Cletus T.
Senior Member
Well…I’ve got to say that the first annual “Mini-Me Classic” was a big success. Did we catch a 10-pound largemouth? NO……Did we catch a ton of Bass? NO……..Did we have a great time with our kids? YES WE DID!! We had 6 boats and a hand full of bank fishermen too. The weather was great even though we did go through a few sprinkles on the way over to Tribble Mill. Hunter Jack has been talking about Tribble Mill for the weeks leading up to this tourney but he has been calling it a pretty funny name. He calls it “Trouble” Mill which…with the tough fishing over there is kind of fitting. We get there and there are a few boats on the water and I see Brine putting the finishing touches on his boat and getting his gear ready and he looked like he was ready to lay the smack down on a Tribble Mill bass. I went around to the back end to drop off the grill and the rest of “the stuff”. It’s amazing how much stuff you need when trying to put one of these things on. And BTW…..I want to stop right now and give a big ole THANK YOU to my Wife. She did so much for this thing and most folks wouldn’t even know it. She designed the logo and made all the goodie bags and stayed out there at the pavilion to make sure all our stuff was safe and sound as we fished. She sat in the cool damp weather to fend off any goodie bag snatchers. Also….a big THANK YOU to Trickworm as well, he helped get my grill out of the back of my truck and we wheeled it over to the pavilion. I appreciate everything you did to help! So we get everything dropped off and I get back over to the ramp and try to slide my boat into the water. Key word here folks is “TRY”…….I had a very late night the night before trying to get everything ready and I wasn’t on top of my game so I had a little struggle getting the boat lined up properly and I almost…..now I stress almost…….backed the boat into the water with it still strapped to the trailer. I came to my senses and put the brakes on and took the straps off. We had 6 boats blast off right at 8 a.m. and we set out in search of some lunkers.
Me and Hunter Jack set out and right away I notice the thick thick grass that seems to be everywhere. I mean it was so thick that I could hardly get the trolling motor through some of it. We get to out first spot and I can’t throw half of what I got rigged up. So I start throwing the frog and get a couple of blow ups but no hook ups. Hunter is having a hard time working his Senko and getting a little frustrated so he starts playing with the lily pads and hoping around the boat. We move a few times and the fog started rolling in and it actually looked pretty neat and me and Hunter just sat there for a little while and watch the fog roll down the lake. We made another move and I started throwing the frog again and all the sudden somebody flushed the toilet …….meaning……I had a massive explosion on my frog and I waited to set the hook and when I did I made a good connection to the inside of the bass’s mouth. It bogged down in the pads and grass and I looked over at Hunter Jack and I said we got to go in after her….he looked right back at me and said “Let’s Go get that fish Daddy”…so we get to weed eating and cutting through the pads to try and get to my fish. I got up to where I felt her and tried to reel up a little slack and I had kept good pressure on her the whole fight but as I got right up on it…the line went slack and I knew she had gotten away. So I turned around to tell Hunter that I had lost the fish and there was Hunter standing with the net …..though the net wasn’t exactly in his hand ready to scoop the fish….he had the net around his head……for a split second I was going to get made but he looked so darn funny that we both just busted out laughing. It was priceless!!
So we head towards the dam and as we do I come across Brine and his boy and we make small talk and ask about how each one has done and he said they had lost a 14- incher right at the boat. So we mozzy on over and I hear Brine shout “Hey Cletus” and I turn around and see him lipping a 14-incher. It fired me up because….YES…there was fish in this lake! I run the boat up on the bank and Hunter Jack makes a b-line towards the playground. Trickworm and his boy soon follow and the others start rolling in as well. So everybody is waiting for someone to come to the scales with an 8-pounder and here comes Brine and as he lifts his top to his livewell he has to use both hands to wrap his hands around this lunker. He let’s out a tuff grunt and hoist up a 15 oz bass. He reaches in and pulls out another lunker that pulls the scales down to 14 oz. and that right there folks is your WINNER!! Fishdog and his son caught about 4-5 fish but they were all short and they pulled in second place and the Poor Poor Fisherman and his grandsons came in 3rd with one fish. My boat was a big fat zero as was Trickworms and also Cameron. We had a great time getting to meet other WOODY’s folks and see our kids play with each other. I hope everybody had a good time and I know the number was a little down from what we thought might show up but we still had a great turn out in my eyes. Every kid came away with prizes and goodie bags and every Dad / Granddad came away with something too. I would like to thank Gwinnett County Park and Rec for allowing us to have this event at Tribble Mill. I would like to thank Fortner Taxidermy for Donating the Fish Mount for a kid. I would like to thank GON for donating the hats for some of our prizes and also Bass Pro Shops for donating hats, gift cards and other fishing goodies.
