"John's Club Report"
Covering The Pensacola Hawg Hunters
Email: John Buck


January 20, 2001


Escambia River Standings
Total Fish Caught
48
Total Dead Fish
0
Total Fish Weight
73.75 lbs.
Total Year Standings
Total Fish Caught 97
Total Dead Fish 0
Total Fish Weight 142.74 lbs.

Tensaw River
Cliff's Landing

The Hawg Hunters held their January tournament out of Cliff's Landing
on the Tensaw River. For those not familiar with this area the Tensaw
River is part of the delta area of Mobile (Al) Bay.

The fishing conditions were not the greatest as the 28 members prepared to
get launched. The weather was very cold as a cold front passed through
during the night and dropped air temps into the upper 20's- low 30's. The water level was very low due to a strong north wind and an outgoing tide. The color was pretty stained in the main river but cleared the further up you went into the feeder creeks. Water temps ranged from about 46 in the main river to near 53 in the creeks. Partly cloudy skies gave way to Bluebird skies as the day wore on.

I was fortunate to be drawn to fish with the president of the club, Wally Cassiano. Wally is the eldest member of our group but he acts the youngest! He said he'd found fish in a grassy creek down low so I said let's go get em. After a fairly COLD boat ride we arrived at the creek and proceeded to get on with the program, which was to fish crank baits in the grass. Boy did I get taught a quick lesson....Wally had a limit in the boat by 8 AM and I had not even had a bite. Eventually I caught a jack meanwhile Wally caught a couple of short fish while working for a "cull". Wally finally cooled off with the fish after he broke the bill on his "one of a kind" crank bait, but he'd already boated 3 keepers in the 2 lb plus range and a couple of 1 ½ lb bass.

We kept fishing the cranks and about 10 AM I caught a keeper, my first. Then it was my turn. I caught a limit in the next hour and a half and Wally caught none. We continued fishing cranks throughout the day, Wally culled 4 and I culled 2. Needless to say we had a wonderful time fishing together. As thing slowed down around 2:30. I suggested a place nearby that I liked and we went there and each caught a nice 2 pound fish. One on a worm and one on crank bait. As 3:30 neared we decided to make the run back to the launch and get things packed and loaded before the weigh-in. Basically, we caught fish throughout the day and in varieties,... crappie, about a zillion jackfish, and a couple of limits of bass.
What a great day on the water! It's been a long time since I had that much fun.

As we got to the weigh-in we found that not everyone had such a fun time, but those that did find fish found several. Speaking of fun times, I hear that Lee Brannon has added anther chapter in his "do's and don'ts" book. Seems as if he has found a new method of removing the hook from a jackfish and sinking the barb deep into a finger. His hand looked really strange with that shank of steel protruding from his forefinger. I'm sure he'll have a fishy explanation at the meeting. Most of the fish came on plastic worms and crank baits. Fish were caught on a variety of colors of both worms and crank baits.

At the scales , Jere Jailette came in with a nice limit of 5 bass weighing 7.70Lbs.
To take 3rdplace. He said his fish came on crank baits. Better keep an eye on him fellas, he's moving toward the top in the standings. My partner ....
code named "Condor" Wally Cassiano showed up with a strong 2nd place limit of 5 fish weighing 9.25 lbs. His fish came off crank baits and worms. I got lucky and wound up in 1st place with a limit totaling 10.25 lbs. I caught all my fish on crank baits. I also won the lunker honors with a 2.75 lb "Green trout"! Like I said earlier, Don't know when I've had so much fun!!!

Next month's tournament is on the upper reaches of the Tensaw River out of Hubbard's Landing. A short reminger to all the Hawg Hunters...Don't forget the super bowl party at Mac's and don't forget the annual awards banquet on
Feb 9, 2001, at the Seafood Shanty. Til next time....

Keep your hooks sharp....

Creek Chub

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