CJ Brown Reservoir Buck Creek Marina Dock tournament #4 went off this Saturday. We met at Leens General Store on Rt. 4 in Springfield, OH. I like to say thank you to Leens for supporting us at IFO and providing bait and tackle. They had fresh spikes, red and white and a multi-colored pack, mousees, and minnows. And I personally purchased a new HT Blue Ice Rod 32" and 2 new Piscifun reels.
Well, the morning was a crisp, blue open sky and it was a very brisk 12 degrees with an easterly wind with an elevated barometer. It was just ripe for a long beautiful day. We had ten contestants and it turned out to be a long and rough day of fishing. We had to break through about 1" of ice in the Marina. We had pretty much scattered all over the docks and I don't know where the fish went but it was not in the Marina. Had a great time socializing with members and spoke with a guy from London, OH who was just checking out what we were doing. I caught my first and only fish at 8:45am and fortunately it was a very skinny 9" crappie. Marked only a handful of fish, no more bites, and that was the total of my day. And everyone around seem to be struggling with catching a fish also. Well, by the end we met back at Leens for weigh-in and that lone crappie was the only fish weighed in. So first place in crappie and the biggest fish was .30lbs; Steve.
So the funny story of the day, Bill Baum was fishing across from me on the next dock and with about 10 minutes left before the end of the tournament he marked a fish at the bottom and dropped to it and got the bite and set the hook on it. He was excited and yelled over that he had something big. The fish started pulling drag immediately and he could not get it up. And in just a minute it popped off. Bill was disappointed that he didn't at least get a chance to see what he had, but we were guessing that it was possibly a muskie because how heavy he said it felt and how it just took line out with little effort. Sorry Bill, that was the one that got away,
Well, there has not been a determination of the next dock tournament because of the cold temps and possibly enough ice to get on in some areas. As soon as I hear about the next dock tournament or possibly an ice fish tournament at Indian Lake or wherever it may be, I will post it here right away. Thanks and please be safe on the first ice of the season; use extra caution and use a spud bar, have safety equipment on your person and make sure you let people know where you will be at and bring a friend along. Tight lines everyone.
