| Get5Bass.com "Covering the Arkansas Bass Fishing Tournament Scene" |
In the Boat with Get5Bass: 29th Annual Bailey's Tournament - Lake Dardanelle
Frank Leone/Greg Kremers - 5 bass - 21.25 pounds
2nd place and 2nd biggest bass (7.13 pounds)
Practice:
After not fishing the Lake since March 9th, I had three hours of practice on Friday. I
practiced in the Shoal Bay area, and started throwing a Senko to pad stems and
water willow. I caught several fish, including a couple of nice three pounders. I
thought I had found a productive pattern, and there were several anglers around me
but they were not targeting the pad stems. I decided that the Senko bite would
probably be the key for me during the tournament, but fished a jig a little at the end
of practice just to see what would happen. I caught a couple on the jig, and thought
it would make a nice back-up pattern.
Tournament:
We started the day by hitting one stretch of grass in Piney Bay, which was totally
unproductive. We caught a couple shorts, and that was it. Off to Shoal Bay we went,
where we started pitching the Senko to pad stems. After another hour of catching
shorts, I decided to give the jig a try. Within 20 minutes, I put a four pounder in the
boat. Then it happened. I felt a little pressure and set the hook. The behemoth
started heading the other direction, but as soon as I turned her she came
straight to the boat. I was a reck, but I knew we had a
chance to win if we caught three more good fish. Well,
we went on to catch 14 keepers and about 50 fish on
the day. The rest of our fish came on Revenge
(Brown - 3/8 oz.) and Jewel Eakins Jigs (5/16 oz. -
Brown/Black) fished around wood, vegetation, and rocks.
We came up short of the victory, but it was a day we
will not soon forget.
See ya' on the flip side,
Frank
Me and the "toad"
Frank Leone and Greg Kremers with 21.25 pounds
of Dardanelle "love"
