I can honestly say as I write this that I am still shaking a little. You know me I just can't start typing in all the details I have to start with the
prefish. The tourney was on Sunday and Matt and I decided to prefish Saturday morning until the 2-5 pm registration. Well, that had to be the most miserable
weather to prefish in ever. It was windy and downpouring all morning. Matt has fished as a coangler in the BFL's and just baought his first boat in July.
He bought a beautiful 2006 20i with a 225 Yamaha. It was actually Kelly Jordon's boat that he used in the Elites 2 yeas ago. He wanted me to drive so he
could have me give him a few tips on what to do in the big waves. Anyway, we checked some of my river mouth areas and they were holding fish. My first spot we
caught three 4 pounders in 3 casts and left. The wind really was starting to pick up and we were now in 3-4 footers. We then went to my big fish spot. We
caught only a short and decided to troll the edge to see if they had moved. We went about 400 feet and all of a sudden both of our rods doubled and we put two
2 1/2 pounders in the boat. We knew that this sized fish would not get us anything so we decided to have a little fun and catch a few more. We doubled on 2
1/2-3 pounders 3 more times on it in the next 10 minutes. Needless to say they were stacked there. We pulled to cast again when I catch another 2 1/2 pounder
and following him in was a fish that was well over 5. I looked at Matt and said UH OH there are some big ones here. Matt's next cast produced a fish that
went to his scales at 5'8" A few minutes later I catch a 6'6"!!!!!! We decided to leave 
and "check" it again on tourney day 
. We did a little spinnerbaiting for fun and caught some decent laregmouths and
then went in to register. Many boats had decided not to fish due to the incoming weather and they ended up with around 50 or so boats I didn't hear the
final count, but we were 34 and there were at least 15 boats behind us at the take off. The next days weather called for heavy winds out of the southwest at
35+mph. This is not a good stiuation for the mouth of the river if it had enough south in it. The morning dawned with heavy winds as predicted and there was
quite a bit of south in it. I told Matt we were gonna try to get out there no matter what. We ran to the first spot we tried the day before only because it was
a little closer and boy was it rough. We were in 4-6 foot swells and most I could not see over. The fish were biting and we had 7 in under an hour that went
about 23 pounds. We decided it was now or never and ran out to the honey hole. It was even worse out there. Somehow we managed to hold fairly well between the
swells and began doubling up again as we did the day before, except the fish had grown. They were all 3 1/2-5+. It was amazing. By 10:30 we had put 42 keepers
in the boat. The wind died by then and the waves settled down to 2 footers and it was pretty easy to hold on the area now. The fish never quit biting and it
was constant action. Culling actually took more time that the catching. The instant the tube hit the bottom it was gobbled up by another fish. We lost at least
8 fish over five as well as many others we did not see, but we also were catching so many it didn't bother either one of us. I know this sounds like a fish
story, but our best guess and we tried to keep track was 81 keepers for the day and close to 50 were at 4 pounds or better. We ended up weighing in a 7 fish
limit that went 34 pounds 5 ounces and won the tourney by about 5 pounds. Incredibly, there is no doubt in my mind that our bag could have topped 36, but I
have no complaints. The good Lord blessed us with an amazing day that I will never forgot. God Bless Everyone!
and "check" it again on tourney day . We did a little spinnerbaiting for fun and caught some decent laregmouths and
then went in to register. Many boats had decided not to fish due to the incoming weather and they ended up with around 50 or so boats I didn't hear the
final count, but we were 34 and there were at least 15 boats behind us at the take off. The next days weather called for heavy winds out of the southwest at
35+mph. This is not a good stiuation for the mouth of the river if it had enough south in it. The morning dawned with heavy winds as predicted and there was
quite a bit of south in it. I told Matt we were gonna try to get out there no matter what. We ran to the first spot we tried the day before only because it was
a little closer and boy was it rough. We were in 4-6 foot swells and most I could not see over. The fish were biting and we had 7 in under an hour that went
about 23 pounds. We decided it was now or never and ran out to the honey hole. It was even worse out there. Somehow we managed to hold fairly well between the
swells and began doubling up again as we did the day before, except the fish had grown. They were all 3 1/2-5+. It was amazing. By 10:30 we had put 42 keepers
in the boat. The wind died by then and the waves settled down to 2 footers and it was pretty easy to hold on the area now. The fish never quit biting and it
was constant action. Culling actually took more time that the catching. The instant the tube hit the bottom it was gobbled up by another fish. We lost at least
8 fish over five as well as many others we did not see, but we also were catching so many it didn't bother either one of us. I know this sounds like a fish
story, but our best guess and we tried to keep track was 81 keepers for the day and close to 50 were at 4 pounds or better. We ended up weighing in a 7 fish
limit that went 34 pounds 5 ounces and won the tourney by about 5 pounds. Incredibly, there is no doubt in my mind that our bag could have topped 36, but I
have no complaints. The good Lord blessed us with an amazing day that I will never forgot. God Bless Everyone!
You nearly averaged 5 pounds a fish!! Congrats on a fantastic win
P.S. kudos!!
.
