Harris Chain Bassmaster

It was another tough day on Lake Harris for me. I had four keeper bites and caught a 5-pounder. But the three others were little ones.

I was just flipping on Harris. At about 10:30, went to my favorite canal on Griffin. There were too many boats there, so I left. That wasted 3 hours.

I think the big bags were either caught sight-fishing or from fishing pre-spawn fish. There were some pre-spawn fish caught on Senkos and stuff. It was tough to edge in on the crowds though – there were so many boats.

Based on my practice, it's about what I expected. I had four bites on 2 of the 3 practice days. I caught four both days, so based on practice, I caught exactly what I should have caught.

It was a little windy today, and it was out of the north. My best water got blown out by wind, so I went to new water and caught some there. The wind was howling. It was cloudy almost all day, and the sun broke out at weigh-in. It's supposed to get colder tonight.

I'm driving to Toho tomorrow afternoon (for the FLW event). I'll go with different attitude there this time, totally. I was too locked in last time. I'll try to clear my brains and start over. I may take Sunday off and hit it for 2 hard days of practice when it gets sunny.

Thursday, day 1: I caught two bass for 4-08. The weatherman stinks at his job. Today was supposed to be a 90% chance of rain and we were supposed to get an inch of it. Well, he was wrong and it was partly overcast and sunny with highs in the upper 70s.

It was a little foggy and yet again we had another 3-hour fog delay. Tough day for me and my partner – I only had three bites and broke one giant donkey off under a dock. It hurts losing fish like that, especially since just like Toho, this event will take low weight to get a check.

Speaking of big bass, you know that giant one I saw locked on to a bed? Well, I was lucky to be the first one on her today, but she wasn't there. Rumor had it that the angler in the house above tempted her with a nightcrawler all the way to the freezer. I was sick when I heard the news. Rather I caught her or somebody else – there was no need to eat her. She was beautiful. I'm saddened that she was eaten.

There were several 5- to 7-pounders and smaller he could have taken. I hate bed-fishing. Don't get me wrong, I like the challenge, but I know it's not healthy for the fishery.

I caught my fish today on a Yamamoto Senko and Kreature, both in green pumpkin. I feel cursed when I come to the Harris Chain, and I don't know why. I had a decent practice – getting limits of bites each day – only to catch two lousy bass for day 1.

Tomorrow I'm in the 8th flight, so I plan on getting a little more fishing time in. It's 7:00 and Becca and I are off to the Fellowship of Christian Anglers meeting. Tonight Alton Jones will share his testimony on his Faith, family and fishing.

This is the 3rd year I have been attending the FOCAS meetings, and besides always meeting new friends, I always leave the meeting with so much to be thankful for.

Friday, day 2: I caught three bass for a total of 6-06 and 10-14 total, which put me in 103rd place.

I'm disgusted at myself right now. I had the right bites to get a check, but failed to execute. Today I caught my fish on a Senko, Cut Tail worm and a lizard. In the last half-hour I figured out what I should have been doing – Carolina-rigging.

In practice I was getting a good amount of bites throwing small Senkos up to the shorelines in the muddy canals. I should have realized that bite was going to go away when the event started. You see, the other 150 anglers who were fishing canals would travel on the bank with their trolling motor on high, tearing up weeds and kicking up dirt looking for bed-fish that were locked on.

That blew my pattern, because all of the fish that were on the bank were now cruising and skittish of boats, trolling motors and (most importantly) my baits. Today at about 3:00 I had an idea to tie up a light Carolina-rig lizard and drag it through the middle of the canals where I felt the bigger bass were cruising and bedding.

My gut feeling was correct, as I boated a small keeper bass and proceeded to lose to larger ones in a series of 20 minutes. Talk about frustrating – knowing you had the bites to get a check and good points but you end up losing it from lost fish.

From the lost Toho bass to the lost bass yesterday and today, that makes an extra five bass that I would have weighed. That's an extra limit if you really look at it. My Florida luck is bad, and every time I come to the Harris Chain, I feel good about my practice, only to let old man Harris whoop me again.

There were also some big bags coming in on jerkbaits and swimbaits in the canals. The next few days will leave Becca and I working for Triton, Yamaha and Lowrance for the sponsor expo this weekend. Most all the anglers will now go home for 2 weeks, but we'll be on the road doing sponsor promotions at shows for our sponsors. Next time home is April 10th.

