Carl Jocumsen might be the only angler fishing today that actually likes the increased fishing pressure brought on by the weekend. BASSTrakk shows that he just moved into third place.
“The boat traffic excites me. I am fishing from one end of the lake to the other, from 3 feet to 30 feet, and I literally caught fish from end to end. There is one particular area that really excites me. It’s fish that are eating bluegills. I am glad that I can just run around and fish. Here, if there was a killer spot where I caught 20 pounds then I’m probably not going to catch them.”
Fishing pressure and traffic aside, Jocumsen has also dialed into something special that no one else is doing, which of course is how tournaments are won. The key is a mayfly hatch.
“When I saw that mayfly hatch it really excited me. The bluegill are just dumb when those mayfly come in. They are just up and down feeding on them. They never look down and the bass just come up and hammer them.”
He continued, “Anywhere you have a dock or overhang they are there. There are a lot of cool things happening with that mayfly hatch. The timing on the mayfly hatch is later in the day, but the fish just stay there. There are literally thousands of bluegill and they just stay about seven feet down and look up.”
Repeating a key comment. Normally, mayfly hatches are short-lived and occur mostly at daybreak. Jocumsen told me that he observed thousands in a hatch yesterday. There were so many, in fact, that the surface was covered with mayflies for a long time. That could explain why the bluegill are staying shallower, longer, and why the bass bite was good later in the day.
Beyond all of the above is a standout trait that has carried Jocumsen through some tough times. That is his positive mental attitude. He is a champion of owning his thoughts, and that is the case here.
“Yesterday was a crazy kind of day. The same thing happens every time I’ve ever caught them good. I catch fish early when I’m trying to get a grip on what is happening. And then get some fish in the boat, get those fish early, and just go fishing. And every time I’ve been able to do in my whole career that good things happen.”
Things went so well yesterday that Jocumsen had 16 pounds at 9:30 a.m., and he then went looking for new water. He also knows what pressure can do here on a Saturday.
“This is one place where the public can play a huge role in your success. Usually on Day 2 you’ve had two days to yourself. Here that will not happen. So when everyone will be out there trying to make the cut on a Saturday I hopefully will not.”