After a short December break I was ready to get back on the water.  The only negative thing about winning Smith Lake was it being the last event of the year.  I have been chomping at the bit to get back on the water.

This year the lake was very low which meant the lake fished totally different than last year when I finished 8th in Moonshine Bay.  The lake fished very large this year compared to years past.  There were a bunch of boats in Pelican Bay and the rest of the lake you would have little micro pods of boats in areas but it wasn't too bad.  There was basically two primary patterns on the lake.  Fish ultra-shallow Kissimmee grass or canals.

Practice went fairly well.  My strategy centered around locating main lake Kissimmee grass fish and a good group of backup fish in a canal system in case of a bad weather change.  The one thing I have learned the hard way about Florida tournaments is that you better find a backup area for bad weather.  After a few days on the main lake I found a few small groups of fish in the shallow grass.  I could never get a good worm bite going which drove me nuts, the only way I could catch them was on a Frog and a Skinny Dipper Swim Bait.  Mostly small fish and nothing that really got me excited.  Day 3 & 4 of practice I spent in canal systems.  I launched inside the J&S canal and new right away that this was the deal!   The fish in the canal were post spawn fish.  I caught several good fish right off on a Rico topwater in the 3-4lb range.  Then I noticed after running down the canal there were various rockpiles on the graph that had fish on them.  I started cranking a medium running crankbait and drilled them.  I had a six pounder right off the bat.  There was no doubt that the tournament could be won there.  The only problem I had was that every fish I caught was barely hooked.  Even when cranking I had several body bumps and misses.  The same with the topwater.  I tried several different kinds of baits but only would get bit on the Rico and medium crank in a shad/gold back color.

Day 4 of practice I launched back in J&S Canal and tried to figure them out better.  My instincts told me that this would be the place that would probably win the tournament.  I tried various baits in colors and sizes but only would get bit on the same Rico and crankbait.  Same results as the day before.  I might only land 1 out of every 7 or 8 bites and they were usually foul hooked when I did get them in.  Most of the bites seemed to be more defensive than offensive strikes.  It was really frusterating.  I knew if I could figure out how to catch and land them then I would make the cut.

Day 1 of the tournament I went straight into J&S canal and worked all morning till noon and only successfully landed 1 small fish.  I started off with the topwater and didn't get very many bites, caught the 1 keeper on it after about an hour of fishing.  I was really surprised because they had been guarding fry in there and would react to the topwater the previous days.  I started cranking at about 11 a.m. and immediately hooked a giant.  I deflected off a rock and the rod loaded up and it felt like a freight train was attached to the end of the line.  The fish started to come straight up like they often do with a crankbait and I tried to keep her down but it wasn't going to happen.  The fish came up barely hooked with one rear treble hook in her mouth and she went one way and the crankbait went another.  She was between 9 and 10 lbs.  That wasn't to cool but it happens.  I got fired up because I figured that they moved a little deeper.  I regrouped and made two more casts and hooked a 4 pounder.  Fought it to the boat and it almost made it into the net when it surged and pulled the one hook free that was outside its mouth.  Bad deal.  Ran to another rock pile and my co-angler lost one about 8lbs.  It was really frustrating.  Finally at about 1 o'clock I had to make a decision stay here and spin my wheels or run out into the lake and salvage my day by at least catching a few pounds so that is what I did.  Ran to the North Shore and fished Kissimmee grass with a swimbait and caught three more fish to finish my day with four fish.  Not exactly what I was looking for.

Day 2 the cold front hit with strong North winds.  Historically Okeechobee is known for water being pulled from the North portion of the lake and pushed to the Southern portions with strong cold fronts and that is exactly what happened on Days 2 & 3.   I ran straight to the North Shore to catch a small limit before heading to J&S again.  When I arrived there it didn't take long to discover that the Northern portion of the lake was super low with the wind.  The fish I was catching up there moved and were not very happy with the water change.  So after about an hour I decided that I would spend the rest of the tournament in J&S trying to figure out how to catch those fish in there.  Once that front hit I knew that was going to be the deal and I needed to get in there to figure it out.  I headed over there and realized real quick that I had pulled a real amateur mistake.  While practicing in J&S canal I only idled out to the main lake one time with no problems, it was shallow but very easy to access. There was a 1/4 of a mile flat in front of the lock that you could easily idle over with no problem in practice.  I never took into consideration that if the wind blew the lake level would drop considerably and I would be forced to run into the lock entrance on pad before entering the no wake zone.  The problem was for a 1/4 of a mile it was about 8 inches deep when the winds hit from the North.  The only hole to set down in was somewhere immediately in front of the lock and I didn't take the time to find it.  The winds were blowing about 30mph out of the north and I spent a little over an hour just push poling my way up to the lock to get there and noticed there was no way that I was getting in there without running over it on pad.  People who know me well usually know how gutsy I am when it comes to this sort of situation.  I love a good challenge.  I really just wanted to back up and make a good run at it and get in there.  I knew the fishing potential that was inside that lock.  I spent 20 minutes trying to study a way to do it but I couldn't come to any clear results because I was unable to get out of the boat during the tournament according to the rules.  It just didn't seem like a safe situation to put my partner and I through so I opted not to do it.  If something went wrong when I shut down then we would be slammed into a rock/concrete wall.  I just didn't feel comfortable doing it without being able to physically study where exactly I needed to shut down so I chose not to.  It killed me inside to not do it, I really felt sick to my stomach because I knew my tournament was done but I was not going to risk someone else's health for my benefit.  It was my mistake for not studying it during practice.  That is a rule I taught myself many years ago and I know better than that. I was sloppy so it cost me, plain and simple.  Enough said.

Day 4 was still very windy from the North.  My plan was to at least try and go back to J&S and access the canal once again.  Same situation once again so no luck there.  I left there and went to the Harney Pond canal and decided to spend the day there grinding it out with with a bunch of people.  Fished my tail off and ended up catching one fish out of there on a Hoern Toad Tackle jighead worm.  Never really dialed into anything there.  I ended the tournament at the bottom end of the heap and wasn't very happy driving home.  It was very frustrating to say the least for this event.  I feel like I did 80% of my job correctly this week with timing of moves and the correct decision to fish the right areas at the right time.  The tournament ended up being won in the J&S lock on a shaky head and medium running crankbait on rocks, the guy was determined to get in there and did his homework before hand.  Congratulations to him!  That is what you are supposed to do in this business to succeed.  Overall I feel like my fishing is in great form right now but a simple sloppy mistake made for a devastating week.  I never mind taking a lump when I learn something new but when I make a simple mistake because of carelessness then it's time to bare down on the next one and get mad at 'em!