Lake Harris Chain For Two

Finally, the Harris Chain of lakes was consistently good to me! Tournament schedules in March for both the FL Bass Nation State qualifier and American Bass Angler's Ram Open ProAm series lined up on sequential weekends. 

First Event: FL Bass Nation Central Division qualifier was held on Lake Harris Hickory Point Recreational Facility in Tavares, FL. Due to family schedules I entered the event without having been in the water to practice or learn the conditions. I had to rely on pre-tournament research and past knowledge of seasonal patterns.

The time of the year told me that bass should be pre-spawn, with maybe a few early spawners. MyFWC guide also confirmed this to be a solid pattern.

After listening to the singing of the national anthem in the early dawn hour, my boat number was called and I raced to my starting area on the main lake Harris.  I began by using powerbaits on the main lake but only caught one bass for about three pounds.   I moved shallower and pitched weedless plastic baits into thick vegetation.  I caught a buck bass that showed common signs (red under fins) of a fish making a bed. This bass was my second keeper bass over 14 inches and gave me an important clue.  

Water lily in shallows of Harris Chain

I made the decision to move into a community spawning canal to look for any spawning bass.  I was fishing behind about eight other boats also looking for bedding bass. 

On my first pass I found lots of buck bass making fresh beds. An hour later on another pass down the bank I noticed three and four pound bass paired up with those buck bass.

Video of bass bed  from FWC study

This is when my skills and training from Shaw Grigsby kicked in and I filled out my limit.   

NOTE: Bed fishing in FL has repeatedly been studied and found not to impact the overall population of bass, mainly due to the long spawning season and high number of bass spawning events.  Read the latest study by myFWC here

At the end of the tournament my five-bass limit weighed 15.11 lbs and was good for third place in the Bass Nation Central Division ProAm qualifier. Not a bad start to my year.

Video summarizing my fishing pattern

Second Event: American Bass Anglers (ABA) Ram Truck Open series tournament was held at the Hickory Point  Recreation facility in Tavares, FL, same as the previous tournament.

Weather in Tavares had been consistently windy and unstable. Cold fronts and high winds rocked the area during the week and held the water temperature down.  After careful consideration, I made the decision in this tournament to fish the same pattern of targeting spawning bass. My backup pattern was to fish the prespawn areas if bass moved off the beds and back out to deeper water. 

My boat launch number of 26 meant I had the potential of fishing behind a lot more anglers in the community canals. When I arrived at my first canal I indeed had four other angers ahead of me sight fishing for bedding bass. Low light conditions in the early morning hours hampered the other angler's ability to see the beds.  Surprisingly, they missed a lot of bass and gave me a good chance for catching a nice limit. 

Elite pro Shaw Grigsby is a master at sight fishing

I owe #Bassmaster Elite pro Shaw Grigsby the credit on my success. Due to his training on how to spot bedding bass and how to quickly assess their potential for biting, I was able to overcome the crowded fishing conditions.  I even found a bass over 8lbs siting near a bed.   

View of the bed holding a bass over 8lbs. See underwater video here

I was able to spot and catch several bass in the three pound range. However, many of the bass I found were definitely pressured and very skittish. The ones I landed fell victim to my Bitter's craw bait. 

After leaving the community canal, I ran to another dozen canals and picked up one or two bass to cull my weight up by ounces. Like most fishing story, I lost a four pound bass that would have really helped my bag. When bed fishing on finicky bass they often pick up crawfish baits by the pinchers to move it off the bed without eating the bait.  

Unfortunately, bed fishing often results in briefly hooked, and lost bass. After several attempts at catching the big 8+ lb female I spotted earlier, I was forced to leave her as I could not get her interested in my baits. That was a bummer...

At the end of the day, I weighed 11.06 lbs in the ABA Open ProAm and finished in 18th place. Had I landed the fish I hooked, I could have finished much higher. As a competitor the potential of a higher finish made me disappointed with my overall performance in this event. 

In reality, two good events on the Harris Chain of Lakes with limits in both tournaments was an accomplishment for me! 

This chain of lakes has always challenged me in being consistent.  The other challenge was going  into those events without any practice beforehand, and I was blessed it worked out. 

Follow me at www.jeffhollandfishing.com

With the boat cleaned up and stored in my garage, I will be working on my pre-tournament research for the upcoming Bass Nation and ABA Open series tournaments on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Again these events are lined up sequentially on back to back weekends.

The massive Lake Toho and Kissimmee waterbodies provide anglers over 53,000 acres to fish. This is an intimidating amount of water to breakdown in a single day.  

