Lake O The Pines Report

Tournament is over and it's time to give up a report. Prefishing was tough and many anglers headed home skipping tournament day to think about next month's tournament.

Richard James and I stuck it out fishing through the toughest tourney conditions with eleven other die hard crappie teams. Conditions were a cold, wet and high water.

We scanned the south end of the lake early Friday morning knowing this was where we would focus. We did not fish much as the fish were scattered as expected. One fish was caught on the south end.

We then decided to trailer to the north end and wet a line in the creek there. Focusing on the creek channel proved to be a good idea but again the bite was non existent. We caught one crappie there as well. I noticed a school of fish relating to structure which was the top of the creek channel. They were tight to the bottom. We dropped Slim Sticks on them and the fight was on. We slayed 14 to 15" white bass for 15 minutes then left them biting. That was a blast.

We called it a day and headed in to get ready for the next days tournament. As we talked to others we realized the concerns we'd had were verified. All other teams struggled as well to find a pattern. We all laughed, shared stories and decided to let the cards fall where they may.

Richie and I headed to our room early to discuss a plan of action as a team. We'd decide long ago to keep our heads down and elbows up no matter what, to try and defeat every lake thrown at us. This advice was given by George Scott Nelon and was the best thing we learned in 2015.

I'd been very stubborn 2015 sitting on big fish that wouldn't cooperate during a tournament. That was a mistake and habit I had to break. So I listened to my partner and we focused on getting seven fish first and foremost.

Tournament morning we fished the south end of the lake in 30' of water near cover but most importantly near the shoreline drop offs. Fish were feeding and pushing bait to the shore. We picked up four good fish with this pattern.

We then tried the creek channel in 45' of water but those fish which were there won that stare down contest. I sure wanted to catch some of those toads but I did not let the temptation ruin our day.

Next was timber. Fish were in the tree line 20 to 25' down on the tree tops in 40' of water. They were not stacked but they were there. No matter the location fish were spread out and not stacked. We culled some fish there and had a decent stringer considering the conditions.

We caught fish with 3" Slim Sticks and Stump Bugs. Slim Sticks worked best in timber and Stump Bugs were best for the early morning feeding fish.

Weigh in proved it was tough for all. We were the first to lose bringing home second place. Richie was a blast to fish with and we are already looking forward to the next tournament on Lake Lavon.

2nd on a visited lake is still top notch....

Thanks for the report. Good job.

Being a part of CAT has truly elevated my catching ability. I carpool with Richie and we made a commitment to take something away from each meeting to try on the water. We discuss what each of us took away at the meeting to decide what might help our style of fishing.

The willingness to give tips and tricks by the CAT members has been priceless to me. I've never been the type to ask so the spontaneous conversations continually make me think which leads to putting new twists on things I try.

As I mentioned in the report above George had talked about the fact that it's not you against the fishermen, it's you against the lake or the fish. Keep your head down and get it done.

I use this bit of advice in all aspects of life now from fun fishing, tournament fishing and even the tackle industry. This bit of advice has helped me on the water but even more off the water.

Crappie Anglers of Texas has given me the opportunity to meet my best friend and team mate, it's made me a better outdoorsman and has some down right good Ole boys in the club.

Just thought I'd share what I've been thinking for a while now. To see the atta boys and everyone laughing having fun at Saturdays tournament after everyone fished those conditions really made me know I was where I was suppose to be. Great group for sure.

Good stuff!! There were some impressive weights given the conditions. We prefished twice and never caught a crappie.

Friday evening at the Lake O The Pines Lodge, George bought a whole bunch of sausage and grilled for everyone that wanted to eat. There were probably 20+ tournament guys standing around talking fishing for over 2 hours. There were plenty of fishing tips passed around and a whole lot of laughs. I looked out the room window about 8pm and there were still 5 or 6 folks at the big picnic table talking and maybe playing Texas Hold'Em. This type camaraderie is also why many of us enjoy the trips and experience.

Come on RETIREMENT!

You want to talk about a good group of guys, this is it. Forget the fishing tourney, hanging out with everyone the night before was some of the most fun I've had at a lake in a long time. Getting to spend time with passionate crappie anglers is worth every penny spent, and I am very much looking forward to getting everyone together again.

+1 I'll never forget Cody giggling like a school girl at the weigh in. That certainly took character. Cool team mate you have. Awesomeness!

Why I got to be a school girl??? Lol. I was just trying to hide the tears from weighing in that one little fish. Lol. If you can't have fun then there is no sense in fishing in my opinion. By the way y'all did a fine job at getting at least 7 of those tricky suckers to bite. Well done well done my friend!!!!!

Just pulling your leg.

Glad I didn't let you throw that fish in my boat.

That ain't no lie!!! That fish got me 88 points towards angler of the year.

Tommy, there were more than just the 12 of you Div1 fighting the elements and poor fishing conditions!

Yes there were. I'd hoped someone in Div 2 would chime in with there experience. Atta boys to all that fished for sure my friend.