The Lull in Between Events

What does a die hard angler do between tournaments to keep busy and focused?

I am finding myself with that delima and in an area of lull that is foreign to me. Basically, no planned tournament fishing. A storm is brewing in my head. 

The 2015 schedule for the Bassmaster Southern Open tour has a five month break over the summer.  I have enjoyed more family time than I can remember. Trip to California, to Hawaii, and a nice dinner at the German pub in Sanford, Fl. 

So far this year on the tournament trail I have struggled to make a check in the Bassmaster Opens. I didn't even place high enough to qualify for the BassFest extravaganza on Kentucky Lake. 

As I sit at home I happily support my roommate Shaw Grigsby, friend Paul Elias, and fellow angler Troy Boussard of Swamp People on their quest to win BassFest. 

When life takes us away from our goals we all need to embark on a "grounding", the process of going back to our roots, stoking up the flames of desire, and getting motivated to burn through the challenges life throws at you. 

I just celebrated my 28th year marriage anniversary with my wife Trish. We developed juvenile diabetes with our first child 28 years ago. I say "we" because we are a team and have to rely on each other for strength. 

Today, we enjoy three beautiful children, one angel, and a great son in law. My wife's diabetes and our fight to enjoy life has been a very inspirational and motivating experience. Her ability to push through the tough times and reap the rewards of hard work without complain makes me proud!!

The strength my wife shows as she endures against all odds makes me mad at today's lazy society that wants something from nothing. 

I love tournament bass fishing and I love to take on challenges, but is there more??  I believe there is. 

I want to recuperate and gain my mental strength that I seems to have withered. I know I can catch fish, I have proven it over four years in the Bassmaster Southern Open trail. Yet, I feel I need to take a moment to regroup. My famy and my career limit me to 2.5days of practice in my Open events. With such limited time against full-time pros and local experts, I fight an uphill battle to be the best. 

So, I am thinking about expanding my promotional ability to more anglers for my sponsor #AERF.  Surveys show for every high level tournament angler there are nine anglers fishing mid-level and club tournaments.  

I stand to gain a nine-fold increase in brand impressions by fishing the Florida Bass Nation trail and ABA Weekend Series as I regroup and fish in Florida for a while with my friends. That's a win-win deal!! 

During my mission to share aquatic plant education, my goal will be to qualify for the BASS National Championship through the Bass Nation schedule and earn a berth in the Bassmaster Classic.

During my sabbatical from the Opens, I intend to accrue the vacation time needed to balance family vacations with a full-time career as a  Pro Angler. 

Juggling family time against a full-time biology career and a parttime BasspPro associate career has been a hand full. 

If it works out that 2016 limits me to home waters, I look forward to being a local expert for awhile, then everyone else will have to compete against me! 

Soon, I will recharge and challenge my Elite tournament friends again! If I retire from my career anytime soon, I will look to be a threat against the Bassmaster pros full time!! 

Look out Shaw Grigsby, Gary Klein, and Paul Elias. I'm coming! 

....This is the rant of a die-hard bass angler....I hope you feel my struggle and share my enjoyment of competitive bass fishing. Don't forget to balance fishing with family. 

Jeff 

On A Roll, In The Wrong Direction

My fishing career in 2015 is trending; only it's going in the wrong direction. My placement in the second #Bassmaster Southern Open event on Alabama River was a miserable 123rd place (out of 182 pros). 

The points I earned for this event put me in 127th place (top 60%) in Angler of the Year standings. 

Even though I'm not happy with my finish, I have to take comfort in knowing that I am stil ahead of several big Elite pros. 

On the Alabama River solid rain and poor weather altered the river conditions and made the bass fishing tough. 

Normally a clear/ semi-stained river, this week we saw conditions that caused muddy water to roll down the river and flow out of backwater oxbows. 

With over four inches of rain in the watershed, the water regulators were forced to move water downstream to avoid flooding. Two hydro-electric dams on the Coosa River (Walter Bouldin and Jordan) and one on the Tallapoosa River (Thurlow) fed the Montgomery section of the Alabama River that we fished. 

When the Walter Bouldin and Jordan dams were flowing water was clear. When the Tallapoosa River flowed it brought turbid water with zero visibility.  

The further you went down stream on the Alabama River the muddier the main river became from all the backwater bays flushing in storm runoff. Erosion and collapsing river-banks were a common sight along he way. 

I found the Alabama River was rich with backwater bays and oxbows, sand bars, rock, trees, and a some aquatic water-willow. 

