Kerr Lake was host to Leesville BASSMaster's second tournament of the season. Given the heavy rains we've had late winter/early spring, Kerr had been swollen as much as 10 feet above normal pool of 300 for several weeks. However, a let up in the rains allowed the Corps to bring the level back down to just short of 302, which is perfect for this time of year. We launched from the Hibernia ramp with partly cloudy skies, a moderate NW wind, and temps in the low 50s rising to near bluebird conditions and temps near 60 at weigh-in. Water temps at blast-off were just over 50 degrees and members reported water temps ranging from 53 to 57 degrees by weigh-in.
After all fish had been brought to the scales, Duke Bevard scored his first win for the year with a five fish limit of 9.22 lbs. Following closely behind in second was Wes House (3 fish, 8.82 lbs) who took big fish honors for the day with a 6.05 lbs chunk. Third place went to club rookie Duke Ellis (2 fish, 6.95 lbs). Duke Bevard caught most of his fish shaky heading a Watermelon Seed trick worm in shallow water in the backs of coves. Our next tournament brings us back to Kerr Lake again, this time launching from Henderson Point. We're expecting to find fish in all modes of the spawn, and look forward to another great day on the water.  Mark Cannon (center) - 5 fish, 26.94 lbs (Day 1), two day total - 6 fish - 31.01 lbs, Big Fish 7.18 lbs
 Tom Robertson - Catch DQ'd for being under the lake limit Leesville BASSMasters arrived at Buckhorn Reservoir near Bailey, NC on a chilly March 2nd for our first tournament of the season. After a really wet late winter/early spring, we were greeted with cloud cover on Day 1 with temps around 45 at blast-off rising to around 60 at weigh-in with mostly sunny skies Water temps were around 48 rising to around 52 to 54 depending on where you were on the lake.
Most who stopped to BS with each other during the day all reported a slow bite on Day 1. We’d been hearing rumors here and there that 2018 champion Mark Cannon had been sitting on the same spot most of the day and had a solid bag of fish, but nobody was prepared for what he pulled out of his livewell when we weighed in. Leesville rookie Jeffery Kinney weighed in first (1 fish, 3.17 lbs), and was the only angler besides Mark to bring any keepers to the scales for Day 1. Mark then unloaded his livewell, a five fish limit tipping the scales at 26.94 lbs and anchored by a 7.18 lb toad. Talk about football season in March! Long time member Craig Koefler couldn’t remember the last time a one day sack of fish like Mark’s has been weighed in at a Leesville tournament. Day 2 was a different story with dense cloud cover, a damp ESE wind, and temps in the upper 30s at blast-off. While air temps rose to near 50 by weigh-in, water temps hardly budged from 49 early to around 50 to 51 degrees by weigh-in. A steady rain was forecast to move in later in the afternoon, so weigh-in was moved up to 1PM. After all fish were weighed, it was no surprise that Mark Cannon maintained the top spot, weighing in one additional fish at 4.07 lbs, to bring his two day total to 31.01 lbs. Mark also took big fish for the tournament with his 7.18 lbs tank from Day 1. Jeffrey Kinney brought another fish to the scales on Day 2 (1 fish, 5.78 lbs) to take 2nd place with a two day total of 8.95 lbs. Sheldon Godfrey, who went fishless on Saturday, brought a single 6.34 lb chunk to the scales to take third. Tom Robertson tried to weigh in a beer can he caught early on Day 2 slow rolling a spinnerbait, but the catch was DQ'd because it only measured 12 oz and Buckhorn has a 16 oz limit. Our next tournament is on March 16 at Kerr Lake. We’re hoping that we’ll finally catch a break in the rain and some milder temperatures over the next couple of weeks. The near constant rainfall has had Kerr several feet higher than normal in recent weeks, and a number of ramps have been closed periodically due to high water. We also look to have about a week of frigid weather with nighttime lows down in the mid to low 20s, which isn’t going to help with the water temps. But, you can pick the date but not the conditions, so as long as we can fish safely, the show must go on. See you in a couple of weeks! |
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