Cowsrfuny, Watts Bar, First Fishing Report, LM, 5/28-5/29, Chad & Curtis

[FishNews]

Well somehow I was persuaded to go to the Bar last night and fish with some good friends. It wasn't the company that I needed persuading with. It was the "dreaded Bar." That's what I call it. Frankly I had rather sit at home and pick the brown grass out of the yard with tweezers than to go up there. But then again I do enjoy being with my friends. I had two fishing with me and there were two other boats that went along with us. I should have known what would happen next and frankly I expected it. "Hey, Let's have a tournament. Five dollars a person." So we decided to do biggest fish wins. Put in at the dam and started to head up river at about 7:00. I wanted to go to Twin Islands but on the way up river it started to rain so I quickly made a U turn and went into Piney. Fished some docks with a green pumpkin baby brush hog. Only picked up a few slicks. The conversation was good but I knew I had to catch a quality fish. To establish my frustration I must tell you about Chad. He is not a fisherman. I'm not being mean just stating a fact even he would admit to. As I'm weeding thru the slicks and trying to give him some pointers he rigs up this contraption that looked like something a three-year-old would put together. I chuckle and he says "What?" I say "Nothing." Low and behold he catches one. The bait was a lizard with a pink crappie jig and a black & chartreuse crappie jig attached to it. I chuckle again all the while thinking I can't believe this. What happened next really grabs my craw. He lays into a big one. I jump down to get the net being the good sportsman that I am and as I do I hear him say "Oh no. It came off." Now mind you this is my competition. I saw the fish and it would have went about 4 lbs. Here I am fishing my guts out and trying to get a good bite on a legitimate bait and this dude is out fishing me with junk emoBang emoBang .<br /><br />We decided to head to the islands and as soon as we get there I tell the guys that this is a good place for a small mouth. No more than I get the words out of my mouth Ole Fantzy Pantz with the home made quality bait lands a nice 17 1/2 inch smallie. Now I'm thinking this ole boy is either the luckiest dude I've ever known and I need to get him to buy me a lottery ticket or I just need to sell my boat and quit. We picked up a few more small fish and I also got a nice smallie on a bown jig with a black and blue pork chunk but it wasn't a keeper. I get to the end of where I wanted to stop fishing and decide to make another pass. As we get to a good point I lay into a good one. It was about 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. emoParty <br /><br />We leave there and fish the rock wall at the dam. Didn't draw a strike. We had decided that the tournament would end at 12:00 am. At 5 min till I crank up and head to the ramp. I get there and the other two boats start telling me I'm DQed. They say I'm two minutes late. We get out and one boat didn't have anything and the other had one fish and it came down to getting a fish culling contraption that has a level and two big ole baby diaper safety pins on it and guess what.... I WON!! emoDance emoDance <br /><br />Then the DQed statement is fired up again and we all get out cell phones and my is five minutes slower than theirs. But I didn't let them con me out of my winnings. Yes I did take the money home with me. So it was only $30. Point is I won it fair and square! emoBig