Toledo Bend Elite Series

Brent Chapman – Competition Wrapup
Saturday, April 16, 2011

> Day 1: 5, 14-08
> Day 2: 5, 11-06 (10, 25-14)

In practice I found a really good cove that had a lot of fish and I was really excited about it. I started there yesterday and I caught one 3-pounder flipping a jig in some trees. That was the only bite I had doing that and cranking.

I had another creek, so I decided to bail out and try to go get a limit to salvage my day. I got in there at about 10:30 and I caught 14 pounds, and I didn't even get to fish all of the creek.

I started there today and caught a limit with one fairly decent one, and I figured if I spent more time I'd get some good bites, but that didn't happen. I caught a bunch of keepers, but there was no size. What really makes me sick is that another guy fished the other pocket I'd been in in today and caught 15 pounds – he said they were biting like crazy.

It's pretty disappointing, but in this game you make decisions and you live with them. I was one bite short in this tournament and at Pickwick.

I caught some flipping, but I caught most of them on an old-school floating worm. If I'd just focused on that, I might've done better. I had the boat in 8 or 9 feet of water and I was throwing it up on the edges. The fish were anywhere from 2 to 4 feet.

I definitely need some time to regroup and all that. I hate to start a break on a bad note, but that's the nature of this sport. The good thing is I made the Classic last year and didn't get a check in two tournaments. Finishing 55th isn't a bomb – it's still decent points, but now I know I probably need four Top 50s to make the Classic again.

Brent Chapman – End Of Practice Report
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I went and expanded on the stuff I found on the first day and found a few more quality places in that area. I fished a whole different type of pattern, so now I've got two areas that are pretty close to each other and two different styles to fish.

I'm going to stay shallow – that's my type of fishing and I'm looking forward to it. Even a lot of the main-lake fish seem to be shallow, although I'm sure somebody will find some deep fish somewhere.

They're calling for some wind (on day 1) and I'm hoping they're right because what I've got is pretty protected and the wind should make what I'm doing even better. It seems to make the fish a little more active and easier to catch.

I think the winning weight will be 70-something at least. Guys are going to catch them, no doubt – this lake has too many good fish in it.

Brent Chapman – Practice Day 1
Monday, April 11, 2011

Today was a tough day to practice just because of how windy it was. A little front came through and it was blowing hard out of the south this morning, and then at about 11:00 it switched to blowing out of the northwest at about 20 to 30 mph.

I found an area that I feel pretty comfortable with and that's usually what it takes for me – finding a focal point that I can build off of. I found a bay that seemed to have some better-quality fish and I'm kind of excited about that.

Clearly it's going to be a spawn/post-spawn deal and I assume the real good fish are going to be hard to come by. There'll be some sight-fishing somewhere, but I'm not sure that'll hold up. I haven't been down the lake where the predominant sight-fishing would be, but I've definitely seen some on beds in places where people wouldn't be bed-fishing on Toledo Bend so I assume that down the lake, in the clearer water, it's probably decent. I doubt you'll have a lot more females coming, though, like you would have had a month ago.

Tomorrow should be a nicer day to be out here and I'm hoping it'll calm down a little bit because this is one of the most treacherous lakes to navigate that I've ever been on. It's 7 feet low and even the boat lanes are scary.