KVD’s Comeback: In His Own Words

How Humminbird pro Kevin VanDam cracked Toledo Bend’s big bass code
from The Fishing Wire

Eufaula, AL – Bass fishing is a lot like any sport. Fall into a slump and critics crawl out of the woodwork. And with today’s multitude of media, there are way too many opinions flying around – most of all the realm of social media, where everyone’s an expert.

But the squawk boxes are it’s a little quieter this week for Kevin VanDam as bass fishing’s icon commanded a wire-to-wire win at the A.R.E. Truck Caps Bassmaster Elite on Louisiana’s Toledo Bend, ending a five-year drought between major wins.

With the world watching, the four-time Bassmaster Classic champion and seven-time AOY weighed a whopping 96-2 four-day total, eclipsing second place by nearly eight pounds. The $100,000 brings VanDam’s career winnings to just shy of $6 million.

For Kevin, this win was personal. It was a long and torturous road filled with late nights, early mornings, miles of travel, and weeks of being away from home. But there was one thing that didn’t change, his Iron-forged perseverance.

We sat down and talked with Kevin about how it all happened and how it feels to be back on top. Here’s a peek inside the boat and the mind of someone who could be angling’s greatest of all-time.

How did you feel going into the event?

KVD: I didn’t know what to expect going into the first day. Practice was really windy, which made it hard to fish offshore, but I got a few bites, so I knew I’d get to fish how I like. I spent a lot of time studying the new Toledo Bend LakeMaster map on my HELIX 10 and just graphing with Side Imaging, Down Imaging and 2D Sonar.

What kind of offshore structure was key?

KVD: Bass were in transition from post-spawn to summer structure, which on Toledo means deeper ledges, humps and spots close to creek channels or the main river channel itself. The water was also really high, so they were pulling some water and the current through the lake moved these bass to outside points. So I tried to find areas like these outside large spawning flats that would hold a large concentration of fish.

What role did mapping play?

KVD: It played a big role. I know the Humminbird LakeMaster guys surveyed Toledo Bend when the water was low and basically destroyed two boats and a bunch of props to get the very best detail possible. That says a lot. So I knew every Humminbird pro was going to have an advantage over the competition. The Toledo Bend map on the new LakeMaster Mid-South States card version 3 is almost overwhelming because there’s so much detail. I fished around Housen in Six Mile, two major creeks in the lower end of the lake, and it was stunning what that map revealed. But it’s the same thing with LakeMaster HD maps everywhere I go, from Kentucky Lake to Guntersville. Sam Rayburn, too. There are no more secrets. For me, it’s actually kind of bittersweet, because now everybody can see the same things that I used to have to work so hard to find. But it’s going to help a lot of anglers become better fishermen.

If you don’t have LakeMaster you’re at a huge disadvantage.

How deep were the bass?

KVD: I had some spots where fish were as shallow as 15′ or as deep as 30′. One of the biggest fish I caught was on a 28′ hump. So, the big thing for me was zooming in and out when I got to these areas. On a 500-foot scale mapping with LakeMaster, you get a great view of everything that’s in the region – how the spot you’re looking at lays out and what’s surrounding it and how fish might funnel to it. But it’s also critical to zoom into the 50-foot scale so you can get the precise line and cast off the ends of these points, especially after I graphed them. Once I had that plot trail I’d use it as a line to make my cast.

Besides mapping, what technologies helped you dial in fish?

KVD: Because there was so much timber and structure, I used a lot of 2D SONAR and Down Imaging in split-screen view. Being able to see both images side-by-side allowed me to discern the different types of fish, was the key. There are so many baitfish, white bass, and yellow bass in Toledo Bend that a critical part is being able to tell what’s what on your electronics.

When they weren’t pulling water, the bass were setting up on or just outside points and ledges and hanging close to the bottom. The white bass were a lot higher up and farther off the drops. The largemouths would be one or two feet off the bottom and I could actually see them on my Humminbird, turn around, make a cast and catch ’em. And that’s what I found in practice and was able to expand on during the tournament.

Tell us about your winning crankbait program.

KVD: I like to fish crankbaits during post-spawn because I can be very efficient—not only can I cover a lot of water, I can tell the difference between hard and soft bottom. If I’m in 15′ to 20′, I’m going to throw a Strike King 6XD; if I’m in that 19′ to 24′, I like the 8XD; if I’m anywhere from 20′ to 30′ zone, the 10XD is the way to go, especially if you’re trying to target big fish on Toledo. The whole family of baits allows me to cover the 15′ to 30′ zone really well.

