John Buck

John's Club Report Covering The Pensacola Hawg Hunters Email: John Buck

Founded In 1975

Place Name Fish Weight 1. Brian Metcalf 5 10.15 2. WalterMcCartney 5 9.50 3. Lee Brannon 5 8.70 4. Pete Potter 5 7.65 5. Neil Springstead 2 7.45 6. Jere Jaillite 3 7.15 7. Frank Kelly 3 6.40 8. Rich Carnelius 3 7.75 9. John Buck 3 3.85 *** Tournament Winner *** Brian Metcalf 5 Fish - 10.15 lbs

Also Fished Chris Malena - Ken Repine Tony Boyette - David Rogers John Schaeff Guest Dan Nash

Place Name Fish Weight 10. Ron Fairbanks 2 2.90 11. Dewayne Kimbro 2 2.30 12. Jeff Weaver 1 1.95 13. Dave Dyess 1 1.80 14. Terry Smith 1 1.50 15. Fred Raby 1 1.45 16. Jim Bailey Sr 1 1.35 16. Charles Cetti 1 1.35 18. Mack Cramer 1 1.15 *** Big Fish Winner *** Brian Metalf 4.90 lbs

PENSACOLA HAWG HUNTERS
TOURNAMENT REPORT
JULY 24, 2004

We fished our July tournament out of Mt. Vernon on the Mobile River. This area is very close to the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers and is just north of the Tensaw system. The location really allows anglers an opportunity for a variety of choices in where to fish. The weather was hot with partly cloudy skies. Water color was stained but not too bad for river fishing in this area. Surface temps ranged from the 75-85 depending on where you fished and the time of day. We basically had an outgoing tide all day which allowed for a good current and outflow from creeks, sloughs, and river lakes.

We had our usual number of fishermen (26) participating. Also our July tournament is one of our "short" day events. We quit at 2:00 PM due to the summer heat! It's easier on the fishermen and certainly easier on the fish in the live wells.

Prior to the tournament Fred Raby and I had located some decent fish on treetops and laydowns along the main river. Fred and his partner were going to run above Boatyard lake and start fishing and I was going to start on the lower end of the Alabama River (which is an area that I like a lot).

Dan Nash (a guest) was my partner for the trip. We started out fishing buzz baits on the lower end of the Alabama River around laydowns and treetops which were suspended over the ledges. We never got so much as a roll on the surface presentations and soon switched to flipping and pitching a variety of soft plastics in the same types of areas. We also threw crank baits (white) and spinner baits (chartreuse and white). Dan landed a keeper on the 2nd cast with a junebug worm in the mouth of a small outflow. We sat at the little gut and caught several more but they were short. We just kept working the main river all day and I managed to pick up 3 keepers on worms and plastic craws. We caught several small bass each but could not manage any more keepers.

Several guys did find "pay dirt"! Frank Kelly found "pay dirt," sand, and mud as he found a mud flat in David Lake at about 45 MPH. When we saw him, his trolling motor wouldn't even turn water! He was lucky as the "Coast Guard" (Dave Rogers) found him and was able to tow him from the mud slide to the water. I can see the news story now*."Hawg Hunter wallows in the mud*.."! As far up on the flat as he was even high tide would not have floated him free. Rule of thumb---learn the water before you run it. Delta bays and flats can be treacherous as many have hidden stumps, logs, pilings, sand bars, and shallow mud flats.

Back to the right kind of "pay dirt". As usual Brian Metcalf found the mark with five fish weighing 10.15lbs.
He also had the lunker at 4.9 lbs. In the 2nd slot was Walter McCartney with 5 fish for 9.50 lbs. 3rd place went to Lee Brannon with 5 fish weighing 8.70 lbs. Pete Potter took the 4th slot with 5 fish for 7.65 lbs.

Neil Springstead found a couple of nice fish in backwaters, but most of the fish were caught on the main river in tree tops or in little eddy pockets. The best stringers came from above the Alabama cut-off. A few fish were caught on crank baits but plastic worms and craws accounted for most of the fish today.
The most productive colors were junebug and green pumpkin.

Our next tournament is on the Alabama River near Yellow Bluff, Alabama. The launch is located near the Ala Hwy 10 bridge about 15 miles east of Camden. This is fairly remote area of the river that not many of us are familiar with but also an area that carries a good reputation for nice catches this time of the year.
I'm sure that before tournament day several of us will have scouted it out.
This will be our last "short" tournament of the year. Weigh-in will be at 2 PM, a real blessing in the summertime heat. Remember to drink plenty of fluids during the day and stay hydrated.

Til next time keep those hooks sharp!
Creek Chub