ABA, Forest lake, 7/27/08

I always try to spend some time looking for new spots pre-fishing on lakes I am familiar with, if I don't find anything, I rely on my old spots. This was the case on Forest Lake. I didn't find anything worthwhile new and only found small fish on my deep spots. I did catch some 15 - 16 inchers shallow so I decided I was going to fish shallow all day.

The morning talk was all about how no one had anything going but small fish, which got me excited since I did pretty well pre-fishing.

My plan was to hope for a good boat draw and start on a reed bed that I knew was holding good fish, get a decent limit quick, then go hog hunting the rest of the day. I drew boat number 14 and watched as many boats went past my spot - until boat 12 ran right to it. I thought about going to it anyway but I figured most guys just pitch around fast and leave, so I went to an area close by to keep an eye on it while I fished. The area was a mix of reeds & pads which I did not get a bite in, but I did manage a 13 incher off a dock in the same area. I saw the reed bed was finally open so I ran to it and started pitching, alternating between a black/blue 3/8 oz FlaMinn Lures jig with a Mister Twister Craw Chunk trailer and a Mister Twister B-A-Hawg. I was quickly rewarded with a chunky 16 incher, a few pitches later another fish - which got hung up in the reeds, after getting a net under it and into the boat, I found it was an 18 incher. I retied and started pitching again and quickly caught my 4th fish - a fat 14.5 incher. I continued around the reed bed with no more bites so I turned and went back through it again, I worked the area for a while and decided to leave and come back later. My next stop was another reed bed. About my 2nd pitch I hooked up with another 16 incher. I now had a limit of about 11 pounds. With about 3 hours left to fish I knew I had a chance of winning if I could cull my smaller fish with more 16 inch plus fish. I again retied and started pitching and soon had another 14.5, which culled my 13 from earlier and gave me about 12 pounds. I continued fishing reeds all day, catching fish but culling only a little at a time. I had about an hour until weigh-in and opted to finish the day at my starting area. I fished hard knowing I was close to winning but never got the big bites I needed.

I weighed in with 12.27 pounds - good for 4th place and another check. The winner had 13.01. Overall I fished a good tournament, made good decisions, and cashed a check, but I was disappointed that I was so close to winning.