Murray FLW

John Crews - Day 4
Saturday, March 15, 2003

(Here's the story about John's fifth fish that got away today.) I had one right at 3 pounds. I hooked it and fought it all the way to the boat, then fought it at the boat. I was about to swing it in and saw it was skin-hooked in the mouth. I hesitated and went to grab the net, and the fish lunged and came off. I swung at him and missed him, but he was right there and I tried to stick the net out to cut him off at the pass. I didn't get him, but by this time I had over half my body out of the boat. My head went underwater -- I grabbed onto the Eagle fishfinder, and that was the only thing that held me up. But I couldn't get up because I was so far over. I wiggled and squirmed and kind of used the net to push myself up a little, and wiggled myself up onto the deck. I just laid there for a second because I knew I missed the fish.

John Crews - Day 3
Friday, March 14, 2003

I caught five, but they weren't really big. The bite was about like it's been for me. I've been getting 8-10 bites per day, and I had 10 bites today. I lost one about 4 1/2 or 5 pounds on a crankbait. It came up and jumped, and I saw the crankbait come from all the way out of the inside of his mouth -- he had the whole crankbait in his mouth. I've had that happen before, but it's very rare.

I fished the same way and the fish are still there. I lost that big fish, and my partner caught a 6-pounder right off the bat, one around 4 and on the last cast caught one around 5. The bites are scattered, but if you can get the big bites in the boat, you can come away with a really nice sack of fish.

Paul Elias - Day 2
Thursday, March 13, 2003

I finished 48th and got a little check. I'm tickled pink. I thought I was going to get beat up in the points so this is a good thing. I really want to make the championship, and since I'm going to miss a tournament, I figured out that I had to average Top 35s in all of them. I think I'm pretty much doing that now.

I fished shallow all day. I threw a spinnerbait mainly. I caught my best fish on a Classic spinnerbait and got three pretty good ones on a Mann's Baby 4.

The day started off with thunder and lightning really bad. I can't believe no one got hurt because the lightning was hitting the water in a lot of places. Usually you don't catch anything when (the weather) is doing that, so I just went shallow. I caught a 5-pounder and another keeper, and decided to stay shallow all day.

I was fishing windy banks with the spinnerbait. I stayed in the clear water because the wind was blowing and the rain murked up the shorelines. With the Baby 4 I fished shallow points, starting on one side and going around them.

> Spinnerbait -- 3/8-ounce Mann's Classic (gold willow, silver Colorado, chartreuse/white skirt), 6' 6" Quantum PT heavy-action rod, PT 600 reel, 20- pound Trilene Sensation.

> Crankbait -- Mann's Baby 4 (grey ghost), 7-foot PT rod (medium), PT 650 cranking reel, 10-pound Trilene XT.

John Crews - Day 2
Thursday, March 13, 2003

Today started very slow. I didn't catch my first keeper until about 9:00, and I ended up finishing out my limit at 12:00 but I only had 10-11 pounds. Between 2:00 and 3:30, I caught three more good fish that culled up to 14-10. I wasn't sure if I had enough. I always underestimate what I have, and I was estimating I had around 13 pounds or so.

I went to where I caught all my fish yesterday, and stayed on the same pockets and points. Tomorrow I'm going to stick with what got me here.

I heard it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. Today it rained and was cloudy until about noon. At about 2:00 the sun was really shining, and that's when I caught some of my better fish. So I think the sun might help me.

Paul Elias - Day 1
Wednesday, March 12, 2003

I had two that weighed 11 pounds, but I just couldn't get five bites. The most bites I was getting in practice was three. I know I'm doing something wrong, but I just haven't figured it out yet.

The place I caught my two, Davy Hite was fishing too. By 1:00 he had one, I left and he caught 19 pounds. So they started biting.

I went shallow. I saw John (Crews) in the first pocket I ran into. I asked him how he was doing, and he said he caught five, so I stayed shallow. But I didn't catch any more.

