Night before the Tournament....

[SethV]

Well, it is 9:32 PM, I drew boat 8.  Still not sure where I am going to start!!!

I arrived here at Burt lake state park on Wendsday morning.  I found the fish on Wendsday very ready and willing to play.  Although hookless, I was able to get numerous 4 lb fish to bite.

Thursday the bite was a bit tougher.  Pete (my practice partner) decided to swing on one, just to see how big she was.  6 lb 1 oz.      I needed that one!!!

Today the bite got much tougher.  The high skyes and really hot water (79 degrees today) really shut the fish down.  That combined with all of the intense fishing pressure really has made for a tough bite.  Burt and Mullett fish very small, with the good stuff very evident for all to see.

Well, I am off to bed.  It is going to be a fun day, but I expect a tough bite.

Seth

[bshaner]

I drew Pete, the guy you let fish in your boat   He was a nice guy.  He told me all about the fish that got hooked on bent over hooks.  That fish just wanted to die I guess.  To his credit he did not discuss where on Burt he fished with you and I did not ask, but he did say you had some big fish.  It didnt matter because I didnt go to Burt (I should have).

We had this discussion the morning of the tournament.  By the way it was great to talk to you.  Oh.. and I have to eat crow.  I did not get that limit    Let's keep the contents of the conversation under wraps though!

I started wednesday as well.  On Wednesday the fish were all cruising the 6 to 8 foot breaks and ready to eat anything that moved... and I mean anything.  I rolled up on several spots and within 5 minutes had a fish in the boat.  I immediately left each spot because I am one of the few aparantly who dont like to go fun fishing while practicing.

Thursday I checked back on them and they were still cruising so I decided to go looking for bedders.  I found a 4.9 willing to move my bait off it's bed, a 4.6 and several more in the high 3lb range.  I figured that would be a matter of how well I drew for launch order if I would even get to those.  I drew boat 78.  sigh.

Friday I took Motocross out for a spin.  I didnt really want to do any fishing but I did want to show him around and let him wet a line to fine tune a pattern.  I put him on the patterns I've found and he would have had a limit in the 10 to 12 lb range had it been tournament day.  None of those were more than 1 fish caught on any certain spot.  We saw the cruisers just where I told him they'd be and I checked back on my spots to confirm. The problem was as the day progressed they were getting less and less interested in eating.  He really had to struggle to get a bite on Mullet.  The fish were there... and they were big... but by the end of they day the fish werent even spooked at the boat.  It's like they just didnt care anymore.  Not only did they not care if there was a boat around, they didnt even acknowledge the presence of any lures.

On a side note, anyone own or know who owns a green stratos?  He sat on that 4.9 for several hours just chilling on top of the fish.  I do mean "several" hours.  Just wondering if he got to it on tournament day.  He was there when I finally got out on the lake after blastoff.   It was gone when I decided to check on it. 

Day of the tournament, not only were any of my fish not hungry, they werent even there.  I have no idea where they went and it's my fault for not gearing my practice toward "just incase".  I should have quit checking on them when I knew what they were doing and concentrating on structure in case they did go deep.


So to re-cap.  Seth you were right on.  They got beat up by 102 boats in practice and the overcast windy day didnt help.  You should be a psychic!!

B

[225XS4Garza200PXL]

Personally, I thought the windy/cloudy day should have helped our non-bed fishing bite...

I had caught fish in areas with flat calm, 'i can see you a mile a way' conditions, with spooky fish... I wanted a little wind to make it easier for those fish not to see us...

When I got what I wanted, I was STOKED... but the fish did not bite...

It is a ful day after the tournament and I am still super dissappointed...

Shaner, sorry I didn't wanna wash your boat...

[bshaner]

That's exactly what I told Seth.  I thought for sure the wind and chop and cloud cover would turn my fish on.  I was stoked too.

You'll have 4 more chances to wash it buddy.  Dont fret.

So give us the goods Seth.  You got 4.  I know you were thinking you wouldnt even get those.  How did it go?

B

[motocross269]

I feel for you garza.  I guess we just have to suck it up and get ready for LSC. 
Thanks Brian for taking me out on Friday.  It was great meeting your family, and man we saw a ton of active fish.  We probably could have caught 16-18 lbs easy without even trying in practice.  Like Bshaner said we would stick one and then leave that spot and look for other areas.  I was just basically trying to pattern my lure selection.   
I went back to Burt with cast and blast tournament day and he pretty much had the spots on Burt that Bshaner and I had checked out.  I tried not to give out too much info until I saw if Brian was going to run to Burt.  Towards the end of the morning we tried the point that Brian and I had seen countless good numbers of roamers.
Well we didn't see any roamers.  As a matter of fact we only saw maybe one or two roamers on Burt all day.
LSC here I come.