~ Lake Martin Report ~

The old saying about March and the Lion is true. The Hawg Hunters took off for Lake Martin for the March Tourney. Most who went up on Friday found high winds and waves. On Saturday and Sunday the temps dropped to the upper 20’s and rose to the mid 60’s each day. Cloudy skies on Saturday and bluebirds on Sunday. Sounds like tough conditions. Usually this would be the case but not for the Hawg Hunters this weekend. We had about 25 guys fishing and 15 limits were weighed in on Saturday, and 5 or 6 guys weighed in limits on Sunday. I don’t know about the exact club records, but I think this is a new record for our club in total weight and number of fish for a 2-day tourney.

My partner for the weekend was the worse guy I could have drawn….myself. I was drawn for the solo spot so I’ll have to say nice things about my partner. Even though he did let a big fish get away at the boat due to being slow to get the net. I started Saturday fishing pea gravel banks in Wind Creek with a little spotsticker jig head and a gourd green worm. After a couple of hours and no fish I changed my tactics and went to a cove that has produced for me at other times. I switched to a green pumpkin finesse and immediately caught a keeper LM on the spot sticker. I found a bedding fish and spent an hour to get her to hit only to have her break off at the boat….at least a 5 lb fish. By the afternoon I was frantic and managed to pull a small spot off a point with a rattle trap.

At the weigh in it seemed that every one had big bags of fish or at least had 4-5 keepers. All except me that is. I weighed my 2 in for a measley 2.20 lbs. and took 21st place for day one. Mac Cramer ruled the day with 10.95 lbs followed by Pistol Pete Potter (9.10 lbs) and Brian Metcalf (9.05 lbs). Fifteen limits were brought to the scales. Even Burnt Beans Bailey had a limit…(his motor is still running great! Ain’t it fun when it all comes together like it should!). Mack’s partner "Big Fish Bob" Hanson lived up to his nickname and brought in a pretty spot to take 1st day lunker honors at 3.85 lbs.

Back at the Bob White Motel..(speaking of this if your guys ever need a room at Martin, this is a good place to stay. It’s not fancy but very functional. The management and staff have always treated us well and have been very accommodating. They also don’t jack up the room price like the others in the area do during race weekends. He’s got good parking and electrical outlets are no problem). Chief Fry Cook Cramer had the burners fired and going (without Fireball Jahnke’s help) and cooked up a ton of fried chicken for the club. Hot fried chicken, potato salad, and baked beans was the menu of the evening.
KFCeat your heart out!
It was really good and a hearty thanks to all who had a hand in making it happen.

It was obvious at the weigh in that I had to make a big change in tactics, locations, or both. Sunday was a short day and I took off and ran south of Hog Pen Slough to some clearer water. I soon found what I was looking for, some pea gravel banks on main points on the lake. I put on a green pumpkim finesse worm and on about the 3rd cast with the spotsticker caught a nice 2 lb spot. I continued this patter until the sun came up and put another small spot in the boat. When the sun broke through the fog I ran to the east side of the lake to fish the shady areas. It was here that I picked up 2 lm on the spotsticker. As the sun got higher I switched to a T-rig finesse worm kudzu color and dipped the tail chartreuse. I fished the coves along the eastern side of the lake and managed to cull 3 smaller fish for a limit weighing 9.20 lbs. This turned out to be the largest stringer on Sunday and jumped me from 21st to 10th in the tournament. At least I saved a little face.

Pistol Pete came in once again with a nice limit and a total of 15.65 lbs. to take 1st place and Dwayne Mills showed up with his 2nd limit and a total wt. of 15.15 lbs. for 2nd place edging out his partner Rich Cornelius who had his 2nd limit, total wt of 14.90 lbs for 3rd place. Lunker for the day was a tie with Fred Raby and Dwayne Mills sharing big fish honors, with a fish weighing 2.45 lbs. Most fish came on finesse worms fished very slowly in 5-10 ft of water. Most popular colors were junebug, green pumpkin, and kudzu. In our group when it takes 9.70 lbs to get a point, you know we had a good tournament!

I have enjoyed Lake Martin every time I have fished there. We always seem to catch decent numbers of fish and the water and terrain are so different from what we have around the Tensaw delta area. I think that everyone had a good time. I know that I did and I’m looking forward to going back again.

Our April tournament will take us to the Tensaw delta out of Cliff’s Landing. Until next time…...

See you there*Keep your hooks sharp!

Creek Chub