"In the Boat" presented by Jewel Bait Company |
Anglers Choice Northern Arkansas Division
Norfork Lake, February 27th
Lake Normal pool. 38-44 surface temps
Sunny, No wind day.
Anglers: David Wooten/ Chris Richardson
2nd place 4@ 13.48
Practice: I had not practiced for this tournament but My partner and Dad had been out on
Thursday before the tournament and to make a long story short they blanked. The shad kill is in full
swing on the mid-upper part of the lake making it tough to get bit and that's the area they
concentrated in.
Tournament Day: I had decided to run us down the lake to get away from the shad kill and
hopefully figure out something before our day was finished. I wanted to start with jerkbaits over
some deep brush in hopes of a big kicker to start our day. We were boat 1 and I headed down the
lake to diamond bay and shut down in a deep cove that had brush.
Right off the bat I learn a hard lesson. The evening before Me and Dad had washed the boat
since it was nasty as hell from all the Winter tournaments and that night it dropped down into the
20's and the Trolling motor was locked up solid. It would deploy but would not budge on the foot
pedal. We were dead in the water for the first 2 hours which really sucked! I tried to keep my temper
under control but it was getting the best of Me as I kept working my pointer 120SP. Then something
big stops my bait and I'm telling my partner to get the net. The fight didn't last very long and the fish
just pulled lose. Now my frustration is getting the better of me and I know I need to just calm down
and fish the best I can. We ended up down in Barren fork before the trolling motor started working
free and we could finally start to fish like We needed. It was going on 9am and I pulled in on a main
lake ledge as We were leaving Barren fork and caught our first keeper. It was a nice 2.5lb spot that
hit my 5/8oz football jig out around 25' deep. We ran to both brushy and Big creek without luck and
by 11am We still only had the one keeper. I pulled into a main lake cove to fish some brush around
a dock and BAM! I get a solid 3 pound black to nearly rattle the rod out of my hand. We get him in
and I'm thinking that fish hit like there were more around. We continue fishing but no luck until I
decide We need to move and my partner sets the hook. This is a "big fish" He says and I go for the
net. The fish is really pulling hard and peeling off some line as I tell my partner "don't lose this one"
right on cue It come un-buttoned. Oh' No I say. I think I'm cursed here lately with losing big fish?
My partner is bummed but on his next cast He hooks up again. This one is pulling just as hard. He
gets it in and We now have a solid 4 pounder. We continue to fish this area awhile longer with no
luck then decide to move out and run nothing but main lake coves in shallow brush. Chris had the
last 2 bites using the Eakins 3/8oz but I decided to just down size from the 5/8 to the 1/2oz football.
Our next 2 stops were no good then Chris picks up keeper #4 in our 3rd cove. It was a solid 3
pound Smallmouth that just inhaled the 3/8oz jig.
We are sitting on 4 fish and it's 1pm now with 2 more hours I'm thinking We will for sure get that
final keeper but I look down and We are dry on gas! I run us up the lake to Tracy Marina and We
put in $30 more gas and We move on out to run our pattern. We finished our day without another
bite and weigh our 4 nice fish that land us in 2nd place with 13.48 pounds.
Final Thoughts: Don't wash your boat the day before a 20 degree tournament! Fill the boat with
gas before you start your day instead of being cheap like me! and don't lose fish. lol
All that time wasted on controllable things could have put more fish in our boat. Losing fish has cost
me alot here lately and I seemed to be plagued with that but filling my tank only half full and
washing the boat were mistakes I could have prevented. I always seem to learn the hard way. On a
tough day ever second counts and We didn't make good use of our time and I believe that was the
difference between winning and losing.
Equipment: (ME) 7' G-Loomis rod, 10lb seaguar invizx, 5/8oz Jewel football jig (brown/Prpl flash)
Eakins craw green pumkin. = 2 keepers
(Chris) 7' Falcon rod, 10lb seaguar, 3/8oz Eakins jig (brown/prpl flash) Eakins craw (green pumkin).
