It has been a tough pre fish, I have caught some fish.  On Monday I ran to some spots that looked good on the map, and most of them had some grass which is what I was hoping to find.  I cranked and caught three keepers, although I really wanted to find more grass that was living.

On Tuesday I ran up North to flip some stumps. I have a good map that lists some stump fields.  The water is higher which makes seeing the stumps difficult.  I really didn't find anything up North that I feel good about, although I did catch a couple of fish up there.

Today I cranked most of the day, kind of expanded on what I did on day one.  I caught a few on cranks off of some rip rap, including one fish that was really a good one.  I am kind of thinking that I can get five to seven bites, covering a lot of water with reaction lures.  I will continue to practice on day one, as I haven't really found anything that I can pattern.  I would like to find an area that I can slow roll a spinner bait through some deeper grass.  I am optimistic, always optimistic, we will see how things develop.

Brutal!  I caught 3 shorts today, that's all, wow this hurts.  It is clear to me that I just don't have the experience on these waters that a lot of the other guys have.  I tried to come up here and find my own fish, maybe that is a mistake, I didn't talk to anybody, I'm trying not to beat myself up here, but this tour is tough.  I'm not gonna cry about it, I know this is the "Big Boy Tour," but man, these guys are good.

I caught some fish around docks on a wiggle wart during pre fish, that's where I started today.  I found some living hydrilla in pockets around those docks and fished that pretty hard today.  Experience tells me pre spawn, those fish should be there.  Looking back over the day, I think maybe I fished too fast today, we did have a drop in the lake level.  Docks that I fished yesterday, (pre fish) had more open air underneath, I don't know if that caused them to move off or what.

I can't stand the thought of doing what I did today and not catching any fish. I would rather not even go fishing tomorrow, so instead, I am going to run way up river and fish some stuff that I have wanted to fish all along, but didn't have time to get to.  Tomorrow will be total practice for, just going to do everything differently.  I really want to weigh in a limit for once

2-25-05 Day One  3 Fish  9-00 (136th place tied)

Today, started out like yesterday, just couldn't get anything going.  About mid day I pulled up on a patch of hydrilla and stuck a three pounder on a rattle trap, FINALLY!  On my next two casts I caught another about three and had a big fish bump the bait, but not bite it.  I caught one more keeper in that patch and had another big fish come unbuttoned, I could have easily 17-19 pounds to the scales.  As it was, I am thankful for those that did get in the boat.

This tour has been humbling so far.  Things have changed drastically for me.  Before that Ouachita River tournament, (BASS Open Championship,) I was cashing checks in just about every tournament back home, but this tour thing is another story.  I suppose it is the "paying my dues," thing, but this starts to work on your head.  A nice top twenty finish would sure clear my head.  

I don't know anything about Clark's Hills (Strom Thurman Reservoir,) but I guess nobody else does either. I got to look at it today, and it sure seems pretty.)

I will doing a tour of shows for Shimano starting soon.  We will be in dealerships, sport shows and a few other places, showing and telling about Shimano Rods.  Most folks think of the reels when they think of Shimano, but the truth is, they make an awesome rod as well.  This kind of work really helps me supplement my income.  My lodging and meals are taken care of so, the money I earn goes directly into my bank account.  This part of the "pro fisherman" life is one that I want to learn more about.

It is amazing how much better I feel after I do these journals, because I feel recharged and ready to go.  I know how to catch fish, and I know what fish do under a variety of conditions.  I believe that I will put together a good tour stop, maybe Clark's Hill will be the one.