LBL BFL MAY 2 & FLW RAYOVAC KY LAKE MAY 7-9

LBL BFL PRACTICE: I spent my BFL practice flipping bushes and just couldn't find an area that had the quality I thought it would take to get it done. With the tournament coming out of Ken Lake Marina as opposed to the Dam or Moors, I decided to gamble on a run to New Johnsonville and try and put an offshore pattern together on the fly.

LBL BFL #3 MAY 2, 2015: I had made up my mind that I was going to start on a place I caught some fish last year about the same time of year.  Normally a run to Jville in a BFL is pretty risky as local tournament anglers usually have everything on lock down before I can make it up there but with the big tournament of the weekend launching out of Perryville which is 35 miles south of Jville, I thought I may just have a shot at getting on a place or two.  Just before take off a blanket of fog blew in, covered the lake and for the second time in 3 events, we were stuck sitting out a fog delay.  While most of my competitors were worried about a big tournament out of KY Dam taking off and getting first dibs on most of the best real-estate, I had the Perryville crew on my mind.

After two hours the fog lifted and the day was underway.  When I finally reached my destination I could see a boat sitting very close to my waypoint.  A couple hundred yards up the ledge sit another boat.  I recognized both boats and have a great deal of respect for both anglers and I didn't want to intrude but at the same time I didn't want to run that far and not even make a cast.  I decided to pull in between them both and try and get an idea if they were camping out on specific spots or covering water.  Not long after my arrival both boats were netting fish.  I slowly worked my way towards the boat that was where I wanted to be until I could get close enough to verify that he was indeed sitting right on my waypoint and he didn't have any intentions of leaving anytime soon.  I turned and worked my way back down the ledge hoping to run into a straggler or two and all the while both boats were steadily netting fish.  After about an hour of watching the beat down I couldn't stand anymore and was packing up to leave when the boat north of me left.  I wheeled in and caught a couple of 4lbers pretty quickly on a Strike King Shadalicious but after another hour I never had another bite.

Last year when this pattern was working there were several good ledges that fit the bill and I had a good feeling that if they were on that particular ledge I could find a few more that had them as well.  I spent the next several hours swimbaiting and burning a 5XD over shallow ledges and never had a sniff.  With time running out I decided to run back to the Paris area and make as many flips as possible on a milk run of likely bushes I've compiled over the years.

With about 20 minutes to go I drug a 4.5 lber out of the heart of a bush that fell victim to a Strike King Structure Bug.  A few pitches later I hooked up with a chunky keeper that got wrapped around a limb and pulled off.

Then, with just minutes left before I had to head back, I pinned another 2.5 lber to a limb and just as my co reached for it with the net, it came unbuttoned.  My co asked me what I thought about the size of the fish and I said "it wasn't the kind you win with but anything is good when you only have 3 in the box!"  Little did I know that those two small keepers would've been worth about 13 grand had I been able to get them to the boat.  The field struggled and a measly 16 lbs won the tournament.  I managed a 10th place finish with my 3 that weighed 12 lbs 9 oz.

SUMMARY: Apparently the fog delay, much like the first BFL of the year, really took a toll on guys getting to fish where they needed for the amount of time they needed.  I'm still pretty disgusted that I couldn't put a limit in the boat and can't believe that 16 lbs. is all I would've needed to get the job done.  To add insult to injury, before I'd even made it out of the ramp parking lot I got a text informing me that my buddy who was on the place I wanted to start on had won the Perryville tournament with 26 lbs! Oh well, you can't win 'em all but this was a rare opportunity for a handsome pay day with a really low weight and those are the ones you have to take advantage of.

RAYOVAC PRACTICE: I've always believed that in any sport, the better the competition you play against, the better you become.  The FLW Rayovac on KY Lake has normally taken place in peak ledge season and the best ledge fishermen in the business always show up for that event. After narrowly missing the top 10 cut the past few years, I felt like there was a little something I was missing that separated me from those guys.

I worked hard last summer studying how fish positioned under different conditions and the best approach to catching those fish.  I really felt like I learned that next level stuff I'd been missing but when I saw that the Rayovac was scheduled for early May, I didn't think this would be the year to put it to use.

I knew the ledge masters would put all their chips in the ledge basket whether the bass were there or not and I had to make sure they weren't going to find something I missed so I spent several days idling around staring at my Lowrance.  I scanned from creek humps to main river ledge and everything I looked at was either completely void of life or just had a few scattered bass on it.

Knowing the majority of my competition would live or die on the few scattered bass I decided there wouldn't be enough fish out there to go around and believed they would all be beating on the same few fish.  I decided to shift gears and spend the rest of my time on ledges in New Johnsonville that are too shallow to scan.

My buddy Kevin Woodside practiced with me one day on the southern portion of the lake and he knows every bar and ledge where a fish has ever considered living on that end of the pond. After a pretty brutal day of not finding much we decided to make a cast or two on the place I had tried to fish in the BFL.  My first cast produced a 6 lber and as I was reeling it in a giant of a bass blew a shad out of the water.

I spent one last day scanning around on the northern part of the lake and still wasn't seeing what I thought I needed to see and decided I was going to make the 80 mile run to Jville and just hope I could get on the one school of big ones I knew about and milk it for all it was worth.

RAYOVAC DAY 1 MAY 7, 2015:  I headed straight to my one and only school Thursday morning just praying no one would be sitting there.  When I got within sight I was relieved that I had it all to myself.  I caught a 3lber on my third cast and I just knew I was about to light 'em up but after three more hours I'd only caught a few short fish and knew I had to make a change.  I hit a few more similar places and caught a few short fish and I told my co that I was going to live or die in Jville and I was going to go flip bushes for awhile until the current started moving and then we'd head back to the river.

I pulled up on one of my favorite set of bushes and made a comment about how low and clear the water was.  That had me a little nervous but I had to do something to kill some time until the current turned on.  As I worked my way down the bank I made a short pitch to a bush and just as my Rodent hit the water I noticed a fish laying next to it. It had a green color to it but looked way to long to be a bass so I just assumed it was a gar.  As soon as my bait sank out of sight I could see the outline of the fish heading towards it.  I lifted up on my bait and it was swimming to the left.  I set the hook and a big bass rolled to the surface.  I thought it was about a 6 lber so I called for the net.  The next thing I knew I was hanging on to an 8 ft All Pro Flippin' stick for dear life and 25lb line was being stripped off my reel like a spinning outfit.  The fish swam around a clump of bushes, took a right and headed into another set of bushes.  By that time I knew I had hooked into something special and amazingly I led the fish back around all of the cover and into the net.  I immediately weighed her on a Boga Grip scale and it was a little over 10 lbs!  To say I was excited was an understatement because I've never caught a 10 and to do it in a tournament was a pretty cool deal.

