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Each season I adopt a slogan that I believe will help me in my fishing and in life in general. For example, my 2006 slogan was "Back to the Basics".
For 2007 I'm going to "Take it to the Next Level" in my fishing, my elationshipith Jesus Christ, my family, my ministry, etc. This really boils down o just one thing. . . giving my all for God in every area of my life.
"Will you Take it to the Next Level" too?
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In retrospect, I almost wish that I hadn't known the lake as well as I did. I think I would have been better off to have picked one of the better spots that I was on and just stuck with it. I had so many good areas that I think I fished too helter skelter running from one spot to another. Considering that, I am happy to have managed to finish where I did. Having finished in the top 25, I believe that my goal to take my fishing to the next level still is within my grasp. I think the Angler of the Year title is still a very realistic goal for me.
 My family and I left on Sunday for California. I had forgotten just how long of a trip this was. It was a very awesome drive however. It is amazing to see God's creation and His awesome imagination. In the morning, we were in the snow covered mountains with numerous trees, but by afternoon we were in the desert with roaming plains and cactus. The trip helped me to change focus from all of the effort I had placed into Lake Amistad. I think not getting a top 5 finish there is also helping me to deprogram. I put so much time and effort into Lake Amistad during the off season that I was actually a little worried about being able to put it into the past once it was over. I think that I am managing better than I had anticipated.
One last thing that I would like to mention is our Fellowship of Christian Angler meetings this year. I have assumed the responsibility of facilitating these meetings. God has graciously provided me with assistance from Dallas Theological Seminary in this regard. DTS has assisted me in arranging high quality speakers for most of our tour stops.
This will spare me the time of having to prepare messages. It will also be inspiring to me to learn from these esteemed speakers. These meetings are held the night of the first competition day (usually Thursdays) and are open to the public (anglers and non-anglers alike). If you are in the area of one of our tournaments, I would highly recommend that you attend. I also would ask those of you of faith to join with me in praying for God's blessing on these meetings and those who attend. I am praying that God would use these meetings to bless those who attend and to bless others through those who attend.
I anticipate providing a California Delta preview a little later in the week. Stay tuned. |
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I really expected to catch them today, and I am pretty disappointed that I didn't. I spent a ton of time here in the off season getting ready to start the tour off with a very high finish here. I spent a bunch of time on the water in various conditions really trying to learn these fish and the lake's features. I fully expected those efforts to result in a top 10 finish here.
I was happy with my practice, and my first tournament day went exactly as planned. I had the group of fish I was targeting dialed in over deep water with a swim bait. I had a very good sack of fish on Thursday that could have been even better. With the weather change on Friday, those fish just left me, and I never really could get back on them. I really believed that with all my practice, I would be able to stay with any large group of fish once I found them. These fish, however, ended up in no man's land. These fish left the deep holding places, but they didn't make it to the bank. Any day now, those fish are going to be in the shallows big time. I just regret that today wasn't that day.
I checked the shallows early, and the fish weren't there. With the
weather changing back to cloud cover and wind (the conditions from
Thursday), I thought I might be able to get back on my swim bait fish
in the trees. I committed once again to these fish, because they were
the size and quantity needed to win a tournament on a lake like this.
Unfortunately, these fish never showed back up in the deeper water.
Shortly after lunch, I returned to the shallows. Finally, some fish
were moving up. I was able to catch 2 solid keepers shallow after
lunch. This ended up being too little too late. I am not sure what time
these fish showed up in the shallows. If it was much before I returned,
I may well have missed my opportunity to be fishing today. |
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I could never have imagined how fast the fishing would change. I was catching great fish on a swim bait yesterday in deeper water. Today, that bite completely dried up. As lunch approached, I only had one small keeper. Full fledged panic mode was quickly setting in.
From all of my time on the water, I had an ace up my sleeve. I had a security blanket spot where I knew that I could go and quickly catch a small limit. I was no longer fishing to win, I was is desperation mode to try and make sure that I made the cut to fish on Saturday. I soon learned that my nightmare was growing worse. I caught nothing...That's right zip, nada, nothing from my dead cinch security spot. Now, full panic mode was setting in. I went on a desperation search. I finally managed to catch another keeper. Finding this fish enabled me to slow down, regroup and settle back into finish the limit mode. My fourth fish went 7 lbs. which restored my confidence and left me safely in the middle of the group for Saturday.
I'm actually cautiously optimistic about tomorrow. I feel pretty certain that I can put another decent limit together tomorrow. I think that if I can catch 24-25 lbs tomorrow, I have a decent chance of making the top 12 cut. I am going back after my swim bait fish in the morning. I really need one good bite early off of that technique to give me a good shot at making that 25 lbs. range. I'll be doing my best tomorrow to "take it to the next level." |
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I really enjoyed my day today. The first fish I caught this morning weighed 9 lbs. That's a pretty good way to start the day. I had 15 keepers in all today, and I think that the fishing should continue to get better. While there are fish that have moved into the to
spawn, the better fish are still deeper. I am planning to stay out in the deeper water where the larger quantities of better fish are located. I am hoping to put together another good limit of fish on Friday so that I can be around for the weekend. By this weekend, the fish could be full fledged into the spawn, and we could see some unbelievable sacks of fish.
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I had a really good practice. My time over the winter practicing here has really paid off. I'm not really fishing any of the places that I did in the winter, but I did get really comfortable with the lake. It almost feels like being home. While my practice was good, I know that that is no gaurantee that things will go well for me during the tournament. I do feel like that if I find something that is working well, all of that off-season practice here will help me be able to duplicate the pattern in numerous areas of the lake. While I think it should be pretty easy to catch a 15-16 lbs limit each day with plenty of fish, I am going to work very hard to avoid that temptation. The better fish are not on the same pattern as the numbers of fish. When I fish the bigger fish pattern, most fish I am catching are 4 lbs are better. There are far fewer of these fish however. If I can put together a limit fishing for the bigger fish, I think I should have 25 lbs or more each day. My pattern for the bigger fish is predictable randomnicity.
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