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On the water with...Dwayne E. Cooper |
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Table of Contents Learning to find water on my own Information on the 99' fishkill on the White River Have fun...but don't get your feet wet!
After the 79' Classic, my dad is telling Mike James, of Ranger boats, how he caught his fish...
Mom gets the first ride!
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Home - On the water with Dwayne Cooper
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My formative years...When I was 13 to 15 years old, I got to travel to some fishing tournaments from Indiana to Kentucky to Alabama to Georgia with my dad and meet some outstanding fisherman. I was also fortunate to pick up many good fishing tips from my dad's two brothers John Cooper, of Fayetteville, Georgia and Bob Cooper, of Temple, Georgia. My first tournament, at age 13, was with John at Altoona Lake in Georgia. John taught me the virtue of patience while crawling a worm across a long point. I remember meeting many of the famous fisherman that I read about in Bassmaster Magazine at the old Easter Seals Pickwick Lake tournaments that my dad took me to. Nothing could make me prouder than hearing the name of my dad, among this elite group, winning 2nd one year and 3rd and big bass another year at this national tournament. But then again, my dad always seemed to distinguish himself with a big bag of bass at most of these tournaments. When I was 13, I remember my dad winning tournament after tournamentt enroute to a berth on the Indiana national fishing team. When I was 14, on October 15, 1979, my dad won a 16' Ranger 158v bassboat and 85hp Johnson motor at the Indiana B.A.S.S. Federation Classic at Lake Monroe. When I was 15, I got to fish with several of these outstanding fisherman as an observer in Indiana B.A.S.S. Federation tournaments. My dad told me to learn everything I could from these outstanding gentlemen. I imagine I wore some guys out with all my questions...but I sure learned a lot! That year, I remember a Indiana B.A.S.S. Federation tournament on the Ohio River which was held under tough conditions and there was no need for an observer as the tournament had an even number of fishermen. Now, my dad finished second in that tournament...but what I remember most was fishing off the river boat docks with a small Mepp's spinner and catching around 12 keepers under the encouragement and watchful eye of the tournament organizers. They allowed me to weigh my fish before the other fisherman came in and, after it was all over, they said I had caught more pounds than anyone else in that tournament! Anxious to fish my first club tournament at age 16...I was disappointed to hear that my partner had cancelled out the night before the tournament. I would have to wait another month before fishing my first club tournament. I remember talking to my dad about the situation (he was fishing in a state tournament that weekend) and when I mentioned to him about the local "Big Fish Contest" that a local store had going on...he recommended that I take that day and go fish at a certain spot on our local lake with a jig n' lizard and win that contest. It was the last day of March and I remember patiently working the jig n' lizard over the tree branches when I finally felt something pick up the jig and slowly move off with it. I reeled down toward the fish and set the hook and eventually landed the largest bass I had ever caught to date. And sure enough, it was good enough for the $50 in the local "Big Fish Contest!" My first major tournament success came later that year, when I managed to flip 5 decent keepers in the boat on West Boggs Lake to finish 2nd in a team tournament. My partner was a guy by the name of Dan Bluebaum, a good hard-nosed fisherman who I often shared his 15' boat in those days. We made a good team and he really helped me improve my fishing back then... When I was 16, I was also old enough to finally fish major regional bass fishing tournaments. Well, the first two years, I learned a lot of hard lessons about tournament fishing. Many of the lakes we fished required different techniques than what was required on the lil' 12 acre lake I grew up on. The 6" blackberry Mann's worm and the 1/4 oz. white spinnerbait were great baits...but they weren't the thing to throw at every lake. I also slowly learned that the bass were not located at every great looking spot either on these bigger lakes too... But it was during these first few years of tournament fishing where I picked up on different fishing techniques from my fellow fishing partners and learned to catch fish in a lot of different fishing situations. With a lil' time and experience, I slowly became a good fisherman... |
Some of my Top 10 favorite national lakes and rivers... 1. Ohio River (IN/IL) 2. Lake Barkley (KY/TN) 3. Kentucky Lake (KY/TN) 4. Lake Wheeler (AL) 5. Pickwick Lake (TN/AL) 6. Weiss Lake (AL) 7. Mississippi River (IO/IL) 8. Lake Okeechobee (FL) 9. Lake Wilson (AL) 10. Sudbury River (MA)
The headline says it all!
I caught this 8 pound bass fishing "the tree" on a jig n' lizard when I was 15 years old...
I caught this large bass fishing "the tree" on a jig n' lizard when I was 16 years old to win a local "Big Fish" contest. Although this bass officially weighed in at 8 pounds (that's the highest the old small de-liar scale went up to - 8 pounds) for this fishing contest, most everyone acknowledged that this was a 9 pound bass... |
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