Thursday, August 21, 2014

AUGUST AND THE JASON SAIN BENEFIT TOURNAMENT

August was a slow month as far as tournaments and guide trips went so I took that time to get my 2014 Triton TRX ready to sell and planned a little fun trip to Lake St. Clair with my good buddy and Tour pro Micah Frazier.  My St. Clair trip isn't until next week so hopefully I'll have lots to blog about when I get back.  I did guide a little and fished the Jason Sain Benefit Tournament that ended up being quite possibly the best tournament I've ever fished.

As most of the fishing world knows by now, my friend and fellow angler, Jason Sain, was diagnosed with inoperable brain tumors earlier this summer.  My good friend David Gnewikow and Jason were college roommates and began their tournament fishing careers together back in the late '90's. As soon as David got the news he immediately sprang into action organizing a tournament in which all proceeds would go to help Jason and his family during this very tough time.  The tournament was scheduled for August 9 and David told me his goal was to draw 200 boats and raise $40,000 for Jason and his family.  I knew that would be a tall order as there are so many tournaments going on this day and age, it's hard to draw even a 100 boat field in a single event anymore.

As tournament time drew near, the list of preregistered entrants and donation items was getting longer by the day and it was shaping up to be what David had envisioned and then some.

David told me before the tournament that he really wanted me to win the tournament because he knew I'd donate the $5000 first place check back to the cause.  I told him that I'd do my very best but I was a little concerned that he'd made it a 3 fish limit as opposed to the usual 5 fish tournament limit.  I told him I felt like I could catch 5 good fish but wasn't sure about catching two good fish and the GIANT needed to win a 3 fish event.

I was coming off of a 6th place finish in a BFL a couple weeks prior in which 1st and 2nd place were both caught fishing shallow, stumpy ledges. I know that's a strong pattern in late summer on KY Lake and I had actually practiced that pattern before the BFL in the Blood River to Danville area but couldn't make it work. The following week I had a guide trip and with all of the deep schools nowhere to be found, I decided to try the stumps again.  It was on in full force and by the end of the day we had caught a fish or three off of every stump bar we fished with our best 5 weighing about 23lbs.  Knowing  I wouldn't have any time to practice the week of the tournament I decided to head out the Sunday before and check a few places that fit the pattern and the second one I fished produced a 6.5lber.  I knew then, that for me and my partner Mike Hardin to have a shot at the win, we needed a big worm, a jig and soak them around as many stumps as possible during the tournament.

Mike was planning on meeting me at Paris Landing the morning of the tournament and when I made it to highway 79 which leads to Paris Landing Marina, what I saw gave me chills.  There were boats lined up a half mile down the road, something I haven't seen in a very long time.  It reminded me of the classic movie "Field of Dreams" and the famous line from that film, "If you build it, they will come!" My friend David Gnewikow had built it and they had definitely come!

Seeing that many boats pouring in to help out a fellow fisherman in need was a very emotional moment and my desire to win the event for my friend grew even stronger as I knew with that many competitors on the water, it wasn't going to be an easy task.

