"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Caleb Lane’s “Funky” Fruit Jar Tournament
August 30, 2008
Pool 2 (Dumas) of Arkansas River
Anglers: Jeremy Risley and Jim Risley
Place: 1st place – 5 fish – 13.76 pounds - $250
Practice: Since Dad was down on vacation, we decided to go out on Friday to see what we could
find. We had a great day. We caught a bunch of fish on a black Bandit 200 crankbait, Black and
Blue Eakins jig, and black buzzbait. We caught most of our fish on jetty tips and areas where water
was flowing through jetties. We tried to fish area that I normally do not fish to try and come up with a
backup pattern.
August 30: On derby day, I was a little nervous because the water level had come up during the
night and I was worried it was going to affect the jetty tip bite. We ran a little ways up river to a jetty
that dad missed a good fish the day before. We didn’t have any luck so it was time to run to my one
of my best jetties in Pool 2. We go down it several times and Dad was able to boat a limit of 12-inch
spots on an Eakins Jig and a black Bandit 200 crankbait. I was only able to manage a few short fish.
During this whole time, Dad kept asking if I was going to catch a keeper on this day. I told him I was
going to let him catch all the small keepers and I was waiting on the larger ones. We then fished a
couple more jetties and only managed several short fish. Then we go to one of the jetties that
Frank and I whacked them during the Vince Miller Super Team Tournament. After almost having to
get out and push us off a sandbar, we managed to get to the jetty. We fished it for maybe 10
minutes with no bites. Then we noticed a barge coming up river. About that time, the barge started
sucking water down the jetty. That turned the fish ON and they started schooling everywhere
around us!!!! We caught 4 spots in the 13 to 13 ½ inch range and several shorts on topwater and
a jig. We missed several more. When the barge passed the jetty, we never got another bite. We
then went to a near by jetty and I had a good blow up on a buzzbait near the tip of the jetty. A
couple casts later, Dad caught a 16-inch largemouth on a jig on the jetty tip. We thought maybe
they were going to bite on the jetty tips. So we ran around fishing jetty tips for a while and just
managed a few short fish. Dad then mentioned we should try a close backwater area that we had
passed going up river. I thought that was a good idea because we needed to find some largemouth
if we were going to get a check. We said we would fish in there for about an hour and if we didn’t
have any luck we would go back in the river. We started on a point. Within 3 casts, I caught our
biggest fish which was a 4 pound largemouth. Then a couple casts later, I busted a 3 pound
largemouth. About 10 minutes later, Dad catches a good largemouth. We fished that area the rest
of the day just going back and forth. We ended up catching around 9 keeper largemouths and 1
keeper spot on a jig. We had one place where we caught three keepers in the same spot. The key
to the area was working your jig really slow. When it was about time to leave, we hit the mouth the
backwater and I lost a really nice largemouth and another keeper largemouth. By that time, it was
time to head in.
Keeper count:
Jewel Eakins Jig (5/16 oz; Black/Blue Flash: 10 keepers
Black Bandit 200 Crankbait: 6 Keepers
Topwater Lure: 4 keepers
Final thoughts: What a day on the river and getting to share it with my dad was AWESOME!!! If
we hadn’t caught a keeper, it would still have been fun because I haven’t got to fish a tournament
with my dad in two years. We used to fish a lot of tournaments together but just haven’t had the
time lately. We caught over 30 fish and 20 keepers on the day. This will definitely be a day that I will
not soon forget!!!
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley
August 30, 2008
Pool 2 (Dumas) of Arkansas River
Anglers: Jeremy Risley and Jim Risley
Place: 1st place – 5 fish – 13.76 pounds - $250
Practice: Since Dad was down on vacation, we decided to go out on Friday to see what we could
find. We had a great day. We caught a bunch of fish on a black Bandit 200 crankbait, Black and
Blue Eakins jig, and black buzzbait. We caught most of our fish on jetty tips and areas where water
was flowing through jetties. We tried to fish area that I normally do not fish to try and come up with a
backup pattern.
August 30: On derby day, I was a little nervous because the water level had come up during the
night and I was worried it was going to affect the jetty tip bite. We ran a little ways up river to a jetty
that dad missed a good fish the day before. We didn’t have any luck so it was time to run to my one
of my best jetties in Pool 2. We go down it several times and Dad was able to boat a limit of 12-inch
spots on an Eakins Jig and a black Bandit 200 crankbait. I was only able to manage a few short fish.
During this whole time, Dad kept asking if I was going to catch a keeper on this day. I told him I was
going to let him catch all the small keepers and I was waiting on the larger ones. We then fished a
couple more jetties and only managed several short fish. Then we go to one of the jetties that
Frank and I whacked them during the Vince Miller Super Team Tournament. After almost having to
get out and push us off a sandbar, we managed to get to the jetty. We fished it for maybe 10
minutes with no bites. Then we noticed a barge coming up river. About that time, the barge started
sucking water down the jetty. That turned the fish ON and they started schooling everywhere
around us!!!! We caught 4 spots in the 13 to 13 ½ inch range and several shorts on topwater and
a jig. We missed several more. When the barge passed the jetty, we never got another bite. We
then went to a near by jetty and I had a good blow up on a buzzbait near the tip of the jetty. A
couple casts later, Dad caught a 16-inch largemouth on a jig on the jetty tip. We thought maybe
they were going to bite on the jetty tips. So we ran around fishing jetty tips for a while and just
managed a few short fish. Dad then mentioned we should try a close backwater area that we had
passed going up river. I thought that was a good idea because we needed to find some largemouth
if we were going to get a check. We said we would fish in there for about an hour and if we didn’t
have any luck we would go back in the river. We started on a point. Within 3 casts, I caught our
biggest fish which was a 4 pound largemouth. Then a couple casts later, I busted a 3 pound
largemouth. About 10 minutes later, Dad catches a good largemouth. We fished that area the rest
of the day just going back and forth. We ended up catching around 9 keeper largemouths and 1
keeper spot on a jig. We had one place where we caught three keepers in the same spot. The key
to the area was working your jig really slow. When it was about time to leave, we hit the mouth the
backwater and I lost a really nice largemouth and another keeper largemouth. By that time, it was
time to head in.
Keeper count:
Jewel Eakins Jig (5/16 oz; Black/Blue Flash: 10 keepers
Black Bandit 200 Crankbait: 6 Keepers
Topwater Lure: 4 keepers
Final thoughts: What a day on the river and getting to share it with my dad was AWESOME!!! If
we hadn’t caught a keeper, it would still have been fun because I haven’t got to fish a tournament
with my dad in two years. We used to fish a lot of tournaments together but just haven’t had the
time lately. We caught over 30 fish and 20 keepers on the day. This will definitely be a day that I will
not soon forget!!!
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley