Dinky

He’s only after the protein. Lol. You have pretty much nailed it on Florida gators: They are nothing if not unpredictable.

Sorry about that. I drove from Orlando to Lexington KY so I could fly to Matzalan with my buddy for our trip. We had our air travel cancelled and were 3 days late getting there. But it was worth it Finally back here in Sunny Florida and ready to go out again. Bassmaster just finished their first Elite tournament of the year at Harris Chain and I’m heading out on the Butler chain next week.

Apologize for the duplicate. I will try Instagram next time. But likely not any better at using the iPad fir that either!

Finally got to go back to El Salto for some early February fishing. All the action was on swim baits this time.

Never really had a problem here in Florida with gators. Agree with advice the posters above gave- be alert and try not to startle them. And don’t swim in the Harris Chain. The spring and early summer are the critical times along the banks and canals where they will have their nests, which they will protect with a vengeance. And they are much more territorial around these areas after hatching. Fishing in Banana Bay on Lake Harris several years ago in April/May I was slowly working a grassy bank and noticed a log several yards ahead… except the log seemed to slowly move. The next thing I noticed was I was surrounded by midsized gators with more slowly swimming out from the grass filled shore line. Finally realized there were likely a bunch of nests in there and these females had come out to protect them. I just sped up with the trolling motor and moved a bit farther off the bank and further down the bank until I was away from that area. Message received.

If you are going in the Tenn. area check the TVA web site to see when they are releasing water through the dam and how many gates are open. When they open up more gates it normally moves the smallmouths to the banks of the river. Yellow Creek is a decent area for both small and largemouths. Across the river from it is also good; many gravel and muscle beds hold smallmouths. The weather this year caused a late spawn for both species.

I've seen two Elite Pros do this exact thing in clear water when fishing top water lures. Can you guess why? I mis read your post. I thought you said braid with a mono leader. My bad. The two pros fished braid with a mono leader, as I said. Not mono with a braid as you posted. Sorry i mis read your post. In any event, can you guess why they would use a mono leader on braid in clear water for top water lures?

I'm not sure why BR turned these pics sideways. But here are two of Chris' five.

As a guide you have the most difficult task of all actually. You don't have the luxury of gathering information and then going out to fish a tournament with only your self to satisfy. You have clients every day who are expecting you to put them on fish, no matter what the situation. That is a combination of multitasking, constant adjustments and pressure all at one time. Hard work for sure.

Chris Lane weighed in 5 fish, including one very nice spotted bass. All using the same lure. Actually I view post spawn as one of the most predictable also. But not necessarily the easiest time to catch a lot if quality fish easily.

I can certainly identify with Dink's complaint because I used to get very frustrated reading all those experts' tips and advice. After a while I was very confused. Then when the Elite's first announced the use of Marshals instead of co-anglers I signed up and have Marshaled at probably 25 Elite Tournaments, including three Classics. I also have fished as a co- angler in Southern, Central and Northern Opens. Since a win in one of those by an Elite gets him an automatic berth into the Classic, many of them sign up for the Opens. As a result I have actually fished with about half a dozen if them. The pont is that I am no longer confused by these so called "contradictions", because they actually aren't contradictions at all. They are more like "adjustments" or tweaks sometimes that may - or may not prove successful at a specific point in time and place. Example. Elite Tournament on Lake Oneida. Marshal for Randy Howell. During practice Randy has discovered smallies staged on the edges of a deep submerged stream/river with a current. Seems no one else had found it during practice because we were alone the entire day. After several hits on a swim bait and a few misses, Randy had two in the live well. The third fish spit up a good sized baitfish on the deck and Randy noted it varied in size and color a little from his lure. He changed lures to match the hatch and culled the rest of the day. Example. I've read and heard 'experts' say that you should chose a particular lure or technique and stick with it all day. Be patient. As long as you have correctly read where the fish are in their cycle you will succeed. But I cannot tell you how many times I've Marshaled for an Elite who had 12 rigs on deck and pulled out four more during the day. Sometimes these guys did poorly. But more often than not they ended up with a good weight, not only for the day, but for the tournament. Ive also actually fished with an Elite, Chris Lane, in a Southern Open, who fished with one single bait the entire day. Don't even ask if he was successful. None of the successful pros can afford to be one dimensional. They all have to be able to do whatever it takes to catch fish. Everthing you read or hear can be helpful at some point. The trick is to know when to use it. That takes practice. And that is work. Hard work. Dinky

Logan, I just now read your posts on your experience as a Marshal for KVD last August on the Elite Series on the Potomac. I've been Marshalling for the Elite Series since its *** and was fortunate to draw KVD several years ago on Lake Pickwick on Day 2. ( I had drawn Boyd Duckett on Day 1). Your experience mirrors mine in that KVD is certainly very easy to talk to and willing to impart so much information about exactly what he is thinking and doing and why. One of the most approachable on the tour. All of the elites are very friendly, but KVD is more willing to share interact with his Marshal than most anyone of them. Hackney is another one also. The day I was with him he had not been home for several weeks and had run out of his wife's famous "lucky" chocolate chip cookies that everyone has heard so much about. It was pretty dismal around the launching area when we were putting the Nitro in and I was worried he might forget me when I went to park the truck! But he was waiting quietly for me and we idled to the docks and hung around for about half an hour with Hack and a few others when a FED-X Truck sped up, honked its horn and a guy jumped out, ran down to the boat with a box and asked for a "Mr. Van Dam". Right. It was a box of the cookies. They were delicious. But....KVD MISSED THE CUT. When we left the weigh-in it took us over 45 minutes to walk to the boat tied up in the slip so we could idle back to the ramp. He was mobbed by fans, old, young, kids, families. They wanted autographs, pictures, shake his hand, talk to him. He never hesitated. He never ceased to smile, take time to speak to everyone, pose for pics, sign autographs, laugh, shake hands. It was the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed up close like that. On the way to the ramp I asked him if he ever got tired of that: his response: "That's what it's all about. Especially the kids". I was definitely speechless for a bit. Like you, Logan, there are pages and pages more to my day with KVD. And books of my days with Boyd Duckett, Ish, Hack, Chris Zaldain, Edwin Evers, Steve Kennedy, Takahiro Omori, Dean Rojas, Skeet Reese, Davey Hite, Randy Howell, Tommy Biffle, Tim Horton, Moritzo Shimizu, to name a few. Did you know that Moritzo is actually a rock star in Japan? Or that Davey Hite's son attends one of our US Military Academy's? I used to fish in the Opens as a co angler and I've been paired with Ish Monroe and Marty Robinson and Chris Lane, and others. It was really a lot of fun because since I knew them from seeing and meeting them on the Elite Tour, I was suddenly fishing with them in the Opens. It was like a normal week-end fishing trip rather than a tournament when I drew them. I have done 3 Classics, including the first one they allowed Marshals. That is expensive and a real grind but worth it in my opinion, at least once. I would normally take my boat, Marshal for the entire tournament and then fish the lake Sunday afternoon, evening and Monday. I would keep track of the spots my pros were fishing, and go to some of them if they weren't too fished out. I'd tell them what I was doing and often they would tell me what they thought might work and what other areas might be productive after the tournament. I have done as many as 5 tournaments in one season. My goal would be to do every one of them. I may be too old for that.