Thanks for the compliment and I only wish it were true! Whenever you seem to try you kick our butts!

Hey Rich, Deren and Jay actually got paired up together and ended up in 5th. I'll let Bill tell his story.

Here's my story:

The night started off with a bang as the first area I fished was a flat with a couple stumps Jay and Bill ended up passing. Bill had actually asked Jay if he was going to fish it and Jay kind'o shurugged it off. I made three casts with a buzzbait and WHAM! The 1.5 lber just slammed it on the surface. I'm thinking its going to be a terrific night for all and boy was I wrong! It took almost another hour + before I got my next hit, again on a buzz. This time I was fishing another weedy flat behind Jeff A. As I buzzed the grass a fish of about 4-5lbs just exploded right next to it but did not take. Darn! I'm thinking and threw everything else at the area for nothing.

A couple more subtle 'bumps' and a hookup with an ika (was about 13-14") but no fish landed. Somewhat frustrated and the night coming upon us I eventually switched to a spinnerbait about 45 minutes later. After talking to Bill who had one and lost another on a frog I pass him up and work towards the first campground. As I approached there were about 3 different tents and more than a few people walking around with their boats parked all around. I decided to fish hard anyway and was pounding the weed edges when it felt like a log ran into my lure. "Umph," I set the hook, nothing then, thump, thump, thump, wizzzzzzzzz, "OH YEAH!" After a couple more solid runs it comes to the surface and now I'm really excited and just thinking "don't throw the hook, don't throw the hook"!!! Reach down with my net and it doesn't fit! I quickly drop my rod and grab the beauty and YES! Pig of the night I'm sure of! Knew it was not going to go ten as it was too skinny but figured it was for sure a 7 maybe 8. Dropped her into my livewell and she had to go diagonal! Whew, I radioed to William "we got big fish, we got big fish!"

After letting my heartbeat come back down I kept working out towards the mouth of Yorty then headed into Brush Creek. After working a few areas (bare banks with weed growth) I finally get a 12" dink. Feeling a little better I make two more casts then the log again! Wizzzzzzzz, wizzzzzzz, wizzzzz, yikes! This fish was fighting WAAAAYYYY better then the first and I'm thinking 12+. Well, it surfaces and I'm dumbfounded to see what I thought was a 5lber. Oh, well, another good fish in the livewell!

I worked and talked my way back towards the launch ramp but had a couple last areas I knew to try. My last area was a tree with brush but in very shallow water with the water being low. I hit it with a spinnerbait, 10" plastic worm and jig but nothing. My last resort is my trusty ika which I pitch right into the thick of it (less than 2ft of water). I raise my rod tip and am like "dang, snagged up". Thump, thump, thump, OH YEAH! It comes out of the think stuff, runs around and I slide it into my net. 6lber comes to mind and I radio to William we got the win!

That was the end of my serious fishing. What a night! 20.03 lbs, fish of 8.34, 5.80, and 4.39. Wish I could do this every time!

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