After catching that toad out of the bushes I totally forgot about the river fish and decided to flip the rest of the day.  I caught another keeper pretty quickly and about an hour later lost a 3lber but that was it.  As time was slipping away I was trying to plan out the rest of my day.  I knew I had an 80 mile run and had to stop and fuel up in Paris but I also knew I had to put a couple more fish in the boat so I'd have a 20lb stringer and be in good shape for day 2.  I knew of one school just north of Paris that had been out for awhile and they were mostly 3lbers.  I also had my milk run of bushes in that area so I decided to head back, fuel up, hit my school and then make a few flips before I had to call it a day.  We packed everything up and when I went to start my Mercury, nothing happened.  We messed around with it for an hour trying to get it started and I was starting to freak out a little bit.

Not only had a lost a lot of fishing time but I had what I thought was my first 10 lber in the live-well and wasn't going to get to weigh her in.  Just before I had a melt down my co angler checked my connection on my starting battery and it was hanging by a thread.  We tightened it up and everything was good to go other than the fact by the time I got gas I had to head straight to weigh-in.

Unfortunately I only had 3 fish for 14 lbs 11 oz and my toad came up a little short of the 10 lb mark at 9 lbs 3 oz but was still good enough for big fish of the day.

RAYOVAC DAY 2 MAY 8, 2015:  I couldn't believe what I'd seen when I looked at the results from day 1.  The ledge masters had done the impossible.  The top 10 was riddled with 20+ lb limits beside the names of the best ledge fishermen in the game.  I was blown away that they had caught that kind of weight out of so few ledge fish I didn't even classify them as a "school".

I decided since I couldn't beat 'em, I would join 'em and I spent all of day 2 staring at my Lowrance in hopes of running into a fresh group of post spawners that had just made there way out to the ledges but unfortunately I only saw fish on three places all day.  I fished for about a total of 45 minutes and ended up with a 12lb limit and finished the tournament in 42nd place.

SUMMARY:  There's really not much to say about this one other than that the guys I already knew were the best ledge fishermen on the planet are even better than I imagined.  Congrats guys, very impressive.

APRIL 11 LBL BFL @ KY LAKE and APRIL 25 MOUNTAIN BFL @ DALE HOLLOW

For those of you that have followed my blogs, articles, etc., know that I've never set the woods on fire in early to mid April. The only good finishes I've had in BFL's or Weekend Bass Series tournaments have always been when the water comes up earlier than normal and I can catch them flipping flooded buck bushes. Last year I guided a bunch during April and filmed a t.v. show with Joe Thomas and was forced to learn how to catch some fish.  I actually had a pretty good time during that span and felt like I had figured out what I'd been missing.

With a busy guide schedule and an LBL BFL on the April schedule this year, I was looking forward to putting what I learned in 2014 to use.

Unfortunately the water stayed a couple feet below what it was last year and the patterns and places I found a year ago weren't much of  a factor.  We were able to scramble around and catch several fish on my guide trips but the 20lb stringers I saw in '14 were nowhere to be found.

Back  in the day when all I knew was shallow water fishing on Cheatham and Old Hickory Lakes, Barkley was like the promised land for a river rat that was accustomed to just hoping to catch a limit of keepers every time they went fishing.

Barkley was also where I had my first big payday in a tournament when my buddy Stevie Mills and I won a team classic there in 2004. In fact, I was so fond of Barkley Lake, when I saw two Barkley tournaments on the 2006 LBL BFL schedule I decided to fish their division that year and ended up falling in love with both KY and Barkley and would eventually call KY Lake home.

For all of these reasons, Barkley will always be special to me and I would love to be able to win a BFL off of Barkley and I know that the best time to do that is in the Spring when KY Lake is fishing tough.

With the KY Lake bass being stubborn, I decided to head to Barkley the Friday before the 2nd LBL BFL of the year and if I didn't catch 'em, I'd tough it out beating the banks on KY in the tournament.

LBL BFL PRACTICE:  I headed to Dover, TN Friday morning with my buddy Kenneth McChristian.  We pulled into a small creek that never has been a big fish area but it's a good little place to pick apart real quickly and try to dial in on a pattern.  Within the first hour it was apparent that the fish were on steep rocky banks and readily chomping a Strike King Rodent.  We caught a dozen bass or so with our best 5 weighing about 12lbs.

We made a short run to another creek that had the right ingredients and historically holds some better quality specimens.  I decided to give a new spinnerbait my buddy Jeff Archie and I designed a try and within a few cast I hooked up with a beautiful egg laden 4.5lber.  Kenneth asked me if we should just leave and I said let's make a few flips and see if we get anymore bites and my first pitch with my Rodent I bowed up on a 5.5lber!

I ran around the rest of the day and before it was said and done I could basically call my shots on where the big ones would be laying.  We caught around 40 keepers just running new water and our best 5 weighed 23lbs.

You would think with the fish biting like that it would've been a no brainer on what I should do in the tournament but some of you may recall  that last year before the April BFL I had absolutely smoked them on South Barkley for a couple days only to find them locked on nests during the tournament in which I only managed two small keepers.

After some serious thought I decided there was no way Barkley could burn me two years in a row and I made up my mind to hit the canal Saturday morning and point my Triton towards Dover, TN.

LBL BFL TOURNAMENT APRIL 11:  After a 45 mile run weaving in and out of floating trees, I reached my first stop which was where I'd caught back to back bigguns' on Friday. I made several casts with the spinnerbait and caught a short fish. I picked up a Rodent and within ten minutes had 3 keepers in the live-well. I didn't know it at the time but getting those early bites on the Rodent may have been the worst thing that could've happened.  I ran through all of my areas and at 12:30 I only had four small keepers.  I headed back to my starting spot determined to get my fifth keeper and hopefully salvage the day with a check as a limit of 2.5lbers is usually enough to earn a little money in April.  I decided to spend the last hour seining the area with my Rodent and if there was a fish living there make sure it got a look at my bait.  I ended up catching several more keepers that last hour and culled a couple times but only for ounces.  I weighed in 12lbs 14oz. and finished in 37th place and missed the last check by 7oz.

SUMMARY:   I've been burnt by Barkley on more than one occasion and believe it or not I wasn't surprised it happened again.  The part that really frustrated me this time around was that the majority of the top 20 were fishing on Barkley and throwing spinnerbaits on steep banks which is the same pattern I was on.  I have to wonder if I'd stayed with the spinnerbait all day if I would have had a better stringer.  Between catching those so fast on my Rodent that morning and the sun being bright with no wind, it just didn't seem like the spinnerbait was the way to go.  The good news is I made it there and back without hitting any floating trees and I moved to 3rd in the points standings so it wasn't a total loss.

DALE HOLLOW BFL PRACTICE:  I was really looking forward to another few days on Dale Hollow Lake and I had allowed two full days of practice in my schedule.  The only thing I wasn't looking forward to was the fact that the water had just hit the bushes on KY Lake and I knew I was probably going to miss the best week of flipping of the entire year.

Rusty Rust called me Monday before I left and asked me if I would like to film the Fishin' Affliction T.V. show with him on Wednesday.  I had planned on packing and leaving for Dale that day but I couldn't turn down the chance to film a show catching fish my favorite way, flippin'!  I told Rusty that I would be happy to do the show and we should be able to catch enough by noon to make a good show and then he could just drop me off at the ramp and I could head to Dale Hollow.

