On a fun note, I finally joined the Potato Creek Bassmasters. I had been thinking about it for years but fishing three tournaments a month seemed to be too much. But now I seem to only get the energy to go fishing when I have a tournament or an article to do, so I joined to make myself go more.

There is an old saying “even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.” I got real lucky in my first tournament with the club at Sinclair last Saturday and felt more like a pro than a Joe. Days like that make me wonder why I can’t do it more often.

In the Potato Creek Bassmasters January tournament at Lake Sinclair, 16 fishermen brought in 25 bass weighing 58.59 pounds. There were two five-fish limits and four people didn’t land a 12 inch bass in the seven hours we fished.

I won with five weighing 17.98 pounds and had a 5.59 pound largemouth for big fish. Niles Murray came in second with a limit weighing 11.39 pounds, Raymond English had three at 7.24 for third and Buddy Laster was fourth with2 at 5.76 pounds.

I had the kind of day I usually only dream of having. We started at 9:00 and at 9:15 I landed a four pound bass on a DT 6 crankbait off a dock post. Then at 10:15 I caught the five pounder on the same crankbait off a boat ramp.

For the next four hours I fished docks and rocks and landed two more keepers off dock post and lost two.

Then at 3:30 I caught another four pound bass on a clay point, again on the same crawfish colored crankbait.

The Sportsman Club is at Sinclair today for our February tournament. I probably used up all my luck last week and won’t catch a keeper today!

After an unusually warm, wet December the weather turned normal just in time for the Flint River January tournament, making for a slow January tournament on Lake Sinclair. It was very cold and windy all day last Sunday. But the lake water was still unusually warm. And it was as muddy as I have ever seen it from the December rains. You could almost track a deer across the coves.

Back in the 1970s and 80s Sinclair got muddy every winter. But even when the lake was muddy some of the lower lake creeks like Island and Rocky stayed relatively clear. Not this year. On most of the lake a chartreuse crankbait disappeared when it was about two inches deep. It was not much better anywhere I checked.

The water temperature was in the mid 50s, almost ten degrees warmer than most years. It was 55 at Dennis Station where we launched and I saw water as warm as 58 degrees in a creek near the dam. When I saw the temperature I was just sure I could catch lot of bass, especially after hearing about the Berry’s Tournament on Saturday.

In that tournament about 140 teams competed. It took five bass weighing 24 pounds to win! That is a lot but sometimes a team just gets lucky. But this time the top four teams all had five bass weighing more than 20 pounds, and it took five at almost 14 pounds to finish in 21th place and get a check!

As I talked about last week, our club fishermen are the “Joes” when it comes to fishing and some of the teams in the Berry’s tournaments are the “Pros.” The conditions didn’t change much from Saturday to Sunday so we can’t blame that. And the fish did bite for some on Sunday.

I was meeting Grant Kelly after our weigh-in to get information for my February Georgia Outdoor News Map of the Month article. He lives on the lake and is good friends with guide Matt Henry. Grant had called Matt and asked him to try to catch a big bass for us to use for pictures. Matt showed up at 3:30 with four bass, a five pounder, a three pounder and two more about two pounds each. And he said he had just lost another five pounder that jumped and threw his bait. So bigger fish did bite for some on Sunday.

In the Flint River Tournament eight members and one youth fished for eight hours to land 14 bass weighing about 29 pounds. There was one limit and four people didn’t have a keeper.

Don Gober had the five fish limit and it weighed 9.59 pounds for first. My three at 7.87 pounds was second and I had a 4.43 pound largemouth for big fish. John Smith had three weighing 5.98 for third, Niles Murray’s two at 3.22 pounds was fourth and Jack Ridgeway had one weighing 2.40 pounds for fifth. That was it!

Tyler Gruber fished with me as a youth. All our tournaments are adult and youth tournaments. I was worried since I knew fishing would be tough and I was afraid Tyler would get discouraged, but he fished hard the whole eight hours.

We started on a steep bank with rocks, fishing crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jigs. The wind was already bad, making it cold and hard to control the boat. For over an hour we did not get a bite, then something thumped my crankbait between two docks. I never hooked it and suspect it was a small white bass or hybrid.

After working into a creek we came to some brush off a seawall. I pitched my jig right to the seawall and moved it a foot or so and hit the brush, then a fish grabbed it. When I set the hook I yelled for the net since I could see it was a good fish but it was so close to the boat there was no time for Tyler to get it.

