Central Pro-Am
December 6-7, 2003
Bull Shoals Lake, AR
30th
$0.00
This tournament was filled with frustration, because I lost three fish, which would have given me a top 12 finish. Isn’t that always the story!! All of my fish came cranking a phantom green Wiggle ‘O’ along small channel swings and points in major creeks. I mainly fished the mid-section of the river trying to follow the wind, fishing banks with rocks changing from small to large. The first day started out great! I had a limit by 10 o’clock, but of course, at about 11 o’clock, the wind stopped and it got sunny. We spent the rest of the day deep fishing with only a few small fish. The next day was sunny with wind, but from a totally different direction. This basically meant I had to look for new areas. The Wiggle ‘O’ produced one nice, three pound smallmouth and two other Kentucky bass. I finished with under 16 pounds for the two day event.
Central Pro-Am
November 8-9, 2003
Table Rock Lake
115th Place
$0.00
This tournament was very trying on my patience! I was unable to find very many deep fish biting during practice. I was able to manage a few fish a day slow-rolling a 134 or 1/2 oz., white and chartreuse spinnerbait in the upper area of the James. The fish were relating to isolated, standing timber or feeding underneath schools of shad. During the first day of the tournament I was unable to catch any keepers. I did manage to catch six short fish on a spinnerbait. The second day I decided to try some new areas, but I decided to stick with the spinnerbait. I managed to catch a keeper. Several of the anglers that did well in this event used a 5/16 oz. jig around boat docks from the Highway 13 Bridge to the dam. This was one thing I didn’t try. It just goes to show you that you never know what the pattern may be!
Heartland Pro-Am
November 2, 2003
Table Rock Lake
11th Place
$400.00
After the team event I decided to spend my day fishing deep. I started working long, tapering points and humps in 30-45 feet of water. I lost a nice keeper fish off of my first spot on a drop shot rig. I then tried several other long points without much success. I decided to move up the James River to fish some deep, isolated trees on the channel swing. This move produced four nice keepers for myself and one for my amateur. I was working a drop shot rig on 8 lb. test, SilverThread, green line using a 7 foot, medium action, St. Croix Spinning Rod. I was using a 5 inch, YUM Shakin’ Worm in cotton candy. It was unfortunate, because I had the opportunity to place in the top five, but I lost three nice keepers.
Heartland Team Tournament
November 1, 2003
Table Rock Lake
13th Place
$320.00
During this event we stayed close to Highway 13 and concentrated on fishing deep. In the morning we used 3/4 oz. football jigs working them slowly along gravel points in 15-30 feet of water. After doing this for several hours, with only a few small fish, we switched to drop shotting. We moved out deeper and fished brushpiles and isolated trees in 40-60 feet of water. We caught three nice keepers on a 5 inch, YUM Shakin’ Worm in watermelon. We were fortunate that one of the fish was almost a five pound Kentucky, which gave us third big bass for the event.
Fin and Feather Team Tournament
October 26, 2003
Table Rock Lake
?
$0.00
During this event we decided to fish way up the White River. A small cold front had just passed through with some light rain the day before. The morning was cold, with not much wind. We concentrated on the back half of creeks using a Bomber Square A and a spinnerbait. We only managed to catch three fish, two on the Bomber Square A around laydown logs, the other came on a Texas rigged worm from a boat dock.
MO-ARK Team Tournament
October 19, 2003
Table Rock Lake
2nd Place
$1,000.00
This was a fun tournament! We caught all of our fish on 1/2 oz. and 3/4 oz. spinnerbaits. We started in the mid-section of the James River working the spinnerbait slowly around cedar trees. This produced a couple of fish over three pounds. We then moved further up the James River catching fish on isolated laydowns next to the channels. We worked the bait slowly along the bottom, in 5-12 feet of water next to the main river channel drop. Most of the fish we caught were relating to standing timber. We finished out the day with nine keepers, and our six best weighed over 17 pounds.
