(Not my best) ‘Day on the Lake’

"Day on the Lake" for me actually started early this year when I got an email from Don telling me I would be featured again.

It's been an interesting few weeks for me. I'm home right now, getting ready for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Bays de Noc in Michigan, Sept. 18-21, and recovering from my recent "Day on the Lake" with Don Wirth for Bassmaster Magazine.

You probably know about "Day on the Lake." It's one of the most popular features in Bassmaster. Don Wirth came up with the concept about 15 years ago, and he's been writing them ever since. The one we did on Tuesday of last week was my second. It will run in the magazine in about a year — so that September on the water will match up with September in the magazine.

If you're curious about how a feature like that comes together, I'm going to give you the inside scoop. Working with the media is a big part of being a professional angler, and it's something that a lot of aspiring pros don't know much about.

"Day on the Lake" for me actually started early this year when I got an email from Don telling me I would be featured again. I was just one of the names on the list, and we were all told to respond right away to secure a specific date to get together and do the story. It would be first-come, first-served.

I thought I was being pretty quick when I responded the next day, but I obviously wasn't nearly fast enough. Instead of getting one of my first choices for a date (something in the spring), I had to take what was left over — September.

But that was OK. Late summer and early fall fishing can be great. It can also be tough, but that's fishing.

A story like "Day on the Lake" is a big deal for several reasons. First and foremost, it's a great opportunity to showcase your sponsors — especially rod, reel, line and lure manufacturers. If you can get out there and whack 'em, everybody looks good.

It's also a great educational tool. As a pro fisherman, one of the things I really enjoy doing — and feel a responsibility to do — is to help other anglers catch more bass. What better way to do it than to be shown breaking down a body of water over the course of a day.

"Day on the Lake" is also good for an angler on a personal and professional branding level. That kind of exposure can build a bridge between you and your supporters. Having a fan base is important to our business, and it's a huge motivator. Knowing there are fans out there caring about my performance means a lot to me.

With all that on the line, you might guess that there's quite a bit of pressure associated with doing "Day on the Lake," and you'd be right. I approached it like a tournament — but a very strange tournament. After all, when you're fishing a tournament, you usually know where it's going to be, what the body of water is like, what species of bass live there, what forage is available, what the cover and structure options are … you get the idea.

With "Day on the Lake," you don't have any of that information, and since I'd be meeting Don Wirth in the Nashville, Tenn., area, a lot of those variables would be wide open.

As the date of our "Day on the Lake" got closer, Don emailed me with the last bits of information I'd get — what motel to stay at and where we'd meet for breakfast in the morning. After we ate, I followed him to the lake — a very small (less than 10 acres) body of water just outside Nashville.

When we got there, Don gave me little other information — just that Denny Brauer and Russ Lane had each caught a big bass here in the winter and early spring. The problem, of course, was that it wasn't winter or early spring.

As I launched my Nitro, I could see that the little lake had an algae issue. The surface had a thick green haze over it, and because the lake was tucked into a little valley, no wind could get to the surface to stir things up. When I got into the boat, I noticed that the surface temperature was 83 degrees. My work was cut out for me.

On the plus side, Don gave me a few minutes to run the lake and check out the conditions. On the bad side, that didn't take long — a couple of minutes at most. From anywhere on the lake, you could see the rest of the lake.

There was very little cover to be found — a standing tree here, a stump there, a laydown or two, a little rockpile. There was no grass. There was a steep side and a shallow side. You could more or less fish your way around it in an hour or two.

I could tell immediately that it wasn't going to play to my strengths. I'm a pattern fisherman who likes to run quite a bit. When you put together a pattern, you need to be able to find other areas that fit that pattern. On such a small lake, that would be difficult.

I'm not going to give away what happened out there except to say that it was tough. For the play-by-play, you'll have to wait for Don's article in Bassmaster.

I will tell you that in a lot of ways, doing "Day on the Lake" is tougher than fishing an Elite tournament. There's no way to prepare for it the way I like to prepare. You have one shot and no practice. You feel pressure to do well for your sponsors and fans.

It's also a very different atmosphere on the water. When I'm fishing a tournament, I'm focused and quiet. I try never to be rude to my Marshal, but I don't do a lot of talking. "Day on the Lake" is different. Don is out there with a job to do. He's constantly talking into a recorder and memorializing your every move.

"It's 10:12 a.m. and he's putting down the Megabass Vibration-X and picking up the Megabass Wild Header. Hey, Edwin! What color is that?"

He's also asking you to explain each move or decision you make. "Why did you go there?" "Why did you pick that color?" "What would you do differently if you did it all over again?"

It makes for a great article, but it's also a lot different than just an ordinary "day on the lake." Maybe that's why it's so popular.