Mike and I took off boat 47 and I had all intentions of running to the Blood River area and slowly working our way back.  As I made my way there I noticed a well known community hole that fit the stump pattern perfectly was void of any boats.  I headed straight to it, dropped the Motor Guide and before Mike could pick a rod up I was calling for the net.  He scooped up a 4.5lber and threw her in the live well and a couple cast later I had another fish in the 3lb range hooked up.  The first hour was pretty action packed and at 7:30 we had a 4.5lb largemouth and two 4lb smallmouth.  Normally when I fish this pattern I'll make slow passes through the sweet stretches and if I make a pass without a bite, I leave.  It was 8:50 and we had fished over an hour without a bite and I asked Mike if he thought we should leave.  He said it was totally up to me and as I was sitting there struggling to make the decision on what we should do, Mike set the hook!  His rod almost touched his knuckles and he said "this has to be a drum!"  A few seconds later a beast of a largemouth emerged from the water and I scooped up a 7.5lb toad into the net!  That culled a 4lb smallmouth and had us up around 16lbs on our best 3 fish.  We knew then we had to stay a little bit longer and exactly one hour from the time Mike had caught the big one, I again asked him if he thought we should leave and before he could answer, I leaned into another good fish!  This one was pushing 5lbs and culled another 4lb smallie.  I knew we were in good shape but I still felt like we needed another 5 or 6lb class fish to secure the win.  We fished for another two hours and only caught one 3.5lber that didn't help and finally we decided to pull the plug and head to some new real-estate.  We had sit on the same 20 yard stretch for 6 hours and when I tried to crank my Mercury, my battery was dead.  I pulled out the jumper cables and got her fired up and made a short run to our next location.  Mike caught a 4.5lber on his first cast on our next stop but after checking her on the balance beam, she was just a tad lighter than our smallest specimen.  We spent about 30 minutes there without another bite and when we got ready to move, my battery was already dead.  We jumped it off again and made another short run.  When we arrived my good friends and KY Lake legends Bill and Billy Schroeder were trolling away from where I wanted to fish.  Billy waved me in and I asked him if he cared if we fished there and he said he was done but they had just caught a 4lber before we pulled in.  This particular place is usually a one bite deal but with time running out and a dead battery I really didn't have any other option.  I got lined up and fired out a couple casts and felt a light tic. I set back on a good fish and I told Mike, "this is the winning fish!"  He scooped a 5lber into the net and we culled a 4.5 which gave us over 17lbs on our best 3 and I really felt like we had a shot at the win.  I talked to Gnewikow and Fish Fishburn before we weighed and they said for us to wait towards the end of the weigh-in to bring our fish up in hopes of having a dramatic finish.  When we headed to the boat to get our fish, 16lbs was leading and it was setting up to be just what they'd hoped for.  When I reached the weigh-in line, Crispin Powley was on stage and had just weighed in 18.19lbs on 3 fish!  My heart sank a little as I knew we didn't have quite enough and our best 3 ended up weighing 17.38lbs earning us a 2nd place finish.

For those of you that have followed my 2014 season, you know it's been full of 2nd and 3rd place close call finishes and it's starting to weigh on me a little bit.  It would've meant the world to me to be able to win this one for my friend and his family but the ultimate goal was for the winner to donate the 5 grand back and that's exactly what Crispin and Dylan Powley did along with 98% of the other teams that finished in the money.

I have to say this was one of the most awesome tournaments I've ever fished. David wanted 200 boats and though we came up a little short with 160+, after the auction items and donations were tallied, his goal of raising $40,000 was more than doubled and the last count was at $83,000!  This was truly an amazing experience that I'm very proud to have been a part of.  The effort that was put into making this thing happen was unbelievable and there is no way I can remember everyone or even know everyone that was involved but I would like to thank my personal friends and sponsors that played a big role in making this a success by either fishing the event, donating cash and prizes or both.

Thanks to: Larry and Verna Odom of Odom's Blue and Gray Marine, Earl Bentz, Adam Adkinson, Scott Sanders, Triton Boats, Jon Davidson and Mercury Marine, Crispin Powley and Strike King Lure Company, Bill Merrick and All Pro Rods, Britt Franks and All Around Industrial Inc., Jackson Ryley and Scott Pet, Subway of Paris Landing, John Dick of Five-0 Jigs, Jeff and Stephanie Archie, David Gnewikow, Brent Sain, David and Sharon Seaton of Fishtale Lodge, Pat Hailstones, Fish Fishburn, Larry Nixon, Sam Lashlee, Keith Amerson, Kenny Loudon, Gary Mason, Rodney Clawson, Billy Schroeder, Steve Clapper, Joe Thomas, Kevin Hawk, Chris Davis, Gary Singleton, Mark Menendez, Terry Bolton, Jason Sealock, David Allen, Randy Sullivan, Nathan Bedwell, Evan Boutwell and American Bass Anglers.

I know I've left out a ton of people and I apologize but the fact that there were so many people willing to help that I can't remember all of them just goes to show what kind of man Jason Sain is and how respected he is in the fishing industry.

I'm not much of a writer but I've listed some links below to some really well written accounts of the event, you can also visit the Friends of Jason Sain Facebook page to read numerous posts and comments about the tournament.

 FRIENDS OF JASON SAIN

STRIKE KING JASON SAIN BENEFIT RECAP

As awesome of an event as this was, and a bright spot in a sometimes dark, greedy and cutthroat world we live in, at the end of the day our friend is still fighting for his life.  Please continue to pray for Jason and his family as nothing is as powerful as the power of prayer.
MY FRIENDS AND LEGENDS, BILL AND BILLY SCHROEDER

Mike and his 2nd Place Plaque
Me and my Larry Nixon Jersey

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