My practice was good for finding fish using shaking head jigs and topwater lures along the main river. I also had a good backwater pattern using lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits around trees and wood.  These baits produced in both clear and stained waters. 

Tournament Day One:

Army Corp of Engineers lowered the water level of the Alabama River nearly two feet overnight in response to heavy rain showers. This made the fish skittish in the shallower water bays. The low river water helped drain the dirty water out of these bays and into the main river. 

Launching out as boat 171 (out of 182) I found most of my creek mouths were already taken by competitors. I managed to find one area still open and started fishing. I worked my way from the mouth into the backwater river about five feet deep.  After 30 minutes I left without a bite and moved out into the main river to fish fallen trees. I caught my first fish of the tournament, a 2lb largemouth on a shakeyhead jig. 

Next, I moved into another stained bay and caught several small bass before landing another keeper largemouth on a Redeye shad lipless crankbait. My crankbait even snagged one of the prolific Gizzard Shad back in the bay. 

Since most of my river areas were turning muddy and less productive, I made the decision to run 40 minutes up to the Coosa River near Wetumpka, AL in search of clear, flowing water. 

I found the water clarity of the Coosa River still good and quickly finished out my five bass limit on the #StrikeKing Redeye shad.  Somewhat later my coangler partner landed a 3lb spotted bass on a Spinnerbait which gave me a clue.  I switched over to a hard jerkbait and landed a 3lb bass of my own and culled a few other bass. With not much time left I headed back to weighin. My first day weight was 6lbs-8oz. 

Tournament Day Two:

This day the Army Corps did not let the water flow downstream so the Alabama River rose overnight. This added two feet of water and flooded my once visible cover.  My best areas in the Coosa River were now under water.  The heavy flow tested my ability to hold the trolling motor  against such strong currents and It was extremely difficult to hold the correct boat positioned and fish effectively. 

My first cast of the morning with a jerkbait produced a bite from a bass that looked to be about two pounds. It jumped and threw the bait back at me. I hooked and lost six more good bass before I finally landed a 2lb largemouth. 

Every stop I made I got bites on my jerkbait and lost fish. I changed out the treble hooks but still lost bass. 

A few hours into fishing and the river flow doubled in speed. I was forced to find current eddies off to the side.  When my coangler landed two bass over three pounds on a chatterbait, I switched over to my own vibrating jig. I landed my second fish of the day, a spotted bass over 3.25 lbs. I continued to search out current breaks along the river but never caught another bass. I weighed in only two bass for 5lbs, 1oz. 

They were only "show" fish: something to walk up on stage and show off. There was not enough weight to help me jump up the leader board. 

James Overstreet took my picture holding the spotted bass for the #Bassmaster.com webpage.  A few other photos were taken from BASS staff and displayed as well. 

Summary

Pre-tournament research showed me the river has almost always produced the winning stringers. Having caught a small limit on the first day, I thought I found the right stuff in the Coosa River to do well the second day. However, the second day was even tougher and my execution for landing fish was the worst I've experienced in a long time. 

Only landing two bass out of more than a dozen good size bass was a horrible performance. Either my bait size, color, or cadence was off. I never figured which it was. Had I landed those fish, I would have made a nice finish and earned a good check to take home. 

I am greatful for the experience and pride myself on enduring in tough tournaments, but this year the bass are getting the best of me. 

As with most things in life, there are up and downs. You have to experience both, and I'll be glad when I get back on the upswing. 

The tournament was won by a local pro fishing the main river current breaks. His knowledge of the key breaks gave him the win. Cold rains muddied up the backwater bays and made only the river successful. 

Not always the case, but in this event local knowledge prevailed and only more practice would have given me enough options to be competitive. 

I will use this experience for my next event on Lake Seminole reservoir. Another hydroelectric system with three rivers flowing in: Chattahoochee, Spring Creek, and Flint River. 

Until next time, good luck fishing! Jeff

Alabama River Looks Impressive

The next Bassmaster Southern Open event iis on the Alabama River. An amazingly fertile river system with everything an angler could wish for. 

Located in Montogmery AL this diverse river is a compilation of many miles of water. 

Doing my pre-tournent research I find myself more intimidated by this river system than all the vegetation on Lake Okeechobee. 

Largemouth bass in Florida vegetation I understand, but Alabama spotted bass buffaloed me on Logan Martin in 2013, and will likely challenge me on this next venue. 

The Alabam River has every type of habitat, a wide variety of fish species, and a large list of water types. I don't know where to start. 

My research found that nearly every style of fishing has dominated winning stringers! Topwater, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, Alabama rigs, jigs,worms, Carolina rigs, drop shot, and skakeyheads.

