Rayburn Basschamps Shootout

Posted by ken on July 5, 2015

Great fun at Rayburn these days, the water is high and frankly there are fish everywhere. You can catch them off the bank out as deep as you want. The best fishing seems to still be in and around the bushes. However we caught them everywhere, the week prior I found a spot where I caught 7 in a row on a 6XD, when I didn't get bit on cast 8 and 9 I threw a Carolina rig in and got bit another 10-12 times in a row. Three to eight pounders, I thought I had found the winning fish but as happens the bite on that spot died off. I really have no complaints, we caught 19 lbs, lots of fish, unfortunately our big fish when was a 6.88 was caught very early on a Carolina rig and she died. Not a deep hooked fish, just stressful on her and it's summer and a long day in the livewell. Actually I do have a gripe, why would they attach a 1 pound penalty to dead fish, a half a pound is bad enough. We do everything we can, we don't want dead fish, we love fish, so why punish us, especially on summer tournaments. You are the ones that put us out there this time of year, the water is mid 80's fish are going to die. Yes it cost us $1,000, but we didn't break a rule or do anything out of line, I just don't think excessive dead fish penalties benefit the fish or the tournament circuit...just my two cents...or hundred thousand cents in this case.