Central Pro-Am Championship
October 4-5, 2003
Lake Hamilton, Hot Springs, AR
First
$52,350.00
The first day of practice started off very well for me, with cloudy and windy conditions. I caught several keepers on a 4 in. YUM Mega Tube in green pumpkin with red and green flake. I was working the bait slowly along the bottom around boat docks, in 2-10 feet of water. I rigged the bait on a 7 ft., medium heavy, St. Croix Legend Elite Casting Rod with 14 lb. SilverThread, Fluorocarbon Line. The tube was rigged Texas style on a 3/16 Excalibur TG Weight and an Excalibur 3X Point 4/0 Hook. I caught four 14-15 1/2 inch fish. Then I starting throwing a Bomber Square A in Tennessee shad and a spinnerbait around isolated wood cover in the backs of creeks, hoping to produce a larger fish. After a day of this I was still only able to catch small keepers.
The next two days of practice I spent more time concentrating on grass flats from Bull Bayou to Kelly Creek. I tried a variety of baits, including a 1/4 oz., white, Booyah buzzbait and spinnerbait. I worked the bait quickly along the isolated grass clumps. This produced several keepers, with a couple of nice, two pound fish. I also managed to catch a few nice keepers on a 7.5 inch, June bug, YUM Ribbon Tail Worm rigged Texas style with a 1/4 oz., Excalibur TG Weight and an Excalibur 3X Point 2/0 Hook.
For the first day of the tournament I decided to start out fishing the shallow grass with the buzzbait. The buzzbait produced two nice keepers before the sun came up. I then added one more keeper on a modified Boy Howdy. This was a clear bait, in which I had removed the front and rear props and added a 16 oz. bullet weight to the rear. This allowed me to work the bait fast with an erratic action. This action and the slender profile of the Boy Howdy seemed to trigger strikes when my partners topwater baits wouldn’t. I finished my limit out with two nice keepers off of a shallow boat dock on a YUM, 4 inch, Mega Tube.
The second day the conditions were much different, with rain in the morning and clouds most of the day. The morning started off slow, but as soon as the rain stopped my buzzbait produced two nice fish, including a 3 1/2 lb. kicker fish! I continued to throw the buzzbait for several hours and lost another 2 1/2 to 3 lb. fish. As the sun began to break out I switched to the Boy Howdy, which produced another nice keeper. I was able to finish out my limit burning a spinnerbait along isolated grass clumps. It was a tough event, with a winning weight of 14.50 lbs.
Central Pro-Am Titlist
September 20-21, 2003
Table Rock Lake, MO
Fourth
$2,500.00
The first morning started out calm and foggy, as temperatures fell into the high forties. With the lack of wind and high skies I decided my best opportunity to do well would be drop shotting in the White River. I started on a timbered point working my 3/8 oz. drop shot rig slowly through the tops of submerged trees in 30-45 feet of water. This area produced several small fish on a YUM, 5 inch, Shakin’ Worm, in cotton candy. I then proceeded to move around to several other areas throughout the day, which produced four keeper bass for myself and three for my amateur partner. My four fish weighed 8.15 lbs. and put me in the middle of the pack.
The second day I made a long run up the James River to try and improve by catching some bigger largemouth bass. As I moved my boat along the flat I noticed several balls of shad and watched a few bass feed on the surface. I proceeded to work a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait through the balls of shad. This produced three quality keepers, with one over 4.60 lbs. I then tried to finish my limit by flipping some isolated cover and boat docks. I caught several short fish on a 10 inch, YUM, Ribbon Tail Worm, in plum. After not catching a keeper I decided to move back up the river and continued the day by catching three more nice keepers, on a Bomber Square A, along the river channel edge. I finished the day with the largest five fish limit of the event, which weighed just under fifteen pounds. This moved me into fourth place for the event.
Central Pro-Am Tournament
August 9-10, 2003
Grand Lake, OK
40th
$0.00
Grand was very tough for me. The weekend prior to the event I was catching several nice, quality fish on a Texas rigged YUM, 10 inch, Ribbontail Worm. The best colors seemed to be red shad with green flake or plum. Most of the fish were relating to boat docks and the scattered brush around the boat docks. The fish seemed to be concentrated in 4-8 feet of water around the boat docks. I even caught several nice keepers on main lake points and drops in 8-12 feet of water. These fish were taken on a Carolina rig using a green pumpkin, YUM, Wooly Hawgtail creature bait.
