2010 River Rat Tournament

[sandmannd]

Wade and I fished the River Rats Tournament out of Beanies this year. This is a very fun event that goes for a great cause. We Wade picked me up around 5:30 and we headed down to Beanies. Once we got the boat in the water it was time for some  with the other contestants. River Dan was there fishing solo and Andy & Dale were fishing together. Turk had signed up to do it again this year after a couple of years away. Had some good conversations and then it was time to head out. If you've never been in a tourney, when the got goes off it's a site to be seen. Bunch of boats taking off all that same time really gets your blood going.

We blasted our way down to the Kinni and fished there for the first hour or so with nothing to show for it, not even a bite. We made our way down by the Bluffs and met up with River Dan in one of our tried and true spots. The bites there were very active but very light. We managed some fish but they were small or sheep-heads or some nice sized crappies. Wade tied into a very nice 18" eye and Dan pulled in a 17". Man the scenery was great in this spot with the fall colors and bald eagles. After a while of fishing there we moved down to the confluence for some handlining.

Got there and Dale and Andy had been there all morning and had seven in the boat already. We dropped down and I had a stripped bass in about five minutes. We trolled around for a while and didn't manage anything more than a 15" sauger. So after handlining and pulling cranks for a couple of hours we moved back up river. More small fish and sheepheads. Wade had a monster sheephead in that probably would have won ugliest fish, but it was lost at the side of the boat. Couldn't manage more that what we had in the box and the time was flying buy. So we started heading back up the river and scouting a few areas. We didn't mark too much in a lot of areas that usually produce fish.

We made our way back out in front of Beanies and still didn't mark a ton of anything and with only 15 minutes left we decided to head in and get a head start packing up and being ready to go. We got in and as I was tying the boat up to the dock I leaned over and my phone slid out of pocket and I got to watch it go to it's watery tomb!! That just made my day.

All in all it was a fun day on the water and got to spend time with great friends. They always have drawings at the end of the event and everyone leaves with a prize. If you haven't done tournaments before, I would recommend giving this one a try. It's only $20 a person, it's a lot of fun and you will win something. Thanks to Beanies for putting this on.