OH Ivie Texas Bass Couples West 3.27.11

Good Grief! I am not sure who ordered the cold weather and they certainly don't want me to find out! It was down right cold all day! Well until about 2:30. When Frank tells you he is shivering so hard he can't tie on a new lure, IT"S COLD! This tournament was out of Kennedy, so we had to get up and over there to get in the water in time for live well check. Frank wanted to hit a place by the dam early and that's where we headed. We actually thought it was going to be a good day. He boated a 3+ on about his fifth cast. And then there was nothing. We didn't stay there much longer, nothing was hitting and the wind was killing us. It wasn't a heavy wind, just cold. We went back to flipping the hardwoods with the same worm. Had a bit of productivity, but no size. We had 4 fish in the boat early, but we needed a kicker over 18" and we just couldn't get it. Late in the afternoon we decided to head to the ramp and fish in that area until weigh in. I am so glad we did. Not only did the clouds finally break, we upgraded lots of fish. I was so glad to get rid of that little guy that weighed less than a pound. We ended the day with four fish going 7.57. I told you we would be wanting the fish we had the day before! Even though we froze it was a good day! Any day is a good day when I'm on the water with my honey! Love ya' Frank and thanks for putting up with my antics on the boat!

OH Ivie Bassin' Bunch Special Olympics Open 03.26.11

What a beautiful day. But man, did it ever start early! We usually fish this tournament but we had not planned to this year. We were not able to fine a room and with the price of gas (diesel) it just didn't make sense to drive there and back on Saturday and then do it again on Sunday for TBC. Luckily, Michelle was called that there was a cancellation at Concho Park and they invited us to stay with them on Saturday night. Yeah! It was cool Saturday morning when we headed out but bearable. We Got to the lake in time to meat up with Russell and Michelle and have some coffee and breakfast before hitting the lake.

We fished a lot of places we haven't fished in a while, holding our regular places for Sunday's tournament. We flipped worm's in the hardwood most of the day, but I did find time to throw my spinner bait.

Frank's biggest fish weighed almost 3 pounds and was just over the 18" minimum. He caught in in less than a foot of water! We were fishing very shallow and most of the time fishing muddy water because the trolling motor was kicking up a lot of mud. With two smaller fish hitting the 14" slot, he had a total of 5.94. Nice little stringer but certainly not anywhere close to putting him in any money.

I had two fish that barely met the 14" minimum with a total weight of 3.17.

It was a beautiful day, warm and a bit of wind. And we would be wishing for that nine pounds of fish on Sunday.

Oak Creek March

Well, my day certainly didn't go as planned.

Stillwater Bass Club's tournament was last Saturday, but due to circumstances beyond mine or Frank's control, I did not get to go. I got up and started getting ready, but we both decided I should stay home and he headed to the lake without me. I should say, this was not his choice, he wanted to stay with me but I sort of blackmailed him into going.

As the day wore on, he was really glad I didn't go. It was extremely windy and he stayed cold most of the day. And we all know, if he was cold, I would have been miserable.

He did end up with three fish (remember, this is a 3 fish tournament), but fell a bit short. My understanding is there was a pretty good stringer that won, somewhere in the 20 pound range! WOW is all I have to say.

Hopefully, I will be out there with him again on March 27. That is our next TBC tournament. And if things really go well, we may get to fish the Bassin' Bunch Bass Club's Open Bass Tournament the day before. Remember, this tournament benefits Special Olympics! Both tournaments are at O.H. Ivie. Maybe it will rain before then!

O.H. Ivie Feb 27, 2011

Sunday found us back at O.H. Ivie Reservoir fishing with Texas Bass Couples West Region.

The morning started out great! Extremely light wind, cool not cold. The lake is lower than I remember ever seeing it. Thank goodness for GPS and Frank knowing the lake as well as he does.

The trip up the Concho took a little longer than normal due to the water level, but we made it safely. We fished mainly around the bridge having pretty good luck. Frank alternated between a crank bait and spinner bait. I stuck with my spinner bait. We left the ramp about 7:00 AM and we had boated our first fish by about 7:30. Always makes me happy to not have to fish with that smelly skunk all day! We had four bass in this area, 1 over and 2 under.

The wind finally hit at about 9:30 AM and the fishing was downhill from there.

We moved closer to the mouth of the Concho around 10:30 and started flipping a worm, Hag's Tornado, red something (I know I should be better at remembering these things.) It took about an hour and Frank caught another one over 18". He kept flipping and I would alternate between flipping and throwing my spinner bait.

About 12:30, we moved closer to the ramp at Concho Park and continued flipping and throwing spinner baits. The wind seemed to be getting worse and the fish had completely quit biting. At one point, Frank had the trolling motor as high as it would go and we weren't moving. It was a definitely a battle with the wind and the wind was winning.

Around 1:30 we decided to count our losses and think about safety. We were loading the boat by 2:00 and it took awhile. That cross wind was a killer. We hung around the ramp, Frank helping some other couples get loaded and then headed over to weigh in.

Even though we could never come across a fifth fish, we still ended up in 3rd with a total bag of 11.08. I think Frank pulled his fish instead of mine for big fish. Tommy weighed it at 3.90 and I weighed mine at 4.04 on my de-lier. Tommy's scales always weigh heavier than mine! But it wouldn't have mattered. Russell and Michelle had big fish at 5.99! Way to go McGuire's!

Our next tournament will be with Stillwater this Saturday March 5 at Oak Creek, unless Frank has to work. I love fishing, but that guaranteed money from work is better!

If we miss this one, our next TBC tournament is back on Ivie on March 27th. As they say "Same bat time. Same bat channel!"

Until then, good fishing and God Bless!