I arrived back for the tournament a week later to see that the lake had fallen over 2 1/2 feet. It was by far the lowest I had ever fished Grand. I tried several new areas and some similar spots, but the pattern had seemed to vanish. I only caught a few keepers and short fish during practice. I decided to move up the lake and fish the big worm around boat docks and brushpiles.
The first day was very slow, and I had only three keeper bites and landed two of the three. Both of these fish were taken on a Texas rigged, 10 inch, YUM, Ribbontail Worm with a 1/4 oz. Excalibur, TG Weight using 20 lb. SilverThread Fluorocarbon Line. . The second day I tried to make some adjustments and started out with a Carolina rig. I was only able to catch short fish, so at 10 o’clock I decided to go back to fishing the big worm around boat docks and brushpiles. I managed to catch three keepers, which put me in 40th place for the event. Overall I finished in 6th place for my ninth straight Championship appearance.
Central Pro-Am Tournament
June 21-22, 2003
Dardanelle, Arkansas
42nd
$0.00
This tournament did not turn out the way that I had expected. The fish were in a transition period with some of the fish up shallow. The better quality fish seemed to be moving to man-made brushpiles and ledges in the bays. I had one very good day of practice fishing shallow river grass in 1-3 feet of water. I caught one keeper on a buzzbait in the morning, but the rest of my keepers came flipping a YUM, 4 inch, Black Neon Tube with a 3/16 oz. Excalibur TG Weight. Most of the fish came out of heavy clumps of river grass, so I was using a 7 Foot, Medium Heavy, St. Croix Rod spooled with 17 lb. SilverThread Fluorocarbon Line.
The next day in practice I decided to spend more time off-shore trying to find bigger fish. I caught three fish in the 4-5 pound range cranking brushpiles with a Fat Free Shad. I was using the citrus shad color on a 7 Foot, Pro Glass, St. Croix Cranking Rod with 12 lb., green, SilverThread Line. I also managed to catch one keeper and several short fish on a Carolina rig with a YUM, 6 inch, Green Pumpkin Lizard. I felt that I had a good chance to do well in this event by fishing shallow grass in the morning and then moving later in the day to the deep brushpiles.
On the start of the tournament the river had dropped two feet, causing me some concern about the shallow grass. I was only able to catch two keepers the first day. One keeper came while flipping a tube to shallow grass. The other was taken on a Carolina rig in the afternoon. The second day of the tournament the water had come up a foot and a half, so I thought the grass would be the area to try. I stayed with it the entire day but was only able to catch one keeper. My partner and I caught fifteen fish, but they were all under the fifteen inch size limit.
BASS Tour
April 7-11, 2003
Clear Lake, California
38th
$2,900.00
With cool weather over the past week the fishing had slowed, and many of the bass had been pushed off the beds. The water temperature in the morning was about 52 degrees, but it warmed to 55-57 degrees as the day went on. I started working steeper rock banks with a split-shot rig and a drop-shot rig. I also tried working a Smithwick Rogue. The day started off with one 7 lb. fish on the split-shot rig and several short fish on the drop-shot. The rogue produced one 5 lb. fish by noon. I then spent the rest of the day in the northern end pitching YUM 6 inch lizards and crawbugs to boat docks and tules. This tactic produced three more keepers.
The second day I went looking for larger fish by using an 8 inch swimbait. I threw this bait for several hours without a bite. I then proceeded to catch two keepers on the rogue. I spent the rest of the day in the northern end looking for bedding bass. I found several, good quality fish on the beds. The third day I spent the entire day looking for more bedding bass.
