HFFA Thanksgiving Tournament 11/18/12
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:59 pm
Ten anglers took part in the November HFFA tournament today. The water level according to the bridge gauge was about 65 ft with water temperatures in the early morning starting out at 71 degrees. The water temperature did not rise that much during the day, reaching 75 degrees by the afternoon weigh-in. It was mostly an overcast day with light morning showers, some late morning bluebird skies with some gusty winds at times throughout the day.
As this was the thanksgiving tournament, prizes were awarded for the biggest fish of the day, the smallest ( legal size fish minimum 10" ) and a lucky drawing for other anglers that did not win any of the two weight classes.
The largest fish was a Tuc weighing 3.14 pounds, and the smallest fish was a 10 1/4 inch bass that came in at a whopping .56 pounds or about 8 1/2 ounces. The fishing was good for most but fair for others although all anglers caught and weighed in at least two fish, with eight anglers recording their three fish limits. Many anglers noted that they were culling fish throughout the day. Almost half of the anglers had catch limits that were close or above six pounds in total weight. In all, two tucs and 26 bass were weighed in. There was one tagged bass (tag # 4878, 15 3/4 inches with a weight of 1pounds 13 ounces ).
As mentioned, the fishing was only fairly good for some of us as the only two anglers who happened to not catch their limits were in the same boat, OUR BOAT!!!. Unlike pass tournaments, we did have our fair share of bites, we just could not bring them into the boat. One would think that we were using rubber hooks or something with all the quick release fish that we lost at the boat. The bass bite was a little slow for us in the morning although we did manage to catch the eventual winning small fish at about 7:30 in the morning. All of our bites were coming on worms & creatures. We did have a good afternoon when we came upon a honey hole where we had numerous bites in a short span of time but only managed to boat two of the fish.
Maybe all these months of very little bites made us a little rusty as to what to do when we actually did get a bite. ( this is the excuse we're using and we're sticking to it ). Anyway, all in all, it was a great monthly tournament, and a consolation prize for the smallest fish on top of a great day of fishing.
Now if we can only stop using rubber hooks and learn to cross them fish eyes when we get a bite we'll be okay.
steve
As this was the thanksgiving tournament, prizes were awarded for the biggest fish of the day, the smallest ( legal size fish minimum 10" ) and a lucky drawing for other anglers that did not win any of the two weight classes.
The largest fish was a Tuc weighing 3.14 pounds, and the smallest fish was a 10 1/4 inch bass that came in at a whopping .56 pounds or about 8 1/2 ounces. The fishing was good for most but fair for others although all anglers caught and weighed in at least two fish, with eight anglers recording their three fish limits. Many anglers noted that they were culling fish throughout the day. Almost half of the anglers had catch limits that were close or above six pounds in total weight. In all, two tucs and 26 bass were weighed in. There was one tagged bass (tag # 4878, 15 3/4 inches with a weight of 1pounds 13 ounces ).
As mentioned, the fishing was only fairly good for some of us as the only two anglers who happened to not catch their limits were in the same boat, OUR BOAT!!!. Unlike pass tournaments, we did have our fair share of bites, we just could not bring them into the boat. One would think that we were using rubber hooks or something with all the quick release fish that we lost at the boat. The bass bite was a little slow for us in the morning although we did manage to catch the eventual winning small fish at about 7:30 in the morning. All of our bites were coming on worms & creatures. We did have a good afternoon when we came upon a honey hole where we had numerous bites in a short span of time but only managed to boat two of the fish.
Maybe all these months of very little bites made us a little rusty as to what to do when we actually did get a bite. ( this is the excuse we're using and we're sticking to it ). Anyway, all in all, it was a great monthly tournament, and a consolation prize for the smallest fish on top of a great day of fishing.
Now if we can only stop using rubber hooks and learn to cross them fish eyes when we get a bite we'll be okay.
steve
