Entries from March 2007 ↓

The second day was even better than the first. I went from 24-7 to 27-4. I also jumped up to eighth place, so I’ve got nothing to complain about.

I caught all my fish sight fishing. Just enough of the fish moved on the beds today to make it real interesting.

I got into an area today that’s got 8s and 10s, and it’s quite a sight to look out and see a 10-pound bass swimming near your boat. If they lock down on the beds tomorrow, I might be catching some big fish. And I think they’re going to lock down. It will be either tomorrow or Sunday.

Right now my confidence is great. This is my kind of deal. I like fishing this place. So at 6:50 tomorrow morning when we launch, I’ll be ready.

But as good as I feel, Gutierrez is over 66 pounds. He’s 11 pounds ahead of me, and that’s a hell of a lead. He’s way ahead of everybody. But you never know what’s going to happen. Let’s say he catches 25 tomorrow. He would fall back, then you never know what could happen on Sunday. It happened to Ish Monroe today. He had over 32 yesterday and less than 21 today.

The big thing is, though, I’m in eighth place and there aren’t going to be but 12 anglers out there on Sunday. So I’ve got to go out and do it again tomorrow or I won’t be around to see if I can catch him.

It’s a funny thing about fishing. People don’t realize how difficult this. I used to be a 2-handicap golfer. Most people who play golf understand that you’ve got have technique, but all the technique in the world doesn’t help if you’re not on your game mentally.

It’s the same way with fishing. I personally think fishing well is just as hard, or harder, than perfecting your golf game. You’ve just got to be on your game.

In all sports, there’s some luck involved. And there’s some in fishing. But you’ve got to wonder why Kevin VanDam is in the hunt almost every tournament. In golf, why is Tiger Woods in the hunt almost every tournament? It’s because he’s mentally tough and he knows what he’s doing.

But really good golfers and good anglers have bad days. Michael Iaconelli is one of the best anglers on this tour, and he didn’t make the cut. I think that’s two bad tournaments in a row for him.

My good friend, Jeremy Starks, who’s a really good angler, thought he was going to have a good tournament and had an awful one.

This stuff will mess with you if you’re not careful.

Today was a good day.

They call this the Golden State Shootout, and it’s going to be a shootout.

Clear Lake is a great fishing lake, and I had a pretty good day to start this tournament. I was pleased with 24-7 because that’s not a bad bag. But I’ve got to go out and do it again tomorrow.

The leaderboard is going to go up and down. Some of the guys that are in the high twenties are going to fall down to about 20. Other guys are going to move up. I just hope I’m the one moving up.

It’s an interesting leaderboard.

You’ve got a couple of California guys – Greg Gutierrez and Ishama Monroe – at the top. I hear they went over 30. As you might figure, Kevin VanDam is up there near the top. He’s probably going to take an overwhelming lead in angler-of-the-year points. It just amazes me the way Kevin is in it every time. I mean every time. And Skeet Reese is another California guy. He’s up there, too. That’s not a surprise, either.

I have to admit the last two tournaments were not what I wanted. At Lake Amistad I just didn’t put in the effort that I needed. Coming off the Classic, there were lots of demands on my time. I should have spent more time on the water, but I didn’t get to do that. As a result, I had a bad tournament.

Then we went to the Delta. And I fished hard at the Delta. But to be perfectly honest, the Delta just whipped my ass. We had about two-and-a-half days to work on that water, and that just wasn’t enough for me.

So coming here, I’d had two bad tournaments in a row. I can’t honestly say I was nervous or in a slump or anything like that. But I needed a good day.

I love Clear Lake. It’s a reservoir, and there are certain principals that apply when you’re fishing on a reservoir. I kind of have a feel for where fish are going to go. And man, there are some giants out there.

I caught two 7-pounders today.

I had time to work with them and I was able to bring them in. And I actually found another one that was not locked on a bed, he was swimming. When they’re swimming, you have to work them and it takes time.

But I like Clear Lake, because it’s about sight fishing is one of my specialties. If you’re not familiar with the term “sight fishing,” it’s hard to explain. Basically, I mean when a female goes on the bed, they won’t bite. You have to annoy them. Sometimes you cast around them, sometimes you go right at them. But pretty soon, out of anger they’ll bite.
It’s kind of like stalk hunting. You respond to the fish. You do whatever seems to irritate them. Sometimes you even hit them in the face.

Anyway, there was very little wind today and that makes for good sight fishing. I hope we have the same thing on Friday. My plan is to catch the limit, and I hope to get a big bite early.

Rayj0101 at Yardbarker said, “Only in a sport such as fishing could a Boyd Duckett win anything, and indeed he did.” Well, I’m not sure whether he’s referring to my name or my upbringing, but as a good southern gentleman, I’m going to go to assume that’s his way of paying a compliment. So, thank you… I appreciate the support!