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.

Christmas Break Report

My family and I enjoyed a great Christmas together and, being off for two weeks, I was able to fish 9 days out of the 14. It has been a long time since I have fished 4 days consecutively but I had a blast.
Andy Greene and I fished three tournaments during the break. We fished the CATT trail at Hartwell one Saturday and finished third. We caught our fish on jigs, creature baits, crankbaits, and Arigs on main channel structure. We have struggled to catch the quality we need but feel if the water temp will fall a little more that our weights will go up.
My son and I fished Murray for stripers one day. We only managed 2 keepers and we caught 10 I think but I want to share something that happened. We, along with about 5 other boats, found stripers in one area. One of the other boats was really catching them and the rest of us were catching one every little while. I kept looking at what they were doing and exactly what they were using and realized they were using a single swim bait. I sat down and started going through my tackle and the guy in the back of the boat catching them asked me if we had any swim baits. I told him I had some 3.5s and then he asked about the size jig heads I had. I told him 1/8th was the biggest so he idled over and gave us a bag of swimsuits and heads like they were using. And, it made a difference in the bites we were getting. I appreciate those guys taking time to help us out. I do not know their names but they were from Kings Mtn., NC.
The rest of the time I spent at Lake James. I have known James as the Dead Sea for as long as I can remember but I have more confidence to catch a big bag there than anywhere else right now. I spent several days just looking for new places and only found one. We fished two tournaments and finished second in one with 16+ and third in the other with about 12. Those smallmouth are a ball to catch and there are always a few largemouth sprinkled in.
It is time now to focus on Lake Murray in preparation for the first PBC tournament of the season. I think it is critical we get off to a good start in the points. The top 100 have the chance to fish for 50K this October at Hartwell.

Hartwell Reports from 12/14 and 12/21

Fished tournaments the past two weeks on Hartwell. Two weeks ago fished a benefit tournament for a family who lost their home in a fire. Big 20 pound sack took first place and then it fell to 13 and down. We finished 5th I think with 12.51. We were .15 out of the money. We caught quite a few fish but could not get the big bite we needed. Focused on wood cover on the main channel flipping jigs and plastic. Caught fish on Arig as well in some ditches.
Yesterday we fished the second CATT tournament. Fished same pattern and caught fish but once more could not get a big bite. Had a couple of snafus that might have cost us a little weight but those things happen. Had 10.10 as I recall and 15 won and there were lots of 12 pound bags. Been close but haven't been able to seal it yet. Back at Hartwell this coming weekend. Planning to practice this Friday and hope to be able to expand our area. Will report back next weekend. Good fishing!!

Treble Hook in Thumb

Fished solo at Hartwell today and ended up with a treble hook in my thumb. Not the first time this has happened and I tried to explain the process I used to remove it on video but, after reviewing the video, it was apparent I did not do a very job so I am going to explain the process here. Hopefully this will help someone down the road who is not familiar with this method. The first step is the most difficult - removing the hook from the fish. You have a death grip on the fish with your free hand while trying to take the hook out with the hand that is impaled with a hook. Once the fish is free, the next step is to cut the split ring on the hook attached to you to free the hook from the crankbait. Next, cut the two free hooks close to the shank, leaving you with a single hook in your hand. At this point I got a length of fishing line (25lb) and tied the two ends together securely to prevent slippage. I took the line and placed it through the steering wheel, leaving a portion below the wheel. Next, I placed the line between the hook and my skin and pushed down firmly on the hook eye with my free hand. Once I got to this point I quickly jerked my hand downwards away from the steering wheel and the hook popped out painlessly. I have used this method before when my myself and have used it several times on other folks. It has always worked flawlessly.

Lake James Tournament

Fished our club tournament on James yesterday. Ended up with 11 something, all smallmouths, which was good enough for second. Only caught one largemouth the entire day and it was the smallest fish of all. Here are a couple of videos from the day. Water temp was 53-54.

Turning my attention now to Hartwell and Murray for the next two months.

Hartwell CATT November 16

Fished the CATT at Hartwell this past Saturday. Based on practice I felt like I could catch 10 pounds with no problem but needed a big bite to do much better. I was getting bites in specific places, lots of them on docks, along a 20 mile stretch of the river. I felt like my best shot was fishing rock early and docks later.
I started out on a rocky place I have caught quite a few big fish on over the years and the third flip my line jumped and I set the hook. It felt like I was hung in a rock because there was no movement at all. I knew I had had a bite and hoped the fish was just behind something so I kept the pressure up. After a few seconds the line started swimming off. I knew it had been a long time since I had set the hook on something that heavy and I immediately went for the net, which is unusual when I am jig fishing. After 30 seconds I knew I had a giant - 2 minutes later I found out it was a catfish between 40 and 50 pounds. Biggest fish I have ever caught - I got him to the side of the boat and just cut the line. I didn't want to have to deal with all that slime.
I spent 2 hours in the rocky areas and caught 4, missed about 6, and caught a couple of shorts. At that point I started running my places heading back down. Big mistake - I never had another bite. I should have stayed where I was and kept working but I had no doubt in my mind I would catch at least a full limit off docks and maybe a good one off a crank bait place.
This was a situation that practice hurt me. I had more bites in the area that I started in than I had been having but none in the places I had been getting bit real good. Not really sure what happened other than the sun didn't shine bright to tighten the fish to the docks. Never saw a bream or anything.
Looking forward to getting back down there. We have three more tournaments to fish at Hartwell between now and the end of January. I am meeting a buddy there Saturday to fun fish and do some electronic scouting and then plan to fish Lake James a couple of days next week while I am off and then have a tournament at James on the 30th.

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.