All three bass clubs in Griffin are wrapping up their tournament years in the next couple of weeks. Both the Flint River Bass Club and the Spalding County Sportsman Club have one tournament in December, a two club tournament at Jackson Decemher 7th, and the Potato Creek Bass Masters have their last one at Jackson on December 14th.

Potato Creek fished at West Point two weeks ago. They had nine fishermen competing and they caught 29 keepers weighing 48 pounds. Pete Peterson won with five bass weighing 13.47 pounds and had big bass with a 5.65 pounder. James Beasley was second with five at 9.67, Bobby Ferris placed third with five at 7.49 and Raymond English was fourth with four bass weighing 4.54 pounds.

Last Sunday ten members and guests of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished at Lanier. We landed 24 bass weighing about 51 pounds. There were two five-fish limits and two people didn’t land a 14 inch keeper. All of the fish caught were spotted bass.

I won with five weighing 10.72 pounds, Kwong Yu was second with five at 9.57, Niles Murray came in third with three weighing 7.42 and had big fish with a 3.83 pounder and Russell Prevatt was fourth with three at 6.51. We had five spots weighing over three pounds each.

For some reason Lanier usually kicks me down. I have a hard time catching keepers. Lanier is so different from the other lakes we fish, with clear water and deep water patterns, they I just can’t figure it out. But I did ok at two November tournaments by fishing fairly shallow. Niles Murray fished with me two weeks ago in the Flint River tournament and caught the first two bass in about eight feet of water, showing me they could be caught shallow.

Sunday was rainy, cloudy, rainy, windy, rainy, cold, rainy and we had thunder and lightning. Did I mention it rained? I found out at noon my water proof boots weren’t, and by 1:00 I was squishing in them. That made the last two hours of the tournament uncomfortable. I actually came in thirty minutes before the tournament ended, a first for me. I usually cast up to the last second!

I started on a rocky point where Niles and I had started and where I had caught two throwbackw two weeks ago. On the corner of a dock that came within 20 feet of the point I hooked and landed a solid 15 inch keeper on a spinner bait at 7:20. At least I wouldn’t zero this Lanier tournament.

After that I went to a nearby hump where Niles and I had caught four keepers but never got a bite, even though I tried four different baits on four passes around it. On the next point I caught a barely 14 inch long keeper on a jig head worm at 9:40 and felt even better.

Then I went back to the first point I fished and landed my biggest bass, a 3.08 pound spot, on the jig head worm at 11:30. I had got hung up on the rocks right on the bank and got my bait free by going to the bank in the boat. Then I caught the big one by pitching the worm to the end of the dock right where the first bass had hit. The bait never hit the bottom but started swimming out. I thought I was too close to it in the clear water, but I guess not.

Jigging a spoon is usually good this time of year so I went to another hump with brush on it that Ryan Coleman had shown to me a few years ago. There were fish on it, I could see them on my depth finder and caught two ten inch spots, not good since fish in a school are usually about the same size. I tried the bridge pilings on Browns Bridge, usually another good pattern, but never got a bite.

Thunder started rumbling and I could see flashes from lightning, something I really am scared of on the lake. I ran back to the point near the first hump I had fished and was able to stay near the bank and cast out on it, thinking the trees within a few feet of me would attract the lightening from my lightening rod graphite rod in my hands. The very first cast I caught a three pound spot so I fished the next two points the same way, very slowly, .

At 2:15 I went back to the first point, pitched to the end of the dock caught a solid keeper. That gave me my limit and I my cold feet really started bothering me. I worked around the point then back to the dock and caught another keeper in the exact same spot, culling the second fish I had caught.

I could not believe I caught four of my six keepers from a spot about a foot wide. On one cast I felt something like a small limb hung up on the bottom in that spot in about six feet of water. I guess that is what attracted the bass.

After culling my smallest bass it was 3:00 and although I had 30 minutes left to fish I decided to go in and get some dry shoes. Everyone else had already come in except Raymond and Niles so most of us were ready to get dry!