Again, I haven’t been able to do this blog for a couple of days. There’s just too much going on right now between staying in Greenville and going down to Hartwell Lake and practicing.
But I appreciate the nice comments. And, honestly, on the shoes I just go for what’s comfortable. And red. I’ve got a dozen or so pair of shoes and I rotate them. They’re all different brands. I just look for comfort, something that lets me move around and stay on my feet.
Well, if you follow the Classic you probably know what’s going on here. Rain, cold weather, a chance of sleet. … Hartwell Lake hasn’t had any rain to speak of in what seems like a year, and we got enough this week to raise the lake level a foot and a half and mess up some great shallow fishing holes. … I had a spot. Man, did I have a great spot. Fish on top of fish. But it’s gone now. Nothing but a muddy, empty creek.
Oh, well, you take what the weather gives you. And to be honest, I’ve still got places to fish. But this is going to change things. It’s really going to hurt the shallow bite, but the deepwater guys are going to do well now. … No matter, it looks like we’re going to be out in our boats in a lot of cold weather with wind and rain. It ought to be quite a day on Friday. The anglers against the fish and the elements.
Other than the weather, it’s been a good Classic week. Greenville is doing a great job hosting this thing. And ESPN is really into the coverage this year. We got a chance today to see the commercials ESPN put together after Bobby Knight spent time with Timmy Horton, Gerald Swindle and me. Man, what a day that was. I’d have to say, Bobby Knight’s just a commanding in person as he is on TV. … No, I take that back. He’s more, way more commanding.
When I was asked to go to Lubbock, Texas to film this commercial, I was ready. I had an idea what we were getting into, but I didn’t want to miss this chance. And here’s what happened.
Bobby Knight talked to us, the three of us in chairs in front of him. He just talked to us, and he knew his stuff. He knew his stuff. He knew things about all three of us. He gave Timmy hell about his long hair. And he talked to Gerald awhile about being so good and never finishing first in a tournament. … He actually went kind of easy on me. He looked at my shoes and asked me if I always wear those read shoes. I said, “Yessir, I think they might be lucky.” He stared at the shoes and at me and said, “Well, to tell you the truth I kind of like them.”
The main thing I remember is that when he talked, we listened. I mean, you don’t talk when he’s talking.
After he did his thing, he took us on a tour around the athletic complex. He was like Moses parting the waters when he walked the halls. People just moved out of the way when we came through. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it.
He also gave us shooting lessons. Man, we were bad. My three-point shot was awful, but Timmy and Gerald weren’t much better.
Then a few days after we left, he resigned. I don’t know what to think about that.
You know, I’ve kind of missed doing this blog.I started it early last season because, to be perfectly honest, I got talked into it. After the Classic last year, I got into a discussion with a couple of friends about what I’d like to accomplish during my first year on the Elite Series tour. I mentioned some personal goals, but I also told them I wanted to do what little I could to help the sport grow. To make a long story, somebody said, well, since I had just won the Classic, people might actually be interested in hearing what I had to say about fishing – at least for a few months.
So, out of that conversation came this blog. It was tough early on because I didn’t do too well the first half of last season. But the second half of the season was a lot better, so the words came a little easier.I sort of got away from the blog at the end of last season. One of the reasons was simply that it was the end of the season. But the other was that I was backed up with a lot of other obligations that I couldn’t tend to during the season.
The offseason was hectic. I probably had a higher travel pace during the offseason than I during the tournament season. I’ve been all over the country working for my sponsors, especially Berkeley and E21. I’ve also had the opportunity to do some seminars and shoot some television commercials. One of them was a promo for this year’s Bassmaster Classic and we shot it with Bobby Knight, right before he resigned as coach at Texas Tech. I hope the commercial still runs. That was fun.I’m a little hesitant to talk about my schedule, though, because I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining or whining. Believe me, I’m not.
But the reality is that I spend about 50 percent of my working time on professional fishing obligations and the other 50 percent on my business, Southern Tank Leasing. … I wish I had more time to devote to both of them, but things are what they are. So I do what I can to take care of both businesses.
That said, I’ve tried to devote as much time as possible to the Classic. I’d like to defend the Classic title. It won’t be easy, but I’d sure like to win another one. Hartwell Lake is a good lake for the Classic, and it will be a challenge. I spent some time at the lake before our cutoff date, and I’ve fished sunup to sundown during this week’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday practice days.
The good news is I think I’m ready. I’m going to catch some fish. I think I have a good feel for the patterns on this lake, and I’ve got some spots picked out.
But there are a lot of other anglers that are going to catch them, too. More on that, tomorrow.
I thought about this driving down here, but I just never seem to have any luck catching fish in Florida. I’ve never been down here at a time when fish were biting good, so I just don’t know anything about the patterns.
I wish I could say things were different this week, but as of today - Thursday - nothing’s changed. I caught three fish that total 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Believe it or not, I’m not out of it because most everybody else is struggling, too.
It’s Monday morning. I’m back in Alabama after a hectic week in Arkansas. But to say it was worth it would be an understatement.
I enjoyed the heck out of my week at Lake Dardanelle, and I couldn’t be happier to win the tournament that honors Ray Scott. I’ve been a member of BASS since 1971, and I’m pretty sure all of us who have been around for a few years understand that this playground we’re competing on now is here because of the ideas and the work of Ray Scott.
Overall, I couldn’t be happier. It was a tough tournament. Challenging from start to finish. Below this you’ll find the button that kicks of about a five-minute audio blog. It goes into what I was doing the last part of the tournament. I hope you enjoy it.
Well, I’m heading into Day three at the Legends tournament, which is a Six hole format. It will be really different to have to move from hole to hole on a short time clock, but I’m really excited about the next two (hopefully) days of the Legends tournament.
Click on the audio button below to listen to my thoughts going into Day Three.
Pretty darn happy with my weigh-in on Day Two as you can see here:
Here is a good picture of the launch area for the Legends tournament, with the power plant cooling tower in the background:
The Bassmaster Legends. This is quite a challenge. You find out for sure that fishing is an athletic sport when you spend 12 hours on the water in about 100-degree weather. It gets rough, especially toward the end of the day.
I’m not too familiar with this lake, so I’m trying to work my way through this. This is the first day of the tournament and I had a decent day. I’m in 11th place.
I just finished up at the Potomac River. It was a fantastic tournament.
I know I mentioned in this blog how the practices were tough. Well, in the end it was one of those events you really appreciate. There was just not a lot to work with, but I was able to hold my place. I moved up every day and finished seventh. I’m pleased no end, having found so few fish in practice.
I guess that’s one of the things I wanted to talk about and take away from the Potomac event. I need to learn from this event. In a lot of my Elite Series events I’ve pressed. I’ve pushed harder because of this league. I’ve bowed to that pressure. I go out and I want a tournament plan. I want to follow it.
But it just doesn’t always work that way.
Some of the top fishermen, they listen and bend. I watched Skeet Reece fish, and he won the tournament. But he’s fished well all season. Ninety percent of the events he goes into, he has tremendous confidence and knows he’s going to catch them. He’s the best bass fisherman in the business right now.
Kevin VanDam is the same way. Year in and year out, he does the same thing. And even at this level, I believe that’s what makes the difference in those top eight or ten guys. Event after event, some guys are in it. It’s not skill level, it’s mind level. These guys stay calm and open-minded, they don’t bow to pressure.
A couple of times I finished well this year, but I didn’t maximize my potential. It’s not a matter of where you finish. It’s a matter of taking what you have to work with and being calm. You maximize what you work with. I get myself in that position.
That’s what I’m going to strive to do more of. I’ve got two more events this year. One of them is the major at Darnenelle. My performance in the Majors has not been good. I haven’t focused. It’s been completely the opposite of what I had happen. Maybe I can to go Dardenelle next week, open my mind up and get the job done.
I’ve been away from the blog for a few days, so I need to point out that my practices before this tournament, the Capitol Clash on the Potomac River, were awful. But I wasn’t alone. Almost everybody was complaining.
So I’ve been real surprised and happy at the way this tournament has gone so far. After the second day I’m in 21st place. That may not sound great, but trust me - I’ll take it.
I’m feeling pretty good right now. Just finished the final round of the Empire Chase on Lake Erie, and I wound up in sixth place. I’m happy with another top 12 finish. I started the day in tenth place, got a bag of just over 20 pounds and wound up sixth.
Edwin Evers won. Nobody could catch him. I thought there might be some luck involved in this one, because most of us were generally fishing the same way. But Edwin led every day, and that does not sound much like luck.
Lake Erie is a fantastic place to fish, one of the great smallmouth fisheries in the country. Lots of two- to four-pound fish. Really, there’s probably not another place in the country like it for those kind of fish.
On Sunday, just like the first two days, I caught my fish in about 25 feet of water. Same strategy. And they just kept coming.
Now it’s on to Syracuse and Lake Oneida for a major tournament. If you looked at this blog, you heard me whining about being sick last week. Well, I feel better, but now I’m just plain tired. I’m doing this blog while driving from Buffalo to Syracuse, where it will be up again early Monday morning to start getting ready for another tournament.
It’s a good thing, but I am tired.
Here is are some photos from the tournament:
The 12 Elite Anglers heading out of Buffalo on Sunday
Talking to a reporter before the Sunday launch (above) and signing autographs (below)
Well, it was the first day of the Empire Chase tournament and it was a crazy day on an amazing lake. The wind made it hard to move, but I had a good day. I got 18-7.
As tough as it was, I hope we stay out there. I’m afraid they might decide that the wind is too dangerous and restrict us to the Niagara River. I don’t think I’ll do well if we have to fish the river, because I only spent about two hours practicing there.
