“Hot-lanta”
by: Brooks Beatty
There is an old southern saying that describes really hot summer days as being “Hotter than the Georgia asphalt”, and without a doubt those who fished the River Bassin Trail’s Atlanta stop understood where this saying came from. This stop of the 2011 River Bassin Tournament Trail, presented by Jackson Kayak, was held at the Bass Pro Shops in Atlanta, GA, where they had seen very little rain in the previous weeks and the temperatures had been the 90’s, with heat indexes surpassing the 100 degree mark. It was a pretty typical Georgia summer. That Friday and Saturday of the tournament the area finally saw a few pop up showers, but these rains would only produce steamy roads. It was not enough rain to affect the low water levels.
Georgia, especially around the Atlanta area, has river systems 
that are packed with bass. This area of the southeast has the capabilities of producing monster fish (George Perry’s world record bass was caught in Georgia). Anglers are fishing in waters where they have a chance of hooking into a largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, redeye, or even a shoal bass. Casting into waters where those kind of monsters are lurking will get any bass angler fired up!
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Paddle and Trail Young River Basser Division
Atlanta, GA found one young angler who wasn’t scared of the heat and fished in the Paddle and Trail Young River Basser Division. Taylor Rodrique decided to team up with his dad David Rodrique and go after some Georgia Bass. Unfortunately, Taylor’s only fish of the day flopped out of the boat and he was unable to score it, but at least he caught one on this tough day! Way to go Taylor! The good news for Taylor is that he is only 11 years old, so he still has a few years to claim a Young River Basser title.
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Kokatat Team Division
This has been a year for new records in the Kokatat Team Division. Earlier this year at the Columbus stop, Tim Perkins and Lance Coley set a new record with the largest team virtual stringer. There was another record set in Georgia by a team, but they didn’t break the overall length record. The winners, Jason and Rachael Stutts, are the first husband and wife duo to ever win the team division. Jason and Rachael reside in Jackson, GA, and have definitely put the time and practice in to know how to win and where to win. They also fished the Columbus stop, where Jason won the individual division and Rachael took the Top Female award, but they did not catch enough to win the team division there. The Atlanta stop was their chance for redemption, and how sweet it was for them to win this division together. Their virtual stringer at 64.25 inches was still big enough to win even though Rachael lost one of her best river bass ever, it was guessed to weigh around 4 or 5 pounds. Drew Haerer and Bill Kohls were the second place team. Haerer and Kohls fell short by a mere .50 inches of the Stutts team, with a total length of 63.75. Eric Boyd and Todd Braswell pulled out a third place finish with a 60.25 inch virtual stringer. Boyd’s original partner Caja Ormond was not able to get away from Charlotte, NC in time, so Eric talked it over with Todd at the rules meeting and they decided to pair up and won some nice gift cards from Bass Pro Shops.
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Aqua Bound Individual Angler Division
In the Aqua Bound Individual Division, there was some pretty close battles for the top 5 winners. Things were so close, there were actually two ties within the top five, which is a first for this season of the River Bassin Tournament Trail. The two tie breakers were for 2nd/3rd place and then for 4th/5th place. Rocky Ly and Drew Haerer both ended up catching 49.25 inch virtual stringers, but Rocky came out on top with a big fish of 19.50, taking 4th place. Drew’s big fish wasn’t far behind; he caught a solid 19 inch spotted bass and captured the 5th place spot. A lot of these anglers are starting to see some good placement for the River Basser of the Year, and as long as they keep having top 5 finishes they will have a good chance at taking home the title this year.
The other tie was between Tim Perkins and Nawtou Ly; both have done well this year on the tournament trail and have made it to multiple stops. Tim and Nawtou tied with 50.25 inches, but Tim prevailed to take second place because his largest bass was 17.50 inches bass compared to Nawtou’s 17-incher. This was no doubt one close top 5, except for first place, where Jason Stutts won by a solid two inches.
Earlier this year in Columbus, GA, Jason caught his personal best bass, which happened to also be a Shoal Bass. Well Jason has been doing something right, because he caught his second best shoal bass at the Atlanta stop, a good looking 21.50 incher. It’s one thing to catch these kinds of fish when you are just out fishing with your buddies, but to catch these quality fish and land them in a tournament is truly remarkable.
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Big Fish Award
So far Jason Stutts has won The KokatatTeam Division and The Aqua Bound Individual Division, so why not go for the trifecta. Well he did, Jason won the NuCanoe Big Fish Award with his serious 21.50 inch stud shoalie.
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Top Female
Perhaps the tournament trail should change the name of the Atlanta stop to the Stutts show, as Rachael Stutts won the Top Female Award with her 26.50 inch virtual stringer. As mentioned earlier, Rachael lost a good fish on the water. Luckily it didn’t keep her from claiming her second Top Female Award of the 2011 River Bassin Tournament Trail.
To view a slide show of all the Atlanta photos check out our media gallery.
