Rattletrap Ramblings

I’d like to report otherwise, but my first BASS Open was a complete disaster. I weighed in only 2 fish over 2 days for a whopping 3.5 lbs. I’ve fished in a lot of tough conditions and it’s definitely the worst I’ve ever done in any tournament in any condition.

I was catching literally 50 fish a day the week before the tournament and then one of the most severe cold fronts in Florida history blew through Okeechobee. The weather forecast was for warmer weather during the tournament but it wasn’t enough to warm the 40 degree water quick enough to make a difference.

The text book says you should punch matt during these conditions but I figured the water would warm enough to turn my shallow fish on. Well from the results you know those shallow fish never turned on.

I remember watching the Art of Angling by Rick Clunn before I left town and I should’ve followed his zen philosophy he spoke of in the show and looked at every day of practice as if it was the first day on the water.

Almost all of the top 30 punched matted hydrilla along the Moore Haven canal and I should’ve joined them. I figured there were 50 boats in there already and those fish were getting pounded but they all caught fish in there.

I’ve said it before on this blog and I’ve gotta learn to punch matt a little better. The next time there’s a severe cold front, I’m gonna go out to Lake Cypress and punch matt until my arms fall off. This is one technique I don’t have a lot of confidence in and it’s the best way to catch big fish when it’s super cold and super hot.

I went out on Saturday to see where the leaders were fishing and they were still along the Moore Haven canal punching matt so I know that it’s the way I should’ve fished. I watched Chris Lane yo yo a bait 15 to 20 times before he pitched to another spot. Also watched Russ Lane punch a matt for an hour without moving his boat. Randall Tharp and Larry Cahan were doing the same thing but moving around a little bit more all within 50 yards of each other. I saw Terry Scroggins the first 2 days of the tournament and he was punching matt along with everyone else but he took off along with Chris Lane towards the Sportsmans Channel. That Randall Tharp guy is one good fisherman and I’d love to be half as good as he is. I was shocked to hear he didn’t do better on the final day.

I wish I would’ve followed Chris Lane and Scroggins once they left Moore Haven but I’m pretty sure they went to some other matt or some shallower fish because the water had warmed enough by late in day 2 and second half of the final day.

It seems like you’re always learning something and I now know that I gotta get better at punching matt. All you had to do was catch 12 pounds over 2 days to make the top 30 and punching matt was the way to do it.

I guarantee you that the next time we get a severe cold front during a tournament in Florida, I’ll be dang good at pulling those suckers out of the matt.

This tournament sucked for me but at least I know where I need to improve.

JT Kenney had the best explanation of what happened during the tournament on the Anglers Channel. Here’s the link to the video interview he did http://www.anglerschannel.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=radio.home&filename=2010-01-17-07-bass.wmv

And I should’ve had only two rods on the deck for day 1 and most of day 2 like Andy Montgomery http://www.anglerschannel.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=radio.home&filename=2010-01-17-06-bass.wmv

The next time there’s a severe cold front around the spawn in Florida, I’ll have two rods to punch matt with and a flippin stick with a 3/8 ounce sinker to fish in water deeper than 3 feet and perhaps a skinny dipper and a fluke if the water temperature gets warm enough in shallower water.