Toho Elite Series

John Murray – Day 2
Friday, September 14, 2007

> Day 1: 4, 06-05
> Day 2: 4, 06-00
> Total = 8, 12-05 (53rd)

I just got back from the season-ending dinner and it was pretty cool. BASS gave out belts to anybody who broke the 100-pound barrier this year, and I got one. It's like a big heavyweight fighting belt. They did the same thing last year. I was pretty excited about it.

Today was sort of similar to yesterday. I dropshotted a little Zoom Finesse worm and little Berkley Power worm all day. I had five keeper bites and boated four of them. I ended up being one fish short of making the cut for tomorrow.

You have to look at the big picture, and making the Classic is the big thing. I wasn't really on much, but I maximized what I had. I only lost one fish in 2 days.

Brent Chapman fished 200 yards from me, and he's leading. They just bit for him. He caught them right behind me, in front of me – he was on them and I wasn't. But that's the way it is in Florida. Either you make the right casts or you don't.

My season isn't over though. I'm flying to Portland, Ore. on Sunday, renting a car, and going to the Western FLW Series at the Columbia River.

John Murray – Day 1
Thursday, September 13, 2007

> Day 1: 4, 6-05 (47th)

The pressure's off. I feel great. It was a tough day, but I ended up catching four little keepers. I'm in the Classic.

It's a relief. You always look at the stats, and I judge a year on being successful by if you make the Classic or not. So making it means a lot.

I had the fourth fish in Kissimmee about noon, and then I came on back up to Toho. I wanted to make sure I got in. I probably could have caught my fifth if I'd stayed around, but I wanted to make sure I got in with all my fish.

I was the 23rd boat out, so I was the first group in the lock. Not that many guys went down there. A lot of guys stayed up in Toho.

Tomorrow I'm going to do a lot of the same. I'll go and start in the area where I caught them this morning, then do a lot more flipping. I didn't really flip today, but that's the way to catch a big one. I need another 7 to 10 pounds to make the Top 50 cut. I think you can catch that in one flip.

John Murray – Practice
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

It's very tough. Monday, I caught one keeper and four shorts – a keeper's 12 inches. I ran all the lakes just seeing what the water level was, and the color and all that. It's one of those deals where you just want to see what everything looks like before you go back.

Toho's really weed-choked. I couldn't believe how much weeds there are, and how thick they are.

Cypress probably looked the best, but I didn't fish in there or Hatchineha. I just ran though them and the water color and level looked pretty good. Visibility overall is a foot or less. I did find a few areas of tannic water, but mostly the water's muddy looking and brown.

At this event, all I need to do is catch one bass. One fish gets me 7 points and I'm in the Classic. So I fished a small worm a lot on Monday just trying to catch dinks, and trying to veer myself to where I can get some bites. I'm not going to try to go for big ones or do anything crazy.

The second practice day was quite a bit better, but still not good. I think I had five or six bites that were probably keepers. Nothing real big, but at least I was getting some bites, and I found some areas that seem to have a little bit of fish. But it was cloudy, and maybe that's why it was better.

I finished the second day with two patterns and a fair amount of confidence that I could catch a few.

Today wasn't cloudy – it was sunny – and I only got two bites all day, and that was right before I came in.

I still haven't caught a fish in Toho – they were all in the lower lakes. So I'm going to run down there tomorrow and try to get some.

The field's pretty spread out I think. Some guys are catching them in Toho, and some down south. But in all these lakes there's tons of dead water, and then little key spots here and there with a few active fish.

My goal, again, is a single fish. Weighing in a fish is my number-one priority. If I catch one, then hey, I'm going to go fish hard for maybe some better fish. My problem is I just haven't had a big bite.