Once again BassFans, it's been a pleasure sharing my thoughts and feelings with you this past few weeks. Log on in a few weeks for the Guntersville slugfest!

Here is the equipment I used this week: The new St. Croix Legend Tournament series rods and reels and 6/20 Power Pro braid. As noted above, I used a variety of Yamamoto plastics, mostly in the green-pumpkin color.

Monday: Today the weatherman was way off. It blew pretty good and for some reason, when it's 60 degrees here, it feels like 40 degrees does back home. It was good being back on the Harris Chain of Lakes. Well heck, this is BassFan, so I can really tell it like it is: This place can be tough.

I had bites today mainly pitching a 4" Yamamoto tube bait in the smoke color (just like last week at Toho). I like the smoke color to imitate the baitfish, and I believe that I get a good reaction bite as it falls through the lily pads.

Since the hurricane, the water has been stained to muddy for most of the lakes and canals. There are quite a few bed-fish, and some good ones too. However, I'm in the middle of the pack as far as the flights go, so getting to one of those bruisers will be a challenge to say the least. I also caught a few fish on a 4" Senko and dropshotting a 5" cut-tail worm.

I know what you're thinking – Florida fishing and this kid has a 4" Senko and a dropshot tied on? Florida has always been tough on me, so I'll be happy to make it out of here with a check and some decent points. Tomorrow I'll head down to the Apopka/Beauclaire canals, where the water is much clearer and suited for sight-fishing.

I don't plan to sight-fish, even though there'll be some giant bags being weighed with it. Speaking of giant bags, on a local event here on Sunday, the anglers weighed 12 bags over 20 pounds. Time will tell, but as usual with this event, on the first day the big weights come. Day 2 leaves a bunch of skittish bass that won't lock down on the beds because of boat traffic.

Tuesday: I went to the Apopka canals today and saw 10 times more boats than fish. This place is packed. Fish are everywhere on the bank and sight-fishing will play a major role for many top finishers. The weather is supposed to be rainy and windy for the first few tournament days, so seeing the bass up shallow should be tough.

Another crazy thing is the water color. Locals call it clear, but coming from Lake Powell (Ariz.), where you can read a Mountain Dew can at 38 feet, this water is downright nasty. My wife calls it Dr. Pepper color.

I tossed around a small Senko today in the green pumpkin color and got about 10 bites on it. A lot of those fish were bed-fish, but I'm not too positive about this whole pattern. You see, the problem is everybody will be on top of everybody, and to cast to unmolested fish during this event will be tough. So I figure rainy, overcast conditions and tons of boats beating the banks in the coves will cause a lot of fish to spook and be hard to catch.

Well, tomorrow the rain comes in and then it's off the water early to work the Triton booth at the Bassmaster registration. I'll keep you posted.

Wednesday: Today I stayed in Harris and Little Harris and fished canals with the other 5 billion boats. I found one clear-water stretch that had over 30 pounds on it within a 20-yard stretch. I also saw a 10-pounder on her bed and threw a Hula Grub on her and she bit. I shook her off, knowing that I'll never have a shot at that bass.

I drew out boat number 54 in flight five, so that 10-pounder and other bass her size will be gone before I ever leave the ramp. This event will all be about strategy and making the right decisions. I'm getting a few bites here and there but am still not satisfied with what I have.

In these sight-fishing events, you never know what you'll end up with until it's all over. One smart move I made today was to bring two pairs of Solar Bat glasses with me. The weather was overcast then rainy, with brief sunlight, so having two different lens colors makes a big difference for me. I chose the yellow and mossback green lenses. I'm wearing the new Solar Bat Predator glasses, which I believe are an exclusive Bass Pro Shops item, and I like them a lot.

As bad as I hate to say it, there will be a few fights on the water tomorrow over whose fish is whose. I won't be one of them. Wish me luck.

It's lot tougher than last year for me right now. It seems like the water clarity is quite a bit different in each lake. Areas that were nice last year are not so nice this year.

I've been getting four or five bites a day. I've seen a few on beds, but nothing I'm real excited about. In this event, you kind of have to pick an area to go to, then go there and fish it. With a spawn-time bite, they only bite once a day. If you're running around, you'll probably miss it.

They're in prespawn, but a lot of them are probably spawning too.

I think it will take a little less to make the cut this year – probably 35 pounds. There will be some big stringers caught, but the weather's going to change tomorrow. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and on day 1. That might make it better.