On the first day of the tournament I had a late draw, so when I arrived to my first area of sight fish there were four boats already there catching fish. I proceeded to my second area and was able to catch three nice fish and lost one over 8 lbs. Then the rain started with the winds picking up, so I decided to move out and throw the Smithwick Rogue around boat docks. This produced my largest fish weighing in at 6 lbs. I finished the day with four fish weighing 16.4 lbs, and this put me in eighteenth place. The second day also brought nasty weather, which limited the sight fishing. I ended up catching a limit of small fish on a drop-shot rig around boat docks. I lost one off of the beds weighing 5-6 lbs. This drop me to 38th place with 22.2 lbs.
BASS Tour
March 31-April 4, 2003
California Delta
63rd
$0.00
The water temperature was 58 degrees and holding steady. The week had been warm and sunny, but the conditions were beginning to change with an approaching cold front and several days of rain. The first day of practice I spent most of my time flipping and pitching to tule islands and throwing a 3/8 ounce spinnerbait. I caught a few fish on the spinnerbait but had most of my success on a YUM black neon tube and a green pumpkin crawbug. The fish were positioned around the points of the tule islands.
The second day was cloudy with light rain in the morning. I caught several fish on a black 1/2 ounce buzzbait and a white and chartreuse spinnerbait. I then moved to a well known area for spawning fish. This area produced a solid limit of fish, with one fish weighing in at 9 lbs. and another 11 lb. giant! These fish all came on isolated tules in 3-5 feet of water using a YUM green pumpkin crawbug. The final day of practice I stayed in the same area trying to fine-tune this area and pattern and to learn the area better.
The first day of the tournament was calm and sunny. The first hour of fishing was very slow, but as the tide began to fall the fish started to bite. In a few hours I had caught six keepers weighing in at 19 lbs., all on the Texas rigged green pumpkin crawbug. This put me in 18th place for the first day of the tournament. The second day was windier, and the fish didn’t seem to want to bite. I missed several bites and was unable to adjust to the changing tide. I managed to only catch two keepers all fell to 63rd place.
BASS Tour
March 17-21, 2003
Santee Cooper Lake, SC
136th place
$0.00
This event also had weeks of heavy rain prior to the tournament and during. This caused many of the main lake areas to be muddy. Most of the fish were caught in back water areas that were clearer. During practice I found most of the fish to be relating to shallow grass or large stumps in 1-2 feet of water. I also caught a few fish working a YUM Jitter Worm through the shallow laydowns.
The first day of the tournament started out wonderfully, or so it seemed!! I caught two keepers, including a six pounder, on a YUM Jitter Worm working it across the lily pads. I then switched to pitching a Texas rigged worm and lizard to the edges of the lily pads and grass. This produced three more keepers for me. I finished the day with 14.6 lbs. and was in 68th place.
The second day was more difficult. I caught one keeper bass working the lily pads with the jitter worm. I then switched to flipping a YUM, six inch, green pumpkin lizard to the edge of the grass. I only had one other bite, but I missed the fish. I finished with only one keeper for the day, and this dropped me out of the money for the event.
BASS Tour
March 3-7, 2003
Eufaula, AL
38th place
$2,850.00
With heavy rains in the area, and rising and falling water, the lake was very muddy. Water temperatures were in the mid 50's. I started my practice in the mouth of a major creek using spinnerbaits, jigs, and a Texas rigged tube. I had no bites until I reached the upper end of the river. I then had four bites on a Texas rigged YUM, four inch, black neon tube. The next day of practice I proceeded to try many main lake structures working deep ledges with a crankbait and spinnerbait and bridge rip-rap with a Bomber Model 6A. I had no bites until I went back into a major creek and started flipping a YUM tube to laydowns. After getting several bites doing this I decided I would concentrate on this pattern for the tournament.
The first day of the event I caught five fish flipping to shallow laydowns and cover with a YUM, four inch, black neon tube. My limit weighed 12.2 lbs. for the first day. The next day I went back to the same area and caught five keepers weighing 14.3 lbs. This allowed me to move up several places to finish in 38th.
