CaptainSolo
Senior Member
Got my new Phoenix 920Pro XP last week, and couldn't wait to fish my first tournament out of it. I ended up finding an event on Lake Oconee- a lake which I have never been to- and entered.
I got up there thursday afternoon before the event to give myself a solid day of practice. The only research I had done was look at my Navionics Mobile App to see what kind of contours the lake had. Looked to be a relatively shallow fishing lake, with lots of docks, which got me pretty stoked.
During practice, it became immediately apparent that the shallow bite should be pretty strong. With a warming trend, water temp in the mid-60's, and a full moon in the calendar, I knew there would be at least a few in a spawning mode. My first approach was to use a Secret Lures Stupid Tube, a Swim Jig, and a couple other presentations, but those two were what got the bites. I had a few that bit the swim jig, and then the Stupid Tube also got a few bites....and all the fish were solid 3+ pounders. By the end of my practice day I figured that if I picked up a jig and swam it, pitched it, and skipped it under docks, I could fish all day with one rod.
Going into the tournament I felt pretty solid, and I figured if I got my bites in the boat I would have a shot at a win- but that turned out to be the hard part. I started the day with the solitary jig rod and for some reason the fish weren't eating it, but rather they would pick it up, swim like 5 feet before I felt them, and when I would set there wouldn't be anything there.....and that happened like 8-9 times. I also lost a couple fish close to the boat that I briefly got a hook into. Finally at almost 1pm I picked up a Zman Palmetto Bugz and started getting solid hooklets and landing fish. Quickly I landed a 2.5, a 6, a 14"er, a 2.5, a 3 and culled with a 3.5. It was one of my best responses to a terrible day I have had during a tournament. I ended up with 17lbs 10oz and finished 2nd, making a pretty good paycheck and getting some hardware.
Looks like the first event out of the Bird was a success.
Has anyone else had a day where they made a comeback like this?
I got up there thursday afternoon before the event to give myself a solid day of practice. The only research I had done was look at my Navionics Mobile App to see what kind of contours the lake had. Looked to be a relatively shallow fishing lake, with lots of docks, which got me pretty stoked.
During practice, it became immediately apparent that the shallow bite should be pretty strong. With a warming trend, water temp in the mid-60's, and a full moon in the calendar, I knew there would be at least a few in a spawning mode. My first approach was to use a Secret Lures Stupid Tube, a Swim Jig, and a couple other presentations, but those two were what got the bites. I had a few that bit the swim jig, and then the Stupid Tube also got a few bites....and all the fish were solid 3+ pounders. By the end of my practice day I figured that if I picked up a jig and swam it, pitched it, and skipped it under docks, I could fish all day with one rod.
Going into the tournament I felt pretty solid, and I figured if I got my bites in the boat I would have a shot at a win- but that turned out to be the hard part. I started the day with the solitary jig rod and for some reason the fish weren't eating it, but rather they would pick it up, swim like 5 feet before I felt them, and when I would set there wouldn't be anything there.....and that happened like 8-9 times. I also lost a couple fish close to the boat that I briefly got a hook into. Finally at almost 1pm I picked up a Zman Palmetto Bugz and started getting solid hooklets and landing fish. Quickly I landed a 2.5, a 6, a 14"er, a 2.5, a 3 and culled with a 3.5. It was one of my best responses to a terrible day I have had during a tournament. I ended up with 17lbs 10oz and finished 2nd, making a pretty good paycheck and getting some hardware.
Looks like the first event out of the Bird was a success.
Has anyone else had a day where they made a comeback like this?
