John Buck
John's Club Report
Covering The Pensacola Hawg Hunters
2005 Season

Email: John Buck

Founded In 1975

Tensaw River
Total Fish Caught 17
Total Dead Fish 0
Total Limits 0
Big Fish
2.35
Total Fish Weight 24.90 lbs

Total Year Standings
Total Fish Caught 100
Total Dead Fish 0
Total Limits 11
Big Fish
4.25
Total Fish Weight 133.90 lbs
Place Name Fish Weight
1. Rich Carnelius 4 5.35
2. Brian Metcalf 3 3.85
2. Mitch Gardner 2 3.70
4. John Buck 2 2.85
5. Ron Fairbanks 2 2.80
*** Tournament Winner ***
Place Name Fish Weight
6. Dave Rogers 1 2.30
7. Terry Smith 1 1.45
8. Tony Boyette 1 1.40
9. C. J. Garrison 1 1.20

Also Fished
Jim Bailey Sr
, Fred Raby, Rich Renner, Lee Brannon, Dewayne Kimbro, Frank Kelly, Ken Repine, Mack Cramer,
Walter McCartney, Jere Jaillite,
Neil Springstead, Pete Potter


PENSACOLA HAWG HUNTERS
TOURNAMENT REPORT
DECEMBER 18, 2004


The Hawg Hunters fished the Tensaw River Delta for their December tournament.
We launched out of Hurricane Landing. We have had quite a lot of rain locally and throughout north and central Alabama during the past several weeks and that water made its way down here by tournament time.
The water in the main river while high and still rising was quite muddy but cleaner water could be found in the back of creeks and bays in the lower delta. The river was in the woods mostly above I-65. We'd had temps in the upper 20's for the past several days with highs near 50. A weak front came through on Friday which helped to moderate temps. High blue skies following the cold front didn't offer any encouragement.
Winds, while moderate, 5-10 mph, were out of the north and quite chilly. For this far south, that makes for just about the toughest fishing conditions you can have.

My partner (CJ Garrison) and I started out running south the oak bayou area. I was planning on fishing spinners, cranks, finesse worms, and jigs on the deeper areas and on wood in any depth of water. After a frigid ride we broke off the ice and had a cup of hot coffee to thaw our elbows so we could cast. Our first stop was on the Appalachee River in the Pass Picata area. We started working along drop ledges and deeper sawgrass banks with worms, spinners, and cranks. After fighting a very strong current and no bites for an hour we decided to move to another area. We fished the inlets around the area of Mizell's Fish Camp and I managed to get one short bass.
We then headed into Bay Minette and started throwing spinners over the grass lines. We got no takers here either so we went further back into Bay Minette Creek. We fished finesse worms and were able to start catching a few fish. I managed to get 4 more fish with only 2 keepers and CJ got 3 fish with one keeper. I was fishing a brown trout finesse and CJ was fishing junebug finesse worms. We stayed in that area for the rest of the day.
Hits were few and far between.

Rich Cornelius who was also fishing Bay Minette came in first with 4 fish weighing 5.35 lbs. Brian Metcalf also fished in Bay Minette and had 3 fish for 3.85 lbs to take 2nd place. Mitch Gardner grabbed 3rd place with 2 fish for 3.70 lbs., including the lunker for the day at 2.35 lbs. I slid into 4th place with 2 fish weighing 2.85 lbs.
We had 21 guys fishing and only 9 managed to bring a keeper to the scales. That shows just how tough it was to catch fish! Most of the fish were caught on soft plastics and jigs. The darker colors, june bug, brown trout, purple, and watermelon were the dominant colors.

The Hawg Hunters next tournament is on the ever fertile Escambia River. This fishery, while teeming with bass, can prove to be a challenge for even the most experienced angler. The delta region is literally full of cover ranging from kitchen appliances to boats to logs and dead heads all courtesy of the Hurricane Ivan.
While traveling through the delta one can enjoy the beautiful sawgrass areas littered with grounded boats, and remnants of waterfront housing that clutter the coastal area. Needless to say, anglers need to take care when running through the delta because of the submerged obstructions. Because of the convenience of this location,
I hope that every member will take advantage of the opportunity to test their skills on this most promising fishery.

In closing, I would like to thank Jim Bailey for allowing me to ramble for another year about our tournaments on his website. Jim you do us all a great service with Hook1.com. Until next time*. To ALL have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!


Til next time keep those hooks sharp!
Creek Chub

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