Fall 2018
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MISSISSIPPI RIVER - LA CROSS, WISCONSIN
Looking at the schedule for the year, this was probably the tournament that I was most excited about.
Prior to going there this year, I had been there three times and finished in the top-12 all three times. I really thought that I would get there and turn the season around in the right direction. I was counting on making a good top-10 finish.
It wasn’t to be.
Just like everywhere that we’ve been this year, we hit unreal conditions with rain and floods – just unbelievable. People are joking’ about the Elite Series being the “Drought Busters tour” now.
That’s what happened here. I think the river got so high it rose 4 1/2- to 5-feet just during the week we were there.
I had a pretty good first day. Not as good as I wanted, but inside the cut.
I’ve made some pretty risky decisions this year. When you make them, you don’t know if they’re going to be good or bad… until you make ‘em. That’s the bad thing about decisions in fishing and what separates the high finishers from the others.
I made a decision to make a long run locking through to an area in Iowa thinking the flood waters wouldn’t be down that far yet, but it had, and the fish must’ve moved with it. I never did find ‘em and spent a lot of time searching. I left that area at noon, made it through the locks and tried to salvage my day.
I ended in 58th – outside of the cut again. I was disappointed. I am used to making the Day 3 cut, getting a pay check, and fishing on Saturday. The goal is to make the final cut and fish on Sunday; but when you don’t do that, you at least want to fish on Saturday, and get the points that you need to be consistent.
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