Total Year Standings
Total Fish Caught 354
Total Dead Fish 5
Total Limits 28
Big Fish 6.27
Total Fish Weight 514.84 lbs

Tournament Results

The April tournament for the Pensacola Hawg Hunters was held at Lake Martin, near Alexander City, Alabama.  Our tournament was a 2 day event with one day launching from the lower part of the lake at Kowligia Creek and the 2^nd day launching at Wind Creek in the northern part of the lake.  We had cool temps both days with clouds and wind on Saturday and then high blue skies on Sunday with very strong winds (20-30). We had 17 members fishing.

My partner for the weekend was Bob Jones.  We decided to fish major lake points with huge rocks on Saturday with top water lures and shakey head jigs/worms.  We found fish on both patterns.  While the fish were scattered, we did get several bites for the day but the constant parade of pleasure boats plowing huge wakes made fishing tough much of the day.  With the top water lures we had to work them hard and fast to try to make it look like a minnow trying to get away from a bass.  Then they would hit it but if you just popped it along slowly they would not touch it.  Most of our worm bites were only felt as pressure or weight on the line and seldom a definite bump or hit.  The water clarity in the areas where we fished was over 12 feet visibility.   It was neat when you had a fish because sometimes you could see other bass swimming along trying to get the bait from the other bass.  One other  aspect of fishing in the lower end was that  we had to fish  much farther away from the banks  to get bites because of the clarity and  because the fish   were usually in at least 10- 15 feet of water.  If you fished like we usually do in our area you would not find a bite in that part of the lake.   Any time I fish for spotted bass with a worm, I dye the tail chartreuse.  On the first day Bob ended up with 2 keepers and I had a small limit of 5.

At the scales everyone had fish.  That was good considering that this weekend was one of the toughest we have ever fished at Lake Martin.  The weather conditions were not good to say the least.  Day one results were as follows:  1^st place John Buck 5 fish @ 7.48 lbs.  Dave Dyess 2^nd place @ 5.59 lbs.  3^rd place Buddy Yates 3 fish @ 4.74 lbs.  4^th place  Mack Cramer 4 fish @ 4.73 lbs.  The other places were stacked close and the tournament was still anyone’s to win.  The lunker was caught by Lee Brannon @ 2.62 lbs.

Back at the Bob White Motel we had a great meal of fried chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, chips, and rolls.  A special thanks to Frank Dodge, Dave Dyess and the others who helped set up and clean up.  Great job folks!!  I think everyone really enjoyed that food.  After we ate we sat around and swapped stories and lies and had many good laughs together.

Over night the cold front blew through and we found winds of 20-30 mph, early morning temps in the mid 40’s, and high blue skies for the day on Sunday.  We all dreaded that day on the water.  This day we fished out of Wind Creek on the upper part of the lake and that was good because there are many coves and pockets that allowed some protection

from the gusty winds.  My partner and I found fish immediately on top water lures near the light house at Wind Creek.  We got the hits but just could not keep the fish hooked up and landed.  We each lost fish that would have helped us a lot in our standings.  We fished several places that are favorites of mine but only found limited success in the area of the light house in a trough about 8-10 deep.  For the day I had only 2 keepers and my partner had only one.

At the scales everyone had fish again but mostly only 1 or 2 fish. Brian Nall snuck up on everyone and brought in a really nice limit weighing 9.32 lbs. for a total weight of 11.47 lbs to take the win.  Great job Brian you really put a hurtin’ on us all.  2^nd place was John Buck with a total of 9.73 lbs.  3^rd place went to Jeff Weaver, aka “Mr. Consistent” @ 8.60 lbs.   4^th place was Dan Nash @ 7.87 lbs.  Dan also had the lunker for Sunday @3.41 lbs.  Congratulations to all who fished this tournament because it was a tough 2 days on the water and everyone still caught fish.

Our next tournament will be at Miller’s Ferry on May 19.  Make your plans to attend the meeting and fish that tournament.  May is a great month to get a big fish on “the ferry”.  Until next time…Keep Your Hooks Sharp!

John