This journal is from Jeff Stegner of Fair Grove, MO. Jeff fished the FLW event on Lake Murray in February. We’ll try and follow Jeff’s season as he fishes behind some of the best pros in the country this season.

DAY ONE
by Jeff Stegner

Wife will not be traveling with me this trip. No pre-fishing arrangements made. Reasonable drive (12’ish hrs) so I will be rolling into Columbia on Tuesday--registration/pairings day.

Wednesday before the T, get a phone call to see if I could possibly pick up a boat at the factory and bring it to Murray with me. Not a problem, glad to help him out. Nice fellow, fished with him before. Make hotel changes to show up two days early. With the newly decreased packing time-window, hurriedly begin gathering everything together. Have a good idea of what I need to take, it’s just a matter of getting it together....just how much stuff can fit in that bag before the seams give way--ha! Get a call later, factory has managed to get the rig on a trailer that is headed towards SC and will get there a few days before me. Whew! Back to normal, leisurely paced packing.

Get a call from another couple coming across from Kansas about sharing a ride. Always nice to split the gas bill. They make arrangements to stay at the same hotel. I move mine up one day. Some potential bad weather is forecasted for the drive but it never materialized.

Get into Columbia and settle in. Visit the local Wal-Mart and get a fishing license. Drive over to take a look at the takeoff ramp. Looks a bit cramped and parking could be yucky with the recent rain. But the FLW staff is good at keeping everything in order and moving along. The other ramp facility across the dam looks good and over half the field will probably launch there. See a few people I know and ask about the fishing. The standard answer is "well, before this cold front came in......" No changes on my part, pretty much stick with what I planned.

Registration day. Head over to registration. Do the check-in thing and get some dinner. Meeting goes as normal. The newly formed National Guard team has an announcement. One of their teammates, Melinda Mize, has been called up to active duty. This will be her last tournament. Everyone gives her a standing applause. Sitting behind her, you could tell it touched her heart. Extremely nice young lady. Melinda, get the job done, come home safely and get back to fishing! The pairings start. Seems like time drags on and on. Finally, boat #130, David Dudley. Walk outside, usual chit-chat, meet where? What time? He’s not locked into a single pattern, doing a variety of things. Okay, no changes in my plans...shaky head, crankbait, jig, c-rig.

Day 1. Meet with David at the other ramp across the dam. Easy launch and short run across to boat check. Not much wind but it is cool. Glad I wore my coveralls. After a prayer and the Anthem it time for blast-off! Run about 10 minutes and pull into a small arm. Surprisingly no other boats. Drop off pad about half way back and start on a little secondary. Water has a good looking green tinge and about a 1 1/2 to 2 ft visibility. We’re sitting in about 20 foot about a full cast off the back.

I pick up a shaky head and notice David chooses the same. A few casts later David sets the hook but no fish. A few casts later sets the hook but his line breaks down close to the reel. The broken line is still on the surface but it is sinking fast. By the time he quickly trolls up there it is gone. But he sticks his rod into the water and swirls it around, lifts the rod out of the water--nothing. After a few tries he pulls his rod up and there is the broken line. Grabs the line and does the hand over hand. Nothing. Fish is gone. While he is re-tying the boat drifts in and I make a few more casts. Nothing. Now he is retied and repositioned the boat. A few casts later he sets the hook, I net it and it’s a keeper.

Now the nerves start singing. He’s had several bites and a keeper. Calm down. It has only been less than 10 minutes. But nerves still get the better of me and I change from a finesse worm to a trick worm and dot the tail with chartreuse (watermelon red). I make a long cast back towards the point. Shake shake shake. Tick! And the fish is swimming with it. Hookset, netjob and I’m on the board with a keeper! First pass down the bank and David has 3, I have 2. By now other boats have pulled into the little arm. No one has pulled in where we started so we idle back and start over again. A few more passes and we both have our limits. There seems to be a sweet spot on the bank where the fish are concentrated. I have a couple of fish that are a good 2+ pounds. David wants to try and upgrade a few fish then make a run to dirtier water.

There is another good looking secondary further back in the arm that David has his eye on. But every time we get ready to move to it, another boat pulls on it. Most are crankbaiting so we still watch for the opportunity. Finally! A boat leaves it and we pull down on it. The morning sun has been on the banks for a good while and the bites are getting more aggressive. Shake shake shake. Bam! Hookset! Broke off. The coveralls helped but the limit of fish helped more. My fingers aren’t too cold to quickly re-tie. Shake shake shake. Bam! Hookset! Broke off. aaarrrrggghhh! David asks what size line I’m using....20lb braid with 12lb flouro leader. Re-tie. David picks up another keeper. My electronic scales don’t help with culling ounces so we’re using the old trusty tip scales.

