I ended up drawing a guy from Texas. Sometimes you get good draws, sometimes you get bad draws, and other times if you're really lucky, you get the, you're not even going to get a bite draws. When I met the guy at the meeting we discussed what kind of stuff we'd be fishing. When he told me we would be avoiding the Kissimmee grass and hydrilla, I knew I was in trouble. He was targeting the open-water shell beds out in the middle of the lake. He caught his one big fish on a jigging spoon in the middle of lake Toho; I’m pretty sure this fish was either lost or went out there to die. I guess there is a time when you can catch them out there, but this was not one of those times. I could see people catching fish on the edges of the hydrilla not far away, but just out of casting range. I ended up catching one fish on a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 when he drifted off his spot and we got close enough for me to rip through the hydrilla. He ended up zeroing, not catching one fish on his jigging spoon; imagine that! It was a frustrating day to say the least. Day 2 I got paired up with one of my buddies on the National Guard team, Johnathan Newton. I knew even if the fish didn't bite for us we would have a good time. Johnathan was fishing the shallow Kissimmee grass, so I would at least have some kind of chance. He caught 2 fish the day before and was hoping his fish would turn on. Fishing was really slow and I decided to try a reaction bait. I tied on a RC 1.5 and cast it out over the hydrilla. I caught my first keeper of the day as the crank bait went over one of the holes in the hydrilla. I fished the 1.5 for about an hour with no more bites. I looked down and saw that I had the wooden triple trout swim bait still tied on from lake amistad. I picked that up and on my first cast with it caught my second keeper. I figured if I could catch one more keeper I could probably get a check. No such luck. With 30 minutes left to go, we fished the Kissimmee grass patch just outside the off limits. Newton had his first 2 bites of the day, boating his only 2 keepers. I think had we fished there all day we could have both had limits. Unfortunately with the new FLW rules, co-anglers are no longer allowed to share information their pros. I fished this same area with Gabe in practice the day I had the 20lbs. This was the worst FLW Tour tournament I've had in 2 years. People keep telling me you have to take the good with the bad; I’d rather just have the good. Money is getting really tight right now. I've only won $800 since October of last year. Fortunately, when I won money last year, I paid my bills in advance for times when I wasn't winning as much. I have 2 tournaments in a row coming up; an FLW Series on Lake Wheeler in Alabama, and an FLW Tour event on Smith Lake in Alabama. Hopefully I can win some money and take some of the pressure off.
"Momma told me when I was young.... Be a simple kind of man, oh be something you love and understand" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
"I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some...." - Jason Mraz
"Give me one moment in time, when I'm more than I thought I could be. When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me" - Whitney Houston
"Im'a be what I set out to be, without a doubt, undoubtably. And all those who look down on me, I'm tearing down your balcony. No if, ands, or buts, don't try to ask him why or how can he..." - Eminem www.go-fish.biz visit my homepage