Keep following along my blog for fishing tips and details on how I catch bass in the next events on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.       Good luck catching, Jeff 

Fishing Through Curve Balls

I recently traveled to Lake Seminole in Sneads, Florida to scout for the last Bassmaster Southern Open tour event of 2015.

Jim Woodruff dam (background) created the 38,000 acre Lake Seminole

Being a multi-tasker, I also added to my list three other goals: re-learn the lake's massive stump fields and fishing quirks, record depth contours for Insight Genesis social maps, and find enough bass to successfully compete in the FL Bass Nation state qualifier tournament which I entered without any practice.  This qualifier tournament was my second to last chance to earn a birth into the Florida BASS Nation State Championship.

Lake Seminole is located north of Tallahassee, FL on the Florida /Georgia border.  It  was a five-hour drive to reach the boat ramp and it had been over six years since I fished Lake Seminole last. When I began boating around, I found a very different lake than I knew.  A mayfly hatch was in full swing, a strong northwest wind  had been blowing for several days, and the water was severely stained at the lower end near the dam.

Mayfly hatch on Lake Seminole had the bluegill happy

The conditions had eliminated much of the open water areas I previously knew to fish. I was forced to fish the limited wind protected areas and find new fish holding areas in my limited two days.  For a reservoir nearly 60 square miles (38,000 acres), the task was overwhelming.

Woodroof Dam creating the reservoir

Since it was summertime, I took the approach to tie on basic lures to cover the top, middle, and bottom of the water column.  Topwater plugs, spinnerbaits/ swimbaits, and worms were my first choice.

I scouted in the Chattahoochee river,  Flint, and Spring Creek sections of Lake Seminole. Water temperatures ranged 88-90F and locating solid groups of shad and bass was challenging. The hot summer water had fish scattered on the flats and my first fishing attempts were unsuccessful. The Chattahoochee River was stained, and the Flint and Spring Creek river arms were clear, almost too clear for the heat.

Stained water on Lake Seminole was common on the Chattahoochee river

In other areas of Lake Seminole, the exotic plant Hydrilla was choking out acres but making the water clear (FWC weed alert). Bass in the ultra clear water were spooky in the mid-day sunshine. Using typical clear water baits, I coaxed a lot of bass to follow my lures, but none would commit. Seeing three pounds bass follow lures all the way to the boat without striking made me believe the afternoon conditions were wrong to catch these bass after the sun began to blare. I would have to use the areas as morning fishing spots.

Hydrilla topping out and reducing access for boating 

Massive acres of topped out hydrilla

My second pattern was to try the deeper main channels and stained water areas. After a second day on the water, I mapped nearly 400 acres of contours for Insight Genesis social maps and figured out how to catch some bass in the process. A few nice fish were easy to flip up, and a few others hit the mid-water baits I scouted with.

Insight Genesis freshwater mapping software free with sign up

I felt I had performed a reasonable job of reacquainting myself with Lake Seminole after only two days on the water. I was going to fish the tournament the next day with some confidence, and a good deal of knowledge of the reservoir conditions.
When the morning of the Bass Nation state championship qualifying tournament arrived, I motored out into the lake ready to tackle the day.  I noticed on the Army Corp website that the reservoir discharge had increased 4 fold.

I arrived at my first spot on the main river and worked it over for an hour without a bite. I witnessed the water flow to be much faster, water higher, and all my stained water was replaced by clear, tannic water. The reservoir managers had needed to move water overnight due to heavy rain in Georgia, and this flushed the entire lower end of the lake.  Life had thrown me my first curve ball! The sudden change in water conditions altered fish behavior and locations.  I was forced to start practicing again after wasting an hour trying to coax bass in my area to bite.

Weather change threw me a curve ball

I fished many promising areas again and focused on efficiently covering the habitat, while at the same time looking for a sign of bass or fish activity.

By 9am the wind had died to present me with a mirror-calm Lake Seminole, 99F degree heat index, and sunny, cloudless skies.  This second curve ball made conditions even tougher!

Lack of wind produced slick water and slowed the bite down

I put my trolling motor down just went fishing through fishy-looking areas with a mix of plants. I managed to find one area where I picked up three bites on my spinnerbait.  I landed only one of the three bass, and gave myself a pathetic 33% landing average.  Later in the day I hit a bass flipping but failed to land it too. This dropped my landing average to a horrible 25%. To state the obvious, I had a mentally challenging day!

