The water up there was stained a little from all the run-in. Quite a few boats were up in the river, and I was trying to stay out of people's way to boot. I just went fishing. And today, down the lake here, they catch them. I don't know what brought that on.

I was cranking little channel-type banks with broken rock and paralleling them. I was trying to keep the boat in 8 feet of water. I fished the bait on a 7' medium-fast action Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Torno 3006 reel and 10-pound Trilene XT. The Wiggle Wart was in a crawdad color – light brown with black bars and a red belly.

If I had it to do over, I would've spent more time in the muddy water. All that rain evidently really turned on the fish in the stained water in the backs of some of creeks.

Larry Nixon – Day 1 3/4/2004
Right now I'm a little aggravated. It was just one of those days. I never could figure out much in practice, but we caught a couple of good smallmouths yesterday, and I don't know if I got led astray by that today, but they never did bite. I caught two shorts, but no keepers.

I can think of a few days I've had like this. I haven't zeroed in a while. I can't remember the last time I zeroed in a BASS event. But I've zeroed many times before, and you just have to take it in stride, start somewhere else tomorrow and start over. You have to forget everything you found or thought you found, put on a different bait and just go practicing.

The weather man lied to us today. We had no rain, no wind, not much of anything. It was cloudy, a perfect fishing day, a day you thought they'd eat you alive. But they didn't. For some people they did. George Cochran had a limit and didn't get a bite in practice. But Stacey (King) zeroed, and when Stacey zeroes, Lord have mercy.

George was kind enough to tell me what he did, so maybe tomorrow I'll catch one.

Larry Nixon – Practice day 3 3/3/2004
I caught one lousy keeper. I doubt I learned anything, but tomorrow I'll fish a little different water than I did today. I'll fish a different type of bank – maybe that's where they are.

I'm sitting here with four guys who are as good fishermen as I know, and they haven't caught one yet. Tommy Martin hasn't caught one keeper in 3 days, the first time in his career. And George Cochran hasn't caught one in a day a half.

The fish aren't up, they're not down on the bottom – I can't figure out how to make them bite.

Tomorrow I'll practice again. I'll fish a different slope of bank and a little different type of rock: The fish I caught today might have helped me a little bit. The guys who catch three or four should be in good shape.

Larry Nixon – Practice day 2 3/2/2004
I didn't catch a keeper today. Man, I don't know what's going on here. Right now I'm lost.

I went up the river and fished a bunch of water that I normally like to fish this time of year, to see if something was going on up there I might need to know about. If it was, I didn't find it. I'm not real into fishing way upriver in real cold water, but you never know. Sometimes fish are shallow on river lakes, and you can catch them on a crankbait up there. I threw a jig a lot and didn't learn anything.

It's supposed to rain 3-5 inches tonight and tomorrow. If it does, I might wait and practice on Thursday. I doubt I'll fight (the rain). I'll probably wake up in a better mood tomorrow, but right now I'm not too happy.

Larry Nixon – Practice day 1 3/1/2004
I thought it was awful today. I caught one this morning early, then missed one, and I didn't have a bite the rest of the day. The water temperature is about like Guntersville, except it's a clear-water mountain lake and I'm not real sure what's going on. I'm going to a new area tomorrow and start over.

It blew about 30 today, and it did affect my practice some. But in the Ozarks, you have to realize that wind is better than no wind. Usually when you try to figure out a good pattern on Missouri lakes, a windy day is pretty good. They usually bite moving baits a lot better, but they didn't do it today, for me anyway.

I've never fished here in my life in February or early March. I don't have a clue. We've fished it in late March or April, and it's been 5-6 years since I fished it. I love clear-water lakes, but it's more wintertime here. I don't think they're on a real good jerkbait bite, and when they're suspended in deep trees, I'm not too fond of that. I'm not sure how to catch them.

I've never really (fished that way) with anyone, so if they won't move up to take my bait, I'm in trouble. They don't relate too well to the bottom this time of year. They're suspended on contour lines and the tops of timber, so it's a real chore to position your bait in front of them. And if you're not comfortable doing it, it's hard to do it.

This one is tailor-made for Stacey (King). Local knowledge is very important here. When the fish are 30-50 feet deep on a breakline, the guy who knows how to stay off the breakline and position his bait just right has an advantage. And evidently that's where they still are unless I learn something different tomorrow.