Seventh Annual Lake Lanier (2011) Bass Fishing Tournament Results

On April 30th, 2011 at 7:30 AM eight boats departed from the Davidson dock as the misty smoke rose from Lake Lanier.  The two person teams of seasoned fishermen were in search of Bass exceeding the tournament’s minimum length of twelve inches for the noon weigh in.

It was a picture prefect spring day, with the temperature rising from 50 to 70 degrees.  Daron Strub and I were relegated to use the trolling motor as my 35 HP was out of commission.  We fished the first basin shore and docks from Little Italy, past the Tea House, to the Dam and around to the Silo.   Then the 2nd Basin towards the Scout Camp, the Point and then “quickly” motored home after eleven.   We started catching fish on the plastic worm immediately, supplementing with a Cajun Spin, a Zara Spook and a large diving crank bait.  The first two Bass we measured at eleven inches or so.  The next ten we eyeballed and released as they were obviously too small.  As we encountered other boats they had the same measurements and story.   We and others had pickups with just as many not reaching the boat.

A huge Bass was spotted near the shallows by the Dam, but was not interested in any of the weapons thrown towards it.  Another two healthy Bass were playing near the Henson Dock, but not interested in participating in the tournament.  I’d moved the date up three weeks hoping to see more and larger fish at the weigh in, but will have to reconsider for next year.

As Noon approached, I had decided to refund everyone’s entry fee if no fish were brought in.  Bill Jones had caught a 2 pound 2 ounce Bass about twenty feet from my dock as Linda watched.  Dan Jones netted the winning Big Fish, they took home $40.  Bruce Carlson and Joe Tomko landed a 1 Pound 8 ounce Bass, it combined with another Bass took home the heavy stringer at 2 pounds 10 ounces for $25.  Fisherman Bob Jutzi and Tennessee Mike Wiley had two bass tipping the scales at 2 pounds 1 ounce.  These were the only five fish brought to the weigh in, although at least 100 fish were hooked and released.

The other teams included David Stone & Charlie Miller, Brandon Justice & Kevin Boyer, Andy & Brian Dykes plus Scott Owens & Joel Wilson The tournament was fun as always; we’ll do it again next year.  Hopefully the undersized fish will grow up.    The rules, results and photos of this and past years tournaments are the Internet, click here.

Good Fishing, Stu Davidson