Potomac Elite Series

> Day 1: 5, 7-11
> Day 2: 5, 13-04
> Day 3: 5, 15-12
> Total = 15, 36-11 (18th)

I'm real happy with this finish. It started out so poorly. I was losing fish and falling out of the Bassmaster Classic. Now, to be back in, I'm real happy.

I caught 15-12 today and finally put some in the boat. Execution – that's what always makes it or breaks it at this level.

What was nice was I didn't fish in a crowd. I never saw another tournament boat the last 2 days. I had a little creek that no one seemed to want to fish.

I threw a Yamamoto buzzbait and Spro BronzEye frog on Powell rods, and the fish were back up in the creek.

I caught all my fish on the high tide.

I don't know where this finish will put me in the points, but if I get Top 70 at Table Rock I think I'll make the Classic.

What a brutal day. Yesterday, the last hour of low tide really helped me. Today I was due in an hour and change early, which drastically hurt my bite.

I made a wrong decision on where to start this morning. The tide was high and I was banking on a big bite that never happened. Slowly, I made my way back to the point where I caught them good yesterday, only to find another competitor catching them one after another. The spot was so small, and I’m never one to run in on another competitor, so I let him have it. He beat me there fair and square.

Bottom line is today, I stunk. I missed a few other bites on topwater and one decent fish on a spinnerbait, but that was it.

Rebecca and I are driving back to North Carolina to catch up on some sleep, some fishing articles and sponsor appearances. I will be working the Bassmaster Major in Little Rock for Triton, Mercury and Lowrance, then off to Wisconsin and Illinois to visit St. Croix rods and other sponsors. I’ll keep you updated at Table Rock. Thanks greatly for reading.

Today was a wet, cold miserable day. Since blast-off it did nothing but pour rain.

Compared to my practice period, today was a good day. I started off fishing in a creek right around the corner from blast-off. My plan was to fish wacky-rigged Senkos, but the high tide made it tough to tell where the weedline began and ended.

I decided to run into a small marina near Washington D.C. In practice I caught one on a 4-inch Senko, about a 2 1/2-pounder underneath an undercut bank. Well, I went to that same bank today and caught the exact same fish I had caught on Tuesday. It still had the small wacky-worm hook at the base of his throat. I was amazed.

By 11:00 I only had that one fish in the well and I decided to check the creek that I had started in. The tide was about right (mid-tide with strong current flushing clear water through the weeds), so I decided to fish a small 1/4-ounce spinnerbait over the top of the weeds. That produced the rest of my limit.

At 3:00 I decided to make another run in the nasty weather to another creek that had produced nothing for me in practice, but looked really good. I fished a Luhr Jensen PJ POP on a fast retrieve, which triggered a nice reaction strike from a 3- and a 2 1/2-pounder in the last hour of the day. Lucky day for me!

Tomorrow I’m concerned with bright sunny skies and hot temperatures – totally opposite weather from today. This should make things tougher on me, but easier on the flip- and frog-fish as it will position them better in the grass. I don’t know about tomorrow – it’s too easy to blank here if your timing is off.

It would be nice to make another $10,000 this year, but it’s only day 1 – to early to tell One thing that is nice though, is on my new Lowrance X-26HD it has a tide chart which is built into my GPS. It shows where the tide is and with pinpoint accuracy. It sure made my approach much easier today.

Well, it has been a while since we wet a line. Three weeks ago ( which feels like forever), I headed down to the ICAST show to work for Lowrance and KeelShield. The show went well, with lots of great press, and I always enjoy meeting new contacts. After the event, Rebecca and I had a few relaxing days off at our Arizona location. It was great being at home with family and friends. It was actually tough to leave.

I have been going nonstop since ICAST. I worked the Bassmaster Major last week in Charlotte and am here for the tournament at the Potomac this week. Talk about a brutal bite the last few days. Each day I have only managed to get two bites. The size limit is only 12 inches, but for me that seems to be a whale.

It’s embarrassing to be here and not be able to catch them. I have spoken with many anglers who have fished here before, and they say that they have never seen it so tough. I’m nervous because I have done so poorly in many events so far and I need to pick up my performance – where do I start?

Today I fished in downtown Washington D.C. This place is wild. You have the giant airport with huge jets taking off just hundreds of yards above your head, you have military copters and ships all around you. Intimidating to say the least.

My friend Mike Reynolds knocked his lower unit off up there today, and I hit a decent-size log that happened to be floating in the middle of the channel. Fishing is tough…I will just have to fish through it.

Practice has been pretty hit-and miss for me. I caught eight keepers the first day, then three the next day, and then four today. I also caught a 4-pounder on a Rico.

It's just going to be interesting to see how many boats are around each other. There's some good areas out there, but there's a lot of boats fishing them.