LBL BFL #3 May 11, 2013

We launched out of Kuttawa Harbor on north Barkley and there was so much debris floating in the river they delayed our take off by an hour. I was also in an early flight which meant I was going to have about five hours to fish if I made a long run. With all of that in the back of my head and 300 boats getting an hour head start on me out of Paris, I made a critical mistake. I saw a few pockets on the Lowrance Insight map on the North end of KY Lake that set up just like what I’d been fishing. Even though I’d never fished these pockets in my life, I decided to roll the dice and start north where there would be less fishing pressure and more time to pick things apart. The fish didn’t help me much when they threw me a curve ball on my first stop. I shut down in a pocket I’ve never even seen and caught three fish on my first three flips. They were small, but enough to get my interest. Before I made it half way back in the pocket, I had a small limit, had caught about ten other short fish and could basically call my shot as to where I’d get a bite. My biggest fish was a 17”er but I just knew I could keep running these pockets and put together a decent bag. A couple hours later, I’d fished three more pockets and had only caught two short fish. By that time, it was too late to run to the Paris area and too late to spend very much time looking for my 5XD fish. I was still about ten miles north of my closest crankbait place and flipping place where I’d actually caught some in practice so I headed that way. I spent a half hour scanning a bar looking for that little group of 4lbers but never saw them. I finally grabbed a 5XD and speed cranked around the bar hoping I’d run into them but never did. With 45 minutes left to fish, I made a run across the lake to some familiar flipping water and pulled up on my favorite stretch. When time ran out, I’d caught two 3lbers and lost a 5lb class fish and had to head back. I weighed in a disappointing 13lbs 6oz and finished in 40th place.


SUMMARY: The lesson I learned in this one was simple. A few years ago when I first starting fishing KY and Barkley a lot and having a little success, I went to where I thought I had the best chance to have the best finish I could have. I didn’t care how many other boats were launching out of where and I didn’t care if I had to run one mile or 100 miles. For some reason I’ve had this mind set lately of staying away from where all the other boats are going to be instead of doing what I need to do to put myself in the position to win or at least cash a check. I guess sometimes you have to fall on your face to wake up and realize what you’re doing wrong. This definitely made me do some thinking about how I used to approach tournaments when it was going to be a busy day on the lake and my old way seemed to work pretty well. If I had this to do over again, I would have run straight to where I’d been catching fish and fallen in behind the other boats. I guess the moral of the story is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

 

LBL BFL #3 Practice

BARKLEY BFL PRACTICE DAY 1: Both lakes were getting pounded before this tournament with several big weekday fish offs and classics coming out of the north end. Plus, the Austin Peay University tournament was scheduled the same day as our BFL and they were coming out of Paris Landing and always draw over 300 boats. A friend of mine was fishing the USA Bassin Classic out of KY Dam on Thursday and Friday and since I knew the Paris area would be covered up on Saturday, I decided to try and help him find some fish for his tournament and hopefully find a pattern I could run myself on the north end of KY Lake during my BFL. We hit the lake Tuesday and the first high water crankbait spot I pulled up on produced several 3lb fish and a couple of 4lbers and they were sitting right where they were supposed to be. The next couple places I hit were fishless so I decided to idle around and try and find them with my Lowrance. The next four places we hit I was able to spot small groups of 4 to 6 fish but they were all over the place as far as where they would be sitting. Some were on the tips of bars, some off the sides, some right on top. It was a time consuming way to try and locate them and when theyre in groups that small you can easily over look them. When we found them they were decent fish in the 4lb range but I knew fishing that way would still be a gamble at least for me making a long run on Saturday.


BARKLEY BFL PRACTICE DAY 2: I hit the water with my buddy again on Wednesday and we spent some time around the Paris area trying to expand on what we'd found Tuesday. It was the same type of deal where Id idle around for 30 minutes, spot a few on the Lowrance and crank them up with a 5XD. The pattern was holding but the size was going down. Most of the fish we caught that day were 2.5 to 3lbers. I decided to do some flipping just to make sure we werent over looking something and we caught plenty doing that but nothing over 3.5lbs.


BARKLEY BFL PRACTICE DAY 3: Not really impressed with what Id seen on KY Lake, I still had Barkley as an option. If the water had been normal it wouldve been a no brainer as to where I wouldve gone, south Barkley. With the water being four feet high though, Barkley had me nervous because Ive never done much good over there in high water so I decided to phone a friend. I called my buddy Tommy Ellis who has been flipping on both lakes probably as long as anyone. I asked him if he had any advice on flipping on Barkley in high rising water. Without hesitation he replied, “Yes, go to KY Lake!” I told him Id done some flipping on KY and wasnt seeing any size and he assured me there were plenty of big fish left in the bushes so I hit the water Friday morning with one rod on the deck of my Triton. I flipped all day and while I caught plenty of fish, I still never saw anything much over 3lbs so I decided to spend my tournament flipping and possibly scanning a bar or two for some of those small groups of 4lbers.

