Well most of you have heard of it probably even seen it on t.v. and many have fished one for themselves. Yes I am talking about the one and only A-rig, lure, bait, harness system whatever you want to call it it flat out catches fish. I have never seen a lure that has absolutely turn the fishing world light up every message board known with pros and cons like this. Living on two of the greatest river systems in the country to being throwing such a rig and working at the largest tackle retailers in KY, The Cabin Bait and Tackle I've gotten to fish and hear first hand the buzz about this new phenomenon. The opinions on this thing range from it's the greatest thing since sliced bread to those who truly believe it should be banned from any type of fishing. From the majority of the opinions I've heard most are all about throwing the rig when out fun fishing but see it having no place in tournaments. There reasoning seems to be the same that it takes the skill out of fishing. And from the experience we've seen here on KY Lake there seems to be some truth to this. As there are countless anglers coming into the shop that normally pack the boat away for the winter because it becomes really tough fishing, 10-15 fish a day being good, to catching 30-50 a day with most being keepers. On the tournament side it is taking 24lbs or better to win and 20lbs to get a check, this is completely on heard of for Dec. thru Feb. on lakes on the Tennessee river system. Basically if you can find a school of fish, with todays electronics is getting easier each year, you will catch them period!
 
 

    This is one technique that really requires the correct rod, reel, and line to enjoy a wonderful day on the water. Starting with the line braid is key as this is a fairly heavy bait to throw and you want a solid hook up on a long cast. Braid also gives you an advantage when hanging the bait in a tree or brush pile that you are able to pull it free. The new Sufix 832 and Power Pro Slick have been the best selling braids as they have a coating that allows them to flow through the rod guides much quieter and adding casting distance. Now with the line selected it's time for a reel to put it on. This technique requires a smooth slow retrieve, with many guys choosing to go with a Revo Winch reel. Something in the 6.1:1 - 5.4:1 gear ratio is perfect. Now for the rod and nothing brings more debate than pick the right rod for a specific technique. The debate continues here also but for the most part a longer rod is better something over 7' preferably 7'-6''. It needs to carry a lure wgt. load of up to 2oz. or better with a mod-fast or fast action. This is no place for an extra fast action rod as you don't need the tip. Many of the big swimbait rods on the market make great A-rig rods with some companies such as Powell developing a rod specifically for this technique. Many of the flippin and pitchin rods out there will also work just be careful of the smaller blank rods as they are breaking under the stress of repeated casting of such heavy baits. As far as the rig is concerned there are very few bad ones on the market but when it comes to jig heads the two best ones I have found are the Buckeye JWill and Outkast Tackle pro swim jig heads. The JWill head is an awesome open water head that helps give the swimbait great roll action. The pro swim jig by Outkast Tackle is key when fishing around cover much like we are doing here on KY Lake where we are keying in on brush piles. I could get into all the different swimbaits that can be used on the rig but that is a complete matter of opinion as I've seen guys throw everything from Zoom super swimmin flukes to high end BassTrix.

    Where to apply the use of the A-rig is probably the easiest part of the whole system. For the most part we've fished this bait in many of the same places and ways that you would slow roll heavy spinnerbait or deep diving crankbait. Now there are always exceptions to every rule but sticking to areas that hold off shore fish and using your electronics to locate these schools of fish you can have an absolute blast.
 

    I along with Mary are firm believers everything happens for a reason. Many feel as we do that road blocks in life are just one way to get you to ask the Lord for his help rather than just thinking all that you do and get done is because of who you are. If you are good at something it's because he has blessed you with that ability to do so, if you start taking credit for yourself being talented in that field it doesn't matter what it is, he will humble you very quickly. I had one of these days at the Jet-A-Marina tournament here on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. This is the largest team tournament each year and with a $95 entry and $5000 first place prize it's easy to see why. I had been doing guide trips all week and hadn't practice one minute for the event. We had had some rain the lakes were on the rise and I knew the fish would be in the bushes again. With my game plan in mind for most of the week I felt like I was going to go knock there lights out. This was also going to be the first tournament of the year for Mary and I together and wanted it to be fun and laid back. Which for me is very difficult to do when in a tournament as I am always on edge and going 100mph. In my mind I was ready to go but I should have listened  to Him when he sent me a few messages to not fish. The first came on the way to the meeting when I stopped to get cash out to pay the entry fee. The ATM machine at the bank wouldn't let me do a with drawl but that didn't stop me from going to the meeting. When I was there my buddy Jeremey asked it I wanted to sign up yet tonight and I said no I would do it in the morning. After the third time of him asking I took is money and signed up at boat 217. After the meeting I headed back home to get things situated for the morning. As most of the spring has gone we had severe thunderstorms during the night which is no big deal and would be a help in putting more water in the bushes. The second sign came when we woke up at 4am got everything and headed out but only made it about half way out the drive when we ran into 2 large trees laying across the road. Well I told Mary guess we aren't suppose to fish today and got turned around, which on a one lane road is not easy to do with a suburban and 21' boat, and headed back to the house. I called the tournament director and explained the situation, he understood and said to call him later in the week and get our refund. We then changed clothes and grabbed the chainsaw and Mary's truck and drove back down to cut the trees out of the way. 


It didn't take as long as I thought it would as all I did was cut them into chunks big enough to roll out of the way. We had a path cut but 6am and to Mary we could still be on the water by 7ish. So back to the house changed clothes again and off we went. After putting gas in the boat we made it to the ramp and Kerry Jet A's owner was still there and checked us in and we were idling out of the Marina at 10min after 7. The third sign and not so much we shouldn't have fished cause we were already on the water but not to burn a $100+ in gas and make that 1hr and 15min run south and still didn't go were I wanted. On the way down the lake Mary looks at me and says are you sure we should run all the way down there, the tournament was won with in 15mins of the dam! Instead I ran us down to a couple areas and we cranked and flipped bushes for 5 fish weighing a total of 9lbs-13oz good for a 150 something finish or maybe it was in the 170s out of 312 boats. Sometimes he puts road block in front us to ask for his help other times he puts them there so we make the right decisions and this time I didn't do either and have the results to show for it.

 WHY! This is the question I found myself asking during and after the second FLW Central Everstart Series tournament on KY/Barkley lakes. I couldn't wait for this tournament as it was going to be early than it has ever been here helping neutralize the field some what. Finding fish is always the key but staying with them is a whole nother deal and that would be a huge factor as it is during any transition period on any body of water. My calender of practice was going to be the Thurs thru Weds just as if I was out of town for a tournament. As it turned out I did a guide trip on Thurs with gale force North winds that ushered in a severe cold front plummeting temps from the mid 70s on Weds to the mid 40's. Needless to say the fishing was not very spectacular and just became a game of getting out to the wind so you could fish. I dropped the two gentleman off and went home thawed out and decided to go back out after wind settled some after all it was only 2pm. I put in close the house and ran to a some what protected creek and started on one bank and fished it all the way to the back without as much as a sniff. At this point I was pretty discourage and was considering just putting it back on the trailer. When I decided I would just fish the entire creek so I put the trolling motor back in the water and started working down the other bank. 40 minutes later I boated 5 nice keepers in the 12-13lb range that would be enough each day to get a check. Friday brought another guide trip and even worse weather with snow, sleet, hail, rain, and thunder mix.  With the wind blowing hard out to the North again we set out to find them some fish for a tournament they were fishing on Saturday. We checked some stuff within the bay we put in at as there are many tournaments out of there with lots of fish being released also. I caught a keeper on a lone stick up with a lipless bait and a couple small fish that was it. I decided to take them back to the creek that I had caught them the afternoon before. The first pass we made we caught 1 short fish throwing crankbaits as I did yesterday. Knowing there had to be more fish we made another pass with shakey heads. This was a good move as we did pick up few more fish including a couple keepers. With the temps hovering around the 32 degree mark with a steady 30 mph North wind and steady rain we cut the trip short. 

