On June 30th, 2007 I was invited to Captain a boat for the Alabama Jr. Bassmaster Championship held on Lake Logan Martin at Pell City, Alabama.

After reading the rules and finding out that Captain’s may suggest places to fish I decided I should get some practice in as well just in case I might be called upon for help. I arrived at the lake on Friday afternoon and found the water was low due to drought conditions. I quickly launched and went directly to a spot that I’ve always managed to get a keeper fish or two on and it didn’t let me down but I tried a number of other places and found the bite was tough. I hoped the Jr. Participant’s were up to the challenge and I soon found out, they were.

We were instructed to have our boats in the water and be at the pre-tournament meeting by 7:00 AM. Everyone was on time and excitement was in the air. After a briefing of the rules, the pairings began. Each boat would have a member from two age groups, one from the 11 to 14 year olds and one from the 15 to 18 year olds. I was called as Boat #1 and would share my boat with 15 year old Will Davis and 11 year old McKinnley Payne. After the introductions the boys got a Goody Bag of baits from some very generous sponsors and we headed for the boat. After stowing the gear I fitted McKinnley with one of the Mustang Survival Jackets I had on board. That’s the great thing about those jackets, with a little adjustment, one size fit’s all.

We trolled away from the dock and waited for our number to be called. I discussed with the boys where they wanted to start. Will had a game plan in mind and told me where he’d like to go. I was familiar with the area so it was an easy run. With a little last minute instructions from his Dad, we were off. I love being boat # 1, you don’t have to fight all the other boats prop wash. After getting on plane and the boat up to a good running speed I glanced over at my two charges. I could tell that it was no big deal to Will ( he had been doing this for awhile), it was just one way to get to the next fishing spot but McKinnley was thoroughly enjoying the trip.

At 7:30 we set down in a pocket at the back of a creek. The banks were lined with sporadic chunk rock and I could see a few visible brush piles. There were some boat docks as well. Will leaped for the trolling motor and picked up a small surface popper. He made accurate casts and worked the plug half way back to the boat before firing again. I asked him what kind of lure it was and he told me his Dad makes them. He said he uses a King Pin blank and paints them for his company, Davis Baits, a company that is revered for its Shakey Head ball jigs and spinnerbaits. McKinnley picks up his spinning outfit and is throwing a Shakey Head with a green pumpkin finesse worm. Will gets a fish to boil on his popper but doesn’t connect so he picks up his spinnerbait as a follow up bait. McKinnley makes a good cast right beside a brushpile and I can sense he’s getting a bite. He stops long enough to turn his hat around backwards and goes on point. I laugh wondering where he’s seen that before. I’m thinking, this is going to be a fun day. He reels down, swings and misses. We’ve come to the piers and Will expertly works his bait around and under the docks. I’m amazed at his accuracy. McKinnley is throwing at the brushpiles out in front. The boys get no takers and at 7:50 Will decides its time to move.

We make a run down river and there’s a boat on his second spot so he decides to work a road bed nearby instead. He shows me his line up points on shore so I can maneuver the boat close to where he wants to be. I’m looking at my Navionics HotMaps Chart and he’s accurate with what my GPS is telling me. I’m glad to see he’s learning to do it without electronics though. You never know when you may have a malfunction and need to know how to do it without the help. Will starts here by throwing a Norman’s DD22 crankbait. I ask McKinnley if he’s ever used a Dropshot rig. He tells me no but is willing to give it a try. I get one, already set up, out of my rod locker and explain what to do. He’s got the casting part down pat but sees Will cranking and decides that’s what he’d like to do as well. He has one crankbait in his tackle box and I help him tie it on. I warn him to always look behind him and be aware of what’s around him when throwing a crankbait. His reply was, “Yeah, it’ll mean a one way trip to the ER.” McKinnley is quite the comedian and keeps me entertained all day.

