Smith Mountain Elite Series
John Murray – Competition
Friday, April 16, 2010
> Day 1: 5, 9-00
> Day 2: 5, 13-05
> Total = 10, 22-05
It was a tough one for me. I spent too much time on a couple of 4-pounders that I never could get to bite, I hooked a couple of 3 1/2-pounders outside the mouth and had to throw those back and I lost a couple of good ones each day. I had plenty of bites, but I just didn't capitalize.
I did catch a 5-pounder today just blind-casting a (Zoom) Baby Brush Hog to some dark spots.
If I could start over again, I'd put a time clock on how long I could spend on each fish – I wasted 5 hours on two I never caught. It'd be 30 minutes, and then I'd have to leave.
This was the first tournament I'd used a Power-Pole and I'm real thankful that I had it with the (windier) conditions today. It was absolutely wonderful and I'm duly impressed. It's a vital thing for this time of year.
John Murray – Practice
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The lake is absolutely full of fish. The sight-fish don't seem to be real easy to catch – at least the bigger ones – and I think a swimbait might play a big role. I think you'll also see some spinnerbaits and some dock-fishing.
I've found some areas that have some big ones, but this time the big ones are 4- and 5-pounders. I haven't seen the 7s and 8s like we've seen in the past.
I'm going to do a combination of throwing the swimbait and sight-fishing. If you can get one or two big ones you'll be okay, and if not you'll be right in the middle of the pack.
It's pretty similar to when we were here last time – some areas aren't as good, but some are better. They've been messing with the water levels every day – it was down a foot this morning, and that doesn't help.