    With the guide trips done it was time to put some serious prefishing time in for the upcoming Everstart tournament. I spent Saturday staying out of some of the other tournament anglers ways going on that day and fished a bunch of out of the way stuff that didn't pan out to anything. Sunday I decided to run down to the Paris area and either find a little something to build on or completely write it off. After spending the entire day down there only catching a couple keepers and very few short fish I wrote it off. Monday I had friend and long time Barkley fisherman with me and we headed for the south end of Barkley. The first spot we stopped on I boat a 6lber that ate the Outkast Tackle T-2 football jig for breakfast. Chris boated a couple shorts with a crankbait also. We checked some other stuff in the area but with no success so off to the next creek. I dropped him off on shore so he could do a conference call and I went back to fishing a jig on a couple of points on a flat in the bay but nothing playing. I moved out to another flat and picked up a crankbait and boat a short fish but that was the extent of that fun. After the conference call was over I picked Chris up of his little island and headed to the next creek where we fished a couple lead in banks without a bite. Before leaving the bay I side scanned a flat that had stumps on it and lined down the edge where it broke from 5 to 10 feet of water. Spinning the boat around we began fan casting crankbaits when Chris loads up on a good one it's a fat 5+lb fish. We catch a couple more short fish from the flat and head for the next creek to look for the type of stuff the two big fish have come from. It was a very hit and miss pattern but in the end the only one we could put together. Tuesday brought a bunch of nothing fishing wise with a few small fish but we were completely unable to put anything together. Wednesday it rained got cold, not that it hadn't be all week with highs only in the mid 40s at best, Chris didn't come out and I ran the upper end of KY with nothing but short fish to show for it.

    Day 1 of the tournament I ran down to the South end of Barkley and started on a spot the my buddy Doug gave up to me some  what reluctantly but said it was a 15 min. deal if the fish are there. Well this day they weren't there so off to my second starting spot so to speak. This is the flat that I caught my big fish on but things didn't happen quite as fast as I hoped. The first couple of passes didn't yield anything but as I am watching the graph I noticed lots of shad with larger arches mixed in with them in deeper water. I began to stroke the T-2 football jig when I bowed up on a nice 31/2lb fish and a 2lb fish on the next pass. After missing a couple of fish I mixed it up with a blade bait stroking that threw the bait balls. This only produced one short fish so off to the next stop. This was the stump flat that Chris caught the 5lber on and again the first couple of passes didn't give up anything on the crankbait so I switched back to the jig. I bowed up on a good fish just to have it come off. My co-angler put down his jig and picked up his crankbait and on the next cast boats a 3lb fish...really! After netting that for him I fired my crankbait back to the same spot and instantly hook up with 21/2lb fish and net it myself as he still celebrating his catch. After getting him in the box I hook up with a 3lb fish and net him before he has even got his fish in the box yet. As fast as the flurry started it was over, we circled the back side of the flat and tried different angles but couldn't get anymore to go. We ran around and checked some more stuff but those turned out to be our only keepers for the day. My 4 went 11.01lbs good for a 41st place start and in a check for now.

    Day 2 of the tournament I ran back down to the 15 min spot and in the first 15 mins of the day I knew exactly how my day was going to go. I dropped the trolling motor in the water tell my co-angler we are only going to be here a couple minutes then go I started fan casting this flat. I've got 6 or 7 cast in before he is up and ready to fish on his second cast he boats a 3lb largemouth. After netting it for him I fire to quick cast to where he had just caught that fish. Ready to fish again he fires out another cast and bows up on a 5lbs smallie after an epic battle I net that fish for him and I am mentally ruined for the day. All I can think about is those two fish get me a check easy but the day has just begun there is plenty of time for a quick flurry and I'm back in the game. After running everything from yesterday and even some new stuff it was time to work our way back so we stopped on the 15 min spot again. This time working it from the other direction. With his rods tangled up I was able to get in a couple dozen cast before he was ready to fish. On his second cast he again bows up on a 5lb largemouth and all I can ask myself is WHY!!!!!!!!! Really WHY!!! We had the same bait throwing at the same bank, why did he get bit and not me. At the end of the day I layed a big egg and fell out of check range down to 71st place and he weighed 3 fish for 13lbs and made the top 10 cut. This one hurts and will for a while just because of the question WHY? 

    Well the 2011 season has started for me and not the way I envisioned. Lake of the Ozarks is turning out to be one of those lakes that just kicks you in the backside. Last year was a total bomb over there with nothing happening in practice and one small keeper for the tournament and a 98th place finish. Hoping that with some previous exposure to the lake this year would be a much better trip, in the end in one case it was. Arriving at our condo Friday afternoon it was shorts and t-shirt weather like was great and putting the boat in the water made it that much better. I would spend the week of practice with friend Chris Gable from right down the road in Eddyville. We stayed in the river arm by the condo as they were calling for rain this evening and with the ramp right there it would make it easy to bail off the water if need be. We ran about halfway back in the creek and started fishing a main creek point that fish should use to travel to the back of this bay to spawn. Chris set up on the first fish of the trip a short largemouth but it was a piece to the puzzle. A short way down the point I also boat a small keeper also on a jerkbait. We hopped around checking a different types of banks and cover without much luck. As we were running down the river I noticed two small rounded pea gravel points just off  the main river at the end of a bluff wall and decided to stop and fish them. Chris told me this was an area he fished last year that held lots of shad. Within a couple cast he bows up on a bigun a solid 6lb fish and a few short casts later I hang a nice 4lb class fish with Chris adding another one in the 3lb class on the next point. Not a bad start to week of prefishing on a lake that I could barely get bit last year. The next 5 days the weather changed back to winter and you couldn't put enough clothes on to stay warm. We traveled down river to practice some near the dam and around the Gravois Arm and began to put together a very strong pattern with jerkbaits on transition banks from chunk rock to gravel or pea gravel type areas. We then ran the pattern closer to the take off area around Grand Glaze arm and it held up there also. I wanted to spend one day up the river towards the Truman dam but it blew 30-40mph with T-storms and 34 degrees on Tuesday so we headed to Springfield to visit BPS. It's never fun to go there and just window shop but I did good and only spent $15 plus $10 on the Hemingway Buffet...mmm good. With one day left in practice I decided to scratch the up rive idea and stick with what we had found and find more areas that fit the pattern. With the wind howling and bitterly cold we pulled the ice covered cover of the boat and launched right there at the condo. We pulled into a pocket a couple miles down the river and found a bank like we had been catching fish on. It didn't take long and we boated a quick keeper and with boats on the rest of the same type bank we left looking for another bay. After pulling into a larger bay the first bank we went down we caught 3 short fish and 3 keepers. Hoping around in that bay we boated 3 more keepers on the same pattern and decided that was enough sticking fish and we were frozen half to death anyway. It was time for a warm shower get the rods new line and tied up and get to the meeting. 

    Tournament day one I'm boat 10 out and will be able to get on a good stretch of bank first rather than waiting to get in line. I made a couple passes down my favorite bank without a sniff, then my second stop nothing and the 3rd, 4th 5th! I am fit to be tied but keeping my head on straight I abandoned my down river stuff and headed back to the bay we caught fish in yesterday. The spot I pull up on I boat a small keeper spotted bass and have another nice keeper pull off. We moved over to another bank and I boat a nice 3lb fish on the same dock we caught one yesterday and things are starting to look a little better. I've still got an hour and half to fish plenty of time to get 3 more keepers. Well two banks, an hour and 20 mins, and two more lost keepers later it was time to check in. It was a very frustrating day to say the least and all I can do tomorrow is regroup and try to save face.

Tournament day two I am one of the last boats out and decided to start close were I had caught the couple fish yesterday. We spent 3 hours fishing the same banks that I caught fish on the past two days and nothing not even a short fish, what gives! The weather was at least nicer with sun shining and temps in the 60s I figured the fish would do one of two things pull up to the bank and enjoy the warmth from the sun or bail out into the brush piles. Both scenarios played out except I couldn't catch my ass with both hands even if I was sitting on them. After giving this down river stuff a chance for almost 4  hours I had to bail and go back to the bay I had caught fish in yesterday. We pulled up on the bank I caught my spot on and my co-angler boats the first keeper of the day on a shakey head. We bounced around the bay hitting the same banks but no other fish so it was time to move. I ran across the river and stopped on a main lake point getting pounded by the wind and on my first cast I boat a nice 3lber before my co-angler is even out of his seat, game on! Nope not so much not another bite in the next 45min and the day is done. 

I end this derby with 3 fish for a whopping 7.5lb good for 105th place out of 137 boaters, not the way I wanted to start the year. The part that sucks the most is I'm not even sure what I missed or did wrong. I fished the same pattern we fished all week and truly thought I could easily catch 15-18lbs a day with a possible 20+lb bag with the right bites. I fished the same areas as guys in the top 10 and many that made a check. It's one thing to do bad in a tournament and learn from it but I really don't know what I did wrong. Time to regroup and get after them on Kentucky and Barkley as the second stop of the Central Everstarts is here in 2 weeks, it's payback time...

Tight Lines,
B

 

    Well I just finished up the regular season for the KY BWS division with a 10th place finish which was enough to get into the top 40 and qualify for the regional down at Lay Lake. It wasn't the year I was looking for, don't get me wrong I wasn't looking at coming down and being in the top 10 at every tournament but just thought the catching would be better than it was. From everyone that I've talked though have all said this has been an off year all starting with the near record flood this spring to the record heat has had the fish really messed up. As for my first year in the KY division of the BWS I guess I can't really complain. I was only able to fish 4 events, having to miss the first one due to have to attend my captains classes for getting my guide license, and checked in 2 of those both out Barkley with a 12th and 10th place finishes. I also had my worst regular season finish in the BWS ever with a 58th in my first KY division tournament, which was a flipping bite, when we received 6" of rain in a few hours and the lake came up 10', that doesn't happen on the lakes of Minnesota. I sanwiched a 33rd on KY in there also on a balmy 102 degree flat calm day...LOL. After all that I was still able to make it into the top 40 by 50 points when going into the weekend I was out by 29. Hopefully I've got one my big win left here on the big ponds when Ryan Otto comes down to fish the Fishers of Men regional in mid September.

    BWS divisional tournament practice was so so. I gave it a half hearted attempt as I felt I wouldn't win and just needed to catch a couple of fish each day to make the top 40. Looking back to 2007 - 2009 no one other than last years winner had ever caught a limit both days of this tournament this time of year so I really wasn't expecting much of a bite anyway. The weather was crazy also with some very severe thunderstorms popping up ahead of an approaching cold front. I got caught in one these on Saturday while prefishing, that rolled down the KY lake around 2:30 with a wall of water and 50+mph winds and 6' rollers resulting in one guy drowning. I spent much of the day idling around watching my side imaging unit and marking what I thought would be productive areas. I did stop and fish one ledge point that held a couple stumps and caught a 5lber right away but not another bite. Sunday I did much of the same but on Barkley just idling along the ledges marking promising looking structure and did very little fishing. I did manage to get out a couple nights during the week which proved to be a good idea. Tuesday night I got out for 3 hours and was going to check some new stuff that I had marked on Sunday along a road bed. When I stopped at my way point marking where the road bed ran into the bank I started fishing across the mouth of the cove the road bed cut across. Only a few cast down the road bed I heard that all sweet sound of fish busting shad on the surface. I turned around to see the water boiling with shad swimming for their lives. I put my C-rig down and threw a crankbait into the mix and instantly hooked up with a feisty short fish, it was like a 13 or 14 incher but thought he was 3lbs. I got him  unhooked and fired another cast toward the area, which was where the road bed ran up onto a flat by the bank. Again I hooked up and again and again and again I spent an hour and half catching a fish literally on every cast. In the end though I maybe boated 5 or 6 keepers and had a 4lber jump off. I was able to get out with friend Wayne Winters for a few hours on Thursday and check a few areas that didn't really produce what we were looking for which had me wonder if I should stay on Barkley on Friday or spend the day over on KY Lake. Friday I decided to stay on Barkley and fished with fellow damn yankee (for those that do not know that is what  a northern is when they move down here because your not leaving after their vacation is over) Doug Peitzrak on the south end of lake. When we put the boat in and got out to the main river we were very surprised to see the amount of current being generated along with all the debris floating around it brought back memories of the record flooding we had this past spring with full size trees coming down river. We fished some ledges inside the bays where there was still some cleaner water but with little success so we decided to put some time in out in the muddy main river stuff. This proved to be a better choice though not great but we did manage to catch a bunch of fish on the upper current points of the small buck brush islands. We would catch the fish in the eddies just down current of the point where the fish could get out of the current enough to ambush the shad the current would sweep by. At the days end I had made my mind up that I would only use this as a back up and would stick with the upper end of Barkley and move over to Kentucky after I had a limit to work on a bigger fish.

    Tournament day 1 found me drawing out boat 50 out of 53 which in the end didn't hurt to bad considering we had a 20 min. weather delay with a line of severe thunderstorms rolling threw the area right a blast off. When we got the all clear to take off I ran down river which here is actually North to Kuttawa Bay and fish a channel under a bridge that I figured would have current coming threw it due to the heavy current draw on the main river. When I get there, there is already a boat from another tournament sitting on it so I decided to fish my way thru the channel to the other side and fish it. Once we got to the other side the other boat left and we made our way back out there. The banks are lined with riprap as most are but found that they had spilled a bunch of rock in the mouth of the channel on both ends and have caught fish cranking these rock piles. After getting out there I only managed to short fish and decided to leave and fish another point in the bay before leaving. This only gave up a couple short fish also so I decided to head to the school I had found tuesday night on the road bed. I was about 9:30 when we pulled up on it and the fish were busting shad just like they had been. Over the next 3 hours I myself caught a 150 fish on a crankbait and only managed one yes one little keeper. It's now 12:30 and I need to make something happen and decided to run to another point that I found a school on two weeks ago fishing with Mary. Only a few minutes on the spot and I hang a decent 2 1/2lber on a crankbait it took a while but I was able to coax another keeper to eat my crankbait this now gave me 3 keepers but not much size. I ran two more spots in hopes of generating a couple more keeper bites to finish off my limit but the fish all had some sort of decease which had their tall growing to close to the head...aka...short fish. With only hour and half left I decided to run back to the big school to see if something bigger had moved up. As we got there the fish were busting shad all over the place so I jumped on the deck grabbed my topwater and fired a cast towards the flurry of activity and hooked right away with a keeper. After a few more casts and no action on the topwater I picked up the crankbait and again boated a keeper immediately finally this gives me a limit albeit a very small limit it is 5. Which over the past 3 years at this tournament this time of year no one other than last years winner had caught a limit both days so this was on okay start. We had 45 mins. left with a 30 min run so I decided to head back and if we had time fish a quick spot before checking in. Having a little time left I stopped on the end of island that Doug had caught a fish on yesterday. My co-angler picked up a big worm while I was still throwing a crankbait and made the exact cast Doug had and boated a nice 2 1/4lb keeper, his only one for the day, which will get him some valuable points towards the regional. With 5 fish for 9.77lbs I was sitting in 16th with a reasonable chance to make a check if I can catchem tomorrow.

