2007 Bassmaster Classic Champion

This tournament is different. I can’t recall the last time, if ever, I’ve gone out to practice for a tournament and been able to see every other boat. That’s almost the situation.

We’re on Lake Erie and we’re all doing about the same thing. We’re hanging close enough in to the shore where our boats can get back. And we’re all fishing on humps and ridges that we’ve found. Luck might have a lot to do with who wins this tournament. 

After I called in to this blog and talked a little about the tournament, I called in again because I wanted to say that we’re all sad about the death of Tim Tucker. He was a good outdoor writer, and was good for our sport. He was also nice to me, and we’re going to miss him.

Before I complain about my not-so-great week, I’d like to tell you that since I’ve been working on this blog I’ve tried to look a little bit at what other people are doing. There are some good blogs out there, but I wish there were more of them in the fishing world.

I like the way ESPN Outdoors is offering blogs. There are good ones on that site, and you’ve probably seen them. If you haven’t seen my friend Angie Thompson’s site, you might want to give that a try, because it’s a really interesting. She’s a producer at JM Associates, a company that makes a lot of outdoor television for ESPN and others. Angie talks about what we do in the competitive fishing industry, and she does it from a front-row seat.

I had a few weeks that you’d think would be kind of quiet, but it seems like it’s never quiet. I was extremely busy with Southern Tank Leasing, my business. (Yes, I know, that’s a shameless plug.) I also have been moving. And that doesn’t leave a lot of time for fishing.

So, needless to say, after a busy couple of weeks it was important for me to get back focusing for my “real” business: fishing the Elite Series tour. Although it was going to be a little late, my plan was to start late last week fully concentrating on the next Elite Series stop: the Champion’s Choice on Lake Champlain, in upstate New York.

But sometimes plans don’t work. I got some kind of flu virus last week, and it’s really been working on me. I went to the doctor and got antibiotics, but it’s difficult to get back on top of things when you have to run as hard as we run during these tournaments. We’re always on the go, and we don’t get much sleep.

Well, all of that said, I’ve now completed two days of practice and I actually feel a little better. But not much, because the tournament starts on Thursday - and I’m not finding many fish.

Maybe it’ll get better tomorrow.

Well folks, I had another good day on Dan 4 at the Sooner Run, and I wound up finishing at No. 8. I wish it had been better, but I can’t complain about two top 10 finishes.

I caught them good, but not as good as Kevin VanDam. Man, he knows how to get them. I admire the way he works them. He also gets a great deal of positive attention, and that’s good for our sport.

Here’s the audio post:

A good day, even though I had to go to backup plans. There was a lot of boat traffic on the points. Thursday I had them pretty much to myself.

But I’m in this thing, moved up to fourth with a big bag. Please check out this audio. 

Grand Lake, Oklahoma. First day of competition, and it was a good one. Everything went my way. I had 17-7 and that put me tied for 15th, I think it was, with Davy Hite, another one of those South Carolina anglers.

There’s a bunch of good ones from South Carolina. Davy’s a good one, so is Jason Williamson, he’s going to be tough. Marty Robinson had a 20-pound bag today. Casey Ashley won in Virginia. I probably missed somebody, but that state’s putting out some guys that know how to catch fish.

But back to my catch. I would have thought 17-7 would be good enough for a top 5. There are just so many incredible anglers out here it seems almost impossible to get to the top. You have a great day and there are still some guys that did better. But that’s just the way it goes, I guess. I just have to keep plugging and run a few of those good days together.

Although it shouldn’t have been , it was surprising to me how well everybody caught them. I thought I was on a good pattern - and I really was. I did about as well as I could have expected. The cut is over 14 pounds. That’s amazing.

 The key is going to be going out and doing it all over again, get into Saturday and then see if you can get the big bite that will get you into the magic top 12 so you can get a little TV time.

What I’m going to do is go out and fish the deep water, throw the jig a lot and get on some secondary points. It’s going to be interesting. Wish me luck.

I’m excited. We’re about to start on what I hope is another good one. Coming of a sixth place finish at Smith Mountain Lake, I really could use another top 12.

This is a great place, and I think there will be some good fish caught. My friend, Jeremy Starks, was telling me a little while ago that he thinks that 11 and 12 pounds won’t be nearly good enough. I agree with him. Fifteen or better would be more like it.

I’m going to start in shallow water early. That will be sort of a warmup. Then I’m going to some points and hopefully catch a few bigger fish in the deep water.  … Wish me luck.

On this audio clip, I talk a little more about the strategy.

This has been a trip of surprises. It’s my first time on Grand Lake. You read and hear it’s a deep, clear lake. But there’s been so much rain here, it’s deep and muddy. I mean really muddy.

But, boy, there are a lot of fish. They’re everywhere, so the key is to find the right spots to get the size you need.

One other thing, I’m still learning about the best ways to deal with the blog. I’ve noticed some questions are coming in. If they’re quick answers, I’ll try to respond right in the comments box. Other questions require some thought and maybe a lengthier opinion. I might not get to those right away.

Anway, here are a few thoughts about what I’ve seen so far. 

I want to thank you for responding to these blogs. Wheeler Bros. asked what bait I was using when I was fishing the deep water at Smith Mountain Lake.

It was a Berkeley 6-inch hand-pour finesse worm, a red crawler. It worked good. I would recommend it.

I spent a little time making this audio that talks about the lakes we’ll be fishing on the Elite Series tour in 2008. Mainly I just ramble about what I know about the kind of fishing they offer.

I will say that they’ve chosen some great places to fish. It’s going to be a good season, I think.

I’ve had a few days now to recover from our tournament at Smith Mountain Lake, where I finished sixth. 

Although I’ve been trying to take care of some other business, we did have some big news this week in our world. ESPN and BASS announced the 2008 schedule. They also announced some other changes that we’re going to be living with, and some of them are real good. Others are not so good for the anglers, but that’s part of the business.

We had a chance to have a conference call with the folks that operate our tournaments. All of the anglers had a chance to get in on the calls, and it was a good opportunity for us to hear them and for them to hear some of our concerns and questions.

I talk a little bit about the conference call on this audio clip. I’ll put in another blog entry, hopefully tomorrow, that talks about some of the places we’ll be fishing.

We finished the Elite Series tournament at Smith Mountain Lake yesterday. I was sixth. And, believe me, I’m happy with that. If I can fish against the best in the business and come away from one of these tournaments with a top 12 finish, I’m good with that.

But I got a bonus. Casey Ashley won, and I almost feel like that was a victory for me. I’ve known Casey pretty well for the the past couple of years. He’s a good young man and a good angler.

I talk a little on this audio blog about my recent history with Casey and with Jeremy Starks and Jason Williamson, another couple of really strong, young anglers.