Forum | I won it!.... Then I lost it!

Tx bass goin' in it huh? LOL…. Yur so kind! I can tell you this…. I've never had major fish mortality in my 209TE except once. A bunch of fish died one time and I discovered broken aereator plumbing on one side and a dead pump on the other – all in the same tournament. You can bet those problems were fixed asap and now work better than orginal! "WHEN" I get my boat back I have decided to add the oxygenator system vs the ProAir. I believe the Oxygenator requires much less amp draw. I will maintain the aereation system but with a two way valve set default to pump-out. Then if I feel I need additional help in the livewell I will switch the valve to aereate.

Come mid-night I'm heading to Amistad. Me n' the eliminator….. That's what their calling the Gambler now. Oh…. and I have been dubbed – "The Executioner" Just hoping and prayin' I end up with good fish and their all alive n' happy at the end of the day. I have about 16 various size bottles of water in the freezer ranging from 1qt. to a pint., 2 coolers, one a 94qt to hold everything and then a smaller one that will hold 6 bottles and a bag of ice. I've moved the electrical connections back to the cranking battery so I can charge it if needed. I am not investing in another timer. I've spent too much time and money on a boat I do not own and do not even like. The current timer cycles sufficiently I just don't know if it's aereating as well as it should but there's nuttin' I can do about that at this point in time. I've done what I possibly can to ensure the fish live and at this point it's the best I can do.

ABA District 119 2 day championship was on Coleto Creek last weekend. I went Friday morning to pre-fish. I located a bank near the river channel holding a ton of fish. The pattern was a blue glimmer shad fished in a fleeing shad manner around emergent grass. There's a ton of topped out hydrilla and coontail on this lake but the fish were not relating to it. Throw shallow into the emergent grass work the fluke fast and on top out of that grass and it was like you could call your shots!

Day one. We have one non boater in our district – guess who he drew… Yeah, me. We head for the spot I had found the day before. The fish were still there and still very active. It didn't take me long to limit out but they were small fish. Along the way I lost several in the 3-4# range. Fishing flukes the way I was you're going to lose fish but dang did they all have to be big'uns? Friday I had a monster bass blow up on a fluke up the river so later in the day we ran to that point and one the first cast… Wham…. I'm hollerin' "get the net" as soon as the fish hits 'cause I 'know'… it's a big'un. Well it wasn't the big one that was there the day before. I end the day with 5 fish that went 8 something. But…. the livewell system on the Gambler is horrible and I lose 3 fish and my non-boater loses one. I get hit with .5# penalty for each dead fish so I lose a total of 1.5#s on day one. At the end of day one I'm credited with 6.99#s. Day one leader has 17+.

Day two. This time I fish alone. I return to the starting point from the day before. Lo' n' behold… My previous days non-boater and his boater come in on the other end of that bank. That kinna yanks my chain but I had hear before that that particular boater would do that – move in on soneone else. But… I fish about 200 yards of the bank and I have one short fish and one miss. Something changed and the fish aren't there like they had been the previous two days. I really don't have any other spot/area I have confidence in so I start working the mouth of a near by cove. 14' of water with a grass edged of topped out hydrilla. I'm getting nothing. There's a point on the right hand side of this cove but it's getting to it means going through about 75 yards of heavy topped out grass. As I'm working the deeper outside edge I see a little activity in the clear water around the point. Mmmmm…. trim the gas engine up and start shooting salad. I must'a had 500#s of grass hangin' off the lower unit when I finally hit the opening. I'm still working the fleeing shad pattern. It isn't long and I get my first keeper in the boat. A 16″er going probably 2.5#s. Keep working…. and another… Barely hits the 14″ mark which is the minimum… But it does hit it so I put a bead on it n' chunk it in the livewell. I work around the point back into the cove. Shallow water but I see bass hitting way in the back…. For some reason there's a channel of sorts in the grass and I make my way back there. Ocassionally I had been chunking the frog on the mat and and had no activity. Where these fish were active was pretty grassed up so I start with the frog… I get one that noses it but that's all… It's not a real good fluke area but I give it a try… Nothing… But they're still active…. I work to the back side of this area and as I'm hopping the fluke out a 6.5#er decides she wants it… In the livewell she goes.

The previous 2 days there's been little or no wind. Not so today… Boat control and lure placement become real issues. I won't rant(like I did on the boat) but that loaner Gambler is the most ill handling wind sail I've ever fished out of. It's almost impossible to hold a position as the nose is so high it catches a ton of wind and swings from side to side and always to the side that you don't want it to go to! Ok…. Back to fishing… The wind has made the fluke pattern hard to fish… I'm back on the river side of this extended point and there's a channel close to the bank fairly clear of grass. I pick up a 3.5″ shad-a-licious swim bait and start chunking it. I feel a fish hit it n' set the hook. Another bass around the 6.5# mark goes in the live well. I end up catching one more fish on  swim bait which limits me out. But I can not cull the two small fish.

I check the livewell again at around 1pm. One big fish is dead. All others look healthy and happy. I have added "Release me" to the livewells from the git-go. The timer on the livewell is broken but it does it's on/off thing about every 3-5 mins. I keep fishing trying… trying… to cull the two little fish… to no avail. 2:00pm…. I check the livewells. One dead big fish all others are fine. I turn the aerator on manual… after pumping out some of the water and refilling. Then I run an island close to the launch and work it with a fluke and swimbait… Nothing. about 2:40 I figure the day is over. I could'a fished another 10-15mins. But…. I head in. Beach the boat and check the livewells. ALL 5 @!!$%^$ fish are dead. I weigh in… 17.56#s but get hit with a 2.5# penalty. Add that to the 1.5# from the day before and I have given up 4#s in penalties. I end up losing the championship by right out 2 pounds. Actually I ended up 3rd. I had 22+, 2nd had 23+ and the day one leader won the championship with a total of 24+.

I'm headed to Amistad around mid-night tomorrow night. It's hotter and the fish are bigger there. I'm not real sure what I can do to keep the fish alive. I am gonna freeze a bunch of water bottles and carry them in the boat to put in the livewell from time to time but I'm not real sure that is going to be the final solution. But other'n that there's not a whole lot I can do with this piece of trash Gambler I'm fishing out of.