Hotwater Shootout Tournament Recap

[Bluebasser86]

This past Saturday, I decided to enter the Hotwater Shootout tournament that is put on at that power plant lake that I fish a lot. I'm not a big tournament guy, but I wanted to fish the lake and decided that if I could find someone else that wanted to fish that would cover the entry fee, then I'd fish it. Well I found a partner that was willing to cover the fee, so I decided to give it a shot.

Forecast was for mid 30 degree weather, mostly cloudy and light winds from the north. 15 boats showed up and we got lucky number last for takeoff. My plan, given our takeoff order, was to try and find a marginal area where we could hopefully pick off a fish before jumping in line with everyone else working the more typically productive areas. 

 

First stop was at the very end of the rock/bluff bank that I spend so much time fishing during the winter. It's one of the most productive areas, and everyone knows it. 6-8 of the boats were on the better parts of the bank when we got there, so we cruised to the end where the water was the coldest and dirtiest to start. The week before, I'd had zero bites on this entire stretch of bank and the water was almost 10 degrees colder since then and noticeably dirtier from recent snow and rain. I started cycling through my normal baits, and after only about 30 minutes I had a solid bite on a Berkley Frittside 5 in the Special Red Craw color and put keeper number 1 in the boat (15" minimum). I kept rotating through baits and maybe 20 yards down the bank, I cast a 6th Sense Provoke 106 in the Merthiolate Flash up against the rocks, drug it down and twitched it about 3 or 4 times before it felt like I hit a limb or rock. I leaned into it anyways and the snag started swimming. Keeper #2 made it to the net and we weren't even a hour in. I was just hoping not to blank completely, so 2 fish felt pretty good. Probably 5 minutes later, I had a fish hammer the Frittside, swim a few feet off the bank, and just pop off. That hurt a little because it was #3 and would have done a lot to help calm the nerves. I had another fish slam the Frittside and not get the hooks right as the rocks ended and the bottom flattens out and becomes more mud and clay. Tried to tell myself it was a carp that I ran into, but still would have liked to see it. We reached the deeper part of the bluff bank and I switched to a deeper diving crankbait. I saw a couple swirls right near the shoreline and put a cast down the bank. My crank got smoked but I was in trouble immediately when I heard my line squeaking as it rubbed against something under heavy strain from the fish on the other end. As fast as I hooked up, my line parted. That one hurt even more because not only did I lose what was likely our 3rd keeper of the day, but I lost one of my favorite winter cranks and a bait with a lot of mojo. I had more of the same bait though, so I tied another one on. We fished down the bank as far as we could and turned to go back down it. I had no intention of leaving until the fish told me to. Right before we got to the spot where the fish broke me off, I caught a short on the same crank. Once we got to the spot where I got broke off, I pulled the same crank through (Strike King HC Flat Side 1.5 in Blue Gizzard Shad), I felt a hit and leaned on it. It felt like it was snagged for a split second, then it pulled back and rocketed off the bank with more speed and power than a bass so I was sure I snagged a carp. Told my partner that's what I had and told him not to bother with the net but he grabbed it anyways. After a brief fight, this toad of a bass ballooned up to the surface and the scrambling started. She pulled hard and protested the whole way to the net, but number 3 was plucked from the water and we couldn't believe the proportions of the fish we were looking at. Barely longer than my 18" ruler, she went 5.58lbs on the official scales at weigh in and had a shad in her throat so big that the tail was curled up on each side of her throat.

We had a kicker now. I made another cast through the same spot and my bait stopped cold. Rod loaded, headshake, bait flew back at me. I'm sure it was another big bass, but another that didn't eat the bait well. Right at the beginning of the shallower rock bank, where the mud/clay bottom meets the rocks. I cast a watermelon green flake baby brush hog up to the end of some laydowns. I fished the bait quite a bit further out that I normally do for some reason. Maybe because it was slow, maybe because I was talking to my partner and not paying as much attention, but the bait go popped about halfway back to the boat. On the hook set, the fish screamed off and was clearly one we needed. I was happy to have this one on a single hook instead of a treble hooked bait. Keeper number 4 made the net, was the second largest of the day, and it wasn't even noon yet, I was feeling like we actually had a shot at a limit at this point. We rolled down to the end of the bank to where we started the morning at. Got a lot of grumbling and what I assumed was sandbagging every boat we passed. I caught another short on the baby brush hog that was close enough to measure, and lost another fish in the exact same spot on a different color Frittside that I had lost my first one of the morning. It was about 1pm when we got back to the mud/clay/rock transition area. I'd marked a lot of fish right on the edge of the drop both times over it, but they wouldn't come up to eat a jerkbait like they occasionally do on this spot. So the 3rd time through, I fired a 1/4oz homemade swinghead with summer craw Menace across the flat right at the edge of the drop and started dragging it. I hit something hard and then my bait disappeared. I found it in the mouth of a skinny little 15" fish that really needed to eat something, but it chose the wrong thing this day. I knew he wouldn't add much, but having that 5th keeper felt great. We fished that same bank to the end, then made our first short move of the day to a shallow point where we found nothing. It was a short hop to the outlet, so we went there despite the fact that I haven't caught a bass from it in probably 2 years. After about 5 minutes of fishing it, I had a 6" bass run off with my Menace as fast as it could go and got sent flying on the hook set. We laughed but at least I'd caught a bass so maybe there was more. Across on the rock jetty side, I drug my Menace down the drop into the back eddy where the current seam is and a fish thumped my bait hard. I figured it was going to be a drum or little flathead, but a fat 15.5" bass that was barely hooked popped out of the churning water and I culled my skinny last fish back into the most shad infested part of the lake to hopefully put on some weight. It was almost 2 by then, check in was 3. We fished until 2:40 without another bite and decided to head in so we had plenty of time.

