"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Monticello Bass Club
June 7, 2008
Morgan Point Bendway
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 17th place – 5 fish – 7.72 pounds
Practice: With very limited experience on Morgan Point, I knew I needed to put some work in before
this tournament. I fished on Memorial Day for a couple of hours. I found fish on two different
patterns. The first was topwater in the flooded trees in 6 to 8 foot of water. I started with ol’ Tommy
Lee. I was fan casting when I had a 2 to 2 ½ pounder blow up on the bait. As I wrestle him in, it got
wrapped in a stump. As I made my way over to the stump, I could feel the fish sawing away on the
other end. By the time I got over there it had broke ol’ Tommy Lee off. Thinking about this tragedy,
I think we need to have a moment of silence to remember ol’ Tommy Lee (R.I.P. 2004-2008)
because he was an awesome fish catcher. Now back to practice. After losing ol’ Tommy and
regrouping, I tied on a Deps Buzzjet. The very next cast, I caught a keeper and then miss one on
the very next cast. That was it for topwater. I then started throwing a Jewel Eakins' jig in Missouri
Craw for an hour or so. I did not have any takers, so I tied on a Black and Blue Eakins' Jig on a long
point that is normally dry land but due to the high water it was under water. I worked down the bank
keeping the boat in 10 foot of water. I felt a tap next to a stump and I set the hook. It was a GOOD
ONE!!! It jump and then wrapped around a stump, then unwrapped and jumped again then came to
the boat. If it was a tournament I would probably have lost it. It weighed in the 7 pound range. After
that I caught several keepers on the jig near bushes in 6- 8 foot of water.
That Thursday, I had the pleasure of fishing with Philip Starks during a Thursday nighter. We
caught one keeper on a Super Spook on the flooded point and one a black and blue jig. The fish
caught on the jig blow up on the spook but missed the spook. Philip threw back in there and caught
it. We couldn’t catch any fish in the deep water. They were GONE!!!!
June 7: Derby day began with me being a little nervous because I knew my deep fish were gone
and I was afraid my lack of experience would come into play. I run to the flooded point and on the
forth cast I catch a 12 ½ inch keeper on new Tommy Lee. I then run around with my head cut off for
the next couple hours throwing topwater and the jig. I was fishing down one bank and every time I
looked across the lake, Adam and Philip Starks were culling. That wasn’t helping my confidence.
Then about 11:00, I make a run down lake and I see one of my “Circle of 5” friends Andy Case
fishing near the flooded point. I stop to ask how he was doing. During conversations, I pick up new
Tommy Lee and make a cast. I had a good fish blow up and come off. I then go down it with new
Tommy. I then try a white swim jig and miss one on it. Then every thing died down. After that, I had
a Pine Bluff Pool flashback, but this time I told myself I’m NOT going to leave fish to find fish. It was
about 11:30 and I pick up the black and blue Jewel Eakins' jig. I pitch by a tree and catch a 13 in.
keeper. I then pitch to the other side and catch another keeper. Then I proceeded to go around the
point about 5 or 6 times. I caught or lost fish on every trip around. All my fish on the jig came in 1.5
foot or less on the up wind side of trees in the shade.
Keeper count:
Reaction Innovation Vixen: 1 keeper
5 /16 Black and Blue Jewel Eakins' Jig: 5 Keepers
Final thoughts: With only having about 18 hours of total experience on Morgan Point, I was proud
of my results. Even though a 7.72 pound limit isn’t much and I didn’t catch the numbers of keepers
as reported by other anglers (some reported catching 30 to 50 keepers), I worked my butt off for
that limit. I wish I would have known about the super shallow bite earlier in the day but that is how it
goes sometimes. I’m just glad I stayed with those fish instead of running around and trying to find
new ones. I went from having no clue at all to figuring out a pattern by caching two key fish.
