National Championship part 2

[fishon1219]

Well we had a plan in place for the morning of the Tournament. We had decided to stay on our smallie pattern and hit every point on the lake down by the dam were we found the black shale and grey crushed rock mix. We knew we would not get alot of bites but the ones we did get should be keepers and we would be happy to get 3 and that would give us between 9 and 12 lbs and keep us in the hunt for a win if we could 10 lb them to death for all 3 days of the event.

We had to be at the ramp at 6:00am to launch according to our flight number and when we woke up at 5:00am you guessed it. RAIN. It had rained all night and a storm with high wind had blown through the area sometime in the night. We had blast off number 69 so we anxiously awaited for blast off to start at 7:20.

Finally it was our turn and we negotiated the 50 mile run through the gauntlet of floating trees and other debrie to our starting spot. We fished all day long on the same pattern as we had all week knowing we were only after 3 keeper bites to have a chance at winning the event. Well we caught fish most of the day and my back was sore from bending over measuring fish that were 17 7/8" long.

We finally connected with a keeper at 2:00 and fished the area hard hoping to come up with some more keepers but they never showed up. We headed back to weigh in in the pouring rain and I have to say with out my fish-hedz mask I wouldn't have been able to drive. The only part of our bodies that was dry was, well nothing. I can't remeber fishing in rain that came down so hard all day long in my life.

We finished day one in 60 something place with 2.94 lbs and the cutoff for a check was 27th place and they had 7 lbs. 1st place was at 17lbs anchored by a an almost 7lber.

Day 2 we had to be at the ramp at 6:30 and we woke to a strong thunderstorm with high wind and rain. I think it lways rains on lake Cumberland. We got to the ramp just to park the truck and wait for the storm to subside before they would let us go. At 9:00 the decision was made to let us go and insted of having to be back at 4:30 for us we had to be back at 5:30. We decided we needed to alter our pattern a little bit and focused our attention all the way to the dam and fished the small pockets off of the main lake instead of the secondary points in the larger creeks. We needed a small adjustment because we were near the right fish, but not quite on them. Well this plan worked out with around 35 fish that were all just to small to keep again and we ended up blanking for the day.

In hindsight with our small adjustment it seems we went the wrong way. We found out after the event that the bigger fish that were holding on the points moved back into the creeks and pockets with the rising water and runoff from the mountains and if you could find the run-ins with clear water the bigger fish were all over them.

We had basicly the same weather pattern the whole week we were there and could not by a bite at the very back of the creek arms and pockets but that is were they were catching the big fish. Most came on Jigs and that is my favorite techinqe but during practice I couldn't buy a bite on a jig.

I went north when I should have went south. Lesson learned.

That is why I love fishing the southern resivours. They always seem to kick my behind, but I always learn something from the whoopin that I take.

[Lightningboy]

Nice recap Kevin.  We can all learn a lot from an experience like that.

Makes me ask one question though:  why doesn't FOM choose some more spectactular fishing for the nationals?  I know that places like Falcon in Texas are incredible fisheries, and that all lakes can't be that good.  But nothing I've seen points toward big bags from Cumberland.  In fact, the 2006 FLW visit wasn't anything to write home about. 

It's 450 miles from my house to Lake Cumberland, where you hope to make a 12 lb. bag.  1600 miles to Falcon.  Or Amistad.  Where you hope to make a 25 lb. bag.  I'll take the drive.  The opportunity to compete in a national championship doesn't come along every day.  If I'm going, I want to go somewhere spectacular.  There are a great many awesome fisheries across this country.  Schedule it for big fish time at one of them.

[bigjc]

Kevin,

Don't feel to bad buddy, I was down on Table Rock over the weekend, and although the weather while I was there was near perfect while I was there, it had rained for a week solid before I got there.  The lake is near historically high level (12 feet over summer pool), and incredibly dirty.  Where you can normally see your bait in 15' +, most of the lake right now has a visibility of a few inches.  I only had a total of about 7 hours to fish.  I found some cleaner water as far back in the creeks as I could go.  It was crazy, it was like fishing in a flooded jungle.  We were so far back in the Hollow (pronounced Hollar in the south) , that I was pitching jigs underneath homemade treestands, that were barely above water.  Wound up with a few keeper Kentuckies, on jigs and cranks.  Ya gotta love those impoundments.  Oh well, I will be home tomorrow, and head down to the Detroit River, where I know how to catch walleye.....sometimes.

JC