Iowa Bass Fishing Team Qualifier

We had our first Qualifier this past weekend that will count towards the National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship to be held next fall down in Texas. With the turnout of last years National Tournament, theres only one way I can go in the standings, and that is up.

Our qualifier was being held at some catch and release ponds/lakes that are about 15min from campus. The lakes offer good size bass and if you like the pitch and flip in heavy cover this place is for you. I started out the day pitching an All Terrain Jig around brush in a shallow cove only to find that they weren't in the same spot as one week ago. I proceeded to hit my areas that I usually catch fish in and ended up empty handed. (Sometimes fishing past memories can be a mistake)

After moving into areas that I had never been to before I started catching fish. The key was finding areas that had wood were there was shallow water with deep water close by, not typical of a spring time bite where they are usually up on flats. I was pitching an All Terrain jig around heavy wood cover for the first few hours and ended up with 19", 17", and 16" fish. As the day wore on the water was warming up and the bass were beggining to get skittish. I threw my jig at this one peice of wood about 15 times to see if I couldn't get a reaction bite. I finally put down the jig, picked up an All Terrain Stick Worm, and BAM! first cast one came shooting out of the cover and grabbed it. A nice 16.5" fish. That just goes to show that alot of the time the fish are in the area, its just finding the right bait to entice them that counts.

We ended the day at noon and I only had those 4 fish. However, my 4 fish held up to take the top spot in the tournament for the day. I was nice to get my confidence back up even though I had already qualified for the tournament through default of being the president of the club. I'm looking forward to getting back down the Texas next fall for the National Championship. I definately learned somethings down there this year that will help me out next fall.

Here's a look at the gear I was using for the Qualifier:

• Jig Setup: 7'MH St.Croix Avid Series rod (casting), Pflueger Trion reel, 50lb Stren Superbraid line, 3/8oz All Terrain Tackle Jig (Blk/Blue)
• Stick Worm Setup: 6'6" St.Croix Avid Series rod (spinning), Diawa Regal reel, 6lb Berkley 100% Flouroarbon line, All Terrain Tackle Stick Worm (Blk/Blue)