This river is an angler's paradise if you understand it, and can be an ordeal if you miss the mark. Water flows at the whim of electrical power-generation schedules. Going from nearly 20,000 cubic feet per second to zero. Sometimes clear water flows down and sometimes stained. 

With three major systems contributing to the Alabana River, it is hard to research which tributary to watch. The Boulden Dam section of Coosa River, Jordan Dam portion, or Tallapoosa River.  All influence the bite in some form. 

My research also found a more diverse system than I have ever faced. Dams, culverts, ditches, creeks, streams, tributaries, oxbows, and a main river drives the fishery. 

Habitat is equaly complex. Rocks, gravel, sand, standing trees, tree-falls, stumps, vegetation, docks, sea walls, and deep water oasis. 

This system and it habitats are available in clear water, stained water, and muddy water, depending on the section of river. Again, an angler's best dream come true!  

Motivations of a Fishing Dad

Competitive fishing has inspired me to be a better person, to love life, and to appreciate all that is. Competition squeezes an angler's knowledge and skill into an eight hour window, where time is the opponent. Preparation, skill, intuition, and mental toughness are the ingredients required in this game of prowess. 

My first tournament of 2015 was a pathetic representation on my home lake Tohopelaga, FL. Even though I caught about 80 bass during the week and limits each day of competition, I failed to have a good showing. My 122 place finish hurt, and hurt deep. 

While most consider fishing a recreational past-time or fun game, I consider it a way of life.  

When I was young, fishing allowed me to explore nature, gave me a sense of the natural order in life, kept me out of trouble, and provided a mechanism for personal accomplishment in a judgement free arena.  No adults around to tell me what I could and couldn't do. If I caught fish, my technique was good, regardless of how untraditional my method was. 

Back then on my fishing trips, I either observed the fishing conditions accurately enough to catch fish using hunks of plastic and steel lures, or I went home skunked scratching my head about the clues I missed. 

Fast forward 30 years later and the process has not changed. Only the speed of the game. 

I fish to keep in tune with nature, keep grounded with life, remain out of trouble, and gain from the accomplishments of catching fish. ....It's personal, and an individual way of challenging the natural world. 

For some unknown reason I have always been drawn to learning how to live in the wild. Fishing is just an extension of the frontiersman in me. I also find enjoyment learning age old craftsman techniques and scavenging for wild edible plants. Our native Americans knew these things was a way of life and I envy their knowledge. 

As a competitor on the Bassmaster Southern Open tour I push myself against the best, and force myself to fish on new, unfamiliar waters in many states. I thrive for these new adventures and new waterways. 

One day my goal is to complete on a major fishing circuit that does not allow prefishing, forcing competitors to apply instinct and knowledge, rather than  networks and money. 

I constantly tell myself, "to grow we must push ourselves to higher standards and compete against those better than us." To me, instinct is the most valuable asset in nature. 

In order to get better as an angler on the Bassmaster tour, I found I have to get quicker at breaking down fishing conditions on new waters. 

We are always competing against local experts and full-time pros.  However, weather has a way of leveling the playing field. Cold fronts, heavy rains, high flows, and Gail force winds knock most anglers off their game. I like playing on an even field and often benefit from adverse weather. 

Going to new fisheries gives me a high level of anticipation, a chance to do research and apply my scientific background, and a chance to test my fishing theories. The ultimate result is the final exam...the tournament standings. 

So far in my four years on the Southern Open tour I've maintained a top 25% average. While I would have considered this an amazing feat when I was young, it doesn't make me happy. I'm not in contention enough. 

I want to be competitive! I want to put a trophy on my shelf and cash in my family's savings. I want to say that I figured out nature quicker than the other anglers. I want to feel like an accomplished biologist, understanding both science and animal behavior.

The anglers I meet on the tour come from many states and many lifestyles. I really enjoy the family feel of the tour, and welcome new members.

For the rest of 2015, I look to improve my standings and learn the game quicker, so as to be in contention more often!  

Our next Bassmaster Southern Open event is near Montgomery on the Alabama River. I really look forward to catching the hard fighting Coosa River spotted bass in the Alabama River.  Prattville will be the host city and I can't wait to explore the area which the Alibamu and Cousatta Indians called home. To float on this historic waterway will surely produce a nostalgic feeling in me. 

I am forever grateful to our soldiers who provide the freedoms we enjoy.  May God look over them and protect them. 

Thank you for following my blog. I wish I could take all my friends and family on my next tournament adventure, but it's against the rules so we will have to settle for my photos and field notes in my upcoming blog posts.  

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....