Sometimes that is all it takes is just a couple clues to discover a pattern. I did lose four keepers
during the day but only two would have helped and they might have gave me a 1 ½ pound more at
the maximum. So overall this tournament was a good learning experience.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley
June 7, 2008
Morgan Point Bendway
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 17th place – 5 fish – 7.72 pounds
Practice: With very limited experience on Morgan Point, I knew I needed to put some work in before
this tournament. I fished on Memorial Day for a couple of hours. I found fish on two different
patterns. The first was topwater in the flooded trees in 6 to 8 foot of water. I started with ol’ Tommy
Lee. I was fan casting when I had a 2 to 2 ½ pounder blow up on the bait. As I wrestle him in, it got
wrapped in a stump. As I made my way over to the stump, I could feel the fish sawing away on the
other end. By the time I got over there it had broke ol’ Tommy Lee off. Thinking about this tragedy,
I think we need to have a moment of silence to remember ol’ Tommy Lee (R.I.P. 2004-2008)
because he was an awesome fish catcher. Now back to practice. After losing ol’ Tommy and
regrouping, I tied on a Deps Buzzjet. The very next cast, I caught a keeper and then miss one on
the very next cast. That was it for topwater. I then started throwing a Jewel Eakins' jig in Missouri
Craw for an hour or so. I did not have any takers, so I tied on a Black and Blue Eakins' Jig on a long
point that is normally dry land but due to the high water it was under water. I worked down the bank
keeping the boat in 10 foot of water. I felt a tap next to a stump and I set the hook. It was a GOOD
ONE!!! It jump and then wrapped around a stump, then unwrapped and jumped again then came to
the boat. If it was a tournament I would probably have lost it. It weighed in the 7 pound range. After
that I caught several keepers on the jig near bushes in 6- 8 foot of water.
That Thursday, I had the pleasure of fishing with Philip Starks during a Thursday nighter. We
caught one keeper on a Super Spook on the flooded point and one a black and blue jig. The fish
caught on the jig blow up on the spook but missed the spook. Philip threw back in there and caught
it. We couldn’t catch any fish in the deep water. They were GONE!!!!
June 7: Derby day began with me being a little nervous because I knew my deep fish were gone
and I was afraid my lack of experience would come into play. I run to the flooded point and on the
forth cast I catch a 12 ½ inch keeper on new Tommy Lee. I then run around with my head cut off for
the next couple hours throwing topwater and the jig. I was fishing down one bank and every time I
looked across the lake, Adam and Philip Starks were culling. That wasn’t helping my confidence.
Then about 11:00, I make a run down lake and I see one of my “Circle of 5” friends Andy Case
fishing near the flooded point. I stop to ask how he was doing. During conversations, I pick up new
Tommy Lee and make a cast. I had a good fish blow up and come off. I then go down it with new
Tommy. I then try a white swim jig and miss one on it. Then every thing died down. After that, I had
a Pine Bluff Pool flashback, but this time I told myself I’m NOT going to leave fish to find fish. It was
about 11:30 and I pick up the black and blue Jewel Eakins' jig. I pitch by a tree and catch a 13 in.
keeper. I then pitch to the other side and catch another keeper. Then I proceeded to go around the
point about 5 or 6 times. I caught or lost fish on every trip around. All my fish on the jig came in 1.5
foot or less on the up wind side of trees in the shade.
Keeper count:
Reaction Innovation Vixen: 1 keeper
5 /16 Black and Blue Jewel Eakins' Jig: 5 Keepers
Final thoughts: With only having about 18 hours of total experience on Morgan Point, I was proud
of my results. Even though a 7.72 pound limit isn’t much and I didn’t catch the numbers of keepers
as reported by other anglers (some reported catching 30 to 50 keepers), I worked my butt off for
that limit. I wish I would have known about the super shallow bite earlier in the day but that is how it
goes sometimes. I’m just glad I stayed with those fish instead of running around and trying to find
new ones. I went from having no clue at all to figuring out a pattern by caching two key fish.
Sometimes that is all it takes is just a couple clues to discover a pattern. I did lose four keepers
during the day but only two would have helped and they might have gave me a 1 ½ pound more at
the maximum. So overall this tournament was a good learning experience.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley