I see you guys were checking up on me. How awesome is that! Thank you for all for your support, kind words, tackle, shirts, and friendships.
Day 2 started very slow for me. My pro was fishing ledges in very strong current. I have very little experience fishing rivers/current so I thought it was going to be a very long day for me. I really felt that crank baits in less than 12 feet of water on points were the way to go but in the back of the boat you have no control. She finally went up in a cove type area and I made my first cast to a point. Bam! Probably a 3 lber in the boat. I was able to then share I caught my fish the first day on points with cranks. She then started including points as targets and my day got better.
I was stuck on 1 fish until about 1pm. I caught a small keeper back in an inlet that looked like it used to be an old marina. Old docks and lots of stick up poles. It looked like hog heaven. She boated her first and only keeper out of there. Upon exiting, I made my last cast to the point and bam! It was such a long cast that I knew it was going to be hard for me to boat it. Got it to the boat, the pro went to scoop it and then it tailed danced...see ya! I thought I was going to throw up. It was a good 3 lb fish at least. Now I know how those guys on TV feel when they lose one. I knew I needed at least one more good one to have a chance at top 20. We went around the bend and up to a power generator. Deep current water but I was casting up shallow to the bank and cranking. Bam, got another small keeper in the boat. Unfortunely, I got hung and lost the lure I was catching most of my fish on. I took out a very similar lure and had a talk with it about producing. Ha! I was a bit nervous because I never fished with it before. First cast, BAM! Netted another 3 to 4 lber and I knew at that point I was in the top 20 running. I was so excited when we got that in the boat and she was too. I grabbed my pros face and kissed her on the cheek. I finally realized what I did and I stopped and said, "I like you but please don't take that the wrong way." Ha! She started singing that song "I kissed a girl and I liked it." I told her she could go home and make her husband jealous. She was a really nice lady and I enjoyed her. It's really hard to be in the back of the boat catching fish and your pro isn't. She was a very good sport about it.
I was in 29th place after day 1 and my day 2 weight took me to 7th place. I was so thrilled to make the cut, I can't even explain it. And please let me clarify why I didn't have my Scales and Tales shirt on during the weigh in. I saved it for day 2 but I didn't know you were not allowed to separate from your pro until weigh in. My shirt was in my truck so I was not able to get it. I did wear it during weigh in on day 3 but I didn't have any big fish so no pictures. Sorry Mac! I know now to bring it with me in a bag or something and wear it for weigh in.
Day 3 was a disaster for me. My pro fished the same spot all 3 days and never moved. She had nice weights the first two days so I don't blame her for going back. We literally were in the same place all 8 hours. She was fishing shakey head on a football head jig
with a Zoom finesse worm. I'd never really done this technique so I really didn't know exactly what I was doing. She had her limit by 9am and I should have but I kept missing fish after fish. She finally watched me try to land one and corrected my hook set. I never missed after that but the bite got really slow. I ended up weighing 4 fish but they were all 12-13 inches. Hers were too but she weighed 5. I really think we should have moved and tried to upgrade her fish but the spot had worked for her so I guess I can't blame her. It's so hard not to be in control! I did learn to fish a shakey head well enough to used next time or any time so that's awesome. I was just really disappointed that I didn't have any opportunity to crank. The water level was back up on day 3 and most of the big fish were caught on cranks.
I am very proud of my 9th place finish. I fished with 3 wonderful ladies who were a joy to be with. I learned alot and they were very good to me. This experience was probably the best 3 days of fishing I've ever had and I can't wait until the next tournament.
The picture is my big fish from Day 1.
Day 2 started very slow for me. My pro was fishing ledges in very strong current. I have very little experience fishing rivers/current so I thought it was going to be a very long day for me. I really felt that crank baits in less than 12 feet of water on points were the way to go but in the back of the boat you have no control. She finally went up in a cove type area and I made my first cast to a point. Bam! Probably a 3 lber in the boat. I was able to then share I caught my fish the first day on points with cranks. She then started including points as targets and my day got better.
I was stuck on 1 fish until about 1pm. I caught a small keeper back in an inlet that looked like it used to be an old marina. Old docks and lots of stick up poles. It looked like hog heaven. She boated her first and only keeper out of there. Upon exiting, I made my last cast to the point and bam! It was such a long cast that I knew it was going to be hard for me to boat it. Got it to the boat, the pro went to scoop it and then it tailed danced...see ya! I thought I was going to throw up. It was a good 3 lb fish at least. Now I know how those guys on TV feel when they lose one. I knew I needed at least one more good one to have a chance at top 20. We went around the bend and up to a power generator. Deep current water but I was casting up shallow to the bank and cranking. Bam, got another small keeper in the boat. Unfortunely, I got hung and lost the lure I was catching most of my fish on. I took out a very similar lure and had a talk with it about producing. Ha! I was a bit nervous because I never fished with it before. First cast, BAM! Netted another 3 to 4 lber and I knew at that point I was in the top 20 running. I was so excited when we got that in the boat and she was too. I grabbed my pros face and kissed her on the cheek. I finally realized what I did and I stopped and said, "I like you but please don't take that the wrong way." Ha! She started singing that song "I kissed a girl and I liked it." I told her she could go home and make her husband jealous. She was a really nice lady and I enjoyed her. It's really hard to be in the back of the boat catching fish and your pro isn't. She was a very good sport about it.
I was in 29th place after day 1 and my day 2 weight took me to 7th place. I was so thrilled to make the cut, I can't even explain it. And please let me clarify why I didn't have my Scales and Tales shirt on during the weigh in. I saved it for day 2 but I didn't know you were not allowed to separate from your pro until weigh in. My shirt was in my truck so I was not able to get it. I did wear it during weigh in on day 3 but I didn't have any big fish so no pictures. Sorry Mac! I know now to bring it with me in a bag or something and wear it for weigh in.
Day 3 was a disaster for me. My pro fished the same spot all 3 days and never moved. She had nice weights the first two days so I don't blame her for going back. We literally were in the same place all 8 hours. She was fishing shakey head on a football head jig
with a Zoom finesse worm. I'd never really done this technique so I really didn't know exactly what I was doing. She had her limit by 9am and I should have but I kept missing fish after fish. She finally watched me try to land one and corrected my hook set. I never missed after that but the bite got really slow. I ended up weighing 4 fish but they were all 12-13 inches. Hers were too but she weighed 5. I really think we should have moved and tried to upgrade her fish but the spot had worked for her so I guess I can't blame her. It's so hard not to be in control! I did learn to fish a shakey head well enough to used next time or any time so that's awesome. I was just really disappointed that I didn't have any opportunity to crank. The water level was back up on day 3 and most of the big fish were caught on cranks.
I am very proud of my 9th place finish. I fished with 3 wonderful ladies who were a joy to be with. I learned alot and they were very good to me. This experience was probably the best 3 days of fishing I've ever had and I can't wait until the next tournament.
The picture is my big fish from Day 1.