I have a cranking system that I worked with Quantum to develop that includes 7′ 10″ or 7′ 11″ medium-heavy or heavy- action composite cranking rods and my signature 5.3:1 gear ratio reel for power. Depending on the crankbait, I use 12- to 17 lb. fluorocarbon.

Speaking of big fish, tell us about your 8-11 from Day 3.

KVD: I reeled my crankbait down over a hump that topped out at 28′, and I got hung up in brush. As soon as I popped it free that fish bit it. I set the hook, loaded up, and I knew it was a big one. It immediately swam into a tree top, so I just kept pressure on it, eventually getting it to swim out of the tree. Once the fish was inside the boat I was so excited that I jerked the hook out of the fish and into my hand! I had the fish in one hand and had to cull a little pound and half fish and put that big one in the live well with a Strike King 10XD 2/O Mustad treble stuck in my hand. Fortunately, I had a camera guy pretty close and walked him through the procedure for the painless hook removal and it worked like a charm.

Following your win, how do you feel about the rest of the season?

KVD: I’ve had an up and down season to this point. I had a couple good events to start off and was in good shape, but I’ve had a couple really bad days, too, the last at Wheeler. To have a great event here at Toledo Bend, unarguably the best bass lake in the country, really makes it special. I could not have done it without my Humminbird units and LakeMaster mapping. It’s a one-two punch with the Side Imaging, Down Imaging, and the LakeMaster map that is second to none. I’m proud to be with a company that understands the importance of investing in accurate mapping.

About Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics, Inc.
Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson Outdoors and consists of the Humminbird®, Minn Kota® and Cannon® brands. Humminbird® is a leading global innovator and manufacturer of marine electronics products including fishfinders, multifunction displays, autopilots, ice flashers, and premium cartography products. Minn Kota® is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as offers a complete line of shallow water anchors, battery chargers and marine accessories. Cannon® is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories.

Cabela’s Pro Clark Wendlandt Breaks Down Tournament Waters

By Cody Levy
from The Fishing Wire

Tournament angling at its core is all about finding the biggest fish throughout the tournament waters to bring into the scales. Whether the tournament winning fish are two miles from takeoff or 40 miles from takeoff, there will always be anglers tracking them down and making the run to try and fill their livewells, no matter the risk.

Anglers competing in the 2016 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Presented by Cabela’s now have the opportunity to compete on over 70 miles of fishable tournament waters, stretching between Wilson and Pickwick Lakes. Just recently, Cabela’s and Garmin Pro, Clark Wendlandt, competed on this exact stretch and has some words of wisdom to offer the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Presented by Cabela’s field of competitors.

During the FLW event, Wendlandt chose to lock up to Wilson Lake during the tournament, but was unable to make it back to weigh in along with many other competitors, due to a barge taking precedent in the lock schedule at that time. In Wendlandt’s 28 year professional fishing career, not once has the angler been late or missed a weigh in, but on the Tennessee River, barges are the main priority, making the decision to lock up to Wilson Lake a risk.

“Bass tournament fishing has always been such that you always have to get back to the takeoff at a certain time or else you will be counted late and that’s always been an inherent part of bass fishing,” said Wendlandt. “When you lock to Wilson, you are taking a risk with going through a mechanical structure. In the recent FLW event I fished on Pickwick, they did give us lock times, but a barge came through the lock which needed to be taken apart which caused the lock to basically be shut down to all anglers for about six hours, and there’s nothing you can do.”

Wendlandt added that “in my opinion, you can find the fish to actually win the tournament on in Wilson, but it is a risk and you may not get back. In 28 years of my competitive fishing career, I’ve never been late and I’ve been through many locks, but being late can happen and it happened to me just this past week.”

Choosing to lock to Wilson Lake is simply a risk versus reward scenario. Wendlandt was able to break down both lakes and explain the differences between the two to better provide anglers with information to make the decision to lock or not.

“I think there will be potential for quality shallow and deep fish. The past four years at this event has been dominated deep. This year, even though a deep pattern might dominate again, shallow will play a bigger role because there is a lot more hydrilla on Pickwick Lake this year,” said Wendlandt. “Grass is growing from four feet out to around eight or ten feet, which I still consider shallow on this lake. I think it will be a lot easier for guys to come in and find a good pattern with that grass.”

Known for its miles of ledges, many anglers have found that summertime on Pickwick Lake can be an absolute slugfest. This summer, anglers might come back to an even more versatile Pickwick Lake due to the increase in vegetation.

“Pickwick is considerably different because of that factor right there,” said Wendlandt. “Basically the upper half of that lake has hydrilla flats all over it and it has potential to play into the tournament. To me, it makes the lake a whole lot more dynamic and now there are a lot more ways to catch fish rather than just the few popular ways people have caught them in the past.”

With the addition of Wilson Lake to the tournament waters, anglers will have the opportunity to experience ever more versatility.

“Pickwick Lake has many, many flats and flat areas which constitute the ledges, but Wilson Lake on the other hand, even though it does have some flats, most of that lake comes off a lot deeper and is just more of an impoundment,” said Wendlandt. “Wilson has a lot more potential to have fish closer or more associated with the bank, such as docks or water willow, whereas on Pickwick, fish will be more associated with ledges or rock piles offshore.”

Though Wendlandt only spent one of his tournament days on Wilson Lake and the other on Pickwick, he believes that anglers should fish to what they are confident in, whether that is on Pickwick or Wilson Lake.

“I believe you should spend a day on Wilson during your practice if that is a lake you might like, but know going into the event that there is a possibility that you might not get back,” said Wendlandt. “Sometimes to win a big tournament, you have to have some risk, and if you find the winning fish on Wilson, I don’t see a reason not to fish there.”

Wendlandt’s top three baits for this event are listed as follows:

1. Big Spinnerbait
2. Deep Diving Crankbait
3. Carolina Rig with a Creature Bait

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to compete in the longest running collegiate fishing tournament series championship ever! Sign up today and we’ll see you at the 2016 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Presented by Cabela’s in Florence, Alabama.

To see additional coverage on our Facebook, click here: https://www.facebook.com/CollegiateBassChampionship

Also, follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @CollegiateBass

About the ACA
The Association of Collegiate Anglers, a division of Careco TV, is a sanctioning body developed to facilitate growth, development, and structure within competitive collegiate bass fishing. The ACA provides support to dozens of school operated regional events nationwide and owns the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, the largest participatory collegiate tournament circuit in the country. With dedicated collegiate fishing programming on several television networks, three nationally televised collegiate bass fishing events, and thousands of members, the ACA is the leader in competitive collegiate bass fishing. For more information on the ACA, or the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, visit www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com. For more information on Cabela’s visit www.Cabelas.com, for more information on CarecoTV, visit www.carecotv.com.

Day Off With A Bass Pro
from The Fishing Wire

Top gun Scott Martin divulges post-tournament therapy

“My fingernails are chewed off, my eyes are about to fall out my head, my back hurts … I feel like I’ve been fighting Mike Tyson all week.” – Scott Martin

Bass pro Scott Martin makes it all look easy.

15 FLW Cup qualifications, six FLW tour wins, 34 Top 10 finishes and 2.3 million in winnings. Statistically speaking, Martin ranks second for all-time winnings and tour wins—and he’s only 40 years old.

And then there’s TV. Since 2005, Scott has hosted the “Scott Martin Challenge,” a fast-paced TV show that pits Scott against some of the world’s best anglers. As far as fishing shows go, it’s one of the very best in terms of entertainment and production value.

But catch Scott in a rare off-stage moment, and he’ll admit that competing on the FLW Tour and hosting a TV show is like having two full-time jobs. And that doesn’t include guiding, promo work, and duties as a husband and father of four.

“I spend more time on water than I do on land,” says Martin. “And the majority of that is spent competing in bass tournaments with high risk, high reward, extreme conditions and stressful moments. It’s pretty hardcore fishing. So, when I’m not competing, I try to relax on the water.”

At the time of this interview, Martin was driving home from a tournament.

“My fingernails are chewed off, my eyes are about to fall out of my head, my back hurts … I feel like I’ve been fighting Mike Tyson all week. I can’t wait to get out in my Old Town and do some fun fishing,” says Martin.

To be specific, he’s referring to the Old Town Predator XL Minn Kota, a fishing machine that bridges the gap between kayak, shallow-water skiff and bass boat, and is powered by 45 pounds of Minn Kota saltwater-grade thrust.

“You can’t get that kind of quiet intimacy on the water in a big bass boat. There’s just something about being in the Predator that allows you to relax on a different level. It’s super comfortable and the fishability is impressive. Obviously, you can fish places where you can’t even get a big boat. But the tranquility of it, the peacefulness of it, that’s what I love. It’s like therapy for me.”

He continues: “You can throw the Predator in the back of the truck, drive down the road, and be on the water in no time. Where I live in Florida there are canals, retention ponds, and other waters that don’t have a boat ramp of any sort. Now, it’s as easy as pull the kayak out of the truck and start fishing.”

A ‘Game-Changer’

Although an experienced paddler, Martin calls the Minn Kota motor in the Old Town Predator XL Minn Kota “a game-changer,” which puts anglers where the action is faster than ever before.

“It’s a great combination. Both Old Town and Minn Kota stand for quality. The Minn Kota trolling motor has always been the most dependable brand out there, bar none. The efficiency of their motors is huge. I was able to drive the motor in the Predator XL Minn Kota through Okeechobee’s grass with ease, and it’s some of the thickest vegetation on the planet. I didn’t get stuck; I didn’t have any problems. The boat performed beautifully in forward and reverse in all situations in the most extreme situations you could imagine. And the motor’s simple to operate. Great design.”

Endless Rig-ability

Another thing that struck Martin’s fancy was the Predator XL Minn Kota’s endless rigging potential.

“Because my boat is my office, it is pretty accessorized with everything I need in my line of work: depth finders, places to put pliers, cup holders, places to secure cameras, etc. That’s what’s cool about the Old Town Predator XL Minn Kota. You can accessorize the boat with all types of products from electronics, to cameras, rod holders, and more. There are endless ways to customize the boat. That’s neat. You can really ‘trick out’ your Predator to exactly the way that suits how and where you fish.”

A ‘Go Anywhere’ Boat

Living in Florida, Martin has opportunities to fish everything from large lakes, farm ponds, canals, marshes, inland waterways, as well inshore and offshore waters. Especially for his locale, he calls the Predator XL Minn Kota a “go-anywhere boat.”

“I wouldn’t be uncomfortable in any way using the Predator in the saltwater environment. It performed well and is very stable. I even stood up in it and fished. Versatile for bass fishing, panfish, inshore, bluewater, you-name-it.”

Family Flotilla

While Martin enjoys fishing solo, using the Predator XL Minn Kota as a vehicle to decompress from hardcore tournament fishing, he also sees real potential in its family-friendly potential.

“What would be neat would be to have four, five or six Predator XL Minn Kota boats so the entire family can go out and attack a lake. I see that all the time now: four or five kayak anglers fishing together at a time … and way up lakes and places where it’s tough to get to.”

He cites a recent experience on Beaver Lake during an FLW tournament.

“I was way up river where there aren’t any boat ramps for miles, and I come around the corner at 7:30 a.m., and there’s a half-dozen kayak anglers out there fishing down the shoreline. Obviously, these folks drove their trucks down the dirt road and loaded them off the shore. How cool is that? You can drive to where you want to fish, boat ramp or not, and launch your Predator from the shore for quick work right to the best fishing!”

Martin pauses. “You know what that means, don’t you? With the Predator XL Minn Kota you end up with a whole lot of secret fishing holes.”

Last weekend 15 members and guests of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our April tournament at Clarks Hill. In two days we landed 95 keeper bass weighing about 168 pounds. There were 13 five-bass limits in the two days and no one zeroed both days.

I won with ten weighing 23.37 pounds, Sam Smith was second with nine at 18.68 pounds, Billy Roberts placed third with ten weighing 17.91 pounds and Niles Murray placed fourth with ten at 14.34 pounds. Guest Randall Sharpton had big fish with a 4.81 pound largemouth.

I went over early and looked for bedding bass Wednesday afternoon up around Raysville but there was nothing I could see. Thursday morning I hit a couple of blowthroughs with no luck. Then while idling up to a rocky point I saw a wad of fish under bait in ten to 12 feet of water.

