Greetings fellow CSBA Members! I hope this month’s newsletter finds you all enjoying the break in the heat by getting your time in on the water!
On August 6th CSBA hosted our sixth club tournament of the 2011 season on Smithville. Fortunately the record heat wave subsided just a bit right before the tournament making temperatures a tad more bearable for our competitors, although the fish hadn’t seemed to notice much yet. Morning cloud cover and a nice wind kept anyone from passing out from heat stroke. 16 competitors made the short drive up to the lake to test their skills against the wary Smithville bass.
Pre-fishing reports showed some mixed results with some keeper fish being caught, but not in significant numbers. The fish seemed to be scattered with some in the grass and brush piles, while others were on shallow wood near drop-offs, and still others on the deeper wood. Although hopes were high that what bite there was would hold out, tournament day would tell a much different story with 3 anglers weighing in a TOTAL of 4 fish on the day. Smithville was not a lady today, handing out 13 blanks. However, someone always manages to figure them out one way or another.
Taking his first win as a CSBA member, and from the back of the boat no less was Morgan McLain. Morgan fished with Terry Corum, always a good draw for Smithville, who put him on the fish. Morgan weighed in 2 fish for 4.67 lbs which included the day’s non-boater big bass at 2.77lbs! Morgan indicated he caught his fish in the Camp Branch arm on big worms and crankbaits fished around submerged grass beds. Congratulations on your first win Morgan! I’m sure it will be the first of many more. Morgan got his fish back in the water so quickly I unfortunately failed to get his picture, sorry Morgan!
Seasoned Smithville angler Jim Terrell took second place with 1 fish at 2.36 lbs, also good enough for the day’s boater big bass. As usual Jim was able to figure out where at least one Smithville keeper was hiding. Jim caught his fish on a jig in 12 feet of water. Congratulations on second place!
Rounding out the final paying spot was Mike Powell. Mike weighed in 1 fish at 1.95 lbs to take 3rd place honors. Mike indicated he caught his keeper on a deep diving crankbait near cover on a secondary point. Nice job Mike!
The other 13 of us who drew a blank on the day tip our hats to these three fine fishermen who were able to boat a keeper or two on one of the toughest fishing days I think we’d all agree we’ve had in quite a while.
Rounding out the rest of the field
HA! The rest of us took a nice trip to Blank City! Good times. Gotta love Smithville.
Individual Results / Points
1st Place, Morgan McLain, 2 bass, 4.67 lbs, 124 points
2nd place, Jim Terrell, 1 bass, 2.36 lbs, 117 points
3rd place, Mike Powell, 1 bass, 1.95 lbs, 112 points
Everyone else, 0 bass, 0.00 lbs, 20 thanks for donating points each