Last update: June 20, 2008
|
Last update: June 20, 2008
|
2001 - 2002 B.A.S.S. Season Update What: BASS Open
When: October 3-5, 2002
Where: Hudson River, NY
Finish: 77th
Like so many tidal waters this river has local “holes” and that’s where the tournaments are typically won. I don’t like to fish in crowds so I tried to find fish that other people had overlooked. I concentrated on eelgrass edges, trying to catch smallmouths but they just didn’t pan out. My catch of 4-13 was a disappointment to me but kept me in good position on the first day. The second day I just never made the right decisions. Decisions about timing your fishing are never more important than they are on tidal water.
What: BASS Open
When: September 12-14, 2002
Where: St Lawrence River, NY
Finish: 117th
This
is a great fishery that is just too big for bass boats in multi-day events.
Approximately ten boats didn’t make it back to weigh-in on the second
day when winds ranged from 15-20 mph. Through
practice I found fairly dependable largemouth and smallmouth biting in the
What: BASS Open
When: August 8-10, 2002
Where: Potomac River, MD
Finish: 6th
Winnings: $6000 This is the river that I grew up fishing mostly in the summers when I was on break during college. I learned more than just how to catch fish; I learned the character of the fish in the river. I found fish in a grassbed around the mouth of Aquia creek that remarkably few other people had found. However, these fish slowed down on the second day of the tournament and I went scrambling. I immediately realized the potential of an off-shore piece of structure when I began catching 3+ pound fish on the structure during the second day (weighed 17-12 which was the biggest catch of the tournament). On the final day the outgoing current was noticeably slower and the fish fed less. Even with the slower bite I hooked and lost two 4 pound fish that would have won the tournament. Perhaps I should be happy with 6th place but the competitive side of me is not satisfied to be so close to a win.
What: BASSMASTER Tour When: May 8-11, 2002
Where: Lake Eufaula, AL
Finish: 140th
This was my most frustrating tournament in a long time. Typical seasonal patterns should have pushed the majority of fish to off-shore structure but an unusual flood instead brought the lake level two feet higher up than it had been in two years. This gave the fish tremendous shallow cover opportunities and resulted in their being extremely scattered. None of this mattered much to me, however, because I was sick with the flu. I missed virtually the entire practice and started fishing the tournament days with very little experience on this lake. What’s most frustrating is that most of the fish were caught flipping in areas near the blast-off. I’m absolutely certain that I would have figured it out had I been able to practice.
When: April 24-27, 2002
Where: Potomac River, MD
Finish: 212th
I approached this tournament differently than most because I didn’t compete in all of the Opens but rather just opted to fish it because it was close to home. So I went with a win-or-lose strategy. I personally enjoy fishing with this strategy whenever I’m not concerned with overall ranking. I attribute most of my career wins to this approach. The downfall is that sometimes the winning fish don’t feed. Or, as happened here, another competitor finished in the top five because he figured out how to catch them from the same area of Nanjemoy creek.
When: April 10-13, 2002
Where: Lake Guntersville, AL
Finish: 85th
This may sound funny but it’s hard to fish a tournament on a truly great fishery. On most typical lakes I can know that I’m doing well by catching a 3-pound average limit. But on a grass-filled reservoir like Lake Guntersville it’s difficult to gauge whether the fish you’re catching are big enough to do well. I found one off-shore grassline where I could catch a 5+ lb bass each day. But I could never catch more than one and the rest of the fish that I found were typically spawning fish closer to the bank and they were only about 2 lbs each. I think I was doing as well as I could (for the mid-lake area) because the fish were in the post-spawn stage and were fairly lethargic. But I soon learned after the tournament started that the best weights were almost entirely post-spawners. This leads me to believe that the fish in the lower part of the lake had spawned earlier and were into the "summer feed" pattern.
When: February 6-9, 2002
Where: Lake Seminole, GA
Finish: 150th
This lake has produced some incredible catches in past years but the weather worked against us this year. The weather made it very difficult to find fish that were catchable for more than one day. In practice I caught them fairly well by slowing down and making myself throw a Carolina-rigged lizard. I also tried a little bit of everything else but to no avail. The cold water continued to cool as the tournament progressed and the pros who did well had to have several bunches of fish found because virtually everyone "ran out of fish". In fact, the first day leaders barely caught any fish for the rest of the tournament. I think that was because they didn’t have fish found in other areas. Mike Ianconelli told me that he actually won on his "back up" fish. A pre-spawn cold front is about the toughest natural condition I can think of.
