BASS Southern Open-Lake Wheeler

Well the BASS rolled into the City of Decatur this past week to bring the Southern Open to Lake Wheeler. What an awesome city and lake. We started official practice on Monday April, 27th. The water was a little stained but not too bad from the weather we had been getting but the bite was great. I did like I do in most tournaments and broke the lake down into 3 sections. I fished the mid lake area the first day. This body of water runs east to west so with the winds being forcasted to come from the South-Southwest throughout the tournament I started on the North banks working protected pockets. I found a number of fish in the backs of pockets and saw even more moving in and out all day while working my way down to the mouths of both the Elk River and Spring Creek. Once I made it to the Elk River I moved across the channel to Spring and started working the same pattern back East on the South bank. By the end of the day I was on a for sure pattern that I felt would produce a solid 12-15 lbs a day.
On day two of practice I drove down to the lower end of the lake and put in at First Creek. Well I found where most of the field was. I fished several pockets in the area and and it was apparent that area would be a total battle for a place to fish and sharing water with numbers of boats. I moved out to the main river area to some submerged structure I had done well on in the past and had 2 fish over 3 lbs in a matter of 5 cast, I left it fast and was still very confident. I made the decision to pull out and move to the Elk River area before I made an appearance for Jackall at one of the best tackle stores in North Alabama, West End Outdoors. Well plans were changed as I was idling back to the ramp in a no wake zone. I ended up with the motor stopping and would not run in gear. I trimmed the motor up to find someone had left some trot lines unmarked and found my prop. I then jumped on the trolling motor and started the LONG troll back to the ramp. I was un-sure if it had damaged the seals in the prop shaft so to play it safe I trolled back to the ramp instead of just cutting the line and running back. When I was almost back to the ramp a person finally noticed I had problems and pulled me the rest of the way. I never got his name but a huge THANK YOU goes out to him. Once on the ramp I removed the lines from the prop shaft and got on the phone. It was getting close to time for dealerships to close but I got lucky and got an answer at D&D Marine. They were walking out the door but once I explained my situation they agreed to hold the doors and help me out. I can't thank those guys enough for getting me in and working on my motor.
The next day and last practice day before the tournament I went to the Spring Creek area to stay until I had to leave for the meeting. I made several passes working the same patterns and boating several fish as well as "shaking off" several more. My partner for the day, Dennis Hollis, from Memphis, Tenn. also had a good time boating several fish. We let the area with a good back up plan and I felt I was ready for the tournament to start. Once at the pre-tournament meeting I was boat number 49 with a great partner that had never fished an Open before. We got our plan together and he was as "stoked" as I was to get started.
First day of competition the winds were blowing from the north east and not seeming to want to laydown. We hit my first pocket boating a couple of fish. Not wanting to burn the area so I could come back to it on day two we moved. I hit several pockets boating a limit but noticed every place I had caught fish or had bites in practice that were over 2-3 lbs were now producing 1-1 1/2 lb fish. I made the decision to move to my back up plan but it was too little too late. We ended running out of time and the winds made it impossible to work several areas the way I needed to to better my catch. I ended the day with almost a 7 lb total but by weight only about 3lbs out of the top 30 cut. I was down over the fish moving but still felt I was in the game if I could work the areas out and find the fish that had moved out. I went back to the hotel and hit the maps to find the areas fish would move to after they came of the beds. Once making a plan I was feeling better about day two.
On day two I drew a super guy from Fla. that started fishing the Opens this year but had a bad tournament on the Harris Chain. He was in the hunt so it was not only important for me to catch fish but I also wanted him to make the cut as well. I had told him my bite was strong but the bigger fish had moved so a limit would not be a problem. We started on the ledge before the winds came in to work on the bigger bite. Well within the first few cast we both had a solid fish in the boat and I found my hunch was right, the fish had moved in the last 48 hours. We then left that area after catching a couple of other fish and started hitting the secondary points. I boated a couple of other fish getting my limit. With my co-angler not having but two fish I made the move to get him a limit to insure he made the top 30 cut. He boated one more fish and missed a couple of others. We then made the choice to go back to the ledge and hunt for the bigger bite. It was the right choice. I upgraded little by little and he ended up with a 6+ pound toad in the livewell to put him in the toward the top of the top 30.
Once at the weigh in and at the scales I found out I need the fish he caught to make the cut but I was proud he had it and made his first cut. I ended with just over 16 lbs total for the event and out of the top 30 by around 5 lbs. Although the weights were not great I was only one solid bite a day from a great tournament. That is just part of the game but the way I look at it both my co-anglers made a check and I had a limit each day so it was not a bad event on my part. I just made the decision to move a little too late. I only had two fish lost the entire tournament so that might have made a difference but like I told reporters, if it is meant to be it will and if not there is nothing you can do to change that.
I want to make sure to say congratulations to the winners on both sides with great catches. Chris Payne flat "smoked em'" wire to wire with a total of 45+ lbs for the event to take the win. He is a great angler and hats off to him for a great job. Also congrats to some of our local angler's on both sides for a great tournament as well.
The baits that seemed to work well for me this tournament we the Jackall Flick Shake worm in Green Pumpkin rigged on the Wacky Jighead. I fished this bait in areas near spawning flats and pockets in around 2-6 feet of water. It was rigged on a Daiwa Steez spinning rod with a Steez reel and Lake Fork FH 7lb test line. I also fished a Lake Fork Lizard and Craw Tube near Buck Brush in both Green pumpkin and Killer Craw colors. I had this bait on a Daiwa Steez 7-6 flipping stick with a 7.1 Steez reel and 65 lb braid. On day two I fished the mentioned baits but also added the Jackall Muscle 7 and 10+ in shad colors for my better bites. In all over 20 limits were boated during the week on these baits.
I really need to take a minute to thank all of my supporters and sponsors. Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, WAAY 31 TV, Gator Grip, Daiwa, Red Bull, The Boat House, West End Outdoors and Triton. Most of all I have to thank God for the chance to follow my dreams, my family for always being there and keeping my head up even when things are not going as planned and one huge special thank you goes out to the Peet Family, Don, Mandi, Will, and Eric. They are the reason I was even able to fish this event. They are GREAT friends and Beth and I are truly blessed to have them in our lives. Thanks again for all the support and lets get this next week started.
Be sure to check out the site and blog everyday for up to date information on tactics and tackle. As well as some new video we are working on this week. The WAAY 31 site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) is up and running and will improve everyday. Be sure to click follow on the lower right hand section to keep up with whats going on during events. I post to my tweeter account about 20 times a day. Have a great week and lets go fishing.