| Author | Message | ||
| Ozziefish
Bluegill Username: Ozziefish Post Number: 261 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
PQ and I are heading out for the final event of the season on Cedar Creek. Mike's got a great chance at the regionals but I need a big finish this weekend. The only hope is double points are involved. I hope this fish I caught at Richland Chambers holds out for a trip to El Salto for the Monster Bass Challange...  OzzieFish "In GOD I trust" | ||
| Picou
Lunker Username: Picou Post Number: 1922 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
Wouldn't that be something... Oz weighs in one fish out of 4 tournaments and wins a trip to Lake El Salto...  I'm headed to the lake in a few hours to start my pre-fishing. Sitting in 31st overall in points right now having only fished 2 of the 3 as a boater. I really need a solid finish on this one to solidify my shot at the regional championship. Cedar Creek typically gives up a lot of good stringers so I hope to be on my "A" game. I believe this is the first event we are attending that the weather is stable AND there has not been a big tournament the day before our tournament. I'm excited about this one and nervous at the same time...   Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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| Dru
Bluegill Username: Dru Post Number: 241 Registered: 2-2005 Rating: N/A |
Good luck to both of you. It should be a great weekend for fishing. BassZone.com | ||
| Charles
Moderator Username: Charles Post Number: 655 Registered: 7-2004 Rating: N/A |
Good luck guys. Mike, Don't over complicate matters, just go fish! | ||
| Picou
Lunker Username: Picou Post Number: 1925 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Agreed Charles... New twist to the weekend... Wes is meeting me at the lake tonight and we are fishing together tomorrow with a cooler full of beer... Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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| Bigun
Lunker Username: Bigun Post Number: 1019 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
Wes is going to throw you way off your game plan. Good luck waking up Sun AM though. Quit being a mad, little bald man! Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. | ||
| Atthewall
Hybrid Username: Atthewall Post Number: 615 Registered: 11-2004  Rating: N/A |
Good luck guys! | ||
| Bigun
Lunker Username: Bigun Post Number: 1020 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Well how did PQ do???? I'd call him but I hear he would not answer. Quit being a mad, little bald man! Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. | ||
| Wes
Moderator Username: Wes Post Number: 198 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
He called me after the tournament. He was excited.... | ||
| Bigun
Lunker Username: Bigun Post Number: 1021 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Cool deal! Can't wait to hear the stories. Quit being a mad, little bald man! Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. | ||
| Picou
Lunker Username: Picou Post Number: 1926 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Where do I start... What a heck of a weekend I had and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad to be home -- alive... So... Friday I get to the lake a little later than I wanted to and then end up talking at the ramp with another guy who is fishing the series as a boater. He was in 41st I believe and just fishing to finish out. I finally left the ramp somewhere around 5:00pm and head to a spot with no success. I move to another spot to pitch some boat docks. On the first dock I flip my chatterbait way up under the dock and start my retrieve. Daydreaming and not paying any attention I feel a hard strike and before I could do anything my BRAND NEW Curado 100B goes flying out of my hand and into the lake -- OH CRAP... I see it sinking and moving towards the dock so I do what any sain angler would do and jump in the lake after the rod.... Ok, ya'll done laughing yet??? When I get back into the boat (which was drifting out towards the middle of the lake from the leap off the side I made) I am standing there dripping wet exclaiming out loud -- UNBELIEVABLE. After about the third statement is uttered I feel some tugs on my rod and I realize the farging bastage that tried to steal my fishing pole is still on the line and commence to reeling in a nice little 5 pound hybrid (I weighed him and seriously considered cutting the SOB up for the hassle he caused.) Once the fish was taken care of I took my cell phone off my hip and removed the battery & SIM card. Took my keyless entry remote out of my pocket, my wallet, and my can of snuff and set them out to start drying. I continued with the "Unbelievable" comments for the next half hour and eventually headed back to the ramp. At the ramp I realized I never gave Wes good directions on how to get there and I had no cell phone to call him. Several nice people offered there phone to me but I do not know his number -- it's programed on my phone... Also, since I have a new truck that he has never seen he