"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Monticello Bass Club
July 12, 2008
Pool2 of Arkansas River
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 11th place – 2 fish – 4.52 pounds
Practice: Normally this time of the year, I run all the way up to Dam 3 and fish my way back down.
However, this year was a different story. Because of the high water, I was forced to fish backwater
most of the time. I went out on Friday to see if I could develop something. I started in Annex
throwing a buzzbait. I had several good ones blow up on my bait but never ate it. Then I went to
Merrisach to see if I could find some fish there. I was able to catch a couple keepers in there on a
worm. I then ran to Post Lake without any luck. I then ran to Coal Pile to find some ledge fish.
Unfortunately like most of my practices this year, I caught a 5 pounder on a crankbait. The
unfortunate thing is I can never catch a fish that size or even catch a fish on the bait in the
tournament. I then ended in the Annex flipping mats and pulling my hair out because I couldn’t get
that to work. I was worried because I could find any solid pattern for Saturday.
June 7: Derby day began with about sixty or so boats at the ramp. There just happen to be 4
tournaments out of that ramp on this particular day. First thing, I ran to Annex. There were at least
25 boats in there. I threw a buzzbait with two trailer hooks and still missed several fish. I was able to
catch a couple shorts on a worm. Then I made a big mistakes, I left the Annex to go to Coal Pile.
When I got there, it was crowded. I fished my ledge and got out of there because I knew I wasn’t
going to be able to catch fish in there. I then ran to my Merrisach spot. I started pitching to sparse
coontail with a 10 inch worm. I was able to boat a 15 inch keeper and a short shortly after starting
on the bank. Then I lost a keeper in some Alligator weed. I then picked up a black and Blue Eakins
Jig and was able to catch a keeper and several drum. One drum was in the 15-20 pound range. I
went up and down that bank about 6 times and was able to catch a couple shorts and loss another
fish. I then left to fish some river stuff which didn’t work. I had some time left so I ran back to the
Merrisach spot to find a barge had just went through and muddy up that area. After that I just ran
and hit some areas in Annex with no luck
Keeper count:
Jewel Eakins' Jig (5/16 oz. Black/blue flash): 1 keeper
10 inch Berkley Powerworm: 1 Keeper
Final thoughts: What can I say!! I didn’t have anything coming into this tournament so I knew it was
going to be a struggle. You can’t always win them all. Looking back, I shouldn’t have left the Annex
area or my Merrisach area. I should have just worked these areas over. Most of the people who
cashed checks in this tournament caught their fish in the Annex. The bank in Merrisach had fish on
it but I should have tried various lures instead of my standard two. At least, I came out of this
tournament with a lesson learned. That is try various lures when you know you are around fish
instead of using your standard couple of lures.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley
July 12, 2008
Pool2 of Arkansas River
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 11th place – 2 fish – 4.52 pounds
Practice: Normally this time of the year, I run all the way up to Dam 3 and fish my way back down.
However, this year was a different story. Because of the high water, I was forced to fish backwater
most of the time. I went out on Friday to see if I could develop something. I started in Annex
throwing a buzzbait. I had several good ones blow up on my bait but never ate it. Then I went to
Merrisach to see if I could find some fish there. I was able to catch a couple keepers in there on a
worm. I then ran to Post Lake without any luck. I then ran to Coal Pile to find some ledge fish.
Unfortunately like most of my practices this year, I caught a 5 pounder on a crankbait. The
unfortunate thing is I can never catch a fish that size or even catch a fish on the bait in the
tournament. I then ended in the Annex flipping mats and pulling my hair out because I couldn’t get
that to work. I was worried because I could find any solid pattern for Saturday.
June 7: Derby day began with about sixty or so boats at the ramp. There just happen to be 4
tournaments out of that ramp on this particular day. First thing, I ran to Annex. There were at least
25 boats in there. I threw a buzzbait with two trailer hooks and still missed several fish. I was able to
catch a couple shorts on a worm. Then I made a big mistakes, I left the Annex to go to Coal Pile.
When I got there, it was crowded. I fished my ledge and got out of there because I knew I wasn’t
going to be able to catch fish in there. I then ran to my Merrisach spot. I started pitching to sparse
coontail with a 10 inch worm. I was able to boat a 15 inch keeper and a short shortly after starting
on the bank. Then I lost a keeper in some Alligator weed. I then picked up a black and Blue Eakins
Jig and was able to catch a keeper and several drum. One drum was in the 15-20 pound range. I
went up and down that bank about 6 times and was able to catch a couple shorts and loss another
fish. I then left to fish some river stuff which didn’t work. I had some time left so I ran back to the
Merrisach spot to find a barge had just went through and muddy up that area. After that I just ran
and hit some areas in Annex with no luck
Keeper count:
Jewel Eakins' Jig (5/16 oz. Black/blue flash): 1 keeper
10 inch Berkley Powerworm: 1 Keeper
Final thoughts: What can I say!! I didn’t have anything coming into this tournament so I knew it was
going to be a struggle. You can’t always win them all. Looking back, I shouldn’t have left the Annex
area or my Merrisach area. I should have just worked these areas over. Most of the people who
cashed checks in this tournament caught their fish in the Annex. The bank in Merrisach had fish on
it but I should have tried various lures instead of my standard two. At least, I came out of this
tournament with a lesson learned. That is try various lures when you know you are around fish
instead of using your standard couple of lures.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley