Snuck out to Claytor for a few hours between writing final papers. It turned out alright.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
FLW National Championship
I always have a hard time writing about tournaments I don't do well in. I have an even harder time writing about them when I just drove 15 hours back through the night and then immediately read a book and wrote a review of it. Dave and I finished a disappointing 13th (both days - at least we were consistent). That said, I learned a lot, made some new friends, talked to a dude from TIME Magazine, and had a ball.
We really had to scrap for our fish in this tournament. The fish were not stacked up in winter/pre-spawn spots as they had been in March. They had spread out; there were still fish deeper but there were also more fish shallower and further back in coves. The simple movement of fish wasn't the only problem; they also wanted to eat different things. Even in clear water, the fish were not taking a simple A-rig (which had worked so well in practice), instead they wanted something with blades. We didn't start fishing blades until too late.
A few questions arise from the problems we encountered. Why didn't we adjust to the fish location? Why didn't we adapt our A-rigs? We tried our dangdest to adjust to the fish. The fact that we never truly ran up-lake gnaws at my mind. I've never fished a tournament before where I've wished harder that I had a few more hours than this one. I had plenty more ideas but I guess we tried the wrong ones first. Why didn't we try bladed A-rigs earlier? This was a problem of tackle and confidence. I had tons of confidence in unbladed A-rigs. We caught some fish on them as well. So I was a little reluctant to change up and I was a little too willing to think that I just hadn't found the right spot. I also didn't have enough tackle that I felt good about. I had some of the small Picasso bladed rigs. But my experience with them had been merely ok. I just didn't have a bladed rig that I was in love with. So I didn't give them the chance they deserved until too late.
When I actually pause and write down what we caught fish on (below), it becomes a lot easier to see where we might have gone wrong. More time spent finessing shallower, pre-spawn fish could have paid off. If I could only do two things over, they'd be running up-river to check that area and throwing blades.
This is the last College Fishing championship I'll ever fish. I didn't know it until today. However, I'm incredibly happy that this was my last. College Fishing was one of the best experiences of my life and I've got plenty of positive memories. This summer, I'll get the chance to finish off my college career with a flourish at the College Bass national championship.
What we caught fish on:
We really had to scrap for our fish in this tournament. The fish were not stacked up in winter/pre-spawn spots as they had been in March. They had spread out; there were still fish deeper but there were also more fish shallower and further back in coves. The simple movement of fish wasn't the only problem; they also wanted to eat different things. Even in clear water, the fish were not taking a simple A-rig (which had worked so well in practice), instead they wanted something with blades. We didn't start fishing blades until too late.
A few questions arise from the problems we encountered. Why didn't we adjust to the fish location? Why didn't we adapt our A-rigs? We tried our dangdest to adjust to the fish. The fact that we never truly ran up-lake gnaws at my mind. I've never fished a tournament before where I've wished harder that I had a few more hours than this one. I had plenty more ideas but I guess we tried the wrong ones first. Why didn't we try bladed A-rigs earlier? This was a problem of tackle and confidence. I had tons of confidence in unbladed A-rigs. We caught some fish on them as well. So I was a little reluctant to change up and I was a little too willing to think that I just hadn't found the right spot. I also didn't have enough tackle that I felt good about. I had some of the small Picasso bladed rigs. But my experience with them had been merely ok. I just didn't have a bladed rig that I was in love with. So I didn't give them the chance they deserved until too late.
When I actually pause and write down what we caught fish on (below), it becomes a lot easier to see where we might have gone wrong. More time spent finessing shallower, pre-spawn fish could have paid off. If I could only do two things over, they'd be running up-river to check that area and throwing blades.
This is the last College Fishing championship I'll ever fish. I didn't know it until today. However, I'm incredibly happy that this was my last. College Fishing was one of the best experiences of my life and I've got plenty of positive memories. This summer, I'll get the chance to finish off my college career with a flourish at the College Bass national championship.
What we caught fish on:
- Speed Trap
- Okechobee Craw jig
- 3 different regular umbrella rigs
- 2 different bladed umbrella rigs
- single swimbait
- jerkbait
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