My Personal Best

I have been fishing all my life. My dad spoiled me when I was little by taking me to a catfish farm. I was guaranteed to catch a fish and I usually caught more than my dad wanted me to. And I was hooked.

When Frank started tournament fishing, I didn't go. I had a baby to raise and really didn't want to go spend all that time in the sun. It was either too hot or too cold. I just didn't want to go.

Frank finally talked me into joining CAST. I really didn't want to. He promised me that if I didn't want to fish, I could read, sleep, eat, whatever I wanted. He also promised no yelling on the boat. He had problems at times keeping that promise, but he did it. I didn't fish much at first, but the more I went the more I would fish.

After fishing with him for about five years I finally caught a fish over five pounds. As exciting as that was, it still wasn't fun. I thought I was hung up while learning to fish a Carolina rig and Frank had to help me reel her in.

That was about tn years ago. I had decided that I would never catch a fish that weighed more than three pounds. Not only did I have trouble reeling in anything bigger, I really have trouble setting the hook.

This past Saturday, we fished our last tournament of the year with TBC NW. Up at 3:30, we headed to Miller Creek. We love that little lake. It is not very big, but it is a nice lake. Frank did real well last week when he pre-fished. He caught about 18 pounds of fish with the largest being over nine pounds. We were ready to do some fishing.

Things didn't start out to great. Around 7:30 I lost a pretty good fish. Again, I didn't set the hook. It didn't even penetrate the fluke I was fishing with (although, I still blame Frank for not getting her in the net! LOL). Another big fish lost because I can't set a hook.

Later in the morning, Frank set the hook and reeled in a really nice four pounder. Things were looking up. About three cast later, I felt the tug and decided this one was not getting away. I set the hook hard enough that Frank thought I jerked her lips off!

I could tell it had some weight to her, but didn't realize how big until we got her in the boat. 7.28! MY PERSONAL BEST! I was so excited, but I really think Frank was more excited than I was.

She wasn't huge, but I proved to myself that I could catch something bigger than a three and get it in to the boat.

I am so ready to go again just to see if I can do it again!

Where Have I Been?

Wow, from the looks of this poor little fishing blog, it seems I haven't been fishing. But I have, that's just it, fishing, not catching!

Instead of making excuses and trying to back track all we have done in the past months since I have posted on this blog, I'm just going to start fresh and with what we did yesterday.

We had our fourth tournament for the year with TBC at Twin Buttes in San Angelo. We started at 6AM to finish by 2PM, trying to beat some of the heat. Even though Frank and I just came back from our week long vacation with Mattie May down on the Gulf, we were ready to head out. It was not the most productive day we have had on the water, but fun none the less.

We started the morning throwing buzz baits, Frank lost two fish, I caught one that was one inch short! We moved back to the area we like out in front of the ramp and started with drop-shot. This has not been one of my favorites because of the spin cast reels. But my sweetie Frank bought me a new rod and reel with a reel I can crank with my right hand. This makes all the difference in the world.

Not long after Frank's second cast I felt him set the hook. When I looked at him, I didn't even have to ask if he needed the net. If that rod had bent any further, it would have broken! Great fish! 7.07 lbs! Not a hog, but the best he/we have had in a while.


We never could come across any more fish but we were feeling pretty good about big fish until the Wallace's came to weigh in. He had a 7.16 and knocked Frank out. Oh well!

This Saturday we will be fishing TBC Northwest at Lake Ft. Phantom right here at home. So not only do I get to sleep in my own bed, I don't have to get up quite so early! Wish us luck. We had some really good rain while we were gone last week and they have been scalping water off the Brazos, so the lake is really full! Hope you come out and join us.

Have a great week and Go Fish!

"Hold on Just a Sec While I Take My Fish off the Line!"

It's Friday, a beautiful day after a night of thunderstorms and tornado all around the state. The wind is just blowing very lightly. The sun is shining. What a beautiful day and I am stuck in the office!

My dad, on the other hand, is at the lake! I talked to him at lunch and what does he say to me? You guessed it "Hold on! I caught a fish and have to take it off!"

(Heavy sigh) One of these days I will be retired and can head out to fish whenever I want.

I guess you are wondering where I have been. I've been here. Our tournament season started back in March. I was bad. At our West Region tournament, I didn't take any pictures. I was upset because the weather didn't cooperate and I didn't get to fish as much as I wanted. I had not been released from the doctor from the wreck and he gave me very specific directions on what I needed to do to keep from re-injuring myself. We did catch fish and got some points, it would just have been nice to fish when I wanted and not when I could.

Our first Northwest Region tournament was also in March. Due to extremely high winds, I didn't even leave the house. Frank fished by himself, so again no pictures. I think he had one fish, I just don't remember. I'm loosing my mind like that you know.

This past weekend, we had our second West Region tournament at Lake Hubbard just outside of Breckenridge. I will say, even though the conditions left a LOT to be desired, I was in the boat all day. Cold and rainy weather with more extremely high winds. Most normal people, meaning non-fishermen, would have used their common sense and stayed home. Not us, we were out there fighting for fish. Frank eventually made me sit down and rest. I wasn't catching any fish and I was getting real sore real fast. He would have probably done better if I had not been there. He always worries about me instead of fishing. We had three fish that went 5. o7, I think. Remember, I'm loosing my mind. I did take some pictures, most of them you can see if you click the Texas Bass Couples logo in my right side bar.

Tomorrow, we will be fishing at Oak Creek with the Northwest Region. I hope this weather holds out. It will be a long day because we are not staying the night. We will get up and make the drive in the morning. Maybe Frank will let me sleep on the way (LOL).

I hope you get to get out and fish this weekend. Let us know how you do!