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Tamarac Thursday Nites
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2009
Laid-Back Tamarac Group Hits Bass Hard
June 18, 2009
There are un-affiliated fishing clubs and there are laid-back groups of anglers. The Tamarac Thursday Nite crowd might be a tad more than just laid-back. But, bottom line is, they sure can find bass.
The Thursday evening crowd, nineteen boats strong on June 18th, use the Tamarac Landing on High Rock as a weekly blast off point. The crowd hits the waters at 5 PM and adjusts their weigh in times throughout the season to coincide with darkness. For more than twenty years, a loose knit bunch of fishermen have been heading to the west side of High Rock once a week to take part in the competitions.
Don't expect the usual fanfare when you arrive on scene ready to fish. There is no registration table. You'll need to wander into the Tamarac Marina store and plunk down $25 and put your name on the brown bag they use for a sign in sheet that week. Don't go looking for the organizer or director. There is none. You pay. You fish. Maybe you win. The non-format has worked well for the gathering, which can have numbers anywhere from five or six boats to as many as fifty. You just never know.
“I guess I'm the weighmaster tonight,” laughed Kevin Burrage as he helped fishermen pile bass into the “official” weigh-bag. “Somehow I did it a couple weeks in a row there, and now I think I'm stuck for awhile. That's OK... it'll be someone else's turn pretty soon.” That's how things get done in the group. A loose-built understanding that everyone takes their turn is all that is needed.
That particular evening, one of the first boats back in floated a father and son team that came in smiling. Ed Weller and son, Clay Weller, of High Point, found a bunch of fish, but it turns out Dad was smiling about other stuff, too. Son, Clay had just graduated from UNC (psychology and chemistry!) and had arrived back home a few days ago. He asked Dad to go fishing with him.
“At some point, you realize you can't miss those opportunities anymore,” stated Ed. “If son says, heh, let's go fishing together, there is only one answer.” All those times of toss-and-catch, fishing, or a hundred other activities together, and now any chance is priceless. “I wouldn't have missed this,” beamed the younger Weller as he smiled at his Dad.
Weigh in happened right on the front porch of the store. Someone hung up an old scale from a beam in the ceiling and the guys lined up. Burrage took his volunteered spot at the scales and fish water began to pour across the porch floor as bags were emptied in front of him. Spectators included the occasional customer making a store run at the right time.
When the rusty old spinner scales had done their work for yet another in a long line of measurements, Gary Freeze and Max Lear tied up first place with 18 pounds 8 ounces of effort and had a 5 pound 9 ounce specimen on board. It wasn't a walk-away that evening. The pair watched as the $285 in prize money nearly slipped away. The Weller squad came to the scales late in the game with a lot of heft in the fish bag. Everyone watched closely as, first, their biggest catch was weighed... one ounce smaller than the one Freeze and Lear turned in... 5 pounds 8 ounces.
Total bag weight for the Wellers was enough to hand them second spot on the night. “Well, we certainly didn't get walked on,” laughed the elder Weller as he poked Clay. “$95... we've got gas money for a week,” he added. First and second place teams traded handshakes and smiles as the competition closed. Big Fish added another $95 to the Freeze and Lear boat team pride.
There is no one to call for more information and the Fishbyte.net Forum and Calendar does note that the group gathers every Thursday evening. Other than that, anglers need to show up, cough up the small fee at the store register, figure out which scrap of paper was used to sign in that week, and go find five good fish before dark settles in. That's maybe a big tad less than laid back... but it works.