    Day 2 and the final day of the regular season for the KY division of the BWS. I went out boat 2 today and headed straight for the big school of fish from yesterday. Figuring we put a pretty good beating on them I didn't figure we would catch as many but was hoping some keepers had moved in. Within the first couple of casts I bowed up on a nice fish that ate my crankbait and it felt heavy I was excited as to did a school of big fish move in. As my co-angler slid the net in the water and the fish came up and in the net I happy thought were dashed as a 5lb flathead and my crankbait wedge in it's mouth without a single hook actually hooking it. On the next cast I boat a fish that barely measures but it's a start. After an hour of catch a few short fish and seeing very little action I wasn't going to die on the spot and moved about hundred yards to a point that always holds fish but generally small and this time was no exception catching a half dozen or so short fish it was time to move. I headed to the spot that I caught my other two keepers yesterday only to find a boat from another tournament sitting on it. I then ran to a point with a large stump on then end of which also only gave up two short fish. So off again to the next spot another point which I've always caught a couple fish on keepers and shorts but this time it also only gave up a couple short fish. It is now 10:30 and a little panic sets in as I really wanted to wiegh in another limit and needed to, to have a shot at a check. I decided we would make a run to Kentucky Lake and try to get a couple bigger fish and then come back and try to fill out a limit if needed. On the way there I decided to stop on a spot that I had yet to catch a fish yet have been to it holds fish on the right conditions and this seem to be the right conditions. I told my co-angler give me 15 mins to see what happens, this way the best 15 mins. turning into 2 1/2 hour decision I made this year. On my first cast I boat a keeper smallie, then on the next cast I boat another keeper smallie. My co-angler then boats back to back largemouth backed up a few cast later by a beautiful 3 1/2lb smallie. He then continues to boat a couple more smallie culling one of the largemouth and boxing another 3 1/2 lb smallie. At this point I am now very frustrated as I haven't had a bite for an hour after boating the first to smallies. Swallowing my pride I asked him for one of the baits he was throwing, which he more than willing gave me. We were both throwing C-rigs with a fluke type bait but his floated more than mine did. After switching baits we moved down the break little farther and I bowed up on a nice 4.46lb smallie which put me in a little better mood.
  


We moved back down the break to where we had the fish in the beginning and was able to boat another smallie that just measured but I now have 5 more in the box a limit two days in a row which had been done only once before. Again they don't wiegh much but it was a limit. With time running out we made the 40 min. run back to check in and put my 5 fish on the scale that went a scant 13.21lbs, yes much better than yesterday but still small for Kentucky/Barkley standards. In the end only 5 of us brought a limit to the scales both days which made me feel pretty good about my efforts and it was enough for a 10th place finish and the last place check, my second of the year, so all in all, a good tournament and a good regular season.

    Now it's regional time and time to really step it up, this is where the big money for the year is made and where you qualify for the different tour championships. So keep watching the website and the my blog for further up to date action as I have two regionals in September and one in October, until then Tight Lines,B.








 





  

    I guess this is why they call it fishing and not catching, I've been on all the right stuff but just seem to missing something and when I get it figured out watch out! I sometimes feel I've never done this before as I go out and struggle to get bit and watch other guys bringing in 24lb plus bags but seem them on the same stuff I've been fishing really makes it sting. I just keep trying to remind myself that this is a learning year and these guys have been here most of their lives just like if I was still in MN. I know it's something stupid and when I figure it out look out, I may not win but I will be in contention. It's that one thing though that has me not sure of what to think. Is it the baits I'm using, my presentation, depth, speed, color, weight, size the list goes on and when your not catching them this is what runs thru your mind daily even if you know your on a good spot which doesn't help the mental aspect of the sport.

    Tournament wise Mary and I fished a tournament here called the "Free Tournament" which is a no entry fee tournament put on by a local church and the payout guaranteed by an individual wanting people to here the word of Christ. It was a great event with a 1st place payout of $5000, and the Riverwoods Church put on a great feed before hand along with some great music. Al Odom president and owner of the Fishers of Men bass tour along with his V.P. Bobby Eads where on hand also. In fact Al was the presenting speaker at this years event and brought a tear to everyones eyes with the story of his sons death and how his faith in GOD was what kept there families spirits up and got them through such a tragic event. 

    Practice was very weak for me as fishing was very spotty at best with no numbers of fish on any one spot, though that changed on Thursday night prior to the event. After along day on the water checking 20 or 30 ledges I came across the mother load. I had a spot marked from when the elites had been here and decided to check it out. I started work down the ledge and got to the gps mark without a bite but decided to keep going and lucky I did. I was down the ledge probably 50yds when I loaded up on what I thought was a really good fish when in actuality it was a 4lb and 3lb fish on my Series 6XD with three more over 3lbs following them to the boat. After releasing them I fired out another cast and bowed up on a 5lb+ fish that jumped off at the boat that had two more following it. I picked up an Outkast T-2 football head and boated back to back 2lb spots! I decided to see what else they would eat and picked up a swimbait and boated back to back 3lbers each time a group of fish would follow them to the boat trying to get the bait. At this point I wasn't sure if I should just have some fun and catch as many as I could or leave it for the tournament. This probably sound like a stupid question to ones self but I hadn't found anything else to bring me down here, an hour+ run from our take off, but it was a heck of a school fish but with other tournaments going on the same day I was sure someone else would be on it. I did decide to leave it and hope I could be the first one on it tournament day. Friday I spent looking for something closer so I could spend more time fishing than running and really didn't find much other than a school of keepers which wont get you any where on KY lake. 
   
    Tournament morning was beautiful, warm temps, flat calm ideal conditions for the long run. I was nervous the whole way there with that gut feeling someone was going to be sitting on the spot when we get there. As I rounded the last long corner to were I could see the ledge I wanted to fish there sat reality, a boat fishing another tournament, square on my mark and line. I decided I had ran this far I am going to pull in on the ledge and fish anyway and started down river 80-100yds and worked our way in that direction. I let the wind blow me towards them but with the nose of the boat pointed into the wind as not to show I was trying to move in. After 30 minutes of fishing around and drifting I was able to get to my mark as the other boat moved down the ledge. I understand why they let me have it, after an hour and half of fishing in it we left without even a bite. I ran 20 miles back to the ledge I thought we could at least catch 5 keepers on. This was not to be either as we worked roughly 200yds of this ledge only to catch to short fish. Now the decision was needing to be made do I run back to our starting spot 20 mile or keeping heading back in the direction of checking. With the current being drawing later in the afternoon I decided to run back to our starting spot as we were not fishing for points but first place only and this was the only place I truly thought we could win from. After a 25 minute boat ride we got set up on the spot again and after only a couple of cast I boat a 14 inch spot. A legal fish but not for this tournament as all species had to be 15 inches but I was pumped to catch one right away and figured the school had moved up to feed with the current draw. Guess not, after 45 minutes without another bite I decided to head back towards check in. I planned to give myself enough time to fish to points that have been very good to myself and my buddy Wayne from The Cabin bait and tackle during our Tuesday night tournaments. Stopping short in one bay on the way back I checked on small spot but not action. I see Ronnie the owner of The Cabin sit on a point and went over to see how they had done, they said they only had six keeper bites all day, though they were 18lbs worth of bites. So off to our final two stops. I pulled up on the first one hoping for a miracle with only an hour or so left to fish and knowing it's going to take upper 20's to win we need some big bites and need them now. After a couple of minutes on the spot Mary boats a nice 3lber on a C-rig and I thought this school was on fire and ready  to go. Well not so much this would be the only true keeper we would boat all day and pitched it back before we headed back to check in. In the end a limit of 5 for 28lbs won the tournament and I had nothing like that going so that does easy the pain a little bit. Only a quarter of the boats if that out of the 175 boat field weighed fish so it was a little tough all the way around.


