6-13-09: PABC Monthly Tourney Lake Ivie

The PABC held its monthly tourney at OH Ivie Reservoir on 6-13-09. Due to the 100+ degree weather, we started at Safe Light until 12 PM. I got a great intro to the lake as I followed Tad Box's advice and caught everything on a white topwater just north of Concho Park. It was great for 2 guys in a plastic boat.

Scott Gagliano and I got there very early in the AM.



As mentioned in the video clip, our attention was drawn to some activity going on over at a large tent nearby in Concho Park. Being naturally curious, I went to investigate and met Mike "Stubby" Arnold out of Midland who was kind enough to visit with me about their organization.



Dawn broke and we got started. We fished and I got a hit on my 3rd cast on the little topwater. I even managed to catch the 2.7 on my 5th cast (I've really got to get a hat cam).

We were expecting 15-20 MPH winds, but they never developed. Wind was nice as the big barges made large wakes for us to handle. I can honestly say that I had no problems as it was for the kids and it was cool seeing them waving to us in their orange shirts as they passed on by. Water was really clear (about 4-5 feet visibility) and 80 degrees climbing to 82 by noon.

Ivie was pretty good to us. Just an interesting note on the lake. you can have 2 fish under 14" on a stringer so long as the rest are over 18". I imagine that they do this to cull the smaller fish population as to help the big fish get bigger.

I caught about 6 fish while Scott caught 1 and lost a monster on a worm.

We wrapped it up and reported to weigh in.



We had a funny event occur. Scott and I knew that with the water being 80+ degrees we couldn't keep fish on a stringer and expect them to survive so we obtained an aerator and cooler and made a live well. We had 2 fish in the live well when we accidentally jostled the live well and I noted water in the boat; we had knocked open the spout on the cooler. Thinking quickly, we went to shore and sealed the spout, but we had taken on a good amount of water and with the live well, we were cramped. I decided to chance quickly opening the live well to get the aerator out and use it as a bilge on the water. We moved quickly, but the bass were quicker. Both got out and Scott managed to get the 3 pounder back in, but the little one made it. I can blame no one but myself. We've all heard stories like this, but I got to live it. Gee, lucky me!

Point of interest as I will be stepping down as record keeper of the PABC and focusing on the reporting aspect.



We had a blast on the lake!




Results are below.

1. Morris, Jeff 2 14/16, 2 14/16, and 6 for a total of 11 12/16 (Big Bass)
2. Cavaness, Roy 3 1/16, 5 3/16, and 2 1/16 for a total of 10 5/16
3. Miner, Scott 2 7/16, 2 7/16, and 3 13/16 for a total of 8 11/16
4. Leeper, Jay 3 10/16 and 2 7/16 for a total of 6 1/16
5. Witt, Bob 2 1/16 and 2 15/16 for a total of 5
6. Dorman, Mike 2 9/16 and 2 5/16 for a total of 4 14/16
7. Dorman, Brian 2 9/16 and 1 15/16 for a total of 4 8/16
8. Searsy, Drew 2 10/16 and 1 6/16 for a total of 4
9. Brumley, Noah 2 3/16 and 1 12/16 for a total of 3 15/16
10. Fuessel, Jason 1 8/16 and 2 5/16 for a total of 3 13/16
11. Brumley, Justin 2 6/16 and 1 4/16 for a total of 3 10/16
12. Day, Jim 2 and 1 1/16 for a total of 3 1/16
13. Palko, Chip 1 6/16 and 1 9/16 for a total of 2 15/16
14. Brumley, Josh 1 9/16 and 14/16 for a total of 2 7/16
15. Cavaness, Stephen 1 2/16 for a total of 1 2/16
16. Palko, Justus 0
17. Gagliano, Scott 0

Special thanks to Scott and the guys of the PABC for putting up with me. It's always a hoot. Also, Stubby and the guys and gals over at the Make A Fish Foundation are great people! We caught them wrapping things up.



Take care, all and remember, "Cast straight, cast often, and keep your wake small for the guys in plastic boats!"