ABA-BWS Tournament on Lake Chickamuaga

Well going to a lake I have never seen is one of my favorite things to do in the tournament series. I was not disappointed when I arrived on last Wed. in Dayton, Tn at all. Although the water was down about 6 feet and alot of the things I had found while watching maps and photos were dry dirt I still felt my mental game was "spot on". I launched the Federated Auto Parts Triton at the event ramp and started riding the waters. Fisrt place I pulled into I went as far back as I could thinking with water temps in the high 60's there should be fish in the dirt. Well I was right, first cast to a stump I spotted yielded a solid keeper fish. I then shook off 3 more bites on the same type of structure. Knowing what I know now and have learned by alot of mistakes I moved to other pockets with the same look as the first. I found fish in several of them and found things that would work reguardless of the wind direction. After riding about 40 miles of the lake and it's creeks I was feeling good about my event but knew it was a pattern that could fall apart fast.

On day two of practice I decided to look for a solid secondary pattern just in case. When I walked out of the Holiday Inn I was greeted with driving rain and high winds. After putting in the water made the choice to check the water in the areas I found on Wed.. Well as expected they were very muddy and getting worse by the hour. Needless to say day two went very bad and suddenly I found my mental game gone. Not one keeper fish or bite all day with the only thing I found to be gone due to weather.

Day three, after a long talk with a couple of people I can always count on to raise my mental state back up I hit the water on the lower end of the lake. I did that knowing from alot of lakes I have traveled to in the past the lower end tends to be deeper and have clear water. I had my link and good friend, Chris Abbott put me in at the ramp and take my truck to the lower end of the lake to save some gas but at the same time lay a track on the GPS to the lower end. It was nice to have someone there that could do that. Once I picked him up I moved to an open water hump very close looking for some "release fish". Well about the third cast got a bite and set the hook on an 8 lb fish! I marked it and left. Second stop was another hump and yielded another solid 4 lb fish. I looked at the Navionics chip map I had and found several humps that looked just like the first two I hit. Each one gave me a solid keeper fish. I found humps that I knew would be protected from any winds and located near large spawning flats. I was so "stoked" by the end of the day I couldnt wait to start the event.

On tournament day I was, as always, one of the first on the ramp and in the water 2 hours before check in. My Co-Angler, Kevin Rose, showed up carrying some breakfast and his gear. He knew the best way to start the day was bringing me food.LOL I told him we had a long run and after talking and getting to know each other a little we lined up for blast off. Being boat 40 was ok but once we went through check in and blast off and hit the river we hit the fog. There were several times I had to sit down off the pad to see the front of the boat. This is not a good thing when your looking at a 30+ min ride to your first stop. We made it to our stop only to find I had found a great spot. Atleast I knew it was due to the 4 boats sitting on it when I got there. I made my way into the hump and watched a boat that was sitting on the sweet spot smoke a limit in about 15 mins.. I just kept fishing and before long had my first keeper. I then put another one in the boat as did Kevin. I then had a solid fish on that just came off right at the boat. I shook off the bad karma and kept plugging along. We made a move to my next hump to get two more short fish. The winds kinda got up so I moved acroos the river to some Islands I had found had humps off the points. I hit the first one and had my limit in less than an hour. Kevin also boated a HUGE 5+ smallmouth and his largest "brown fish" to date. We were both stoked about his catch and I got to fish solo for a sec while he calmed back down. I then culled twice and had a couple of short fish in the stop.

After about another hour I made the run to some spawning areas in search of one 5 lb bite. Once I got there I found the nights north winds had beat the pocket up and the water was just nasty. I did what I could to see some fish and just blind casted to several waypoints I had marked only to find smaller buck bass on the beds. I then made the move back to my first stop to fish the last 30 mins of my day. The big fish I had on Friday was still there somewhere and I needed it. Kevin and I put another fish in the boat his was short and mine didnt cull anything I had then time was up. I made the run back toward the ramp getting there just in time for my check in.

Once at the scales Kevin found himself in the top 5 with 2 fish that went 8.78 and I had a good limit(for a non-local) at 11.53. I knew I needed one good fish to be in a better position but once all was said and done gained alot of places in the points race(from 85th to 42nd) and only 8 points from the top 40 that will go to regionals. I still have 3 more events to go so I'm on the pace I like and feel regionals is a very reachable goal.

My best baits for the event were the Jackall Cover Craw(Green Pumpkin) and Lake Fork Top Dog Lizard. I fished both on Jackall Posion Rods(Master Stroke and Rushburn) with Daiwa Steez reels. I also used Lake Fork Flourohybid 20lb line and Lake Fork weights. I want to thank God for giving me the chance to live out my dreams, My Family and fans for all the support and well wishes, Tom Helton for all his input, Betty Stahl for the loan of the Navionics Chip(which was a huge help on getting me around the lake as well as putting together a game plan) and my Sponsors with whom I couldnt be doing this without thier support. Please be sure to support those who support us. Looking forward to another great event next week for the Central Division on Lake Center Hill. See you on the water.