Tommy culled all of his early morning fish except the one he caught out on the river. Culling fish is a time consuming activity, but it's one you really don't mind doing. Here is a picture of Tommy with his balance beam trying to decide which bass goes back in and which one gets a ride to the stage.
Tommy worked hard on upgrading his limit all afternoon. As time was winding down, with only literally a few minutes till we had to fly, Tommy made what he told me was his last pitch. Almost like he was calling his shot, he set the hook on his biggest bass of the day. A last minute louie fish! He was one happy camper!
What we all hope for, a last minute Louie kicker!
We buckled up right after that fish and headed out of his super slough and headed for the weigh in.
Power poles up and heading back to the weigh in.
It was a short run back to the ramp and Tommy motored quite confidently back into the tie up area. Tommy holds things pretty tight to the chest. He rarely cracked a smile and is known for being a very serious competitor. I felt though, that he had what he felt he needed to be a major player for the last day.
The crowd at the dock, "Hey there's Paula, Charlie, and Destiny.
When the various flights come in each day, tournament officials meet you and drop off a weigh in bag. You fill it up part way with water and then dig your fish out of the livewell. The bags zip shut and the pro then carries his sack behind the weigh in stage. Once there, the fish are placed in a tub where an official makes sure they all are the legal length. Then, the fish are rebagged in a semipermeable bag and place in treated aerated tanks. The fish are very well cared for and anglers are penalized if any of their catch dies. Immediately after their weigh in on stage a volunteer takes the bag, and the fish are put in aerated tanks on the release boat. The large pontoon release boat takes all the fish out away from the weigh in area and releases them.
B.A.S.S. has two release boats at their events.
After the Day Two weigh in was over, Mr. Tommy Biffle found himself in the lead by almost three pounds. On Day three, the final day, he returned to his "Honey Hole" and caught him another good sack of fish. When I approached him as they were trailering the top 12 pros to the stage, he told me that he had caught them good again. At that point, I knew he was going to win, and I got very excited for him. He's a great guy and a super angler.
Tommy being trailered Day 3 to his victory stage!
Biffle celebrates his Dixie Duel $100,000 win!
That's about all I have to say about the second day of the Bassmaster Elite Series Dixie Duel. I believe I have said it before, but when asked what I liked best about being a Marshal in the event, my answer was, "All of it!" I wanted to learn about Wheeler Lake so when I drag my boat down to my brother and sister-in-laws I'll have a more thorough knowledge of where the bass are hiding. Spending $25 a day riding with three pros is as much a bargain as it is a thrill. I would spend more than that for a days worth of gas if I were fishing there. As far as riding in the back of the boat and not fishing, well, it was relaxing, and it gave me time to really watch a pro at work. I learned quite a bit. The days went by quickly, and you can be sure I'm already thinking about what next event I'll try and Marshal at.
Here is an article from the Bassmaster site called,
Bassmaster Elite Series Winning Gear . It's their version of how Tommy Biffle won the event.
The parting shot today is taken from something Dick Vermeil once said which was, "If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much, and winning is not very exciting." I would say in Tommy Biffle's case winning is very exciting. That wry smile of his was definitely there when he raised that trophy!
Take care, and make sure you take time out of your day to do something that puts a smile on your face.
April 10, 2009Before I forget today, the first thing I want to say is that down in Decatur my cell phone got wet. It has been trying to fire back up, but it looks as if it's toast. I have been reluctant to just junk it because all my contacts are on it, and unlike my computer folders, it wasn't backed up. So, if you have called me, and I haven't gotten back to you, that's the reason.
I got up today and intended on doing some yard work, but my buddy John called and said after running an errand he was heading to
D & R Sports in Kalamazoo. I scrapped the lawn project and made ready to run down to watch some seminars and talk with some buddies who I figured would be there.
I got down there about 12:30 pm and saw that I had missed Luke Gritter's seminar, but I found him in the store and talked to him for some time. One of Luke's sponsors is
Garneau Baits . I know a couple of the guys from the company and had the opportunity to meet Tom Cook from Garneau at the show today. I have been experimenting with some of Garneau's baits (Garneau has reformed from the old Happy Time Lures) for several years. They make a paddle tail that I particularly like, and they have some new baits that I'm anxious to try. For those of you that fish the BBT Series and Shoreline, you will be seeing Garneau's Bernie Pepin at your launch site handing out samples of their baits. Be on the look out for their wrapped truck and boat.
I left Luke and Tom and headed to the seminar room to listen to the legendary Jimmy Houston.
That's me with my new bowling buddy Jimmy Houston
Jimmy working the crowd after the seminar.
It has been a while since I have been to a
Jimmy Houston seminar, but I was quickly reminded of his quit wit and penchant for humorous stories. He's one of those guys that you could sit around for hours with and be enthralled by his yarns.
Jimmy, like Ray Scott, started out as an insurance salesman. One thing I have noticed about the more successful bass anglers is that they can tell a story and sell you the laces off your shoes.
Jimmy mentioned that he fished in one of the first events that Ray Scott had when he was first starting what would become B.A.S.S. I asked Houston if he had a Ray Scott story, and he was quickly in to a recollection of when he prefished that first tournament with Ray. It was a real treat to hear all of Jimmy's tips and to hear him talk about the many years he's fished the pro tournament trail.
Not only was Jimmy an excellent and entertaining speaker, but he also gave the crowd a number of tips on flipping, pitching and how to throw the underhand cast. If Jimmy is on a seminar list in a town near you, make sure you mark your calendar and go out and see him.
After Jimmy's seminar, I walked back into the store and found Mark Zona talking with several patrons.
"World's Greatest Fisherman" host Mark Zona
Zona is one of my favorites. I love his zest and "love of the game." He can keep you in stitches much like Jimmy. And, like Jimmy he was on the seminar schedule.
I made sure I had my folding chair seat well warmed by the time Zona came in to do his thing. He began talking and answering questions locals had about the areas lakes. Zona, like his buddy KVD, lives in the Kalamazoo area and has been a tournament fisherman himself for many years. Consequently he's an expert on the many lakes in the southwest Michigan area.
After about ten minutes of his seminar had past by, in strolls the G Man,
Gerald Swindle . It all started happening real fast at that point. The team of Zona and Swindle had the crowd in stitches, I mean belly laughing, for over an hour! They could take their routine on the road. Talk about some improv comedy, these guys are as witty and funny as they come. I mean it, they could sell tickets, and make a good living, just making people laugh. It was definitely an experience that I am very glad to have had. The bit the two of them do on "Pro Talk" is hilarious. I have seen both of these guys separately and they are very good, but together they are show stoppers!
Besides making me almost cry for an hour, Zona and the G-Man also gave the audience many good fishing tips. One of them that stuck out was a new knot that Gerald takes credit for inventing. He said we should call it the G Knot. Zona gave him props for it and says that is the only knot he ties now especially when he is using fluorocarbon. It is hard to explain how its tied without being able to see it, but I am going to work on putting up a short video on how to tie the knot.
The knot caught my eye, because it was one that I saw Tommy Biffle tie when I rode with him on Wheeler. According to Gerald, this knot, on a machine test, beat the palomar knot. My IT son is going to be reworking my website and said he will hook me up so I can show some video which I can then use to show some of these "How To" things.
The Comedy Team of Mark Zona and Gerald Swindle
Do I look like I was having a viciously good time. It was one of the best shows I have been to including the many comedy shops that I've attended.
Speaking of
Vicious , one of Gerald's sponsors is Vicious. He has been using all Vicious fluorocarbon for several years. Do yourself a favor this year and try some Vicious line. They make mono as well as the fluorocarbon. They made line for Stren for years before they started their own brand. Fluoro is stiff, no matter who makes it , so make sure you give it a squirt of line conditioner on your baitcaster. When you use your spinning rod make sure you use a reel that has a large diameter spool and don't over fill it. I've found that on my spinning gear I can go down to six pound with Vicious rather than my normal eight pound test.
While I was cruising the store between seminars I stopped and talked to the other Van Dam, KVD's older brother Randy. He was standing in front of some
Fin-tech Title Shot jigs. I have been using Title shot jigs for a couple of years now. They are a very unique design and have the jig eye molded into the head. They have a keeper that is also a different and very effective part of the jig. Check them out on the website and look for them at D & R.
Randy Van Dam in front of the Title Shot jigs.
I didn't catch the guys name that Randy was with, but I did talk with him while chatting with Randy, and I found out the guy had just lost 125 lbs. Holly cow! That's some weight loss there boy.
One other stop that I made was to cruise the
Poor Boy baits. They are a bait that I often have threaded on to one of my Title Shot jigs.
Poor Boy Baits
All day long, during my stay at D&R, I ran across people I knew. Half of the other comedy fishing team duo that is Mike Elkins and Kendall Ulsh was there.
Kendall was there repping for Okuma, Vicious, and
Live Target Crankbaits . Kendall and Mike are leaving this weekend to fish the B.A.S.S. Northern Open on Chesapeake Bay. Kendall guides on St. Clair and Erie, so if you're interested in a guided trip for some great smallmouth fishing contact him through his website.
