Slow down is best fishing advice in humid waters
Slow down is best fishing advice in humid waters Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010 10:58 am
Bass and other fish are like humans. When the weather gets this rough, it is hard on us. The same is true of fish. They tend to drag just as we do when we get hot and tired. Now for the Reelfoot Lake information. Water conditions on Reelfoot Lake aren’t that bad other than the warm water temperatures — which are in the upper 80s. This temperature is taken at about a foot under water. In three to five foot depths, the water is about two to three degrees cooler. The lake remains at a decent level for now, but if there is no rain soon that will change with the weather pattern we are experiencing. Looking at the water rings around the trees, you will notice how high the water was just a month and a half ago. The lake has dropped over two feet since then and is about two to four inches below the normal level. Last Saturday, the Reelfoot Lake Bass Club held its annual Big Bass Tournament on Reelfoot Lake out of the Kirby Pocket area. To start out, we were blessed with a cool frontal passage and shower in the morning, but the heat settled back in by noon. A total of 27 boats loaded with fishermen and fisherwomen headed out at 6 that morning in hopes of bringing the largest bass of the day to the scales. By the 11 a.m. weigh-in time, there were several bass weighed in — seven weighed over five pounds each. It was a good days fishing for most. Winners of the event are as follows: First place to the team of Guy Revell and Kelly Powers with a 6.66 pound winner worth $500; second place was the father/son team of David Abshire Sr. and David Abshire Jr. with a largemouth weighing 6.48 pounds and worth a nice $350; third place went to D.J Gammons and Josh Jones with a 6.25 pound catch worth $250; fourth place to Eddie Tittle and Stephen Turner at 5.81 pounds worth $125; and fifth place was Jamie Hopper and Will Gamble with 5.31 pounds worth $75. James Harris and I managed to finish in sixth place with a 5.20 pound largemouth. All of these bass were in good health and released back into Reelfoot Lake for someone else to catch. Speaking of which, there will be another bass tournament on Reelfoot Lake out of Kirby Pocket this weekend. The Ultimate Bass Fishing Challenge Tour Reelfoot Lake Division will be hosting its third tournament. If you are interested in fishing at this event, blast off will be around 5:15 a.m. or safe light, with early registration beginning at 4:15 a.m. at the Kirby Pocket ramp site. Weigh-in will be at 1 p.m. Entry fee is $120 per boat or two-man team. For an extra $25 per person, one can join the division and qualify for the year-end points winners’ championship. In other news, Tim Long of Union City caught two hefty largemouth bass down at the Gibson County Lake near Trenton last Saturday. One of these was Tim’s second bass weighing over 10 pounds caught at this lake within the last year or so. He reported catching this bass in the late afternoon with a 12-inch worm. He took a couple pictures and released both bass. Way to go Tim, and congratulations. Also, the Henry County area became the home of the Collegiate Bass Fishing Open on Kentucky Lake at Paris Landing this week with the championship tournament taking place. It was organized by Careco Multimedia and aired on the Versus Network. This new event will transform the excitement of college fishing into a team format. There will be no limit on the number of four-person teams or schools allowed to compete, but every competitor must be a full-time student active in a college recognized fishing club. The event is sanctioned by the Association of College Anglers and the Bass Federation and funded by Henry County’s Tennessee River Resort Act whose chief executive officer Carl Holder remarked that “serving as the one- or two-year home to big events has been great for Henry County, but this is a unique opportunity to establish ourselves as the permanent home to a major college tournament. The growth of college fishing teams, the quality of the Kentucky Lake fishery and the potential for growth and media coverage of this event made it a perfect opportunity for us.” Forty-one schools are fishing in the three-day tournament including local schools University of Tennessee at Martin, Freed-Hardeman in Henderson, Murray (Ky.) State and Bethel University in McKenzie. Jordan Birch is representing UTM with a second competitor to be named. FHU’s Nathan Pirtle, Brian Pearson and Brad Martin are competing for FHU. Bethel’s entrees are Jake Lawrence, Jacob Hardy and Jason Arnold. Each July, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service meets and sets the framework for the upcoming waterfowl seasons. After this framework is set, the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency asks for suggestions from the public. After receiving public input, regional meetings will be held where field level proposals are given from officers, area managers and the public and then meshed into regional recommendations that are taken to Nashville. There, the Nashville staff of the TWRA considers the proposals and final recommendations are taken to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission at the August Commission Meeting. The TWRA welcomes public input and will take written recommendations from all interested parties. All letters should contain the proposed change and justifications for the change. These will be reviewed by the regional staff and forwarded to the Wildlife Management Division in Nashville. All recommendations for West Tennessee should be received no later than July 15. Mail recommendations to: Waterfowl Comments, TWRA Region I, 200 Lowell Thomas Dr., Jackson, TN 38301. One last thing I want to pass along is a fish care note to the tournament bass fishermen out there. This time of year, the fish care habits need to be at our best. This means changing out water often and keeping the water temperature in the live wells somewhere between 72 and 77 degrees. How does one do that you ask? One does so by using tons of ice. Ice in a live well is very important at this time of year However, make sure the water isn’t too cold or it could cause the bass to go into shock. Another great tool for fish care management is live well treatments. There are many on the market and I recommend everyone using a brand name product of their choice. After all, it is up to us to manage what the good Lord has given us to enjoy and do everything we can to take care of our catches. There are, of course, those times when a bass may not make it for reasons that are out of our hands. Just play it smart and do your best. That’s all for this week’s report. ’Til next week, Catch ya on the water folks. Bren None
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