Grove, OK – Hello fellow fishermen, Capt. Rob here. I want to apologize for my tardiness in getting this report out. I’ve had a string of bad luck that began on Saturday before the tournament. Apparently, I set my cell phone on the bumper of my truck Saturday morning and in my haste to do some pre-fishing I forgot about it. So, if anyone finds an IPhone in a camo case along the road between Adair and Langley they can just keep it. Secondly, after getting on what we thought was a solid pattern on Saturday we only managed two keepers and opted not to weigh-in. As if that wasn’t enough, while I was trying to get my replacement phone activated my internet service went out at my house and it took 2 days to get it restored. The only thing I can say is that it can only get better. So, enough of my tales of woe. Here is the account of the 2013 Extreme Fishing League presented by Skeeter Boats first tournament of the season held on Grand Lake in Grove, OK.
The anglers were greeted with tough weather conditions in the form of rain, wind and rapidly dropping temperatures. Fortunately, the rain abated enough at take-off time to allow the 193 teams to get to their first spots safely and relatively dry. 91 teams brought in 1152 lbs of bass for a 2.75 lb avg with 70 teams weighing 5 fish limits. Big Bass of the tournament was a 7.75 lb largemouth brought to the scales by the team of Dave Wylie and Dale Hightower worth $1,000. The team of David Buck and Tommy Furstenberg won the Skeeter Bonus money of $5,000 by being the highest place finishers that fished out of a qualifying Skeeter Boat. This event was a close contest with the team of Tommy Thompson and Dennis Huggins bringing in a 5 fish limit at 20.45 lbs narrowly edging out the second place team of Robby Guinn and Rick Woods with a limit that went 20.42 lbs. Tommy and Dennis took home the 1st place check for $20,000 and Robby and Rick took home $10,000. Congratulations to both teams for a well fished tournament. I caught up with Dennis Huggins and he had this to share about their tournament.
The team found the winning fish in the mid-lake area via use of the Alabama Rig paired with Gene Larew Sexy Swimmer swim baits in the Alabama Shad and Monkey Milk colors during their pre-fishing time. After fishing the tournament for about 2 hours without much success the team decided to adjust and fish a little shallower due to the warming water temps. This, along with a change in lures and presentation, was the key to victory. The team switched to fishing Wiggle Wart crankbaits in green/brown crawfish color with 2 Suspend Dots attached. They would SLOWLY crawl the crankbaits along the bottom and whenever they felt an obstruction they would pause the bait for several seconds. The other tactic they employed was to fish a bone colored Smithwick Suspending Rogue jerkbait fished in the same manner as the crankbait. These two lures accounted for the 10 keepers they caught during the tournament. (As a side note, neither angler has any sponsor affiliation with the lures they used). Another key was the area had to have wind blowing in on it. The old saying “the wind is your friend” played a big role in their success. The team utilized Wohali Rods and Wohali Rain Gear to keep them warm and dry under the tough weather conditions. I want to thank Dennis and Tommy for sharing their experience and extend my personal “Congratulations” to them.
On behalf of the Skeeter Extreme Fishing League staff and sponsors I thank everyone that participated and look forward to seeing everyone a the next event on April 7th at Lake Eufaula out of Peter’s Point in Eufaula Cove.
Capt. Rob