My first kayak bass fishing tournament is in the books. I had a strong feeling that Lake Oconee would fish tough, but, boy, I had no clue it would be this tough! We have been riding out a bizarre cold front coupled with a strange, early spawn. At Oconee, the bass were definitely in the post spawn phase, but had not yet begun following the shad spawn. My game plan was to search the mouths of spawning pockets, creek channels and bridge rip rap. If those didn't pan out I would flip boat docks all day; my go-to lake presentation. An hour into the event I knew my plans had gone awry when I side hooked a water moccasin with a rattle trap. Then I had a big hybrid break me off at the boat. Then I caught a catfish. Then I caught a bream. Three hours in, I ditched my game plan in favor of a total finesse approach; I skipped senkos, flipped 1/4 ounce jigs, and four inch shaky head worms. Still nothing. I gathered from passing anglers that I was not alone in my frustrations, so I knew that I could put myself in contention if I could just find some fish! Finally, with an hour remaining, I pulled out my "panic box;" an ultra finesse box. Tying on a small, finesse crankbait, I began to beat the banks with a singular purpose. I just wanted one fish! Finally, with thirty minutes to spare, I hooked into a bass. It was small, but I was exhilarated none the less! I quickly grabbed my net and scooped up that tiny fish like it was a five pounder. There was absolutely no shot at winning, but at least I was int the mix. Even though only 5 anglers in a field of 22 managed to bring something to the weigh in. My good friend Stewart Venable, Maniyak, took first place by a wide margin anchoring a three fish bag with a stout, twenty inch large mouth. I finished fifth place. One place out of the prize package. One fish away from second place and a nice check. I hoped to walk away from this event with a check and plaque, but I can take some pride in a top five finish when over three-quarters of the field were held fish-less. Thankfully, the next two events are on rivers. I think it will take five quality fish to win those events, but I am so much more confident fishing a river. A lot of luck comes into play here, but I have the utmost confidence on a river. That doesn't guarantee that I will find the necessary, quality fish, but I feel confident that I will be in strong contention to win both of the up coming events. I want to send out a huge "Thank You" to Tim Sizemore for organizing a great tourney, Eric Hughes at the Tallapoosa Paddling Company for his sponsorship and support, Georgia Power for allowing us to use their park, and all the other sponsors of the SKA Tournament Series.
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