Central Pro-Am
February 27- March 2, 2003
Beaver Lake, AR
5th place
$3,000.00
With cold weather and snow on the ground I managed to make it down to the lake to pre-fish on Friday. I fished in the Van Hollow area trying to put together a pattern on a Smithwick Rogue. I tried this for several hours throughout the day without a bite. I also tried fishing a jig along channel swings in the backs of major creeks. This was also unproductive.
So, for the first day of the tournament I decided to make my way to the mid-section of the river. The day was cloudy with a light breeze and the water was at 39 degrees, perfect for a rogue. I began fishing a Smithwick Rogue in the purple darter color on steep secondary points and ledge rock banks. By 8:30 I got my first bite, which was a nice 3.5 lb. largemouth. As I worked the fish toward the boat he made a lunge and broke the line. I continued to use the purple darter rogue for the rest of the day. This patience paid off with two nice bass weighing 9.80 lbs., including big bass of the event, a 6.45 lb. largemouth.
The second day had very similar conditions to the first day. I stuck with the purple darter rogue and caught three keepers weighing 8.80 lbs. I ended up finishing with 18.98 lbs. and big bass of the event. I finished in fifth place for this tournament, and this moved me into first place in the overall point standings for Angler of the Year.
BASS Tour
February 17-22, 2003
Toledo Bend Reservoir
9th
$8,500.00
During practice I started out fishing some areas south of take-off. I started the day throwing a spinnerbait and a gold Cotton Cordell Super Spot. I caught one keeper on the Super Spot, so I decided to move out to deeper water next to river channel bends. I found three good areas, which were points and ledges falling into deeper water of the creek channel. I caught a nice limit of fish on a Carolina rigged YUM 6 inch lizard in green pumpkin with a chartreuse tail. The second day I decided to travel north of take-off. I started by throwing a Cotton Cordell Super Spot in the new Texas red color. I was using a 7 foot St. Croix Cranking Rod with 20 lb. Silver Thread Line. I caught three nice keepers in a small pocket on the Super Spot. I also caught one slow-rolling 3/4 oz. spinnerbait. I then moved to some main lake islands and ditches where I caught four more keepers on the Super Spot. I decided that this would probably be the area that I would target during the tournament. The morning of the first tournament day the water temperature had reached 52-54 degrees and the winds were calm. I went back to the northern area where I had practiced. Within the first ten casts with my Super Spot I hooked into a nice 8 lb. 9 oz. largemouth. I then continued to work around this area and caught a nice limit on the Super Spot. Next I moved out to the edge of some ditches lined with stumps. I slow-rolled a 3/4 oz. spinnerbait and caught another limit of fish. I finished the day with five fish weighing 21 lbs. and 10 ozs. putting me in the lead after day one. My amateur partner, Phillip Grooms, had a nice 13.5 lb. limit on a spinnerbait.
The second day of the event was canceled due to fog and thunderstorms. With the start of the second day of competition I headed back to the same area hoping that the heavy rains and strong winds wouldn't muddy the area. Luckily the area was protected enough that it was not affected by the weather. During the first pass through the area with the Texas red Super Spot I caught four nice keepers. I then made another pass through the same area with a 3/4 oz. spinnerbait. This produced a 4.5 lb. and 5.7 lb. largemouth bass. I then moved back to the ditch and caught two more nice keepers on the Super Spot. I finished with a five fish limit of 16.2 lbs. and maintained the lead.
This allowed me to fish the Top 12 Shoot-Out, which would take place in LaNana Creek.
With the Shoot-Out format each angler is allowed to fish in a designated hole for one hour and twenty minutes. After this time the angler moves to a new hole for the same amount of time. With the lack of grass I devoted my time to flipping a YUM, four inch, black neon tube to boat docks and any shoreline cover. The morning started off great catching two keepers and losing another. I then moved to the second hole and lost my only keeper bite in that area. This poor performance dropped me to ninth place in the overall event.
