July 11 2010

The Kids Of The Southwest attacked Elephant Butte for the Fifth and final time this year.  With very little practice the anglers where nervous at best as the tournament started.  As the KSW have learned never ever depend on Mother Nature, and this outing was no different.  The skies where filled with lighting and dark clouds; scary looking weather.  After a safety brief covering the hazards of lighting and actions to take if the storms develop over the lake the anglers headed out.  All but one headed south and the one heading north was Senior points leader Clayton Ramsey.  Clayton however was struggling as fish after fish seemed to come unbuttoned.  As his bite slowed he headed south to join the others was he to late.  As he bumped into a few anglers he discovered that they where struggling as well.  Conditions seemed perfect, overcast skies light wind what could be the key to separating yourself from the field.  Everyone seemed to have one fish or two by mid morning as reports spread through the field.  Most Anglers stayed in the South while Clayton headed back to the north to give it one more try.  The storms seemed to be staying at bay as the day progressed.  Rumors as always where flying, but one thing was for sure all anglers had fish in the live-well.  Just as weigh-in was approaching a massive storm moved in ending the day for our anglers.  One by one the anglers lined up with there bags ready to see how they would fair.  Setting the early lead for the Junior Division was Johnny Beard bringing three fish to the scales weighing 3.18.  The Senior Division traded leads a few times till Clayton Ramsey showed up with four fish weighing in at 6.59. Clayton also took big bass honors with a 3.04 largemouth.  Johnny however had to survive a few more close ones, but in the end his weight held up.  Congratulations to all the anglers on a job well done.  Clayton gave up the power fishing approach at midmorning settling into a finesse approach.  Key for Clayton was fishing really slow with finesse baits between eight to twelve feet.  Johnny's pattern was based on crawdad imitators fished around rock in the south.  Next up for the Juniors will be the State Championship to be held later this year on Elephant Butte.  Representing the KSW will be Nic Arrieta, Johnny Beard, and Julian Carver for the Junior Division.  For the Senior Division the KSW will be sending Clayton Ramsey, Donald Peters, and Justin Hettinga to the Championship.  Best of luck to all our anglers.