I lifted the four pounder out of the water, it hit the side of the boat, balanced there for a second and then came into the boat – and the hook fell out of its mouth! I came that close to losing it. That is why I hate lifting one over the side.

After spending another half hour fishing up the river we ran down to the dam. One of my favorite banks had wind blowing down it so it was hard to control the boat and cast, but on one of my cast with a crankbait right beside a seawall a keeper bass grabbed it before I could even turn the reel handle. I fought it to the boat and Tyler did a good job netting it. It was barely hooked on one of the back hooks.

An hour later, just after noon, I realized my trolling motor batteries were almost dead from fighting the wind. They are supposed to hold up better than that, they are only 14 months old. So I went to a protected area on a different sea wall to fish.

Some brush just off the seawall caught my eye and a pitch to it with jig and pig brought a thump. When I set the hook a two bass flew out of the water over my head into the water on the other side of the boat. When I got it back over the boat it fell off the hook. That made two of my three I really should have lost!

Not long before we had to head in I felt a thump on my jig and pig in front of a dock and landed a two pound catfish! That was the only other bite we got.

When fishing is tough like it was Sunday all you can do is make a lot of casts and hope.

Had a very good day for me at Sinclair today – my first tournament with Potato Creek Bassmasters. Had five weighing 17.98 pounds – my best five fish limit ever, I think, and definitely my best ever at Sinclair. All hit a dark brown crayfish DT 6 – three around docks, one on a boat ramp and one on a clay point. Biggest was 5.5 pounds, other two in pictures were around 4 each. One four pounder was first fish at 9:15 this morning, other four pounder was last fish at 3:30 this afternoon

The last tournament of the year didn’t go exactly as planned for me. I fished hard for eight hours and got exactly one bite. A fish hit my crankbait and jumped and threw it. It looked like a throwback but that was the way my day went. Congratulations to the folks that did catch fish.

At Jackson last Sunday 23 members of the Flint River Bass Club and the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our December tournament together. There were 37 keeper bass weighing about 54 pounds brought to the scales and all but 13 of them were spotted bass. There was one limit of five fish and 8 of us didn’t catch a keeper.

Chuck Croft won it all with a good catch of five fish weighing 12.34 pounds and his 4.85 pound largemouth was big fish. Brandon Stooksbury had three keepers weighing 5.12 pounds for second, third was Niles Murray with four at 4.98 pounds and Brian

Bennett had four weighing 4.40 pounds for fourth.

The water was in the upper 50s, three or four degrees colder than when I had fished with Jordan McDonald there on Tuesday. And it was much more stained. On Tuesday I could see a crankbait down about a foot, by Sunday I could see it down about four or five inches.

Now that the tournaments are over the clubs have their top six set. Those top six fishermen are the tournament committee in each club and the top fisherman is the tournament chairman for the coming year.

In the Spalding County Sportsman Club Raymond English won the point standings and had big fish for the year with a 6.61 pound largemouth caught at Clarks Hill last April. Zane Fleck was second, I came in third, Chris Davies placed fourth, Sam Smith was fifth and Billy Roberts rounded out the top six.

In the Flint River Bass Club I won the point standings, Chuck Croft came in second and had big fish for the year with a 6.02 pounder caught at Clarks Hill in August, Niles Murray placed third, Jordan McDonald was fourth, Jack Ridgeway came in fifth and Don Gober was sixth for the year.

At each tournament during the year the members catching fish earn points. In the Sportsman Club 1st place gets 25 points, 2nd 24 on down to 1 for 25th place. In the Flint River club 1st gets 100 points, 2nd 90 down to 10 for tenth place.

Some clubs use total pounds and ounces for their standings each year. The point system seems fairer to me. With points each tournament is worth the same. With weight the tournaments in the spring and fall are worth a lot more than the winter and summer tournaments when fishing is tough.

A January tournament is usually won with less than ten pounds, but in April a two day tournament may be won with 25 or more pounds. That makes one tournament worth a lot more based on pounds and ounces.

I keep a spread sheet for both clubs showing total fish caught each year as well at total weight. It is amazing how close the weights follow the points. For example, in Flint River I had 47 keepers weighing 85.23 pounds, Chuck Croft had 27 bass weighing 63.93 pounds and Niles Murray had 45 fish weighing 82.5 pounds. So Niles and Chuck would have changed places based on weigh.

