TBF Candlewood Recap 4-30-17
Well another week in the books and another tournament in the books. Is it me or is time flying by? Scary when you sit back and think about it. Unfortunately for you guys, no crazy stories to share this week prior to this event. New truck is running smooth and the boat seems to be doing okay. However this past event, I noticed my Lowrance HDS Touch unit started shutting off in the front again. I have one of the largest batteries on the market. It can’t be the battery. I think it has to be a wiring issue. Seems like I may need to call out the troops for this one as I don’t have a clue what i’m doing.
For starters, I FINALLY caught myself catching a fish on my GoPro. The thing always dies on me like an hour in and is very frustrating. Just ordered an extended charging cable for it and this sucker is going to be plugged into my cigarette lighter all day moving forward. I caught myself catching the first fish of the day and ended up being my largest fish. Even if I didn’t catch anything the rest of the day, this was my highlight. However I am having issues loading my media onto the app. Second time now. Last time, tech support made me wipe my SD card and I lost all my previous videos. But it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I will kill someone before they take away the limelight of my beautiful face being caught on camera finally getting solid footage of me catching a fish. Hopefully this issue will be resolved today and then I will be able to attach the video. I have been on camera in the past but it’s always so funny to me watching yourself on video doing anything; maybe that’s just me.
Conditions for this event were similar to last event in the regards to being overcast and some wind. However this event was during a cold front with higher sustained winds than previous week. Nonetheless, these fish bit. Saturday when I practiced, conditions were completely different. It was in the high 80s, barely any wind, and I turned into a lobster. I didn’t put sunscreen on until 10am and by that time, I was fried. Didn’t catch many fish on Saturday but then again, I was fishing new water and was saving the goods for Sunday’s event.
I started Sunday in an area where I don’t normally start. However previous week I caught 4 decent Largemouth in this same area and wanted to expand on it a little more. Since conditions were different, I decided to start out with “old faithful”; a jerkbait I have used for a long time which barely has any paint remaining on it which I mentioned last week as well. Due to conditions, I figured these fish would be a little more lethargic and the jerkbait bite would be better in the morning. My hypothesis proved correct when I nailed that brute of a Smallmouth which I caught on video within the first half hour of the event. Notice the plug for me catching this on video again; made my year. To say I was pumped is an understatement. Kept going through this area and figured it would be good for at least one more fish. I was right. Got to the point of this 100-200 yard stretch and I hooked another giant. I thought I had it hooked good then next thing you know, I don’t feel any weight. The sucker came off. Now this was also caught on camera but there’s too many curse words in it for me to include on social media so I will refrain from that. Everyone hates losing fish; me especially as I know every fish counts.
Move now to my second area which I've fished for over 10 years and is normally my starting area in the spring. This area is always good for 2-5 fish. I throw the jerkbait for a few and then decided to make a change. To touch on this, it’s always hard for an angler to switch lures when they have just had fish on something else. However I have had the chance to fish with a lot of guys over the years on the local and professional level. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that fishing is a mental sport. Most people would have sat and thrown that jerkbait for the rest of the day. Maybe they would have caught more on it; maybe they wouldn’t have caught a thing. I felt that I needed to make a decision and try something else before fully committing to the jerkbait. So I decided to pick up my “tried & true”; a Blue Fox Inline Spinner. Now most of you may sit here and laugh, but that’s the point. There aren’t many people out there throwing this bait. I personally don’t know anyone besides friends I turned this bait onto. The key is the #4 blade, blue bell preferably but silver works just fine. Very simple approach - Cast it out, let it hit the bottom, and slow roll it back to the boat jerking every once in awhile. You may get hung up a bunch but that’s the point. I want to be constantly hitting those rocks down there. I don’t know what it is about this bait, but it works wonders and catches a ton of fish. I think it matches the size of the bait fish in the northeast perfectly. People see this as just a bluegill or crappie bait; that’s very false. I have maybe caught a handful of Panfish on this bait over the 10+ years I've been using it. Within the first 5 casts with the Blue Fox, I hook into a 2lber and then I finished out my limit. Now the hooks that come on these are solid but I always prefer to take a pair of dikes and cut them off, replace with a split ring, and a better treble. Since these were fresh out the pack, i didn’t do it since I was already out on the water. This bit me in the end as I hooked a 4lb+ Smallie on it in a key area in the stretch and it popped off. Just a freak thing. I set the hook hard and all. I watched it jump clear out of the water after it came un-hooked. Once again, the curse words were flying and I was pretty upset. I preceded to sit there for the next 5-10 minutes and threw on a new treble and split ring and didn’t have another fish come off the rest of the day. I won’t make that mistake again.
To make a long story short, I ended up throwing the Inline the remainder of the day and culled throughout. Those two fish haunted me though as I would have easily cashed a check if I had them both. But that’s fishing and I ended up in 5th place which I was happy about. Below are the setups I used for the day:
Jerkbait:
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Purple back/Chartreuse belly. For whatever reason this color combo works everywhere and what I have confidence in most importantly
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Equipment: 6’9” M Micro Guide Big Bear Rod, Lew’s Tournament Pro G Speed Spool (6.8:1), 10lb Hi-Seas Fluorocarbon.
Blue Fox Inline:
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#4 Blade, swap out original hooks and add a split ring. Blue Bell preferred but silver works as well.
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Equipment: 7’6” M Micro Guide Big Bear Rod, Lew’s Tournament Pro G Speed Spool (6:8.1), 10lb Hi-Seas Fluorocarbon. Seems odd to throw this bait on this setup, I know. But it’s what i’m comfortable with. I normally have two different rods setup for this bait. This combo above or for closer quarters, I switch to a 7’ version of the Big Bear Rod.
Tube:
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Forgot to mention this above. I caught one nice LM off a bed I marked the day before on this bait. Just a regular 3 ½” watermelon tube on an 1/8th head that some good friends of mine from the area turned me onto years ago. The bait works everywhere as well. Probably could have slowed down and thrown this more but my confidence was elsewhere.
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Equipment - 7’ M Micro Guide Big Bear Spinning Rod, Lew’s Mach II Speed Spool, 20lb Hi-Seas Braid with an 8lb Hi-Seas Fluorocarbon leader. Usually my leader length is the length of the rod. So roughly 7-8ft
I seem to be getting a little behind on myself here with my recaps. Work and life are crazy busy right now. Throw fishing in the mix, you have yourself truly being pulled in 30 different ways. But it’s all good, I love it. To see the full results, you can view them here.
For all those couch potatoes out there - Get off your butt and go experience the outdoors. Too many adults and kids these days especially stay indoors too often. Go experience life. Go buy yourself a fishing pole at the local tackle or sporting goods store. Take yourself, a friend, loved one, or child out to your nearest pond and experience the great outdoors; you won’t regret it. Until next time, Tight lines!
