Last Sunday ten members of the Flint River Bass Club fished our February tournament at Bartletts Ferry. We had a beautiful day to fish but the fish didn’t seem to know it. There was one five-fish limit and four fishermen didn’t have a 12 inch keeper after fishing eight house. We weighed in 16 keepers weighing about 25 pounds.

Jordan McDonald won it all with a limit weighing 8.90 pounds and his 3.68 pound largemouth was big fish. Chuck Croft was second with four keepers at 5.87 pounds, Brian Bennett placed third with four at 5.03 pounds and Don Gober had one at 1.96 pounds for fourth. My 1.37 pound spot was fifth and Niles Murray was sixth with one at 1.30 pounds.

I am getting paranoid about February tournaments at Bartletts Ferry. Two years ago Jordan fished with me and beat me like a drum then, too, winning the tournament with five keepers weighing about 13 pounds and had big fish. I had one keeper. Last year Javin English fished with me and had two fish for second place and I zeroed. And Jordan fished with me again this year. I hate getting beat from the back of my boat!

Jordan and I fished several places from 8:00 to 11:00 without a bite, then I caught my one keeper on a crankbait in very shallow water. Then at noon Jordan got his first keeper on a worm beside a dock. About two hours later he caught two keepers on a crankbait almost on back to back casts, then got his big fish on a jerk bait a little later. With five minutes left to fish he caught his fifth keeper on a jerk bait.

I had my chances, missing a fish beside the dock where Jordan caught his first fish. I felt a tap and saw my line moving out, but when I set the hook all I landed was half a worm on my jig head. Then I missed a hit on the jighead on some rocks and Jordan immediately caught two from the same place.

I also really messed up by not paying attention. I cast the jig head to a small brush top beside a dock and felt a fish take it. When I set the hook my line broke. I am sure it was frayed from all the rocks I had been dragging it through. To make it even worse, we fished on down the bank, came back to the dock and Jordan caught his big fish by the same brush pile.

Some days are just like that for me. I make dumb mistakes, like not checking my line for frays or not paying good attention and missing a strike. And I should have tried different baits like Jordan did to find out what they would hit. I never threw a jerkbait although I had one tied on. Carpal tunnel surgery six weeks ago keeps me from working one like it has to be fished.

I will come back from the Classic on Saturday so I can fish the Sportsman Club tournament Sunday. Jordan is fishing with me again. It may be his last trip with me if the same results happen, but he fished with me at Jackson in January and I had a limit and he had one. What goes around comes around!