"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Tournament: Fisher’s of Men Arkansas South
April 17, 2010
Arkansas River- Pine Bluff
Anglers: Adam Starks and Philip Starks
Place: - 7th Place- 5 fish- 11.26lbs
Practice:
I guess you could say the MBC tourney the Saturday before this derby was practice. I hate
fishing the Harbor and had planned to make the run to Pendleton. I also fished a Thursday night
tourney with our Director for FOM South Arkansas, Scott Gilbreth and all we managed to do was
eliminate water.
April 17:
Boat 4…..wow I got a good draw, can’t believe that! As our boat number was called dad and I
made the short run to the first lock and pulled the chain. There were a couple other derbies going
on and it looked like seven boats were ready for the long run. Long runs are fun, especially when
you are on fish. You get to enjoy the river and see a lot of water that most anglers have never
even seen and enjoy the beauty of what seems to be untouched waters for the most part. After the
short lock through we make the run to the next lock and make it through it ok. An hour and a half
after we had blasted off we were finally fishing. I was on some fish in Post Lake and had confidence
that we could catch a limit pretty quick. Before we went to Post, dad and I decided to hit a rock
dike. I fished a short 50 yard section real quick and dad hung our first keeper of the morning, a 16
inch spot, right off the bat. After a quick pass, we strap the rods down and run down to Post
Lake….as I am pulling in, the first tank of gas runs dry…..not a good sign as the corp was pulling
water like crazy and I knew the run back up river was going to harder on the motor. We are already
down here…let’s fish! As I pull into Post and start fishing I manage to finish out our limit in about 30
min. The fish were eating the XR25 like crazy…I am talking in their throat! Dad had missed several
on a Senko (he claims the 30ft bow in his line the wind created was the problem). After I had filled
the limit, the bite died, I mean dead. The fish would chase the bait all the way back to the boat but
not commit. I had a solid four pounder come up and hit the trap as I ripped it through the pads and
all the fish would do it nip at it and chase it on top of the water. After a few min I decided we
needed to go for broke so I picked up a swimbait. Yes you read that right, a swimbait!!! As I am
chunking this huge piece of plastic that resembles a shad on steroids….I feel a thump….what is
that??? Did a fish just eat this thing??? I set the hook and feel the fish for just a second but when I
got the bait back in, it was evident it only had the tail. We fish back to the main area where I had
found the concentration of fish the week before and I start tossing the trap again. I feel the tick, set
the hook….another solid fish on. As I get the fish closer to the boat I see it is hooked barley by the
back hook so I start to baby it. Dad is ready with the net….the fish makes one last run by the boat
and just pulls off. Are you kidding me??? Steady pressure on the fish, not horsing it and I just felt
the hooks pull free….time was running short and we were also on gas so we left at 11:00 to get
back since we knew we had to run back at around 45-50 mph to conserve gas and make it back.
We make it back to the Harbor with about an hour left to fish so we hit the spot we did so well in last
year but only managed a short fish. We run back to the weigh in a little disappointed to not have
landed the bigger fish that bit but glad we caught what we did with the few hours we got to fish!
Keeper Count:
Strike King Pure Poison: 1 Keeper
Excalibur XR25 Rattlebait: 4 Keepers
Final Thoughts:
This tournament was all about the points. We had to do what we thought was best to put ourselves
in position in Angler of the Year standings. Come to find out, had we been able to stay the extra
hour and fish, the fish turned back on in that time frame and some other competitors that made the
run with us caught their sack during that period and won the tournament. This year has been a
grind!!! Two tournaments left and tied for fourth in AOY standings…..focus, grind and hopefully
come out on top. Until next time….
Fish Hard,
Adam Starks
April 17, 2010
Arkansas River- Pine Bluff
Anglers: Adam Starks and Philip Starks
Place: - 7th Place- 5 fish- 11.26lbs
Practice:
I guess you could say the MBC tourney the Saturday before this derby was practice. I hate
fishing the Harbor and had planned to make the run to Pendleton. I also fished a Thursday night
tourney with our Director for FOM South Arkansas, Scott Gilbreth and all we managed to do was
eliminate water.
April 17:
Boat 4…..wow I got a good draw, can’t believe that! As our boat number was called dad and I
made the short run to the first lock and pulled the chain. There were a couple other derbies going
on and it looked like seven boats were ready for the long run. Long runs are fun, especially when
you are on fish. You get to enjoy the river and see a lot of water that most anglers have never
even seen and enjoy the beauty of what seems to be untouched waters for the most part. After the
short lock through we make the run to the next lock and make it through it ok. An hour and a half
after we had blasted off we were finally fishing. I was on some fish in Post Lake and had confidence
that we could catch a limit pretty quick. Before we went to Post, dad and I decided to hit a rock
dike. I fished a short 50 yard section real quick and dad hung our first keeper of the morning, a 16
inch spot, right off the bat. After a quick pass, we strap the rods down and run down to Post
Lake….as I am pulling in, the first tank of gas runs dry…..not a good sign as the corp was pulling
water like crazy and I knew the run back up river was going to harder on the motor. We are already
down here…let’s fish! As I pull into Post and start fishing I manage to finish out our limit in about 30
min. The fish were eating the XR25 like crazy…I am talking in their throat! Dad had missed several
on a Senko (he claims the 30ft bow in his line the wind created was the problem). After I had filled
the limit, the bite died, I mean dead. The fish would chase the bait all the way back to the boat but
not commit. I had a solid four pounder come up and hit the trap as I ripped it through the pads and
all the fish would do it nip at it and chase it on top of the water. After a few min I decided we
needed to go for broke so I picked up a swimbait. Yes you read that right, a swimbait!!! As I am
chunking this huge piece of plastic that resembles a shad on steroids….I feel a thump….what is
that??? Did a fish just eat this thing??? I set the hook and feel the fish for just a second but when I
got the bait back in, it was evident it only had the tail. We fish back to the main area where I had
found the concentration of fish the week before and I start tossing the trap again. I feel the tick, set
the hook….another solid fish on. As I get the fish closer to the boat I see it is hooked barley by the
back hook so I start to baby it. Dad is ready with the net….the fish makes one last run by the boat
and just pulls off. Are you kidding me??? Steady pressure on the fish, not horsing it and I just felt
the hooks pull free….time was running short and we were also on gas so we left at 11:00 to get
back since we knew we had to run back at around 45-50 mph to conserve gas and make it back.
We make it back to the Harbor with about an hour left to fish so we hit the spot we did so well in last
year but only managed a short fish. We run back to the weigh in a little disappointed to not have
landed the bigger fish that bit but glad we caught what we did with the few hours we got to fish!
Keeper Count:
Strike King Pure Poison: 1 Keeper
Excalibur XR25 Rattlebait: 4 Keepers
Final Thoughts:
This tournament was all about the points. We had to do what we thought was best to put ourselves
in position in Angler of the Year standings. Come to find out, had we been able to stay the extra
hour and fish, the fish turned back on in that time frame and some other competitors that made the
run with us caught their sack during that period and won the tournament. This year has been a
grind!!! Two tournaments left and tied for fourth in AOY standings…..focus, grind and hopefully
come out on top. Until next time….
Fish Hard,
Adam Starks