"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Vince Miller's Super Team
February 8th, 2009
Lake Hamilton
Anglers: Jeremy Risley and Frank Leone
17th place - 5 bass - 6.97 pounds
Practice:
January 23rd: Jeremy and I decided to make the journey to Hamilton to check out how the bite was
going. Man, we were disappointed to say the least. We fished for a solid 8 hours and caught 5 puny
little fish. One was a keeper, a tiny little Kentucky. I could hear Vince now: "Leone and Risley, 0.89
pounds!" Jeremy caught 4 of our dinks on jerkbaits and one on a spoon. I blanked - didn't even
have a bite. Definitely not the practice day we wanted.
February 7th: The day before the tournament was extremely warm, overcast, and windy - perfect
for a mid-winter day of fishing. We started on a channel swing in the mid-lake area. It wasn't long
before we started catching fish. I connected with our first keeper, a whopping 13" largemouth with a
Jackall Squirrel 79 DD. I quickly added a couple more dinks, but they didn't even measure. We
proceeded up the lake, where we started to develop a pattern. The fish were on the channel swings
and they would eat a jerkbait. That was perfect, because Jeremy is a jerkbait expert. I told him that I
would keep the net ready!!! Anyway, the bite was pretty solid. I was catching them on a Jackall
Squad Minnow 115 and Jeremy was throwing his trusty Megabass 110. We were confident that we
could get our 5, but knew that coming up with a kicker or two would be a difficult proposition.
February 8th: The 2009 tournament season is upon us!!! What a beautiful morning for fishing!!!
Felt like April!!! We get to a swing up the river that Jeremy was eyeballing on Saturday and he
starts chunking his 110. First cast and boom a short fish. Two casts later and another short. fish.
Maybe another two or three casts and boom our first keeper of the morning, a 2-pound largemouth.
It started off fast and furious. The bite continued pretty much all day. We had our 5th keeper about
9:30 AM, Time to start culling, which we did time and time again! Let the dink fest begin... Anyway,
we were both catching fish early, Jeremy had put three keepers in the boat on his Megabass 110
and I had 3 on the Jackall Squad minnow.... I felt pretty good because I was hanging.... But then it
happened, I got "Pro Blued". That's the color of Jeremy's Megabass 110 that he throws on sunny
days. From then on, I was the official "Cull Boy" and "Fish Caddy", as Jeremy went on to catch the
next 7 keepers. Unfortunately, they were all the same size. Our best 5 included four that were 14"
inches long and one about two pounds. We just couldn't find that kicker.......
Keeper Count:
Megabass 110: 10 keepers
Jackall Squad Minnow 115 (Tennessee Shad): 3 keepers
Final Thoughts:
A fun day of fishing, but frustrating at the same time. It was typical Hamilton. Lots of bun but no
meat! We tried to get a jig bite going in practice, but never even got a bite. We had no fall back
pattern so we kept chucking jerkbaits all day. At least we didn't bomb.......
See Ya' on the Flip Side,
Frank Leone
February 8th, 2009
Lake Hamilton
Anglers: Jeremy Risley and Frank Leone
17th place - 5 bass - 6.97 pounds
Practice:
January 23rd: Jeremy and I decided to make the journey to Hamilton to check out how the bite was
going. Man, we were disappointed to say the least. We fished for a solid 8 hours and caught 5 puny
little fish. One was a keeper, a tiny little Kentucky. I could hear Vince now: "Leone and Risley, 0.89
pounds!" Jeremy caught 4 of our dinks on jerkbaits and one on a spoon. I blanked - didn't even
have a bite. Definitely not the practice day we wanted.
February 7th: The day before the tournament was extremely warm, overcast, and windy - perfect
for a mid-winter day of fishing. We started on a channel swing in the mid-lake area. It wasn't long
before we started catching fish. I connected with our first keeper, a whopping 13" largemouth with a
Jackall Squirrel 79 DD. I quickly added a couple more dinks, but they didn't even measure. We
proceeded up the lake, where we started to develop a pattern. The fish were on the channel swings
and they would eat a jerkbait. That was perfect, because Jeremy is a jerkbait expert. I told him that I
would keep the net ready!!! Anyway, the bite was pretty solid. I was catching them on a Jackall
Squad Minnow 115 and Jeremy was throwing his trusty Megabass 110. We were confident that we
could get our 5, but knew that coming up with a kicker or two would be a difficult proposition.
February 8th: The 2009 tournament season is upon us!!! What a beautiful morning for fishing!!!
Felt like April!!! We get to a swing up the river that Jeremy was eyeballing on Saturday and he
starts chunking his 110. First cast and boom a short fish. Two casts later and another short. fish.
Maybe another two or three casts and boom our first keeper of the morning, a 2-pound largemouth.
It started off fast and furious. The bite continued pretty much all day. We had our 5th keeper about
9:30 AM, Time to start culling, which we did time and time again! Let the dink fest begin... Anyway,
we were both catching fish early, Jeremy had put three keepers in the boat on his Megabass 110
and I had 3 on the Jackall Squad minnow.... I felt pretty good because I was hanging.... But then it
happened, I got "Pro Blued". That's the color of Jeremy's Megabass 110 that he throws on sunny
days. From then on, I was the official "Cull Boy" and "Fish Caddy", as Jeremy went on to catch the
next 7 keepers. Unfortunately, they were all the same size. Our best 5 included four that were 14"
inches long and one about two pounds. We just couldn't find that kicker.......
Keeper Count:
Megabass 110: 10 keepers
Jackall Squad Minnow 115 (Tennessee Shad): 3 keepers
Final Thoughts:
A fun day of fishing, but frustrating at the same time. It was typical Hamilton. Lots of bun but no
meat! We tried to get a jig bite going in practice, but never even got a bite. We had no fall back
pattern so we kept chucking jerkbaits all day. At least we didn't bomb.......
See Ya' on the Flip Side,
Frank Leone