~ Tournament Winner ~ John Buck 10 Fish - 15.30 lbs

~ Tournament Big Fish ~ Jack Maher, Wayne Thomley 4.30 lbs.

Also Fished
Ron Fairbanks (DNF) Frank Beckwith (DNF)

~ Lake Martin ~

The March tournament was held on Lake Martin near Alexander City, Alabama, on the 22nd and the 23rd. It was the first 2-day tournament of the year. Everyone was looking forward to this event because it is usually one of the better tournaments of the year. We have had really great success in the past and the stage was set for another fine outing.

A mild cold front moved through on Friday before the tourney, but it didn't have too big an impact on the fish. Early morning temps were in the upper 40's rising to around 70 by the afternoon. Skies were mostly clear and the water ranged from muddy to stained to clear depending on where you fished.
The upper part of the lake was muddy and the middle stained with the lower part clear as usual.

Most of the fishermen went up a day or so early to pre-fish. I went up on Thursday and found a fishing bonanza on the top water bite. I fished the lower part of the lake and had a blast with almost all my fish over 2 lbs. What a day! My partner, Jeff Weaver, came up on Friday and we fished the upper and middle parts of the lake. We didn't have much success, but then we did have a shortened day. One of our guys had his boat break down and we were the nearest to him so we towed him back to the launch. We spent the better part of the afternoon with this and we were glad to be able to help.

Saturday morning came and we decided to make the big run from Wind Creek down to Kowaligia Creek. It only takes about 25 minutes or so once you learn the way. We started out with the top water baits like I did on Thursday but the cold front had the top water bite shut down. Knowing that the fish were nearby we started with plan #2, scale down and slow down. I switched to a 3/16 Spotsticker jig 3/0 hook and a finesse worm. I immediately began to get bites. My partner tried Texas rigging but found no success. Jeff switched to a crank bait and landed a couple of keepers but the Spotsticker really caught the fish. I caught numerous fish and was culling by midday. All my fish were caught on a gourd green finesse worm. Jeff couldn't seem to get the feel for the jig presentation and stuck with the crank bait.

Back at the day one weigh-in, six guys brought limits to the scales. Pete Potter, Paul Sullivan, Neil Springstead, Brian Metcalf, Dave Dyess, and myself. Terry Smith had the lunker honors with a 3.7 lb largemouth. After the weigh-in Brian Metcalt was in first place, Pete Potter was in second, I was in third and Dave Dyess was in fourth. Jack Maher gave Rich a lesson from the back of the boat and won the golf ball draw on Saturday. More about Jack later.

Sunday morning brought temps in the mid 40's and high blue skies. We headed back down to Kowaligia again. Both Jeff and I tried to make a top water bite happen but it just not to be. I switched to the Spotsticker again and caught 2 keepers in short order. Then the bite on the bottom just shut down. We fished for an hour with no luck. I finally saw a couple of loners swimming in the back end of pockets and managed to catch them on a pink floating worm, then my luck stopped again. Then Jeff started to give me a lesson on crank bait fishing. He caught 7 keepers and was culling before I caught my 5th fish. I haven't figured out yet what he was doing to get the bite, but whatever it was it sure worked for him. I think that confidence played a large part in his success. Eventually I followed his lead and switched to a shallow running firetiger crankbait and managed to catch a couple of more keepers to fill my limit and cull a smaller fish. My last keeper came about 5 minutes before the weigh in near the boat dock. Jeff and I had a great time over the weekend. He's a great partner, and he didn't even take his traditional nap at mid-day.

At the weigh-in 6 guys once again brought in limits, Jack Maher, Rich Cornelius, Fred Raby, Wayne Thomley, Jeff weaver and myself. Dave Dyess finished 4th place with 13.05lbs. Third place went to Pete Potter with 13.15 lbs. Jack Maher kicked butt and took names climbing to 2nd place with a 13.45 lb total. What happened Rich? I was able to take first place with 15.30 lbs. I also won the golf ball draw on Sunday! Lunker honors on Sun day were split between Jack Maher and Wayne Thomley. Each had a 4.3 lb LM to tie for big fish. The Hawg Hunters weighed in a total of 167.2 lbs of fish. We had 18 fishermen and that is a 9.3 lb average per fisherman! Pretty good for our group! We had 11 different guys weigh in limits over the weekend!

A quick "Slammer" update…..Trolling motor crashes into dock-Jim Bailey and
2002 Triton towed in by 1996 Ranger-Ron Fairbanks!!!!!!!!!

Our next tournament is on the Tensaw River. It will be the first time we've fished Tensaw in April in years. Maybe we'll have a good bite!

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

Creek Chub