Wheeler FLW

I had 3 that weighed 6-06. I got 5 bites, one was a throwback and I lost one.

I just didn't get any bites today. The flat turned off for a lot of people. Some people caught the heck out of them, but in the areas I had I couldn't get a bite. They raised the water some -- they did that Sunday and it turned of, so I guess that's what it was.

I knew I was in trouble. The bite was really slowing down at about 10:00 every day, and I didn't get a bite at the place where I caught the majority of my weight yesterday. I kept going back and forth thinking I'd get a bite, and by time I left there it was pretty much over.

I was fishing a Mann's 1/2-ounce spinnerbait (chartreuse/white with gold willow and Colorado blades) on 17-pound test Trilene XT and a 6' 6" Quantum medium- heavy rod and Quantum PT 600 reel. I was pulling a spinnerbait fast over the top of the grass, just under the surface. I thought I could catch 5 that weighed 12-13 easy every morning.

I'm just glad I'll be at the Championship. I've done well at the two Classics I've fished on the James. I like it. I think a lot of fish will be caught on crankbaits so I believe can do pretty well there. But that bracket thing -- you're kind of at its mercy. If someone has a real good day 1, you're done.

Today I had a whopping 7-12 limit, and I culled about 5 times to get that. My fish just shrunk. I fished most of the same areas and caught less fish.

I was fishing mainlake rocky points with a Carolina rig with a 1/2-ounce weight so it would come through the rocks better. The fish were shallow -- they were in 4-6 feet. My rig was a 3-4 foot leader, 1/0 Gamakatsu offset hook and a 5- inch lizard, pumpkin with a chartreuse tail. (Also: 7' Shimano medium-heavy V rod and Shimano Chronarch Superfree reel.) I used 20-pound Triple Fish Fluorocarbon mainline and 15-pound Triple Fish Camo leader. Fluorocarbon is denser than regular mono so it has superior feel, more abrasion resistance and lower stretch, which makes it a perfect line for a Carolina rig. And because fluorocarbon sinks, you don't want it for your leader else you'll get hung up about twice as much.

I was also flipping a 3/8-ounce jig around logjams and laydowns in a creek. The jig was black/brown with a green-pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer. I was flipping that on a 7' 6" G. Loomis flipping stick and the same reel with 20- pound Triple Fish Fluorocarbon.

Most of the fish were caught out there on the Decatur Flats and maybe I should have spent more time there. I knew they were there and I knew people were catching them there, but I thought I could do a little better without having to fish there.

Thanks to Luke Dunkin for letting me use his boat today, even though his Triton is slower than my Ranger.

(Paul is in 58th with 11-10.) I caught what I thought I could catch, about 12 pounds, but I had a dead fish. That 8 ounces cost me 16 places. I would have been 42nd.

I had 9 keepers -- I lost a fish that maybe could have helped me about a pound. But today they caught them a lot better than I thought. That catch just blew my mind.

I was on the flats today and it was crowded. It's amazing. You go out, catch a fish, drop a buoy, fish around and get a GPS point where you dropped your buoy. You leave, and when you come back, someone won't be close to it, he'll be right on your GPS point -- where you can't even drop your trolling motor without making him mad. That's amazing to me. Everybody practices so long out here I guess they find those little key places.

Tomorrow I have to do the same thing. I don't have anything else. I just hope I have some better bites.

(John is in 39th with 12-07.) I felt pretty good about it until I heard I was in 39th place. I had 3 fish pretty early, and then I went and finished out my limit and culled about 3 times by about 11:00. Then I caught a 4-pound smallmouth and culled again. After that I went to where I'd caught some big fish and didn't get any bites. But my partner caught a 3 1/2-pounder.

I slung an ear off my prop when I was running in and baked my lower unit. Craig Powers carried me and my partner in, and Bob Beatty from Florida was taking J.T. Kenney back out to his boat, which also broke down, so I hitched a ride with him. He took me back out and then towed me in, which took over an hour, so kudos to him. He wouldn't take any money for it either. I tried to be sneaky about it -- I left a 20 in his truck, but he saw it before I could leave and brought it back to me.

They don't have any lower units (to replace his), so I'm going to borrow (Bassmaster pro) Luke Dunkin's Triton tomorrow. I'm staying with him. As long as I can catch some fish tomorrow, I'll fish out of a jonboat.

I just want to say thanks to those guys again for carrying me in and out. I've done it before for other people -- it's kind of what goes around, comes around. So if you ever see someone broke down, make sure you take them in.

I went to the same stuff, but didn't fish very long. I fished until about 11- 11:30. I just checked some places and caught 4-5 fish.

I have 10-12 places I'm going to hit tomorrow and I hope there aren't too many boats on them. Everyone will be in the same area, I believe (the Decatur Flats), and that's where I'll be too. The fish are in little places in the grass. It just depends on how many people found the same little places I found. I'm boat 128 or 129.

I thought the new payouts were pretty decent. They're getting the payouts right, where people down the line can make a living. That's what I've been saying all along: If the Top 50 can't make enough to make a living, this sport has problems. It seems to me like (FLW Outdoors) is getting the job done.

I fished for about 3 hours this morning first thing, but then I had some mechanical problems and didn't catch any fish after that. While I was on the water I was trying something different, but I didn't find anything.

The new FLW schedule with the increase in paybacks and everything is pretty wild. It doesn't look like too bad a deal.

I've been here 6 days and I'm catching fish, but I don't know what kind of weight it will take. I'm averaging about 12 pounds a day, so I think it will take 25 or 26 pounds to make the cut.

These fish haven't gotten deep, as far as I can tell. I spent the whole day cranking deep and never did any good, so I'll stay with the milfoil (about 3-5 feet of water). I've got about 12 places I've found so far, and I've been finding 1-2 places a day.

I'm always going for the win, but this lake has let me down in the past, so I'm hoping I can hold up. Here it seems like I get on them in practice and then don't get them in the tournament. I've missed the Classic here twice -- the first man out. It always seems like something stupid happens here.

I've been here forever. I live here now (laughs). That's what it feels like -- I've been here a week. I feel good because I've learned the lake a lot better than I knew it before, and I feel fairly confident I can catch a limit more than one way.

The first couple days were really slow, but then I figured a couple little things out and it's gotten a little bit better. The past 4 days I caught a limit every day, though today they didn't weight that much. Today I may have had 7 pounds if that, but that's my worst day out of the past 4.

It's been exactly the same weather every day -- 85 degrees and scattered thunderstorms -- and that's what the forecast is for the tournament.

I've been catching them both shallow and deep. I guess the ultimate problem to have is which fish to fish for, and that's kind of where I am right now. I could go in about 3 different directions as far as where to catch fish. I think I'll go for the safest best first -- the closest, quickest fish first, and then go from there.

I'm 30th in the points, so if I make a check I'll definitely be in the championship.