TNT # 3 and last weekend

I was going to try to fish Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week. It sounded like a great plan but like all plans things changed. Wednesday night was raining and cold.

Thursday ended up being a good day. We had a Southwest wind that blew some warm air in. Mizike had to work but me and an alternate fished the TNT series #3 event at Alum Creek. We started out rocketing across the lake to the North side. We found a cove just past the no wake zone on the Western part of the lake. There were some cattails in the water and a lot of grass and structure. We fished the cattails and moved out towards the mouth of the cove. I picked up my first bass on a blue and green double willow blade spinnerbait. It was about 11 inches so I returned it to the lake.

We went around the point into the second cove. We fished the southern bank all the way to the back of the cove. We fished the shallow areas of the cove without luck. I tied on a shakey head jig with a brown 6" curltail worm and worked the structure on the way back out of the cove. I was shaking the jig in about 5 foot of water reeling it toward the boat when I got a strong strike. I got it in and it was 1.98 lbs. I put it in the livewell.

Our alternate had another 1.5 lber on but lost it while he was watching another boat land a Musky. I had a few more bites on the shakey head. Most were right at the shore line in small clumps of grass. They were probably on their beds becuase they were not hitting the bait just nipping at it. I went back over the spots a few times but could not get them to take the bait after the initial hit.

We finally were able to weigh in at the end of the tournament. That felt a lot better than not bringing anything to the scales.

Friday was a perfect day. No wind, blue bird skies, and warm. I decided to wait to fish until Saturday so Mizike could go out too. I ended up going to garage sales and picking some toys out for the kids. That evening we picked up some Margarita mix and Tequilla and drank Margarita's on the deck all evening.

Saturday Mizike did not get up until about 1:00. We go to the lake about 2:00. We fished for bass for about an hour then Mizike seemed to be getting bored with it. He asked to go after some crappie. I took him to my secret crappie spot. I caught 5 keepers and quite a few smaller fish. He got bored with that since he was not catching a lot so I decided to head back to the ramp. We had been rained on quite a bit and it looked like another round was getting ready to come through anyway. On my last cast with my crappie jig I had a huge bite and it was heading straight to the laid down tree. I pulled hard to keep it out of the tree but right as it reached the first branch my line snapped and I saw the large bass that had engulfed my crappie jig.

We made it back home by 7:00 so it was a pretty short day of fishing. We ended up going to the comedy club to watch a hypnotist by the name of Medicine hat. It was funny and we had way too many rum and cokes.

Sunday I layed on the couch all day suffering from the way to many rum and cokes. I was able to clear a lot of shows off the dvr. I watched 8 episodes of Chuck and 6 episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

I was back to work on Monday. Friday I leave for Kansas again for my 1 year old's first birthday and his baptism. He is going to stay with his Grandmother for a week while I take my older son to the lake with his other Grandparents for a week. We will be camping and fishing Milford lake. It is a good fishery for Kansas. My parents drive across the state to take their vacation there. I am excited to have a full week to camp and fish. I miss my older son and am ready to see him. He has been gone over a week now as we left him with his cousins our last trip back.

TNT Tournament 2 Results

I arrived at O'Shaughnessy at 5:00. Mizike had already checked us in and drew our boat number. He drew boat #1 this time. We hurried and got the boat ready and on the water. They called our number and we started idling out of the boat dock area. We got past the idle markers and opened up the throttle. The first three boats were heading to the same spot. Boat #2 had a 225 HP motor and passed us by a boat length to get the first spot in the cove. We were able to go on past them to the first spot I wanted to fish.

We tried my spot in a down tree. We didn't catch anything but the next boat that came along did catch one small bass out of it. I guess we should have tried a little more.

We fished for a while in the cove around structure before the trolling motor batteries died out. I had intentions of pluging them in all week but had forgotten to do so each evening after work. Last week was really busy and I didn't even have time to tie on what I was going to use in the tournament.

We ended up letting the wind blow us down the bankline then we would motor back and try again. I had done that in my dad's boat in high school since he did not have a trolling motor on his boat. We were not able to fish spots very well and once again we did not catch any bass.

There were only a handfull of people who caught over 1 bass and several that did not catch any. The top place the week before did not catch any either.

I have been very dissapointed. I'm very competitive and am taking it pretty hard not even getting to weigh in a fish yet. It is very discouraging. I am second guessing all of my tactics and fishing knowledge wondering if I even have a clue what I'm doing.

I just want to catch a bass. It's been 3 weeks since I've even caught one. I watch informational fishing shows, read fishing magazines, and articles. I just need to get out and find them. I am going to spend some extra time on the water this week. I will be fishing after work Wednesday, have the tournament Thursday, then I'm off Friday for some unpaid time off so I will be fishing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

This last weekend was kind of short. I spent 36 hours traveling. It took 16 hours on the way to Kansas on Friday. We had a wedding on Saturday and on Sunday it took 20 hours to get home. I didn't feel like being back in the car yet so we made a lot of stops on the way home. We got back to Columbus at 4 in the morning and I had to work a few hours after that. I was tired yesterday.

