Submitted by csmith (ip 64.217.73.56)

Date Fished: 6/9/2001
Water Temperature: 77
Water Clarity: 6 inches

Fished Cooper Friday 6/8 with guide Donnie Brewer (www.cooperguide.com) in preparation for a tournament Saturday. I had never been to the lake and my partner only fishes once a year, so we needed all the help we could get. In overcast skies Donnie showed us several spots, and in spite of the muddy brown water we caught several nice fish on white jigs and white flukes. Flippin tail shad by Gambler in white/blue with black fleck seemed to do better than pearl white Zoom Flukes. Dragging the fluke across the top of the shallow weeds would produce a roll, but not a hard strike. After the fish rolled on it, you could pop it off the grass and let it sink, and the bass would usually pick it up. Jigs produced a more solid hit.

Saturday my partner won the Big Bass tournament with 4.96 pounds, caught on a chartreuse colorado blade spinner. It was his only fish of the day, and his biggest fish to date - Congratulations Ben on the win.

The Gambler fluke style bait was consistent for me, providing 10 fish, but none over the 18" limit.

Cooper is tough right now, and worse with the blue bird skies Saturday, 4 fish weighed from 25 entries for the tournament. Without Donnie's help, that winning fish would not have been on my boat, thanks again Donnie.

If you use a guide to pre-fish or even just for fun, I highly recommend bringing a handheld GPS. I went straight to one of the spots Donnie showed me, even though I was sure I was in the wrong area until I was right on it. The GPS was right on, and saved me a lot of time. Also helps find the boat lanes on an unfamiliar lake.

Chris Smith

There are 7 remarks about this report. Click here to see them.
Click here to enter a remark.

Boats/Motors
Boat Ramp Stories
Trailers & Towing
Boats For Sale
Tournament Tactics
Striped Bass