This week started out to be pretty exciting, after it began with some strong practice days. During the first practice, I caught the majority of my fish on a 10 inch worm, and had estimated a 25 lb bag! So I felt really good about that; and then I started hearing from the other guys that some were catching 30+ bags… Well, I didn’t let that change my thinking of how I was going to catch them. By this morning I was rigged and ready to go, and as soon as we launched I was off. BUT, when a slow morning started to turn into a slow early afternoon, I started to panic. By 10:00, I still hadn’t caught a keeper fish (they have to be 15 inches here). I was throwing the same bait and in the same spots, with the only change being a post frontal weather day as practice, and I couldn’t get a bite. Now one might think that I ruined the fish during practice, but I had all my hooks bent over after the first practice day, so I wouldn’t stick any fish that I might need during the actual tournament. So I fought the freakout feeling and just kept fishing. Thankfully, by noon, the fish started to turn on and I was able to start catching them. Then I went back to some of the spots that I couldn’t catch them on earlier and was able to hook a couple on the second round. I did start to pick up some other baits, as well just to try to get the fish active. So even though I only caught about 8 keepers all day, I weighed in 23lbs 6oz, so I am standing in 28th place. On the second day I really needed to

maintain, so that I could stay in the top 50. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to keep up the weight as much as the other guys. So, I didnt make the cut here but thats ok. I am going to shake it off and head home for a much needed break. The fish in this ESPN pic is 6lb, 12oz, too bad I wasnt able to catch a few more of those!

t down in weight but the reason that I caught the fish so well the first day was because of the cold front that hit just prior to the tournament. It made the fish pull down around the posts of the docks as well as underneath them. I caught them finesse fishing with a drop shot and throwing a Berkley wacky worm under the platforms of the docks on that first day. Like I previously mentioned, on the second day we had sunny skies, zero wind and a heat wave. I stuck to the same pattern as the day one and I caught a 5 pounder first thing in the morning but as the temperature kept increasing, I struggled the rest of the day. The bass were suspending on the docks, roaming just under the surface in open water, and sunning around on clay points. Basically- they were inactive. On the third day I decided to try to do alot more bed fishing because the scenario was the same as the previous day. I caught mostly bucks off beds and two small females. But I failed to find a catchable female on a spawning bed. There were alot of females starting to commit to beds but they just werent committed enough to make them lock on. Today was the fourth day and the weather was exactly the same as the last two days. There was big waves of females moving up everywhere but seemed almost uncatchable, to me anyways. I tried drop shotting, wacky rigging, throwing french fries (not McD’s but the small
plastic centipede bait). There was females swimming EVERYWHERE and I got to the point where I didnt even bother casting at them. The only fish that I basically felt I had a chance to catch were the few females that were committed to beds and they were few and far between. I worked a half a dozen beds that had good females holding just off of them and thought I could catch a few of them. I tried not to catch the males right away and I was able to get some of the females mad enough that they would towards the bed to pick off my bait but the male would push the female back off making it very difficult to get them to bite. In some spots I had to pick the male off the bed in hopes that the female would have a chance to move up but more often the female lost interest and would vacate the bed. Overall I worked as hard as I could but fell short from where I started the tournament but I am still very happy with earning the 10th place. This finish allowed me to cash a check and move from 49th in the AOY standings to 26th. Which at this point would mean Classic qualification so my goal for the next four tournaments is to continue to have an upward movement in the points.
k from yesterday and I worked hard on a couple fish that I just couldn’t get to bite. The blue bird skies combined with almost zero wind, made for a very tough bite. The fish were there though so I am hoping tomorrow turns out to be a strong day and I will have the opportunity to fish on Sunday in the top twelve. An exciting part of my day today was being interviewed by the guys at the Bass Zone. They are great people and it was a lot of fun to have people across the country get online and ask whatever questions they might have for me. All in all, it was a good day and I am still going to spend some time night rigging and planning for tomorrow. Thanks for all the support!

What a day! We waited and waited this morning for Trip, our Tournament Director, to make the decision on whether we would be able to fish or not. There were really high winds making the safety of all the anglers and marshals an issue of debate. I actually didn’t mind them cancelling the tournament, I understand that they have to think of all of the people involved and the marshals probably wouldn’t have enjoyed being cold and wet and not being able to fish. So after the chaos of pulling the boat back out of the water we went and had breakfast. I had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning the night before rigging and studying the map so I was thinking a nap was in order. I had also run short of one the baits I was using. Another guy on tour shared some of his with me but I had to make a run to the tackle store to pick up some more. I am excited to fish tomorrow, its going to be a beautiful day. My mode of operation has not changed from the first day but I am definitely going to work for a big bite. Hope to update you tomorrow with good news of a cut.
No big deal, right?
ple of fish the previous day and hope to get a limit. Unfortunately, I worked that area all morning and only caught 2 keepers, I just don’t think there were a lot of fish in that pocket, I jumped around and managed to catch 2 more keepers but just could never find the right area with a number of bigger fish holding in it. I ended the tournament in 64th place which means no check for this week but better luck next time. And after the weigh-in we realized that majority of the top twenty guys were all catching them in the same area. Somehow I missed the memo on that one. haha. Oh well, I am excited to be heading to Wheeler today. Its going to be interesting to see what the lake is like now since last year I did well placing in 5th BUT that was alot later in the year. Could be a whole other ball game.