I got a good night of sleep after watching Quantum of Solice and feel a ton better today. I am going to mow when I get home tonight. After that I will either play with my fishing gear or go to a buddy's house to have a couple of drinks for his birthday. I really want to organize a small box of tackle with what I want to use this week. I have a lot of tackle that I take along in case I might use it but I want to make a box of what I will use and try and leave the rest at home. I need to get some confidence in some of my lures.

I'm still excited about the rest of the season. I thought we would start out better. Now we just have to work harder to get the fish. Not being able to go fishing last weekend killed me. I need to know that I can catch them. It is only a 3 hour tournament but that is plenty of time to catch a couple even if we don't get all 5.

I think we have tried to fish each spot too long. We need to try different spots until we find the fish. Part of the problem has been not having everything ready. This week I will be ready. My batteries are charged, my poles will be rigged after tonight. My tackle will be organized and ready to be tied on. I will pre rig some Carolina rigs. Time seems to be a major key that is affecting us on the water and more prep work will help so we can spend the time that we have locating and catching fish.

TNT # 2

Today's the day for our second TNT series tournament at O'Shaughnessy lake. I haven't been back since Sunday to see if the water has cleared up any. We haven't had a lot of rain so I bet it has cleared up a little toward the South end of the lake.

We will be starting out there. I plan to use a lot of rubber this trip out. There is a lot of shoreline structure that I want to work. I will also have a couple bright colored crankbaits tied on in case the water is still chocolate milk colored.

It should be overcast with a chance of rain this evening. The wind will be better than any tournament we've had so far so our fishing options will increase a lot. I'm kind of leary on how the fishing will be this time out. I am yet to catch a bass at O'Shaughnessy even though it is supposed to be one of the better bass lakes in central Ohio.

Earlier this week my wife worked late Monday and Tuesday so I had to watch the kids in the evening. Last night I had two associates I had to let go so I did not get home until about 8:30. I am heading back to Kansas tomorrow for a wedding on Saturday, then I will make it back here on Sunday. It is about a 16 hour drive each way so that should be fun. At least I have a day off work tomorrow.

I will post the results of the tournament on Monday or Tuesday.

Weekend Happenings

There was quite a bit that happened this weekend so I will try to fit it all in here.

Friday evening I had plans to take my wife out for our anniversary. Mizike and his girlfriend were going to watch the kids. I got home and Mizike and Kimber were gone. They had went to watch Wolverine before we got home and were still out. My wife got home about 15 minutes after me. It was downpouring with a good lightning show so we got a beer and sat out on the porch with the kids watching it.

Mizike and his girlfriend got home shortly after that. We were still sitting on the porch and the tornado sirens go off. Me and Mizike jump off the porch and run out to the street to see if we can see anything. The girls take the kids inside and turn on the t.v. We didn't see anything that looked like tornadic clouds so we headed back inside to look at the t.v. The storm was already 20 miles past us.

We left to go eat at Red Lobster but as we pulled up to it there was a line of people outside in the rain and the parking lot was packed so we went to find some other place. We ended up in West Jefferson and ate at a little italian place there called Ann and Tony's. It was very good food, had a great atmosphere and was reasonably priced. As we were paying my wife saw a willowleaf decoration she wanted. It said anniversary on it so I bought it for her.

We headed back to Columbus to see Wolverine at the Theatre. On the way I got a craving for a Mocha. I didn't want to go to Starbucks, I'm not their biggest fan so we decided to try Carribou coffee. They had a Campfire Mocha that had chocolate and marshmallows and tasted kind of like smore's. That definately hit the spot.

Next, we headed to the Lennox to see the movie. They had a movie starting in about 5 minutes and another that started in about 20 minutes. We chose the 5 minutes. We got into the theatre and it was packed. We found the only spot that both of us could sit together. It was right at the very front. I remember being a kid and always wanting to sit at the very front. It ended up not being too bad. I was looking up a lot but could see the whole screen pretty well. The movie was awesome. I have been a collector of x-men comic books for years and the movies have been really good about adding to or following the story line.

Saturday I got up and went to a few garage sales to see if I could find some bargains. Every one I hit was way over priced. I only got a couple things for my son and a cookbook that looked like it had some really unique recipes in it.

After garage sale shopping I mowed the yard then I went to the marine to pick up the Nitro and drop off the Pontoon. I got back home a couple hours later and took a short 20 minute nap and watched Marlee and Me. It was a good movie but seemed to drag on at the end. It also reminded me a lot of my life and our last dog Malcom a Great Dane. I drove to Indian lake after the movie and hung out with a friend there celebrating his birthday. We had a couple too many shots but overall had a good time. We were in a bar that at 2:30 in the morning cooked us up some Ribeye and eggs for around $7.00. It was awesome.

I slept in the car at the lake. The next morning I got up about 10 and headed back to Columbus. I played a little pokerstars when I got back. I played a dollar game and doubled my money. My wife and son's got home from church around 12:30. I still had the boat hooked up so we headed to O'shaghnessy lake to do a little scouting for this weeks tournament.

