I knelt down, headlamp shining, and broke the earth around where I estimated the old worm bed might have been. Sure enough, I found a dozen or so small earthworms, and put them into a pimento cheese container with a handful of dirt, punched some holes in the lid, and got ready for bed. In my head, bluegill had already been checked off the list. I would buy minnows the next morning for crappie, and use my artificial lures to chase bass. As I laid in bed, I realized it may have been the first time I had stayed at that house by myself in the last seven years. I slept well.
The Ketchin' For Kids tournament is held annually, and hosted by Tullahoma's Grace Chapel and the Southern Mid-Tennessee Kayak Anglers. The tournament raises funds for local families in need around the holidays. Most of the prizes in the tournament are not cash, but items available via raffle. Each entrant gets one raffle ticket for their entry fee, and additional tickets are earned by catching fish. Up to three tickets are earned for each bass, and each additional species earns one extra ticket.
Early on the morning of the 14th, my plan was partially thwarted when the store I planned to buy minnows from had a "FOR RENT" sign hanging on the door. I quickly drove to a local sporting goods store, but the only live bait they sold was worms. I already had my own worms, so I headed back downtown to Grace Chapel for the 9:30 a.m. captain's meeting. Everyone paid up, turned in their toy for the Tullahoma Fire Department to donate to Toys for Tots, and threw a lure or pack of plastics in the pot for the drawings. Pastor and fellow kayak fisherman Frank Cole, and SMTNKA's John McClenney reviewed the rules, gave us our identifiers, asked a blessing for our fun and safety, and sent us 33 anglers on our way at 10:00. We could go to Normandy Lake, Woods Reservoir, or Tims Ford.
I had recently fished the backwaters of Woods during the River Bassin' National Championship, so I had already decided I would go to Woods. I parked on a point near the Arnold AFB FamCamp and Pumping Station area and was on the water by 10:30. Having never caught a smallmouth bass, it was both my goal and my plan to fill out my bass limit first, which would hopefully include that elusive first smallie, then go after other species before I had to go back for the 4:45 p.m. check-in. Launching at 10:30 was a blessing, because the low was 31° that morning. It was probably around 50° at launch, and the water temperature was around 62°, which was fairly encouraging. The wind was forecasted to be 5-10 mph, but it was more like a steady 10 mph with gusts to 15-20. This made it difficult to hold in one spot very long, and made me do a lot more paddling than casting. After I caught my first bass, a 13.25" largemouth, at 12:30, I realized this was not a day in which I was going to be able to anchor down and catch a limit out of one spot. These fish had moved out of the pockets where they feed on baitfish in the fall, and had begun their migration back to their deeper winter haunts - they were on the move, and it wasn't to feed.
It was 2:30 before I caught another bass, another 13.25" largemouth, on a bluff wall off a channel bend near the pumping station. I would have to leave by 4:30 to make the 4:45 weigh-in, so at that point, I reluctantly temporarily abandoned my quest for a smallie. I picked up my ultralight, and tossed one of my pimento cheese container worms near the bank close to the area where I had caught the previous largemouth. After several nibbles over about 20 minutes, my bobber finally disappeared and stayed under, and I reeled in the bluegill I was so sure I would catch. It was tiny, but it was a ticket. The rest of my time was spent covering water fairly quickly as I made my way back to the truck, hoping to fill out my bass limit. I never caught a third bass, and didn't get to fight one of those "brown fish" I was so looking forward to fighting.
I milked my time on the water for all it was worth, and walked back into Grace Chapel with no time to spare. I was the next-to-last person to get back to the church. I turned in my photos and took my tickets, and shortly the raffle drawings began.
Grace Chapel and SMTNKA did a great job of getting prizes donated for the drawings. There were two tables full of prizes ranging from hand-poured plastics and locally made crankbaits, to an overnight guided kayak fishing trip and a Duckett Ghost rod. The sooner your ticket number was called, the better your pick of the prizes. The only catch was - once you ran out of tickets for the smaller prizes, your chances were lessened for the two major prizes - a FeelFree Lure 11.5 kayak, and an Orion Cooler.
I had four tickets in hand - one for my entry, and three for the fish I caught. I got pretty lucky and had two of my numbers drawn within the first 10 or so called. I scored a $50 Hook1 gift certificate and a Backwater Assault Hand Paddle - pretty good pull for a 4" bream! One other number was called (matching my entry ticket), and I got a few packs of plastics to go on top of the other prizes.
I had one ticket remaining when it was time for the cooler and boat giveaway. It was the ticket for my first bass. I did not win the cooler but I was still in the running for the boat. Pastor Cole called out 5 numbers to be the finalists for the kayak, and my number was not in them. The finalists could either stay in the running or auction off their ticket. I had already decided I would sell my ticket had I been a finalist. It was pretty fun to watch all the mind games being played as the field got narrower and narrower. No one actually ended up selling their ticket, and a winner was decided.
This is definitely a tournament I look forward to fishing again, although even with one under my belt, I don't know what my strategy will be. A multi-species tournament is a different ballgame than being 100% focused on bass fishing. One thing I do know - I seriously need to get this smallmouth monkey off my back sooner than later!
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