Bass-Jons

Bass-Jons fished their third tournament of the year at Lake Cohoon.  The lake was chosen for this date because the fish typically move up to spawn earlier here than the other lakes Bass-Jons fishes, and the warm weather from a few weeks ago made it seem like this would be a full-on sight fishing tournament.  However, temperatures in the 30's and 40's during the week preceding the tournament and rain all week caused the fish to pull off.  Many anglers reported seeing beds with no fish on them, and only one angler reported catching a fish on a bed.  Winds in the 15-20 mph range with higher gusts and occasional rain didn't help the fishing.  It was tough for most anglers, as only three of the 22 boats that fished brought in 5-fish limits.  Six boats were unable to bring a fish to the scales.  Most fish that were caught came on some variety of plastics or jigs, with the exception of the big fish of the tournament, which was caught on a spinnerbait.

Despite the tough conditions, Mike Schneider and Romel Soriano were able to bring in a 15 lb 2 oz 5-fish limit to win the tournament.  They reported catching their fish on jigs and senkos and were able to cull several times to upgrade their limit.  Second place went to the team of Dan Griffin and Marion Martin with a 10 lb 10 oz 5-fish limit, all caught on shakey heads.  Third place went to Mike Peregrine and Adam Bach, who caught their fish on a mixed bag of plastics. Victor Lopez caught the big fish of the tournament, a 6 lb 4 oz hawg, on a spinnerbait.  Victor and his partner, Aida Lopez, caught their fish in the last hour of fishing, and several other teams reported the bite picking up a the end of the tournament.

With his third place finish at Cohoon and other consistent finishes through the first three events, Mike Peregrine was able to overtake Chaz Carrington at the top of the Angler of the Year race.  Victor Lopez's big fish was enough to raise the bar for Lunker of the Year.  Will Sparrow stayed atop the Co-Angler of the Year standings, while Michael Taylor moved up to the top of the Junior Angler of the Year standings.  It is very early in the season, so there is sure to be plenty of movement in the standings as the season progresses.

Besides empty livewells, this tournament featured an array of other issues.  Mike Peregrine lost a $150 rod and reel combo over the side of his boat.  Chris Griffin broke the plastic off the top of his nearly-new 24-volt trolling motor trying to go under the railroad tressel.  However, nobody could top what happened shortly after the weigh-in.  Three guys came to the ramp in a small rental boat with an outboard motor.  After two of the three people got out of the boat, the third person rode out into the middle of the lake.  The weight distribution was off with the large outboard and person in the back, and the water was nearly over the transom.  Eventually, the wind-driven waves came over the back of the boat and the boat immediately sank.  The person in the boat was forced to swim to shore.  The boat eventually surfaced upside down, and the wind blew it back to the shore with the outboard still attached.  Thankfully, nobody was hurt (other than going swimming in 50 degree water).  We swore we could hear banjos playing in the background.     

The next tournament is April 16th at Western Branch.