It Was All About the Heat in Today's Tourney

With water temperatures in the 80s, and an air temperature of 98 when I left the marina today for home, it's little wonder why so many of the 19 anglers in 12 boats on hand for the contest had something to say about the conditions. At least everyone managed to bring fish to the weigh-in. Our collective total weight was 123.95 lbs., which produced an average weight per fish of 2.21 lbs. and an average weight per boat of 10.32 lbs.

Standing tall in the winners' circle at day's end were the following contestants:

1st Place, the team of Mike Miller and Chris Fretard (not pictured), five fish, total weight 17.91 lbs., big fish 5.31 lbs.

2nd Place, the husband-wife team of Andy and Diana Morath, five fish, total weight 15.85 lbs., big fish 4.61 lbs.

3rd Place, the team of (from left) Gabe Himmelwright and Mark Ingram, five fish, total weight (after 0.50 deduction for one dead fish) 15.33 lbs., big fish 4.47 lbs.

Lunker of the Day, Jim Wilder, five fish, big fish 5.40 lbs. His total weight was 14.12 lbs.

Here is how the rest of the field finished:

     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, total weight 13.13 lbs., big fish 4.11 lbs.

     * The team of Gary Coderre and Dave Anderson, five fish, total weight 12.72 lbs., big fish 5.04 lbs.

     * The team of Dave Dozier and Richard Hall, five fish, total weight 9.82 lbs., big fish 3.10 lbs.

     * The team of Jim Crist and Danny Harris, five fish, total weight (after 2.00 deduction for four dead fish) 8.25 lbs., big fish 3.01 lbs.

     * Wayne Hayes, five fish, total weight 7.89 lbs., big fish 3.17 lbs.

     * Rusty Girard, four fish. total weight 7.28 lbs., big fish 2.70 lbs.

     * Bobby Moore, four fish, total weight 5.49 lbs., big fish 1.65 lbs.

     * Ken Testorff, three fish, total weight 3.95 lbs., big fish 1.67 lbs.

Congratulations to all of today's winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for Sunday, July 12, from safe light (about 5:30) to 2 p.m. Hope you can join us.

One Last Cast

You may have noticed in the above commentary that Jim Crist had a problem with his livewell in what is a nearly new boat. That being said, he was left scratching his head in bewilderment after losing four of his fish and taking a 2-lb. penalty at the end of today. After all, he had followed the textbook advice and done everything right to keep his fish alive.

I couldn't help remembering another angler a few years ago who had a similar problem. As he eventually learned, the gremlin turned out to be a short in the livewell wiring. In reality, the short had electrocuted every single fish in the livewell that day.

I'm not saying that Jim has a short in his livewell wiring, but it certainly seems bizarre that he lost so many fish today when, up 'til now, he has had a perfect record of weighing in all live fish. As depicted by the above commentary, only one other boat lost a fish today, so it's not like we had an overall high mortality rate.

It seems a pretty safe bet that Jim will have someone troubleshoot his problem before the next tournament, and I'll be anxious to find out what he learns.