In the Sportsman Club Raymond English had 52 bass weighing 88.68 pounds, Zane Fleck had 46 weighing 71.97 pounds and I had 51 weighing 94.46 pounds. The top three would have stayed the same with a pounds system but we would have changed order.

What really hurts is to zero a tournament. When that happens you get no points and no weight! It is very hard to win the points standings for the year if you have even one zero in the 12 tournaments.

All three Griffin clubs start new years in January. The Flint River Club meets the first Tuesday each month and fishes the weekend after the meeting, with tournaments on Sunday. The Potato Creek Bassmasters meets the Monday after the first Tuesday and fish their tournaments on the Saturday following the meeting. The Spalding County Sportsman Club meets on the third Tuesday each month and fish the following Sunday.

This is a good time to get in on the fun and join a bass club, or two or three of them! I fish with two clubs but some of the members fish with all three. We have a lot of fun, learn about bass fishing from each other and each tournament, and enjoy a little competition.

You don’t have to have a boat to join a club. Dues are about $75 per year and each tournament entry fee is about $30. There are also a variety of side pots in each club. There is not much money involved and you can’t really win enough to even pay for gas for your two vehicle and boat in a tournament, but it is not about the money. For those wanting to win money there are all kinds of pot, buddy and individual trails for that.

I joined the Sportsman Club in 1974 and the Flint River club in 1978 and have not missed many tournaments in either club in all those years. I do enjoy the meetings and the tournaments and plan on fishing club tournaments as long as my health will allow.

Last Sunday at Lanier 12 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our November tournament. In 8.5 hours we landed 14 keeper bass weighing about 34 pounds. All were spots, not a single largemouth was weighed in. There were no limits and four people didn’t have a keeper.

I managed to win with four weighing 11.84 pounds and my 4.30 pound spot was big fish. Niles Murray came in second with three weighing 6.49 pounds, Raymond English placed third with two at 4.71 pounds and Billy Roberts was fourth with one at 3.26 pounds.

I was looking forward to this tournament since I had won the Flint River tournament at Lanier two weeks earlier. In that tournament I landed three keepers the first two hours on three points not far from where we launched. So in this tournament I headed to those points as soon as we blasted off.

After three hours of casting with nothing to show for it I was real frustrated. In the Flint River tournament wind was blowing in on the three points where I caught fish but in the Sportsman Club tournament the wind was not hitting them.

A little after ten I ran to Mud Creek and stopped on a rocky point where I had caught my biggest spot ever, a 4.27 pounder, in a club tournament about ten years ago. The wind was blowing in on this point, so hard I had trouble fishing it, even with a spinnerbait.

As I rounded the point I saw some brush on my depthfinder but the wind was too strong to stop on it. After I got around to the lee side of the point I put down my spinnerbait and picked up a rod with a four inch soft swim bait on a quarter ounce jig head tied on it. I had never caught a bass on a swim bait but I knew it should be good.

After a few casts on the point I felt my line tick as the bait sank in about 15 feet of water. I managed to set the hook and finally land a spot that weighed 4.03 pounds. That really cheered me up!

I made a few more casts with the swim bait then picked up a jig and pig since I was in a good position to fish the brush I had seen. As the jig came through the brush a fish hit it and I landed the 4.30 pound spot, my biggest ever! That gave me two four pound spotted bass at Lanier in one day! Enough to win the tournament, but at the time I didn’t know that.

I got those fish recorded on my GoPro camera and it is a real comedy watching me try to get the fish to the boat, pick up the net and get them in the boat since I was by myself. What you can’t see is the fact I could see the fish in the clear water the whole time I was fighting them and was scared I would lose them.

I fished that point another hour without a bite then tried a couple more similar rocky points with wind blowing in on them but didn’t catch anything. At about 1:00 I went to a point back in Mud Creek and found a brush pile on it. After throwing out my marker I cast a jig head worm to it and landed a spot that was just barely 14 inches long.

When I got on top of the brush I used a drop shot and immediately got a bite. After a long fight on the light rod and eight pound test line I landed the two pound spot. That was it for the day although I fished hard until the end at 3:30. It was weird, I caught two fish two times within ten minutes of each other but nothing else in the 8.5 hours! That’s tournament fishing.

