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BACK-TO-BACK
AT MELONES FOR THIS TEAM!
By:
Ron Wilson
July 3,
2003.... Guide Bruce Hamby of Ripon, Warren Cooper of Elk Grove and myself
fished the Kokanee Power Tournament last Saturday at New Melones.
I
was hoping for a repeat of last years win over Bruce. A lucky drop of
water made the difference as I squeaked by him by 1/100th of a
pound. According to Bruce’s scales we were tied when we headed to their
scales.
I
was happy with first, however Bruce is not happy with any finish other
than first. I like that in a guide as it shows real pride in his ability.
We
launched at Glory Hole Point and headed out about 10 minutes before
fishing time and got out in the middle of the lake and shut it down and
started getting our gear ready.
Boat
after boat passed us heading south and it looked like a city was forming
down past Rose Island.
Fishing
time came and Bruce decided to start right where we were, as there
wasn’t another boat within a quarter mile of us!
Bruce
quickly found fish and the action was red hot. Soon we had our 3 fish
limit to weigh in. However they were all in the 1.8 to 1.9 pound class.
We
continued to safely release fish that wouldn’t help us in the
tournament. We knew we had to catch numbers in order to get the right 3
fish to win the event! We were using Uncle Larry Spinners, Apex’s and
Ex-Cel lures to catch our fish.
I
remembered using a pink and white Ex-Cel lure at Don Pedro last year and
the fish loved it. I put it on and tipped the single hook with a grain of white
shoepeg corn and put the setup out. The rod had only been down a couple
minutes before I got a strike. I let the fish run as I informed Bruce
it was one that we needed. I let the fish peel the line easily so as not
to tear the hook out of its mouth. Bruce said, “don’t lose it”,
seems he doesn’t have much faith in us pump and reel bass fishermen, Hee
Hee!
I
finally got the fish to the net and Bruce was overjoyed as it hit the
scales at a little over 2 pounds. I said, “that’s what were looking
for”! Bruce said, “two more like that and we got this tournament
won”!
 Warren
was holding his own as we put a dozen fish in the box, but none were in
the 2-pound class like the one we had boated. Warren lost three in a row
and then went to the front seat and said, “three strikes and your out,
go get ’em Ron”.
The
next fish was a good one, again on the Ex-Cel lure. The fish would shake
its head and run off 15 to 20 feet of line. This went on again and
again. I just let the fish have its way as I thumbed the line lightly.
However, after 5 minutes of this, it made another run and simply tore the
hook loose.
I
was down on myself for loosing that one as I looked at Bruce and said I
don’t think I did anything wrong the fish just came unbutton and it sure
would of helped us.
I
got Warren back up to reel in a couple fish as I tried to recoup from my
disappointment.
I
have not even mentioned what Bruce was doing all this time. He was busy
changing lures, reeling in kokanee, netting our fish plus driving the boat
so that we stayed on top of the school of kokes! In addition to all that,
he was still looking for the big bite we needed to get a paycheck.
I
don’t know how many fish I netted for Bruce, but it was a bunch and we
managed to release the majority unharmed, but if they were bleeding they
went in the box.
We
had a lull in the action, so we moved across the lake looking for bigger
fish. Bruce trolled around the spillway, but only got a couple real small
kokes for our trouble.
Bruce
angled the boat out in front of Tuttletown. By this time I had lost faith
in what I had on my side of the boat and decided to use a couple old
standby lures that I knew worked at New Melones. I put on an Uncle
Larry’s Copper blade with blue and pink beads on one rod and a pink
hoochie on the other rod. Bruce made the turn and headed back toward Glory
Hole Point and the rods went nuts with fish after fish on both sides of
the boat. The only problem was that they were all small! The fish were
short striking the lure so the vast majority came off right behind the
boat and headed back to the 50 feet of water they came from.
As
Bruce ran through the fish, he marked a good one on the depth finder. He
made a slow turn and the fish nailed the inside rod with the hoochie. I
jerked the line off of the clip and the fish seemed to be a small one then
suddenly it got huge as it dove peeling off line. I thumbed the spool
releasing line as the fish speed off. “This is the one we want Bruce,”
I exclaimed, “it’s a heavy hard fighting solid fish with shoulders”.
The fish made 3 good runs and then suddenly it was gone. I told Bruce “I
know I didn’t do anything wrong fighting that one, but it still got
off”. I wanted to add; “you don’t suppose somebody’s statement
about the great job we had done the first half hour boating fish without
loosing any had something to do with our newly found bad luck”! I know
Warren and I had somehow become snakebite and could hardly land a decent
size fish anymore!
Time
was running out and we had to call it a day. All I could think of was, I
had the fish on to win the event and lost them. Now all I could hope for
was placing good enough to get our money back in the Pro Division.
We
got to the Frogatorium for weigh-in earlier than most of the pros where we
weighed our fish.
We
had a 2-pound big fish and were leading the only other team that weighed
by 10 ounces. I was keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that out weight
would hold up for a paycheck in the top 5 spots so we would at least get
our entry fee back. An hour latter I found out that not only did the big
fish hold up but our total weight did also and we had won the Pro-event!
Warren,
Bruce and I did a high five. I know I was happier than they were because I
had two good fish that kicked my butt and got away. I would of hated to
carry that around on my shoulders for the next few months!
Bruce
turned to me and said “you know Ron if you hadn’t caught that big fish
we would of probably been on our way home right now”! If he hadn’t
been grinning from ear to ear I might have believed him. Like I said
before there is nothing a guide likes to do better than finish at the top
in a tournament. It lets everybody else know, including the other
guides’ that not only is he a good fishing guide he is a dam good
one who can put quality fish in the boat when they are biting!
Bruce
had caught 3 fish by himself that would have won the event, but we never
knew that until after the weigh in was over!
We
had a good meal and then a great raffle. Guide Garry Miralles of Shasta
Tackle Co. came all the way down to MC the event and did a fine job.
One
thing the directors could do is to speed things up as much as possible. A
minute here and there does not seem like much, but when you put a bunch of
them together, the first thing you know its dark by the time you get home.
This makes for a very long day for the anglers!
Bruce
can be reached at 209- 599-2023. Check out his web page ad on our fishing
section!
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