would not recognize the new one. I get the boat unhooked, change my clothes and head down to the corner store that I knew he would be turning by. I was in the store getting some ice when Wes walked in and started cussing me for not answering my cell phone. He saw a new Chevy so he pulled into the parking lot and saw the FTN signage I put on the truck before I left the house that day -- good call Mike!!! Well, we go back to the matchbox of a motel room and start catching up on missed drinking time. This matchbox was a single wide mobil home divided into 3 rooms -- each with a bathroom, sink, and 2 double beds. There were some other anglers fishing the series that told me they would be up drinking and to come over so we did and BSed about fishing while knocking back 18 or 20 of the 30 pack I bought on the way to the lake and before we knew it the clock said 4:30am. We set the alarm for 6:30 and I slept right through it -- go figure... (Good call Wade!!!) We woke up some time around 10:00am or so and went for breakfast before getting on the lake. Once on the lake we fished around and managed a few fish while checking out the lake. Ozziefish met up with us and we had a few cold ones on the water before he had to leave to make it to a wedding. Wes and I agreed that the beer did not taste as good as the previous night and opted for water instead for the rest of the adventure. We fished till shortly after 3:00pm and called it a day since the bow mount depth finder decided to quit working on me and I was going to run to Gun Barrel City Wal-Mart and see if I could buy another one after registering. They only had Humminbird depth finders but I got the bright idea to buy a new phone and put my SIM card in it. I picked up a $29.99 "Go Phone" and with my card I was back in business. On with the rest of the story... At the tournament breifing and pairing meeting I found out that I was paired with the same co-angler that I had for the Richland Chamber's tournament. Quick refresher, Paul had not weighed in a fish the previous two tournaments until the Richland event and he not only landed a keeper, he landed two of them and cashed a check. Well, his expectations were high getting drawn with me again and I did not have the heart to tell him I was not on anything great. I did have a place to start and some other places to hopefully pick up a few extras. We headed out in the morning and shortly after we started Paul had a 4 pounder chase his pop'r all the way to the boat and swirled on it as he was lifting it up for the next cast. It was not until 8:00am that Paul boated the first fish -- a solid 3 pound keeper. I missed a fish (stole my tiki-stick) and Paul was able to catch another one within a few casts after boating his first fish. We were dry for the next couple hours and eventually Paul picked up his 3rd keeper (co-anglers limit is 3 fish). I struggled all day, missing multiple fish throughout the day. I did hook one good fish but it was a blue cat and absolutely no help during a bass tournaments. Eventually I connected on a 14 1/2" swimmer and tried to get another but could not make it happen. I broke my brand new carolina rig rod when I got hung up and popped the leader. The weight shot back up and popped out the tip eye and broke the rod about 2 inches from the tip. When 2:15pm rolled around I was ready to get off the water. We made it in and weighed our fish. I had 1 fish for 1 lb 15 oz and as I crossed the stage the TD called my name and the weight of the fish. My comment to him was, "This fish may be little but he is worth points..." Paul weighed in 7-09 and with the shared weight his total was 9-08 which landed him in 10th place and another paycheck. Once all the anglers had weighed in, they printed out the AOY final points and I looked at the list to see where I stood. I talked to two guys who were ahead of me in points while at the ramp and they both blanked. With me sitting on the bubble at 31 I knew that single fish I caught was small in size but HUGE for me in points. I looked for my name and found me sitting in 25th overall for the year and Regional Championship bound.... I looked at the non-boater sheet to see that my co-angler for the last two events was also going to the Championship so I went and congratulated him and told him he owed me a steak dinner in Louisiana during the event... So, all said and done now and it is just a waiting game till November and the Regional Championship with a first place payout of $50,000. I am still in awe that I made it having only fished 3 of the 4 events as a boater. I hope I can do well because the three day tournament gets cut to the top 30 after day 2 and I want to fish all 3 days. This brutal weekend ends on a happy note...  (Message edited by admin on July 11, 2006) Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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| Hawlin_bass
Bluegill Username: Hawlin_bass Post Number: 206 Registered: 1-2005  Rating: N/A |
Talk about a bunch of bad luck and getting wet on top of it! (Wish I could have seen that! hehehe) The good things that happened though. Got your rod/reel back, met up with wes and knocked back some cold ones, put your partner on some fish and got yourself in the championship. Way to go Mike. | ||
