Tournament Five - Ross Barnett Results

Well - we are half way through the year.  Truly hard to believe.  Saturday marked our 5th tournament of the year and it was held on Ross Barnett.  19 anglers participated.  Anglers were treated to cloudy skies until about 9 and then the wind and sun dominated the rest of the day.  A good number of fish were brought to the scales, it was the bigger ones that stayed away from just about all anglers.  At the end of the day it was Steven Bailey who brought the biggest bag to the scales with 5 fish totaling 12.98 lbs.  When you are hot you are hot!!  Steven Bailey loves him some Ross Barnett doesn't he!  In three tournaments this year he has a second place (with the lunker for a total of 18 points, and two first place finishes!  Nicely done Dig Pro and Outboard team member!  Johnnie Baker does what Johnnie Baker does on Ross Barnett and that is take our lunker money.  This time he did it with a 5.11 lb fish.  Below are your top five from the weekend:

1) Steven Bailey 12.98 lbs

2) Dan Stokes 12.52 lbs

3) TJ Hare, Sr 11.42 lbs

4) Charlie Moore 8.68 lbs

5) Greg Horne and Johnnie Baker with a tie of 8.51 lbs 

It is worth mentioning that the AOY is basically a two horse race right now with 5 to go.  TJ Hare, Sr. (who has finished 3rd or better in 4 of 5 tournaments and the other tournament he was 5th) is out front with 73 points, followed closely by Steven Bailey with 65.  Then you have three tied at 51 (Charlie Moore, Greg Horne and Carl Sandberg).  Still a long ways to go and we get to cull two tournaments.  Finish strong and anything can happen.

Team news:  The outboards show up and represent again!  Thank you team - RB, Mike, Steven, George, Greg.  Just think what we could do if Austin Banks would show up!!!  Second were the Tungstens, last Dead Ringers.

Below are some pics.  I was too busy talking and weighing fish and forgot to take pics so it seems like the Larry and Steven show below.  I apologize for that.  Yall be sure and take some pics during the day and at the weigh in and send them to me so we can get more photos.  

Next tournament - Chicot on June 22.

March Newsletter/Tournament 3 Results/AOY Standings

The club’s 3rd tournament of the year was held Saturday, March 23rd, on Ross Barnett.  And wouldn’t you know it...we had inclement weather to deal with again.  Luckily for us the weather held and we were able to enjoy our day.  To me this was a blessing for us from JJ as Saturday marked the one year anniversary of his passing.  What better way to remember JJ than fishing!  Seems like the past year has flown by...but I know I sure do miss him.  I know you all fill the same way.  

We had a really good turnout Saturday with 19 anglers fishing.  Lake conditions were tough with the lake being low, winds were mild but the BSing was not!  In total we weighed 56 bass for a total of 128.36 pounds (or 2.29 lb average).  But the story of the day belongs to Dig Pro, Steven Bailey!  On a day when the fishing was relatively tough compared to prior March Barnett standards, Steven shows up to the scales with 17.15 lbs and wins the tournament!  He even caught two good keepers at one time on a crankbait! And if you can believe it....he actually emailed everyone a picture of the exact crankbait he won the tournament on - now who would actually share the exact bait they just won a JBC chevron on???  Not anyone I know in the club!!!  This is a guy who truly understands what this club is about!!   Moving on, there were other very nice bags brought to the scales that should not be overlooked - including your Angler of the year points leader TJ Hare, Sr. who brought in 15.45 lbs, Dan Stokes who showed up late and whipped all our butts with 13.12 lbs, and Austin Banks who with only four fish had 10.10 lbs.  Excellent job guys!!!   

Below are your top 5 anglers from this past weekend.  

1^st Place – Steven Bailey 17.15 Lbs 

2^nd Place – TJ Hare, Sr. 15.45 Lbs 

3^rd Place – Dan Stokes         13.12 Lbs

4^th Place – Austin Banks, Jr    10.10 Lbs

5^th Place – Greg Horne   8.79 Lbs

Lunker honors were taken by Dan Stokes with a 5.50 lb fish.  Dan showed up for his first tournament of the year and took all our money!!!!  Congratulations to Dan and Steven and all of the other top anglers from the weekend.  

Now to good part:  TEAM NEWS!  In Team news –  Team Outboards (yes my team!!) showed up in full force again this past weekend and took care of business.  I sure sucked it up this weekend, but my team came through for me in a big way!!  2nd place - Dead Ringers.  3rd place (again) - the Tungstens.  TJ may have seen the mountain top but his team certainly has not!!!

Leading the AOY race through three tournaments is TJ Hare, Sr.  I think the Hare’s are trying to make this a back to back year for their family!  Attention everyone else:  We cannot let this happen!!!  2nd - Steven Bailey (5 points behind and climbing fast!), Tied for 3rd - Joel Peeler and Charlie Moore - 36 points, and holding up 5th place - Me and falling fast - 32 points!  We still have a long way to go so lets all keep at it!  

Upcoming events:

1. Please remember our April general membership meeting on April 16th will be held at the Cock of the Walk on Hwy 49.  We will send out directions closer to the meeting.  This is a family event.  Bring the wives, kids, relatives, prospective members!  $10 per adult.  Club will pick up the balance including the kids.  My wife and kids will be there and hope you will plan to attend and bring whatever family you have with you as well.  This will be a good time for our club!  
2. Next tournament is on Bee Lake, April 13th

I hope yall have a good Easter Weekend this upcoming weekend.  Hopefully you will be able to spend some time with your family and remember the One who allows us to enjoy this sport we love so much. 

Below are some photos from the weekend:

TJ Hare, Sr. waiting the final total of his bag

Charlie Moore with a big one that just missed the lunker pot

Joel Peelers turn at the scales

Austin Banks, Jr's turn at the scales

Anglers waiting in line to weigh

Mike Overall's turn at the scales

Overall winner Steven Bailey weighing in his 17+ lb bag!

Dan Stokes weighed a nice 13lb bag for 3rd place

General Membership Meeting next Tuesday

JBC - we had a good first board meeting of 2013 last night.  Reminder - our first general membership meeting is NEXT tuesday night (January 15th).  Dinner at 6 pm and the meeting will start at 7 pm.  DUES are due so please remember to bring your check or cash for this.  The team captains will be picking teams and we need to have an accurate number of members for this.  Also - as you will see below, our first tournament is scheduled for Feb 16th, which is before our February general membership meeting so if you do not pay next tuesday night - you will have to track down George Thrash to fish in the February tournament.  

Also - at this meeting next tuesday we will have the Mississippi Federation Chapter President, Teb Jones, speaking to us as we explore the idea of rejoining the Federation as a club.  We are still in the early stages of this process and Teb will be able to answer any questions we may have.  Another item - it was brought up last night from one of our board members to revisit the age requirement to join the JBC of 21.  With all of the other circuits around town (Duncan, Safe Harbor, BASS, BFL, etc) being 18 years old the board voted unanimously to bring reducing the joining age to 18 to the general membership for a vote.  Therefore, next tuesday, we will be voting as a club on lowering the joining age requirement from 21 to 18.

As you can see from above - we have a busy meeting planned next week with a lot of important items to discuss.  You will not want to miss this meeting.

The tournament schedule approved by the board is now permanently added to the right side of this page.  Check it out.  First tournament is +/- 38 days from today.