"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Monticello Bass Club
March 29, 2008
Pool 2 of Arkansas River
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 20th - 2 bass – 6.33 pounds
First Thoughts and Goals: Since this is the first tournament of the year for the Monticello Bass
Club, I thought I would give some perspective on my thoughts and goals for the 2008 club season.
Coming into the first tournament of the year, I wanted to keep the momentum from the end of last
year’s season, when I won the club’s end of the year classic. That was the first year fishing the club,
so I wanted to keep this momentum going into this year. I ended the year in 11th place out of 35
anglers. This was an ok finish since most of the places we fished were the first time I had fished
them or fished during that particular time period. I also missed several tournaments and had a
quite of few bonehead moves throughout the year.
My goal for this year in the club is to end the year in 10th place or better. We have around 45 or so
anglers fishing this year in the club. The club is filled with great anglers and I feel like a top ten
finish will be a great accomplishment. I am still trying to prove my abilities to the club members and I
think this will help a lot. I am also going to try and keep the boneheaded moves to a minimum this
year and most importantly try and learn each time I’m on the water.
Background: This tournament was originally scheduled to be fished on Lake Chicot. I spent both
days the weekend before trying to find fish on Lake Chicot. However, the week before the
tournament, the club voted on moving the tournament to pool 2.
Practice: Two weekends before the tournament, I made it out to the river to fun fish. I found some
fish in 2 foot of water or less in dead lily pad stems. I was catching them by waking an out of
production Jewel Spinnerbait. Since that was the last time I had been to the river, I took a half day
off at work on Friday and went over to find some fish. I went to the Merrisach Area of Pool 2. I fished
a weightless senko around flooded vegetation and stumps in the back of pockets. I caught 9 short
fish and one in the 5 pound range. I put that down and tried catching fish on a spinnerbait since it
was windy. After getting belatedly cutoff by a rude angler, I proceeded to catch three fish. Two of
them were short fish and the other was in the 3 pound range.
March 29: Derby day began with a short drag race down to Merrisach. When I got there it look like
the Merry Go Round at Disney Word even with the lines. There were roughly 30 boats or more in
there. Talking about frustrating, my hopes for a great day started to sink to the bottom of the boat.
After making my way through the sea of boats, I got to my first spot, a large finger within Merrisach.
I started fishing a weightless green pumpkin red senko. About halfway down the bank, I catch a
short fish around some flooded vegetation. On the very next cast I catch another short fish and
another one shortly after that. So I’m thinking I got this figured out. Shortly after the flurry of short
fish, I watched a fellow bass club competitor catch a five pounder in front of me. So I fished in that
area for a while and caught a few more short fish while dodging boats. After a while, I decide it was
time to go try to catch some of the spinnerbait fish I found a couple weeks ago. I run up there and
when I get in there, it looked like Nestle’s Quick chocolate milk. I knew then I was in real trouble. I
didn’t even have a bite in that area. I then ran into Coal Pile to see if I could catch some fish in
there. After a while, I changed to a green pumpkin with purple and green flake senko to see if color
mattered. I missed a couple of fish in there and then decided I better end the day in Merrisach
where I had more confidence so I could at least weigh in a fish. When I got in there I quickly caught
a short fish. Then a couple casts later, I lose a fish and then miss another one. I then watch another
angler catch a keeper in front of me so I jumped over to the first area I started. At 1:30, I hooked up
with my first keeper. When I put the fish in the livewell I felt like screaming “Never give up!!!” and
going IKE like Mike Iaconelli did at the 2003 Bassmaster Classic in the Louisiana Delta. However, I
didn’t have time for that. I fished around there for a bit and then ran over to another point. At 2:25,
I landed my final keeper for the day.
Keeper count:
Weightless Yamamoto Senko (Green Pumpkin with Green and Purple Flake): 2 keepers
Final thoughts: Well it wasn’t the way I wanted to start out the 2008 club season. My inexperience in
Pool 2 during this time of the year reared its big ugly head during this tournament. Once I got to the
area and seen all the people, it really messed me up. With my lack of experience, I didn’t have a
back up area to go to. In hindsight, I should have just fished and tried to fish with various types of
lures and methods. After the tournament was over, I heard that Coal Pile and the Annex was on fire
especially during the morning hours. The people who fished in Merrisach really struggled. Even
though I didn’t have a good finish, I still learned a bunch and can use that info in future
tournaments. That is what is it really all about, trying to learn new stuff every time you’re on the
water.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley
March 29, 2008
Pool 2 of Arkansas River
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 20th - 2 bass – 6.33 pounds
First Thoughts and Goals: Since this is the first tournament of the year for the Monticello Bass
Club, I thought I would give some perspective on my thoughts and goals for the 2008 club season.
