# Catfish tournament 20 june, rotary park columbus georgia



## brother hilljack (May 15, 2009)

Our next event will be a night time tournament launching out of Rotary Park in Columbus, GA.

Please send me an email if you are planning on attending!

_*PLEASE MAKE A POST IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS EVENT!*_


CATFISH TOURNAMENT!!​A FUN FILLED DAY OF CATFISHING, BROTHERHOOD, AND COMPETITION PROVIDING YOU WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOWCASE YOUR SKILLS AS A CATFISHERMAN! 
WHO’S INVITED: EVERYONE (boats and bank fishermen welcome)
WHAT: CATFISH TOURNAMENT
WHEN: 20 JUNE 2009, 6:00p.m. - 2:00a.m. Registration will begin at 5:30 pm at the boat ramp.
WHERE: ROTARY PARK, COLUMBUS,GA
ENTRY FEE: $40.00 PER TEAM
For questions and complete rules, please visit my website www.hilljackcatfishing.com, email me at shane.hilljack.smith@googlemail.com or phone at 706-341-5090.
To ensure the progression of our sport, all fish weighed in WILL become property of the event directors and WILL be released at the launch site. 
This is a non-profit event with a 88% PAYBACK. $5 per entry fee will be donated to the Valley Rescue Mission or the Wounded Warrior Program. No money will be kept by the event directors!
Entry fees must be paid at registration. ONLY CASH WILL BE ACCEPTED (exact change).
All participants are responsible for ensuring that they are in accordance with all rules/regulations imposed by the state in which they are lisenced. If the event ramp requires a launch fee, then it is the responsibility of the participant to pay those fees.
HillJack Catfishing is dedicated to the promotion and progression of the sport of Catfishing. We take pride in our efforts to promote conservation of this valuable resource. 
Volunteers to help run this competition would be welcome!
IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SPONSORING THIS EVENT, PLEASE CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!


----------



## brother hilljack (May 15, 2009)

Ramp at Rotary park is at this address:

Bulldog Bait & Tackle 
1300 Victory Dr, Columbus, GA 31901 (706) 257-0061


----------



## brother hilljack (May 19, 2009)

We are looking for sponsors for this event. If you are interested please contact me as soon as possible


----------



## brother hilljack (May 22, 2009)

Hit the water this morning at 0600. Launched the boat from Uchee creek and fished back towards Rotary park. Water temps were between 69-72. Guess the rains have cooled them down some. 

Fishing was tough. Pretty strong winds and no current were not a good combination. Fish were scattered and seemed to be sitting pretty tight behind cover. If you were not in a snag, you wasn't getting a bite! Only caught 3 catfish, 1 channel and 2 small blue cats. Caught 3 pretty nice striped bass. Those fish really disappointed me because I thought I had some real nice cats. Oh well they were fun to catch.

Bait for today was cut shad (frozen). There is usually plenty of shad at the marina but none was to be had today. Also caught 1 of my catfish using Magic Bait. That was cool. It is the first time I Have used an artifical bait. The way the fish were biting, I figured it couldn't hurt!

Good day to be on the river, just didn't catch any monsters.


----------



## brother hilljack (May 23, 2009)

This thread is to inform people on how the tournament payouts will be calculated as our events begin to grow. We now pay out the top 3 places. If we get 15 teams to fish, I will be paying out 4 places and from there we will add 1 paying position for every 5 entries. What does this mean?



1-14 teams we will pay the top 3 weights

15-19 teams we will pay the top 4 weights

20-24 teams will pay the top 5 teams



This will continue infinitely. 



Big Fish payouts will remain the same.


----------



## brother hilljack (May 27, 2009)

Anybody going pre-fishing for this event over the weekend. I will check it out Friday night I think. Fish tournament hours to see what the fish are up too. I think conditions will be much different by tournament day, but I don't know this stretch as well as I should. Give me a shout if you see me on the river.


----------



## brother hilljack (May 31, 2009)

Fish are still biting pretty good in the upper stretches of the river. Best bite is up by the low head dam. Pretty shallow up there so it is tough fishing for the hilljack. 

Have had best success with live bluegill. The cats don't seem to be interested in the frozen bait right now. 

Water temps are still in the low 70's. Only have current when the turn on the generators.


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 2, 2009)

Bulldog Bait and Tackle will be sponsoring the "BIG FISH BONUS" for our June event. Based on some of the fish that I have seen pulled from this section of river, the bonus could be quite large.



same as last event: $2 per pound for the tournament's Big Fish. 



**fish will still be released!



additionally, I am working with them to get some good sinkers/hooks and other tackle in stock prior to the event. 



If you are by that way, stop by and tell them Thanks for the support.


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 5, 2009)

Had a real good night fishing last night (Thursday)!!

Rain, Rain Go away...........................that is what we were singing for the first 2 hours of our trip, but then we found a spot and the fishing was sublime!

Water temp was 74-76 degrees. Weather was scattered HEAVY thunderstorms (scattered all around my boat) River was muddy and on the rise, electric genoraters were going full speed. 

Launched the boat out of Rotary park at 5 PM. Time to start prefishing for the upcoming tournament. Caught some fresh shad and started hole hopping. The rain fell heavy and steady for the first 2 hours and we could only get 1 fish in the boat. Had 9 oz of weight on my line and could not keep my bait on bottom. Finally the rain stopped and the conditions improved greatly, although there were still a large amount of logs/trash floating down the river.

Fish in the picture were caught on FROZEN cut Gizzard shad. Frozen was better than fresh today! Water was about 15 feet. Current medium for the conditions. Fish were caught anywhere from 5-20 feet from the bank. All fish pictured were caught between 8-11 PM. 

AFTER PHOTO WAS TAKEN ALL FISH WERE RELEASED BACK INTO THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER! (except 3 eaters)

Sorry for the poor quality photos!


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 10, 2009)

No prefishing for me this weekend. If anyone makes it out, Please post an update. Good luck to all


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 14, 2009)

Less than 1 week until this event kicks off. Let me know if you are planning on fishing!


----------



## Sultan of Slime (Jun 14, 2009)

Cant wait to see the results on this one!!


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 16, 2009)

It promises to be a good one! Based on the number of people contacting me, I think there is potential for a 5 place payout!! We will just have to see how the weather plays out. Right now it is looking VERY hot!


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 19, 2009)

Tomorrow is the big day! We welcome everyone so please come on down and fish with us. 

**The Afliac outdoor festival is right next door so you can make a day of it!


----------



## brother hilljack (Jun 20, 2009)

today is the day, I hope to see you there


----------



## cathooker (Jun 20, 2009)

I'd really like to come down and fish the tournament but my wife would kill me if I missed the plane that is taking us to Alaska tomorrow morning.......hopefully Puddle Jumper n me can get in another one later.


----------



## Sultan of Slime (Jun 20, 2009)

Good Luck everyone!!


----------

