Time to head to stop number 2. We strap in and make a short run. The wind has picked up quite a bit and really had the waves rolling on the eastern side!! This is a small narrow cove with a roadbed running just off to one side. Break out the c-rigs. John starts out at the mouth and lets the wind push us in. Good looking spot to pick up a good smallmouth. About halfway back my line goes slack. Don’t even bother checking, just SET THE HOOK! Oh yeah, keeper #3! Little while later John is reeling in a keeper. I’m starting to really like this roadbed! We work the road over. Back and forth. Top. Sides. No more keepers. Several shorts. Maybe an hour left before heading back to weigh-in, John wants to check another spot. Problem is, we have to run AWAY from the dam. Roll the dice. Let’s try it.

Back out on main lake, the waves are really rolling now. John runs a few hundred yards then decides there is just not enough time at this speed. He heads back to the spot we started on. Hey, I still have on the fluke, sounds good to me! We make several passes along the cypress, John yanks in a keeper on a Senko. Decide to hit the trees on the other side that we never got a chance at earlier. This time we motor over there (heh heh). Nothing out of the trees but there are lots of bushes. But just short fish, no keepers. Back out to the center flat to finish out our time. John catches a keeper on the spook. I’m fan casting up to the last second. Lifejackets ON! strap everything DOWN! It is going to be a rough ride back.

John does a good job driving. Didn’t take a pounding and did not spear any waves. The big Skeeter rode pretty good. Check-in boat, two bags please. John has 4, I have 3. Morning started out pretty good but faded quickly. From hearing some of the weights and talking to other boats, sounds like guys caught them pretty good. Man o man. I need a good finish to boost me in year-end points.

No time to cry about it. Bag up the fish and head to the tent. I’ve got one wheezer. I re-check it on John’s board and again at the courtesy board. Good! It touches. Doesn’t cross the line, but it does touch it! Golly! there is already a 16lb bag leading the co-angler side and it is taking over 10lb to be in the top 10. My nerves keep looking in my bag as I’m standing in line. Stage time! 3 fish @ 6lb 15oz. Well it is a start. Need to make up a lot of ground on Day 2. We hang around for a little bit. John meets his next day partner. I’ve drawn Tom Mann Jr. Someone says he has already loaded and left. I go ahead and pull John out of the water and get my stuff out of his boat. Gas money, some brief chit chat and he’s off. Find out where my wife parked and carry my stuff over. I’m pooped! Literally worn out...mentally. I call Tom. Meet where? When? Okay, I’m ready to clean up, eat some dinner and get to bed.

FLW Tour Kentucky report Day 2 (co-angler)

Stick around long enough after Day 1 weigh-in to get the standings sheets. 54th place. Little more than half of the weight for the Top 10. Easy to start feeling down and discouraged, but I learned a long time ago that is mostly just tiredness and being worn out. Nerves, you are just going to have to wait. Chin up and focus on the task at hand. Still have Day 2. Head back to the motel for a shower. Getting cleaned up always seems to re-energize me. Meet up with some friends for dinner and conversation. Back at the motel, I re-tie and get my bag reorganized for tomorrow. Anticipation is starting to grow for tomorrow. Weather Channel? Same-o same-o. Bedtime.

Sure enough, wake up on Day 2 with rain already falling. That bottle of sunscreen sure is lasting a long time this year. Some coffee, a PopTart, a quick re-check of my tackle and it is time to go. I meet up with Tom at the ramp/parking lot. One good thing about a late number on Day 1...you get an early number for Day 2! I’m pumped.

Tom floats me off and heads off to find a parking spot. I go to fire up and get out of the way. Couple of beeps, but no cranking. Uhh, not good! Then I notice the killswitch tether is missing. Must be on his lifejacket. I drop the trolling motor (checking to make sure it is not set on ’toss you out’ speed) and make my way over to the courtesy docks just about the same time Tom walks up. Quick idle through boat check and some wait time before blast off. I’m keeping a close eye as Tom gets out his rods. C-rig, crankbait, spinnerbait, shaky head. Good I’m covered! Now if they will just get this thing started so I can get a bait in the water! Time passes quickly and then the morning Prayer and National Anthem.

