You Might Say the Temps Were "Cookin'" Today

That fact, however, wasn't enough to keep those would-be die-hards sittin' home by the air conditioning. Some still showed up to pit their skills...or luck...or whatever against one another.

A total of 15 fishermen in eight boats were on hand today. Collectively, they brought 27 bass to the scales, weighing a grand total of 67.22 lbs., for an average weight per fish of 2.48 lbs.

Following is a look at those who, for whatever reason, excelled in today's competition:

Finishing in first place was the team of Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre (not available at picture time), with a limit of five fish, weighing 14.96 lbs. Their big fish weighed 4.26 lbs. They also claimed the first side pot.

Second-place honors went to the team of (from left) Fisher Bryan and Kevin Versprille, who also had a limit of five fish, weighing 13.93 lbs. after a 1.00 deduction for two dead fish. Their big fish, which tipped the scales at 5.23 lbs., won the day's lunker pot. In addition, they took home the second side pot.

And claiming third-place prize money today was the team of (from left) Rob Peppers and Don Carter, with a five-fish limit, weighing 13.08 lbs., including a 3.08-lb. big fish. 

Here is how everyone else finished the day:

     * The husband-wife team of Andy and Diana Morath, with five fish, weighing 12.88 lbs., including a 4.39-lb. big fish.

     * The team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff, with three fish, weighing 5.78 lbs., but no big fish.

     * The team of Craig Jones and Rob Chatham, with two fish, weighing 3.60 lbs., but no big fish.

     * Ken Matthias, with two fish, weighing 2.99 lbs., but no big fish.

     * The team of Dennis Dean and Steve Bailey didn't weigh any fish.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to everyone who came out today to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for Saturday, June 11th, from safe light (about 5:45 a.m.) to weigh-in at 2 p.m. I hope you can join us.

I would remind all hands that no one has yet qualified for the season-ending two-day Classic tournament scheduled this year for Oct. 15th and 16th. To qualify, you must fish at least seven regular tournaments all season. Stay tuned, though, cause several competitors are now poised to acquire eligibility when they fish only one more contest.

One Last Cast
While I'm sure some tournament anglers today caught fish with soft-plastic baits, my partner had absolutely no luck whatsoever with them. I never even picked up the one I had rigged and ready to use because I kept waiting to find out if Wayne was going to be successful with any of the versions he was throwing off and on all day.

Anyone who has been associated with bass fishing for a spell knows that, when everything else in your tackle box fails you, it's time to pick up a plastic bait...or so the myth (?) goes...and start chuckin' and windin'. However, eight hours after our day on the water had started today, Wayne still hadn't felt the first inkling of interest in any of the various versions of soft plastics he had been offering the bass all day. Whether it was just a fluke, or perhaps tied to the spawning season currently in progress, and/or the result of the high water we now have is anyone's guess.

But, of course, for that matter, the same could be said for most of the other baits Wayne and I kept tossin' throughout the day as well. We did manage to find three fish before heading in today, but none of them were worthy of writing home about, and as I recall, no two of the three fish fell for the same bait. Rather, our bit of success, as it were, could only be described as having involved potluck offerings...nothing more, nothing less.

It was the kind of day which made us feel as though we had to throw the bait directly in the face of a fish before we could get bit, and if that's true, our results would indicate we were missing that mark far more often than we were hitting it. As the saying goes, however, "That's why it's called fishing, not catching."

Current Overall Statistics