The Coach and I headed up to our home away from home early Wednesday morning to start prefishing for the final BFL. I was a little disheartened that this would
be it. I love fishing the BFL's. I can't afford to fish the Strens or the BASS Northern Tour, although I would love to. So, as it is this is my
"Pro Circuit". Anyway, we did not arrive at the ramp until almost 11 am due to a traffic jam on 475. Obviously, we checked the spot that Matt and I
had won the Skeeter Tourney on a week and a half ago and found out in 4 casts and 4 fish it was on!!!!!! The only thing I noticed is the fish had shrunk. We
got one 4 pounder, a 3, and a pair of 2 1/2's. This did not bother me as I knew that I could sort my way through them. We left quickly and checked many
other spots that I know on Erie and in the river. We found it to be on fire as it had been. At day's end we had two fish in the boat that were just shy of
6 pounds and probably 30 keepers after fishing probably 35 spots. We would catch a couple and move on. Thursday was more of the same with fish basically coming
at will and we spent most of this day on new water that I had never fished. We didn't quite catch the big fish average as the day before, but we did have 4
fish that topped 5 pounds. It was funny too because there were very few boats around where we were fishing and this is very unusual for a BFL prefish. Friday
we woke up to a North wind that wasn't too fierce, but something told me things were going to change. Usually, on Friday I have a gameplan for the tourney
together and I check the first 4 spots I plan on fishing, but only long enough to get a bite and then I am gone. The fish were still in each spot, but we only
caught 2 1/2 pounders off of each. We then hit some other areas with potential to find mor eof the same, smaller fish and very much harder to catch. Late in
the day I decided to head out further on Erie to check some other stuff that I had not checked. Well that is when the big ladies decided to show up. We stopped
at two spots and hit 4 fish at each spot that all topped 4 pounds with the largest weighing in at 5'9". We fished each spot for about 20 minutes. This
played with my gameplan a little to say the least.
I drew boat 89 out of 92 for blastoff so I definitely knew where i would be able to fish. Running out of the river that morning it was funny because there were very few boats fishing the mouth. My first stop was still my little Skeeter honey hole. Throwing my newfound favorite tube I put a limit in the livewell in 20 minutes and began culling. Within the first hour I had put 10 keepers in the boat and had culled to about 17 1/2 pounds. My coangler did not have any tubes close to the one I was throwing and begged me for one as he had not had a bite yet. I usually love helping my coanglers out, but without getting into any details I was hesitant to give my tubes up. I was thinking that as soon as I was sure I was in the cut I would give him one. I felt instantly guilty about being hesitant and not only gave him a tube, but my extra rod that I had rigged up with one. 20 minutes later he had three fish with two 5 pounders!
Don't get me wrong I love seeing my conanglers succeed, but I am finding out
after the hours I put in out there and the money invested it is really important to stay in my game on tourney day. One of my favorite things about the BFL is
fishing with new guys and many of them have become very close friends. I don't "back boat" guys and always explain the area we are fishing when
we pull up. I will only say that my coangler this day was very confident in his self, his technique, and his gear. He told me he had everything he needed to
catch fish that morning and from the looks of the gear that he brought he should have 
. Anyway after he finished his limit and I had culled to about 18 pounds I headed
further out on Erie to my big fish holes. We pulled in to find the water had dirtied up a little more than it had been. I knew we could still catch them, but
it would be a little tougher. My second drop with my drop shot and I culled a 2 1/2 pounder out with a 3 1/2. I then proceeded to lose 3 monsters in the next
40 minutes and my coangler lost one close to the boat that was easily 6 pounds if not more. This got into my head and I decided to run to the next spot after
about 20 minutes without a bite. We pulled in and my coangler catches a 3 pounder on his first cast and we did not have another hit for over 30 minutes. I knew
we needed to head back to the first stop. We fished it for about 20 more minutes and missed a couple more fish. I was around the 19 pound mark and only had
fish over 3 pounds in the 'well. I figured I would make the cut and it was really rough with only 3 hours to go. I decided to head back towards the river
and hit my honey hole. Upon arriving I instantly catch a 4 pounder that gave me another half a pound. I then caught a few more keeper sized fish. My co had a
pair of 5's a 3 and two 15 inchers. He was worried about making the cut and I told him he would have no problem doing that. I decided to hit a couple big
fish spots in the mouth on the way in. The first stop with about 20 minutes to fish a cloud of monster smallies came up by the boat chasing shad. I threw my
drop shot at them without a touch. I dug into my locker quickly for my crankbait. They were within 15 feet of the boat and busting like crazy. You could
actually see them under the surface and there were a bunch! By the time I got my crankbait out and to them they were nearly gone. the first cast got three of
them to follow it to the boat, but they turned and ranback towards the bottom. I had time for about 5 casts and did not hook up. Off we ran to Elizabeth Park.