= 2 Keepers
Norfork Lake, February 27th
Lake Normal pool. 38-44 surface temps
Sunny, No wind day.
Anglers: David Wooten/ Chris Richardson
2nd place 4@ 13.48
Practice: I had not practiced for this tournament but My partner and Dad had been out on
Thursday before the tournament and to make a long story short they blanked. The shad kill is in full
swing on the mid-upper part of the lake making it tough to get bit and that's the area they
concentrated in.
Tournament Day: I had decided to run us down the lake to get away from the shad kill and
hopefully figure out something before our day was finished. I wanted to start with jerkbaits over
some deep brush in hopes of a big kicker to start our day. We were boat 1 and I headed down the
lake to diamond bay and shut down in a deep cove that had brush.
Right off the bat I learn a hard lesson. The evening before Me and Dad had washed the boat
since it was nasty as hell from all the Winter tournaments and that night it dropped down into the
20's and the Trolling motor was locked up solid. It would deploy but would not budge on the foot
pedal. We were dead in the water for the first 2 hours which really sucked! I tried to keep my temper
under control but it was getting the best of Me as I kept working my pointer 120SP. Then something
big stops my bait and I'm telling my partner to get the net. The fight didn't last very long and the fish
just pulled lose. Now my frustration is getting the better of me and I know I need to just calm down
and fish the best I can. We ended up down in Barren fork before the trolling motor started working
free and we could finally start to fish like We needed. It was going on 9am and I pulled in on a main
lake ledge as We were leaving Barren fork and caught our first keeper. It was a nice 2.5lb spot that
hit my 5/8oz football jig out around 25' deep. We ran to both brushy and Big creek without luck and
by 11am We still only had the one keeper. I pulled into a main lake cove to fish some brush around
a dock and BAM! I get a solid 3 pound black to nearly rattle the rod out of my hand. We get him in
and I'm thinking that fish hit like there were more around. We continue fishing but no luck until I
decide We need to move and my partner sets the hook. This is a "big fish" He says and I go for the
net. The fish is really pulling hard and peeling off some line as I tell my partner "don't lose this one"
right on cue It come un-buttoned. Oh' No I say. I think I'm cursed here lately with losing big fish?
My partner is bummed but on his next cast He hooks up again. This one is pulling just as hard. He
gets it in and We now have a solid 4 pounder. We continue to fish this area awhile longer with no
luck then decide to move out and run nothing but main lake coves in shallow brush. Chris had the
last 2 bites using the Eakins 3/8oz but I decided to just down size from the 5/8 to the 1/2oz football.
Our next 2 stops were no good then Chris picks up keeper #4 in our 3rd cove. It was a solid 3
pound Smallmouth that just inhaled the 3/8oz jig.
We are sitting on 4 fish and it's 1pm now with 2 more hours I'm thinking We will for sure get that
final keeper but I look down and We are dry on gas! I run us up the lake to Tracy Marina and We
put in $30 more gas and We move on out to run our pattern. We finished our day without another
bite and weigh our 4 nice fish that land us in 2nd place with 13.48 pounds.
Final Thoughts: Don't wash your boat the day before a 20 degree tournament! Fill the boat with
gas before you start your day instead of being cheap like me! and don't lose fish. lol
All that time wasted on controllable things could have put more fish in our boat. Losing fish has cost
me alot here lately and I seemed to be plagued with that but filling my tank only half full and
washing the boat were mistakes I could have prevented. I always seem to learn the hard way. On a
tough day ever second counts and We didn't make good use of our time and I believe that was the
difference between winning and losing.
Equipment: (ME) 7' G-Loomis rod, 10lb seaguar invizx, 5/8oz Jewel football jig (brown/Prpl flash)
Eakins craw green pumkin. = 2 keepers
(Chris) 7' Falcon rod, 10lb seaguar, 3/8oz Eakins jig (brown/prpl flash) Eakins craw (green pumkin).
= 2 Keepers