Lake of the Ozarks

This was the Tarlton Spring Bass Tournament. Shotgun start at 7:00 AM. Steve and I got to the ramp (Larry Gale CA) at 6:50 and had a 5 minute run to check-in. When we pulled up to the prep area there was a crappie tournament putting in. Luckily Dustin Norton was fishing a different tournament and was able to drive my truck in line while Steve and I prepped the boat. We made ran 5 miles in under 5 minutes and got there in time to hear the horn. A quick live well check at the dock and we were off. Air temp was around 35F it was windy and spitting rain. Water was still around 49F. Wind was out of the NNE at 10 with gusts up to 25. It was NASTY weather. We hit the first cove and caught a 15" bass on the same jerk bait we had been using. It was only 7:30 and we had a keeper in the boat. However, by 9:00 we were on our 3rd cove and had only caught shorts. Every place we pulled up to we caught fish, just nothing 15" or better. Then the rain, thunder, lightening and ice started. It poured and we waited it out under a dock. About 11:00 we were fishing again. Steve put a 2.6 pounder in the boat and that was our last keeper. We also caught one crappie on a jerk bait, but didn't keep him (11" crappie). Check in was at 4:00 and 15 pounds won the tournament. The boat ran great and toped out at 61.3 @ 5200 with both of us, all our gear, full tanks and soaking wet.

Lake of the Ozarks - Niangua Arm

Steve Moore and I fished this Friday afternoon as a pre-fish for the tournament we had on Saturday. We put in at Larry R. Gale Access, part of the Missouri Conservation Department. We ran up around the highway 5 bridge and started fishing a cove on the north side of the lake. We fished 4 coves over about 3 hours. It was partly sunny and the air temp was 45F. Water was right at 50F. A low front was getting ready to move threw overnight, so conditions were going to change. We were using crank baits in about 4' - 8' of water. Caught 4 fish between the two of us. Jerk bait (light green on top and white/silver on bottom) for 3 of them and a sexy shad for one. Only one keeper (Steve's fish). They were on small rock bottoms (pea gravel).

Mississippi River, Alton Pool (Pool 26)

First day with the boat. This was more of a test drive than a fishing trip. Adam and I took the boat through it's break-in period (or at least a couple hours of it). The air temperature was around 50F with water temp around 47F. We hit the water around 9:00 and just ran the boat until about 11:00. Then we headed for Lake Center Marina to see how she fished. We threw spinners and cranks, but didn't even get a bite. We finished up around 1:00 PM

The Arrival

Here it is. I got the call this afternoon and went and picked up my new 2009 Skeeter ZX190 with a 2009 Yamaha 175 VMax HPDI. The dealer tells me it should hit 70 MPH, but we'll see.