ronnie garrison

I had a good tournament yesterday - got a limit of spots weighing 10.8
pounds at
Lake Allatoona. Also got big fish with a 3.65 pound spot. Second place
was five
spots weighing 5.12 pounds - more typical of Allatoona spotted bass.

I fished three tournaments in August - a night club tournament at Lake
Sinclair
where I caught two keepers weighing 1.6 pounds together, a day tournament at
West Point where I caught one spot weighing 1.1 pounds, and the NWC where I
fished two days to land one keeper weighing 2.8 pounds.

I wish I could figure out what is the difference. Why is it some
tournaments and
days fishing everything goes right, like you got a horse shoe where the
sun don’t
shine, and other days nothing goes right?

I would like to think it is luck, not skill, because skill should be
more consistent.
Why is it I can do the same thing two days in a row and catch fish one
day and not
the next. Flexibility or lack there of is part of it, probably.

What do you think?

BTW - yesterday was the first time I ever fished out of my boat at
Allatoona - I
have done a few magazine articles there with others but this was my
first tournament
there. I have fished dozens of tournaments and other days at Sinclair
and West
Point, and done more magazine articles on those lakes than Allatoona, too.
Allatoona is often called the Dead Sea because of its bass fishing.

I will post the details of my lucky trip later.

Ronnie
fishing.guide@about.com
http://fishing.about.com

charles b. summers, qof.

A three pound spot must have put up a great little battle! Them area some
fiesty critters. Awesome finish Ronnie.

I've found that spots can be a little more predictable here, but fishing is
fishing... some days you'll find them, some days you wont. Remember, it's
fishing, not catching. Seems you do pretty well anyway, so you really ought
to not worry about it and continue on with what you're doing.

ronnie garrison

A little more detail about that tournament:

Each month I write a “Map of the Month” article for
Ge****a Outdoor News. In these articles I go to a lake with a
local expert and we discuss the patterns for bass fishing that
will work during the month. Then we mark 10 spots on a lake map
where you can fish those patterns, and describe how to fish each
spot in detail.
Last Sunday the Flint River Bass Club had a tournament at
Lake Allatoona. Although I have done several “Map of the Month”
articles there over the years, I have never fished out of my boat
there and never fished a tournament on that lake. I did not have
a chance to go up and explore the lake and try to find some fish
before the tournament.
I pulled out a copy of my article on Allatoona in August,
2002 with David and Pansy Millsaps. I read it Saturday night and
rigged baits they suggested. On Sunday morning I headed to hole
number 1 in the article and started fishing as instructed. I
quickly caught a 14 inch spotted bass on a tube jig on a boat
ramp.
I kept fishing that spot and caught a two pound spotted bass
on a Carolina rig. I felt pretty good with two keepers in the
boat on the first place and I had nine more to fish. As I idled
to the second spot I read the instructions again - fish around
the point with a jig and pig, then throw a crankbait before
leaving.
After fishing around the point twice, first with the jig and
then with a Carolina rig, I had gotten no bites, so I started to
leave. I remembered about throwing the crankbait so I picked up a
rod with one tied on and hooked a good fish on the first cast. It
was a 3.65 pound spotted bass and turned out to be the big bass
of the day.
When I headed up to hole number 3 skiers has churned the
lake up pretty bad. I fished it and caught a short bass but no
keepers. It was rough fishing in the waves, and the sun was
getting hot. When I headed to hole number 4 I had to idle under a
bridge and the shade felt good, so I stopped and fished there.
I quickly got a hit on a small jig and pig and landed
another two pound spotted bass. About 30 minutes later I caught
another solid keeper on the jig and pig. That gave me my limit.
I fished one more spot from the article but caught nothing there
before heading to the weigh-in.
We had 14 members fishing the tournament and my five bass
weighing 10.8 pounds gave me first. The 3.65 pound spot was big
fish for the tournament. Bobby Ferris had a five fish limit
weighing 5.12 pounds for second, Don Schafer had 4.92 pounds for
third and Kwong Yu came in fourth with 4.78 pounds.
In the tournament three members caught five fish limits but
there were six people without a keeper. We landed 26 bass
weighing 33.61 pounds and there was only one largemouth weighed
in.
For many years Lake Allatoona has been called the “Dead Sea”
because it was so hard to catch a bass there. The population of
spotted bass has increased over the past few years, and now some
decent catches come out of Allatoona. I was real lucky to have
the article I wrote three years ago help me out in my first
tournament there. That information really helped.