When: December 12-15, 2001
Where: Lake Toho, FL
Finish: 88th Hopes and expectations of the January (last season) record-setting tournament were dashed as Lake Toho turned back into it’s old self. Previous BASS tournaments on Lake Toho showed that if a pro caught 8 lbs per day he would end up in the money. This year’s tournament was no different. The majority of pros caught small limits each day and the difference between 10th and 40th after three days was only a little more than three pounds. It was a tight race! The reason that so many of the competitors caught so many fish is that the lake is full of vegetation – both native shoreline species and hydrilla offshore. In fact, many of the amateurs out-fished their pro partners because anywhere you chose to cast was about equal. My first two amateur partners had great days fishing behind me and ultimately finished in the top 20 of their division. I did a good job finding the fish but I wasn’t as quick to get the bites (I probably fished too fast) and I lost a lot of fish. I lost about a limit each of the first two days. The fish were striking in a reaction mode instead of a feeding mode so they weren’t getting well hooked. My partners, however, slowed down and used more soft plastics to boat more fish. I was using mostly Hawg Caller spinnerbaits and a variety of hard jerkbaits. On the third day I fished much smarter: I Carolina-rigged a french fry until I had caught a limit, then I went flipping in the heaviest vegetation and caught bigger fish. I regret that I didn’t start the tournament with this strategy. Another lesson learned!!!
What: BASSMASTER Open When: December 6-8, 2001
Where: St. Johns River, FL
Finish: 146th I repeated my mistake from three years ago to commit to Rodman Reservoir rather than fish the tidal St. John’s River. I was so tempted by Rodman’s reputation for producing big fish that I forgot the most basic tournament rule: 2-3 pound bass will win most tournaments. I was extremely fortunate to have drawn Jordan Paullo (from CT) on the first day because he was catching quality bass out of the vegetation in Rodman and showed me a lot about flipping in heavy grass. He refined his technique by fishing water chestnuts on the Hudson River. He eventually finished in the top 10 by staying in Rodman, and was undoubtedly the most successful in that lake. Most of the top finishers caught their fish by Carolina-rigging humps in the main body of the St. John’s River. They were fishing isolated brush piles and current breaks in somewhat deeper water. Several top finishers also caught their fish in the eelgrass beds toward Jacksonville. The eelgrass fish bit inconsistently however, so the fishermen frequently had two good days, and one bad one.
What: BASSMASTER Open When: November 8-10, 2001
Where: Lake of the Ozarks, MO
Finish: 69th This wasn’t the same lake as in years past. When I won the tournament the previous year many locals felt that the fishing hadn’t been as good as usual (some tremendous winning weights were caught in prior years). But apparently the entire 2001 season saw much lower weights than usual. Numerous factors have been blamed: drought, low water, etc. Undoubtedly some sort of fishkill has occurred. It’s a severe loss for fishermen that virtually all of the nearby Oklahoma lakes and numerous surrounding reservoirs experience the fishkills at about the same time. However, the lakes will eventually rebound – though my guess is that it will take a number of years. Texas lakes that had similar fishkills only took two years to significantly recover, but they had grass to help the fish reproduce and grow. As for how the fish were caught – I’m still not sure what the winning pattern was. I caught a total of three keepers in three days and missed making a paycheck by about one fish. It’s difficult to catch fish when there just aren’t many left. The fish that I caught were particularly shallow around docks in less than 4’ of water. I caught them on the 7" grape worm that I used at the Red River (previous tournament) because I felt that they wanted the slim profile. In hindsight I believe that the bait wasn’t that important but covering water was. I probably should have used heavier tackle (I lost two quality fish) and faster presentations.
When: October 31 - November 3, 2001
Where: Red River, LA
Finish: 24th
Winnings: $3,500 The Red River is a fertile fishery that produces a lot of bass for it’s size but has been getting a tremendous amount of pressure from pro tournaments in the last three years. In my opinion, the tournaments aren’t hurting the fishery but rather the pros are educating the local fishermen about new places and lures to catch fish. Then the fish aren’t always released by the locals. Tournament fish are always released!!!! Finally a major tournament was held late enough into the fall that we saw decent catches. The water had cooled just enough that the fish were starting to turn on but not everywhere. The active fish, and of course the competitors, were frequently bunched up. To complicate matters, the fish fed sporadically from one day to the next. In fact some of the top finishers had one bad day each because the fish just didn’t feed consistently. I found the fish that I caught in a little cut that had some main river current. It was a small area and I have no doubt that if nobody else had found it then I would have made the top 10. On the other hand, the other pro that found it would have also made the top 10 if I hadn’t been in there. As it turned out we got along great and shared the fish with both of us earning decent paychecks. I caught one on a Hawg Caller spinnerbait but caught the rest on a grape 7" worm. I believe the worm’s smaller profile was important to getting bites.
What: BASSMASTER Tour When: August 22-25, 2001
Where: Lake St. Clair, MI
Finish: 116th I have yet to figure out the moods of smallmouth bass in the Great Lakes. They seem to be unlike bass anywhere else. One day you can’t do any wrong and they’ll bite most any lure and then the next day they just quit feeding and it doesn’t seem to matter what you do because they can’t be made to bite. The solution seems to be that you simply continue to look until you find another group of aggressive fish. I caught them fairly well on the first two days and then couldn’t catch them on the last day – resulting in my worst result on the Top 150 Tour. Most of the pros caught their fish on spinnerbaits or Carolina-rigs. This is a departure from the favorite lure of the locals – the tube. There’s a lesson to be learned here but I’m not sure what it is. I’ve got to experiment more next time I fish for Great Lakes smallmouths. I am determined to improve my skills and will try to practice about two weeks before the next Great Lakes tournament (whenever that may be). |
