Lay Lake Report
June 19-20, 2004
Report as posted on BFHP:
TMTanglers held its summer tournament on Lay Lake June 19-20. There were 4 boats participating in a team format. Half of us stayed at the 4H center, and the other half stayed at a lake house near Okomo. The fishing seemed to be good on Saturday, with a tougher bite on Sunday. Bill Greene and Russell Fackler had the winning stringer on Saturday catching bringing in a 12-3 stinger of spots on Saturday. Clint Jacobs and Skip Davis were a close second with a 10-3 stinger of largemouth. I predicted Clint and Skip to win the tournament because I did not think that the large Bill and Russell could catch that heavy of a bag targeting spots only two days in a row. I was right on that account, but the north breeze and blue bird skies killed Clint and Skip’s bite and they were unable to repeat the 10 lb stringer they caught on Saturdday.
The winning team came in with 8-4 on the second day, which was more than enough to win the tournament. Biggest bass was a 3-9 spot, and largest trash fish was a 7-15 salt caught by yours truly. Bill and Russell caught their fish on finesse worms fished the same way everyone seems to be fishing them nowadays….jigheads.
On a side note, for the first time in 30 years of fishing, I got hooked while trying to unhook a tenacious spot from a Bandit 200 crankbait. It went past the barb right into the end of my middle finger. I grabbed the end with my pliers and tried to yank it out. It was like lightning went up my arm. Call me a wimp if you will, but I had my partner take my rear to the Sylacauga ER where I received a tetanus shot and ample proportions of anesthetic. I did make it back to the weigh-in with a limit of fish, but was out of the tournament for all practical purposes.
Since I was out of it, on day two I fished way up river hoping to catch some hybrids or salts along with a few spots. I just wanted to point out how beautiful the river looks compared to the last time I was there in 2001. I’m told that a volunteer organization has taken the initiative to clean up the Coosa River impoundments. Well, whoever you are, your efforts are definitely paying off. I will be spending my tourist dollars on the Coosa River again. It was delightful to just to be out there.
Photos can be seen at: http://www.tmtanglers.com/Pictures/2004_Lay/lay_lake_pictures.htm
Results can be found at:
http://www.tmtanglers.com/Schedule/2004/Lay/Lay_Lake_Weigh_In.doc
Tight Lines…