Photo: Bassmaster.com Roger Boler had another strong day 2, this time at Toledo Bend.

Boler Relied On Faithful Hole For T-Bend Comeback

Sunday, March 9, 2003

Roger Boler is taking up a lot of space in BassFan's "Best Under the Cut Performance" category. Not only did this second-year pro post a solid comeback at Lake Seminole, but he did it again at Toledo Bend.

Here's a look at his T-Bend performance:
> Day 1: 4, 6-14
> Day 2: 5, 21-06

His 28-04 put him in 13th, just 1 ounce out of the Top 12 cut.

Fallback on Local Knowledge

Boler arrived at his day 1 spot, and knew he was in for a tough day. "I was on some good fish up north, but the rain blew out the little creeks up there," he said. "I struggled just to catch the four I weighed in."

But because he's from Slidell, La. and has fished Toledo Bend many times over his career, he knew a few spots, and went to one of them on day 2.

Same Bait, Different Area

On day 2 "I went to one of my old haunts down south," he said. "It's a little bay that's always been protected from muddy water and northwest wind. I know from experience how it's laid out. It has little guts, ditches and canals dug into it."

He noted that he's "never caught more than about 15 pounds out of it," but this time he had the area all to himself. "I stayed in there all day and just kept catching fish and culling up," he said. He went through about three limits of fish.

His bait that day was the same one he used on day 1: a 1/2-ounce Stanley Titanium spinnerbait with silver and gold Indiana blades, a white/chartreuse skirt and a white Zoom trailer.

He slowrolled the bait in 1-3 feet of water, concentrating on the breaks in canals and ditches. The area is a good spawning area and the fish were making their way into the canals to spawn, he said.

Not Disappointed

Most anglers would be kicking themselves for not going to that place the first day after turning in 21-06 the second day, especially if they missed the cut by just an ounce.

"That's not me," Boler said. "I don't look back and say, 'what if?' It doesn't bother me a bit to miss the cut by an ounce. To come back from where I was the first day is fine with me. I just try to ride that momentum into the next event."

Equipment Notes

Boler fished the spinnerbait with a 6' 6" All Star (IM10X) medium-heavy action rod and a Shimano Curado reel spooled with 17-pound Stren Supertough line.