After repeated casts with his crankbait I could see it was in bad need of tuning. I told him I had a good one he could use and would put it on for him. Will had given the spot all the time he thought it needed and was ready to go to the next place. He said, “Either their here, or not.”

It’s 8:11 AM and I fire up the big motor and head for a point he was motioning towards. Will picks up his Shakey Head and tells me he’s using the new Ghost colored Shakey Worm, when he sees I’m taking notes. Even at this young age he knows a marketing opportunity when he sees one. He makes a comment, “That it always feels better when you get that first fish in the boat.” I tell him that I know that feeling, very well. McKinnley is throwing the dropshot and gets a bite but he’s too anxious and pulls it away from the fish. I suggest he just let it set and pull slowly on it ever once in awhile. I also told him the way I had it rigged he didn’t have to set the hook that the fish would do that itself. Will throws his Shakey Head way back under a boat house, senses a pickup and swings. He misses, quickly reels in and fires back under again in the exact same spot. Amazing!

At 8:30 Will wants to run see if the boat is still on his bank. It wasn’t. Will states he needs to retie because he felt a nick in his line right before we left the last place. McKinnley runs up to the bow, grabs the cord and tries to lift the trolling motor. He grins and looks around for help. Will is ready to fish and tells him he can run it at the next stop where control isn’t much of a factor. McKinnley was cool with that. He jumps to the back and picks up his Shakey Head rigged with a finesse worm he found in his goody bag. That goody bag was like Christmas to him. He looked at everything before he put it up and went back to fishing. I took a peak too and there was some nice stuff in that bag.

Will is using a NetBait Salt Lick senko type bait on a Davis Stand Up Jig Head. He tells me the black with blue tail is his confidence bait. The rocky bank he’s fishing is where he and his Dad caught a couple over three in practice and his confidence is high. It’s now 8:45 and McKinnley gets a good hit but misses. Will puts on a fresh worm and is probing every inch of that bank. Shortly, McKinnley starts looking for a snack. He downs a donut and offers me one. It’s already starting to get hot and he remembers he needs to put on his sunscreen, which reminded me I needed to do that too. He dangles his feet over the side of the boat for a few minutes, wets his hat and puts it back on his head. He seems to know all the little tricks to keep cool.

Will finishes fishing down the bank with the Shakey Head, then turns around and goes back down it with a Norman’s Deep Little N. He’s very good with the trolling motor and keeping the boat in the right depth. He switches to a spinnerbait when he sees a fish chasing shad.

McKinnley is still throwing the Shakey Head when he feels a pick up and sets the hook. He fights the fish long enough to yell “get the net”. I could tell by the way it was pulling it was a good fish. It broke his line. I got in my rod box and pulled out my Shakey Head rod spooled with 10 lb. Izorline. I told him, “That won’t happen again.” He’s not use to the long rod but decides to give it a try. At 9:10 Will gets what he thought was another hit but swings at air.

At 9:12 he decides we need to try another road bed. Again he has his line up points and quickly gets the boat in position. He starts with the DD22 and throws it probing the bottom for another 15 minutes. No takers and at 9:30 we move to the back of a deep creek and sit down in front of a large boat house. Will explains that there’s a lot of brushpiles out in front and he had several nice fish in practice on his Shakey Head. They both start with that. McKinnley gets the first hit and sets down hard into a brushpile. At the same time Will sets down on one and misses. He brings in his worm and shows me how it is shredded with teeth marks. He helps McKinnley free his bait and comments that he feels good about this place. That wasn’t going to last long though as Mr. Boathouse Property Owner decides its time to pull maintenance on his boat house. He started with a leaf blower, blowing all sorts of stuff in the lake and then grabbed a hammer and started pounding nails. The boys just looked at me and we started laughing. Time to go.

