By Marty Dixon/Staff correspondent
It’s been a while since we last talked. Let’s get this past week’s tournament results in first. For the Tuesday night tournament, first place went to Lynn Johnson with 8.84 pounds, second place went to Jake and Willy D. with 8.18 pounds and third place went to Kenny and Jamin with 7.33 pounds. Hunter had The Big Fish with 6.15 pounds. Twenty-eight boats participated.
Wednesday’s tournament results were Dustin and Willy D, in first place with 9.40 pounds, Lynn and Sticks in second place with 8.84 pounds and Hunter and Dallas in third place with 8.04 pounds. Blake and Austin had The Big Fish of 5.52 pounds. Thirty boats participated.
Some information to pass on for the remainder of the summer weigh in will be at 8:30 p.m. This is the 19th tournament this year to qualify for the classic. You must fish 15 in tournaments in order to qualify. The expected total payout for this year’s the classic is around $10,000. If you have any questions, contact The Chief at 256 613-2009. Many thanks to that man, that myth and that legend for all the time and effort he goes through to put these tournaments together for everyone.
As for my fishing, it was non-existent over the past three or four weeks, although the last two have been spent recovering from knee surgery. A big shout out to Sparks Orthopedic and Dr. Daniel Sparks for performing the surgery and handling my rehab, which looks like several weeks and me wearing a brace.
I’m currently figuring out now how to get out on the water with one good leg. My few trips lately turned out to be very short and very unproductive. Wed-nesday in particular was a stinker, for sure. I carried the big horse collar (for you young’uns, that’s called a zero).
If my rehab continues to go well, I plan to get out on the water a little more as the week progresses. It’s not so bad once you get upright on one leg and propped up, unless a big wake boat comes through. At that point, you have to hang on and ride it out. I’ve tried a little of everything close to the house to no avail, so I’m of very little use for a fishing report right now.
Tomorrow brings a fresh day and chance for redemption, and I’m hoping to shake the horse collar from my neck and to stay out a little bit longer. Even if I can’t, just getting out some is a giant plus.
Maybe next week I’ll have a fishing report of some kind to discuss or at least something interesting to pass along. If I don’t get to fish much, I’ll try and talk to some of the guys at the tournament weigh-in and get some sort of report, be it fact or fiction. I will say that being stuck around the house has provided me with a renewed appreciation for just sitting by the lake at sundown and enjoying the scenery.
On a side note, I had a willow fly hatch near my boat house this week, so we might be overrun by those little rascals over the next few weeks.
Until next time, and from my recliner, tight lines to all. Get out and enjoy our river.
Marty Dixon is a 1982 Sardis High School graduate and retired high school educator and coach. He was head coach of the Gadsden State women’s basketball team from 2015 to 2019. He and his wife Texann live in Gadsden. He can be contacted at fishn4funin02@yahoo.com and the Neely Henry Bass Fishing page on Facebook.