It’s hard enough to get the “right bites” in an Elite Series tournament. But when you get the bites and lose the bass on the fight, that can become a mental block. Bill Lowen and Steve Kennedy were perfect examples of the “losing bass syndrome” after Day 1. Lowen had conquered his; Kennedy remains haunted.
The combination of smallmouth bass on light tackle in strong current on the St. Lawrence River can accentuate LBS (losing bass syndrome).
“This is three times in a row that we’ve been here and I should have been leading after Day 1,” a frustrated Kennedy said Thursday, when he finished in 67th place with 16-3.
Obviously, it’s not a problem everywhere for Kennedy, since he’s coming off a victory in the Elite Series tournament at Arkansas’ Lake Dardanelle. But it’s a big cause for concern here. So much so that Kennedy fished outside the tournament waters near Massena for four days prior to the practice period starting on Monday.
“I practiced sticking ’em,” Kennedy said. “It’s not getting the bites, it’s getting them in the boat that’s my problem here. I was practicing catching. I had time to experiment with baits that I normally wouldn’t have time to do in practice.”
Apparently, that practice didn’t pay off. Kennedy had numerous stories of the big ones that got away Thursday. Without going into too much detail, Kennedy is trying to match a swimbait with a heavy jighead, and, well, he’s still looking for the right combo, one that won’t give a head-shaking smallmouth an advantage when hooked.
Lowen, on the other hand, was all smiles after landing his second-place total of 23-6, saying, “I needed today so bad. Everything was clean. It went like it was supposed to.
“When (losing fish) gets in your head, that’s a bad place to be. This season, for whatever reason, fish I’ve caught the same way a thousand times, I’ve been losing. I can’t think of any reason why it’s been that way. So today for me was huge.”