Yesterday was our first tourney.... Thought Id give a report and hear any comments.

The water we fished [brownlee reservoir] was way way low - the last 30 or so feet was mud. Once launched in the dark mostly we waited for the other boats. Then the wind went crazy - waves coming over the bow, water hitting us in the face etc.. lol. Fortunately my 20' Champ did great but that wind was difficult to deal with all day. Couple times it almost blew me into the bank. Found fish in an area that was suggested to me and threw a little bit of everything at them... Water temp was mid to high 40s and very muddy. Ended up fishing tubes and jigs most of the day which I guess was a mistake as at the weigh in there were several boats that had their limit of 5 legal fish. We only had one 13" Smallie to weigh in. We hooked a few others but nothing legal. There were a couple other boats that only had one fish as well but still feel like we got our butts whooped. lol. Every other guy we talked to was throwing jerk baits... We fished plugs some but not enough I guess. Wish I would have known that would be the key for the day as it seems like almost everyone else knew what to use.

It was a good experience though. I noticed we fish differently in a tournament (even a little club tournament). We hardly stopped to eat and relax much. Of course the 25 mph gusts of wind prevented much lounging around. We are looking forward to our next tournament in May which should allow for better fishing and weather. We will also plan to pre-fish that water before the tournament.

Thanks for the advice and comments.. keep it coming.