Wrap up of the First BASS Event 2013

Well here is the "skinny" on all the practice and tournament events of the last 3 weeks in Fla. First of all, yes I got it handed to me and I dont make excuses at all it is what it is. lol Upon my arriving at Kissimee, Fla I was stoked up and ready to hit the water. Little did I know I had some obstical to overcome along the way. One major thing was the battle with several large Kidney Stones that choose one of the worst times to deal me a fit. Now many of you that know me know I look at pain as more of an inconvenance that a probelm. I was raised and trained throughout my life to "suck it up and deal with it". Well I did but it also had a plan. I fished though not being able to bend much and when I did bend it was not really on my own accord.lol Anyway, I fished the first week in practice everyday except one and 3 main areas on Lake Toho that I knew would produce solid bags for the tournament. Many thanks to team mate and fellow angler/Guide, Scott Taylor for clueing me in on a few things as well. Scott is a guide there(Taylor Made Charters) as well as up north on the Great Lakes and one heck of an angler. He also owns a bait company that makes some awesome hand pours I have been using for sometime, Reveloution Bait Co. Be sure to check both out on Facebook and let em know we sent ya. Scott hooked a boother up with some great baits for swimming a jig in the grass and they produced some great fish including 3 over 8 and one over 7 in the first week. After week one was in the books I was very confident I could catch some fish and at worst nail a limit off bedding fish in two of the areas I was in. So the start of week two I wanted to run around and look at some new water. Monday morning of official practice I took my room mate and buddy Mike to some new stuff. We did a ton of looking on the sonar. I would be willing to say we spent atleast 6 hours at less than 1000 rpms on the boat just looking for shell beds and ditches. I was wanting to find areas the fish could move to or "highways" they would use to get to spaning flats. Well all that looking resulted in one ditch, one shell bed and a ton of gas out of the boat. Now most of you know I prefer to pattern fish NOT spot fish. I was a little worried because the only pattern I had so far was bedding fish and Hydrilia grass. Bad thing with the grass is that it is like Lake Guntersville, sometimes they are there sometimes they are not. I continued to search the next day for something odd or that others might over look. I never found anything that could convince me not to stay in Toho and battle it out with all my eggs in one basket. On the last day of practice I spent the day getting my game plan together and getting the boat ready. I do that in every event no matter how well practice went because the mental part of the event is just as, if not more, important than the physical part of fishing. We end up at the meeting and had a blast seeing old friends I havent seen in a year and introducing Mike to several people he should know. After the meeting we hit the bed and got ready for battle. One the first day I noticed the water temps had dropped a ton and while waiting for my number knew I was not going to be in the shape I had planned. I confirmed that on the first stop and went into scramble mode. One of the worst things an angler can do on the first stop is freak out and after taking a year off I was doubting myself and my gut a little. Now don't get me wrong I never lost focus or control like some do but I was close to the point of "spinning out", which in my book is just as bad as doing it. lol Anyway, I made a run even though it was too late to capitalize on it and came up with a way to salvage my day two(read the day one note). on day two I had a plan but catching 4 fish in the first 45 mins tossed a wrench in that plan fast. I made the move to stay where I was go to my bedding fish and swing for the fence. I knew this lake has a ton of big fish in it and I can catch them if I stay. I knew from day one I could catch a limit making the run but a limit wasn't going to do me any good if I wanted to mount a huge comeback and make the cut. So in true "CJ" style I said ROCK ON and stuck with the bigger bite and the gamble. Well that didnt fair too well as most of you know but I had to live with it and suck it up. One thing I know from the years of competive Bass fishing is those who win are those willing to take risk and willing to put everything they have into getting 5 bites. Well Sometimes they get them and win and sometimes they dont and lose. Either way I am blessed to play the game and learn from each day to become better and more ready for the next time I face the same conditions. Here was the problem I had with my fish so some of you can learn from it as well. One: When fishing south Fla lakes cold fronts can kill a solid bite in less than a few hours. Two: NEVER fish dirty water!! Meaning if your water gets stained LEAVE it!! Well both of those happened to me. Water temps dropped on day one and killed my bedding fish bite. When I showed up to sight fish the winds were slamming my area but I had the beds marked so I didn't care. The problem was the water temps dropped 12 degrees and got muddy. That will drive a bedding fish out to a more secure area faster than anything. I knew I had to find clean water and made the adjustment. Although it was a 30+ mile adjustment and killed some fishing time. WHen I did find an area I have not even pre-fished in I caught fish but too little too late. The pattern I found waqs the right one and one that the winner was on oddly enough. I found a huge field of pads and had clean water. I flipped a Vertical Lures Creature X and a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in the pads. One thing I found after two bites was fish were not just "in the pads" they were only positioned in the pads that were flat without any other grass near it. That was the best pattern I saw. I then narrowed the 1/4 mile of pads down to a few hundred yards of productive water. On day two I duplicated that same bite on my first stop and boated fish. My day two co-angler, Hunter, did catch his fish out of some slop so we did move deeper into some nasty areas to get a few bites. I ended up switching up baits a little from the Creature X to the Tube X in a watermelon red color to get in the grass better. One thing that might help some of you out there is the way I flipped it. The biggest weight I had was a one ounce Lake Fork Tungsten. Well I pegged one on then backed it with another 1 oz rigged backwards. That gave me a point at both ends to slip thru the grass better and also added the weight I needed to punch the grass without having to toss the bait in the air and make a "splashdown" with my bait that could spook fish that are under pressure already. After getting back to the ramp and "licking my wounds" I learned a few good things and was humble on stage even making a few jokes about my fish being "washed in hot water and shrinking" LOL I love to make the crowd laugh and cut up. I think even if you have a bad day and no matter how exhausted you are you should still make the best of the time the director gives you on stage. I am ready for the next event and hope my experience will help others think out of the box and salvage a bad event. I want to say a HUGE thank you to God for giving me the chance to do what I do and put me in the position to effect peoples lives in someway. My family, friends, and fans for believing in me and ALL the support during this event and trust me I read every comment and when we do WIN we WILL ALL WIN TOGETHER! My Sponsors, for being such an asset to our program. Ronnie Parker at Lake Fork Lures for making some awesome stuff and making sure I have what I need. My buddy and fellow tour angler JW for tossing me some Vertical Lures baits that helped me not zero on day two. lol Curt at Daiwa for everything you do and making sure my gear is in top condition. Brad at Topwater Clothing for making me look good on the water and we all know what a task that is. LOL Gator Grip for making my custom board so I could make sure I don't bring in a short fish with all the "dinks" I caught.lol Jim at The Rod Glove for keeping my tools all safe, sound, and organized. Then Judy and John at Clear Creek Cove, They made sure everything was nice and safe while I was gone and I cant think of a better place to stay on the water than that place. See everyone in the next few weeks at the Classic and looking forward to the Next BASS Event at Lake Douglas in Tenn. Going to be a great tournament with some awesome fishing. be sure to come check it out. Thanks again to everyone for all the support and see you on the water.