Coming into the first tournament of the year, I wanted to keep the momentum from the end of last
year’s season, when I won the club’s end of the year classic. That was the first year fishing the club,
so I wanted to keep this momentum going into this year. I ended the year in 11th place out of 35
anglers. This was an ok finish since most of the places we fished were the first time I had fished
them or fished during that particular time period. I also missed several tournaments and had a
quite of few bonehead moves throughout the year.
My goal for this year in the club is to end the year in 10th place or better. We have around 45 or so
anglers fishing this year in the club. The club is filled with great anglers and I feel like a top ten
finish will be a great accomplishment. I am still trying to prove my abilities to the club members and I
think this will help a lot. I am also going to try and keep the boneheaded moves to a minimum this
year and most importantly try and learn each time I’m on the water.
Background: This tournament was originally scheduled to be fished on Lake Chicot. I spent both
days the weekend before trying to find fish on Lake Chicot. However, the week before the
tournament, the club voted on moving the tournament to pool 2.
Practice: Two weekends before the tournament, I made it out to the river to fun fish. I found some
fish in 2 foot of water or less in dead lily pad stems. I was catching them by waking an out of
production Jewel Spinnerbait. Since that was the last time I had been to the river, I took a half day
off at work on Friday and went over to find some fish. I went to the Merrisach Area of Pool 2. I fished
a weightless senko around flooded vegetation and stumps in the back of pockets. I caught 9 short
fish and one in the 5 pound range. I put that down and tried catching fish on a spinnerbait since it
was windy. After getting belatedly cutoff by a rude angler, I proceeded to catch three fish. Two of
them were short fish and the other was in the 3 pound range.
March 29: Derby day began with a short drag race down to Merrisach. When I got there it look like
the Merry Go Round at Disney Word even with the lines. There were roughly 30 boats or more in
there. Talking about frustrating, my hopes for a great day started to sink to the bottom of the boat.
After making my way through the sea of boats, I got to my first spot, a large finger within Merrisach.
I started fishing a weightless green pumpkin red senko. About halfway down the bank, I catch a
short fish around some flooded vegetation. On the very next cast I catch another short fish and
another one shortly after that. So I’m thinking I got this figured out. Shortly after the flurry of short
fish, I watched a fellow bass club competitor catch a five pounder in front of me. So I fished in that
area for a while and caught a few more short fish while dodging boats. After a while, I decide it was
time to go try to catch some of the spinnerbait fish I found a couple weeks ago. I run up there and
when I get in there, it looked like Nestle’s Quick chocolate milk. I knew then I was in real trouble. I
didn’t even have a bite in that area. I then ran into Coal Pile to see if I could catch some fish in
there. After a while, I changed to a green pumpkin with purple and green flake senko to see if color
mattered. I missed a couple of fish in there and then decided I better end the day in Merrisach
where I had more confidence so I could at least weigh in a fish. When I got in there I quickly caught
a short fish. Then a couple casts later, I lose a fish and then miss another one. I then watch another
angler catch a keeper in front of me so I jumped over to the first area I started. At 1:30, I hooked up
with my first keeper. When I put the fish in the livewell I felt like screaming “Never give up!!!” and
going IKE like Mike Iaconelli did at the 2003 Bassmaster Classic in the Louisiana Delta. However, I
didn’t have time for that. I fished around there for a bit and then ran over to another point. At 2:25,
I landed my final keeper for the day.
Keeper count:
Weightless Yamamoto Senko (Green Pumpkin with Green and Purple Flake): 2 keepers
Final thoughts: Well it wasn’t the way I wanted to start out the 2008 club season. My inexperience in
Pool 2 during this time of the year reared its big ugly head during this tournament. Once I got to the
area and seen all the people, it really messed me up. With my lack of experience, I didn’t have a
back up area to go to. In hindsight, I should have just fished and tried to fish with various types of
lures and methods. After the tournament was over, I heard that Coal Pile and the Annex was on fire
especially during the morning hours. The people who fished in Merrisach really struggled. Even
though I didn’t have a good finish, I still learned a bunch and can use that info in future
tournaments. That is what is it really all about, trying to learn new stuff every time you’re on the
water.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley