ABA two day, Coon/BigMarine 9/6-9/7/08

I was a little nervous going into the two day tournament, I was sitting in 4th place overall with the top 5 at year end getting a check, in addition to any tournament money.
I wasn't worried about Big Marine because I knew my spot would still hold up, but after two days of prefishing Coon I had not put together a viable pattern. I knew I would need 10-12 pounds on Coon to be in contention for the second day, but at this point I was concerned about even getting a limit.
Tournament morning was a cool 50 degrees with a 10-15 mph West wind. I drew boat #4 and while waiting for take off I still wasn't sure where I wanted to start. My instinct was telling me to go to docks, but I had caught a couple of good fish and shook off a few others in the reeds by the beach, so I decided to start there. My number was called and I headed for the reeds. After take off was complete I realized I had the reeds to myself. My plan was to fish slow and spend a few hours there feeling confidant I could get a few fish. After two hours with no bites it was time to move.
I ran to a deep weed spot I found in practice and fished it for about 15 minutes - no bites. I then headed over to the west side to some pads I had previously done well on. The wind was blowing on them which usually makes them even better. After a while I finally hooked up with a 16 incher, which was a good start. I then worked the docks in the same area picking up a 14 incher. I went back to the same pads and worked them again but with no more bites. Next I went to a small bay with pads & docks and flipped a creature bait around, while working my way out I managed to pick up another 14 incher on a dock.
Having now convinced myself I should have listened to my instincts, I decided I would spend the rest of the day flipping docks. I stayed on the west side and fished all the docks I could without any bites. I then ran back to the east side to find bass boats lined up on the docks. Thinking it would be useless to fish behind all the other boats, I ran back to the reed bed hoping the bite had picked up. I worked the reedbed again with nothing to show for my efforts.
I had about an hour to go and I only needed two more fish for my limit, at this point I didn't even care if they were 12 inchers. I went back to some docks which now didn't have as many boats fishing them. I ran into one of the other guys who told me he only had three fish also and he had heard it was very tough for most of the guys. I spent the rest of the time committed to the docks, fishing them slowly and methodically but by now they were beat to death.
I weighed in with three fish for about 5 1/2 pounds. Turned out it was pretty tough for most, although a few guys seem to always find them. The leader after day one had over 21lbs, then a few 14lb bags then weights dropped from there. There was no way I was going to win now, so I just hoped I could get a good bag on Big Marine and stay in the top five for the year.