I stopped the boat and threw everything I had tied on at them – not a hit. So I tied on a bait I had never caught a bass on before, a Fishhead Spin, but it seemed right, and it was. First cast crawling it along bottom I got a three pounder. After that I sat there and tried to learn how to fish it and hook the fish. In an hour I caught seven or eight between 2.5 and 4.5 pounds and lost three that size. Usually I would not try to catch that many before a tournament but I wanted to try to figure out how to use that bait.

The rest of that day I landed exactly two more keepers in six hours. Both hit a Carolina rig. The fishing was very tough.

Friday morning my partner Kwong Yu met me before daylight and we checked out some more rocky points. We found fish and bait on one and I got a channel cat and two hybrids, nothing else. After that we started hitting points and he got a 4.5 to 5 pounder on a Topwater Spook but we caught just four keepers that whole day.

Sat morning we ran to the point I found on Thursday and I got 11 keepers in less than 90 minutes there. The rest of the day I landed one more! I did have a 4.5 pounder jump and throw a Gunfish topwater plug right at the boat after fighting it on a long cast at 1:00. My best five weighed 15.62 and put me in first place. One of the five weighed about 2.5 pounds, the rest were identical quadruplicates.

Sunday was not as good. We started at the good point and I caught four small keepers and broke one off that got me against the rocks in first two hours. Then we started running points. Kwong got two on Spooks to go with his two the day before on top, he never caught one on a Fishhead Spin, he had no confidence in it even though I was catching them.

I landed my fifth keeper on a Carolina rig at 11:00. It was the only fish we caught back in a pocket all weekend. I got two more that culled two of the first ones I caught, both hit jig head worms on a rocky point. My best five that day was only 7.75 but enough to hold on to first place.

That was a relief. Several times over the past five or six years, including last year, I would be in first in this tournament after the first day but drop because of a poor catch the second day.

Last Sunday 14 members and guest fished the Flint River Bass Club May tournament at Sinclair. After 8.5 hours of casting we weighed in 53 12-inch keeper largemouth weighing about 73 pounds. There were five five-bass limits and one person didn’t have a keeper.

Niles Murray won it all with five weighing 9.11 and his 3.28 pound largemouth was big fish. Chuck Croft was second with five weighing 8.39 pounds, John Smith had five at 7.48 for third and Sam Smith came in fourth with five weighing 6.76 pounds.

I had an extremely frustrating day. I was really looking forward to it, thinking I could catch some good bass around grass beds on spinnerbaits and top water. And I did catch a keeper within five minutes of starting, on a spinnerbait in grass, then caught a hybrid a few casts later. But that was it for spinnerbaits and grass.

My second keeper came on a jig head worm in front of a grass bed. We fished lot of docks, usually a good way to catch fish on Sinclair any time of the year, but we had just two bites all day on docks. The first hit a jig and pig on a dock ladder but jumped and threw my bait. The second, my third and biggest keeper, hit my jig head worm when I dropped it straight down beside another dock ladder when the wind blew the boat against the dock. I never turned the reel handle, just set the hook and lifted it over the side of the boat.

A little later I got a bite on a seawall on the jig head worm, set the hook and my line broke half way between the rod tip and fish. That is not supposed to happen! Usually it means you have an overhand knot in the line or it has gotten frayed somehow.

One of the most common way for that to happen is to have a small loop in your line when you cast. As the spool revolves the top of the loop hits the line guard and that “burns” or frays it. That is probably what happened to mine.

To add to the insult, a good keeper bass jumped twice trying to throw my bait. I even tried to catch the line in the water with a crankbait but didn’t have any luck.

My last keeper hit a Carolina rigged lizard around some brush in five feet of water. So I lost my fifth keeper two times, but those don’t count. My four weighed 5.62 pounds. Some days are just like that, not much goes right.

Hot days will be here again by this week as Blackberry Winter ends, so get out and catch some bass before it gets too hot to enjoy it.

Last Sunday 15 members and guests of the Flint River Bass Club fished our April tournament at Lake Oconee. We choose Lake Oconee April Tournament because fishing is usually good there. In 8.5 hours of casting we brought in 38 bass over the 14 inch size limit. There were five five-bass limits and two people didn’t bring in a keeper.

Travis Weatherly won it all with five weighing 13.01 pounds and his 3.44 pound largemouth was big bass. Chuck Croft was second with five at 10.12 pounds, I came in third with five weighing 9.32 pounds and Niles Murray placed fourth with five at 8.88 pounds.

