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The 37 teams that came out to fish the Yatesville Lake Regional on the morning of Sunday, October 4, 2009 were greeted with cool 46F weather including fog rolling off the water. Due to the fogged in conditions, anglers had their take off time of 7:30am delayed for 30 minutes. As the sun raised over the hill sides, it was obscured by the cloudy conditions. But, by 9:30am the clouds broke and the slow warm up began, but the wind came along with it. The wind picked up to about 5-10 mph with a few gusts up to15 mph. By tournament end temps topped out in the upper 60'sF.
Water conditions were clear, stained and murky depending on the areas the anglers were fishing. Also, the water was starting to turnover throughout the lake. Water temperatures started around 69F and reached around 72F by the end of the event.
With the combination of cold fronts and the water starting its turnover cycle; it proved to be a very tough for most anglers to get keeper bites needed to win this event. But, a few teams managed to overcome the odds and catch a few nice fish.
The team of Brunson/Raines won it all! First Place, Big Fish, and crowned Regional Points Champions with a (3) fish total of 9.14lbs and their Big Bass weighed-in at 4.82lbs. The team took home a cash payout of $1,550 for 1st and $350 for Big Bass.
Brunson/Raines fished brush piles, and laydowns in deepwater 15-20 feet. They were using Jigs and Carolina Rigs, but Jigs proved to work best. All their fish were caught between event start until 11:30am. They didn't get any more bites the rest of the day.
"We fish this lake a lot, and it was some of the toughest fishing I have seen in awhile.
We think U.S.A. Bassin is a great deal! This is our second year fishing with U.S.A. Bassin and it has been run great. This is one of the best run tournament trail trails we have seen! We want to thank the directors for doing such a great job running the tournaments! We're looking forward to the Classic; we can't wait to go to KY Lake in May." -Brunson/Raines
Second Place: Tackett / Tackett had (3) fish for a total of 6.82lbs. The Team took home a cash prize of $930.
The team was fishing up in the head of Upper Twin Branch in a small slew in the back of the cove using senkos, near shad in shallow water. All their fish were caught by around 9am. Their bite ended for keepers after the wind started to make it hard to use weightless senkos.
“When I started this morning the dock talk about the fishing was its horrible. But, when I got out on the water I just said to myself, I’m just thankful to the good Lord that I get to go fishing. I threw a swimming jig, but switched over to a senko. I caught a short fish on the senko, and thought maybe there is something to this. I continued to fish it and ended up catching my keepers on it. But, when the wind started the fish quit biting for me.
U.S.A. Bassin is a well run program, and I like the camaraderie along with getting to know the other anglers. The director Wes Halbert and his crew do terrific job running the events. I thank them all the time for what they do for us. It’s a thankless job many times being a director. I have really enjoyed fishing this circuit the past to years! I want to thank U.S.A. Bassin for offering this to their anglers. After working five days a week it is always something to look forward to and it is truly a blessing. I’m really looking forward to the Classic. I love fishing KY Lake especially during the month of May!” -Doc Tackett
Third Place: Harless / McCoart had a (2) fish total of 3.44lbs. The Team took home a cash prize of $620.
The team was fishing all the way to the head of Upper Twin Branch, fishing grass, wood and laydowns. They fished shallow water 3’ or less with Minus 1 crank baits, and watermelon finesse centipede worms.
“The fishing was great and we were on the fish until the wind picked up around 10am or so. The wind really hurt us because we were fishing light tackle in the grass.
This was our first year fishing with U.S.A. Bassin and director Wes Halbert does a really great job, and we enjoy fishing it. We really appreciate U.S.A. Bassin and had a fun time fishing it this year! We can’t wait to get on KY Lake and fish the Classic.” - Harless / McCoart
I would like to thank all of our partners/sponsors and our host motel Super 8 in Louisa, KY for their hospitality and comfortable rooms they provided us. Thanks to all the anglers for taking part in this tournament. A special thanks to the teams who shared their time about their fishing day. Also, thank you director Wes Halbert and crew for running this Regional Tournament.