Long story short, other than a couple big ones we lost early in the day, at 4:30pm we had only caught some small keepers and a couple of 3lbers. Rusty knew I needed to get off the water and kept asking me if I needed to leave but I just couldn't throw in the towel that easily.  We ended up catching more in the last two hours than we'd caught all day and put about 20lbs in the boat before it was said and done.

I finally made it to Dale Hollow Thursday afternoon and spent a few hours running around looking for beds.  I'd heard the spawn was on in full force but after a few hours of looking, I'd seen one 3lber and I would've never spotted him if he hadn't rolled up on my Sexy Frog.  I didn't get much accomplished that day other than making up my mind I was going to try to get on a flipping pattern on Friday.

I flipped everything in sight Friday morning and quickly figured out the fish were in a certain type of bush and readily chomping on a Strike King Rodent.  I'm not sure what the proper name for these bushes is but I called them tumbleweeds.  They were the bushiest bushes I could find and they grew in clusters and by the end of the day I could call my shot on where the fish would be if I could see the right type of bushes.  I didn't set the hook much that day but did have about 20 bites and the few I caught were decent keepers up to about 3lbs.

MOUNTAIN BFL DALE HOLLOW APRIL 25:  It was raining Saturday morning which didn't really concern me as I've had some of my best days flipping on KY in the rain.  I made it to my first area and caught a short fish out of the first bush I pitched in.  I was pumped to see what all I could catch after shaking most of my bites off on Friday but never got another bite in that area.  My next stop had a few willow trees in it and several clusters of tumbleweeds.  I hadn't had a single bite off of a willow tree in practice but made a pitch at one between clusters of bushes and a bass knocked slack in my line.  I set the hook and rolled a solid 3lber to the surface and my hook popped out.  I was not pleased as every keeper is critical when fishing for points especially one of that quality.  I didn't think much about the fish being on a willow at the time but after two more hours of picking the bushes apart I hadn't had a bite.  The next area I rolled into I decided to spend more time on the willows and caught a 16" keeper off of each of the first three willows I came to.  It was apparent the fish had made a move to the willows but Dale Hollow is full of willows and I didn't want to just fish random willow trees as it would take a year to fish them all.  I wanted to fish the willows in the areas where I'd had bites in the bushes but I'd been so dialed in on looking for bushes on Friday I hadn't really paid much attention to the willow population in my best areas.  I ran around and looked at my areas and fished what willows were available and the next thing I knew it was 1pm and I only had 3 keepers in the boat. About the time I was thinking I was done for the day the Sun finally broke through the clouds and I thought that just maybe that would put some fish back in the bushes where I needed them to be.  I headed straight to where I started the day and over the last hour I lost a critical 3lber and caught 6 bass flipping tumbleweeds including a 3.5lber with 10 minutes to go in the day which gave me my limit.  I weighed in 12lbs 8oz and was in the top 20 at the time.  I really felt like I would get a check as the bag line was short which signifies lots of zeros but as the later flights started rolling in I started dropping down in the standings.  I ended up in 41st place and missed a check by a pound.

SUMMARY:  I really have enjoyed my two trips to Dale Hollow.  I wish I could've had an extra day to practice because there were a few different patterns that were working that I just didn't have time to dial in.  Losing those two 3lbers really hurt me as I would've had enough for a top 10 finish had I put them in the boat.  Unfortunately that's happens to everybody that plays this game and you just have to move on from it.  I will say that this tournament showed me a lot about how I've progressed as a fishermen as far as mental toughness and decision making goes.  I caught my first 3 keepers out of an area I never made a cast in on Friday but I just knew it had them because it looked right.  Earlier in my career I would've never been able to spend time in an area that I hadn't caught some out of in practice.

I also used to be really bad about just giving up if I didn't have a limit going into the last hour especially on a lake I didn't know.  For me to fish hard to the end and be determined to put those last two in the boat is a huge step from where I was not too long ago.

Last but not least, back in the day once I saw those fish had moved to the willows there is no way I would've abandoned the willows after that.  To be able to scrap what was working and head back to the bushes just because the Sun popped out lets me know that I have the confidence in myself and my decision making ability to make the right adjustments in a tough tournament.

I owe a lot of this to my buddy David Gnewikow, he's taught me everything I know about not giving up and staying confident no matter how tough the day is.  12lbs doesn't seem like much but the difference between that and the 3 keepers I had at 1pm was about 50 places in the standings which ultimately moved me up to 16th in the points.

Mothers Day

When I was a young kid my dad worked nights so I spent most days with my mom. She taught me from the very beginning the importance of having God and family in my life.

When I was only two years old she would take me fishing from the banks of the Harpeth River just next to our house.

In 1982 my mom was diagnosed with a very serious skin cancer.  I was too young to realize the severity of the situation but have since realized just how serious it was.  She told my aunt that the only thing she was worried about was having to leave me.  She fought what probably should have been a losing battle and won!

When I was 9 years old my mom had gone shopping for the day and my granddad had taken me down to the river to fish.  As I sit there on the bank with a wad of worms on the end of my line my mom had returned home and walked down to the river to see me.  Just as she walked up I got a bite and set the hook on a big fish.  A 5lb largemouth had decided to engulf my wad of worms for some crazy reason and it was way to big to drag up the steep bank.  Without hesitation my mom jumped down the bank and into the edge of the water in her dress clothes and lipped what for a long time was the biggest bass I'd ever caught.

No matter what hobby I chose to take on, my mom would be right there with me. When I was 12 she broke her finger playing me in a game of basketball.

As I got older I began to stray a little from my upbringing as a lot of teenagers do.  I started drinking with my buddies on the weekends which I knew was a big no no.  I kept it from my mom as I knew she would not approve and in order to do that I had to lie.

As I got older my drinking and lying became my life and I was headed down a dangerous road. Many nights I wouldn't remember driving home and often wondered how I had even made it without killing myself or even worse someone else.  In 2001 I was arrested for driving under the influence and taken to jail.  My mom picked me up from jail the following morning.  She said she knew that I drank and every night that she knew I was out, she would lay in bed and pray until she heard from me in the wee hours of the morning.  She asked me just how serious my drinking habit was and that I could tell her anything.  For the next several hours we both cried as I told her everything I'd been hiding for so many years.  I'll never forget the thing she said last that would forever change my life.  She told me if I ever took another drink it would kill her.  For whatever reason my own life didn't mean enough to me at the time to stop but her's did.  November 20, 2001 was the last drink I ever took and ever will take and I owe it all to her.

My life immediately changed for the better as I had a clear head, a clear conscience and a clear vision of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life which was fish for a living.

I dedicated every spare second after that to fishing. Each year I learned more and more and eventually started winning some tournaments.  In 2004 I decided to fish a tournament in the bass club where I'd first started on Old Hickory Lake.  I took none other than my mom as my partner.  She caught three of our five keepers that day including a 4.64 and a 4.76 lber and we won the tournament by over 12lbs!

In 2006 we received some bad news.  My mom had been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.  I knew if anyone was strong enough and close enough with God to beat cancer twice, it was her.  I had to watch the love of my life go through chemo and radiation treatments for months and it was not a fun experience.  I prayed every night that she would beat the odds and win her battle for a second time.  I'm proud to say that it's 2015 and my mom still remains cancer free.

