Brian Ingersoll
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- Feb 20, 2004
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I'm back from my final Stren of the year at LOZ. First off I would like to thank Rich Eder from this site for his help. He gave me an idea of prevalant patterns for this time of year and areas of the lake to look at. THANK YOU!
My first practice day was Saturday and I didn't get on the water until midday. Rich had told me about swimming a jig, so I tried that, and the first dock I went to produced a 2 1/2 - 3 # fish, talk about a confidence boost! I stuck with that pattern and found a few coves that would produce keepers by dark.
Sunday I went farther upriver, but the water had more of a stain to it and I was not able to get the bites I needed. I was getting worried that the pattern mightnot hold up, but on the way back to the ramp that evening I stopped at a cove in a clear water area. Almost immediately I got bites, and a few were good 2+# fish. I felt ther water color was the difference, but I needed to see more.
Monday morning I went out and fished pretty hard for a couple hours and was able to catch fish on the jig just about everywhere. I knew I had seen enough, every 4th or 5th fish was a keeper, so I cut the hook off and started moving downriver hitting almost every cove on the way. By the end of the day I had moved to some really clear water, so I put a hook back on to see if the fish were still the same size. I half an hour I caught three keepers with one big one (3+#).
Tuesday was forecast for rain and thunderstorms, and I don't like lightning, so my travel partner and I decided to sleep in, relax, and skip the fishing.
Wednesday I started the farthest upriver I had caught fish and after about an hour of dead time started catching fish. My first keeper was a good 3+#'s and my co caught a 3-11 off the same dock. I started hopping coves I had marked on my GPS and by noon had four keepers with another good fish - a 3 1/2 # spot. The fishing was slow and I realized the water color had gotten more stained, so I pulled up and moved downriver to the clearer water from Monday. I started getting more bites and was able to finish my limit and cull a few small fish. I ended the day with 5 fish for 11-3 which put me in 24th place.
Thursday I headed straight to the clearer water to start my day, and by midday had a small limit, but no bigger fish. I decided to try to go where I caught the bigger fish the day before. The water was even more stained, but I fished it anyway and was unable to cull up. I finished the seconod day with another 5 fish for 9-11 and moved up to 20th place.
Friday I felt I needed 7#'s to get a check and 16#'s to make the top ten cut. I decided I would get a small limit to secure a check, then swing for the fences. Unfortunately it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. By noon I still didn't have a keeper so I started panicking and changed to a different color jig. I was able to get 4 fish for 5-3, but it moved me down to 38th place, and they only paid 34 places.
Like all these tournaments, I learned a valuable lesson. Everything looked right in my areas, but the pressure had increased greatly. There were at least three times the number of boats in the area the last day. My travel partner left the area to hit new water and was able to get a good limit, which is what I should have done instead of trying to force the fish to bite.
I'll update my standings in another post.
Edit - I forgot to add, I had the coolest experience at the weigh-in the last day. There was a fan standing there, and when I got off the stage she asked for my autograph on her shirt. I have officially signed my first autograph!!!:wub:
My first practice day was Saturday and I didn't get on the water until midday. Rich had told me about swimming a jig, so I tried that, and the first dock I went to produced a 2 1/2 - 3 # fish, talk about a confidence boost! I stuck with that pattern and found a few coves that would produce keepers by dark.
Sunday I went farther upriver, but the water had more of a stain to it and I was not able to get the bites I needed. I was getting worried that the pattern mightnot hold up, but on the way back to the ramp that evening I stopped at a cove in a clear water area. Almost immediately I got bites, and a few were good 2+# fish. I felt ther water color was the difference, but I needed to see more.
Monday morning I went out and fished pretty hard for a couple hours and was able to catch fish on the jig just about everywhere. I knew I had seen enough, every 4th or 5th fish was a keeper, so I cut the hook off and started moving downriver hitting almost every cove on the way. By the end of the day I had moved to some really clear water, so I put a hook back on to see if the fish were still the same size. I half an hour I caught three keepers with one big one (3+#).
Tuesday was forecast for rain and thunderstorms, and I don't like lightning, so my travel partner and I decided to sleep in, relax, and skip the fishing.
Wednesday I started the farthest upriver I had caught fish and after about an hour of dead time started catching fish. My first keeper was a good 3+#'s and my co caught a 3-11 off the same dock. I started hopping coves I had marked on my GPS and by noon had four keepers with another good fish - a 3 1/2 # spot. The fishing was slow and I realized the water color had gotten more stained, so I pulled up and moved downriver to the clearer water from Monday. I started getting more bites and was able to finish my limit and cull a few small fish. I ended the day with 5 fish for 11-3 which put me in 24th place.
Thursday I headed straight to the clearer water to start my day, and by midday had a small limit, but no bigger fish. I decided to try to go where I caught the bigger fish the day before. The water was even more stained, but I fished it anyway and was unable to cull up. I finished the seconod day with another 5 fish for 9-11 and moved up to 20th place.
Friday I felt I needed 7#'s to get a check and 16#'s to make the top ten cut. I decided I would get a small limit to secure a check, then swing for the fences. Unfortunately it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. By noon I still didn't have a keeper so I started panicking and changed to a different color jig. I was able to get 4 fish for 5-3, but it moved me down to 38th place, and they only paid 34 places.
Like all these tournaments, I learned a valuable lesson. Everything looked right in my areas, but the pressure had increased greatly. There were at least three times the number of boats in the area the last day. My travel partner left the area to hit new water and was able to get a good limit, which is what I should have done instead of trying to force the fish to bite.
I'll update my standings in another post.
Edit - I forgot to add, I had the coolest experience at the weigh-in the last day. There was a fan standing there, and when I got off the stage she asked for my autograph on her shirt. I have officially signed my first autograph!!!:wub:
