The Texas Swing was a case of highs and lows for me. I finished seventh at Lake Fork and earned a Century Club belt, but last week at the Sabine River, I had a tough time and finished 61st.
Starting with Fork, I’ve only been there twice, but I’ve finished seventh and earned a Century Club belt both times. I believe the reason I’ve done well there is because it’s very similar to the way I fish back home — I always have multiple things going.
When I win a tournament back home in Alabama, I don’t ever win doing one thing. I apply that mindset at Fork, so I can take advantage of the bite windows.
For example, the morning bite this year was swimming a jig and throwing a Spook. Last year, it was all about catching the prespawn fish that were floating and getting ready to transition during the daytime.
This year’s sequence was reversed from last year. The first year I fished Fork, I would Scope in the morning, I would move up and Scope shallow targets, then late in the day, I would swim a jig.
In our recent visit to Lake Fork, I would swim a jig in the morning, then I would transition to Scoping midday and late in the day I would look for bed fish.
The point to all this is my style of fishing allows me to take advantage of several different windows throughout the day to obtain more than one big-bite opportunity. That seemed to put the odds in my favor.
It’s fun when I get to fish a lake that fits my style because I can approach it from every direction I want to. Shallow or deep, I’m confident with either one.
I definitely have my favorite techniques, but Fork gives you options. You don’t have to fish certain things at certain times. As small of a fishery as it is, it seems to suits me well because the places I fish are more like areas, or it’s conditions based.
The Sabine River was much different. This was my first time there, but I can honestly say this one would have fished differently without the crazy high tide and the strong south wind.
The Taylor Bayou area was where most of it went down, and that’s where I practiced. I ended up not going there in the tournament because on Day 1, I broke my Hot Foot going across Sabine Lake. It felt like it would be a more challenging run in that situation, so I ended up coming back.
I fished close to the ramp and, even though I only had three fish on Day 1, I thought I had figured out enough that I could possibly catch a limit around the ramp on Day 2. I caught a really nice one on Day 1, so I felt like I could catch a couple of really nice ones on Day 2.
Unfortunately, we weren’t getting the right tide. You’d have a short window in the morning when the tide wasn’t perfect, but it was halfway into the rising tide.
By 8:30 or 9 o’clock, the tide would be full and it would continue to rise because the wind would keep blowing it in there. It would rise to where it was a foot above high tide and that would flood everything and become super challenging.
I will say I learned a lot from my first Sabine River tournament. The biggest thing is you really have to slow down and pick apart everything.
I did the Halftime live show with Dave Mercer on Day 3, and I heard John Crews say on camera he was about to lock in and fish a one- to two-mile stretch. You will never hear somebody say that anywhere else you go.
It’s usually, “I have somewhere I can get a bite” or “I’m gonna go fish this brushpile.” At the Sabine, it’s not something specific, you just have to lock in and fish what’s in front of you.
This was a good learning experience, but now I’m focused on getting some rest, catching up with everybody at home, fishing locally to stay sharp and getting myself ready for the next three Elites. I’m excited about the next three tournaments; I think they’ll fit my style of fishing.
We’re sitting right there around the Classic cut after we dug ourselves out of a hole with Top 10s at Lake Hartwell and Lake Fork. Hopefully, I can make a good run, finish this year strong and make that Classic.
