Clint Bridges vs Richard Witthouse in I-Match on Lake Austin.

I had a busy weekend, before I was able to pick up my Ranger 520VX. I fished one last tournament in my R73. My first round I-Match was against Richard Whitthouse. We drew some lousy lakes and agreed to fish Lake Austin instead of the three lakes suggest by I-Match. This is how the tournament went:

We met up at Walsh Landing to fish from 6:30AM to 2:30PM. Richard seemed like a nice enough guy when I talked to him. This was his first season in I-Match, so I could tell he was a bit nervous. We did the formal checkin per I-Match rules and headed off to fish. I started off a short distance from the boat launch. At 6:45 AM I put my first keeper in the boat on a chartreuse spinner bait. I fished the area for a while and then blasted off to hit a productive dock nearby. This dock is good because it's got some brush washed under it from the flooding last year and it seems not many people have noticed yet. I flipped a watermelon senko and caught a 10 inch bass on the first flip. The second flip procuded his twin, and several other cases to follow went unanswered. Decided this wasn't going to work, so this time I headed to a creek where I'd caught some keepers the day before in practice. I fished the creek with nada for my efforts and headed off to the next spot that produced fish in practice. I passed Richard on my way up the lake, he was fishing the flat across from Ski Shores. I quickly picked up two more keepers on the spinner bait and then went for a while with nothing else biting. I had one more honey hole up the lake that I'd caught fish in practice from, so I took off again. I ran up the lake past city park and went to work with my spinner bait. Three or four casts later I tagged my 4th keeper. I kept chunking and winding until I saw a large bass cruising in the shallows, easily a 5 lb bass just by looking at it. I flip up on the bank with a senko and worked it near the fish only to spook it under a nearby dock. I positioned the boat all the while, thinking, "If I get that fish I've won." I get the boat into position and flip under the dock where I can see the fish resting and make a twitch to move the lure. I see the fish make a movement that I believe is to pick up the bait, so set the hook and the fight is on. A moment or two later I land a 5+ lb bass to find out I've got her hooked in the side. I'm guessing the reason why she didn't pickup my bait was because a 1/4 oz jig is hanging from the corner of her mouth. I removed the jig and release the fish because I know I didn't catch it in a sporting manner. Keeping the fish would be breaking tournament rules. I put it out of my mind knowing I did the right thing then and say a little prayer for one more good bite. I finish fishing out the area with nothing else biting and check the clock, Two and half hours remaining in tournament time. I got a 20+ minute ride back to the weigh-in, so decide to hit the area that produced two for me earlier. I take off and within minutes of stopping I set the hook on my fifth keeper. I fish out the bank with no other bites and decide to hit the creek again on the way back. On the way back I see Richard fishing on the flat still and stop to chat. He says he's got 5 lbs of fish and caught a few littles ones, so I tell him I've got five bass that'll go 9 lbs. We wish each other luck and I head back down the lake to fish the creek again. I fish the area only to come up empty and decide to fish the grass bed across from the weigh-in site to finish out the tournament. Richard came in 15 minutes early and say's he's done for the day. He weigh's two keepers for 5.08 lbs, then I weigh my five bass for 9.00 lbs. We shake hands and it's done.

Tournament in Review:

The temperatures started out at 35 degrees with partly cloudy skies all day warming up to 70 degrees. Water temperatures on the lake range from 63 degrees to 58 degrees. I didn't see any bedding bass despite a lot of looking. I caught my five keepers on a chartreuse spinner bait. Richard caught his two on a Texas rigged Sweet Beaver.