I’m always excited to fish every Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series event, but I’m even more eager than normal to fish this week’s tournament at Lake Murray. I guess you can say I’m looking for a chance to redeem myself after a very frustrating situation I experienced during the previous Elite event at the Arkansas River.
After catching 17-13 and 16-2 the first two days, I went into Day 3 in seventh place. I had a good day on the water, and I was in great position to make the Top 10 with about 15 pounds in the box.
I had locked down to Pool 15, but shortly before I had to get back to the lock, I spun a hub. I was running the river channel, so it took me about 10 minutes to trolling motor over to the bank so I could address this issue.
I had a spare, but the problem was I was running out of time to make it to the lock for the scheduled opening. I contacted Tournament Director Lisa Talmadge and she did an outstanding job of getting a camera boat driver headed my way.
Lisa also contacted the lock master to see if he could delay the lock time a little to allow me time to get there and get my fish back to weigh in. Unfortunately, he had a barge on the way, so he had to lock all the anglers through before that barge arrived.
Bottom line, I had to throw my fish back. That was very disappointing because, after terrible finishes at the first two events of the year, I was starting to climb my way out of the hole I’d dug for myself.
I had a top 30 finish at the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, so a Top 10 at the Arkansas River would have given me a big boost in the points. I don’t think I could have won the event, but it would have gotten me closer to the Bassmaster Classic cut.
Even after losing all my weight for Day 3, I still ended up with a Top 50 finish. I guess it could have been worse, but this was a harsh example of the risk you take when you lock into other pools.
Looking back, the only thing I could have done differently was run a different prop. The aftermarket prop I was using had a hard plastic hub, but since that event, I now have a solid hub that won’t spin.
After that adversity, I feel like the bigger the test, the bigger the blessing. What I experienced at the Arkansas River was a super big test, but I feel the Lord’s gonna bless me in this week’s tournament and let some good stuff happen.
I’m super motivated, because I see how easily I can move up in the points and get out of the hole I dug. With a Top 10, you can move 25 places or more, so my motivation is to keep trying to get those Top 10s and we’ll be okay.
I put in long practice days on Murray, because this is going to be a challenging event. These are the most pressured and educated fish I’ve seen anywhere — and that’s coming from someone who lives on Lake Guntersville.
The difference is, you have a lot of people fishing Guntersville, but the lake can absorb all that pressure because you have so many different things for people to fish. On Lake Murray, everybody fishes the same points where the blueback herring school up.
These fish just never get a break. The only time you can make them bite is when there’s an active feed and they’re chasing bait. That’s when you have to be there and get your bait on them quick.
Thankfully, I’m boat No. 4 on Day 1. In this tournament, having an early boat draw is a big advantage, so I’m looking forward to capitalizing on whatever blessing the Lord sends my way.