My single bass was big enough to finish in 9th place

In the end, I brought only one bass to the scales in my state qualifier tournament.  However, since bass tournaments competitors fish under the same changing conditions, the weights are all relative. The champion was a local expert who weighed in 18-pounds for a five-fish limit, beating me by a large margin.
I was happy to see my bass was big enough to earn me 9th place, and a birth into the 2015 FL Bass Nation State Championship! This was great news on a hard fishing day.  The State Championship is scheduled this November to be near my home on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, FL.  I should have a much better tournament with the ability to practice more.
My trip was successful on all accounts except my fish landing skills. I met my goals of re-learning the stump fields, scouting Lake Seminole's quirks, recording depth readings for Insight Genesis, finding aquatic plants and bass, and earning my birth into the state championship!  I had mixed emotions on the outcome.  I enjoyed the time on the water, but I was not happy with my poor execution of converting fish bites into landing fish.
I remain motivated on building my skills at adapting to on-the-water-conditions, and improving my conversion of hookup-to-landings.  Had I achieved a 100% ratio in the tournament I would have made a top-five finish.  I should have done better.....
Now that qualified for FL Bass Nation State Championship, I already started mapping the Harris Chain Of Lakes for Insight Genesis social maps and re-learning the location of this year's bass communities and aquatic vegetation.

Began practice on Harris Chain for State Championship

Having to share the water with anglers and aviators

In September, I'll join KISS (Kids In Support of Soldiers) for a packaging event for our military troops.

In October, I fish my last Bassmaster Southern Open event of 2015 on Lake Seminole. We launch out of Bainbridge, GA, so I will need to learn some more stump fields to successfully navigate around that section of the lake.

Finally, In November after the Bassmaster Southern Open, I return my focus to winning the FL Bass Nation State Championship on the Harris Chain of Lakes, FL.  Accomplishing that goal will provide me the opportunity to fish the Bassmaster Classic!  

I was taught by anglers much better than myself, and I still have much to learn, so I am always willing to pay it forward to other anglers who are wanting to learn more.
Visit my webpages "Angler Resource" for aquatic plant info, maps, water info, techniques, and more.


www.jeffhollandfishing.com
Thanks for following along!
Jeff

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....

Lessons from the Ups and Downs of 2014

Fishing is a sport of trial and error.  When anglers go fishing everyone has their own style of tying on lures, testing theories, and eliminating water.  Luckily for everyone, the art of discovery is still a major factor in fishing, even with all the advances in equipment and electronics!

For tournaments my study always begin with looking at the fishery habitats available on each lake.  My homework helps answer the question of whether the water has aquatic plants, structure, or man-made docks and cover for bass to utilize.  A main source of information is the national Aquatic Plant Management Society webpage links. I compiled the most helpful links on my webpage under the Angler Tools page.


Preserving our nation's water through scientific understanding


Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation has been my most supportive premier sponsor, and the Triton/Mercury rig my most reliable equipment for successful fishing trips throughout South Eastern US lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Stop in at Miller's Boating Center in Ocala to pick out your own reliable fishing rig!

Triton/Mercury rig traveled nearly 5,000 miles in the 2014 season

During the 2014 season, I made a change in my normal way of scouting and finding fish.
After a few years of limited success on the Bassmaster Southern Open trail, I modified my traditional fishing techniques in an effort to reach higher finishes.  I based this modification on taking the advice of others, mainly listening to them say I had to fish the way that past champions fished in order to win.

Fishing large reservoirs is educational and rewarding. Spottedbass

By trying to fish the styles of other pros I hurt my overall success in 2014. One reason was being limited to three days of practice for each tournament due to my family and career obligations . With such limited time, this change in fishing habits did not fit my style and made it difficult to be consistent.  After a year of trying this new method, I learned how wrong it was for me.  I already began making mental changes to help me return to my own style in 2015.  Some of the psychology that aided me in understanding this was by Jay McNamara.  If you are a serious angler you should read  Jay McNamara's The Psychology of Exceptional Fishing.




Typical FL largemouth

Florida bass habitat

Growing up and learning to fish in Florida allowed me to develop a personal fishing style that focused on shallow water. While on the Bassmaster Open trail, I was forced to learn how to find bass in large, deep water reservoirs.  Fortunately, I found that I liked fishing deep water contour breaks.   Learning how schools of bass migrate in thirty to seventy feet-deep water made sense to me and has been fun to analyze on the tournament trail. 

Together, both my shallow and deep water skills have given me a method of consistently catching bass in tournaments.  My fish have not always been the biggest, but they consistently put me close to top 25% of the field.

Learning to fish contours such as this 70'-100' breakline has been fun.

Looking back on all my Southern Open events I found that my most successful baits were topwaters, jerkbaits, swimbaits, and jigs.   These accounted for all the bass I weighed in since 2012.  I like fishing spinnerbaits and crankbaits, but found these baits were only productive for me when scouting for bass in practice.  I am still working on developing my skill for fishing these baits for weary bass that have been heavily pressured by anglers. 

