"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Grant County Bass Club
DeGray Lake
January 25th, 2009
Anglers: Cody Kemp and Tyler Whitley - 1st place - 21.60 pounds
Practice:
Tyler and I decided to participate in the Grant county bass club the night before this event and I
hadn’t been on the lake to practice since the Get 5 tournament the weekend before so we planned
on just wingin it and doing what Kevin and I had done the weekend before.
Tournament:
Tyler and I blasted off with the other 9 boats braving the brutally cold mildly windy morning. I fished
last Friday in the 16 degree weather and I swear Sunday’s 32 degrees with a light breeze was far
more chilling. We started off on my spoon spot that didn’t produce last week and once again it didn’
t look as if it was going to produce, until Tyler swung and missed a fish that was positioned out on
top of the timber rather than the inside edge, where they “should” have been. So, I trolled over the
top of the timber and noticed some giant “MCDONALDS ARCHES” on my 797. I told Tyler “there are
some giants down there”. It took us a moment to figure out the depth these beasts wanted the
spoon but once we dialed it in it was like clock work. Tyler hooked up with one that looked to be 4
pounds but it threw the spoon when it streaked to the top and thrashed its big head. Then he
hooked up with another, when it surfaced I knew it was a good fish so I positioned myself with the
net in the back of the boat when all of a sudden I had one smoke my spoon, I set the hook doubling
us up and yelling to Tyler “This is a freakin garbage can,… it’s a giant, I can’t help with yours!!!” I
slowly worked mine to the boat while Tyler lipped his, threw it in the bottom of the boat and then
netted my 7.27 lb spoon fish! We took a little time to admire our double up with Tyler’s being close
to the 5 pound mark we were a little shook. We then dropped our spoons down again and I started
catching some smaller fish with the best two being right at the 3 lb mark. When I got back on the big
fish school I hooked up with what felt like another giant but it come un-glued; shortly afterwards I
hooked up with another giant that ran straight to the top once again trying to throw the spoon, this
one stayed on and it was another pig that went somewhere around 6 lbs… We were pumped about
our sack but with there only being 10 boats we didn’t get overly excited… All of this was done by 9:
00am, so we knew we had a lot of freezing cold time to kill before the weigh in, so we just idled from
spot to spot talking on the phone with buddies bragging about our big bag and throwing a jig. We
caught a few small keepers on a ¾ ounce brown and blue Jewel jig but they wouldn’t give us an
upgrade. Around 2:30pm we realized we weren’t for sure what time the weigh in was, so we wanted
to make sure we were there so we went back to the ramp and started trying to get warm. When we
weighed our fish I for sure thought we had big bass with my 7.27 pounder, BUT as I was walking
past Larry Vaughn’s boat he called me over and told me he had one that would be “close” to my big
fish. I said “oh yeah” with a little bit of cockiness… and when he pulled it out I said “GOD YEP YOU
GOT ME” He had a freaking GIANT 9.38 lb fish…
Keeper count:
War eagle 7/8 ounce spoon: 3 giants and 4 keepers
¾ ounce Jewel Heavy Cover Football jig: 2 keepers
Final Thoughts: GREAT DAY ON THE WATER, except for the brutally cold weather and not
winning big bass with a fish over 7 pounds… I also wish we would have went back to the big fish
hole to try and catch another giant so we could have topped Adam Wrights 24 pounds caught over
on Ouachita in the Vince Miller tournament… Oh well it was an awesome day…
DeGray Lake
January 25th, 2009
Anglers: Cody Kemp and Tyler Whitley - 1st place - 21.60 pounds
Practice:
Tyler and I decided to participate in the Grant county bass club the night before this event and I
hadn’t been on the lake to practice since the Get 5 tournament the weekend before so we planned
on just wingin it and doing what Kevin and I had done the weekend before.
Tournament:
Tyler and I blasted off with the other 9 boats braving the brutally cold mildly windy morning. I fished
last Friday in the 16 degree weather and I swear Sunday’s 32 degrees with a light breeze was far
more chilling. We started off on my spoon spot that didn’t produce last week and once again it didn’
t look as if it was going to produce, until Tyler swung and missed a fish that was positioned out on
top of the timber rather than the inside edge, where they “should” have been. So, I trolled over the
top of the timber and noticed some giant “MCDONALDS ARCHES” on my 797. I told Tyler “there are
some giants down there”. It took us a moment to figure out the depth these beasts wanted the
spoon but once we dialed it in it was like clock work. Tyler hooked up with one that looked to be 4
pounds but it threw the spoon when it streaked to the top and thrashed its big head. Then he
hooked up with another, when it surfaced I knew it was a good fish so I positioned myself with the
net in the back of the boat when all of a sudden I had one smoke my spoon, I set the hook doubling
us up and yelling to Tyler “This is a freakin garbage can,… it’s a giant, I can’t help with yours!!!” I
slowly worked mine to the boat while Tyler lipped his, threw it in the bottom of the boat and then
netted my 7.27 lb spoon fish! We took a little time to admire our double up with Tyler’s being close
to the 5 pound mark we were a little shook. We then dropped our spoons down again and I started
catching some smaller fish with the best two being right at the 3 lb mark. When I got back on the big
fish school I hooked up with what felt like another giant but it come un-glued; shortly afterwards I
hooked up with another giant that ran straight to the top once again trying to throw the spoon, this
one stayed on and it was another pig that went somewhere around 6 lbs… We were pumped about
our sack but with there only being 10 boats we didn’t get overly excited… All of this was done by 9:
00am, so we knew we had a lot of freezing cold time to kill before the weigh in, so we just idled from
spot to spot talking on the phone with buddies bragging about our big bag and throwing a jig. We
caught a few small keepers on a ¾ ounce brown and blue Jewel jig but they wouldn’t give us an
upgrade. Around 2:30pm we realized we weren’t for sure what time the weigh in was, so we wanted
to make sure we were there so we went back to the ramp and started trying to get warm. When we
weighed our fish I for sure thought we had big bass with my 7.27 pounder, BUT as I was walking
past Larry Vaughn’s boat he called me over and told me he had one that would be “close” to my big
fish. I said “oh yeah” with a little bit of cockiness… and when he pulled it out I said “GOD YEP YOU
GOT ME” He had a freaking GIANT 9.38 lb fish…
Keeper count:
War eagle 7/8 ounce spoon: 3 giants and 4 keepers
¾ ounce Jewel Heavy Cover Football jig: 2 keepers
Final Thoughts: GREAT DAY ON THE WATER, except for the brutally cold weather and not
winning big bass with a fish over 7 pounds… I also wish we would have went back to the big fish
hole to try and catch another giant so we could have topped Adam Wrights 24 pounds caught over
on Ouachita in the Vince Miller tournament… Oh well it was an awesome day…