After spending a busy Memorial Day participating in the Ultimate Match Fishing event, I’m recovering. I’ve got a lot of things going on with my business, which is called Southern Tank Leasing. But as far as fishing goes, I’ve to spend a few days resting up.
So I’ll be doing some work to do in my office today, then start packing again. We’re going to Smith Mountain Lake, close to Roanoke, Virginia - a deep clear lake, sort of a mountain lake, definitely a highland lake.
This is an Elite Series event, the Blue Ridge Brawl. And I need to do well. I’ve moved into the 50s in points. I had such a tough start. I started with two really bad events. But my goal, just like everybody else, is to get back into the top 36. That’s the magic mark to get an automatic qualification to the Bassmaster Classic. I’ve got an exemption this year, because I won this year’s Classic. But I don’t want to burn that exemption. I’d like to get back inside that top 36 and earn a spot through the points system. That’s my goal.
So I need to have some good events, make some cuts, and not burn that exemption.
I’ll tell you, though, Smith Mountain in June doesn’t promise a lot of big bites. I think there some be some deep bites, some drop shots, shaky head. I also think there will be some smallmouths. There could be a top water bite or two if you get on a ridge.
But I just don’t expect the lake to produce a lot of big weights. I’m guessing, from research on the Internet, that 10 pounds a day will put you in the running. Again, I’m just guessing, but it appears 8 or 10 pounds a day could put you in the running.
Another option is to go way up the river and do some river fishing. Fish aren’t as big up there, but there will be chances to get some keepers. So I might go after that. We’ve just got two days to practice, so I’ll probably go up the river during that time and see what it looks like.
Those are my two strategies.
A third pattern that’s fairly obvious is fishing the boat docks for largemouth. That’s how a lot of tournaments are won. But those spots are limited and there are 108 of the best fishermen in the world. So I’m probably not going to fight for that handful of good boat docks.
I hope everybody had a good memorial day. Boy, I had a busy one. I was on Kentucky Lake to fish the final rounds of the Ultimate Match Fishing tournament. What a fantastic event and great format. Don’t know if you’ve seen that, but it’s really interesting. I’m competing as part of the event that happens after the one that’s on television now.
The first round for us was at Lake Guntersville and the final rounds were the past few days at Kentucky Lake. There were 12 of the best anglers in the business there, and it was fun getting to compete in that event.
It’s a really interesting format. Two guys in a boat. They divide the event into four quarters, and one person controls the boat for two of the four quarters. The other person gets control the other two. And you have a referee.
Needless to say, the rules are different than our standard bass competition rules. For one thing, there’s a line painted in the center of the boat, and that line extends to infinity. And you’re in the rear of the boat for two quarters, either the first and third or second and fourth. There’s a lot of mental strategy that goes into the match events.
It’s completely different from our bass tournaments when we have eight or nine hours to fish, and you can go at your own pace. During our tournaments, if you get on to something good, you have time to work it, stay with it. Not here.
When you’re in the back of the boat, you’d be surprised how far backward you have to cast to avoid a penalty. And a penalty is 2/10 of a pound. That’s big.
If your competitor is savvy on which holes he’s fishing, he can back you into a position where you’ve got almost no water to fish in.
Basically you sit out those two quarters. The quarters are two hours long, so in that two hours of fishing time, the defensive fishing really comes into play. You have to pick areas where you hope you can catch fish, but you have to see to it that your opponent can’t. That part’s really interesting.
It’s one of the highest pressure events I’ve ever been in.
The season starts in July and it’ll air all the way through December. With 12 of the top anglers in the world, I think you’ll enjoy seeing how it unfolds.
Anyway, got through with that and came back to my office to get a little bit of work done before we start packing again. In a few days we’re off to Smith Mountain Lake near Roanoke, Virginia, for the Blue Ridge Brawl. That’s our next Elite Series tournament.
I’m at High Rock Lake near Greensboro for the first major tournament of the year - the Bassmaster American. And let start by saying my practice days were horrible. I never got on anything that was working. I didn’t get enough bites to establish any kind of pattern, and when you don’t see a pattern the only thing you have to go on is where the fish should be this time of the year.
So I made the decision to fish out in the main lake most of the day, and I didn’t catch a single fish that was longer than the 14-inch minimum. Zero. … Really a discouraging day. It’s the first time I’ve ever walked across a Bassmaster stage with nothing to show.
The tournament is over for me. It’s done, and I’ve got nothing to show for it.
It’s tough when you’re a competitor and you want to win. I had to be around people I’ve competed with and against. They know I’ve had some success. I won the Bassmaster Classic this year, and that was coming off a decent year last year.
Walking across that stage today with nothing to show was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. … But I did the only thing I felt like I could do. I went to the stage for the weigh-in and had my head up high. I stood up for my sponsors, and I tried to take it the best I could.
So that’s the news. It was a hard day. Somehow now I’ve got to put it behind me and get enough confidence to go out there and see if I can make something positive happen and get back in it.
As far as what to do, I have no idea. I’ll probably start further back in the creeks and see what happens. That’s where most of the guys that caught them were. … The main lakes didn’t work, and the few guys that were out there on the main lakes with me died with me.
I probably should type this thing in full, but it’s easier for me to give you an audio report of my trip to Las Vegas. That’s a whole different world from fishing on a quiet southern lake. I went out there for a short business trip. I played a little blackjack with my little bit of fishing money, and it was fun. But, I’m telling you, there are a lot of people from all over the world with a lot of money - and I don’t know where they get it.
But to be honest, after I got back home to Alabama I took a trip I liked better. I went to Tommy Wilcox’s Sweet Apple Farms and did one of Tommy’s outdoors shows. That’s some place. There’s a lot of lakes and a lot of fish, especially bass.
This weekend it’s off to the Bassmaster American, which is a major up near Greensboro, North Carolina. Looking forward to it. You can hear about these things by clicking on to this audio report.
I’m not asking anybody to feel sorry for me. I know better than that. But sometimes there are so many obligations and so much travel when you’re on a professional fishing tour, and the pace is so hectic, that I just get tired. And that’s what I am right now. Tired.
But I’ve had a fun week so far. I was involved in a real competitive match fishing event. I made this recording about what’s going on.
Sorry this is on the site a little late. Technical difficulties. But I wanted to put this audio on that I made at the end of the tournament at Guntersville.
Fishing in Alabama, my home state, I wanted a top 12 finish. I didn’t get it. I fished the main river most of Saturday, but I never got the big bites I needed. In retrospect, I might have done some things differently.
