Almost three-hundred tournament anglers gathered at Lake Sinclair’s Little Park on Saturday, March 30 to compete in the Berry’s Tournament Trail. This was the fifth tournament in a scheduled eight tournaments that are evenly split between Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee.

A warm and beautiful day greeted the anglers and for the most part the fish cooperated with many teams catching their limit of largemouth bass. In one of the closest finishes in tournament fishing I have witnessed in recent years, the top three teams were separated by less than half of a pound. Jason Dickson from Conyers and Matt Young from Covington caught a five-fish limit weighing 16.87 pounds to take first place.

Second place went to Todd Lowe and Scott Bassett with 16.49 pounds. Rounding out the top three places were Randy Heath and Damian Hall with 16.33 pounds. Most of the anglers reported catching their fish on a variety of lures including spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jigs and soft plastics. Timothy Townsend from East Dublin caught an 8.02 pound bass to take big bass honors for the tournament.

The tournament weigh-in was delayed for a few moments as the anglers stopped their activities and paid their last respects to Junior Collis who had fished many tournaments at that very site. Collis’ casket was transported on a bass boat from Williams Funeral Home through Little River Park where the tournament was being held and then on to Baldwin Memorial Gardens. Knowing Junior that was exactly how he would want to be remembered by his fishing friends.

On March 27, the fishing world learned about the death of Junior Collis. Junior passed away after a long battle with cancer. Junior had a long and successful career in tournament fishing and even made it to the Bassmaster Classic in 1973 at Clark Hill Reservoir. He was well known nationally and became a fishing legend in Georgia through his outstanding catches of largemouth bass.

I have personally known Junior for over twenty-five years and I always enjoyed our conversations that centered mostly on fishing. On many of those occasions Junior would say, “Boy I really caught the bass yesterday.” Then he would go on to tell me where and exactly how he caught the bass. He always had a word of encouragement for this outdoor writer and many times he would offer a suggestion about something that he thought needed to be addressed in my column.

I have a box of crankbait lures that I got from Junior at a yard sale he and his wife Alta held several years ago. He had begun to downsize his fishing tackle and as I talked to him that day, I could tell how much he hated to depart with fishing items that had been part of him for years.

Junior continued to add lures until that little box was slam full of crankbaits and then he gave them to me. He would not let me pay him anything. Many were lures he had personally used to catch largemouth bass and as he placed the lures in the box, he related personal stories to me about several of those very crankbaits. It was as if he was giving away a little bit of himself.

I still have and will always cherish that box of Junior’s lures. I have used several of those lures in my own fishing exploits but I always return them after using them to that little box. One day I will be able to pass that box of lures on to a young boy or girl and will I ever have a story to tell he/she about those lures and the kind wonderful fisherman who gave them to me.

Junior was indeed a great angler and will rightly be remembered for his fishing successes but he was also a good friend to many folks. At Junior’s funeral, several people got up and shared their memories about Junior. They mostly spoke about their fishing exploits with Junior and his love for Dr. Pepper but throughout those remarks the term friend was used over and over.

From my understanding of the Bible and its promises there might not be any lakes and ponds in heaven and Junior may have had to trade in his fishing rod for a hymn book when he arrived. But if I am wrong and there are lakes and ponds in heaven, I’ll surely know where to find Junior when I arrive there. Good fishing and see you next week.

Bobby Peoples can be reached by e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net.

Lake Oconee Fishing Forecast

Lake Conditions – There is badly stained in many portions of the lake but Richland Creek remains relatively clear.

Lake Water Temperature – 54-59 degrees and warming. The 70 degree weather has helped to begin a steady warm up of the lake.

Largemouth Bass – GOOD – Some fish have moved into pre-spawn positions as they will soon be ready to spawn. Main and secondary points are good places to throw spinnerbaits and small crankbaits (Rat-L-Trap/Shad Rap/Strike King KVD square bill) and use chartreuse colors in the stained water. Another good choice right now is a Zoom plastic lizard. Some fish are already in the larger coves ready to move up to beds around shoreline seawalls, docks and wood structures.

Crappie – EXCELLENT/GOOD – Best bet is trolling jigs and minnows in the larger coves and creeks. As the stained/muddy water warms up, look for more crappie to move up to shallower locations where some are already spawning. On any given day the fish can be in water 1-10 feet deep as they move into position to spawn. 

Striped/Hybrid Bass/White – GOOD – The main action is now at the Wallace Dam as the fish have moved there in large numbers. Anglers are having success using shiners and live shad.

Catfish – GOOD – The catfish will be the last fish specie to spawn in late April but they can be caught now in the larger coves on a variety of baits with cut baits of shad and bream being the best for larger fish.