Just another Angler Sites weblog

The sun rising slowly over the horizon up Saint Peter’s Church Rd neck on Randleman Reservoir looked like a big old golden, crusty piece of fried chicken being pulled up out of boiling oil. You could almost hear the sharp crackle fade into a slow hiss as it cooled down. Nothing even close to that happened Saturday July 24th as the Archdale Bass Club fished their second scheduled July tournament.

Due to the string of dangerously hot days, the club voted to shorten their day an hour and a half. Even so, more than one club member was feeling it by the end of competition time with two members leaving the lake prematurely.  The heat may have taken a toll on fishermen but fish care was excellent. Weights were understandably low but, with the accommodation of Randleman’s helpful staff, everyone weighed and released their catch alive.

Lucas Hutchins weighed the only 5 fish limit for a total of 9.86 pounds. Second was Freddie house with 3 fish weighing 5.63 pounds. The author finished third with two fish for 5.38 pounds. No hints came out of young Mr. Hutchins but we saw him hanging around main lake points and bends off and on through the day. Second and third places fished within sight of one another early but it appeared lures and features fished were very different. Our fish were taken on open water features with micro jigs.

Honorable mention also goes to a visiting youth angler, Alex Randall. 14 year old Alex is one of a few young men that wanted to try their hand at full blown tournament angling this year. Sunscreen soaked Alex toughed it out with the big boys in the club sacking 2 fish with a total 5.19 pounds; his first fish ever on a jig including his biggest bass yet at 3.32 pounds. Although he cannot compete in the adult ranks until he is 16, his weight placed him in overall fourth place in the tournament stadnings. Considering the conditions, that should at least earn him some bragging rights… and a very big grin.

With 4 club tournaments left in the year, the standings shake out like this: The top total weight category is lead by Jamie Denison with 47.87 pounds with our most experienced angler Clayton Proctor, nipping at his fins with 47.18 pounds. Third place is steady Ed Brady at 46.73 pounds with Bill Frazier, Brian Sorrell and Famous James Lewis in the fourth through sixth slots.

Total points are headed up by Steve Gunter followed by his dad, Sam. Frazier is in third place with Clayton and James in fourth and fifth. Ed Brady holds down the sixth position. All are within easy striking distance of moving up with some very respectable fishing opportunities this fall on the far side of this unfavorable heat wave.

It is particularly worth pointing out that 4 of the top 6 positions in both categories are held by guys fishing out of the same boat. Steve and Sam are fishing partners as are James and Clayton. Being able to consistently find fish and share them with the other guy in your boat, speaks volumes about the courtesy and commitment to our club motto of “friends, fellowship and fishing”.

The next club tournament will be August 7th at High Rock Lake out of the Southmont ramp. Starting time was set at 6 am but the club did not want to set the weigh-in time with no end in sight to this heat wave. Albeit a bit balmy, we’ll see you on the water.

The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society North Carolina Chapter’s “Yadkin Challenge” fund raiser tournament for state-wide youth and conservation programs held the third in its series of 2010 tournaments on High Rock Lake Saturday June 12. There were several large and small tournaments at the various access points around the lake hoping to capitalize on the recent reports of great fishing at this Yadkin River chain lake and they were not disappointed.

All but one of the teams that returned to the ramp to weigh in fish had a limit of 5 fish. Third place honors went to the local favorite father son team of Randy and Lucas Hutchins. These guys had 12.08 pounds. Second place went to the team of Beaver and Parks. They had 12.80 pounds. First place by a landslide went to the local team of Big Mike Hedgecock and Brian Sorrel fishing out of both the Shamrock and Archdale Bass Clubs. These guys toted a hefty bag of 5 fish to the scales weighing a whopping 21.14 pounds including the big fish of the tournament at 5.23 pounds.

The next tournament will be August 14 at Tuckertown Lake’s Flat Creek Landing better known as “the Graveyard”. The entry fee is $60 per one or two-man team with $50 of the $60 paid back to contestants. The remaining $10 per entry goes toward state-wide NC BASS youth and conservation programs. While this tournament is scheduled to launch at 6 am, the high temperatures Saturday took their toll on everyone with one contestant being forced to withdraw due to health concerns. Many of the contestants suggested that it might be better to shorten the tourney hours at the August event given the probability of excessive heat strain on the anglers and fish. We will certainly consider any concerns the morning of the tournament.

