Saturday, May 8, 2010
> Day 2: 5, 23-00
> Day 3: 5, 19-00
> Total = 15, 61-03
Overall I'm happy. I tied for 15th last year and was upset – I really thought I had more. But this year I'm tickled to death. And with the bad tournaments I've had this season, I'm pretty happy. I'm excited to finally catch a few.
I fished two different things – I was cranking and throwing a jig. The jig was a 1-ounce Omega Structure jig with a big 6" Yamamoto twintail trailer. They were biting that real good and I could catch them on it anywhere from 2 feet down to 35 feet. But it seemed like the bigger fish were shallower.
The crankbait I was throwing was a Rapala DT16 in both shad and chartreuse. I was throwing it on a new Powell 804 crankbait rod – just casting it as far as I could and trying to get it to dig the bottom.
The best story today was I caught two 5 1/2-pounders from the same stump where I caught a 10-pounder in practice. That was sort of nice.
Each day I'd catch a little limit in the morning, then the bigger ones scattered throughout the day. I'd start out deep in 20 to 25 feet, then move in shallow to docks and stumps in the afternoon – current-related stuff.
I just couldn't catch any good ones out deep in the afternoon.
Murray checks in
John Murray just filed his practice report for the Guntersville Elite Series. He says it won't be like last year. For his full report, click here to go On Tour With the BassFan Big Sticks.
John Murray – Practice
It's not like it was last year. I had a 25-pound bag on Monday, but that's because I had one between 9 and 10 pounds. You don't get the good average size this year – they seem to be either 4-pounds-plus or barely keepers and smaller. I haven't been catching a lot of 3-pound fish at all.
I just don't think they're set up on outside stuff yet. They're still sort of inside. The water's real high, the current's flowing along the banks and they're scattered. You'll get a nice one, then you'll go 3 more miles before you get another. So it's not like last year where you could sit in one spot and keep catching them. For some reason they're not out there yet – at least they're not for me.
The water's been real high. It came down 4 or 5 inches yesterday because they're pulling it hard, but it's about as high as it can be.
I still see fish on beds, but I don't see any shad following my spinnerbait, so the shad spawn isn't happening for me yet. It seems like I'm catching most of them still on the inside stuff like secondary points.
But if I remember right, last year it wasn't that great in practice either. So I'll just keep an open mind. And you have to check the shad-spawn stuff every morning, because it wouldn't take long for it to happen.
So nothing's guaranteed right now for me, but there's a ton of possibilities.
And I do think the weights will be down. It was pretty much a freak of nature last time. Obviously there'll be some big bags this time, but consistent 20-pound bags will put you up there.
