BFL Recap

Fished the BFL Super Tournament last weekend. Things have been quite hectic this week and I have not had time to share how things turned out.
I practiced on Friday and found another couple of deep spots offshore that held fish that would hit a jig. I made the decision to start on two of the deep places close to the blast off area, then hit a couple of lines of docks, and then run down the lake and hit the other deep spots and then spend the rest of the day of docks.
I blasted off boat 66 and ran to the first spot. First cast I got bit and set the hook, breaking my rod in the process. Fortunately I was still able to land the fish, a good keeper. I missed another fish on this spot and my co-angler caught a keeper. I was glad to see that because he was in 11th place going into the tournament and one fish should put him in the regional.
Ran to my second spot and missed 2 more on the jig. For whatever reason they were not getting it like they had been. I then idled to the docks close by and on the second one I caught a 3.11 largemouth which ended up being the big fish for the tournament. I caught another keeper here and then ran down the lake.
I was not able to get bit deep down but was able to catch 3 more fish on docks and was able to cull up 2 tenths with the last one. I weighed in at 3:45 and had an even 10 pounds which put me in the top 20 percent and qualified me to fish day 2.
Day 2 was tough for me. Caught several fish but they were small - ended up with only one keeper and  finished dead last for the second day but still got a check for making day 2.
I was fortunate to have two great draws who were good fishermen and a pleasure to fish with.
After all was said and done I finished the year in 47th in the points, missing the Regional by two spots. I really thought if I made day 2 I would make it. The bottom line is the zero in the first tournament of the year put me in a hole that was tough to get out of.
I enjoyed fished the BFL this year but I do miss the team tournament format. I have talked with an old friend and we may fish the Palmetto Boat Center trail next year. I like the lakes and the championship time and location. I hope we can nail down a decision soon.
Cannot say enough for the support I have received this year from Anglers Choice Marine and RV, Ranger Boats, and Mercury Outboards. It has felt great to be competing again on a regular basis and I am so thankful to the Lord for restoring my health to the point I felt like it this year.
I think I will spend the fall fishing club tournaments, the Clark Hill Big Bass tournament, and a couple of open tournaments.
Looking forward to working at Anglers Choice in the morning for a while and help them out with Customer Appreciation Day.

Frog fish to start the morning...

High Rock BFL Practice

I have been practicing for the High Rock BFL  the past 3 weeks. The one thing I have figured out is what I find one weekend is not holding up the next. I am not really sure why this is - it might be I have not stumbled on the right pattern yet.
Two weeks ago I spent a full day on the water and caught around 15 with the best 5 going between 21-22. The next weekend I spent another full day and had one bite. The past Saturday I fished 11 hours and had 5 bites but all but one were good ones. I have not touched the areas where I caught the good ones week one - I am going to fish those regardless. I think I have a good plan combining things from the last three weeks and I am going to run some of this Friday when I practice. Hooks are bent and I am just looking for one bite in an area and then I will leave. I do plan to try to expand an area I found fish the last part of the day Saturday. There is more water I did not get to and I need to check it out Friday and see how much of the area I need to hit. There is enough water to spend at least a 1/2 day in.
I need a good tournament. The zero at Norman is still hurting me in the points and I have two opportunities to improve on it. A big key this Saturday will be whether or not I can get a couple of fish the first two hours. If I do then I feel good about weighing in a decent bag. But as always, if we get a bunch of rain at the end of the week and the lake rises and muddies up it might change what I need to be doing. Then it will be a matter of whether or not I can figure it out quickly enough.
I will post a report on the tournament this weekend.

Wylie BFL Post Tournament

Happy with an 18th place finish yesterday at the Wylie BFL. The lake is changing daily and it is hard to keep up with what is going on. Water temps ranged from 54-58 throughout the day and you can find most any color water you want to fish.

Ended up with 5 that weighed 11.12. I had located a couple of schools of fish off shore that would bite a carolina rig and my hope was for a quick limit of keepers and then fish a jig and chatter bait the rest of the day. The quick limit turned into about a half day of shallow and deep with only 2 very small keepers to show for the effort. Around lunch I made the decision to go jig fishing, and the area I was in had a few moved up. I boated 3 that were about 3 pounds each and lost 2 more.  I had the chance to have a top 5 day but I am thankful for the 18th, especially after Norman. Moved up 20 spots in the points and need to move about 25 more over the next three tournaments to be in qualifying position for the Regional at Hartwell. Next BFL is at Kerr at the end of April.

#AnglersChoice, #MercuryOutboards

Wylie BFL Practice

Over the past three weeks I have been spending time at Wylie preparing for the BFL this Saturday. It has been a struggle to stay on the fish - it seems they are here today and gone tomorrow. I have caught several nice fish on a jig but today the jig bite was nonexistent for me. My best day of practice was between 14.5 and 15 lb two weeks ago. Last week was decent but only early - I could not duplicate the pattern anywhere else. I put a lot of thought into todays final practice and made the decision to hit a few rocky places where I think they might stage looking for fish just moving up. I was able to find 4 places where I can get quite a few bites but the largest fish I set the hook on was about 2.5 or so. But I will be tickled to death if I can get 5 of those early. They were really biting right off the bat on these places so I feel good if they stay and I get the spots I can catch a limit. If so then a crank bait and jig will be in my hand the rest of the day. I will give more information this weekend on what I did differently and how the tournament turns out.