Battle in Grenada - CM National Champtionship

[luvpt]

David and I just returned from CrappieMasters National Championship in Grenada, Mississippi which was held this past weekend. There were 196 boats registered according to Mike Valentine and I think 192 actually fished the tournament. We finished Friday (day one) in 19th place and were feeling pretty good about the next day. On day two of the tournament we caught two good ones early where we had found fish the day before. This was a very hard area to fish because the wind had gotten up during the night and was coming from the wrong direction for us. Was very tuff fishing in two-foot rollers when the bite was basically dead to start with. Ten minutes after the first fish went into the live well she was floating on her side and we started to worry. We caught another good one and the same thing happened to her also. We hung weights on the pelvic fins and that helped but by 10:40 they were both dead. We had already called about pre-weighing them and they would not take them until 11:00 so there went 4.4 lbs of fish right off the start. For the next couple of hours it was hard to focus on fishing while thinking about the fish we had lost and how hard we had worked to catch them. We finally left the rough water and eventually found a couple of more fish across the lake. We finished the tournament at 39th place. The two we lost would have put us at 14th......but that's fishing, LOL! We have never had a problem keeping fish alive in our livewells and the seven we had the day before had been caught at the same depth as these and stayed very lively. Both fish that died had been hooked in the top lip and there was absolutely no trauma involved and we still don't understand what happened. Next major tourney we WILL have a life support system in place with temp controlled and oxygen aerated tank sitting on the back deck! No more live wells for me......especially when so much is riding on keeping them alive. Meatgetter also lost a good 2 lber on the first day and nearly lost a couple on the second day but was able to weigh them early. Like all tourney's this was a tuff one....the locals said they couldn't remember the bite ever being so slow this time of year. Everyone is flat out physically and mentally exhausted. But it was a terrific experience that we enjoyed to the max and wouldn't trade that for anything. We learned a lot from the experience and that is the primary reason to fish tournaments anyway....to be a better fisherman.

BTW, the 2013 Crappie Masters National Champions are Tommy Skarlis and Kyle Steinfeldt with a 14 fish two day total of 27.83 lbs! Only 7 teams out of 192 weighed in 14/14 fish... very tough conditions. They were using Berkley Flicker Shad and planer boards going 1 mph. It was two walleye fisherman from Iowa that took us all to school.


This picture of David shows him holding up one of the fish that died. We wouldn't hold up a live fish because we just didn't want to take a chance of something happening. That fish was 2.4 lbs and a good 16 inches but we didn't think to take a picture for the contest. We also did not want to put a picture of the bait we were using online out of consideration to Meatgetter.....it was his creation. It was a special custom made Minner Critter out of Meatgetter's private stock that we used to catch all but two of the fish we caught. Meatgetter's and ours were the only two boats on the lake with this bait..... David and I liked it so well we started calling it the "Nader Bug" because it worked so well on Grenada. We wanted to thank Meatgetter publicly for providing us with that ammunition to do as well as we did. We don't know if he will start mass production and sell it to the public or not but I didn't want to show it online...... If it were up to me I would just as soon he keep it in private stock in order to preserve the fish population, LOL!!

[Midsouth Man]

Sounds like our luck on day one! We had them dying for no reason which killed our weigh in totals. Fish were not hooked wrong or out of deep water? I've never seen anything like it.....lost a 2.75, had a 2.5 come off at the boat. When fishing is that tough with those winds, you can't afford to have fish die like that. After slamming 14 lbs thursday morning i felt good about our chances on friday, but the water drawing down slowed the shallow water bite for us. Good job Steve and David! I know how tough the conditions were......you know it's tough when 200 of the best teams in the country fish a lake and only 7 of them manage limits to weigh in. See ya guys later on down the road....

[cschottfish]

That sound's like it was tough fishing for sure. That is one nice fish, that would of made me sick also. Congratulations to the both of you.

[luvpt]

You are right Dennis. A lot of different variables have to fall into place in order to do really well in any of the major tournaments. We thought we were prepared for anything that could go wrong this time. We weren't expecting to have to deal with week fish. We cooled the water down with frozen ice bottles and hung weights but that just wasn't enough this time. Thought we had all the bases covered and even spent 2 weeks working on a new double hook leader rig setup for the rods which worked great by the way. But we will live and learn and not make the same mistakes twice.

[blue thunder]

Id like to start off by saying thanks to Meatgetter for providing the jigs that put us at an advantage, we call it the nader-bug! Im with dad on this one, hopefully this jig stays in private stock and would not dare show it online! This thing has the same gene pool as spanky. Without that jig we would have had only 2 fish to weigh for both days, me and dad fished hard and finished hard and at the end of the day there's always that question of what you should have done differently and the answer is NOTHING! We did everything right and sometimes that's how the ball rolls, to finish in the top 40 in a classic is a accomplishment in itself. And that we are capable of hanging with the best. These folks are not only good but real good! Meatgetter and team had a good chance at doing well also but the fish were dying of what I think is low oxygen in the water, I guess we missed you Dennis, didn't get a chance to shake your hand but good luck down the trail brother. To sum it all up, thanks dad for the experience we got to share and the dedication for sticking it out, I know the wind went right out of our sails when those fish died and with only a couple hours to fish with starting over was very difficult to hold your head up and finish but im proud of us and that's all that matters. We will be back and stronger than ever next year, lets don't forget the classic is on Washington!! That lake has been good to us. Titelines

[MEATGETTER]

It was about as tough as fishing as I ever experienced!! I really don't no what changed the bite so much in a couple of days!!! On Wednesday and Thursday we caught over 13lb (7 fish) in a half day fishing. On Friday we had our 7 that weigh 12 and change then before we could get them to the scales our biggest fish (2+) died and so did our total weight .on Saturday we only had two big bites for a total of 3.92. When Ronnie Capps AND Steve Coleman only bring only 3 To the scales on the final day you KNOW It was Tough!!! Really enjoyed the time spent with friends! !!! Steve maybe it want take so long on that ribeye next time !!!!!!

[ski trip]

Congrats to you guys who represented Arkansas in the championship. Sounds like the conditions were really tough out there. I agree with Jerry, when Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman only bring three fish to weigh in, it's really really tough. Don't understand all the fish dying! That's a shame, especially when they are that hard to catch! Good job, guys, and thanks for posting.

[arkansasbowhunter]

Thanks for sharing your story guys.

[luvpt]

Hey Jerry, as far as that ribeye goes.....I ordered it med rare because I wanted it Quick!!!! Fished all day on a half bottle of water and didn't eat....I was starving. I hope Mr. Crappie enjoyed it is all I can say, LOL!!! And your right....that time spent with friends during this tourney was about as good as it gets and worth it all!!

It was about as tough as fishing as I ever experienced!! I really don't no what changed the bite so much in a couple of days!!! On Wednesday and Thursday we caught over 13lb (7 fish) in a half day fishing. On Friday we had our 7 that weigh 12 and change then before we could get them to the scales our biggest fish (2+) died and so did our total weight .on Saturday we only had two big bites for a total of 3.92. When Ronnie Capps AND Steve Coleman only bring only 3 To the scales on the final day you KNOW It was Tough!!! Really enjoyed the time spent with friends! !!! Steve maybe it want take so long on that ribeye next time !!!!!!

[Jasonw]

Good job guys!! It was one of the toughest tournaments I can remember! First off getting a bite was tough enough but keeping the fish alive was a challenge!!! I'm happy to be home!! Good seeing all the Arkansas guys there and looking forward to Dardanelle in two weeks!!
Jason