 

KY BWS #2 May 4, 2013

I can’t remember the last time I was nervous over a tournament but I couldn’t wait to get this one started. I knew if they bit half as good as they did on Wednesday I’d have a shot at the win. I talked to my good buddy David Gnewikow at the meeting Friday night and he informed me that he didn’t experience the phenomenal flipping bite I had on Wednesday during his practice session on Friday. He did however check a lot of the cranking holes I’d eliminated and several of them were loaded! That got in my head a little because I knew I’d either missed them, or they’d made a move since I’d been on the lake and when they come out, they come out fast. I knew several of the places David had found them on but there was no way I was going to fish them against him since I would’ve still thought they were void of life if he hadn’t told me they’d shown up. I did make a quick stop on the place I’d caught the most fish off of on Wednesday that morning and caught a 3lber and a few small keepers on my 5XD but that was it. I threw the 3lber in the livewell but tossed the little keepers back because I was pretty sure I could make those up once I started flipping. I headed to my best flipping area and just like clockwork, I got a bite on my first flip! I knew I was about to bow up on a giant and when I set the hook an 8”er came flying out of the water! That was not what I wanted to see. When I set the hook here in practice it was at least a 4lber, every time! After 30 minutes, I hadn’t had another bite and as hard as it was to accept, I knew I was in for a long day. I stuck to my plan and flipped the entire day all over the lake and when it was said and done, I’d only caught about 20 keepers and not a single one of them would weigh 4lbs. It was a gloomy ride back to Moors Resort and when I found out the cranker’s had all smoked them, it made it even worse. I weighed 17.41lbs and managed the last check in 14th place and the Toyota Bonus Bucks which eased the pain a little. The good news was my ‘ol buddy David G caught a pile of fish on his 6XD that day and the biggest five weighed in at 26.04lbs and he went home with the win! Congrats David!


SUMMARY: I’ve been burnt flipping more times than not but when those big egg laden girls are stacked in that brush like they were on Wednesday, it’s hard to imagine that’s not the way to win. One thing I learned from this tournament is that I need to start practicing on Friday again. I’ve gotten away from it the past couple of years because there are so many boats on the water and I like to spend that day prepping tackle for the tournament. Things change so fast, especially this time of year, you can miss the winning pattern by a day or two and David proved that to me in a big way.

 

BWS KY DIVISION #2 PRACTICE April 30 and May 1, 2013

KY BWS PRACTICE DAY 1: The rain set in last week and the lake is four feet above pool and the flood gates are open. A pretty good ledge fishing friend of mine named Randy Haynes told me a few years ago that if the flood gates are open, theres a pile of giants somewhere choking themselves on 6XDs! For those of you that dont know Randy yet you will soon enough! Hes probably the best ledge fisherman on the planet and when he speaks, I listen! Coming off a good tournament the weekend before, I was pumped to get back on the water and I hit the lake Tuesday with a 5XD and a 6XD ready to rock. The last time the water got to this level I absolutely murdered them cranking and I headed straight to those places. The first stop I caught a 3lb largemouth and a 3lb smallmouth on my first two casts but that was it. When its right, therell be hundreds of fish on these places so I was a little discouraged. The next place I hit, I caught two 3lb smallmouth, a 4lb smallmouth and a 6lb largemouth. That was a little better, but still not the giant schools I was expecting to find. I cranked the rest of the day and never caught more than two off of a place and the size progressively got smaller.


KY BWS PRACTICE DAY 2: I headed out Wednesday intending on cranking the entire day in a different part of the lake. After four hours without a bite I couldnt stand it anymore and I pulled the All Pro 8 footer out and headed to the bushes. The flipping bite was off the chain and I caught so many 3 and 3.5lbers I couldnt count them but I just wasnt seeing the size I wanted to see. I changed locations and it was on! My best five in a 30 minute span were around 26lbs and I shook off at least 30 bites! The best part is these big fish are still full of eggs and thats all I needed to see, I made up my mind what Im going to do and where Im going to do it tomorrow!!!

 

