It’s halftime of the McClelland Summer Tournament Odyssey and Mike McClelland has sensed the grind of travel and long days on the water might be starting to get to son Justin as they both compete in the Bassmaster Central and Northern Opens this summer.
Through three events, including the James River Northern Open last week, neither has finished in the money, but Mike is hoping brighter days are ahead. His finishes have improved – 96th at the Arkansas River, 65th at Oneida Lake, 42nd at the James – while Justin has struggled to generate much momentum (97th at the Arkansas River, 133rd at Oneida, 99th at the James).
In the latest Open Road Journal below, Mike offers his observations of the first three events and an outlook on the second half of this journey:
Open Mike
I’m going to have to be pretty honest. I’m a little disappointed in the results he’s had out here. I know it’s a new experience and we’re going to lakes and rivers that are different from what he grew up fishing, but the truly frustrating thing is other than Oneida, he’s been around the right fish to put together a couple good days.
I think the newness is getting to him. Getting used to the travel and the schedule we roll on is something he’s not used to. I will say that after a few tough first days, he’s bounced back and had respectable day 2s. I know at the James and Oneida on day 2, he caught ‘em better rather than just folding up his tent.
It’s quite apparent I’ve had my ups and downs and I’m not setting the world on fire now so the last thing I want is to take him out of his comfort level. I don’t want to say he’s resistant to advice I may offer, but the one thing I don’t want to do is take him out of his way of fishing. He’s employed some tactics that he’s used back home and I’ve been surprised to see how well they’ve worked.
I’m definitely disappointed in my performances. On days 1 and 2 at the Arkansas River, I had the bites to have a good tournament. At Oneida, I had more than 16 pounds on day 1 and felt I was around the fish to make the top 12. On day 2, I let the conditions affect my fishing and choice of where to fish. I’m not saying I didn’t go where I wanted to, but I didn’t fish appropriately due to the conditions. The bigger fish were in specific spots – small clearings in the grass.
At the James, I made the run to the Chickahominy (River) both days and I caught good bag on day 1, but I didn’t get a good bite on day 2 to make a difference. One thing I can say is both of us is we’ve been around ‘em.
Justin had a solid pattern going at the James and I felt the decisions he made on day 1 were right even though he stayed in the James. He had a good dock bite going and he hadn’t pressured them too much in practice. One other thing that’s been encouraging about his season is he’s doing a lot of practice completely hookless. He knows how critical it is not to beat up on those fish with 200-boat fields.
The next two Opens – Lake Champlain (Northern) and Red River (Central) – are scheduled for back-to-back weeks in September, so check back after the Red River event for the latest update on how the McClellands fared.
