Murray Practice

Spent the past two weekends practicing for the first PBC Trail tournament at Murray. Spent yesterday almost exclusively idling and looking for spots off the bank - I didn't fish any of the stuff I normally would. This is what I looked like for about 6 hours yesterday....

I did manage to catch one fish off the two places I found that I like but it was the wrong species and an ugly one at that...

Looking forward to the tournament. I expect conditions to change a good bit between now and the tournament on February 1st. Water temps will cool and unless we get a good bit of rain I expect the water mid-lake and up to clear somewhat. Still two weeks to prepare...for now I am going to fish Lake James tomorrow and see if I can get on some smallmouth. Sure hope to have some good video to share tomorrow afternoon.

Next Saturday Andy Greene and I are back at Hartwell for the CATT Championship. Putting all our eggs in one basket...hero or zero.

Fall Fishing at Hartwell/Shoutout to Anglers Choice

I have enjoyed the last two Saturdays fishing at Hartwell. By far my favorite lake. The bite has been okay but I am struggling to find quality fish. Looking at the results of the BASS Nation tournament this past week I am not the only one!
The water temp was 70 two Saturdays ago and yesterday I fished water from 53-60. I anticipate the water will cool further this week with the cold front coming in...I would like to see it in the mid 50s in the area I am fishing in the CATT tournament next weekend. I feel like those bigger fish will move to where I have been fishing for them.
Thanks to Anglers Choice for their willingness to go the extra mile. Got a text from Andy week before last and he was looking at the data from my Vesselview Mobile and was able to tell what service my 4 stroke Mercury needed. I have put over 160 hours on the motor in the first year - I ran it for the first time one year ago today. I don't believe lots of dealers would be taking the time to check on their customers to this extent. Great job! If you are in need of a new/used boat, UTV, or Camper, be sure to give the folks at Anglers Choice a shot at your business. Customer service is just as important as the initial deal, and these folks are among the best.

Lake Hartwell Report

Fished Hartwell again today. Had a great day as far as bites and numbers go but the size was not there. I did lose a big fish that hit a jig on a deep rock but never saw it. Got it about half way up from 25 feet deep and it just pulled loose.
Most of the fish today came on a square bill - main lake and creeks, dirty water and clear. No real pattern other than rock had to be present. However, they are not on every spot by any means.
Hope everyone caught them today if you were able to go...probably hitting Norman next week.

Lake Hartwell Tournament

Fished the tournament at Hartwell today. We caught plenty of fish but never could get the right size. Caught fish on jig, crank bait, and soft plastic. Most were in 4-10 feet of water. Water conditions are really unusual right now. Usually Hartwell would be 7-10 feet low right now and the temps from the mid-40's to low 50s, depending on where you are. When the water is low it really bunches the fish up and they are easier to locate. Added to that is the water is as high as 56 in areas I have seen it in the mid-30s in January. I think the fish are confused (well at least I am) and they have plenty of water to roam around in right now.
Will start practicing at Norman next week for the first BFL tournament. I will share some info as that process gets underway. Hope everyone had a great Saturday and I am looking forward to church in the morning and then lunch at the Green Tomato in Greenville.

Tournament Practice at Hartwell

Spent the day at Hartwell today. I spent the first 3 hours fishing deep rock and cranking a square bill on rocky points. I caught a limit on the square bill with the biggest about 3 pounds. I think we can catch quite a few on a crank bait Saturday but I don't know if we would have the quality we would need. I did get two jig bites (bent hook so not sure of size) on deeper rock and my gut tells me that is the way to get the bigger bites.

After 3 hours I spent the rest of the day in the backs of creeks flipping a jig and throwing a spinnerbait. Water temp. was 56 (amazing for January!) but I never got a bite. I never saw any bait or any fish moving. There is a one mile stretch of our best water that I never touched. Hopefully we will do well there and have the things I found today to fall back on if we need a fish.

I could not be happier with how my boat did in the shallower water. I say shallower because the flats I fished were deeper than I have seen them in some time. However, I was very happy with how the boat performed and I never had any issues with access. This is a topic I will revisit several times as we get into spring and summer.

Spending tomorrow getting things ready and I will report on our tournament this weekend. I will post a pic tomorrow of what I am taking - I plan to travel light.