Mcdonalds tournament

[Tightline]

Fished the Mcdonalds tournament out of Port of Kimberling yesterday and had a blast.Can't remember alot of details of the weigh in except 1st was 19 something lbs,then dropped to 17 for 2nd and 3rd.1st Big Bass was 6.? lbs and 5.? lbs for 2nd and 3rd.

This was an excellent tournament for the average Joe like us to fish, they had 166 boats and paid 20 places and we sit for about 45 minutes while they gave away prizes.They gave away digital cameras,TVs,power tools,$50 walmart gift cards,$100 checks,Thermos,coolers,and much more.Sport Boat USA donated a Polar Kraft boat,which some lucky guy from Branson got the draw for that,dang it, I just knew that was gonna be mine.Missouri Lakes Bass club did an excellent job of keeping it all organized.

My partner and I got 14th place with 13.18 lbs.Funny, when we weighed in we had 13.40 lbs but when they called up for our check they said 13.18 lbs,but it didn't matter because the place above us got the same money as we did.We caught 10 keepers and weighed 4 largemouth and 2 Smalljaws and fished 13,Mill Creek and Baxter areas.Just couldn't get a big fish to kick us up in weight.

Thanks to Bill and Phil for all the info on Bass you have posted in the last 2 weeks,we put it all to good use,since I have only Bass fished twice in the last 3 years, I needed it.Thinking about doing it again next week!

[Bill Babler]

Good Work Tight. 14th. out of 190 plus means you are doing it right. When you get there, you are just looking to get rid of a little-en and get a big bite. We needed the same thing Tuesday, and just didn't get it. That kicker is the different between the grand tammley and the bologna sandwich.

These kind of charity events are very special, and I for one that do not usually fish tournament, love them. Good People, Good Fishing and Great Cause.

Saturday and Sunday Report. Found the bite a little tough out of Shell Knob on Saturday with 4 good topwater keepers early and then a 2 hr. snooze. Saw some fish chasing off Viney Creek and thru the spook, catching a huge K, over 4 lbs. when she came to the boat, she had at least 30 more with her all as big. Pre-Spawn females at the mouth of the creek. Tried to catch another one of her running buddies, for over an hour, and got zip.

Got pretty tough again in the wind, but was able to catch about 20 for the day, mostly on the shakey head. Our best 5 would have benn about like tights, in the 13-14 lb. range.

Late start today, but I guess It didn't matter as Chris T. and Bill B. struggled big time. Both fished the dam area, and reported a flat nothing on top early and then just very marginal success swimming the grub, or shaken.

We got out a 8 and Immediatly Roger had a great brownie at about 4lb. Son JD captured two more small brownies, with 1 being a 15 inch squeeker. Moved to Clevenger and JD hammered a great 3.5 SJ Swimming the 3" green pumpkin singletail. Moved to island in front of BC and JD again caught a twin to his other 3.5 on the grub. Got really tough for a couple of hours, and right before quitting time, off State Park, with the wind blowing in a gale, I saw shad just jumping everywhere. First throw was a nice keeper brownie's and it kept on keeping on with 6 sensational fish, 2 of them over 5 lbs. one on a GP.3 inch single tail and the other one a Chomper 4 inch smoke pepper. Not a lot of fish, but the quality was just about as good as it gets. Best 5 SJ's would have gone about 21 pounds, and I for one just don't catch that kind of fish. As a matter of fact, that is probably the best 5 single day catch of smallmouth in my life. Think about it, I guide 270 trips per year, and fish a bunch more, and I just had my best day ever for weight, on Smallmouth.

I had 3 fisherman today, and we caught only 11 total fish in a little over 5 hrs. 10 keepers, all brown bass. The one that didn't measure, was very close. Instead of a 4 hr. half day trip, I kept the boys out to fish one last bank, because it had been slow. glad I did as the 6 Sj's we took off that bank in the last hour, were 20 plus pounds.

No animals were harmed in the making of the story.

[dwiebenga]

Bill,

Great post. I am looking forward toward my second trip of the spring in about 14 days. Hopefully, they will be feeding after being on the beds for so long.

Dave

[Hunter91]

I also enjoyed fishing this tourney. i believe this is the 7th year my partner and I have fished it. It's good to know the money raised goes to a worthy cause. Oh, and I enjoy the door prizes to for us poor fisherman that can't seem to eek out a limit on tourney day