There was another secondary back towards the mouth of the arm that not many boats seemed to have fished to we quickly motor up to it. Shake shake shake. Bam! Hookset. Broke off. Double aaarrrggghhh! Now David is on the back deck with me. What knot are you tying? Palomar. No no no, don’t use that knot on lighter fluoro! But that’s what I have used for years! Re-tie. David grabs the hook in one hand, wraps the line around his other hand and give a quick yank. POP! Okay, you don’t have to hit me with a stick. He re-ties it for me using a San Diego. And also ribs me about using a fastclip (I like to be able to change sizes/baits quickly at the back of the boat). I must say that I never broke off another fish all day. Lost a few to rocks, but he always came back to re-tie it for me. I have got to get a diagram and learn that knot.

This bank has a sweet spot also and we start catching them. We’re both culling. It isn’t even 10 o’clock yet. David is culling yet another one. The tip scales show about the same. It is eyeball time. David is holding up the two fish and asking me. About that time my line jumped. Hookset! My biggest fish, about 3.5 pounds.

One of the Fox Sports boats pulled in and came over to watch/chat. David commented that I was the luckiest. He’d catch a 12 incher and I’d catch a 2 pounder. He’d catch a 13 incher and I’d catch a 2.5 pounder. Sure enough, we had a double and he was pretty much right on. David kept assuring me I was in the top 10 or at least very close. He did have a big one later in the afternoon. At least a 15+ carp!

That is how the day went. We just jumped back and forth between the three banks. I had over 3 limits of fish and David had at least 5 limits. I don’t think either of us ever had a short fish, but neither of us had a 7 or 8 pounder either. We did make a short run up but found his area was covered up with other boats.

Time to head back. Check-in and wait. They’re on bags #4 and we’re bags #7. Time drags by. Word has it that they are bringing in big limits. We hear of bags well over 20 on the pro side. Several fish in the 7s, 8s and 9s. Bags #7 called. Time of truth. Get through the bag line and up on stage. 12-11. 5th place! Oh yeah! But there are lots more to be weighed. I finish the day in 8th. Happy, very happy. I came off stage and someone handed me a McD’s cheeseburger and congratulations! Parents of a co-angler I roomed with at Okeechobee. Now that is NICE people!

I collect my stuff out of David’s boat. Thank him for a great day (and knowledge of a different knot!) One heck of a nice guy in my book. I head over to find my Day 2 partner.....Gary Yamamoto.....things are looking GOOD! 8th place. I’ll sleep good tonight....or will I?

DAY TWO

Day 1 ends well. I’m off to find my next day’s partner, Gary Yamamoto. Quick chat. Meet where? What time? How did you do today? I give him a quick rundown of what’s tied on my 4 rods and what’s in my bag. Good news, I’m on the right track.

Meet up with the couple I’m riding with. He had a little over 6 pounds and sits in the low 60’s. His next day’s partner caught them pretty good today (inside the top 20). So he is upbeat about the possibilities for Day 2. Back to the hotel for a quick shower and then back out for dinner.

It is 9pm before we get back and I still need to re-tie and go through my bag. Wife and kids call. They are excited, so am I. Watch the weather forecast. Uh-oh. We’re going to have more wind tomorrow. I’m worried about using braided line. The wind seems to catch braid much more than mono and put a big bow in the line, especially with the small 1/8oz bottom baits. No problem, I’ll put mono on an extra spool and switch over if needed. Disbelief gives way to panic as I frantically dig through my spare line bag. Plenty of braid and fluoro but no mono! WalMart is a few blocks away, I can walk that (it’s nearly 10pm and I’m sure the couple I rode with are already in bed) Just as I’m running out the door my phone rings. Another co-angler calling to offer congrats. He is staying just a couple miles away and offers to bring over some extra line...another super nice guy! Quick visit, quick spooling, quick re-check of daybag. Everything is packed and ready to head out the door. It is midnight. So much for a good nights sleep.

Wakeup Day 2. Seems a bit colder this morning. Overcast. And there is already a breeze. Both of us are meeting our partners at the same place--always a plus! It begins sprinkling on the drive over. Yesterday morning I was glad I wore my insulated coveralls, today I am glad they are Gortex!

Pull into the parking lot and there is my partner--Gary Yamamoto. I am soooo relieved to see he is NOT driving the motor home (long story short, I did that a few years ago with Takahiro...it involved a barge...but that is another story). Drop my bag and rods into Gary’s boat and away we go. We’re putting in at Jakes. FLW staff is there directing rigs. Plenty of light. Float Gary off, park the rig. Piece of cake. Now we wait. The sprinkles are gone, but the breeze is picking up. Gary is getting rods out. Should I go ahead and swap my braid for mono? Gary says our first stop will be in a well protected area. Good! Stick with what worked yesterday. Boat check, prayer, Anthem. Time to get in line.