BASS Tour
February 6-7, 2003
Seminole Lake, GA
131st place
$0.00
Seminole is one of my favorite southern lakes and offers a variety of cover and structure, allowing for many different methods of fishing to be used. The weather started out beautiful with several sunny days and highs in the 70’s. I was catching nice quality fish in 2 1/2- 5 pound range on a black/gold Cotton Cordell Super Spot. Most of the fish were taken in 3-5 feet over submerged vegetation. I also tried to establish a deeper pattern drop-shotting and Carolina rigging along deeper channels and standing timber. I was unable to find any deep water pattern so I planned fishing the shallow grass with a Super Spot.
The first day of the tournament started out well with four keepers in the first 1.5 hours on the Super Spot. The only problem was the fish were smaller and the bite seemed to slow down as every hour went by. I managed only one more bite, and it was a small keeper. This finished my day with 7.2 pounds of bass. With the strong cold front approaching from the north and heavy rains that evening I knew things would be different for the next day. I was correct. Most of the anglers who caught their fish on moving baits the first day had a difficult time catching a few fish. I was one of those anglers. I ended up with one fish for day two weighing in at a whopping 1.1 pounds.
BASS Tour
January 16-17, 2003
Okeechobee, FL
160th place
$0.00
This tournament I found it difficult to locate fish on a certain pattern. The weather started out warm in the beginning of practice, then it turned colder at the end of the week with frost warnings. During practice I tried several areas of the lake, north and south, with my best days coming on the south end of the lake. I caught mot of my fish on a 1/4 oz. War Eagle Mouse Spinnerbait with gold/nickel willow leaf blades and a YUM Watermelon Jitterworm. I also caught a few keepers flipping a YUM Shakin’ Worm in junebug. Most of the fish were caught on the spinnerbait, including one 8 1/2-9 pound monster! The fish were around isolated bullrushes in 4-6 feet of water with scattered hydrilla around the area. The water was clear, so if it was cloudy or windy they would bite the spinnerbait. When it was calm, working the YUM Red Jitterworm very slowly seemed to produce.
During the tournament conditions changed, and I was unable to adapt to them, or I was too stubborn. I managed to catch only five keepers in two days. It was a very disappointing tournament for me.
BASS Tour
January 9-11, 2003
Harris Chain of Lakes, FL
11th place
$5,800.00
This was my first stop on the 2003 BASS Tour. A typical Florida cold front was there to greet us as we began practice. The highs were only in the 50’s and lows dipped down into the high 30’s. For this tournament I concentrated mainly on man-made canals. These canals had a variety of cover and structure from lily pads, boat docks, laydowns, and brushpiles with a variety of water depths ranging from 1-25 feet. During practice I found most of the fish relating to lily pads and submerged brushpiles in 4-8 feet of water. I used a YUM 7.5 inch Ribbontail Worm in Tequila Sunrise with Green Flake. I used a Texas rigged worm with an Excalibur TG (Tungsten) 1/4 oz. weight and 12 pound Silver Thread line.
The first day of the tournament started off great!! I caught three nice keepers in the first hour and finished out the day with one more keeper. These fish were all taken in 4-6 feet of water on the base of the lily pads. I used a YUM Ribbontail Worm. I finished the day in sixth place having caught 9.5 pounds of bass. The second day started out slower with added boat pressure in the area. I down-sized to spinning gear with 8 pound line using an 1/8 oz. Excalibur TG weight and a YUM 4 inch Watermelon Seed Rib Worm. I landed three keepers and lost one 3.5 pounder at the boat. It just jumped and came off. These three fish allowed me to finish the day in eighth place with 15.7 lbs. allowing me to continue to the next day and fish the MegaBucks style format.
The third day was very exciting for me! We were provided with sponsor vehicles and boats to use for the day. We had a police escort to and from Lake Yale. This was a shoot-out style tournament with each angler having one hour and fifteen minutes to fish in specific areas or holes. The day went by quickly with this format. I tried to duplicate the same lily pad pattern when I could find this type of cover. In between the cover I would use a Cotton Cordell Super Spot trying to cover water. Unfortunately, I was unable to catch a keeper, so I finished in eleventh place. It was a great learning experience even though it was disappointing not catching a bass.
