20-Pound Bag
In the world of bass tournament fishing, momentum is everything. Rustin Beaudette and his son Cristian of Bush were fishing a Pearl River Team Trails tournament at Crawford’s Landing and were experiencing momentum; however, it wasn’t in a positive direction. “We were hunting and pecking all morning but could never get on a real pattern,” said Rustin.
The father and son team were jumping from spot to spot and had a total of 9 pounds of fish by 1:30 p.m. With the 3:00 p.m. weigh-in looming, the team was trying to cull out their smallest fish.
As they continued to fish fast and try different spots the team came upon a spot that Rustin said wasn’t off the beaten path. “You could have floated a yacht in there! This was one of the biggest community holes on the river,” he said. “I guess that tide started to fall, and it sent the fish right up against the bank.” Rustin made a cast near the shoreline and connected with 4-pound bass. After getting the fish to boat, the 15-year-old netted it and the team started casting again. Within 10 minutes, Rustin repeated with another 4-pound fish.
The team continued to ride the momentum and fish fast, casting and retrieving. After 15 minutes passed, Rustin started adding up what their total weight might be. The thought was interrupted by two words from his son. “He must have turned the handle eight times and then said – big’un! big’un!,” Rustin said. Within 2 seconds the bass made a jump and went horizontal in the air. “That thing looked like it was 4-foot long at the end of a 60-foot cast,” Rustin said. “At that point it was like a Chinese fire drill on the boat,” he said. Rustin scrambled for the net as Cristian slowly reeled the fish in.
As the fish approached, it made a hard deep lunge underneath the boat and Cristian said, “Dad, I don’t think I’m gonna get this fish.” Rustin replied with, “Just be easy with her and bring her back up slowly.” The fish came up and was at the side of the boat when it tried to make another jump. Fortunately, Rustin was able to slide the net underneath as it came out of the water. The fish weighed 6.5 pounds and was enough to send the Beaudette’s back to the launch early. “After that one I just wanted to make sure we got back to the launch,” said Rustin. In the end the father and son team won the tournament with a whopping 20.11 pounds. “It’s not every day you catch a 20-pound bag off the river,” he said.
Tournament Results
The Double Nickel Bass Club fished the East Pearl River. It was a day that saw cooler temperatures with a high of 85 degrees and low humidity. The river was high with a very weak tide, however, the guys still caught fish. Leading the pack was Ralph Dunn who brought in a tournament limit of 3 fish that weighed 8.41 pounds. Dunn also caught the biggest fish of the day which was a 4.75-pound bass. Tommy Watkins took second place with a 3-fish limit weighing 5.93 pounds. In third was James Harris with a limit of 5.76 pounds.
The Florida Parishes Bass Anglers had 17 teams that competed in their tournament at the Tchefuncte River. It was a mixture of sun and overcast with the occasional shower during the day. In the end it was Bryan Wolfe and Brad Bankston who came out on top with a 5-fish tournament limit weighing 9.94 pounds. In second place was the team of Jeffery Barcia and Keith Abbot who weighed in a 5-fish bag of 7.07. Wayne Richardson and his son Wayne Jr. rounded out the top three with a 5-fish limit that weighed 7.06 pounds. Wendall and Melvin Myers caught the big fish of the day: a 3.33-pound bass.
PRTT held its monthly tournament at Crawfords Landing with the Pearl River raging and over flood stage. At the end of the day, the father and son team of Rustin and Cristian Beaudette came in with the impressive winning weight of 20.11 lbs. anchored with the big fish of the day at 6.5 lbs. Second place went to Eric Ciko and Ryan Howard with 9.3 pounds. Third place went to Charles and Jordan Dauzat with 8.5 pounds.
Upcoming
Tournaments
The Double Nickel Bass Club is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Tuesday, Sept. 27. For more information, please contact Joe Picone at 985-630-4170.
The next Liars and Lunker’s tournament will be held at Crawford’s Landing on Sept. 25. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.
Pearl River Team Trails is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Oct. 8. For more information, please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com.Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)