    I also just fished our 4th BWS tournament in the KY division for the 2010 season. Prefishing wasn't going so good for this either at least size wise though I was at least catching fish. I haven't been able to find a solid deep bite as the schools have really pulled apart and scattered. Most everything I've found has been shallow with small keepers with a few decent but not winning fish mixed in. Though I did have one area in the lake that has had a school of good fish on it that other guys have been fishing and bring in some good weights from. I spent Thursday on the South end of the lake looking for some more shallow fish and found a couple of areas with a ton of fish chasing shad and was able to catch them pretty easy on an Outkast Swim jig, a shallow running crankbait, and Tru-Tungsten 4" swimbait. These fish were in mid bay areas around islands in shallow water. I also found a shallow flat on the top of a ledge that has a massive school of fish with some good fish mixed in. I noticed these fish busting shad as I was fishing the ledge it's self and decided to investigate and maybe have a little fun with some topwater. As usual by the time I got up there they had quite feeding. I decided to throw a swimbait around and was getting hit but wasn't able to get hooked up and started thinking maybe these were whitebass instead. Putting the swimbait down I picked up my Strike King 1XS crankbait and on the first cast hung a 2lber which was followed to the boat by at least a dozen fish, though many were not keepers I was still very excited. After working the area for 15 minutes in was apparent that there was a huge school of fish here and if we weeded through all the small fish you could probably boat a limit of okay keepers. Friday morning I had a 4 hour guide trip in the morning which I stayed on the North end of the lake by the dam. We had a ball catching a bunch of fish and would've had a decent tournament limit with a 5lb kicker. After the trip was over I head south to Paris to get some practice in before the pretournament check in and meeting. On the way there I blew out a trailer tire, that makes one tire or every boat I've owned now, not bad considering all the miles I put on. After getting that fixed I was back on the road and put in at the Paris landing around 2pm, had to stop a Culver's for a little lunch. I ran to the bay that I knew had the better fishing come from it, the one Ronnie had caught his fish on for the Free Tournament. I idle around the area watching my side imaging unit to find all the high percentage spots on these three points, after 45 minutes of idling and 8 waypoints later I got on the front deck to make a few casts. Working the spots in the area that I marked with the gps I was able to get  what I felt were a couple good bites that I shook off  not wanting to burn any fish going into tomorrow. I didn't get as many bites as I wanted but it was enough to give me confidence these fish were still there and decided that's where I would start the tournament. I got checked in and grabbed a bite to at Meo Mio's a cajun style restaurant that has some awesome pasta dishes, with some guys I've met since being down here including my boy Brent Anderson who I stay with down here and he stay with me when we go out of the north end of the lake. After the meeting and partner drawing it was time to get respooled and organized for the tournament day. Talking with Brent about where we've been catching fish and plans for tomorrow it has been very evident we are planning on starting on the same place, NICE! Well since he is boat 11 and I'm boat 41 that pretty much puts me out on the left overs. 

    Tournament day I decided to run to the bay to start anyway and started on a different point and let Brent have the best one to himself as it was really to small for two boats. Watching him boat 4 keepers with two really good ones didn't help the start of my day but it is what it is. As my co angler and I fished our point he was able to boat a small keeper to get things going but we were only able catch a couple more small fish. I made a move around to another point and was able to boat a small keeper myself but again this was the only keeper we boated. Now that 2 hours have ticked by I decided to work my way south to the shallow fish that I had found. Along the way I stopped on 3 more ledges where we both boated another keeper but we just were not able to get a school fired up. With two fish each I thought lets just go get a limit from the smaller shallow fish and then we can try to work the ledges for an upgrade. Well this didn't go as planned what so ever, as I pulled up to the first island there sat a pontoon on the best spot and there are four other boats fishing the same stuff. It quickly became apparent these fish had been beat up as the shad were still there but the bass were not chasing and busting on them like they had been on Thursday, the only three bites I got choked down the 1XS but were very tight to the cover and all short. Thinking our best shot now at getting a limit is the big school of fish on the ledge flat that is where I headed. Pulling up on it I didn't see any activity at all this didn't surprise me as nothing has went right so far today. I started out throwing a jerkbait without a sniff then switched over to the 1XS again nothing now I'm past my waypoint by 50yds and feeling pretty discouraged. My co angler is throwing a shakey head and has missed a couple bites and then boats his 3rd keeper of the day giving him a limit. I decided to pick up my C-rig with a 4" swimbait on it an huck that around. On the first cast I boat a short which was followed to the boat by 6-8 other fish. Yes they are still here, so you're say there's a chance. On the next cast I boat my 3rd keeper a solid 3 1/2lb fish which again was follow by a bunch a fish. Then my co boats another keeper to cull out his small fish and we sat there and caught 50 fish over the next hour. I was able to get one more keeper in the boat a very small one at that then it was time to make the run back to check in. I ended the day with 4 keepers for 9.70lbs good for 33rd place out of 67 boats which moved me up to 46th overall in points 29 points out of the top 40 regional cut even with missing the first tournament. So I accomplished one goal of moving closer to making the regional but definitely fell short on getting a check. Again I have to remind myself this is a learning year and I'm competing against guys that have fished here there whole life so over all being only 29 points out only fishing 3 out 4 tournaments is a good feeling. Good luck and Tight Lines to everyone on there next trip to the lake.
   

     The weather has been hot to say the least since Memorial day weekend and the fishing has been just as hot. June is the kick off to the ledge fishing and it has been game on. The BASS Elites were here the 2nd week of the month and I spent a couple days watching the pros at work. You can tell that there is no reservation on using gas as these guys would run 20 miles to fish a spot for 15 minutes and run another 20 miles. For the most part no one was on any out of the secret spot but fishing pretty obvious stuff you could see on a paper map or chip. When it's your tournament it's your tournament as evident by KVD catching a 5lber right away the 3rd morning in the back "see picture below" The yellow spot on it's back is his crankbait.

 



Jamie Fralick puts on a clinic while I talked with him with a spoon. Billy Mccaghren also pulled in to share the spot.