When we took off I noticed everyone but me went up the Oconee River from Long Shoals ramp. The water was more stained that way than it was in Double Branches where I headed. And it seems the bite was different. I tried spinnerbaits and crankbaits but never got a bite on them. But at weigh-in the other three finishing in the top four all said they caught their fish on spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

After about 30 minutes I stopped fishing those faster moving baits and switched to a Texas rigged lizard, and almost immediately caught a good keeper. So I kept fishing it and had three at 9:00 in the first cove we fished.

The next cove we went to I quickly filled my limit by 10:00 on the lizard but then it got tough. I fished hard but at 2:30 had not caught another keeper. My partner Wesley DeLay and I both caught a lot of 13 inch bass, too short to weigh in.

Finally at 2:30 I landed a bass big enough to cull my smallest fish. But that was it, I landed six keepers all day.

Most tournament fishermen want to be in control of the boat and fish from the front. At times it makes big difference, and it seemed to Sunday. Travis fished by himself so it did not make a difference, but JJ Polak fished from the back of Chuck’s boat. Chuck had five, JJ had one keeper. I had five and Wesley, fishing behind me, had one. And Niles had five while Jack Ridgeway, fishing from the back of his boat, had one.

I’m not sure why it made a difference. Wesley and I both were fishing the same bait. I steadily moved down the bank and the fish I caught were not on any kind of visible cover. So each of us were blind casting to the same water. I probably made a cast every 20 feet or so, leaving lots of un-fished water between casts.

A bass will move a couple of feet to hit a bait like a lizard but I don’t think they will move ten feet one way or the other to hit one. Bass are ambush fish, relying on a short burst of speed to catch and eat their quarry. For them to move ten feet to hit something moving along the bottom would be unusual, I think.

But who knows why bass act like they do. I have certainly had plenty of days when my partner beat me from the back of the boat and I’m sure it will happen a lot more times.

Sometimes sticking with a plan works in the long run, even when its a fishing plan. While getting tackle ready for the Spalding County Sportsman Club tournament last Sunday I had a feeling that if I fished some specific places in specific ways I would catch fish.

Pro fishermen sometimes tell me that they often get this feeling. Peter Thliverlos, a pro fisherman usually called Peter T, is known for his saying “if you think it, do it.” I usually get it a couple of times a year. I think that “sixth sense” is what separates the weekend warriors like me and the upper levels of fishermen.

Some of that “sixth sense” comes from spending a lot of time on the water. The more experience you have in anything the better you will do. I compare it to playing baseball or the piano. Anybody can learn to play baseball but no matter how much you practice and play very few will ever make it to the major leagues. Anybody can learn to play the piano, but no matter how much most folks practice only a tiny percentage will ever play at Carnegie Hall. They need that sixth sense.

I fish a lot, to the extent of fishing 443 days in a row a few years ago. I am in a bass boat at least five days a month, usually much more, fishing for bass. And I have been fishing for bass for over 55 years and competing in club tournaments for 42 years next month. But I will never be able to compete consistently in bigger tournament trails.

I love it when I get that feeling, it gives me confidence. But last Sunday I almost gave up on my plan after almost two hours without catching a keeper bass.

In the Sportsman Club tournament 16 members and guests fished for 8.5 hours at Bartletts Ferry. The windy, cool day made it tough to fish some places but 10 of the fishermen had limits. Only one fisherman didn’t catch a keeper.

I won with five weighing 13.04 pounds and Russell Prevatt placed second with five at 12.87. His 5.11 pound largemouth beat my 5.05 pounder for big fish. Larry Cook was third with 10.58 pounds and Jay Gerson had five at 9.05 for fourth.

There is a place near the ramp at Bartletts Ferry where I like to start first thing in the morning, especially if we start when it is fairly dark. At 7:30 it was pretty dark Sunday so I stopped there. I have often caught a keeper in the first few minutes of a tournament to start my day.

Plus, I wanted to go to the other side of the river. There is a mud ridge running right down the middle of the river so it is safer to go around it when it is good light. Logs often float down the river and stick on the edge of it, making it dangerous to run until you can see them.

On one of my first few casts with a spinnerbait I felt a thump but did not hook anything. I figured it was a bream or a small spotted bass so it didn’t worry me too much. But then I felt a hit and when I set the hook a two pound bass came to the surface and came off, not the way I wanted to start.

