The BWS Nationals on Santee Cooper whooped my butt this past week. I came to a fork in the road and took a wrong turn as far as I’m concerned. My plan for practice was to run upriver to the Swamp, Packs Flat, and Jacks Creek one day and to check out Moultrie another day and then decide where to fish the last half day of practice.
Well, let’s just say I didn’t stick with the plan. I ended up going to the lower lake for whatever reason on the first day and stayed there all day. There was clear water and lots of eel grass. I didn’t catch much but thought that I liked fishing grass so I’ll eventually find a stretch loaded up with fish. I searched for basically 3 days and never did find any grass with a group of fish.
I concentrated on grass in 3 to 5 foot of water thinking you’re more likely to find a group in slightly deeper water than really skinny water but I guessed wrong. The groups of fish were actually in real skinny water for some reason but they weren’t in the grass for the most part.
Since the fish were ultra shallow, the best bet would be to find a little more stained water but there was none on the lower lake. The water was down quite a bit and it took me the entire practice period to figure out how to navigate the lower lake. I knew the water upriver would be more stained but I had no idea how to run it up there. I decided I’ll figure out how to get there if nothing pans out on the lower lake but ended up not going at all.
The first day I started on the lower lake and fished grass for about 2 hours without a bite. I decided to run up to Jacks Creek but decided to make a stop in the Diversion Canal before I make that long run. Of course I get 3 bites right away but only 1 keeper. I then run to Eutaw Creek only to find a merry go round of bass boats along the best stretch. I get in line with everyone else and witness 5 other fish being caught with one being an 8 pounder… ouch.
I weigh in only 2 fish but I figured I was on the board and can make it up the next day. I run to the Diversion Canal first thing thinking I’d get a limit with a few hours but only short fish bit that day. I run to Eutaw and catch a 2 pounder and then a 4 pounder on a green pumpkin senko. Then the bass turned into mudfish for some reason caught 5 monsters of the wrong flava. I weigh in only 2 fish again and Santee Cooper is not fun any more with no chance of winning.
The wind got up so much the third day that I decided not to stray too far since I didn’t have a chance at doing anything and caught 2 keepers again but threw them back since there was sense in weighing them in.
I believe my mistake in this event was fishing clear water instead of stained water. Typically the stained water has more baitfish this time of the year and fish are way easier to catch when they’re shallow.
I really needed to go there before the cutoff and at least learn how to run the place but never could get time off of work.
I’d say Santee was a let down for sure but as always a humbling learning experience.
On a side note, I did hear from a few competitors that cashed a check at this event and heard their checks were reduced significantly from what was advertised. Also heard they bounced when they took them to the bank. Very suspicious.
I just returned from the BWS Regional on the Tensaw Delta in Alabama this past week and accomplished my goal of qualifying for the national championship at Santee Cooper where I’ll be fishing for $100k and a trip to the Classic. I’m getting so fired up thinking about that I’ve got to tell myself to chill the heck out, but it’s not every day you get to fish for much.
The Delta was a navigational nightmare and I’m ashamed to admit I had to get pulled out of a few places. A few sandbars, some mud flats…. you know. At high tide it’s fine, but when the water drops 2 feet then it can be a problem.
Anyway, the fishing was action packed. They were schooling everywhere on shad and every once in a while you hook into a 2 ft Red. It’s fun during practice but not during the tournament.
A cold front passed though the area the day I arrived and I figured they ought to be moving into the creeks. Within the first 5 minutes of fishing a small creek, I pull in a 3 pounder and a small limit within in an hour and I’m thinkin I like this place. The shad was everywhere and every few minutes you notice something spreading out the school like something was eating something.
It stayed cool for the first few days and I spent that time in practice exploring creek after creek finding the best schools of bass.
A warming trend started a day before the tournament and I didn’t think much of it until I checked what I thought was my best creek without a bite after an hour. A few days before, I could throw that Spook and caught nearly 20 fish in about the same time so I was starting to get baffled to say the least.
I check a few more creeks and nothing. No shad and definitely no bass.
Then I thought they might be in some of the lakes off the river but only small fish in those place.
I started feeling a little panic about half way through the last practice day. I decided to put my boat back on the trailer and launch in the northern part of the river. I went for a few a hours checking out various places on the river without seeing any fish nor any signs of life for that matter.
At about 4:30, I came across this point with timber at the end of it that intersected with a creek mouth and had deep water close by. Totally textbook with 2 pounds Coosa Spots going crazy on the shad. I caught 2 nice Spots and then watched for different areas of the point the fish were concentrating. I also noticed the current was ripping.
