Seminole BASSMASTER

I don't know. I told my partner today that I've been doing this for 25 years and I couldn't come up with a reason why the fish weren't biting. It was perfect. The sun came out, it was cool. I guess there was no wind and the water was pretty clear, so maybe they wouldn't bite that heavy line. I was throwing 17.

I got 3 bites, and if I'd caught the third fish I would have made (the cut) no problem. I just can't catch them all. That's two years in a row I've missed a lot of fish on a jig deep here.

I was fishing deep trees. I was looking for big stumps where part had broken off. You just had to figure out what side it fell off. Most of the time if it was near some kind of drop, there would be one or two big fish there. Most of the fish were in 18-24 feet of water.

I was casting the jig -- making long casts and feeding line out until it got to the bottom. Then I'd just inch it back really slowly. It had to come through the cover really slowly or you wouldn't get bit.

I was using a 7' 4" Quantum PT casting rod (heavy), Quantum PT 600 reel, 17- pound Berkley IronSilk line and a 1/2-ounce Mann's Stone jig -- 1/2-ounce because you wanted it to fall really slowly off the cover. The jig was black/blue with a black/blue Super Chunk on the back.

I had right at a 4-pound average, and had 16 bites and boated 10 of them. So I probably had another 20 pounds I should have caught. That just reflects on my mechanics. The only fish I lost that I don't feel like was my fault was the one that broke me off. Besides that, I just didn't get a hook in them. I hooked them enough to pull them, but I just lost them.

I'm around a bunch of good fish -- I'm just not putting them in the boat. My second bite was a big fish. I got her coming in, then she got wrapped up and broke off. It was a 6-7 pounder. I was fishing a tall, dead, prehistoric- looking tree, and the fish are down in a bunch of stuff and deep. It's hard to get them up. She was already over something when I set the hook on her. I could see her down there, but couldn't get her loose. I lost another really nice fish, probably in the 4-5 pound range.

The (cold) water temperature is helping my pattern, but the bite has really slowed because of the clouds. If it clears up tomorrow, the bite should bite better. But two big local tournaments are going out on the lake tomorrow and that's not going to help anybody.

My plan tomorrow is the same as the last two days. I'm going to throw that Mann's Stone Jig, and hope to get bites and catch them all.

I tied yesterday (no fish). I feel like a retard or something, I don't know. I started out fishing the areas where I got bit in practice, but they weren't there. Then I fished a place where I caught one, then a bunch of new places, then back to a place where I'd caught one -- zero. I think all the shallow fish aren't biting. That's my conclusion.

Today I fished a spinnerbait, 3-4 different crankbaits, I threw a floating worm for a while and caught a short fish on a Senko. I flipped a jig. I probably threw 15 totally different baits to try to find something that was working. I fished a Luhr Jensen Sugar Shad (lipless crankbait) most of the time.

I had the hammer down on the trolling motor, covering miles and miles of water. I fished around some guys who were up in the standings so I know I was in the right areas. I don't know what the deal was. But some of the better bags were coming out of Spring Creek. I fished there for 3 hours -- I caught one fish there in practice. I probably should have fished more in there because the fish are getting cold.

I should be hit over the head. Once I see this tournament air, I will probably really hit myself over the head. I have a feeling they're going to catch them in places where I knew fish were.

It's absolutely impossible for me to do worse. The only thing that helps me is that I have to keep on going to the next tournament because I don't have a choice. But as Coby (Carden) pointed out, the wallet could have used a refill.

(Elias is in 10th with a 17-03 limit.) I lost so many fish I'm tried of saying it. I thought I'd do better, but I didn't get a bite on 3 key places. If I'd fished exactly backwards (in terms of spot order) from what I did today, I probably would have done better.

I'm happy, but I blew it down here last year losing fish and I hate that I got myself 5 pounds behind just by losing fish. I know I could have helped myself by 3-5 pounds easily.

Tomorrow I'm going to do the same thing, but I think the rain will really hurt the way I'm fishing. I know that's why I didn't get any bites on my prime spots today. When the sun came out late, I caught a 7-pounder.

The spot I caught it from I kept running down to fish, but boats were there. I wouldn't fish it because it's only a 1-cast spot. At the end of the day I got to fish it, and I told my partner that if I catch one here it will be 6-8 pounds.

