KATS Fayette County Reservoir
Launch: Park Prairie Ramp
Time Fished: 6:40AM-3PM
Weather: Partly cloudy, lows in mid 70's, highs in high 80's. Wind SSE at 5-8MPH.
H2O: Stained 1-2' visibility. Water temps 89-93 degrees in coves, water temps from 99-103 degrees at the Discharge.
Coming into this event, I knew this would be a good one. I figured it would be very close because Fayette is such an awesome fishery and has so many quality fish. I didn't get a chance to prefish, but I felt confident I could do well. After 3 events, I was 8th overall, and I had to do good on Fayette to have a chance to stay in the running for AOY.
We get to the lakeat 6:20AM, and are told we launch at 6:40, not 7AM. We hurried and unloaded, and it was time to launch already. I headed to some timber that has always held big fish for me. I start flipping a TX-rigged GrandeBass Mutant in the timber with a light weight. I took a look around me to see 8 other anglers fishing the same spots. I was expecting this to happen, so I made the decision to leave after I get one fish, I didn't think that timber would produce under so much pressure. Sure enough, I get a nice bite, and set the hook. I get it to the boat, and it's a spawned-out, nasty 18"er. Good thing these are by length, that fish would do know good for me in any other tournament!
After taking pictures, I continue fishing the timber for another 10mins. That's when I decide to make a long paddle. This was a hard decision to make, I feel that my long paddles this year have taken away valuable fishing time. This tournament I wanted to try and maximize my fishing time. I paddled fast wasting no time getting to the dam. I make it to the Discharge, and stop to fish it a bit. This turned out to be a very good choice.
I started throwing a DD-22 around the rocks, with nothing. I put the crank down and tied on a Carolina Rig, which has helped me greatly this year. First cast with it, I nail a little 13.75"er. Not bad, I was happy the place held fish. I wasn't ready for the next fish though. Next cast, I set the hook into a fish with some weight. I get a good glimpse of the fish when it goes airborn next to the kayak. On Fayette, the fight doesn't begin till they reach the boat, that's when they start fighting like a redfish. This one did exactly that. I was ready and thumbed the spool. This fish took close to 2 minutes to land, it would not give up. When I got it in the boat, it still had fight left as it spiked me in the ankle. This one went 20" even on the board, #2!
I was very confident after landing this solid fish, but on Fayette, that would definately not cut it for big bass. I went back to work with the Carolina Rig. What I found was a nice offshore hump with some rocks and stumps. Without GPS, it took awhile to consistently find the spot, but I eventually got it down. I had to hit the rocks, and the fish were there. It had some nice current, pushing the 1/2oz C-rig around on the rocks. Early on, the water temp ready 96 degrees, but was steadily climbing. Around 8:45, I land the 3rd keeper, 16.5". This spot was starting to produce some quality fish.
I stayed on this little rock pile, and continued getting fish. The best part was they were all keepers. Around 10:45AM, I got my keeper fish, a 17"er. I had an 18", 20", 16.5", 17.5", and a 17" for a limit of about 88". Not bad, but it was nowhere near good enough. I get a phone call from my Dad saying that a storm is coming, so don't go too far. It was too late, I was at the other side of the lake. I told him how many I had, and he headed over to my spot. I continued catching 15" fish, nothing that would help me out. I needed some bigger fish to cull with.
Around 11:30AM, I hook a solid fish. I get it to the kayak after a good fish, and it goes 18.5". I finally cull a fish. Things were going good. I had caught about 10-15 fish, all but 1 were keepers. I could see the storm approaching, that got me nervous. I needed to cull, but if it got nasty, I would have to get under cover, especially with thunder and lightning. I went a few more hours with some more 15"-16" fish, but could not get a big one.
Later around 1PM, I had culled 2 more fish. I moved up shallower with the Carolina Rig, and get a bite on the first cast. I lay into this fish, and it gave the rod a pretty good bend. I knew this was another good fish. I had to let the fish wear itself out, you can't horse these Fayette fish. I finally get it in, and lip it. I could easily cull with this fish, it went 20.25". Another fat fish. I knew I needed one more fish like that to have any chance. My Dad then hooks into a good one. He lips it, and it goes 20.25". Another good fish off the small rocks. I look at my phone, and it is around 1:45PM. I fished even harder to get rid of my little keeper. It was almost time to leave, but I wasn't going to give up. Fish hard till the end. I did that, and was rewarded with one more good fish. It went 19.50". My smallest keeper was 17.75".
We paddled back to the ramp to hear that many anglers had over 90". I knew I probably didn't have enough. I then heard Steve G had a stringer of 100.25", a new record!
I go to the weighin and find out that my 95.50" stringer wasn't enough to win. I ended up in a 3 way tie for 4th.
Best 5 Stringer:
- Keeper #1- 18"
Keeper #1= 18" - Keeper #2- 20"
Keeper #2= 20" - Keeper #3- 20.25"
Keeper #3= 20.25" - Keeper #4- 17.75"
Keeper #4= 17.75" - Keeper #5- 19.50"
Keeper #5= 19.50"
Place: 6th with 5 fish for 95.50"
Kayak: LiquidLogic Manta Ray 12
Accessories: Eagle Cuda 242 fishfinder, 1.5lb. grapple anchor.