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Fall 2019
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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