06-08-2010, 09:00 AM
Sunday - June 6, 2010 - Day 134 - 23 days missed<br /><br />Lake West Point - Flint River Bass Club June tournament<br />Fished 6 AM to 3 PM, water 80 to 82, sun came up then got cloudy until<br />about 11, then sunny and very hot rest of day. Calm morning with a<br />good breeze in the afternoon.<br /><br />For the folks reading this on sites that pull my post and post them on their pages, please get the rest of the story at my site -http://fishing.about.com. For folks here, I apologize for the spam.<br /><br />Could not decide which way to go - had been told the pockets upriver<br />were holding fish hitting topwater but I have done good downriver the<br />past few tournaments. Decided to stick with what I know rather than<br />what I have been told.<br /><br />Ran down to a rocky main lake point and went around it with<br />chatterbait - still pretty low light. Partner threw several baits.<br />Came back around it with a Rico popper - neither of us had a hit. I<br />was throwing a Tennessee Shad Rico on ten pound test line in the open<br />water on the points.<br /><br />Went to the point where I got 8 hits on 8 casts and put a limit in the<br />boat on topwater six weeks ago. It is back in a creek and I figured<br />the fish had moved out. Wrong. As the sun came up I got a nice 2.5<br />pound spot on a Rico then a 1.5 pounder. A few minutes later got a<br />1.5 pounder to the boat and it jumped right at the net and threw my<br />plug. That deflated me. 6:45 and two in the livewell and one got off!<br /><br />We worked everything in that area I knew for over two hours with no<br />hits from keepers - caught a few short fish. Decided to make a big<br />move at 8:30 and ran up to a roadbed above the two bridges. Worked it<br />with a variety of baits with no hits.<br /><br />At about 9:00 I decided to work into the short cove with a top water<br />bait. I picked up a different rod with a different color Rico -<br />crappie color, I think - and heavier 15 pound test line for the cover<br />in the cove. We were sitting in about 10 feet of water throwing to a<br />bank with overhanging bushes -water a little stained from boat waves<br />and 82 degrees. A fish sucked my Rico under and I thought it was a<br />little fish till my rod bowed good - managed to land a solid 2.5 pound<br />fat largemouth. Three in the livewell at 9:20. A few casts later the<br />water exploded under my Rico and I landed another good 2.5 pound<br />largemouth. My partner said he needed a Rico - he had ordered some<br />but they were to be delivered on Monday. He had tried a bunch of<br />baits, including a Pop-R. I gave him the rod with the Tennessee Shad<br />Rico on it.<br /><br />We fished around that pocket with no more keepers. Ran across to a<br />similar pocket and near the back got a decent 1.5 pound spot on the<br />Rico. 10:15 and a limit - I figured about 9 to 10 pounds.<br /><br />We fished another pocket then ran to a small creek that usually holds<br />fish. I worked a big worm and Senko, hoping for a kicker fish, while<br />my partner threw the Rico. He had one suck it under but missed it. I<br />had just reeled in my Senko and I automatically cast to where the<br />fish hit, and one took off with it. I landed a 13 inch spot - wish I<br />had not cast to it, it did not help me but would have been a keeper<br />for my partner.<br /><br />On the next point on a Carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog I got another<br />spot, about 14 inches long and maybe as big or bitter than my smallest<br />so I put it in the live well to cull later. Fish looked bigger than I<br />remembered in the livewell but water makes them look bigger. A minute<br />later my partner landed a keeper spot on a Carolina rig. Finally had a<br />keeper at noon.<br /><br />We worked that cove and then a couple of main river points, hoping the<br />water would have started moving but there was no current even though<br />they were supposed to generate at 1 PM. At 2:15 we went back to the<br />roadbed where I had caught my two largemouth - figured there might be<br />a school holding on the roadbed. Partner got another 13 inch spot on<br />the roadbed but nothing hit my big worm. I did get another short fish<br />on the popper as time ran out.<br /><br />When I opened my livewell to cull the smallest spot, I got a shock.<br />The aerator on my side had quit working and all my fish were dead. It<br />had stopped some time between noon when I checked and 3. Partners was<br />still working so we did not realize mine had quit.<br /><br />At the weigh-in I was surprised. I had the only limit and won with<br />10.48 pounds. Second was 10.05 with four fish and he had big fish at<br />4.82 - all on Flukes. Third was four at 6.27 and fourth was 4 at<br />5.33. There were 5 zeros out of the 14 in the tournament.<br /><br />Tough day! <br /><br />Ronnie<br />fishing.guide@about.com<br />http://fishing.about.com