Central Open Practice Begins

I started practicing on site today for the second central open.  I have a certain degree of trepidation going into this event just knowing I'm competing against the likes of Rick Clunn, Greg Hackney, Preston Clark, Byron Velvick, Dave Wolak and on and on and on.....  It's very hard to convince myself that I'm really vs the fish instead of the other guys fishing this event but really that is the reality of it.  Things have changed so much since my pre practice period here two weeks ago.  The lake has cooled by 5 or 6 degrees, its down 4+ feet just a foot above winter pool and a month early.  The bait is way back in the backs of the cuts and so are the schoolie bass.  Best five for today went MAYBE 12 lbs, still waiting on that 'right bite'.  There was a local tournament weighing in at Paris this afternoon and I asked a local what kind of weight it took to win and he told me 14 to 15 so I'm abit off pace and that will need to be fixed.  I have a good bait getting lots of blowups but having a difficult time getting hooked up, Ill keep messing with hook size and so on to get it figured out, top water is not my speciality but it is what the fish want right now so Ill oblige.  More time behind the trolling motor is needed and I'm confident Ill get this thing figured out.

Transition already

So it seems that the bass have begun their transition on the Hick already.  With this recent change in weather pattern Ive taken fewer and fewer fish from their typical summer haunts and it seems like they just got there.  I fished my last local event for the year last Sunday and only had two fish for maybe 4 or 4.5 lbs.  Got in line to weigh in and saw a couple of 5 fish limits and just walked to the release boat only to find out later that 4 lbs would have placed me in the top ten so I guess others are struggling as well.  This is the time of year when I really struggle, following fish in transition just isn't my forte but it IS an area where I recognize one of my weaknesses and look forward to the learning process.  

I practiced a few days on Kentucky Lake last week for the second central open and had mixed results.  I don't have a ton of experience on that lake but received some advice from some who do and put it to use.  Catching fish was NOT the issue it was catching the right fish.  My best five for the three days went something like 11 lbs to 13 lbs and I know from the results of the BASS weekend series event there a couple of weeks ago it will take 15/day min to do well.  

The recent weather changes are effecting the fish there as well as here and that is just another hurdle for me to deal with but everyone else as well.  Again I look forward to the challenge and can't wait to get on the water for official practice.  AS SOON AS I GET MY BOAT BACK FROM THE FU*@#NG REPAIR SHOP.  

On Water Decision Making

The last couple of weeks of practice for local events have been good or so I thought.  I have been catching decent numbers and also I have been able to catch the all important 'kicker' to scratch out a really decent bag if I could just put the two together on game day no issues.  That last statement was just the issue as a matter of fact, I just couldn't seem to put the two factors together to win an event.  I have a couple of spots which are kicking out some really nice fish and I have a few more which always seem to put out some decent numbers but community hole doesn't even start to sum up how I feel about some of those spots so I found myself lingering around my honey holes too long to even have the opportunity to win.  Riverside Marine hosted their last regular season event two weekends ago and I took 3rd simply because of the aforementioned problem in my head.  By second guessing too long to fish effectively later in the day I hindered my ability to close the deal.  This happened again the Tuesday after in a really small event I fished just because I was so pissed about how I performed on Saturday.  With the help of a good friend of mine, William Underwood, I kinda got a lesson on 'game day' decision making this last Sunday in a decent size event of 70 boats or so.  We fished the honey holes for a couple of kickers and then burned some gas doing a milk run spot to spot following instinct and avoiding the 'weekend warrior' spots just fishing what felt right until we ran into some fish no one else was on here and there.  I cannot stress enough how not wasting time helped us win the event.  We did our homework ahead of time and quit worrying about how much gas we were burning or who or how many might be on the spot once we got there, we strategically went about our business efficiently as possible not wasting any time second guessing baits or angles of approach or waiting for fish to get active.   What I learned and kinda already new but was maybe over thinking it was put in your time behind the trolling motor well ahead of time and come to the ramp ultra prepared.  Have your rigs out and knots checked well before your number is called.  Know exactly, EXACTLY where you are going to run to and if it is crowded there don't fumble around, run to the next spot.  Know how long you are going to spend on any given spot before heading to the next and how long before you revisit the same spot again before it may reload.  Oh and also "William will appreciate this" know how much oil is in your tank the night before!!