~ Tournament Winner ~ Brian Metcalf 5 Fish - 10.25 lbs

~ Tournament Big Fish ~ Brian Metcalf 3.35 lbs.

Also Fished
Lee Brannon, Neil Springstead, Frank Kelly

~ Tensaw River ~

The Hawg Hunters' April tournament was held on the Tensaw River out of Cliff's Landing.
The weather was warm with partly cloudy skies and a very high water level. Water temps were in the mid to upper 70's. Color was very muddy in the main river to reasonably clear in many creeks.
We had a strong incoming tide for most of the day and southerly winds at 5-10.

I had the pleasure of fishing this month with Troy Beetle. Troy is one of our newer members and like most of the Hawg Hunters really fun to fish with. We decided to take his boat this time and planned to fish on the lower end of the Mobile River. High muddy water changed our plans and we headed for a delta creek just off Raft River. We found we had the creek to ourselves (later we finally figured out why) and the water was slightly stained but not bad. After about 45 minutes I landed the first keeper of the day on a floating worm. Missed another on the next cast and just a few casts later got my line broke on a fish. Except for one or two other hits that was all for me!

Troy was fishing a crank bait and landed a short fish then he picked one up on a sinko which was short also. After a couple of missed hits he finally landed his first keeper. We fished very hard and steady for several hours but only managed to lose a couple of heavy fish each on crank baits (bandit/mistake). Since we didn't land either of them, I want to believe they were redfish (yeah right)!
We finally decided to leave the "hot spot" and run back up to the Negro Lake and finish out the day. We started working along a flooded wood line and Troy hooked up with his second fish of the day, a nice 2.5 lb. largemouth. Although the fishing was poor at best we had a great time out on the water.
It was nice to fish from the back of the boat with Troy. He got to battle the current and wind all day with the trolling motor while all I had to do was fish. Troy gave me more than ample casting spots and I definitely got a lesson on how to use a sinko!
If I can keep getting good lessons from my partners I'll eventually learn how to catch a few fish myself.

At the weigh in there were more long faces than smiles. We had at least 3 guys who didn't even have a fish to weigh and a bunch of us only had one for our efforts. As usual a few guys found the fish. Why, even Jim Sr. himself had a nice fish (2.45 lbs) for the scales, he didn't lose his camera this time.
Check out his picture in the "tournament photos" section. As usual the same names keep showing up ….what should this be telling me? Fourth place went to Dave Dyess with 4 green trout weighing 4.25 lbs. Jere Jaillite rolled into third with 3 fish that weighed 4.40 lbs. Pete Potter won yet another side bet with Fred by bringing in a limit of fish weighing 8.85 lbs and taking 2nd place honors. From the back of Dave's boat taking first place with a beautiful limit weighing 10.25 lbs was Brian Metcalf. Brian and Dave caught their fish on flukes and worms on a grassy delta creek. I think Pete got his on worms and crank baits. Due to the high/rising water and winds, fishing tough for everyone. Talking with the guys at the weigh in it seemed that most fish came on worms, soft plastic jerk baits, and crank baits.
Almost all fish came from the lower delta area. When the water drops back in its banks the fish should really turn on in the middle and upper river lakes and creeks.

Our next tournament is at Miller's Ferry out of Ellis Landing. I can hardly wait to get there!

‘Til next time. *Keep your hooks sharp!!!

Creek Chub