What Young Fishermen Should Do To Become A Pro
Professional Bass Fishermen Give Advice To Young Fishermen

Almost all young bass fishermen dream of becoming a professional bass fisherman in the future. A very few will. The idea of fishing every day, winning tournaments and being admired by other fishermen is enticing. But it is a hard life, and you must work, even in high school and college, to make your dream come true.

Fishing almost every day in tournaments and practicing for them sounds great. But it means long, hard days on the water no matter what the weather. And most don’t think about the travel to lakes all over the US with long drives, little sleep and being away from family and friends all during the tournament season.

Even in the off season a successful pro will spend many hours away from home while working shows. Presenting your sponsor’s products at boat shows, fishing shows and other events is critical for success, but it means even more travel.

You can be good at catching bass but there is a lot more that goes into a pro career. If you can’t get and keep sponsors you can not stay on the tournament trail. And those sponsors need people that can represent them well to the public, not someone that can just catch fish.

So how should a high school or college fisherman prepare for a professional fishing career? Some things may seem simple and straight forward. But others may not be so apparent. Who better to know and explain the things that you need to do than the guys fishing the Bass Masters Classic? As the BASS motto goes, they are living the dream.

At the 2014 Classic at Lake Guntersville and Birmingham I got to interview some of the pros fishing it. These pros ranged from first timers fishing the Classic to some who had fished more than a dozen Classics.

I asked them what a young fisherman needed to do to plan for a professional career. Their answers will give you good guidance in your planning to make your dreams come true.

Greg Vinson

Greg Vinson was fishing his third Classic at Guntersville after placing second in the 2012 Classic. I spent the practice day in the boat with Greg and he gave me detailed answers to my questions.

“Stay in school,” Greg said. “No matter what happens in your fishing career, a good education is important for the rest of your life,” he added. If your fishing career works out your education will help you. But if it something keeps you from being a professional bass fisherman, a college degree is very important.

Greg also said a young fisherman should fish every chance he or she gets. Join a youth club and fish those tournaments. Join a regular club as soon as allowed and fish them with more experienced fishermen and learn from them.

“Many young fishermen get too excited and don’t pay attention to detail,” Greg said. Learn to pay attention to detail. Make sure all your hooks are sharp and your reels are in good shape.

Also learn to pay attention to detail when on the water. Greg is good at this. He notices every bird diving, every circle of feeding fish and every change in wind direction.

All those are obvious but he also looks for little details like the size of the baitfish the bass are eating. One shad floating in the water can tell you what size bait to use. If a fish you catch spits up a crawfish, use baits that imitate them.

“Get the basics down,” Greg said. Learn to fish patterns, not places, and apply them to every lake you fish. Work on baits you don’t have confidence in until you do. Remember where you get bites, and learn from every one.

“Electronics are critical in fishing now,” Greg said. Learn to use them and what they mean. Work on all your techniques and get the mechanics of pitching, flipping and casting down so well you don’t even have to think about them, even if you are practicing in your back yard.

Patrick Bone

Patrick Bone was the only Georgia fisherman at the 2014 Classic. He qualified by winning a Southern Open but has done well on both the FLW tournament trail as well as BASS trail tournaments.

“Decide where you want to go,” Patrick said. Do you want to fish the top trails and travel all the time, or would you rather learn you home lake in detail and concentrate on tournaments on it. It is much easier to learn one lake and stay near home that to constantly travel all over the US fishing tournaments on new lakes.

“Remember you are starting at the bottom,” Patrick added. Don’t expect to hit the pro trail and instantly win, or to do well in every tournament. Don’t let bad tournaments hurt your confidence.

“Support at home is critical,” Patrick said. For a high school or college fisherman, support from parents and mentors can make all the difference. If married, lack of support from your wife will mean either the end of your career or the end of your marriage.

“Fish with clubs, youth teams and enter draw tournaments as a co-angler,” Patrick said. Learn from every day on the water. Try to find a mentor, an experienced fisherman to teach you as you fish. There are a lot of good people out there that can make your learning curve much steeper.

