We were greeted with a threat of rain and strong winds as we headed to the Tensaw River system on the Mobile Delta. I had fished the previous three weeks only managing to catch a few keeper fish.

At the draw Mitch Gardner was my partner, we discussed what I had done and what he had heard and agreed with the pending weather condition we would travel north to a creek that I had fished about 12 years ago. We both knew the creek and felt it held good fish. It provided both lay downs, standing cypress and grass although it is a relatively small tributary.

Mitch managed the first keeper on a crankbait about 6:30 a. m., then another about 7:00. I liked the quick action but was concerned that even though he had two fish there still was not a pattern and I didn’t have any. As we worked back into the creek the water cleared and I picked up a black worm, threw it into a criss- crossed logjam. I felt the slightest tic as my worm fell and said, “Is that a hit?”
I lifted my rod and felt weight, set the hook and watched the bass weave my line through the logs.
It was a nice fish; I had light line and was concerned. I managed to coax him back through the maze he had made and Mitch netted my biggest bass of the day. By now he had four and I finally had one.
We turned and worked our worm back to the mouth of the creek and I managed to put four more in the boat. We turned again and Mitch finally put his five fish limit together. We worked the spot until weigh in time and I ended up with twelve keeper bass to finish tough day fishing.

We fought the wind and rain all day, hits were essentially non-existent, we found we really had to be ‘tuned in’ and set the hook on anything that felt ‘different’.
At the weigh in there were four limits, most caught on the same pattern I have described.
I finished second with 8.55 pounds and missed lunker by .05 pounds. Mitch finished fourth.

Keep your line wet.

Fred