Keener Conquers Oconee

Mick Keener bagged the only limit at our last tournament of 2003 on Lake Oconee. Mick's fish weighed 9.95 pounds. Cliff Bost took second with four fish and a weight of 8.15 pounds. Third place was Donnie Hendrickson with three fish and 6.95 pounds, and fourth was James Kelley with two bass and 4.60 pounds.

Don DeHaven took the big fish pot for his lone 3.60 pound lunker.

The underlying story is that Cliff once again has taken the Angler of the Year title. It took a bottle of Crown and a bribed horse, but Cliff did what he had to do. His year end totals (along with the rest of the club's) can be see on the standings page.

Congratulations once again Cliff.

Kelley Is King At Lanier

Prospective member James Kelley took the top spot at our November tournament at Lake Lanier. James caught three spots out of one brush pile and that was three times as many as anyone else. Six other anglers caught one fish (each), and the rest of the field was in the zero club. James' fish weighed 5.40 pounds.

Jim Norton brought in the big fish, a 3.20 pound spot. He is starting to make a habit of taking the big fish money.

Mick Keener's fish weighed 2.70 pounds, and Cliff Bost's fish weighed 1.75 pounds.

It was the same old story, the weather changed on tournament day and the fish turned off. No pictures were taken.

The club will finish the year at Lake Oconee on November 22.

A Win For Norton

Jim Norton's six spots were just a tad bigger than Donnie Hendrickson's six spots, giving Jim the win at our October tournament at Lake Martin.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held at Lake Hartwell, but due to problems with accommodations was changed to the traditional Lake Martin. We had scheduled Lake Hartwell due to the consistently poor creels we have at Lake Martin in October, and this year was no different.

After a steady weather pattern of bluebird skies, light winds and consistent temperatures, the weather changed on tournament day. An east wind was blowing and the skies stayed overcast most of the day on Saturday. That was enough to shut the fish down. Sunday brought more overcast, along with rain and thunder. The fish just weren't eating.

Donnie caught the only limit of the tournament on the second day. Out of 15 anglers, only 40 fish were brought to the scales over the course of the two-day event. The total weight was 40.90 pounds.

Cliff Bost took third place, nudging his way back to the top of the year-to-date standings. With only two tournaments left, the top three anglers are separated by less than four pounds, and fourth placed Jim Norton is less than twelve pounds out of the lead.

Notwithstanding the fishing, a good time was had and the club ate well. Thanks to Lisa for the gumbo and Tim for preparing the steaks and the fish.

Mark Ward On Top

Mark Ward moved into the lead in the race for Mr. Bass 2003 with another win. This one was at Lake Guntersville on the Tennessee River. Mark weighed in a total of only five fish, but he had a weight of 18.55 pounds. He took big fish on the first day with a 6.30 pound, lunker pot-busting hawg, and backed that up on the second day with a nice even five-pounder. He moved from third to first in the points.

After a slow first day, Jim Norton brought four fish to the scales on day two. He had a total of five fish and 12.20 pounds--more than enough to take second place. Mike Sullivan also fought back on day two. Mike didn't weigh a fish on the first day but managed four fish and 7.90 pounds on Sunday. He said he owed it all to his guide.

Rounding out the top four was Lanier Hunt, who weighed in one fish each day for a total weight of 7.75 pounds.

Yet another tough tournament for most of the club. The much anticipated rat bite wasn't on, and the fish were tough to find after the sun came up. Most of the good fish were caught on topwater, even up in the day.

Another Win For Ward

The July tournament was held way up on Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, GA. Seven members showed up to fish on a beautiful day at a beautiful lake.

The fishing was pretty good in the morning. Most of those who caught fish caught them early. A few were caught after the clouds burned off, but the best bite was before 8:00 am.

Mark Ward chalked up his second win of the year, weighing in three fish that totaled 6.20 pounds. Chris Kesler took second place with a pair of spots that weighed 5.20 pounds. Andy Treon took third with three fish and 3.35 pounds, and Don DeHaven rounded out the top four with two fish and 2.40 pounds.

It was no doubt a tough lake. Word from the locals is that Chatuge used to be a great smallmouth lake before some bass club introduced spots from Lake Lanier. None of the fish we caught were smallies, and there were only two largemouth brought to the scales.

Two tournaments in a row that it didn't rain.

Jim Daughtry Catches A Fish!

It's been a long, tough year for Jim. Five tournaments and no fish--only the sarcasm and grief from his so-called buddies to show for his efforts. Golf never looked so good. But just when you think all hope is lost, out of nowhere comes a miracle. Jim caught one. In the tournament! It was measured, weighed, and recorded. Forever documented in the PTCBA archives. Way to go, Jim. You are the man!

The June tournament was held on Lake Walter F. George (known as Lake Eufaula to everyone who isn't from Oklahoma). In classic PTCBA form, it was a tough tournament. It seemed like if you didn't have them by 9 am, you weren't gonna get them. 13 anglers caught a total of 11 fish, a ratio of 0.846 fish per angler. Yick.

Andy Treon took the top spot with three fish and a weight of 8.20 pounds -- his second consecutive win. Second place went to Lanier Hunt who only had one fish, but it was a 6.20 pounder. It was the biggest fish of the year to date for the club. Needless to say, Lanier took the big fish pot.

Third place went to Tim Griffin. Tim had three fish also and a total weight of 4.60 pounds. Mark Ward rounded out the top four with a pair of largemouth that weighed 4.55 pounds. Honorable mention goes to Jim Norton and Jim Daughtry who each had a fish. The rest of the field had no keepers.