In 2009 I reached my goal of calling a bass boat my office and I couldn't have done it without my mom on my side.  We've spent some fun days on the water the last few years and I'm looking forward to many more.

So, to my fishing partner, my mentor, my best friend, my guardian angel, my hero, my MOM....Happy Mothers Day.  I love you more than you could ever imagine.

 .

March 14 LBL BFL, March 21 Mountain BFL and March 28 ABA Team Trail

March got off to a slow start as one last Arctic blast made it's way through the area and dumped over a foot of snow around KY Lake.  Between snow and frozen marinas, most of the early March tournaments were rescheduled.  The March 14th LBL BFL was my first event of the year and I was hoping to be able to defend my title from last March and start the year off with a win.

I kept a close eye on water conditions and between snow melt and 5 inches of rain predicted to fall in in the Southeast the week of the tournament, I knew the fishing would change everyday leading up to the event so I chose not to practice and try to figure it out on the fly which worked out well for me in 2014.

I knew from looking at the results of tournaments the week before that New Johnsonville was the place to be if I was going to collide with a school of pre-spawn giants and make a run at the win.

LBL BFL MARCH 14: I was boat 151 out of 152 Saturday morning and we were greeted with a thick blanket of fog that had no intentions of going anywhere in a hurry.  As the fishing day grew shorter by the minute there was a lot of chatter among my competitors about not making the long runs they had planned on making which only made me want to make the run even more.  I knew that a couple hours on the southern part of the lake would be more valuable than a full day on the northern part of the lake, at least for me, and I had all intentions of making it to at least the Danville area even if I only had a few hours of fishing time.

Tournament director Daniel Fennel finally started releasing boats at 9:45am. I idled out of KY Dam Marina at 10:15 and had a check in time of 4:00.  I headed south and made it about two miles and the fog was so thick I could barely see my trolling motor on the front of my Triton.  I stopped on a place and threw an umbrella rig for about 30 minutes hoping the fog would lift a little more but it never happened.  The clock was ticking and it was killing me not to be on my way to Jville so I packed up and headed south.  I made it another couple miles and the fog seemed to be getting thicker.  I pulled over and told my co that I didn't feel safe running and a fishing tournament wasn't worth our safety.  As I idled into a pocket I looked back out at the lake and I could plainly see the secondary channel buoys so I thought if I could see the buoys then surely I could see other boats, so I headed south again for the third time that morning.  I didn't make if very far and I ran up on a boat that was fishing the bank and while it wasn't a close call, it did let me know how quick another boat could be on us without my knowing, especially if the other boat was running fast.  I pulled into a pocket and started fishing and had pretty much accepted the fact I was throwing in the towel for the day.

After a half hour trolling around a fishless pocket I told my co that I had to make at least one cast where I knew a fish lived even if I had to idle for 3 hours to get there safely.  We packed up, took off again and I finally aborted my mission to Jville just north of the Paris area at 1pm and the fog was still as thick as it had been at daylight.

I caught a couple of 3lbers pretty quickly on my first stop on a Redeye Shad and my co caught a keeper and a 5lber behind me.  This was a place I've fished many times and while I knew we could spend some time there and catch a few more fish, time was something I didn't have.  I knew if I were to beat the odds and win the tournament in two hours, I had to find a mother lode.  I made three more stops just south of Paris and the first two didn't produce.  My fourth stop I caught a 4lber on my first cast but never had another bite.  By the time I covered the area thoroughly, it was time to head back.

As I waited for my co angler to back my trailer in, I couldn't help but feel a little down about such a bad start to the year.  I wondered if I had just stayed close to the dam and had more time to fish if I could've at least maybe salvaged the day and gotten a check out of the deal.  I looked at my three captives and figured they weighed about 8lbs and I was seriously contemplating just pitching them back.  Just before I started releasing my fish another competitor idled by and told me that 12lbs was leading!  I decided I better hang onto my fish just in case everyone else had struggled.  I was the last person to weigh in and amazingly finished in 10th place with 9lbs, 12oz.

SUMMARY:  This was definitely not the way myself or anyone else wanted to start the year. I really can't even look at this as a true tournament as no one got to fish their best stuff and if they did they didn't get much time on it.  Either way, every tournament has a winner and this one was blown out of the water by Craig Hipsher who nearly lapped the field with over 24lbs!  Congrats to Craig on yet another BFL win.  To make matters worse I talked to Zach Parker on my way home and he informed me he had finished 2nd in a New Johsnonville tournament with 32.89lbs and it took 27lbs to get in the top 10!  Now that's catching them!  Unfortunately I never made it within 25 miles of the land of the giants that day but to be honest I was just glad to make it back safely.  To get a top 10 and a little Toyota Bucks was just a bonus.

DALE HOLLOW BFL PRACTICE: I decided to fish the Mountain division of the FLW BFL's this year in hopes of qualifying for the regional on KY Lake in October which will be worth about 75 grand to the winner and an All American berth for the top six finishers.

I've spent very little time on highland reservoirs with deep clear water but I had spent enough time to know I wasn't a big fan.  The last time I fished a deep clear lake was in 2005 in the Music City BFL on Center Hill Lake.  Back in those days if I was fishing deeper than 3ft. I thought I was too deep so I was hoping what I've learned about offshore structure fishing would pay off this time around.

A very loyal client and good friend of mine has logged some time on Dale Hollow in the early Spring and he assured me I could catch plenty of bass fishing jerk baits and umbrella rigs on offshore ledges just like I do on KY Lake.

It seemed too easy to be true, but once I got my two day practice session under way I quickly realized he had steered me in the right direction.  Any piece of offshore structure with milfoil present held some species of black bass and getting bites was easy. The catch was that Dale Hollow has a slot limit on Smallmouth and I could only keep one under 16" and one over 21".  By the end of practice it was apparent that the Smallmouth bites out numbered the Largemouth bites 5 to 1. I was having a blast catching 3 to 4.5lb smallmouth but I knew it was going to be very frustrating in the tournament having to release 4lb fish.

By the end of day two of practice I had figured out that the largemouth seemed to be relating to the points and humps that had steep drops on at least three sides.  If the point or hump had a slope on one or more sides, it was predominately brown fish.  I decided to spend my tournament fishing the steep sided structures I'd caught green fish on in practice and if I had time, explore similar looking places during the tournament.

MOUNTAIN BFL MARCH 21 DALE HOLLOW TOURNAMENT:  I headed out of Starpoint Marina boat 34 or 184 and I had two places close to the launch that had the perfect ingredients for largemouth only.  One of them was in a cut between an island and the shoreline but I knew with 150 boats taking off behind me a lot of guys would run that cut and it probably wouldn't be the best starting place.  I started on another hump close by that had a small finger that wasn't on the Navionics or Lowrance Insight maps that had produced a 4lber and a 3lber in practice.

I started short of the sweet spot so I wouldn't get on top of the fish as I still wasn't that familiar with the lay of the land.  My co-angler quickly boated a 3.5lb non keeping smallie on a jerkbait which frustrated me a little because  I was afraid the smallmouth had taken the place over.

