The Rain Held Off Long Enough To Get Our Tourney In

There was a lot of fog around as the tournament director shoved us off this morning, and then a partly blue sky quickly turned into hazy sunshine, with the clouds increasing throughout the day. The raindrops held off, though, long enough for the 11 boats and 18 anglers to get our tournament in.

The 2:30 p.m. weigh-in saw 44 bass cross the scales, with a combined total weight of 93.83 lbs. Those numbers translate into an average weight per fish of 2.13 lbs. and an average weight per boat (among those 9 weighing fish) of 10.42 lbs.

The following anglers left with pay envelopes at the end of the day:

1st Place (for the third tournament in a row), the team of (from left) Fred Crawford and Gabe Himmelwright, five bass, with a total weight of 18.23 lbs. Their big fish weighed 4.78 lbs.

2nd Place, the team of (from left) Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean, five bass, with a total weight of 11.41 lbs. Their big fish weighed 2.53 lbs.

3rd Place, the team of (from left) Rob Chatham and Craig Jones, four bass, with a total weight of 11.32 lbs. Their big fish came in at 4.93 lbs., which earned them the day's Lunker Prize, too.

Here is how everyone else lined up behind these winners:

     * Wayne Hayes, five bass, 9.98 lbs. total weight, 4.05-lb. big fish.

     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five bass, 9.26 lbs. total weight, 2.27-lb. big fish.

     * Ken Testorff, five bass, 9.06 lbs. total weight, 2.47-lb. big fish.

     * Bobby Moore, five bass, 8.43 lbs. total weight, 2.57-lb. big fish.

     * The team of Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, five bass, 8.23 lbs. total weight, 2.22-lb. big fish.

     * The husband-wife team of Andy and Diana Morath, five bass, 7.91 lbs. total weight, 2.05-lb. big fish.

     * The team of Chris Fretard and Mike Miller, as well as Rusty Girard, didn't weigh any fish.

Congrats to all of the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for next Sunday, May 2, from safe light (probably about 6:15 a.m.) to 2:30 p.m. Come out and join us if you can.

One Last Cast

I can probably count the number of times on one hand that I've ever drafted a fishing plan of action and subsequently had it go pretty much according to that plan. Today, however, was an exception.

The day didn't start the way I had hoped, but with some minor adjustments, everything started falling into place. I can't say I slayed the fish, but when I catch 13, with eight of those keeper size, I'm perfectly content.

In the absence of bright sunlight today, I figured I could catch most of my fish on topwater, and I wasn't disappointed. Every single one of my fish came on one of my favorite topwater baits...one that no longer is in production. Besides those 13 bass that I boated, I lost about another three or four fish that spit the lure at the last minute alongside the boat.

While executing my game plan today, I also visited some spots that have provided memorable action over past years, and for the most part, I was vastly rewarded for those visits. By and large, these spots are ignored by the vast number of anglers, but it has been my experience that you can have a blast plying topwater lures in these spots this time of year.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my day on the water, even though the aches and pains in my old bones abound tonight. This is a mild price to pay for a day like I had.