TOURNAMENT REPORT

The October tournament/fish-off was held at Lake Eufaula. The lake is located on the Alabama-Georgia line. The lake is fed by the Chattahoochee River. We had great weather with cool mornings and warm afternoons. The water level was bout 2-3 feet below normal and mostly clear. Water temps were in the low 70’s. We fished out of Lake Point State Park. We had 17 members fishing.

My partner for the weekend was Billy Myrick. We went up on Thursday to get an extra day of scouting. On Thursday we found some good fish in a river bend in the upper park of the lake. They were hitting trick worms in red bug or june bug colors fished with light weights in the pads near channel edges.

As Friday arrived we decided to try to find another pattern upriver and we ran about 30 minutes north of the state park. We had just started to fish laydowns with spinner baits and crank baits when Billy said he felt numbness on his right side from his foot through his shoulder and down his arm to his hand. We immediately secured everything and ran back to the launch. We called 911 on the way so an ambulance could meet us at the launch. They took him to the hospital and kept him about 5-6 hours making tests but they did not find anything and released him about dinner time in the evening. Later in the night he had another spell and decided to head home first thing in the morning. I took him to Chipley where we met his wife and daughter and he went back with them. When he got to Pensacola he went to the hospital again and they kept his 2 days and determined that he indeed had a mild stroke. All this being said…Guys never play with stroke or heart symptoms. We were lucky but we did the right thing to get help immediately. It could have been much worse. Nobody’s health or life is worth a fish. Yes Billy missed the tournament but he did the right thing.

I did get to return to the tournament and started fishing about 10:15 on Saturday. I went to the bank where we found fish before and immediately caught a small keeper and a short fish and thought that the fish were still there. But, 3 hours later with no hits, I finally realized that it was not going to happen. I ended up the day with only 2 small keepers.

At the scales there were many long faces because most caught very few fish. Taking the honors on day one was Roger Helm with 5 fish @ 9.26 lbs. 2nd Place was Mack Cramer with 3 fish @ 5.57 lbs. 3rd place was Frank Dodge with 3 fish @ 5.25 lbs. 4th place was Lee Brannon with 2 fish @ 4.63 lbs. The stage was set for a real showdown to see if Mack or Lee would win the FOY honors and also if Rogers bag would hold up to win the tournament.

Back as the cabins we had a great time eating steaks, baked potatoes, tossed salad, and banana pudding and brownies. We all enjoyed the feast and had many stories to tell. Even Matt Brown learned not to make fun of my cooking apron. I want to say a special “THANK YOU” to Brenda Weaver for making the banana pudding and the brownies for us. Everyone enjoyed the desserts. Also thank you for Dave Dyess for getting all the food together. Great job with that Dave and the steaks were fine. Thanks to Dave Bock for transporting all the various utensils and tables that we needed. To everyone who pitched in and helped with the set-up and the clean-up, a special thanks also.

Day 2 arrived without any fanfare. We had a good start at daybreak. I tried to find fish again without success and managed only one very small keeper. As it turned out Sunday was even tougher for everyone than Saturday. For the standings of the monthly tournament… First place Roger Helm with a total weight of 12.77 lbs. 2nd place Lee Brannon with 10.94 lbs. 3rd place Matt Brown with 7.5 lbs (He brought in a beautiful 5.44 lunker on Sunday) 4th Place went to Mack Cramer with 7.15 lbs. Congratulations to each of you for a job well done on a tough lake.

The Fish-Off standings are as follows:

1st -Lee Brannon -10.94 lbs
2nd – Matt Brown- 7.5 lbs
3rd- Mack Cramer-7.15 lbs
4th- Don Jahnke- 6.48 lbs
5th - Dave Bock- 6.08 lbs
6th-Tony Boyett- 5.67 lbs
7th- Buddy Yates- 5.06 lbs
8th- Dave Dyess- 4.91 lbs
9th –Cliff Armstrong-3.75 lbs
10th-Jeff Weaver -3.49 lbs.


This year the AOY race was tight and in the end Mack Cramer came out on top. Congratulations to Mack Cramer, Fisherman of the Year 2015. Also this year we added a new award for Co-Angler of the year. Congratulations to Matt Brown for winning that honor.

The “Top Six” fishermen of the year are listed as follows:

1st Place -Mack Cramer
2nd Place- Lee Brannon
3rd Place- Jeff Weaver
4th Place- Matt Brown
5th Place- John Buck
6th Place-Bill Myrick


We only had one nomination this tournament for the slammer award. It does seem that our tournament director Mack Cramer did find a sand bar upriver and spent over 1.5 hours trying to get his boat off … He and his partner Cliff Armstrong did have to go overboard to push the boat… We will announce the yearly winner of the Slammer at the Banquet on December 18 and Sonny’s Restaurant located on New Warrington Road.

We will need to get a count of how many are planning to attend the banquet so be prepared to give that info at the November meeting. The November tournament will be held on Claiborne Lake on the Alabama River near Monroeville, Alabama. We will launch out of Isaac Creek. This should be a good place this time of year so make your plans to be there.

This will be my last tournament report as I am turning this duty over to someone else. After 17 years it is time for me to let someone else take over this space. I am not sure, but I think Mack Cramer will use this page for his monthly report and comments. I do want to say thank you to all who have taken the time to read my rambling narratives. Thanks also for the positive comments and support that you have given me over the past 17 years. I look forward to see you all at the meetings and tournaments in the coming year…Just remember…..

KEEP YOUR HOOKS SHARP!

John