The last night tournament of the season for the Porko events. We will have this one then start over next May 2021 barring no stupid pandemics or other surprises! Looking at the long range forecast it will be something to keep an eye on. If it's just rain we can do it, but if we have a bunch of severe Storms over night.... well, we will just have to keep an eye on it for now.
The fees are $50 ($10 to Big Bass and $40 to a 1-5 payback, more than 25 entries will pay 6 places no matter what) and an optional $10 Side Pot, heaviest sack wins all.

5 fish limit, 12" minimum, one dead fish allowed, Big Bass must be alive. I will be watching fish mortality this summer, if we start seeing a lot of dead fish we will reduce the limit to 3 fish instead of 5.

No live bait

All tournaments are held out of Bartow County Gatewood Park: Exit GA-20 exit on I-75 and turn east, Turn south at the light (right from I-75, left from Canton) next to Wendy's onto Spur 20. Go about 2 miles and turn left on Jim Knight Rd., Turn left when it dead ends at the Bartow Beach Rd. (right in front of the COE maintenance yard). Stay on the Beach road and stay to the left past the park Manager's house and follow the signs to the left to the boat ramp. Please remember the launch fee is a Bartow County fee and not a CoE launch fee, there is a booth at the park entrance now with an attendant, you pay for the day or buy an annual pass.

Wow, what an evening!! The lake was covered up with tournaments yesterday, School kids, ABA, Carl Noe, then factor in College Gameday and hunting. All things considered, 23 entries yesterday evening wasn't a bad turn-out! In fact we had a total of 46 anglers weighing 70 fish for a total of 109.46 LBs (an average of 1.56 LBs per fish). of that number only 4 were largemouth bass. We padi five places, Big Bass and a Side-pot. Here's how it all came down:
5th place went to Gary and Mark with five fish for 8.28 lbs and $92
4th place went to Fat Rat and Vence with 5 fish for 8.49 LBS and $138. Fat Rat is one tough hombre after enduring a full day of boat captain for his grandson (AJ) and his partner!
3rd place went to Ryan, Jake and Bill Payne with 5 fish for 8.72 lbs for $184
2nd place was Brandon and Jeremy with 5 fish for 8.74 lbs and $230
1st place, Big Bass and the Side pot was owned by McWherter and Thompson with 5 fish for 9.32 lbs, Big Bass with a spot for 3.43 lbs. Money?? 1st = $276, Big Bass = $230 and the side pot $240! A HUGE congratulations to the money spots and those folks that rode it out with us this year!

I was not at the weigh in last night due to a little incident that was probably avoidable if I were paying attention to the signs/symptoms. Before the details, my most heartfelt thanks to all of you that helped me through the ordeal, the weigh in and getting my gear home, That's why I love you guys like family! Stan K. for getting me back to the dock and to the hospital (never waivered, with me all the way!), Larry Owens (Big O) for using his many years of EMS experience to triage me at the ramp, Derek for helping load my boat. Michael Keeney and Ken Heinrich for grabbing the reigns on the weigh-in, stowing my gear and waiting for my grandson-in law, Jacob Bruner and my granddaughter, Savannah Bruner (yes they are newlyweds) to come take my rig home for me. I am simply amazed by all of you! Thank you a thousand times over!
Last night I kept having foot cramps, finger cramps and cramps in my back muscles, in fact over the last few days I have noticed an increase in cramps and muscle aches. I couldn't get more than 45 minutes sleep at a time. A little after 1AM I started feeling woozy and lightheaded so I sat down on my front deck and put my head in my hands. The next thing I remember was Stan trying to wake me and hurrying to get us back to the ramp. According to Stan I dropped like a rock and started convulsing, I don't remember any of that. He and Larry thought that it might have been seizures and hurried me to the ER. After a series of well directed tests, the ER doctor diagnosed me as having severe dehydration. My electrolytes were good, my heart enzymes were normal and indicated everything was good on that part, the CAT-scan of my brain came back normal. It was dehydration. As much as I try to drink plenty of water and power aide, it simply was not enough. This can build up over time and my situation proved that to be true. You have no idea how much you sweat it out, water by itself can go right through your system and out through your urine. Do me a favor, guys, drink plenty of fluids and even more!