For more information, please stop in at either of our two fine bait and tackle retailers in our area. K&J Tackle in Jamestown across from the Jamestown Library or Fishing Fever on Fairfield just east of its intersection with Uwharrie Rd. Information is also available at www.anglersites.com, www.fishbyte.net or contact Bill Frazier at (336) 880-0627.

The half way point tourney in Archdale Bass Club’s season found us up bright and early at North Carolina’s own “Big Muddy”. High Rock Lake is one of best know lakes nationally for successfully hosting several national-level tournaments as well as its reputation for being the home of many crankbait experts like Lexington’s David Fritts.

Saturday June 5th it lived up to some of that reputation. The nearly nightly string of thunderstorms just south of the Triad made the lake thick. Additionally a month long barrage of tournaments seeking to capitalize on the lake’s stellar reputation for its post-spawn largejaws feeding frenzy in late May and early June left High Rock a hard nut to crack for some of the club. But, someone always catches fish.

Third place went to our buddy Greg Moye. Greg had 2 fish for 9 pounds even. He also had big fish for the tournament with a great 5.85 pound lunker. Brian Sorrel scored second with 5 fish weighing 12.49 pounds. First place went to Vernon Wilson with a 5 fish bag tilting the scales at 13.67 pounds. One of the top spot fishermen mumbled something about catching their fish swimming a jig and both of the top two spots came out of the back of the boat – meaning they are not the ones with priority to make the first and best casts.

As in past years, we start the countdown towards end of the year honors at our midpoint tournament. In the top weight category, Jamie Denison leads with 43.73 pounds. Slightly off his personal goal to weigh in a total of 100 pounds in club tournaments but we know he can and will make it up. Right behind him is our most senior angler Clayton Proctor followed by your writer, Vernon Wilson, “Steady” Ed Brady and Sam Gunter.
Our Angler of the year point’s race is almost the reverse lead by Sam Gunter. Your writer is in the second slot followed by other half of the father son Team Gunter, Steve. He’s tied with Clayton Proctor for third. “Famus Jamus” Lewis is in fourth chunking and winding out of the back of Clayton’s boat with “Super” Jamie in the final of the 6 slots.

Next tournament:  July 10th, Badin.

Pictures are (L to R) Greg Moye, Brian Sorrel and Vernon Wilson. Individual shot is Greg Moye with big fish for the tournament. Photo credits: Alex Randall.

Randleman Regional Reservoir
Randleman, NC

What do you get when you take 22 highly self motivated youth in a traditional rural community, 1 very committed coach and a local lake developing a regional reputation for spitting out both large fish and good stringers for about anyone willing to be worn out catching fish? They named themselves the Randleman Outdoors Club.

These young people took a look at themselves and their community and said, “Hey, we have all the academics, team sports and opportunities. We’d like to have more hunting and fishing in the mix”. Their plan was to stage an outdoor expo of businesses and community leaders by kids for kids for their city cousins and others interested that may not have as many of these opportunities. But, being the practical, well grounded youngsters that I’ve quickly come to know, they knew they needed funding. So, they went to Randleman High School’s Coach Willie Duvall and hatched the plan to have a fishing tournament at the new lake in their community.

The learning curve was steep for the club members and Coach Duvall. They spent a lot of personal time seeking and talking with fishermen as well as many hours on the hoof posting and handing out flyers. They developed a logo and had shirts and hats made for themselves and their adult support network. For someone that has been fishing tournaments for 26 years, I cannot convey how amazed I was at their tenacity in making this happen. It is a great example of how only a genuine love of what they wanted to do for their community and fellow youth powers itself.

62 teams registered to fish. Most of them in the last week. If you were fortunate enough to be around HWY 220 in Level Cross at 4:00 am Saturday morning, you could have seen the long lines of very patient competitors waiting to launch into this venture with the Randleman Outdoors Club.

Third place went to Jim long and Chris Coble with a weight of 18.99 pounds. Second was the team of Mike and Aaron McDonald with 19.30 pounds. First place honors were for Howie Snotherly and Jerome Crews with 21.69 pounds. This team also netted big fish for the tournament with a hawg weighing 8.29 pounds. The total weight of fished brought to the scales Saturday was an eye popping 511.86 pounds.

