Bassmaster Southern Open - Lewis Smith Lake - A Good Ending

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The extremely clear, deep waters of Alabama's Lewis Smith Lake reservoir is intimidating to most first time anglers. Don't fret and keep reading.  Being  born in and raised in Florida where our deepest lakes are 20 feet deep, the deep water of Lewis Smith was more challenging than the water clarity.  I found ways to succeed under both conditions and if you follow along in my blog you too can catch more bass.

This was the final Bassmaster Southern Open #3 event of 2017 on Lewis Smith Lake in Jasper, Alabama and the last chance to get out of my 129th place standing.  More importantly, this was my last opportunity to complete the journey of testing my "instinctive fishing" skills in another high-stakes tournament. I accomplished both goals and achieved a 28th place finish in the event, raising my Pro AOY points to 80th place overall on the Bassmaster Southern Open tour. 

Lake Conditions: 

The house my fishing buddies rented was near the Duncan Bridge Marina in Cullman, AL , so I began my scouting from that general area of the Sipsey River.  Water level in the reservoir was about five feet below full pool.  Working my way toward Rock and Ryan Creeks, I noticed the water temperatures were hot (mid 80's), fish were suspended about 15 feet, and lots of trees showed on my Lowrance electronics standing 70-feet tall in over 100 feet of water. Such as contrast from Florida waters!

During my first few days of scouting I realized that extreme water clarity and depth were primary factors to deal with in the event, and the habitat was limited to rocks, docks, sand banks, and open water.  Weather and water temperatures during the week suggested to me that the fish were still dealing with the "dog days of summer".

I didn't like all the suspended bass as they are often inactive and difficult to consistently catch in a tournament. Sure, I knew I could catch my share of three pound spotted bass, but it didn't "feel right" as a winning pattern for a three day Open event.

After two days of scouting, I made the decision to stay shallow and use  "Florida baits" in for wolf packs of spotted and largemouth bass that I observed cruising the shallows. I planned to use my instincts and fish new water every day "that looked good" in order to accomplish a top 12 finish.

Tournament pairing and registration and pairing events are fun!  Getting to see friends from all over the states and have a chance to unwind before the event.

We all have the same goal of winning that trophy.











Day One:

On day one of the tournament, I was drawn out as boat number 25 and paired with a local Alabama angler.

Myself and two other boats ran up the Sipsey River to the Duncan Bridge Marina area.

 During the early-morning conditions, I threw a top water plug for the first time the entire week because it just "seemed right" . I was rewarded with a three pound largemouth that BASS featured on the website and a non-keeper spotted bass.

Throughout the day I worked threw soft and hard jerk baits  and swimbaits to fill out my mix-limit of spotted and largemouth bass. Aquatic plants Stonewort and Waterwillow in the back of pockets played a key role in my fishing pattern.

My first day catch ended up to be 9 pounds and 14 ounces, good for a 23rd start.

Day Two:

On the second day of the tournament I was boat #151 paired fellow angler Jordan McDonald from Georgia. We had been paired together before, and as luck would have it we had another good day fishing together.  While we waiting before the event started, Jordan and I watched first hand when Bassmaster Elite Pro Shaw Grigsby went "live" on Facebook in his boat next to us!

At my first shallow-water stop, the topwater bite over shallow water brushpiles and sand banks didn't happen, but my coangler Jordan hooked a nicer keeper spotted bass and another dozen small bass on a shakeyhead jig.

The bigger bass I had found the day before didn't reload and I realized I had burnt the area of resident fish.  To accomplish my goal I had to search new water and new schools.

I began searching new water along sand pockets and rocky areas with 40-foot depths nearby. By 1 pm I had only caught a few short bass and did not have a single keeper fish in the boat.  My quest and mental resolve was being put the the challenge, but I remained strong with a sense of confidence.

My second move was out to the main river along sand banks near the 80 foot range. This paid off!  My first catch was a 4 pound spotted bass that took my jerkbait away from a smaller spotted bass. As I was fighting the fish I laughed as I  noticed my coangler Jordan captured it on GoPro. The area also produced another two more spotted bass that measured over the 15 inch size limit.

At the end of the second day I was unable to fill out my limit. I ended up with three spotted bass for a total weight of 7 lbs. 2 ounces, putting me in 28th place overall. I finished the event by missing my top-12 goal by four pounds; the equivalent of only two small keepers.

