my last tournament

[Ca_Bass]

Not my last tournament ever just the last one i fished.

I fished the BASSMASTER southern open #3 as a co angler...and it was awesome. I didnt get paired with any of the elite series guys but my pair on the third day did qualify for the classic with his win. His name is Hank Cherry and is a pretty awesome guy and one heck of a fisherman. I picked up some important things from him that should improve my bassin. One of the reasons I'm fishing these is for the learning experience. Fishing with some of the best anglers from all over the country can really teach you a lot.

I ended up finishing 2nd on the co angler side and it was actually a tactic that i learned at lake wilson that helped me the most. When i would fish for schooling tucs i did really well on small jerkbaits, but i had trouble casting them far enough to get to the swirls in time. But after some experimenting i found that braided line with a mono leader on a spinning rod really helped get the distance required.

The open was at lewis smith lake in jasper alabama and its loaded with spotted bass, which at the time were acting a heck of a lot like the tucs do at wilson when they're busting. I ended up fishing a 3.5 inch swimbait on 6lb line and a 1/8th oz darter head jig and that was the ticket all three days. I did get a few jig fish but that wasnt the primary pattern.

It was awesome to have finished second but being so close to the first place prize a new nitro z8 has been killing me the past few days!

Here is the link to the day three weigh in photos:
http://www.bassmaster.com/slideshow/ope ... hree-weigh

Some of you guys may recognize the guy in photo #3!!

[roadwarriorsvt]

Congrats on the finish! At least you weren't out of first place by only an ounce or two.

[Ca_Bass]

Thanks roadwarrior!

Yeah that would have killed me! To have only been off by ounces but with the sack i caught on day three my pro was absolutely sure i had won it....lets just say the hour drive to the bass pro for the weigh in was painful. The kid who won had the day of his life on day three, he had a 3 fish limit of 10lbs 11oz i think. That is a good three fish limit just about anywhere and he caught it at a lake that is not known for big fish. The top pro won with 34lbs for 15 over three days. If you can average 5 fish for 10 or 11lbs a day on smith lake you have a shot to win.. at least i didnt go home empty handed, got a really nice check and a pretty cool trophy.

[GaBoy]

Congrats! I fished the southern ABA regional event on Lake Smith back in 09 as a back seater. Finished in top 25 and made the nationals. I had a 5lb. spot on day one. The guy I fished with on final day finished in the top 5. We were fishing small finesse worm on a carolina rig on a 8' flat he had located that dropped off into 25'. We would throw up on the flat and work the rig back to the boat. The spots were located at the edge of the flat were it dropped off into deeper water. We both had limits. A Z8 Nitro would have been looked nice in your garage!

[Ca_Bass]

I caught a few 3lb spots and one that was about 4.25 - 4.5...man those spots are fun! Im gonna have to get to lanier and get in on some of that action! Smith lake was a blast though.

It would have ended up being a Z9! I already have a 2011 z8 so i would have just traded mine in and used the money to upgrade the z8 to a z9 then get it fully loaded and still would have had a bunch of $left over oh well still had a blast! Guess it wasnt meant to be.

It was all about schooling fish this tournament. Literally you could catch fish anywhere on smith lake...just have to find the right fish. A lot of guys threw topwater the entire tournament but i had found the better fish were eating a small swimbait much better. I did catch a nice spot on a jig but the rest my good fish came on a swimbait. Plus it was something they hadnt been getting pounded with. The top 2 pros were throwing a swimbait as well. The top co angler i guess was fishing a spoon in like 50ft of water getting the big girls while they were down deep. I wish this lake was closer to my house, it was awesome! Maybe lanier will be as good. Have to check it out soon.

When do you find out where you are going GaBoy?

The ABA chapter by my place is pretty weak, there are so many open tournaments each week that the ABA chapter has trouble drawing more than 8 anglers because of their %70 payback...the opens payback %100.

[BASSTRACKER]

awesome story, sounds like your luck has improved a bit over there as far as tournaments go. always wondered how wilson fisherman would fair on mainland lakes during a tourney. wilson can be tough unless your a live bait guy or they are schooling so i always thought if you do good on our lake that on a bigger lake youd do even better with the mind sets from here. even if it is apples and oranges as far as weather and conditions.that line trick you talked about is a must for any serious finesse guy. i picked it up from aaron martens during the classic at 3 rivers in pittsburgh a few years ago, 10lb braid and a flouro leaderabout 5-6ft joined by a double uni knot. it can be a pain to tie but man the sensitivity you get is well worth the hassle!! just keep the diameters small i use 10lb power pro braid with 6lb seaguar and have been quite happy with it. keep up the pressure Alec im waiting for your classic berth!

[Ca_Bass]

Thanks Steve!

Wilson could be very tough. I always found that when the water got really stained that was when Wilson was the toughest!

The thing that makes a lot of the lakes out here tough is the amount of water you have. It makes it harder to key in a a really fine tuned pattern. Wilson was easy for me to get dialed in on a very specific pattern. It was also easier to repeat that pattern throughout the day. I remember one day there was a tuc on every log that was 4 to 6 inches wide that stuck out at a 45 degree angle from the bank!

On the other hand Wilson would react more drastically to slight changes in the environment. A water temp change of 2 degrees seemed to have a bigger impact there than it does on the bigger lakes. Also with the big lakes you can usually just make a long run and find completely different conditions. The upper end of Clarks Hill is much different than the lower end of the lake. At Wilson you just have to deal with the conditions each day, there isn't much running to the other side of the lake to find something different.

I think what you are saying about the mind sets is true though. I think the same goes for California fisherman as well, they seem to be more open minded to new techniques and experimenting than some of these southern guys i've fished with. A lot of em are kinda stuck in there ways and stubborn. Sometimes i think that is good but when they're not bitting a jig.....why are you just gonna keep throwing the jig!?!? A lot of them will never consider using anything less than 12lb line either. And that killed a lot of them a smith lake due to the extremely clear water.

[GaBoy]

[quote="Ca_Bass"]I caught a few 3lb spots and one that was about 4.25 - 4.5...man those spots are fun! Im gonna have to get to lanier and get in on some of that action! Smith lake was a blast though.

It would have ended up being a Z9! I already have a 2011 z8 so i would have just traded mine in and used the money to upgrade the z8 to a z9 then get it fully loaded and still would have had a bunch of $left over oh well still had a blast! Guess it wasnt meant to be.

It was all about schooling fish this tournament. Literally you could catch fish anywhere on smith lake...just have to find the right fish. A lot of guys threw topwater the entire tournament but i had found the better fish were eating a small swimbait much better. I did catch a nice spot on a jig but the rest my good fish came on a swimbait. Plus it was something they hadnt been getting pounded with. The top 2 pros were throwing a swimbait as well. The top co angler i guess was fishing a spoon in like 50ft of water getting the big girls while they were down deep. I wish this lake was closer to my house, it was awesome! Maybe lanier will be as good. Have to check it out soon.

When do you find out where you are going GaBoy?

The ABA chapter by my place is pretty weak, there are so many open tournaments each week that the ABA chapter has trouble drawing more than 8 anglers because of their %70 payback...the opens payback %100.

I will be heading to Memphis, TN.

[Ca_Bass]

You should be able to do some bassin there!