Docks are often the only habitat in large reservoirs

The 2014 season yielded emotional ups and downs like I have never experienced before.  I realized at the end of the season that I am not the same angler who started this level of competition.  I feel I have developed a quicker ability to analyze strengths and weaknesses, both in my angling skills and in choosing the best lures and bass habitats for the conditions.  I shared my techniques and habitat choices in my blog posts, Facebook page, and website links.  I hope they help you catch more fish as well.

The Year in Detail:

The 2014 Bassmaster Southern Open season started off with two events that experienced massive cold fronts and Gail force winds.  The article, North American Cold Wave of 2014, covered the extreme weather events we anglers faced in 2014.

Cold fronts on radar

Muddy water and severe cold made my groups of Florida largemouth shut down in the Florida event, while snowfall caused frozen line guides that hampered my Spotted bass success in Alabama. During such extreme conditions all an angler can do is just grind it out for a few bass and hope for the best.

In between tournaments I volunteered with several youth events: Teen Sportsman Association,
Kirchman Foundation, Osceola County Sheriffs Xtravaganza Fundraiser on Lake X, and several packing events for Kids in Support of Soldiers.

Famous Mercury Marine Lake X

Osceola County Sheriff fundraiser

KISS packing monthly care packages for US Troops

Goodies from Walgreens and many other donors for troops

My experience at the 2014 ICAST tackle show event in Orlando was inspiring! New tackle products were announced and demonstrated, manufacturers provide product training, and I even hung out with longtime friend Bill Dance.

ICAST 2014 in Orlando FL

Longtime friend Bill Dance at ICAST

In the spring of the year I joined Steve Chapman, Boodreaux, and Captain Mike Ortego on the Fishing Florida Radio show! Hilarious bunch of guys and a great radio show for fisherman throughout Florida.  I encourage you to listen live or download the podcast.

Headphones and on the mic with FFR

Fishing Florida Radio hosts Steve & Boodreaux

Bassmaster finished up the Southern Open season in North Carolina where roaming bass failed to stay grouped up during fall cold fronts.  The fronts brought bluebird skies between all-day rain storms which keep the shad moving and bass confused.  Or maybe it was just me who stayed confused?

Coming into weighin on Day1, Lake Norman

The trophy up for grabs in the last event of 2014

 While the 2014 season felt like my toughest ever, it was not.  I still maintained a 56th place pro ranking in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race for 2014.  That ranking brought my overall AOY record into the top 22% of the pros for my three year history with the Bassmaster Southern Open circuit.  I am proud of that record, given I am full-time father of four kids and holding down a full-time career as a Limnologist!  

                        Year    My AOY Finish    Overall Rank
                        2012         79                      Top 32%
                        2013         28                      Top 11%
                        2014         56                      Top 24%

An exciting year that allowed me to maintain a top 25% showing

Plans for the New Year:

My game plan for the 2015 season will be focused on using  lures that I am confident will catch bass on each lake given the weather conditions and habitats available.  The season starts on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida, travels to the Alabama River, and ends in Georgia on Lake Seminole.  Fishing spans from January through October and challenges anglers to catch fish in all seasonal conditions.

Lake Toho is the site of first Open in Jan 2015

The 2015 season will visit AL, GA, and FL.

The pro that wins the 2015 Angler of the Year race will have to catch pre-spawn, spawning, and post-spawn bass in the first two events, then switch gears and catch fall transition bass in October.  I am excited about all three events as they are scheduled in places and months that should bring unstable weather conditions. 

Without the benefit of long practice days, unstable weather helps me as it puts all anglers on an even playing field. Anglers who have been fishing for weeks before the event will have to start over.  Having to adapt throughout the tournament is a condition that suites my "scramble and move" style of fishing. 

I enjoy the challenge of fishing conditions that tests an angler's skill for adapting.  I began fishing tournaments to learn, and changes in fishing conditions may not always be fun, but it teaches the most about how bass act and react to lures.

Preparing tackle during the off season

You have to love this sport in order to appreciate this emotional roller coaster ride that unstable weather and fishing conditions bring.  The mental aspect of the game is the least understood and most confusing. But then again, I am somewhat of a fishing geek that likes to analyze the inner voice and the mental side of fishing.

Jigs accounted for many bass

I want to win this game and have made the mental plans that will allow me to break into the top 10% of the field.  This level will put me in contention for multiple wins in 2015 and beyond!

Learning to represent sponsors and talk to crowds is important

Thank you for following my 2014 season.  Look for another year of photos and videos as I share my fishing adventures on the lakes we explore in 2015 Bassmaster Southern Opens!

See you in 2015.  Have a Happy and safe New Years

   Jeff