Bud Light Trail – Stillhouse

3/27/2010

With the forecast calling for winds out of the northwest ranging from 20-30 mph and gust in the high 30’s, forty four teams turned out to for the second tournament of year for the Bud Light Trail on Stillhouse Reservior.   Upon arrival at the ramp in the morning the winds had yet to begin their onslaught for the day, so we began our day fishing deep ledges in 25-35ft. with scattered trees.  I love to fish deep and mostly fish a football jig on our rocky reservoirs, but Stillhouse is known for its deep trees.  Therefore, I tied on a 1oz. Omega Pro-Mega jig in Ozark Special and planned to attack the fish we had found in practice in those deep trees.  I choose the Pro-Mega jig for its ability to slide through the timber with ease which results in more time fishing rather than trying to free my lure from the deep timber. 

It didn’t take long to for that razor sharp Gamakatsu hook to set solidly in the 1^st four pounder of the day suspended 25ft. in a tree.  My partner and I pounded out several other small fish from the area throughout the morning but none would scratch the legal limit.  We managed a second four pounder from the deep before the severe wind moved in around noon.  Our deep fish got lock-jaw once the wind began to pick up so we decided to go fish a creek on the north end of the lake around 1PM.  In the creek, I tied on a 5/8 oz. watermelon red Pro-Mega jig and began flipping shallow laydowns.  I found the big bass of the tournament off the end of a laydown in less than 2 feet of water with the Pro-Mega jig.  The 8.10 lbs. female swallowed the jig deep and the hook was not letting her go!  We managed a fourth fish with only 15 minutes to spare.   Thanks to Omega we were able to win the tournament by over 5 pounds!  Omega also hauled home the big bass check for the tournament worth and additional $410, netting a nice Pro-Mega payday of $2258!