My experience during the week on the Delta told me that these fish needed current to get them to bite so I decided the best time to hit this spot was just before the tide was scheduled to move which was about noon on the first day of the tournament.
The first day of the tournament, I caught 3 fish in Miflin Lake on a War Eagle spinnerbait and Lucky Craft 1.5 and then proceed to run to the point at about 11:30. I was a little frustrated finding 2 boats already fishing the spot.
I told my co angler that we were just gonna fish nearby for a little bit and hope the boats leave. After about 30 minutes, both boats leave and finally get to fish this spot. My co angler said this place has been getting hammered and we should probably go elsewhere.
Well, we fish the spot anyway and I pull in a 2 pound Spot within 5 minutes. His tune changed a little when he saw that fish.
A few minutes later, one of the guys that left the spot comes screaming in with a few choice words and I said you left so it’s my spot now. My co angler then proceeds to start going on about this is what he hates about tournaments and suggested we leave. I agreed this is B.S. and we left.
I scream past the guy I got into a spitting match with and flick him off. I don’t know what good it did but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I never did get another bite the rest of the day and weighed in a whopping 5.5 lbs which was just good enough to get me in the top 50. I decided I probably should have stayed on the point and will start there on day 2.
The next morning, I notice the same boat screaming past me about half way to the point on the river and decided in that split second that I’m just gonna stay in Miflin all day. I pull in and catch a 2 pounder within a few casts and 2 more small fish on my trusty War Eagle spinnerbait within the next hour.
I thought I made a good decision, but didn’t get another bite for hours.
At about 10:30 I decide to check the point and of course, butthead’s sitting on it so I just keep going fished a few places on the main river to no avail. After about an hour and a half, I decide to check the point again and he’s still there so I ran back to Miflin to catch 1 more small fish.
I ended the day with 5.5 lbs again. I thought not being able to fill out my limit was gonna haunt me but I managed to finish around 40th place which was good enough to make it to the National Championship at Santee Cooper.
During the awards the ceremony, I notice that the winner of tournament was the knucklehead on the point. I thought you needed current to get that place really going but apparently not. I guess they bite there all day even without the current.
I wish I could say I figured something out but I’d say I’m a little more baffled then anything else. Every other spot I found wasn’t that good until the tide starting moving out but why’s this one different?
At least I accomplished my objective of qualifying for the National Championship and 5 foot low Santee here I come.
I’ve finally recovered from all the fishing in Lake Seminole and all the disappointment she dealt out. For a while, I was feeling like selling my boat and all my fishing equipment and calling it quits. I seriously gave it all I got and nothing to show for it. I pre fished 2 weeks for the BASS Open and fished another week for the Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional but still couldn’t manage a good result.
I had my mind made up before I ever set eyes on the place, that I’d be flipping matted hydrilla. Practice was phenomenal. I had numerous matts that I pulled 20 plus pounds out of and was feeling good about the tournament. The one thing I didn’t realize was how small Lake Seminole fishes. I had plan A, plan B, plan C, and plan D all for flipping matts and planned them according to wind, water level and clarity.
I really thought I factored in everything, except I forgot about fishing pressure. Every matt I found had 6 boats around it.
I ran to my best matts on day one of the Open and there was already someone sitting on a 20 yard matt I planned on fishing. No big deal, I went to some other matts nearby and nothing after 2 hours. At that point, I wasn’t worried since I had plenty of time and plenty of places to go.
I run to my second best place and there’s a bunch of boats on it. I’m like dam, I guess I’ll just jump in line and see what happens. A few pitches later ,I get a 5 pounder and the other boats are on me like flies. Among the boats here was Arnie Lane, who’s an awesome flipper and brother to Chris Lane and Bobbie Lane. I’d see him every time I made a lap around this matt and we’d ask each other how many we got that time around. After 3 laps, I had that lone 5 pounder and he had 2 little dinks. So I decide it’s time to move again.
I hit my plan C and plan D spots and I get nothing. There was at least 5 or 6 boats on each of those spots as well.
After day one, I was thinking I should’ve just stayed in the matt where I caught the 5 pounder and started day 2 there. The first pitch I get a short fish and get a nice keeper no too long afterwards. At this point I’m thinking I’m gonna spend the rest of the day over there but get nothing for another 2 hours and decide to leave. I get to another matt with 5 boats on it and jump in line. I get 4 bites and only get 2 to the boat.