    Our 3rd BASS Weekend Series tournament of the KY Lake division was this past weekend.  We launched out of Little River which is about 30 miles south on Lake Barkley. I've never spent much time down there and decided to spend my time prefishing the upper portions of KY and Barkley Lakes. Prefishing for me was hit and miss as I was fishing to shallow most of the time. The better fish had moved out into the 18-20 foot zone rather than on top of the flats. They would be up there to feed and you could load the boat quickly with a crankbait if you caught them up there feeding but with the water temps reading between 85-90 degrees the fish had pulled back off the tops of the flats. This is something I had been told, for about a couple weeks but just never put it togther until I fished with Wayne Winters from The Cabin Bait and Tackle during a tuesday night derby that we won fishing deep. Not knowing Barkley that well I spent a day in the boat with Lance Freeman a young kid that has grown up fish Barkley and learned what I should be looking for and how to fish it. These two lakes fish somewhat a like but are also very different. Barkley has the ledges and points like Kentucky does but tends to fish much shallower with less hard spots such as rock and shell beds and more brush and wood cover. After spending monday and tuesday on Kentucky and weds. on Barkley I went back to Kentucky on thursday only to get blown off by a severe afternoon thunderstorm, which seem to happen daily, after only a few hours of fishing. Everything thus far that I have caught has been on a Outkast Tackle  weedless T-2 football head dragging it across hard spots on the ledges with a few fish mixed in on a crankbait. Never being to the south end of Lake Barkley and the meeting being down there as well I decided to put in at Little River on friday and spend 8 hours checking likely spots down there. It sucks not catching much when prefishing but on some occassions it does help eliminate water as was the case for me on the lower end of Lake Barkley. I only boated one keeper bass with 30 short fish and I mean short fish as in the 11-13 inch range. At hour meeting on friday night I drew a gentleman that was fishing just this tournament to get out and fish at least fish one for the year. This really helped take the pressure off as he wasn't expecting to go out and catch 20lbs and load the boat all day. It was beautiful at our 5:15 take off put 20 minutes later we had a wall cloud in front of a cold front pushed down the lake with 30 mph north winds. This made it almost impossible to fish the  main river ledge we had started on so I headed for a creek to fish a road bed that should be protected, well not so much. Though better than out in the main river she was blowing through there pretty hard also. After a couple hours the wind layed down and I ran to what was going to be my number two stop, this was another main river ledge in Barkley. I started out with a crankbait on the first pass but not a single bite as my co-angler boat one on a tube. I then switched over to the T-2 football head and boated two quick small keepers and he boated a solid 3 1/2lber and another small keeper on a C-rig. After a couple more pass without any keepers I decided it was time to run to Kentucky Lake. When we got over there the wind had switch to the south at 25 mph, NICE! We checked 3 points in front of creeks with some bites but I only boated one small keeper to give me 3 little swimmers. I then decided to run out and check the ledge that Wayne and I had won the tuesday night derby on and after on hour without a bite and battling the wind and waves from the poker run I had enough and ran to another point in the mouth of a creek. I had stopped short and was in 20' of water throwing up on it dragging my football head across mussle bed when my co-angler misses a bite right under the boat. I blew it off and made another cast up on the point and he says he missed another bite under the boat. Well I maybe kind of slow but after that second bite I pulled the boat out into 25' of water and made a long cast up to the edge of the point and began to stroke the jig down it. With in a couple casts I bowed up on a 3 3/4lb fish, a couple cast later I bowed up on another 3 3/4lber what and attitude changer those fish were, as I was getting pretty upset at the day thus far. Over the next hour I culled up two more fish and my co-angler culled up one. With only a half hour of fishing left I decided to run out and check the big fish spot one more time. I wasn't able to land a giant though I did manage to cull up one more before it was time to make the run back. In the end I weighed 5 for 15.45 good for 12th place and a $277 check my first BWS check here in Kentucky hopefully the first of many to come.   

    5 tournaments, 7 tournament days and it has rained at least 6 hours at each one here on Kentucky Lake. After our torrential rains and mass flooding two weeks ago during the BWS the lakes came up 10 feet one foot below record flood stage. The USCG for the first time ever shut down the lakes on Weds. 5/5/2010 to recreational boating, which they opened more water each day as the debris started spreading out. There was one point on Thursday I thought that you could honestly walk across Lake Barkley without touching water.






The sign pretty much says it all, anyone who has put in at the KY Lake Damn Marina knows this sign. The lakes crested on Mon. 5/10 and the Army Corp. began to draw the lakes back down to summer pool, 359 at a rate of 18-24 inches a day. This meant every day you put the boat in you were looking at a new lake. 

    AFS practice - with the lakes high there was alot of new water and one pattern that seemed to hold true every where at least for me was fishing in peoples yards with either a shallow crankbait or pitching plastics such as an Outkast Tackle "Naughty Bug" and Tru-Tungsten  flippin weight. I wasn't catch the quality of fish that it would take to win but could count on it to catch fish. Flippin bushes is was the other and most utilized pattern that most guys seemed to be running, and with the high water there were a lot more of them to fish the only problem at some points there was to much water as it went forever behind the bushes in threw the woods. I spent Sunday the 9th out on the main river ledges south of Paris without much luck what so ever and nixed that out of the plans. Monday I spent the day flippin bushes and working really shallow with a small bit of success but nothing to get excited about and am starting to get a bit depressed. I was staying with my bro Brent Anderson from Kingston Springs, TN who has a trailer at Buchanan Resort in Paris. While housing down some pizza subs that night he said he had the best day ever numbers wise on KY lake and pointed me in the right direction, which seemed to have the fish still using the old creek channel bank rather than moving up with the water. I spent Tuesday running that pattern and was able to find a couple schools of fish but nothing really big. Wednesday I decided I better take a look at Barkley to make sure I wasn't missing anything over there and I wasn't. 

    Day 1 of the AFS I decided to make the 1hr 15 min run south to the creek that I had found a couple schools in. Being in the middle of the flights I wasn't who else was going to be there but to my suprise no one was even in the area. Starting out throwing a Norman Deep Little N crankbait my 3rd cast I double up with a short and a 15 1/2'' keeper. Then over the next hour I boated 50+ more fish, it was totally insane unfortunately nothing over 2lbs was boated. We worked farther back into the creek to check another school but with the water dropping almost 4 feet since Tuesday all the fish had pulled out to the mouth. I turned around and headed back to the first school and they had moved almost 50yds already also. After relocating them it was a fish on every cast for 20 minutes, it was just stupid, in the next hour I must have caught another 75+ fish but again nothing to upgrade with, but it was an absolute blast from not catching much the last week prefishing to just loading the boat was awesome. I decided as the fishing slowed to check another creek but as I pulled into this one there were 5 boats on the stuff I wanted to fish. We fished through them but only catching a few short fish it was time to go. With only a couple hours left to fish before having to make the long run back I headed north and stopped on a point in front of spawning bay. I told my co-angler I wasn't sure if we would be able to fish it with the wind blowing as hard as it was in on it but if we catch one it would be the right one. After working up the point to the sweet spot I boated a very skinny 17'' smallie which did cull out one of the largemouths. Blowing off the spot while culling we motored back up the sweet spot and after making a half dozen more casts with a fat free shad I bowed up on another fish. It didn't fight much and my co-angler asked if I needed the net and I said I wasn't sure. He came up there with it anyway and as the fish came to the surface he was going to put the net down as it looked like a drum. After doing a double take at it I realized it was a big largmouth and started screaming for him to put the net in the water and boated what would be my biggest largemouth yet a 7-12 beauty.
   



Blowing off the spot again, during all the celebration and what a natural high, we motored back up the sweet spot and after making a couple more casts with the crankbait I picked up the new T-2 football head by Outkast Tackle and began dragging that across the point. The school was fired up and again the bite was on! It was literally every cast for 15-20 minutes then slowed to every other or every 3rd cast, and was able to cull up a couple more fish, what an unbelievable day of fishing and my thumbs are raw but who's complaining. At weigh-in I had 5 that weighed 17-2 good for a tie for 10th place which is the cut line to make the final day. 

