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.