A few more hours and I get fed up fishing around so many boats and run to a spot in Fishpond Drain. There were no matts, no other boats around, and pads everywhere. My co anglers catches two on a frog in the pads and I lose one and catch a small keeper.
We spent the last hour in that area and right when it was time to leave a school of about 200 fish start erupting. I wanted to stay but we had to start heading back to the ramp.
I ended up just outside the top 50 at the Open with 1o pounds, but was feeling pretty good about my chances for the Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional on the same lake.
The guy who won the Open punched matts near where I fished and an area in Fishpond Drain. I saw where he was fishing the last day. I also followed Derek Allen the final day and saw where he was fishing to finish second throwing frogs. Terry Scroggins, Cliff Prince, and JT Kenney finished in the top 5 and fishing within eyeshot of where I fished during the tournament.
The one thing I learned about flippin matts during the tournament was to use 25 lb fluorocarbon. My buddy Walt got paired with JT Kenney during the tournament and according to him, JT uses fluorocarbon to flip matts when there’s a really bad cold front or when there’s a lot of pressure on the fish. He says the sawing noise from braid can be detriment and fluorocarbon makes hardly any noise and also less visible.
I was a little scared trying it out, but that 25 lb fluorocarbon brings fish out just fine from matted hydrilla.
The next week of practice was good again. I learned a little trick for fishing matts in pressured waters and had a few more places to go. I practiced my friend Danny and could pretty much tell him that we were gonna get bit in the matt. I’d tell him we’ll get bit before that pocket or point in the hydrilla and BAM, I’d pull in a 5 pounder and say, “There you go clown boy”.
I also found another awesome spot where I pulled in an 8 pounder and got 5 bites in 10 minutes tucked way in the marsh where you literally have to climb over stumps and chew through numerous matts to get into. I thought I finally found a place to fish matts away from the crowd and thrilled about the Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional.
On day one, I start at one of the matts I fished during the Open and get a fish on the first pitch. I get the fish to top of the matt and it gets off. My co angler says something about bad luck getting a fish the first cast and it played in the mind a little bit.
I run to the schoolers in Fishpond Drain and the schoolers were coming up but they were small schools and they wouldn’t bite.
I start running to the area where the guy finished 2nd at the Open and I notice my boat won’t go over 4,000 rpm’s. I get there and my buddy Ben is already in there with another boat. I take 10 casts and leave. It’s a small area and I learned a thing or two about fishing pressure the past week.
My boat barely gets on plane on the way to the secluded hidden pocket I found. I get in there to surprisingly find 5 other boats in there already. I’m like you’ve got to be kidding me. Anyway, I spend 5 minutes in there and leave but my boat won’t get on plane anymore and I spend the rest of the finding someone to take in my co angler who had 1 fish.
I found out later that my spark plugs were fouled and learned a valuable lesson about how frequently they need to changed.
I finished the day without any fish and without a boat that runs. Thanks to the tournament officials who heard about my situation and gave me a boater on boater pairing for day 2 so I could fish the last day. It was even with my friend Danny who only had 1 fish on day one.
I told him that I guarantee we’ll both come in with a limit and all I got was a look of disbelief. Needless to say, there was lots of doubt in his mind.
We start on the same matt I started at on day one. I make a pitch short of the matt so I wouldn’t be jinxed by the first cast curse and then go on to bring in a nice 2 pounder after about 5 minutes. After about 30 minutes, we run to another matt I get bit but the fish comes off.
Another hour goes by and we run into my top secret matt that everyone knows about and much to my surprise there was no one in there. The other 5 boats that were in there the day before decided to abandon the place.
I was feeling good about this place but only until we flipped matts for an hour without getting a bite. Then I remembered a small school of fish that came in practice in the middle of this pocket. I throw my rattletrap in the middle of the pocket and get a 2 pounder. I get a fish on each of my next 5 casts and had my limit.
At this point, my buddy Danny didn’t have a fish in the boat so I gave him one of my white rattletraps and told him he needed to yo yo it. He ties it on and on the first cast, the trap goes 50 feet in the air and comes straight down and sinks into oblivion. He either tied it wrong or clipped something on the cast but that trap was long gone so I give him another one. A few casts later, he had his first fish and his limit by the end of the day.
We weigh in and I end up with a little over 9 pounds and my buddy Danny ends up with 10 pounds. It was small bag but I thought it would be enough to get us in the National Championship at Guntersville. The cut ended up being 9.5 pounds and I missed out getting in by a few ounces, but my friend Danny got in.