Tournament director Chris Bowes handed me a check that helped solidify a long 2017 and challenging year as I pursued a complete change in my mental fishing theory.

Looking back my ranking felt respectable as It had been two years since I cashed a check in the Bassmaster Southern Opens. While I don't truly understand the reason, my mind seems to thrive on the most difficult fishing and weather conditions.

My theory is that I must subconsciously believe the challenging fishing conditions even up the playing field against locals and full-time pros who spend many more hours than me on the waters finding fish. I guess when abnormal conditions change how the fish react, my "instinctive skills" for finding bass are faster than my competitors.

I will always be an active student of the sport a bass fishing and I continually strive to learn faster methods of finding and catching fish from unfamiliar waters. An angler's best tool is their experience and ability for observation. Learning to trust instincts on choosing the right fishing locations based on observation has totally changed my fishing.  But this is not for the timid angler as it requires tremendous mental strength and resolve.  

Regardless, my fishing this year has been a fun pursuit of discovery that has produced incredible self awareness and positive personal rewards. I think I will continue on this journey in my future tournaments. I hope you will follow along. 

A New Psyche to Fishing

After four years on the Bassmaster Southern Open bass tournament circuit I learned first-hand how important it was for anglers to fish instinctively. Balancing a family life, career, and competitive fishing life takes constant work. With all the family events, work duties, tournament travel miles, sponsor obligations, charity work, and social media production, there is little time left to spend on the water before each tournament. 

For me, fishing patterns found in practice are over rated. In nearly every major tournament event I have participated in, the fishing pressure and weather encountered during the tournament week cancelled out any fishing patterns I developed in practice anyway. So why should I stress about practice?  I always found myself developing new fishing patterns each tournament day anyhow.  

To prove my point, my highest finish over my four-years on Bassmaster Southern Open Tour was on Douglas Lake, TN in April 2013. This was a reservoir I had never fished or seen before. It was a deep reservoir that fluctuated 40 feet annually. I drove up on Saturday and managed three days for practice before the Thursday start. I found cold water temperatures and lethargic bass, a massive shad die-off, and extremely cold weather. My Florida-style of fishing only landed me one keeper bass in three anxiety-filled days of practice. I felt horrible about my chances, but I never felt out if the game. 

In that tournament I was forced to find bass in the coldest, muddiest water (47F) I had ever fished. I successfully developed a technique and lure combination using a bait I never used before, a jig. Knowing that northern anglers rely on jigs in the wintertime, I tied one on in the cold rain and slowly worked steep rock bluffs down to 45 feet deep. I was rewarded with two days of solid limits of bass and a 22nd place finish out of 182 pro anglers!  The pros I beat that day were Bassmaster Classic Champions and Elite pro's: Casey Ashley, Randy Howell, and Paul Elias, Aaron Martens, Gerald Swindle, Brandon Palaniuk, and Kieth Poche! 

https://www.bassmaster.com/results/tournaments/2013-bass-pro-shops-southern-open-2/1

I didn't realize it at the time, but that was my first major success fishing instinctively and with an open mind! 

In 2016, I decided to take the year to work on my mental fishing game and market my sponsors to a more local, yet large grassroots audience. The long-term value to developing my instinctive style of fishing will pay off in the future. The pure fishing philosophies showcased by Major League Fishing Selects and Bassmaster Elite Bracket events are the wave of the future. 

I now find greater focus in my practice  for getting a sense of where to find good bass habitat and clean water quality. The habitat conditions always revolve around finding aquatic plant communities that bass would likely use. 

My scouting days on a lake or river now utilize the power of my Lowrance HDS9-Touch Gen3 unit to help understand lake conditions and fish movements.  The technology has advanced so well it easily helps me find bass and bait-fish in the areas I intend to fish. 

The other factor in my scouting has been to follow the teachings of Bassmaster Elite professional Rick Clunn in how I scout for bass. His theories covered all seasons (winter, spring, summer and fall) as bass are fairly predictable in their seasonal life cycles.  Click here to read the UltimaterBass.com copy of Rick Clunn's theories.



How deep I fish each season is closely based on Buck Perry's structure fishing theories: 1) the home of the fish is located in deep water, and 2) 90% of the big bass are in 10% of the water.  

