 Mike "Polecat" Pelchat, 3rd place, 9.33#; Big Fish: 6.92# Leesville BASSMasters fished our fourth tournament at Jordan Lake near Apex, NC. Temps were in the mid 60s at blast off with partly cloudy skies, rising to the upper 70s by weigh-in with mostly cloudy skies. Water temps were in the low 70s. While rain was forecast, it held off for the day with sprinkles just starting to show up when we left for home.
All but one of our anglers brought fish to the scales today. After all fish had been weighed in, Mark Cannon chalked up his second win for the 2019 season with a five fish limit of 12.20 lbs. Following in second was Wes House (5 fish, 10.04 lbs) and Mike "Polecat" Pelchat (3 fish, 9.33 lbs) took third. Polecat also took big fish honors for the day with a 6.92 lbs tank, which regrettably arrived to the scales DOA. However, the big girl won't be going to waste...Polecat took her home for a swim in the hot grease jacuzzi. Our next tournament takes us to Falls Lake on June 1. The fish at Falls should be emerging from the post-spawn and transitioning toward their typical summertime haunts. Falls also marks our transition from a 3PM to 2PM weigh-in during the summer months.  In memory of our beloved friend, Jim Simons...Oct 1, 1948 - April 6, 2019  Wes House, 1st place, 11.57 lbs; Big fish: 3.59 lbs
Leesville BASSMasters arrived at the Henderson Point ramp at Kerr Lake on April 13 to thunderstorms and rain. Temps were in the low 60s with light and variable winds and water temps in the low 60s. This morning was especially somber for our anglers. On April 6, 2019, fellow Leesville member Jim Simons passed away after a long, courageous battle with Parkinson's disease. Jim fought his condition with a strength and perseverance that belied his soft spoken nature, and he will be sorely missed. Before blast-off, we observed a solemn moment of silence and dedicated today's tournament to Jim's memory.
Several lines of thunderstorms blew through during the day, but Jim was apparently keeping watch over us on high because all of them seemed to go around. We did, however, have on and off rain throughout most of the day and quite heavy at times. All of our anglers caught fish today. When all fish had been brought to the scales, Wes House took first place with a five fish limit of 11.57 lbs and also took big fish honors with a 3.59 lb'er. Mark Cannon took 2nd place (5 fish, 9.78 lbs) closely followed by Duke Bevard in 3rd (5 fish, 9.38 lbs). Our next tournament takes us to Jordan Lake on May 11, which recently hosted MLF Stage 3. We're expecting the fish will have the feed bag on as they come off the beds and run headlong into the shad spawn.
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!  Duke Bevard, 1st Place, 7.81#
Leesville BASSMasters finished out our 2018 season where it all started: Kerr Lake. Just a couple of weeks earlier, Kerr had been nearly 14 feet above normal pool due to the passage of Hurricanes Florence and Michael. By the time we arrived, however, the Corp had slimmed Kerr back down to a much more normal 301 and change. Temps were in the upper 40s at blast-off, rising to around 60 at weigh-in. Water temps were in the low-mid 60s with a building, gusty WSW wind.
After all fish had been called to the scales, Duke Bevard (4 fish, 7.81#) took 1st place, capping off a run of three wins in the last four tournaments of the season. Wes House (3 fish, 7.12#) came in second, followed by Sheldon Godfrey (4 fish, 6.09#) in third. Mark Cannon took big fish honors for the day with 3.14#. Duke caught all of his fish on squarebills and a Bandit 300. With the last tournament, points scores are finalized and the field for our 2019 money tournament is set: Mark Cannon, Duke Bevard, Wes House, Sheldon Godfrey, Mike Lee, and Craig Koefler. Site selection will be determined in February 2019, when the competitors put their selection of one regular season tournament during the 2019 season in a hat, and one entry is drawn at random. The money tournament is fished at the selected site in "tournament within a tournament" format. With our 2018 season at a close, we're looking forward to our annual Christmas Party/Awards Dinner on December 9th where we'll enjoy an evening together with our spouses and significant others, hand out awards to our top finishers for the season, and crown our 2018 champion. We're also looking forward to 2019 and another season of fishing, fun, and fellowship. See you in 2019! |
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