Many of the club members stayed around to fish. I had the pleasure of fishing with Mr. Ryan Vickers of the Outdoors Club. Coach told me he placed him in my boat because all he cared about was fishing. Good choice. I got to meet a fellow fishing fanatic and the results reflected it. Our total weight was 14.59 pounds placing us somewhere around the top 10 for the tournament and Mr. Vickers caught the second largest fish of the tournament at 6.39 pounds. He said it was the largest one he’d ever caught and it was certainly my pleasure to fish with this future fishing leader.

The Club hit all of their fundraising goals so the expo is a go. No date set yet. The most remarkable contribution was the winners, Snotherly and Crews donated the money they won back to the club to further support their efforts. Ladies and gentlemen, many thanks to all that supported these intrepid future leaders in our community, especially the good folks at Randleman Regional reservoir for their efforts, and we’ll look forward to bringing you more good news of their progress.

The $1605.05 Fish (singular or plural, you choose)

This fish tale is best told in reverse so bare with me. I picked up my youth angler visitor Robert “Chuckie” Reid” about 4:30 am on May 22, 2010 as planned for a day of tournament fishing he earned on Tuckertown Lake. We ran through occasional downpours on the way to Denton and our customary breakfast at Rick’s before fishing tournaments on the Yadkin Chain lakes. We launched without much fanfare or fuss other than club member Steve Gunter and his dad, Sam, had a deer run into his boat in route to the ramp. The boat didn’t sink when they launched it so everyone fished and we returned to the Flat Creek Church landing for weigh-in at 2:00 pm as planned.

Catches we mixed. The muddy water from all the rain seemed to throw some anglers and the fish they thought they had located. But, someone always catches fish. Clayton “Lucky” Proctor is proving to be more of a consistent performer than merely lucky. The Archdale Bass Club’s most senior angler netted third place with 5 fish weighing 13.17 pounds. Jamie Denison had a super second place bag of 5 fish as well with a total of 15.25 pounds. And your author nailed down what turned out to be a very expensive win with 5 fish weighing 17.09 pounds including the biggest fish of the tournament at 6.76 pounds.  The explanation starts with the comment about muddy water in the beginning of the story. I took off from work Friday to scout around at the lake. With all the rain we had, I knew some areas would be muddy and difficult to fish. Especially ones I like to fish. Getting on the water before sunrise can make it difficult to tell just how muddy the water is. It can leave you fishing in water with the wrong lures and techniques wasting valuable tournament time.

I parked my little 04 Toyota Tacoma Friday morning at the top of the Flat Creek ramp around 9 am and went happily one my merry way. I found out what wanted to know, came back to the ramp around 3 pm and cranked the truck to put the boat back on the trailer and head home. I immediately ejected myself out of the truck surprised by the huge, uncustomary roar that bellowed from under my little 6 cylinder truck. It sounded like it was about to explode. Having no idea what was wrong, I turned the truck off and started looking around to see if I could figure out what was going on. When I looked under the bed, the exhaust system was gone. G-o-n-e, gone, gone, gone.

The very apologetic deputy from Rowan County that filled out the police report said they had a rash of similar thefts last year at High Rock Lake’s Southmont ramp. As my always helpful and professional service friends at Vann York told me, the catalytic converter on Toyota trucks are not only easily accessible due to the superior ground clearance of their Tacoma truck, they are very valuable targets for thieves who seek the platinum in them. They bring $200 to $400 on the black market by some reports. While it may benefit their bottom line, so far, the bill to replace my property which was stolen while I was enjoying a leisurely day scouting for our tournament is $1605.05.

It would be a stretch to say the win outweighs the irritation. It doesn’t. The closest thing to a grin I’ve been able to get out of this new adventure in fishing is a story Ms. Bonnie at Rick’s relayed about a somewhat similar situation they had to overcome. Between stealing catalytic converters off poor unsuspecting fishermen and the like, someone stole the copper wire out of the telephone system somewhere in Southmont rendering their 911 telephone system inoperable for several days. The extent to which thievery has stooped to is amazing but, even more remarkable, they are getting away with it and no one saw a thing in any of these thefts.

My bride’s suggestion to this travesty was this might be reason enough to consider giving up fishing. Nice try, dear. You won’t have any trouble hearing me coming and we’ll STILL see you on the water.

10-0522 ABC Tuckertown