Hooking Bass In Practice
Another way my new approach helps me is in the fact that I don't hook a lot of my fish in practice. Most of my tournaments occur on Saturdays on lakes that get fished heavily by a lot of anglers. These highly-pressured bass are already weary of anglers, so why would I hook bass and make them wise to my lures in practice? I have done that before, and while I may have "won in practice", the results rarely transferred over into my tournaments. The goal is for me win on tournament day, not in practice. 

My tournament competitors are typically younger pro anglers, local guides, and a variety of anglers with tremendous time on their hands. They normally have an advantage during stable conditions due to their vast time on the water. If any aspect of the weather, wind, or current changes, those anglers are commonly lost for a few hours. I feel my "open-minded" approach helps me evaluate the bass quicker and gives ME the advantage. 

My approach is nothing new, just look at the similar challenges the bass pros are faced with in Major League Fishing. Their rules force them to fish unknown waters with no practice or previous research!  Check out the show here if you've never seen it. 

MLF pros fish without practice

Full-time Elite anglers always seem to know what the fish are doing and how to catch them.  Not the case with me: I may know about aquatic plants, have a good understanding of lake biology, but bass behavior still eludes my full comprehension. I still have those days where I get beat in tournaments and leave the water not sure where I went wrong. But those days are fewer, and my quest for a free-style fishing approach has raised my confidence level higher than I ever dreamed possible. 

My free-style approach is a mental wreck - get through the smoke and may be in the lead

However, I warn other anglers that this journey is only for hard-core fish heads. It will totally mess up your psyche and play more mind games than you ever imagined in a tournament!  



The journey will be similar to a multi-car wreck in a NASCAR race, once you drive through the smoke of the mental wreck, you may just come out as the lead car! 

In this and future blogs, I will continue share my journey for mastering the technique of "instinctive fishing" that leads more to "fishing in the moment".










Please stay with me on this journey!  Jeff

Reflecting on Fishing Tips from 2015

As you can see from the lack of posts, after I fished the final Bassmaster Southern Open tournament of 2015 on Lake Seminole, I didn't look back. The year marked one of my most challenging years on the tournament tour, one I needed to let go of.

As I take time to reflect back and write this blog, I realized it wasn't anything to do with the lakes: we fished some good lakes with beautiful scenery. It wasn't anything to do with people: every town we visited the people were friendly and anglers courteous. It was likely to do with my lure selection and fishing techniques not matching the fishing conditions.

There are certain lures that can be used to catch fish in high pressure situations.  As I review my 2015 season, I will share those lures that I found successful, and the ones that died under the pressure.

1) The first Bassmaster Southern Open was held in January on Lake Toho in Kimmissee, FL. That week we experienced a cold weather front, high winds, and ice on the boats in the morning.  Ice in Florida?..ugh..only during a tournament!  I found bass were extremely aggressive at the beginning of the week before the front. Bass would eat my lipless crankbaits, swimbaits, topwater, and soft plastic baits pitched and flipped to plants like torpedograss, cattails, and bulrush. Color didn't seem to matter, and I used the classics: black/silver hardbaits and junebug soft plastic baits.

My Triton/Mercury Marine rig in Lake Toho lock going to Lake Kissimmee

The high winds that came through on the last day of practice stirred up the lake bottom and ruined all my openwater areas. I found this out the next day at the start of the tournament .  This muddy water forced all the anglers to fish in the limited, wind-protected, clear water areas.  Of all my practice lures, I found that only my swimbait produced bites in the cramped fishing areas on tournament day. To entice the finicky bass to bite, I had to slow down my retrieve to half the lure speed that I used in practice.  In the afternoon, I found some bass spawning, and plastic baits worked good on catching the male, buck-bass around spawning beds.

Mix of cattail and bulrush often hold groups of bass

One patch of mixed cattail and bulrush produced a half-dozen bites from big female bass. Unfortunately, the bass were finicky and I failed to land any of them. It still amazes me how big bass can be so precise in biting only the punchers on my 3" crawfish bait, and never eating the full bait. It was a sure indication that these bass had already seen a few lures over the week. 

I ended the 2-day tournament in 122nd place, top 61%, only 9.5 pounds of the top 40 cut.


