) I digress ( i know stop jaw jackin and get on with it 
)This time of the year and with the forecasted wind, I needed about 35 rods
, but knew Josh would probably frown about me having to sit next to him while 35 rods took up the passenger seat so I decided on 9. Buzzbait, 3 Chatterbaits (including 1 Donkey slayer) Drop shot (Ehlers Edge), Fluke, Punch, senko, and merthiolate trick worm. Loading the Legend and launching we stopped and had a chat with the bearded one and pops. Apparently 4 qualifying boats didn't show up, so they stared with boat #4. (that would make us lucky 13 ) Josh and I decided to take the Roald Amundsen route..........as to our dismay so did several other boats. This was my first time going this route and to me it seemed pretty dangerous, with more twists and turns than a Great America roller coaster. On the last turn I realized where we were and knew there was a big sandbar that I could have sworn we were going to scrape, but Josh cruised right past it. I gave Josh directions of where to go and we passed one more boat. Arriving at the spot, I told Josh that 2 weeks ago fish were in the trough and buzzbait was working. The wind began to howl in gusts, but Josh's boat control kept us in right on point. Within a few Josh picked up a spinnerbait and we had our first 2 lbr. Giving up on the buzz, I switched to the D/S. Josh said he had a fish miss his spinnerbait so I plopped my D/S in there and felt the tick, set the hook and felt the power of a big fish, Like a missile it took off for deep water (now in my position in the back of the boat when the fish whizzed by the tm my line was wrapping around Josh as he was trying to keep the line out of the tm ) As soon as Josh got the line free, the line went slack. I felt sick This exact same scenario happened to me 2 weeks ago in the same area. 
Oh well, keep fishing. By 8:15 we had our limit of about 12 lbs. As we were going back and forth in our spot another boat cruised by so now we both were heading to the same area. Josh gave them shout after they asked if we were in a tournament to which they replied The Big Bass challenge. Josh gave them a choice of which side they wanted to fish and they chose the right side, so we went down the left, where I stuck a 3lbr. I then caught another 2lbr on the D/S and Josh another on the spinnerbait. The other team left, so I picked up a buzzbait and boated another 3lbr. We were now at about 15lbs. I kept the buzzbait working and Josh had the spinnerbait, and frog working. (blow ups but No hook ups) Couldn't upgrade more than an ounce or two every third or fourth fish. Boats came and went but Josh and I stuck it out as we knew there were quality fish in the area. Along about lunch time the tide was switching and by all indications of my research, the first two hours of outgoing is magical. Around 12:45 josh pops his spinnerbait over a log and whomp, its gone. "Net?" I ask. Josh responds I don't think............."Oh Yeah!" I see a big fish as I spring into action extending the net handle. Josh plays the fish for a few seconds and brings her close (I often wonder if a hooked fish thinks the boat is a tree and she can wrap around it to get away, because they always dive under the boat and splash near the surface where you can't see them) She makes a final run (scary ) and glides into the net. Its a monster, I'm thinking. The Bubba says 8.4, total 21+. 3 ounces short of Joshs' personal best. Wholly toledo. We were high fiving for a minute, then back to work. Needed to cull out a 2lbr, but it wasn't in the cards. (What was odd was that earlier in the day, Josh was slaying them and said to me" You catch the 8 lbr" Well was that a precursor and if so hope he says it more often ) So off to the weigh in, all smiles. This was a no entry contest, and although we did not do too bad in the series, this was the time to shine. Pay back to top 3. Time for awards, and when announcing us in 3rd place, Howard was going to relate what he saw with Josh, but corrected his mistake and told us we finished second., with BF of 8.36. Howard went on to say that Josh is a "big guy" (in stature), when he saw Josh pull that girl from the well he made Josh look small.
. Well, second place and a big pay day. We'll be back next year as this was not only a fun circuit, but limited to 50 boats for the entire season. There will only be a few openings for next year so if you'd like to come along contact Howard Mori on Facebook, or Christian Bass League on FB. This group is great.
A Special Thank You to Howard, Dave, and all the Staff for making this season really enjoyable. And now............
ON TO WINDY WEDNESDAY NIGHTS. Remember 2:30 start time.
TL
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