David Kilgore

David Kilgore lives in Jasper, Alabama and was one of nine contenders from Alabama, the most of any one state. He was fishing his first Classic at Guntersville but had won over $200,000 in 50 BASS tournaments in his career. He has qualified to fish the Elite Series three times but has turned each opportunity down. He cites the expenses of fishing the trail and time away from his family and business as reasons to not fish it.

“Join a high school team or youth team in your area and try to fish every tournament,” David said. “Pick a college with a fishing team and fish all those tournaments, too,” he added. There is no substitute for time on the water to learn the habits of bass.

Fishing high school and youth tournaments are likely to put you on lakes close to home, and you can learn from them. But college teams travel well away from their local area and that will teach you to find bass on unfamiliar lakes. You have to learn bass patterns that hold up no matter where you fish.

Fish other tournaments as a co-angler, and learn from every trip. Pay attention to everything you see and every fish you catch. David says you should keep a detailed fishing log of every bass you catch to help you learn how a bass’s brain works under different conditions. Keeping a good log you can review will help you learn.

Randall Tharp

Randall Tharp was fishing his first Classic at Guntersville after winning the FLW Championship that year. He had concentrated on the FLW tournaments but decided to fish the BASS Opens to qualify for the Elite trail, and won an Open so he qualified.

“Don’t get in a hurry to fish the pro trails, get an education first,” Randall said. Randall didn’t get his first bass boat until he was 30 years old so he got a late start, concentrating on education and business first, and now he is one of the top pros on both trails.

“Be true to yourself first,” Randall added. Don’t let your fishing take over your life. But fish every day you can within reason. Enter as many tournaments as possible as a co-angler, but don’t ever get into debt from your fishing.

Learn from others you fish with, but also figure out your own way of doing things. Every lake and every day is different. If you figure out your own way of fishing after learning from others, you can go to your strength in all tournaments.

“If you have a God given ability to catch bass, that special quality that sets you apart from weekend anglers, use it in the way that suits you. Develop your own style of fishing and don’t let dock talk make you change from your strengths.

To develop this skill, learn from others by being a Marshall in tournaments, fishing as a co-angler put time in on the water. Develop your confidence, probably the most important quality of a successful pro. But don’t let your fishing interfere with your home life.

Clifford Pirch

Clifford Pirch was fishing his first Classic in 2014 after winning over $213,000 in 32 BASS trail tournaments. He is a hunting and fishing guide from Arizona and has been successful on the FLW trail, too, winning over $740,000 there.

Clifford agreed staying in school, getting a degree in public relations or marketing, and spending time on the water is the way to go. But he also said there is a tremendous amount of information out there on learning to catch bass.

“Study magazine articles, information on the net and even newspaper reports,” he said. You can learn a lot and get some good ideas from them. Then put it with your information from time on the water and put all this together for your use.

“Make a pre-tournament plan and stick with it,” he said. Too many young fishermen try to fish every thing they can and miss a good pattern by not sticking with their plan. If you have put in the time studying for a tournament don’t waste it by not following your plan.

Kevin VanDam

Arguably the top bass fisherman of this century, Kevin VanDam has fished 24 Classics and won four. He is well known to most fishermen and a great role model for young fishermen.

“Stay in school and get a marketing degree,” Kevin said. If you can’t market yourself and your sponsors you will not be able to have a pro career. Kevin is a master at both, and his advice is critical for your success.

“Fish high school, youth, club and college tournaments,” Kevin said. Learn from experienced fishermen and get the basics down. But you also must learn to budget your time and energy in a tournament, and fishing them is the only way to do that.

Skeet Reese

I got to eat lunch with Skeet Reese at the media day and he spent time talking with me even though several of his sponsors were at the table. Many of the top pros were overwhelmed with media and sponsors demanding their time, but they all had a good attitude and were willing to answer questions. That willingness is critical to a pro’s success.

“Start out with high school and college teams as well as one day tournaments,” Skeet said. Don’t try to go too fast. Work your way up through Opens with the goal of qualifying for the Elite trail. Learn in every tournament as you go.

“Find a good partner to marry,” Skeet said. Support at home is critical for you to be successful. A good marriage will help you on the tournament trail. If you have problems at home, you will have problems in tournaments.

Aaron Martens

Aaron Martens lives in Leeds Alabama and was fishing his 15th Classic. He moved to Alabama to be closer to the bigger tournament trails and for the variety and quality of waters to fish in Alabama.

