I’m a little disappointed in my performance at Table Rock. It’s one thing not to do well. It’s another to make silly mistakes and do things you know not to do. You can live with the former, but the latter is a killer.
My first day was tough. I didn’t have the weight I needed to be competitive and I knew it. But, instead of changing locations, I went right back out on the second day and fished exactly like I had the day before.
Here’s the deal: If you catch 11 pounds at a certain place, it doesn’t make any sense to go back there the next day. Giant bass do not move into an area overnight, at least not very often. And they most certainly do not move that way often enough to justify returning to that place in an Elite Series tournament.
So why did I do what I did, you ask?
I don’t know. It was a matter of slipping into old habits, I suppose. It was a matter of me not thinking my way through what I was doing. You’d think a guy would learn, wouldn’t you? Obviously, I haven’t. I thought I had but that was another mistake I made, one that cost me.
On top of all that I lost a fishing lure that cost $30 if you count the replacement hooks I put on it. Frugal Charlie — I think that sounds better than Cheap Charlie — doesn’t often pay that much for a bait but this one was supposed to be worth it. I couldn’t resist.
Well, I threw one of them out. My cast wasn’t right. I jerked anyway. My line broke. No problem I thought. I’ll just motor over toward it and pick it up when it floats to the top. I got to it just in time to see it fade from sight on its way to the bottom. Who ever heard of a jerkbait that sinks?
I did get a laugh at the end of the tournament, though. Some of the guys were talking about how much they were looking forward to three weeks off. They were going to rest, hunt turkeys and go crappie fishing. If my life was only that simple and well ordered…
I’m at Signcom trying to get things under control so I can head back out in a couple of weeks and do some more competitive fishing. (I’m not complaining. We all have our baggage to carry. I’m just stating the facts.)
On the positive side of things, the weather here in Columbus is warming up, and I caught a big bass the other day. I was going to fish one of the local reservoirs but the water was high, full of drift, muddy and cold. I thought I might do better at a local pond.
I fished a place I’ve fished for years. I would have bet my life that there was nothing in it that weighed over 2 pounds. I was wrong. I nailed a 6-pound beauty on almost the first cast. Now, if I can just do that on Toledo Bend in a few weeks…