High School Tournament Sc

[Gilbone]

Well the day didn't go as good as i wanted but i guess it went alright. Started the morning off boat 120 out of 122 to blast off. Started at daylight throwing  a crank bait off of a rock ledge. First cast of the day i catch a 3.5 lb large mouth. Second cast i hook up to the biggest rock in the lake and lose my brand new crank bait. After that we hit a couple of different spots and nothing. Started to fish laydowns as the sun started getting up and caught a 2lb spot. 5lbs in the boat before 10am i was thinking it was going good and then i hit a 4 hour streak with out a bite. Then went far back in a creek where fish we busting the surface. All i had in hand was a shakey head. Just threw it in the middle of them and boom a keeper spot was in the live well then caught another keeper spot. Then a shortie. Going into the weigh in with only 4 fish is never a good thing, I was thinking if i was looking for 5 bites and got them i had a good day. Going to the scale with 4 fish and ended up with 8.22lbs. Winning weight was 15.32lbs. just wanted to note that i passed the ''winning'' team 4 times and I could of gave my sister the rod and could cast better than them. Something didn't add up but Second took 12lb and 3rd was 11. i finished 20 out of 122 boats. Thanks to everyone for the help. 

 

Stickem Hard

[Logan S]

Well the day didn't go as good as i wanted but i guess it went alright. Started the morning off boat 120 out of 122 to blast off. Started at daylight throwing  a crank bait off of a rock ledge. First cast of the day i catch a 3.5 lb large mouth. Second cast i hook up to the biggest rock in the lake and lose my brand new crank bait. After that we hit a couple of different spots and nothing. Started to fish laydowns as the sun started getting up and caught a 2lb spot. 5lbs in the boat before 10am i was thinking it was going good and then i hit a 4 hour streak with out a bite. Then went far back in a creek where fish we busting the surface. All i had in hand was a shakey head. Just threw it in the middle of them and boom a keeper spot was in the live well then caught another keeper spot. Then a shortie. Going into the weigh in with only 4 fish is never a good thing, I was thinking if i was looking for 5 bites and got them i had a good day. Going to the scale with 4 fish and ended up with 8.22lbs. Winning weight was 15.32lbs. just wanted to note that i passed the ''winning'' team 4 times and I could of gave my sister the rod and could cast better than them. Something didn't add up but Second took 12lb and 3rd was 11. i finished 20 out of 122 boats. Thanks to everyone for the help. 

 

Stickem Hard

Be careful with that line of thinking... There's always something be learned, diminishing your opponents that figure it out isn't going to help you.  If you passed them 4 times you have 4 points of data to clue you into what they might have been doing differently that lead to success.  

 

Sounds like you had a pretty good finish on what was likely a tougher day given your placement and the number of boats...Good job.  

[WIGuide]

Congrats on the good finish! I'll echo what Logan said though. Fishing is one of those sports that anyone can beat anyone on any given day. Good ol jim-bob could go out and beat KVD despite the fact he doesn't really know what he's doing. He could stumble into a school of 5 pounders. Now KVD will beat him 99 out of 100 days, but there is that chance. Whether they figured them out or not, they were on fish, so use what information you can gather from that to help figure them out for next time. 

[corn-on-the-rob]

Nice job, 20th out of 120 is a great accomplishment. This is fishing, even the best only finish high a small percentage of the time, so you are on the right track. 

 

Based on the day of fishing, regardless of what others were doing, what would you have done differently? (in hindsight)

[Ohio Dave]

great work young man,  I won't tap on the nail already driven home pretty good:  they speak the truth though.    

As a coach;  I  want you to enjoy the finish but also to take careful notes about what did and did not work for you and well as what you can take away from the winning patterns.   

 

Those notes are our version of Saturday morning football films.  I manage to learn a little something every time I fish with someone and every solo trip.  keep the mind and notebook open and ready.

[slonezp]

A lot of fishing is being at the right place at the right time. You were moving around at least 4 times while the winning team was on the right place at the right time. Part of being a successful fisherman is being able to figure out the right place thru knowledge of habits and habitat. The comment about your sister holds no ground. I could put a 2yo with a snoopy pole and a senko, on a school of bass, and they would catch fish. Professional guides do it every day. 

[gulfcaptain]

I learned that it doesn't matter if you have 1 fish or 5 fish, you weigh what you have because in most tournament circuits that equals points.  Agree with everyone above about everything else.  Hold your head high, and know you fished YOUR tournament.  If you think about what everyone else is or isn't doing or you're much better then them you will spin yourself out the next time.  20th out of 120 isn't a bad finish either. That's a paycheck in most circuits.

[everythingthatswims]

It does get frustrating in High School tournaments when a really good boat captain that can flat out fish puts the kids with him on fish that those kids couldn't even come close to finding by themselves, but it's part of the game so we gotta live with it. Virginia B.A.S.S. state qualifying events and state championship are all about the skill of the kids, boat captains can't pick where to go or what to throw, I really like that format.

 

 

Putting fish in the boat is a lot better than what I bet many kids did in the event you fished. Keep after it and you'll have one of those magical days!