They caught them on the (deep) grass late, but they're catching them both ways. Tomorrow I'm going to stay deep, gamble and try to catch 20-something pounds. I need the points bad.

John Crews - Day 1
Wednesday, March 12, 2003

(John is in 4th with 24-05.) They let me weigh in an anchor with it (laughs). I slipped it in on them.

Today was one of those days when everything goes the way it should. The conditions were beautiful. It was like a day when you want to go to the beach. I started out with a plan, and caught a 5 1/2-pounder the first thing. But the day wasn't easy. It was a struggle. I wasn't getting many bites, but the bites I got were good. I caught 8 fish, and my biggest was a 7-10.

I was surprised to catch what I caught. If feel like I can catch some fish tomorrow, and I'm glad I have a long day. I'll feel good if I can catch five because I think I'll have some decent ones in there.

Some areas are getting more stained and some are getting less. But it's not affecting the fish like I thought it might, which is good.

Paul Elias - Last practice day
Tuesday, March 11, 2003

It looks like I'm stuck with fishing out there deep and trying to catch big ones. I haven't figured them out. The water temperature is great and the fish ought to be shallow, but they're not biting for me.

I think the fish are shallow, but they're letting a lot of baits go by them. The guy fishing with me today tied on a little countdown Rapala fishing behind me and caught two pretty good fish on areas where I'd just thrown a spinnerbait and a Rat-L-Trap. They might want a little bitty bait, but I'm probably not going to fish that way (laughs). So I may not catch them if they stay that way.

I'm going to go into the deep water and pull a big spinnerbait over grass and hope to catch three that weigh about 15 pounds.

John Crews - Last practice day
Tuesday, March 11, 2003

I only had one bite today. A buddy who fished with me caught one and had another bite. I don't know what's going on. I think the fishing's getting tougher. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but I think the lake is changing.

I think we're getting a better shot at the fish starting to spawn, but I don't think it's happening yet. We'll see. I hope I can catch a decent sack of fish early so I can go looking. I hope I have some time to continue to practice.

Paul Elias - 2 days before
Monday, March 10, 2003

It's kind of tough. We were coming over here expecting to really smack 'em. I'm sure some guys will -- there are too many fish in the lake. I caught three today, three good ones, but that was the most bites I've had in 3 days.

I think the deeper grass bite is going way. The water temperatures are coming up pretty good, and I think the fish are really starting to scatter. I think a guy would get lucky to catch five (fishing deep), but if he does it will be a load.

At the BFL they were catching all those big 25-30 pound stringers off the ends of grass beds on the points, but the fish just aren't out there good anymore. They're scattering out over the top of the grass and also going to the bank. It's supposed to be cool tomorrow, then 75 on Wednesday. I'm sure we'll be looking at 65-degree water on Wednesday, so I expect most of the fish to go to the bank. It could turn out to be a really good tournament.

John Crews - 2 days before
Monday, March 10, 2003

Right before I got here I heard that the water had come up about 2 feet or so, and in the past two days it has come down close to a foot. The water temperature is anywhere from 49 to 60. I don't see it being a bed-fishing tournament, which is what I and lot of other people thought it would be. But I think the fish are starting to move shallow. A week and a half ago, most of the big weights were caught shallow.

I heard the water color was similar then too. You can find anything from 6 feet of visibility to you can't see an inch, and there's more of the latter. And that clear water is by far the coldest water on the lake. The past 3 days we've had sun, and that dirty water has warmed up quick.

The fist day I was here I just rode around. I fished a little bit and I caught one, about a 2 1/2-pounder. Yesterday I fished all day, and caught about 10 keepers. I had a couple come off. I had one a little over 4 and another one over 3, and the rest of the keepers were 2 pounds or better. They were healthy fish.

I think I may be getting on something, I think it has to do with the area of the lake, the water color and the right type of cover. You have to have all three. I went out today, and I'd only have two of the variables and just catch one. I had three keepers today.