Panhandle Bass Club held its December tournament on the Blackwater River in Milton. We had 18 members and 3 guests and 2 prospective members fishing this noted waterway. We found the weather a little damp before the blast off, but had good cloud cover and mild temperatures throughput the day. The water temp was in the mid to upper 50's in most areas, slightly higher in the lakes.

Blastoff found a pretty even mix of people going north and south. Mack, Walter and I all went into the Carpenters park area first thing, and I watched Walter boat a good keepers right off the bat on a Sink-O. I had not had a bite, so I moved to Wrights Basin where I saw Tony who had two fish, and Chris who had one. There were two other boats in there so I decided to go further north. I saw John K and John B fishing the main river with 1 keeper. It seemed black worms were working pretty well for some. At Coopers Basin I found Jeff leaving, but I decided to fish it anyway. As I moved to the tree line about 10:30 I picked up a good keeper on a Rogue so I continued and managed another a few minutes later. This one was a good one 3+, so my hopes were getting better. The bite stopped and I moved back to the river where I saw Rich with 2 fish, I fished on down with no results and returned to Coopers where, guess who I saw but Rich. I moved back to the tree line and left him in the open bay where I picked up number 3. I decided this is where I need to stay for the last 2 hours. Number 4 came shortly thereafter all on the Rogue. As I worked my way out I saw Billy come in just before weigh in and hook up with a nice one right in front of Rich and I.

Back at the weigh in we had 15 fishermen and 1 guest with fish, but everyone was complaining of how tough it was 1 or 2 fish each. I felt pretty good. As the scales opened the bags all seemed pretty light. Rich ended up with 3 fish for 4.16 lbs. And took 3rd. Stump, who decided to take a dip early had 2 for 4.60 lbs. And 2nd place. And myself finished first with 4 keepers and 9.00 lbs., a great day for me and Blackwater. Billy did barely end up with his one fish lunker at 3.30.

All in all there was a lot of fish and good weight brought in, the weather cooperated and we had no accidents.

Keep Your Line Wet!!
Fred