Folks……..this was a quality event and this could be the start of something very very special. For all those that helped I truly THANK YOU! The “Mini-Me Classic” will be back….though the time of year and the venue might change…… but we got plenty of time to figure that all out. I hope yall enjoy the write up and the pictures!
ENJOY !!!!!
Me and Hunter Jack set out and right away I notice the thick thick grass that seems to be everywhere. I mean it was so thick that I could hardly get the trolling motor through some of it. We get to out first spot and I can’t throw half of what I got rigged up. So I start throwing the frog and get a couple of blow ups but no hook ups. Hunter is having a hard time working his Senko and getting a little frustrated so he starts playing with the lily pads and hoping around the boat. We move a few times and the fog started rolling in and it actually looked pretty neat and me and Hunter just sat there for a little while and watch the fog roll down the lake. We made another move and I started throwing the frog again and all the sudden somebody flushed the toilet …….meaning……I had a massive explosion on my frog and I waited to set the hook and when I did I made a good connection to the inside of the bass’s mouth. It bogged down in the pads and grass and I looked over at Hunter Jack and I said we got to go in after her….he looked right back at me and said “Let’s Go get that fish Daddy”…so we get to weed eating and cutting through the pads to try and get to my fish. I got up to where I felt her and tried to reel up a little slack and I had kept good pressure on her the whole fight but as I got right up on it…the line went slack and I knew she had gotten away. So I turned around to tell Hunter that I had lost the fish and there was Hunter standing with the net …..though the net wasn’t exactly in his hand ready to scoop the fish….he had the net around his head……for a split second I was going to get made but he looked so darn funny that we both just busted out laughing. It was priceless!!
So we head towards the dam and as we do I come across Brine and his boy and we make small talk and ask about how each one has done and he said they had lost a 14- incher right at the boat. So we mozzy on over and I hear Brine shout “Hey Cletus” and I turn around and see him lipping a 14-incher. It fired me up because….YES…there was fish in this lake! I run the boat up on the bank and Hunter Jack makes a b-line towards the playground. Trickworm and his boy soon follow and the others start rolling in as well. So everybody is waiting for someone to come to the scales with an 8-pounder and here comes Brine and as he lifts his top to his livewell he has to use both hands to wrap his hands around this lunker. He let’s out a tuff grunt and hoist up a 15 oz bass. He reaches in and pulls out another lunker that pulls the scales down to 14 oz. and that right there folks is your WINNER!! Fishdog and his son caught about 4-5 fish but they were all short and they pulled in second place and the Poor Poor Fisherman and his grandsons came in 3rd with one fish. My boat was a big fat zero as was Trickworms and also Cameron. We had a great time getting to meet other WOODY’s folks and see our kids play with each other. I hope everybody had a good time and I know the number was a little down from what we thought might show up but we still had a great turn out in my eyes. Every kid came away with prizes and goodie bags and every Dad / Granddad came away with something too. I would like to thank Gwinnett County Park and Rec for allowing us to have this event at Tribble Mill. I would like to thank Fortner Taxidermy for Donating the Fish Mount for a kid. I would like to thank GON for donating the hats for some of our prizes and also Bass Pro Shops for donating hats, gift cards and other fishing goodies.
Folks……..this was a quality event and this could be the start of something very very special. For all those that helped I truly THANK YOU! The “Mini-Me Classic” will be back….though the time of year and the venue might change…… but we got plenty of time to figure that all out. I hope yall enjoy the write up and the pictures!
ENJOY !!!!!
