That certainly was the case today for those 17 anglers in 11 boats who showed up in the wee hours this morning to fish our tournament out of Pungo Ferry. Despite the abysmal weather, every boat managed to catch a limit of five bass. Their collective total weight for 55 bass was 166.46 lbs., with an average weight of 15.13 lbs. per boat and 3.02 lbs. per fish.
At day's end, here are the anglers who received paychecks:
1st place went to the team of (from left) Mark London and John Goodman, whose total weight was 24.44 lbs., with a big fish weighing 6.33 lbs.
2nd place went to the team of (from left) Wayne Hayes and Eric Killian, whose total weight was 21.97 lbs. Their 7.04-lb. big fish made them the day's lunker winners, too. (Photo by Skip Schaible)
3rd place went to the team of Mike Miller (not pictured) and Chris Fretard, whose total weight was 19.21 lbs. after a 0.25 deduction for one dead fish. Their big fish weighed 5.45 lbs.
Winner of the mystery-weight award was Cody Wilson, who weighed 6.59 lbs., which was closest to the weight drawn: 7.40 lbs.
Here is how everyone else finished the day:
* The team of Steve Bailey and Bobby Moore weighed 17.88 lbs., including a big fish that tipped the scales at 6.08 lbs.
* The team of Dave Anderson and Ken Testorff weighed 16.82 lbs. No big fish. They were disqualified for arriving late to the weigh-in.
* The team of Zack Rhodes and Eric Lawfer weighed 13.73 lbs. No big fish.
* Andy Morath weighed 12.78 lbs., including a big fish that tipped the scales at 5.21 lbs.
* Rob Peppers weighed 11.86 lbs. No big fish.
* Stan Krason weighed 11.51 lbs. No big fish.
* Gary Coderre weighed 9.66 lbs. No big fish.
Congratulations to all of the winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. I also tip my cap to everyone who helped me with weigh-in details. It truly takes a team to make these events a continued success.
For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, from safe light (about 6:30 a.m.) to weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. Hope you can join us.
One Last Cast
Many of us, including yours truly, expected some nice bags of fish to be brought to the scales today. And we all were fairly sure we were going to get wet. Therein, however, things deviated from the expected.
For example, Dave and I were talking at one point today, while I allowed my popper to sit at rest on the water. I was yakking away when I suddenly heard a loud crash and looked around to see a bass blowing up on my bait. Moments later, Dave was netting the fish for me. Once the fish was in the livewell, Dave pointed out that I probably should slow down my retrieve from that point forward...and I did.
The next oddball thing that occurred was when we both had tucked away all of our gear for the ride back to Pungo Ferry for weigh-in. Once his lifevest was in place, Dave turned the key, only to hear a series of clicks. Each time he tried again, it was with the same results. A few minutes before our scheduled 2:30 weigh-in, we were left with no other choice but to summon help from those already back at Pungo Ferry.
Help was on the way in no time, but the rescue took a bit longer than we expected. It seems the rescue boat experienced an oil alarm on the way to us. The operator finally was able to clear the alarm but kept his speed down to prevent any additional problems.
We finally all were gathered for the weigh-in...about the same time we started hearing some claps of thunder off in the distance. We all hustled as much as possible to finish up, climb in our vehicles, and head for the safety of our homes.
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