Norman Bassmaster

Thursday, Day 1: 4 bass, 7-03, 97th place. Today was miserable and nasty. I can't remember ever fishing in such horrible conditions. From the time I uncovered my boat to when I got to the launch ramp, I had 2 inches of snow on the deck already. It was a high of 37 degrees today with constant 20 mph winds and snow and sleet.

I had a strong Senko pattern around docks going during prefish – when the weather was stable and the water was clear. That pattern evaporated today with the muddy water and decreased water temps. I caught my four fish dropshotting, and I lost one good one on a jerkbait at the boat.

My non-boater caught a few good ones, and we both lost quality fish. I know that not weighing a limit today will probably throw me out of the check game, and that drives me crazy knowing I had the right fish on. Today the doctors came and called Rebecca while I was on the water and told her that they've scheduled a CAT scan for me right away tomorrow (Friday).

They found something the size of a golf ball in my left lung. I'm very scared now, and honestly wish that I didn't have to compete tomorrow. My mind is just not in the game right now. I won't know anything till Monday.

Tonight at the Fellowship of Christian Anglers meeting, many of the world's top anglers had a special prayer for Becca and I and it really makes me appreciate our friends, family and God.

Friday, Day 2: 5 bass, 9-02, 69th place ($1,925). I liked the weather today. It was about 60 degrees with a light breeze, and it allowed me to cover the productive water that I'd found during prefish, but could not fish yesterday due to the bad winds. Today I had about 15 keeper spotted bass.

My strategy for this event was to stay local around the dam area because to me, it had two important key features – clear water and spotted bass.

First, I really enjoy fishing clear water, and second, with cold water temps hovering around 50 degrees, I figured the spotted bass would be less effected by the drastic storms. It turned out that I was correct.

The pattern I'd found revolved around fishing boat docks. I caught the bulk of my fish on two different techniques. First was a 4-inch Yamamoto Senko in the watermelon and smoke color. I fished this rig weightless for the spots that suspended around the docks. Patience was the key to getting bit.

The second pattern was to use a 4" Yamamoto Kut-Tail worm in the smoke color and dropshot it with a small 1/8-ounce tungsten weight. The weight was key for triggering bites again from the suspended bass.

In this entire event, I caught all my fish on a 7' medium St. Croix Legend Elite rod with Power Pro 2/10 braided line. The braid was key for feeling the finicky light bites, and also to get the fish out of the brushpiles when they'd bite.

I credit my Lowrance X-19 GPS for not only safe navigation in yesterday's fog storm, but for also marking the key docks for me throughout this event.

It's 6:00 and we're off to the hospital for my CAT scan, and honestly, I'm pretty scared with all this medical stuff. It has been weighing on my mind all day. We'll also be working the sponsor expo this week for Triton, Yamaha and Lowrance, and if you're in the area, please stop by and say hello.

Thanks once more for letting me share my personal prefish and tournaments with you. I look forward to bringing you more. Please keep us in your prayers.

(Editor's note: To contact Jarrett Edwards and send him a note of support, click here to visit his website, where you can email him a message.)

Sunday: Wow, it was great to have a week off from competitive fishing. Rebecca and I stayed in Winston-Salem, N.C. and I caught up on writing articles and doing sponsor work. Rebecca, however, had the fun job of filing sponsor quarterly reports, laundry, paying bills and making some great home-cooked meals.

It's 6:50 pm and we've been at our Hotel for 4 1/2 hours and we can't check into our room because the cleaning lady never came back from lunch, so it's all on the manager's shoulders. Not to mention trying to find a parking spot for your rig. This lifestyle can be crazy.

Monday: Today was cold and overcast for most of the day. I have a hard time adjusting to the high humidity here. When it's cold I freeze. I tempted about 10 or 12 bass into biting today, mainly by fishing boat docks with plastics. There are a lot of spotted bass here, and although there are some big ones, there seems to be a lot of small 12- to 14-inchers as well.

The size limit will be 14 inches here and that will play a big role in catching a few fish to catching a limit. Water temperature also is a huge factor here. Main lake is around 50 to 53 degrees, but if you get with in a 2-mile radius of the hot-water discharges, you can find water here in the mid-60s.

Tomorrow I'll stay local again, searching for a few active takers. This will be another tough event for me and I believe if an angler can catch two limits around 8 or 9 pounds apiece, he might have a good shot at a check.

Tuesday: The weather was alright today with overcast and partial sunny conditions. I ran all over today trying to find the secret spot like everyone else. I did not find it.

I did get some bites today, mainly spotted bass though. I can't believe how aggressive these little beasts can be. I would pull my plastic bait from them and they would come right back and eat it again like they were never hooked.

The last 2 days I've concentrated on fishing docks. The problem is identifying which docks are the most productive ones. I'll fish 45 docks with no bites and then I'll get a bite on five docks in a row. Why? I don't know, and really don't care, as long as I can sack me five keepers a day and get out of here.

I'm just trying to survive this place. The weather for the next 3 days is supposed to be horrible. Highs in the upper 30s with wind, rain and a very strong chance for snow. If I wake up and it's snowing or going to snow, I believe I'll join the rest of the anglers and sleep in.

Wednesday: I woke up this morning to nasty weather conditions and figured I'd wait until the tournament before I suffer any of that. A few weeks ago at the Clarks Hill Bassmaster event, I noticed a lump growing on my lower neck. Mentally, it's been affecting me, so I decided today was a good day to go to the hospital and get it checked out.

After a few hours I left with less blood and a few X-rays. Now it's time that I just sit back and wait for answers. Waiting time bothers me – especially fishing a major event tomorrow.

I'm scared again with the weather and how tomorrow's 37-degree temps are going to hurt my shallow fish. I'm also concerned big-time with the stained to muddy water that will be flowing through the coves with the 1/2-inch of rain we received today. The new muddy water will help many anglers catch some spinnerbait and jig fish, but might just kill my plastic pattern. Wish me luck on all.

My practice was actually real good. The first day the
fishing was pretty good. We had a few warm days and I caught some nice fish up to 5 pounds. I was really impressed.

On the second day, it slowed down a little but I still had a couple of nice ones. Not as many fish though, and they were on a couple of patterns that were different from what I did the first day.

Yesterday, I didn't even go out. I figured I'll freeze 1 day instead of 2. This is a shoreline lake – it has miles of shoreline – and I have some areas to fish, so I might as well fish them in the tournament rather than in practice.

I'm fishing shallow and I think the cut will 25 or 26 pounds.