First flight is out and we’re second boat on flight two. Pretty quick run down to Malcolm Creek. Wind is huffing and puffing. Staying on the western side, the ride is not bad at all. Feel sorry for the guys trying to fish the eastern side though. Tom pulls onto a secondary point and picks up the c-rig. Good thing we had an early number, cuz in just a few minutes we have two other boats pull up on one side and one boat on the other side. SaWING! Tom’s got one one. Uhh, I should have gotten the net out and ready, but he sees it is a shortie and never mind. But at least now the net is ready! The point extends far out underwater and lots of good-feeling rock, to the effect that you can’t hardly drag, you have to more or less ’hop’ your bait along. TUG! my rod bends over, SET THE HOOK! The fish jumps and easily a keeper. I slowly reel it up alongside the boat and swing it in. Yeah! keeper #1. The wind is blowing straight onto the point and Tom has his hands full trying to keep the boat positioned. Back of the boat is pointing straight in and I’m being carefull to not cast too far out to the sides and cut him off. Couple of casts later, my rod bends over again. SaWING! Man! these fish are hitting more like white bass. Keeper #2! The other boats have seen all this and start pressing. Tom is doing a great job of standing on the trolling motor, fishing AND holding the other boats off the point. SMACK! he’s got another one on. Fighting pretty good too. I run up and net it. Smallmouth. Dang just barely under the 15" mark. Couple of casts later he swings on another one. This time it is a keeper! Tom swings the boat to re-position back directly on the point. I make a cast over (literally) a NoWake bouy and get caught up in brush or rigging underneath it. Pop Pop. Snap snap. Its snagged good and tight. I point the rod straight at it, reel up tight, thumb on the spool and pull. It pops free and I reel up the couple feet of new slack. TUG! set the HOOK! When the bait shot off that snag, a fish nailed it. One jump and it is a nice fish. Ummm, net please. Tom had already seen it and is back there with the net. Keeper #3, probably close to a 4lb give or take. Okay, now I’m really pumped! Less than 30 minutes into the day and 3 in the boat. Uhhh, the other boats must be pumped too. They are pressing even more. Tom holds his ground and we each catch several more fish, but they are short. Tom fancasts a crankbait but no takers.

Tom says we’re making a move. Rods down, lifejackets on. Quick run around the corner, idle around looking at the GPS map, drop a marker and start fishing. Tom indicates it is a large hump, cast anywhere. We can still see the point we just left and chuckle as the other 3 boats vie for position. Deeper water here. The rock here is not as pronounced, but there is definetly some wood down there. Suddenly my rod doubles, SaWING! This one has some shoulders. About half way to the boat this fish decides it has other plans and just pulls off. ARGH! Spend some more time here but that is the only bite.

Time for another move. Run on back in the creek and pull up at a marina. Tom notes how the water has really muddied up. With all the rain, runoff and pulling water at the dam, it can happen overnight. Tom runs a spinnerbait around the stalls, I’m swimming a white jig and skipping a fluke. Nothing. Work the area over but still nothing. Another short move. Ohhh, is that cypress trees? Yep! Tom is tossing a shaky head out in front and I’m skipping the ole fluke. Nothing. Good looking area, just no biters.

Another move. Okay, the rain clouds have parted and the sun has popped out and Tom heads in shallow to the bushes. I switch the fluke out for a shaky head and the swimming jig for a Senko (actually a Kinami Flash). Tom soon has one hooked and into the boat. Barely short. I’m getting alot of bites with the fish just pulling the trickworm off but nothing else. Switch to a shorter finesse worm. Same thing. I start eyeballing the deeper wood on the outside of the boat. Need a bit more weight on the shaky head to make the distance. Switch the finesse worm out for a Kinami Flash. Good choice. Fish picks it up and starts swimming. BAM! Keeper #4. Oh yeah. Tom starts alternating between a Senko and a shaky head. We each catch a few more fish, all short.

Time to move. As we run out, two of the three boats are still on that point where we started the day! Run on up into Jonathon Creek and head to the back. There is David Fritts tossing a ... crankbait (duh!) He’s only got one. Wow! the back of this creek is what I’d call more of a chocolate color than good stain. But we’re here so let’s fish it. The bushes and wood give up no fish, not even a bite. nada. Tom runs about halfway back out to where the water color is more just plain stained. Mostly little side pockets or short coves. C-rig the outside edges and points and pitching plastics on the inside and around docks. Bites are few and the fish are short. Tom hooks a fish alongside a dock but it won’t keep. He sets down to re-tie and the boat drifts up along a swimming dock, no slips just one big shade maker. I skip my shaky head back underneath and just .... shake it. I feel the fish pick it up (thank you braided line!) and starts swimming out. As soon as it clears the dock BAM! set the HOOK! That fish runs straight back under the dock and comes up jumping! We can hear it crashing around. I bury the rod down to the reel in the water and get the fish out. Tom is there with the net. Keeper #5! Did I mention being pumped up? Even with 5 in the boat, my nerves just won’t shut up. Shoulda brought my scales. Shoulda brought my culling rings. Shoulda shoulda shoulda. Shut UP! I’ll cross that bridge when it happens!

We continue working the little pockets. The docks are giving up some fish, just no more keepers. Back out on the main creek bank and work our way down to the next pocket. Tom tries a crankbait and a spinnerbait. There’s a shallow piece of cover, BAM! he gets one on a spinnerbait. Still just short. This particular bank line is covered with man-made riprap. I make a cast with the shaky head. Wait! the bait never hit bottom...SET the hook! This one feels like it has some shoulders. Braid is real nice, but it can give you confidence to ’horse’ a fish to the boat. Note to self, DON"T HORSE A FISH if you don’t have too! Well it pretty much bent my hook open and pulled free. I did the little back deck dance and thrashing for a second and then sulked as I re-tied.

