Falcon Elite Series

> 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.

Get out all the records because they'll probably be smashed this week.

I've had 2 good days of practice where I caught over 28 pounds, and one bad day where I only had about 23 or 24. But even a bad day on Falcon is awesome.

I've been catching them on brush like everyone says you're supposed to here, but I've done a little bit of looking out deeper, too. For the most part, the deeper I go the smaller my fish get.

If the wind blows look for a lot of guys to catch them just off the bank. The wind hurts you if you're out in the middle of the lake or right up by the bank. I've found that those fish don't like to sit in that brush when the waves start to pick up.

I do think there are some groups of bigger fish. I've seen it myself where you hook into a 5-pounder, then another and another. I've also heard someone caught back-to-back 11-pounders, so there's potential to get on one good school and really have an awesome day.

This should be fun. It's a totally different world out here, and it'll definitely spoil you. The thing about this lake is that it's not like there's some kind of top-secret spot, at least not that I've found. You can pull up in any cove on this lake and just start whacking them.