On Sunday eight members of the Flint River Bass Club showed up at Lake Sinclair at 4:00 AM for our July tournament. We fished until noon, trying to get off the lake before it got too hot and the crowds arrived. After weigh-in we spent some time cleaning up the ramp area.

After eight hours of fishing, some in the dark and some in the light, we weighed in 22 keeper bass weighing about 39 pounds. Some were caught on lighted boat docks before sunrise and others hit around docks after the sun got up. It rained on use a little just before daylight and the clouds helped keep us from getting too hot.

Donnie Schafer had five bass weighing 8.99 pounda for first. He said he got one on a top water bait and the others hit a jig head worm around docks. Bobby Ferris had a limit of five bass weighing 7.45 pounds for second and said he caught a lot of bass around docks on crank baits before daylight. I managed to catch two bass weighing 7.44 pounds for third, and my 5.13 pound bass was good for big fish. Tom Tanner placed fourth with four bass weighing 6.04 pounds.

Jordan McDonald fished with me and we started around the steam plant. I was throwing a spinner bait and he was casting a worm as we worked around the lighted bank, fishing grass and rocks. He missed a strike on the worm then I felt one hit my spinner bait and missed it. A few seconds later Jordan landed a keeper near where I had missed the bite.

We then ran up to some lighted docks a local fisherman had told me were good and started fishing them. The first one we worked neither of us got a bite on worms or a jig and pig. Then I cast a crank bait under the light and hook, and then lost, a small bass.

We fished that area for a short time and started to leave but it started raining. I did not want to run around in the dark and the rain so we kept fishing, and I am very glad we did. After working back to the first dock we fished I threw a jig and pig under the light and got a hit. When I set the hook I started yelling for the net – I could tell it was a good fish. When it jumped I knew it was a big one.

Jordan almost fell out of the boat getting the net in the dark. We could see a little from the dock light but when the fish got near the boat we could not see it. I turned on my cap light and it gave us enough light to see the fish and Jordan netted it for me.

A few minutes later, just as it started getting light, Jordan got keepers on back to back casts under the same light. Then we fished places where I thought bass should be holding for four hours without catching another fish.

At about 10:00 AM I threw a jig head worm to a seawall and caught my second bass. Although we tried hard until quitting time neither of us managed to catch another keeper bass.

After weigh-in we were pleasantly surprised to find the ramp had little trash around it. We expected there to be lots of litter since it was a holiday weekend but we quickly picked up all the trash in the parking lot, ramp area and grass around it.