FOM Legacy, Big Marine 8/30/08

I fished a Legacy tournament on the Horseshoe Chain last year with my then six year old grandson Triston. We both had a great time and took 7th place with about 11.5 lbs. But Triston was a little disappointed that he did not catch a bass. Although I let him reel in the bass I hooked, it just wasn't the same.
I was determined to make sure he caught bass this time and Big Marine was the perfect lake. I knew the fish would still be on the same spot - a deep coontail patch - as in the ABA tournament I won a couple weeks ago, so I rigged up a rod with a slip bobber and a FlaMinn Lures Ultimate mushroom jig and a 4" worm. Now Triston could fish the coontail but not get hung up too much. I would be fishing the same setup but without the slip bobber.
Tournament morning started out cool with a light Southwest breeze. Triston was as anxious as me to get to our spot and start fishing. Our number was finally called and we were off, arriving to our spot to find we had it to ourselves. I showed Triston how to fish the slip bobber rig and then we started fishing. I immediately hooked up with a keeper which Triston netted expertly. On the next cast I got bit again and told Triston to get the net, but he said he couldn't because he also had one on, so I grabbed the net and scooped up both fish - a couple of nice 16 inchers. The bite continued and we had a limit and made several culls in less than an hour. When Triston wasn't catching fish I would let him crank mine in. We were having a great time and very excited about the possibility of a high finish.
About 11am the bite had slowed and Triston started getting a little bored. I knew we could catch more fish if we stayed, but I decided to go to a different spot just to relieve the boredom.
At the next spot I caught a 15 incher on my first cast which culled a smaller fish, then Triston caught a 12 incher which didn't help, and some smaller fish - but at least he was catching them.
It was getting close to weigh in so I thought we would give my best spot one more try. We motored back and started fishing, within a few minutes I hooked up with a chunky 17 incher which made a good cull and really got us excited. It was now time to head in and hope we did well.
We were one of the first few boats to weigh and had 11.21lbs. We were in first place for a while until another team weighed 11.26, then another weighed 13lbs. Finally there were no more to weigh. Triston was very excited when I told him we took 3rd place and we would win plaques and money. I was also excited, and very proud of him since he contributed to the catch this time and earned his awards.