HUB CITY BASSMASTERS

Monthly Newsletter

“LONG CASTS AND SHORT STRIKES”

JUNE 2010

JUNE CLUB MEETING – FRIDAY THE 4^TH, 5:30 PM AT AZTECHA’S

    OK Ya’ll, I’m going to get this done today, one way or the other. I have fallen off the edge with work, house, and yard and to be perfectly honest, pure damn laziness. I wish that I could put some blame for this delay on my extremely busy tournament schedule and personal appearances but we all know better than that. I just hope that I can filter through all of my notes and do justice in getting caught up with an informative newsletter and not leave out anything or congratulatory rewards to those so well deserving. As I mentioned Friday night, with having the May meeting at Eufaula, it seemed like we have not been together for forever.

    Our June meeting has already come and gone and gee,, can you believe the participation we continue to have at our meetings. It is a true blessing to see everyone come out and socialize and have a good time. (Wives and kids included) I LOVE THIS CLUB!!!!!!!!! We also got some very important work accomplished such as getting our tournament dates down. Again these do not have to be in stone and we can and will adjust as necessary for unforeseen circumstances, weather or whatever else may come up. I will publish the dates we selected a little later in the newsletter.

    What a 2 day event we had at Eufaula huh.. The fish were on for most, and the weather not too bad. I sure wish that our major lakes (Eufaula and Seminole) were a lot closer so that we could do some more 2 dayers. Oh well it is what it is and well worth the drive. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS:

    1^ST Place – Michael Smith – 32.78 Lbs                                   2^nd Place – Greg Prince – 28.45 Lbs

    3^rd Place – Larry “Stretch” Gaines- 26.34 Lbs                       4^th Place – Wesley Ard – 24.24 Lbs

    5^th Place – Eric Riffer – 23.99 Lbs                                            6^th Place – Aaron Richardson – 23.50 Lbs

    Big Fish Day 1- Evan Robins – 6.74 Lbs                               Big Fish Day 2 – Rodney Bracket—6.04 Lbs

    Again, Congrats and well done by all club members. Rodney published some very interesting stats along with the final results and I hope that everyone got them. To highlight just a few, club members caught and weighed in a total of 214 bass for a total weight of 502.12 Lbs. There were 7 anglers that had limits both days and 25 limits weighed in overall. You ought to see our annual stats now,, WHOW…… Thanks to Bob for getting some great pictures on our web site also.. Man we ROCK!!!

For those of us that were lucky enough to stay and fish the DOD Armed Forces Team Tournament that week we sure faced a different situation. Sunday night the skies opened up and it poured rain all day Monday for the second practice day. The lake came up over 10 inches Monday night, muddied and let me tell ya, there was logs, trees, trash and anything else you can imagine floating and rolling along in the lake. Cowwickie creek looked like a tornado had gone through it and the current was unbelievable. There were no lily pads or grass left visible and it was an obstacle course trying to get anywhere for all the trash. With all that being said our club members made an excellent showing for themselves: More CONGRATS to Jeff Knight and his partner Randy Jones for finishing 25^th overall with 41.77 Lbs, Swede Oleen and Kevin – 36^th with 37.88 Lbs, Jack Bell and Matt McCloud – 78^th with 31.13 Lbs, Larry “Stretch” Gaines and Mark – 82^nd with 30.48 Lbs, Randy Thacker and Steve Hersom- 87^th with 30.08 Lbs. Randy and Steve had Big Fish for day 3, 6.51 Lbs that paid very well and Jeff and Randy had second big fish for day 3, 6.39 Lbs that also paid very well. Overall a very respectable showing. There were 158 teams in the tournament from around the country. I had a blast and can’t wait to hear where next years will be. I’m in.

    And while we are still congratulating everyone, CONGRATS to Michael Smith on his 1^st Place finish with Media Bass at Lake Eufaula last weekend. Way to go Michael.

    If I have left out anyone, please accept my apologies, I either failed to write it down or you failed to let me know.

    One more CONGRATS while I’m thinking of it but of a different matter. CONGRATS to Bill Spencer on his recent retirement from the US Air Force. For a lot of us that have done it, retirement from Military Service over 20 years is a major mile stone in our lives. It is like being given a second breath of life. Well Done Bill, take your pack off, put your boots in the closet and get out there on the water, ENJOY.

    Hopefully everyone has received their initial issue of our club decal. If you haven’t, contact Jeff. Once everyone has their first one free, I am sure that Jeff will let us know how many are left in case you would like to PURCHASE another one. If we need to have more made we can do this but we will need to order enough to keep the price down and reasonable. Jeff, please keep us informed on where we stand on this.

    I haven’t heard any more from my last meeting on the County Six Man Tournament that was scheduled for the 31^st of July at Lake Seminole. I am going to assume that it’s still a go and we need to start getting ready. The top six out of the club last year will represent us at this tournament, mostly for bragging rights,  and any of those six that cannot or do not want to fish this tournament the next guy becomes eligible. Right now, I already know that John Fountain who finished second overall last year did not join the club this year so #7 moves up. The team will consist of Michael Smith, Greg Prince, Jack Bell, Bob Miles, Roy Barbour and Matt McCloud. If any one of you cannot or do not want to fish, please let me know ASAP. Shannon Ard is on the bubble and Rodney next. This will be three 2 man teams representing the club. I have already asked to fish with Michael simply to net his fish and take pictures for his portfolio and resume. LOL,LOL,LOL. Please remember that we will be representing the club for county bragging rights for a year. If you are fishing Seminole on a regular basis, please put out some reports on what is going on and what you are finding. We want that “BEST IN THE COUNTY” right where it belongs, Hub City Bass Masters.

    Our next tournament will be the 19^th of June on Black Water. I know there were a lot of under currents to change the location and I broke the tie in the fairest way I knew how. It is what it is and I am sure we will make the best out of it. From what I have heard, it will fish very small and we must be extremely careful of the jet skies and pleasure boaters. All, please be very careful, attentive and as courteous to others as what may allow. I have no idea what the oil spill is doing right now so another thing that you who will run to Yellow River or Escambia River need to be aware of.

    OK, the rest of the year and dates as were voted on Friday night at the meeting:

July – Seminole – 24^th

August – Apalachicola River (No Lock Thru) – 21^st

September – Gantt – 25^th

October – Talquin – 23^rd

November (2 Day) Millers Ferry – 20/21^st

December – Tabled for further discussion at a later date..

    Again let me just say, we can adjust if necessary to suit the CLUBS desires.  I hope that the dates picked will work out good for everybody. There are so many tournaments available these days that it’s hard to please everyone I am sure. We are doing our best and I do appreciate the large turnouts for our monthly meetings and participation. It makes it so much easier when the majority is present.

    I have also included with the news letter my latest roster of members. Please check your information and ensure that it is correct. If not please let me or Jeff know so that we can get a new and good update out to everyone.

    Thanks to Dan Pike for bringing some extra goodies for our meeting raffle and a SPECIAL THANKS for everyone that contributed to the Condolence card for the family of the Junior Bass member that so tragically lost his life in an accident last month. The club was able to send over $100.00 on behalf of the Hub City Bass Masters. You guys are the greatest.

   Let me end with an apology for taking so long in getting the newsletter out. I am not one to tolerate tardiness and especially when it’s me. I have briefed the wife that the yard can go without, honey do’s will have to wait and nothing more placed before fishing and the club… LOL,LOL,LOL

    I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THE 19^th.