The water was chocolate brown and had all kinds of branches and trash floating in it from all the rain we have been getting. I used a chartreuse lure and could only see it withing 2 inches of the surface of the water. I found some nice looking fishing spots but only had 1 bite all evening. I don't think it was a bass though.

I hope the water clears up a lot before Thursday. We are supposed to get another storm between now and then. There was a log in the launch area. All of the boats were pushing it out of the way with their oar. Then when they would get by it would float back in the way. I grabbed it and drug it onto the shore. It was actually about a 15 foot tree. The people lauching their boat behind me thanked me for getting it out.

The Nitro ran good. I had to dodge a lot of debree but was able to open it up on the southern end of the lake. It felt good to be fishing out of it after all of the trouble I've had so far this year with getting to the lake.

Last night we got home and barbecued some steaks and potatoes, and had some corn on the cob. It made a good end to the already good weekend.

1st TNT Series Results for Team MiRketti

Not good!

We didn't have a fish to weigh in but here's how the tournament went anyway.

I got to the lake at 5:00 pm. I met up with Mizike and we transferred the gear to the boat and finished getting the boat set up. Then we went to the check in to register. We drew our number out of a bucket which was written on the back of a poker chip. I turn it over and it says 1. I was really hoping to be in the back of the pack. I had the pontoon with a 70 hp motor that was not even running well. I wasn't sure where to fish, since I usually fish the North end of the Lake and we were starting at the South end of the lake. I knew with the motor barely running it would take forever to get there.

We hurried up and got the boat in the water and I motored up toward the bullhorn boat. All the boats were having a tough time staying in the area due to the high winds and large waves pushing us around. Finally the bullhorn guy said boat 1. I waved my had so he could see me and took off. I stayed fairly close to the shoreline so the other boats could blow by. We made it about 200 yards down the shoreline before the motor started powering down. I cut off towards a cove so it would look like that's where we wanted to fish.

I idled into the cove and looked around. There was one tree layed over in the water. It was only out about 4 or 5 feet out in the water and the water was maybe a foot and a half deep at the edge of it. I tied on a brown rubber worm and cast it into the branches, nothing. I cast again and as I'm coming over one of the branches at the top of the water a bass grabs the worm. I set the hook and all of a sudden the bass is off. I cast back several more times with no luck.

I was looking for a cove I saw from the road on the way in so we went up the lake a little bit to the next decent sized cove. We curved around to the back of the cove where the water got shallow. I thought that with the wind blowing into the coves there would be baitfish there out of the wind. There were lots of shad. I cast a few times and came over an underwater branch and felt a tick tick on the end of my line. I reeled in a little more and when I felt it again I set the hook. I reeled the bass up to the surface but he got off.

I had another bass hit a spinnerbait going across the top of the branches in the first cove on my way back out of the cove but missed him too.

We tried another long cove and Mizike caught a 12 inch crappie. I told him to throw it in the livewell and we would take it to weigh in and call it a spotted bass. We had already been made fun of for bringing a pontoon to a bass tournament when we were heading towards the bullhorn boat.

We fished the last cove pretty hard trying lots of things to get a strike. It was getting close to time to head back. We made it back to the boat ramp cove with about 30 minutes left thanks to Mizike squeezing the fuel bulb to push gas into the motor so we could go fast.

We fished toward the opening of the cove around some fallen timber. I saw one underwater log and cast to it a few times with a spinnerbait. There was about 15 minutes left. I was just about to head over to the dock and cast one more time over the sunken log. My spinnerbait came over the log like normal and then I felt some pressure so I set the hook. It did not move so I thought I had snagged. All of a sudden it starts coming at me. I am reeling it in and as it gets close the surface it takes a dive and the lure pops out of its mouth. I saw the fish as it got close to the surface. It was a HUGE Musky. I cast back a few times to see if she would take it again but no luck. We boat back over to the ramp and load the boat.

We stuck around for the weigh in. The winning weight was 15 lbs. The next place was around 7 and 3rd was a little over 6. The guys putting on the tournament had the 15lb sack and one of their fish was only a little over 12 inches. So they had 4 fish that were about 14lbs. The larger was about 4.5 lbs.

Even if I would have gotten all of my fish in we wouldn't have won but to not get any was pretty depressing. I had the bites and would have been in contention for a paid spot. Mizike also missed one so we could have had 4 fish maybe 5. I think I missed 2 bass on the spinnerbait. We have a lot of catching up to do now. We got the goose egg out of the way.

I was talking to Dad after the tournament and he asked if I took the plastic off the hook on the spinnerbait. I was about 16 the first time I took him bass fishing and he had bought a spinnerbait and kept getting bites but was not catching them. He finally realized he had the hook guard on it. He was pretty upset but we ended up catching plenty of bass that day out of my 8 foot ABC plastic boat. I was trying to figure out a way I could get a livewell on that boat 14 years ago so I could tournament fish.

I had went about 10 years without seriously bass fishing before this year. Some things are coming back to me every time I am out. I would have blown the doors off the competition back then if I had the chance. I could catch bass anytime anywhere. I fished all the time everywhere back then. That had a lot to do with it. The more I have fished this year the more I have figured out. You can only learn so much in books over the winter time.