Thirty two teams had qualified for this year’s Classic. Eighteen teams came down to face conditions of extremely hot water that is super clear and unlike conditions most of these anglers are familiar with since the majority of them are from Illinois or eastern Missouri. Many came ready to try and probe the depths of the gin clear deep water and see if they could master this fishery. Some however were going to make long runs to try and find dirtier water and possibly shallower fish. Regardless the weather conditions were at the top side of the extreme conditions with excessive humidity and high temperatures being the prevailing systems for the last couple of weeks. It was to be a hard scenario for the fishermen and the fish.

DAY ONE RESULTS

The 1st Day’s leaders were the team of Mike Kirksey of Collinsville, IL and Ed Hutchison of Granite City, IL. They had been one of the teams to make a long run up the James River and caught their fish on a Pop R and a jig. Besides their 4 keepers they caught numerous other fish and had a number of what they thought were large fish blow up on the Pop R. At 8.14 pounds they took the early lead.

In 2nd Place were Jack Watkins of Belleville, IL and Jerry Rapp of Farmington, MO. They also had gone up the James and were fishing top water baits and jigs to put together their 4 fish string. Anchoring this string was the 1st Day’s B&R OUTLAW RODS Big Bass which unfortunately died on their way in. After the .5 pound penalty it still went 3.07 pounds and earned them a check for $180.00. In addition they had another fish die so they had a total 1.0 pound penalty for dead fish which brought their stringer down to 8.08 pounds.

In 3rd Place was the Father and Son team, as well as the 2006 Family Division’s Angler of the Year, of Dave and John Harbison of Millstadt, IL. They had fished the midlake region of the lake fishing very deep using a white spin jig and a drop shot rig.

They also struggled with a dead fish penalty but their 3 fish still kept them in 3rd place for the day.

Day Two and the Final Results


1ST PLACE TEAM AND 1ST DAY
B&R OUTLAW ROD BIG BASS AWARD:
JERRY RAPP AND JACK WATKINS

This year’s Classic victory was to belong to Jack Watkins of Belleville, IL and Jerry Rapp of Farmington, MO. It was a repeat Classic victory for Jack Watkins who was part of the winning Classic team at Barkley Lake last year. Again they decided to make the big run up the James River from Kimberling City to above Cape Fair. They were fishing mostly bluff end points and a couple of shallow flat points at the ends of long channel swings. They stated that they just kept on the move because either the fish seemed to be there or they were not. They typically caught their keepers right away and beating an area did not seem to benefit them at all.

They also stated that they really came ready today to make sure they did not lose any fish again. This time the 4 keepers they brought to the scales were healthy and wild at weigh in. They started with their live wells full of ice and then added chemicals and lake water after arriving at their first spot. Across the day they continued to add ice and aerated the water continuously. About half way through the day they pumped out about half the waste water, retreated with chemicals, and added more ice. This certainly seemed to be the ticket and their four keepers were fresh as daisies and hit the scales at 8.30 pounds. This gave them a total weight of 16.38 pounds and 1st Place.

They caught their first day fish mostly on a jig and with one keeper coming on a Pop R. Their first day big bass came on a jig in the deepest water they had fished which was about 15 feet deep. The rest came shallower than that with the Pop r fish in about 2 to 3 feet of water on a little clay round point. The second day it was a true mixed bag. After pulling up on their little clay point Jerry took one on a Pop R and while trying to get his lure untangled from the net Jack hooked another on a buzz bait and Jerry had to net it with the lure still in the net. The third keeper came on a jig in about 10 feet of water. The final keeper was caught when they tried to duplicate their clay point pattern and Jerry caught it on a CHATTER HAMMER next to an isolated stump in 6 feet of water. Their total weight earned them a check for $2500.00.

Jack Watkins is sponsored by Leisure Time Pools of Swansea, IL, Scenic River Boats and Motors, Bonne Terre, MO, CHARGER BOATS, B&R OUTLAW RODS, Flying Fisherman Sunglasses and Sports Apparel, Islamorada, FL, and Mid America Outdoors,com. Jerry Rapp of Farmington, MO is sponsored by EIRON BREAKER LURE CO., and Mid America Outdoors.com






2ND PLACE TEAM
JOHN AND DAVE HARBISON

Fishing about as opposite of conditions as possible were John and Dave Harbison of Millstadt, IL. As mentioned before this Father and Son team was this season’s Family Division’s AOY winners. They fished the mid lake region around the Indian Point area and concentrated on very deep water Spots in particular. They fished 65 to 75 feet depth water and used a drop shot and a white jig spin to catch 3 more keepers the second day which gave them a total weight of 12.00 pounds and the 2nd Place award as well as a check for $1200.00.

Besides being extremely deep water and all that goes with trying to concentrate on maintaining contact with your bait and keep your concentration they had to deal with heavy vacation and boat traffic. This kept the boat rocking and rolling all day and made it very hard to stay focused.(absolutely no pun intended). They are sponsored by B&R OUTLAW RODS, Brush Hawg Bait and Tackle , Millstadt, IL, Ocean Wave Sunglasses, Quantum, and Cook’s Go To Tackle Systems.

3RD PLACE TEAM
KEITH AND DENNIS SHELTON

In 3RD PLACE with a major comeback on the second day were two brothers who brought in 4 nice Smallmouth after only having one keeper on the first day of fishing. Dennis Shelton of Millstadt, IL and Keith Shelton of Brandon, AL. Their five fish total for two days was 9.32 pounds. They caught their fish in 25 to 30 feet of water using an Eakins jig. They also struggled hard fighting the heat as well as catching fish from deeper water. They stated they went through a ton of ice and even had to come back in and get some more to try and keep their fish alive. They received a check for $800.00 which helped cool off a bit of the heat. They are sponsored by Nucor-Yamato of Bible, AK and Nucor Jackson both of which at steel industry related companies.

4TH PLACE TEAM
MIKE KIRKSEY AND ED HUTCHINSON

The 4th Place team had an incredibly tough second day. They were the first day’s leaders Mike Kirksey of Collinsville, IL and Ed Hutchinson of Granite City. They just could not get their fish to bite for them the second day. They had returned up the James River and had gone into Flat Creek and worked their deep bank with top water baits and jigs. It was not meant to be for them this day however and they had much few bites across the board as well. Their first day weight of 8.14 pounds on four keepers did secure them a winning spot and a check for $450.00. They caught three of their keepers on a Pop R and one on a football jig. They are sponsored by Belleville Sport Sales of Belleville, IL and Clinton Seamless Guttering of Breese, IL.






5TH PLACE TEAM AND 2ND DAY
B&R OUTLAW ROD BIG BASS AWARD-
GERALD AND J.J. ZMUDSINSKI

In 5th Place and also the 2nd Day B&R OUTLAW ROD BIG BASS AWARD was another Father and Son team. Gerald Zmudsinski of Tamaroa, IL and J.J.
Zmudsinski of Waterloo, IL also had a strong second day. After having no keepers the first day this did not deter this plucky team and they went out and attacked bluffs with a Chug Bug and caught 4 keepers which went 7.11 pounds. They said the water was deep but they would catch the fish right up against the bluff. They are proudly sponsored by their wives Diane and Dawn who expect to share in their $300.00 earnings for the day.

This was the conclusion of the fishing outings for F.O.C.A.S. for the 2006 season. We will be announcing our awards banquet date soon.

Also check for announcements concerning our 2007 season schedule.