| Bigun
Lunker Username: Bigun Post Number: 1023 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Surely Wes would not be cussing you. Great story Mike and congrats on making it. Quit being a mad, little bald man! Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. | ||
| Simek
Bluegill Username: Simek Post Number: 111 Registered: 1-2005  Rating: N/A |
Congrats to you Mike! When I heard Wes's message about not being on the lake by 10AM Saturday morning, I knew you were in for a long weekend. | ||
| Fishinaggie88
Crappie Username: Fishinaggie88 Post Number: 467 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
What a weekend Mike. Kudos for sticking it out and congrats!!! Love to fish and hunt. | ||
| Ozziefish
Bluegill Username: Ozziefish Post Number: 262 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Nice job Mike!! Way to go... I'll be routing for you all the way OzzieFish "In GOD I trust" | ||
| Dru
Bluegill Username: Dru Post Number: 243 Registered: 2-2005 Rating: N/A |
Congrats Mike. At least you jumped in, I watched a $150 set up sink to the bottom because I didn't want to ruin my "Thanks for signing up" phone. 3 out of 4 ain't bad... great job BassZone.com | ||
| Wes
Moderator Username: Wes Post Number: 199 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Congrats on regionals picou. As for the story about you "jumping" out of the boat. My guess is your dumbass just fell out of the boat and you are making up a story just so you won't look as stupid.  | ||
| Picou
Lunker Username: Picou Post Number: 1928 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Connie asked me if I would jump in for her or the kids and I responded with -- ya'll can swim! I'm still dissapointed that I did not capitalize on the opportunities I had but making the regional definately helps. It looks like 18 of the 64 boaters did not weigh a fish yesterday. The cutoff to get a check was 5-12. I got 36th place yesterday and Richard placed 24th with 4-14. Here are the results: Yesterday's Results Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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| Charles
Moderator Username: Charles Post Number: 657 Registered: 7-2004 Rating: N/A |
Your my hero Congrats on making it to regionals. | ||
| Cary_t
Minnow Username: Cary_t Post Number: 15 Registered: 1-2005 Rating: N/A |
Way to go Picou. I know the fishing is really tough on Ceder creek right now with the water level as low as it is. wish I would have known that you where gouing to be there that is my home lake might could have helped you out a little. Well maybe next time. | ||
| Rumbanator
Minnow Username: Rumbanator Post Number: 37 Registered: 3-2006  Rating: N/A |
Way to go Mike, congrats! | ||
| Picou
Lunker Username: Picou Post Number: 1931 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
Thanks everyone... After talking to some guys here at work I realized something and I should have known better. When the fish are not on an active bite, sometimes it takes several casts in an area to make them strike. It sheds some light on why Paul was sticking fish behind me. I would make 3 or 4 casts to the structure then he would come behind me with a different lure and make 3 or 4 more casts. This is a tactic I watched Dave Wolak use on Eagle Mountain during the Majors and his comment was -- "Sometimes you have to shake 'em up and make them bite." Heck, Wes advised the same thing basically on Saturday -- pitch the same dock from different angles with several different baits many times before moving on. Another observation I made during the tournament that I did not take advantage of was when I was pulling in my tiki-stick from under the dock a fish hammered it on the surface and I missed him. Paul had already boated two fish on a swimming bait in spots that I fished a falling bait. I told Paul, "I should probably switch to a jig or something and swim it under these docks." But, I never changed my approach and kept with the split-shot. Hopefully I can learn from this and adjust properly during the next tournament. My instincts told me what to do but I just did not listen. I know Wes is going to say it anyway -- It's because I suck!!! I have definately learned a lot this year fishing this series. I look forward to next year fishing the Media Individual. Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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| Bigun
Lunker Username: Bigun Post Number: 1024 Registered: 8-2004 Rating: N/A |
If Wes doesn't, you know I'm always hear for you my friend! It's always easier to second guess yourself. Besides if you would listen to me and would only throw a topdog, buzzbait, and ribbet frog you would contend every tourney! Fishing anything with a split shot sucks!!!! Quit being a mad, little bald man! Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. | ||
| Clark
Minnow Username: Clark Post Number: 55 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
Good read Mike. Congrats on qualifying and best of luck. |