“Fish, fish, fish,” said Aaron. Fish a lot to get productive at it. But he warns if you don’t love to fish and fish competitively, you won’t do well. If it is a job rather than a pleasure you will have a tough time. It has to be in your blood.

Hank Cherry

Hank Cherry was fishing his second Classic at Guntersville and has won over $275,000 in 30 BASS tournaments. He placed third in his first Classic on Grand Lake in 2013 and has done well in FLW tournaments, too.

“Put fishing the pro trails out of your mind until you get a college degree,” Hank said. Your degree in marketing or PR should be your priority. Fish youth clubs, high school teams and college teams, but get your education then concentrate on your pro fishing career.

Edwin Evers

Edwin Evers has won over 2.2 million dollars in his career and is one of the most popular fisherman on the trails. He placed third at Guntersville in the 2014 Classic, his 13 trip to them.

“Stay in school, get a degree in marketing and fish a lot,” Edwin said. Fishing high school, youth and college teams is a great help, but don’t overlook other possibilities. You can learn a lot by being a marshal at tournaments, too.

“Learn from everyone and everything, but develop your own style,” Edwin said. Don’t try to get information about a lake that can mislead you. Consider anything you hear, but get on the water and confirm it but don’t get locked into something others have told you. Time on the water is the only way to learn this.

Jordan Lee

What better fisherman at the Classic for advice for young fishermen than Jordan Lee. He fished at Guntersvile as the college trail representative and placed sixth in his first Classic. Just 23 years old, he is the youngest Elite Series fisherman this year.

Jordan got hooked on bass fishing when he was ten and knew, after catching his first bass in his grandfather’s pond, that he wanted to be a pro fisherman. He went to Auburn University and fished the college team there and has done well in other tournaments, too.

“Fish a lot as a co-angler, make friends with the pro fisherman and learn from them,” Jordan said. That is the way to learn patterns and techniques to catch bass. Fish a variety of lakes so you can be adaptable.

“Learn to use electronics,” Jordan said. They are critical for catching fish in tournaments now. You have to get all the basics down, but electronics will show you the structure and cover to fish, and even the fish in it.

The obvious things a young fisherman should do, according to these pros, is to fish a lot, learn the basics and get a degree.

Less obvious is the consistent recommendation to get a degree in marketing or PR so you can market yourself and represent your sponsors. It might seem a degree in fisheries biology would help more, but you can learn the basics of catching bass on the water while getting and keeping sponsors so you can keep fishing.

Make your plans and start working toward the dream of being a pro fisherman now.

Last Sunday nine members of the Flint River Bass Club fished our November tournament at Lake Lanier. I think the rain scared off many of the members but it was weird. It was raining hard at my house at 3:30 AM when I was hooking up the boat and I had my windshield wipers on high all the way to I-85. Then it quit raining.

Everything was wet and misty, but during the tournament I never put my hood up on my rainsuit. Then on the way home I had to turn on my windshield wipers on high about the time I got off I-285 and on I-675 headed back. I am glad it held off while we fished.

In the tournament the nine of us cast for eight hours to land 12 keeper 14-inch bass weighing about 28 pounds. There was one five-fish limit and three fishermen didn’t have a keeper. There was only one largemouth – the other 11 were spots.

We did catch some good spots. Five of them weighed over three pounds each, and the biggest one weighed 4.79 pounds. That is a big spot. Spots fight harder than largemouth and are fun to catch.

I managed to land a limit and won with 8.87 pounds, Sam Smith had three weighing 5.56 pounds for second, Chuck Croft had big fish and third place with his 4.79 pounder and Don Gober was fourth with one at 3.77 pounds.

I started fishing a spinnerbait on a rocky point at 6:30 and landed my biggest keeper, a spot just over three pounds, on my second cast. At 8:00 I landed my second biggest fish on a jig head worm on another rocky point, then got my third keeper on the next rocky point I fished with the jig head worm at 8:30.

Catching three keepers in the first two hours made me feel pretty good, but I did not hook another fish until 2:00 when a keeper largemouth hit my jig head worm back in a pocket around some brush. With 15 minutes left to fish I ran to a rocky point near the ramp and, when I looked at my watch and saw it was 2:25 and I had to be at the ramp before 2:30, said to the fish and myself, ‘Ok, this is my last cast.”