By now it was light enough to see so I ran to a small creek on the other side of the river. I just knew I could catch something there but after fishing it for thirty minutes I had not had a bite. Then a fish made a fool of me while I was fishing a jig and pig.

I felt a light tap and tried to get my line tight to set the hook. When I thought it was tight I reared back and my line zinged under the boat, the fish had come off the bank and run under the boat 25 feet away in the couple of seconds while it tried to tighten up my line. It came off.

A few minutes later I came to a small brush top at the mouth a little ditch in that creek. I cast my spinnerbait to both sides of it but no bite. I felt like there was a fish there, it was the perfect set-up, and I remembered a trip with pro fisherman Boyd Duckett. The first place we stopped that morning was a ditch with a small brush top in it and he cast to it repeatedly, saying he just knew a bass was there. After about a dozen casts to the same place he caught one.

I kept casting to the little brush top and on about my seventh cast, when I stopped the spinnerbait and let it fall, I saw my second biggest bass of the day come up and hit it. I managed to land it and felt a little better.

About an hour later I was in another small creek and cast a Carolina rigged lizard near a boat dock walkway. When I started to move it, it felt mushy. I thought I had picked up a leaf on my lead but then I realized my line had move out under the dock and something started pulling. I didn’t have time to set the hook, I just started reeling.

I managed to net the 5.05 pound largemouth as the hook fell out of its mouth. That was a fish that was just meant to get caught, one I should have lost. That made me feel much better about missing the earlier fish.

The rest of the day I fished a jig and pig and caught four more keepers and culled a small spot. Then with less than 30 minutes to fish I did something dumb and lost a three pounder. The wind was blowing me down the bank and I felt a thump on the jig. My line started moving out toward the back of the boat and, rather than turn and get good hook set I tried to set it over my left shoulder kinda backwards. The three pounder came to the top and came off.

I hated losing that fish but all in all following my plan worked pretty well!

Every year I look forward to the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation Top Six tournament. I have missed only one of these tournaments since 1979 and have done well in some and not caught a fish others but I usually can’t wait to go.

In this tournament each affiliated club in Georgia sends a six man team to compete against other teams. The team members also compete individually. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s we always had between 90 and 100 teams competing. Recently the numbers have dropped to only 42 teams at West Point last year and 30 at Lake Eufaula this year.

I went to Lake Point state park a week ago last Tuesday to practice for two Lake Eufaula tournaments, the Top Six and for the Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament on the Saturday and Sunday on Eufaula before the Top Six on Monday and Tuesday. The folks at Lake Point were excellent and treated all the fishermen great. They seemed to want tournaments there, unlike Wind Creek State Park on Lake Martin where they seem like they would rather we not be there. And I had a good campsite at the park.

My trip started off as a disaster. The first place I stopped Wednesday morning I idled in water too shallow and sucked muck into my motor. I could run about a half mile before the heat warning on my motor went off.

Luckily I had called Russell Prevatt about a place I was fishing and when he called me back I told him about my problem. He gave me Mike Bice’s phone number. Mike had come to Lake Point and put a new lower unit on his boat last year.

Mike lives in Dothan and will come to lakes like Eufaula and Seminole and can do most repairs in the parking lot. I spent most of the morning getting back to the ramp and met Mike. He took my engine apart enough to get the mud and grass out of it. If you need work on your motor on the lakes in south Alabama and Georgia call Mike at 334-491-7546. He charged me $150 after driving three hours round trip and working on my boat for over an hours.

Thursday and Friday I fought the wind but the wind won on the lower lake. I never caught a keeper either day. But in one small creek a guy from Alabama was fishing across from me late Friday afternoon and we started talking. Suddenly he said “There’s a good one.” I looked over in time to see a nice bass jump. When he landed it he asked if I had a scale and we met in the middle of the creek where he weighted it. It was just over five pounds.

Saturday morning I went back to that creek and caught three keepers, two on a spinnerbait and another on a jig head worm, before lunch. Then about lunch time I landed two more, these on a Carolina Rig, to fill my limit that weighed 9.6 pounds. I never left that creek.

Sunday morning I went back to that creek. On my second cast, with a spinnerbait by a clump of grass about 20 yards from where I saw the five pounder caught Friday, I hooked and landed a five pound bass. I’m almost sure it was the same fish.

