Last update: June 20, 2008
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Last update: June 20, 2008
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What: FLW Tour
When: May 16-19, 2001
Where: Red River, LA
Finish: 124th
This is one fantastic fishery that we simply visited at the wrong time. At least my timing was poor. I found quality fish in the backwaters during my short practice (due to driving from Douglas) but then zeroed on the first tournament day. I have no idea what happened. The second day I weighed in a respectable limit by fishing the same lure in the same areas. The leaders caught their fish on the same baits that I threw – a shallow crankbait and a jig.
What: FLW Tour
When: April 24 -27, 2001
Where: Beaver Lake, AR
Finish: 46th
Winnings: $3,000.00
The geography at Beaver Lake and Table Rock Lake is very similar because they are relatively close together. The biggest difference was that the fish on Beaver Lake were further along into the spawning phase and had seen more fishing pressure. This made the largemouth bass especially spooky. I unfortunately drew a late boat number on the first day and arrived at my first three favorite areas only see competitors’ boats crowding the best banks. I tried to catch at least a half dozen quality largemouths but only could manage to catch two of them. I finished the rest of the day and the second day by concentrating on catching the biggest spotted bass that I could and improved my catch significantly.
What: FLW Tour
When: March 21-24, 2001
Where: Lake Martin, AL
Finish: 18th
Winnings: $5,000.00
Cooling weather (including snow) turned off the feeding largemouth bass and therefore I focused on the more aggressive spotted bass. At noon on the first tournament day I found an area that was loaded with spotted bass and caught my limit in the remaining two hours. I camped on the spot for the second day (drop-shotting a 5" Straight Worm by Hawg Caller) and jumped way up in the standings. Had I found the spot an hour earlier on the first day I believe I would have qualified for the Top 5.
What: FLW Tour
When: February 14 - 17, 2000
Where: Pascagoula River, MS
Finish: 124th
This tournament was a tremendous disappointment because I had found the fish to qualify for the top 10 with. I found a backwater lake that I could access by all tournament rules (jumping logs, push-poling, etc). But when I arrived into the lake during the tournament I was told that I was trespassing. A new Mississippi law allows an individual to buy property that was previously accessible to the public and prohibit the public from entering.
What: FLW Tour
When: January 24 - 27, 2001
Where: Lake Okeechobee, FL
Finish: 89th
The weather was fairly stable except that the wind picked up for the previous four days prior to the tournament. This resulted in the lake getting muddied in most areas. I thought that the lake’s bite would be shut off and opted to sight-fish in a river running out of Okeechobee. I thought that I could catch about 8-10 pounds per day and make the top 10 cut. Looking back, I clearly overestimated the river fish and underestimated the lake fish. Unlike last year (only 18 pounds) it took 26 pounds in two days to make the top 10 cut and virtually all of the qualifiers were in the lake or adjacent canals. I’ll never make that mistake again.
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