I was really fired up heading to Oconee a few years ago on Sunday morning for the March Flint River Bass Club tournament. I had a good feeling about catching bass. It looked like it would be a beautiful day on the lake. It was, but the bass just did not cooperate with me.

I had talked with Al Bassett Saturday night and he told me he and his wife placed 13th in a Guys and Dolls tournament that day at Oconee with five bass weighing 12 pounds. Al told me it took five bass weighing 21 pounds to win their tournament before he had to hang up. I figured if they caught that many bass I could figure out something.

At the ramp my good feeling continued when fellow club member Tommy Reeves came over to my truck while I waited in line to launch. I was by myself and being along makes it harder to launch a boat. Tommy volunteered to back my boat in and help me, which made things much easier for me. It is great having thoughtful club members like Tommy around.

We started fishing at 7:30 and at 2:00 I had tried everything I could imagine over a big area of the lake and never got a bite. Finally at 2:00 I caught two 12 inch bass – non keepers at Oconee, but at least I got a bite. Then at 2:40, about 40 minutes before I had to stop fishing, I caught a 14.5 inch bass, a keeper!

Almost all members in the club had a tough day. Of the 23 fishermen, eight did not have a keeper. There were only 21 fish weighed in for a total weight of 57.51 pounds. Only four or five members had more than one bass.

Lee Handcock won with 9.34 pounds, Jack “Zero” Ridgeway was second with 6.89 pounds, Keith Brown placed third with 6.84 pounds and had a 4.62 pound bass for big fish, and Toney Roberts was 4th with 5.45 pounds.

My one little fish placed me 14th. To add insult to injury, I got a call from Al on the way home. A Berry’s Boat Dock tournament the same day at Oconee was won with a catch of five bass weighing 21 pounds. Second place went to Glen Rivers with four bass weighing 18 pounds.

I did an article in Georgia Outdoor News with Glen last year. He lives between Oconee and Sinclair and is an excellent fisherman on both lakes. He works part time for Suddeth Baits and his partner for the day was the Suddeth Baits owner’s son.

I called Glen when I got home and he told me he was fishing down a bank and passed a tree in the water. His partner threw a Suddeth crankbait into the tree and hooked a two pounder. Glen turned around, pitched his jig and pig into the tree and immediately hooked a five pounder.

As soon as the five pounder was in the livewell Glen pitched back into the same tree and landed a six pounder. Then he caught another five pounder out of the same tree. That one tree produced all those fish just after 11:00.

I wish I had found a tree like that!