What's A Guy To Do?

[bluffboy]

I fished the CPA Pro-Am as a co-angler this Saturday and drew one of our legandery sight fisherman. He put on a clinic and was a great guy, it was a pleasure to watch a pro at work. However,for the majority of the day the trolling motor was on high and neither one of us had a bait in the water or my half of the boat was literally sitting in tweleve inches of water and I was pinned to the front corner of a dock with no water to fish. When I could throw to open water I caught a few shorts on a Fluke and a Senko. My question is what else could I have tried and how does a guy approach a day when he has such limited angles and water to fish.

[edwin]

Being back-boated can make for a really long day. I recall a few days like you mention at LOZ when working dock after dock after dock...not fun IMHO. My only real answer is to be the guy in the front of the boat.

[techo]

I agree. I think I learned a lot the year I fished the AM side of Pro/AM. The number one thing i learned is that I would rather fish from the front of the boat and lose than the back of a boat and win. The number two thing I learned is I would rather fish with the Mrs. and lose than KVD and.....well never mind on that one.

I did learn quite a it from each guy though. I think in a situation like you said I would throw something to cover a lot of water and hope for a reaction bite, then switch to a c-rigged fish doctor when possible. Course I could be wrong. Sounds like you made the best of a challenging situation and still managed to catch a few.

[Champ188]

Hey bluffboy, if this was your first CPA tourney, I sure hope it won't be your last. As you probably know, there's always a chance of drawing out with a sight fisherman this time of year and I hate that happened to you. One reason I don't sight fish in derbies is just that ... I can't hardly concentrate on working a bedding fish for feeling bad about what I'm doing to my co-angler. Also, sight fishing is too big a gamble for me. And sounds like your guy was looking for fish rather than working beds he'd already located. That's REALLY drawing to an inside straight.

As for what you could do, Techo actually had the best suggestion I could think of ... dragging a C-rig Fish Doctor or lizard behind the boat or out into open water when the boat was sitting still. Otherwise, you were pretty much hamstrung.

Again, sorry you got shut down like that but I hope you'll come back and fish with us some more. There are some top-notch pro division anglers out there from whom you can learn a lot. Shoot me a PM and maybe we can hook up and visit a while at the Bull Shoals derby in June.

[doroger]

I fished the CPA Pro-Am as a co-angler this Saturday and drew one of our legandery sight fisherman. He put on a clinic and was a great guy, it was a pleasure to watch a pro at work. However,for the majority of the day the trolling motor was on high and neither one of us had a bait in the water or my half of the boat was literally sitting in tweleve inches of water and I was pinned to the front corner of a dock with no water to fish. When I could throw to open water I caught a few shorts on a Fluke and a Senko. My question is what else could I have tried and how does a guy approach a day when he has such limited angles and water to fish.

Bluffboy:

I fish the Am side in Heartland, have not been front-ended quite that bad, but I found if the pro is sticking his nose behind the dock, work any open water you can get. No law against throwing from shallow to deep. I use two baits in this situation, a shakey head worm and a heavy jig. You can't control when or how the boat will move, but by using a heavier jig you can get some fish to bite literally right under the boat. Drew a fellow that paralleled bluff walls at LOZ, I pitched a heavy jig literally 5-10 ft from the boat to catch a limit that got me a 5th place finish. Use a heavy jig or shakey head to get your bait on the bottom fast & shake it in place. I would have been as disappointed as you to have the guy burning down the bank looking for bedders, but dragging a C-rig finesse bait should have gotten you a few bites. Don't give up and keep learning from the pros, we have some mighty fine sticks in this part of the states.

Don Rogers

[bluffboy]

Hey bluffboy, if this was your first CPA tourney, I sure hope it won't be your last. As you probably know, there's always a chance of drawing out with a sight fisherman this time of year and I hate that happened to you. One reason I don't sight fish in derbies is just that ... I can't hardly concentrate on working a bedding fish for feeling bad about what I'm doing to my co-angler. Also, sight fishing is too big a gamble for me. And sounds like your guy was looking for fish rather than working beds he'd already located. That's REALLY drawing to an inside straight.

As for what you could do, Techo actually had the best suggestion I could think of ... dragging a C-rig Fish Doctor or lizard behind the boat or out into open water when the boat was sitting still. Otherwise, you were pretty much hamstrung.

Again, sorry you got shut down like that but I hope you'll come back and fish with us some more. There are some top-notch pro division anglers out there from whom you can learn a lot. Shoot me a PM and maybe we can hook up and visit a while at the Bull Shoals derby in June.

Congrats to you and Donna Sunday,that was a fine performance given the company you were keeping.I passed Donna on the dock Saturday and wanted to introduce myself but she had a toad in the bag and I didn't want to keep her.This is my first year with CPA and I'm planning on fishing the rest of the year if the fishing account allows. Thanks to all who replied and all the great advise. I hope I didn't give the wrong impression as I don't blame the pro for my poor performance. I knew the deal when I sent in the money. My job is to fish the water i'm given to fish. I learned alot Saturday and thanks to this forum I will be better prepared should this situation arise again.Champ, its people like you and Donna that drew me to CPA and I have met nothing but quality people since I've been there.Congrats again and I will see you and Donna in the check line at Bull Shoals.

[Donna G]

Thank you for your kind words, Bluffboy. We love fishing CPAA. We fish some other tournaments occasionally, like BFL, and there is nothing that compares to the CPAA for quality folks and darn good anglers, both pro and co. It's like family to me. You know, you love them all, but there is always a grumpy ol' uncle or crazy cousin to deal with.

I believe you got some good advice from the guys on what do when you have skinny water. Champ had a friend when we lived in Hot Springs that threw a Carolina Rig on the outside of wherever Champ was fishing and regularly caught fish. We get so smart sometimes and think fish are only in the prem-o spots, yet they can be caught cruising around. It's not the best odds, but better than nothing.

Please do introduce yourself at Bull. We would like to meet you.

Take care.

Donna G