 

The grumbling we heard on the water continued in the parking lot. I watched a few boats load up and just leave. The boat next to us said they had 2 and fish just weren't eating the bait well. One guy said he never had a bite. They were paying 3 spots, so I thought we might get our money back anyways. Loaded the fish up and was second to last in line at the scales. When I heard that 14 something was leading, I knew it was serious. We had a good kicker, and not a single line burner. Handed my bag over and the guy running the scales immediately said, "Oh yeah, this is the heaviest bag so far". The scales settled at 17.43 pounds, almost 3 pounds more than second place at the moment. One more guy had to weigh in, so we held our breath, but then he dumped out 4 fish and none of them were big, I knew we had it. They had almost 12 pounds and the TD made it official when he read the names off and passed out the cash.

 

Always nice when a plan comes together and you can grind through a tough day. I had the bites to be over 20 pounds I'm sure, which is what I thought it would take. My big fish was only the 3rd biggest of the day. We watched the 6.95lb BB get caught. Had fun and it was a good experience but I'm not sure if I'll be fishing any more of them.

 

[Sphynx]

Congratulations on the win, sounds like you guys had fun if nothing else!

[GaryH]

Thanks for sharing. Good job

[TnRiver46]

Nice!!!

[roadwarrior]

[A-Jay]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 

 

Nicely Done @Bluebasser86 ~

And how about that SMILE ~ !

So Good.

Congrats.

A-Jay

[Dwight Hottle]

I'm thinking you will do it again. Congrats. 

[Bankbeater]

Congratulations on a job well done!

[DitchPanda]

Congrats dude! Watched the video...well done!

[Miabucman]

Congrats! Always nice to have something to weigh-in, especially when you limit out.

[Smokinal]

Congrats man!!

 

Nice write up too

[jimmyjoe]

    Great write-up! I thought I was there! And ...... congratulations!    ?      jj

[Mike L]

Great Job!!

Congratulations

 

 

 

Mike

 

[TnRiver46]

If you don’t mind my asking, Which part of tourney fishing is it that you don’t like? Or why don’t you fish more of them? Seems like you would win a bunch of them 

[Teal]

Good Job @Bluebasser86

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

If you don’t mind my asking, Which part of tourney fishing is it that you don’t like? Or why don’t you fish more of them? Seems like you would win a bunch of them 

I think there's a bunch of reasons. I like to get away from the crowds when I'm fishing. None of our lakes are very big, so it gets real crowded during tournament time. I like to experiment and try different things while I'm fishing, tournaments don't really allow that without the risk of really bombing. I fish to alleviate the stress of my job, doing tournaments just adds to it.

 

I do plan on fishing kayak tournaments this year to see if I like those better. I feel like they're a little more laid back. The last few boat tournaments I've fished, I've run into some serious egos and it just isn't fun dealing with them. I get all the confrontation I need at work, I don't need it while I'm trying to fish.

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I think there's a bunch of reasons. I like to get away from the crowds when I'm fishing. None of our lakes are very big, so it gets real crowded during tournament time. I like to experiment and try different things while I'm fishing, tournaments don't really allow that without the risk of really bombing. I fish to alleviate the stress of my job, doing tournaments just adds to it.

 

I do plan on fishing kayak tournaments this year to see if I like those better. I feel like they're a little more laid back. The last few boat tournaments I've fished, I've run into some serious egos and it just isn't fun dealing with them. I get all the confrontation I need at work, I don't need it while I'm trying to fish.

Gotcha, thanks buddy! 

[J._Bricker]

Congratulations to you and your partner on your tournament win. IMHO, I think you owe it to yourselves to see how well you two could do the next derby. After all did get the seed money from the  first tournament, so the entry fee won’t weigh to heavy on your wallets. And you did get a chance to “experiment” by successfully fishing what “6-8 boats” considered unproductive water and landing good fish. Again, congratulations on putting the winning pieces together.

 

I do understand your reasons for not fishing tournaments. Fishing does provide a solitude away from the radio and the responsibilities that come with it. Nothing like quiet and being with ones own thoughts. 
 

Be safe and continued good fishing 

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

Congratulations to you and your partner on your tournament win. IMHO, I think you owe it to yourselves to see how well you two could do the next derby. After all did get the seed money from the  first tournament, so the entry fee won’t weigh to heavy on your wallets. And you did get a chance to “experiment” by successfully fishing what “6-8 boats” considered unproductive water and landing good fish. Again, congratulations on putting the winning pieces together.

 

I do understand your reasons for not fishing tournaments. Fishing does provide a solitude away from the radio and the responsibilities that come with it. Nothing like quiet and being with ones own thoughts. 
 

Be safe and continued good fishing 

I'd actually never met the guy before that morning. I made the offer to anyone that wanted to fish it that I'd provide the boat if they'd pay the entry fee and he obliged. It was his first time in a tournament, or on a lake in a boat. I'll give him his credit, he never gave up casting and I thought and hoped he'd be rewarded for his effort, but he never was. The bass in this lake have at least some Florida strain genetics in almost all of them, so when they decide they're not going to bite, it's next to impossible to make them bite and several fishermen experienced that this day. I'd have to find a more experienced partner if I was going to do team tournaments regularly.