05/16/09 - Bare Hill Pond Tournament
This was just my second tournament out with the Cabin Fever Bass Club. With a permit for just 12 boats, almost everyone was paired up. We had a total of 22 or so participants.
The weather played nice all day, with a mix of overcast and sunny, and a slight wind. Temps were in the high 60s, water temp around 65-66. Water clarity was pretty good, maybe 3 feet visibility or so. Launch was at 6am, with no-wake until 10am.
We ended up fishing a half mile stretch of shoreline all day. The bite was on early, and I ended up losing one and missing the bite on another, before landing my first tournament bass on a fluke. Nothing huge, but a nice keeper nonetheless. All in the span of maybe 20 minutes of fishing. The bite stayed hot through our first pass down the shoreline, and when we turned the boat around at 8.30, we both had 4 fish in the well. Most were coming on jigs or texas-rigged beaver baits
After that, the bite turned off for a bit. It eventually picked up for my boater, and he got his 5th and started culling. He got a total of maybe 12 fish for the day. I struggled to get my 5th, and with a couple hours left, I was cursing the one that got off first thing in the morning.
On the next pass around, I noticed a fish hovering around a bed. While lining up to cast, another nicer fish cruised by. After a couple tries I get bit and briefly hook up, but the jig comes out almost right away. I cast back out, and hook up again! This time, the hook sticks and I manage to get her in the boat. A nice fish, coming in at 2lb 6oz for my best fish to date =)
We fish out the rest of the day with nothing much happening, and head back to weigh-in. A few nice fish had been caught, with the biggest capping out at 4lbs 12oz. My first tournament limit came in at a decent 8lbs 14oz, with my boater bagging a pound more and a lunker at 3lbs 13 oz. The winning bag clocks in at 12 pounds and change. The final result has me in 8th place of 22 anglers
It was a beautiful day out, and my boater did a great job of putting us on fish. I got one on a pearl white super fluke, the rest on a Strike King swim jig in Bluegill with a rage tail chunk or berkley chigger chunk trailer. Bare Hill will certainly be a special place for me from here on out =)