Trish gets first win

If you would have told me one of the Rices would win the clubs first tournament on Baw Beese I would almost expect it, but Trish? Now don't get me wrong she can catch them but fishing on the back deck of her husband Jim Rices boat who happens to be a six time angler of the year is a tough way to fish. But she not only beat her husband, she caught over nine pounds of bass to easily beat the other 22 fishermen as well and earn her first club win. I caught up with Jimbo afterwards who managed to finish second and got a little insight as to how they tore up the field.

After starting on the main lake the duo already had five keepers when they wandered over towards second and third lakes. These lakes are small and have a little darker water and are not quite as deep as Baw Beese. This was an ideal location for early season spawners and pre-spawn fish that fell prey to weightless senko worms. Jim and Trish targeted shallow pad stems that were starting to emerge and are classic spots for early season bass to stage or even spawn on. Jim commented that some of the fish were caught in as little as 12 inches of water. When the sun came out the Rices noticed that there were beds in the area so some of their fish may have actually been spawners but most were probably just staging on the newly formed cabbage mixed in with the pads.

As the rest of the field struggled to get limits, the Rice boat caught between 15-20 keepers and numerous short fish. Almost all of the fish were taken on the larger 5 1/2 inch watermelon worms that were rigged texas style and most came from the second and third lake areas that were actually a few degrees warmer than the deeper main lake. Several other top finishers were spotted in these lakes as well and Randy Peck and Matt Morgan weighed in limits applying the same techniques as the Rices as did tournament director Bill Maurer who finished third.

This I believe was Patricia's first club win and she should be congratulated as should all the anglers who caught limits on a tough day of fishing. Only a couple of fish over three pounds came to the scales and I believe big fish went to Mike Pritchard at nearly 3.5 pounds. Next up is Hardy Dam in a little over two weeks and hopefully a lot more limits will come to the scales then. I'll make sure Mr. Maurer has his calculator for that one.