We made a short run to a point adjacent to a flat with a deep drop off the side. We fished the flat for the first little while and once we made a move to the steep side, we had our first fish in the boat, a little over 2.5lbs, and missed a bite a few casts later. We made a move just before the sun was going down where we caught fish in the past and it happened to be a spot we hit repeatedly throughout the night. My partner caught a few short fish on dropshot, but no keepers. He made the decision to makde a few more passes which was the right move. Next pass caught a 3.5lb largemouth. The next pass through it produced another small 13 inch keeper in the same spot. We kept going back and forth across the area and within a few minutes my partner was hooked up with a fish, but in the dark it was hard to tell until it came up and rolled on the surface. It took a few minutes to land on 7lb test but he played it well and he got the 5.13lb largemouth in the boat. The night was looking up, it was a much needed fish to get the adrenaline back that the brutal heat was zapping out. We made a few more passes but only a few short fish. We decided to make a move to an area I did well in prefish and had worked the last month or so. We fished it for abouyt 30 minutes with nothing but a few bluegill bites to show for it. My partner made the call to go back to the area that produced so well. Within the first couple casts I watched as the boat next to us stuck a good fish and we had a big one splash next to the boat, what I didn't realize was that one that splashed was hooked up on my line, I couldn't seem to feel bottom like it was in and endless drop, I reeled up to feel a little tension and set the hook. The fish exploded out of the water a few feet from the boat and the fight was on. Thankfully I was throwing heavier line and was able to get the 5lb largemouth in the boat even with it pulling drag pretty hard. We needed just one more bite to cull the 13 inch fish. We fished extremely hard the last hour but couldn't get another keeper to go even though the bite kept coming. We weighed in just over 16lbs for a 5 fish limit and only ended up in 15th place. It was a fun tournament either way, and can't wait for the next one!