9:50 we run back across the lake to his “big fish” spot to give it one last chance. Will says he has never fished there and not got bit. I suggest that he fish it really slow since the bite is so tough. He began trying that but to no avail. The boys start wondering and worrying about what the other contestants are doing. I tell them I try not to think about that but it’s hard. McKinnley is getting another hit, swings and gets hung up in a brushpile. Will good naturedly gets it off for him. He’s very kind and patient with his new little buddy. He coaches him on technique and offers to share his baits. I think Will’s parents must be very proud of him. McKinnley’s, too. Both of these boys are a pleasure to be with and I’m having a good time watching them try to figure out the puzzle that always seems to baffle me.

10:10, not a fish in the boat and the boys are ready for a change. We head back up river and stop mid lake in front of an old seawall. The bank has a lot of chunk rock and I bet the place is awesome when the water is up. Will tells me his Dad and his friend caught 15 keepers off of this place at one time in the past week. I can see why. Will is throwing his Deep Little N and I get a crankbait out of my box for McKinnley. He rotates between that, a drop shot and a Shakey Head. Will gets hung up in a deep brush pile and knows he’s in the right place. I give him a little ER lure knocker, he clips it on his line and drops it and is quickly back to fishing. At 10:30 he hangs into a short fish, lands it and quickly releases it. He checks his depth and which way he had been casting when he caught that fish so he could replicate what he had just done. I could tell that he reads Bassmaster Magazine as I had just read an article myself on doing that very thing. I asked him about it and he said he did read it, cover to cover.

He started back fishing and we heard a boat running close by and turned to see a leisure boat, who has the whole lake to run in, cut right across his point just above idle. We discuss this rude behavior but come to the conclusion that they don’t have a clue. The boys take it like good sports while I’m muttering under my breath. Will keeps chunking and winding and McKinnley tell us about wading the creeks and how he’s caught a lot of nice fish that way. He says he thinks he prefers it to fishing from a boat and on this day at this time I surely don’t blame him. Wading a cool creek sounds kind of nice.

McKinnley gets his goody bag out and is looking through it trying to decide what to use next. A NetBait Baby Action Cat catches his eye and he puts it on his hook. He drops it in the water close to the boat to observe its action and likes what he see’s. Will trolls out deeper thinking the fish may have moved. He switched from his Deep Little N to a DD22 and cranked for awhile.

At 11:10 we move to another bank a short distance away. We’re sitting in 21 foot and Will is deep cranking. He gets one to swipe at it and hopes that it will bite. McKinnley in the meantime is alternating between the Shakey Head and dropshot.

11:22 it’s hot, dead still and the fish aren’t cooperating. I know some grown people that would have given up by now.

11:35 and I tell Will about a roadbed close by that I had caught a couple of keepers on the day before. He said he’d like to give it a try and we crank up and go. When we get there he recognizes it as a place that he’s fished before but says he usually only fishes the point and the boat houses. I show him on my electronics how the roadbed runs and tells him what depth I had kept the boat in. Will picks up his Shakey Head and McKinnley chooses his dropshot. McKinnley connects with a nice fish but it comes off on the way to the boat.

11:44 and the boys are feeling the pressure of tournament day without a keeper in the live well. Will keeps checking his watch. He’s getting discouraged and I know just how he feels.

11:55 Will is throwing his Deep Little N and connects with a nice fish. He calls for the net and I hand it to him. I know the rules say I can’t help but we are unsure if McKinnley is allowed to. Will has the fish to the boat, a nice three pounder, he reaches out to get it in the net and it comes unbuttoned and is gone. He’s broken hearted and I’m wishing I could have helped. I fumble in my pocket for a copy of the rules and it does say the boys can net each others fish. That makes McKinnley feel bad that he didn’t try. It was a hard lesson learned for all of us. Will agonizes over the loss and went through all the ‘what ifs’ but he doesn’t give up and keeps chunking and winding.

