Let the Lessons Begin for 2015

The 2015 Bassmaster Southern Open started with a full field of 200 pros, multiple weather fronts, numerous lessons to be learned, and ended with Chad Morgenthaler taking home the win!

My #AERF #MercuryMarine Triton boat rig at #BigTohoMarina waiting to launch out in the Bassmaster Southern Open

I finished 122nd, well outside making a check, but earned some valuable "Angler of the Year" points. This mediocre result hurts, and sets my year up to be tough. Now I am behind and I must perform better in my next two events.  Regardless of my finish, I always enjoy representing my sponsors and introducing the great work of Kids in Support of Soldiers to the audiences.

Competitor Chad Morgenthaler holding my trophy

It is nice to see a good guy like Chad win, but I am not happy to have donated my money to him again. He beat me at the Bassmaster Wildcard on Lake Okeechobee, where at least I finished 14th in that event and earned my money back. 

My Bassmaster Wildcard event on Lake Okeechobee where Chad beat me the first time 

Competition

Fishing the Bassmaster Opens is a serious game of competition. The skill level of this group of anglers is extremely high. Many are full-time touring Bassmaster Elite and FLW pros.

The winner of the Opens is typically the fastest and smartest at figuring out bass movements and capitalizing on that knowledge over a three day event.

The #AERF #Triton #MercuryMarine rig fishing for "Kids in Support of Soldiers"

During my practice I found good areas where bass wanted to spawn, but my "on-the-water street skills" were not up to par with bass movements.  Each day I quickly caught my limit by 11 am, but I was never able to keep up with how the big female bass were reacting to the fishing pressure, the winds, and the muddy, cold water.  Chad's win showed us the bigger bass simply swam back out to deeper cover near the main lake. 

I had the gut instinct that while Lake Toho fishing was tough, it would turn on any day.  I never caught a lake-fish shallow in this event.  Meaning, all my bass were dark colored, which told me they had been up in the shallow water cover awhile.  Bass I caught out in main lake hydrilla beds were lighter colored than my shallow water bass, so I know that they were ready to come in shallow but had not done so yet.  

Dark, mottled coloring of bass caught around cattails indicated resident fish that had been up shallow for some time

While hard to see in this photo, the lighter, less mottled color of this bass shows it has stayed offshore

Friends

The Bassmaster Opens is also about seeing friends from all over the country.  It was great to hang out with friends like #ShawGrigsby, #PaulElias #GuyEaker, #PatrickPierce, #KenDuke, and #RolandMartin, to name a few. It was also about meeting new friends like #T-RoyBroussard and #DylanFulk.  

 

Discussing fishing techniques with Matt, Shaw Grigsby, Rich Howes, and Patrick Pierce. 

Teen Sportfishing Assocation organizer Neal Lazarus talks #TrophyCatch with Marty Mann and Jim Sweatman.

The folks at #FWC who oversee the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes continue to manage the fisheries along with the thankless task of managing the chain's aquatic plant population. This year's challenge has been controlling a new nuisance from a species of Primrose plant.  This plant is now growing over native plants and smothering out the valuable habitat.  Weed harvesting has removed much of the plant material. while selective EPA-labeled and approved herbicides are slowing the plant's regrowth. This invasive species threatens most native plants and I hope #FWC and #AERF find a solution soon. 

Neal Lazarus with Teen Sportfishing Association helps volunteer to launch 200 boats and organize trailer parking #BigToho

Volunteers
The Teen Sportfishing Association did a fantastic work in organizing the boat launching at Big Toho Marina, trailer parking, and shuttling fish to the live release boats.  They had to wake up early and endure the rain and cold winds.  I was proud to see my nephew Troy being a part of this great teen club. I look to see him on the trail in the near future. Thanks to all the adult and teen volunteers!

Weather

Weather is always a factor, and tournaments continue regardless of inclement weather. Except for the extreme life-threatening weather conditions, most fishing events go on in all weather conditions. This week started with water temperatures in the 70s and bass making beds to spawn.  Some spawning had occurred before this event, but most female bass appeared to be offshore and waiting for the right conditions to spawn. 

Heavy rains persisted during practice of the first Bassmaster event for 2015

A cold front brought a large amount of rain and cloudy conditions. This dropped the water temperatures into the high 50s. The water warmed up throughout the event and eventually settled into the mid 60s during competition. In practice, the winds blew light, but increased to a steady 10 mph during the competition. With sustained winds overnight, Florida's shallow Kissimmee Chain of Lakes muddied up and turned off many bass from feeding. 

Cold, windy weather moved in after the rains and challenged anglers to relocate the bass

I found that reaction bites were the only way to keep catching bass in my areas under these conditions.  I caught most of my smaller limit-bass on swimbaits and jerkbaits worked in openings of grass and along cattails edges. 

Open water edges that held many of the bigger bass

Swimbaits I used to catch limit fish each day

Cattail stands where I caught smaller buck-bass and an occasional female bass

I caught a few bigger bass flipping a Sweetbeaver on 5/16 ounce weight into shallow water cattails and bulrush.  All the bass hit on the initial flip as it fell through the light cover. Because of this I also considered this a reaction bite rather than a feeding bite.

