Pensacola Hawg Hunters
Bass Club

Founded In
1975


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


Blackwater River
August 23, 2003

Blackwater River
Total Fish Caught 21
Total Dead Fish 2
Total Fish Weight 38.90 lbs.		 Total Year Standings
Total Fish Caught 423
Total Dead Fish 13
Total Fish Weight 625.60 lbs.
~ Tournament Winner ~

Brian Metcalf
3 Fish - 7.05 lbs 		~ Tournament Big Fish ~
Brian Metcalf
4.75 lbs.
Place Name Fish Weight Place Name Fish Weight
1. Brian Metcalf 3 7.05 2. Lee Brannon 3 6.75
3. Wayne Thomley 2 5.45 4. Rich Cornelius 2 4.40
5. Dave Dyess 3 3.55 6. Neil Springstead 1 2.90
7. Pete Potter 2 2.75 8. Mack Cramer 1 1.55
9. John Buck 1 1.30 10. Frank Kelly 1 1.15
11. E.W. Coombs 1 1.05 12. Jim Bailey Sr 1 1.00

Also Fished
Ron Fairbanks, Stacy Blackburn, Jeff Weaver, Jere Jaillite, Fred Raby, Wally Cassiano,
Walter McCartney, Terry Smith, Don Jahnke, Tony Boyett, Kevin Simmons
(Guest)
Ken Repine

~ Blackwater River ~

The August tournament for the Hawg Hunters was held out of Carpenter's Park on the Blackwater River. The Blackwater is a pretty little river winding through NW Florida and is best know for its canoeing. We had hot temps reaching the lower 90's by noon and then a nice thunder storm with a downpour about 1:00 which cooled everything off . Water clarity ranged from heavy stain to somewhat clear in the backs of lakes and oxbows. Skies were partly cloudy most of the day with light breezes.
Boat traffic was dense around the lower portion of the river with skiers etc.

While not know for lots of fish the Blackwater has produced some large ones. My partner for the trip was Stacey Blackburn. He had not shown up when it came time to leave so I left without him. I felt really bad when the cell phone rang and it was my partner on the bank wondering where I was!! We met up about 6:30 AM after blast-off due to my not being clear about where to meet me. As the boater I have to take responsibility for not being clearer about where to meet. Stacey was a gentleman about the incident and we were fishing in short order. Anyway I was fishing in a little creek on the lower end of the system where I had caught a limit the week before but I hadn't had a hit. After running back up river to get my partner we returned to the creek and on the second cast I landed a keeper, in the same spot where I had released the fish the week before!!! After that we worked and worked but only could connect with small fish. We each lost keeper fish when they came up and shook the hooks. I guess that's just the way it is some days. Around 11:00 we ran up river to a slough that my partner wanted to fish. The water was really pretty but it was about a foot or two high due to the recent rains. We only had a couple of hits there and nothing to show for our efforts. Stacey is a great partner to fish with and we had a good time visiting while trying to get the fish to bite. Our bites came mostly on green pumpkin finesse worms.We tried buzz baits early and spinners and flukes but couldn't get any takers.

At the weigh in several guys had bags of fish to show off with. Brian Metcalf had a nice bag of fish with 3 keepers weighing 7.05 lbs including the tournament lunker which weighed 4.75 lbs. He caught them on a buzz bait. Lee Brannon came in 2nd with 3 nice fish also for 6.75 lbs. Wayne Thomley (You have to watch out for this fellow. He's been known to tell a fish story or two!!) was 3rd place with 2 nice fish weighing 5.45 lbs. Rich Cornelius slid into the 4th spot with 2 fish totaling 4.40 lbs. Out of the 24 fishermen only 12 weighed fish. That's a pretty tough day*.but hey, Blackwater in August, ..could have been worse! Most of the guys said they had their fish on plastic worms mostly dark colors with the most popular being black, junebug, and green pumpkin. Most of the fish were caught is sloughs off the main river with most of the fish coming from above the Hwy 90 bridge.

The September tournament is a 2 day affair on the Appalichicola River. Talk about a great place to load the boat with large fish*this can be the place to do it. Due to job commitments I'll have to miss this one. If you don't have a good map of the area you should get one, and be sure to stay in the marked channels on the main river to avoid sandbars.
Til next time***


Keep your hooks sharp!!!

Creek Chub

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