I’m back home, and ready to forget another Clarks Hill derby! I’m 0 for 5 in finishes on that lake, I really thought this was gonna be my redemption. The first day I pulled up on my starting shoal, and the whole thing was covered with fish boiling on herring! Problem was, they were all striped bass and whites. After catching over 20 of those , I finally caught a small keeper on a swimbait. I then went back towards the launch area, where I thought I could catch an easy limit on dropshot. Not so much, I worked hard in that area to catch 2 more keepers, and lost a nice 3lber. The last few hours, I ran some points that had bass swimming around them, but only caught one more keeper on a carolina rig. 4 bass for 5lbs, was not a good start, so the next day, I completely changed areas. In the first 10 casts on the second day, I caught a 2.5lber on a pencil popper, next stop a 2lber on a carolina rig, and next stop, broke off a 2.5lber trying to lift it in the boat on 6lb test! (DUMB)! Then the rain started, so I ran way up-lake to some bedding bluegills that had some big bass swimming around them. I caught two keepers there, but the big ones were gone. Then ran some good point with carolina rigs and dropshots, finished out my limit and culled some, but the big ones never showed. Even if I boated everything that bit, I don’t think I would have made the cut! Now it’s home with Amy and TJ, getting ready for Kentucky lake. My rig is at my friend Tom’s house in Nashville, so I’ll fly back in 10 days and try to get my revenge on that lake,( last two years missed 10 Grand on Kentucky by 1oz, both years!!!) Sorry for the lack of blogging last week, but you really didn’t miss much!!!
May 23, 2010
May 18, 2010
May 20-23, 2010 Clarks Hill Lake • Evans, Ga.
The Pride of Georgia
I am writing this for John as he is unable to access the Internet from his location. John has asked me to inform you that once he access to the Internet again he will update the blog with information on his practice and tournament experience.
Here is a link to information about the tournament location so you can see what John has to work with: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/news/story?id=3489991
Please join me in wishing John the best of luck.
Website Administrator
May 15, 2010
May 15th
Wow, what a spectacle! This morning, the start boat said something, and over 50 boats took off, shotgun! With 500 boats on a fairly small lake, the boats were everywhere. We headed down to some fish my partner had found in prefish. He caught a nice one on a frog, and I flipped a keeper. Once we got into his best area, he caught 3 in a row on a swim jig. We then hit a few other areas, and I caught a frog fish and one on a jig. We headed in at 3 with about 10.5 lbs (took 12 for a check). Watching 500 teams weigh in, in the Alabama heat, was grueling. After the weigh in, all of us pros got to throw tackle out to the crowd for 20 minutes, thats right, we threw 1000′s of dollars worth of tackle (including reels, depthfinders, even trolling motors), out into the crowd. I hope no one got hurt, but it was the craziest 20 min that I’ve seen in a long time! They then gave away a fully rigged boat, and a chance to win a truck. Mark’s Outdoors did a fantastic job with this tourney, and I was proud to represent Powell Rods. By the way, Powell gave away 50 entries to family teams (like father/son/daughter) and there were 250 family teams entered! What a great event, nows time to get some sleep and get up early to drive to Georgia, for the next event!
May 14, 2010
May 14th
In Birmingham to fish the Mark’s Outdoors Tourney. If you have never heard of this tourney, let me tell you, it’s quite a spectacle. There will be over 500 boats and an all day show at the store. They sure treat us great, a shopping spree and room, and a great dinner, this is a great event. I drew a fireman named Johnny Cox, and he prefished a few days ago. He’s on some flip and frog fish, so we’ll hit his water and have a great time. We will then head over to Georgia for the next Elite event> Got to get up at 3:15am, so going to bed now, I’ll let you know how it goes!
May 8, 2010
Day 3 – Synergy Southern Challenge
Windy!!!! It’s all good when you fish the 3rd day. Caught a small limit deep this morning on Omega jigs, then pulled up stake and headed to the river where I caught the 9lber. My first cast to the stump, I missed one, next cast I caught a 5lber. I re-rigged and two casts later I caught another 6lber! I fished the entire ledge and caught another 20 or so, but upgraded just a small bit. Ended up with 19lbs today, and moved op to 15th, just a couple of pounds out of the cut. Last year I finished tied for 15th, and I was upset that I didn’t do better. This year, I’m so happy with my finish, and hope to build on it the rest of the year. Gave the new Powell 804 crankbait rod a serious workout, and love that rod. I’m off to Phx for Mother’s Day, then back here on Thursday for the Mark’s Outdoors tourney. Can’t wait to see my family and be home for a few days!
