Lewis Smith FLW Tour

After the day off (Wednesday), I went back out and the fish I'd been catching in practice had quit biting and the shad had moved. It was a warm spring day, so I just went looking, and the first pocket I stopped in I caught three off of beds. After that I just kept trying to expand on that.

"It worked pretty good, but I just needed one more today. It's odd how a lot of times in these tournaments, one bite can change so much.

The good part is I was able to scramble around and figure out what had changed. I was one fish away from a Top 10, so it was a good tournament in that regard.

I caught my fish on a Berkley Power Tube. It was hard to sight-fish today because of all the trees pollenating and all the pollen on the surface. It wiped out about 60 to 70% of the pockets.

I never did hook that fifth fish. I had another 3-pounder on a bed and I got him to nip it and I saw half the tube disappear, but he didn't have the hook part. After that he got under his mat of debris and pollen and I couldn't see him. I eventually yanked all that stuff out, but the fish never did get right again.

I had 2 good days of practice and 2 days when I didn't get a limit, but that's typical for this lake. It's real hard to be consistent because these spotted bass are always on the move. You can catch them one day and then check back the next day, and they're not there.

The biggest challenge here is being consistent every day, but I'll take the catches I had in practice in the tournament. I didn't find the bedding fish I was hoping to find – there's some, but it's not like I expected it to be. I'm just fishing and catching a mixed bag of largemouths and spots, and that's kind of what my goal is. I've gotten a couple of good largemouths.

I'm fishing a variety of ways and staying mostly shallow – 10 feet or less – and trying to find some baitfish. I think if I can catch 12 pounds a day, I'll have a good chance to make the Top 10.