Our annual fish off was held at Joe Wheeler Reservoir at Rogersville, Alabama.  WOW!  The weather was great, the facilities at Joe Wheeler State Park were great, and the fishing was great.  Everyone was able to put good fish in the boat, most everyone were able to put small mouth in the boat.  We seldom fish waters where smallies live, so it is a treat to be able to catch some of those hard fighting bass.

 

We arrived Wednesday to prefish for our Friday and Saturday tournament.  Most everyone ventured out onto the lake to see what they could find.  I boated a 2 ˝ pounder on my first cast!  Then continued to explore and managed three more in the 3 and 4 pound range.  Most people found some fish Wednesday on baits ranging from deep cranks, to worms, and spinner baits and a respectable top water bite.  Thursday continued our pre fishing and continued the good bite.

 

On tournament day we all headed out in search of our limit.  I went to my spots from Wednesday and boated 2 right away on top water.  A short time later we found a school of smallies and I picked up a 2.4 pounder on a green pumpkin shakey head and several non-keeper samllies on top water.  Reports were most everyone was on fish.  Shad were schooling and there were some good catches fishing the ‘jumps’. 

 

At day one weigh in we saw some good stringers coming in.  Ron had a good catch and was so excited he threw his bag with fish in it back in the lake and had to wade out to knee-deep water to retrieve his bag.  Eighteen members and four guests all had fish on day one.  Charles had the biggest smallmouth for the first day 3.35 lbs. caught on spinner bait.

 

Day two was much the same until weigh in, when we had a special guest arrive.  Gerald Swindell and the ESPN crew showed up looking for some fish!?  They were shooting some photos and wanted to show some of our catch.  What a compliment.  Gerald was great!  He was friendly, gave away some goodies and shared a lot of information.  That just shows how good this sport really is, to have a pro come up and just join in with our weigh in.

 

Final day weigh in was a good one with everyone catching fish on the final day.  Almost everyone had a good catch on our final day.  Including our guests Dora T had a 7 fish limit both days for 14.63, Brian has 13 fish with a  total weight of 17.16 and Artie managed 5 fish with a total weight of 5.17 for the tournament.  In the money, John Stafford had a total of 13 fish for 20.99 pounds for 3^rd place, Big Rich had 2^nd with 13 fish and 23.21 pounds, and Mr. Pres himself had a 7 fish limit each day for a total weight of 25.68 pounds to take 1^st place, way to go Wayne.

 

Next month starts our 7^th year, good luck and good fishing.

 

Keep your line wet!!