As I eased up onto the sweet spot I caught a small keeper largemouth on my umbrella rig.  A few minutes later I added another and then another.  They definitely weren't the size I was hoping for but at least I had some valuable points already in the boat only 15 minutes into the morning.

I slowly worked the little grass patch back and forth and my co-angler hooked up with a nice 3.5lber. A few minutes later he boated another quality largemouth in the 3.75lb range.  I like to see my co-anglers do well but it was still hard to stomach as I knew how critical those 3.5+lb largemouth bites were going to be.

A few minutes went by and I finally hooked into a nice 3.5lber but then missed three bites in a row and had one fish pull off.  With each fish I dropped in the live-well I gained more and more confidence in my pattern and I had that old winning feeling building in my gut.

I told my co that I had a rule I lived by and that was if you make a pass on a stretch and get a bite, you can't leave.  The bites were slowing down but we were getting some sort of action on each pass. We eventually started to catch a few short fish and have some short strikes and my KY Lake, "the grass is greener on the other side" mindset began to take over the "play it safe and make sure I caught 'em all" mindset I probably need to have on lakes that don't have the bass population of KY and I broke my golden rule!  I put a solid 2.5lber in the boat which gave me my fifth keeper in the first hour of the tournament and I told my co we had to go!  I had so many places I wanted to fish I just had that gut feeling I needed to bail on that place even though we were still getting bites regularly. I was afraid I had made a terrible mistake when I went for the next two hours without catching a largemouth.  I finally hit a place and culled with a 3lber but it was the only largemouth we caught there.

I headed back up the lake to start my rotation over again and was feeling pretty good about the idea that my fish would have settled down and be grouped up ready to eat on my starting spot when I arrived for round two!

I spent about an hour fishing around trying to relocate the school but other than one bite that pulled off, I never hit 'em.

My buddies had told me about a place way up the river that was good to them last year but it didn't really match my pattern.  I had checked it in practice with no luck but after another hour running the grass pattern, I knew something had changed and I needed to change as well.  I thought that just maybe that little bit shallower deal up the river would be the type place the fish were moving too so I fired up and headed up the Wolf River.

When I got within sight of the point I wanted to fish there was a boat with three guys fishing down the bank towards it.  Even though they were obviously just out enjoying a beautiful day and not competitive fishermen, it would still have been a blatant cut-off if I had pulled in on my point.  I decided to fall in behind them and just wait them out but then I noticed one of my competitors coming around a bend in the bank and if I did that I would be cutting him off too.  I hated to run ten miles out of the way and not even get to fish but cutting people off, tournament fishermen or not, isn't my style.  I turned my boat around and just as I went to leave I turned and idled up to the gentlemen fun fishing and asked them if they minded if I fished the point in front of them and if they did I'd gladly leave.  They said they didn't mind at all and I was welcome to fish anywhere I wanted.  I idled around them and made a few casts and hooked up with a 4.5lber!  It was a pretty cool deal as the fun fishermen cheered me on as I drug it into the net and I gave them a big "THANKS!" as I held her up next to the 1.75lber that she culled.

I'd like to tell you the point was loaded with them 'ol bigguns and I whacked about 25lbs there but that's not the way it went down.  I never culled the rest of the day but was very happy to finish 19th with 15lbs 7oz on a lake I've never seen before fishing a way I love to fish.

SUMMARY:  I had an absolute blast on Dale Hollow the three days I was there.  I caught more smallmouth in the 4lb range than I have in 5 years combined on KY Lake.  Amazingly I never caught a keeper neither under 16" nor over 21".  Funny how they set those slots perfectly where keepers are impossible to catch!  I have to give a shout out to Greg Canada and Brian King for cluing me in on a solid pattern that I was very comfortable with before I got there.  I am very anti getting help for tournaments but a lot of good friends and mentors have told me that I need to keep my eyes on the big prize (KY Regional), swallow my pride and at least listen to what people had to say if they offered me some pointers on fishing these lakes in the Mountain division this year that I've never been to. There were a lot of different ways to catch fish that week and having a couple good trustworthy friends lead me in the right direction was a big help with only two days of practice.

I'd also like to thank the gentlemen who allowed me to move in front of them whoever they may be. That 4.5lber moved me up about 30 places in the standings. I'm in no way trying to pat myself on the back, but this was a prime example of what being considerate of other fisherman can do.  When I ran in there and shut down you could tell those guys had the "Oh great, another tournament guy is gonna wash us out and cut us off" look on their faces. When I approached them calmly and nicely asked them if I could fish, they were more than happy to oblige.  There's more than one way to skin a cat and washing someone up on the bank and cutting them off without even acknowledging they exist is never the best option.

ABA TEAM TRAIL PRACTICE: We were only allowed to practice one day for this one and I had seen conditions developing on a guide trip the previous week to ignite a RIDICULOUS umbrella rig bite.  There was one small catch, no umbrella rigs allowed in ABA competition!!!! I spent my practice day trying to figure out another way to catch these umbrella lovers and never did.  My old buddy and teammate David Gnewikow spent his practice day trying to find a pile of 6lbers in New Johnsonville, and never did.  We decided to spend the tournament running through as many places and patterns as possible and hopefully piece together a 30+ pound limit by the end of the day as we thought it would take at least that to get the win.

ABA TEAM TRAIL TOURNAMENT MARCH 28: I have several patterns and places to run those patterns in the Paris area that have been very good to me over the years.  Since we had a late boat draw we decided to just start there and work our way up the lake.  Long story short, at 10:30 we hadn't had a bite and I turned the show over to Dave.

He made a 15 mile run south and cranked up a small keeper on our first stop.  I had a place close by and he cranked up two more keepers there.  We ran that pattern for awhile and it went dry.  At 12:30 David put our 4th keeper in the boat on a Strike King Bottom Dweller spinnerbait off of a river ledge. We decided to run that pattern for a few minutes and while I'm the ultimate team player and will gladly net fish all day as long as they end up in the weigh bag, I was getting a little flustered at the fact I hadn't had a bite in 6 hours and we were both flustered that we only had four tiny keepers.

On our next stop I finally bowed up on what felt like a giant on a Redeye shad. I just knew that while I wasn't going to contribute many fish to our creel, I was definitely going to help our cause with the biggest!  As David readied the net I hated to even break the news to him but I realized whatever I'd hooked into wasn't alive.  As I reeled the finest piece of nylon trot line string with a rock on it a fellow can catch to the boat, I saw something I've never witnessed before.  David's head sank and I said, "are you giving up?"  He turned to me and replied, "I'm getting close!"

For those that don't know David he is the definition of mental toughness, confidence and positivity. No matter how tough the fishing is, he never cracks under pressure and we'd had a tough enough day that he was almost ready to throw in the towel!

We had a pretty good laugh about it and headed to our next stop and at 1:03pm, I hooked what felt like a good fish. David asked me if I needed the net or if it was a string and I said NET!  He scooped up a 4lber for me and we finally had a limit!  I told him the ice was broken and that nothing could stop me then and I made the decision to change patterns which ultimately resulted in two short fish.