As the jig head worm sank I saw my line jump and set the hook on a 14 inch spot, filling my limit. That is why I never give up and never go in early. You just don’t know which cast will result in a fish.

Fishing was tough for us at Lanier but folks that fish it a lot and know it are doing well. On Saturday it took five spots weighing over 17 pounds to win a tournament there and many teams in that tournament had five fish weighing over 12 pounds. And fishing there and on other area lakes will get better and better until Christmas if the weather this year is like it usually is here.

I look forward to the three club tournament at Lake Martin in October all year long. The weather is usually beautiful, the lake very pretty and the fish bite. For the past 12 months I have been anticipating the trip this year. But this year I had bad luck fishing Lake Martin.

I went over on Wednesday and got a campsite at Wind Creek State Park. A

Several were and I caught a couple of fish on a drop shot worm. Everything was great, it was warm but not too hot and, as usual, the clear lake surrounded by trees just starting to get a little color were set off by the white sandy and rocky shoreline.

Thursday morning I got up before daylight and headed out to check some more places. I was disappointed when I went to a bank where I had caught 17 bass on topwater last year on Thursday and got only one bite. During the day I caught a few fish but nothing to get excited about.

Friday morning I started with topwater in a place I fished a lot years ago but did not plan on fishing in the tournament, and caught two nice spots on topwater. Then I decided to make a long run to the other end of the lake to check some places a guide showed me. I landed a 2.5 pound spot and a three pound largemouth on two of them on topwater so was pretty excited.

Jordan McDonald joined me Friday night and Saturday morning we took off with great hopes. The first place we stopped was a deep bank where I had lost count after landing 20 bass the first hour of the tournament last year, but I caught only two fish. One was a two pound largemouth that turned out to be my biggest fish of the day.

We started fishing “memories,” places I had caught fish in the past, and by noon we both had limits of small fish. In the past I have been able to catch a kicker fish, a bigger fish to help my weight, up the river so we decided to make the ten mile run just after noon.

We were running at about 55 mph and within a mile of where I wanted to start fishing when my motor made an odd sound and lost power. After we settled in the water I cranked the motor again and it cranked, but rattled. Something was broke.

Jordan called Russell Prevatt since we knew he was fishing fairly close to us and he said he would either tow us in or get Jordan and our fish and take them to the weigh-in. We started fishing back down the river with the trolling motor, knowing our day was ruined.

I decided to call BoatsUs, an organization I have been a member of for about 20 years. They offer free on-the-road towing, the reason I was a member since they will get someone to you that can tow your vehicle and boat if you break down on the road. Most tow services won’t tow a boat so you have to leave it by the road, not a good thing.

They also offer on-the-water towing on most lakes. I didn’t pay the additional $48 a year to have it covered but with basic membership they cover $50 of it. I called the 800 number on my card and the woman I talked with was great, getting my location and connecting me with their tow service on Martin.

The two boat driver told me it would take him about 30 minutes to get to me, he was located at a marina way down the lake. Sure enough, he got to us right at 30 minutes later, tied us to his boat and towed us in at 25 mph on plane!

They charge $160 an hour and my bill was $240 total. I had to pay all but $50 of it but it was well worth it to get in that fast and not inconvenience anyone else in the tournament. Jordan and I fished around the marina the last two hours of the tournament and I did catch my second biggest fish of the day, a spot weighing almost two pounds.

The next day Jordan fished with Russell and I, being hardheaded, turned down Javin English’s invitation to fish with him. I thought I could catch some fish around the marina but I landed only two small keepers all day, fishing very slowly since all I had was my trolling motor.

In the tournament 30 fishermen landed 209 bass weighing about 223 pounds in the 17 hours we fished. There were 37 five-fish limits weighed in and two people didn’t catch a keeper either day.

The first day Russell Prevatt won with five weighing 8.29 pounds, Kwong Yu was second with five at 7.89 pounds, Donnie Willis placed third with five weighing 7.82 pounds and William Scott had five for 7.81 pounds for fourth and big fish at 3.68.

On Sunday Javin English won with five at 9.50 pounds, Billy Roberts placed second with five at 7.31 pounds and big fish at 3.0 pounds, third was Wesley Gunnels with five at 7.59 and fourth was Bobby Ferris with five weighing 7.14 pounds.