    Day 2 - You can pretty much guess where I am going to start. We ran down there and just in the nick of time as another boat was wanting to get on it also. Fishing wasn't quit as fast as yesterday but I manage to boat a couple decent keepers and dozen short fish before deciding to move to another point close by. Pulling up on the point I began throwing the T-2 again and boated a couple more short fish. My co-angler starting throwing one also and put his first keeper in the boat a nice 3 1/2lb smallie. It didn't take him long to box his 2nd and 3rd keepers a couple 15 1/2'' fish. I was still catching shorts on a regular basis and about every 30 minutes he would boat solid keeper. With him now having a decent limit and I still only have two fish we ran to another 3 points where we caught a couple more shorts but nothing to help. With only about an hour left to fish before the hour run back we pulled back up on the starting point. With the wind blowing 35+ out of the north it made it difficult to fish to say the least and twice as hard while trying to run the trolling motor. I managed only to boat some more short fish while my co-angler boated to more 3lb class fish at this point I am extremely frustrated and ready to start break rods, why such a great day yesterday and have this happen today is all I can think of. It was time to go and we made the run back which wasn't pretty with my attitude and the big north wind push against a north current. We got back to Malcom Creek with 20 minutes left so I left pulled up on a point with no one on it hoping for the best. After making a half dozen cast I bowed up on a 4 1/2lb smallmouth bass which helped lift the spirits a little bit but it was time to go and we checked in with 5 seconds to spare! After such a high from yesterdays numbers and that big fish and a top 10 placing I finished the day with 3 fish for 9-7lbs today and slid to 41st place which did keep me in a check. My co-angler weighed in a 15+lb bag which would have kepted me in the top 10 but everything happens for a reason. So for my first year fishing a triple A tour I cashed to checks and qualified for the Invitational tournament this fall at Lake Wheeler in November. 

    My buddy Doug Pietzrak and travel partner who also moved down here to KY sacked a big 21lb bag on day two of the AFS and his kids for the College fishing tournament that 40 of us boaters took out on Sat. won their event with 6 fish for 24lbs. So I talked him into fishing a team tournament going out of Kuttawa on Sunday. We got there early to sign up and get registered and of course it was raining. We went out boat 97 out of 115 teams and ran to a rock jetty on a whim but only caught 3 shorts but it did tell us the fish were still on the same pattern. We worked our way around the lake fishing the same pattern as it looked like many of the other teams where doing also, cranking main lake points. Doug started us out boating a 16'' largmouth then I added a 5lber and then a nice 3lb fish. Doug then added a couple 3lb fish of his own and  we were feeling pretty good about the day. Then we added 4 more 5lb fish over the next couple hours and had all the fish we would weigh-in by 11:30 and still had 4 1/2 hours left to fish. Luckily we had our fish early as there was no one around us and as the bite slowed tremedously after that also. As we started looking for other areas to try we began to run into boats everywhere. We did manage to boat a couple more quality 3lb fish and a few shorts but needing a 6lb fish to cull was a big hill to climb. Knowing we had a great bag but not sure what we really had we head back for checking to make sure we made it on time and even checked in 15 minutes early. When we arrived we could hear that 22lbs was leading and second was 21lbs which made us neverous as if we really had what we thought. We loaded the boat and bagged our fish up and head to the scale. Bring them up with both of carrying the bag turned a few heads and when they dumped them in the tub the tournament director said we have a tournament leader and once they put them on the scale he was right as our 5 fish went 24.94lbs which was 2 1/2lbs over second place and Doug and my first KY win.

 










 

    Wet and Wild three words that pretty much some up my past two tournaments. On April 24th I decided to throw my hat in as co-angler in a BFL going out of Paris Landing to get and idea what to look for on the following weekends Bassmaster Weekend Series tournament. The week leading up to this was beautiful sunny and warm fish where on the move shallow some on the way out. Everything was setting up to have a fun day of fishing. I went down on Friday and jumped in the boat with my boy Brent Anderson who is becoming a solidified stick down there. We spent the day flippin bushes shallow checking a bunch of community spots. We did manage to boat quite a few fish and a couple descent ones at that. We also ran out and checked a couple ledges and did catch fish on each one we stopped on but all short of the 15'' size limit.  At the meeting I drew out with a guy who seemed pretty amped up about what he had found and was ready to get after it, this was great. The one factor not taking into consideration was the fact the wind was going to blow 30+ out of the south and it was going to pour all day. We started out at 5am in pouring rain and ended the day with pouring rain, severe thunderstorms, flashing flooding and tornados. We ran to his first spot a main river bank that we cranked and did manage a couple short fish but with 4 footers rolling in on it it was pretty much trashed. Our next spot was a bluff bank at the mouth of a large creek arm. This was a place fish would use moving in or out during the spawn and it was out to the wind, it also had two small pockets in it that fish had been in spawning. We spent the better part of the day fishing back and forth down this bank along with two other boats. We all kind of had one little point that each boat was able to sit on at the mouth of these little pockets. In the end we boated a bunch of short fish and he was finally able to put a keeper in the box. The weather was getting worse, we had to check back in at 2pm so at 1pm we decided to make the 30 min run back to weighin. About half way back something just didn't seem right, the motor sounded funny and the boat was riding weird. We had just past another boat who stopped to put a helmet on as we ran straight into a torrential down pour when he decided to stop and see what was wrong. We looked back at the motor and it looked a little low to me. He turned and looked at me and said that doesn't look right and I agreed, as we both turned to look back at the motor again it fell right of the back of the boat!!!! Talk about HOLY *****, my eyes got as big as softballs, I climbed to the back deck and was greeted with 4 foot rollers hitting me in the knees, now I am a little nervous. Within 2 minutes the boat was full of water, I mean full of water, rear storage, front storage, rod lockers... everything. The guy that we passed, stopped to see what was going on and was able to give us a tow to shore. Once we were under tow I felt much safer and actually started laughing about the situation and started taking pictures with my phone. They were able to get us into a bay that had a dirt ramp in it. They needed to make it back to weighin and we told them to go and we would get it taken care of. We were still 50yds from shore when they left the only problem was the engine was still dragging on the bottom and the trolling motor wouldn't pull us to shore, so he had to jump in and use a rope to pull us to shore. As luck would have it 3 guys from Indiana just happened to pull down to the access just out driving around. These guys were able to pull the motor up to shore with their truck. I got a hold of Brent and he was going to bring the guys trailer over so we could get the boat out. As we worked to disconnect the motor it rained 3'' that hour alone. Brent arrived at the access just as we got the motor disconnected from the boat, now with the boat on the trailer we needed to get the engine out but first we had to sit in the vehicles for 30min as the sky turned green and black and tornado warning went off everywhere, with another 3'' of rain falling. In between rain squalls we got the motor into the back to the Indiana guys truck and they followed us to the Paris Landing ramp a 45 min. drive. We finally got back to the ramp at 5:30pm soaked to the bone, cold and tired. The tournament director was still there and took more pics of everything along with my partners son who had to wait around not sure what was going on. All said and done no one was hurt and we all get to fish another day, needless to say I didn't learn anything for the upcoming weekend.

