BFL PRACTICE: I only practiced one day for the BFL which
ended up coming back to haunt me. My good friend Troy Hollowell had won a
tournament the previous weekend with 26lbs. throwing an umbrella rig around
brush piles 8 to 12 feet deep. It seemed simple enough and I just happen to know
where a brush pile or two resides on Kentucky Lake in that depth so I decided
to give it a try. The first little place I fished produced a 5lber and I
decided that was all I needed to see. These brush pile fish are single fish,
not groups or schools and the last thing I wanted to do was catch a lone giant
or two during practice two days before a tournament. I decided that would
definitely be a pattern Id fish in the tournament and then I pulled out my
Redeye Shad rod and started searching for hydrilla. Since I hadnt been on the
lake in 2013, I wasnt sure what condition the grass was in but I had heard some
of the grass had survived the mild winter. I had an epiphany the night before
about the perfect place to start my search. I headed that way and when I
chunked my Redeye out onto the bar I immediately started ticking the hydrilla!
I was pretty pumped because Ive never gotten to fish grass on KY Lake this time
of year and its one of my favorite things to do during the pre spawn. I figured
out pretty quickly the grass was left over and not new growth which the fish
will still use but it makes it a little tougher to fish. I like the grass thats
just sprouting because its nice and crunchy and that Redeye shad will snap
right out of it and thats usually when it gets annihilated! The left over grass
is soft and loose and its very tough to get rattle bait through it. Not only
was this grass soft and loose but it was still pretty tall which made it tough
to get a bait over it as well. As I worked my way down the bar I was a little
disappointed in the condition of the grass and plus I discovered it was really
scattered and clumpy. I like a good edge when Im fishing a Redeye shad in the
grass in the pre spawn so you can parallel the outside edge and when you find
that little indention or point in that edge, thats usually where the girls will
be sitting! Even though I found every reason not to like this first stretch of
grass, I still managed to catch about 16lbs out of it with a 5.5lber in the
bunch. It was a decent start but still not what I was looking for. I figured I
would struggle to find any grass on the bars that had been exposed to the
current over the winter but quickly figured out I was wrong and every single
bar I fished was covered up with hydrilla and none of it was in very good
shape. I never caught another keeper the rest of the day. I decided not to fish
Friday because I knew I was going to fish about 25 brush piles with the
umbrella rig during the tournament plus a few Redeye holes that produce a big
bite or two for me year in and year out.
BFL TOURNAMENT: I knew we would have a stout North wind
during the tournament because we always do but Ive fished in plenty of big
waves out on the river and wasnt too concerned. The wind was howling from the
get go and I left KY Dam at 6:45 and didnt make it to the Paris area until
8:15, it usually only takes about 40 minutes to get up there. I stopped on an
old faithful Redeye spot and it was somewhat protected from the wind. I had an
inch of snow on the front deck of my Triton and the wind chill was in the 20s
and I had a feeling it was going to be a grind trying to catch them on a Redeye
Shad in a foot of water in those conditions. I was pleasantly surprised when I
hooked up with a 2.75lber on about my 10th cast of the day! I dropped my power
poles and made several more casts to the same area. Just as I was about to move
on, I loaded up again and drug a solid 3lber into the net. I spent another 45
minutes in the area but never had another bite so I headed to my first brush
pile. This spot had four foot waves crashing in on it and I never even made a
cast, I just headed to the next one. I spent about 15 minutes on that place
with the rig but never had a bite. The waves were getting bigger and it was taking
me forever to get from place to place and next thing I know I was all the way
to the Danville area where Id caught my grass fish on Thursday and hadnt had a
bite since my first stop. I pulled up to the sweet stretch and put the poles
down and started fan casting the Redeye shad around the grass. I spent an hour
inching around the bar and had one bite and my co angler caught one short fish!
It was 11 am and I still had 20 brush piles I needed to fish and with the waves
getting bigger by the hour, it was obvious my game plan was falling apart. I
only got to hit two more of my brush piles and I stopped on the place I started
on my way back and picked up one more 3lber. I weighed in 3 fish for 8lbs 12oz
and finished 51st.
SUMMARY: This was the worst tournament Ive had on KY or
Barkley Lake in several years and I cant remember the last time I didnt have a
limit in a tournament on these lakes. I was extremely disappointed in my
showing because I love fishing in March but at the same time, I felt like I had
a plan that could produce the class fish I needed to win. Where I screwed up
was not factoring in my travel time between brush piles in those big waves.
That being said, the only thing I wouldve done differently was spent another
day practicing looking for a group of fish where I couldve at least caught a
quick limit which wouldve at least been enough for a check and kept me in
contention for a points title.
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