Competive fishing tournaments, family and giving back

On the Road with Randy Howell

®

Fall 2019

page

70

STA I w G as E exc 6 ite - d t T o A ge B t t L o T E ab R le O Ro C ck K and P s A ee R th T e w 1 ater high forthThbeetfwirsetendatyhewcarsanpkrepttayttgeorondaannddthI eboduronpcesdhobtawckitahntdhe

in the bushes. I’ve fished there several times, but never this Daiwa/Yamamoto Neko worm in the same areas at 5- to

late in May; so, having high water would definitely help keep 10-feet.

the fish shallow and easier to find and catch without much

Once again as we neared the end of the elimination

knowledge of the lake.

round on day two, I found myself battling for that coveted

I had a great practice and found fish nearly everywhere. I 20th spot. I was blessed to get a live camera once again to

knew this event was going to break records and I would have cover the action. It was fast-paced and intense, and I pulled

to catch lots of numbers.

it out in 20th.

I got on a shad spawn pattern, early in the morning,

With two cuts in a row, I was excited to have another

around boat docks with a white Lunker Lure Rattleback

chance on the knockout round.

Swim Jig and a Yamamoto Single Tail Grub trailer.

The next day everything went fairly smooth. Everyone

This pattern was good to catch five or 10 fish early, then was catching lots of fish and it was hard to keep up on score

I would transition to the pockets and cover water with a

tracker. I climbed my way up into the teens several times,

Livingston Walking Boss topwater bait and a wacky Senko. but just didn’t catch enough to get in the 10th spot. Although

This pattern kept me in the hunt, and on the bubble both

I still had 52 pounds, I finished 22nd.

days. It also landed me a Bass Pro live camera in my Triton

That gave me some better points and we packed up

the second half of the elimination round. We were battling it and hit the road for Eufaula and Oakley‘s Junior State

out for that 20th spot to make the cut and it was so intense! Championship, 12 hours away.

I caught a couple key fish in the final 10 minutes and

squeaked it out in 19th. This format is so much fun to compete in and probably even more fun to watch.

After making a cut, I knew I had to get something good

BASS NATION JUNIOR STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - EUFAULA

going, if I was going to get in that top-10 cut. The next day,

I wasn’t able to get there quick enough to actually be his

I didn’t get a good start due to lack of activity in my shad

boat captain, so one of my friends volunteered to take them

spawn areas, so I was digging myself out of the hole all day. out, they smashed a big bag of 21-pounds and won!

We had several bad weather delays from lightning,

This was Oakley‘s first year to get to compete in

strong winds and hail, but we were able to finish the day at 7 tournaments and he did well, winning the points title and the

o’clock in the evening.

state championship. The only thing left was the Junior National

The fish were biting topwater really, really good and

Championship, which we will be heading to next week.

I was keeping pace, I just couldn’t overcome the morning

deficit, so I finished in 32nd.This wasn’t too bad, it did get me SECRET EVENTS

a paycheck and moved me up more in the points after my

No rest for the weary; we had to hit the road quickly

bad finish at Smith.

to get back to Arkansas for the first MLF cup event that I

qualified for by being in the top 30 in the points after the first

STAGE 7 - TABLE ROCK PART 2

two tour events.

Due to massive rains and flood waters, Grand Lake had

These cup events are secret events shot in the dark and

to be changed. It moved to Table Rock. Some guys were not

we can’t give any details on the location or the outcome.

happy about this decision, while

They will air on CBS and the

others, like myself were very

outdoor channel in January.

excited to have the chance to go

But I can say we had a good

back to a lake two weeks after

time!

being there, and not winning

the first time.

The first day of practice, it was evident that things had changed rapidly, because the water had dropped two-feet

HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPIONHSIP - EUFALA

and all the fish in the pockets

Now back to the lake

were gone.

Eufaula AGAIN for Laker’s high

I used my Lowrance

school state championship.

C-MAP to run that Triton/

We made it there just in

Mercury as far upriver as

time for the Thursday night

possible and found some

registration and awards

stained water and a great

banquet in which Laker and

crankbait pattern. This time

Jantzen received their trophies

they were feeding on crawfish

and scholarships for winning

and I was able to dial it in with

the points title. That was

the Livingston Vapor crankbait

cool!! They competed for

in an Okie craw color.

A few essentials for Major League Fishing up North

two days hoping to win their