The final day weigh-in was held at #BassProShops Orlando in front of several hundred spectators. Congratulations to all the Florida anglers who made the top 12 #TrevorFitzgerald #DannyLanier
 

My #Toyota4Runner enabled me to fish for #Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks

Bassmaster Open Proangler #PatrickPierce talks #StarBright products with the spectators at #BassProShops weigh-in

#JeffHollandFishing is proud to be on the #MercuryMarine prostaff, the official engine sponsor of Bassmaster

Power-pole was an important part of my ability to anchor quietly in shallow water grass and fish for spawning bass

The Odds

Statistics extraordinaire Ken Duke will often tell anglers the facts: the odds of winning are stacked against every angler. So many factors have to fall into place in order for everything to go right for a win.  Besides the fish cooperating, anglers have to be nearly flawless landing bass without a net (new 2015 rule).  Then, there are the uncontrollable elements such as: fishing pressure, wind, clouds, boat draw number, locking times between lakes, lock capacity and operation, duck hunters, local anglers, guides, equipment performance, rain, opening of water discharge structures, lack of adequate motel parking, kicked extension cords that fail to charge boat batteries, how a well a fish gets hooked, random chaos, and much, much more.  

My own statistics after three years of fishing the Southern Opens show that I averaged in the top 25% AOY each year.  Yet, I've come to the conclusion that unless the trophy is in my hands, I will never be happy with my results!! The win is my goal. 

I was not pleased with my start in 2015, but in hindsight, I consider this event an investment in my fishing education. Now I  have to look forward and take up where I left off in my pre-tournament research on fishing the Alabama River in Prattville, AL.  This second stop on the Bassmaster Southern Open tour will take place April 16-18, 2015. 

I have never been to this section of the Alabama River. In only four days of practice, I will be challenged with assessing how to navigate around the rocky river system and quickly find both spotted and largemouth bass species.  Oh yes, I have to figure out how to catch these bass better than the other 200 Pros. These are but a few elements in this game that must be mastered....

The Natural Course of Things

I just attended the Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society (FAPMS) training conference and learned a wealth of knowledge about aquatic vegetation from leading researchers. 

Are you aware of the fact exotic vegetation has taken a foot-hold in most Florida lakes and humans intervention is the only hope for nature to gain back its balance?  

Most invasive plants are exotic from countries overseas. They have evolved in harsh places and easily over take our native plants. These invasives grow faster, need little food and sunlight, and do well in our fertile waters. 

http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/manage/overview-of-florida-waters/public-waters-bathymetry

I think it is ironic that most people with a bacterial or viral infection wouldn't think twice about seeking medical prescription help, but those same people often tell lake biologists to let nature control exotic plants, not herbicides.  Just like the super germs, invasive plants have few, if any, natural enemies in the US. 

I am tired of plants from other countries invading my backyard with no controls or natural enforcement. Don't get me wrong, I love to fish aquatic vegeation because it's the habitat that fish like.  I do not think bass care what plant species makes up their habitat, but we both care if the vegetation get too thick! Fish can't move or feed well and I can't hardly get a weed less bait into weed infestations to catch my bass. 

This week at FAPMS I was reminded of the various methods of vegetation control such as pulling up weeds with aquatic plant mowers (harvesters), stocking sterile carp to eat the plants, and using the newer, EPA approved, short-lasting products to selectively get rid of nuisance weeds.  Research EPA labels here:  http://www.cdms.net/ACM.aspx

Herbicides are still the most cost-effective way of controlling nuisance plants, whether in food crops, your yard, or our lakes. I like it when government agencies actually use our public money wisely, such as herbicide weed control. 

Our generation of nearly-organic EPA herbicides promise to keep us safe and restore our lakes and diverse habitats. The bad, long-lasting chemicals of our forefathers have long been removed from use. 

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has shifted its focus of chemical screening to human-health concerns rather than the ability to kill weeds. This means that aquatic herbicides used today get rid of lake weeds safer and without long-term harm.  I like that, and I know my kids like that. 

It was brought to my attention that many chemicals under my kitchen sink have worse warnings than the herbicides used on my lake to control exotics. It is a sad fact that household chemicals like Bleach, Lysol, WD40, and DrainO have hurt more kids under the age of two than any of today's plant herbicides! 

Did you know that none of today's EPA-approved aquatic herbicides for hydrilla control are toxic enough for the danger or toxic ratings? But under kitchen sinks you will often find skull and cross-bone symbols indicating TOXIC or. list the text DANGER! 

Anglers, please do not be hypocritical about weed control. Today's lake restoration herbicides do an excellent job of keeping exotic plants from destroying our lakes. I know the men and women who hold jobs killing lake weeds and they have families, enjoy the outdoors, and are professionals too. 

I knew you wouldn't mind that I thanked the applicators for their weed control efforts. Most were surprised to receive thanks from an angler. I saw true appreciation in their eyes for recognition of their work!  I even caught bass after they sprayed an area on Lake Okeechobee that was previously choked out. 

You see, applicators don't get thanked for caring and doing a respectable job. They don't get thanked for supporting their family and protecting Florida's fragile environment. But this week, I thanked them for us,--those of us that enjoy standing on the shoreline of a lake at sunset, those of us that enjoy the laughter of children catching bluegill, and those of us that watch a full moon shimmer off the lake while holding hands with our loved one.

Anglers, please stop judging today's weed sprayers by the past. The problems of Lake Conroe, Guntersville, DDT and "Silent Spring" chemicals have been addressed and removed by EPA. New challenges are needed for our officials and legislators. Protect our rights and property from invasions!  That includes our lakes.  

We all want clean water, the ability to enjoy the great outdoors, and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! 

Please support your aquatic applicators, ask questions to gain understanding, but continue to support a balance with our natural resources. 

Thanks for reading my post,

Jeffhollandfishing.com 

#AERF #MercuryMarine #Power-pole