"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Monticello Bass Club
September 13, 2008
Lake Chicot
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 5th place – 3 fish – 7.02 pounds
Practice: I called Andy Case the weekend before the tournament to see if he wanted to go over to
the lake to see if we could put together something for this tournament. When we got there the lake
was 2.5 foot high due to the rain from Hurricane Gustav. For Lake Chicot, high water is highly
unusual. So we knew that what we found on that day would likely not work for the tournament
because the water level would likely fall during the week. We just decided to go fishing. The first
spot we fished, we started catching fish right off the bat on a crankbait. The thing was they weren’t
biting it well. So Andy picked up a jighead worm and started dragging it. They started eating it as
long as you throw at one spot. We ended up catching 14 fish with 9 keepers. Our best 5 would have
went around 12-13 pounds. The next spot we pulled up to was the magic spot (refer to Lake Chicot
6/28/08 tournament). At that time, we didn’t know we were going to put on a show for some local
anglers. The next 10 cast, I caught 8 keepers with the smallest fish in the 3 ½ pound range. We
ended up catching 16 keepers off the magical spot. Our best five would have went around 22-24
pounds. All these fish came on 8 pound test line with a jighead worm. We didn’t catch another fish
all day!!! At the end of the week, Hurricane Ike started making an appearance, so I called Andy on
Friday and said he should fish with me because the forecast was for high winds and we were going
to fish the same spots anyways.
September 13: Derby day began with lots of wind!!! Andy and I ran to the magical spot. It was
already white capped. I managed to catch one keeper on a jighead worm before getting blown off
the spot. We then ran to the other spot we caught fish the weekend before. We didn’t even get a
bite there. I knew all week that there would be current flowing thru the mouth of Ditch Bayou, so we
ran down there. There was a boat from Tennessee on one point so we started on the other point.
We looked over at the other boat and they are slaying them, talk about playing mind games!!! I just
started focusing on fishing a few wooden poles that were acting as current breaks. I was able to
catch two keepers and miss one. Andy caught a keeper which was blind in both eyes. How did that
fish find the lure? These fish came on jighead worms. We fished that area for at least 2-3 hours. We
watched the other boat catch a lot of shorts and a few keepers. At one point it looked like a lake
party because there were five boats in one spot!!! By that time, it was blowing a constant 15-20 mph
with gust over 35 mph. We ran back to the magical spot but only managed one cast before being
blown off it. So we decided to head back up lake before we needed kidney transplants. At that point,
there were 2-3 foot rollers everywhere!! We fished around the causeway area with no luck and
decided we would get out of the wind in the north end of the lake. WRONG, the wind was out of the
Southeast on the south end of the lake but some how it was blowing so hard that on the north end it
was blowing from north to south, EXPLAIN that????? We ran around and only managed a few short
fish and a couple misses. Then about an hour left we fished by a large cypress tree. I caught a
short and Andy lost a good one. Then we ran to another large tree. I again caught a short one but
this time Andy catches a good fish. Then we ran out of time and were ready to get on dry land.
Keeper count:
Spot Remover Jighead and Zoom Finesse Worm: 3 keepers
Final thoughts: I had a great time fishing with Andy; however, it was one of those kinds of
tournament that didn’t go our way. The wind was blowing so hard that it made it hard to fish
anywhere. We both did all we could. I wish we would have had more time at the magical spot and
mouth of Ditch Bayou because there was a lot of fish in those areas. We both wished we would have
caught fish like the weekend before but we knew before the tournament started that it was not going
to happen. Even tough it didn’t happen, the day we had the weekend before in practice will be one
of those days we will be telling everyone about for years to come.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley
September 13, 2008
Lake Chicot
Anglers: Jeremy Risley
Place: 5th place – 3 fish – 7.02 pounds
Practice: I called Andy Case the weekend before the tournament to see if he wanted to go over to
the lake to see if we could put together something for this tournament. When we got there the lake
was 2.5 foot high due to the rain from Hurricane Gustav. For Lake Chicot, high water is highly
unusual. So we knew that what we found on that day would likely not work for the tournament
because the water level would likely fall during the week. We just decided to go fishing. The first
spot we fished, we started catching fish right off the bat on a crankbait. The thing was they weren’t
biting it well. So Andy picked up a jighead worm and started dragging it. They started eating it as
long as you throw at one spot. We ended up catching 14 fish with 9 keepers. Our best 5 would have
went around 12-13 pounds. The next spot we pulled up to was the magic spot (refer to Lake Chicot
6/28/08 tournament). At that time, we didn’t know we were going to put on a show for some local
anglers. The next 10 cast, I caught 8 keepers with the smallest fish in the 3 ½ pound range. We
ended up catching 16 keepers off the magical spot. Our best five would have went around 22-24
pounds. All these fish came on 8 pound test line with a jighead worm. We didn’t catch another fish
all day!!! At the end of the week, Hurricane Ike started making an appearance, so I called Andy on
Friday and said he should fish with me because the forecast was for high winds and we were going
to fish the same spots anyways.
September 13: Derby day began with lots of wind!!! Andy and I ran to the magical spot. It was
already white capped. I managed to catch one keeper on a jighead worm before getting blown off
the spot. We then ran to the other spot we caught fish the weekend before. We didn’t even get a
bite there. I knew all week that there would be current flowing thru the mouth of Ditch Bayou, so we
ran down there. There was a boat from Tennessee on one point so we started on the other point.
We looked over at the other boat and they are slaying them, talk about playing mind games!!! I just
started focusing on fishing a few wooden poles that were acting as current breaks. I was able to
catch two keepers and miss one. Andy caught a keeper which was blind in both eyes. How did that
fish find the lure? These fish came on jighead worms. We fished that area for at least 2-3 hours. We
watched the other boat catch a lot of shorts and a few keepers. At one point it looked like a lake
party because there were five boats in one spot!!! By that time, it was blowing a constant 15-20 mph
with gust over 35 mph. We ran back to the magical spot but only managed one cast before being
blown off it. So we decided to head back up lake before we needed kidney transplants. At that point,
there were 2-3 foot rollers everywhere!! We fished around the causeway area with no luck and
decided we would get out of the wind in the north end of the lake. WRONG, the wind was out of the
Southeast on the south end of the lake but some how it was blowing so hard that on the north end it
was blowing from north to south, EXPLAIN that????? We ran around and only managed a few short
fish and a couple misses. Then about an hour left we fished by a large cypress tree. I caught a
short and Andy lost a good one. Then we ran to another large tree. I again caught a short one but
this time Andy catches a good fish. Then we ran out of time and were ready to get on dry land.
Keeper count:
Spot Remover Jighead and Zoom Finesse Worm: 3 keepers
Final thoughts: I had a great time fishing with Andy; however, it was one of those kinds of
tournament that didn’t go our way. The wind was blowing so hard that it made it hard to fish
anywhere. We both did all we could. I wish we would have had more time at the magical spot and
mouth of Ditch Bayou because there was a lot of fish in those areas. We both wished we would have
caught fish like the weekend before but we knew before the tournament started that it was not going
to happen. Even tough it didn’t happen, the day we had the weekend before in practice will be one
of those days we will be telling everyone about for years to come.
See ya’ at the next tournament,
Jeremy Risley