4th place ain't bad....

Fished the new Saturday tourney out of Fate Sanders on Priest today. I got there early to register and got boat #8. None of my regular partners could fish, so I was going solo vs. 2 man teams, but as tough as the fishing was reported to be on PP, I still felt like I had a chance.

Headed straight up the East Fork of the Stones River (a brisk 20 mile run). I set the boat down on one of my favorite stretches of wood upriver, and started throwing a buzzbait at the cover. Problem was the water was a chilly 56 degrees! Too cold for a topwater bait.

When it was clear the topwater deal wasn't going to happen, I committed to slowing down and making hundreds of pitches at wood and rock in both forks of the river.

I moved around for a couple of hours, and lost a decent fish on a shaky head worm around 10:00 am. Then, on the next bank, I hooked a solid 1.75 lb spotted bass on a small creature bait. I stayed in the same area of the E. Fork for another 45 minutes, but no other takers. The front had pushed out of Middle TN by now, and I knew it was just going to get tougher. My plan and fishing technique are ideal for post frontal conditions, b/c up that river the fish will stay shallow and move to cover when the barometer rockets upward. It was tough, but I was still confident in what I had planned.

Around 11:00 am I moved to the West Fork and headed as far up as I could and still float the Bumble Bee. I found three huge groups of shad and tried fishing shad imitations for 15 minutes or so, but I knew I needed to slow down. I hit three deep banks in that area with no luck. Then I fired up the Yamaha and ran about 3 miles back toward the lake. The first channel bend bank I hit held my second keeper, which was a solid 17" Largemouth, just shy of 3 lbs.

By now, I had run out of prime banks up the river, and only had 1 1/2 hrs left until weigh in. Decision time! This is where these things are won or lost, and I think I made the wrong move. Instead of staying a re-fishing the upriver banks, I decided to run into the main lake, and try to catch a couple of spotted bass, since they only have to be 12". I ran to the mid-lake area and fished 2 long bluffs and never had a sniff.

Made it back to the marina on time, and bagged up my 2 passengers for the weigh in. I though I was sunk when I walked up to the scales and heard 12 lbs was leading. The tourney director said he had a 5 fish limit, so I knew 3rd was best possible finish for me.

Good thing is that only one other team had more weight than yours truly. My two weighed in at 4.52. I got my money back, and earned some valuable points for the trail if I decide to fish more of them.

Considering that I hadn't been on the lake in 3 months and I went it alone, I was fairly pleased.

Until next time.....

Tight lines.

RBK

Been laid up in dry dock....

Haven't been on the lake in three long weeks, and that trip was pretty much a bust on OHL. Had 2 keepers in our last club tourney of the year. Put me in 2nd overall for the season.

I'm planning on heading to Priest this Saturday to fish a local tourney. I'll be fishing blind, since I haven't been out there in over two months, but I've got some good info from late October the last couple of years to fall back on.

Plan on running to the uppper end and looking for off-colored water and fishing shallow early, then working my way back down lake later on if the up-lake thing doesn't pan out.

I'll report back, but I'm cautiously optimistic, and frankly just happy to be fishing!