Sunday, April 6, 2008
> Day 1: 5, 19-10
> Day 2: 5, 26-09
> Total - 10, 46-03 (58th)
The long and short of it is, I caught a 4-pound average one day, and I culled 5 pounder the next day and I still missed the money. There aren't many lakes in the country where you can say that.
I committed to flipping dirty water the first day and with all the wind it really didn't work for me. That's where I made my biggest mistake. I had Carolina-rig and flipping fish down the lake in clearer water, but I stayed with the dirty stuff the first day. That's a big decision on this lake. A lot of guys are talking about shallow and deep, but dirty versus clear is another big factor.
I was Carolina-rigging a Berkley 10-inch Power worm and that big 9X Senko - the biggest one they make. Bigger is definitely better on this lake.
I was flipping a Berkley Power Hawg and a Reaction Innovations Double Wide Beaver.
Even though I didn't make the Top 50 cut, the redeeming thing is that I fished clean here. I never lost any big fish or missed any big opportunities. I just didn't get those one or two big bites to keep me in it.
What stings a little is that I was about 100 yards from being on the right fish my 2nd day of practice and I didn't give the area enough time. But that's how it happens sometimes.
I stuck around Saturday and fished a little, but mainly I was just driving around and watching my buddies, like Aaron and Byron, catch all those big fish. That's pretty cool to watch. They're catching some monsters out there.