...And those winds today were not of the 10-to-15-mph variety I saw advertised yesterday by the local weather prognosticators. As I heard one of today's tournament anglers aptly put it, "Felt more like 30 to me."
Nevertheless, when there's a tournament, fishermen and women will show up to brave the elements...whatever they may be...and chase those little green fish all over the place, especially this time of year. Today was no exception.
A total of 20 anglers in 12 boats were on hand for today's competition. They weighed in 53 bass for a combined total weight of 122.96 lbs. Those numbers equate to an average weight per fish of 2.32 lbs. and an average weight per boat of 10.24 lbs.
Here are the participants who went home this afternoon with pay envelopes in their pockets:
The remainder of the field lined up as follows:
* Bobby Moore, five fish, 12.45 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
* The team of Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean, five fish, 11.65 lbs. total weight, 3.87-lb. big fish.
* The team of Keith and Adama Webb, five fish, 10.62 lbs. total weight, 3.44-lb. big fish.
* Jim Calhoun, five fish, 9.70 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
* The team of Matt Ramirez and Fisher Bryan, five fish, 8.60 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
* Mark Ingram, five fish, 8.09 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
* The team of Dave Anderson and Ken Testorff, four fish, 7.19 lbs. total weight (after 2.0-lb. deducation for four dead fish), 4.76-lb. big fish.
* Rusty Girard, three fish, 5.77 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
* The team of Josh and Jody Puhlman, one fish, 0.85 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to those who assisted Wayne with details that ensured another successful tournament. For planning purposes, our next scheduled event is Saturday, April 24th, starting at safe light (about 6:30 a.m.), with weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. Hope you can join us.
I learned once again today the value of choosing my words carefully. To wit: Prior to shoving off from the boat basin this morning, I made a statement to my partner that ended up costing both of us dearly (in a manner of speaking), as the day would reveal.
My statement was, "Sure would be nice if we could find a limit by 8 o'clock and have the rest of the day to improve on that limit."
As it turned out, we indeed had found a limit by 8 o'clock. Only problem, though: We weren't able to get any of those first five fish in the boat. Each one got squirrely on us as we were bringing them toward the boat, and they leaped high into the air, sending our bait flying one way while they went the other.
And granted, we have no way of knowing exactly how much those fish weighed. Suffice it to say, though, that two of those first five fish looked to be about 5 lbs. apiece, with another that looked like he might go 4 lbs., with the last two running 1.5 to 2 lbs. apiece. Don't figure I need to do the math for any of you to see what kind of difference that would have made in our total, especially with Dave's 4.76-lb. big fish caught later, replacing one of those smaller fish.
However, that was not to be. And worse still, something evidently happened to both livewells on the way back to the marina for weigh-in, because we had four dead fish staring at us as we opened the lids and looked inside. Still don't know what the gremlin was, but it certainly added insult to injury, as far as we're both concerned. This much I do know for a fact: Those fish beat my feet to death today as they banged against the lid of the livewells.
And finally, just for good measure, so to speak, I had a net-handling episode arise today in which I had to choose between losing a rod and reel overboard or netting my partner's big fish. I opted for the latter and would do the same thing again if I had it to do all over. We spent a few minutes trying to locate the outfit, which temporarily was seen floating by the handle. Ultimately, however, it had gone to the bottom before we could reach it. Like most anglers, I have extras and will activate one of those prior to my next trip on the water.
As Dave reminded me near the end of our fishing day, "Next time you make a statement like you did this morning, make sure you say, 'Sure would be nice if we could boat a limit by 8 o'clock... .'" Point well taken, my friend.
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