    Tournament number 2 in as many weekends the 2nd BWS for the KY Lake division going out of Paris. With past weekend behind me and the full moon in effect on Wednesday I headed back out and spent Tuesday flippin bushes and caught a bunch of fish but nothing of any great size but was able to boat a limit of keepers. Most of my flippin has been done with an Outkast Tackle "Naught Bug"  rigged on a MiHatchii 4/0 OWG hook  and a 3/8oz. Tru-Tungsten flippin weight . I flipped this on 20lb fluorocarbon line. I spent the day in the backs of the bays as this is where most of the shallow flooded bushes are and with the wind blowing again at 20+ mph out of the south there wasn't much else you could do. Wednesday brought calm winds and I took advantage of that to get out on the main lake/river ledges. I pushed this issue all day and wasn't able to put much of anything together. It was about 4pm and I was ready to head in when I saw a boat pull up and fish something I had thought about during the day. So with that little nudge I decide to pull up and fish part of it too. With my first 5 flips I boated to 2 1/2lb fish and shook 3 more off. I ended up shaking off 12 more bites in the next hour and a very poor day turned into a very productive day. Friday I put in at the Paris Landing and headed south straight into another day of 20+mph south winds, these are getting very tiring. I check a spot that resembled what I caught fish on on Wednesday night a was able to boat some fish so things are looking good. I kept working my way south check different bays all which seemed to have fish in the bushes. I spent some time flipping them but was covering water faster by throwing anOutkast Tackle swim jig , 3/8oz. head glimmer shad skirt, with a fat tail grub trailer. It was an awesome day numbers wise but never really seen or boated a big fish 4lb+ quality. At the meeting I drew out boat 6 and had a game plan for the day and felt good. As was the deal with the past weekend we a woke to pouring down rain and it did this all day long on top of 25+mph south winds. We were held back 40 minutes in the morning due to severe weather. Once we got started I ran to a little point that was in front of a spawning bay that holds fish all year. I had a good fish pull off a crankbait and boated a short but with this little bit of action I decided to run to the fish I had found on Wed. evening. Once I got there it was quickly evident there was no way I was going to be able to fish it very well with 4-5 foot roller pounding it. My co-angler was able to boat a small keeper as I managed 3 shorts but only fishing it for 20 min. we had to go. This is where I made a huge mental error. Knowing the better fish would come from south of Paris even though I started north I should have made the run. Instead I kepted going north to a couple bays I had caught fish in on Tuesday. By the time we got there each one was basically mud in the back half from the rain that was pounding the area, it turned normal small creeks into raging muddy mini rivers. We did have a lot of bites and boated a bunch of short fish and I managed one keeper time was running out and we still had to make the run back. With a little time left on the way back I stopped on the fish I found Weds. and boated my second keeper pretty quick. I thought if I would make one good pass I would be able to get a limit but with that wind and the waves crashing it it was impossible for any boat control. We made the run back to check in and I end the day with 2 fish for 5.18lbs and a 58th place finish out of 80 boaters a very embarrassing finish for what I had found in practice and the stupid mental error. Even with the record rain fall, flash flood warnings, extreme lightening, and tornados of the day the boys sacked them with 1st and 2nd both with 26lbs. for 5 fish, even the top 2 co-anglers had 15lbs and 14lbs respectively for 3 fish!!! In the end live and learn from your mistakes. Our area along with Nashville ended up with over a foot of rain, everything is flooded and it will be a while before things are back to normal. The AFS is next on my list May 14-16 and with the Lakes both shut down to recreation boating till Monday the 10th it will make for an interesting tournament if it happens, until then Tight Lines.   
  

    The one thing in life most everyone will agree on is that patience is a virtue. Well when it comes to sight fishing it is a must! This goes against my comfort zone of trolling motor on high and go mode. Well I just got back from Lake Ouachita for the second American Fishing Series central division event that turned out to be a sight fishing session. For me class was definitely a learning experience as sight fishing in general is not my strong suit. I must say this is by far the most beautiful lake I have ever seen or been on.
 
    Day one of practice we put in on the West end of the lake closest to where we were staying. I picked out a major creek arm and put the trolling motor down and didn't pick it up for 10hrs. There were a ton of fish up including some giant crappies along with the strippers that were doing their spawning cycle with water temps ranging from 60-64. This creek was a little deeper and had steeper banks and most of the beds the bass made dead center in the bushes. I didn't try to do a lot of catching though ounce in a while I would see what it would take to get on to go. For the most part I worked on seeing the bed or fish and marking it with the GPS and noting it down on a note pad. I was only able to find a couple good fish but lots of small bucks up getting things ready.

    Days 2-4 I spent in the central part of the lake. This area had a mixture of flatter type bays along with some much deeper and steeper banked creek arms. I continued to concentrate on finding fish and beds rather than catching them but as the case with day one you need to check the attitude of a few to see what it will take to catch them. Again I would mark the beds on the GPS and note the number and position of the bed on my note pad. One thing I did learn is I will now have my puck mounted on the front of the boat rather than 21' behind me. This can make a huge difference if you come up on a bed from the opposite direction from when you marked it. In the end I found that the flatter bays or flatter points and banks with in the creeks and bays held more and better fish and deeper beds. General traffic didn't help either as every bay or creek I was in had at least a couple recreation fisherman pulling fish off the beds. The best way I found to catch the fish I could see was with 8lb fluorocarbon line a 1/16 or 1/8oz Tru-Tungsten  weight and 2/0 MiHaitchi  OWG hook rigged with a 4'' zoom lizard. I was able to get a couple stubborn fish to go on a Storm wild eye  shiner swim bait dredged threw the bed. As day for was coming to an end and I was running back to the dock I decided to stop at one last bay. With the trolling motor on high I flew around it marking some more beds when I ran into a couple 4lbers with a couple 2 1/2lb males in the corner on it. Figuring it was 4pm already these fish should still be there in the morning.

    Tournament Day - Day 1 I am fortunate to have drawn out boat 5 today and am feeling good about getting on the fish I had found and the end of practice yesterday. We ran back to the bay and the fish are still there. My first pass thru it I picked off two small bucks but it was a start. I turned the boat to head back down it and boated a 16'' male, when I got back to the corner I seen a big fish swim across a sand spot. Without hesitation I threw the lizard up there and one of the 4lbers started swimming off with it and after a careful fight I boat what turns out to be a 4-15 kicker. After regrouping and retied I can see the other 4lber on the other bed yet, knowing I am not going to get here out of her spot on 8lb test I threw everything I had at her and she wasn't having any of it. So out of necessity I picked up my little lizard and fired a cast in there and she swam off with it and the minute I bowed up on her the line just shredded, from one high to one low in fish. I got retied and worked down the bank a little further and boated another 16'' male and have a limit with in the first hour. Having picked most of these fish off I ran around the corner to a big flat bay that had a bunch of fish in it. As I got there more than one other boat had found these fish also so I just pulled onto a bank with some way points on it. There were still a couple of fish the other boats had missed but I spent about 30 minutes a piece and they wouldn't go so I kepted moving down the bank to the next flat which I had a 3lb+ fish market on a small bush. As we eased up on it I could still see it on the bed and worked it for 20 minutes with nothing. I then pulled out the swimbait threw it up there dropped it right in the bed and two shakes later she ate it, this was a nice upgrade from the small male I still have in the box. We worked down the bank to a couple more waypoints that had decent fish on them, one being a 2 1/2-3lb fish and after working it for 20min. it finally ate the lizard and after a short run it shredded line and I had a Brian Brown melt down...LOL. I regrouped and was able to boat one more decent fish while spend almost half the day try to get my co-angler a fish. Day one end with me in 23rd place with 5 fish for 14-6lbs.