The winning and third place patterns were the same. Andy and Tim decided to start at the railroad trestle with the hopes that the current would have the fish feeding there. Luck and timing were on their side, and they caught several fish in the first two hours. Lanier's lunker was caught on a spinnerbait down the lake.

At least it didn't rain.

Get To The Point

The Peachtree City Bass Anglers visited West Point Lake for their May tournament. The club hadn't fished West Point since June 1998, and that tournament was pretty pitiful with only 15 pounds brought to the scales. With the new 14" minimum length limit for largemouth, the lake is a little more appealing to the club.

The weeks prior to our tournament brought extremely heavy rains and severe flooding on the Chattahoochee. The water level at West Point was way over the banks. There was some question as to whether it would be safe to fish the lake. By tournament time, the lake had been drawn down to normal pool and the amount of debris had lessened considerably.

The fishing had been very good in the days before the tournament. Four club members and one prospective member pre-fished Thursday and Friday and reported catching several fish on many different lures. There was even an eight and a half pounder caught on Friday.

The weigh-in on tournament day would show the fishing was still pretty good. There were four limits brought to the scales, and two anglers were only one fish shy of a limit. 

Andy Treon took all of the money. He had five fish that weighed 10.20 pounds, including the day's big fish at 4.35 pounds. Cliff Bost took second place. Cliff's limit weighed 7.50 pounds. Donnie Hendrickson placed third with four fish and 6.30 pounds. Edged into fourth place was Jim Norton. Jim had five fish that weighed 6.20 pounds.

Honorable mention goes to Chris Kesler for his limit of spots that weighed 5.50 pounds. Newcomer Jody Newberry had three fish that weighed an even 5.00 pounds. Prospective member Gary Taber saved four fish for tournament day, and weighed in 4.70 pounds.

It was a pretty good tournament. 11 anglers caught 36 fish, a ratio of 3.2 fish per angler. The total weight was 51.85 pounds, a ratio of 4.71 pounds per angler. That is the best catch ratio we've had this year. Hopefully the trend will continue and the tournaments will keep getting better.

Ward Wins One At Hartwell

The April tournament was held on Lake Hartwell on April 12-13. The lake was over-full, but was  dropping. After several days of rain, the sun finally came out and the weather cooperated all weekend. 

Mark Ward came to the scales on Saturday with a limit. He had a nice sack of fish that weighed 10.80 pounds. Tim Griffin weighed in three fish, including the big fish of the tournament at 3.95 pounds. Tim's total weight Saturday was 7.80 pounds. Cliff Bost had four fish and a total weight of 7.00 pounds, while Gary Taber also had a limit that weighed in at 6.30 pounds.

Mark and Gary were definitely on the fish--more so than anyone else. They were fishing together, and had the only limits of the first day. Word has it they were swimming paddletails through the flooded grass and pine trees.

At Sunday's weigh-in, Cliff had the only limit of the day and a weight of 7.45 pounds. Mark came in with three fish--one of them the big fish for the day. His weight was 5.75 pounds, giving him a total of 16.55 pounds. Cliff's consistent catches weren't quite enough to catch Mark.

In the end, it was Mark Ward in first place (his first win since joining the club!). Cliff finished second--just over two pounds behind. Gary Taber ended up in third place with a total weight of 10.65 pounds, and Tim Griffin finished fourth with 10.30 pounds.

Besides the blown motor, broken Chevrolets, broken windshield, doggy treats and sliding step ladders it was a pretty good tournament. We caught more than twice the fish than we did at Seminole, and it was the best tournament this year (by far).

Bost Takes Win At Tough Seminole

The Peachtree City Bass Anglers held their March tournament at Lake Seminole on March 15-16. As usual, it proved to be a tough tournament for the club. The weeks preceding the tournament brought heavy rains. The normally clear waters in the Spring Creek portion of the lake were stained and muddy. This and the large amounts of pollen on the water made sight fishing nearly impossible.

Cliff Bost took the top spot with a consistent catch of two bass per day and a total weight of 9.35 pounds. Cliff took the big fish money on Saturday for a 2.70 pound fish.

George Edwards brought three bass to the scales on Saturday. His weight of 5.60 pounds took the day's pot. He followed that up on Sunday with a lone fish and had a total weight of 7.05 pounds for the tournament. That was good enough for third place. 

Andy Treon didn't weigh a fish on Saturday, but limited out on Sunday. His five fish weighed 8.70 pounds and that put him in second place. Andy took the day's pot and the big fish pot for a 3.20 pounder.

Mike Sullivan had a lone fish on Sunday that weighed 2.95 pounds. That one fish put Mike in fourth place.

The food made up for the lack of fish, and a good time was had by all.

Wind, Rain No Match For Mike

Our February tournament was held on Lake Harding (Bartlett's Ferry) on Saturday, February 22. The weather forecast was pretty grim, but the severe weather passed early before blast-off and we were left with mainly windy conditions the rest of the day.

Emerging at the top spot was Mike Sullivan. Mike had four fish that weighed 6.70 pounds. Cliff "Dr. Bass" Bost also had four fish, but was just shy of Mike's total weight. Cliff had a total weight of 6.60 pounds--only one-tenth of a pound less than Mike. Cliff's redemption was having big fish of the tournament, a 2.80 pound largemouth.

Don DeHaven placed third with three fish and a total weight of 3.95 pounds. Chris Kesler fished in fourth place in his first tournament as an official member of the club. He had two fish and a total weight of 3.55 pounds.

Considering the weather, we had a pretty decent tournament, but everyone is looking forward to next month at Lake Seminole.

Tied for first!

Well, the first  tournament of 2003 was held on Lake Lanier on January 25. It was cold. Everyone in the club is tied for first place. Let's just leave it at that.