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2) Bassmater Southern Open event #2 was on Alabama River in Prattville, AL in April. This section of river is impounded by a dam, with three dams feeding water in: two dams on the Coosa River, and one on the Tallapoosa River. Water fluctuations were extreme, and while largemouth bass lived in the Alabama River, a species of Coosa River spotted bass was the prey we were hunting. This whole situation was new to this Florida angler.

Water levels changes: trees out of water overnight

My pre-tournament research allowed me to understand the water stages.  Yet, getting used to water movements of nearly four feet overnight was a challenge.  Fallen trees I would find holding bass during practice would be out of the water the next day.

Fishing for the aggressive Coosa River spotted bass reminded me of fishing for saltwater jack crevalle. When they hit your bait, they hit hard and pulled like our inshore saltwater fish. The setup of the Alabama river with its three inflowing streams produced a constant flow of water that positioned bass nicely. I really could get used to that!

Backwater areas off the Alabama River held good largemouth bass

My practice lures which caught both largemouth and spotted bass were spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, shakeyhead worms, and hard jerkbaits. The backwater areas mostly held largemouth bass and the swift current eddies supported more spotted bass.

Since I was not familiar with all the fish species and how each one hit, I was forced to catch a few fish in the practice to confirm the species and size. Drum, catfish, and other non-tournament fish will often mislead anglers to believing they found a large school of bass.

A muddy main river had me searching for clear water creeks

Changes in river flow and clarity, along with fishing pressure, unfortunately pushed the bass into deep water areas, 30-40 foot. Local angler knowledge dominated this tournament, and knowing which deep water holes held the best bass was the key I missed.  There just was not enough time in three days of practice to explore all the deep holes and fish as slow as needed. To compensate,

A large Coosa River spotted bass caught in the tournament on a chatterbait

I sought out the highest flowing, clear-water stream in search of feeding bass. My success was limited, but I left the Alabama River with a better undstanding of how the Coosa River spotted bass behave. The hard jerkbiat and shakeyhead finesse worm were the best lures during the event.  I finished in 123rd place, top 67%, just 8.9 pounds out of the top 40 cutoff.

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3) Last stop of the Bassmaster Southern Open was on Lake Seminole out of Bainbridge, GA in October. Lake Seminole was created by Army Corps as a reservoir for hydoelectric power generation, catching the Chattahoochee River, Flint River, Spring Creek, and Fish Pond tributaries.

Boating on the rocky Flint River was a thrill ride but catching shoal bass was fun  

The Flint River holds a unique species of bass known as the Shoal Bass. This fish prefers to feed on crawfish in rocky rapids, and this stream is ranked as one of the more dangerous rocky streams.  Navigating my Triton fiberglass boat and Mercury ProXS over the shallow rocks took some careful driving.

The river has to be one of the most pristine rivers I have ever fished. Shoal bass are much smaller than their largemouth bass cousins, and fishing for them was only a backup plan.

Aquatic plants are prime habitat for bass

The reservoir had been fishing extremely tough over the summer months and local tournament winners were reporting low historic weights. Hydrilla was dominating the lower end of the system, but nothing out of the ordinary could explain the low fish catch rates.

During my summertime practice on Lake Seminole, I was able to identify a lot of aquatic plants and catch some nice largemouth bass out of them.

Fishing pressure added to the difficult fishing conditions during the official practice week of the tournament, I had not ever witnessed so many local anglers on the water fishing during the work week as I did on Lake Seminole. The fishing pressure was over the top.

Aquatic plants found on Lake Seminole (videos click here)

Flipping is always a strong fishing technique in plant filled lakes and I knew this method would dominate this event. Anglers could spend days flipping soft plastic baits into the large variety of floating plants and abundant submersed plants like hydrilla, coontail, sago pondweed, and fanwort. Flipping for days is exactly what I did in practice!

Click here to visit the UF IFAS video webpage and learn more about aquatic plants

Unfortunately I was only able to entice a bass or two per day to bite, I was not alone as my fellow competitors were also reporting low numbers of bites in practice.

I took the chance of not knowing whether the bites were from bass or mudfish since I didn't use hooks in practice, Hitchhiker screwrigs are a great lure invention for holding baits on fishing line with actually hooking fish. I felt I couldn't afford to hook the limited number of bass willing to eat with all the angler fishing pressure,

Roomates Jimmy Keith, Darrel Pons Sr, Paul Elias, and Shaw Grigsby Jr.

