If Anything, the Weather Helped Attendance Today

The new tournament director, Wayne Hayes, shoved off 21 anglers in 13 boats at 7 o'clock this morning. When those anglers returned at 3 o'clock this afternoon, they weighed in a total of 54 bass for a grand total weight of 124.65 lbs. That equates to an average weight per person of 5.93 lbs., average weight per boat of 9.58 lbs., and an average weight per fish of 2.30 lbs.

I don't recall another inaugural tourney of the season when we've launched that many boats or had that many participants--all of whom brought fish to the scales. Good on everyone!

Claiming the top three spots in today's tournament were the following teams, all of whom weighed limits:

1st Place, (from left) Gabe Himmelwright and Fred Crawford, 16.03 lbs. total weight, 4.87-lb. big fish. (Note: The presenter of all awards was Wayne Hayes.)

2nd Place, (from left) Chris Napier and Jared Allbritten, 15.64 lbs. total weight, 3.72-lb. big fish.

3rd Place, (middle to right) Dave Anderson and Ken Testorff, 13.95 lbs. total weight, 3.23-lb. big fish.

Today's lunker-pot winner was the team of Zech Morath (left) and Zach Bubier (not pictured), with a bass that tipped the scales at 6.81 lbs. It was the only fish they weighed, but the point of the matter is that it was a money-winner.






Here is how all the other competitors lined up at day's end:

     * The team of Chris Fretard and Mike Miller, five fish, 13.33 lbs. total weight, 3.40-lb. big fish.
     * Andy Morath, five fish, 9.12 lbs. total weight, 2.67-lb. big fish.
     * Steve Bailey, five fish, 8.56 lbs. total weight, 2.75-lb. big fish.
     * Gary Coderre, four fish, 8.31 lbs. total weight, 2.73-lb. big fish.
     * Jim Wilder, five fish, 8.07 lbs. total weight, 2.09-lb. big fish.
     * The team of David Dozier and Nelson Anderson, four fish, 7.32 lbs. total weight, 2.86-lb. big fish.
     * Mark Ingram, four fish, 6.94 lbs. total weight, 2.97-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Jim Crist and Eric Killian, four fish, 6.13 lbs. total weight, 2.50-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, two fish, 4.44 lbs. total weight, 3.39-lb. big fish.

Congrats to all of today's winners, and thanks to everyone who came out and kicked off the 2020 season with a bang.

Our next scheduled tournament is Saturday, April 4, starting at safe light.

Trolling motors got one heckuva workout in the strong winds blowing through all the creeks today. Dave and I encountered one team in the channel, leading up to the marina store, as we all were heading to the dock for weigh-in, and their batteries were on their last leg. We offered a tow for the last few yards, but they declined, saying they were going to use the gas motor the rest of the way.

For Dave and me, the day boiled down to one short stretch of shoreline in one short stretch of time. Before and after the biting streak, it pretty much was "deadsville." In the final analysis, however, we had no squawks, even though we never found the "kicker" we desperately were looking for. It definitely was not for a lack of trying.

I'm truly grateful for my 100 mph Gortex suit that saw its first duty today. Not sure how I would have held up in the conditions today without that suit. As I told Dave near the end of the day, the suit more than paid for itself in just today's outing. You can bet it won't be the last time it gets used.