Day 2. Blast off! Short run, less than 10 minutes. Pull into a small flat-sided cove that has a small marina. Some of the slips are half on the dry bank, the rest of the slips are in 2-4ft of water. Gary is tossing senko, I’m tossing the shaky head. Shake shake shake. A rat-a-tat-tat bite but never picked it up. Couple of stalls later, another machine gun bite but no pick up. There seems to be some brush or clutter or something, not visible but you can feel it, up under the walkways. Shake shake shake. Bam! I’m hauling in my first keeper! A few minutes later I find another stall that has some underwater clutter. shake shake shake. Bam! Keeper number 2! Gary takes notice of what I’m tossing and makes some changes. Next pass down the stalls, shake shake shake. Bam! There is number 3! Looking good! Fishing less than half an hour! Make several more passes down the stalls but come up empty. There is some shad activity in the very back of the shallow cove so we check it out. There are dark spots (stumps) visible, a good ripple and some baitfish activity. Looks like square-bill crankbait territory to me (Bandit, rootbeer). Gary is tossing experimental bait---guys, don’t ask, out of respect to Gary that is all I can say. We work the area thoroughly. I see one flash on the crankbait. Toss back over there. Smack! Right at the boat, less than 3 feet out...fish wins this round and pulls off. aaarrrggghhh. We scour the entire area and fish our way back out of the cove. Nada. Not one more bite. Time to move. Gary tells me to put on my gloves. Oh, a long run! We had just come up on pad and trimmed out. Whack! Whatever we hit, we hit it good.

When we stop, up a river, the water is dirty (6-8" visibility). Shallow. Banks are flat. Most of the time the motor is dragging bottom. He’s got some key areas, but there is several other boats there fishing the same water. Looks like there is some grass, some wood and then just some plain-jane bankline. Jig and squarebill. I put the other two rods away (guys, the Legend/Cobra/Viper boats have a very cool narrow ’rodbox’ lid for the passenger...keeps your rod tips out of the way) Gary alternates between a fat-craw, senko and experimental.

Here comes some grass. Flip in and around every opening and clusters. Thump! Hookset! Fish is up on the top coming to the boat. Pulls off. Man-o-man. I do the little back deck dance waving my rod around like a fly rod! It is already mid-day. My nerves are starting to sing. Calm down. Have to execute. No mistakes. Back to bare banks. Gary is tossing his experimental. Bam! Gary shortlines one at the boat and swings it in. No time to get the net. I’m tossing the crankbait. Couple casts at the bank. Couple casts over the other side down the gut of the little cuts. Here comes some brush and wood cover. Gary picks it over pretty well. I take the opportunity to fan-cast the crank in all directions. There is more wood in the area just not visible.

Time to move. We run a little further up and idle under a small bridge into a narrow arm. Alton Jones has a spot staked out. Idle further back. There’s another competitor boat. Idle further back around a swing. Yet another competitor boat. This area is covered up. We idle back out. Just have to hop around, put the trolling motor down and fish.

Back on some bare bank. Bam! Gary gets another one right where some mudbank transitions to chunk rock. I lose confidence in the crankbait and pick up the jig. Toss it at/in the cover, swim it on the bare banks. Here comes some brush/wood. Gary picks it over pretty good, but hey! It is the only cover around. I drop in a small jig w/rattle and just shake it, feeding off more line as we drift away. Wait a minute! That’s not a brushy feeling anymore, it is a fish pulling down! Hookset! Tugging pressure then nothing. Just a boil in the middle of the brush. Those nerves are singing again! There won’t be a piece of brush the rest of the day that I don’t try that again!! Gary picks up another fish on a flat plain-jane bank. Time is running out. Gary runs back to the grassy area where I lost the fish earlier. Flip in and around the holes. Whack! Hookset! I swing it straight into the floor. Good keeper! Just happens to be the wrong species....grinnel/dogfish/whatever. Major disappointment. But just a few minutes left, get back to fishing! Couple of casts later Gary gets a good keeper up on top of the grass coming to the boat and it pulls off. My turn to watch him do the fly-rod thing. That’s just fishing. Times up, head back to check-in.

They are letting us trailer before weigh-in so I pull Gary out and find a parking spot. Too far away to hear the weigh-in, but my mind is running over and over and over how much weight it will take to make the top-10 cut. Do I have enough? Nothing left to do but wait. Gary breaks out some of his jerky...hey that is some GOOD stuff! I’m gathering my stuff together and happen to walk around the back. Hey Gary! Remember we hit something? Folded the last couple inches of each prop ear and knocked off about 3/4s of the skag. Not what he wanted to hear I’m sure! I’m thinking I might be a jinx...we ruined a prop and lower unit down at Okeechobee.

Finally bags #4 are called. Bag up the fish. 3 for him. 3 for me. Quick estimate looks about 6+ lbs. Catch a ride down the hill on a golf cart. Stand in line at the tanks. So far, the top-10 cut is a little over 18 lbs. There go my nerves again. Do I have enough? I think so. Nah maybe not. All three fish are solid. Yeah that’s enough. Wait, less than half the field has weighed. Nerves, be QUIET. Stage time. 3 fish, 17-14. Not enough for the top-10. Disappointed? Yes. But still real good points and a good check. After Okeechobee I need the points. Ended up in 20th place.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. It is over. Had the opportunities. Had a great tournament. Had great draws. Both were around fish. Both are very nice gentlemen. Enjoyed every bit of it.