Here I sit between Jimmy and Darrel, along with Shaw Grigsby Jr and Charlie Hartley

This last tournament of the year was special for me as I was able to house with my good friends Shaw Grigsby Jr, Paul Elias, Darrel Pons Sr, and Jimmy Keith. These Elite pros and seasoned anglers have traveled the country, and it is fun to hang out with them.  Not to mention I always gain from their insight and experiences!

The camaraderie and friends you make on the tournament trail is another benefit to the Bassmaster orginization, whether it be the Bass Nation or Open trails.

The BASS organization encourages us to post photos and video during practice.  My practice experience was out shadowed by a few guys posting photos of giant bass ten to twelve pounds caught during the week. I was obviously out of touch with the fishing conditions.

Anglers at Bainbridge GA ramp waiting for their launch numbers to be called

On the first day of the tournament I navigated my AERF-wrapped Triton Boat down the stump filled Flint River, to the lower end near the dam. I started off fishing a large hydrilla bed next to an open-water main lake channel where I had found bass in practice.

I noticed a small flurry of active bass first thing in the morning, and other than that it was a slow bite. I felt the trolling and outboard motor noises cutting through the grassbeds had probably kept the bass and baitfish on the move, and constantly alert them to angler presence.

First bass of tournament was a nice five pound largemouth 

After flipping the grass for nearly an hour I switched baits and caught my first, and biggest bass, of the tournament. I  caught it working a spinnerbait over a hole in deep hydrilla, I was surprised the fish hit a powerbait when the fishing was so slow.  It made me believe the fish were suspended in the grass and would indeed hit a reaction bait. I alternated between the spinnerbait and flipping a black and blue creature bait all day. It was not a fancy or exciting way to fish, just required making thousands of flips into miles of hydrilla and coontail beds growing along the main river. My fishes areas in the lower end failed to give up anymore bass. For the last hour of the tournament, I ran up the Flint river to try and fill out a five-bass limit. Cranks baits produced some small bass, and while I managed to catch both largemouth and shoal bass in the event, they never weighed enough.

Video clip of day one weigh-in on Lake Seminole, by AERF

I ended up finishing in 92nd place, top 55%, a mere 7.9 pounds out of the top 40 cutoff.

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Relaxing in the off season and reflecting on my tournament year

During my winter break from tournament competition, I relaxed in my home state of Florida while thinking back on my season.  My tournament record for 2015 was good, but not great.

I ended up 93rd in the Angler of the Year standings (out of 230 pros), equal to the top 45%.  I guess I am happy, given the high level of pro competition on the Bassmaster Open trail.

I was out of my comfort zone the entire time: fishing out-of-state lakes, practicing only two and a half days each event, angling for species of bass I rarely get a chance to catch, and competing against the best local anglers and Bassmaster Elite pros.

Yes, I got beat by a lot of anglers, but I equally beat some of the best local anglers and biggest names in the business. I experienced the core of tournament bass fishing, a sport that offers a roller coaster ride of emotions from highest of highs to lowest of lows. 

With 2015 behind me, I push forward into a new year with high hopes and renewed energy. My blog, website, and social media reached an all time peak in viewers and set the bar. Sharing information about fishing tips, bass and lake biology, and aquatic plant identification has become a second passion along with my tournament angling.  Each tournament situation is different, and I really enjoyed sharing the sights and stories through social media such as my Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest,

Bassmaster Open photo by JO

Knowing aquatic plants allowed me to fish them better, and research on plants was supported by the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation (AERF). I proudly wear their logo on my tournament jersey to help anglers learn about aquatic plants.

Additional support from Insight Genesis and GoFree Social Maps  really helped me maximize my Lowrance mapping features. Visit my website for links and upcoming how-to videos.

None of our recreational activities would be possible without our troops fighting to keep America free and safe. Please visit Kids In Support of Soldiers to learn how you can help them send monthly care packages to actively deployed soldiers defending our country.

Please check back with my blog monthly as I share new adventures and new fishing tips to make your fishing better and more enjoyable.

I hope you learned something new along with way! 

Thanks for following along,  Jeff Holland  
www.jeffhollandfishing.com