Douglas Lake Elite Series

Brent Chapman -- Competition Recap
Friday, May 4, 2012

> Day 2: 5, 9-04 (10, 20-06; 68th place)

Unfortunately, it was one of those days I’m going to want to forget. I’m going to dread it a lot this year, I fear. I had an opportunity to have the kind of day an Angler of the Year does and I didn’t have it. It’s the type of day where you see those chances go down the drain. It was a disappointing day.

On top of that, I went to cull a fish and shut my livewells off and forgot to turn them back on and killed two fish. That’s the kind of day it was. I’ve been real fortunate the last few tournaments to get some big bites, but I haven’t caught a good fish this entire tournament, even in practice. It’s just been frustrating.

I had one point where I caught some deeper fish. That’s where I caught my limit yesterday and I talked to some other anglers and they gave me some pointers about different baits. I should’ve had a better bag yesterday and I thought, for sure, today with what I learned yesterday I could’ve at least had a day to just get into the money cut. It just didn’t happen. I caught a ton of fish today. They were just all the same size.

It’s just one day, and we still have half a season to go. The good thing is I’ve already made the (Bassmaster) Classic. I’ve had a great season so far and there are still four tournaments to go. There’s no saying everyone else in the Top 10 could go have a tournament like this and make it an interesting season.

Brent Chapman - Competition Day 1
Thursday, May 3, 2012

> Day 1: 5, 11-02 (55th, tie)

We’ve got tomorrow, so I hope I can put a few more fish in the boat. I had a 2 1/2-pounder jump of and broke another one off on hookset that my marshal said was maybe a 4. Fishing a jig in the rocks up here is brutal, but you just can’t do that.

I’m not out of it by any means. If I can go have a respectable day tomorrow, I can work back into it. (I’m surprised) at the weights. Whenever I guess a weight anymore, I’m going to need to tack on a few pounds. I suspect they might come down some tomorrow though. There are certain community holes and sweet spots that are getting plenty of attention. Obviously, I don’t have any of those.

I’ve got one deep spot that I started on and caught a limit off of, but I’m not fishing as deep as some other guys. I’ve conferred with some other anglers and thought about what changes I need to make so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Aaron Martens – Practice Wrapup
Wednesday, May 2, 2012

It’s hit and miss. I’ve spent a lot of time without seeing or catching any fish. I’m hoping I’ve found enough. I feel good. I’m excited. I’ve got butterflies.

There are quite a few fish out there up off the bottom chasing the shad spawn. A lot of bait is suspended over deep water so there are a lot of fish up underneath the bait. They’re a little hard to catch, but you can catch them. They’re not easy.

I’m ready for the tournament to start. It’s been too much looking for them and finding them. I’ve been graphing a lot. It’s driving me crazy. I’m ready to fish for them. It’s been a lot of work. I feel good. I feel more prepared and I feel like I have a chance, I guess.

Brent Chapman – Practice Wrapup
Wednesday, May 2, 2012

I’m definitely not having the kind of practice that I’d like to be having, but I think I’ve said that a couple times this year. It is what it is. Now it’s just time to go fishing and hope for the best.

It’s a lot tougher than what I had expected. It seemed like last time we were here, you could catch a lot more fish and all the reports I’d been hearing were that the fishing is way better now than 10 years ago. I sure don’t think so. I hope the weights indicate that, too. I hope I still catch them, but I hope the weights, overall, aren’t as good as what people are predicting.

If I had something that maybe hurt my practice, it’s that I probably tried too much. When you can’t get anything going, you have to keep trying. When I would get a few bites, I’d get away from it because I wouldn’t feel like it was what I needed to be doing. In hindsight, maybe I should’ve stuck with it and tried to find more water.

You can tell it’s a good pattern lake so the biggest thing will be to hopefully get off to a good start and make the most of my days.

Aaron Martens – Practice Day 1
Monday, April 30, 2012

I feel alright. It’s not as good as it was when I pre-practiced. I actually came here twice. It’s the first time in 8 years that I’ve pre-practiced a lake so we’ll see if it works out. I need a check, at least for my confidence. There’s a shad spawn going on right now so there’s a lot of bait up shallow and the fish are chasing the shad. It’s a tough bite overall for this place because there’s so much bait up shallow. It’s making it tricky.

It’s a cool lake. It reminds me a lot of Castaic Lake in California even though Castaic is only 2,400 acres. It’s a lot like it because of the clay and rock and mud. They’re real similar and the fish actually look similar, too. They’re thick and healthy.

You could almost fish your strength here and do well. I had 12 rods on the deck today and caught fish on almost all of them.

Brent Chapman – Practice Day 1
Monday, April 30, 2012

It was pretty slow today. It definitely didn’t seem to be like it was the last time, but granted that was a long time ago. I expected it to be easier to find fish. It really reminds me a lot of Bull Shoals and Table Rock. A lot of it looks the same and it seems to be one of those lakes that should fish a pattern really well. I never really got on anything today that I felt like I could start a pattern on.

I don’t know a lot about the lake, but I know from talking to friends who have friends that know the lake, they’re saying it’ll take 20 pounds per day to win and 15 to 16 a day just to make the Top 12.

Momentum is everything. It’s do or die. That’s what Angler of the Year is. He’s the guy who goes out and has eight awesome events. I’d sure love to get out of here with a Top-25 if I don’t win it.

It took 8 or 9 pounds a day to finish 40th here back in 2001 at the (Bassmaster) Megabucks tournament. That’s more like what I saw today than what everybody’s saying. I’m going to get out there tomorrow and keep trying. There’s no doubt this tournament will play in Ott Defoe’s and David Walker’s and Brandon Card’s hands. Those guys are going to have an upper hand on knowing those deep areas.

I think we’re a little early for them to be out deep really strong. I think, ultimately, we’re shaping up to have a tournament where the fish are really scattered. The guys who know the deep places and get that deal going have a lot of potential.