Fort Loudon Fishing Report - 9/14/09, Monday Night Mayhem

Brandon was able to make it out to fish with me on Monday night and it paid off. He had our two biggest fish in the Monday Night Mayhem tournament out of the Concord ramp on Fort Loudon, with one winning lunker. It weighed 3.66 lb. We had a total of 4 fish that weighed 8.74 lb, which was good enough for the win.
We caught several fish on topwater poppers, but none were keepers. Three of our keepers came on a 10" Berkley Power Worm and one came on a white Strike King Caffeine Shad. We fished from 6" - 17 ft deep on 5 spots I have had some success with the past few weeks. I've had problems hooking the fish on these spots but I knew they were there. Monday, we didn't have such a problem although we did miss a few. I guess that leaves a few there for next time!
Baitfish are everywhere and you can see them schooled on top. Occasionally, a feeding frenzy will occur and you can catch several fish in a very short time, but they seem to be small ones. The water temperature was around 78 F. The water was calm, with very little wind. The skies were partly to mostly cloudy.
This is a fun tournament to fish. I really enjoy competing against these guys and we have a great time before and after the tournament shooting the bull. The director is Bill Freeman and he has done a great job!
The results were as follows:
Jon Dice/Brandon Dinsmore - 4 fish - 8.74 lb and first lunker - 3.66 lb
Bill Freeman/John Smith - 4 fish - 6.76 lb and second lunker - 2.31 lb (I think)
Jerry and Robby Beck - 4 fish - 6.37 lb (great to see father and son fishing together)
Lynn and Bob King - 4 fish - 5.99 lb
others did not weigh in fish.

Anyone interested should come out and fish! It's not an expensive tournament, $35 (but I think is being lowered to $25 to draw more competitors). We are fishing through the end of October and now is getting to be the best time to catch good numbers of fish on Fort Loudon. It would be a great place for some beginning tournament anglers to have a good time.
Until next time, be safe and catch them big uns!

Location, Location, Location!

Location, Location, Location! It does not matter whether you are talking about real estate, business, or fishing because location is important in every aspect of life. Realtor’s profit, business thrives, and fishermen’s dreams come true being in the right place at the right time. One common mistake fishermen make is not being prepared or understanding how to locate bass quickly and efficiently. Bass are a difficult species to understand, but if you want to fish like the pros, then I suggest you start studying the movement of forage or baitfish. More... It’s highly important to educate yourself on where the bait is at all times of the year. If you can think like the bait and understand where the forage would be, then you had better hold on because poppa bass is not far behind. Read books, magazine articles, watch DVDs, search the internet or anything else, which you can learn about baitfish or forage and how it moves to other parts of the lake during different conditions. Baitfish move around depending upon different weather conditions, seasons, and phases of the moon. A great fisherman understands all these aspects of fishing and knows where the bait will most likely be under these different conditions. Another thing I suggest is to practice like you compete, if you are a competitive fisherman. Keep a journal. Mark your honey holes with GPS, and remember the time of day you caught your keepers along with where they were positioned when you caught them. This will help you establish a pattern to try in other parts of the lake, as you move from spot to spot. I can’t stress enough the importance of location and how this can make or break your fishing adventures. Also, let’s not forget how important your electronics play in the success of locating bass. All professional fishermen know their electronic fish finders like the back of their hand. If you master the art of using electronics and how the weather, moon, and seasons effect the movement of baitfish, then I bet this fishing season you will be surprised how many limits you will catch.


Best,

Dittmore