Just arrived at Wheeler for the Bassmaster event this week.  Good week at Norman, just need those two good bites...never had them.  

Rather than going home after the Neely Henry event I spent a few extra days here in Alabama at Lake Wheeler.  Fishing is pretty good over here, better than I have ever seen it.  Looks like the Tennessee River Lakes are getting better.  Off to Lake Norman for the FLW Tour event in the morning.

The second PAA Tournament at Neely Henry was a great success!  These tournaments are getting better every event and I feel they will only continue to grow.  

 I finished the event in 14th place fishing for Coosa River Spotted Bass.  I had a special place about the size of my boat on a current break on the main river.  I must have caught  60 fish the last day on about 5 different baits, worms, carolina rigs, jigs, tubes, etc.  Scott Suggs and I worked the same area for the event, he is a top notch guy and we had a good time talking and cutting up while we caught fish.  The whole key was working the current seams and basically it was exactly like trout fishing in a stream.  If you moved the bait too fast or too slow they wouldn't eat it.  Basically you have to just let the bait drift with the current.

Here at Wheeler lake for a few days preparing for the upcoming Bassmaster Southern Open after the FLW Tour event at Norman.  Wheeler just seems to be getting better and better each year.  Fishng has been great the last few days.  

Last week Sean was the featured guest on BassEdge TV hosted by Aaron Martin on the Outdoor Channel.  The show was filmed last summer on Lake Sam Rayurn right after Sean's FLW Tour win on Lake Norman.  There are three more air dates:  April 30, and May 1st & 2nd on the Outdoor Channel.

The Harris Chain is a unique waterway.  It really doesn't fish like an Okeechobee or Toho it is more like a typical lake you would find in the South.  The only difference being the fish act like Florida fish, when it gets cold they don't like to bite and you have to fish super slow to get bit most times.

I started the event sight fishing in a canal where I caught a 7lber. right off the bat, unfortunately I couldn't convert on this to have a great day.  I ended up going to a marsh down in Lake Griffin where I had several bites in practice.  For some reason I could only get a couple small bites in there during the tournament and ended my day with 10-13lbs. in 39th place.  I wasn't real happy because I set myself up for  decent day and didn't convert on it.  Day 2 it became colder and raining so I decided to not go back to the marsh since it was super shallow and I knew the cold weather would shut them down in there and it did from what I was told nobody got bit in there too well.  I moved over to Lake Harris and fished main lake Kissimmee grass areas with a spinnerbait and flipping.  I had a decent day catching a 4 1/2 on  a spinnerbait then flipping up the rest of my limit. I ended the tournament in 31st place just outside the cut of 30.  That kind of hurt a little because I felt like I could have went back and caught another 10lbs or so and moved up into the lower 20's or high teens in finishing position and gained a ton more points.  Bassmaster points revolve on an increment system and it would have boosted me up points wise a ton but I guess I should have caught 3 more ounces and I would have been there.  Overall it is a decent start in the points for the season.  The best part is I made it through January with two checks in Florida and no bomb tournaments.  Florida is such a crap-shoot deal every year it is nice to get out in solid position in both events.  The opening round of the FLW Tour is next week at Guntersville, looking forward to getting back there.

The first PAA tournament was a great success.  The event was top notch and all the anglers were really happy with everything.  I feel like these events are going to continue to grow stronger each year.  We had a great crowd the final day and it was great to see the first angler owned event a success.

I'm entering my 8th year as a professional angler and for the past eight years I have spent my January in Florida.  I don't think I have fished an event yet that hasn't been hit with a major cold front down there.  We had great weather for practice but the front hit right before the event with the coldest days of the season.  Florida bass do not like it when it's cold period.  I didn't have a real good practice.  I had a few areas in Kissimmee and Cypress but not much in Toho.  I started the first day in Kissimmee, it was cloudy and windy.  I didn't feel real confident in the area I had with the conditions plus it had muddied up a little with the wind.  I decided to lock down to the Kissimmee river.  I haven't been down there in two years but I figured the conditions were right for it down there that day.  In the canals like the Kissimmee river it seems like the crummier the weather the better it sets up the fish down there.  So I locked down and basically went practicing.  After about two hours I figured them out and quickly caught a 10.40lb limit and it was time to go since I had to lock twice to get back to Toho.  I finished the day somewhere just inside the money cut.

Day 2 I went directly back to the Kissimmee river and caught a 4 1/2 right off flipping.  I caught a few more flipping to finish out the day in 39th making the final day cut.

The final day I ran back to the Kissmmee river but struggled to get bit flipping.  I finally picked up one of my homemade spinnerbaits and caught a quick limit.  My goal for the final day was to simply stay above 40th for the points at the end of the year.  I knew I had no chance to win it so it was strictly to preserve points.  After I had what I thought would keep me where I was at in the standings I left and headed to some hydrilla fish I had found on a lipless crankbait.  I had a few big bites in the area so I was hoping I could get a good bite and move up a little.  I never ended up getting bit so I ended the event in 38th place. 

I am happy to get a good finish in the PAA Tournament Series because the PAA World Championship is going to be held at Lake Conroe in October about 20 minutes from my house.  First place is $200,000 and I don't want to be sitting on the sidelines watching.  The top 40 of the Series make the championsip.

I am on my way to Lake Guntersville for the next 4 days to take a look at the lake and how the grass looks over there.  Our first FLW Tour event starts there this year in a few weeks.  Later this week I'll head back to Florida for the opening round of the Bassmaster Opens at the Harris Chain in Leesburg.  I'm looking forward to Harris, I fished several Bassmaster Tour events there early in my career.  It fishes a lot different than Toho or Okeechobee, more like a normal lake in the south.  The only difference is the fish still hate the cold fronts and judging from my last eight years down here we'll get one the day before the event.

In 2009 the Professional Anglers Association will debut the PAA Tournament Series.  This is going to be an exciting year for anglers and fans because we are going to get a chance to watch the best of the FLW Tour and the best of the Bassmaster Elite Series go head to head in a three event Pro-Am Tour that will end with the Toyota World Championship held at Lake Conroe in Texas.  The championship will be held in October.  Last week I looked at the list of entries into the event and it was unbelievable!  I think this is what the fans and anglers have wanted to see for a while the best of both leagues coming together at one series of tournaments.  I can't wait to fish these events next year.  They are going to be fun.  The tournaments are a Pro-Am format so Co-Anglers will have the opportunity to compete if they desire.  You can check out the tournament format at www.fishpaa.com.  

The season has finally come to an end.  Last week I was at Lake Amistad for a charity event put on by LaTroy Hawkins who pitches for the Houston Astros.  We had a great time with several other Tour anglers and major league ball players while raising money for Lifeline youth a great charity.  (www.lifelineyouth.org)  It was a special week.

Now that I have some time on my hands my first priority is getting my shoulder back 100% before January.  Went to a different doctor today to try a different treatment option.  He is the same doctor that worked wonders on my elbow that I damaged from years of flipping/pitching.  I'm hoping to have the same success with this treatment that I did with my elbow, we'll see.

Spent most of this week going over tackle and getting it ready for next season, it seems like little things start adding up after you put them off all season.  Damaged eyelets on rods, re-stocking lures, etc.  It is amazing how time consuming these things are.  I figure it will take until mid-december to get to everything before I am finished.  I build a lot of my own tackle that I use so I will spend a lot of time pouring,molding,designing, building, and painting a lot of baits for next year.

Last year I raced my first Baja 1000 with my fellow teammates on Big Magic Racing and we finished 6th in the Sportsmans Class.  We planned on taking the year off and getting back together in 2009 for another try.  After a few months the desire to go back and compete again overwhelmed me so I set out to try and solo the event by myself this year.  My main goal would be just to simply finish the race by myself.  I started training again early this summer and things were coming along pretty good.  Unfortunately last month during a training ride I had a little mishap and went down hard on the bike tearing my right rotator cuff in my shoulder.  Finally after a few doctors visits I came to the grim realization that this year it would not be smart to attempt the Baja again in 2008.  This week is the last FLW event at Clarks Hill and I will take the month of November off and visit some more doctors to get my shoulder repaired in time for January and the start of a new fishing season.  It kills me not to be back in Baja but sometimes you just have to make the right decision and I am looking forward to a good season on Tour in 2009 and my body needs to be 100%.  I'll be back on the starting line for 2009 race! 

It was a great tournament overall for the PAA.  It was an exciting week of fishing and it was a good time for me personally because I had a chance to visit with many of my friends who fish the Bassmaster Elite Series that I do not get to see very often.  I teamed up with my good friend Lance Vick and Specialty Services Inc. president Steve McGhee and Octagon rep.  Lenny Francoeur.  We had a great time making the final cut and ending the tournament in 11th place.  Since this was a stand alone event we fished this event to win.  I spent my entire practice fishing offshore with a football jig and spoon.  We milked two offshore ledges with a football jig ending the tournament with 69lbs.  We caught almost all of our fish on a Hoern Toad Tackle Football Jig in PB&J color with a Paca Craw trailer in green pumpkin.  We never really had the fish to win the event but maximized what we had for a good finish.  It was a nice feeling for me to finally figure out those Tennessee River ledge fish.  I have been struggling with that for a while now and to finally have some success it really makes me feel good with improvements that I have been working on.  Off to the final FLW Series event at Clarks Hill this week.