Wins first IBF Junior Tournament of 2008

The weather was bad but the fishing was fairly good for the junior anglers.  Most of the anglers did catch fish if they could bare the weather conditions.  With snow, rain, and a mix of the two conditions combined, made toughing it out really difficult.

In third place we had Tyler Pendygraft weighing in a solid limit of fish at 7.90 pounds.       

      

In summary, the weather could have been better but if you toughed out the weather then you caught some fish.  Many of the competitors in all age groups brought fish to the scales which made for a good time at the end of the day.  I want to thank everybody that participated in the tournament and congratulate the two age group winners that qualified for the fish off in August at Glenn Flint.  In the 11 - 14 age group Isac Hartsburg qualified for the fish off and in the 15 - 18 age group Brett Rounsaville qualified for the fish off.  The next tournament will be on May 10, 2008 at Lake Maxinkuckee.  Hope to see you all there!     

Tyler's fish came very sporadically throughout the day while fishing a flat of about five feet of water with a Rayburn Red rattletrap.  He said when they moved up onto the flat he could catch them pretty easily, but when they went back down to deeper water it was really hard to get them to bite.  Overall he had a pretty good tournament and hopes to do just as well at the next tournament.

In first place was Brett Rounsaville with a really solid limit of five weighing in at 12.53 pounds.  Brett was on pretty much on the same pattern as Jacob since they were in the same boat, but he changed up a little to catch some bigger fish.  Most of his fish came on a spinnerbait with the bigger fish coming on a jig.  He also caught his fish in two to six feet of water.  Overall Brett had a good day on the water, but the most unusual part about his win is that he didn't even have the biggest bass!

The big bass award went to Wayne Hartsburg with a 5.08 chunk.  This fish was caught on a green pumpkin jig in about ten feet of water.  He said that the fish was sitting on a hump that went from eight feet to ten feet and it was waiting in ten feet of water to eat whatever swam by.

     In second place was Jacob Wheeler with a five fish limit weighing in at 8.55 pounds.  Jacob caught his fish on a rattletrap and spinnerbait near timber and on some main lake flats.  His fish came from two to six feet of water.  The majority of his keepers came on the rattletrap on the main lake points.  He would get on a point and throw the rattletrap towards the bank and before you knew it, he was hooked up

In the 11 - 14 age group we had Spencer Branham that was not only his age group winner, but he won the whole tournament including the big bass award!  Spencer had two nice keepers that went at around six and one quarter pounds.  Spencer caught his fish up the creek on a senko.  His fish came in about two to four feet of water.  His big bass was one of the fish that he caught up the creek on the senko and it weighed in at four and three quarter pounds. 

         

  

Written By: Brett Rounsaville

The BASS Junior Tournament Trail kicked off its season at Lake Lemon last weekend.  The tournament started with rain in the early morning but then giving way to mostly cloudy skies for the remainder of the day.  With a passing cold front and very little sunshine, this made the fishing tough for all anglers.

Wins BASS Junior Trail season opener at Lake Lemon

The anglers that caught fish last weekend managed good solid fish.  Our 15 - 18 year old age group winner was Tyler Cross that had two fish that weighed in at five and one half pounds.  Both of his fish came on a jig around boat docks. 

        The tournament wasn't the greatest of all time but the kids still managed to catch some fish.  Not all of the fish that the anglers caught were keepers but at least the little ones were biting.  We all know how you can go all day without even a little one!  Hopefully the next tournament brings more fish to the scales than this one but you never can tell!

The next tournament is at Summit Lake on May 3rd.  Hope to see you all there!  

The two keepers that he caught were only in two to six feet of water.  Great job goes to Tyler Cross for catching those fish and winning his age group.  Hopefully he can keep it up and win the most points in his age group to become this year's Indiana Junior State Champion.

The B.A.S.S Junior Tournament Trail had its second tournament of the year at Summit Lake.  Conditions were fairly good except for the 20 - 30 mile per hour winds, which made the main lake have at least two foot waves.  The conditions definitely played a roll in what you could fish and where you could fish without getting blown away!  Even with the wind blowing many anglers still caught fish. 

   

                 

B.A.S.S Junior Tournament Trail - Lake Summit

May 3, 2008

Jacob Wheeler wins the 15 - 18 age group

In the 11 - 14 year old age group, Brody McWilliams was the winner with three fish that weighed in at 5.93 pounds. Brody caught his fish on the well known tube rig called the, "Stupid Tube."  Most of his fish came in the two to six foot of water range.  Brody had a good day catching fish and caught a three pounder around mid day to seal the win for his age group. 

In the 15 -18 year old age group, Jacob Wheeler was the winner.  He also had three fish that weighed in at 5.13 pounds.  Jacob caught some of his fish on buzzbait in the morning and then switched up later in the day.  When it came time to switch up Jacob went to the bait that he is always known for, the frog.  He caught many fish on it and got his biggest keeper on it.  The bait that he filled out his limit was a spinnerbait.  He fished it around wood and submerged vegetation.  The primary depth range that Jacob fished was two to four feet of water.  Jacob caught many keeper fish during his day but just couldn't find the big one. 

The person that did find the big one and took home the big bass award was Cody Whitt.  Cody's big bass weighed in at 3.39 pounds.  Cody caught his fish on a rattletrap in about six foot of water.

Many of the junior anglers had fish to weigh in at this tournament but there could only be two winners.  As of right now the two point's leaders are Spencer Branham in the 11 - 14 year old age group & Jacob Wheeler in the 15 - 18 year old age group.  But these two anglers are still not too far ahead from their other age group competitors.  They must hold them off at the next tournament which will be June 7th at Hardy Lake to keep their lead in the points.  It should come down to the wire to see who our 2008 State Champions will be! 

The TBF Juniors had their last qualifing event of 2008 at Waveland. The junior anglers got off to a late start due to unsafe weather but it didn't seem to hurt the fishing at all. Many of the anglers that competed brought fish to the scales at the end of the day. The overall winner and for his 15 - 18 age group was Jacob Wheeler.  He had five fish that weighed ten and one quarter pounds. Jacob caught his fish deep on a crankbait and football head jig.

The winner in the 11 - 14 age group was Nate Sanders. Nate had a five fish limit that weighed five and three quarter pounds. He caught his fish on a chatterbait around reeds. This tournament was a good way to end the year for most anglers but for some it is still not over. Those that qualified for the fish off still have the most important tournament to come at Glenn Flint on August 23rd. This is the one tournament that will decide the TBF Junior State Champion. Good luck to all the anglers involved and may the best fisherman win...