No Goose Eggs on the Scoreboard Today

Everyone caught fish today. The 21 anglers in 12 boats weighed a grand total of 59 bass for a total weight of 140.93 lbs. Those numbers translate into an average weight per fish of 2.38 lbs. and an average weight per boat of 11.74 lbs. Anglers who laid claim to pay envelopes at the end of the day included the following:

1st Place, the team of (from left) Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five-fish limit, 19.07 lbs. total weight, 5.08-lb. big fish.

2nd Place, the team of (from left) Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, five-fish limit, 17.23 lbs. total weight, and they also claimed the day's lunker pot with a 5.68-lb. big fish.

3rd Place, the team of (from left) Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean, five-fish limit, 15.33 lbs. total weight, 4.14-lb. big fish.

Here is how the rest of the field finished the day:

     * The team of Jim Calhoun and Mark Ingram, five-fish limit, 14.92 lbs. total weight, 4.23-lb. big fish.

     * Rusty Girard, five-fish limit, 13.02-lbs. total weight, 4.59-lb. big fish.

     * The team of Craig Jones and Rob Chatham, five-fish limit, 10.34 lbs. total weight, 4.15-lb. big fish.

     * The team of Fred Crawford and Gabe Himmelwright, five-fish limit, 10.32 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The husband-wife team of Andy and Diana Morath, five-fish limit, 9.56 lbs. total weight (after one-lb. penalty for two dead fish), no big fish.

     * The team of Doc Murdock and Ken Testorff, five-fish limit, 8.84 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Mat Ramirez and Fisher Bryan, five-fish limit, 8.27 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Bobby Moore, five-fish limit, 8.07 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Wayne Hayes, four fish, 5.96-lbs. total weight, no big fish.

The following personnel, as a result of having fished six tournaments thus far, have qualified for our annual two-day Classic finale: Wayne Hayes, Ken Testorff, Fred Crawford, Gabe Himmelwright, and Dave Anderson.

Congratulations to all of today winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next scheduled event is Saturday, June 26th, from safe light (about 5:30 a.m.) to weigh-in at 2 p.m.

{Editor's Note: Starting with this tournament report, you'll find the year-to-date-standings update at the bottom of each tournament report, instead of in the area at the bottom of the blog main page. The yahoos at Google have once again been messing with the template for my blog, and rather than wage a losing battle with those dudes, it's much better for my blood pressure to just make this change and move on. Be prepared, however, not to see this standings update until the day after a tournament, 'cause I'm usually not alert enough at the end of a tournament day to be working with numbers. You're lucky just to get a somewhat coherent narrative, and even then, I'm often sitting here with my head bouncing off the keyboard, trying to stay awake long enough to finish it.} 

One Last Cast

The day for "Doc" and me started slowly, but things picked up quickly once we figured out that fish appeared to be holding on a certain type of grass. We went to work with a couple of topwater baits and soon had put three keepers in the livewell. That pattern held up until about 9:30 or 10 o'clock before we had to shift gears and find some different baits that would work.

I can't truthfully say I ever found another bait that worked as well as my topwater choice this morning, and it took some experimenting by "Doc" before he found a couple that produced some fish. He put on a clinic of sorts with the second alternative bait, catching a few of several different species, including bass, catfish, white perch, pickerel, and even had a big gar hooked up for a brief spell.

For that matter, he and I both had a big gar hooked momentarily today before they both gave us an early release.

Overall, it was a nice day...certainly far better than the wind-blown event from a few weeks back.