"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Vince Miller's Super Team
June 22nd, 2008
Arkansas River (Pine Bluff)
Anglers: Jeremy Risley and Frank Leone
2nd place - 5 bass - 17.74 pounds - $1000.00
Practice: Practice for this one was abbreviated. Jeremy fished alone on Saturday and targeted
Coal Pile and Annex in the Dumas Pool. With the water being so high and knowing how much
pressure the Harbor has been receiving, we felt much more comfortable making the long run.
Several weeks earlier, Jeremy had fished a Thursday nighter with Caleb Lane in Coal Pile. Caleb
and Jeremy, who are both members of the Monticello Bass Club, had a great tournament and won
Big Bass on that evening. The stretch of bank they fished was in Coal Pile, and had produced giant
sacks for Caleb all year. Armed with this knowledge, Jeremy set out to see if the bank was still firing.
It was and he decided that it would be our first stop during the tournament. Seeking a back-up area,
Jeremy also fished Post Lake and Annex. Post turned out to be a dud, but he caught several fish in
Annex on a 10" Berkley Power Worm. Things were looking good, but we were still a bit nervous
about making the long run.
Tournament: We were boat #38, so it felt like an eternity waiting to head down to Dumas. Our
number was called so off we went. Jeremy was conserving gas, so all the boats heading down blew
us away. About an hour later, we finally made it to Coal Pile. Our primary pattern was skipping Jewel
Eakins' Jigs to cypress trees. These weren't easy skips. Most of the branches were touching the
water - So I would say the degree of difficulty was a 10 out of 10. Jeremy had warned me of this, but
I'm proud of my pitching ability, so I kind of took a "wait and see" attitude. Let me tell you, those
trees ate my lunch!!! It felt like this was my first day ever fishing! Anyway, we started down the trees
and Jeremy started whacking the short fish. He caught several, probably 6 or 7, before finally
breaking the ice with a solid 4-pounder. The next half-hour was magical. Jeremy quickly added our
smallest fish, a 2.25 pounder, and then we made our way back to the tree where he had caught the
4-pounder. He looked at me and said "I'm going to catch another one out of there". He made an
awesome skip cast under the branches and almost immediately set the hook. The fish got wrapped
up in a branch, but Jeremy wrestled him out of there (branch and all!!!) and we got him in the net. It
was another solid 4-pounder!!! We were on our way to a good bag. About 5 minutes later, I
watched Jeremy make another awesome skip under a tree and set the hook. He pulled out a "freak
of nature" - a 16-inch bass that I swear would go 3-pounds!!! We needed one more, but about that
time the cypress tree bite died. Even the short fish stopped biting. After about another hour, we
headed to Annex. We started pitching 10" Berkley Power Worms in front of the Alligator weed.
About 10 minutes after getting there Jeremy set the hook. "It's a toad" I yelled as I saw the fish boil.
We got the fish in the net and it was another 4-pound + fish. With an estimated 17 - 18 pounds, We
knew we were in contention for the win!!! We failed to catch another keeper in Annex. About 12:30
we decided that we needed to run back to Pine Bluff. We had a little over an hour left, but caught
only one small 15"-inch keeper in the Harbor. We knew this would be a tight weigh-in, but we both
knew that the small 2.25 pounder could hurt us - In the end it did.
Keeper Count: Jewel Eakins' Jig (5/16 oz.; Black/blue flash): 4 keepers
Berkley Power Worm (10"-inch; Black/Blue and Plum): 2 keepers
Final Thoughts: This turned out to be an awesome tournament! Jeremy was in the zone, and I
keep on having flashbacks of him setting the hook on those fish in the trees! It was kind of like
watching an episode of the Bassmasters, but it was live and in living color! One thing's for sure, we
will remember this one for a long time..........
See ya' on the flip side,
Frank Leone
June 22nd, 2008
Arkansas River (Pine Bluff)
Anglers: Jeremy Risley and Frank Leone
2nd place - 5 bass - 17.74 pounds - $1000.00
Practice: Practice for this one was abbreviated. Jeremy fished alone on Saturday and targeted
Coal Pile and Annex in the Dumas Pool. With the water being so high and knowing how much
pressure the Harbor has been receiving, we felt much more comfortable making the long run.
Several weeks earlier, Jeremy had fished a Thursday nighter with Caleb Lane in Coal Pile. Caleb
and Jeremy, who are both members of the Monticello Bass Club, had a great tournament and won
Big Bass on that evening. The stretch of bank they fished was in Coal Pile, and had produced giant
sacks for Caleb all year. Armed with this knowledge, Jeremy set out to see if the bank was still firing.
It was and he decided that it would be our first stop during the tournament. Seeking a back-up area,
Jeremy also fished Post Lake and Annex. Post turned out to be a dud, but he caught several fish in
Annex on a 10" Berkley Power Worm. Things were looking good, but we were still a bit nervous
about making the long run.
Tournament: We were boat #38, so it felt like an eternity waiting to head down to Dumas. Our
number was called so off we went. Jeremy was conserving gas, so all the boats heading down blew
us away. About an hour later, we finally made it to Coal Pile. Our primary pattern was skipping Jewel
Eakins' Jigs to cypress trees. These weren't easy skips. Most of the branches were touching the
water - So I would say the degree of difficulty was a 10 out of 10. Jeremy had warned me of this, but
I'm proud of my pitching ability, so I kind of took a "wait and see" attitude. Let me tell you, those
trees ate my lunch!!! It felt like this was my first day ever fishing! Anyway, we started down the trees
and Jeremy started whacking the short fish. He caught several, probably 6 or 7, before finally
breaking the ice with a solid 4-pounder. The next half-hour was magical. Jeremy quickly added our
smallest fish, a 2.25 pounder, and then we made our way back to the tree where he had caught the
4-pounder. He looked at me and said "I'm going to catch another one out of there". He made an
awesome skip cast under the branches and almost immediately set the hook. The fish got wrapped
up in a branch, but Jeremy wrestled him out of there (branch and all!!!) and we got him in the net. It
was another solid 4-pounder!!! We were on our way to a good bag. About 5 minutes later, I
watched Jeremy make another awesome skip under a tree and set the hook. He pulled out a "freak
of nature" - a 16-inch bass that I swear would go 3-pounds!!! We needed one more, but about that
time the cypress tree bite died. Even the short fish stopped biting. After about another hour, we
headed to Annex. We started pitching 10" Berkley Power Worms in front of the Alligator weed.
About 10 minutes after getting there Jeremy set the hook. "It's a toad" I yelled as I saw the fish boil.
We got the fish in the net and it was another 4-pound + fish. With an estimated 17 - 18 pounds, We
knew we were in contention for the win!!! We failed to catch another keeper in Annex. About 12:30
we decided that we needed to run back to Pine Bluff. We had a little over an hour left, but caught
only one small 15"-inch keeper in the Harbor. We knew this would be a tight weigh-in, but we both
knew that the small 2.25 pounder could hurt us - In the end it did.
Keeper Count: Jewel Eakins' Jig (5/16 oz.; Black/blue flash): 4 keepers
Berkley Power Worm (10"-inch; Black/Blue and Plum): 2 keepers
Final Thoughts: This turned out to be an awesome tournament! Jeremy was in the zone, and I
keep on having flashbacks of him setting the hook on those fish in the trees! It was kind of like
watching an episode of the Bassmasters, but it was live and in living color! One thing's for sure, we
will remember this one for a long time..........
See ya' on the flip side,
Frank Leone