Bassmaster Classic

> Day 2: 5, 7-11
> Total = 10, 17-14 (39th)

For me, it wasn't a matter of missing or losing fish. I just wasn't on them. Today (day 2) I caught five dinks that were all the same size – pound-and-a-halfers. I was just never able to get a good bite.

I had a limit at 8:30 today and kept it all day. I went to a place where I'd caught some good ones in practice, but I never got one.

I needed to catch four or five good ones, but I was just never really on the right kind of fish to do it.

> Day 1: 5, 10-03 (37th)

The fishing was good. I had a lot of bites, just no big bites at all. I caught a 35-pound catfish, and that was the only monster I caught. It was either a blue or a channel.

I threw a jig most of the morning, a Yamamoto jig, in 5 to 20 feet of water. Then I went to a shakey-head, and caught a bunch on that.

Then I went shallow to an area where I thought I could catch them and spent 2 1/2 hours there. I didn't get a bite and that sort of killed my day.

I'm not surprised at the weights that were caught. I knew it was going to be good. It was just a matter of getting those bigger bites, and I never did.

Mine was a mixed bag – two spots and three largemouths. I caught six on my last seven casts. It seemed like you'd catch them every cast sometimes.

For me to win would be tough, of course, so I'll do some weird things tomorrow. I'll throw a swimbait a little and try to catch a big one.

My first day of practice was unbelievable. It was rainy, warm, the fish were biting, and I had about 25 bites. A few were good ones, and one was about 4 pounds. I was pretty confident.

Then the big freeze happened and I hardly fished the second day.

On the third day, I went upriver and got only a couple of bites.

A week later, on the final practice day, it was warm again and I got quite a few bites. A lot of them were little ones – 1 1/4-pound fish. I also caught a couple of drum.

So right now, I've got a deep-water pattern where I can get 10 to 20 bites. It's a main-river, current-driven pattern for a good limit. I've also got a shallow pattern for later in the day. I'm really not sure of the size on that shallow pattern.

If I could catch 13 to 15 pounds the first day, I'd be highly pleased.