Next pocket, more docks. Few bites, few short fish. We pass the last dock on the way out and there is a sunken tree on the outside. Tom fishes it and moves along. I waited until we were past so I could fish the down entire length. BAM! Another keeper, but after scanning the livewell I don’t think it will help. I offer some of the Kinami’s to Tom. Not saying they are magic, but that day it seemed to work. Within a few casts, Tom is reeling in a keeper. Now we’re both getting bites and pulling in short fish. Uh-oh, the sky just quickly got dark with a few raindrops and the wind has shifted and picked up. We have less than an hour to fish and Tom wants to get closer to the ramp. Time for a move. Rods down, lifejackets on, strap everything down, it will probably be a rough ride.

Running the western side wasn’t bad at all. Could see some guys running over on the other side...well could see the white spray as they pounded through. Tom stops out on the main lake and idles around looking at an underwater ledge. Tosses out a marker and picks up a c-rig. Few casts later my rod bends over and I set the hook on a smallmouth that will just keep. Doesn’t look like it will help so over the side it goes. 10 or 15 more minutes and nothing. Time to move. We stop a mile or two short of the dam and pull over. Lots of other boats have the same idea. Tom picks out a bank that noone else wants and picks up a c-rig. Nothing. Here’s a little pocket with a dock and a downed tree. Shaky head time. Nothing. Back out to the main creek with c-rigs. Shortly my rod bends over, saWING! Tom looks at me with ’another one??’ expression and grabs the net. Yup! Got that one about halfway to the boat and it pulls off. ARGH! Tom drops the net and heads back up front. Not even a split second later my line tightens up and starts tugging again! SET THE HOOK!! Tom is in total disbelief (me too) as he nets up the keeper. Okay, this one will help. I pull out the smallest two fish and eyeball them against this one. Uhhh, that one. over the side. We come to a little knob. Couple of casts later, BAM! I got another one on. Tom, we’re almost out of time, keep fishing, I’ll just swing this one in. It looks like it could cull too. I do the eyeball thing again and toss one over. We’re out of time. Rods down, lifejackets on. Sure glad Tom decided to come back closer. Not just because of culling two fish, but at least we didn’t get beat up trying to run WOT.

The wind/waves are sooo bad the check-in boat can’t even anchor. We make a driveby. As they pass the bags across, the wind blows them out clear over their boat to the other side. Well...they didn’t sink and I was able to net them. Tom finds an open spot and we pull up and tie off. I hadn’t even eaten my sandwiches. stuff stuff stuff. There’s my wife walking over. She can tell I’m excited. I’m chatting with her and getting all my stuff bundled up. She hadn’t been up to the tent to see what weights are. But I’m feeling good. Better day than yesterday, but is it enough? Doesn’t take long and they’re calling our bag number.

Luckily we catch a ride on one of the golf carts...sure beats hoofing it all that way. Get to the tanks and I can see the leader boards. A friend of mine (co-angler) is sitting in 2nd with 18lbs. Wow! guys must not have caught them as well today. No, there is still 4 more flights to weigh. I’m trying to do quick math in my head. Nerves, just stop it! It will weigh what it weighs! Stage time. mmmmm, 5 @ 12lb 14oz, two day total of 19lb 13oz. Good enough for 2nd! nerves? we gotta long way to go. Tom wants to load up before the crowd so we head back down. I thank Tom, give him some gas money and grab my stuff. Stash my gear in my truck and walk back over to the tent. Still in 2nd place, WOW! Get some congrats and pats from friends. Doesn’t last long though. 3rd.....4th..... more flights coming in. Nail biting time! 5th..... 6th..... Not many guys left at the tanks....just maybe??? 7th.... 8th..... just might happen! I made the top 10 last time we were here! Bags number 9, bags number 9, bring them up! Oh man! there is still another group to weigh. 9th.... that was the last bags right?? not many guys left at the tanks. 10th..... straining trying to see what people have. ...11th bumped out! Well there, now my nerves can turn OFF.

Ended up 13th, just 2lbs out. Maybe those two fish that pulled off might have helped. Nerves? maybe they were drum or stripers too. I did what I did and that’s that. Good finish and great points towards the Championship. I find out later this finish moved me from 44th to 25th. But, there is still one more tournament (Champlain) left in the season so I’m still on pins and needles...not much room for error.

Had a great time. Both my partners were great guys and had us around fish. First tournament this year that my boater partners did not get damaged (Hibdon - lower unit, Yamamoto - prop/propshaft/skeg, Yelas - prop/propshaft, Bolton - hull/prop)...am I a jinx? I’d like to express my thanks Larry Rosser at AlabamaLakes for getting me hooked on shaky heads and Derek Yamamoto for getting me hooked on Kinami Flash. Also like to congratulate Steve Kennedy on the win, super super nice down to earth guy. And Terry Bolton for a close 2nd. Another super nice fellow.

Looking forward to Champlain! Can you say SMALLMOUTH!