"just How Good Of A Fisherman Are You?" "really"

[Bill Babler]

Thanks Techo for posting the weights. Allways good to see that big drink of water.

You know, I played Baseball in College, and was pretty good. Today I couldn't hit my way out of a wet paper bag, or for that matter, probably even throw a pitch over the strike zone.

Most of my clients say yes, I am a really good fisherman, I fished all the time when I was a kid. Or, they say we fish all the time, at least once a year on vacation.

Yesterday that would not and did not cut the mustard.

I will be the first to tell you, the fish in the Heartland tournament books from yesterday were not available to most of us.

Yes, there were some nice bags of big, Big, Fish. There were also about 50 of those 98 teems that did not do SQUAT, with a Capital K.

Top teams of guides and pro-tournament anglers, that fish 250 days a year got after them pretty good, but some of the guys that fish 1/2 that, did not do so well.

Wind, persion casting, and large waves, all came into play. Spoke to a couple of the teams and while one guy held the boat in the wind the other fished. Not uncommon at all in team events for one angler to sacrifice his fun to guide while the other fishes.

In big money events one of the team will almost always catch the majority of the fish. Maybe not so much that he is a better fisherman, than his partner, but it is a team, and team work is really important. You could see by the weights yesterday which teams worked the best.

It will be interesting to see today how the pro's go about holding their boats, netting their own fish and keeping their baits wet in this extreme fishing situation. There will be hero's and zero's. Lets see how many 20 pound bags we get today, and how many 1, 2, or zero fish bags. Something tells me there will be more of the latter.

Will let you know.

[Thom]

Absolutely right about teams. I have fished many days whenI did great because of who I was fishing with rather than how smart I was. The other person in the boat makes all of the difference.

That is why I always advise people who are fishing a stream or lake the first time enlist the services of a guide. Spending 7 or 8 hundred dollars for meals and accomadations and going home skunked is kind of a waste. Investing another three hundred dollars for the trip of your life if you can afford it makes a lot of sense.

That is why I appreciate folks like you and others who share knowledge and technique on this forum. Priceless information.

Thanks.

[captmac]

Can't agree more Bill my partner an I eaked out a little over 17 pounds for a 10 th place finish seems like always one person in the boat is on fish. Boat control was an extremly large part of the puzzle and Tom did an excellent job never knocked my hat off once. all fish we caught were shallow and in amongst the trees and brush all our fish were on spinnerbaits threw the jig some but always went back to the blade.

[Fishin' Freak]

Bill you are exactly right. My partner and I had one of those one fish bags. We only managed two fish all day and we were extremely disappointed to say the least. We are not lucky enough to fish anywhere close to 250 days a year yet we feel we are "decent" fisherman but yesterday was as humbling as humbling gets. We did not have the fish figured out and it showed. There are some great fisherman who fish these derbys and we saw that first hand yesterday.

[focused fishing]

Great post Bill, you hit the nail on the head. I guided instead of fishing Heartland this w/e and one of my clients asked how much weight I thought it would take to win on Sat. Told him 20 + pounds, then he asked why we weren't catchem' like that...... as he tossed one of my spinnerbaits 15' feet deep into the brush. He quickly changed the subject.....

[Mitch G]

LOL

[vozikis]

I went out friday afternoon, and most of the day saturday and caught 1 short bass. This was the 1st time I've been down in the spring and didn't quite get what I expected

[techo]

I fished the AM side of the Pro/Am today. Big old stinky skunk here! My good friend was an AM on another boat and he blanked too. There are some big fish being weighed in. I think Charlie ( walking legend) was the leader when I went to warm up some. I wasn't cold until we stopped fishing.

Funny you mentioned a client throwing his bait 15' into the trees. My first cast today was about 40' high. I am sure the Pro in the front was laughing on the inside.

Spinner bait was the key again today. One angler said you had to have round blades not the willow blades. Now he tells me!

[Bill Babler]

Whom ever told you the round blade deal was as full of "Hooey" as it gets. Throw it in front of one that's in the right bush, and you will nab him on a chunk of coal with a shiney spinner on it.

Congrats to: Capt. Rick LaPoint with 5 that weighed 25 plus. Best stringer in a 5 fish tournament that I have ever see on the rock. I fished a Redman about 15 years ago that Jerry McCutchen and Sonny Chapin won, that I believe took 32 pounds, but that was a team and may have been the biggest bag ever weighed in on the rock. My partner and I had 22 pounds that day and didn't get a check. There was around 150 boats, it was amazing.

Brad Butler with a solid 22 lbs. in second

Charlie Cambell with 20.5 on 4 fish. What a quartet of toads. was third. He has forgotten more about fishing than I will ever hope to know. God Bless Him, I hope I am still fishing that hard at his age. Do you realize he was guiding here when this was the White River, out of a long drift Boat? Amazing, just flat Amazing.

Jason Baxter with up close to 19.6 in fourth, with a big boy of 7.64 that netted him close to a grand, for the biggen.

Pattern from a straight bush pattern of yesterday changed. Spoke to most of the top catchers. Yesterday back of creeks, and secondary points out of the brush. Today main lake wide open points with lots of wind. These are staging fish getting ready to move back in. Most felt the fish they caught yesterday were still back there, but the cold temps affected the shallower fish.

The fish just moving up on the main lake points were not as affected by the cold front. Most of the guys I talked to said there fish didn't come off bushes they were seeing, just somewhat shallow in the main lake windy points.

Most fish were caught on a tandem willow leaf or a size 7 single colorado. Most on the willow tandem.

Several guys fishing the big windy flat points reported seeing lots of gizzard flashing and jumping. Probably didn't hurt. Jason, saw shad and saw a big fish flash after one and caught his big boy a couple of casts later. It is a pretty for sure deal the fish were chasing shad on the shallow wind swept points.

Lots of the amatures did well if the pro was giving them a fair shot. They really shined on the long flat main lake points as it kind of evened the playing field by taking away first shots at visible structure.

One of the keys was just moving the blades slow enough to keep them rotating. and killing the bait from time to time. Fast presentations just got ignorded. Lots of the amatures in the back did well by slowing down. The pro's trying to hit every piece of cover on some accounts were fishing way to fast.

Couple of guys on the pro side told me that every cast they would say to themselves "slow down, slow down."

Lots of fish caught from Kimberling to Long Creek. Mouth of the James to pt. 5 seemed to be the killer zone.

Out of the bushes and on to the wide open points for today best action.

By the end of next week, it should be unbelieveable.

[techo]

Thanks for the info. When you are an AM...you fish where the pro goes. I had a nice feller, but we stayed on the pattern that worked for him yesterday. Part of the difference might have had to do with the lake getting shallower instead of deeper. It was a great learning experience either way.

Charlie Campbell is one of the nicest guys in the World. I like to stand next to him and try to soak up some of his knowlegde and niceness. It seems like everyone around him is always smiling.