Well guys and gals it has been a long time since my last blog.  I will try to catch up on the Bassmaster Weekend Series at Clarks Hill in Georgia operated by the American Bass Anglers.  To help move things along and keep a relatively short blog I will run through the practice days and tournament days fairly quick.  I finished 85th out of over 200 qualifying anglers throughout the country.  Many of these guys are very talented and have even fished in the Bassmaster Classic.  I was disappointed in my finish but I did take a few good things away and will apply them to 2008 as I make another run at the Classic.

I stayed at Wildwood Park with some close friends of mine from Minnesota.  Wayne, Joan and Rich Lindgren are long time friends from MN.  We stayed in comfort of a very nice 5th wheel RV. I had a awesome leather recliner to sleep in and had a fantastic cook, Joan to keep us fed. 

Going into practice I figured it to a be a run and gun style tournament. I figured to fish fast and cover a lot of water. Instincts sometimes I forget to listen to them.

Day 1 Practice:
I launched at daylight and headed out. Due to my previous practice in September I wanted to check some spots I had found.  I 1st headed up the Little Savannah to a creek arm that I had located some brush piles.  Unfortunately the brush biles were now out of the water.  So I headed to 4 or 5 other areas I had previously fished.  The areas were creek channel bends with brush piles in 15ft of water. Now the piles were in 5-8ft of water. But no big deal fish were still holding on them.  In a mater of a few hours I had a solid limit of 8lbs, all on a jig.  I thought I had something going.  

Day 2 Practice:
I headed out and decided to head up the LIttle Savannah as far as I could stand to drive.  I past several bridges and found a ton of wood and chunk rock in the water. I immediately thought this is my kind of water, jig water. No such luck.  I then changed tactics and started chunking Rattle Traps in Chrome/Blue and white blue Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits. The Secret Weapon Spinnerbait will come back to haunt me as Rich can attest.  I had another nice limit on the Rattle Trap. Most of the bites were on main lake points up the river.

Day 3 Practice:
I decided to head up the Savannah about 25 miles or so. I just wanted to run all new water and try to find a slow and more solid jig bite.  By mid day I had nothing on a jig an went back to the run and gun with my Rattle Trap. I put together another solid string of about 6lbs.  Again most bites were on main lake points. But the bite was slowing to only 5 or 6 bites a day for me.

Strategy:
I figured I would start with some early top water as I had some solid fish on a Sebile Magic Swimmer. I then would hit my points and brush piles with a Rattle Trap and Spinnerbait.  Once I found the fish I would slow down and pick it apart with my jig.  I thought I could get a small limit per day and hope for a kicker along the way with a jig.

Day 1:
I went to my most productive spot and pounded it with a jig and nothing.  It was cloudy early and thought if I would wait till the sun came out  the bass would move into my brush piles.  No such luck.  Mistake 1 - waiting too long for the fish to move in.  After about 4 hrs and fishing way too slow I decided to move on. I started hoping points. I finally caught a keeper on a chrome/blue rattle trap.  I then slowed down with a jig but no takers. I finally had 3 fish to weigh in for little over 3lbs. I was saving my big fish spot for later that afternoon and that is were mistake #2 happened.  I saw my toad under a dock were I had seen her the past few days. There she was just laying next to a float. I bet I pitched at her 20 times with various lures and nothing, no movement no nothing. I finally pitch in a albino fluke and let it just sink.  She did not move. So I reached in the  cooler for a drink and looked up and she was gone.  Thinking I scared her off I just started reeling the slack on my spinning rod. That is when all heck broke loose. She pounded the fluke and I did not have time to react with a good hook set. She rolled up from underneath the dock and came unbuttoned.  Guessing 5+ pounds at least.  Not happy. That fish cost me a top 50 and a paycheck.  But at least I was leading Rich in the Bet, will explain later. 120th on day 1.

Day 2:
Day 2 provided 30+ MPH wind.  I headed back to my favorite spot to check my brush piles. NOTHING going. I think my fish just flat moved on.  Again I just spent too much time trying to fish slow with a jig. I should have been speeding up the whole time and fishing faster.  I caught 2 more bass for a couple pounds and lost another important bite.  Worst thing is Rich was catching me a few ounces at a time. Dropped to 140+ on day 2
Rich and I enjoyed a few beers that night talking about what we need to do to make a move. We knew we had to go big or go home.  We talked about how we were fishing and what we needed to change. My key bait was a chrome blue rattle trap and fishing fast.  I decided I was going to live or die by that bait. I planned to cover a lot of water.  Rich also decided to cover a lot of water also, however he chose a Secret Weapon Spinnerbait and Sebile lipless crank as his weapon. Lets just say he made a wise choice.  Told you earlier that Secret Weapon would come back to haunt me.

Day 3:
I headed back to run my spots where I was most productive.  I quickly caught a decent keeper on my rattle trap off a main lake point.  I moved around to another point and hit another keeper. I noticed bait fish running the points where I caught the fish and decided to key on the baitfish movement.  I fished faster then my days back in Indiana on Cataract and Raccoon lake near Greencastle, Indiana. I moved around quite a lot and found some schoolies.  I caught 2 fish out the schoolies with the biggest around 3lbs.  I caught several more short fish but could not find another keeper.  I had 4 fish for nearly 7lbs.  I thought I had a chance at top 50 as the weights were coming in low but also thought I was going to put it to Rich.  Rich came in on a late flight and I was brimming ear to ear.  However as soon as I peaked into his bag, I knew I was had.  You can check out his blog.  I tell ya I pointed him in the right direction and what credit did I get?  I finished 85th and a few pounds out of the money. I was happy I did not give up and kept fighting. I wish I would have figured it out a big faster. I think if I would have fished faster on day 2 it would have been a different story.  Live and learn!

Then bet, well lets say I put Rich on a single dock with a big  Spot at Hartwell and that 1 bass took a priced lure out of my box.  My info on my rattle trap bite for day 3 put it over the time. Without that he would have lost and not taken my second prized lure out of my box.  I guess I need to keep my mouth shut.  I will let him explain the bet and you tell me if I get enough credit or not.  Check out his blog site for more Clarks Hill information.

Pics to follow in another blog

Here is to a good 2007 but a better 2008!
Billy