After catching another one on a spinnerbait and one on a Carolina rig things got real slow. Kwong Yu was fishing with me and suggested we go to the next cove at about 11:00 AM. I landed two more to fill out my limit before we had to quit, both on a Carolina Rigged lizard.

In the tournament I had 22 pounds for first and big fish was the five pounder. Lee Handcock was second with 22 pounds, Niles Murray was third with 18 pounds and Raymond English was fourth with 17 pounds.

I decided it was not worth running the 25 miles from Lake Point where the Top Six started to the creek where I caught them because of the wind. So the next morning I ran into a small creek near the park and on my tenth cast landed a 5.72 pound bass on a spinnerbait, a great start. My partner also caught a nice keeper.

But at 10:30 we had not caught another fish so we went to a small creek my partner wanted to fish. I caught a nice keeper on a jig and pig off some grass then, in the last hour we had to fish, I landed three more to fill my limit.

Since I was the eighth boat out that morning we had to go in first, and I was the seventh person to weigh-in. My 13.07 pounds for the day and my five pounder actually lead the tournament and I had big fish – for a few minutes.

Tuesday morning I was the eighth from last boat to take off so I did not even try to go back where I got the big one Monday. Instead, I ran to a creek a few miles away and quickly caught a keeper on a spinnerbait, then added two more. In another small creek around noon I caught a keeper out of a tree top on a spinnerbait then another on a jig and pig to get my limit.

The rest of the day I fished a jig and pig and caught two more keepers, one that culled an earlier catch. I ended up with five weighing over ten pounds.

I came in 15th out of 180 fishermen in that tournament with 25.63 pounds. Niles Murray came in 16th with ten weighing 25.05 pounds. The Sportsman Club finished 14th out of 30 teams. Both Niles and I qualified to go to the next level, the federation regional, by finishing in the top ten percent.

I am pleased at the outcome and am already looking forward to the Top Six at Hartwell next spring!

To mangle an old saying “Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the basses is.” My trip to West Point last week with Mike Morris helped me answer that question in the Flint River Bass Club tournament last Sunday.

In that tournament fishing West Point Lake 11 members and guests brought 22 keepers to the scales that weighed about 51 pounds. There were four five-fish limits and three fishermen didn’t have a keeper. We had 11 largemouth over 14 inches long and 11 spots longer than 12 inches.

I got real lucky and landed five bass weighing 16.53 pounds and my 6.69 pound largemouth was big fish. Travis Weatherly was second with five at 9.63 pounds, Niles Murray placed third with five at 9.23 pounds and chuck Croft rounded out the top four with five weighing 6.70 pounds.

Tyler Gruber fished with me in the youth tournament and got first place and big fish in that tournament. All our club tournaments are also youth tournaments and they compete against each other, not the adult club members. There is no entry fee for them.

We didn’t know that the West Georgia Bass Club, a team tournament trail, had a tournament that day with 149 boats in it. We started at 7:00 and they started at what the tournament director thought was safe light, about 6:45. While we were waiting to take off we heard boats start running down the lake and they continued to come by until about 7:15.

I got real disappointed when a boat in that tournament pulled up on the point I had planned on starting on a few minutes before 7:00. I got even more frustrated when I saw them catch two keepers before we even started! But I went to Plan B and it worked out.

I started on a danger marker near where we launched and landed five keepers by 8:00, including a spot weighing almost three pounds and a five pound largemouth. That made me feel pretty good but I kept fishing hard. But by 1:30 I had caught only three small spotted bass, not big enough to cull anything I had.

At 1:30 I pitched a jig to a log in about three feet of water, felt a thump and fought the big one to the boat. Tyler did a good job netting it and I really felt good. They I lost a three pounder a few minutes later to bring me back down a little.

In the past month I have fished three tournaments at West Point. In the first I didn’t catch a keeper, in the second I landed three for eighth place then had the good day Sunday. I will never figure out why I can’t be more consistent. But I would rather have highs and lows rather than be consistent with all lows!

The bass were on the same pattern that Mike Morris showed me, the same one I have been fishing for a month. I did not catch any keepers on the places he showed me for the article but I went to similar places where I have caught bass in past years, and it worked.

A lot of folks were fishing for crappie and they should continue to bite good for the next month or so. And bass will bite better and better as the water warms. It is a great time to go fishing.