Needless to say, I felt pretty disgusted with fishing in general and probably why I haven’t post in a while. I put in a lot of work and nothing to show for it. My friend Danny probably would have figured something out on his own, but he agreed to go where I wanted and it worked out for him. I was really grateful just to be able to fish day 2 and be able to fish my spots.
It’s been a pretty mediocre year for me. I have much higher expectations for myself and have a tendency to beat myself up. The one thing that I can say is that it’s been a year of learning. Each Open dealt me a lesson this year. Okeechobee showed me that flippin matts is the way to go when there’s a cold front in Florida, Smith Lake taught me how to catch suspended fish in 100 feet of water and to move out with the fish as the water level drops, and Seminole just taught me a bunch of humility.
I wish I had enough money to fish the Opens again in 2011 especially since the opening event is on my home lake, Lake Toho. I’m gonna try to get into this single event, and will have to wait and see if I get in on December 14th.
I’ll probably focus more on the BASS Federation Nation next year. The entry fees are low, payouts are good, and a well run tournament trail. It’s probably the most affordable way to make it to the Classic. Thanks to bassclubnews.com for paying for my BASS Federation entry fees in 2011 and keeping my dreams alive for making the Classic one day.
I’ve finally fixed everything on my boat to fish in Dardanelle next week for the BWS Championship. I bent back my steering wheel after my co-angler fell on it at the Tenn Tom, replaced the transducer on my trolling motor, and replaced some battery straps. Sure hope I don’t break anything on this trip.
I’ve watched the 2009 Elites tournament, the 2007 Legends tournament, and the 2009 FLW tournament on DVR way too many times. If I hear Mark Zona say “What I mean by that is” one more time I’m gonna puke.
I’ve extensively studied the map, looked on Google Earth a gazillion times, and looked up every tournament at Dardanelle I could find on the internet, so I think I’ve done as much as I can do without actually going on the water which will be this coming Sunday.
I’m packed up and ready to begin driving this Friday. Judging from the regionals on the Tenn-Tom, the fish should still be following the shad in the backs of creeks and it’s been raining there so that’s where the water will be the clearest, I think. I’ve been thinking a lot about running up river 30 to 40 miles to get away from the crowds, but it could all change once I see the conditions.
Anyway, the thought of possibly making the Classic is almost too much to bear and the money wouldn’t hurt either. This will be the first time I’ve fished a 4 day tournament, but I think I like this format because it allows you to adjust the next day. I can’t tell you how many times I reflect on those 1 day tournaments and go back to kill’em the next time out.
The only problem is that I’m hearing the fishing’s been tough and it only took 25 pounds for 2 days to win the tournament last week there. It seems like 12 to 15 pounds a day will put you in the running.
Supposedly swimming and flipping a jig is the best way to catch the hawgs out there, but I never use those lures. I guess I’ll have to learn on the fly or figure out something else they’ll eat.
In any case, I’m confident I have a good a chance of winning as anyone else there and will give it everything I’ve got (not that I don’t do that all the time).
I’m off to Palatka to start practicing for the BWS 2 day tournament on the St. Johns River this weekend. Today’s a total mess and trying to hurry up and finish up work before I leave. I planned on going this morning, but of course I had an appointment so I had to wait til the afternoon to leave.
I wish I can just call Terry Scroggins, Preston Clark, or Brian Hudgins to figure out some spots but I gotta do it the old fashioned way and find’em myself.
Anyway, I’m gonna launch on Lake Crescent this afternoon and try to find some fish offshore first. Then I’ll probably beat the bank a bit and head over to Dunns Creek. I believe the winning fish are here, but it could all change if I don’t get any bites today.
I’ll probably spend some more time here on Thursday and try some of the laydowns and sandbars on the main river. I’d love to get on a crankin bite but it’s all dependent on the wind and tide.
The forecast is for ideal SW winds on Friday and Saturday and that’s when I’ll concentrate a bit more on the offshore bite and the main river.
My thoughts are that the Bomber Fat Free Shad in Citruce, Rapala DT 10 in Firetiger, Bomber 2A in firetiger, Xcalibur xr75 1K in Foxy Shad (saw Scroggins on St. Johns River episode of Classic Patterns), Gitem Curly 10 in junebug, Gitem Warlock in junebug, and Gitem Sugar in black and blue sapphire will be my go to baits and perhaps a white Gitem Shad in the eel grass if I find any.
I’ve never done real well on the river, but I know there’s good fish out there to be found. If I find a good enough place, even my grandmother could catch 15 pounds out there. I’ll be searching from sun up until sun down chowing on some P, B, and J’s for a week.
I hope I see some schoolers where I can get 2 or 3 real quick.
Well, the cold front has moved in Central Florida with rain and colder temperatures. I’ve been stuck inside all day, so I decided to walk my secret farm pond down the street from my house at around 4:30 when the rain stopped. I threw out my green pumpkin chatterbait a few times and hooked into this hawg on the fourth cast. This little pond is phenomenal and I’m glad I was throwing 20 lb test. I go here to get confidence with new baits.
I’d say this fish was about 26″ and filled out as much as a fish can in these parts so I think it weighed around 8 pounds. She looks like she’s getting ready to bed already. The photo doesn’t show it that well, but it was a thick fish.
I gotta get a john boat to take out on this pond someday. I catch one about this size or larger about every 5 or 6 trips which typically runs about an hour at a time. It’s a great place to clear my head and catch some giants. This place makes me think I’m a bassin genius.
I spent a few hours on the Clermont Chain today and found some nice fish on Lake Susan. I concentrated on laydowns that extended out into deeper water with a Rapala DT Fat in the Parrot color. The extra buoyancy you get from this balsa crankbait made it a lot easier to swim through the timber in the areas I’ve lined on the map. The winds were howling out of the south and Lake Susan was one of the few places you could get out of the wind. It just so happens some nice fish were hanging around here as well. I caught a 5 and a bunch of fish between 2.5 lbs and 3.5 lbs.. I thought today would be a good day since there’s a cold front coming in this evening with temperatures dropping from a comfortable 80 degrees to a high of 66 degrees. Water temp was in the low 70′s but I’m sure it’ll be much lower after this cold front passes. Hopefully the water temp will drop quickly and stabilize so we can start seeing some spawning when we get a warm up.
Well, I’ve spent tons of money on gas and at least 7 days from sun up until sun down trying to find fish on the Kissimmee Chain and they are hard to locate. Every time I think I have a spot, I’ll go back and get blanked. I don’t think the fish have settled into their fall pattern yet and moving around a lot. Needless to say, I didn’t feel real confident about my spots so I decided to save my entry fee.
The most consistent spots were small clumps of reeds mixed in with kissimmee grass or lily pads. The cuts in the hydrilla were also good but I think the bigger ones are in the thick stuff. I thought they’d be on the east side of Kissimmee and they weren’t. The spots were on the north end.
I’m gonna start focusing on the Harris Chain for the rest of the year since the first event of the weekend series will be there. We’ll see how it goes. Phil from Lake County Bass said he’ll show me around a bit. I’m lookin forward to it.
I’ll be curious to see where everyone is fishing out on Kissimmee. I’m gonna take a spy trip for a few hours on Friday.
I went out on Lake Kissimmee yesterday and it was pretty tough. It took me all day to find some fish and they weren’t on the east side where I looked most of the day. I launched at Overstreet and noticed the cows laying down on the way in. My buddy Walt says if the cows aren’t grazing and there’s no birds then you might as well turn around and go back home cause the fish ain’t bite’n either. Well, I didn’t go back home after my hour drive but the fish weren’t bite’n.
I had about 5 hits early on with a frog and speed worm but couldn’t get any of them in the boat. After a while, I started giving them a lot of time to get the bait and still couldn’t get them. I mean I let this fish peck at my worm for close to 20 seconds and it just let it go.
I did finally run into a spot where I caught 5 fish in an hour but nothing big. It seems like the fish are on the reeds these days for whatever reason. I didn’t figure out much today. I hope I figure something out tommorow.
I went out on John’s Lake in Winter Garden yesterday for a few hours of relaxin and the fish are super shallow and real tight to the cover. The only way I could get a bite was to flip into some nasty places with a Junebug Silver creature bait from Gitem Baits that looks just like the Sweet Beaver from Reaction Innovations and a 3/8 ounce sinker. I think they’re still buttoned up from the cold front but should be getting real active next week with the water temps dropping into the 60′s and 70′s. The fish I caught were few and few between but all at least 2 pounds.
The BWS Nationals on Santee Cooper whooped my butt this past week. I came to a fork in the road and took a wrong turn as far as I’m concerned. My plan for practice was to run upriver to the Swamp, Packs Flat, and Jacks Creek one day and to check out Moultrie another day and then decide where to fish the last half day of practice.
