Well, the last practice day is over, and now it's time to wait. Yesterday I had eight bites — all small. I didn't really find anything that I want to go back to for the tournament. But even a seemingly unproductive day can be helpful sometimes.
Early in practice, I was able to eliminate a lot of places where I've caught 'em in the past. Eliminating water is a valuable part of the process. Even on a tough day — when you don't get the bites you want — you can learn things that help to better define your strategy. The best thing to come out of the final practice day was reassurance, reassurance that I'm going to commit to one area.
The fishing is not good enough to run around and get a bite here and a bite there in order to squeak out a limit. You really need to concentrate on one key area; and for me, that's a place I found in the early days of practice. Like I said, there's just one day before game day.
Thursday is Media Day; all of the press have an opportunity to talk with the Classic qualifiers for a few hours. Before that, we do a walk-through for the weigh-ins to get all of the logistical wrinkles ironed out. However, with all this going on, fishing will be on my mind the whole time. Everything else is just a big distraction. I still think today is the toughest day because you can't do anything else to prepare; you just think about your practice and let it simmer. You have to make yourself keep your mind off fishing, and that's one heck of a hard thing to do. See you all tomorrow! It's on!