I thought I had broken rings or melted bearings in my motor but B and B Marine in Jackson said it was my lower unit. That was good news, a rebuild on a power head is about $6000 and a new lower unit is only $3000. I did price a completely new motor but at $20,000 I think I will have this one repaired!

I’m already looking forward to going to Martin next year, I just hope my luck is better.

There are a lot of very good young bass tournament fishermen in the Griffin area. For some reason Georgia has not produced many top level tournament pros but maybe these young fishermen will start a trend and make it to the top. A couple already are there.

I have enjoyed doing articles with several of them, and one fishes with me in club tournaments. Jordan McDonald from Jackson made the regional tournaments on two trails, the Bulldog BFL and the Weekend Series, in the past couple of weeks. He qualified to go to the next level through fishing state tournaments. And he won the point standings for no boaters in the Weekend Series.

At the two regionals he will be fishing he has a chance to win a boat and also to move on to the next level. And there are cash prizes in them, too.

Cody Stahl is in high school here and he and his partner on the state high school tournament last year then placed tenth in the national high school tournament. I did an article that is in the current October Georgia Outdoor News magazine on Lake Oconee and he showed me how good he is. His knowledge of bass fishing and his techniques are excellent for someone his age.

Byron Kenney is from Griffin, fished with the University of Georgia college team, and is doing great in the qualifying tournament for the bigger trails. Last weekend he won the two day BFL tournament at Oconee as a boater, the same one Jordan placed 9th as a no boater.

A couple of years ago I did an article with Dawson Lentz. Dawson is from Peachtree City, went to North Alabama College where he was on the fishing team and they won several big college trail tournaments. Dawson was a very good youth angler while growing up and will try some of the big trails next year.

Micah Frazier is from Newnan and he was the youngest angler to ever do so when he won a BFL when he was only 16, beating all the adult fishermen in that tournament. He is now fishing the BASS Elite Trail. As its name implies, it is the very top trail in BASS, and he had to do well in a lot of the lower trails to qualify for the Elite Trail. And he is doing pretty well on it.

Last Monday I went to Lake Sinclair to fish with Clayton Batts for a November Georgia Outdoor News article. Clayton is from Lizella near Macon and is now fishing the FLW Tour trail, the top trail for that organization. He worked his way up through the BFLs and FLW Rayovac trail to qualify for it and has been successful on the top trail.

We started fishing at 7; 30 and stayed until 5:30, and the whole time Clayton threw a top water plug. He landed a 5.6 pound largemouth and lost two more almost as big when they just pulled off the hook. He also caught five or six bass in the two pound range. His best five landed weighed over 13 pounds.

In my club tournaments it usually takes less than ten pounds to win, often a lot less. And the last time I fished a tournament at Sinclair I didn’t catch a keeper in eight hours. Not only does Clayton know the lake very well, he lived in a cabin on it while in college, he knows how to catch fish.

It is hard for me to fish with just one thing all day like he did. I keep thinking I need to try different things to find out what the bass want. But Clayton, and other pros, have so much confidence they will stick with just one bait, knowing it will work.

Clayton told me he wanted only five bites in a tournament, if they were the right ones. Pros like him concentrate on big fish. They know catching keepers won’t win their tournaments so they hope to land a five fish limit with each weighing at least three pounds, rather than dozens of one pound fish.

Tournament fishing is very competitive and youth and stamina help a lot! Clayton didn’t even have a front seat on his boat, he stood up casting all day. But he is half my age. I cannot stand up for long before my back hurts too much. And Clayton was able to twitch his rod all day to make the topwater bait work right.

If I try to fish a bait like that, one that requires a lot of hand and arm work, I give out after an hour or so. But I can always make excuses for not catching fish, from my age to the weather to the time of day. But even when I think the bass are not biting, somebody will catch them, even in our club tournaments,

Fishing the big trails is hard work. Clayton left Tuesday to drive to Arkansas to fish a Central Open, hoping to get enough points to qualify for the BASS Elite series. He says he will fish both trails as much as possible.

To fish even one trail you may have to fish a tournament in Florida then take off to California for one a week later, then come back to Kentucky for one a week after that. All that travel makes it very hard to have a family, or much of a life beyond fishing. But for the top pros, bass fishing is all that matter.

Forty years ago I had the dream of being a pro fisherman. I am way too old for that dream now, but it is nice to know some local youth are living that dream or working up to it.