 As we sit there contemplating on DQing ourselves and throwing an umbrella rig just so we could catch some biggun's, the light bulb finally went off.  I thought of a place where I'd wrecked them in December but since the current had been so strong since then they had abandoned it.  The current had slowed back down earlier in the week and I thought just maybe they'd shown back up.

As soon as we hit the sweet spot David bowed up on a big one but it pulled off.  A few cast later I caught a 3lber, then he caught a 4lber and then I hooked a 5lber!  In the blink of an eye David was wading through bass in the floor trying to cull as I was trying to keep the school hot.  I just knew we were about to put our 30lbs in the boat but with each fish the bites were coming closer and closer to the boat.  I knew we were pulling the school out and I was trying to back away from the fish and keep them biting but once they hit that deep water they vanished.  By that point we only had a half hour before check-in so we worked our way back to the ramp but never caught another fish.  We ended up salvaging the day on that last stop and weighed in 18.86lbs and finished in 15th place.

SUMMARY:  First off, I have to say that ABA and Triton have really put a great trail together.  We had 131 teams in this one and I wouldn't be surprised if those numbers go up. After all, first place guarantees a $20,000 Triton at every event plus a ton of contingency money from Triton, Mercury, Power Pole, Toyota, Odom's Blue and Gray Marine and more!  We pocketed $900 for a 15th place showing which is a pretty good pay day to be that far down in the standings.

It was also great to see a lot of old friends that came out and fished. Several of them I haven't seen in years. I've been hoping for a Trail that would be able to bring the best fishermen from Pickwick Dam to KY Dam together again and I think we may have found it.

Last but not least, it was great to be back in a Triton with my old buddy David G.  We don't see each other much over the winter as he hunts with the kids and I keep fishing.  We have a pretty big time together out there and as crazy as it sounds, the worse the day is going the more fun we seem to have. I've learned so much from him the past few years especially about the mental side of fishing and I really feel like the comic relief is what keeps our heads clear when it's tough and allows us to fish hard til the end, which can obviously pay off.

PRODUCT REVIEW: STRIKE FORCE FISH ATTRACTANT

Well, unfortunately I still don't have any good fishing stories to write about. I've spent very little time on the water other than a few excursions to break my new Mercury in and to see if the umbrella rig bite has turned on and as of this writing, it's nonexistent, at least for me. I've decided to fill this month's entry with a product review on a product I've been using for several years now. I actually started writing this article several years ago and got a little greedy and never published it. I figured it wouldn't hurt to have at least one secret weapon I kept to myself but my good friend and owner of Big E Attractants, Jeremy Estes, has a fine product that deserves some recognition so I've decided to spill the beans and share my experiences with you on Strike Force Fish Attractant.

For those of you that have been following my blog or Tournament Angler Journal series over the years, you probably get the idea that I'm pretty skeptical about a lot of new products that hit the market. I wasn't always this way, in fact I used to be the first one in line to buy the latest and greatest invention. After being let down more times than not I eventually became a lot more leery of gimmicky type products that were introduced.

Scent's and attractants are by no means a new invention. I remember as a kid hearing my granddad's talk about spraying WD40 on their bait or even spitting tobacco juice on a wad of night crawlers before they made a cast. I've used them off and on over the years especially in cold water situations,  around the spawn or anytime the bite can be really light or the fish just may not want to commit 100% to my offering. As I gained more experience, the better I became at detecting light strikes and eventually totally got away from using any sort of attractant or scent and really didn't notice any adverse effects from doing so.

Jeremy started Big E Attractants in the summer of 2010 and gave me a bottle of his new Strike Force craw scent that he was about to put on the market. He told me that I should really take the time to give it a try. I explained to him my feelings on scent and that I wasn't a big believer but I assured him I would give it a try and let him know what I thought.

I threw it in my boat and on my next trip I shot a squirt or two on my jig that morning. The first thing I learned on my initial field test of Strike Force was that it definitely wasn't lacking in the smell department. It didn't smell terrible if you like the smell of fish and garlic but one squirt is all it took to let me know it was doing its job.

The next thing I noticed about Strike Force was that at the end of the day I could still smell it on my jig. Most other scents I've ever used would wash off after a few casts and I would have to add another coat, so that was definitely a check in the win column for Strike Force.

At the end of the day I had caught plenty of fish on my scented jig, but I still wasn't sold that it would out produce an unscented jig. After all, it was Kentucky Lake in June so you're going to catch plenty of fish on your jig no matter what it smells like.

I put the bottle in the cup holder of my boat and it rode around there the rest of the summer and I really never gave it a second thought. As time went by I did think to myself about how well the bottle had held up. I've had problems with other scents busting, leaking or the nozzle breaks on the aerosol can, but that little bottle of Strike Force had been kicked, bounced, stepped on, smashed, basically everything except what it was intended for and hadn't leaked a drop. I later found out that was because it has a small rubber washer between the cap and the bottle that keeps it completely leak proof which was another nice little feature, if of course you were a believer in scent's, which I still wasn't.

I talked to Jeremy later that summer and he asked me what I thought about his new recipe and I told him how he definitely had the smell part down, I was impressed with how well it stayed on the bait and how durable the bottle was but I still wasn't sold on it making a difference in catching fish. He assured me that it worked and that I just needed to keep using it, which of course I didn't.

Later that Fall I rolled into Guntersville, AL for the Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship. I had a pretty strong swim jig pattern going and after the third day I was in 3rd place, 5lbs out of the lead. I knew I needed a big bag the final day to have a shot at 1st place, the $200,000 check and the Bassmaster Classic berth that came along with it. My swim jig pattern was dying and my three biggest fish of the week had come off of a river ledge on a football jig so I decided to camp out on that ledge for eight hours the last day.

It was early November and a major cold front had rolled through Guntersville the night before. I knew from past experience that Guntersville bass were very finicky during the first few major fronts of the Fall so I wasn't sure what to expect when we launched that morning.  I headed straight to my ledge and the first fifteen minutes of the day were fifteen minutes of my life I would love to forget. I had seven bites on my jig and never hooked a single fish. I couldn't help but see that 200 grand slipping right through my fingers. I happened to look down and there sit my little bottle of Strike Force in the cup holder of my boat all banged up from a season of bouncing around on KY Lake. I couldn't think of a better time to see what that stuff was all about than right then and there. What I'm about to say may sound like a sales pitch but I assure you it is absolutely, 100% the truth of what went down that cold November morning. I shot a squirt of Strike Force on my jig and caught eight keepers on my next eight casts! I couldn't believe that was all it took! I never missed another fish the rest of the day off of that ledge with my Strike Force soaked jig and though I weighed in the heaviest limit of the day, when the scales closed I came up 2lbs shy of what would've been a life changing win and finished in 2nd place.

That seems like forever ago now and while it has gotten easier with time, to this day I still think back on that week quite often and wonder what might have been if I would've been using Strike Force the entire day, or the entire tournament or the entire year for that matter.

I'll never have anyway of proving that Strike Force was the difference maker that day, but it definitely made a believer out of me and you will never see me make a cast in a tournament without it.

