Fishing in my first Derby Tomorrow

[Pat Brown]

I got into bass fishing because I like it.  I never in a million years thought it would be as serious as it became for me as a passion and hobby - but here we are - my wife entered me into my the Big Bass Bash last year for my birthday for 25$ kind of half seriously and said 'you will probably get in!'

 

Getting in means catching and weighing in the biggest largemouth bass for one of the months of the calendar year at one of the three participating lakes - I won in December the day before Christmas Eve with a 7.35 lber that I caught while fishing with my son and @LrgmouthShad 

 

 

Caught her on a 1 oz jig in a foot of water on a channel swing in 41 degree water days after the lake was covered in ice - shortly before it iced over again (we were covered in ice a LOT of this winter - it was wild)

 

Well fast forward - I am about to fish the tournament tomorrow!

 

I will be going up against 11 passionate and devoted local hammers - some of whom have title sponsors and fish professionally - others who have merely been fishing the lakes for decades and are great bass fisherman.  All of them have bass boats and electronics and outboard motors and all that stuff.

 

I'll be fishing from a 14 ft Jon Boat with a trolling motor, an anchor, a home made live well, a few rods and reels I could afford with a few baits I like to throw - all of which I consistently use to catch big bass - but still - I'm nervous!

 

I'm even a little bit embarrassed and feeling like I've got some imposter syndrome going into this, but I had a really good week of practice. 

 

I caught the second biggest bass of my life. A 9 lb 14 oz fish again on a jig and then a mere few days later I caught the biggest bass I've ever caught on a frog. A 9 lb 3 oz Bass and I also boated multiple fish in the 2-4 lb range and a 7 lber.

 

 

We launch at sunrise and everyone has til 3 pm to catch the largest bass they can catch.

 

All this to say - I'm probably gonna get my butt handed to me and I'm okay with that - but practice was really really good and I gotta believe I truly have a shot at this!

 

I'm humbled and grateful to be where I'm at with it and hope mostly I don't embarrass myself out there and hope I learn something and look forward to meeting the hammers and sticks that are as ate up with these particular fish as I am.

 

It's gonna be a good time.  🙂

 

I'll let y'all know how it goes tomorrow.

 

[JHoss]

Good luck dude!

[TnRiver46]

Good luck Pat! I’d bet on ya 

[Mike L]

Hey!

The vast majority of my fishing is in tournaments…local, regional and National trails all as co angler which has its own built in unknowns and pressures. 
 

The best thing I can tell you is Don’t cut yourself short!

You already know what you can do because you’ve done it. 
 

As far as your boat compared to theirs?

So what? Who cares? 

You could have the advantage in that thing depending on conditions as you may be able get into places they can’t or won’t want to. 

Just relax, take your time to read the water and concentrate on finding a pattern, both to find fish and more importantly to eliminate water.
 

Rig and fish what and how you know. 
They gotta find ‘em, hook ‘em and land ‘em same as you. 

Best of luck to you. 
 

 

 

Mike

[Jar11591]

Rooting for ya, brother! 
 

And yeah the competition may be stiff if you have to compete against 11 local hammers, but the competition is even stiffer for them because they all have to compete against Pat Brown! 

[F14A-B]

Do what you do, and don’t flinch! 
 

 

[Swamp Girl]

So, you have "a 14 ft Jon Boat with a trolling motor, an anchor, a home made live well, a few rods and reels you could afford with a few baits you like to throw" and all your competitors have are decades on the lake and six figures in glitter boats that bristle with electronics? Well, that ain't fair!

 

Given your knack for bass, Pat, you should be fishing with water wings and string! 

 

We're all cheering for you! And right now, I'm coming down a feeder creek to your lake in my canoe, which I've outfitted with homemade torpedoes, just like Kathrine Hepburn on the African Queen, to sink those glitter boats if you need that backup. 

 

Seriously, win, lose, or draw, we're your fans and bass brethren. 

33 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

And yeah the competition may be stiff if you have to compete against 11 local hammers, but the competition is even stiffer for them because they all have to compete against Pat Brown! 

 

27 minutes ago, F14A-B said:

Do what you do, and don’t flinch! 

