On day 2 of prefishing I completely abandoned the area of Barkley Lake I was fishing and moved to some points on Kentucky Lake. We found an area with some visible current pushing through and started using river style presentations and catching fish. As I floated along, I tried to pay attention to any cues above or below the water that would help me key in on a pattern. The locusts were hatching and the forests surrounding the lake produced a constant roar from the millions of insects. The heat and the screaming locusts seemed to infiltrate my brain waves. Venomous snakes lay draped on overhanging branches and toothy gar nearly four feet in length basked in the warm shallows. I watched as locusts dropped from an overhanging branch and smallmouth bass slurped them from the surface. We caught fish in 20 feet of water. There were plenty of bass around but none of them topped 15" except one. Late in the afternoon a 5 pound bass gulped up my jig and craw combo and tail danced next to the kayak before being brought to hand. With only one big fish for the day it was tough to decide if this location would hold the size of fish needed for a win on Kentucky Lake.
Day 3 of prefishing was a bit milder weather. We returned to our previous location, hoping to find some big fish in the morning. Once again we caught good numbers of largemouth and smallmouth bass with drum and catfish thrown in the mix. Still, we could not find the size we needed. We moved to some offshore creek channels but couldn't find any fish. After a half day we headed to the marina for tournament registration feeling a bit down about our prefishing strategy. The mental game is as important as anything when it comes to tournament fishing. This would be a lesson learned yet again on this trip. My parents traveled from Indiana to stay with us at Kentucky Lake. They took us to dinner that night at the lodge. As I sipped a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel beer for dessert, I made a decision to keep a positive outlook and fish confidently as the tournament started the next morning.
At 5:30 a.m. I began casting. The exhaustion of constant driving, fishing and strategizing seemed to vaporize in the excitement of the first day of tournament fishing. I fished hard and confidently. By 7 a.m. I had a full card of 3 fish and was searching for upgrades. A camera boat came by and somebody yelled, "it would be nice if you could catch a fish right now for the cameras". I laughed and sarcastically replied, "sure". However, in that very moment I had a bite and hauled a scrappy largemouth into the kayak. I caught fish all day and actually made it a point to have fun. Several heavy rainstorms blew over and I just kept smiling. When it was time to weigh in I had my 3 fish limit averaging 14.5" on my card. I knew it wasn't a huge card but I had done my best. After comparing results I found I was sitting in 26th place out of 78 anglers. I had done much better than I had assumed but I knew I was going to have to switch spots and gamble on day two if I wanted a chance at victory.
That evening, Caleb and I sat on the couch staring at a Navionics map, tired as hell. I saw something on the map that jumped out at me. A creek channel next to some main channel ledges. We decided to hit the new area in the morning and let the chips land where they may. As we arrived at the boat ramp in the predawn light, we saw a bunch of kayak trailers. As we pedaled out to the spots we had seen on the map, kayaks dotted the surface of the water. The spots were taken and the other anglers were waiting for 5:30 to start casting. The mental part of the game was now in play. I was angry, not at the other anglers but at the bad luck. We didn't have a back-up plan. I messed around some shoreline rock piles until I noticed the other kayaks all congregating around a single point. I moved out to the spot I had originally planned on fishing and began casting. I threw everything I thought might work but not even a bite. Just as I was about to move out and give up with mental exhaustion taking its toll, I noticed some fish busting shad on the surface. I glanced down at my sonar and the downscan revealed something exciting. A big ball of shad was suspended under my kayak and beneath those shad were the unmistakable marks of feeding predator fish. Just when things seemed bleakest it was suddenly game on! I tied on a new bait I had not tried and on the first drop I caught a bass that was an inch longer than anything I'd caught the day before. I continued catching them all by myself as a whole gang of kayaks and bass boats sat a hundred yards away on another spot. By noon, I was sitting on 50+" with my top 3 fish and Caleb was sleeping in the truck. The mental part of the game had got to him as it had almost finished me as well. However, I had once again been reminded that you must keep trying and the game can change at any time. One of the highlights of the day was when Elite Series Pro Mark Menendez pulled up to the spot I was fishing. We talked about Hobie kayaks and the kayak tournament fishing scene and as we talked I hooked an acrobatic 4 pound bass. The fish was my largest of the tournament. In a class act, Menendez said, "I'll move off your spot and let you keep catching them". I lost a couple 20"plus fish that might have put me in the top 5 but I didn't care. That day was about winning the mental game, about learning to stay the course. I had success that didn't revolve around the final standings. Regardless, I slid up into 10th place. A top 10 finish against some of the best kayak anglers out there was enough to satisfy me. Many of these guys could give the bass boat pros a run for their money. There is always much to take away from a national tournament like the Hobie Bass Open, besides meeting some great people and having a great time with my family, I took away some valuable knowledge that I will have when it is time to compete again. I'll be back again and you can bet I'll be doing my darndest to take that 1st place trophy!