A 3oz. bottle will last you a season and can be purchased for $7.99 from TackleExperts.com. Whether you're a skeptic like I was or a die-hard believer in scent's and attractants, I highly suggest you give Strike Force a try, I wish I would've just a little bit sooner!

PHOTO SUBMITTED TO ABA MAGAZINE ON THE KEYS TO MY SUCCESS IN 2010 BWS CHAMPIONSHIP

2015 OVERVIEW

For the past several years I’ve spent the winter trying to land a title sponsor so I could fish the FLW Tour. As I’ve gotten a little older and more familiar with the Tour level side of the fishing industry, it’s really not very appealing to me anymore.

One of the reasons I've lost some desire to take a shot at the big leagues is due to how cutthroat the competition has become.  When I run down the lake in a BFL and I see a boat on a place I want to fish, I just go to the next one.  Sometimes I may run by 20 or 30 schools of bass before I find an open place to fish.  It seems more and more folks have a different outlook than myself nowadays and multiple boats fishing within spitting distance of each other is a very common occurrence, especially at the tour level.  

While discussing the subject with friends that compete on Tour, I think I have an understanding of why fishing in crowds has become a common practice and for the most part, accepted among Tour Pros.  

Some good examples of both sides of the "should I stay or should I go" debate took place right here on KY Lake during the FLW Tour Event.  My good friend Micah Frazier, whose an up and coming young gun on Tour told me there was a boat on his starting place and when I asked him what he did he said he went ahead and started fishing and soon thereafter another boat or two joined the party.  I asked him what the other guy said when he pulled up and Micah replied, "Everything was cool, that's just how it is on Tour."  He then explained to me how when your fishing for that kind of money, you can't just "not fish" a place you found in practice because someone else found it. Micah stuck to his guns and fished among the crowds for 3 days and though he lost the fish that would've put him in the top 10, he still put 10 grand in the bank with a top 30 finish.  He gave me another example of how Brent Ehler,who is very well respected, had pulled in on him during a BASS Open on Douglas lake.  He said Brent pulled up, apologized, and said, "There's boats on every school, I have to fish somewhere." I definitely see his and the other guys who don't mind fishing in close proximity to one another's point. 

On the other side of the spectrum was my good buddy and one of my heroes, Larry Nixon.  Larry knew where all of the good schools were hanging out that week, just like a lot of the field.  He chose not to fish boat to boat with anyone and instead tried to catch scattered fish off of more obscure places and ended up struggling and finishing out of the money.  Now we all know Larry Nixon knows how to find and catch fish as good as anyone on the planet so you have to assume if he would have gone ahead and joined the crowds, he would've easily cashed a check in the tournament. 

I'm not sure what makes some guys o.k. with fishing in crowds and others totally against it.  If I had to guess I would say that a veteran like Larry can probably afford to gamble a little more than the young guns who have more to prove and more on the line financially. 

While I understand and respect both views, I don't think I could ever embrace fishing in a crowd which would make me an "up and comer" with a "veterans" outlook on things and therefore I probably wouldn't last long on Tour! 

My other reason for having a change of heart is, as I’ve said many times, my love of fishing is trying to figure the fish out. When I first started bass fishing in 2000, the BASS Invitationals were drawing 400 “Pros” per event, the FLW Tour was maxed out with 200 entrants at every event and I really believed that those 600 or so guys were able to go to lakes they’d never seen and find winning fish in just a few days. 

I’ve since learned that there are only a handful of fishermen on the planet that can actually accomplish such a feat. Most rely on info from local fishermen, waypoints, sharing info with travel partners, etc. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with what makes the Tour go round as long as this info is obtained in accordance with BASS and/or FLW rules. I’m also not saying Tour Pros aren't great fishermen as most of us know it’s quite a challenge to catch another person’s fish and it still takes a lot of skill and knowledge to put said info to use. What I am saying is that what inspired me to dedicate my life to trying to become a “Pro” fisherman was the belief that it was possible to learn enough to figure fish out in three days like the “Pros” did and 15 years later I realized that, for the most part, it doesn't exist. 

Honestly, at first, I was a little bummed out over this discovery. I felt like someone had told me Michael Jordan and LeBron James had flubber in their shoes or the NBA is really using 8ft. goals. I use this analogy because a goal of mine as a kid, was to be able to dunk a basketball on a 10ft. goal which is pretty tough when your 5’8” but as long as I saw Jordan doing it, I knew it was possible and believed I could reach that goal, no pun intended, with enough hard work and determination. 

***NOTE: Just so I don’t leave you hanging I finally maxed out by dunking a volleyball but just didn't have the hands to dunk a regulation ball, but that’s another sport and another story for another time and I probably couldn't touch the net now with my fishermen's physique!!!***

But anyway, hopefully you get my drift on how learning that the best fishermen in the world were getting a little input on where to start their search for bass on unfamiliar water sort of took the wind out of my sails. 

Luckily for me, it took me awhile to realize this truth or I probably would've given up and still be sitting at a desk every day. Instead, the work I put in trying to reach my goal of becoming a "Pro" help me build a successful guide business and I am now very content making my living fishing as opposed to being a professional fishermen and believe me, there is a very big difference in the two. 

All that being said, I’m pleased to announce that I’ll mostly be staying local again in 2015 guiding and fishing FLW/ABA draw events on KY Lake. 

I am going to venture out a little bit and fish the Mountain division of the FLW BFL’s in an effort to qualify for the Regional event in October on KY Lake. I’ve been wanting to fish another division for several years that holds it’s Regional on KY but scheduling conflicts with local events have always nipped the idea in the bud. I will have to miss a Weekend Bass Series event or two but a BFL Regional win is worth around 70 grand plus an All American berth and I’d much rather take my chances at home than somewhere like, uh, let’s say, CHEROKEE LAKE!

So, the goal in the Mountain division is going to be making the top 50 in the points. That sounds easy enough but unfortunately it’s one of the strongest divisions in the country and draws well over 100 boats in all 5 events. What that means is, catching a couple fish at each tournament isn't going to get it done. A lot of divisions have people start dropping out after a bad tournament or two and you can overcome a couple of mediocre showings, but that’s not going to be the case in the Mountain.

Another thing I have going against me is not only are the lakes (Dale Hollow twice, Cumberland once and Barren River twice), places I’ve never been, but with the exception of Barren, the others are deep, clear, highland reservoirs which is far from my strong suit.

The good news is both Dale Hollow events will be pre-spawn and if I’m going to catch any on a deep, clear lake it’s going to be that time of year.

Cumberland is the one I’m really worried about and it takes place in mid-May. I’ll probably run up the river and make as many flips as possible in hopes of just catching a few keepers in that one. There could potentially be a few lingering spawner's also, so I’ll definitely be looking for a few.

I’ve heard pretty good things about the Barren River and my buddies that have fished there have been able to do well fishing their strengths whether it be shallow or deep so that should be a fun place to try and figure out.

The FLW Rayovac is going to be in early May this year which is a little different. I’m really excited over that because depending on the weather, it may not be a full-fledged ledge tournament. I feel like a ledge tournament is a safer bet for me as far as definitely being able to cash a good check, but I really think if I ever win a Rayovac it’s going to have to be at another time of year when everyone in the field doesn't know where the entire bass population is. My best finish in a Rayovac to date is 3rd and that one was held in mid-March so hopefully we’ll have a cool spring, some high water and we can mix it up a little bit in that one.