The D & R Spring Fishing and Boat show continues tomorrow. I wanted to go today because I have been told that the Wheeler Lake, B.A.S.S. Dixie Duel is going to be aired tomorrow morning at 9:00 am on ESPN2. I plan to be watching. I hope somebody I know records it, so I have an archive copy.
If you haven't read about the tournament that was held last week, here is an article from
Bass Zone . Even if you have been following my blog, and reading the articles from the event, this story from Bass Zone is a very good comprehensive review.
Well, I had better get to bed tonight so I can get up and watch the big show tomorrow. The parting shot today is a quote that I found that didn't have a name to go with it. It's a pretty good piece of fishing adage though. Here it is, "The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." Take care and make sure you take time out of your Saturday to do something that puts a smile on your face.
April 9, 2009If you have been reading the blog for a while, you know I break it each month and archive the old month above. I have done that, but if you are looking for the six days of the blog that I wrote down in Alabama, click on the archived link above. I will be adding the next few days of this month's blog to the trip blog when they're completed.
I don't know if I can say I have fully recovered from our road trip to Alabama. I know that my left hand hasn't healed yet from gripping the handle on the passenger side of the boats I rode in. There was a seam in two of the handles of the boats I sat in that was sharp, and when you were bouncing through the waves at 50, 60, 70 mph, it rubbed my hand raw.
While I was riding in the boats on those long rides to and from the dam (Here's a map of
Lake Wheeler ) I thought about what would be the best way to describe the ride. I don't know if this is the best description, but it's pretty close. Imagine sitting on top of a pick up with one handle to hold on to. Then imagine going sixty to seventy mph down the bumpiest road you can find. That would be a bit like riding in a bass boat running with the pedal to the fiberglass. It's one wild ride!
At the dinner the night of registration, Boyd Duckett related an experience with a Marshal he had on Falcon. He said the guy started screaming shortly after getting up on plane. Duckett stopped the boat to see what the matter was. The guy was freaking out yelling he was going to die. Duckett reassure him he wouldn't, and then jumped her back up on the pad. During the B.A.S.S. Falcon event, I heard a rumor that they did bounce one Marshal out of the boat. If you sign up for the ride, you'd better be ready to hang on.
Riding or driving at those aforementioned speeds, with nothing in front of you to block the wind, makes it very difficult to see even with sunglasses. A helmet with a visor is really a smart idea.
Running Lake Wheeler Toward the Dam
The picture is kind of blurry but I was trying to hold on!
Tommy Biffle running back after sacking a bunch of fish.
Many of the guys wear a full face sports utility mask like the one
Save Phase sells. Wearing a mask or helmet also helps cut down the roar that you have in your ears from the wind at those speeds. In a forty minute ride, the continual blast of air past your ears can definitely give you a headache.
Now that the tournament is over, I thought I could talk about the particulars of the days I spent with each of the pros. I'll just do one a day, one pro at a time. I'll keep them in the order that I fished with them and start with
Matt Herren .
First, let me say, that to a person the pros that I met, talked to, and rode with were very gracious, friendly, and went out of their way to make our day as Marshals go well. They were very helpful, in the sense that they explained what they were trying to do pattern and technique wise and freely answered any questions I asked of them.
Matt started day one by making a short run down river. He pulled into a slough and started pitching to the brush. He also intermittently tossed a chartreuse and white, colorado blade spinnerbait down logs and at brush sticking up out of the water. He wasn't happy with the conditions because the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) was dropping the lake level, and his targets didn't have the water on them like they had had in practice. Fishing patterns on river impoundments like Lake Wheeler, are significantly affected by how much water is being pulled through the dam. Lake level and amount of current will stage the fish differently.
Pulling into Matt Herren's starting spot
Matt didn't stay long at spot number one and decided to make a run back down near the take off area and fish the rip rap along the 72 Bridge. He was hoping to stick a big fish in this area and had caught several in practice along this second stretch.
Matt Herren, fishing the shoreline near the launch area.
Unfortunately, there weren't any fish biting in this second area. Matt once again said that he had hoped to start out in his first two spots and catch a kicker fish. He felt confident in getting a limit up by the dam, but hadn't caught quality fish up there.
Frustrated about not hooking up with a big fish, or any fish for that matter, Matt yanked the trolling motor and said we were going for the long ride to catch a quick limit. We headed for the dam. It's a twenty mile plus ride and the river was fairly smooth that morning so it wasn't a bad run.
