The fishing day started with moderate/cool temps and cloudy skies. We had a small front passing through but no rain. We were hoping that this would turn the fish on but it didn't. Water level was slightly high and stained but not muddy. There was current in the river all day but it never really seemed to pull out of the creeks. Water temp was in the 60's and the air temp rose to near 70 by mid day. It really was a beautiful day for fishing.

Jere Jaillite and I were partners for the day. Jere had gone up the day before to pre-fish and had found a few fish in creek mouths on crank baits. We ran to a little island upstream and started fishing the riverside points with crank baits. After about 30 minutes of sandpapering the point we decided to move to the inside of the point and give it a try. Jere quickly hooked up with a nice keeper LM. We thought that we had found the answer….lol.
That was the only hit we could muster. We worked around the back of coves and secondary points but still found nothing. As we approached another point I picked up a keeper on the inside edge. As before, it was the only fish we could find. We ran up stream and tried guts and cuts off the main river but only managed one more keeper each, finishing up with 2 keepers each. We each caught one on a crank bait and one on a worm.
While the fishing was tough for us we had an enjoyable day fishing and visiting.

I mentioned "firsts" earlier. Well at the weigh in Jim Bailey had a nice bag of fish. Not really a "first"
but given his luck lately, it probably qualifies! He fished main river points and caught them on crank baits.
Frank Kelly, in his first tournament as TD, weighed in his first limit ever in a tournament. He had some really nice fish, 5 for 10.0 lbs to win for the first time ever. His fish came off main river points on crank baits.
He was really a sight to see at the weigh in, trying to keep his excitement in check as he watched the others weigh in bags he knew were smaller than his. He did manage to get himself soaking wet wrapping fish in the weigh in bag and putting them on the scales. He'll learn how to stay drier as cooler weather sets in! Everyone teased and battered him but all was in jest and we were happy to see him finally break the ice.

Several guys also had limits. Pete "Three Toe'd" Potter had a pretty bag of 5 fish to take 2nd place with 9.75 lbs. Tony Boyette (watch out folks…this guy is on a roll…and getting' big fish too), brought 5 to the scales weighing 8.90 lbs to grab 3rd place. Wayne Thomley (I'll be glad when he starts hunting and stops fishing.) took 4th place whit a nice limit weighing 7.75 lbs. We had a tie for the lunker honors with both Tony Boyette and Dave Dyess weighing in twins at 4.15 each. Most fish came off points, both primary and secondary. Most were caught on crank baits and plastic worms.
Crankbaits main color was chartreuse, and june bug seemed to be the popular choice for worms.

Our December tournament will be out of Mizell's on the lower Tensaw delta. Fishing there can be great this time of the year, especially if the water will drop and clear up and if we can get some cold weather.
If you're not familiar with the delta area, I suggest you get a map and watch your depth finder.
Pushing a boat off a mud flat is no fun in cold water. The knee deep black delta silt sometimes has wonderful odor which will stay with you long after you have dried off.
If you don't believe it, just ask Mack. He's had some first hand experience with delta mud.


Til next time …Keep your hooks sharp!
Creek Chub

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