The fish were not exactly just jumping in the boat as we battled the heat. The morning started out hot and humid and the day just got hotter with the temp being 100 degrees Fahrenheit. With a heat index of almost 110 it was tough. With 53 boats it was surprising that only 1/3rd of the field brought a fish to the scales. We only had 3 boats that brought a limit (five keeper bass) to the scales. Middle Tennessee is experiencing one of the hottest years on record as we have already had over 65 days over 90 degrees. We really didn't have much of a spring and it is affecting the fishing as well as the anglers. We welcomed back Randy Batson as he returned and fished his first tournament since he had is heart attack a couple of months ago. We also want to congratulate Travis & Michelle Patterson for the birth of their new child. I want to thank all of our sponsors and all of our members for fishing. As Tournament Director, I (Brad Chapman) want to thank  Asst. Director Scott Thorpe, Dayton Wauford Jr., Eric Walls, Bob Parry, Troy Brown, Brad Robinson and Wayne Burlison.

  During this event like all other tournaments we gave out 30-35 door prizes valued at around $1800.00 (from various sponsors) plus the prize money. I also wanted to report on something funny that happenned. Stevie Ray Anderson had another big one on a and his partner Luke Mena was attempting to net it. For the second tournament in a row Stevie says " Luke knocked my fish off the hook with the net. I think he is doing it on purpose because he is currently up to win the Big Fish of the year award. "  Luke later said, " I am not use to Stevie Ray catching fish.  I am just learning to use the net for him.  I usually only yell for the net, not operate it. Stevie Ray said, "every since David has worked with Luke and gave him pointers he is catching fish." LOL! Stevie and Luke will tough it out and will be practicing on getting the fish in the net.  Below you will find the First place and the Big Fish Winners picture (Stevie Ray was not available for the picture). Below that is a list of the anglers who brought fish to the scales in the order they finished.  All other anglers that did not bring fish to the scales are not listed. The points are current and updated in the points standings section with the points from this event issued.

 

We look forward to seeing everybody at our next tournament at Fate Sanders Marina.

 

 

Bart and Angela Bagsby of Black Jack Cove Marina put on a $5000.00 1st place bass tournament on Saturday, July 31st 2010. This tournament was a Black Jack Cove Marina Event.  Black Jack Cove, The Black Pearl, Robert Orr Sysco, Ajax-Turner Budweiser, Anderson Marine and Riverside Marine all contributed prizes and or donations to make this possible. Mark Horton and Tim Horton won the event with 5 bass for that weighed a whopping 18.63 Lbs.to claim their $5000.00 prize. Mark and Tim Horton also caught the Big Fish of the event. That fish earned them another $864.00 for a total of $5864.00, all for a great day on the lake in the hot sun. Black Jack Cove payed 5 places, 2 big fish places and gave out around 15 other "Wild Card" type drawing prizes. We ended up with 82 boats of that number 39 of them brought fish to the scales. I am proud to announce we only had 2 dead fish out of all those weighed in. This event was not an OHPPBT event but we did provide the workers and Brad Chapman was the Tournament Director for Black Jack Cove's Tournament. Even though this was not an OHPPBT event, we provided eight workers to help out our sponsor (Bart and Angela@ Black Jack Cove) out with a successful event. One of the reasons Black Jack Cove Marina had the OHPPBT weigh in team come help out is we have a great reputation for preserving integrity of our tournaments by following the rules and regulations. Another reason why they chose us (OHPPBT) to help out is due to the fact that we take great care to ensure that the best care of the fish during tournaments. From the time the fish are caught until they are brought to the scales and then released back in the water. This is what we do to reduce the loss of mature bass. I am writing this so that any other tournaments may try to do whatever they can to promote these same results that we have maintained for the past 2 years for fish care. We (OHPPBT)have had an average of 67 boats in the last 2 years. Since we changed how we bring the anglers to the scales we have only lost 1.2 fish per tournament. We do not allow any boats to fish without a functional aerated live well. We also make sure that all locations that we hold a weigh in is with in 50 feet from the lake and has ice for sale with in 150 feet of our scales. We also do not allow more than one dead fish per boat to be weighed in. A dead fish may not qualify for a big fish prize or award.  This makes the anglers take care of our natural resources. We also have special gloves and weigh bags at the scales to reduce the exposure to our handling the fish. The last and most important thing we do is that we do not allow anglers to get their fish out of their live wells and place the fish in their weigh bags until  their number is called. This keeps the fish in the aerated water of their boats and not setting in a non- aerated bag in the line waiting top get to the scales. If an angler does not follow this rule they are assessed a 1 pound penalty.  I would hope that all tournaments do all they can to reduce the stress on the fish. Catching fish is a passion of mine and most tournament bass anglers. Any responsible angler knows that we must protect our valuable resource. Thanks to Bart and Angela Bagsby for having this $5000.00 1st place tournament. Bart and Angela also donated 50 lunches to a local food bank to feed the homeless and flood victims. I also want to thank Ajax-Turner Budweiser, Anderson Marine, Riverside Marine and OHPPBT's workers that volunteered their time for our sponsor. Thanks to all anglers that participated in this event as it was a tough hot day on the lake for most of you.