S.O.B. Hoover results

Despite the heat and wind Sunday, June 27, and the thunderstorm that blew through Saturday night, The Southern Ohio club had a surprisingly good weigh-in at Hoover Reservoir.At least the other guys did, I couldn't by a fish.
Kenny Fulks won the tournament with five bass that weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces, and took big bass honors with a 3-pound, 14.8-ounce bass. First place, big bass and 10-pound pot -- that makes a pretty good day!
Terry Ryan also had five bass, but at 8 pounds, 4.2 ounces he had to settle for second place.
Debbie Woodrow had only three bass, but they were nice ones that weighed in at 8 pounds, 2.2 ounces for third pace. Tom Sherfy took fourth with five bass weighing 7 pounds, 5.4 ounces and Eric Woodrow was fifth with three bass weighing 4 pounds, 7.6 ounces.
Overall, 20 club members fished, with 6 weighing in a total of 38 bass. Unfortunately, I was one of the four without a keeper.
Since the storm had only slightly discolored the water, I thought I could still find at least a few fish on the shallow pattern I had found Thursday. Nothing.
So I tried some deeper areas nearby. Still nothing. I moved to a causeway where I have often caught keepers during the summer and had only a couple half-hearted hits from small fish. The other area I had caught fish was occupied, so I headed downlake to a cove where I have caught fish in the past and would be mercifully out of the strong south wind for a while. Nothing. Back out on the main lake and some deep and shallow areas. More of the same until the tournament was mercifully over.
From what I could determine, most of the good catches were caught farther up the lake than I ventured. I thought I could find something without spending a lot of time traveling.
I also learned that a good number of fish were caught on crankbaits and tubes, both deep and shallow, so whether I fished the wrong depths, too fast or too slow is hard to say.
I just hope I have better luck at our next tournament, which is July 11 at Seneca.

MOTOR TROUBLE RESOLVED
One good thing that happened Sunday is that my 9.9 outboard is running again. It had refused to start Thursday and didn't seem to be generating any spark.
I talked to a boat mechanic Friday, who said it was probably the power pack (ignition coil) and I could get one at the local NAPA store. The folks at NAPA were helpful and found one at their distribution center in Columbus. I could have it Saturday morning.
Saturday morning came and no part. It was part of a order that was recorded as having been sent out, but it hadn't arrived. Nor had it showed up at any other stores in the area.
I had figured there was no way any boat shop in the area would be able to check out the motor in time to get it ready for Sunday, but now I figured I better call around and see if one had the part, even though it would probably cost more. Turns out I was lucky the part hadn't arrived.
The first call made was the one I should have made in the first place, to Jim Carter's Marina at Buckeye Lake. They had a used one I could buy.
When I went out, Jimmy was there and said it was very unusual for a coil to go out and mentioned a couple other things that should be checked. I described what had happened and he asked if I wanted him to check it out. Since I had the motor in the truck, I jumped at the chance.
In about two minutes, he hooked up a device to the motor, fired it and determined it was generating a spark. He pointed at the kill switch and said "Your problem's right there."
So I bought a switch, took it home and installed it that afternoon. The motor fired on the first pull.
I told Carter I should have called him in the first place, but I figured there was no way he would be able to look at it right away.
He had a very practical answer: "You don't know unless you ask."