Change is inevitable...as soon as you think you've figured it out it'll change...never fails.

The past couple of weeks the weather hasn't been pleasant...It's been cold, windy and wet. Believe it or not for a fisherman there is one thing that was positive about it...the weather and the water temperature were consistent. The fish had to eat and once I found them, they were there everyday in the same area, doing the same thing. Although I was freezing my tail off, soaking wet and beat down by the wind, I was catching fish. Something I chalk up as a minor success towards my preparation for the KBF tournament.

  I have fished a particular lake for the past 5 days and I covered days 1,2 and 3 in the last blog but day 4 a friend of mine from Atlanta came up to fish the morning with me. We went out to where I'd caught a couple of good fish and set up shop. After  a few of hours and about 4 dinks (dinks are very small Bass) I caught a 22" largemouth that exceeded 6 pounds. On our way back to shore my friend picked up a nice 5lb fish...but this fish was a good bit shallower than any of the rest I had caught through the week....Was this a hint as to a change in pattern or was she just shallower for no good reason? These are the questions I and I assume  other fishermen ask themselves when trying to pattern a lake. On that particular day the sun was out and the fish was caught on the windward side of the lake...water temp was about 2 degrees more at 46 -47°. The fish was in 4' of water and every fish I'd caught previously were located 100 yards away in the 8-10 foot range, they all hit the same bait though.  The problem and it is a big problem...I only started wondering about the why's and where's of that fish today...because I only caught dinks today in the 8-10' water... I have to be proactive and ask myself these questions on the fly.

This morning I fished all over the lake's 8-10' sections and completely ruled out that water. Today's conditions were warmer, cloudy with a good wind but the water temp was 50 and in some places 51. Is that a big enough difference in conditions to change the pattern? I believe so. I can't fish tomorrow as a matter of fact,  it'll be Friday before I'm on the water again but if I were going tomorrow I'd throw a spinner bait or small swim bait in the shallower 3-6' sections of water.
In the past two weeks (10 days fishing) I've caught 6 fish weighing from 5-8lbs. Not bad and to be honest the best string of bass fishing that I've ever had but isn't good enough because...
• although I'm having fun...I'm preparing for a tournament. The biggest tournament I've ever had a chance to compete in and only on one of those days did I have a respectable limit.
• I could've caught more if I would've thought quicker and noticed a few subtle or not so subtle clues.
• I found that a lot of today I was making blind casts on covered ground.
Why?...things changed and I didn't.

  So, here is the scenario... I get up to Kentucky lake and find fish early in the week but a cold front moves in and changes everything  causing thevfish to leave or change their feeding habits on day 1 of the tournament. What do i do?...The easy answer is to scrap the plan I had and go to deeper or different water. The problem is my confidence level that I had gained from the hypothetical fish I'd caught earlier in the week is now a hindrance. Confidence is a great thing to have most of the time but when it's in a plan that was once working but no longer is will definitely lead to disaster if I handle it like I did today. I would've spent most of, if not all of the day trying to salvage what I had confidence in. The end result would be the age old excuse...they weren't biting. Although sometimes, they really aren't biting, I can not be sentimental when it comes to my confidence. To use some age old adages, I have to read the writing on the wall and I can't beat a dead horse. I'm seeing more now than ever before that this is a game of patterns...that will end, changes that will happen...when you least expect it and patience that you'll have to throw out the window sometimes so you can make something happen.

Easy as pie...yea right!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I'd really love to read your thoughts about my blog, your general location and any suggestions. Peace

MAVERICK

mav·er·ick  (măv′ər-ĭk, măv′rĭk)
n.
1. A person who shows independence of thought and action, especially by refusing to adhere to the policies of a group to which he or she belongs.

Kayak fishing...seems like a vanilla activity. Probably reserved as a stepping stone for a person on their way to buying a bass boat or a cool Hells Bay skiff. Truth is, most Kayak Anglers I know hate a motor and would sell a motor boat if given one.

This is more than a sport or a hobby. Just going fishing is boring to most of 'em. It's the added challenge of fighting the wind, strategically maneuvering so your drift gets you on the exact line to fish an area. It's feeling the water as it sprays in your face at every paddle stroke. It's the challenge of handling a paddle with four fishing rods and 6 boxes of tackle from a fixed position in a space the size of a love seat...all while making a cast every few seconds. The challenge, the cold, the complete exposure to the elements...the drive to catch that fish makes them what they are...Mavericks...It's more than a hobby.

       
   For Those About to Rock...

I feared getting old when I was a young boy. Reading the newspaper, napping and cutting grass was not what I looked forward to doing, then there was the dread of croaking. I said I’d never grow up and I believe, so far, I’ve been pretty successful
I have always been an imaginative soul, never bored and always had something to occupy my mind. Whether it be fishing, hunting, exploring, music, surfing and the list goes on (yes, I live in the foothills of the Appalacians and I’ve owned three different surfboards) I have always had fun or knew what I needed to have fun. As a teenager I took a left turn and turned to alcohol on many occasions to have fun which eventually caught up to me about 12 years ago with a not so fun period of my life. Hey, I like hotdogs and orange koolaid but I’d rather partake in said meal at my house…not the big house.

So, now I’m almost 50. I’m getting old and the fear I had about aging was to much surprise...a hoax. My imagination is still there but my interests are not as broad. I only kayak fish and I’m still a music junkie. I’m 49 and still love rock music as loud as my car stereo will go and I fish a lot. I work a part time 60 hour a week job at the local paper mill that pays the bills and a full time job with no pay…fishing. I don’t read the news paper and I pay the kid next door to cut the grass.

When you hear that getting old is a bad thing, I call bull$##t. I have more fun now than I ever had in my teens or twenties and my recipe is a combination of that imagination, passion, some how keeping a working amount of that childhood innocence and an overly patient wife, which I am blessed to have.

We only have so many heartbeats in the old ticker and my plan is to be doing what I love and not what I loathe when that last one finishes.

For those approaching the golden age... Prepare to rock. Peace and thank God for little plastic boats.