 

[Fishingmickey]

Just go fish your strengths! Have fun! Looking forward to the after action report! Good luck, Pat!

FM

[Rockhopper]

I am jealous.  That sounds like a really fun time.  Relax and just enjoy the day on the water!

[Team9nine]

3 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I will be going up against 11 passionate and devoted local hammers - some of whom have title sponsors and fish professionally - others who have merely been fishing the lakes for decades and are great bass fisherman.  All of them have bass boats and electronics and outboard motors and all that stuff.

 

I'll be fishing from a 14 ft Jon Boat with a trolling motor, an anchor, a home made live well, a few rods and reels I could afford with a few baits I like to throw - all of which I consistently use to catch big bass - but still - I'm nervous!

 

I'm even a little bit embarrassed and feeling like I've got some imposter syndrome going into this, but I had a really good week of practice. 

Positive affirmations, @Pat Brown

 

[Catt]

Allons [Ah-loh]: Let's go 😉

[WRB]

Try to forget the other boats  and just go fishing, that is what got you in.

Make  sure you have the needed tournament equipment; throw cushion, fire extinguisher, running lights or whatever the rules require. Fishing license for sure.

Catch a big bass👍

Tom

 

 

[Mobasser]

Good luck to you Pat Brown, and have fun with this too.

[Swamp Girl]

Pat, how did you do?

[IYAOYAS]

I fished Matt Robertson's tournament on Hartwell he had two years ago. There were 250 boats out there out of that 250 there was ONE jon boat with a 9.9 on it. Thousands and thousands of dollars in bass boats floating around and this kid who looks like he's about 20 pulls up like he owned the place. he had his little girlfriend with him. She sat up front looking back and he drove. he had built some really nice looking casting decks on it and a cooler livewell mod. I heard from somebody he weighed a full bag when he came in. Jon boat guys are usually the ones to worry about. lol

[Pat Brown]

It was a very cool experience.

 

12 boats showed up and were ready to launch at sunrise I was last out of the marina.

 

I saw the running lights dotting the blackness of the steep bank in the morning stillness as the fancy boats settled in on the big pre-spawn fish they had marked and most remained on these spots for a few good hours.  Being that this was being held on a 50 acre Lake and the wind was already blowing - expected to reach 20 with gusts of 30+mph - my plans for fishing shallow were not looking super promising.  When the wind blows like that it shrinks the lake down tremendously and it was a Saturday where the lake is open to the public.

 

Every spot I had interest in checking early on had boats on them - but the bay adjacent to the marina was fairly calm and I noticed shad flickering on the surface as the sun came up.

 

I threw my Berkeley stunna into the heart of the bay with my boat sitting over 12 feet of water and let it sink a bit knowing it would rise up on the retrieve - in spite of its sinking feature.

 

I worked a fairly steady but gentle cadence and didn't get any hits so I start to reel in to cast again and BANG - fish on - my pole is doubled over and my drag is screaming - I'm thinking - have I won this thing next to the marina in the first 10 minutes.

 

Up comes a fat fish - she's hooked good - short - but very fat.  I fill the livewell and prepare to submit my very first fish in a tournament - being that I'm only a stones throw away - I figured better to weigh her and then let her go than drag her around all day and hope to upgrade.

 

4 lb 3 oz on the marina scale and the first and only submission til about noon.

 

 

This had me feeling pretty good because my strategy was basically to fish the morning opportunistically and then head up the lake and fish the juice later on.  I felt because of how cold it had gotten the night before - waiting til later on would be wise.

 

In retrospect - I think I should have gone for the Hail Mary and went straight up the lake first thing and camped it out and rotated spots up there waiting for something to fire.

 

I ended up missing one on the fluke in a pocket that grabbed my bait but didn't get hooked and then I decided I needed to make a move.

 

This was around 11 and the wind was really starting to get rolling.  

 

Fortunately the wind is blowing back to the marina so I know my run back at least won't be so bad.

 

I make it to the bridge that I caught the 9 lb 14 oz fish on in practice and there's a boat on it and recreational anglers in line to fish it so I just try to politely idle through as it is the only way up the lake and I need to make moves.

 

I get past the bridge and it's white capping.  I push through it and there's boats on literally every spot I scouted.

