Fished a club tourney today on Ft Patrick Henry Lake in Kingsport, TN.  Met my partner around 3AM and we headed to the lake.  Blasted off around 5AM.  

Figured we could get on a topwater bite early, but it just never came around.  We did pick up three quick keepers on a spinnerbait around docks.  

After spending about 2.5 hours working around the marina, we headed up the lake a little ways and worked a long bank covered in laydowns.  Started off slow, then we hit a little bluff point.  I picked up three short smallies (gotta be 18" to keep) on a jig and got bit a couple more times on a spinnerbait.

As we worked our way up a long steep bank, I was just pitching the jig to anything that looked fishy.  Saw a clump of dead grass stuck on a laydown, so I threw the jig in there.  Set the hook on a nice keeper.

We kept working up the bank, came to another clump of grass.  My partner threw in , got bit but missed the fish.  Threw back in, another nice keeper.

So we've got five in the boat, need one more for the limit and really needed to cull at least one fish.

We kept working our way up the bank (I bet we ran at least 1.5 miles on that bank), hitting every little clump of grass we came to.  It took a very specific type of clump to get bit.  Couldn't be too big or too small and had to be related to other cover in a certain way.

Fishing another clump, I make three pitches to one spot without a nibble.  Make one more pitch, line starts moving towards the boat before the jig hits bottom.  Reel down and lay the hammer.  And broke off what was probably a five to seven pound fish.  15 lb. fluoro didn't have anything for that fish.  Talk about a sickening feeling.

We finally get to the end of the long bluff, then head back down the lake.  Partner spots a promising spot, so we head over to give it a try.  Sunny bluff wall with scattered laydowns.  I'm still pitching the jig, targeting the shady side of every bit of cover I can find.

Pitch beside a log, jig falls, then stops.  I shake it a bit, felt like it was hung.  I pulled a bit, the jig moved, but not much.  Gave it a harder tug, I see a flash.  Never set the hook, the fish just inhaled the jig.  Got it in the net and there's our limit.  Solid 3 lb. keeper.

We had about two hours left and decided to just run wood on bluff walls and see what we got.  Picked up a couple of shorts on down the one wall, then headed up the lake to see what we could find.

Come up on another bank that matched our pattern, got in there and started pitching the jig.  Picked up few more shorts, but just wasn't getting what we needed.

Come up on a fishy looking log.  I throw in a few times, nothing.  I just know there's a fish in there, so I make one last pitch.  Once again, line started moving towards the boat.  Bam, solid 2.5 lb. keeper.  Culled our smallest fish and had us in pretty good shape.  Just needed to cull one more small fish.

Put the TM on high and just worked log to log to log.  Would get a dink every now and then, just couldn't get the kicker we needed.

We probably ran another 1.5 miles of bank trying to pick up one more good fish, but time ran out.  Oh well, at least we got a decent limit.

Take out, set up the scales and start weighing.  We only had six boats, so it wasn't going to take too long.  First boat weighed in with 12.16.  Not a bad sack.  Then Tom and his partner weighed a solid 14.80 with a 4.5 big fish.  My partner grabbed the fish out of the livewell and hit the scale.  

We figured we had around 10-11 lbs.  Put the big fish on the scale, 2.90.  Threw the rest in the bag, 13.08, which put us in second with three bags left to weigh.

Two of those bags were missing fish, so no danger there.  Then came the bad news.  The last boat to weigh consisted of a father/son team who owns the lake.  Son & partner caught over 25 lbs. last summer (10 fish limit).  They live on the lake, so all of us figured we were fishing for second anyway.

They throw their fish in the bag and everyone picked their jaws up.  Solid fish after solid fish.  Weighed their big fish, 5.4 lb LMB.  Threw the rest on the scale, 20.58 lbs.

Oh well, like I said, we all figured we were fishing for second.

That relegated my partner and I to third place, but we're still in the money.  That's the first time in three years of fishing with the club that I've been in the money.  Only $30, but better than a poke in the eye.

All in all a pretty good morning on the water.  Only bad thing was doing it on about two hours of sleep.

Startin' to come together Pepper!  

You keep this up much longer and you'll have to pass on the Dinkmaster Lightweight belt to someone more deserving.

Burleyman no longer the Dinkmaster, I don't know if the world can stand it.  ;D

Great job on the tourney guys, way to represent!!  

Smokin'.  8-)

Way to go, dude. At least that means the biggun you broke off didn't cost you the win, even though I'm sure it hurt anyways.

Really great job, man!  Your report is great as well, love the play by play.  Its good to see you progress in this game as well.  The team format is a lot of fun, and a great way to learn new waters.

Good job, and I loved the way you wrote up the report.

 Great post (nice to take the rest of us along) and CONGRATS!!!

skillet

Way to go, dude. At least that means the biggun you broke off didn't cost you the win, even though I'm sure it hurt anyways.

If it was as big as it felt, it cost me between $80 and $110. :-/

You keep this up much longer and you'll have to pass on the Dinkmaster Lightweight belt to someone more deserving.

I must be holding my mouth right.  Last two times out I've come back to the scales with a limit.

Guess it's just a matter of spending time on the water.  

Great post and pics Burley, makes me home sick for the water.  Good job fishin' it up. 8-)

Wow, when did Johnathan grow that 3rd arm? Wished I would have made the tourney, but I got a reprieve from the mom in law with the kiddos and took advantage of catching up on some sleep. I guess I joined for nothing this year.  But I'm looking forward to next year.

Nice catch and great write up.

Wow, when did Johnathan grow that 3rd arm?

That's Peanut Brittle's arm.  ;D

Still not too late to fish with us this year.  We've got three left on the schedule.  Watauga on 9/26, 6PM-6AM.  Norris in mid October and the surprise tourney on 10/31.

I'll have to vacate to do any of them, which isn't a terrible problem.