were covered in a layer of frost by the time I cut them loose to go chasing those little green fish we all so love and adore.

By weigh-in time at 3 p.m., all the anglers appeared to have survived the frosty-morning start OK. However, they seemed to be a little disappointed in that they didn't have more and better-quality fish to bring to the scales. The final tally was 9 bass for a total weight of 14.07 lbs.

Standing atop the money-winners heap in 1st place was Steve Bailey, with three bass that tipped the scales at 4.23 lbs. His big fish weighed 2.20 lbs.

In second place was the team of (from left) Rob Peppers and Don Carter, who finished the day with two bass and a total weight of 3.18 lbs. They didn't weigh a big fish.

Here is the finishing order of the remaining anglers:

     * The team of (from left) Al Napier and Wayne Hayes, one bass, 2.87 lbs. total weight, which was good enough to claim the day's lunker award. They also won the mystery-weight envelope by virtue of having the nearest non-place finish to the drawn weight of 5.0 lbs.

     * Jim Wilder, two bass, 2.10 lbs. total weight, did not weigh a big fish.

     * The father-son team of Chris and Nate Fretard, one bass, 1.69 lbs. total weight, did not weigh a big fish.

     * The husband-wife team of Andy and Diana Morath didn't weigh any fish.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next scheduled event is Saturday, March 31, from safe light (about 6:45 a.m.) to weigh-in at 3 p.m.

By way of comparison, consider these results from our first tournament of 2017, held March 18. On that day, the field of 18 anglers in 12 boats weighed 10 bass with a total weight of 14.18 lbs, and the big fish tipped the scales at 2.50 lbs. The way I see it, there's a lot of similarity in those totals, except for the number of boats and participants.

Now go back one more year, to March 12 of 2016 (our first event that year), and you find we had 10 boats with 17 anglers, who weighed in 33 bass (including six limits). The big fish that day tipped the scales at 3.90, followed closely by two more nice ones, at 3.66 and 3.50, respectively.

I talked with one angler in today's field, who told me the best water temperature he found all day was 47 degrees (compared to the better than 60-degree readings anglers were reporting just a couple weeks ago). Coupled with the funky-colored water that was everywhere, I'm really not surprised that people were finding it tough-going today. My fervent hope is that things settle down a little bit before our next gig in just two more weeks...so that admitted wimps like Skip and me won't once again have to invent some plausible excuses that'll fool at least some of the folks.