Season's End

Dear Anglers,

     Well, it's the end of another season. A lot has happened throughout this year, and most of it with little fanfare. It has been a good one for this angler, and I can't figure out why.

     Crooked lake on a foggy, partially overcast, partially sunny warm day ! The tournament director was "spot on" when we idled off, and there was another bass club still lurking in the shadows for their take-off. Sure enough, 20 minutes later they came blasting around the point from Bob's landing of full plane, and not able to see much past 50 feet. Dumb ! Dumber ! Dumbest !

     I pre-fished a week earlier and caught four pickerel, so I was just looking for that one keeper to make a miserable day good enough for me. Didn't expect what happened.

     The winter Olympics just ended, so I thought I'd use that theme on this show today. That would be gold, silver, and bronze medals for the first three places. You will have to decide which medal goes with whom, but we'll do that later.

     Wanted to stop here and thank the outgoing Pres. and V-Pres. for the job they did this past year. Ernie and Steve are to be congratulated for running a tight ship. We thank you both for your performances. Not as easy as it looks !

     The Classic is next week. The top 10 will complete for cash and prizes worth several hundred dollars. Hey ! That's a lot of money in our club. I'm sorry I won't be there to compete with you all because of my other fishing commitment. I was sad that I wouldn't be competing for two days like you were.

     Guess what ? My partner in the other two clubs I fish called last night, and we are fishing on the Harris Chain in our Extreme Club just before I check in with the Bassmaster Series Tournament on Sunday. With my partner's brains and my ignorance, we may go far in that club ! Anyway, best of luck to all of you who made the top ten !

     Now for the medals to the top three competitors on this rather difficult fishing experience ! The only difference from last week and this was about three degrees of temperature change.

     I won the gold medal. I don't know why. I don't know how, and I just wasn't expecting it. After the fog lifted I took a chance and went back to the timber I had done well in previous tournaments. I was edging towards shore with my trolling motor when I got my first bite. Nine feet of water !

     Didn't know whether to stay out there or go shallow. I caught nine fish before nine o'clock. Four were keepers. It was a long draught before I caught a short fish at about five til two out on a flat in about nine feet of water, and my last keeper at two oh two.

     I still remember when Gerald Swindle saw me with my hands at my side and sick as a dog and said, "Chunk and wind, chunk and wind !" Keeping my line wet paid off. I had five fish weighing 9 pounds 7 ounces.

     The silver medal went to Chuck Bearce with five fish weighing 9 pounds 3 ounces, and would have beat me out with the four ounces lost for a dead fish. He had a bigger tiebreaker fish. I know he feels bad about the dead guy anyway. We had four dead fish, but I relate to that a bit later. Great job, Chuck !

     Bronze medal went to Bob Gwinn who would most assuredly won if he had a fifth fish. His four fish weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces. Bob also walked away with the big fish pot with a 4 pound 12 ounce "kicker". Great job, Mr. Bob.

     Scott Ellis (fourth), Gene Carter (fifth), and Greg DeRosa (eighth) also had five fish limits. We had five five-fish limits and two four-fish creels.

     Keith Kozelsky was heard to say, "I hate this lake" ! Everybody has a favorite "hate" lake ! I will try and get together with Keith somewhere down the road and see if I can change his mind about this one. It's been a great one for me !

     Scott confided in me about how he began casting at this tournament. He told me about the ten pounder he caught on his third cast with a Spinnerbait. It was huge. He caught the rest of his fish, as I did, on June Bug worms. Hey, I'll throw any color worm as long as it is June Bug. Oh, the ten pounder was a pickerel.

     Gene Carter ! What a piece of work. Didn't have a clue about his flat tire until Chuck mentioned it. Gene said he wasn't late getting to the ramp. He may not have been late, but his trailer and boat were. That's how close he cut it.

     I told you I was going to catch you with the dumb stuff and write about it. This time the dummy stuff was done by me. I left the straps on the back of the boat tied to the trailer. Hard to get the boat free when you do that. Duh ! Way to go, Billy !

     Speaking of dumb and dumber and rude and ruder ! The other club that was there was from the east coast, Vero Beach I think. They weighed in at 2:00 PM and then decided to pull their rigs just as I was getting back at 2:30 Pm.

     What a cluster..... One guy I observed had a big Skeeter, and took his time backing his truck, moseying over to get his boat and pulling up his britches on the way. That sorry SOB got his when he tried to load his boat on the trailer. First he came in sideways and had to back off. The next time he came in so fast that he plumb knocked the winch and post it was on slap off. Killed that bad boy right down to the top of the trailer ! All that waiting was worth it after that.

     The guy in front of me, while also waiting for this idiot, became an idiot too when he went in the back of his truck and got a beer out, and drank it. Never even had the courtesy to offer me one ! I wouldn't have accepted, but he could have offered.

     It went downhill from there. These guys, after they pulled their rigs, put the tie downs and motor toters on, in the area we needed to align our trailers to back down to the ramp. Hope we don't run into them again.

     We had four dead fish at this tournament, and it isn't even to the hot months of the year. Chuck's was gut hooked and showing out the gill plate and couldn't be helped. I had one hooked almost that way, but I left the hook in him so it will dissolve in a couple of days. The other three might have met the same fate, I'm not sure !

     Somehow we have to do all we can to protect our resources. Please make sure your livewells work properly. Let's carry some frozen bottled water that can be placed in the livewells to further cool down the fish. Maybe we can locate some "catch and release" products to put in the livewells to further the cause.

     The sign at the ramp says, "No Power Loading" ! We have a good rapport with the folks at Crooked Lake and got the prime parking places for our club. I think we want to maintain that status with them. When you drive the boat on your trailer, have your partner back the trailer down further, and gently finish driving the boat on the trailer. Better yet, have someone winch you the rest of the way on. Power loading digs a big trench and erosion takes place over time. Some places don't care, but let's pay attention to the ones that do.

     The new season is upon us. Time to begin the quest for the top ten for this year ! You all know my thing, "My limit is one fish in each tournament" and that will probably get me into the top ten. Not sure if that will hold water this year. A lot of people getting better, and an influx of new good anglers coming on board ! Best of luck to all of you in your quest for success !

     Keep your lures in the water and your sunscreen on !