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.

Last Saturday Practice For BFL

Practiced yesterday for the last Saturday practice for the BFL at Norman next weekend. I need a good finish to make the regional in three weeks at Hartwell. I am thinking it will take around 11 pounds to make the cut to fish day 2. Not sure if I can catch that or not...things change every time I go. I have located a couple of places with some deeper fish that will hit a jig and one place I can crank one or two. The problem is what size happens to be there. Yesterday there were good ones on these places, last week there were small. Who knows what next week will bring. Plan to fish deep early and then go ultra shallow. I have a good milk run put together and I have done the best I could do in preparing. I plan to spend Friday checking a couple more deep spots and then run shallow stuff the rest of the day. I have to find out which places I can get my boat into with the water level as low as it is right now.
I will give an update on Friday night if I can.
I also met an honest fellow yesterday. I came in at 3:30 and a tournament was weighing in. I got to my truck and a guy approached me and asked me if that was my trailer and truck. I told him yes and he told me he had hit my trailer and wanted to give me his insurance information. I am afraid lots of folks would have went on and not said anything. Glad to see this gentleman do the right thing. Probably will have to have a new fender with lights. Will get in touch with his insurance company tomorrow.

Change of Plans...

All through the week last week I anticipated my trip to Norman on Saturday. I had put a lot of thought into a few things to try that worked well in the 90's that that I had not done much of since. (It is funny how easy it is to move to a new thing and forget some tweaks that made a difference in the past) Everything was ready, boat was hooked up, ice and lunch in the cooler, and then it happens. I start feeling a little nauseous. That was at about 6pm. By 8pm the throwing up started and didn't end until 6am. Sometime around midnight I think I asked my wife to turn my alarm off - I didn't think I would make it fishing today.

So it was a rough weekend. I ate with a group on Thursday and 21 of us suffered from the same thing beginning Friday night. Probably Salmonella. State health services are investigating and will let us know.

Anyway...looking forward to the long weekend. If health holds up and the Lord is willing then I will hit Norman Saturday and Monday. Trying to rule out as much as I can and have a specific focus when tournament day rolls around. I would love to fish the tournament with only two baits. Seems like anytime I can do that I do well. When I have 10 rods on the deck I am usually confused.

Jig Fish at Norman

Spent Saturday at Norman looking around in preparation for the BFL in a month. Few jig fish to be had but certainly not everywhere.

Fun Afternoon with Savannah

Last Sunday my wife and I took our granddaughter Savannah to the lake after church for a few hours. We had a great time - did a lot of riding, caught a bunch of bream, and swam for awhile. Very relaxing day.

Shallow Water Froggin

Had the chance to spend last Saturday with a good friend from Georgia shallow water frog fishing. We had a good day with about 20 blow ups but no big fish. Most everything was 2.25 up to 2.75. I am really writing about about well the Ranger Z519 performed in the shallow water. I was amazed that a boat this size would operate in as little as 10 inches of water. With a piece of wood under the trolling motor, I was able to float anywhere there was enough water for the trolling motor to get a bite in the water. I hope to put some video together this weekend showing the depth and how well the boat moves in the skinny stuff. I fished out of a 461 for years and never thought a boat any bigger would get where I could get the 461 but the 519 does just as well, if not better. With the wider beam, the weight seems distributed better, thus a shallower draft. We had around 475 pounds worth of fishermen in the boat as well. My expectations were definitely exceeded!

Back at it...

I have taken the last month or so off from fishing to get my building finished and set up. Spent part of yesterday at Norman fishing shallow trying to see how the fish would bite. Below are a couple of videos of the 2 best I boated. Definitely not big ones but I was thankful to get them and they did give me some insight as to where a few fish are right now. Ended up catching 7 I think and missed 4. I did have a 3.5 come up on the frog and just missed it.

Going to spend the day next Saturday with a buddy from Georgia frog fishing there and then concentrate on Norman until the BFL Super Tournament in September.