"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Mr. Bass of Arkansas-DeGray Lake
March 14, 2010
Story by Andy Case, BACKEND VERSION (Co Angler)
Place: DEAD LAST
Background and Practice:
This is my second Mr. Bass of Arkansas Tournament as a Co-Angler. After the results from the
Super Teams event, I was so pumped I called Frank and told him I wanted to go out and pre fish
with him on Saturday. (I really just wanted to go pound on some fish to break this WHOOO DOOO
VOOO DOOO curse I have. “PHISH”-the great Indian fish god has put a spell on me that will not
come off.) I will let Frank’s In the Boat tell about my practice. Saturday evening at the pairings,
man the word in the crowd was everybody was SMACKING-UP!! I was ready, lets pair up and go,
finally Mr. Randy calls my name and for the angler he calls James Frank, last year’s Co-Angler
winner. We exchanged numbers, and needed info and now to get ready for day break.
BLAST OFF:
I was excited about this tournament, heck I am excited about every tournament. And to top it off
James said we were going to start off in an area that Frank and I fished the day before, I knew there
were some fish in there, I saw Frank catch’em. (Oh yea that curse I mentioned- Zero fish boated for
me during practice.) Anyway as we are sitting in the crowd of 72 other boats waiting on our number
to be called, I was getting a little nervous. Numbers are being called, 28, 29, 30, then us…as
James gets his Ranger on pad, the water was real choppy and I got really nervous not for me but
for James. James is a lot taller than he is wide, man I was wishing I had gotten a few big rocks to
help weight him down. When we rounded that last bend into the area we are going to start, I
noticed there was no one in sight, man we got this whole place to ourselves??? James jumps on
the front, drops the trolling motor and within the third of fourth cast, he has hooked up with a nice
keeper spot. Why was a spot there? Who cares he is a keeper. We both decide that with the water
temp, we will start off throwing a trap. We have fished around in our spot for a little bit and I throw
my Baby Bass Yo-Zuri up toward a log and hit a stump, a brush pile, and another stump. I told
James, “Man there is some stuff by that log, once the water warms some, we need to drag some
plastic through that”, James-“Oh man I am on it” and man was he. It was like slow motion, he
flipped that lizard up by that log and instantly his rod folded in half and it was not backing down, he
finally works this pale colored big momma to the boat where I got her in the net, a 5 plus fish before
8 o’clock, MAN. After James boxes big momma, he gets his lizard back on and back to the log and
BAM! Again doubled over, a solid 3 pound plus fish. Oh boy, they are here! All this at 46 degree
water temp, what will happen when it hits 50 plus? Well for James and I, Nothing! We worked the
next 4 hours without even a nibble. I even got desperate and put on a South Arkansas go
to…Black and Blue Baby Paca Craw and started flipping bushes. At about 1:30-2:00 I flipped the
Paca into a Brush top and felt a peck, WHAT!! A peck, could that be a fish? Yep it was, I did finally
get a 15” Black to bite my bug, not a keeper but it was a fish and I did set the hook and land him so
it is looking up for me, a little. We made a short move, to only come back and try the log one more
time, before we packed gear and made the run in.
Final Thoughts:
I have been very fortunate in drawing Scott Hines at Greers and James Frank at DeGray. Both are
great guys and great fisherman. I’d like to say THANKS to Mr. Randy Verboon. As a new comer I
think he is doing a great job in running the Mr. Bass of Arkansas. I really want to try something
different for the next one, like catching a KEEPER!! But till the VOO DOO is gone, who knows.
Keep Chunking..Luck Counts
Andy Case
March 14, 2010
Story by Andy Case, BACKEND VERSION (Co Angler)
Place: DEAD LAST
Background and Practice:
This is my second Mr. Bass of Arkansas Tournament as a Co-Angler. After the results from the
Super Teams event, I was so pumped I called Frank and told him I wanted to go out and pre fish
with him on Saturday. (I really just wanted to go pound on some fish to break this WHOOO DOOO
VOOO DOOO curse I have. “PHISH”-the great Indian fish god has put a spell on me that will not
come off.) I will let Frank’s In the Boat tell about my practice. Saturday evening at the pairings,
man the word in the crowd was everybody was SMACKING-UP!! I was ready, lets pair up and go,
finally Mr. Randy calls my name and for the angler he calls James Frank, last year’s Co-Angler
winner. We exchanged numbers, and needed info and now to get ready for day break.
BLAST OFF:
I was excited about this tournament, heck I am excited about every tournament. And to top it off
James said we were going to start off in an area that Frank and I fished the day before, I knew there
were some fish in there, I saw Frank catch’em. (Oh yea that curse I mentioned- Zero fish boated for
me during practice.) Anyway as we are sitting in the crowd of 72 other boats waiting on our number
to be called, I was getting a little nervous. Numbers are being called, 28, 29, 30, then us…as
James gets his Ranger on pad, the water was real choppy and I got really nervous not for me but
for James. James is a lot taller than he is wide, man I was wishing I had gotten a few big rocks to
help weight him down. When we rounded that last bend into the area we are going to start, I
noticed there was no one in sight, man we got this whole place to ourselves??? James jumps on
the front, drops the trolling motor and within the third of fourth cast, he has hooked up with a nice
keeper spot. Why was a spot there? Who cares he is a keeper. We both decide that with the water
temp, we will start off throwing a trap. We have fished around in our spot for a little bit and I throw
my Baby Bass Yo-Zuri up toward a log and hit a stump, a brush pile, and another stump. I told
James, “Man there is some stuff by that log, once the water warms some, we need to drag some
plastic through that”, James-“Oh man I am on it” and man was he. It was like slow motion, he
flipped that lizard up by that log and instantly his rod folded in half and it was not backing down, he
finally works this pale colored big momma to the boat where I got her in the net, a 5 plus fish before
8 o’clock, MAN. After James boxes big momma, he gets his lizard back on and back to the log and
BAM! Again doubled over, a solid 3 pound plus fish. Oh boy, they are here! All this at 46 degree
water temp, what will happen when it hits 50 plus? Well for James and I, Nothing! We worked the
next 4 hours without even a nibble. I even got desperate and put on a South Arkansas go
to…Black and Blue Baby Paca Craw and started flipping bushes. At about 1:30-2:00 I flipped the
Paca into a Brush top and felt a peck, WHAT!! A peck, could that be a fish? Yep it was, I did finally
get a 15” Black to bite my bug, not a keeper but it was a fish and I did set the hook and land him so
it is looking up for me, a little. We made a short move, to only come back and try the log one more
time, before we packed gear and made the run in.
Final Thoughts:
I have been very fortunate in drawing Scott Hines at Greers and James Frank at DeGray. Both are
great guys and great fisherman. I’d like to say THANKS to Mr. Randy Verboon. As a new comer I
think he is doing a great job in running the Mr. Bass of Arkansas. I really want to try something
different for the next one, like catching a KEEPER!! But till the VOO DOO is gone, who knows.
Keep Chunking..Luck Counts
Andy Case