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| FishTails |
Skill and Fortune Necessary Tools at Ravenswood
By Chris Lawrence
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| WVBF Anglers prepare to launch in the early morning hours of Sunday,
June 3, 2001 on the Ohio River, Ravenswood, WV. |
Somebody once said they'd rather be lucky than good. For several anglers tackling the muddy water of the Ohio River
June 3rd those were both key factors in taking home a check from the West Virginia Bass Federation Buddy Trail
tournament at Ravenswood.
Dawn's first light revealed what most fisherman had feared as a caramel colored waterway lay in front of them under
a gray and foreboding sky. One of the numerous storm cells to cross the Ohio Valley happened to strike Saturday
night-before the Sunday tournament and any patterns that were working a week earlier were out the window.
"One keeper bite will be worth it's weight in gold today." Commented one angler pulling the motor-toter
from his Triton Boat.
However, as always seems to be the case, even in the toughest conditions-somebody can catch them. Those somebody's
at Ravenswood were Bill Kennedy and Len Lanham. The tandem put together an eight-fish limit for 7lb-1oz total and
top honors for the day.
"We fished in the creek after locking through about half way to Saint Mary's." Noted Lanham.
When asked the winning pattern, lockjaw set in for the victorious pair. "I've got another big tournament coming
up near here and I don't want to say anything."
With his secret and the winning check intact, Lanham was in the catbird seat. However for the rest of the top-five,
the post weigh-in tally proved that combining a little luck with your skill never hurt.
Seven boats were late heading back to the ramp on the day. However, a discrepancy developed when the official timer
had a difficult time telling just how late each individual team checked in. The earliest tardy slip was four-minutes.
A quick meeting of the Federation Board of Directors erred to the side of fairness and allowed a four-minute penalty
to be assessed to all seven-boats, at a cost of a pound-per-minute. The penalty cost two-teams a check.
"The check in time was four-o'clock sharp." Announced tournament director Steve Jackson to the waiting
crowd after the meeting. "We couldn't determine exactly who was late by how many minutes. We do know that
the earliest of those late boats was four-minutes late. So we gave all of them a four-minute penalty to be fair.
In reality some were probably later."
Jackson reiterated to the crowd that rules are in place for a reason.
"We gave the official time this morning at blast off-that is the official time. If you're late, I'm sorry."
The shift in weight totals after the penalty assessment pushed Ray Walker and John Smith into second place with
just over six-pounds. Even with that finish, Walker was kicking himself.
"We caught five-and lost two including a two-pounder. If we had landed that one fish we would have won."
Lamented the frustrated angler.
Walker and Smith keyed on muddy backwater areas that produced a topwater bite and landed all five fish on buzzbaits.
Both noted the mud was a factor-but not critical.
"It's actually better than I thought it would be. It seems like every time I fish a tournament the Corps is
pulling water!"
Carl Cogar and Joe Romans proved that one bite is all it takes. The one fish Cogar hauled to the scales was a four-pound-one
ounce monster that also qualified as lunker of the day. They too lamented a lost fish that would have propelled
them to victory. Cogar speculated the fish that got off might have been even bigger. Cogar, like Lanham, had the
upcoming Bass Festival on his mind and was tight lipped with the information.
Russ Smarr and Bob Burgess pulled together a bag that also weighed in at four-one, but the big fish tiebreaker
put them one-place behind Cogar and Romaines.
Jackson reiterated to the crowd that rules are in place for a reason.
"We gave the official time this morning at blast off-that is the official time. If you're late, I'm sorry."
Jackson had another stern warning for some overly eager anglers before the day's end-addressing a key concern.
"We've had some reports, although nobody complained in writing, that some guys were running in the creeks.
The creeks are no-wake; they always have been and always will be. You can run in Mill Creek to the first bridge
and that's it. Eventually, somebody's going to file a written protest and it's going to cost you some money fellows."
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| Two die-hards try to coax a reluctant bass out of the coffee-colored
Ohio River during the 2001 WVBF Buddy Trail at Ravenswood Sunday, June 6, 2001. |
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| WVBF Angler Carl Cogar with his Lunker 4-01 largemough from the 2001
Ravenswood Buddy Trail Tournament |
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| This livewell photo shows the 8 fish limit catch of Ravenswood 2001
WVBF Buddy Trail winners Len Lanham and Bill Kennedy. The winning weight was 7-10 and first prise garnered the
pair $1,226. |
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| WVBF Member Roy Headley casts with the Racine lock and dam in the background. |
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| This angler weighs-in a nice Ohio River smallmouth during the 2001
WVBF Buddy Trail at Ravenswood. |
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| WVBF Board member Tim Rhodes and his partner Roy Headley finished 10th
with 2-12 in the 2001 Ravenswood Buddy Trail Tournament |
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