The first day of the tournament I just kind of fished on the fly.  With the rain and storms it was the first day I had fished for Largemouths with cloud cover.  I didn't waste much time with the shaky head with those conditions.  With the rain I headed straight for the water run-ins and pounded as many as I could during the day.  It really made perfect sense considering the current conditions.  I feel like the same fish I was catching on the shallow cover simply went to the run-ins for dingier water and baitfish activity.  I ended up catching 4 keepers, 2 on a Lucky Craft BDS 1 Rootbeer colored crankbait and my other two better fish on a Broke Back buzzer, white with a gold blade.  The buzzbait featured a smaller medium sized blade that has a more subtle sound to it.  I really like that particular bait on Highland type reservoirs the subtle sound gets more bites for me. I ended the day in the top ten which put me in good position.

Day 2 I was really pumped.  Guys were really beat mentally and I felt like my fish were going to get stronger that day because the bait had time to find the run-ins and dingier water overnight.  I also knew that it was the day to catch them good because the next two days the fishing was going to get tougher overall.  The bait had really moved in overnight in all the stained water and the fish moved in to.  I fished backs of creeks with running water all day and hammered as many primary areas as I could.  I caught two limits of fish cranking the BDS 1 and Broke Back Buzzer again.  I alternated between the Rootbeer BDS 1 and Chart./Black BDS 1 that I modified and airbrushed the belly orange for better visibility in the dirtier water.  I caught about 50/50 on each.  At about noon I knew I had locked up the 2007 Tour Championship berth so I accomplished the goal for this event. I immediately left my primary areas on a gamble to find more fish in areas I haven't been to yet.  I knew the few areas I had been milking the first few days wouldn't hold up the next two and in order to win I would have to get fortunate and find new fish in the event.  I started fishing some new water and ended up finding a few new key areas and I culled a few more times throughout the day.  I actually lost two five pounders in the last hour of the day that would have put me in the 17 pound range.  I ended the day leading the event with two days to go.

Day 3 was going to be the moment of truth for me. The conditions were the opposite of the previous two days with sunny skies and typical post frontal conditions.  The cranking/buzzbait deal was not going to work.  The water in the backs of the creeks cleared overnight and most of the bait had dispersed overnight.  I didn't waste much time trying to beat that death another day so I quickly picked up the Porky's Revenge Shaky head and went to work.  It was the same conditions when I found the fish so I thought it would be fairly simple.  When the sun comes out there really isn't much on the bank and whatever you find seemed to hold fish.  I felt real confident in the shaky head but just couldn't get bit.  I covered tons of water and pitched the worm to every piece of cover I could find without success until 1:00.  I kept at it because I knew I was doing the right thing I just couldn't get bit.  I was starting to get a bit frustrated because I knew if I didn't catch them I would let another tournament slip away.  I felt like I improved a lot this year and put myself in the top ten several times this year without success but I really wanted this one bad.  I started analyzing the situation and felt like the fish were still in the areas I was fishing and the cover around those areas held fish I just needed to change with the fish.  It was a little cooler now after the front so I thought the fish might want a jig over a worm now that things are different.  I sat down and pulled out my 7'10" Setyr flipping stick and tied on a full size 3/8 ounce Black/Blue Hoern Toad Tackle jig with a Blue Sapphire Zoom Super Chunk trailer.  I went back and fished the same areas I fished earlier and started catching them.  With the cooler weather the fish preferred the jig over the worm and it really salvaged the day.  I finished the day still in the lead but it wasn't over yet.

Going into the final day of the event I knew I was in trouble.  The fish I had been on all week were really running out.  I figured if I fished those same group of Largemouths one more day the best I could expect would be 7 or 8 pounds at the end of the day.  I figured I might be able to win with that much but probably guarantee second place.  I just didn't feel like that's what I wanted to do.  I feel like a professional angler only gets so many chances in his career to have a chance to win going into the last day.  I don't really believe in the term "swinging for the fences".  I try to make the best rational decision that I feel puts myself in a postion to win on the last day.  Sometimes it's doing the same thing you did the first 3 days of the tournament like I did at Lake Cumberland earlier this year and sometimes it's something totally different.  I felt like if I did the same thing I did the first three days I was toast.  The final day was going to be sunny and slick on the water and that just didn't add up to a good Largemouth day.  I figured if I caught 9lbs. then I would put myself in good position to win and that is all you can ask for.  The day was going to be a good Spotted bass day.  I figured the guy that won the tournament the next day would be catching Spotted bass.

Day 4 was sunny and calm just like the weatherman had predicted.  I put three rods on the deck that morning: 1/8 Porky's Revenge Shakyhead, 3/16 Porky's Revenge Shakyhead, and a dropshot.  The final day of practice I ended up getting a couple bites on the lower lake on steep rocky banks with the worm.  That is were I started and ended up staying the whole day.  I fished super slow and methodical.  I ended up sticking with the 1/8 shakyhead because that is the one the fish preferred over the 3/16.  I would find a piece of wood or brush and work every inch of it from the 5-20 feet depth range.  Some fish were shallow and some deep.  I caught a good one on my first cast of the morning and that really helped my confidence in my decision to stay on the lower lake.  I then went four and a half hours without another bite.  I really wanted to run back up the lake and flip the jig but kept telling myself if I went up there that I wouldn't win.  It was the hardest thing to do.  I asked myself at one point do I want to win or finish second?  I felt like if I stayed down lake and never caught another fish and ended up finishing 10th I would still have thought it was the right decision.  When I thought that to myself I knew I was committed to winning. 

In the early afternoon I hit a flurry of bites in a matter of 45 minutes that finished my limit and I was about ready to cry.  As an angler you spend your entire career making decisions.  I had just made a clutch decision in the bottom of the 9th inning.  It is what I used to go to bed dreaming about when I was 16 years old dreaming of doing this for a living.  To make a tough decision on the final day leading a tournament and stick with the decision to the end regardless of the outcome and for it to work out perfectly is priceless.  I cannot express in words how much it meant to me and how much I love this sport!