Other than that and a few excursions to Eastern KY, it’s going to be a pretty standard year.

I’d also like to say that all of my sponsors stayed on board this year so I’d like to give a shout out to Odom’s Blue and Gray Marine, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Lowrance, Strike King, Power-Pole, All Pro Rods, Abu Garcia Reels, Seaguar Fluorocarbon, The Rod Glove, Strike Force Fish Attractant, The Cabin Bait & Tackle and TackleExperts.com for all of their support. 

I’ve considered The Cabin owner Ronnie Critcheloe a sponsor for a while now and he’s always gone above and beyond for me but this year we made it official. For those that have never been to The Cabin in Kuttawa, KY, it’s the best tackle store I’ve ever stepped foot in and they also have an online division now, www.TackleExperts.com. Not only do they have everything you could ever need, Ronnie and Diane are great people and I look forward to working with them again this year. 

Please be sure to check them out as well as all of my other sponsors as I assure you they’re the best companies and people in the business and I couldn't do my job without each and every one of them.

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year and you all have a blessed 2015. 

2014 SEASON RECAP

I would like to start off by mentioning a great day I had on the water recently with my little buddy Blare Houston.  I've taken Blare and his dad Scott fishing a few times and have become good friends with them along the way.  I really wanted to get Blare in on some of the ledge action earlier in the year but I had so many guide trips and tournaments I never could get it done.  I decided to invite him to fish the Montgomery County Bass Club Winter Trail event with me Dec. 20 and while we didn't catch them as good as I expected, we were able to make an adjustment or two throughout the day and win the tournament with 20.08lbs.  I just wanted Blare to know how much I appreciate him toughing out a cold, slow day with me as I know it's a lot to ask out of anyone especially a 13 year old. If he even had half as much fun as I did, he had a pretty good time!

I always like to use this last entry of the year to reflect on my season, compare it to years past and that helps me get an idea of if, and how I'm progressing as a fisherman. The main things I like to look at are as follows:

1. Did I learn anything that will help me be more successful down the road?

This is the most important part of the equation to me. It's the reason I fish and I've always said the year I don't learn something will be the year I quit fishing. A couple years ago I got in a rut and I was really beginning to think I'd about maxed out on what I could learn. Last year some things started clicking and I actually said in my 2013 Season Recap that I felt like I'd learned more in 2013 than I had in any year prior. Learning that much in '13 really had me excited about putting it to use this year and I never dreamed I could have another learning year like '13 this far into my career but '14 was even better! It's really hard to explain but let's take March for instance. March has always been my favorite month to fish, I've been pretty successful in March over the years and caught fish a lot of different ways. I pretty much thought I was as dialed into March fishing as I could be and this year it was like all of the little pieces of the puzzle came together and I could see the big picture. Before, I was fortunate to find good places or patterns but this year it became crystal clear to me when and why those places were good and I even added a few new patterns that I never knew existed to my March arsenal. April has always been my Achilles Heel on KY Lake and I had numerous 20lb days this year and that was a huge confidence boost for me moving forward. Another good example was what I learned about electronics and school fishing. I've been able to find and catch fish using my Lowrance for several years but I really learned some next level stuff this past summer. The coolest thing I learned was where to make my first cast into the school by the way they're positioned on the Lowrance to get the most out of the school. I really believe this is the type stuff that's separated guys like Randy Haynes from the rest of the pack the past few years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I know as much as Randy, just saying I know a lot more than I did 8 months ago! To sum it up, it was a very exciting year from a learning standpoint and probably the best of my career.

2. TOURNAMENT WINS

For me to make a living fishing at this level, I have to win tournaments. As I've said many times, the difference in a win and second place for me is around 10 grand. In order to get all of my big bonus checks from Triton, Mercury, Power-Pole, etc, I have to win! In a recent Bass Fan interview Randall Tharp said at the end of the year he doesn't want to count paychecks, he wants to count trophies! Randall hit the nail on the head and even though I'm competing at a lower level, I can definitely relate. Tournaments, especially one day tournaments, are very hard to win. There are more fishermen on the lake than ever before and with all of the technology and info available the vast majority of these fishermen know what they're doing out there. I don't think we'll ever see an era like I've heard about in the 80's and 90's where guys like Bill and Billy Schroeder on KY Lake or Ed Gettys and Billy Ledbetter on Guntersville dominated and won every single tournament they entered because the playing field is just too level now. I try to set realistic goals every year and while I fish to win every tournament I enter, that's just not realistic this day and age. Too many things have to come together to win. I do believe with smart game plans, smart decisions, perfect execution and a little luck, you can win several tournaments in a season so my goal the past few years has been to win five Triton/Mercury sanctioned events a season. Three years ago when I set this goal, I won two but they were more luck than anything and I just never got in tune with the winning fish that year. Last year, I won two sanctioned events again but I really felt like I was around the winning fish or on the winning patterns in several more. This year I was able to get even closer to my goal of winning five in a season. I only sealed the deal in three of them but either lost the winning fish or was within ounces or one bite of winning four more. This was definitely the most consistent year I've ever had as far as being in contention to win and it strengthens my belief that 5 or more wins in a season is a realistic and reachable goal.

3. TOP 10 FINISHES AND CHECKS

I also like to look at my top 10 finishes and how many checks I cash compared to past years because even though the ultimate goal is winning, the longer you linger around the top 10 the more wins you’re going to get. I was able to cash checks in 17/22 events (77%) and finish in the top 10 in 15/22 events (68%). These numbers are almost identical to 2013 (16/23 on checks and top 10's) but there was one major improvement. Out of my 15 top 10 finishes, 13 of them were 4th place or better. That number of top 4's surpasses any year I've had to date by far and again helped me prove to myself that winning numerous tournaments in a season is very possible.

SUMMARY: I don't have any complaints about this season. My guide business absolutely exploded and I feel like I'm right where I need to be at this point with my guiding. As far as the tournament side, not having any complaints doesn't mean I'm content. I am still striving for the "perfect" season where all of the "one bite away" 2nd and 3rd places are "W's"! What this season did was show me that while not an easy feat, winning 40 to 50% of the tournaments I enter is very possible. It may never happen, but as long as I believe that it's a reachable goal, that's what we're shooting for. I'm usually pretty burnt out by this point in the year and not even wanting to think about the upcoming season but after what I learned this year, I'm very much looking forward to next year's tournament season. That's what I love most about this amazing sport. No matter how much time we spend on the water we can never learn it all, every day is brand new and that's what keeps us coming back.

As always thanks to all of my sponsors: Odom's Blue and Gray Marine, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Lowrance, Strike King Lures, Power-Pole, Seaguar, All Pro Rods, Abu Garcia, The Rod Glove, Strike Force Fish Attractant, The Cabin Bait and Tackle and TackleExperts.com.

Thanks to my family and friends for all of their support and most of all my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the opportunity to live the dream.

Thanks to everyone who followed along this year, I hope you all have a blessed 2015!