We pulled in to a slough on the south side of the river down near the dam. There are many little cuts along the river and some are bigger creeks. It didn't take too long and Matt had connected with fish number one, a smallmouth along a rock wall that had picked up his green pumpkin jig with green paca craw trailer.
Flipping the rock ledges down by the dam.
Breaking the ice with a nice fat two lb. smallie.
Once down in the dam area, Matt ran from spot to spot slowly picking up a small limit of fish. Once he had five fish he decided to go look for some bigger fish to cull with. He ran to the Elk River, and we pulled into a cove. He began fishing his strength which is pitchin and flippin. His target were the dock poles on the dozen or so docks in the cove.
The second dock we pulled in on (By the way, in the south they don't call them docks. They call them piers.) Matt pulled out three keeper largemouth that he culled with. We moved to the next dock and he caught his two biggest fish. We continued moving from dock to dock and picked up several more fish.
Matt Herren's Honey Hole Dock
A Solid Five Pounda
Matt switched to a sweet beaver when he began pitching the docks, and although he threw the green pumpkin pig and jig on a few post, he caught all of his fish on the beaver. He fished it on twenty pound fluorocarbon.
Matthew stayed on his docks as long as he could. The weather hour by hour was deteriorating. There was a lot of wind in the trees and it was beginning to spit rain. With about an hour to go, he strapped down the rods, put on his jacket and helmet, and got ready for the rough ride back to the weigh in area.
It was a rough dang ride, but with an experienced boater behind the wheel I felt very safe. The bass boats they build today will handle some pretty scarey water. On the wy back, we were airborne several times. When you launch the boat over a wave, you can tell right away by listening to the prop whine. The waves were building and there were three and four footers rolling down the river. We were about halfway back and Matt's strap ring, holding down his trolling motor broke. We made an abrupt stop, and took in a little water over the bow. Did I mention that if you fish with the big guys, the first thing you do is don your rainsuit, sunshine or not. I wore my Bass Pro Shop 100 mph suit every day all day. Best rainsuit I've ever owned.
Matt jury rigged a strap to hold the trolling motor in place and although it bounced quite a bit, it stay put with only one other readjustment on our way back to the ramp area.
We got back with time to spare, so Matt used every minute he could. We pulled in to a little cut next to the ramp, within eyesight of the stage. He missed a good fish there and caught another keeper, but it didn't help him so he tossed it back.
Matt ended his first day in the top twenty five with twelve pounds twelve ounces. He ended the tournament with 35-9 in 30 place cashing at least a $10,000 check.
I don't have any first day weigh in pictures, because as we were returning to the ramp it began to rain. After the first few drops, it just didn't come down, the clouds opened up, and it poured buckets of rain on us. The wind blew, and I mean to tell you it "fixed to come up a storm." I got Matt's rig and pulled him out of the water. We had to sit for quite a while in the service lot before we dared get out. Matt needed to have a technician replace the strap ring on his trolling motor.
Most of the manufacturers, Mercury, Lowrance, Motorguide, etc. all send service trailers to the B.A.S.S. Elite events to tend to any needs the pros might have. In fact, the first day, Rick's pro
Brent "Brody of the Lake" Broderick had his trolling motor fail after running all the way to the dam. Brody called officials back at the launch, and the service guys were waiting for him when he returned. They had a new trolling motor on his boat in twenty minutes.
Brody showing the guys what happened to his trolling motor.
Just an F.Y. I., I would like to mention that the Professional Anglers Association,
PAA , is having a tournament on
Lake Neely Henry near Gadsden, Alabama. Lake Neely Henry is known for its big
spotted bass . The first day of the three day tournament starts today. Check out the hot link and see how many of the pros that were at Lake Wheeler are doing.
One more item that I want to make sure that I include in today's blog is a picture of one of the Marshal's, Dave Willis, whom we met down in Decatur. I wanted to include his picture because his son is in Afghanistan. His dad was going to send him the teardropbass.com address so he could read the blog about the Decatur event. The troops serving our country are always in my prayers and not far from my thoughts each day. A number of the kids I taught in school are serving. Two are fishing buddies as well as former students. They are Kenny Keena and Josh Rogalske from here in Jenison, MI.
Decatur Elite B.A.S.S. Marshal Dave Willis
I would like to end the blog today with this parting shot honoring our service men and women. The quote is from Elmer Davis. He said, "This nation will remain the land of the free only as long as it is the home of the brave." Take care and make sure you take time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face.
A Target Rich Environment
A Honey Hole Dandy
