ABBT Tournament Update/Result

Well as many of you know I had the ABBT on Lake Logan Martin this past weekend. Being only 1 point out of Angler of the Year I needed a good tournament. I went down to Birmingham on Thursday to start my pre-fishing. Being that I knew the lake already I just needed a couple of days to pattern the fish so a long practice was not needed.
After getting there on Thursday morning at day break I launched the boat with good friend and fellow angler Doug Nichols. We started the day looking for a top water bite tossing the Jackall Bowstick in some areas that have been great this time of year. We had nothing even look at the bait. I then picked up the Spinnerbait and had 2 fish in two cast. The key was burning it just under the surface. For those who do not fish for spotted bass much they like baits moving fast. We left that area and headed up river looking for more fish. We fished several old brush piles with jigs and Jackall Flick Shake worms. All of our stops seemed to produce fish with us not catching more than two fish in an area and boating over 50 fish for the day. At the end of Thursday I was "stoked" and ready for the tournament.
On Friday they were calling for heavy rain, hail, high winds, and bad t-storms. I almost did not fish due to the weather but knowing how fish move and change and learning through the years of tournament bass fishing to always have a "plan B" I hit the water. I fished down river from the launch site all day on the same patterns I had found and spent the last half looking for "bedding fish" Well I found the bite seemed to be more stable on the lower end and several bigger fish on beds in pockets. The winds got real bad with 4-5 footers on the main lake areas and white caps in most every pocket I went in. I made the choice to get off the water and head to cover. Well it was the right move, it started raining and hail before I got the cover on the boat but was on the ramp. I got a call that real bad weather had hit home and alot of people had homes destroyed and major property damage. Please pray for these folks and keep them in your thoughts during their hard times. I made a call home to find out everything was ok there and let Beth know where alot of clothes I had were to donate to the people in need. My best friend/fishing partner Rodney was at work(Scottsboro Fire Department) when the storms hit and I knew he would not be at the tournament. Hats off to those guys for everything they did.
Well on to tournament day. We launched the boat out of Lakeside Park(better known as the City park/rec center). I ran to a place that had produced several solid 2-3 pound fish on a submerged bridge. I started tossing the topwater and spinnerbaits first. I have to be honest I am not sure why, I had not had a topwater bite both days of practice.LOL I thought about that after about 10 mins. and picked up the flick shake and wacky jig head. It was the bait to have. I boated a limit in about 30 mins.. After getting a solid 10lb limit I stuck to my plans and made the run down river for bigger fish. I wanted to fish the areas I had bedding fish after the sun came out so I could see them at a greater distance and not "spook" them. I upgraded several times and after not seeing the sun all day went ahead to the bedding fish.
On the way to them I had a thought to stop at one more place on the way. As many of my readers that have fished with me I always go with my gut. I made the stop and on the first cast had a fish on that was a solid 5lb spot. Well you can't weigh them in if they are not in the boat but it was not meant to be. I worked the area hard switching to the 6.8 Flick Shake in green pumpkin for a bigger bite. I worked the bait on a spawning flat casting into about 3 feet of water. I felt a solid thump and set the hook. After a long fish I boated the 5.56 Largemouth to cull way up and give me at least 13+ pounds. I had a couple of other fish culling up by ounces and one more solid fish that helped a little. I made the move to the bedding fish to find a super nice guy and his wife that I had seen fishing the day before fishing toward the area. I pulled up to him and told him I had seen 2 bedding fish in the pocket and asked if he would mind me fishing it. He said no and let me go in front of him. I moved in the area and saw the water had turned muddy from the rains. Well I marked the beds in practice so I just started casting to them. Boating only one and upgrading some. I fished another bedding fish until I just ran out of time and had to leave her without hooking her.
I ended up having 2nd place big fish and 4th place over all. The winners had a great sack of fish(all Largemouth) tat 19+ lbs and the rest of us in the top 5 all had 15lbs. I had 15.46 total and was happy for the results. All in all a great day on the water and solid tournament. I will never be satisfied with my results even if I win but, we had a great event and looking forward to the rest of the year. So far the worst finish I have had in a tournament has been 7th so I hope to keep up the pace with the next one at Lake Wheeler for the BASS Southern Open.
I want to take a moment to thank all of my sponsors and the people that support our efforts in the fishing industry. Without them I would not be here or have this chance to "live the dream"!