I was confident of making the cut, but a little disappointed in my weight. I had caught 23 keepers for the day and my co had 7. A good day in all, but I knew
it should have been better. The weights were definitely down and I finshed the day in 7th with 19'8" and my co was in 9th with 15'10". The
leader was local ace Mike Trombly, a very nice guy who is a STUD on ths water. He is also a very nice guy. He had a 2'5" lead on me and I knew that I
could still catch him. I will begin my Day 2 story on a new topic beings this on e is so long SORRY!
I drew boat 89 out of 92 for blastoff so I definitely knew where i would be able to fish. Running out of the river that morning it was funny because there were very few boats fishing the mouth. My first stop was still my little Skeeter honey hole. Throwing my newfound favorite tube I put a limit in the livewell in 20 minutes and began culling. Within the first hour I had put 10 keepers in the boat and had culled to about 17 1/2 pounds. My coangler did not have any tubes close to the one I was throwing and begged me for one as he had not had a bite yet. I usually love helping my coanglers out, but without getting into any details I was hesitant to give my tubes up. I was thinking that as soon as I was sure I was in the cut I would give him one. I felt instantly guilty about being hesitant and not only gave him a tube, but my extra rod that I had rigged up with one. 20 minutes later he had three fish with two 5 pounders!
Don't get me wrong I love seeing my conanglers succeed, but I am finding out
after the hours I put in out there and the money invested it is really important to stay in my game on tourney day. One of my favorite things about the BFL is
fishing with new guys and many of them have become very close friends. I don't "back boat" guys and always explain the area we are fishing when
we pull up. I will only say that my coangler this day was very confident in his self, his technique, and his gear. He told me he had everything he needed to
catch fish that morning and from the looks of the gear that he brought he should have . Anyway after he finished his limit and I had culled to about 18 pounds I headed
further out on Erie to my big fish holes. We pulled in to find the water had dirtied up a little more than it had been. I knew we could still catch them, but
it would be a little tougher. My second drop with my drop shot and I culled a 2 1/2 pounder out with a 3 1/2. I then proceeded to lose 3 monsters in the next
40 minutes and my coangler lost one close to the boat that was easily 6 pounds if not more. This got into my head and I decided to run to the next spot after
about 20 minutes without a bite. We pulled in and my coangler catches a 3 pounder on his first cast and we did not have another hit for over 30 minutes. I knew
we needed to head back to the first stop. We fished it for about 20 more minutes and missed a couple more fish. I was around the 19 pound mark and only had
fish over 3 pounds in the 'well. I figured I would make the cut and it was really rough with only 3 hours to go. I decided to head back towards the river
and hit my honey hole. Upon arriving I instantly catch a 4 pounder that gave me another half a pound. I then caught a few more keeper sized fish. My co had a
pair of 5's a 3 and two 15 inchers. He was worried about making the cut and I told him he would have no problem doing that. I decided to hit a couple big
fish spots in the mouth on the way in. The first stop with about 20 minutes to fish a cloud of monster smallies came up by the boat chasing shad. I threw my
drop shot at them without a touch. I dug into my locker quickly for my crankbait. They were within 15 feet of the boat and busting like crazy. You could
actually see them under the surface and there were a bunch! By the time I got my crankbait out and to them they were nearly gone. the first cast got three of
them to follow it to the boat, but they turned and ranback towards the bottom. I had time for about 5 casts and did not hook up. Off we ran to Elizabeth Park.
I was confident of making the cut, but a little disappointed in my weight. I had caught 23 keepers for the day and my co had 7. A good day in all, but I knew
it should have been better. The weights were definitely down and I finshed the day in 7th with 19'8" and my co was in 9th with 15'10". The
leader was local ace Mike Trombly, a very nice guy who is a STUD on ths water. He is also a very nice guy. He had a 2'5" lead on me and I knew that I
could still catch him. I will begin my Day 2 story on a new topic beings this on e is so long SORRY!