McKinnley decides he needs to tie on a crankbait. I find him a Bandit 300 in the same color Will is using and help him tie it on. On his fifth or sixth cast he hangs into a nice fish and he’s so excited. Will leaps for the net and is coaching him to take his time, keep his rod tip down and try to keep it from jumping. That wasn’t going to happen with this Coosa River Spotted Bass. He had other ideas. The fish made one last leap close to the boat but was too far out to be netted. When he came off, McKinnley yelled “No” and tried to swat at it with the end of his rod. He wanted to jump in after it.

The boys are quiet for a time, each one pondering what might have been. They’re disappointed but decide this roadbed is productive, they just need to settle down and not make any mistakes. McKinnley is just learning and is such a good sport but I can tell Will is beating himself up a little. He doesn’t give up though and switches to a Shakey Head. He wisely decides to cross and fish the other side of the roadbed. There’s a much better drop on the backside.

!2:22 and Will set’s down hard on a nice fish. He calls for the net and McKinnley reels his bait in fast, grabs the net and is ready. Will plays the fish expertly to the boat and leads it into the net. It’s a good Spotted Bass and Will’s feeling a lot better with one in the live well. McKinnley feels good he was able to help with the net. High fives all around and they are back to fishing. Five minutes later and Will swings and misses another one. He decides this may be a good place to finish out the day. I concur and add when it’s this tough your better off staying put and fishing than running from place to place, especially if you’re getting hits.

There’s a brushpile on this particular roadbed that seems to be the sweet spot. Will has located it again and gets bit and this time when he swings he hangs up in trash. He makes several attempts at getting his Shakey Head free but ends up having to break off. I express my concern about him loosing his bait and as he’s retying, he say’s with a grin, “Don’t worry, I have plenty more Shakey Heads.” I’m thinking, “ How cool is that? A never ending supply of one of the best bass lures of all time.”

!2:50 and McKinnley is throwing his Shakey Head when he yells out with excitement, “ I got one.” He takes his time and plays him to the boat. He jumps once and Will is ready with the net. McKinnley gets him close to the boat again and Will gets him in the net. He looks short to me but I’m praying he will keep. The boys measure him together and he’s just a fraction too short. Back over the side he goes but McKinnley is still excited. He says, “I slowed way down like you said and he nailed it. Now I know just what to do.” I’m thinking, “This time.”

Another five minutes goes by and Will sets the hook again. McKinnley jumps for the net but Will calls him off saying it’s just a little one. He measures it anyway and it’s short by an inch. While releasing the fish he sees one chasing a shad and picks up his crankbait for a few casts.

At 1:10 he switches back to the Shakey Head. All is quiet, both boys are concentrating on the job at hand. We soon hear something coming at us thats loud and annoying. We look in the general direction and see an air boat coming towards us. He runs over right where they are fishing and the boys are discussing if this new noise might turn the fish off. I tell them that the fish hear boats all day and get accustomed to them but we all agree that this noise is something that they may not hear very often. Will says if it was earlier we would leave but since it’s so late in the day that we would just stay put and fish. He keeps checking his watch and decides we should give ourselves 10 minutes to get in safely. He is able to put one more short fish in the boat before it’s time to leave.

We get to the weigh-in and the boys enjoy greeting their friends and finding out what they have caught. Will gets a bag, loads up his fish and is off to stand in the weigh-in line. McKinnley doesn’t seem too disappointed knowing he gave it his best shot and was proud he caught fish on his first tournament, even if they were too short. He’ll be back. And hopefully, so will I.

I’ve noticed that there’s all levels of skill with the Junior Bassmaster’s but one thing they have in common is the desire to learn. I appreciated the chance of being able to pass along a bit of knowledge that I’ve learned over the years and found it was a two way street. I learned from the boys that sometimes I take it way too seriously and first and foremost it’s about having fun.

I’d like to thank the sponsors that gave so generously to these kids, Berkley, Plano, Culprit Worms, Big Bite Bait Co., Golden Flake Potato Chips, Uncle Josh Bait Company, Buffalo Rock Talladega, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Fig Rig Rods, Mann’s Bait Co., Net Baits and Davis Bait Company.