TN CENTRAL BWS KY LAKE April 27, 2013

I took off boat 52 out of 89 and made a very short run north of Paris. I felt pretty good about my decision to go north and flip when I had a limit of fish with a 5lber before the rest of the field had even taken off. I dropped my Power Poles and picked the area apart and after about an hour or so I'd culled a couple times and picked up another 5lber! My goal was five 5lb bites and to have two of them that quick was a big relief. I headed to my next stop and though I caught a ton of solid fish, none were over 3lbs and that was what I needed in order to cull. I left there and hit a main lake bank that has potential to produce a tank and after 45 minutes or so, I hadn't gotten a bite. I told my co angler we were going to make a move and I decided to make one more pitch and popped a 3.5lber that culled a 3. I knew I still had time to head south and hunt for a great big bite and it was really weighing on me on what to do. I decided to hit one more pocket a little further north and if I caught a good one, I'd stay north, if not, I was heading to Jville to fish amongst all of the other boats. I pulled into the pocket and immediately started catching 3lbers. I was nearing the end of my favorite stretch and I dropped my Rodent right into the heart of a bush and a big 'ol 5lber ate it up! That got me in the 20lb range and I still had a few hours to try and get my last two 5lbers and better yet, I hadn't seen another boat all day. That was the deciding factor in how I'd spend the rest of my day. Unfortunately, the next couple hours only produced small keepers to 3lbers and time was running out. I had a crazy idea of a crankbait spot that I hadn't fished all year but things were sitting up right for them to be there. My co angler and I tied on 6XD's and headed that way. On my way down the lake I looked over into a pocket and it just looked too good. I got about a ¼ mile past the pocket and made a U turn and headed back. I eased into the back of the pocket and my first flip produced a 4lber! For those of you that dont know, I've had the fish on flipping bushes to win a few big tournaments but lost or broke off key fish. I couldn't believe what a perfect day I was having, every decision was right and I'd caught around 60 keepers out of the thickest stuff you can imagine and hadn't lost a single fish. With about 15 minutes left, I knew I didn't have enough to win but at least I had fished a very clean tournament and thats when it happened. I skipped my Rodent about 30 feet past a bush, under a willow limb to the trunk of the willow. It never made it to the bottom and one smoked it! My line was under the bush so I set the hook back to my left which I normally dont do. A 5lber shot out of the water like a Marlin and before I could catch up to her, she was gone as quick as she came. What a tough way to end a great day! I weighed in 21.31lbs which was good enough for 5th place, Toyota Bonus Bucks and the Triton Gold money.


SUMMARY: This was the most fun I've had in a tournament in a long time even though it poured rain on us all day. I've never caught so many fish flipping and my hands were actually bloody from handling fish which usually only happens when the big schools are out deep. I would've loved to have landed that last big one and then it would have been a perfect day even though I still couldn't have caught Drew Boggs who smoked 27lbs of bush fish and blew the rest of us out of the water! I'm usually not content unless I win but catching that many fish using my favorite technique was just too much fun to be upset over.

 

TN CENTRAL BWS KY LAKE April 27, 2013 Practice

Im still a little bummed out after experiencing some of the best flipping Ive ever seen leading up to my last BFL and then having the water sucked out of the bushes and the wind out of my sails on tournament day. Im checking the water daily levels daily and with the water level predicted to be at that magical 360 mark by tournament day, Ive decided not to make a cast in practice and spend my tournament where I smoked em before the BFL. I also know that the majority of the field will head south of Paris to the land of the giants and while thats the place to catch a true giant, I should have a lot of water to myself north of Paris Landing and a lot of time to pick it apart with my Rodent. I feel like I know the best areas that could still be holding some big ones and if I can fish perfectly, I feel good about getting around 25lbs worth of bites. The only wild card will be the off shore fish and from what Ive heard, theres a lot of good ones out there. I still have two things in my favor, rising water and a full moon!

 

LBL BFL #2 April 20, 2013

LBL BFL TOURNAMENT #2: We launched from Moors Resort and I headed South to the New Johnsonville area. When I got within site of the Paris Bridge there was a huge fog bank out on the main river. I will not run in the fog plus I had a pretty good idea the other tournaments launching at Paris had probably been held back due to fog so I could sneak a few casts in that area while the fog burnt off. I pulled into one of the pockets Id fished with my parents and wasnt too impressed with the water conditions. It looked like a whole different place with a foot of water gone from the bushes but I knew there had to be a few fish left lying around what shallow cover was still available. I spent about an hour picking the area apart and when I left I had one small keeper, a 3lber and I had lost one good fish in the 4lb range that got me hung up in a bush. I made my way to New Johnsonville where I knew there would be a little more cover in the water and hopefully I could scrounge up a few big ones to go with what I already had. I spent a good three hours pitching at every piece of cover I could find and I finally managed a 4lber and two very small keepers. I decided to run back north and try some different things in hopes of getting a big bite but I cranked a few points and scanned a few secondary ledges and never saw anything resembling a bass. I decided just to stay with the shallow deal even though I knew it wasnt the right thing to be doing. It was a slow go and I finally managed to cull a couple times before the end of the day and weighed in 15lbs. even and finished in 20th place.


SUMMARY: This happens to me every year on KY Lake. The water gets high and I know exactly where to go. I know where the biggest fish on the lake go when the water is in the bushes, but then it comes down and I can barely catch a limit! Ive struggled with this time of year every year since I started fishing KY Lake. Ive tried different things and talked to a lot of people that have success in April when the water isnt flooded but I just dont get it and may never get it. That being said, I cashed a check in this tournament and thats more than I can say for most falling water April tournaments Ive ever fished on KY Lake but I wish Id gone to Barkley!!!