 

I think essentially - boaters caught heavy duty pre-spawn fish early on with electronics deep on points and then a lot of them went sight fishing and structure fishing.  I found some water in a protected bay that wasn't being pounded and tried some things out.  I positioned my boat in about 3 feet of water about 75 feet from the bank and cast back towards the main channel (deeper) and let the fluke sink a few seconds.

 

Started with a really slow cadence and then kinda popped it to get it speeding up like a fleeing bait fish - I get slammed - I feel her shoot left and feel her weight for a split second and then nothing.

 

I reel in and my bait is all jacked up sideways and on the hook I have some clean fresh healthy Hydrilla.

 

I haven't seen healthy Hydrilla anywhere else on the lake at all so I decided to work the area thoroughly.

 

I fished a lot of baits over that grass and never got another bite so I figured it was a real big one and I blew my shot.

 

I think she was staged up and preparing to head back into the pocket I was fishing from and that was exactly why I fished that area that way. 

 

I waited and waited for the area beyond where I was staked out to free up but it was a revolving door of boaters both recreational AND tournament anglers - I didn't want to cram into that area with them so I decided to continue fishing outside that area and hit some isolated lily pads across the channel from where I got the big bite.

 

I opt for a heavy t rig - my weapon of choice for efficiency in pads and get bit and boat my second bass or the day.  A short fish and lighter than my first so I let it go immediately.

 

 

Still felt good to land another fish and get another bite.

 

It's about 1 at this point and I know I need to start moving back in and simultaneously fish good looking stuff.

 

With the wind at my back I go back by way of the sunny side of the lake hoping to hit some bays on the way in that I scouted during practice and of course each one was backed up with boats.  I try fishing the steeper side and the wind is super strong so I throw spinnerbaits and flukes and try to make the best of it but don't get any bites.

 

I finally find a pocket I know has been hammered all day that's finally boatless and with an hour and a half left I decided to try it because it's right around the corner from where I caught my 9 lb 14 oz base.

 

I fish the cove and see a small male come up on my Jerkbait and fish the cover very slowly with t rigs and jigs but don't get any bites and even in this protected area the wind is making it very difficult by this point to maintain position.

 

I turn around and begin to head out of the cove and the wind is pushing me into the bank I'm trying to fish and out of nowhere an 8+ lb bass slams into my boat and then darts off into deeper water.

 

I must have been in her area and she was ticked.  I tried to fish the area some more but time was running out - I see I've got maybe 40 minutes til weigh in and realistically to hook net and then successfully get back in with a fish I need to hook it.

 

There were 1-2 ft swells and white caps rolling all the way in.

 

I toss heavy spinnerbaits at everything I see that looks decent but I know it ain't gonna work because I know the fish I'm throwing baits at are spawning and the fish I COULD catch on a spinnerbait are somewhere in the abyss on the colder deeper stretches of main lake structure that the spawn hasn't quite hit.

 

Which is precisely the fish the boaters weighed in.

 

The fish were beautiful.  They each looked like different proportion clones of absolutely stuffed Thanksgiving turkeys.

 

Winner caught an 8 lb 10 oz bass and second place was just under 8 and the rest were between 5 and 7.  Each one looked stuffed with Shad completely and absolutely untouched and young.  Small heads and huge bellies.  It was cool because I NEVER catch those fish.  I see them on my cheap 2D sonar and I know exactly where those boats caught them first thing in the morning - but I have never been able to catch a single one.

 

5 boats didn't weigh a fish - making me place 7th in my first tournament.

 

The conditions really made it hard for me to do my thing and the number of boats and the size of the lake hurt me too - but I'm super proud of myself and I know that if I could have capitalized on those fluke bites - there's a chance I might have been a little higher up.  I was fine not having a fish at the weigh in knowing my girl got to swim free minutes after we weighed and submitted her mere minutes after catching her.

 

And in practice I caught fish that would have heartily won - and had some of the best fishing both deep and shallow - of my life.

 

One thing is for sure - I still love bass fishing - tournaments are wild - but I don't love em as much yet.  🙂😜❤️ I'm gonna keep trying to learn to love em but mostly I'm gonna keep fishing for Pat.