I was able to drive to this event with my practice partner and Michigan division angler Randy Ramsey. He qualified recently in April at the TBF National Championship on Table Rock lake. I qualified at the Potomac river regional in October.
We went down to prefish memorial Day weekend before the cutoff. We found the water two feet higher than normal and very muddy from all the rain. Our practice was terrible. In three and a half days we only boated about 6 or 7 keepers.
So we roll into town and find the water is only up a little bit and the clarity is back to normal for Barkley which is stained. We go to the Tues night banquet and pairing meeting. After a good meal there is a nice speech from the Knight and Hale game call founders. Both lifetime residents of the Land Between the Lakes area.
The pairings are then announced and wouldn't you know it a 1 in 49 chance Randy and I are paired together for official practice and the first day of the tourney. We head out for the practice day hoping the condition change Will help the pattern we have been working on. Which is fishing isolated stumps and brush piles on the edge of dropoffs.
After about four hrs of little action Randy decides its time to look for something else. So we run about 20 miles South into Tennessee waters and just go fishing. We end up trying a few things but our only success comes from fishin bluff walls where we catch a couple keepers and some smaller fish. Late in the day we run back by the ramp and catch a couple more fish on more steep rocky banks. Its not much but at least its something to fall back on during the tourney. Day 1 tomorrow.
You ran 20 miles in the boat just to find fishable water?
Thats only 15 minutes in calm water. Also the lake changes the farther South you go. It gets narrower and is even more current driven.
Day 1
Randy decides to start on a road bed we caught a couple of keepers off including a 3lber in pre-practice. We left it alone yesterday. We fish it from all angles on both sides. Then fish some nearby docks and some shoreline cover. There is tons of bait around but we get no bites. We then run to a couple more spots from pre-practice that he felt were high percentage areas. Nothing happening. This time he pulls the plug after about 2hrs.
We run to the bluffs down South. We fish these for a couple of hrs and its looking grim. Finally I hook up with a nice one and get a fish near 4lbs in the net. I am relieved to have a fish to weigh in. There was a definite possiblity of a co angler blanking both days. In the end I believe 6 guys did just that.
We go another long stretch with nothing. Finally we run back North a few miles and start on a bluff we havent fished before. At one spot there is a big tree laying down in the water. Randy throws a shaky head in the thick of it, thinks he has a bite and sets the hook but comes up empty. He throws back in the tree, sets up again and hooks up with a keeper. Now he is relieved like I was because he wont blank on the day.
About two casts later a mere 40 feet up the bank he hooks up again with another keeper. He now has two and continues to work the same area. I find the tree right in front of me and after multiple casts into it I am rewarded with a solid thump. I drive the hook home and land another keeper close to 3lbs.
We work the area for quite a while but come up empty. Randy will fish this spot again on day 2 and catch another keeper from it. We fish hard the rest of the day and find ourselves on a main river spot near the ramp at 3:05 with a 3:30 check in. Both still with 2 fish. Randy is working the break while I throw up on the flat.
I get an unexpected solid tap on my shakey head and bury the hook in a fish. It rises to the top like a bass but then goes back down. I see a flash of white and think I have a drum. It gets closer to the surface and shows itself to be a bass and goes into the net. This would be huge for me if it measures. I am bummed as it is only 14 and a half inches. We end the day, and my two good fish weigh 6lbs and 7 oz and have me in contention in 11th place.
I love reading about your trips Phil.... wackem bud... 8) 8)
I'm mad at Phil for not sneaking me with him.. LOL... Just jealous actually.
Great write up. Didn't see the final results so I am waiting for your report.
Crap, I just did all of day 2 but it got lost somewhere. Give me time I will have to do it again.
Day 2
I am paired with Jim Eakin on this day. Jim lives just 45 min away in Clarksville TN. He is also a disabled Iraq war vet and an awesome guy. He had a limit yesterday going 14lbs and sits in 8th place.
Jim's main spot is a thin rocky point with a couple pieces of wood on it. He caught three of his keepers here and his partner lost a big smallmouth. It is literally one minute from the launch in Little river creek. When we get there another boat is sitting on it. Jim says they are fishing it wrong and we fish a quarter mile away waiting for them to leave. He caught a 3lber yesterday on this spot.
We fish for about twenty minutes with no bites. The other boat leaves and we slide over there. We fish for another twenty minutes without a bite. I am working a smallie beaver on a skakey head. I am dragging it along the bottom and all of a sudden it gets heavy and starts pulling away. I lean into the fish and get a good hookup.
I fight it to the net but it looks short of the 15 inch limit. I put it on the board and it is just short. I flip it over and after a couple swipes of the tail it barely touches and Jim agrees. I feel lucky to have one in the box at 8:15 though I will check it again at weigh in.
With no more bites we move to a small creek arm loaded with wood and brush. Jim is pitching a beaver and catches two keepers and two shorts. I catch two shorts. We move to another small arm that looks the same. Jim picks up his 3rd keeper here.
We fish hard the rest of the day and can only come up with a few shorts. With a 3 pm check in we end up back at the rocky point at 2:15, We have 45 min to make something happen. We are only there 5 min and jim hooks up and leads a 3lber to the net. A few minutes later a thought I felt a very soft bite, so I reel down and feel a slight weight.
I rear back and get a solid hookup. I get it in the net but on the board it is only 14 inches. A few minutes later I get a for sure bite and bury the hook in another one. Into the net and on too the board. 14 inches. Another 10 min and I get a third bite. Another solid hookup,fish in the net and 14 inches.
10 min before we have to head in and Jim hooks up. He guides a 16 inch fish into the net. With a 12lb limit I assure him he will make the top 10 cut.
No more bites we head in and get some bags. I check my fish again and swear it has shrunk a little because it is clearly short on both sides. Not wanting a 1 pound penalty I throw it back. With no fish I fall too 25th and get a check for$1000. Jim holds his position in 8th and will fish the final day. Once again the All American was an fantastic expierience. So if I qualify I will once again be back at Kentucky lake in October for the Regional to try to make it again.
Great report. Hope you make it back again next year.
Good job Team houston! Sorry you didn't just win the thing!