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10/17/2006
FLW Series Lake of the Ozarks Tournament RecapThis was a very challenging tournament for me mentally. Some tournaments
you are able to carry over what you found in practice into the tournament and most you have to make adjustments on the
fly. For me this tournament was going to be one of making adjustments. I have fished several fall B.A.S.S. tournaments
in the past on Lake of the Ozarks and have finished in the money every time by fishing up the Osage River in the dirtier water.
So naturally I spent most of my practice up the river with a lot of success.
In practice
it was very warm with temperatures in the 80's. The fish were on the shallow flats in major
creeks relating to docks and wood. Each day of practice the fish were in the same type areas but just
bit different baits with the sky conditions. Square bill crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and flipping wood were
key. I was really dialed into the bite up there. I figured 15-18lbs. was an average day up there. They were
calling for a major front to hit during the tournament and the temperatures to drop dramatically. It really didn't
scare me too much but I figured that the flats fish would eventually fade away and they would move to the channel swings like
they usually do.
Day 1 of the tournament I ran up the river with cooler temperatures and started on some
key stretches of docks on major flats. Couldn't get a bite cranking or on a blade and finally ended up catching
two quality fish swimming a white prototype Hoern Toad jig. Not really the way I wanted to catch them but that is the
only way I could get bit. Ended up getting several more key bites on the jig but dock cables and other under water obstructions
made for a long day on the water. The days are short when you run up there and I made my way back down to check-in and
ended up catching one more fish on a brown finesse jig on the rocks near take-off to finish the day with a little over
7lbs. Not really happy with that.
Day 2 was a tough decision. I knew that the few bites I had
on the flats on day 1 meant the fish were leaving and heading back to the channel swings like they usually do in those creeks.
I also knew that when it gets cold the fish bite better on the lower lake. It was either fish on the lower lake and
start over or make the trip back up river and fish the steeper banks in the creeks where the fish were heading. I chose
to go back up river and try to find new water. To me it is easier to dissect because they usually either are on flats
or on steep banks with a creek nearby. With the limited time during tournament hours and earlier check-in times the
next two day I better get on good key stretches quick.
Day 2 was colder and I ended up catching a lot more
fish on the steeper banks but never found the right stretches holding the better fish. I caught most of my fish shallow
cranking. I ended up getting a few key bites but didn't land any of them. The end of the day I ended up catching
my only keeper flipping a shallow log near take-off. We also got several bites on a football jig in 20-30 feet of water.
That made my choices for day 3 much easier.
After only weighing in 1 fish on day 2 I was on my way to the
worst finish of the year. Not a good time to do it when you are 13th in the points. I really had to stay focused
because I knew my back was against the wall and a lot was riding on the final day. The one thing I have learned in this
game is that it is never over till you weigh-in the final day. So my day 3 game plan was to fish deep on the lower end
of the lake. In the couple of hours that I fished down there in practice most of the fish I found were deep.
I spent my whole day in the Glaize arm fishing deep with a football jig. Caught one on the jig deep, about 26 feet.
My partner caught a 4lber in the same depth range on a 10 inch worm. That gave me better confidence, but I am never
a fan of locating deep water fish in the middle of a tournament. It just takes too much time up searching and you can
get yourself into a jam quickly if you don't hit the right school of fish fast. I covered quite a bit
of water fishing drops and caught a bunch of fish but not the right size fish. Finally in the afternoon the wind
picked up. I figured I was in a jam by now with only 1 fish. I made the decision to find the windiest banks and
cover water just to try and catch a limit. I started cooking down the bank fishing windy secondary points with a spinnerbait.
My partner started pitching a 3/4 ounce football jig in about 2 feet of water behind me and snapping it off the bottom.
He quickly got several bites behind me right where I had just thrown the spinnerbait. They wanted the jig so I quickly
changed over. We caught a fish on just about every point with wind but once again had the short fish blues and didn't
land the better fish. I ended the day with 1 more keeper and my worst finish of the year. I was not happy.
Overall I had enough of the bites to have a decent tournament and make a check but not getting them in the
boat didn't help. I am not satisfied with that though. I feel like I spent three solid days of fishing searching
for a couple of key bites that never came. I never really could get in a comfortable rhythm that usually leads
to a good tournament. I felt like I lacked making critical adjustments at the right time. I am not really disappointed
in my decision to go back up the river on day 2 because I still feel like that was the right move for me in that situation
for the information I had from the fish at the time. I think it did cost me though because the better bite was
on the lower end of the lake.
Looking back on the tournament my mistake was made during practice.
I did not spend more time on the lower portion after I established everything up river. Once I had a
strong pattern going I chose to spend my time refining it to a T and locating more areas instead of heading to the clear water
and establishing a backup plan. I practiced the tournament with more of an all or nothing eggs in one
basket strategy. Not a points strategy. When you fish that way you have to live with the consequences.
I usually end up learning a lot more in these tournaments because I spend a lot more time analyzing the week then when I have
a good week I usually don't think about it as much. Just a bad habit. The good thing is there is another tournament
in a few weeks and I am ready to be there. After a bad tournament I usually go through several states of emotion.
I get mad for a few days and constantly analyze my mistakes to improve for the future, and then I get fired up and ready to
go to the next one. I love this sport!
11:55 pm
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