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Old Hickory, TN
FLW Tour
05/23/2002 - This event turned out to be the most frustrating of my career. This was the 5th stop on the 2002 FLW Tour, and going in to the tournament I was in second in the FLW Angler of the Year standings by just one point. I found the fish to have a solid top 10 finish, and ended up finishing a disappointing 38th.
What made it especially tough was the fact that my second day amateur weighed in 16 pounds of bass (and lost a 5 pounder), and I had only 4 fish that weighed 8 pounds that second day. To put his catch in perspective, the second best amateur catch that day out of the 175 man amateur field was 7 pounds. Only one pro had more weight than he did that day. Now I have had amateurs beat me plenty of times from the back of the boat, but never while fishing boat docks with a spinnerbait. On this pattern, 99% of the time the first cast in the boat slip gets the bass. Most days when I fish docks, my amateur partners never catch a fish.
We were fishing the same spinnerbait, too. The only discrepancy was in equipment: I was throwing my spinnerbait on a Team Daiwa baitcaster with 20 lb. Trilene XT, my partner was using a spinnerbait with a spinning rod and 8 lb. test(no thats not a typo!)
I still am stunned by that days events, and continue to seek the answers to why I did not get the bites he got. On a couple of his fish, he let the spinnerbit sink of a couple of feet before beginning his retrieve, but some of his bites came from throwing to the exact spot I had just thrown to, using the same retrieve speed. His lucky day? Perhaps. It was his biggest daily catch in 12 years as fishing as an amateur.
But there is more to it than that. I was fishing too fast. But I had good reason to. The early spinnerbait on docks bite only lasted for about 2 hours then it was over for the day. I had more docks that I could fish in 2 hours and I was hustling, trying to hit as many docks as possible. The fish had to have been on the move as well, chasing shad in the early morning. Perhaps the fish my partner caught 30-60 seconds after I threw to the same spot was not there when I threw in there just seconds earlier. Have you ever seen bass chasing shad? They move faster than the eye can see.
And finally, it is possible that the 8 lb. line made a difference. I consider this a very remote possiblity as the water had about 1 1/2 feet of visibility and the fish were in the shade of the docks. I will experiment with lighter line with all lures more in the future. I love to fish 6 lb. Vanish with finesse baits, but I have been closed to it for spinnerbaits. I have not thrown anything less than 17 lb. XT on a spinnerbait in 15 years. A sound whipping like I got will make you sit back and look at everything though!
I was so disappointed because it ruined my shot at FLW Angler of the Year. I am still in second, only now Kevin has a 28 point lead on me. There is about as much chance of him blowing a 28 point lead as there is of Tiger Woods blowing a 28 shot lead in a golf tournament.
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