That Berkley Iron Silk saved me. That 7-pounder had me wrapped up. She stayed down there -- I could feel her sawing on it -- then she came up and ran to a standing tree. I knew she'd been sawing on the line, but I reared back to keep her away from tree and that line held up. I'm really impressed with it. It's probably the best deep-water line I ever used.

I didn't catch a fish today. Not even a friggin' pike. The Rat-L-Trap bite was just dead. I don't know. I'm just baffled. I did have two that just killed the 'Trap, but they didn't get the hooks. I don't know if they were hitting it with their mouths closed or what.

I thoroughly worked the areas where I'd caught some fish the first two days of practice. I expanded it a little bit more -- I don't know. I talked with friend of mine who was catching some really good fish on a Rat-L-Trap, and he said they weren't pulling water today. Not until this afternoon. That totally kills the 'Trap bite. He said you have to watch the buoys to see if they're pulling or not. That's the only way to tell.

Tomorrow I'm going to go "shallow dammit" (laughs). That's what Coby (Carden) calls it. I'm just going to go shallow, put the trolling motor down and go.

I had a really good day today, though I think a lot of people probably did. It was cold, but this is the nicest weather we've had. It was a good day for how I'm fishing. I'd like for the tournament to have started today, that's for sure. And I say I had a good day, but I haven't set the hook on one fish since I've been here.

We're supposed to have a little sunshine tomorrow, but it will be cloudy the rest of the week. Tomorrow is supposed to start off with some sun. I've heard of at least two 10-pounders being caught today and some 8s, so the fish are starting to bite. But last year it hurt the bite really badly when it clouded up and rained.

I caught a whopping one short fish today. I went to new stuff in a section of the lake I know is productive, but I didn't hit on anything. I didn't find any new areas, so I'm going to go back to plan A and will stick to that as long as I can.

I'd like to have found at least one more area where I thought I could have caught them, but I just have to go with what I know. I have two areas I think are holding some fish, and 2-3 more areas that could produce, and I'd like to have at least one more area that I'm confident has a group of fish, not just singles.

This time of year, if you catch one usually more are with them. You can catch more if you just fish it again or fish around there. I've caught some good ones so hopefully I can catch a few tomorrow.

I think it's going to be pretty tough. I haven't been able to find a solid anything. I've only had 4 bites: 3 yesterday and 1 today. The way I'm fishing, if I can get 5 bites and catch them, I'll probably have a good sack.

We had a little front blow in today. Before that we had 3 really warm days. The water temperature got into the upper 50s, but it will drop back tonight. It's supposed to be in the 30s the next couple of nights. I feel like some Rat-L- Trap fish will be caught, and some deep fish and a few spawners. I haven't talked to anyone who's really caught them. I'm going to pretty much stick to how I've caught them here before and if they desert me, they desert me. But they always have. It won't be anything new (laughs).

Three tournaments in 3 weeks? I felt fine. I scared myself -- I was ready fish another one. It bothers me staying gone from home that long, but that's only thing that bothers me about it.

I only caught 3 keepers today, but I had one around 5 and one a little over 3. Everything I fished was new. I covered a ton of water. Where I got some of the better bites, I kind of expanded that, but I never got another bite. But then again I never fished the exact same areas I got bit in, so maybe that's something good. One of the lures I'm fishing is a Luhr Jensen Sugar Shad.

I feel somewhat good. I have some confidence. I just hope I can find 2-3 areas tomorrow that are holding some fish so I feel like I have enough fish to catch some.

Seminole is looking like normal Lake Seminole. It looks the same as I've seen it in the past, as far as water color and everything. Spring Creek is still clear.

I ended up catching 6 keepers today and lost a good one. I think the fish are pretty much pre-spawn, but I haven't looked for any beds because a big cold front it supposed to roll in here on Wednesday. If that happens, a few areas will be really crowded.

This lake's burnt me in the past, but I'm fishing it at a different time of year so hopefully it won't be as bad. The times I was here before I was intimidated by the lake -- all the grass and standing timber. I'd never seen a lake that looked like this one, and it was just overwhelming to come here and not know anything about the lake. But I'm definitely more comfortable on it now.

After three tournaments in a row I felt good because on the last day I had a good limit. That helped the confidence level. Usually if I have only one check in 3 tournaments I don't feel so good. But I think I could've gotten 2 out of 3 if I'd played it more conservatively at the FLW. But I felt like had to catch a big bag first day. As far as physically and mentally, I'm not wiped out.