Exciting Week Awaits!

First an update of our first FLW college tournament.... On March 6th my buddy Tyler and I fished our first event of the year on Bull Shoals in southern Missouri. The fishing was difficult to say the least. 40-44 degree water temps made it tough to get bit. We only caught 4 fish all day. Tyler landed our only keeper in the last half hour of the day on a custom painted lucky craft pointer, it was a solid spotted bass. We only weighed in that one fish and ended up 16th out of 40 boats. The winners only had 3 fish which also shows how difficult it was. It's too bad we couldn't scratch out a few more keepers, those tough tournaments are always the easiest to win.

Even though we had a tough day on the water, I learned a tremendous amount about fishing in cold water. I learned more than I ever knew about jerkbaits and custom tuning them to perfection which will help me in future events.

We also prefished lake of the ozarks and found the bite to be tough there too. We found one area that coughed up a solid 4lb 12oz fish, but that's all we caught that day. We are hoping for warmer weather which may force more fish to move into the area we found. We'll see how it goes.

Now a look ahead... This Friday March 19th Tyler and I will be back on the road heading to Lake of the Ozarks for our second FLW college tournament set for Saturday March 20th. This will be my last FLW college event that I will ever fish, so we definitely need a top 5 to make it to regionals.

After the FLW tournament we are heading back down to southern Missouri to fish Table Rock Lake for two days. The is no specific reason we are fishing this lake besides for fun and to take up a few days. We're hoping for a good bite and with the warm weather they have been getting down there, we could hit it just right.

After Table Rock, we'll travel a few more hours south to Lake Dardanelle for a college regional tournament. We will be practicing for three days and then the tournament is Friday and Saturday. We fished this tournament last year and faired alright, but still not that great. We learned a lot last year and I expect to perform much better this year.

We've got a busy week ahead, but I couldn't be more excited. I've never taken a trip where I'll get the chance to fish 3 top notch lakes withing a week period. Hopefully the fish gods are with us next week. We're hoping for safe travels and even better fishing! Check back for a report once I get back.

Fishmas Season Eve

It's almost here... I'll be leaving tomorrow morning for southern Missouri and the start of my 2010 fishing season. This will mark the earliest I have ever fished for bass in my life. Hopefully we run into a few fish so I can mark down the earliest I've ever caught a bass too, in open water.

My tournament partner Tyler and I will be fishing Bull Shoals lake on Saturday to kick off the FLW College Central Division qualifiers. The goal is to finish in the top 5 in order to qualify for the regional tournament. Last season we were fortunate enough to hold onto a top 5 spot on Lake of the Ozarks. After getting a taste of the regional event last year, we would reeaaally like to return. It could be tough on us this weekend seeing to the fact that we have never laid eyes on the body of water and will not be able to practice. However, this won't get us down and you can bet we will be giving it our best to try and compete for the top spots.

A cold winter has kept bass still somewhat in their winter patterns from what I've been reading. The forcast is showing a warming trend, so we will have to be open minded on the water to determine if the fish are making a move. We have a game plan set in terms of lure choice, it's more so just a matter of finding the fish (Like always right?!)

After Saturdays college tournament we will travel a few miles up to Branson, Missouri to watch the final day weigh-in for the FLW Tour pro tournament that is taking place on Table Rock Lake. That should be very fun and exciting, I'm looking forward to it.

Once the FLW Tour weigh-in wraps up we will be traveling a few more hours north to Lake of the Ozarks. In a few weeks we have our second FLW College event on Lake Oz, so we will be stopping there on the way home to spend a little time on the water on Sunday. I'll be towing my boat down to Bull Shoals so we will be able to use it on Lake Oz.

It should be a jammed pack weekend full of nothing but fishing, fishing, fishing. My reels are all spooled with fresh new line, the boat is ready to go, and I've got a terrible case of cabin fever. It should be an awesome weekend to kick off the season and scratch the itch!!