I feel much better today. I fished where I should have fished yesterday and I caught them. I made a bad decision yesterday; that's really clear to me now after the one I made today. It's all about location. I chose the wrong one to start. It's that simple.
The area I fished today was a long ways away and it isn't an area where you get a lot of bites. The ones you do get, however, are quality fish. It's a big area where you just run and gun and grind it out. It's one bite here, another bite there. You fish everything, pick your way through it and at the end of the day you have a heavy stringer.
The frustrating thing is I knew all this from my practice. But I thought I could get just as good a stringer closer, without making the long run. It didn't work out that way.
Anyway, I had a total of maybe six or seven bites today and weighed in 19 pounds, 7 ounces. That's a pretty good day. Frankly, I wish I had another day to fish. I think I could get a little more redemption with a little more time. But I don't have any more time so I'll have to settle for what's here, or at least I can't do anything about it now so I'll have to live with it.
Along with my five best I lost a couple that I would sure like to have back. I honestly don't know how big they were but they were good ones. That's a part of fishing, though. You always have a couple that come off. That's the way it is in almost every tournament.
I caught my fish today on a Strike King Sexy Shad Spinnerbait, a Strike King Game Hawg and a Strike King Rodent. They all performed exceptionally well; I was really pleased with my bait selection.
Upon reflection, I made another bad decision this week that hurt me, too. I thought — and said- that I didn't think the tournament could be won in the community holes. If you look at what some of the guys have done in them it's obvious I was wrong about that.
The boats were more spread out than I thought they'd be and the spectators didn't cause the problems I though they might. What I saw today made me realize that. There was plenty of fishable water in those areas and the spectators were the best I've ever seen at any Classic. They didn't cause any problems at all.
I'm disappointed, to say the least. This wasn't my best Classic. I made a couple of bad decisions and paid a very high price for it. But tomorrow's a new day and Amistad is right around the corner. I can't wait to go fishing.