BBL Dickinson Bayou Tournament Results

Well folks the Bayou Bassin' League Tournament on Dickinson Bayou was pretty much what most of us thought it would be at the registration meeting the night before. Even though the weather today was beautiful after all the rain soaked weekends we have had the last month; it was all that rain that made the fishing difficult. The Dickinson Bayou can be tough when the water is nice, but when the water is muddy she can be completely unforgiving.  Knowing this going into the tournament most of us felt like 1 or 2 bass could win the whole thing.

We quickly found out that the water had not improved any over night as we were launching our boats and knew we had a tough day ahead of us.  As if the muddy water wasn't enough ole Mother Nature  added insult to injury with a water temperature below 50 degrees all day long.  In the morning when we started I was reading 48 degrees and it did climb to 49 by the afternoon. It was going to be a tough day, but we just didn't realize just how tough the day would be until the weigh-in at 3:00 PM.  Not only was the water still really muddy but the start of the tournament found us at the tail end of the out going tide and the water very low.  After the early part of the morning there wasn't a lot of water movement the rest of the day.  This compounded the muddy cold water situation.  On a normal day even when it is hard to catch keeper bass on Dickinson you can generally catch a hand full of bass that are under the 14 inch minimum length.  Just getting some hits and catching undersized bass keeps your hopes up and helps you keep going during the course of the day.  This was not the case on this day though as boat after boat came to the launch without having a hit.  There were a couple of boats that had gotten a hit or two and a couple that had lost fish.  However after it was all said and done there was only one boat that had a keeper for the weigh-in scales.  So I'm not going to post a results board in this article, the bass that took both stringer and big bass honors was 2.31 pounds.


Now for the good news;  it was my boat that had the 2.31lb bass in the live well.   I had two hits all day and both of them came a few casts apart around 7:30 in the morning while there was still a little water movement.  These two hits came from the same spot only different angles so I think it was the same fish.  The first time he kind of slapped at the bait but the second time he took it and I got a good hookset.  I really felt good when I put the fish onboard and realized it was a better than average bayou bass. After getting this bass in the live well my day was like everyone else fishing the tournament; No hits.

I'll have to say that as with most days fishing there is a level of luck involved which was true today as I was lucky enough to find one fish willing to hit, and that one fish happened to be a good fish.  However I also think that even through I found that fish it was the great baits I use that made that fish want to eat.  The combination that got the winning bass to hit was a Santone Lures Rattlin' Jig in Rayburn Red with a Creme Lures Beaver in Watermelon Red as a trailer.  The rattles on the Santone Lures Rattlin' Jig were very important in the muddy water and let me tell you they are some great sounding rattles!!  I also can't say enough good about the Creme Lures Beavers either.  The Beaver has the right bulk to slow the fall of you bait in the cold muddy conditions and the action that will entice a bass into a strike.

Of course this combo wasn't complete without some Rage Fish Attractants Liquid Mayhem in Garlic Minnow.  I can tell you that a good attractant is very important on days where you only get a few hits.  Good fish attractants will ensure the bass holds onto your bait long enough after the strike for you to set the hook.  In the case of Liquid Mayhem the fish don't only hold on, they try to eat the bait as it tastes like something they want to eat.   Liquid Mayhem is beyond a doubt the best fish attractant on the market today.

Now this story might not have turned out as it did if I didn't have a really good rod that not only let me detect the strike, but also had the power to set the hook on a bass while fishing a jig.  The rod I'm speaking of is my Dunamis Rods Jig Rod.  It is everything I could ever expect in a rod for fishing jigs.  It is very light, well balanced and highly sensitive, but most importantly it has what it takes to stick a fish good when they hit!!


For those of you interested in fishing some of our Bayou Tournaments you can click on this link for the Bayou Bassin' League website for more information.   You can also go to their Facebook page by clicking here BBL Facebook  to see more pictures and stay up to date on things happening real time.   There are still three tournaments this fall/winter and we would enjoy having more teams come and try their hand on these bayou bass.

February 21, 2015 - Austin Bayou - 2004 Bridge Ramp near Danbury (Due to access issues at the boat ramp the launch point might change)
March 21, 2015 - Buffalo Camp Bayou - Lake Jackson (Launch TBD)
May 16, 2015 - Sabine River - Beaumont Area (Launch TBD)

Before I end this article I have to once more extend thanks to our BBL Sponsors Hook Spit Tackle, Choice Pipeline & Bear's Flooring for Sponsoring the BBL!  Without their help and sponsorship we wouldn't be where we are today.  Hook Spit is allowing the BBL pre-tournament meetings to be held at their store and has also provided store gift card for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes as well as providing gift cards for raffle! Choice Pipeline & Bear's Flooring has stepped up and is provided the trophies for the tournaments this year!

If you are interested in sponsoring the BBL you can contact Jake or Ken on the BBL website or just send me an email at BHOAdventures@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with them.

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!