TOURNAMENT REPORT

The April tournament took us to Lake Jordan, just north of Montgomery, Alabama, on the Coosa River.  We had a rainy forecast with some possible severe weather, but it never happened.  In fact we had probably not more than 30 minutes rain in the 2 tournament days.  We did have cloudy skies all day each day.  The water temp was in the low to mid 60’s and the clarity was a bit stained, but still we had visibility of about 2-3 feet.  Because of recent rainfalls they were pulling water all day through the lakes in the Coosa chain, and I am sure that helped the bite.

I drew out behind Mack Cramer, our tournament director.  Mack and I have been fishing together  for about 40 years and I knew I would have a great time fishing with him  no matter  if the fish were biting or not.  We started out fishing in some areas that Mack liked in the lower parts of the lake and within 5 minutes I had a nice 3.5 lb spot in the boat.  About 5 minutes later Mack boated one about 2.5 lbs and we both thought “wow we are really  on a great bite”.   Thirty minutes later we decided that those were the only 2 bites we would get in that place.  We did return to that spot several times throughout the weekend but we never caught another fish there.  We moved to another bank that is one of Mack’s favorites and he started catching some nice fish.  I caught fish also but they were small.   We tried a variety of lures, but we only were successful on soft plastics, mostly in darker shades (junebug, black, black grape, and green pumpkin).  We left his places around noon as the bite had stopped and went to some seawalls that I like to fish.  I did catch and nice 2.5 lb spot and Mack caught another nice one also.    We both had limits but mine was small.  Mack spent the last hour or more trying to help me get a better limit but it was his day, not mine.  We both made mention of the fact that sometimes when one guy catches the good fish one day  the next day  it will be the other guy who gets the better bites.

At the scales everyone was upbeat and talking about the great fishing.  We had 11 limits on Saturday out of 14 fishermen. Out of a possible 70 fish we could legally weigh we had 65!  Day 1 standings were as follows: Tony Boyette was 1st with 5 fish # 15.23 lbs and also he had the lunker @ 3.9 lbs.  2nd place was Dave Bock with 5 fish @ 14.58 lbs.  3rd place was Matt Brown with 5 fish @ 13.66 lbs.  4th place was Lee Brannon with 5 fish @ 13.63.  Everyone caught fish and the weights were tight all the way through 14th place.  No one appeared to have a lock on the win and certainly not on any spot in the top 4 places.

Back at the hotel, as part of Hawg Hunter tradition, the club provided dinner.  We had fried chicken, baked beans, French fries, and mac and cheese, and of course those great brownies that Jeff manages to beg his wife for each time we have a social.  Thank YOU Brenda for those special treats!  There was food aplenty and many stories, lies, and laughs.  A special thank you for all who helped to get this organized, especially Dave Dyes for taking care of placing the orders and picking up the food.  Of course thanks always to everyone who pitched in and helped get things set up and cleaned up afterward.

Day 2 arrived with everyone ready and waiting to get started.  Mack and I  returned to the same place where we started the day before, but  we found the fish were not there and when we went to  the second place we only caught  a couple of small ones.  We then left and went back to the seawalls where we finished the day before.  I soon caught a nice 3.5 lb largemouth, and for me the bite was on. A few minutes later I caught another 2.5 lb large mouth.  Then I caught a nice spot. The very thing Mack and I talked about happened.  Day 2 was my day.  Mack worked hard but could only manage 4 keepers.  For any of you who have not fished with Mack, I do hope you get the chance because he is fun to fish with and like I mentioned earlier we have known each other about 40 years and fished many times together.  I cannot remember a single time (even if I did not catch fish) that I did not enjoy the day.  I got lucky this time and almost every fish I caught was a nice keeper.  I wound up with a 2nd day weight of 15.65 lbs.  I knew I would be in the hunt but, I did not know what the other guys would have.

At the scales it was Tony Boyette who returned with a nice limit @11.71 lbs to take the win with a total weight of 26.94 lbs.  I jumped from 9th place to 2nd place with a total weight of 25.31 lbs.  Matt Brown held steady to take 3rd place with a total weight of 25.24 lbs.  The 4th slot went to Dave Dyess with a great bag @23.43 lbs.  Buddy Yates brought the Sunday lunker to the scales @ 4.11 lbs.

Most fish for the 2 days were caught on dark worms and white flukes.  There were a few caught on crankbaits and spinner baits and even a couple on topwaters. However shakey head jigs and slider head jigs accounted for the majority of the fish caught.

I thought after last month that it would be years before we could have a tournament better than the Seminole tournament, but I was really wrong.  This tournament really outpaced the Seminole tournament.  At Seminole we had an average weight of 17.47 lbs per fisher man.  At Jordan we averaged 19.1 lbs per fisherman.  All I can say is if you missed this past tournament you missed one of the best ever in Hawg Hunter history.  NOW is the time to make plans for next month.  We will be fishing Miller’s Ferry on May 23.  It is a great place to fish before the real heat of summer arrives.  Make your plans to attend the meeting and the tournament.  It is a one day event, but if you are planning to go early, then you need to make your own arrangements for rooms. The tournament director will NOT be making the reservations for this tournament.

In closing, I need to say it again…THANK YOU. ..ALL of YOU members who make this club such a great group to be a part of.  I hope we can continue the remainder of this year with the great attitudes and cooperative mind sets that are prevailing throughout the group.  Remember that as the weather  heats up it is important that we give the fish extra care in handling to insure good live release totals.


Until next time… Keep you hooks sharp!
John