Alabama River Elite 50

I didn't do any good. I caught three fish, and I only had three bites. I changed up again today because I decided another 10 pounds wasn't going to help me. I went shallow-fishing with a jig – I pitched a jig and craw-worm all day – and caught three dinks that weighed 3 pounds. It was a pretty uneventful day. It just didn't work out.

I'm pretty sick too. I have a bad sinus infection. I've been running a fever for about 3 days, but that's no excuse. I still should have caught them.

I had three fish for 3 pounds. They finally turned on the dam after 6 days. Boy, did I wish they never turned it on. It just washed me down the river, and I never got a bite after they turned it on. At 2:00 I had a couple fish, but after that I never got squat.

I was mostly flipping a (Reaction Innovations) Beaver, and I was also throwing a Bandit crankbait and shaking a Yamamoto worm. It depended on the conditions, but none worked today. I was using shad or green (colors) everywhere. I was keying on flat ledge banks, where a mud or clay bank comes out and breaks off.

I was stubborn in working that area. Kenyon and I stayed up there both days and neither one of us caught them. The fish I fished the first day started biting on the next 2 days. I should have stayed with them because they were bigger and maybe I could have made up some ground.

I went up the upper river today and caught about two limits of fish, just no size. I ended up with 8 pounds. I had a limit early and had a lot of fun, but I just never got that big bite. It's just one of those deals: You have to try for the bigger bites. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But at least I had some fun. I was miserable yesterday.

Tomorrow I'll do the same thing. I'll catch another limit, slow down and try to get a big bite.

Today I did what I should've done yesterday. I caught 10 pounds, 2 limits, and just went practicing. I should've done that yesterday because I knew I wasn't on anything. But like an idiot, I went up and tried to make those spots bite.

Today I caught them on a crankbait, Carolina rig and topwater. I got in an area that had some fish in it. I was just running around and trying to find something.

I only had four fish for 5 pounds today. My water was a foot and half higher than it was 3 days ago when I was there. I went largemouth fishing and never figured them out. I caught three in the last 2 hours to get four. It was pretty brutal. The water was high, and I didn't have much current until late.

Tomorrow I'm going spot fishing up the river. I had an area up there where I caught quite a few keeper spots, but never any big ones. But now 10 pounds is a pretty good bag. It's the same area where I caught big ones last year, so I know they live there. You have to try to get in the cut. Maybe I can get lucky.

It was foggy and cloudy today. I fished some areas I hadn't fished before, and caught three pretty early but then never really got anything after that. I had a battery go bad, so I had to come in early and get that fixed. So I didn't really find out much today.

Tomorrow I'll just go down and fish the water I know, and fish hard. I think some nice weights will be caught. It's just a matter of getting your timing right with this current. So I'll keep it pretty basic. I'll try to catch a few early. I think the bite's pretty good late, so if I can catch a few early, I should be all right.

I didn't do any good again. I caught two and had three bites. Basically I'm just struggling. They had current today, and I thought I could catch them cranking. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm sure somebody will catch them that way – too many spots live out on that river. I haven't been able to catch them, but I'm sure Fritts has.

Some guys I've talked to said they've had 5-6 bites a day, but most act like they're struggling. I probably need my rear end kicked for not bringing my jet boat. It seems like they're catching a pretty easy limit. I don't know if they have any size, though.

Tomorrow I'll start the day north, where I went yesterday, and fish for spots shallow. The current was so hard up there yesterday that I couldn't fish the area like I wanted to. But I had 2-3 bites. I'll give it a couple-three hours, and if I don't do anything, I'll come back down and crank again.

I haven't done any good. I've really fished hard, too, and I've caught only three a day. I covered a lot of ground yesterday, but there wasn't any current. I guess that might have had something to do with it. I fished up(river) today, and only caught three fish, and not any size to them.

I don't know if anyone's catching them or not. It seems tough. Of course, I know they live here so I'm trying to figure them out, but I can't hardly get a bite.

Winning the Classic here (22) years ago – really there's nothing to go on. Most of the sandbars and things I was fishing are all gone, washed away and changed and everything else. It's probably a solid pattern, but it will probably (require) current.

Tomorrow I'll do the same thing I did yesterday. I'll cover some of the same water and some different water. That's really the way I want to fish if I can make it produce.

It's a lot different this year. Where I caught them last year is about 13 feet out of the water. I did a little nostalgia fishing yesterday, but didn't do much. A few keepers, but nothing great. Today I fished some stuff I prefished last year, and it was pretty good. I caught a 6 and a 5, and some nice keepers. But it was sort of a rainy day today, a lot better conditions – cool, cloudy and rainy.

With the water low, it seems we should probably catch them more than last year. But these river fish are awfully unpredictable. If you hit the right stretch, you can do pretty good.

Tomorrow I'll just check another couple of areas I haven't been to to see what's available. There's a lot of water out there, but it all looks pretty similar.