As I prepare for the fourth Elite event at the Arkansas River, I’m feeling pretty optimistic. I had a rough start to the season with a low finish at Lake Guntersville. I did better at Lake Martin, but then I had a strong finish at the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, where I placed 22nd.
Right off the bat at Guntersville, I had some decent practices, but I didn’t adjust well. I didn’t settle into areas and fish.
I know that time of year, when you find them in the grass, it’s just a matter of the right angle, making the right cast and it’ll happen. I just ran around too much. That time of year, if you run around too much, either you’re gonna bust a giant bag or you’re gonna bomb.
Early in the year, when I just settle down and fish and stay in an area, I do better. It was just a dumb move on my part. I guess it was just the preseason jitters.
At Martin, I got to fish exactly how I like to fish. It really set up well for me. It reminded me of Oklahoma, and it’s just a cool lake to fish.
I just had a screwup on Day 2 when I came in a minute late. That’s detrimental when the weights are tight. I should have had a pretty good finish there, because I had an area to myself, but I made a costly mistake.
Thankfully, I had a much better time at the Tenn-Tom; that’s a place that really reminds me of home. I got on a deal early on Day 1 of practice and started catching fish right off the bat. I think that made a big difference for me, and it gave me the confidence to just fish.
I locked down one pool to get away from everybody, but I didn’t run around a bunch. I considered different areas, but with locking, you’re committed.
I got on some things down there that were so consistent, I would go behind guys and just wreck ‘em. I’d watch three guys go down a bank, and I’d pull in and catch six to 10 fish behind them.
We had a cold front toward the end of that tournament, but I didn’t adjust to what those fish were doing and I ended up having a bad day. I could see it happening in my mind, I was just too hardheaded to change.
All in all, that was a good tournament. It’s starting to get back to fishing like I like to do. It’s what I know how to do and what I have confidence in. I think that was the major difference between the latter two tournaments and the first one.
That thought also applies to the Arkansas River. It’s very similar to the Tenn-Tom — the only difference is the weights are going to be higher. It’s still a river system, so you’re not looking to get a ton of bites. If you get seven to eight bites a day, you’ll be in good shape.
That’s my kind of fishing, so I’m looking forward to this one.
